Systemic Sclerosis (SSc) is an autoimmune connective tissue disorder which is characterised by the fibrotic changes in the skin effecting especially fingers and hands. Regarding skin manifestations, SSc is classified into two different subtypes as limited cutaneous SSc (lcSSc) and diffuse cutaneous SSc (dcSSc).The aim of the present study was to compare hand functions and functional status in patients with lcSSc and dcSSc.Twenty-three patients with lcSSc and thirteen patients with dcSSc were included in the study. Modified Hand Mobility in Scleroderma Test (mHAMIS), modified Rodnan skin score (mRSS), grip and pinch strengths were measured to evaluate hand-related physical characteristics. Duruoz Hand Index, Disability of Arm, Shoulder and Hand Questionnaire (DASH), Health Assessment Questionnaire (HAQ), and Scleroderma Health Assessment Questionnaire (SHAQ) were used as the outcomes.While differences were detected in mRSS scores between disease subtypes (p<0.05), hand functions and functional status were comparable between groups (p>0.05).Table 1.Comparison of the groupslcSSc Group Median (IQR 25/75) (n= 23)dcSSc Group Median (IQR 25/75) (n=13)p*mHAMIS (score 0-4)0 (0/1)0 (0/0)0.745mRSS Fingers (score 0-3)2 (1.5/3)3 (2/3)0.100mRSS Hands (score 0-3)1 (0.5/2)2 (2/3)0.020*mRSS Forearms (score 0-3)0 (0/1)2 (1/2)0.013*mRSS Upper Arms (score 0-3)0 (0/0)1 (0/1)0.003*mRSS Total (0-51)8 (5/13)27 (18/29)0.006*Hand Grip Strength (kg)19.7 (11.2/24.6)20.9 (14.4/24.8)0.649Tip to Tip Pinch Strength (kg)3 (2.2/3.9)3.3 (2.4/2.9)0.721Three Jaw Pinch Strength (kg)2.4 (1.7/3.2)2.8 (2/3.5)0.226Lateral Pinch Strength (kg)3.8 (3.4/5.1)4 (3.2/5.3)0.948Duruoz Hand Index (score 0-90)5 (0/17)6 (0/15)0.770DASH (score 30-150)62 (47/84)61 (53/77)0.770HAQ (score 0-3)0.3 (0.1/0.9)0.3 (0.8/0.9)1.000SHAQ-Raynaud's Phenomenon (score 0-3)0.8 (0/1.4)1.3 (0.3/1.5)0.363SHAQ-Digital Ulcers (score 0-3)0 (0/0.6)0.3 (0/1.7)0.136SHAQ-Gastrointestinal (score 0-3)0 (0/1.5)0.7 (0.1/1.4)0.466SHAQ-Pulmonary (score 0-3)0.5 (0/1.5)1 (0.2/1.5)0.534SHAQ-Patient Global Assessment (score 0-3)1.1 (0.1/2)1.4 (0.8/2.2)0.345p<0.05, *: Mann-Whitney U test, IQR 25/75: Interquartile range between the 25th and 75th percentiles, n: number, mHAMIS: modified Hand Mobility in Scleroderma Test, mRSS: modified Rodnan skin score, DASH: Disability of Arm, Shoulder, and Hand Questionnaire, HAQ: Health Assessment Questionnaire, SHAQ: Scleroderma Health Assessment Questionnaire, lcSSc: limited cutaneous Systemic Sclerosis, dcSSc: diffuse cutaneous Systemic SclerosisAccording to our results, even though, patients with dcSSc present higher skin thickening compared to patients with lcSSc, hand functions and functional status seem to be similar between SSc subtypes.None declared


To ensure the robustness of the speed estimation, this paper proposed a speed adaptive sliding-mode observer (SMO) with extended state variable for speed-sensorless induction motor drives. The extended state variable is introduced into the SMO, providing the basis for the speed adaptive law. The design of the speed adaptive law can avoid the dependence of the speed estimation on the motor parameters, making the estimated speed insensitive to motor parameter perturbation. Meanwhile, a saturation function with boundary layer is designed instead of a switching function to attenuates the chattering in the speed estimation. Finally, the simulation results confirm the effectiveness of the proposed speed adaptive SMO.


In this paper ,the author analysed cause and harm of Hong tou shan Copper Mine terra press procerant ,according to its charcteristic and fact instance ,introduce to our Mine several means in terra press monitoring ,and obtain success .


Intention, Goal, Scope, Background. It has gained growing acceptance in recent years that there are values in LCA, and several authors have discussed how value orientations can influence LCA models and results. The aim of this article is to continue this discussion and to focus on value choices in LCA. Objectives. To find a way of describing value orientations in relation to choices in LCA. Methods. This objective has been pursued in this paper by investigating the relationship between values and traditional science, exploring the concept of values, investigating the relationship between values and choice, and suggesting a way to describe the value base for specific choices in LCA. Results and Discussion. Research on how to improve the environmental performance of products resembles peace research in that it aims to achieve a certain value-laden situation in society. The epistemological basis for peace research also seems to apply to LCA research. The term value has many meanings. There are several classification methods for values and I claim that one is more suitable for choices in LCA than the others. The correlation between values and choice is not straightforward, and values can only partially explain choices. Conclusions. Describing the value base for choices in LCA increases the consistency and transparency of the value choices and offers a means of justifying them. Recommendations and Outlook. It is recommended that the value base is described in terms of 1) what is included in the concern for the environment 2) how tradeoffs are made and 3) how uncertainty is handled.


A relationship between drug abuse and the onset of psychotic symptoms is strongly supported. A struggling clinical dilemma is how to clearly identify a substance-induced psychosis from a primary psychotic illness or a psychotic illness with comorbid substance use.In this review, the presence of associated psychotic symptoms and the differences in clinical presentation will be analyzed for each substance.Α bibliographical review was performed using the PubMED platform. All relevant articles were found using the keywords: substance-Induced Psychoses, symptoms, treatmentPresent review shows a picture of the complex relationship between psychotic symptoms and the use and abuse of illicit drugs. Furthermore, in most cases, chronological criteria are not sufficient to prove a direct causal effect between the substance and psychosis. The subjects who presented psychotic symptoms after substance abuse seemed to have a higher risk of the development of a primary psychotic illness.Psychosis due to substance abuse is a common issue in clinical practice and the propensity to develop psychosis seems to be associated with the severity of use and dependence.None Declared


The objective of research is to obtain empirical evidence about the influence ofeducation cost, socio-economical background, motivation and reputation on interest ofstudents in selecting Study Program of S1 in Accounting in higher educations in Malang.Research is implemented in 6 higher educations of Malang City, which are University ofBrawijaya (UB), State University of Malang (UM), University of Muhammadiyah Malang(UMM), State Islam University of Maulana Malik Ibrahim (UIN Maliki), Islam Universityof Malang (Unisma), and University of Merdeka (Unmer). Research method is descriptiveexplanatory study with survey approach. Therefore, data collection technique isquestionnaire. The data are then analyzed with descriptive statistic and multiple linearregression. Result of research indicates that education cost and socio-economicalbackground do not influence interest of students in selecting Study Program of S1 inAccounting in higher educations in Malang. Motivation and reputation are positive influencing interest of students in selecting Study Program of S1 in Accounting in highereducations in Malang. It is also found that education cost and socio-economicalbackground have negative correlation with interest of students in selecting Study Programof S1 in Accounting. It means that the higher the education cost or socio-economicalbackground, the lower the interest of students in selecting Study Program of S1 inAccounting. Keywords: education cost, socio-economic background, motivation, reputation, interest toselect Study Program of S1 in Accounting.


This paper presents a modularization method of data fusion for Landsat imagery. The principle of the method and some data fusion algorithms like multiplication, Brovey, and IHS have been discussed. The experimental result shows that such an approach is very effective, convenient and flexible. On the one hand, the algorithms can be designed according to the users' requirements and the data fusion can be easily realized; on the other hand, the technique can avoid some processes of data format transfer and save a lot of time.


Ever since the beginning of the 20th century,the debate about whether there was the civil law in ancient China has never ceased in the academic circle.The two opposing views on the issue reflect the two different cognitive ideas of the legal resources in China.It is a wrong viewpoint to apply the Western modern concept of civil law to the issue.We hold that the rites of ancient China were just the civil law with regard to the nature,characteristics and forms of civil law.


Device-to-device (D2D) communication has been widely studied to improve network performance and been considered as a potential technological component for the next generation communication. As Quality of Experience (QoE) is the major determining factor for the media service, we aim at promoting user's QoE Mean of Score (MOS) value for dynamic cellular networks. In this paper, we focus on the problem of heterogeneous media service distribution in D2D communications underlaying cellular networks. Firstly, we propose an innovative distributed media service scheme based on QoE models that jointly solve the massive media content dissemination issue for cellular networks. Moreover, our work maximizes users' QoE satisfaction by jointly considering media-aware, popularity function and priority function. Then, we propose a novel resource allocation algorithm based on the popularity function to optimize the total users' QoE satisfaction and avoid the influence of D2D interference. Numerical simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness of our proposed schemes.


