Many small and medium entrepreneurs (SMEs) in the Dutch automotive industry choose to finance their business by lending from banks. Banks are losing more and more trust in investing in this business (BOVAG). One of the main reasons for this development is called Digitalization. In recent years, an alternative financing option emerged, which is called Crowdfunding. In this paper, the financing problems among small and medium car dealers in the Dutch automotive industry will be identified and discussed. Through interviews with some of these SMEs the financing problems will be elaborated more in detail, which lead to some conclusions. The interviews made clear that equity crowdfunding is the form of crowdfunding that the interviewees think would have the best chances to succeed in the Dutch automotive industry, and this form has the following two advantages which differentiates the form of other forms of crowdfunding: (1) money which is invested in the company via equity crowdfunding, stays within the company. The money can be used immediately for doing business and does not have to be paid back in the form of donations or rewards. (2) The chance for the entrepreneur to grow together with the investor(s), to increase the Return On Investment. Equity crowdfunding is thus a very interesting opportunity for entrepreneurs to attract external financing for their company. Graduation Committee members: 1 supervisor: Dr. X. Huang 2 supervisor: Prof. Dr. M. R. Kabir


One hundred and thirty three weanling New Zealand White (NZW) rabbits were used in this investigation through three experiments under Egyptian winter climate. The first one aimed to compare between the effect of housing systems (cages vs floor); the second trial aimed to study the effect of restricted feeding by reducing the feeding time 12 hours either night or day and the third trial aimed to study the effect of various spaces (6 or 1 O cm) specified on the feeder trough for each rabbit, on growth performance and economical efficiency from weaning to meat marketing age. Raising NZW rabbits (5-12 weeks) of age on the floor reduced significantly (P<0.05) body WE!ight and weight gain at marketing age and increased mortality rate and feed conversion than that rabbits reared in battery cages. Feeding NZW rabbits from 4-12 weeks of age 12 hours nightly/day (18:00-06:00) reduced significantly (P<0.01) live weight at 8 and 12 weeks of age, weight gain form 4-8 and 4-12 weeks of age as comparad with that rabbits fed 24 hrs/day or 12 hrs daytime/day (06:00-18:00). The best feed conversion (3.52) and economical efficiency (296.8%) were obtained with the group of rabbits which fed for 121Jrs during the daytime than (3.92 and 3.93) feed conversion and (257.5 and 256.3%) economical efficiency for rabbits fed 24 12 hrs nightly/day, respectively. Conceming the feeder space which specified for each rabbit (6 vs 10 cm), there were no significant (P<0.05) differences between the two groups in all studied traits.


The following discussion of Newton-Raphson and Newton-Gauss applied to least squares adjustment of nonlinear conditions with parameters is abstracted from the longer paper, "Modern Trends in Adjust...


The Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia used metering as the principal management tool to cut energy use by 42% from the base year 1973. 235 meters were installed. Transducers were installed with each meter (as pictured) to transmit signals, via telephone lines, to a centrally located base station. Computers analyzed the power data and allocated energy to seven directorates within the Langley base. A schematic of the system, and several graphic examples of successful energy saving metering adjustments are given.


AbstractApart from two or three experiments at the beginning of the century, methods of polishing metallic surfaces by a process of anodic dissolution—electro-polishing or electrolytic polishing—have been known only for the last 25 years. Recently it has been discovered that electric current is not always indispensable, and as a result techniques of chemical polishing have been elaborated, which are limited to certain metallic materials and much less general in their applications.


With the mining depth of coal resources increasing, the thickness of traditional lining for deep mines becomes large. The bearing capacity of the outer lining cannot be fully utilized, so a new type of functionally graded lining structure (FGL) with radial Young's modulus varying in gradient is proposed. In this study, through theoretical analysis and numerical simulation, the mechanical properties of the functionally graded lining were studied, including the characteristics of the elastic working state and the ultimate bearing state. The influences of the structural parameters of the functionally graded lining, including the inner radius, the thickness, Young's modulus, the compressive strength of the concrete, Poisson's ratio, and the number of layers on the mechanical properties were analyzed. The calculation formula of the ultimate bearing capacity of the lining and the calculation formula of the maximum tangential strain at the time of lining failure were put forward. The accuracy of the formula was verified by comparing with the numerical simulation results. The research results provide the basis for the construction of the design theory of a functionally graded lining structure and have great engineering significance for the construction of the kilometer-deep mines in the future.


