The present invention relates to a composite part manufacturing process. It also relates to a manufacturing facility employing such a method, and composite parts thus manufactured. It finds application in the field of aircraft construction. During a first phase, there is provided the design of the part, calculating the geometry and the tissue architecture of the preform fabric and calculating a forming mandrel from a first state of the preform. During a second phase, is carried out the production of a fabric (21) of the preform and the mandrel (20) calculated during the first phase. During a third phase, is carried out around the mandrel with the fabric produced, extraction of the preform from the mandrel to collapse (R) a portion (29b ") of the preform, and finally to achieve the impregnation of the preform to obtain the desired piece of composite material.


The Federal Government has proposed to offer Outer Continental Shelf lands in the Beaufort Sea for oil and gas leasing. Because oil spills may occur from activities associated with offshore oil production, the Minerals Management Service conducts a formal risk assessment. This report summarizes results of oil-spill risk analysis conducted for the proposed Beaufort Sea lease sale.


Examples indicate that the bond shear test can be used effectively to reduce common cause variability in the wire bond process, allowing in-process monitors to detect unusual events in the process more efficiently. The first example illustrates that before a process can be improved, its measurement system must have less variability than the process it measures. The second example, an investigation of capillary change effects, illustrates that the sensitivity of bond shear can be used to identify bonder components that contribute significantly to process variability. The third example suggests that shear results can be used as a standard whereby a given bonder's power and force parameters can be set to produce consistent bond strengths over time, and many bonders can be set to produce bonds of similar strengths.<<ETX>>


GUIDELINES FOR AUTHORS Journal of Interdisciplinary dental sciences considers only original communications /articles/ write-ups submitted exclusively to the journal. Prior and duplicate publications are not allowed. Publication of abstract under conference proceedings wil l not be considered as prior publication. It is the duty of the authors to inform the Journal Interdisciplinary dental sciences about all submissions and previous reports that might be regarded as prior or duplicate publication. Manuscripts for publication will be considered on their individual merits. All manuscripts will be subjected to peer review. Normally manuscripts will be sent to at least two reviewers and their comments along with the editorial board's decision will be forwarded to the contributor for further action. The authors may suggest three referees working in the same area for evaluating the manuscript. However, the Journal of Interdisciplinary dental sciences reserves the right to choose referees. The editorial board may invite articles for review section or educational forum from those with considerable standing in the field. However, such an invitation does not automatically guarantee their publication. These articles will also be subjected to review process and accepted only if found suitable. Unsolicited articles for review and educational forum sections will also be considered. The Journal Interdisciplinary dental sciences insists on ethical practices in both human and animal experimentation. Evidence for approval by a Local Ethics Committee (for both human as well as animal studies) must be supplied by the authors on demand. Animal experimental procedures should be as humane as possible and the details of anaesthetics and analgesics used should be clearly stated. The ethical standards of experiments must be in accordance with the guidelines provided by the CPCSEA (animal) and ICMR (human). The journal will not consider any paper which is ethically unacceptable. A statement on ethics committee permission and ethical practices must be included in all research articles under the 'Materials and Methods' section. Authors must be careful when they reproduce text, tables or illustrations from other sources. Plagiarism will be viewed seriously. All accepted papers are subject to editorial changes. Copyright: Any article accepted for publication/published in the Journal Interdisciplinary dental sciences will be the copyright of the journal. The journal has the right to publish the accepted articles in any media (print, electronic or any other) any number of times. The authors should transfer copyright and sign a declaration to this effect. Undertaking : The manuscript must be submitted with a statement, signed by all the authors, regarding the originality, authorship and transfer of copyright as per the format. A physical copy of the Authors' declaration and Copyright transfer must be submitted on paper along with a covering letter.


Large capacitances are needed for low‐frequency active filters to process biomedical signals. The large capacitance can be implemented on a chip by an impedance scaling circuit. However, the characteristics of the circuit are affected by process variations. Then, we have proposed a digitally programmable impedance scaling circuit using electrical switches to compensate for the process variations. This paper describes a technique to reduce power consumption as compared with the conventional circuit. The proposed circuit is composed of a three‐stage current mirror circuit and electrical switches. To reduce the power consumption, the only signal current is amplified by current mirror circuits and bias current sources. The tuning range of the scaling factor of capacitance is from −35% to +28%, and the tuning accuracy is 1% using six switches. The validity of the proposed method is confirmed by simulations using HSPICE. The power consumption of the proposed circuit is reduced by 51% as compared with the conventional circuit. The proposed circuit is applied to a filter whose cutoff frequency is 100 Hz. From the tuning result, the tuning error is less than 1% for ±30% of ±3σ global variation and ± 3% of ±3σ local variation. © 2021 Institute of Electrical Engineers of Japan. Published by Wiley Periodicals LLC.


How can a User Services group provide an adequate degree of consulting support for users when the department is heavily dependent on part-time student staff? An idea borrowed from business concepts provides a highly satisfactory, workable solution. The idea is that if student staff members have mentors, they can be better prepared for their jobs in less time and even learn to handle increased responsibilities. This approach to training student consultant staff has been in practice at Indiana State University since the fall of 1982.


AIM To evaluate the efficacy and safety of domestic leflunomide in rheumatoid arthritis (RA).METHODS A multicenter,double-blind,and randomized controlled trial in 240 patients with RA was conducted.Patients were divided into trial group (n=120) and control group (n=120),and were treated with leflunomide,20 mg,qd,for 24 wk.Assessments included pain VAS,morning stiffness,28-joint count for tenderness and swelling,health assessment questionnaire,and the global assessments about disease activity of patients and physicians.Efficacy was assessed using the American College of Rheumatology criteria for 20% improvement (ACR20),and clinical and laboratory adverse reactions of the drugs were observed in both groups.RESULTS ACR20 in the trial group and the control group was 68.9% and 69.5% (P 0.05),respectively.95% CI for the differences in ACR20 between the two groups was-12.95% to 19.88%,and the lower limit was above-15%.The incidence of adverse reactions was 51.3% (61 /119) and 44.9% (53 /118) in the trial group and the control group,respectively.There was no significant difference between the two groups (P 0.05) CONCLUSION Both of the leflunomide are effective and safe in RA.


The effect of excision of the inferior alveolar nerve and blood vessels running along the nerves on dentin formation and pulp tissue was studied in the lower incisors of mice. In experimental group 1, the nerve trunk and blood vessels were unilaterally excised within the mandibular bone. In group 2, both were cut outside the mandibular foramen. Ingroup 3, only the vessels were excised. The following results were obtained: 1. On the 7th day after excision, the double tetracycline labeling techniquerevealed that the growth rate of dentin decreased in 9 out of 10 mice in group 1, in 6 out of 8 in group 2, and in 2 out of 6 in group 3.From the 7th to 14th day, the rate of dentin formation did not decrease in any of the groups. 2. Upon examination on the 7th day after excision of nerve fibers, some mice continued to show dentin formation. Furthermore, on the 14th day after the operation, nearly normaldentin formation was observed in all of the mice, though their nervefibers had not regenerated. 3. There was no significant differencein the number of BrdU-labeled cells that appeared in the pulp of the basal end of incisors with nerves and vessels. However, in the pulp under the first molar, there were more BrdU-labeled cells in incisors with decreased dentin formation than in normal incisors. 4. Transmission electron microscopy ofthe pulp that was associated with the decrease in dentin formation revealed the presence of odontoblasts and fibroblasts that induced severe degeneration or necrosis. These results show that the decrease in dentin formation was caused by the degeneration of pulp, especially of odontoblasts, and that this degeneration was induced by the excision of vessels rather than of nerves. 〒102東 京 都千代 田 区富士見1-9-20 森谷健一ほか:下 歯槽神経と血管切断後の歯髄 と象牙質形成 379 抄録:下 歯槽神 経 とこれ に伴行 す る血 管 の切 断が,歯 髄 組織 と象牙 質形成 に及 ぼす影響 をマ ウスの下顎 切歯 に お いて調 べた。神 経本 幹 とこれ に添 って走行 す る血 管 を下 顎骨 内部 で切 断 した もの を実験 群1,下 顎 孔 に入 る直 前 で切 断 した もの を実験 群2,血 管 のみ を切 断 した ものを実験群3と した。 テ トラサ イ ク リンラベ リング法 に よ り,切 断後7日 の象牙 質 の成長 の割合 は,実 験 群1で は10例 中9例,実 験群2で は8例 中6例,実 験 群3で は6 例 中2例 にお いて減 少 してい た。切断 後7日 か ら14日 におい て は,象 牙質 の減形成 はどの群 に も認 め られ なか っ た。神経線 維 の切断7日 後 の一部 の個体 におい て,象 牙 質形成 が維持 され てい た。 さらに また,術 後14日 のす べ て の個 体 にお いて,神 経線 維 の再生 が起 こって いない に もかか わ らず,ほ ぼ正 常 な象牙質 形成 がみ られ た。切歯 形成端 部の歯髄 に現 われ たBrdU陽 性細胞 の数 は,実 験 群 と対 照群 の問で有 意 な差 を示 さなか った。 しか し,第 一 臼歯 の下方 に位置 す る歯髄 で は ,象 牙質 の減形成 を伴 っ た個体 において よ り多 くの陽性細 胞 がみ られ た。 透過 型 電顕観 察 で は,象 牙質 の減形 成 を生 じた個 体 におい て,激 しい変性 や壊死 を起 こした象牙芽細胞 と線 維芽細 胞 が認 め られ た。 これ らの結 果 は,象 牙 質 の減 形成 は歯髄 の変性,特 に象牙芽細 胞 の変 性 に よって生 じる こ と,そ して これ らの 変性 は神 経 の切 断 よ りもむ しろ血管 の切断 に よって生 じるこ とを示 してい る。


Year Book of the Scientific and Learned Societies of Great Britain and Ireland. (London: Charles Griffin and Co. 1890)The seventh annual issue of this useful work of reference has recently been issued. It contains particulars of the objects officers. and local habitations of all the principal scientific and learned societies throughout the country. Lists of papers read before these societies are given, so that the volume is to some extent arecord of the progress of the year. The information, so far as we have been able to test it, appears to be remarkably full and accurate. It is a little surprising to find the Medical Department of the Local Government Board figuring as a learned society, and it is not clear why the St. Thomas's Hospital Medical and Physical Society is given a prominent place while other societies of the same class are relegated to the smallest type. These are, however, faults of redundance, and faults of this class are most venial in a book of reference.


