127–128). Instead these families encourage the use of digital tools for creative expression and scheduling busy days empty of social connection. Here "helicopter parenting" (p. 205) drives parents to adopt digital surveillance of teenagers in their rooms. In contrast, lower income parents are less discriminatory with media that at least keep children indoors and safe. These families value an "ethic of respectful connectedness" (pp. 129–130) and expect children to demonstrate an appreciation for family bonds through their media use, thus preferring media focused on family entertainment to individualised educational or expressive activities. These findings may be particularly interesting for scholars in the mobile-education field to understand how the social values of a particular community may discourage the use of a new educational application despite its potential usefulness. The book title The Parent App refers to a whimsical desire to design a customised smartphone application that would help parents from different backgrounds navigate the risks of the digital world. While the book delivers many practical suggestions, Clark makes a powerful appeal to parents to stop just worrying about their own problems and consider the collective future their children will live in. A future where new media, influenced by broader social patterns, is increasingly deepening divisions in a country that has prided itself on equal opportunities.


The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), otherwise known as the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic presents one of the greatest medical challenges of our generation. Whilst commonly causing a viral pneumonitis, myocardial damage has also been suggested by elevated serum troponin values greater than the 99th centile in up to 30% of individuals who require hospitalisation and correlates with increased mortality.

 We aim to identify whether transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) parameters can elucidate the phenomenon of abnormal troponin levels. Furthermore, we seek to characterise the most frequent demographic, biochemical, echocardiographic features and co-morbidities associated with adverse outcomes in this cohort.

 A retrospective analysis was conducted utilising electronic patient records of consecutive hospitalised patients with a positive COVID-19 swab between 1st March and 31st October 2020 who underwent a TTE at our institution. Pertinent variables were collected including: the clinical indication, demographics including cardiovascular (CV) risk factors, peak troponin values and fundamental echocardiographic parameters.

 During this 8-month period, a total of 90 patients underwent a TTE. The mean age of the cohort was 63 years of age and 56% were male. More than half (56.6%) were admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU). A salient 41.1% (n=37) of our cohort succumbed to this devastating virus. Notably, 38.9% (n=35) were of black and minority ethnic origin (BAME). A striking 64.9% (n=24) of patients who died had hypertension. The mean troponin levels were 168.7 ng/L and 176.6 ng/L (0–34 ng/L) in the survivors and non-survivors group respectively. With regards to TTE, the left ventricular parameters were similar between both groups with a mean left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) of 60.6% in the non-survivors. Conversely, both right ventricular (RV) dysfunction (37.8%) and raised pulmonary artery systolic pressures (PASP) (51.4%) were markedly more frequent in the patients who perished due to COVID-19 infection.

 Remarkably, in this extremely ill group of patients who died, 91.9% of patients had a preserved LVEF. There were no overt differences between troponin levels in the survivors and non-survivors. However, hypertension, RV dysfunction and raised PASP were distinctly more prominent in the non-survivors. Thus, providing insight that a normally functioning left ventricle does not preclude to poor outcomes. Overall, this single-centre retrospective study demonstrates that the echocardiographic phenotype associated with mortality is consistent with a severe respiratory illness rather than direct myocardial injury from COVID-19. A multi-modality imaging approach may facilitate the identification of adverse tissue characterisation changes associated with this novel virus as well as guiding further risk stratification and patient management on a case-by-case basis.

 Type of funding sources: None.


Optical emission spectroscopy (OES) is often used for real-time analysis of the plasma processes. OES has been suggested as a primary plasma process monitoring tool. It has the advantage of non-invasive in-situ monitoring capability but selecting the proper wavelengths for the analysis of OES data generally relies on empirically established methods. In this paper, we propose a practical method for the selection of OES wavelength peaks for the analysis of plasma etch process and this is done by investigating reactants and by-product gas species that reside in the plasma etch chamber. Wavelength selection criteria are based on the standard deviation and correlation coefficients. Moreover, chemical actinometry is employed for the normalization of the selected wavelengths. We also present the importance of chemical actinometry of OES data for quantitative analysis of plasma. Then, the suggested OES peak selection method is employed.. This method is used to find out the reason behind abnormal etching of PR erosion during a series of etch processes using the same recipe. From the experimental verification, we convinced that OES is not only capable for real-time detection of abnormal plasma process but it is also useful for the analysis of suspicious plasma behavior.


In the article, based on the unknown before archival materials, the actions of the Soviet Government connected with one of the most difficult problems of the post-war settlement in the Europe so-called «Spanish Question» are considered (1945-1948). The attitude to Franco regime in Spain, to its possible future, has divided the powers-winners, having created one of the first conflicts of Cold War.


- In this paper, the proposed work provides the design method of controlling a railway level crossing gate automatically. In general, Railway gates are opened or closed manually by a gatekeeper which involves work force and that could often lead to accidents. The information about arrival of train for opening or closing of door is received from nearby station. To avoid the human intervention at level crossings completely, we need to automate the process of railway gate control. This project deals with an interesting manner of automating the railway gate control where the gate is automatically opened or closed by detecting the arrival or leaving of the train and thus the proposed system rules out the need of any human involvement at the railway level crossing. This system involves opening and closing of the level crossing gate with help of high torque motors


In order to improve the level of athletes, modern scientific and technological means can be used to understand the characteristics and rules of movement. This study mainly analyzed the whip leg technique of Sanda athletes. Taking ten athletes as an example, the kinematics and surface electromyography (sEMG) data of them were measured, calculated and sorted out when they were doing the action of round kick. The results showed that the movement completion time of the first-level athletes was shorter, 0.34 ± 0.33 s. In the stage of turning hip and hitting, the angle of hip joint increased significantly. In the stage of turning hip, there was a significant difference in the angle of hip joint between different levels of athletes (p < 0.05), and there was no significant difference in other kinematics characteristics. In the aspect of sEMG, the duration of muscle discharge of the first-level athletes was shorter, but there was no significant difference in integrated electromyogram (IEMG) and root mean square (RMS). The experimental results reveal the importance of hip joint in the course of round kick and provide some theoretical bases for improving the level of athletes and carrying out targeted training.


Periplocosides A was tested for insecticidal activity.The bioassay results indicated that perplocosides A is stomach poison agaist Mythimna separate,Plutella xyllostella,Pieris rapae and Musca domestica,LC50 are 3.799 mg·mL-1,2.090 mg·mL-1,4.189 mg·mL-1,1.546 mg·mL-1 respectively.It is contact poison agaist Plutella xyllostella,Musca domestica and Schizaphis graminum,LC50 are 4.495 mg·mL-1,3.069 mg·mL-1,2.080 mg·mL-1 respectively.


The hydrologic concepts needed in a water-balance model to estimate the spatial varia- tion in mean annual runoff for the 344 climate divisions in the conterminous United States (U.S.) were determined. The concepts that were evaluated were the climatic supply of water (precipitation), cli- matic demand for water (potential evapotranspiration), seasonality in supply and demand, and soil- moisture-storage capacity. Most (91%) of the spatial variability in mean annual runoff for the climate divisions in the conterminous U.S. was explained by the spatial variability of mean annual precipitation minus mean annual potential evapotranspiration. When soil-moisture-storage capacity and seasonality in supply and demand were added to the water balance, the explained variance in mean annual runoff increased slightly, and the error in estimated mean annual runoff decreased significantly. Adding soil- moisture-storage capacity and seasonality in supply and demand provided the most improvement in areas where seasonal supply and demand are out of phase.


Abstract : A model has been developed for mass transport of two-dimensional surface profiles for which a Cartesian coordinate system can be conveniently used. Simple analytical solutions have been obtained that provide valuable insights for the fabrication of microoptical structures. A mode of laser operation has been discovered that allows a single Nd:YAG laser with an intracavity nonlinear crystal to stably generate light at the 589-nm sum frequency of the 1064- and 1320-nm outputs. The dynamics of this new mode of operation has been investigated experimentally. The frequency response of the microchip laser to pump-power modulation has been derived in closed form. It is shown that pump-power modulation is a viable technique to change the output frequency of microchip lasers. Strained InGaAs/A1GaAs quantum-well diode lasers have been fabricated on Si substrates for the first time, with the objective of improving laser reliability by incorporating in the active layer to inhibit the propagation of dark-line defects. One graded-index separate-confinement heterostructure single-quantum-well laser with an In0.05Ga0.95As active layer has operated CW for 56.5 h, a record lifetime for GaAs-based diode lasers on Si. Thin films of polysilyne have been patterned by exposure with 193-nm radiation followed by selective etching of the unexposed areas in a HBr plasma. Patterns with 0.2microns resolution and high aspect ratio were obtained when this dry development process was applied to bilayers consisting of polysilyne on an organic planarizing layer.


Bankruptcy liquidators are the main players in the insolvency process.As in the background of our current le- gal system and social environment,there are a wide range of socio-political factors which always hamper the work in set- tling bankruptcy cases with impartiality;expeditiousness and effectivity.It is very necessary to set up a more rational liq- uidators system. This article will discuss the operating provisions of liquidators and focus its subjects mainly on the liq- uidators'legal status;appropriate levels of competence and skills,rights and general duties;remuneration and costs;and fi- nally upon the provisional bankruptcy receiver system.


