emotional states such as frustration and anxiety and the in creased level of physiological arousal that accompanies them have detrimental effects on the efficiency with which difficult materials are learned (Spence and Spence, 1966; Spielberger, 1966). In the teaching of reading one attempts to keep children away from materials on their frustration level. In addition to its effects on the efficiency of learning, forcing a child to read material that frustrates him can result in the child's learning to avoid the reading situation as something that is unpleasant. One common way of assessing at what level a child should be taught is to de termine his independent, instructional, and frustration levels. One common notion is that as the child progresses from his inde pendent, to instructional, to frustration levels there is an increase in the degree of arousal or emotionality experienced. The pupil is taught at the instructional level because at this point he is aroused enough to be challenged but is not frustrated (Gever, 1970). With respect to children with reading problems the role of anxiety is thought to be a primary or casual factor in some cases and a secondary or resultant factor in others (Bond, 1967). Phil lips (1967) and Sarason (1966) have found that anxiety is nega tively related to reading achievement in the elementary school grades. Sarason's work indicates that students whose anxiety decreases from first to third grade show concomitant increases in reading achievement scores. Regardless of whether anxiety is assigned a primary or secondary role in the etiology of reading problems, its presence is bound to have detrimental effects. The present investigation had two purposes. The first was to determine if physiological arousal as measured by the Galvanic Skin Response (GSR) increases as one goes from the independent, to instructional, to frustration levels. The second was to evaluate the potential usefulness of the GSR responses as an indicator of anxiety in children with reading problems. GSR has often been used as a measure of arousal or emotionality in research on psy chopathology (Lader, 1967). 458


Abstract Electrocoagulation (EC) is a powerful and environmentally friendly technology for the treatment of azo dyes, acid, and reactive dyes. This article reviews the fundamental and recent developments in EC and EC-coupled processes for the removal of dye from wastewater. EC processes utilize different electrolytic reactors, such as batch reactor, continuous reactor, and electrodes of monopolar and bipolar configurations. Different cathodes and anodes used in this process are discussed and the mechanisms are reviewed. Effects of various operating parameters like pH, the nature of electrolytes, electrolyte concentration, initial concentration of dye, current density, exposed area of electrodes, spacing of electrodes, temperature of solution, electrode configuration, and number of electrodes and their optimum ranges for dye removal are reviewed. Kinetic models and their reaction rate constants for different dyes are analyzed. Different dye pollutants removed by this process and their degradation are also ...


Volatility is an important variable in financial forecasting. Forecasting volatility requires a development of a suitable model for it. In this paper, we examine different time series models for volatility modelling. Specifically, we will study the use of recurrent mixture density networks, GARCH and EGARCH models to model volatility. In addition, we demonstrate the impact of different factors on the accuracy and completeness of each of these models.


THE INVENTION RELATES TO A BUSE MIXING AND DISTRIBUTION OF LIQUID FOAM TWO COMPONENTS. SHE HAS A ROOM 30 MIXTURE THAT CONTAINS A CHICANE HELICOIDALE 32 COMMUNICATING A swirling motion SUBSTANCES CHEMICAL AND MIXING BEFORE THE PASSING BY MEANS OF A TRANSITION CONE 40 IN A ROOM 50 EJECTION WHICH THE MIX OUT BY A SLOT 24 BY FORMING A BEAM FOG UNIFORM. SCOPE: APPLICATION OF iNSULATING FOAM ON wALLS, ETC .


The solution and positive solutions are considered for a class of nonlinear fourth-order beam equations with first derivative.Main tools are the decomposition technique of fourth-order boundary value problem and the Green's function of a third-order two-point boundary value problem.In mechanics,this class of equations describes the deformation of an elastic beam one end of which is fixed and the other is movable.


Lecture given Tuesday, September 19, 2006, 9:45 AM at Abilene Christian University: "How can an artist be salt and light in our post-Christian culture? Is it possible to live out your faith in such a way that those around you find Jesus irresistible? Come and learn ways to plow the spiritual ground in the entertainment industry and sow the seeds of the Kingdom as you work always and only for an audience of One."


The present work deals with the Portuguese Present Perfect ('preterito perfeito composto') and the possibility of Universal and Existential readings. Much of the literature on the Present Perfect of more studied languages (e.g. English, German, Greek, Turkish, etc.) describes the ambiguities that arise between these two types of readings which are often defined in terms of the Extended Now framework (RATHERT, 2003; IATRIDOU et al., 2003; MCCOARD, 1978). This framework's characterization of the Present Perfect runs into some problems even when dealing with phenomena of the more studied languages and incurs some new problems when the Brazilian Portuguese Present Perfect is given a closer look. Given that previous analyses have only dealt with the Present Perfect in contexts with durative adverbs, the nature of the Universal and Existential labels have yet to be tested, with for example, frequency adverbs. Moreover, the few references made to the Portuguese Present Perfect have characterized it as having only a Universal reading (SQUARTINI; BERTINETTO, 2000). It is known, however, that the Portuguese Present Perfect has two types of readings, durative (e.g. 'A Maria tem sido feliz') and iterative (e.g. 'A Maria tem visitado os pais'). These limitations of Extended Now frameworks will be discussed and adjustments will be proposed in order to accommodate the unique iterative reading of the Portuguese Present Perfect as well as the more common readings of repetition in other languages.


The syntheses of the carbonyl substituted clusters Cp' 2 Mo 2 Co 2 S 3 (CO) 4-n L n , n=1, 2, Cp'=η 5 -C 5 H 4 Me, L=PPh 3 , P(n-Bu) 3 , P(OMe) 3 , PPh 1 H, and PPhH 2 , are described. Kinetic studies were performed that show the CO substitution involves two elementary steps; an adduct is forms in a preequilibrium step, followrd by CO dissociation from the adducts. equilibrium constants and CO-dissociation rate constants were obtained. The formation of the initial adduct is associative. Typical activation parameters are ΔH = 24±3 kcal/mol, ΔS = 0±8 eu for CO dissociation and ΔH = 6 kcal/mol, ΔS = -28 eu for associative adduct formation with PPh 3


This paper revisits the evidence suggesting share-financed acquirers engage in earnings management prior to announcing mergers and acquisitions (M&A) deals. Given that earnings management models, especially the most popularlyused Jones-type models, are currently subjected to fierce criticism, it is important to know whether the existing evidence indeed suggests the presence of earnings management or it is just the result of measurement errors in the earnings management detection models. This paper makes a contribution by showing that the first digits of figures reported in the financial statements of share-financed acquirers in the year preceding the merger announcements are distributed remarkably differently from what might be expected under Benford's Law. Therefore, the evidence suggests these financial statements might have been manipulated, significantly mitigating the concerns regarding possible errors in measuring abnormal earnings and strengthening the important conclusion that share-financed acquirers do indeed manage earnings before announcing an M&A deal.


This digest summarizes the findings of an international technology scanning review conducted with the support of National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) Project 20-36, "Highway Research and Technology--International Information Sharing." The scanning review team consisted of representatives from U.S. federal and state agencies as well as the private sector. The review included visits to highway research institutes, hydraulic research laboratories, and field sites in Switzerland, Germany, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. Although the review concentrated on bridge scour and stream instability countermeasures, the scanning review team members' inquiries were wide-ranging and included basic scour technology for evaluation and design, laboratory and field research programs, environmental issues, and bioengineering techniques.


Abstract A new optimization method for structures at targe displacements is proposed and applied to simple bar structures in this paper. In the method, the unknown height as a function of the axial coordinate of the beam depends on four parameters which are found numerically by an Adaptive Random Search method. The total volume of material in the beam is specified. A penalty objective function deals with the nonlinearity. Some numerical results are presented, discussed and compared with a numerical solution by Kamat and Mesquita.


Abstract : Additions of V2O5 from 0.1 to 8.0 w/o to a coprecipitated Pb(Zr.53 Ti.47) O3 ceramic promoted rapid densification below 1025 C, eliminating the need for PbO atmosphere control. Dielectric properties were found to be dependent on the amount of V2O5 added and on the microstructure developed, but were comparable to reported values for this PZT composition for additions of V2O5 or = 1.5 W/O. The indicated densification mechanism is one of activated sintering catalyzed by generation of oxygen defects on decomposition of the V2O5.


I. INTRODUCTIONThe employment relationship has gone through dramatic changes in the last fifty years, and, with few exceptions, the notion of company loyalty and life long employment is a thing of the past.1 As a consequence, many employers have adopted the use of covenants not to compete in employment contracts as a mechanism to ensure protection of trade secrets, other confidential information, and investment in employee training.2 Traditionally a contractual tool used only with highly paid, upper-level employees, the use of covenants not to compete has become common place even with rank and file employees.3 While employers view the use of covenants not to compete as a method to protect legitimate business interests,4 employees typically dislike them for the corresponding reasons.Covenants not to compete curtail legitimate career expectations, as well as limit the returns on an employee's educational investments.5 It is not surprising, therefore, that courts have been called upon to enforce, reform, or void such agreements, particularly when employees subject to such restrictive covenants leave their employment for better opportunities in the same or similar industry or field.6 Despite common misperceptions, courts generally uphold covenants not to compete-if the covenants comply with reasonable standards.Although negotiation is expected in employment contracts for some executive employees, those signed by most ordinary employees are form contracts drafted by the employer with little, if any, negotiation.7 In addition to the covenant not to compete, such employment contracts typically contain employer-sided attorney fee, assignment, and choice of law provisions that further serve to constrain the employee. These contracts are generally presented shortly after employment on a take it or leave it basis, when the employee has little or no bargaining power.8 Consequently, most employees have little motivation or ability to decline to sign them or to negotiate less onerous terms.When an employee decides to leave a job, however, covenants not to compete operate as significant impediments to future employment and may even prevent employees from becoming successfully self-employed. In addition to being sued for damages,9 courts may issue injunctions that prohibit employees from engaging in conduct that violates non-competes.10 Employers can also be held liable in hiring someone who violates an agreement with a previous employer by, for example, sharing secrets, approaching former customers, or simply for hiring such an employee.11 In some cases, employers can recover damages from both the former employee and a new employer who has collaborated in the employee's transgressions.12This article analyzes the current state of Tennessee law concerning the enforceability of contractual restrictions on postemployment competition. In order to provide the appropriate public policy framework, a brief history of the development of covenants not to compete is presented in Part II. Part II is then followed by Parts III and IV, which set forth a selected analysis of the law and policy of other jurisdictions in an effort to suggest improvement to Tennessee law. Part V concludes and offers specific recommendations.II. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF COVENANTS NOT TO COMPETEA. English Common Law RootsDuring the Middle Ages, English courts found all restraints on trade to be void and unenforceable, including post-employment covenants not to compete.13 The common law reflected the prevailing public policy which was strongly influenced by the economic, labor, and cultural identity of the early guild system.14 During this period, English courts struck down restrictive employment covenants based on the laws and traditions of this system,15 as well as the desire to achieve commercial fairness and economic independence.16 This trend continued even as the importance of the guild system declined,17 due at least in part to a policy shift which promoted free trade and encouraged individual initiative. …