The effect of thyrotoxicosis on the electrocardiogram of the patient, in whom there is no clinical evidence of other types of heart disease and no cardiac arrhythmia, has been a subject of considerable controversy. Joll (1932) maintained that electrocardiographic changes are produced that are pathognomonic of thyrotoxicosis, while other authorities have denied this and have stated that no specific changes occur (McGavack, 1951; White, 1951). A difference of opinion also exists about the occurrence of cardiac hypertrophy in uncomplicated thyrotoxicosis, that is, with no cardiac arrhythmia, congestive failure, or any associated cardiac abnormality, such as coronary artery disease, hypertension, or rheumatic heart disease. Early observers failed to find cardiac enlargement (Lahey, 1930; Hurxthal, 1928), but later reports indicated that clinical evidence of cardiac hypertrophy might be present (Parkinson and Cookson, 1931; Lerman and Means, 1932; Friedberg, 1950). The aims of the present study are, therefore, to determine whether any specific electrocardiographic abnormalities are produced by thyrotoxicosis, and to investigate the occurrence of left ventricular hypertrophy, assessed on electrocardiographic criteria in uncomplicated cases of hyperthyroidism.


Introduction : Mood disorders, including major depression (MD), are among the most frequent psychological problems. Emotional intelligence which is an important component of mental health plays an important role in one's health; and also, by enhancing self-esteem, it is considered as a major source for support by which people can deal with negative events of every day life. The alexithymia Barrie might prevent a one's emotion to be regulated and adjusted. The present study was aimed to assess emotional intelligence, self esteem and Alexithymia among women with majer depression disorder and and then compare them with normal women. Methods : The present work is a causal comparative study. We studied 60 women, including (30 women with majer depression and another 30 ones with normal conditions.), these participants were selected based on a conventional method from Rasol-Akram and nor- medical centers in spring and summer of 2014 (1393) in Shahrood, Iran. In order to analyze the data, we applied the following measuring tools: Sherink's Emotional Intelligence questionnaire, Cooper Smith's, self-esteem Inventory, Toronto Alexithymia scale-20 (TAS-20) and Beck depression Inventory (BDI) and also several identical variances (MANOVA). Results : Based on the results, there are significant differences between depressed and normal women, specifically at the levels of emotional intelligence, self-esteem and Alexithymia (P<0.001). Conclusion : Considering our findings, we suggest the importance and significance of the relationship between emotional intelligence, self-esteem and Alexithymia be taken into account in explaining depression. The findings in this work could be used in prevention and treatment of the programs.


Within environmental sociology there exists a debate between competing theories of societal development and its accompanying ecological repercussions and possible solutions. Environmental reform (ecological modernization) and unsustainable economic system (treadmill of production, ecological unequal exchange, and structural human ecology) theories propose two very different paths for the direction of society in addressing the multiple ecological crises of the 21 st century. Both approaches provide theoretical and practical strides in addressing these questions within environmental sociology; however, both also fail to address important foci for the future. For us to continue to thrive as a species we must reconsider our relationship with nature and abandon our anthropocentric views of nature by taking a position that recognizes our role in a complex system. Ultimately, mechanisms for building resilience and adaptation and reducing vulnerability rely upon a paradigm shift, an understanding of "true" and "false" sustainability, and adaptation and resilience strategies that afford us an opportunity to recast social-ecological relationships towards "true" sustainability.


In recent years social networking websites, and especially Facebook, have attracted millions of new users. For that reason, politicians seek to use this interactive space more and more intensively for their goals, most often during the period of election campaigns. This article analyzes the processes of political communication via social networking sites, and discusses the benefits and some negative aspects of these communicational activities. As well, the article presents the analysis of the use of social networking websites during the presidential campaign of 2009 in the Republic of Lithuania. It also presents the results of the municipal councils election campaign of 2011, which reveal various aspects of the use of social networking websites by the candidates. Finally, the article presents the results of the logistic regression model, which allows forecasting the use of social networking websites by politicians during elections.


Regular operation at the High Charge State Injector (HLI) was performed for: Li (6 d), C (97 d), Mg (21 d), Ca (74 d), Cr (34 d), Sn (8 d), and Xe (7 d). For Ca a long run of 67 days could be provided characterized by exceptional stability at high intensity level. The lifetime of the oven exceeded 1500hours while 3 fillings of the crucible were consumed. Taking into account the amount of material recovered from condensates a consumption of only 0.2mg/h has been achieved which corresponds to an efficiency never reached before. Initiated by a request of a SHIP experiment for a Si beam tests were performed at the ECR injector setup (EIS) using natural SiO to produce a Si beam by evaporation from the GSI standard oven (STO). SiO appeared to be the only choice, because the vapor pressure of Si and SiO2 are by far to low. An appropriate source setting could be found to provide a stable beam of Si at moderate intensity level for more than 20 hours. Beam diagnostic tools have to be adapted to the specific requirements of an ECR ion source. To measure the beam emittance a pepper pot device has been reactivated. The pepper pot has a spatial resolution of 5mm only, but provides information which is not available from a standard slit grid device. The difference between both measurements is that the pepper pot gives a two dimensional subspace of the transverse phase space, whereas the slit grid method is a two dimensional projection of the four dimensional phase space. As an example, the emittance of a singly charged helium beam, directly behind the extraction system is shown in Fig. 1. The ion source has been tuned to a low current mode. Even in that case the characteristic shape of an ion beam extracted from an ECR source can be seen.


Conceptual graphs are a knowledge representation formalism based on the description of concepts and relations between these concepts. The knowledge expressed in this model is structured in two levels: the terminological level which is split into a concept type lattice and a poset of relation types, and the assertionnal level which is composed of graphs built with the terminological level elements. We develop in this article an extension of the basic model of conceptual graphs : the introduction of type definitions. We extend the specialization/generalization relation on conceptual graphs to take in account these definitions and we etablish the correspondance with projection. We give a logical interpretation of type definitions and prove than the correspondance between logical deduction and generalisation relation is maintained. Finally, we demonstrate that this extension allows us to realize a type classifier.


Two types of thermoelectric converters in which the space charge is compensated for by a natural plasma of cesium ions were developed. The heating of the cathode is obtained in the first model by electron bombardment and, in the second, by a luminous radiation falling on the cathode. A maximum yield of 14% with 115 amp under 0.72 v was obtained. (tr-auth)


This paper aims at discussing Information and communication technology (ICT) as a practical tool in achieving vision 20:2020. ICT is the world fastest growing economic activity in Nigeria. The sector has turned the world into an increasing interconnected network of individuals, firms, schools and governments, communicating and interacting with each other through a variety of channels and providing economic opportunities transcending borders, languages and cultures. ICT has opened a new channels for service delivery in areas such as e-government, e-learning, e-health, information dissemination etc. It plays a vital role in the manufacturing industries, competence, competitiveness and process jobs the world over. It is considered to be key for advanced manufacturing strategy. The paper goes further to discuss literature review, the role play by ICT in Nigerian economy and challenges faced. Finally, it ended with conclusion and recommendations on the best way to tackle problems especially implementation of good policy in ICT concerning various sectors of the economy.


The tire air cavity mode is known to be a significant source of vehicle structure-borne road noise near 200 Hz. A porous lining placed on the inner surface of a tire is an effective countermeasure to attenuate that resonance. The two noticeable effects of such a lining are the sound
 pressure attenuation and the frequency reduction of the air cavity mode. In this paper, through both analytical and numerical methods, the mechanism of the effects of porous lining was studied. A two-dimensional duct-shaped analytical model and a tire-shaped numerical model were built to investigate
 the lined tire in conjunction with the Johnson-Champoux-Allard model describing the visco-inertial dissipative effects of the porous material. Design parameters of the porous lining were controlled to study their impact and optimal ranges of the design parameters were suggested. Finally, in
 experimental analysis, the sound attenuation and the frequency drop were observed in measurements of force, acceleration, and sound pressure. In conclusion, it was demonstrated that the suggested analytical and numerical models successfully predict the effect of porous lining and that the
 frequency reduction results from the decreased sound speed within the tire owing to the presence of the liner.


Abstract To improve the density and electrochemical performance of LiFePO4, Na-doping modified Li0·95Na0·05FePO4 cathode material was synthesised through co-precipitation method, using a spherical sample prepared by microwave heating as precursor. The morphology, structure, electrochemical performance and the tap density of the materials were characterised by scanning electron microscope, x-ray diffraction, cyclic voltammetry, constant current charge–discharge experiment and the tap density measurement. The results indicated that the samples have rules spherical or similar spherical morphology and simple pure olive-type phase. The Na-doped Li0·95Na0·05FePO4 material showed excellent performance with a tap density of 1·63 g cm−3. At room temperature, its initial discharge capacities reached 164·2, 151·5 and 130·5 mAh g−1 at 0·2, 1 and 2 C current rates, respectively.