This paper provides an overview of calibration artifacts being developed at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) that are intended to aid the accurate determination of nanoscale physical properties across a broad range of applications. We focus on three proposed reference standards: an SI traceable spring constant artifact for calibration of atomic force microscope cantilever stiffness in the nominal range between 0.02 N/m and 0.2 N/m, a piezoresistive force sensor for SI calibration of micronewton level contact forces, and a torsional oscillator for the absolute measurement of thin-film magnetic moments on the order of 1 μA m 2


High-throughput amplicon sequencing of large genomic regions remains challenging for short-read technologies. Here, we report a high-throughput amplicon sequencing approach combining unique molecular identifiers (UMIs) with Oxford Nanopore Technologies or Pacific Biosciences CCS sequencing, yielding high accuracy single-molecule consensus sequences of large genomic regions. Our approach generates amplicon and genomic sequences of >10,000 bp in length with a mean error-rate of 0.0049-0.0006% and chimera rate <0.022%. Main High-throughput amplicon sequencing is a ubiquitous method for studying genetic populations with low-abundance variants or high heterogeneity, including cancer driver genes 1–3 , virus populations 4–6 and microbial communities 7 . Short-read Illumina sequencing . CC-BY 4.0 International license available under a was not certified by peer review) is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. It is made The copyright holder for this preprint (which this version posted January 11, 2020. ; https://doi.org/10.1101/645903 doi: bioRxiv preprint


Several years ago a colleague introduced me to "The Island of Conclusions," an allegory from the well-known children's story "The Phantom Tollbooth" written by Norton Juster in 1961 (Juster 1961). In one section of the story the little boy Milo and his dog Tock are driving along in their magic car when suddenly they see a beautiful island. One by one they both jump to the island only to discover there are only rocks and twisted stumps. Confused, they ask a passerby where they are. "You're on the Island of Conclusions. Make yourself at home," said the passerby. "You're apt to be here for some time." "But how did we get here?" asked Milo. "You jumped, of course," explained the passerby. "That's the way everyone gets here. It's really quite simple: every time you decide something without having a good reason, you jump to conclusions whether you like it or not."


—The performance salary institution has implemented in Chinese university since 9 years ago, which will have an positive impact on the salary structure and income levels of the faculty and staff, including more than 1.2 million teachers. The reform and design of performance-based salary will induce to the reformation of college income distribution system. Thus, this manuscript attempts to analyze the difficulties and critical point of university performance salary' implementation, and propound some suggestions to innovate the implementation institution of university performance salary.


We describe algorithms for canonically partitioning semi‐regular quadrilateral meshes into structured submeshes, using an adaptation of the geometric motorcycle graph of Eppstein and Erickson to quad meshes. Our partitions may be used to efficiently find isomorphisms between quad meshes. In addition, they may be used as a highly compressed representation of the original mesh. These partitions can be constructed in sublinear time from a list of the extraordinary vertices in a mesh. We also study the problem of further reducing the number of submeshes in our partitions—we prove that optimizing this number is NP‐hard, but it can be efficiently approximated.


All-atom molecular dynamics(MD) simulations are used to investigate the structure and hydrogen bonds of alanine dipeptide aqueous solution.The strong hydrogen bonds and weak C- H…O con-tacts are found existing in the mixtures from the information of radial distribution function(RDF).And different types of hydrogen bonds exhibit different capabilities.The statistical results of the hydrogen bonds alanalysis also show the same results.The intramolecular distance,the radius of gyration(R_g) and dihedral angel are used to study the conformation of the alanine dipeptide.The alanine dipeptide does not exist as a unique native state,and it can convert quickly from "extended" to "folded" conformations.


Cloud computing has seen tremendous growth in recent days. As a result of this, there has been a great increase in the growth of data centers all over the world. These data centers consume a lot of energy, resulting in high operating costs. The imbalance in load distribution among the servers in the data center results in increased energy consumption. Server consolidation can be handled by migrating all virtual machines in those underutilized servers. Migration causes performance degradation of the job, based on the migration time and number of migrations. Considering these aspects, the proposed clustering agent-based model improves energy saving by efficient allocation of the VMs to the hosting servers, which reduces the response time for initial allocation. Middle VM migration (MVM) strategy for server consolidation minimizes the number of VM migrations. Further, randomization of extra resource requirement done to cater to real-time scenarios needs more resource requirements than the initial requirement. Simulation results show that the proposed approach reduces the number of migrations and response time for user request and improves energy saving in the cloud environment.


In an earlier paper (math.NT/9906019) we showed that any integral unimodular lattice L of rank n which is not isometric with Z^n has a characteristic vector of norm at most n-8. [A "characteristic vector" of L is a vector w in L such that 2|(v,w-v) for all v in L; it is known that the characteristic vectors all have norm congruent to n mod 8 and comprise a coset of 2L in L.] Here we use modular forms and the classification of unimodular lattices of rank <24 to find all L whose minimal characteristic vectors have norm n-8. Along the way we also obtain congruences and a lower bound on the kissing number of unimodular lattices with minimal norm 2. We then state and prove analogues of these results for self-dual codes, and relate them directly to the lattice problems via "Construction A".


This paper introduces a new type of reflector mount array, which is designed for main amplifier of ICF Laser Driver in China. The whole system utilizes a special array structure, in compliance with the requirement of a small distance among each beam of the laser system. The one-body joint drive structure and a flexible structure ensure the system with high adjusting accuracy and stability. In addition, according to the characteristic of this system, the paper calculates the turning angle and accuracy of the flexible, which shows that the theoretical accuracy can reach 0.017', and the experiment results confirm this accuracy. The transmission error of one- body joint drive structure is analyzed in detail, and Finite Elements Method is used to optimize the support structure in order to lessen the deformation of the reflector.


Recent advances in fabrication techniques allows one to create regular nanofluidic pores and channels down to 15~20nm in critical dimension, with excellent uniformity and size control. This creates unique opportunities for molecular sieving, since now one can manufacture even a 'membrane' with regular pore shape, and the sizes which were only possible with random nanoporous materials such as gel and polymer monolith. Such a massively parallel nanofluidic membrane would have many applications in molecular separation, photonics, and possibly any membrane applications.


Following R. Bergmann's article in this journal I outline the rules of the so-called Stammschreibung ( , ) and discuss the problems of the orthographic reform connected with it. I argue that the present usage in the transitional area between morphological motivation and demotivation does not need a reform and that examples of earlier spelling are not able to justify it. The orthographic reform is contrasted with a concept for the cultivation of the traditional orthographic norm


Background: Body image relates to how one mentally perceives and subjectively experiences his or her body. Cervical cancer affects all aspects of a patient's life, including body image. Aim: The current study is conducted to evaluate the impact of an educational program on self-knowledge and body-image among survivors from cervical cancer. Methods and Design: A quasi-experimental design. Setting: out-patient clinic in the oncology unit at Beni-Suef University Hospital. Subjects: A purposive sample of 70 women. Tools: Structured interviewing questionnaire sheet, a scoring system for women's knowledge about cervical cancer, Body Image Scale, and supportive educational booklet. Results: The results of the study revealed improvements in women's self-body-image and self-knowledge regarding cervical cancer post-program compared to pre-one. Conclusion: The teaching program was very effective in improving knowledge and body image for women with cervical cancer. Recommendations: Women's counseling activities for women regarding cervical cancer need to be popularized and facilities and decision-making aids are made available to those who need them.


Extracapsular spread (ECS) of lymph node metastases is associated with poor prognosis and is an indication for adjuvant chemoradiotherapy. Accurately identifying ECS using imaging may allow us to recommend primary chemoradiotherapy to avoid trimodality treatment. We investigated the accuracy of staging CT in diagnosing ECS in P16 + oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (OPSCC).


On February 13, 1925 a rebellion broke out in the Kurdish districts of southeastern Turkey. Thousands of Kurds, under the leadership of a Naqshbandi dervish and tribal leader known as Sheikh Sait, took arms against the recently established Ankara government of Mustafa Kemal (Atatiirk). The outbreak soon enveloped almost the entire area occupied by Kurds in Turkey.' This article attempts to elucidate the causes of the rebellion and its consequences with special emphasis on its role in further consolidating Turkish nationalism, Mustafa Kemal's bases of power, and the development of the new Republic


The idea that the DC generated by distributed generation(DG)transmits simultaneously with AC in the same feeder line in distribution network is presented in this paper.The basic concept and the circuit topology are also expressed.Then the paper analyzes the method of power flow computation under monopole earth return operation way.For the low capacity DG,it is proposed a concept of "suppositional stack bus"which is useful and convenient for AC and DC power flow computation.After decoupling AC and DC network at the place of "suppositional stack bus",the computation turns to be simple and rapid.Case study shows that network loss is smaller and voltage is more balanced under this way.So the advantage of the operation as well as the availability of the calculation method is proved.


1. Since nitric oxide has been proposed as a feedback factor in plasticity in the hippocampus, we tested whether it might also be a feedback factor in sensory‐dependent plasticity in the cat visual cortex. 2. The effects of monocular deprivation were compared between eight hemispheres with infusion of a nitric oxide synthase inhibitor, and eight control hemispheres with either infusion of the inactive isomer, or no infusion. Although nitric oxide synthase activity was reduced significantly, the ocular dominance histograms were not substantially different in the two groups of animals. We conclude that the feedback factor for sensory‐dependent plasticity in the visual cortex is likely to be some factor other than nitric oxide.


This text discusses the relationship between the consumption of food by humans and other animals and its utilization by the body. It not only integrates the concepts and facts from the various fields that comprise food intake science, but also presents findings from current research throughout the world. It investigates the psychobiology of ingestion with an emphasis on human eating behaviour, and highlights the animal model with respect to food intake regulation. The text concentrates on the effects of feeding - in particular, the energy expenditure in humans, and places the contents into the context of evolution in humans and herbivores.