A new algorithm for solving Euler equations on polyhedral grids is developed and validated in this paper.A general solver which supports arbitrary mesh topology and three-dimensional complex geometry is constructed by using Fortran 95 language.For spatial discretization,a new improved radial basis function method is proposed for gradient calculation.An accurate and robust second-order reconstruction is achieved by using the kinetic flux vector splitting scheme.The new method does not depend on the geometry of the grid.Thus it is much less sensitive to grid quality.With a point implicit relaxation time marching strategy,the solver remains stable at large time steps.The test cases indicate that the algorithm and the solver developed in this paper are stable,accurate while exhibiting good flexibility on mesh universality.


A male adult Ascaris lumbricoides worm has been extracted from lacrimal canal of a 9 months old child living in Zaire.


An improved physical understanding of the rotor aerodynamics of a horizontal axis wind turbine (HAWT) is required to reduce the uncertainties associated with today's design codes. Wind tunnel experiments contribute to increased knowledge and enable validation and construction of models. The present study focuses on the near-wake of a model HAWT in both axial and yawed flow conditions. At three downstream planes parallel to the rotor plane, single-sensor hot-film traverses are made. The phase-locked unsteady threedimensional flow velocity vector is determined by a novel data reduction method. A series of two papers discusses the near-wake aerodynamics of a model HAWT. The main goals are to obtain a detailed understanding of the near-wake development and to arrive at a base for model construction and validation. The first paper presents the experimental setup, data reduction and the results for the baseline case (axial flow conditions). In the second paper, the results for the yawed flow cases are presented and the effect of yaw misalignment on the near-wake development is discussed. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


. Tunable optofluidic lenses, ranging from in-plane micro-lenses to bulky out-of-plane lenses, were the subjects of research and analysis with much interest over the past decade. However, a reliable and practically feasible metrological approach and methodology is yet to be developed to study the properties and performance of the optofluidic lenses. In this report, we propose and demonstrate to utilize digital speckle pattern interferometry (DSPI) with the aid of speckle referencing to non-destructively evaluate the performance of a pneumatically driven out-of-plane optofluidic lens through measuring the 3-dimensional interface deformation.


This article analyzes tense and contradictory aspects witnessed in a study of the adaptation of Bolivian children to early childhood education in public schools in Sao Paulo city. Analysis focuses on the complexity that permeates the relationship of these children with their teachers. Interactions between Bolivian children and other children were observed. Observation lasted two years and the information collected was recorded in a field diary. The ethnographic fieldwork was complemented by open interviews. The observation allowed understanding the meaning of being a foreigner in early childhood education in Sao Paulo city and the construction of stigmas associated with the production of difference as a disadvantage for the newly arrived children.


A novel method for creating a dual band bandstop filter with a meandering architecture is presented. Proposed bandstop filter shows two notch bands, one at 5.6 to 7.2 GHz and the other at 8 to 11 GHz. The designed filters simulated on HFSS software and fabricated on FR-4 substrates, filter dimensions have been optimized using GA. Filter shows S11 of 1dB and S21 of -18 dB at notch frequency 6.4 GHz and S11 of 1.2dB and S21 of -38 dB at notch frequency 9 GHz. The suggested filter has two pass bands one is up to 5 GHz for wireless communication and another is from 7.4 to 7.9 GHz for C band applications.


This paper presents a study about the influence of the different types of soils and surge wave characteristics in terms of human safety. The study is focused on the step, contact and transferred potentials generated by a lightning reaching a grounding system and the produced potential gradients that a person could be exposed to. A Transmission Line Modeling Method and a circuit based model are used to represent the grounding system and the human body. Several simulations were preformed in order to evaluate the behavior of the current passing through the heart.


Understanding resistivity-tool response and resistivity-log interpretation for formation evaluation is vital for the matching of the reconstructed deep-reading resistivity logs with the field log curves. AAPG Archie 2 introduces the fundamental concepts required. Resistivity-logging-tool physics and measurement accuracy are reviewed, and forward- and inverse-modeling resistivity-tool responses are introduced. In the case studies presented, well-deviation, shoulder-bed, bed-thickness, borehole, mud-resistivity, and invasion effects on restivity-log responses are discussed. This volume has been written for geoscientists and engineers working with and interpreting resistivity logs, petrophysicists and reservoir engineers integrating resistivity-based and capillary-pressure-based quantitative calculation of formation water saturation, and formation evaluation specialists.


Abstract The microstructures of the mantle tectonites in the Zunhua Neoarchean ophiolitic melange are mainly coarse-mosaic structures with locally interstitial impregnated melts. Olivine and orthopyroxene occur as residual porphyroclastic blasts, dynamic recrystallization neoblasts or elongated to be tabular. The podiform chromitites are mostly strongly deformed with the development of pull-apart structure. These microstructures are typical high-temperature plastic deformation in oceanic upper mantle resulting from ocean-floor spreading. Besides the high-temperature plastic deformation, undeformed magmatic intrusions such as undeformed podiform chromitite. dunite and pyroxenite intrusions are also preserved in the mantle tectonite. Structures of high-temperature plastic deformation and intensive magmatic activity prove that the Zunhua ophiolite was formed under fast spreading oceanic ridge, similar to the Oman ophiolite. And the microstructures of country rocks, such as quartz ribbon, core and mantle stru...


In this paper, we propose a new scheme for joint compression and encryption of digital images, based on cellular automata and selective encryption of quantized DCT coefficient. Using a key stream by a cellular automata mechanism, a subset of quantized coefficients is selected and then ciphered with the produced pseudorandom key-stream. Thus, we achieve a sufficiently robust security level, mostly against known plaintext attacks while preserving a high compression ratio. Several performance analysis including security analysis, speed performances and compression ratio are performed, and demonstrate the efficacy of the proposed approach with respect to existing ones.


An overview of the development of lead-based alloys in lead-acid batteries is presented. Advantages and historical achievements of toxic cadmium, arsenic alloys are affirmed. Compared to cadmium-free and arsenic-free batteries, the shortcomings and performance gapes of cadmium-containing, arsenic-containing batteries are noted. Focusing the prospect of rare earth alloy, and overall promotion of cadmium-free and arsenic-free alloys in China.


Objective To evaluate the incidence and prognostic significance of atrial fibrillation( AF) in patients with acute myocardial infarction ( AMI) who were treated with percutaneous coronary intervention ( PCI). Methods One thousand three hundred and eighty two consecutive patients with AMI who underwent PCI within 30 days after onset were investigated and were categorized into 2 groups according to the presence of AF. Results The total incidence of AF was 15. 7%. The patients with AF were older, with higher Killip classes , and higher rates of previous myocardial infarction and cerebrovascular disease, and had higher rates of systolic blood pressure of 100 mm Hg, heart rates of 100 beats/min and multivessel disease than those without AF. Besides, patients with AF had higher in-hospital (11. 1% vs 4. 6% , P 0. 001) and 1-year (22. 1% vs 9. 4% ,P 0. 001) mortality than those without AF. Multivariate Cox regression analysis revealed that AF was an independent predictor of1-year mortality (hazard ratio 2.54, 95% confidence interval 1.81 to 3. 57). Conclusion AF is a common complication and independently influences 1-year mortality in patients with AMI who are treated with PCI


The pulsatile flow of blood through catheterized arteries is analyzed by treating the blood as a two-fluid model with the suspension of all the erythrocytes in the core region as a non-Newtonian fluid and the plasma in the peripheral layer as a Newtonian fluid. The non-Newtonian fluid in the core region of the artery is represented by (i) Casson fluid and (ii) Herschel-Bulkley fluid. The expressions for the flow quantities obtained by Sankar (2008) for the two-fluid Casson model and Sankar and Lee (2008) for the two-fluid Herschel-Bulkley model are used to get the data for comparison. It is noted that the plug-flow velocity, velocity distribution, and flow rate of the two-fluid H-B model are considerably higher than those of the two-fluid Casson model for a given set of values of the parameters. Further, it is found that the wall shear stress and longitudinal impedance are significantly lower for the two-fluid H-B model than those of the two-fluid Casson model.