The present study aims to investigate the effectiveness of Mastery Learning Strategy and Inquiry Training Model on the achievement of students in Science at VII Grade level. For this purpose a sample of 90 students was drawn from VII Grade students from a school at Rohtak (Haryana) affiliated to CBSE. Three groups of students each comprising 30 students were formed and were labelled as Experimental Group I (E1), Experimental Group II (E2), and Control Group (C). All the three groups were equated on intelligence using Cattell's Culture Fair Intelligence Test. Lesson plans on Mastery Learning and Inquiry Training Model were prepared and implemented after pre-testing on Achievement Test. After completion of the instructional treatment achievement test was administered as post-test to students of experimental Group I, Experimental Group II and Control Group. One way ANOVA was used to arrive at the following conclusions: (i) Mastery Learning Group was found to attain significantly higher achievement scores as compared to Inquiry Training Group and Control Group; (ii) Inquiry Training Model of Teaching and Traditional Method of Teaching are equally effective in raising the achievement of students in Science. * Directorate of Distance Education, M.D. University, Rohtak Introduction ''The global crusade to universalise basic education and improve its quality is now very much on the world agenda especially in the developing countries. Globally, there is an overwhelming concern over the quality and relevance of education. Undoubtedly, quality of school education is the direct consequence and outcome of the quality of teachers and Effectiveness of Mastery Learning Strategy and Inquiry... 77 teacher-education system. In this context, importance of quality of teachers in improving the quality of education is far beyond question. Therefore, quality improvement of our teachers education programme is one of the indispensable needs" (Patrick, 2000). Though the place of teaching of science is at the top of hierarchy of different subjects, the researches in this area have been relatively scanty. The teaching of science in schools generally conforms to the traditional methods and continues to be dominated by teacher, making it as dull and uninspiring as ever before. Mastery learning strategies have significant effect on students' cognitive and affective development and rate of learning. Mastery learning methods also contribute in increasing the learners' interest and aptitude for learning the subject than traditional approaches. The studies also indicate that mastery learning strategy can compensate learning deficiencies of culturally and socially deprived children. On reviewing the research literature in the teaching of science extensively, it is observed that the models of teaching of the 'Behavioural System Family' in general and the Inquiry training model, in particular, has not attracted the attention of researchers so far to investigate their effectiveness, usefulness and validity in enhancing the academic achievement of students. Since the subject of science occupies an important place in the school curriculum there is a need to probe the effectiveness of Inquiry Training Model and Mastery Learning Model. Hence, the investigators have selected two models of teaching to find out their relative effectiveness on students' achievement. Objective The study was designed to realise the following objective: — To compare the effect of Mastery Learning Strategies and Inquiry Training Model of Teaching on Achievement in Science. Hypotheses (H1) At post-test stage there will be no significant difference in the mean achievement scores of students taught through: (i) Mastery Learning Model and Inquiry Training Model; (ii) Mastery Learning Model and Traditional Method; (iii) Inquiry Training Model and Traditional Model; 78 Indian Educational Review, Vol. 41, No.1, January 2005 (H2) At post-test stage there will be no significant difference in the mean gain achievement scores of students taught through: (i) Mastery Learning Model and Inquiry Training Model; (ii) Mastery Learning Model and Traditional Method; (iii) Inquiry Training Model and Traditional Method; Sample The sample of the present study comprised 90 pupils studying in three sections of Class VII of an English medium school at Rohtak. The average age of the students was 12+ years. From each section 30 students were picked up randomly. One section forms the control group and the other two sections form the two experimental groups i.e. E1 and E2. To eliminate the initial variability of intelligence in the three groups, the students were measured on general mental ability test employing Cattell's culture fair intelligence test. ANOVA was applied to find out the difference between intelligence test scores of the three groups. F-value between the three groups was found to be 2.98, which was not significant at 0.05 level. It means that significant difference does not exist between the intelligence of the three groups. Tools Used The following tools were used during pre-test and post-test sessions. 1. Culture Fair Intelligence Test by Cattell and Cattell. 2. Science Achievement Test was developed and standardised on the topics, " Electric charges at rest, energy, life processes, air (pollution of air, different constituents of air– O2, CO2 and water vapours), water and sound" from the Science Textbook of Class VII, to measure the initial and terminal achievement of the students. 3. Three forms of Mastery Tests for each of the six units were constructed. Each unit test had 30 questions for 60 marks. 4. Lesson plans were prepared on the above mentioned topics of science using Inquiry Training Model. Experimental Procedure The experiment was conducted in three phases: (i) Pre-testing; (ii) Experimental treatment; and (iii) Post-testing. Effectiveness of Mastery Learning Strategy and Inquiry... 79 Phase I : Pre-Testing In the pre-test stage, intelligence and achievement tests were administered to the students of three groups i.e. control group, experimental group I (to be taught through Mastery Learning Strategy), Experimental Group II (to be taught through Inquiry Training Model). Phase II : Experimental Treatment All the three groups viz. control group, experimental group I and experimental group II were taught by the investigator so as to avoid teacher variable — the control group was taught through conventional method of teaching, while, the experimental group I was taught using Mastery Learning Model and Experimental Group II was taught through Inquiry Training Model. Same topics were taught to the three groups for a duration of 12 weeks. A. Teaching of Experimental Group I The group was exposed through Mastery Learning Model. The criteria decided for mastery of the content was 80 per cent mastery of the content by 80 per cent of the students. Indian Model of Mastery Learning (IMML) adapted by Hooda and Jangira (1987) was followed for providing instruction to the students. B. Teaching Experimental Group II Inquiry training model by Suchman (1962) was followed to provide instruction to the experimental group II. Discrepant events were prepared on the same content, which was taught to experimental group I; and control group. For teaching the experimental group II through Inquiry Training Model, Lesson Plans for all the six units based on the five phases of Inquiry Training Model were prepared. Phase III : Post-Test After completion of the instructional treatment achievement test was administered as post-test to students of experimental group I; experimental group II; and control group. 80 Indian Educational Review, Vol. 41, No.1, January 2005 Analysis and Interpretation of Data


U.v. and visible charge-transfer absorption spectra have been examined for dilute solutions of tetracyanoethylene, p-chloranil, and maleic anhydride in benzene and various alkylbenzenes, using very short liquid-path lengths where necessary. Tetracyanoethylene and p-chloranil were found to be essentially completely complexed in such solutions, and it appears that the extinction coefficients of the complexes can be measured directly without recourse to graphical procedures of the Benesi-Hildebrand type. These extinction coefficients show no marked dependence on donor strength or steric effects, and most lie in the range 2000–3000 cm.–1 mol–1 l.In contrast, the weaker acceptor maleic anhydried is incompletely complexed in liquid aromatic-hydrocarbon solvents. The degree of complexing appears to be determined both by the donor strength and steric effects. Since alkyl substituents increase the donor character of the benzene ring while decreasing its accessibility, the extent to which an alkylaromatic hydrocarbon complexes with maleic anhydride reflects a compromise.The relevance of these results to the photochemistry of the corresponding systems is discussed.


The research perspective in the background of the sources of different communities migrant workers' children and local student of city through issuing questionnaire.There are three conclusions:(1) In symbiotic environmental,migrant workers' children and local student of city score of number sense test no significant differences,local student was better than migrant workers' children in "compare the relative size of the number".(2) In symbiotic environmental,local student to promote migrant workers' children's number sense development from Grade 7 to 9.(3) In symbiotic environmental,different schools different grade migrant workers children and local student's differences exist in different dimensions.


This paper presents results from five experiments investigating the online interpretation of PRO and pronouns as subjects of adjunct clauses. The experiments attempted to provide evidence on the timecourse of interpretation for PRO/pronouns, and whether this interpretation causes reactivation of the semantic content of the antecedent in memory, using the N400 component of ERPs and self-paced reading times. The results were inconclusive. Although facilitation was seen in the N400 for some conditions, the effect of the interpretation of PRO and pronouns was small and insignificant, even though PRO and the pronoun did affect offline cloze results. Self-paced reading times also did not indicate differences in processing due to PRO/pronoun resolution. These results suggest either that interpreting PRO and pronouns does not reactivate the semantic content of their antecedents sufficient to cause facilitation of related material, or that any such facilitation is not reflected in the N400 or self-paced reading times.


This chapter assesses change-of-control transactions and the use of the defensive tactic known as the poison pill, a governance tool that often puts boards, rather than shareholders, in charge of a corporation's response to a takeover. Much as in the MVS context, this separation of ownership of the corporation from its control may invite conflicts of interest, here between boards and shareholders. The chapter then asks how shareholder-driven corporate governance (SCG) can and should inform regulation of this defensive tactic. It also considers management entrenchment theory and the shareholder-primacy norm in the context of changes of control. Both the normative and the positive aspects of SCG make it necessary to revisit the current legal balance between the interests of directors and the interests of target shareholders in takeovers.


Introduction
Historical Outline
Chemical Structure
Chemical Analysis and Detection
Functions
Hydrolyzability
Depolymerizability

Physiology
Biodegradation
In-vivo Degradation
Enzymatic Degradation
Microbial Degradation

Production
PDO
PPDO
Producers, Costs, and World Market
Applications

Outlook and Perspectives
Patents

Keywords:

polydioxanone;
poly(p-dixanone);
PPDO;
poly(ether-ester);
p-dioxanone;
PDO;
biodegradation;
bioabsorbable;
hydrolytic degradation;
depolymerization;
thermal decomposition;
microbial degradation;
enzymatic degradation;
compostability;
ring-opening polymerization;
enzymatic polymerization;
equilibrium polymerization;
medical devices;
surgical suture;
disposable articles


Carbon nanomaterials are becoming new materials which can be used in many fields including transistors, sensors, displays, hydrogen storage, capacitors, catalyst supporters and so on. PECVD is an important method for producing carbon nanomaterials. However, it remains a challenge to control the final production of the PECVD process. This paper tries to figure out the gas factors influencing the growth of different carbon nanomaterials. This paper begins with a brief introduction of PECVD and the growth regime of carbon nanowalls and carbon nanotubes. It discusses how the Argon, carbon source, hydrogen and other gas affect the growth of CNMs. The paper ends with a discussion on the practical influence of confirming the function of each gas.