Background Tuberculosis (TB) is a major public health problem among people living with Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) in resource-limited countries like Ethiopia. Up-to-date information regarding TB co-morbidity and determinant factors among HIV sero-positive individuals is lacking in the study area. Objective This study aimed to determine the prevalence of TB co-morbidity and their determinants among HIV sero-positive individuals in Shegaw Motta district hospital. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted among 326 people living with HIV from February to April 2019, in Shegaw Motta district hospital. The systematic random sampling technique was used to select the study participants. Data were entered into the EpiData version 3.1 and analysis was done using SPSS version 20.0. Results The prevalence of TB/HIV co-infection was 18.1%. TB/HIV patients whose drunk alcohol (AOR=2.36, 95% CI=1.07–5.19), BMI< 16 (AOR= 19.13, 95% CI=4.14–88.36), and BMI ranges between 16 and 18.5 (AOR=9.78, 95% CI=3.07–31.19), World Health Organization (WHO) clinical stage IV (AOR=23.02, 95% CI=3.76–140.97), WHO clinical stage III (AOR=14.36, 95% CI=3.50–58.92), and WHO clinical stage II (AOR=4.17, 95% CI=1.34–13.01), bedridden (AOR=13.79, 95% CI=5.44–34.95) and ambulatory functional status (AOR=5.30, 95% CI=1.87–15.05) were significant predictors for TB/HIV co-infection. Conclusion The prevalence of TB among HIV sero-positive individuals is high. Determinant factors, including drinking alcohol, BMI, WHO clinical stage and functional status, were significant predictors for TB/HIV co-infections. Therefore, diagnosis of TB among sero-positive individuals should be strengthened in health institutions.


Introduction : The perinatal mortality rate (PMR) in Nepal is still very high. In major hospitals of Nepal, it is still ranging from 20-30 per thousand births. This study was carried out with the objective to review PMR and classifying it according to Wigglesworth classification to identify the causes of perinatal deaths at Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital (TUTH), Kathmandu, Nepal over the past 13 years and assess need for improvement in care. Material and Methods: It was a retrospective study carried out in TUTH. Data of all stillbirths from 28 weeks of pregnancy and neonatal deaths within first seven days of life in the hospital was taken from monthly perinatal audit and annual mortality review. All the perinatal deaths were then classified according to Wigglesworth classification. Results: Over a 13 year period, there were total 42,746 births and 921 perinatal deaths giving a perinatal mortality of 21.5 per thousand births. Over this period PMR has decreased from 31 to 18 per thousand births. Still births contributed almost 50% of the perinatal deaths; deaths related to prematurity show an increasing trend and have increased by almost 70% in past 5 years. Deaths due to perinatal asphyxia were static. Conclusion: PMR over the years has shown declining trend at TUTH. There is need to improve antenatal, obstetric as well as intrapartum services to further reduce the still birth as well as deaths due to prematurity and perinatal asphyxia. J. Nepal Paediatr. Soc. 32(2) 2012 150-153 doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/jnps.v32i2.6898


This paper introduces B/S three-tier structure module and the function of JavaMail. Based on the situation that a lot of universities can not provide the service of WebMail though most of them own mail servers, and designs a set of perfect WebMail system combining JavaMail AIP with JSP. It is easy to maintain and popularize.


Summary form only given. When a voluntary movement is performed, the displacement of the moving segments toward a goal is only one aspect of the motor act. Other goal-directed actions are achieved simultaneously, which is necessary for the accuracy of the performance. Leg raising is presented as an illustration of a task with multiple goals achieved at the same time. The main goal is the displacement of the leg toward a given position. Several secondary goals can be identified. One of them is the vertical orientation of head and trunk axis, the other the stabilization of the center of gravity projection onto the ground after the initial displacement of the CG toward the supporting leg. These two secondary goal-directed actions, related to vertical orientation of head and trunk and to equilibrium control, respectively, are achieved through a coordinated control that occurs in parallel with the main movement. For each of these coordinated controls, the authors discuss which reference value is regulated and how, why, and where it is regulated. >


When light propagates in foggy weather, it is affected and scattered by suspended particles in the air. As a result, images taken in this environment often suffer from blurring, reduced contrast, loss of details, and other issues. The primary challenge in dehazing images is to estimate the transmission coefficient map in the atmospheric degradation model. In this paper, we propose a dehazing algorithm based on the optimization of the "haze-line" prior and non-local self-similarity prior. First, we divided the input haze image into small blocks and used the nearest neighbor classification algorithm to cluster the small patches, which were referred to as "patch-lines". Based on the characteristics of these "patch-lines", we could estimate the transmission coefficient map for the image. We then applied the transmission map to a weighted least squares filter to smooth it. Finally, we calculated the clear image using the haze degradation model. The experimental results demonstrate that our algorithm enhanced the image contrast and preserved the fine details, both qualitatively and quantitatively.


The paper studies the concept of intercultural competence and the stages of its development. The author emphasizes the importance of teaching basic intercultural competence in the framework of university programs, determines the aims of developing intercultural competence in students and looks at the conditions for making intercultural education the main or additional program in the system of undergraduate and graduate studies.Many graduates of Russian universities deal with international cooperation in various fields. Prospective employees are required to be able of resolving and avoiding international conflicts, negotiating with foreign partners and finding creative solutions to intercultural problems. Thus, intercultural competence is becoming one of the main skills of modern bachelors and masters.


THIS PAPER ADDRESSES HOW and why the musical intelligence can be used to aid students in the learning process. It explores the brain research, several short vignettes and an informal case study. Conceptually, the author suggests that music can and should be used to help students learn and retain curricular content, may be matched to tasks in preschool as an auditory reminder, and should serve as a link for cultural growth and preservation. Music in the classroom also addresses the students' emotional wellbeing. Suggestions of application for classroom teachers and learning disabilities practitioners are provided.


ABSTRACT This study considers the environmental and social impacts of an animal waste sourced biogas supply chain, along with economic factors for making tactical and strategic decisions. A multi-objective optimisation model is introduced to determine: 1) the best locations and capacities of biogas plants to treat cattle manure from dairy farms, and 2) the best transportation assignments from each farm to a subset of the opened biogas plants. This study formulates three objectives that include minimising total supply chain cost, carbon emissions, and social rejection. An augmented ε-constraint method is employed as a solution approach to solve the multi-objective problem. The results indicate the implementation of the proposed optimisation model has the potential to provide significant economic, environmental, and social benefits. In addition, the study finds that the allowed maximum transport distance contributes to the number and size of biogas plants used.


Free float share is a percentage of total company's capital which is available to stock market transactions. In this study, past information of the sample companies in Tehran Stock Exchange was used to investigate the relationship between percentage of free float shares and share market liquidity, number of buyers, number of transactions and turnover ratio of shares. The aim of this study is to assist investors and stock exchange companies to discover the relation between free float shares and share market liquidity of the stock exchange companies in different amplitudes of free float stock, and make an awareness decision according to the result of this research. For this purpose, the information of about 63 companies in Tehran Stock Exchange has been used. To examine the relationship between the variables, the seasonal variables' data of the model were calculated and used in twenty periods, each consisting of three months from the beginning of 2005  to the end of 2009. Finally, the research result shows a direct relationship between free float shares and the number of buyers, number of transactions and turnover ratio of shares. This shows direct and positive relationship between liquidity and free float shares.

 Key words: Percentage of free float shares, the number of buyers, shares turnover ratio, the number of transactions.


Russian wheat aphid (RWA) (Diuraphis noxia M.) is the major insect of barley in many areas in the world. It was reported in the Wukro (Atsbi) and Adigrat regions of northern Ethiopia in 1972/73 and western Welo region of northwestern Ethiopia in 1974. RWA causes severe damage to barley in the highlands of Ethiopia. However, only little information is available on the control of this pest in the country. An experiment was conducted in the 2013/2014 off-season at South Gondar Zone (Debretabor). The experiment aimed at evaluating some resistant sources of barley varieties against RWA was conducted in greenhouse conditions of the university site. Five barley varieties (Burton, RWA-1758, 3296-15, Holker and local susceptible) were studied in complete randomized design. The number of aphids per tiller decreased on the resistant varieties as compared to the control; this is probably due to their own inherent resistant character. There were also significant differences(p<0.001) in mean chlorosis, leaf rolling, RWA population, leaf number per tiller and tiller number per plant among the resistant and the susceptible varieties. Severe plant damage (36.6%) was observed on the local barley variety while the least damage was observed on Burton, followed by RWA-1758. Burton and RWA-1758 were therefore highly resistant and moderately resistant, respectively. The damage to barley lines 329615 and Holker was greater than Burton and RWA-1758 and highly lower than the local one. From the result, it was noted that resistant varieties provided much lower damaged plants and population of RWA per tiller and much higher yield components than the susceptible varieties. This indicates that the most effective approach in managing the RWA is the use of resistant variety. Hence it is concluded that the use of host plant resistance is an important avenue for RWA management, and is one of the favored control options for aphids.


Wearable real-time systems collecting and smartly analyzing information about patient health status could help medical personnel adopting the most suitable countermeasures in case of highly stressful situations in military and civil scenarios. Such situations include terrorist attacks or rescue operations. We propose the design and development of a patch-like device prototype (SmartPatch) and a methodology enabling continuous evaluation of victims' vital parameters. Using this innovative platform after the first triage, the onsite emergency teams will have continuous information about the health status of each person wearing the SmartPatch. If the health status of a victim is changed, SmartPatch is able to generate an alert and prevent overlook of critical health changes causing potential severe life-threatening consequences or death.


The invention relates to a fault code, data stream and freeze frame data storage and playback method. The method includes the steps that first, fault code, data stream and freeze frame data are recorded in a data area of a memory; second, indexes of the fault code, data stream and freeze frame data are recorded in an index area of the memory; third, when the next record is made, the start address of the index area and the start address of the data area are recorded in a public area of the memory; fourth, when the data are played back, the index area is searched so as to correspondingly read out the data in the data area. According to the fault code, data stream and freeze frame data storage and playback method, through recording of a large amount of data of fault codes, data streams and freeze frames, professionals and car owners can reasonably analyze data of cars so as to judge the using states and the diagnosis problems of the cars, and thus professional analysis is obtained.