Although the elite of ancient Russian society was Christianized relatively quickly, the Christianization of most of the populace tookå centuries. As E.V. Anichkov has written, "The Christianization of the countryside was a matter not of the eleventh and twelfth centuries but of the fifteenth and sixteenth, and even the seventeenth, centuries." One may further agree with V.G. Vlasov that the sixteenth century marked a watershed in the Christianization of the Russian peasantry (which he associates with the rural and "suburban" priests' determination to separate themselves from the urban cathedrals in Pskov and with the celebration of Russia's first saints of peasant origin, which began then). In the seventeenth century the Church apparently succeeded in Christianizing the crucial "rites of passage" (rites de passage), which in the words of Arnold van Gennep "accompany the passage from one situation to another or from one cosmic or social world to another." These rites are in turn divided into rites of separation (rites de séparation), of transition (rites de marge), and of incorporation (rites d'agrégation). While the funeral ritual is dominated by rites of separation and the marriage ritual by rites of incorporation, pregnancy,


Emergency managers, firefighters, and homeland security professionals are a valuable resource at the local, state, and federal levels. Conducting live training and exercises is a high-cost endeavor, more so when the exercise is a "full-scale" exercise as identified in the Homeland Security Exercise and Evaluation Program (HSEEP) manual. In an online program, the cost of creating highly interactive simulations can be cost-prohibitive; however, simulations that are designed to challenge students and provide a quality learning environment are possible using a systems approach from planning to evaluation. Simulations creation is not difficult; however, it requires a team of experts to create a learning experience that is productive from the first course to the final course in a degree program. This chapter will provide material on one way to accomplish this. How others choose to create their program is based upon their degree needs, budget, and expert knowledge.


The survey and surveillance was carried out during 2013 at the seed unit (central store) College of Agriculture Vijayapur, Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC) market, Food Corporation of India (FCI) and State Warehousing Corporation (SWC) in Vijayapur, houses at monthly intervals for three months, (July to December 2013) and farmers in five taluks (Indi, Sindgi, Vijayapur, Basavan bagewadi and Muddebihal) in Vijayapur district. During the survey and surveillance, natural enemies found were Amphibolus venator on T ribolium castaneum and Corcyra cephalonica in sorghum and pearl millet, Xylocoris flavipes on T. castaneum , Sitotroga cerelella and Callosobruchus chinensis in sorghum, wheat and bengal gram respectively. Dinarmus sp. on Callosobruchus chinensis i n pulses like chickpea, redgram, black gram and moth bean.


We present a high strength artificial muscle for inclusion in an orthotic device that can deliver power at the knee joint with the aim of improving knee flexion in people with reduced mobility. The bubble artificial muscle (BAM) was developed by adapting traditional pleated pneumatic artificial muscles to achieve high contraction and tensile force. Initial gravimetric evaluation of a single BAM was performed, achieving a contraction of 23.7% while lifting a mass of 2.5 kg (over 100 times the mass of the actuator). To demonstrate the actuator's suitability for an orthosis, a device consisting of three parallel BAMs was tested with a physical pendular leg model based upon a human leg. A maximum knee flexion of 47.25 degrees was achieved, about 70% of the peak knee flexion of the average of young healthy subjects (68 degrees). 8.19 Nm of torque was delivered during testing, which is approximately 33% of the knee flexion moment during swing phase of a gait cycle. This high moment is achieved despite the low mass of the device (206.6 g). This work shows the suitability of BAMs for wearable orthotic devices such as soft assistive suits, where softness, lightness and high stress and strain are essential.


To explore the pathogenesis of aplastic anemia(AA).Methods CFU-GM,CFU-E,and BFU-E of bone marrows from 56 patients with AA were assayed with methyclluiose semisolid culture method;CFU-MK and BFU-MK of bone marrow were assayed with collagen semisolid culture;T lymphocyte subsets in the peripheral blood mononuclear cells and the levels of sIL2R in the serum in 56 AA patients were measured by APAAP and ELISA respectively. Results The colonies of CFU-GM,CFU-E,BFU-E and CFU-MK,BFU-MK of patients with AA were less than those of the controls.CD3 cells had not changed,CD4 cells and CD4/CD8 cells were lower,and CD8 cells and sIL-2R levels were higher in AA patients than in normal controls.Conclusion The decrease of bone marrow hematopoietic progenitor cells plays important roles in the pathogenesis of AA,and is associated with clinical features.The cellular immune dysfunction and inhibitory hematopoietic cytokines may have a potential role in pathogenesis of AA.


Summary:
 A reassessment of a group of four closely related taxa of the dwarf succulent genus Conophytum from Namaqualand, South Africa has been undertaken. This has resulted in the description of a newly discovered taxon, namely Conophytum confusum.


Cooling a -barium metaborate crystal to 89 K extends sec- ond harmonic generation to 203.1 nm and greatly increases its efficiency.


Objective:To observe the effect of nursing intervention on acute idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura and the effect on clinical treatment. Methods:40 cases with acute idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura in our hospital were assigned to the experimental group and the control group,20 cases in each,all patients were followed the doctor's advice to medicine,no significant difference between the drugs.The control group was only given conventional care, the experimental group on the basis of the control group was given comprehensive nursing intervention,compared two groups a week after the recovery of platelet and family members of patients in two groups on the nursing satisfaction.Results:After a week,the recovery of platelet in the experimental group was better than the control group,the experimental group for family nursing comprehensive degree of satisfaction was (9.5±0.4),nursing the total efficiency was 95%,were higher than those in the control group,there were statistical difference(P0.05).Conclusion:Nursing intervention on acute idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura in children has a positive effect,is worthy of promotion.


Crill CM, Hak EB. Upper gastrointestinal tract bleeding in critically ill pediatric patients. Pharmacotherapy 1999;19:162180. This paper discusses developmental issues that affect the occurrence and prophylaxis of upper gastrointestinal tract bleeding in pediatric patients. It reviews the diagnosis, frequency, and risk factors for this disorder, while noting differences between pediatric and adult patients. A review of nonpharmacological and pharmacological prophylaxis and treatment is presented, complete with dosing guidelines and pharmacokinetic data. The authors incorporated economic and monitoring issues, while making recommendations for therapy.


industries. The wedge-shaped cores represent a common feature uniting the Late Pleistocene occupation of east Asia and northwest America, clearly demonstrating intercontinental relationships at that time. In what concerns an earlier date for the colonization of the New World, however, the authors of the present volume remain careful. The optimal periods for a presumed penetration into America would be between 70,000 and 60,000 years and between 25,000 and 12,000 years, when the Bering land bridge united the two continents. Recent data on the colonization of Australia, for example, suggest that overseas navigation was not uncommon during the Pleistocene, and that we should not exclude this possibility from consideration nor the possibility of coastal movement. In general, the material presented in this volume demonstrates that the Siberian industries, especially during the Middle and Upper Paleolithic, show more parallels to the Near East and Europe than to China, for example. Compared to an earlier synthesis of the Siberian Paleolithic in Russian by Zoia Abramova, the present volume includes a number of recently excavated sites, emphasizes certain regions currently under research (Altai), and presents rich graphic documentation. It is a valuable synthesis, an introduction to the Paleolithic history of a vast and geographically important region, and a starting point for future interpretations and comparative work on a global scale.


Despite the fact that nonprofit organizations play a large role in the production and distribution of goods and services in modern economies, and the rising role of non-governmental organizations in carrying out projects in developing countries, our knowledge of their governance, and of its implications for their behaviour and performance, is limited. This special issue tries to uncover some of the mechanisms and institutions that characterize the governance of non-profits and NGOs, as well as its implications. In particular, the papers focus on: (i) the determinants of NGO governance and its implications for reducing poverty in developing countries, (ii) the governance of non-profit organizations, (iii) the impact of governance characteristics on the performance of non-profit organizations, and (iv) the effect of non-profit governance on the interaction between the non-profit and for-profit sectors.


The study examined the effect of tax morale on compliance among the self-employed taxpayers, using tax compliance value chain (TCVC) analysis. It adopted the survey research design on taxpayers from selected states in South-West, Nigeria. Stratified purposeful sampling technique was used to select the respondents, using a validated questionnaire for data collection. The study found that tax morale had a significant effect on compliance, even at each point on the tax compliance value chain. The study recommended fairness, accountability, transparency and service oriented performance.


Tripeptide of arginine-glycine-aspartic acid(RGD) has been introduced to modify of biomaterials due to its high bio-activity,which could increase the cell adhesion.In this study,the apatite-wollastonite bioactive glass-ceramic(AW) with RGD peptide(RGD-AW) was fabricated.Firstly,the amino groups were introduced to the AW surface via low temperature plasma treatment.Then,RGD peptide were immobilized on the surface of AW by combination with the amino groups.The XRD,XPS and ATR-FTIR results confirmed that the RGD peptide were fixed on the surface of AW successfully.In order to testify whether the RGD-AW were more favorable to the cells,MG63 osteblast-like cells were employed to co-culture with RGD-AW for 4 h,1 d and 5 d in vitro.The results of fluorescence microscopy,SEM and MTT assay showed that RGD-AW could enhance the attachment and proliferation of MG63 cells significantly compared with AW.


An added momentum sources-based method is proposed in this paper to compute hydrodynamic coefficients of an underwater vehicle. It is assumed that the vehicle is at rest. Added momentum sources are introduced to account for the effects of the Coriolis acceleration and the acceleration of entrainment because the frame of reference is attached on the underwater vehicle. Compared with a moving boundary method, the method presented need not to reconstruct meshes, and can simulate wind/water tunnel tests and rotating arm tank tests at less efforts. The computational results for a flat type of autonomous underwater vehicle, named SMAL01, prove the validity of the method, and show that the hydrodynamic coefficients from numerical calculations agree well with those from scale model tests.


Instabilities occurring on temperate glaciers in the Alps have been the subject of several studies, which have highlighted preliminary conditions and possible precursory signs of break-off events.

Since 2013, the Planpincieux Glacier, located on the Italian side of Mont Blanc massif (Aosta Valley), has been studied to analyse the dynamics of ice collapses in a temperate glacier.