The ever-shifting debate over the aid industry and the right way to help the world's poor has acquired new elements in recent years. There is a new, overdue, and welcome focus on measuring results. No longer is it enough to point, whether with pride or with criticism, at the raw volume of money transferred. New debates have surfaced. Some of these debates center on how aid is delivered. Which is more important: better monitoring of aid projects or reducing the transaction costs of lending? Which kinds of recipients make the best use of aid: governments, nongovernmental organizations, companies, or individuals? What organizations give the most effective aid? And which form should aid take: grants, loans, or something else? The new focus on results adds spice to a third trend: the continuing emergence of competition in the aid industry. Competition is forcing organizations to demonstrate that they can produce results. But it is early days for the results agenda, and most hard data collection still focuses on raw flows. Those flows are not easy to interpret. Even a simple question such as whether aid is increasingly or decreasingly directed to the poor poses difficulties: the poor in 1970 were not where they This Note reviews trends in of f ic ia l development ass istance, focusing on volumes, sources, forms, and rec ipients . Several patterns emerge. F irst , a long-term trend of of f ic ia l f lows taking the form of "hard" loans rather than grants and "soft" loans, with low interest and long maturit ies , has been reversed in the past f ive years . Second, both grants and loans are increas ingly a imed at middleincome countr ies rather than the poorest . And third, of f ic ia l f lows have fa l len re lat ive to r ich-country income by 30 percent in the past 30 years . The Supply of Aid


Objective: We investigated the effects of specific conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) isomers on glucose metabolism and insulin resistance and on mRNA levels of genes important in glucose and lipid metabolism. Methods: Sprague-Dawley rats were fed for 8 wk on a high-fat diet (45% kcal from fat) or one of three CLA-supplemented diets (1% CLA) containing differing isomers of CLA, including a mixture of CLAs (CLA mix), cis-9, trans-11-CLA (C9,T11-CLA), or trans-10, cis-12-CLA (T10,C12-CLA). Results: Compared with the high-fat group, all the CLA groups had enhanced glucose tolerance. Insulin resistance index was significantly lower in the CLA-treated groups. No significant difference could be observed in the level of serum lipids between groups and in the activities of phosphoenol- pyruvate carboxylase, glucose-6-phosphatase, and glucokinase. However, C9,T11-CLA and T10,C12-CLA significantly increased acyl coenzyme A oxidase mRNA in skeletal muscle. In addition, C9,T11-CLA increased hepatic acyl coenzyme A oxidase mRNA and skeletal muscle uncoupling protein-2 mRNA. The CLA mix showed intermediate effects on the levels of these genes. Conclusions: The addition of all types of CLA to Sprague-Dawley rats fed a high-fat diet can decrease insulin resistance. Possible mechanisms are increased fat oxidation and energy expenditure by increasing acyl coenzyme A oxidase and uncoupling protein-2 mRNA in the liver and/or skeletal muscle. © 2004 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.


Water is one of the natural resources that has a very vital function for the life of living things on earth. For this reason, water must be protected so that it can remain beneficial to the lives of humans and other living things. The central and regional governments as well as the private sector are working through the provision of clean water (PAM / PDAM) to distribute clean water to the community in order to improve public health.
In this study, the researchers projected the need for clean water in the next 5 years. The method used is the arithmetic method and the geometric method.
Based on the calculation of the total needs by the geometric method in 2020 with the amount of water needs 30,603 liters / second until 2024 with the amount of water needs 32.24 liters / second, while the total needs with the arithmetic method in 2020 with the amount of water needs 30.36 liters / second until 2024 with the amount of water needs of 30,980 liters / second.


While containment and surveillance systems designed for nuclear safeguards have greatly improved through advances in computer, sensor, and microprocessor technologies, the authors recognize the need to continue the advancement of these systems to provide more standardized solutions for safeguards applications of the future. The benefits to be gained from the use of standardized technologies are becoming evident as safeguard activities are increasing world-wide while funding of these activities is becoming more limited. The EURATOM Safeguards Directorate and Los Alamos National Laboratory are developing and testing advanced monitoring technologies coupled with the most efficient solutions for the safeguards applications of the future.


In a coLrse in abstract algebra in which the instructor presents a proof that each ideal in a ring with identity is contained in a maximal ideal, it is customary to give an example of a ring without maximal ideals. The usual example is a zero-ring whose additive group has no maximal subgroups (e.g., the additive group of (dyadic) rational numbers; actually any divisible group will do; see [1, p. 67]). This may leave the impression that all such rings are artificial or at least that they abound with divisors of 0. Below, I give a simple characterization of commutative rings withoLt maximal ideals and a class of examples of such rings, including some without proper divisors of 0. To back up the contention that this can be presented in such a course in abstract algebra, I outline proofs of some known theorems including a few properties of radical rings in the sense of Jacobson. The Hausdorff maximal principle states that every partially ordered set contains a maximal chain (i.e., a maximal linearly ordered subset). It is equivalent to the axiom of choice [4, Chapter XI]. Since the union of a maximal chain of proper ideals in a ring with identity is a maximal ideal, and since the union of a maximal chain of linearly independent stubsets of a vector space is a maximal linearly independent set, we have:


In this paper thesis describes an experimental investigation of magnesium based cement mortar which consists of fly ash, magnesium oxide (MgO), magnesium Phosphate (MgPO4) and Phosphate tailings. This magnesia based cements are emerged as a viable alternative to Portland cement, with both technical and sustainability advantages. This study aims to use the mixture of cement, fly ash and magnesia. The major drawback of delayed setting time can be eliminated with the use of magnesia based cement. Hence, in this study different admixtures such as magnesium oxide, magnesium phosphate, phosphate tailings are attempted. Initial and final setting time of plain cement, fly ash cement and magnesia based cement are determined and found that the small dosage of magnesium compound reduced the setting time. Further, magnesia based cements are reported to be used along with sea water without much negative effect. In view of all these, this study proposed a magnesia based cement as an alternative for conventional Portland cement. Industrial wastes such as fly ash, and phosphate tailings are used in this study.


Of 14 juvenile and 18 mature Tadarida brasiliensis mexicana, 9.4% harbored a cestode, probably Hymenolepis gertschi, and 31.2% harbored the nematode, Molinostrongylus delicatus. Trem- atodes found in 50% of the mature bats included Dicrocoelium rileyi, Ochoterenatrema labda, Trem- ajoannes buckleyi, and Paralecithodendrium carlsbadensis sp. n. Ochoterenatrema caballeroi is reduced to synonymy with 0. diminutum, and the genera Ochoterenatrema and Tremajoannes are emended to correct existing diagnoses with respect to the location of genital openings.


Defi ning reasonableness in the positive and knowing its true meaning in the context of public administration is no easy task. This article attempts to explain the practical functioning of the standard of reasonableness in administrative action and decision-making. The aim of having the standard of a reasonable decision-maker is to produce a set of guidelines that public offi cials can use. The very presence of the rationality, proportionality and contextual standards of reasonableness has proved to have a positive guiding or justifying effect on the execution of administrative decisionmaking. These standards of reasonableness have the potential not only to enhance accountability in public administration, but also to enrich the South African administrative justice system.


Radios for high spectral efficiency have normally been using QAM-like constellations. At the cost of high quality hardware, it has been possible to achieve errorfree transmission with as many as 1024 point constellations. Every symbol then carries 10 bits of information. This work is motivated by the potential for cost reductions if relaxed hardware requirements can be tolerated. High-order modulation, defining constellations with many points, means that the different symbols may have very different signal amplitudes. Impairments that have a multiplicative effect on the signal, like nonlinearity and phase noise, become more prominent with high order modulation. This work addresses the potential to shape a constellation with increased robustness to such effects, primarily focussing on the phase noise part.


The aim of this research was to know the sensitivities of Coagulase-Negative Staphylococci isolated from otitis externa of dogs to antibiotics. Two of fourty isolates have characteristics like coccus shaped, Gram positive, non motile, didn't have a cap