Claims that by most conventional input cost measures, the Danish pork industry looks very uncompetitive when compared to its rivals in international markets, yet Danish exports account for between 20 and 30 per cent of global pork trade. Explores the reasons for this success, finding answers in the organisation of the Danish pork supply chain. Four farmer‐owned co‐operatives account for virtually all pig slaughtering and processing in Denmark which is highly technologically advanced. The pivotal role of the umbrella organisation, Danske Slagterier, in co‐ordinating market research, genetic and meat processing research is explored. Finally, an assessment is made of the competitive strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats facing the Danish pork supply chain.


The omission is one of the basic forms of criminal acts that constitutes the objective prime conditions of a crime.It has a certain degree of secrecy,but with greater dangers.There is a certain degree of difficulty in identifying the act of omission in judicial practice,and therefore it is particularly important to reveal the nature of such acts,and to explore its objective constituent elements and type.This article expounds the necessary objective factors of omission,and analyzes omission,which hopes to further perfect our country's legality.


This paper studies the relationship between air logistics and both international trade and economic development. Based on the data from 1952 to 2007 of China,econometric model is employed to analyze the long-tern and short-term dynamic relationship between air logistics and both international trade and economic development. The results show that there is a stable long-term equilibrium relationship between air logistics and both international trade and economic development. It is also found that the impact on air cargo of innovation from international trade is higher than that from GDP,while the impact of the innovation from air cargo is higher on international trade than on GDP. Finally,some advices are presented.


This paper deals with the feasibility of rice husk-based activated carbon as heavy metal sorbent for removing heavy metals [Pb(II)] from aqueous solution. The selected sample, rice husk (Yadanar Toe) was collected from rice mill in Hinthada Township, Ayeyarwady Region. Three types of rice husk-based activated carbon were prepared via simple carbonization and chemical activation process. The experimental yield percent of activated carbon working at the fixed temperature of 500 · C for four hours were 22.1%, 27.6% and 18.5% for simple carbonization, acid treated and base treated respectively. The activated carbon was characterized by Scanning Electron Microscopic Analysis (SEM). For the removal of Pb (II) ions, the optimum contact times were found to be 30 min for R.H.A.C (A.T), 60 min for R.H.A.C (B.T) and R.H.A.C. Percent removals of lead were found to be 95.85%, 91.75% and 87.56% for R.H.A.C (A.T), R.H.A.C (B.T) and R.H.A.C respectively.


Editorial: I wanted to title the introduction to this special issue "What's the Punch Line?" but punch is too violent and Ellen Pence would tease me no end if I did that, and she'd do it in front of a large audience, I am sure of it! But I do think of punch lines when I think of Ellen. She loves to tease people and tell humorous stories. Most people get a wide grin on their face when you mention Ellen's name because she's hilarious. Her dry, sarcastic humor and teasing make her a comedienne extraordinaire, and it is the weapon she most often uses to disarm people who may not want to hear what she has to say. Ellen—working with many colleagues, including Michael Paymar—developed one of the earliest efforts to intervene with men who batter. The Duluth model, as it is usually called, is most often thought of as an educational curriculum for men who batter that includes a diagram called the Power and Control Wheel. Language: en


Can academic libraries be a place of learning without any physical materials? Gone are the paper journals and book of old, replaced with study carrels, meeting rooms, and wireless access to a vast collection of knowledge residing in expensive databases and online resources. Is it possible to go paperless in a library? Is this happening today? Should it? The answers to these questions and the future role of the academic librarian are addressed in this article.


Paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PNH) is a rare disease which is characterized by hemolysis, thromboses in unexpected sites and multi-organ involvement. Arterial thromboses could result in necrosis and dysfunction of involved organs. In some cases, organ dysfunctions could be fatal as in involvement of heart, small intestine and lung. Eculizumab is a monoclonal antibody which decreases risk of thrombosis and hemolysis in patients with PNH by inhibiting complement system. Hereby, we present a case with acute abdomen which was operated and small intestinal necrosis was detected due to thromboses which was resulted in PNH undiagnosed until the time of operation. Unexpected thromboses should be carefully investigated in terms of potential coexistence of PNH associated with multi-organ involvement and treated appropriately.


We build on the work by Davies, extending the Helffer-Sj\"ostrand Functional Calculus domain for semi-bounded operators on Banach spaces given a priori controlled growth of the resolvents. We employ Seeley's Extension Theorem to extend smooth functions on the half line to the whole line and thus indirectly define functions of these operators.


The correct design of a borehole heat exchanger (BHE) system implies the accurate knowledge of borehole and ground thermal properties, the correct evaluation of building heating or cooling demands and the correct procedure to assess the final overall BHE length related to BHE configuration shape. A careful design is required to make profitable payback plans and provide expected long time performance. In this paper the principle and description of a web-based suite of tools for BHE design is presented. The web application intends to implement some of the main procedures universally adopted in BHE system design. A section of the present paper describes the implementation of an improved ASHRAE method which allows the BHE system to be designed by considering three representative building heat loads, their respective thermal resistances based on ICS model and a temperature penalty variable which takes into account the long term BHE interaction effect. A new hybrid implementation of the Ashrae method based on g-function calculation is also described for arbitrary borehole field configuration design. This arbitrary shaped borefield design allows the designer to fit the peculiar needs of each application project. Current free or commercial programs allow the user to design BHE systems according to a priori determined set of available configurations in terms of borefield shape and borehole to borehole distances while real applications often require the borehole field geometry not to respect a regular matrix configuration. A further section describes a toolkit for Thermal Response Test (TRT) analysis which allows the estimation of BHE and ground thermal properties. This toolkit provides also a method for the evaluation of the error related to TRT analysis results. Furthermore, a section for analytical estimation of borehole thermal resistance based on literature review is also presented.


The invention discloses a large surface milling clamp for an exhaust manifold. The large surface milling clamp comprises a bottom plate and a clamp plate, wherein the bottom plate is provided with a transverse bottom plate and a vertical T-shaped bulged plate; the clamp plate which is perpendicular to the transverse bottom plate is arranged on the transverse bottom plate; air cylinders are fixedly arranged at the left end and the right end of the reverse side of the clamp plate respectively; the upper end of a piston rod of each air cylinder is fixedly connected with the lower end of a connecting rod; the upper end of the connecting rod passes through the clamp plate; the connecting rod can move up and down along with the piston rods of the air cylinders; a support rod is fixedly arranged on the clamp plate on one side of the connecting rod; the upper end of the support rod and the upper end of the connecting rod are hinged to an intermediate section and the tail end of a pressing plate respectively; and the pressing plate can swing by taking a hinged joint of the support rod as a supporting point under the driving action of the connecting rod. The large surface milling clamp is easy to use, and reduces labor intensity.


Booming electric vehicles (EVs) lead to degraded quality-of-service (QoS) of urban public charging network (UPCN) consisting of public charging stations (PCSs) and traffic network, such as prolonged waiting time at popular PCSs. UPCN QoS analysis creates broad prospects in QoS optimization by providing reliable tools to improve UPCN performance. Conventional methods focusing on the impact of network topology on QoS underestimates effects of network capacity and its distribution among PCSs. In this paper, we proposed a heterogeneous UPCN model with limited PCS service capacity, and constructed a QoS analysis method according to PCS and EV characteristics from classic method for traffic assignment model, in which we analyzed waiting time at PCSs by queueing theory and calculated feasible routes for EVs recharging half-way by screening from deep-first-search results. Finally, we demonstrated an application of the proposed model and method in QoS optimization. We carried out experiments on popular Sioux Falls network with randomly-added PCSs. Results indicate that proportion of traditionally neglected waiting time at PCSs may reach 22% in EVs' total travel time if fast charging piles serve 2 vehicles/h, and the gap between our method and conventional method in average waiting time and spatial throughput distribution is growing as EV amount increases. These results support our method's advantages in simulating EVs' charging choice trade-off between farther routes and popular PCSs as well as higher performance in UPCN QoS optimization.


For the first time since the Medicare fee schedule crisis began after the sustainable growth rate formula was included in the Balanced Budget Act of 1997, there is realistic hope that Congress will reform the way Medicare physicians are paid for their services.


Empty oil palm bunches are the largest solid waste produced from the palm oil industry processing. In processing 1 ton of fresh palm oil bunches, 230 Kg of empty palm oil bunches will be produced. Based on previous research, it is known that oil palm empty fruit bunches waste is proven to have a large amount of organic mass such as cellulose, hemicellulose, lignin. Organic content as mentioned is rich in benefits so that it can be used as raw material for making daily needs products ranging from food to complementary products such as household appliances, clothing and so on. For this reason, a study was conducted on the content of oil palm empty bunches originating from waste at PT. Kharisma Alam Persada. The characterization process was carried out using the SNI method 0128911992. From the research carried out it was found that the cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin content were 55.75%; 28.93% and 15.32% respectively. So that it is possible to be used as raw material for processing other products.


In times of difficult and unstable economic environment, market players try to differentiate themselves in order to survive and attract a large number of new customers. Financial institutions, as well as the full service segment, face a major obstacle, as in the negative power of intangibility ,that is reflected in the specific economic process. The "battle" for a place in front is increasingly fierce, and financial companies have begun to focus towards the removal of this drawback, and finding new communication techniques and actions, by assigning the company with some new values that will lead to greater confidence shown within consumers. In this article, we will try to underline two different tests of image association, as in the campaigns conducted by BRD - Groupe Societe Generale and Banca Transilvania, combining an endorsement campaign with a fairytale character, all of this processed through the filter of Romania's set of cultural characteristics.


The present invention provides a method to achieve ultra-CDMA CS domain message transmission length. The method comprising: when transmitting a discovery message over the length is longer than the allowable current message length, the length of the message into a plurality of super message, the message carries information indicating that the plurality of belonging to the same message over the length of the parameter information and the current sequence number; short message service center based on the parameter received by the order of the plurality of messages, and forwarding said plurality of messages; after the receiver receives the plurality of messages based on the parameters of the said plurality of messages into the message over the length.