These analyses have been conducted for several years, enabling the assessment of surface kinematics on the lower glacier portion and the different instability processes at the glacier terminus. During the period of the study, especially in the summer seasons, increases in velocities of the whole right side of the glacier tongue have been recorded. This fast sliding movement is mainly induced by water flow at the bottom of the glacier.

In 2019 summer season, the increase of speed coincided with the opening of a large crevasse, which outlined a fast moving ice volume, assessed by photogrammetric techniques as 250.000 m3.

According to the risk scenarios, the collapse of this ice volume from the glacial body would have reached the valley floor, potentially affecting the access road to the Val Ferret valley.

Considering the potential risk, a civil protection plan has been deployed by the monitoring team of the Aosta Valley Autonomous Region, Fondazione Montagna sicura and CNR-IRPI.

Glacier displacements, variations in the glacier morphology and environmental variables, such as air temperature, rain and snowfall, have all been taken into account to implement the monitoring plan.

This work outlines and summarises the steps used to develop the scientific knowledge into an integrated monitoring plan and a closure plan for the Val Ferret valley.


Two new 3,4-seco-apotirucallane triterpenoids, Apowalsogynes A and B (1 and 2), were isolated from the barks of Walsura chrysogyne, and their structures were determined on the basis of the NMR and CD spectra, and by using the modified Mosher's method. In addition, the cytotoxic activities of 1 and 2 against various cancer cell lines were evaluated.


Combined with construction situations of expressway in Hainan province questions deserving attention in engineering quality supervision work are discussed.The whole procedure quality control and key points in construction are emphasized in order to realize effective control of engineering quality.


Indoor materials include constructing, decorating and finishing materials, all of which can release VOCs during their entire life circle, and are a main releasing source of VOCs indoors. VOCs will bring damage to human health when stored in the indoor environment. Based on aspects such as the source, the damage from VOCs, the authors expounded the pollution to the indoor environment, and put forward some effective prevention measures to decline and reduce the damage of VOCs to the indoor environment.


Growing popularity worldwide, Hookah has become a new trend that many individuals are seeking as an alternative to smoking cigarettes. These waterpipe devices are attracting many individuals, especially the younger generation with its easy accessibility and assorted flavors. Everyday different types of E-cigarettes are becoming available in the market due to the popular demand. Across the world, many individuals are turning to this alternative method of cigarette smoking for a sense of stress relief. In this mini review, the correlation between hookah smoking and its effects on reducing stress were reviewed.


Sales and marketing are some of the oldest works that exist in all human history, is a skill that many people want to have as independent of their profession, everyone should cultivate and exercise in each of the personal, work areas and to social, since a good seller not only markets and sells products and / or services, but also sells his image, his talents for your environment has a clear who the reference.


Medical plants and their various extracts have been occasionally used in the treatment of many diseases. Astragalus is one of those medical plants and it has several biological activities. In the present study, the hexane extracts of six Astragalus species, which are grown in the eastern Anatolia region of Turkey, were isolated, and their mutagenic and antimutagenic properties were investigated by using Salmonella typhimurium TA1535, TA1537 and Escherichia coli WP2uvrA tester strains at 0.05, 0.5 and 5 μg/plate concentrations. Known mutagens sodium azide (NaN3), 9‐Aminoacridine (9‐AA) and N‐Methyl‐N′‐nitro‐N‐nitrosoguanidine (MNNG) were used to determine antimutagenic properties of hexane extracts. The results showed that all hexane extracts, investigated in the present study, can be considered genotoxically safe because they do not have mutagenic activity at the tested concentrations. But, a great many of them have antimutagenic activity against 9‐Aminoacridine known as a model intercalator agent. The inhibition rates obtained from the antimutagenicity assays ranged from 27.51% (A. macrocephalus – 0.05 μg/plate) to 54.39% (A. galegiformis – 5 μg/plate). These activities are valuable toward an extension of the employ of these drugs as new phytotherapeutic or preservative ingredients. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


The present invention relates to a total station for geodetic surveying for leveling. The present invention relates to a tripod, including a top support, a tripod including an upper support and three legs mounted so that the top is pivotably coupled to the top, and a space mounted on the top support, A protecting means for protecting the total station including a box-shaped protective case and an opening / closing plate for opening / closing the upper opening portion of the protective case; A total station mounted on the total station mount, a bogie on which the tripod is mounted, and a bogie on which the bogie is mounted, the bogie being mounted on the ground, The machine can be moved by holding the handle of the traction handle and pulling the trailer while the tripod is mounted on the carriage having the front and rear wheels and the total station is mounted on the total station mount of the tripod , It is possible to move from one observation point to another observation point, so that the total station can be carried and moved quickly, easily and easily, and the landing station and the horizontal holding means can firmly and stably mount the tripod- mounted bogie on the ground And a total station mount and a toe And the lift station can be held horizontally, so that the geodetic surveying operation can be carried out more efficiently. By the protection means including the opening and closing driving mechanism for opening and closing the opening and closing plate and the elevation driving mechanism for raising and lowering the total station mount, If a tripod with a station is tripped, the total station can be protected from impact, the total station can be protected from rain and snow during rainfall or snowfall, as well as geodetic surveying with total station even during rainfall or snowfall To be able to do.


Osteoarthritis (OA) is a degenerative disease in which a low-grade inflammation in cartilage and synovium occurs, causing a deterioration of cartilage and the consequent joint disability. OA is a m...


An attempt has been made to understand the mechanism of material removal during two-body abrasive wear of Al-alloy (LM13)-SiC composite under varying experimental conditions through the wear surface and subsurface examination. It has been noted that the mechanisms of material removal during the wear process are primarily cutting and plowing, which lead to formation of continuous wear grooves. In the composite, SiC particles act as protrusions over the surface and protect the matrix from wear. But at higher applied load, coarser abrasive size, and larger sliding distances, some of the SiC particles get fractured into fine particles and scooped off from the wear surface leading to a higher wear rate. The subsurface studies show severe plastic deformation and finally formation of a mechanically mixed layer (MML) over the plastically deformed zone. The MML gets fractured during the wear process and finally removed by the formation of lateral and transverse cracking. The cracks are generally initiated at the interface of MML and the plastically deformed zone and propagate along the weaker region in MML. The material removal mechanism has been schematically presented in order to have a better understanding.


Teachers of English as a second or foreign language often state that they lack an understanding of how to teach vocabulary in a principled, evidence-based way sensitive to students' needs. Vocabulary teaching is typically unsystematic, not adequately supported by curricula and teaching materials, and shaped by beliefs based in opinion or myth. A large amount of research on L2 vocabulary learning and processing is now available, and most of this work is on English vocabulary. The present article synthesizes this body of knowledge to achieve the following: (a) establish how many words learners need to know for different purposes; (b) discuss the scientific evidence for commonly held beliefs about vocabulary teaching; (c) recommend sound, research-informed teaching practices; and (d) refer the audience to a range of freely available high-quality tools that can facilitate lexical instruction in English.


Study Design. Case report. Objective. A case report describing late presentation of neurologic injury with latent infection following scoliosis surgery. Summary of Background Data. Neurologic injury is a well described complication of scoliosis surgery. Late presentations of neurologic injury are rare but have been reported. To our knowledge, there are no reports of late presenting thoracic cord compression from a Cotrel-Dubousset type hook and rod instrumentation associated with latent indolent infection. Methods. A 23-year-old man, 8 years status post T3-L3 posterior spinal fusion for scoliosis, presented with approximately a 6-month history of progressive leg numbness and mild weakness. Computed tomography myelogram showed cord compression from a laminar hook at T10 on the left side. Results. The patient's neurologic status improved after device removal. Intraoperative tissue cultures grew coagulase-negative Staphylococci despite having normal preoperative laboratory data for infection. Conclusion. We report a case of late presenting neurologic injury from migration of a laminar hook causing thoracic cord compression and myelopathy. Removal of device resulted in discovery of a latent infection and satisfactory neurologic recovery.


this course is designed to expose educators to various types of assessment in early childhood education. it will discuss types of observatipon and recordimng tools, as well as the advantages and disadvantages associated with each. you will learn how to set goals, plan, and choose the best instrument for specific situations, and gain techniques of organising, analysing and interpreting observation data. in addition, this course will teach you how to apply assessment information to improve programme quality and to best meet needs of individual children. you will also study the proper methods of communicating observation and assessment information to parents


Objective: To study the protective role of Astragalus membranaceus on myocardical cells against damages caused by middle molecular substances(MMS). Methods: Both the main damaging element of MMS(MMS Ⅱ ) and astragalus membranaceus were added to cultured myocardical cells. Beating strength and rate of myocardical cells were observed. LDH and Trypan blue exclusion were also measured. Results: Beating strength and rate of myocardical cells, LDH and Trypan blue exclusion of cultured myocardical cells were not affected by MMS Ⅱ in astragalus membranaceus treated group. Conclusion: Astragalus membranaceus can protect myocardical cells from damage by MMSⅡ.


Kidney transplant is the reference treatment for patients with end‐stage renal disease, but patients may develop long‐term rejection of the graft. However, some patients do not reject the transplant, but instead are operationally tolerant state despite withdrawal of immunosuppressive treatment. In this second article we outline a microarray‐based identification of key leader genes associated respectively to rejection and to operational tolerance of the kidney transplant in humans by utilizing a non/statistical bioinformatic approach based on the identification of "key genes," either as those mostly changing their expression, or having the strongest interconnections. A uniquely informative picture emerges on the genes controlling the human transplant from the detailed comparison of these findings with the traditional statistical SAM (Tusher et al. 2001 Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 98:5116–5121) analysis of the microarrays and with the clinical study carried out in the accompanying part I article. J. Cell. Biochem. 103: 1693–1706, 2008. © 2007 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.