Since 2013, the Malaysian Education Development Planning Plan 2013-2025 (PPPM) has been and is being implemented to drive the nation's education transformations. Therefore, recent studies suggest in making sure that effective instructional leadership is being practiced in schools, principals should share the instructional leadership functions with the school middle managers. Thus, the current study sought to expand on these earlier studies by examining the capacity of Malaysia's middle managers as instructional leadership to lead transformations in teaching and learning. The study developed a national profile of middle managers instructional leadership from 400 high performing school teachers' perspectives using the Principal Instructional Management Rating Scale. The overall profile of location urban and region (North, Central, South, and East) middle managers suggested a moderate level of engagement in instructional leadership. However, there was a higher engagement revealed in instructional leadership by middle managers in rural schools especially in Central, South and East region of Peninsular Malaysia. The results provide evidence which suggests that a more systematic human resource strategy is needed in order to ensure that Malaysian International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences Vol. 9 , No. 3, March, 2019, E-ISSN: 2222-6990 © 2019 HRMARS 1134 principals should highly share and empower the duty as instructional leaders among the middle managers to support changes in teaching and learning. Keyword: Malaysian Middle Managers, Instructional Leadership, Teaching And Learning, Improvement. Introduction The 2000s were a decade of active education reform throughout the world (Hanushek & Woessmann, 2007) and the provision of quality education systems is a platform to meet the demands of the world's 21st-century economic, social and political challenges in either developed countries as well as developing countries such as Malaysia (Alimuddin, 2009). Recognizing that healthy socio-cultural development and sustained economic development depend on the ability to improve the success of the national education system, the Malaysian government has undertaken various policy changes and educational transformations since then. Recently, the Malaysian Education Development Planning Plan 2013-2025 (PPPM) has been and is being implemented to drive the nation's education towards quality and international education based on five key aspects of aspiration namely the access, quality, equity, unity, and efficiency. Therefore, in realizing the PPPM 2013-2025's aspirations as well as driving schools towards effective schools, and principals in Malaysia are required to play various roles (Sim, 2011) especially instructional leadership more actively as it relates to school achievement (Ibrahim, Sani & Rosemawati, 2015; Yusri & Amin, 2014; Jamilah & Boon, 2011). Meanwhile, PPPM 2013-2025 also aims to bridge the gap between education (urban and rural), socioeconomics and student capability so that access, equity, and quality can be enhanced either from the aspect of locations such as urban and rural gaps, technology gaps, gaps between student achievement levels, gaps between normal students and special needs students and socioeconomic gaps (MOE,2012) In the context of school leadership in Malaysia, schools are led by principals, however, principals do not have enough time to practice instructional leadership because they are too occupied with the responsibilities of running the schools. Therefore, in making sure that effective instructional leadership is being practiced in schools, principals should share the instructional leadership functions with the school middle managers (Hall & Hord, 2001). Furthermore, the current leadership trends no longer see school leaders assuming all responsibilities as instructional leaders alone. Harris (2002) emphasizes that the leadership trends are not just focusing on the ability, skills or talents of individuals but rather on focusing on how to create a culture of shared responsibility in the organization. Therefore, the responsibilities as instructional leaders have to be shared among members especially with middle managers in the organization because middle managers to have knowledge and experience needed, particularly in the context of teaching and learning (James & Balasandran, 2009). As Solomon (2007) concludes that school middle managers have to play a critical role in maintaining the commitment of the teacher by giving more attention to personal and school context factors. This sets the context for the present study which examined the instructional leadership capacity of Malaysian high performing school middle managers during this decade of education transformation. The research sought to assess the extent to which the instructional leadership International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences Vol. 9 , No. 3, March, 2019, E-ISSN: 2222-6990 © 2019 HRMARS 1135 capacity of Malaysian middle managers has met the requirements' education transformations in teaching and learning. Therefore, the aim of this study is to answer the following research questions:a. What is the overall pattern of instructional leadership exercised by Malaysian's middle managers in high performing schools? b. Are there differences in the pattern of instructional leadership exercised by Malaysian's middle managers in high performing schools at different location and region level? Instructional Leadership of Middle Managers in Malaysian Context The concept of instructional leadership has been studied extensively since the 1980s and 1990s. Instructional leadership refers to all actions and activities undertaken by a principal to strengthen the implementation process of teaching and learning. According Hallinger and Murphy (1985), instructional leadership is any activity undertaken by school administrators to enhance the success of the process of teaching and learning and school development. For the Malaysian context, the importance of curriculum management through instructional leadership practice is one of the nine competencies highlighted in Malaysian School Principalship Standard Competency introduced by the Ministry of Education (MOE, 2006). Nevertheless, the importance of principal as instructional leadership is clearly stated in the Professional Circular No. 3/1987 that the primary responsibility of the principal or headmaster is to ensure the successful implementation of the curriculum in schools. Thus, the implementation of the curriculum and activities at the school level is carried out through the process of teaching and learning by teachers through rigorous and systematic supervision of the principal. In the Malaysian school context, the duties of middle managers in the public secondary schools are directly involved in the curriculum. They would take over the duty of the principal when the principal is not in school. They have to teach several hours, helping students relate to their academic programmes and mentoring the students' activities. Sim (2011), highlighted that the middle managers are also responsible for improving the teaching process by giving direct guidance to teachers and encouraging in-house training. Thus, by involving directly with curriculum, the middle managers are actually already practicing instructional leadership functions. While the presence of empowerment at the school level, middle managers in Malaysian schools are responsible for shaping the learning climate directly and indirectly by protecting instructional time, selecting and participating in high-quality teacher development programmes consistent with the school mission and promoting incentives to teachers and learning (Rahmat, 2010; Premavathy 2010). In managing instructional activities, the middle managers have to make sure that teaching and learning are being supervised, the curriculum is being coordinated and, student learning is being monitored. For developing a positive school learning climate, they have to protect instructional time, providing incentives for teachers and students, maintain visibility, and promoting professional development. In short, school middle managers have to ensure that teachers are given the chance to improve their instructional practices. By giving the middle managers the opportunity to play the role of instructional leadership, it can help to sustain the success of the school. Therefore, these study hypotheses that school middle managers in secondary schools in Malaysia would have to carry out the functions of instructional leadership in helping teachers to increase teacher performance. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences Vol. 9 , No. 3, March, 2019, E-ISSN: 2222-6990 © 2019 HRMARS 1136 Hallinger and Murphy Instructional Leadership Model in the Malaysian Context Various models of instructional leadership have evolved in the context of Malaysia such a Hallinger and Murphy (1985), Murphy (1990), Krug (1992), Hussein Mahmood (1997), Weber (1999) and lastly James and Balasandran (2009). And obviously, these models have featured in common though expressed in different ways. However, Hallinger and Murphy (1985) model are the most frequently used in research on instructional leadership, especially in the Malaysian school setting. According to Hallinger and Murphy (1985) model, instructional leadership behavior has three main dimensions, namely Creating Mission, Managing Instruction, and creating a climate of learning to improve teaching and learning in schools. The studies related to instructional leadership using Hallinger and Murphy (1985) model have been widely carried out in Malaysia, for example, Kean, Sathiamoorthy and Chua (2017), Safinaz, Chua, Wei and Shahrin (2016), Hui and Jamal(2016), Zakaria and Sufien (2016), Baharuzaini, Hisham, Hanif, Norhisyam and Norhaini (2016), Yusri and Amin (2014), Aniza and Zaidatol


The fixation of CO/sub 2/ with a lime slurry in a stirred tank reactor appears to be feasible. The rate of reaction is fast, and virtually complete removal of CO/sub 2/ can be attained. At a gas residence time of 100 in a single stage reactor for CO/sub 2/ concentrations ranging from 5 to 100%. It has been determined that two-stage contacting sequences which result in a cumulative DF > 10/sup 4/ are feasible. The reaction rate is constant up to 90% utilization of the lime and then rapidly decreases, as does the pH for the remainder of the reaction. The reaction appears to be liquid-phase-controlled, and the overall gas-side mass transfer coefficient (K/sub G/..cap alpha..) increases with impeller speed and gas flow rate, ranging from 0.4 x 10/sup -6/ to 6 x 10/sup -6/ g-moles of CO/sub 2/ per (cm/sup 3/-sec-atm). The reaction rate data are also correlated by a model of mass transfer accompanied by a fast pseudo first-order chemical reaction from which good agreement of calculated and predicted interfacial area is obtained. It was noted that temperature (21 to 46/sup 0/C) and lime concentration (0.5 to 1.5 M) had verymore » little effect on mass transfer rate and DF. The settling rate of the CaCO/sub 3/ product increased significantly with impeller speed and temperature and decreased with gas flow rate. Scale-up calculations indicate that reasonably sized equipment would provide adequate removal of CO/sub 2/ for a full-scale reprocessing plant.« less


Dillapiol was isolated from the essential oil of dill as a specific inhibitor of aflatoxin G1 production. It inhibited aflatoxin G1 production by Aspergillus parasiticus with an IC50 value of 0.15 μM without inhibiting aflatoxin B1 production or fungal growth. Apiol and myristicin, congeners of dillapiol, showed similar activity with IC50 values of 0.24 and 3.5 μM, respectively.


A multistage generator with a voltage adding in a forming line is considered. The influence of generator parameters and a synchronization system on the output pulse are evaluated. The application of the generator for ICF studies within the "Angara" program is discussed: for the compression of light liners and for the receiving light ion beams.


Abstract Extraction of water during subsurface carbon sequestration may be useful for the control of CO2 placement, reducing pressure risks, and mitigating environmental risks. Desalination of this water may be possible if costs are kept low, in order to minimize the quantity that must be reinjected or otherwise disposed. Added value may be recovered in the form of treated water that can be reused by carbon capture, sequestration, and other industrial processes. Total dissolved solids will range from 10,000 mg/L up to over 100,000 mg/L, and temperatures may range up to 120°C, once the water is brought to the surface. We have developed a system-level, mesoscale analysis module for the CO2-Predicting engineered natural system model to analyze the feasibility of treatment, the costs of treatment, the value of energy recovery, and the costs of concentrate disposal. Costs are derived from a database of reported literature values. The model allows the user to select the most economic options for treatment, to c...


Abstract The two-dimensional strip packing problem is under consideration. Two lower bounds for the problem are proposed, an improved Linear Programming-based lower bound and an exact solution of the contiguous relaxation of the problem, which is solved by Branch and Bound algorithm. The computational study shows the efficiency of the bounds and the good performance of the exact algorithm.


The Second Generation Model (SGM) was developed for the purpose of analyzing policies designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. This paper documents how greenhouse gas emissions are calculated in the SGM, an application to several Energy Modeling Forum scenarios that stabilize radiative forcing by using policies that either exclusively limit CO2 emissions or include both CO2 and non-CO2 greenhouse gasses, and an extension including advanced fossil generating technologies with CO2 capture and storage in the USA region of the SGM.


The overall objective of this work is to demonstrate conversion of coal to produce at least 70% by weight of the coal as liquids, with ratios of liquids to gases in excess of 10/1, resulting in low hydrogen consumption and a significant reduction in the cost of producing hydrocarbon liquid fuels from coal. Utilizing a small continuous-flow reactor designed and constructed for this research, the maximum possible ratio of liquids to gases will be defined, operating at short residence times of a few seconds, at the same time converting more than 70% of the carbon in the coal to liquids. The practical ability to attain coal particle center-line temperatures of 500 {degree}C in one second or less, using hot hydrogen gas in turbulent flow, will also be demonstrated. Particle heat-up rates for a few selected system pressures and particle sizes will be determined. Catalysts will be screened and selected for sufficient activity and selectivity. Particle heat-up rates for small coal particles slurried in a super-critical hydrocarbon-type fluid will be examined, using hot hydrogen gas in turbulent flow as the heat transfer medium.


Performance of some clerical tasks is expected to increase by up to 7% or even more for memory based tasks. Estimation shows that if performance increases by only 1%, the amount of saving will be around £180/worker/year. This yields a payback period of less than one year for an open plan office having 20 workers.