Teleradiotherapy imposes the requirement of high accuracy in reference to its medical as well as technical aspects. Close adherence to the geometrical parameters set up in therapy planning is vital. The current location of the irradiation field and anatomical structures can be recorded in the portal image acquired during the therapy course. Assessment of the treatment accuracy consists in registration (overlaying) of the reference and the portal image to compare the layout of anatomical structures and the irradiation field. Edges of the compared features are difficult to find in the portal image, which is inherently of low contrast. Hence, not all the edges present in the reference image can be found in the portal one, and the comparison of geometries in these images is difficult and time-consuming. There exists a need for a tool that could support and objectify this process. At present the accuracy assessment is done manually by an experienced observer. As a rule, this tedious procedure is not performed routinely. The wide literature on image registration refers to portal images made with beams generated in accelerators rather than with the cobalt apparata. In Poland more than a half of patients are treated with cobalt. There are numerous references to image registration methods tailored for finding the fitting and non-fitting fragments of the compared edges. The majority of these methods lack generality. The methodology to be presented is general and requires little user intervention. • Features to be matched: edges of selected anatomical structures, irradiation field and shields, as seen in scanned images. • Edge detector: zero-second-derivative with scale fitted to noise and scale of edges, separately in portal and reference images. • Geometrical transformation: affine (2 translations, rotation, 2 scalings – along two coordinate axes). • Measure of fitting accuracy: modified Hausdorff distance measure – robust method based on voting. Parts of the contours that do not fit the general tendency are rejected. This is vital if portal images made with cobalt apparata are analysed. • Optimisation method for finding the best transformation: maximum gradient (chamfer matching). • Final fit can be calculated with the least squares method for only those pixels which were classified as fitting. • Speed-ups: hierarchical method (pyramid of resolutions); in some cases: pre-calculated virtual transformations. • Automatic classification of edges as belonging to anatomic structures, irradiation field or shields is possible. • Experiments with enhancing the contrast of portal images using the optical system transfer function concept. The software tool will be presented which makes it possible to correct the therapeutic system geometry or the location of the patient. Full control of the physician over the measurement process will be maintained, according to the requirement of human decision-making in the therapeutical process. The registration (overlaying) of a portal and a reference image is visualised for verification. Manual corrections of the result will be possible in the final version of the program. Acknowledgement The work is supported by the Committee for Scientific Research within the grant no. KBN 4 P05B 064 18.


A loop comprised of two dissimilar vessels yields one way steady flow in the absence of valves, termed impedance defined flow (IDF). This study performed systematic experiments on a physical model of two dissimilar vessels to quantify the impedance defined flow effect Results quantify how system geometry and tubing compression frequency vary flow, with maximum flows approaching 5% of the total system volume per second. IDF likely is an important perfusion mechanism in the cardiovascular system and may explain the working of the human fetal circulation prior to valve formation, and that of cardiopulmonary resuscitation.


In article results of a research of essence of labor potential in modern conditions are stated. It is proved that in the conditions of formation of post-industrial society a major factor of development of any sphere of economic activity is labor potential. It is analysed quantitative and quality characteristics of labor potential in the industry of Ukraine and the conclusion is drawn on loss of labor potential of the industry.


This paper concerns the problem of explicitly handling the additive noises that affect the output of an ARMAX process. To introduce additional information to the estimation problem, nuisances variables are employed to model the output noise as well as potentially existed outliers, which are then regularized with ℓ2 norm to produce estimates. The regularized estimator successfully suppresses the adverse effects of the output noise and provides minimum-variance estimates if the regularization parameter is properly chosen. Two special cases in which the regularization parameter is set to zero or infinity are also discussed.


Employing the edge effect and localized surface plasmon resonance effect, an enhanced photoemission is obtained from a carbon nanotube (CNT) arrays modified with gold nanoparticles. Compared with the unpatterned CNTs, the quantum efficiency of patterned CNTs is improved from 3.69×10−6 to 1.85×10−5. After modification with gold nanoparticles, the quantum efficiency of patterned CNTs is further raised to 4.98×10−5. This work makes CNTs as a promising material for the high stability and high efficiency photocathode.


Significance This article reports findings regarding the automatic classification of Eurasian languages using techniques from computational biology (such as sequence alignment, phylogenetic inference, and bootstrapping). Main results are that there is solid support for the hypothetical linguistic macrofamilies Eurasiatic and Austro-Tai. Unlike comparable previous work, these findings do not depend on manual assessments of etymological facts. This study contributes to ongoing efforts to push the limits of linguistic reconstruction further back in time, and thus to open a window into the pre-Neolithic human past. The methodological approach pursued here can be seen as a statistically informed and automatized version of Joseph Greenberg's mass lexical comparison, which yielded intriguing results regarding deep genetic relations between languages but has remained controversial among experts. Computational phylogenetics is in the process of revolutionizing historical linguistics. Recent applications have shed new light on controversial issues, such as the location and time depth of language families and the dynamics of their spread. So far, these approaches have been limited to single-language families because they rely on a large body of expert cognacy judgments or grammatical classifications, which is currently unavailable for most language families. The present study pursues a different approach. Starting from raw phonetic transcription of core vocabulary items from very diverse languages, it applies weighted string alignment to track both phonetic and lexical change. Applied to a collection of ∼1,000 Eurasian languages and dialects, this method, combined with phylogenetic inference, leads to a classification in excellent agreement with established findings of historical linguistics. Furthermore, it provides strong statistical support for several putative macrofamilies contested in current historical linguistics. In particular, there is a solid signal for the Nostratic/Eurasiatic macrofamily.


BACKGROUND
 As mobile phone uptake in India continues to grow, there is continued interest in mobile platform-based interventions for health education among other topics. Existing studies demonstrate a significant gender gap in mobile phone access, and suggest women's access to mobile phones is constrained by economic and diverse social barriers. Pregnancy and postpartum care is one of many targets for mobile health (mHealth) interventions which particularly rely on women's access to and facility with mobile phone use.

 OBJECTIVE
 This paper describes dynamics and patterns of women's mobile phone access and use among both phone owners and non-owners, including potential barriers to mHealth participation.

 METHODS
 Mixed-methods data were obtained from two different surveys (n=102 and n=29), two sets of in-depth interviews (n=20 and 29), and weekly data collection obtained in preparation for or within the pilot of an mHealth postpartum care intervention in rural Punjab in July 2020-February 2021.

 RESULTS
 A majority of women owned their own phone, though about half (52%) of phone owners still reported sharing their phone with other family members. Sharing a phone with female family members typically allowed for better access than sharing with male family members. Some households have strict preferences against daughters-in-law having phones, or otherwise significantly restrict or control women's phone access. Others reported concerns about phone use-related health hazards during pregnancy or postpartum for mother and infant.

 CONCLUSIONS
 These findings suggest significant variability and nuance to what is meant by women's phone ownership and access given the numerous additional constraints on their use of phones, particularly during pregnancy and postpartum. Future research and mHealth interventions should probe these domains to better understand these dynamics governing women's access, use, and fluency with mobile phones to optimally design mHealth interventions. mHealth, mobile health, digital health, India, pregnancy, pregnant women, postpartum, postpartum care

 INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT
 RR2-10.2196/preprints.34087


The histology of the gonads of free and captive summer whiting, Sillago ciliata, were compared to assess the potential of this fish for aquaculture. There were no qualitative differences between the free and captive males: both completed spermatogenesis through to spermiation. The captive females were non‐reproductive, reaching only the vitellogenic stage before the eggs were resorbed by atresia. A reproductive score was devised to assess reproductive potential in the comparison of the two populations. The females in the captive population had lower reproductive potentials, as shown by the score, and started development a month later than the normal free population. The captive males had higher reproductive scores than the free fish but they were also not spawning and, therefore, the higher score indicated that this potential was not realized. The score provides a standard against which experimental results can be compared and subsequently assessed. Copyright


Abstract:This essay examines four recent works that study men and women in contemporary and historical China. Despite their variety of approaches and subject matter, all four strive to demonstrate that gender is plural and fluid and intersects with class and race. They also show how scholars of China continue to explore the dynamics of cross-cultural relations and the use and development of cross-cultural theory.


Purpose : Behavioural problems among older people with dementia are a major concern in nursing homes. This study was designed to evaluate the effectiveness of staff training programs on both staff and residents. Methodology : Two programs (standard dementia care, individualised behaviour therapy) were compared to a control condition. A total of 90 staff and 113 aged care residents participated in the study. Findings: The results demonstrated an improvement in the self-efficacy of staff who received either training program at post-intervention, and at three- and six-month follow-up. Facility managers also rated an improvement in the performance of staff who received behaviour therapy at post-intervention and at follow-up. There were no changes in behaviours or quality of life for residents in any group. Implications: Staff education programs may not assist in the management of behavioural symptoms of dementia, but can improve staff attitudes. Other explanations and suggestions for future research are discussed.


Feature extraction is a process to search for special features of an object that will distinguish the characteristics between one object and another. In this study, the Fourier Descriptor method was used for extracting the feature of the Indonesian Sign Language (BISINDO) images. This research has been performed by implementing four main steps, i.e., pre-processing by converting RGB images to grayscale and binary ones, and closing operation for smoothing the images; contour detection using Moore's algorithm; feature extraction implementing Fourier descriptor with 5 kinds of coefficient i.e., 2, 5, 10, 25, and 50 to represent the feature of the images; and lastly feature recognition process by computing the image similarity using Euclidean Distance. 1820 images divided into 4 kinds i.e., standard, scaled, rotated, and translated images have been tested with 130 images of training data. Based on the test result of 130 standard images for each coefficient, the best accuracy is obtained at coefficient 25 and 50 with a similar accuracy of 96.92%. In addition, the recognition performance of Fourier descriptor and Euclidean distance reached up to above 72% in average for standard and scaled images.


Abstract. We have used a three-dimensional (3-D) off-line chemical transport model (CTM) to investigate long-term changes in stratospheric NO 2 . The basic model was integrated from 1977 to 2001 using ECMWF (European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forcasts) ERA-40 reanalyses. Additional model runs were performed which assimilated HALOE observations of long-lived tracers to constrain the model trace gas distributions. Assimilation of a single long-lived species (CH 4 ) improves not only the distribution of all other long-lived species, via tracer-tracer correlations, but also shorter lived radical and reservoir species. Assimilation of the long-lived species corrects for errors in the model, due to horizontal transport from the ERA-40 reanalyses, and allows a more direct test of the model's chemistry. The basic model significantly underestimates the observed column NO 2 from mid-latitude ground-based sites in the mid-late 1990s. The mean underestimate is ~ 26% for summertime values between 1992 and 1998. Moreover, as the model agreement is better in the early 1990s, it underestimates the increasing trend throughout the decade. However, when the model assimilates HALOE CH 4 data both comparisons are greatly improved. The mean model-observation difference reduces to 8% for summertime values and the trend improves. This indicates that given realistic wind fields to constrain the tracer transport, the model chemistry and aerosol schemes are able to reproduce the observed trends in NO 2 . Implications of this for using analysed wind fields to determine dynamical ozone trends are discussed. Ozone trends derived directly from transport models forced by analysed winds are likely subject to similar errors.