Sophisticated and high performance embedded systems are present in an increasing number of application domains. As the complexity grows, it gets harder to satisfy the requirement of getting the most optimized system using less development resources. In this context, formalbased design methods have been studied to make the development process robust and scalable, using the correct-by-construction approach. Models of computation (MoC), which consists on modeling an application at a high abstraction level by using a formal base, enables a systematic application analysis before its implementation. Different tools and frameworks have been developed supporting MoCs. Some of them can simulate the models and also verify its functionality and feasibility before the next design steps. As MoC elevates the abstraction level, the implementation steps get more complex, creating an abstraction gap. In view of this, the present research aims to identify possible automation approaches for embedded systems design flows.


Enhancement of Voltage profile and suppression of real power loss are the two major tasks for the Distribution system engineers. Network Reconfiguration (NR) is one of the traditional techniques used to address the above issue. During the last decade, optimal allocation and sizing of DG units had played a significant role in minimizing the power loss as well as bus voltage improvement. In the recent days power scenario, combination of Distributed Generation (DG) and Network Reconfiguration (NR) were extensively applied to mitigate the above problems in an effective and efficient manner in comparison study of their individual counterparts. This paper proposes an application of Autonomous Group Particle Swarm Optimization (AGPSO) to solve the NR problem with optimal allocation and sizing of DG units under three different cases. Further, a comprehensive study has been conducted to ascertain the impact of power loss in increasing the number of DG units with NR considering single and two DG units. This developed technique is demonstrated using two test systems (IEEE 33 and 69) and the results are compared with other methods. Simulation results reveal that the developed technique effectively improved in power loss suppression and bus voltage improvement.


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Portugal and the Plata: The Conflict of Luso-Hispanic Interests in Southern Brazil and the North Bank of the Rio De La Plata, 1493-1807


In preparation for the Center for Space Research Release 6 of Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) data, 32 accelerometer parameterization schemes are analyzed, which combine skew-symmet...


In an experience with smallpox limited to the town of Colorado and occurring between the dates of April 7 and May 20, 1907, the following conditions were encountered. They are interesting as confirming previous observations as to the coincidence of variola and vaccinia. There were in all six cases of smallpox, five of which presented the coincidence above referred to. The sixth case was mild smallpox unmodified by vaccination and irrelevant to this report. The patient in the first case was isolated as soon as the disease was determined and some eleven people who had been exposed were segregated in a detention camp and vaccinated. After three or four days in every instance the typical sore developed. Within twelve days after exposure to smallpox, and with a well-defined vaccination sore, five of the segregated persons presented the papular rash of smallpox, which rapidly proceeded to the vesicular and pustular stages.


Fertility in Africa remains the highest in the world, the average total fertility rate for the continent is about 6.3 children per woman. So far little evidence is found of the beginning of a sustained and irreversible fertility decline in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) of the sort experienced in other developing areas. Contraceptive use is low (except for spacing purposes and outside of marriage) in sub-Saharan Africa, but there is little evidence that this is due to short supply. Reported ideal family sizes remain quite high suggesting that demand for contraception is low. Analysis of the determinants of fertility in Africa using recently available data is likely to provide new insight into the prospects for fertility decline and the design of population policy. Future analysis should focus on four questions that may be answerable using existing data, and may prove useful in evaluating policy and targeting resources : 1) what are the sources and determinants of observed fertility decline in Africa?; 2) what effects does education have on fertility, family size, and contraceptive use?; 3) what are the likely effects of increases in availability and costs of schooling, health care and family planning services on contraceptive use and fertility? and 4) how will these increases affect measures of child survival, educational attainment and anthropometric status?


Summary The paper reviews the development of amphibious hovercraft and considers the noise emission levels of current types of in-service craft. A brief reference is also made to side wall hovercraft and hover barges. An outline of suggested methods for quantitative measurement of noise level and format is given, should legislation be deemed necessary at some future date. Finally recommendations are made for further research and development programmes aimed at achieving significant improvement in the next generation of hovercraft.


AlGaN layers grown by MOCVD on Si(111) substrates exhibit spontaneously formed AlN/GaN superlattices along the growth direction. The phenomenon was found by high-resolution X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy. Besides the main superlattice peak X-ray diffraction spectra typically show four satellite reflections. TEM images reveal a homogeneous lateral distribution of the SL. The vertical extension is equal to the total layer thickness. The SL persists upon variation of any relevant growth parameters. The period of the SL was found to correlate with the growth rate and the position of the main SL reflection corresponds to the TMAl/TMGa-ratio in the gas phase.


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Demand for oat hay has been stimulated by an increasing number of pleasure horses in California. Production now involves more than 250,000 acres annually in the state, on irrigated as well as dry- farmed lands.


We present a probabilistic T-cell model that includes negative selection and takes contrasting models of tissue-restricted antigen (TRA) expression in the thymus into account. We start from the basic model of van den Berg, Rand, and Burroughs (2001) and include negative selection via individual-based T-cell modelling, in which each T-cell is defined by its stimulation rates to all relevant self antigens. We present a simulation approach based on partial tilting of the stimulation rates recognized by a single T-cell. We investigate the effects of negative selection for diverging modes of thymic antigen presentation, namely arbitrary TRA presentation, and more or less strict emulation of tissue-specific cell lines. We observe that negative selection leads to truncation of the tail of the distribution of the stimulation rates mature T-cells receive from self antigens, i.e., the self background is reduced. This increases the activation probabilities of single T-cells in the presence of non-self antigens.


This study identifies the prevalence of binge drinking behaviour and the statistical relationship between local patterns and binge drinking behaviour among the working-age population in Thailand. This study was conducted using The Smoking and Drinking Behaviour Survey 2017 data set from the National Statistical Office of Thailand. Local Indicators of Spatial Association (LISA) were used to identify the spatial autocorrelation between surrounding areas, with binge drinking behaviour among the working-age population in Thailand. Findings showed that among the 61,708 participants, 11.47% engaged in binge drinking behaviour. There was aspatial global autocorrelation between the surrounding areas and binge drinking behaviour among the working-age population, with a Moran's I value of 0.579. The LISA analysis indicated nine hotspots or high–high clusters. In Thailand, there is a cultural context that encourages risky behaviour such as drinking alcohol beyond the standards set by law. Therefore, to manage this problem efficiently and effectively, the public and private sectors and related agencies should raise awareness about the health effects of binge drinking and promote health literacy to local residents while engaging all sectors in managing alcohol behaviour in all areas. This type of approach is sustainable and can have long-term effects on society.


Objective To investigate the clinical feature , pathologic characteristics and prognosis of urothelial carcinoma of bladder with squamous differentiation . Methods From Jan.2010 to Jun.2013, the pathological and clinical data of 96 cases of urothelial carcinoma of bladder with or without squamous dif-ferentiation were compared .Of the group with squamous differentiation , there were 39 males and 9 females with a median age of 70 (29 to 87) years.44 cases presented with painless gross hematuria .4 cases presen-ted with finding of bladder tumors in annual physical examination .TURBT, partial cystectomy and radical cystectomy were performed in 25, 8 and 13 cases, respectively.In addition, one case was only underwent bi-lateral ureteral skin gastrostomy .The last one only performed cystoscopy .In accordance with sex , age, path-ological stage and classification and surgical approach , 48 controls were selected .For the other group , there were 40 males and 8 females with a median age of 68 (39 to 86) years.45 cases presented with painless gross hematuria.3 cases presented with finding bladder tumors by annual physical examination .TURBT, par-tial cystectomy and radical cystectomy were performed in 28, 7 and 13 cases, respectively.All patients with retaining bladder had postoperative intravesical instillation for one year .Some patients with or without bladder performed 3-6 cycles chemotherapy with the GC protocol . Results In squamous differentiation group , there were 1 (2.1%) pTa, 25 (52.1%) pT1, 17 (35.4%) pT2, 4 (8.3%) pT3 and 1 (2.1%) pT4 tumors. Whereas, 1 (2.1%) pTa, 28 (58.3%) pT1, 16 (33.3%) pT2, 2 (4.2%) pT3 and 1 (2.1%)pT4 tumors were selected in the control group .There were 2 (4.2%) cases with low grade and 46 (95.8%) cases with high grade carcinomain in both groups .Patients were followed up with a mean duration of 16 and 12 months in squamous differentiation and control group , respectively .In squamous differentiation group , eight recur-rences were recorded with a mean follow-up of 12 months.Of the 3 died patients, only one died from bladder cancer.In control group, seven recurrences were recorded with a mean follow-up of 22 months, and no pa-tient died.For patients with TURBT, 3 year recurrence rate of patients with squamous differentiation was 49.5%, while the control was 34.8%.The difference was statistically significant (P〈0.05). Conclusions Urothelial carcinoma of bladder with squamous differentiation is at a high level of malignant and recurrence . The rate of myometrial invasion with squamous differentiation is higher than pure urothelial bladder cancer . Patients with squamous differentiation should be closely followed up .