This article designed a 2.0 GHz difference CMOS low noise amplifier based on TSM C 0.18 μm CMOS technology.Aecording to the characteristics of the circuit stru cture,LNA was noise-optimized under the restriction on power to select optimal transistor gate.By increasing capacitance in input and selecting small value L C networking as the load of differential circuit,the characteristics of input i mpedance matching networks were improved,and the circuit gain was enhanced as w ell.The simulation results show that the amplifier well meets the index require ments of small signal amplifier and can be used for RF input login front-end.


Editorial Comment:Heat is well established to be toxic to sperm. Surprisingly little is known about which environmental heat sources disturb human spermatogenesis in vivo and by how much. Most studies focus almost completely on how much the scrotal temperature increases when exposed to a heating source. To their credit, these investigators studied bulk seminal parameters, sperm nucleic acid characteristics and sperm mitochondrial function at various points after sauna exposure and observed a reversible degradation of all. While the study lacked a true parallel control group, it is closer to an evidence-based recommendation regarding sauna use than many similar published investigations of various heating sources, namely that men who are trying to impregnate their partners should stay away from the sauna.


The traditional English teaching pay a close attention to the continuous accumulation of the knowledge, emphasizing oral repetition training, completely ignoring the ability training of learners, in the course of time, learners have a dislike for English learning. With the development of Linguistics, Psychology and Pedagogy, people have a new understanding of the oral English Teaching, aiming at the disadvantages of the Traditional Approach, following the Communicative Approach that adapts to the pace of reform.


Poly(3-hexylthiophene) was quantitatively brominated and subsequently used in the Suzuki cross-coupling with a boronic ester of a nitroxide to form a macroinitiator bearing a TEMPO group on each thienyl ring. This macroinitiator initiated the nitroxide-mediated radical polymerization of styrene and 4-chloromethylstyrene (CMS), and subsequently reacted with C60 to yield soluble graft, rod-coil polymers. Films of the polymers display a bi-continuous phase structure as revealed by AFM. Similar polymers, in which only a fraction of the thienyl units boasted C60-bearing side chains, displayed optical properties representative of extensive π-delocalization. The potential application of this methodology for the synthesis of graft polymers for photovoltaic devices is discussed.


FMEA has been widely adopted and has become standard practice in many manufacturing companies and service industries, even some special domains. Traditionally, to utilize the technology of FMEA to improve the decision is in the order from the bigger Risk Priority Number to the smaller ones, but many scholars questioned the RPN method, and proposed some new methods to improve. However, these methods do not consider the interdependence between the causes of failure and current method of control, and the current method of control may interact with the cause of failure. Therefore, these old methods may decrease the risk of certain failure mode, but may not eliminate the overall risks, even increase it. Hence, the research advances to estimate the weights of severity (S), occurrence (O) and detection (D), and get the new risk assessment data, by which to decide the priority of improvement, then to improve the above shortcomings. At last, the paper proves the method does decrease the overall risk by an actual case, thus to verify the feasibility and effectiveness of the method. Keyword: RPN; FMEA; ANP


This work presents the design and implementation of a low-complexity beam steering polar transceiver based on a revised DDS-PLL phase shifter architecture. The proposed modulator-less topology targets narrowband communications for enhanced Internet-of-Things systems, and has been prototyped using an FPGA evaluation board and a custom PCB with four PLLs centered at 2.453-GHz. Measured system performance are discussed for an experimental data rate of 32-kbps achieved through the implementation of a 16-PSK modulation. Being a frequency independent architecture, the proposed solution represents a very effective choice in multi-band devices and it has the potential for being integrated as an RF System-on-Chip.


Wide usage of new approaches in radiovision for the sake of radio astronomical investigation is expected as they can fix image independently of the atmosphere state. New ranges of radiation registration promise to show new processes and phenomena in astronomy. Existing Sun radiovision system doesn't give possibility to resolve the details of the processes on the Sun fine structure. Near zone of the radiotelescope is so big that it doesn't allow to measure Sun radiovision system Point Spread Function (PSF) by the ground based methods. By the other words, it's impossible to estimate minimal point object (PSF) that could be seen on the Sun by ground based methods. The task of radiovision system PSF estimation was solved valuing the Sun's edge in the assumption of PSF circular symmetry. In the paper the possibilities of developed dialog complex of complicated Sun's radio observing system modeling with subsequent antenna pattern distortions compensation by linear and nonlinear methods.


In this study, the characteristics of Yeosu's Greenhouse Gas(GHG) (CO2, CH4, N2O) emissions from energy and IPPU(Industrial Processes and Product Use) sectors from 2000 to 2007 were investigated. The methodology as "Guidelines for Local Governments Greenhouse Gas Inventories 2009" was prov...


Abstract: Background: Cytogenetic aberrations are of prognostic significance in childhood acute lymphoblastic leukaemias and a high detection rate could improve the biological understanding and classification of these diseases.


Mr. SECCOMBE HETT said that he had been very interested in Dr. Davis's description of the case of cavernous sinus thrombosis without thrombosis of the lateral sinus. He himself had had a case of double cavernous sinus thrombosis without thrombosis of the lateral sinus. The patient, a boy aged 8, was admitted to the Throat Hospital, Golden Square, with discharge from both ears, and pain and tenderness over the right mastoid region. A few days previously the tonsils and adenoids had been removed, and the discharge was said to have come on twenty-four hours after the operation (subsequently there was found to be a history of old otorrhcea). The right mastoid was explored and pus found in the antrum and round the sinus. The sinus itself was found to be normal. The general condition became worse, with symptoms of high fever, and a second operation was performed. The mastoid was opened up, and pus found exuding from the neighbourhood of the jugular bulb--a probe passed along the track led down to the internal carotid. The jugular was exposed and found healthy; the left mastoid and lateral sinus were then explored but nothing abnormal found. The boy had cedema of the right eyelid twenty-four hours before death. At the post-mortem the right cavernous sinus contained pus, and there was thrombosis of the circular sinus and left cavernous sinus. There was no thrombosis of the lateral sinus, and both superior and inferior petrosal sinuses were normal. Pus tracked along the internal carotid into the cavernous sinus, and he wondered whether the infection had travelled through veins passing along the carotid canal.


Metabolic diseases such as atherosclerosis and diabetes have been long known to correlate with obesity. Careful investigation, however, has shown that these conditions are more closely related to body fat distribution than to excess weight per se.1 Research in this area began with a simple distinction between persons having primarily "upper body" fat or "lower body" fat, which revealed that individuals with upper body fat were at risk for metabolic complications.2 Methodologic advancements subsequently permitted the subdivision of body compartments into smaller regions of interest; the end result was the identification of abdominal and specifically visceral (omental plus mesenteric) fat as a mediator of the metabolic syndrome and its attendant complications of diabetes and cardiovascular disease.3 Visceral fat is considered a logical trigger of metabolic dysfunction because of its enhanced lipolytic activity and more abundant cytokine expression than other fat depots.4,5 In addition, because of its direct portal venous drainage, visceral fat is believed to have a direct influence on the metabolic state of the liver. Indeed, in a recent population-based study, visceral fat was identified as an important determinant of hepatic steatosis.6

Given the connection between visceral fat and the presence of fat within the liver, a logical next question is whether visceral fat is linked also to the more serious and progressive entity nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). Efforts have been made to address this issue on a large scale, but the task has been challenging because investigators have relied on surrogate measures to assess visceral fat and liver disease. Ruhl and Everhart7 pursued the question in 2003 by studying 5,724 individuals from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) III cohort. Using the information gathered from the cohort, they determined that the waist–hip ratio, an indicator of total (visceral plus subcutaneous) abdominal fat, was indeed a predictor of abnormal alanine aminotransferase (ALT; >43 IU/L) independent of body mass index (BMI). This finding was corroborated by Stranges et al8 in a separate, population-based study utilizing abdominal height as a measure of visceral obesity. The acquisition of dual x-ray absorptiometry (DXA) data on NHANES participants from 1999 through 2004, however, presented an opportunity for Ruhl and Everhart to revisit the relationship between visceral fat and ALT in more depth and with more precision than had been possible in their original study. In this issue of Gastroenterology,9 they used the 1999–2004 NHANES cohort to evaluate ALT as a function of 4 body composition measurements by DXA. Importantly, in the new study, they adopted gender-specific cutoff levels for ALT (44 IU/L for men and 31 IU/L for women) that were based on the 95th percentile of ALT from the cohort.