Synonyms, as an important part of English vocabulary, have always been a key but difficult point in EFL (English as a foreign language) teaching. In the traditional vocabulary teaching, teachers mainly distinguish synonyms via describing, translating and explaining with examples in the dictionary. However, most dictionaries can only provide separate word meanings and limited examples without explaining the different usage and meanings of the synonyms. Therefore, drawing upon Sinclair's model of extended lexical units (ELUs) and employing a corpus-assisted approach to the study of synonyms preserve and conserve, this study tries to analyse the similarities and differences of these synonyms from the perspectives of their frequency, colligation, collocation, semantic preference and semantic prosody. The findings show that corpus-assisted approach is more effective, objective and reliable in distinguishing synonyms and a number of implications can be concluded in English language teaching, learning, testing and research.


The vapor-liquid equilibrium at 101.3 kPa has been determined for the binary systems methyl ethanoate + oxolane (tetrahydrofuran) and oxolane + toluene. The binary system methyl ethanoate + oxolane exhibits positive deviations from ideal behavior, while the binary system oxolane + toluene presents moderate negative deviations from ideality. No azeotropes are present. The activity coefficients and boiling point of the solution were correlated with its composition by the Redlich-Kister, Wohl, Wilson, UNIQUAC, NRTL, and Wisniak-Tamir equations.


Knowledge management and process orientation meanwhile are well established techniques. Nevertheless, their practical use still shows some severe deficiencies. We show that these shortcomings can optimally be overcome when leveraging both techniques on each other. This idea consequently leads to the idea of process oriented knowledge management. The paper presents the basic idea of process oriented knowledge management as well as a first prototype implementation.


. Various species and selections of Achillea L. were grown for 2 to 5 years, depending on taxon, and evaluated for cut flower yield and quality. 'Coronation Gold' yarrow (A. x 'Coronation Gold') was productive for 5 years. Flower yield, average stem diameter, and stem length were smallest the first year, but no differences occurred between years 2 and 5. The highest percentage of stems > 50 cm long occurred on plants at the densest spacing. Yields were higher and stems longer for A. millefolium L. cultivars and A. ptarmica L. 'The Pearl' in the second than the first year. A. millefolium 'Kelwayi' and 'Lilac Beauty' produced the highest yield while 'Heidi' and 'Sawa Sawa' produced the longest stems. Yields of all cultivars of Galaxy hybrids (A. taygetea Boiss. & Heldr. × A. millefolium) increased over 4 years of harvest. Stems were longer and flower diameters were larger after the 2nd year for all cultivars but 'The Beacon'. 'Salmon Beauty' had the highest yield, but yield of 'Appleblossom' did not increase after year 2.


This study fixated on examining the effects of poor access to health care facilities in Emohua Local Government Area of Rivers State. The study adopted the use of survey research design, using both primary and secondary data. The primary data were collected through the use of questionnaire. The study was carried out in 14 selected communities. One research question, one specific objective and one hypothesis guided the study. Means and simple percentage was used to analyzed the research question while t-test statistic was used to analyze the hypothesis. The result, statistically revealed that actually there is poor access to healthcare facilities in the study area, but it does not lead, to the increase in the rate of occurrence of diseases and sudden deaths in the area. Judging from the findings of this piece of research, the researcher conclude by recommending that state Government and Local Government council should create and put in good condition internal road within and around the study area to ease access to healthcare facilities in the area, as this will reduce the burden of long distant walks and travels, as this will help to promote good patronage by the people of the area.


SUMMARY A generally accepted helicopter model used for control includes the effect of Small Body Forces (SBF) which couple the vehicle's rotational subsystem inputs to its translational dynamics. SBF result from tail rotor thrust and lateral forces due to main rotor flapping. It is well-known that SBF lead to a theoretically challenging stabilization problem for the tracking error dynamics. Hence, much of the existing work has neglected SBF in order to simplify control design. We design a controller that directly compensates the influence of the tail rotor component of the SBF. The design is validated in simulation and flight tests.


amino acid sequence identity and similarity amongst them-selves, exhibit little homology to any of the five previouslyidentified polymerase families. This new family of poly-merases has been described in the literature as theBased on phylogenetic relationships, DNA polymerases UmuC/DinB/Rev1/Rad30 superfamily. At the presentcan be broadly classified into five families (Ito and Braith- time, these enzymes are best characterized in terms ofwaite, 1991; Braithwaite and Ito, 1993). The A-family is theirlow-fidelitysynthesisonundamagedDNAandtheirtypified by


Despite the vast literature on Human Activity Recognition (HAR) with wearable inertial sensor data, it is perhaps surprising that there are few studies investigating semisupervised learning for HAR, particularly in a challenging scenario with class imbalance problem. In this work, we present a new benchmark, called A*HAR, towards semisupervised learning for class-imbalanced HAR. We evaluate state-of-the-art semi-supervised learning method on A*HAR, by combining Mean Teacher and Convolutional Neural Network. Interestingly, we find that Mean Teacher boosts the overall performance when training the classifier with fewer labelled samples and a large amount of unlabeled samples, but the classifier falls short in handling unbalanced activities. These findings lead to an interesting open problem, i.e., development of semi-supervised HAR algorithms that are class-imbalance aware without any prior knowledge on the class distribution for unlabeled samples. The dataset and benchmark evaluation are released at https://github.com/I2RDL2/ASTAR-HAR for future research.


Hazardous-waste incinerators are regulated under the Resource Conservation Recovery Act (RCRA). On the other hand processes that produce energy and only incidently burn hazardous-waste materials are currently exempt from the RCRA incinerator regulations. EPA has initiated a Regulatory Impact Analysis (RIA) to determine if and to what degree regulation of such processes may be required. As part of the RIA study, EPA has conducted field tests of industrial processes that burn hazardous-waste materials. This paper describes the testing and results of testing of two industrial boilers and a lime kiln that burned hazardous-waste materials during the test program. Data on emissions and plant operating conditions that existed during emission measurements are presented. The hazardous compounds burned ranged from non-halogenated solvents to high-chlorinated materials such as trichloroethylene. Calculated destruction efficiencies for the hazardous compounds were in the range of from 99.929 to 99.9999.


A palaeoecological study was performed in the northern Scandinavian mountain range in Sweden. The aim was to study vegetation changes and shifts in forest limit altitudes during the last 5000 years in a tree-less archaeological site (Adamvalta) situated below the regional forest limit, and in a forested reference area with similar geological features but without archaeological evidence of human presence (Ajdevaratj). The suitability of uncritically using forest limit changes as indicators of climate change is also discussed. The study included analyses of pollen, pollen accumulation rates (PAR), macrofossils and loss-on-ignition. The results indicate vegetation changes in both areas plausibly caused by climate c. 3800 BP and c. 500 400 BP. However, at Adamvalta, settlements were established c. 1300 750 BP, close to the mountain birch (Betula pubescens ssp. czerepanovi) forest limit. About 800 BP, the birch forest cover at Adamvalta decreased and the vegetation developed into an alpine heath, as a result of human-induced deforestation. The following 'Little Ice Age', in combination with human impact from the sixteenth century onwards, prevented forest recovery, and the site remains treeless. Such vegetation changes were not recorded at Adjevaratj. It is deduced that the present position of the forest limit at Adamvalta is governed by a combination of factors where previous human impact and climate have been the major driving forces determining the long-term vegetation development. Hence, a thorough knowledge of the site history is important when forest limits are used as a proxy for climate change.


Based on the function given by Kiesswetter,a function defined by quinary decimal is found which is continuous everywhere and differentiable nowhere.By the method of fractal,its expression and affine iterated function system are obtained and it is generalized.


The data were collected by researchers at the Road Research Institute, in a study investigating the impact of differentfactors on road surface strength. In this statistical analysis, we apply linear mixed models (LMMs) to clustered longitudinal data, inwhich the units of analysis (points in the road) are nested within clusters (sample of four different road segments), and repeatedmeasures of road strength in these different points are collected over time with unequally spaced time intervals. The data arebalanced – each cluster has the same number of units, which are measured at the same number of time points. Because of correlateddata and different clusters in which data could be correlated, linear regression models are not appropriate here, and therefore linearmixed models are applied.


ETHIOPIA CONDUCTED ITS FOURTH FEDERAL and regional election on 23 May 2010. Considering the widespread pre-election interest and excitement the 2005 election attracted, and the vigorous role played by the opposition both during the campaign and in the post-election turmoil, the 2010 process was a huge let-down. The general impression among Ethiopians was that the outcome was a foregone conclusion, so the electorate was rather passively, or perhaps reluctantly, following the campaign and election discourse. The only excitement was related to how overwhelmingly the incumbent Ethiopian Peoples Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) would win; the general guesstimate was that the huge opposition gains in the 2005 elections, giving them one-third of the seats in the House of Representatives, would be pushed back in order for EPRDF to secure a solid victory of between 75–85 percent of the seats. It thus raised some eyebrows both domestically and internationally when the National Election Board of Ethiopia (NEBE) declared that EPRDF had secured 99.6 percent of the seats in Parliament – all but two, one going to the opposition and one to an EPRDF-friendly independent candidate. What happened in the 2010 electoral process, or before, that can explain the radical setback for the opposition and the total victory of EPRDF? Does the election outcome represent the genuine will of the Ethiopian electorate? Is it true, as Prime Minister Meles Zenawi asserts, that EPRDF actually is that popular? This briefing offers three broad categories, each with three sets of interconnected and reinforcing factors, explaining the shift of political climate in Ethiopia since the 2005 elections, making sense of the 'better-than-Soviet-style' 2010 election result. First, however, a brief background to Ethiopia's electoral transition is presented and an analysis of the political context prior to the run-up to the


Wayside detector devices, over the years, have proven to be valuable assets to a railroad in enhancing safety and improving efficiencies. Currently, devices such as hot box detectors, dragging equipment detectors, high car detectors, wheel impact detectors have routinely prevented accidents or damages from occurring. With the advent of electronics in terms of its sophistication, capability, cost and miniaturization, a lot of interest arose to wayside devices to further improve efficiencies and reduce manual inspection requirements of freight car components. The integration of these devices between each other and their integration into the railroad maintenance system increase the potential for efficiency gains. At this juncture, Conrail has re-examined the usage of electronics and has advanced the use of technology in fault detection of freight car components. This paper gives an account of freight car failure detection devices which are currently available in service and which are being developed in 1998. Conrail's integration of some of the devices and the automation of reporting the faults and rerouting of defective cars is also presented.