Key words:
Bladder; Urothelial carcinoma; Squamous differentiation; Treatment; Outcome


To the Editor.— The syndrome of normal-pressure hydrocephalus has assumed much importance recently as a treatable cause of dementia and deserves to be widely recognized. The report of James et al ( 213 :1615, 1970) is disturbing, however, because of its lack of documentation and apparent neglect of recent developments in this admittedly complex field. The authors state that Since normal-pressure hydrocephalus is a treatable form of dementia, accurate diagnosis based on clinical manifestations, findings from lumbar puncture, pneumoencephalography, and cisternography is mandatory. Yet they fail to provide either clinical, lumbar puncture, or pneumoencephalographic data on their eight patients, with abnormal iodinated I 131 serum albumin (RISA) cisternograms. On what criteria was the diagnosis based in these patients, and was their dementia, in fact, surgically correctible? Any diagnostic test for occult or normal-pressure hydrocephalus is of clinical value only insofar as it correlates with reversibility of signs and symptoms. Unfortunately, data of


This is a wildly exciting period in the study of ion channels. Since the sequencing of Na+ and K+ channels was accomplished ([Noda et al., 1984][1], [Tempel et al., 1987][2]), many of the functional parts of the channels have been located within the sequence. These include the pore through which


This chapter discusses Five Songs by George Antheil. As one of the first composers to incorporate jazz elements in a classical context, he was fond of experimenting with odd instrumental combinations and electronic devices. This chapter provides examples of Antheil's vocal work to demonstrate the composer's originality. The piano writing is dramatic and often dense in texture. Moreover, the vocal tessitura descends as the cycle progresses, while the piano becomes more dominant. The first three songs are very short, but the last two have an almost orchestral richness. Texts are aphoristic and concise, and voice parts are correspondingly plain and unadorned, moving for the most part in a combination of declamatory speech patterns, long slow spans, often on a monotone, and close intervals, leaving the piano to illustrate the imagery and atmosphere of the words.


A new fruit rot disease caused by Sclerotium rolfsii on watermelon (Citrullus lanatus) was observed in the State of Alagoas. The pathogenicity of the fungus was confirmed by artificial inoculations.This is the first report of S. rolfsii causing fruit rot in watermelon in Northeast of Brazil.


The paper provides a detailed analysis of the runtime and workspace requirements of a software suite for the design rule check and netlist extraction of IC mask sets. The system allows the user to describe the components of a circuit (transistors, contacts, diodes etc.) in terms of an acyclic graph (the formula graph), where the nodes represent geometric features and the edges represent the topological relationships between these features. The graph can easily be converted into textual format, using a mask verification language (MVL). MVL is partly procedural and partly asynchronous, with the instruction set of the procedural part having been chosen with great care to allow extensive optimisation of the necessary mask operations by the MVL compiler. The software can be roughly broken down into four areas:(i) The preprocessor, which takes raw mask data (GAELIC, CIF etc.) and converts it into a flattened set of nonintersecting rectangles(ii) The geometry processor, which translates the mask geometry from the form output by the preprocessor into a graph of similar structure to the formula graph, called the layout graph(iii) The topology processor, which tries to find instances of subgraph isomorphism of the formula graph in the layout graph(iv) The MVL compiler, which translates the user-written MVL code into primitive instructions for the analysis suite.The analysis shows that the preprocessor, geometry processor and topology processor execution times and workspace requirements are all approximately O(N) and O(N0.5), respectively. Throughout the paper, an array of I2L adder circuits is used as an example. One of the necessary MVL code listings is given as an Appendix.


PURPOSE: A battery system, a battery module, and a cooling method of the battery module are provided to use non-conductive oil contacting a battery cell and a cooling manifold cooling the non-conductive, to cool the battery cell. CONSTITUTION: A battery module(20) comprises the following: a housing containing non-conductive oil; a battery cell installed in the housing; and a cooling manifold contacting with the non-conductive oil, and including a structure transferring the heat energy from the non-conductive oil to a fluid for cooling the battery cell. The non-conductive oil is mineral oil.


Doctors are encouraged to look upon each patient as a learning experience ( Wyngaarden, 1979 ). Caseoriented learning begins in the clinical years of medical school and continues throughout the professional career of the doctor. Clinical cases, or anecdotes, have the potential of producing accurate, relevant and meaningful learning for the clinician even though they are uncontrolled in a scientific sense. However, unusual or atypical cases can also result in erroneous learning which can negatively affect patient care.


It is known that drinking of alcoholic beverages has much influence on the control of blood glucose in diabetics. In the present study, intakes of total calories, protein, fat, carbohydrate, and particularly of alcohol were calculated on the basis of daily dietary record which had been written for two years by a patient in the clinic. And, data of the first year was compared with that of the second year not only on the basis of the dietary intake but also the clinical course. One remarkable point which was obtained by this comparison was that alcohol drinking aggravated the control of diabetes and in many cases alcohol intake initiated failure to maintain good dietary restriction. Besides this fact, the every day drinker can not limit his consumption of alcohol by himself. Therefore, the necessity of abstinence in treatment of the diabetic drinker is emphasized. Jap. J. Nutr. 35 (5) 215-220 (1977)


A method for generating constant-amplitude electric fields used for swept-frequency electromagnetic susceptibility (EMS) testing in the frequency range 200-990 MHz is developed. The test equipment used to generate the fields has parameters which vary as a function of frequency, such as antenna factors, cable loss, reflection coefficient of the measurement site, amplifier gain, etc. The output voltage of the signal generator is increased or decreased as the frequency is swept to compensate for these parameters and produce a constant-amplitude electric field. The method is implemented using a programmable spectrum analyzer, in which the voltage corresponding to the electric field measured in a characterization run is stored in a data file. Another program compares this voltage with that corresponding to the desired field strength, and stores the difference in a second data file. Using a third computer program, this voltage difference is used to control the input to a programmable signal generator to generate a constant-amplitude electric field.<<ETX>>


Our hospital is a prefectural hospital, and has a history of more than 70 years. It is in a depopulated area. It had been operated by organ specialists until 2007. After 2007, it has been operated by family doctor. Until then, family doctor takes a center of community-based integrated care systems. This activity continues because the family doctors are community-oriented. This activity is working with multi-disciplinary and local residents because the family doctor has a skill of coordination. And this system is built tailored to the needs of the community because family doctor has a skill of accountability. Family doctors working in depopulated areas will become more concerned about the community, and listen more to the opinion of multi-disciplinary. Because the size of the hospital and the number of the staff is small, it is easy to work with multi-disciplinary. Because hospitals have multiple staff, we can share work to conduct community activities. Community-based integrated care systems will continue developing to "community-based integrated care systems as a region care","community-based integrated care systems as a making community", "community-based integrated care systems as a continuity". In order to build a high quality of community-based integrated care systems, it is necessary to develop the hospital, which is operated by family doctors in each area.


1 This is a modified version of the working paper prepared for presentation at the "5th Conference of the Regulating for Decent Work Network" at the International Labour Office, in Geneva, Switzerland, 3-5 July 2017, which was also presented at the "Brazil-Japan Litigation and Society Seminar: Courts and Disputes Resolutions" ‒ a result of the partnership between the7University of Sao Paulo7(USP)7and the7University of Shinshu ‒, held on 8-9 January 2018 at the University of Shinshu, in Matsumoto, Japan. Professor of Law. Department of Labor Law and Social Security, University of Sao Paulo (USP) School of Law. Email: firstname.lastname@example.com. 3 Attorney at law and labor law specialist, current president of the Special Commission for The Eradication of Work Analogous to Slavery ‒ Federal Board of the Brazilian Bar Association (OAB) and independent researcher of the Labor Law and Social Security study group, University of Sao Paulo (USP) - School of Law. Email: firstname.lastname@example.com. 4 Master in progress (2016 ‒ to present) in the Department of Labor Law and Social Security, University of Sao Paulo (USP) - School of Law. Email: victor.raduan.silva@usp. br. neither imposes time patterns for the provision of the worker's work, nor provides such worker with the equipment to perform the service. Brazil, like other countries with semi-peripheral economy, is holding an intense and unresolved debate on the subject. Brazil has no federal statutory act yet dedicated to the express regulation of the individual passenger transport activity, but some cities like São Paulo, for example, allow the provision of the service by a decree signed by the mayor. The fares charged in Brazil are, generally, cheaper than those of taxis, what makes the public support such competition. Under the labor protection sphere, there is no law or court precedent guiding which rule should be applied and how to qualify this kind of work. This article aims at summarizing the debate held until now and discussing possible trends for the legal regulation of the activity under the point of view of labor protection of the services provider whose work is a source of profit, based on the semi-peripheral economies, focusing on the Brazilian case.


This paper describes the test methodology and results of speech transmission quality testing in the environment of non-native listeners; it means the communication language differs from the mother tongue of the test subjects. The tests were carried out based on ITU-T P.800 on a database of English speech samples affected by various coding distortions and background noise conditions. The subjects were pre-tested on their English proficiency. The subjective test results confirm a systematic and repeatable shift in subjective quality assessment performed non-native listeners.


This study examined how sustained faculty participation produced substantial increases in external funding for a College of Education while the organizational climate of the college collapsed and faculty morale plummeted. The paper first offers a review of the literature on work motivation that provides a rationale for strategies for increasing external funding. Second, processes instituted by the College to increase external funding are listed including: (1) making increased external funding a clear goal; (2) continuing emphasis on this goal and progress toward it; (3) recognition of investigators for funding successes; (4) client centered grant office operations; (5) establishment of a research council to foster research initiatives; (6) hiring a development officer; and (7) changing all faculty appointments from 12 months to 11 months with no change in annual salary. These processes were analyzed for both expected and unexpected effects and in one case (establishing a Development Officer for the College) a direct monetary effect could be determined. Third, perceptions of principal investigators stratified by the level of funding they amassed are reported. The paper concludes that each of the seven mechanisms paradoxically produced faculty perceptions that were detrimental to faculty morale and the organizational health of the college. (Contains 20 references.) *********************************************************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. **********************************A************************************ The Multiple Effects of Influencing External Funding Productivity Jon J. Denton & Frances A. Hunter College of Education Texas A&M University


Protoplanetary disks around young stars are the sites of planetary formation. Recent high spatial resolution observations from both ground and space have revealed wide varieties of disk morphology and composition. This diversity of disk properties is certainly the seeds for the well known diversity of about 350 exoplanets so far detected. Encouraged with the recent success of direct imaging of exoplanets, next generation high-contrast instruments on the 8-m class telescopes are starting to fully explore direct observations of both exoplanets and disks. This international conference was held to give an overview of this rapidly developing field and promote discussion on future studies among observers, theorists, and instruments.