STOCK DEFINITION AND GEOGRAPHIC RANGE There are two distinct bottlenose dolphin ecotypes (Duffield et al. 1983; Duffield 1986; Mead and Potter 1995; Walker et al. in press); a shallow, warm water ecotype and a deep, cold water ecotype which correspond to nearshore and offshore forms, respectively. Both ecotypes have been shown 40 to inhabit waters in the western North Atlantic Ocean (Hersh and Duffield 1990; Mead and Potter 1995; Hoelzel et al. 1998; Walker et al. in press). The inshore and offshore forms, of all age classes, can be positively identified based on differences in morphometrics, parasite loads, and prey (Mead and Potter 1995). Hoelzel et al. (1998) found significant differentiation between the nearshore and offshore forms in both nuclear and mtDNA markers, and concluded the two forms were distinct. Curry (1997) concluded that, based on 35 differences in mtDNA haplotypes, the nearshore animals in the northern Gulf of Mexico and the western North Atlantic were significantly different stocks. Bottlenose dolphins which had stranded alive in the western North Atlantic in areas with direct access to deep oceanic waters had hemoglobin profiles matching that of the deep, cold water ecotype (Hersh and Duffield 1990). Hersh and Duffield (1990) also described morphological differences between the deep, cold water ecotype dolphins and dolphins with hematological profiles 30 matching the shallow, warm water ecotype which had stranded in the Indian/Banana River in Florida. Because of their occurrence in shallow, relatively warm waters along the USA Atlantic coast and because their morphological characteristics are similar to the shallow, warm water ecotype described by Hersh and Duffield (1990), the Atlantic coastal bottlenose dolphin stock is believed to consist of this ecotype or nearshore form. Furthermore, Hoelzel et al. (1998) Figure 1. Sightings of bottlenose dolphins during aerial surveys from genetically identified a sample of animals captured or shore to the 25 m isobath north of Cape Hatteras during summer incidentally caught in nearshore waters as the nearshore form. 1994, shore to 9 km past the western Gulf Stream wall south of Cape Currently, data are insufficient to allow separation of locally Hatteras during winter 1992, three coastal surveys within one km of resident bottlenose dolphins found in bays, sounds and shore from New Jersey to mid-Florida during the summer in 1994, and during vessel surveys from about the 30 m isobath to the offshore estuaries (such as those from the Indian/Banana River) from extent of the US EEZ in 1998. the coastal stock in the western North Atlantic; Hoelzel et al. (1998) found less variation in nuclear and mtDNA markers among their sample of nearshore animals, which likely included resident and coastal animals, than their sample of offshore animals. The structure of the coastal bottlenose dolphin stock in the western North Atlantic is uncertain, but what is known about it suggests that the structure is complex. Some portion of the coastal stock migrates north of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, to New Jersey during the summer (Scott et al. 1988). It has been suggested that this stock is restricted to waters < 25 m in depth within the northern portion of its range (Kenney 1990) because of an apparent concentration of bottlenose dolphins centered on the 25 m isobath which was observed during aerial surveys of the region (CETAP 1982) and vessel surveys (NMFS unpublished data). The lowest density of bottlenose dolphins was observed over the continental shelf, with higher densities along the coast and near the Cape Hatteras


SummaryHot-water treatment (HWT) used to control stem nematode in narcissus bulbs can lead to yield loss through damage to flower, leaf and root initials. Warm storage of bulbs, usually at 30°C, reduces this damage. The effects of two pre-warming treatments (18°C for two weeks or 30°C for one week before HWT) were investigated in bulbs hot-water treated at a range of dates (from early-July to late-September). Experiment 1 was conducted on bulbs of cv. Carlton lifted on three dates. In the year after HWT, flower numbers were much reduced when HWT was applied after mid-August following storage at ambient temperatures, or after late-August following storage at 30°C, but numbers were only slightly reduced even with late-September HWT when given after 18°C storage. Pre-warming was somewhat more effective after early lifting. Late HWT reduced yields of bulbs harvested after two years' growth, but 18°C treatment largely prevented these losses. In Experiment 2, the beneficial effects of 18°C treatment were confir...


The cytochrome P4501A enzymes play important roles in carcinogen metabolism. We reported previously that 3-methyl-cholanthrene (MC) elicits a persistent induction of hepatic, pulmonary , and mammary microsomal cytochrome P450 (P450) 1A enzymes for several weeks after MC withdrawal. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that CYP1A2, a liver-specific P450 isozyme, plays an important role in the mechanisms governing persistent CYP1A1 induction by MC in liver but not in extra-hepatic tissues such as lung, which is devoid of endog-enous CYP1A2. Administration of wild-type (WT) or CYP1A2-null mice with MC (100 ␮mol/kg i.p.) once daily for 4 days caused significant increases in hepatic CYP1A1/1A2 activities, apoprotein contents, and mRNA levels 1 day after carcinogen withdrawal compared with vehicle-treated controls. The induction persisted in the WT, but not CYP1A2-null animals, for up to 15 days. In the lung, MC caused persistent CYP1A1 induction for 15 days in both the genotypes. Since MC is almost completely eliminated by day 15, we hypothesize that CYP1A2 contributes to the up-regulation of CYP1A1 in liver, but not lung, by a novel mechanism, presumably involving a CYP1A2-dependent persistent metabolite. The studies demonstrate tissue specific differences in the regulation of CYP1A by MC, a phenomenon that may have implications for human carcino-genesis caused by environmental chemicals. 3-Methylcholanthrene (MC) is one of the most potent poly-cyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) carcinogens known to date (Harvey, 1982). Metabolism of MC by cytochrome P450 (P450) enzymes leads to the formation of chemically reactive intermediates that can bind covalently to DNA, a critical step in the initiation of carcinogenesis (Guengerich, 1990). The P450 enzymes are a very large multigene family of constitutive and inducible enzymes with a major role in the oxidative activation and/or inactivation of a wide range of xenobiotics, including environmental carcinogens and pollutants (Guengerich, 1990). The CYP1A family comprises two proteins CYP1A1 and 1A2, which play important roles in carcinogen activation (Guengerich, 1988). Recent studies have shown CYP1B1 also to be active in PAH-mediated car-The mechanisms of induction of CYP1A1/1A2 by MC or TCDD have been investigated extensively (Safe, 1995). The inducer, upon entry into the cell, interacts with the Ah receptor (AHR), a cytosolic protein. The inducer-receptor complex is translocated into the nucleus, where it binds to the Ah receptor nuclear translocator, and this complex in turn interacts with specific regulatory elements, called AHREs, 5Ј to the CYP1A1/1A2 genes, resulting in enhanced expression of the CYP1A enzymes (Safe, 1995). …


For the punctuation of Zi Zhi Tong Jian,which was written by Si Ma Guang,the famous historian in Song Dynasty of China.,this paper aims to analyze the ancient documents and the views of scholars,to re-examine them and to find a more objective view.


ABSTRACT Partner selection is one of the key aspects of alliance strategy. Selection of appropriate partners can have a significant impact on the success of an alliance. In this study, we examine whether firms seek symmetric alliance partners. Symmetry is examined in respect of several criteria such as goals, management style, size, experience, power and dependence. Based on the responses of 179 Singapore managers, we find that, in most respects, firms indeed seek symmetric partners. Our results are quite robust across sub-samples consisting of firms with different performance levels in previous alliances and having varying levels of prior alliance experience.


Energy optimization is one of the most critical objectives for the synthesis of multiprocessor system-on-chip (MPSoC). Besides, to ensure a long processor lifetime and to maintain a safe chip temperature are also important for multiprocessor manufactures under deep submicrometer process technologies. This paper presents a mixed integer linear programming (MILP) model to determine the mapping and scheduling of real-time applications onto embedded MPSoC platforms, such that the total energy consumption is minimized with the lifetime reliability constraint and the temperature threshold constraint satisfied. We develop a lightweight temperature model that can be integrated in the MILP model to predict the chip temperature accurately and efficiently. By exploiting the dynamic voltage and frequency scaling capability of modern processors, processor voltage/frequency assignment is also considered in our MILP model. Extensive performance evaluations on synthetic and real-world applications demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach. Our MILP model achieves an average reduction of 19.09% and 28.53% total energy in comparison with two state-of-the-art techniques on the basis of guaranteeing the safe chip temperature and system lifetime reliability.


A novel method for analyzing the heating of coal particles in a coal powder-laden jet in the near-burner region is proposed. This method takes into account both the time delay due to coal particle unsteady heating and the induction period needed for the coal particle to ignite from the practical engineering point of view. A review of the flow and heating of coal particles is presented. The principle and analysis procedures for estimating the ignition heat and the heat balance are outlined. The advantage of the proposed method over the previous analyzing method which is based on the steady-state heat balance is also discussed. The influencing trends of various factors on the results are calculated and drawn in a group of diagrams. The calculating procedure is demonstrated by using an industrial swirl burner as data source. The predicted hot gases recirculating ratio is in general agreement with the measurements on the physical model. This study offers a useful reference in engineering practice for improving burner design and performance.


The cyclic P6(2) is predicted to lie 6 kcal mol–1 above the free 3P2 fragments and to decompos to the latter with an energy barrier of 13 kcal mol–1 using ab initio calculations with different basis sets and correlation methods; it is tempting to suggest that (2) might be detected in an inert matrix at low temperatures (1 cal = 4.184 J.)


Ecological compensation is an effective means to adjust relationships among stakeholders in order to conserve and/or sustainably use ecosystem services. The current ecological compensation standards (ECS) do not well reflect the differences in ecological, social, and economic development. Thus, we took a typical urbanization area (the Suzhou–Wuxi–Changzhou region) in China as an example, because of its prominent contradiction between rapid socio-economic development and fragile ecosystem. Combined with the ecological, economic, and social conditions, the methods of ecosystem service value (ESV) evaluation, cluster analysis, and scenario analysis were used to propose an optimized spatial zoning method and optimal development scenario. Then, the ECS by different zones were determined by using ESV assessment, cost-benefit analysis, and contingent valuation method. The results showed that (1) the regions were divided into two categories, with a total of four zones: ESV output areas (synergetic development zones (SDZ) and ecological conservation zones (ECZ)) and ESV input areas (ecological degradation zones (EDegZ) and economic development zones (EDevZ)); (2) among five scenarios, the best development mode in the future was the protection and development scenario, which was consistent with the existing planning; and (3) the ECS for the SDZ should be paid about 1.94 billion Yuan/year, the ECZ should be paid about 0.80 billion Yuan/year, the ECS for the EDegZ should pay about 2.20–2.25 million Yuan/year, and the EDevZ should pay about 0.06–7.33 million Yuan/year. By feasibility analysis, the ESV input areas were fully capable of inter-regional compensation, which could promote the effective purchase of ecological services. The developed evaluation framework of ECS in this study can accurately provide a scientific basis for the determination of ecological compensation regulations and policies in the future.