The current study is more than twice the size of the one conducted in 2003, with clinical data being obtained from 11,821 patients (5,903 men and 5,918 women). Complete body composition measurements were collected from 78% of the cohort and imputed from the remainder so that all 11,821 were included in the final analysis. DXA data were separated into 4 categories: trunk fat mass, trunk lean mass, extremity fat mass, and extremity lean mass. All body composition measures were divided into quintiles and the risk of an ALT elevation reported as an odds ratio compared with the lowest quintile. Although in the initial evaluation all 4 body composition measurements correlated positively with a risk of ALT elevation, multivariate adjustment revealed that trunk fat was associated independently with ALT. This relationship was true for both men and women, although it was more striking in men. Importantly, when trunk fat was evaluated together with BMI and waist circumference in a multivariate-adjusted model, trunk fat persisted as a predictor of an abnormal ALT level, whereas BMI and waist circumference did not. This speaks to a specific connection between abdominal (presumably, visceral) fat and a marker of actual liver disease. Intriguingly, when the cohort was subdivided into ethnic groups, the fact that non-Hispanic black men had lower trunk fat emerged as the explanation why they also had lower ALT levels than non-Hispanic white men. Differences in trunk fat, however, could not account for ethnic differences in ALT between white and Hispanic men or any ethnic group in women. This deserves further attention, because differences among whites, blacks, and Hispanics in the prevalence of hepatic steatosis have been attributed to ethnicity-based differences in visceral fat.6 That the relationship between visceral fat and liver disease (measured by ALT) could be independent of the relationship between visceral fat and hepatic steatosis is intriguing. Such a theory has been proposed recently by van der Poorten et al.10

When the data comparing ALT with trunk fat in the NHANES cohort were adjusted for serum markers of diabetes or the metabolic syndrome, the magnitude of the correlation diminished but remained significant in both men and women. The fact that some of the relationship between trunk fat and ALT was unrelated to the metabolic syndrome is in accord with evidence that other hepatic abnormalities, such as hepatic steatosis, also align with visceral fat independently of insulin resistance.6 Taken together, these observations raise the possibility that hepatic steatosis and NASH, 2 entities we have tried hard to argue belong in the metabolic syndrome, may arise in part from factors unrelated to insulin resistance. This is not a disavowal that insulin resistance is related to the pathogenesis of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease,11 but rather an opportunity to think broadly that visceral fat may have effects on the liver that transcend insulin resistance. Yet another point that should be considered is that visceral fat may not be the primary adipose tissue compartment triggering the metabolic syndrome in all individuals.6,12–14 This is true despite the undisputed metabolic activity of visceral fat.15

One important limitation of the NHANES study was that DXA, despite its greater sophistication than waist–hip ratio for measuring abdominal fat, still could not distinguish visceral from subcutaneous fat in the study subjects. This shortcoming could explain why the authors observed a higher prevalence of ALT levels in men than women at the same quintiles of trunk fat. Women have more subcutaneous abdominal fat than men16; consequently, a woman with an identical trunk fat measurement to a man by DXA will have less visceral fat, and presumably therefore lower ALT. Despite the imperfections of DXA, it was remarkable that the multivariate-adjusted correlation between trunk fat and ALT was nearly linear across trunk fat quintiles for men and women. This is quite different than the relationship between waist– hip ratio and ALT in the NHANES cohort from 2003, which did not increase until the waist– hip ratio reached the upper half of the measured range. Stated alternatively, trunk fat seems to be a more sensitive indicator of liver injury than the waist– hip ratio. It predicts that even a small amount of fat within the abdomen poses an important risk of liver disease. Ruhl and Everhart lamented that cross-sectional nature of the NHANES study prevented them from determining whether reducing trunk fat would improve liver injury. Although this is true, other studies are emerging that prove aerobic exercise can reduce visceral fat17 and improve serum ALT18 in patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease without causing changes in body weight or insulin sensitivity. Indeed, the ability of exercise to preferentially mobilize abdominal/visceral fat has been recognized for many years.19

Based on the work of Ruhl and Everhart,9 as well as another large-scale population study published in 2009,6 it is evident that abdominal/visceral fat coincides with hepatic steatosis and also with ALT. Does this information help us to discern who among the viscerally obese is at risk for both hepatic steatosis and increased ALT in the form of NASH? Unfortunately, not necessarily. Although hepatic steatosis and ALT have at times been shown to vary together in relation to visceral obesity,20,21 at other times visceral obesity predicts liver injury independent of hepatic steatosis.10,22 This argues against a linear model in which visceral fat promotes steatosis and thereafter steatohepatitis, but instead supports a complex relationship in which visceral fat influences steatosis and liver injury independently (Figure 1). The findings from the NHANES cohort will no doubt spark further investigation into the nature of this intricate relationship.

Figure 1

(Top panel) Linear model, in which visceral fat promotes fatty liver disease by stimulating hepatic steatosis, which then progresses to liver disease (elevated ALT; NASH). (Bottom panel) An alternative model, in which visceral fat can influence hepatic ...

In summary, Ruhl and Everhart provide definitive evidence in a large, US population that trunk fat is a harbinger of liver disease. Importantly, the connection between trunk fat and liver injury cannot be fully explained by the ability of trunk fat to promote the metabolic syndrome. The findings suggest that visceral adipose tissue interacts with the liver in complex ways to influence hepatic steatosis and steatohepatitis—they pave the way for future exploration of the axis between visceral adipose tissue and the liver.


BERTHOLD, P.1993. Bird migration: A general survey. Oxford University Press, Oxford. BIEWENER, A. A., K. P. DIAL, AND G. E. GOSLOW. 1992. Pectoralis muscle force and power output during flight in the starling. Journal of Experimental Biology 164:1-18. DELIUS, J. D., AND E W. VOLLRATH. 1973. Rotational compensation reflexes independent of the labyrinth. Journal of Comparative Physiology 83: 123-134.


Biopsy After cavity implant includes a radiopaque element, the core portion, and the shell portion. The core portion is coupled to a radiopaque element comprises a first porous matrix that defines a first controlled pore architecture. Shell portion includes a second porous matrix defining linked to the core moiety, a hole architecture that is different from the second control to the first controlled pore architecture. .The 30


Closed-circuit ejector cooling systems have never in the past achieved acceptable operating efficiencies in their vapor-compression cycle using standard refrigerants. Despite their long history, relative simplicity, quietness, rugged design, low maintenance and low cost, they could not compete with electric-motor-driven compressors. Phase I is an assessment of two immiscible fluids in an ejector cooling system with different latent heat capacity and molecular weights intended to require less heat in the boiler producing the propellant and taking more heat out in the evaporator cooling fluid. Actual tests corrected to standard conditions and neglecting thermal losses showed 0.5 closed-cycle thermal COP (excluding stack losses), higher than ever previously achieved but below original expectations. Computer programs developed indicate higher COP values are attainable along with competitive first costs.


Objective Construction of plasmids pCVc,pCVf and expression plasmids pSRVc,pSRVf enconding Ⅴ+ domain gene of S.mutans serotype c and S.mutans serotype f.Methods Ⅴ+ domain was amplifed from sr gene by polymerase chain reaction(PCR) and linked with plasmid pCR 2.1,then transferred to expression plasmid pET21a(+).The recombinants were tested by agarose electrophoresis after the effect of restriction enzyme.Results The product of PCR was 1.16kb,which was in consistent with the sequence of Ⅴ+ domain of sr gene.Ⅴ+ gene was correctly ligated to pET21a(+) to form recombinant plasmids pSRVc and pSRVf.Conclusion The expression plasmids pSRVc,pSRVf have been successfully constructed.


A field experiment was conducted during the winter season of 1993–94 to 1995–96 at Pulse Research Station, R.A.K. College of Agriculture, Sehore, Madhya Pradesh, to study the effect of weed-management practices on chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) under late-sown condition. Two hand-weedings at 30 and 45 days after sowing (DAS) (weed-free) completely controlled the weeds. Significantly lowest weed dry matter and highest weed-control efficiency were observed when 1 hand-weeding was done at 45 DAS. This treatment was followed by integration of 1 hand-weeding at 45 DAS with pre-emergence application of pendimethalin 0.75 kg/ha in reducing weed dry matter and in increasing the weed-control efficiency. Significantly higher grain yield (1, 723 kg/ha) was recorded in weed-free plots. Among the.weed-control treatments, pendimethalin 0.75 kg/ha coupled with 1 hand-weeding at 45 DAS recorded higher grain yield (1576 kg/ha).


Consumer interest in the potential benefits of grass-finished beef is high, but adoption of this approach to cattle feeding has been limited in Iowa. Although some producers successfully meet this niche market demand, consistently producing a high-value carcass from forage-fed cattle is challenging. Intramuscular fat or marbling is a major factor in quality grading of beef. Marbling is heavily influenced by cattle genetics and energy concentration of the diet. Finishing cattle on grain is a proven approach to consistently produce a highvalue carcass for the commodity beef market. Researchers at Iowa State University have pioneered the use of ultrasound measurements to select Angus cattle with high-marbling potential. Forage quality can be manipulated through pasture management, ultimately influencing cattle growth and performance. It is hypothesized that grass-finished cattle will consistently produce high value carcasses if excellent pasture management is combined with combining high-marbling genetics.


Apoptosis inhibitor UL38 (331 aa, ~37 kDa) is encoded by the cytomegalovirus UL38 gene. This protein plays a role in the inhibition of host cell apoptosis.


Abstract This paper describes the influence of two polymers, fulvic acid (FA) and polyacrylic acids (PAAs) of comparable molecular mass, on the electrokinetic potential of model surfaces encountered in clay minerals: silica (SiO2), aluminum oxide (γ-Al2O3), and gibbsite [γ-Al(OH)3]. Measurements at pH 6.5 ± 0.2 show that FA and PAAs modifiy the potentials of aluminum oxide and gibbsite, but leave the silica surface unchanged. A chlorite clay mineral (ripidolite), milled to increase the numbers of oxy-hydroxy groups at newly created surfaces, was exposed to FA and PAAs, carriers of carboxylic groups, to study their influence on electrokinetic potential. The key to the interaction is that polymers hold metal ions (Al, Mg, Fe) in the edge surfaces, while siloxane groups show limited interaction or none at all. The results offer an explanation of why clay mineral particles are always negatively charged in natural waters.


In this paper the causal nexus between futures return, trading volume, open interest and volatility for S&P CNX Nifty futures markets were analyzed for the period from January 1, 2002 to September 30, 2009. In view of the priority given to dynamic relationship in conducting this study, the Johansen-Juselius Multivariate cointegration, Vector Error Correction Model (VECM), Impulse Response Function (IRF) and Variance Decomposition (VDC), are used as empirical evidence. Our result reveals, that the causal linkage of return are influenced by all the other variables, whereas the ECTs coefficients are negative and significant in the long-run but their values are too high to be in equilibrium. We conclude that, any deviation from the equilibrium Cointegrating relationships, as measured by the ECTs, is mainly caused by changes in returns and volatility. In the case of IRF appears to be broadly consistent with earlier VECM results trading volume, open interest and volatility remain consistent over the period, whereas the fluctuation in futures return was mainly determined by the other future market variables. Finally, there exist a bi-directional causal relationship between futures market variables in the short-run and unidirectional causality running from trading volume and open interest with return and volatility bears the brunt of short-run adjustment to long-run equilibrium.