The improving of the mechanism of relationship management with contractors is aimed at ensuring the greatest possible efficiency and effectiveness of business processes. Its reconfiguration is carried out in case of structural changes in  marketing environment and displays a high level of uncertainty in the interaction with contractors (their behavior), which leads to unacceptable loss of economic benefits and costs of additional time and resources. This is the definition of structural and behavioral prerequisites for building and reconfiguration of such a management tool for industrial enterprises that to this article is devoted to. The article deals with the specifics of relationships and structure of contractual relations with contractors, where the level of behavioral uncertainty is very important. The quality control is characterized by the ability of companies to reduce uncertainty. The key methods of analysis and decision-making mechanism of relationship management contractors are methods of risk analysis and strategies development to respond to them. Such analyses are determined to prepare options for interaction counterparties and scenario analysis of selected elements influence  on the effectiveness of their relationship, which shows the feasibility of the choice of one or another variant. The article prives that the criterion for the choice of interaction forms and contractual relationships with counterparties should be considered as a minimum of transaction costs at reasonable positions on condition of reaching a compromise in conflict situations.


A combined electrophysiological and morphological investigation of the medial terminal nucleus (MTN) in the rat was undertaken, aimed at a better understanding of the relationship between structure and function in this nucleus. The locations of upward and downward direction selective units in the MTN were documented with extracellular electrophysiological recording. By means of tracer experiments, with Phaseolus vulgaris‐leucoagglutinin, biocytin, and cholera toxin subunit B‐horseradish peroxidase, the internal connections of the MTN, its retinal afferents, and the projection neurons to the inferior olive were visualized. Terminals originating from the retina and from internal connections were characterized at the ultrastructural level. Their termination pattern on cells in the MTN, including identified inferior olive projection neurons, were determined. Additionally, postembedding GABA immunocytochemistry was performed to identify GABAergic elements.


Abstract Objective: To quantitatively map how non-significant outcomes are reported in randomised controlled trials (RCTs) over the last thirty years. Design: Quantitative analysis of English full-texts containing 567,758 RCTs recorded in PubMed (81.5% of all published RCTs). Methods: We determined the exact presence of 505 pre-defined phrases denoting results that do not reach formal statistical significance (P<0.05) in 567,758 RCT full texts between 1990 and 2020 and manually extracted associated P values. Phrase data was modeled with Bayesian linear regression. Evidence for temporal change was obtained through Bayes-factor analysis. In a randomly sampled subset, the associated P values were manually extracted. Results: We identified 61,741 phrases indicating close to significant results in 49,134 (8.65%; 95% confidence interval (CI): 8.58 - 8.73) RCTs. The overall prevalence of these phrases remained stable over time, with the most prevalent phrases being "marginally significant" (in 7,735 RCTs), "all but significant" (7,015), "a nonsignificant trend" (3,442), "failed to reach statistical significance" (2,578) and "a strong trend" (1,700). The strongest evidence for a temporal prevalence increase was found for "a numerical trend", "a positive trend", "an increasing trend" and "nominally significant". The phrases "all but significant", "approaches statistical significance", "did not quite reach statistical significance", "difference was apparent", "failed to reach statistical significance" and "not quite significant" decreased over time. In the random sampled subset, the 11,926 identified P values ranged between 0.05 and 0.15 (68.1%; CI: 67.3 - 69.0; median 0.06). Conclusions: Our results demonstrate that phrases describing marginally significant results are regularly used in RCTs to report P values close to but above the dominant 0.05 cut-off. The phrase prevalence remained stable over time, despite all efforts to change the focus from P < 0.05 to reporting effect sizes and corresponding confidence intervals. To improve transparency and enhance responsible interpretation of RCT results, researchers, clinicians, reviewers, and editors need to abandon the focus on formal statistical significance thresholds and stimulate reporting of exact P values with corresponding effect sizes and confidence intervals.


these findings in controlled studies and to determine the most effective steroid and an optimum dosing strategy. However, given that most practice in otolaryngology is based upon uncontrolled studies, there seems to be enough evidence to make a treatment recommendation, at the very least regarding salvage therapy. What is perhaps more controversial is whether, based upon the data from animal studies, we should be using transtympanic steroids as first-line treatment of these patients with or without systemic treatment. One could argue the potential futility of treating a condition in which up to 60% of patients spontaneously improve. However, given the safety profile of transtympanic steroids, I would suggest that we should at least consider their use as first-line agents, particularly in those patients with poor prognostic factors. After all, there cannot be many otolaryngologists who feel that a small risk of a tympanic membrane perforation is equivalent to the patient having a dead ear. Conflict of interest


Microscale Thermophoresis (MST) al lows for quan ti ta tive anal y sis of pro tein in ter ac tions in free so lu tions and with low sam ple con sump tion. The tech nique is based on thermophoresis, the di rected mo tion of mol e cules in tem per a ture gra di ents. Thermophoresis is highly sen si tive to all types of bind ing-in duced changes of mo lec u lar prop er ties, be it in size, charge, hydration shell or con for ma tion. In an all op ti cal ap proach, thermophoresis is in duced us ing an in fra red la ser for lo cal heat ing, and mol e cule mo bil ity in the tem per a ture gra di ent is an a lyzed via flu o res cence. In ad di tion to flu o res cence by la bels or fu sion pro teins at tached to one of the bind ing part ners, in trin sic pro tein flu o res cence can be uti lized for MST thus al low ing for la bel-free MST anal y sis. Its flex i bil ity in as say de sign qual i fies MST for biomolecular interactionanalysis in com plex ex per i men tal set tings, which we herein dem on strate by ad dress ing typ i cally chal leng ing types of bind ing events from var i ous fields of life sci ence. The in ter ac tion of small mol e cules and pep tides with pro teins is, de spite the high mo lec u lar weight ra tio, readily ac ces si ble via MST. Fur ther more, MST as says are highly adapt able to fit to the di verse re quire ments of dif fer ent biomolecules, e.g. mem brane pro teins to be sta bi lized in so lu tion. The type of buffer and ad di tives can be cho sen freely. Mea sur ing is even pos si ble in com plex bioliquids like celllysate and thus un der close to in vivo con di tions and with out sam ple pu ri fi ca tion. Bind ing modes that are quan ti fi able via MST in clude dimerization, cooperativity and com pe ti tion.


Located in the northern panhandle, between Pennsylvania and Ohio, the town of Wellsburg in the 1850s was a center of hostility toward eastern Virginia. The Herald's correspondent offered a starkly different interpretation of slaveholding, power, politics, and about the structure of the political system. Much of this resentment manifested itself during the constitutional crisis of 1850-1851, when a state constitutional convention deadlocked over power sharing between nonslaveholders and slaveholders. Soon after convening, the convention remained stalemated over legislative apportionment, with competing "white basis" (which would apportion entirely on white population) and "mixed basis" (which would retain the traditional practice of weighting representation based on slaveholding). The constitutional crisis of 1850-1851 yielded a compromise in which the lower house was apportioned by white basis and the upper house by mixed basis, but a deep-seated division among Virginians remained. 4 WILLIAM A. LINK / "THIS BASTARD NEW VIRGINIA"


Introduction: In 1976, Erikson characterized adolescence as a special phase of development marked by the construction of identity, where a containing and understanding family environment is crucial, as well as the socio-cultural context, so immigration can act as a destabilizer. Through a case report, it is intended to address the role of culture in the development of emotional, behavioural and identity problems in immigrant adolescents, and also reflect on its impact on the therapeutic alliance and the need for an intercultural approach in the care of this population. Case Presentation: 16-year-old black skin Angolan teenager, who immigrated to Portugal at the age of 11, being displaced from her extended family. At the age of 14, she began to present self-injurious behaviours and developed depressive symptoms, having been referred to a Child and Adolescent Psychiatric consultation after voluntary drug intake when she was 16 years old. Throughout the observations, the intercultural conflict, the feeling of not belonging and incomprehension were noticeable. In one of the consultations, in the presence of an African doctor, she presented a relaxed attitude, spontaneously addressed sociocultural aspects that she believes are at the genesis of the current symptoms. Conclusion: Intrapersonal, interpersonal and cultural factors influence the identity construction process, and conflicts in these dimensions can lead to behavioural and emotional problems. Given that the therapeutic alliance is important for the treatment, investing in intercultural training of mental health professionals can be beneficial to address immigrants' mental health problems.


We assessed the prediction that object structural cues could benefit the learning of object–action relationships in ideomotor apraxia (IMA). A total of 15 patients with left-hemisphere stroke, 11 of whom exhibited IMA, and 10 healthy subjects were trained to match novel gestures to novel tool pictures that were either High- or Low-Afforded by their associated tools. Learning was assessed with recognition and production tests. Only IMA patients demonstrated better recognition of High- than Low-Afforded gestures, and their recognition of High-Afforded gestures was statistically comparable to the other groups. This finding suggests that apraxics may rely abnormally on object structure when learning to associate novel gestures and tools. Finally, the "affordance benefit" was associated with relative sparing of structures in the dorsal visual processing stream. These data are consistent with the proposal that two routes may mediate skilled action, one specialized for stored information, and the other responsive to object structure, and that deficient gesture learning may be compensated by "bootstrapping" intact dorsal stream coding of action. (JINS, 2007, 13, 997–1008.)