We consider the two-armed bandit problem as applied to data processing if there are two alternative processing methods available with different a priori unknown efficiencies. One should determine the most effective method and provide its predominant application. Gaussian two-armed bandit describes the batch, and possibly parallel, processing when the same methods are applied to sufficiently large packets of data and accumulated incomes are used for the control. If the number of packets is large enough then such control does not deteriorate the control performance, i.e. does not increase the minimax risk. For example, in case of 50 packets the minimax risk is about 2% larger than that one corresponding to one-by-one optimal processing. However, this is completely true only for methods with close efficiencies because otherwise there may be significant expected losses at the initial stage of control when both actions are applied turn-by-turn. To avoid significant losses at the initial stage of control one should take initial packets of data having smaller sizes.


The analysis of open-hole logs in the Stevens Sands is difficult because of the mineralogical composition of the sands and the corresponding effects on the logging tools. Logging parameters presumed in other sandstone reservoirs may not be appropriate to the Stevens and may cause the log analysis to underestimate productive zones. Without the integration of full core data and knowledge of the mineralogy of the Stevens Sands, the results of log analysis can be very misleading. As shown in the example used in this paper, the net pay footage calculated using conventional cutoffs can be improved from 10 to 45 ft by using the core measured rather than the commonly assumed valued for logging parameters. The increased pay footage is achieved by changing the mean water saturation from 70%, calculated using commonly assumed parameters, to a mean value of 48% calculated using core measured parameters.


Accurate leaf-mass determination is a critical factor in estimating the magnitude of biogenic hydrocarbon (BHC) emissions from green plants. In several past studies that developed BHC emissions estimates for urban areas, a volumetric approach was used to estimate leaf masses of urban trees. Crown volumes were modeled by geometric solids and then multiplied by species-specific leaf-mass constants (experimentally determined leaf mass-to-volume ratios) to obtain leaf mass, although associated uncertainties were not well characterized. The purpose of the present study was to examine the precision and accuracy of a volumetric approach using geometric solids to compare estimated leaf masses to measured whole-tree leaf masses, and to compare leaf-mass constants derived from selective sampling within crowns to whole-tree values. Accordingly, total leaf masses obtained through tree harvest and leaf removal of 21 urban trees were compared to leaf masses calculated using geometric solids to model the shapes of tree ...


Composite photocatalysts,enable to be separated from water by external magnetic field,were prepared by hydrothermal-sol impregnation method,which was composed of two steps: Firstly,Mn-Zn ferrite was loaded on activated carbon(AC) by hydrothermal reaction to form soft magnetic activated carbon(FAC).Then,FAC was impregnated in titanium sol,and soft magnetic composite photocatalysts Ti-FAC were produced after calcination.Effects of preparation parameters on the photodegradation of methylene blue(MB) were investigated and the crystalline structure,morphology and magnetic properties of the photocatalysts were characterized by XRD,SEM and VSM.The results show that the photocatalyst Ti2-F(1/8)AC has the highest photocatalytic actvity,for which Mn-Zn ferrite is one-eighth of AC in quality,titanium sol impregnating FAC for twice followed by calcination at 500 ℃.Mn-Zn ferrite maintains cubic spinel structure with little aggregation in the composite catalyst.TiO2 nanoparticles with anatase phase homogeneously distribute either on AC or on Mn-Zn ferrite particles which supported on AC.The sample shows excellent soft magnetic properties and high stability,feasible to be completely recovered by an external magnetic field and keeping high photodegradation efficiency after 6 reuse cycles.


Synthetic aperture radar (SAR) is an important imaging tool in many applications. Its imaging quality can be easily degraded by radio-frequency interferences (RFIs), among which the narrowband ones are typical. In recent years, it is shown that the narrowband RFI has a low-rank property and this property can be combined with the sparsity of radar echoes' to develop efficient RFI-suppression algorithms. However, these works usually consider the case of sparse echoes in the impulse-based radar, which is not suitable for typical SAR systems that use a chirp signal with a relatively long pulse duration. Some works adopt a large 2-D dictionary to introduce sparse representation for the echoes, which nevertheless lack efficient numerical algorithms, because the large dictionary brings high storage cost and computational burden. Motivated by these problems, this letter introduces an operator modeling approach for the echo dictionary and proposes a dictionary-based SAR RFI-suppression method under the framework of robust principle component analysis (RPCA). In the proposed method, the useful echo is sparsely represented by a dictionary, and the dictionary's analysis and synthesis operators are modeled as two sequences of low-cost operations by exploiting the chirp scaling algorithm. Then, an efficient algorithm is derived for solving the dictionary-based RPCA problem. Numerical simulations show that the proposed method is robust and efficient for SAR narrowband RFI suppression.


The study obtained developmental competent and incompetent two-cell stage pig parthenogenetic embryos based on different first cleavage time and the level of maternal mRNAs was compared.Differential display reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction was carried out on maternal mRNAs isolated from these embryos.Eight fragments(E1 to E4,L1 to L4) differentially expressed between the two groups by reverse Northern blotting.After cloning and sequencing,eight homologue sequences were retrieved from NCBI database: six ESTs,E3 had high homology(the homology was 97%) with human CPEB2 and L3 had high homology(the homology was 89%) with hnRNPA1.CPEB2 and hnRNPA1 might play major roles in the developmental competence of embryos.


The invention relates to a non-reusable hygienic layer best fit around the legs and waist of the wearer, and reinforced at its corners for better securing around the body thereof. Improved fit and strengthening angles are obtained by means of an elongated strip, resilient by nature, placed along at least one of the edge regions of the layer, and fixed thereto so as to create an elastic region in a central portion of the edge zone and a unit region, relatively inelastic in the corner portions of the layer.


Marmishou region, in northwest Iran, between the border Mountains of Iran and Turkey, has many habitats due to its climatic and ecological features and favorable weather conditions. In this area, with the significant presence of characteristic trees and shrubs of Zagros, plant elements of other regions and rangeland species of the Azerbaijani vegetation type are observed. In the Marmishou region, 248 plant species have been identified belonging to 168 genera and 53 families, including herbaceous, trees, and shrubs. From the point of view of chorotypes, trees and shrubs of the Marmishou region include 61.7% Irano-Turanian, 10.63% Euro-Siberian, 4.2% Mediterranean, and 21.2% multiregional. Forest green cover on mountain slopes, various rangeland ecosystems representing the vegetative climate of Zagros and Lake Marmisho in this region have created a beautiful landscape with many cultural values in addition to conservation and production functions.


Abstract : This report summarizes the results of research during the past two years, in understanding the resolution of the autoregressive (AR) spectral estimators and developing and evaluating computationally efficient autoregressive-moving average (ARMA) spectral estimators. The loss in the resolution of the AR spectral estimator in the presence of noise is related to the appearance of zeros in the z-plane. A parallel resonator model is developed to relate the loss in resolution (bandwidth expansion) to the signal-to-noise ratio and parameters of the noiseless signal model. A new technique for the identification of the order of an AR model was derived that shows substantial stability compared to the popular Akaike Information Criterion method. Order determination was emphasized, since increase in the order of the AR spectral estimator, to account for the presence of noise, is naturally accompanied by larger variance of the estimates and appearance of spurious peaks. Several sub-optimum (non-maximum-likelihood) ARMA spectral estimators were also developed. These methods are computationally efficient, but statistically not very stable for small data records. An evaluation of the statistical properties of the different sub-optimum ARMA techniques led to the evaluation of asymptotic bounds on the variances of the estimates of the parameters or the poles and zeros of the model through the evaluation of Fisher's information matrix.


The Party organizations in universities, which can insure smooth development of universities, are the politi-cal core of universities. If we intend to give full play to the political key role of the universities Party organization, weshould on the one hand eliminate some false thoughts, and on the other hand recognize the importance of Party organiza-tions. Through carrying out the system of holding responsible position of the school presidents under the lead of Partycommittees, we should launch the work of Party organization by focusing on teaching and scientific research.


Objective To evaluate the efficacy of preoperative aspects and dimensions used for an anatomical (PADUA) scores in determining the surgical approach for T1 stage renal masses.Methods From Jan 2010 to Dec 2012,clinical data of 122 cases (76 males and 46 females),who underwent surgery for T1 stage renal masses,were collected retrospectively.The mean age was 51 years(range 21-81) and mean body mass index was (22.8±3.9) kg/m2.Sixty-three tumors were found in left kidney and 59 in right kidney.Among them,78 patients were diagnosed as T1a stage and 44 patients were T1b stage.In patients with T1a stage,56 received nephron sparing surgery (NSS) and 22 received radical nephrectomy (RN).In patients with T1b stage,21 received NSS and 23 received RN.The PADUA nephrometry score was analyzed to evaluate their relationships to surgical type and the approach of NSS.Results According to the PADUA nephrometry score,the number of low risk,middle risk and high risk patients were 24,62,26,respectively.Inlow risk group,middle risk group and high risk group,the proportion of RN and NSS was 8.3%/ 91.7%,30.6%/69.4%,66.7%/33.3%.In 77 patients received NSS,the unmber of laparoscopic NSS and open NSS was 18 ∶ 4,25 ∶ 18,2 ∶ 10,respectively.The PADUA nephrometry score was significantly associated with the type of surgery (x2 =23.16,P<0.01),and the NSS approach (x2 =13.57,P<0.01).Tumor size (HR =2.79 ; 95% CI,1.29-6.02 ; P< 0.01),percentage of tumor deepening into the kidney (HR =3.82; 95%CI,1.77-8.09; P<0.01),longitudinal (HR=4.00;95%CI,1.83-8.72; P<0.01),tumor relationships with renal sinus(HR=103.13; 95%CI,21.85-486.81 ; P<0.01),tumor relationships with urinary collecting system (HR =15.11 ; 95% CI,5.95-38.35 ; P< 0.01),rim tumor location (HR =3.50 ; 95% CI,1.61-7.59; P<0.01) were closely related with surgery approach.The correlation coefficients of relationship with renal sinus was highest (r=0.70).Conclusions The PADUA nephrometry score provides a simple,useful and stable system to character the salient renal anatomy and guide the surgery.Low risk group should consider the NSS as the first line therapy.NSS could also be chosen in the middle risk group.However,the renal anatomy in those patients should be referred.RN should be chosen in high risk group.