A first general strategy for the determination of Technetium oxidation state by a new approach involving X-ray absorption near edge spectroscopy (XANES) at the Tc L 3 edge is shown for series of 99 Tc compounds, ranging from oxidation states I to VII. A general strategy for the determination of Tc oxidation state by new approach involving X-ray absorption near edge spectroscopy (XANES) at the Tc L 3 edge is shown. A comprehensive series of 99 Tc compounds, ranging from oxidation states I to VII, was measured and subsequently simulated within the framework of crystal-field multiplet theory. The observable trends in the absorption edge energy shift in combination with the spectral shape allow for a deeper understanding of complicated Tc coordination chemistry. This approach can be extended to numerous studies of Tc systems as this method is one of the most sensitive methods for accurate Tc oxidation state and ligand characterization.


This paper proposed the use of multimodal feature-level fusion to prove the improvement performance of multimodal authentication. Different algorithm used for features extraction, LG for extracting FKP features, LPQ for iris and Palmprint features extraction, and PCA for extracting face features. Results brought to light that the multimodal authentication process gained higher performance than single modality. The biometric performance using feature-level fusions under "Z-score", "Tanh", "Median", and Min-Max normalization has been demonstrated in this paper. General Terms Biometric


The past 20 years have seen a remarkable re-thinking of heart failure classification and diagnosis. This has included the realization that approximately half of patients suffer primarily from impaired ventricular relaxation; individuals who are now defined as exhibiting heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF). These patients contrast with those diagnosed with HF with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF), who present with compromised ventricular contraction. Unfortunately, although significant progress has been made over the last decades in treating HFrEF, this has not been replicated for HFpEF management. Thus, there is an urgent need to investigate the pathophysiological mechanisms that distinguish these two diseases, to enable the development of better-targeted therapies. In the current issue of The Journal of Physiology, Kilfoil et al. (2020) have done exactly that. In an elegantly performed study, the authors directly compared remodelling of cardiomyocyte substructure and function in rat models of HFpEF and HFrEF. They observed that expected disruption of t-tubule structure and Ca2+ release observed in HFrEF did not occur in HFpEF myocytes. Rather, they report maintained t-tubule structure and an augmentation of the Ca2+ transient linked to increased L-type Ca2+ current. Thus, while impaired contractility in HFrEF can be traced to reduced systolic function of individual myocytes, generally preserved systolic function observed in HFpEF also appears to have a myocyte-level parallel. Why would these two forms of heart failure exhibit such divergent types of cellular remodelling? Differences in workload are likely to be key. Our own recent findings have shown that the high workload, and specifically the elevated wall stress, that accompany HFrEF directly trigger t-tubule remodelling (Frisk et al. 2016). HFpEF, on the other hand, is associated with concentric hypertrophy and maintained wall stress across the left ventricle. Thus, a central driver of subcellular remodelling is absent. This difference may explain why therapies which mechanically unload the heart, including left ventricular assist devices and inhibitors of the renin-angiotensin system, have proven to be effective in treating HFrEF but have not shown benefit in HFpEF. While Kilfoil and colleagues report that t-tubule structure and Ca2+ release are preserved in HFpEF, they note important irregularities in diastolic Ca2+ homeostasis. They observed that under baseline conditions, Ca2+ decay rates were similar to values in healthy cells, but that there was a desynchronization of Ca2+ removal and significant elevation of resting Ca2+ levels. Furthermore, upon treatment with isoprenaline (isoproterenol), an additional deficit in diastolic Ca2+ homeostasis emerged, as the expected acceleration of Ca2+ decline was significantly blunted. This slowed and incomplete removal of Ca2+ is expected to increase 'active' stiffness in the heart, as curtailed detachment of myofilament cross-bridges compromises relaxation. Importantly, the fact that this burden becomes more apparent during stress may partly explain why HFpEF patients describe a worsening of symptoms during exertion. These exciting findings, which support an active stiffening of the myocardium in HFpEF, add to compelling evidence from others that there is also a marked increase in passive stiffness in this condition. A body of work has indicated that this occurs at the level of the extracellular matrix, due to collage deposition, but also within cardiomyocytes due to a stiffening of the giant elastic protein titin (Gladden et al. 2014). These passive mechanisms of diastolic dysfunction have been linked to endothelial dysfunction and the inflammatory milieu of HFpEF, and thus are quite distinct from the mechanical overload signals that are centrally involved in triggering HFrEF. Whether deficits in diastolic Ca2+ homeostasis are similarly triggered by endothelial dysfunction and inflammation remains unclear. The precise nature of the impairment also requires further investigation, to determine whether decreased Ca2+ removal stems from reduced Ca2+ reuptake by SERCA, slowed removal from the cell by the Na+-Ca2+ exchanger, or even compromised uptake into mitochondria. One issue not experimentally addressed in the present work is that HFpEF encompasses a very diverse patient group which, in keeping with the metaphor, might be better compared with an array of horses of several different colours. While some of these patients develop the disease in conjunction with hypertension – a condition presently modelled by the use of Dahl salt-sensitive rats – many HFpEF patients suffer from obesity, diabetes and other comorbidities. It is as yet unclear whether the cellular mechanisms for diastolic dysfunction are shared between these different disease aetiologies. Diabetes, for example, is associated with increased activity of the Na+-glucose co-transporter-1 (SGLT-1), which is believed to drive cytosolic Na+ accumulation, and thereby slowed Ca2+ removal by the Na+-Ca2+ exchanger (Lambert et al. 2015). SERCA expression and activity are also reported to be reduced in diabetic patients; a deficit that has been linked to hyperglycaemia, oxidative stress and post-translational modifications of the pump. Based on these findings, one might expect that decreased Ca2+ removal from the cytosol may play a more marked role in impairing relaxation in diabetic HFpEF than in patients with different comorbidities. If true, such findings would indicate that development of heart failure therapies could benefit from refinement according to disease aetiology. Indeed, perhaps the disappointing progress in treating HFpEF to date reflects the examination of a 'mixed bag' of patients in clinical studies, while therapeutic benefits might have become apparent if the patients included in the study had been more homogeneous (Roh et al. 2017). This angle should


1 in 300 live births, but in 2004, Littlefield and colleagues reported that almost 1 in 68 infants displayed significant cranial asymmetry due to deformational plagiocephaly. An altered head shape secondary to craniosynostosis is a much less common phenomenon, occurring in about 1 in 2000 live births. Of the craniosynostosis types, sagittal synostosis is the most common type in general, and bilateral coronal synostosis is the most common type associated with a syndrome. Lambdoid craniosynostosis is considered very uncommon or rare at an estimated incidence of 1 in 300,000 births. Although at first observation, deformational plagiocephaly (common) may be confused with unilateral lambdoid craniosynostosis (rare), history and clinical presentation will differentiate these two entities (Table 2).


One common problem Global Understanding (GU) instructors face is teaching students how to critically analyze the similarities and differences between cultures. Comparative cultural theorists like Geert Hofstede have provided frameworks that help students learn to process and categorize these similarities and differences, but their theories can often seem abstract and divorced from the practical life of 21st century students. However, Universidad ESAN in Lima, Peru has developed an experiential learning methodology to help students understand and apply comparative cultural theory, as well as use quantitative and qualitative research methods, experience data collection and analysis, and work together in international virtual teams. For the past three semesters, GU students at ESAN have been assigned the task of developing and applying an exploratory questionnaire based on one of Hofstede's cultural dimensions, teaching their GU partners in three other countries about their assigned dimension, helping those partners apply the questionnaire in their own countries and then comparatively analyzing the results together with their partners at an exploratory level. The result has been increased comprehension of comparative cultural theory, heightened interest in research and data collection and greater, more applicable experiences of mediated collaboration via virtual teams.


In the article was fulfilled analyse of concentration at the market of Internet jobs agency and was analysing opportunity of discriminant analyse for diagnostic «group of risk» through the jobs agency's clients.


The explosion technique applied in Ex lifter and Ex elevator and the their categories are present in details,in order to ensure the safety operation of the such equipments in hazardous location.At the same time,the authors give explanation and analyses on the principles for these equipments.


·The Catholic Worker did what little it could to relieve the disI. A Mystery tress which fol!owed in the wake I. The Jews of the disastrous Chinatown fire of June 21 , in which eight Chinese died and dozens of others :were left homeless and destitute. Our contribution was small, considering the need that was to be met, but when we heard that the devastating blaze had left scores without homes, clothing and food we immediately rushed what aid we could. The most urgent need was for women's and children's clothing. Men were easily provided for. out of the charity of Chinatown's own, but provision for the others :was not nearly sufficient. are a mystery to themselves. 2. They are not a nation although the Zionists try to build up one in Palestine. 3. They are · not a race for they have intermarried with many other races. 4. They are not a religion since their belief calls for one Tempie and the Jewish Tempie has not been in existence for nearly 1,000 years.