With driving of upholding ancient custom,some traditional techniques have been restored and developed,the popular of "Song-style brocade" is typical.Although Suzhou's "Song-style brocade" in the Ming Dynasty is very different from techniques in Song Dynasty,but the patterns was mainly to imitate the characteristics of the Song brocade's patterns,and this influence also extends to the style of burden brocade painting.


Communication functions in an inter-vehicle network that connects monitoring and control devices and an intra-vehicle network that couples an in-vehicle device mounted on each of vehicles and each of the monitoring and control devices are utilized. A train clock station that is ranked at an uppermost in a hierarchical structure and a vehicle clock station that is ranked in a middle in the hierarchical structure are set from among the monitoring and control devices. Other devices are set as a correction information waiting station that is ranked at a lowermost in the hierarchical structure. The train clock station appropriately performs a time correction of the own station with time information that is arbitrarily obtained as the reference time. The vehicle clock station performs a time correction of the own station based on a time-correction-information message transmitted from the train clock station. The correction information waiting station performs a time correction of the own station based on a time-correction-information message transmitted from the vehicle clock station.


The radiolarian species, Protocystis thomsoni (Murray), is reported for the first time from the northeast Pacific Ocean. A detailed study indicated that this species shows considerable variation in the shape of the shell, as well as in the peristome and its teeth. Statistical treatment indicated that the shape of the shell has no taxonomic significance. The local distribution of the species and its position within the water column are discussed and compared with those of specimens from other parts of the world.


Researches on generational variation of antecedences of non- economic strategies of family firms are limited. We partially bridge this gap in the literature by theoretically and empirically establi...


O2 plasma treatment was performed on the JSR THB-430N negative UV photoresist to modify the surface wettability for micro-bumps electrodepositing. Wettability of photoresist was enhanced after O2 plasma treatment. The samples were placed for different time at room temperature. Micro-FTIR indicated that the hydroxyl groups were introduced on the surface of photoresist after O2 plasma surface treatment, meanwhile, the change of surface roughness and morphology was measured by atomic force microscopy. The results of contact angle between photoresist and test liquid showed that the wettability reduced with the increase of time after O2 plasma treatment. The best wettability which had the minimum contact angle existed within a short period after O2 plasma treatment. The combination of proper surface morphology and more hydroxyl groups are the reasons for photoresist to have better wettability. The mechanism of the aging effect on wettability was also discussed.


We calculate the two-level pump–probe absorption coefficient including both upper-to-lower-level decay and level decays to a still lower-lying reservoir level. The probe-absorption profile can have arbitrary ratios of the natural linewidth and detuning to the Doppler width. We observe and explain new line-shape features that occur when the two main levels decay to the reservoir level at different rates.


This paper discusses socio-spatial dynamics and the transformation of the residential building stock in the global city of Zurich. It deals with five questions. Does Zurich exhibit the type of social polarisation outlined by the global city hypothesis? If so, how does social polarisation become visible in the context of a European city? Which actors in the real estate market are catering to the special tastes of the new urban middle class? With whom does the new middle class compete for space in the city? The paper argues that real estate developers customise the residential building stock and produce residential units for a targeted market—the new urban middle class. Furthermore, a new socio-spatial phenomenon—ennoblement—has evolved, as the new urban middle class takes residence in traditional upper-class neighbourhoods. By investing its own economic capital, this new middle class is hoping to profit from upper-class social and cultural capital.


Objective
To investigate and analyze the risk factors for the early complications (within 2 weeks postoperatively) after three kinds of anterior cervical surgeries.

Methods
From June 2010 to October 2014, three kinds of anterior cervical surgeries, including anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF), cervical artificial disk replacement (ADR) and anterior cervical corpectomy and fusion (ACCF), were performed in 348 patients (male 215, female 133) in our hospital. The average age was 49.5±11.0 years, ranging from 14 to 77 years. Pathological classification included cervical disc herniation in 195 cases, cervical spondylosis in 91, cervical ossification of posterior longitudinal ligament in 36, and cervical fracture-dislocation in 26. ACDF was conducted in 254 cases, ADR in 62 cases, with one-level in 245 cases and two-level in 71 cases. The surgical segments involved C3, 4 in 24 cases, C4, 5 in 52 cases, C5, 6 in 136 cases and C6, 7 in 33 cases in one-level cases, as well as C3, 4 and C4, 5 in 6 cases, C4, 5 and C5, 6 in 39 cases and C5, 6 and C6, 7 in 26 cases in two-level cases. ACCF was conducted in 32 cases, with C4 corpectomy in 4 cases, C5 corpectomy in 17 cases and C6 corpectomy in 11 cases. Age, sex, body mass index, blood glucose level, serum albumin level, history of hypertension, smoking status, alcohol intake status, surgeon seniority, operation choosing, operative segment, operative time, blood loss, definitive diagnosis as well as early complications were recorded. Univariate logistic regression analysis was used to analyze the risk factors of early complications in anterior cervical surgery. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed on the variables with statistical significance. Odds ratios (OR) were calculated for each risk factor.

Results
Early complications occurred in 15 (4.3%) of 348 patients, including 6 cases of dysphagia, 3 of hematoma, 2 of glottic edema, 2 of cerebrospinal fluid leakage, 1 of nerve root injury and 1 of implant displacement. Age not less than 50 years old (χ2=7.450, P=0.006) and operative segment with C3, 4 being involved (χ2=9.119, P=0.003) affected the occurrence of early complications. The incidence of early complications in patients with 50 years of age or older was 7.1 times than that of patients under 50 years old (OR=7.115, P=0.011). Moreover, the incidence of early complications in patients with C3, 4 involved in operations was 4.1-fold higher than those without C3, 4 involved (OR=4.066, P=0.019).

Conclusion
Age and operative segment were risk factors for early complications after anterior cervical surgery. Patients aged 50 years or older and those with C3, 4 segment involved were more likely to have early complications within 2 weeks postoperatively. The present study suggested that surgeons should take full account of age and operative segment when making medical decisions before anterior cervical surgery.

Key words:
Cervical vertebrae; Postoperative complications; Risk factors


Results of researches are presented in article for 2010-2012 on studying morphobiological features of 47 spring soft wheat cultivars steppe ecological type from different ecologo-geographic origin. The aim of the research comparing the effectiveness evaluation of drought resistance of cultivars and lines of spring wheat on the length of the upper internode and the height of the plant in natural drought conditions. The study was conducted on the experimental field of the Altai research Institute of agriculture of Russian agricultural Academy. The soil of the experimental plot is a leached chernozem. In 2010 there was a drought in the first half of vegetation. For 2011 was characterized by a moderate drought during the whole vegetation period. Weather 2012 characterized by sustainable extreme drought. Varieties sown on two fore crop (fallow land, crop remains). There were 3 replicates of the experimental materials with randomization into repetition. Elements of the yield structure were determined on the basis of analysis of 30 plants of every cultivar. Criterion drought resistance varieties performed yield on a background of natural drought, which was calculated correlation coefficients for the height of the plant and the length of the upper internode. A statistically significant correlations of values of these characteristics with the yield varieties and productivity of the main spike in dry conditions were detected (0,30-0,72 plant height yield; 0,29-0,76 plant height weight of productivity of the main spike; 0,28-0,66 length of upper internode yield; 0,38-0,64 length of upper internode productivity of the main spike. Groups varieties, significantly different from each other along the length of the upper internode, in fewer cases there were significant differences in elements yields than those allocated to the height of the plant (50% of cases to 78%). The most suitable feature assessment of drought resistance varieties of soft wheat of the two considered is the height of the plants.


SUMMARY

We have developed a method to measure finite-frequency amplitude and traveltime anomalies of teleseismic P waves. We use a matched filtering approach that models the first 25 s of a seismogram after the P arrival, which includes the depth phases pP and sP. Given a set of broad-band seismograms from a teleseismic event, we compute synthetic Green's functions using published moment tensor solutions. We jointly deconvolve global or regional sets of seismograms with their Green's functions to obtain the broad-band source time function. The matched filter of a seismogram is the convolution of the Green's function with the source time function. Traveltimes are computed by cross-correlating each seismogram with its matched filter. Amplitude anomalies are defined as the multiplicative factors that minimize the RMS misfit between matched filters and data. The procedure is implemented in an iterative fashion, which allows for joint inversion for the source time function, amplitudes, and a correction to the moment tensor. Cluster analysis is used to identify azimuthally distinct groups of seismograms when source effects with azimuthal dependence are prominent. We then invert for one source time function per group. We implement this inversion for a range of source depths to determine the most likely depth, as indicated by the overall RMS misfit, and by the non-negativity and compactness of the source time function. Finite-frequency measurements are obtained by filtering broad-band data and matched filters through a bank of passband filters.

The method is validated on a set of 15 events of magnitude 5.8 to 6.9. Our focus is on the densely instrumented Western US. Quasi-duplet events ('quplets') are used to estimate measurement uncertainty on real data. Robust results are achieved for wave periods between 24 and 2 s. Traveltime dispersion is on the order of 0.5 s. Amplitude anomalies are on the order of 1 db in the lowest bands and 3 db in the highest bands, corresponding to amplification factors of 1.2 and 2.0, respectively. Measurement uncertainties for amplitudes and traveltimes depend mostly on station coverage, accuracy of the moment tensor estimate, and frequency band. We investigate the influence of those parameters in tests on synthetic data. Along the RISTRA array in the Western US, we observe amplitude and traveltime patterns that are coherent on scales of hundreds of kilometres. Below two sections of the array, we observe a combination of frequency-dependent amplitude and traveltime patterns that strongly suggest wavefront healing effects.