Key words:
Kidney neoplasms;  Preoperative aspects and dimensions used for an anatomical;  Nephron-sparing surgery


Nitrogen-fixing ability (measured by C2H2–C2H4 assay) of greenhouse-grown, vegetative soybean, Glycine max (L.) Merrill, decreased linearly in response to increased levels of defoliation by the soybean looper, Pseudoplusia includens (Walker). Acetylene reduction rate of control plants was 5-fold greater than that of plants with 77% defoliation. This decrease was the result of reduced number, weight, and efficiency (nodule-specific activity) of nodules. Nodule-specific activity was unaffected by defoliation of <47%, but decreased sharply as defoliation exceeded 47%.


Since it overlaps in nature with the culture in sociology and cultural anthropology,political culture tends not to show the culture in ancient books but that in psychology.Generally speaking,collective unconsciousness,vague abstractness,standard and rectification,stubbornness and resistance,ideology,development and convergence are the main nature of political culture.Understanding of the nature will help find a correct path and strategy in the development of political culture and construction of political civilization.


The research aims to modify the process of obtaining galvanic composite coatings based on zinc. The model used the usual parameters of the deposition process: current density, temperature, deposition time, and electrolyte composition. The novelty of the research is the gradual combination of surfactants in the electrodeposition process. At the first stage of obtaining a zinc coating, known additives (gelatin, thiourea) were used in the electrolyte at current densities of 0.5-3 A/dm 2 . At the second stage, already on the obtained zinc coating, deposition from an electrolyte of similar composition was performed again, but using a surfactant (the conditional name of BGU-21) the product of oil synthesis [R 2 POHC(S) (NH 2 )], having a high adsorption capacity and good solubility in the electrolyte.


The most appropriate muscle index for the definition of sarcopenia has not been agreed on. We aimed to investigate the associations of muscle mass and strength with 5‐year mortality and low physical performance.


A General Electric XRD-5 diffractometer equipped with a scintillation counter, a pulse height discriminator, and a modified version of the Model X-86G high-temperature diffractometer attachment, was modified for x-ray diffraction analysis at temperatures up to 3000 deg C. These modifications include frame assemblies, viewing port, filament materials, and thermocouples. (D.L.C.)


We study the properties of neutron stars adopting relativistic equations of state of neutron star matter, calculated in the framework of the relativistic Brueckner–Hartree–Fock approximation for electrically charge neutral neutron star matter in beta–equilibrium. For higher densities more baryons (hyperons etc.) are included by means of the relativistic Hartree– or Hartree–Fock approximation. The special features of the different approximations and compositions are discussed in detail. Besides standard neutron star properties special emphasis is put on the limiting periods of neutron stars, for which the Kepler criterion and gravitation–reaction instabilities are considered. Furthermore the cooling behaviour of neutron stars is investigated, too. For comparison we also give the outcome for some nonrelativistic equations of state.


Objective To explore the mechanism of transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1)and Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)latent membrane protein1(LMP1)in EBV-associated gastric carcinoma(EBVaGC). Methods The siRNA targeted to LMP1(siRNA649)was designed and synthesized.The EBV-positive gastric carcinoma cell line (GT38)was treated with siRNA649and TGF-β1.RT-PCR was used to detect the expression of LMP1-mediated signal pathway transforming factors. Results After respective treatment with siRNA649and siRNA649+TGF-β1,the expression of MMP9,Survivin and ICAM-1decreased in EBV positive cell line(GT38)and CDK4increased,the difference was significant(F=10.48-26.23,P0.05);After combined action of siRNA649+TGF-β1,the expression of EGFR was higher than that in the normal control(F=9.47,P0.05), while the difference between siRNA649and normal control was not significant.Compared with the normal control,the expression of ICAM-1decreased in GT38(F=30.36,P0.05),but not in other cell lines after TGF-β1treatment in EBV positive cell lines (GT38and SNU719)and EBV negative cell lines(SGC7901and HGC-27)(P0.05).In the four cell lines,the mRNA expression of MMP9,Survivin,CDK4and EGFR was not different between before and after TGF-β1treatment(P0.05). Conclusion LMP1can regulate the expressions of MMP9,Survivin and CDK4.The interaction of ICAM-1and EGFR can regulate the transcription expression of LMP1and TGF-β1.


For solving the problems of stochastic disturbance and input saturation existing in permanent magnet synchronous motors (PMSMs) drive systems, a command filter-based adaptive neural control method is proposed in this paper. Firstly, the neural networks technique is utilised to approximate unknown nonlinear functions. Then, the command filtered controller is constructed to avoid the 'explosion of complexity' inherent in the classic backstepping control and the error compensation mechanism is introduced to reduce the error caused by command filter. Moreover, the adaptive backstepping method is utilised to design controllers to assure that all signals are bounded in the closed-loop systems. Finally, the effectiveness of the approach is certified by the given simulation results.


The "I think" that accompanies all my intentional acts is the prereflective cogito. It can be declined in the nominative, genitive, dative, and accusative cases: nominative because I am given to myself as a subject, genitive because each experiential awareness is mine, dative because the content of each awareness is given to me, and accusative because even as subject I am always given to myself as the object of the look and address of another. But it is a mistake to think of consciousness as "pure" by virtue of the formality of this structure. Even at the transcendental level, consciousness is contaminated by contingency and particularly in ways that render it opaque to itself in its relation to nature, society, and God.


The current study was conducted in order to avoid hazards of saline irrigation water on elephant's ear tree (Enterolobium contortisiliquum (Vell.) Morong) seedlings. The experiment was done under the full sun at the nursery of Hort. Res. Inst., ARC, Giza, Egypt during 2017 and 2018 seasons using six-month-old uniform seedlings. The seedlings were planted in 30-cm-diameter plastic pots filled with about 5.5 kg/pot of sand and clay mixture at equal parts (1:1, v/v), drenched monthly with 0, 2 and 4 g/pot (plant) of magnetite (Fe3O4) and irrigated with saline water containing NaCl + CaCl2 mixture at concentrations of 0, 1000, 2000, 3000 and 4000 ppm. The results showed that plants irrigated with saline water at concentrations higher than 1000 ppm without magnetite died, while those amended with magnetite at either 2 or 4 g/pot survived regardless of the salinity level. However, the means of plant length, stem diameter, No. leaves/plant, root length and stem, leaves and roots fresh and dry weights of those plants were gradually decreased with increasing salinity level to reach the minimum values by the highest level (4000 ppm). The opposite was correct regarding the effect of Fe3O4, as the means of various top and root growth parameters were linearly increased as a result of the progressive increment of magnetite dose with the superiority of 4 g/pot dose that gave the highest records in most cases. The previous characters were also affected by the combined treatments, where the plants received magnetite at either 2 or 4 g/pot and irrigated with fresh water generally recorded the utmost high averages over control, and the interaction treatment of fresh water + 4 g/pot magnetite was the most effective one. A similar trend was also attained concerning the chemical composition of the leaves, as the concentrations of chlorophyll a and b, carotenoids and total carbohydrates were gradually decreased, but those of Na, Cl and proline were progressively increased the level of salt in irrigation water was increased. Magnetic iron, however improved concentrations of these constituents under the different salinity levels. The combination of fresh water + 4 g magnetite /pot scored the maximum concentrations of chlorophyll a and b, carotenoids and total carbohydrates, but that was true for Na, Cl and proline concentrations in plants irrigated with 4000 ppm saline water and supplemented with either 2 or 4 g/pot magnetite. Hence, it can be advised to use 4 g magnetite/ plant as a soil drench every month during the growing season in order to protect Enterolobium. contortisiliquum seedlings from salinity hazards.


Primula merrilliana \%Schltr. and \%P. cicutariifolia \%Pax are two rare and endangered species in Anhui Province of China. At present, there is a rapid decrease in quantity and distribution areas of the two species. Random amplified polymorphic DNA technique was used to analyze the genetic diversity of individuals from 10 natural populations of the two species. Fifty 10\|mer arbitrary primers were screened out. 14 selected primers produced good polymorphic patterns and a total of 85 DNA bands were amplified, among which 67 were polymorphic (78.8%).\ The percentage of polymorphic loci of\%P. merrilliana \%and\%P. cicutariifolia \%are 71.6% and 66.7%, respectively, which shows that the genetic diversity decreasing may not be one of the major threatening factors. Dendrograms of populations of the two species were generated by using N\|J methods. The results support the view that \%P. merrilliana \%and \%P. cicutariifolia \%are two separate species at molecular level, and demonstrate that genetic diversity is closely related to habitat diversity. Because the two species possess the geographic advantage, richness of flowers, the long span of flowering time and their greater genetic diversity, it is prosperous for the two species to be new ornamental resources.


Upper airway cough syndrome (UACS), previously known as post-nasal drip syndrome, is a persistent cough that lasts more than four weeks in children or more than eight weeks in adults, which is associated with nasal and sinus diseases, such as allergic rhinitis (AR), chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS), and adenoid hypertrophy (AH). UACS is one of the major causes of chronic cough. Several theories support the pathophysiology of chronic cough in UACS, namely post-nasal drip, airway inflammation, and sensory neural hypersensitivity theories. Persistent and excessive cough generates a deterioration in patient's quality of life and social interaction. This review summarizes the knowledge on pathophysiology and underlying disease of UACS, aims to help clinicians identify and treat this syndrome.