Despite recent advances in characterizing molecular markers for the diagnosis of polcycythemia vera (PV), the aberrations leading to disease development remain unknown. We therefore used expression profiling to identify candidate genes involved in the pathophysiology of PV. RNA from purified granulocytes of 40 PV patients was analyzed by hybridizing individual samples to a pool of 50 healthy controls. Of the 7,496 genes represented in the cDNA array, 253 were upregulated more than 1.5 fold in PV compared to healthy controls (p< 0.01, FDR corrected). Promoters for 26 of the 253 genes overexpressed in PV are regulated by members of the Sp1 family of transcription factors. We have therefore hypothesized that altered activity of one or several Sp1-like transcription factors may contribute to the molecular etiology of PV. Here we report that one of the Sp1 target genes identified, the transcription factor NF-E2, is overexpressed in 37 of the 40 PV patients (92.5%) assayed by microarray. NF-E2 overexpression was confirmed by Northern Blot and quantitative RT-PCR analysis. Transcription factor overexpression varies from 2.3 to 40 fold, with a median increase of 7 fold in PV patients compared to healthy controls. The NF-E2 protein is readily detected in PV granulocytes by Western Blot whereas it is undetectable in healthy control cells. Immunohistochemistry revealed that in PV bone marrow, NF-E2 is overexpressed in megakaryocytes as well as erythroid and granulocytic precursors. Several published observations suggest that NF-E2 is an exceptionally promising candidate in the molecular etiology of PV. Firstly, the transcription factor is expressed in hematopoietic precursors as well as in erythroid, megakaryocytic and granulocytic cells, those lineages affected in PV. Secondly, Sayer et al. have shown that overexpression of NF-E2 in fetal liver cells leads to the development of Epo-independent erythroid colonies, analogous to the endogenous erythroid colonies (EECs) observed in PV patients. Furthermore, ectopic expression of NF-E2 results in the spontaneous emergence of morphologically mature erythroid cells in the absence of Epo and can reprogram monocytic cells towards erythroid and megakaryocytic differentiation. These data support the hypothesis that the concentration of an individual transcription factor can control lineage commitment. We thus propose that in PV patients elevated concentrations of NF-E2 alter the physiological transcription factor balance leading to an overproduction of erythroid and, in select patients, megakaryocytic cells/platelets. In this model the level of NF-E2 overexpression determines both the severity of erythrocytosis and the concurrent presence or absence of thrombocytosis.


A discussion of a paper with the aforementioned title by M.B. Jaksa, P.I. Brooker, and W.S. Kaggwa, published in this journal (Volume 123, Number 5, May 1997), is presented. The discussion expands on three of the paper's points: the merit of statistical procedures versus curve fitting, the nature of measurement error versus small-scale variation, and the meaning of uncertainty in interpolation of spatial data. Discussion is followed by closure from the authors.


Abstract Background The genus Metapocyrtus Heller, 1912 is the most speciose and taxonomically complex genus in the tribe Pachyrhynchini. It is known to be endemic in the Philippines, with most species having a very narrow range of distribution. There are already more than 230 species of Metapocyrtus documented in the Philippines. New information Metapocyrtusdagtum sp. nov., a new species of the genus Metapocyrtus Heller, 1912 from Davao de Oro, Mindanao Island, Philippines, is described with brief notes about its ecology. Its specific epithet is from the Cebuano word "dagtum" which means pitch black referring to the colour of the integument of the species.


The United States' economy is increasingly dependent on international trade. The continued growth and prosperity of the U.S. is dependent on global, national, and local business enterprises and their employees having access to modern transportation services. Shipper worldwide will seek new routes to their customers if they experience inefficiencies and higher costs in their current routes. Over the past several years it has become apparent that in order to meet the anticipated expansion in consumer demand for international goods, the nation's transportation industry will have to enhance its infrastructure, particularly its navigation channels, terminals, and intermodal transportation elements. The Port of New York and New Jersey is investing in its infrastructure to keep pace with the demands of industry. Economic forecasts show that the amount of container cargo entering the New York/New Jersey region could double by 2010 and quadruple by 2040. Although it is the third largest port in the nation, existing Port facilities, including channels and terminals, will not be able to handle this cargo increase. Since the new generation of container megaships requires drafts of 15 meters, multiple channel improvement projects are being planned and constructed in the Port complex, including entrance and access channel deepening. Currently, the US Army Corps of Engineers and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey are deepening the Kill Van Kull/Newark Bay Channel to 13.7 meters. Two other channel improvement projects (12.5 meters) in the harbor, Arthur Kill Channel and Port Jersey Channel, are under construction. The Water Resources Development Act of 2000 authorized the New York and New Jersey Harbor Deepening Project. The project envisions further deepening of six key channels in the Port to 15.2 meters. With the channel construction, the Port Authority and other port stakeholders are redeveloping terminals and constructing intermodal connections to accommodate the rapidly growing volumes of international cargo.


Objective To identify the FTIR spectroscopic characterization of breast cancer and explore the possibility of application of FTIR in differentiation of malignant and benign gastric lesions.Methods FTIR spectra of surgically removed fresh gastic tissues were measured by spectrometer equipped with mid-infrared fiber optics and an ATR probe.Peaks in the spectra were measured and relative intensity ratios were calculated and analyzed if there are significant differences between the spectra of malignant and benign gastic lesions.Results There were significant differences between the spectra of malignant gastic cancers and benign gastic tissues in protein structures 、lipid structures、carbohydrate and nucleic acid.Conclusions FTIR spectroscopy could be a useful tool in clinical diagnosis of gastic cancer and new methods of intraoperative navigation.

Key words:
Spectroscopy, fourier transform infrared;  Stomach neoplasms;  Adenocarcinoma;  Fresh in vitro tissue


This thesis includes the geological and technical conditions that describe the area around the Mornos Dam and Reservoir, as well as the hydrochemical analyses that were performed at samples of water wich were taken from the leaks at the tunnels of the Dam. In this thesis, there are also included diagrams, and classifications of the results of the water samples analyses.


In this paper, the guidance line rotation method of rigid body guidance is presented based on numeric comparison. The method effectively solves the rigid body guidance synthesis problem when there are more than three coupler positions. Using this method, satisfactory four bar linkages can be obtained when there are four, five or more than five rigid body positions. A software is developed to realize the automatic design and visualization of guidance synthesis for four bar linkage. Simulations show that the method is feasible and effective.


Diploma study is focused on the changeable structure of femininity in Czechoslovakia between the years 1948 - 1989. The main goal is not to show the real Picture of the femininity of that period, but to based on the analysis of magazines specified for women demonstrate how the femininity was by these media officially presented. The attention is targeted mainly on the creation of the new ideal of "socialistic woman" and on the transformation of her role as the mother, wife and worker. The beginning of the study is devoted to general questions of the role and status of media in society and to the feature of the women´s magazines as their capacity as genderly defined media. Focal point of the study primarily lies in the analysis of selected magazines and their interpretation.


Gathers letters written between members of a free Black family living in Charleston just before the Civil War and describes the treatment of free Blacks and mulattos in the South.


The invention concerns a method for protecting against lightning an electric installation (2) connected to at least an electric power supply network (3). The invention is characterised in that the method consists in particular in: monitoring atmospheric electromagnetic activity by detecting the electromagnetic radiation generated by lightning strikes; and in disconnecting the electric installation (2) from the network (3) by setting up, between the network (3) and the installation supply circuit (5), a safety space sufficient to avoid any electric arc formation between the network (3) and the installation (2) when lightning strikes the power supply network (3).


We present to approach to statistical analysis of earth models derived from observed data with the standard ACH method. The ACH method is one of the most robust seismic tomography techniques. It is used to invert teleseismic travel-time residuals for velocity variations beneath a receiver array. The teleseismic delay time data observed between 1992 and 1997 from the Romanian National Seismic Network, which is collected and digitally stored at the National Institute of Earth Physics (NIEP) in Bucharest, presents a new opportunity for the global understanding of the structure and processes within the lithosphere-asthenosphere system of the V rancea zone situated at the southeastern Carpathian Arc. Although in some case the data are incomplete in terms of station distribution, the inversion method is still useful for pointing out some striking features. In spite of some problems arising from the data this approach of a currently developed computer algorithm, which is not a strict straightforward way of interpretation, gives additional information for resolving vertical structures, a well known weakness of tomographic inversions using ray methods. It is more or less a trial and error method, but it uses the strategic advantages of genetic algorithms, which are crossover, mutation and transmission. Starting with an individual set of picked travel-times for each event, the program randomly generates a parental generation of models, each of them satisfying specific rules within given boundaries. The ACH program for the calculation of delay times is modified to allow the calculation of residuals for the picked travel-times, which are then used to evaluate each single model. This results in a ranking of the models. The best solutions survive in the next generation undisturbed, mutated or mixed with new randomly generated models by means of crossover and transmission. If a given level of matching will be reached, these certain models will be stored. Depending on the size of each model string, and therefore computational demands, it is usually sufficient to calculate several hundred generations to receive an useful amount of satisfying solutions for further statistical examinations. The set of models will split into classes with similar characteristics. This gives a major progress in discussions with scientists from various branches of the geosciences.


This paper presents the methods for the first assessment of classification error (measurement error for categorical data) in the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS). The NCVS is the only national survey that captures information on victimizations that are both reported and unreported to the authorities. To estimate reporting errors we use Markov latent class analysis (MLCA), a modeling technique that can be used to estimate classification error in panel data that does not require a goldstandard (error-free) measurement. This paper proposes a process by which an MLCA can be conducted on complex survey data, ensuring that all key assumptions are met or corrected for such that parameter estimates are valid. To conduct this analysis, we used a special longitudinal file containing all respondent waves from a sample of NCVS households. We determined that a model with fully constrained transition probabilities and partially constrained classification error probabilities fit the NCVS data the best.


The invention relates to a forming method of a grid and inverse C-shaped cavity flat slab. The flat slab is composed of a light and bubbling precast slab, reinforcing steel bars and concrete. The flat slab is formed into a tight structure after being combined to the cast-in-place structure and the two mutually cooperate with each other, so that the weight of the slab is reduced by 40% and a large-span flat slab is able to be formed and cast in place. The cross section of the slab is an inverse C-shaped light cavity slab structure, which is also an I-shaped structure, so that the rigidity of the slab is reinforced and the slab is applicable to buildings with an open-space structure, such as a commercial building, the library, a teaching building, an office building, a bus station, a park, an amusement facility and civil buildings. The flat slab is also applicable to multi-layer or single-layer industrial factory buildings, garage and other industrial applications.