Background: Trichobezoar is an uncommon clinical entity in which ingested hair mass accumulates within the digestive tract. Trichobezoars are usually located in the stomach, but may extend through the pylorus into the duodenum and small bowel (Rapunzel syndrome). This entity is usually associated with trichotillomania and trichophagia or other psychiatric disorders. It is generally observed in children and young females with psychological disorders. Untreated cases may lead to grave complications. We present our experience with five patients and provide a review of the recent literature. Material and Methods: We retrospectively analysed the clinical data of five patients treated for trichobezoar in pediatric surgery department during 4-year-period between 2018 and 2022. Their medical charts were reviewed with respect to symptoms, diagnostic procedures including any Imaging (abdominal ultrasonography and abdominal computed tomography) or upper GI endoscopy and treatment. Results: Our study involved 5 girls aged 7 to 12 years. All cases presented with symptoms of epigastric pain associated with vomiting of recently ingested food and weight loss in three cases. Physical examination revealed a hard epigastric mass in all cases. The trichobezoar was confined to the stomach in 4 cases. An extension into the jejunum was observed in 1 case. All patients were surgically treated. In one case, the attempt of endoscopic extraction failed and patient was later operated. On surgical exploration gastrotomy was done in all the patients to extract the hair bezoar even those with jejunal extension. All patients proved to suffer from trichophagia and referred to a child psychiatrist or psychologist for regular follow-up. No recurrences have been reported. Conclusion: According to our experience and in line with the published results, conventional laparotomy is still the treatment of choice. The literature provides no evidence of superiority of endoscopy or laparoscopy. After successful treatment, psychiatric consultation is imperative to prevent recurrence and improve long term prognosis.


Asthenozoospermia (AZS) is a common cause of male infertility, characterized by abnormal reduction in the motility of ejaculated spermatozoa. Here, in a patient from a consanguineous family, we identified a homozygous mutation (c.G4343A, p.R1448Q) in SPAG17 by whole‐exome sequencing. The encoded protein, SPAG17, localizes to the axonemal central apparatus and is considered essential for flagellar waveform. In silico analysis revealed that R1448Q is a potential pathogenic mutation. Immunostaining and western blot assays showed that the R1448Q mutation may exert a negative effect on the steady‐state of the SPAG17 protein. Therefore, SPAG17 may be a new pathogenic gene causing AZS.


Research in human visual perception has found that the sense of natural scences cannot be conveyed only through lines and edges. It also needs the knowledge of texture regions within the image, which can be obtained through the analysis of higher derivatives. Inspired by the research from neuroscience that high order derivatives can capture the details of image structure, we propose a novel simple yet effective blind image quality assessment (IQA) metric based on high order derivatives (BHOD). In the proposed metric, we extract multi-scale structural features up to fourth order image derivatives, to obtain the image structural features. Support vector regression (SVR) is used to learn the mapping between feature space and subjective opinion scores. The proposed method is extensively evaluated on three image databases and shows highly competitive performance to state-of-the-art NR-IQA methods.


In this paper the determination of the optimal word-length of the variables implicated in a noise adaptive canceller based on a gradient lattice-ladder algorithm is presented. Upper and lower bounds from the variables are determined from a set of spoken words.


The results of studying the effect of light with different spectral composition on the morphogenesis of wild-type of Arabidopsis thaliana (Col 0), as well as wei8-1tar1-1 and ahk2 mutants with modified signal transduction processes of auxins and cytokinins. We used a specially developed technique that simplifies the assessment of the effect of light on the growth and development of A. thaliana plants, especially the configuration of their root system during the entire growing season. Luminescent (LL) and light-emitting diode (LED) light sources were used, which made it possible to vary the physiologically significant blue (B), green (G), red (R), and far red (FR) spectral ranges. The R/B ratio was equal to 1 and 4 for LED 1 and LED 2 lighting options, respectively, at the same total flux density of B and R light photons. The ratios of R/FR and B/G in the spectra of LED illumination varied in the ranges closest to those observed in natural conditions. The most effective for the formation of the root system, rosette of leaves and inflorescences of A. thaliana (Col 0) was LED illumination with R/B = 4, B/G = 1 and R/FR = 6. The obtained data indicate an important role of AHK2 histidine kinase receptors in stimulation of the formation of vegetative organs of A. thaliana in response to an increase in the level of R and a decrease in B light (an increase in the R/B ratio) in complex spectral compositions. At the same time, LED lighting with a higher level of B and a low level of R light (R/B = 1, B/G = 2 and R/FR = 3) rather effectively stimulated the accumulation of the dry mass of the root system and the formation of inflorescences compared to fluorescent lighting. Stimulation of root growth by light of this spectral composition is probably mediated by a significant increase in the level of endogenous auxins. The decrease in the R/FR ratio in the spectrum of LED sources compared to the fluorescent lamp contributed to the stimulation of flowering of A. thaliana, regardless of the nature of the mutation and despite other differences in the spectral composition.


Introduction : breastfeeding is a key component of infant health through the reduction of morbidity and mortality. In an effort to protect, promote and support breastfeeding the Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative (BFHI) was introduced in 1991, with the development of indicators for evaluating its implementation. For a facility to be designated as baby friendly, it goes through a process and after successful designation, there is periodic reassessment to evaluate adherence to the indicators. In 2015, we reassessed a metropolitan-level health facility in the Greater Accra region which was designated as baby friendly in 2004 to determine whether the ten steps to successful breastfeeding and the international code of marketing breastmilk substitutes referred to as the Code were adhered to. Methods : a cross sectional observational study with 90 respondents comprising 30 postpartum mothers, 20 pregnant women, 30 clinical staff and 10 mothers with babies in neonatal intensive-care were randomly selected and interviewed by a trained assessor using the WHO/UNICEF BFHI tools for external assessment. The WHO/UNICEF BFHI reassessment statistical tool which was used for data analysis records in percentages. Adherence rates were classified as low (0-49%), moderate (50-89%) or high (90-100). Results : overall, adherence to the BFHI was low (38%). Compliance to the ten steps to successful breastfeeding was low (42%); however, there was a high score (100%) for step 9 (no artificial teats or pacifiers). Moderate scores (60%), (83%) and (75%) were recorded for steps; 3(information on breastfeeding to pregnant women), 7(practice rooming in) and 10 (referral to breastfeeding groups in the communities) respectively. Low scores (0%), (4%), (27%), (32%), (8%) were recorded for the remaining steps; 1 (written policy on breastfeeding), 2(training all staff), 5 (show mothers how to breastfeed), 6(give infant no food or drink), 8(breastfeed on demand) respectively. The Code Recorded a moderate score (54%); though a low score (15%) was recorded for code 4 (importance of not giving samples of infant formula to mothers). Conclusion : the facility adhered poorly to the ten steps to successful breastfeeding and the Code of BFHI. Frequent monitoring and evaluation of the facility and capacity building of staff is recommended.


The critical micelle concentration (cmc) of sodium lauroyl glutamate(LAG\|Na)is measured by adsorption voltammetry.The experimental results show that the adsorption voltammetry method is more repeatalbe than the surface tension method and electric conductance determination.


In May, 1951, when the first of six pumps ordered for the Grand Coulee Dam was put in service, a defect of major concern was discovered. This unfavorable condition embodied objectionable discharge-line vibration. Investigation revealed that this was caused by transient pressure variation in the pump, and remedial measures incorporating reinforcement of the discharge lines were taken to minimize this condition. No previous investigation had been made of the offending transient pressure variation. This paper describes such an investigation, the test setup used, and reveals the difficulty encountered in applying instrumentation to obtain necessary data.


Background: The NFAT signaling pathway is linked to pulmonary arterial hypertension. Results: MicroRNA screening revealed that miR-124 robustly inhibits NFAT activity, dephosphorylation, and nuclear translocation of NFAT by targeting multiple genes, NFATc1, CAMTA1, and PTBP1. Conclusion: miR-124 is an effective and multipronged inhibitor of NFAT signaling. Significance: miR-124 might be a potential immunosuppressant that may have biological effects linked to pulmonary arterial hypertension. Abnormal proliferation and phenotypic modulation of pulmonary artery smooth muscle cells (PASMC) contributes to the pathogenesis of numerous cardiovascular disorders, including pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). The nuclear factor of activated T cells (NFAT) signaling pathway is linked to PASMC proliferation and PAH. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small non-coding RNAs that function in diverse biological processes. To systemically identify the specific miRNAs that regulate the NFAT pathway, a human primary miRNA library was applied for cell-based high throughput screening with the NFAT luciferase reporter system. Eight miRNAs were found to modulate NFAT activity efficiently. Of them, miR-124 robustly inhibited NFAT reporter activity and decreased both the dephosphorylation and the nuclear translocation of NFAT. miR-124 also inhibited NFAT-dependent transcription of IL-2 in Jurkat T cells. miR-124 exerted its effects by targeting multiple genes, including a known component of the NFAT pathway, NFATc1, and two new regulators of NFAT signaling, CAMTA1 (calmodulin-binding transcription activator 1) and PTBP1 (polypyrimidine tract-binding protein 1). Physiologically, miR-124 was down-regulated by hypoxia in human PASMC, consistent with the activation of NFAT during this process. Down-regulation of miR-124 was also observed in 3-week hypoxia-treated mouse lungs. Furthermore, the overexpression of miR-124 not only inhibited human PASMC proliferation but also maintained its differentiated phenotype by repressing the NFAT pathway. Taken together, our data provide the first evidence that miR-124 acts as an inhibitor of the NFAT pathway. Down-regulation of miR-124 in hypoxia-treated PASMC and its antiproliferative and prodifferentiation effects imply a potential value for miR-124 in the treatment of PAH.