The Aquilon is a natural unanium research reactor cooled with heavy water. The shielding, auxlliary installations, and the control installations are described. A study was made of the critical conditions of the reactor, and an experimental determination of the buckling was also performed. The values obtained are given. (J.S.R.)


The invention relates to the technical field of pesticides, and in particular relates to an application of 2,4-dichlorophenoxybutyric acid and a derivative of 2,4-dichlorophenoxybutyric acid. The structural formula of the compound, namely, 2,4-dichlorophenoxybutyric acid, is as shown in the specification, in the formula, R is selected from hydrogen, methyl, ethyl, propyl, butyl or 2- ethylhexyl; and M is selected from sodion, potassium ions, ammonium ions, dimethyl amine ions or isopropylamines. The compound is used for preparing a rice field herbicide. The compound provided by the invention has a wide herbicide controlling spectrum, can prevent and treat grass family weeds, broad leaf weeds and nutgrass flatsedge, has a very good synergistic effect, is fast in killing herbs and is very good in security for rice.


When compared with African Americans, Latinos, and Native Americans, Asian are often attributed more positive attributions from the dominant culture. The developed stereotype, Myth of the Model Minority (MMM), suggests Asian Americans achieve a higher degree of success than the general population. Under the internalized assumption of being psychologically trouble free, the MMM stereotype contributes to Asians being less inclined to proactively engage in help seeking behavior despite the presence of severe mental health concerns. Psychocultural examples relating to Asian Americans (e.g., Virginia Tech Shooter case) are reviewed to form a clinical and forensic psychological framework that offers a challenge as to why the MMM is problematic in higher education. The myths related to MMM and the experiences—positive or negative—of MMM are analyzed to encourage subsequent empirically-based applications for addressing MMM as well as serving as a caveat against using monocausal explanations or other thumbnail assessments of Asian American behavior in higher education. Asians and the Myth of the Model Minority in Higher Education: A Psychocultural Reality in the 21st Century


The role of effective teamwork in accomplishing complex tasks is accepted in many domains. Similarly, there is good evidence that the outcome in trauma care depends on effective trauma team performance. Teamwork during trauma care can be deficient in a number of ways (Table 1), and multiple deficiencies may interact to impair team success and patient outcomes. This chapter focuses on understanding, assessing, and improving trauma team performance. Resuscitation of trauma patients is a specialized domain in which critically ill patients are treated in a dedicated facility. The need to train and evaluate the performance of trauma teams has emerged as an important topic over the past decade (1,2). Institutions must establish and continuously validate their team-based trauma resuscitation procedures to assure high quality care. This iterative evaluation must include the review of secondary management, careful delineation of team structure, comprehensive team training, effective support structures, and continuous quality improvement. This chapter reviews the state-of-the-art methodology useful for the trauma team's training, evaluation, and improvement. Emphasis is placed upon essential features and newer techniques, including computer simulation and video-assisted analysis and debriefing. Team training has a proven history in aviation and military organizations. Recently, these experiences and techniques have been utilized in medicine, including trauma resuscitation and critical care management. Studies of aviation teams revealed failures of coordination, communication, workload management, loss of group situational awareness, and inefficient resource utilization (3–6). Thorough investigation of adverse events occuring during trauma resuscitation revealed similarities to failures discovered in aviation-related mishaps, both tending to be multifactorial and complex (7–11). Much of health care is performed by interdisciplinary teams: individuals with diverse specialized skills focused upon a common task in a defined period of time and space, who must respond flexibly to contingencies and share responsibility for outcomes. This is particularly true of trauma care. Traditional specialty-centric clinical education programs are deficient in team training, because most assume that individuals acquire adequate competencies in teamwork passively without any formal training. Performance incentives in health care are targeted at individuals and not at teams, as are job and other selection and assessment processes (12). With a few exceptions, risk management and liability data, morbidity and mortality conferences, and even quality improvement projects have not systematically addressed systems factors or teamwork issues. Substantial evidence suggests that teams routinely outperform individuals and are required to succeed in today's complex work arenas where information and resources are widely distributed, technology is becoming more complicated, and workload is increasing (13,14). Nevertheless, our understanding of how medical teams coordinate in real-life situations, especially during time-constrained and crisis situations, remains incomplete.


Draw-a-Secret password schemes, like the Google Android Pattern Lock, entail stroking out a shape on a touch screen. This paper explores techniques for expanding the richness of this input modality (multitouch input, off-target interaction) in order to increase password entropy and resistance to observation. A formative user study highlights user perceptions and usability issues relating to this design space and suggests directions for future development of this concept.


The Refuge Revenue Sharing Fund (RRSF) was enacted in response to the concern of local governments regarding losses to their tax base due to the presence of federally owned land under the jurisdiction of the Fish and Wildlife Service. This report outlines recent history of RRSF payment levels. It examines the RRSF and describes how the fund differs in its treatment of reserved and acquired lands under the jurisdiction of FWS. The report also examines the Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILT) program in detail.


Electroactive shape memory composites were prepared using polyurethane block copolymer and conducting polypyrrole by chemical oxidative polymerization. The electrical conductivity, thermal and mechanical properties, and morphology of the composites were investigated, and a voltage-triggered shape memory effect was demonstrated. The polyurethane synthesized had a transition temperature near 46 °C. The presence of polypyrrole increased the conductivity of the composites, and a high conductivity of the order of 10 -2 S/cm was obtained at 6-20 wt.-% polypyrrole. Such a conductivity of composites was enough to show electroactive shape recovery by heating above the transition temperature of 40-45 °C due to melting of the polycaprolactone soft segment domain. Thus a good shape recovery of 85-90% could be obtained in the shape recovery test with bending mode when an electric field of 40 V was applied.


Several types of carbon nanotubes in their perfect and imperfect form were simulated, and their vibrational behavior was studied by performing computational examinations with fixed-free boundary conditions. Both computational and analytical results were compared in the case of perfect tubes. Afterward, three kinds of imperfections, that is, twisting angle, z-distortion along the longitudinal axis and xy-distortion along the radial axis, were introduced to the structure of perfect carbon nanotubes, and the natural frequencies of imperfect carbon nanotubes were numerically evaluated and compared with the behavior of the perfect ones. It was concluded that the existence of any type of imperfection in the structure of carbon nanotubes leads to a lower natural frequency and, as a result, lower vibrational stability. However, this trend was more visible for the carbon nanotubes with higher chirality.


Many small board repairs can be done with a methodical approach using basic tools such as DMMs and oscilloscopes to measure voltages and waveforms at significant test points in a circuit. Troubleshooting modern, complex, multi-layer PCBs is often challenging, with factors such as available documentation playing a role in the speed of repairs. Automated systems may prove costeffective for larger repair loads.


Abstract. Various multifunctional operations are performed by proposing designs of optical adder, subtractor, comparator, and decoder at 60  Gb/s. In all operations, constructive interference is produced by choosing optimized parameters, i.e., optical pulse generator power, input power, semiconductor optical amplifier-Mach–Zehnder interferometer parameters, and so on, for delivering a true output signal. An optical pulse-generated signal is required for all operations except addition, subtraction and equal to in a comparator.


Al alloys possess many favorable characteristics which make them useful in a wide variety of application. Particularly, the Al2024 alloys are extensively used as structural materials in commercial airplanes owing to their good balance of properties including high specific strength, formability and corrosion resistance [1, 2]. These properties are mainly important in the aerospace industry. These alloys are currently used in high volume manufacturing in the aerospace e.g. aircraft wing and fuselage structures are made of T3 and T4 Al2024 alloy sheet [1-2]. By another hand, the mechanical properties of this alloy can be influenced by artificial aging and by plastic deformation, such as equal channel angular pressing, high pressure torsion and cold rolling. However, only few of thermomechanical treatments have been practically applied to Al alloys, like heat treatment T8 of Al2024 and T9 of Al2A12 alloys [4], in which the applied deformation is relatively small. The reason is to avoid the introduction of the non-uniform distribution of dislocation cell structures which may act as nucleation sites of heterogeneous precipitation [4]. Although, it should be mentioned that a significant increase of the strength was achieved by relatively large cold deformation after solution treatment in others studies [5]. The aim of this work is evaluate the effect of plastic deformation on microstructure and hardening of the 2024 Al alloy (Al2024) modified with 0.25 wt. % of Mg additions (Al2024-0.25 Mg).


About 10 million people were displaced as a result of internal conflict that took place in Syria in 2011. Today, about 3 million of them (2,743,497) are spread throughout 81 districts of Turkey. Located on the most major migration route of migrants, Kilis underwent some changes due to the stress caused by this rapidly increasing population. The population which is twice its own population hosted by Kilis is what makes it significant in terms of Syrian asylum seekers. Another element that renders the study field substantial is the location of Kilis on the crossing route of Syrian asylum seekers spread throughout Turkey. The purpose of this study is to set forth the origin of migration in this forced migration process and the demographic characteristics of those joining the migration. In addition, this study reveals how the targeted Kilis is affected by this forced migration. With the study, the results of questionnaire performed by the participation of 300 Syrian asylum seekers were revealed. While the half of the population among interviewees lives in the city center, the other half is comprised of those residing in Elbeyli Besiriye and


Falling related injuries are categorized as the most serious and common medical problems experienced by the elderly. Hip joint fracture, one of the most serious consequences of falling in the elderly, occurs in only about 1% of falling. In this study, according to the loading conditions, the analysis is the behavior of thefemur. The CT images using the commercial program "Mimics" the bones of three-dimensional CAD data generated, and we will analyze the results of finite element analysis. The boundary conditions on the basis of existing research has been simplified. In this paper, the whole femur was assumed to be isotropic linear elastic material. Predicted the behavior of the femur according to the loading condition, it can be help the development of high-precision artificial bones and joints can be treated with surgery and will be able to perform efficiently.