This paper aims to account for that-t effects in terms of the EPP requirement under Chomsky's (2008) probe-goal system, thereby supporting the position that the EPP should incorporate a condition required by the PF interface. The account makes crucial use of the mechanism of parallel operations proposed by Chomsky (2008) as well as Fox and Pesetsky's (2005) mechanism of linear ordering. It is further demonstrated that suspension of that-t effects occurs when the EPP is satisfied by not a wh-subject moving out of the that-clause complement but rather other material such as expletives, adverbs and rich morphology on T.


A globally adaptive image compression structure has been developed for use in the tactical environment of a remotely piloted vehicle. The control structure is based on an image compression algorithm RM2 but can be easily extended to standard algorithms. It is shown that this structure provides an operator with the flexibility to dynamically maximize the usefulness of a limited and changing bit rate and should significantly improve overall system performance in tactical environments.


Introduction. Chapter 1: Arming Yourself with Math Basics. Chapter 2: Evaluating Arithmetic Expressions. Chapter 3: Say What? Making Sense of Word Problems. Chapter 4: Figuring Out Fractions. Chapter 5: Deciphering Decimals. Chapter 6: Puzzling Out Percents. Chapter 7: Fraction, Decimal, and Percent Word Problems. Chapter 8: Using Variables in Algebraic Expressions. Chapter 9: X's Secret Identity: Solving Algebraic Equations. Chapter 10: Decoding Algebra Word Problems. Chapter 11: Geometry: Perimeter, Area, Surface Area, and Volume. Chapter 12: Picture It! Graphing Information. Chapter 13: Ten Essential Math Concepts. Index.


Background: Ear, nose, and throat (ENT)-related complaints are among the most frequent medical issues worldwide. Our objective was to evaluate the awareness level of, and attitudes toward, ENT-related diseases among residents of the Makkah region of Saudi Arabia. Methodology: A cross-sectional study was conducted in June 2023 by posting an online survey in Arabic on various social media platforms. The survey contained 23 questions to determine the participants' general knowledge about frequent ENT-related issues. Results: The study involved 420 participants. Most participants (82.1%) had poor knowledge about ENT-related issues (score <50%). Regarding general knowledge, 64.0% of participants properly answered the safety of using cotton buds, and 35.2% correctly answered the question related to respiratory viral infections and antibiotic use. A minority of participants, 14.8% and 11.4%, correctly answered questions about the role of vitamin C in the prevention and treatment of the common cold and the difference between vertigo and dizziness, respectively. Most individuals had an acceptable level of knowledge regarding ear and hearing issues (score ≥50%). The most correctly answered question was the one related to smoking and laryngeal cancer (90.5%). The most commonly used information sources were society, websites, and ENT clinics. Conclusion: According to this study, poor knowledge about ENT-related complaints is frequent among individuals in the Makkah region. Furthermore, our results suggest increasing awareness and educating the community through community campaigns and awareness programs because the community was the main source of information for survey participants.


Secondary ion mass spectrometry was used to profile the diffusion of oxygen in polycrystalline β‐cristobalite and vitreous SiO2. The tracer concentration profiles of cristobalite are consistent with a model based on two mechanisms: bulk and short‐circuit diffusion. The profiles of partially crystallized samples containing vitreous SiO2 and β‐cristobalite were fitted using the sum of two complementary error functions and taking account of some interstitial‐network exchange. The bulk oxygen diffusivity, in the temperature range 1240–1500 °C, is about five times greater for vitreous silica than for β‐cristobalite.


In the paper, an analytical method of the solution of a governing nonlinear eigenproblem is proposed. It can be directly applied into analysis of axisymmetric conical quantum dots embedded in a matrix. The method is based on the use of variational formulation combined with the method of the Rayleigh quotient and the series expansions. In order to explain the form of the series expansions (the Bessel and sine series), the analytical solutions for quantum dots are demonstrated and discussed. The solved example shows the efficiency of the method.


As an outstanding modernist novelist,Sherwood Anderson,who gradually shifts his focus of creation from the objective world to the spiritual world,creates a new and unique art of fiction,and shows the direction for modern American fiction.The present article,with the focus on three dimensions,makes an analysis of Anderson's art of fiction,especially his art of short stories and its profound influence on the following generation of writers.


Navigation is extremely difficult for the visually impaired users. In this paper, we describe an Android application, the Direction Navigation Assistant Mobile Application (B-DiNAMA), as our initial work in liberating the visually impaired users to navigate through the neighbourhood conveniently including trivial locations and improve their accessibility via smart phones. B- DiNAMA makes full use of the speech recognition technology to indicate the current position of the user and the destination the user wishes to go by allowing the map to be preprogrammed accordingly. B-DiNAMA in return gives direction (via audio output) to the user and the directions are updated in every 5 meters as the user started walking. This paper highlights the lessons learned from the pilot user study, which should be significant especially in improving the application. The results of the pilot user study shows that the application is proven to be interactive, useful and efficient as the users used it.


Issues concerning role orientation,vocational duty,benefits,personnel stability,working mechanism,level of professionalization,career planning,professional ability and occupational consciousness have become stumbling blocks in instructors' specialization and professionalization development.According to the existence of the various issues in the college instructors' specialization and professional development,the paper holds that the specialization and professionalization of college instructors can be forcefully propelled through defining career orientation,setting strict professional access system,subdividing different roles of instructors,intensifying job training,enhancing career planning,strengthening post assessment management,perfecting incentive mechanism,improving work environment,strengthening scientific research,improving leadership mechanism,establishing investment mechanism,standardizing system safeguard mechanism,as well as establishing all-round work practice in subject platform.


Objective: The aim of this study was to pilot test an integrated treatment approach, including mindful yoga and auricular acupuncture, for Veterans with overlapping mental health disorders and persistent pain. Design: A single-arm, quasi-experimental study with a 12-week intervention period. Methods: Veterans were referred to the program through their established mental health provider, which was marketed as a trauma sensitive mindful yoga program with optional auricular acupuncture for Veterans currently undergoing mental health treatment. The program consisted of 12 weekly 90-minute group yoga sessions that included mindful breathing, mindful movement, and guided relaxation. Auricular acupuncture was also offered but not required prior to each yoga session, where five acupuncture points were targeted for relaxation and stress relief. Stress, pain, and anxiety were assessed pre and post intervention using the Perceived Stress Scale, the PEG scale, and the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 Scale. Results: Out of fifty-five Veterans entering the program with a mental health diagnosis, twenty-seven Veterans completed the 12-week Mindful Yoga program. For those that completed the program, the average attendance was 9.5 out of 12 sessions. Means scores show improvement in perceived stress, pain, and anxiety compared with baseline scores. Statistically significant improvements were noted in both perceived stress (P = 0.0007) and anxiety (P = 0.0093). Conclusions: This study suggests that combining mindful yoga with auricular acupuncture can reduce symptoms of stress, pain, and anxiety in Veterans that commit to the program. Although this was a small sample, mean scores showed statistically significant improvements in perceived stress and anxiety and modest improvements in pain, warranting further study.


Pointing to the contradiction between people and land,food production safety has become increasingly prominent.Combining with many years' practices of land consolidation,local conditions and actual benefits,land consolidation work has been done well.Through perfecting management system,drawing up plans scientifically,establishing monitoring mechanisms and strengthening team construction,dynamic balance of total cultivated land has been gained for 4 years and significant social,economic and ecological benefits have been gained as well.


Three available robust reliability indexes include the robust reliability index based on interval analysis,the robust reliability index based on expansion function,and the robust reliability index based on infinite norm.The characteristics of these indexes are discussed in detail,and the advantage and disadvantage of them are demonstrated.To solve the existing problem,a general robust reliability index is set up,which may be applied to linear system and nonlinear system including various uncertainty convexes.In process of solving the proposed index,the multiple size parameters of many various uncertainty convexes are transform into the single size of a general uncertainty convex which includes all of the basic variables,then the lower limit of the single size,which makes the general convex overlap with failure set,is taken as the robust reliability index ?.The proposed index shows the safety degree of linear system and nonlinear system definitely in the current conditions.η1 shows that the system failure is possible in the current uncertainty condition of basic variables.η1 shows that the system failure is impossible in the current uncertainty condition of basic variables,and that the system is in critical condition of safety and possible failure when the size parameter of the current uncertainty convex is multiplied by η.And the solving of the robust reliability index η is transformed into an optimization problem,which can be solved by the simulated method.Finally,the results of illustrations show the rationality and wide applicability of the presented method.


The present article turns around the incorporation to the internal law of Agreement 169 of OIT, specifically with regard to the consultation to the original people, as stables article 6 of the related international instrument. The restlessness on it, is based in if its nature is binding or not. Previous to the boarding of this subject, it's a necessity to answer what is a legal system. There were consulted for the effect, fundamentally, works on Latin American history, tie works to the analysis of the legal systems, as well as articles of magazines and newspapers, in addition to electronic information available in the Internet. Key words: Original people; racism; treaties; binding.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5377/rct.v0i6.510 Revista Ciencia y Tecnologia, No. 6, Segunda epoca, junio 2010: 3-39


Miniature electronic devices have recently enabled ecologists to document relatively large amounts of animal trajectories. Modelling such trajectories may contribute to explaining the mechanisms underlying observed behaviours and to clarifying ecological processes at the scale of the population by simulating multiple trajectories. Existing approaches to animal movement modelling have mainly addressed the first objective, and are often limited when used for simulation purposes. Individual‐based models generally rely on ad hoc formulation and their empirical parametrization lacks generability, while random walks based on mathematically sound statistical inference typically consist of first‐order Markovian models calibrated at the local scale which may lead to overly simplistic description and simulation of animal trajectories. We investigate a recent deep learning tool—generative adversarial networks (GAN)—to simulate animal trajectories. GANs consist of a pair of deep neural networks that aim to capture the data distribution of some experimental dataset. They enable the generation of new instances of data that share statistical properties. This study aims at identifying relevant deep network architectures to simulate central‐place foraging trajectories, as well as at evaluating GANs drawbacks and benefits over classical methods, such as state‐switching hidden Markov models (HMM). We demonstrate the outstanding ability of deep convolutional GANs to simulate and to capture medium‐ to large‐scale properties of seabird foraging trajectories. GAN‐derived synthetic trajectories reproduced the Fourier spectral density of observed trajectories better than those simulated using HMMs. However, unlike HMMs, GANs do not adequately capture local‐scale descriptive statistics, such as step speed distributions. GANs provide a new likelihood‐free approach to calibrate complex stochastic processes and thus open new research avenues for animal movement modelling. We discuss the potential uses of GANs in movement ecology and future developments to better capture local‐scale features. In this context, embedding HMM‐based priors in GAN schemes appears as a promising research direction.