Recent experimental results 1,2 revealed the stability of a peculiar charge density wave (CDW) with odd period (λ = 3,5) in the coupled Cu2O5 spin ladders in Sr14−xCaxCu24O41, while the CDW with even period is unstable. Here we resolve this contradiction by solving the effective t−J model for the two coupled chains supplemented by the intersite interaction term V.


A class of quartic polynomial basis functions with two shape parameters is constructed in this paper,and the properties of the class of basis functions are analyzed and a polynomial curve with two parameters is defined based on it.The defined curve not only inherits the properties of Ball curves,but it is also adjustable in the shape with different parameters under the same controlling vertex and produces the different control polygons.In addition,the classical cubic Ball curve and the curves in the related literature are the special cases of the polynomial curve proposed in the paper.Moreover,the tensor product method is used to extend the curve to surface.Some examples show that the curve and surface defined in this paper provide an effective method for designing curves and surfaces.


The use of motion capture has increased from last decade in a varied spectrum of 11 applications like film special effects, controlling games and robots, rehabilitation system, animations 12 etc. The current human motion capture techniques use markers, structured environment, and high 13 resolution cameras in a dedicated environment. Because of rapid movement, elbow angle estimation 14 is observed as the most difficult problem in human motion capture system. In this paper, we take 15 elbow angle estimation as our research subject and propose a novel, markerless and cost-effective 16 solution that uses RGB camera for estimating elbow angle in real time using part affinity field. We 17 have recruited five (5) participants of (height, 168 ± 8 cm; mass, 61 ± 17 kg) to perform cup to mouth 18 movement and at the same time measured the angle by both RGB camera and Microsoft Kinect. The 19 experimental results illustrate that markerless and cost-effective RGB camera has a median RMS 20 errors of 3.06° and 0.95° in sagittal and coronal plane respectively as compared to Microsoft Kinect. 21


The problem of the best uniform approximation with generalized restrictions is investigated.Under the assumption that l and u have finite intersection points,by intro- ducing the concepts of the sub-strong interior point condition and making use of the BCQ condition from optimization theory,we study the relationship between the sub-strong interior point condition,BCQ condition and the characterization of the best uniform approximation with generalized restrictions.


BACKGROUND
Anosognosia, or unawareness of memory deficits, is a common manifestation of Alzheimer's disease (AD), but greatly variable in subjective cognitive decline (SCD) and amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) subjects. Self-referential network (SRN) is responsible for self-referential processing and considered to be related to AD progression.

OBJECTIVE
Our aim is to explore connectivity changes of SRN and its interaction with memory-related network and primary sensorimotor network (SMN) in the AD spectrum.

METHODS
About 444 Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative subjects (86 cognitively normal [CN]; 156 SCD; 146 aMCI; 56 AD) were enrolled in our study. The independent component analysis (ICA) method was used to extract the SRN, SMN, and memory-related network from all subjects. The alteration of functional connectivity (FC) within SRN and its connectivity with memory-related network/SMN were compared among four groups and further correlation analysis between altered FC and awareness index as well as episodic memory score were performed.

RESULTS
Compared with CN group, individuals with SCD exhibited hyperconnectivity within SRN, while aMCI and AD patients showed hypoconnectivity. Furthermore, aMCI patients and AD patients both showed the interruption of the FC between the SRN and memory-related network compared to CN group. Pearson correlation analysis showed that disruptive FC within SRN and its interaction with memory-related network were related to memory awareness and episodic memory scores.

CONCLUSION
In conclusion, impaired memory awareness and episodic memory in the AD spectrum are correlated to the disconnection within SRN and its interaction with memory-related network.


Throughout the past twenty-five years, American state governments have come to define lobbyists and their clients differently. The states have also adopted a variety of new regulations on those registered to lobby. I use temporal measures of statutory definitions, prohibitions, and reporting stringency to estimate the effects of such laws on interest group populations or registrations. Definitions with additional, specific criteria are shown to be correlated with increased registrations. Additional prohibitions and reporting requirements, however, are shown to discourage groups from registering in the presence of such specific criteria. Contrary to prior studies, these findings suggest that such regulations are enforced and have countervailing effects on political transparency. I suggest a need for a reevaluation of the effects of such laws on lobbyists.


Olive oil possess several minor components with important activities from the biological point of view, like the phenolic compounds, which are capable of scavenging free radicals. The aim of this work was to optimize the technique of liquid-liquid extraction of the phenolic compounds from olive oil, employing methanol:water and ethanol:water as extraction solvents, and also to compare both mixtures to find the one able to extract the highest phenolic contents. Two binary mixture designs were performed, one for the methanol:water mixture and the other for the ethanol:water mixture. The total phenolic content was used as the designs' response. The optimal extraction condition was a ratio of 100:0 (v/v) for the methanol:water as well as for the ethanol:water mixture. After the extraction of an olive oil sample with both the optimal conditions, it was obtained a total phenolic content of 101.06 ± 6.54 mg.kg for the methanol:water mixture and of 79.95 ± 0.01 mg.kg for the ethanol:water mixture. Therefore, it was determined that the mixture of methanol:water in a 100:0 (v/v) ratio was able to extract the highest total phenolic content in olive oil samples.


The invention relates to a method for manufacturing a freestanding body intended for thermal insulation of a vessel, with moisture barrier, for storing a fluid, said method comprising: providing a plurality of supporting webs (14) made of a composite material comprising a thermoplastic matrix reinforced by fibres; providing a bottom panel (10) and a cover panel (11); inserting the supporting webs (14) between the bottom panel (10) and the cover panel (11), such that the bottom panel (10) and the cover panel (11) are separated in the thickness direction of the body and that the supporting webs (14) extend vertically in the thickness direction; attaching the supporting webs (14) to the bottom panel (10) and to the cover panel (11); filling a plurality of compartments (15) arranged between the supporting webs (14) with a heat-insulating filler; wherein the bottom panel (10) and the cover panel (11) each comprise at least one thermoplastic element (21, 22) for attaching the supporting webs (14); and wherein the supporting webs (14) are attached to the bottom panel and to the cover panel by a thermoplastic welding operation performed at the interface areas (25) between the supporting webs (14) and the thermoplastic elements (21, 22) of the bottom panel (10) and the cover panel (11). The invention also relates to a body manufactured thereby, and to a sealed, thermally insulating vessel comprising a thermal-insulation barrier including a plurality of bodies such as mentioned above.


A yttrium iron garnet/gadolinium gallium garnet-gallium arsenide (YIG/GGG-GaAs)-based magnetically-tunable wideband microwave band-pass filter with large tuning ranges for the center frequency (5.90-17.80 GHz) and the bandwidth (1.27-2.08 GHz) in the pass-band using a pair of cascaded band-stop filters is reported. The design and numerical simulation of the band-pass filter that incorporates multisegment microstrip meander-lines and 2-D nonuniform bias magnetic fields were first carried out using Ansoft High Frequency Structure Simulator (HFSS) software suite. The measured transmission characteristics of the band-pass filter at center frequency of 8.28 GHz, using 2-D nonuniform bias magnetic fields centered at 2,750 Oe and 4,150 Oe facilitated by Nd-Fe-B permanent magnets, shows a - 3-dB bandwidth of 1.73 GHz, an out-of-band rejection of -33.5 dB, and an insertion loss of - 4.2 dB. A good agreement between the simulation and experimental results for the band-pass filter in the center frequency and the bandwidths of the pass-band and the two guarding stop-bands has been accomplished.


Purpose
The study aims to accomplish the short-term load forecasting for microgrids. Short-term load forecasting is a vital component of economic dispatch in microgrids, and the forecasting error directly affects the economic efficiency of operation. To some extent, short-term load forecasting is more difficult in microgrids than in macrogrids.

Design/methodology/approach
This paper presents the method of Dragonfly Algorithm-based support vector machine (DA-SVM) to forecast the short-term load in microgrids. This method adopts the combination of penalty factor C and kernel parameters of SVM which needs to be optimized as the position of dragonfly to find the solution. It takes the forecast accuracy calculated by SVM as the current fitness value of dragonfly and the optimal position of dragonfly obtained through iteration is considered as the optimal combination of parameters C and s of SVM.

Findings
DA-SVM algorithm was used to do short-term load forecast in the microgrid of an offshore oilfield group in the Bohai Sea, China and the forecasting results were compared with those of PSO-SVM, GA-SVM and BP neural network models. The experimental results indicate that the DA-SVM algorithm has better global searching ability. In the case of study, the root mean square errors of DA-SVA are about 1.5 per cent and its computation time is saved about 50 per cent.

Originality/value
The DA-SVM model presented in this paper provides an efficient and effective method of short-term load forecasting for a microgrid electric power system.


The aim of the almond breeding programme of the CITA of Aragón is the release of new almond cultivars with good hroticultural behaviour, self-compatible, late-blooming and good kernel quality. After previous releases, 'Vialfas' is a new cultivar (selection I-3-27, clone 546) fulfilling most of these objectives. It was obtained from the cross between 'Felisia', a self-compatible cultivar obtained in the same breeding programme, late-blooming, but with small kernels, and 'Bertina', a local self-incompatible selection, late-blooming and large-sized kernels.


In this paper, a design and fabrication of miniaturized 5.3 GHz reflection type analog phase shifter with branch line coupler and variable reactance load. In order to miniaturize phase shifter, novel branch line coupler is proposed. The novel branch line coupler is miniaturized using transformation of transmission line to T and type equivalent circuit. The miniaturized branch line coupler has small size of above 50 % compared with conventional branch line coupler. For wide phase shift range, variable reactance load structure is adopted. Especially, the structure was improved for linear phase shift by adding transmission line which acts as an impedance transformer. The improved structure was miniaturized using the equivalent lumped-element of transmission line. The fabricated phase shifter with shows wide phase shift of above , the insertion loss of -4~-6 dB and the reflection loss of below -20 dB at 5.3 GHz under 0~10 V control voltage range.