Theory and research are suggesting that personality hardiness is a composite of interrelated attitudes of commitment, control, and challenge that facilitates the management of stressful circumstances by turning them into growth-inducing rather than debilitating experiences. The two studies reported here seek to further our understanding of the overall importance of hardiness in living. The first study determines the correlational pattern between hardiness and the various scales of the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory III and the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory 2. The second study concerns the correlational pattern between hardiness and the five-factor model, as measured by the NEO Five Factor Inventory. The results of both studies suggest that both total hardiness and its components of commitment, control, and challenge express vigorous mental health.


In many lizards, chemical compounds from the femoral gland secretions are used in intraspecific communication, but most studies describing these chemicals are for European lizard species included in the Scleroglossa clade. Lizards within the Iguanian clade have been much less studied, probably because these lizards were considered to rely more on visual cues. However, many iguanian lizards have abundant femoral secretions and are able to exercise chemosensory conspecific recognition, which might be based on compounds secreted by femoral glands. To understand what determines the composition of gland secretions of lizards and their role in social behavior, we need more studies that deal with a wider range of lizard species within different taxonomic groups and to consider a larger variety of environmental conditions. By using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), we found 85 lipophilic compounds in femoral gland secretion of male and female spiny-tailed lizards, Uromastyx aegyptia microlepis. The ty...


This study investigated the effect of pre-service teachers' perceived relevance and technology anxiety on their readiness to use digital storytelling for instructional delivery. The study adopted a mixed-method research design. Pre-service teachers were trained on the basic procedures in creating digital storytelling for classroom instruction. Quantitative data was analysed using inferential statistics and qualitative data was content analysed. The result indicated that there was a high level of readiness among pre-service teachers to use digital storytelling for classroom instruction. Pre-service teachers' perceived relevance also played a significant role in their readiness to use digital storytelling for instructional delivery. It is, therefore, recommended that teacher training institutions need to provide relevant learning resources and digital tools to ensure that prospective teachers are able to acquire requisite skills in creating digital storytelling for effective classroom instruction.


Introduction: current clinical term being established worldwide. Insightful of the biology of leukoplakia is the concept of cellular atypia and epithelial dysplasia. It is the most common lesion and has high incidence of conversion into malignant lesion. Various noninvasive methods were studied to demonstrate metabolic changes in oral pathological condition. Lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) enzyme is found epithelium & serum. Conversion of a normal tissue into a premalignant lesion result in an alteration in glycolytic pathway causes variation in LDH level. Therefore this study was carried out to d changes in salivary LDH level of individual with normal and to compare it with patient of different grades oral dysplasia. Method: & Hospital were enrolled i healthy controls were taken. Unstimulated saliva measuring 1ml was collected from each of the patient by spit method. The collected sample was centrifuged & evaluated for LDH level usin 250 autoanalyzer. The data obtained were subjected to statistical analysis. Result: healthy control group. Conclusion: as it is simple noninvasive and easily accepted by the patient.


Energy flow through a static, linear photoelastic system is analysed. A physical model of the system is presented, based on spectral frequency responses of its elements. Principles of optimization of photoelastic experiments are discussed on the basis of a transfer function of the total system, of typical components, and of a corresponding set of constraints.


Objective:To explore chronic rhinosinusitis with the nasal polypsis,and the nose mirror surgery clinical curative effect.Methods:To 500 example chronic rhinosinusitis with the nasal polysis,the nose polyp good convention paranasal sinus coronal position with CT and inspect the nose the mirror,group by stages according to the seaport standard,make a follow-up visit for a year after the conventional nose mirror surgery.Results:Of 500 example chronic rhinosinusitis with the nasal polypsis.Type Ⅰ of 143 examples,125 examples cured,17 examples better,1 example inefficient.Type Ⅱ of 276 examples,196 examples cured,45 examples better,35 example inefficient.Type Ⅲ of 81 examples,34 examples cured,25 examples better,22 example inefficient.Conclusion:Chronic the curative effect of chronic rhinosinusitis Ⅰ~Ⅲ the surgery curative of the windspread pathological change and the recrudescence pathalogical change is worse than that of the single shot nasosinusitis.


The exponentiated Weibull (EW) distribution is adopted for all the turbulence strengths when aperture averaging technology is applied. Firstly, the closed expression of the average bit error rate (BER) of a free space optical (FSO) system using polarization shift keying (POLSK) modulation under EW atmosphere turbulence model is derived. Then the effects of aperture averaging under different turbulence conditions described by the EW distribution are numerically studied with computer simulation, and the average BER of POLSK modulated system is compared with that of an on-off-keying (OOK) system. Numerical results show the effects of aperture averaging on the average BER under different turbulence strengths. The POLSK modulated FSO systems can offer better BER performance compared to OOK scheme.


The parametric simulation has been carried out for optimizing the influence of the Schottky contact metal work function (contact surface interface) influence on the distribution of the built-in electrical field and consequently on static and dynamic characteristics of the JBS device. On the basis of simulations and discussions the low-power losses solution for the JBS device has been developed. The results suggest keeping the electric field strength under contact surface as low as possible in order to reduce or even avoid the relatively expensive and complex passivation solutions by the manufacturing of the JBS devices. The numerical simulator DYNAMIT 2DT-SCHOTTKY developed at the Department of Electronics TUT was used in our research.


The objective of this study is to analyze the polit ical-economic cycles in the Brazilian states from 1 995 to 2008. The hypothesis that was considered was that t he cyclical behavior in public spending caused by politically motivated election and / or party. The theoretical framework used was developed originally in the work of Downs (1957) and Nordhaus (1975). The assumptions of the model of political opportunism and Hibbs (1977) the assumptions of the model party. In the 8s of last century, the work of Alesina (1987) an Roggof and Sibert (1988) incorporated the original models the concepts of rational expectati ons and asymmetric information. Was made a econometric tests to check the influence of the electoral calendar and the party ideology on the conduct of p ublic spending. The econometric model was used panel data GMM estimator with dynamic system. The results showed that the state increase spending in election years and is set down in post-election yea rs, showing an opportunistic behavior by governments. The results also showed the expenditures implemented by the governments of different party ideologies had different behaviors, left-wing parties promote further expansion of public spending. The completio n of the work is in the process of choosing the state public expenditures are both political and partisa n cycles. Keyword: political-economic cycles, public spending, panel data dynamic.


BACKGROUND
In the day-to-day course of nursing, ethical issues are being openly articulated to a growing extent. However, nurses only rarely systematically address these issues. This subject was explored in interviews with professionals who have a particular focus on ethics.

OBJECTIVE
Gain input for further developing the skills of nursing staff in ethical reasoning.

METHOD
In two focus groups and four individual interviews, we questioned 14 professionals, including nine nurses, who have a special interest in ethics.

RESULTS
Nurses find it ethically problematic when the wishes of patients are not respected or something is forced on them, creating the impression that the care being given is exacerbating rather than alleviating the patient's suffering. These problematic aspects are often overlooked because the consequences of the action in question are not immediately apparent. Ethical issues in nursing are often addressed in informal, non-systematic discussions among nursing staff. Nurses actively and confidently engage in discussions on treatment goals, and the teamwork with doctors is usually experienced as being based on mutual respect and partnership. The inherent hierarchical role differences between nursing and medical staff nevertheless manifest in ethical issues.

CONCLUSION
Through the practical application of ethical reasoning in day-to-day nursing, structured discussions of the ethical aspects of cases and dedicated further education, nurses should learn to better recognise ethical issues in nursing and effectively analyse them and find solutions.


Flood is a common natural disaster in Malaysia. This phenomenon is mainly triggered by continuous heavy rainfall causing the water in a river or sea to cross the danger level, resulting to flood. For instance, if the drainage system is not functioning well due to blockage, it is more likely for a flood to occur, causing damages to buildings, bridges, farms, roads, automobiles, and houses. Slope of basin and type of soil are also contributing factors to causes of flood. The main objective of this research is to use Fuzzy TOPSIS to classify the most significant factors in the frequency of floods in Kedah. This method is able to select and rank the factors that cause flood for all the districts in Kedah. To obtain the data, an interview was conducted with an expert from the Department of Irrigation and Drainage Kedah. The result of this study is obtained after the closeness coefficient is calculated. The first ranking is selected as the highest proximity coefficient value that is closest to Fuzzy Positive Ideal Solution. From this study, rainfall is indicated as the most important factor followed by drainage system, type of soil and lastly, slope of basin. The result can be used by Department of Irrigation and Drainage Kedah to make early preparation and prevention plans to tackle the phenomenon.


Based on dynamic modeling, techniques for providing a robust object recognition scheme is generally described. To higher order entity group grouped cellular region, it is possible to use correlation in the temporal structure of the micro-scale cellular region. These entities represent rich structure, a high-level object can be used to encode. Object recognition may be formatted as an elastic graph matching.