To ensure that guidelines reflect current knowledge, available treatment options, and optimum medical care, existing clinical practice guideline recommendations are modified and new recommendations are added in response to new data, medications or devices. To keep pace with evolving evidence, the American College of Cardiology (ACC)/American Heart Association (AHA) Task Force on Clinical Practice Guidelines ("Task Force") has issued this focused update to revise guideline recommendations on the basis of recently published data. This update is not based on a complete literature review from the date of previous guideline publications, but it has been subject to rigorous, multilevel review and approval, similar to the full guidelines. For specific focused update criteria and additional methodological details, please see the ACC/AHA guideline methodology manual.1

### Modernization

In response to published reports from the Institute of Medicine2,3 and ACC/AHA mandates,4–7 processes have changed leading to adoption of a "knowledge byte" format. This entails delineation of recommendations addressing specific clinical questions, followed by concise text, with hyperlinks to supportive evidence. This approach better accommodates time constraints on busy clinicians, facilitates easier access to recommendations via electronic search engines and other evolving technology (eg, smart phone apps), and supports the evolution of guidelines as "living documents" that can be …


One of the major problems in inverter-fed motors is the high level of audible noise produced by harmonic current and voltage components. To analyze these phenomena the field in the machine airgap is calculated using the rotating field theory together with the Maxwell stress theorem. This analysis yields a way for predicting the spectrum components produced by the motor and for relating it to the airgap flux density distribution time harmonics caused by the nonsinusoidal supply. The theoretical approach is used for calculating the airgap flux density distribution and the frequency spectrum components of a small three-phase squirrel-cage induction motor fed by a six-step voltage source inverter (VSI) and by a pulsewidth-modulated (PWM) inverter. The theoretical results are compared with experiments.


As multimedia communications continue to grow steadily on the Internet, pipeline forwarding (PF) of packets provides a scalable solution for engineering delay-sensitive traffic while guaranteeing deterministic Quality of Service (QoS) with high resource utilization. In PF networks resource reservation, while ensuring deterministic QoS on a per-flow basis, can result in a not null blocking probability. A reservation request may fails due to enough resources being available but not during the proper time frames. This work analyses blocking probability of reservation requests since it affects the capability of utilizing network resources to carry traffic with deterministic QoS. The blocking probability and, consequently, the achievable network utilization are analytically derived on general topology PF networks as function of the traffic intensity given the traffic matrix and the network routing. The correctness of the blocking models is also assessed by simulation in different scenarios. This work represent a valuable contribution over previous analytical models of the blocking probability as their application to real size scenarios is impractical due to their computation complexity.


Electrochemical surface oxidation in acidic solutions was investigated on a boron-doped diamond film electrode, fabricated on a silicon prism, using attenuated total reflection infrared spectroscopy. At positive potentials above +1.3 V (reversible hydrogen electrode, RHE), the bands of surface oxygen species appear at 1745 and 1250 cm–1. Since these bands exhibit no isotope shift in deuterium solution, they are assigned to the C═O and C–O stretching modes, respectively. These bands have the maximum intensity at +3.3 V (RHE) and reversibly disappear around +0.9 V (RHE) in the potential step to the negative direction. The potentials at which the bands appear and disappear are identical to those of the anodic and cathodic peaks of the cyclic voltammogram, respectively.


Initially the measurement of the flow around a swept wing airfoil was planned within the AFDAR project. During the project it was decided to select the flow over periodic hills as one of the main test cases as this flow is relevant for aerodynamic configurations but also for the validation of numerical flow simulation methods in aerodynamic research. The multitude of phenomena on different scales in both, space and time are best suited to explore the algorithms for data evaluation and analysis developed in the project. The flow over periodic hills is a common test case for the validation of numerical flow simulations (see ERCOFTAC test case Nr. 81). The numerical prediction is very difficult, since flow separation and reattachment are not fixed in space and time due to the smooth geometry (Temmerman et al., 2003; Frohlich et al., 2005).


We have reexamined the parallel Avrami model recently proposed by Velisaris and Seferis (1) to describe the non-Isothermal crystallization of poly(etheretherketone), PEEK. We show that, based on considerations of morphology development, the crystallization process with the larger Avrami exponent has the higher melting point, whereas the process with the smaller Avrami exponent has the lower melting point. This assignment differs from that of Velisaris and Seferis. In addition, we have used the infinite crystal melting point, as required by crystallization theory, to determine the Avrami rate parameters for the two processes. With this revision of the parallel Avrami model, we have applied the model to non-isothermal crystallization of APC-2 PEEK composite. Under the assumption that the linear growth rate determines the Avrami rate parameter, both the transport activation energy, U, and the kinetic parameter, Kg, are found to compare favorably with the values previously determined from isothermal crystallization of neat resin PEEK.


Abstract Phytate is a common form of organic phosphorus (P) in animal manure, but direct measurement of phytate in runoff has not been previously reported because of difficulty of measuring it in a complex matrix. This study was conducted to measure the contribution of phytate to P loss in runoff using a novel method. Runoff treatments were dairy manure without and with added phytate (DM, DM + phytate), broiler litter without and with added phytate (BL, BL + phytate), no manure or broiler litter with 2 levels of phytate (phytate-low, phytate-high), and control. Runoff was collected under simulated rainfall and analyzed for total and dissolved reactive P (DRP). Runoff was also separated into sediment (>0.45 &mgr;m) and liquid (<0.45 &mgr;m) fractions for phytate analysis by high-performance ion chromatography. The new method described herein for phytate analysis recovered 70% of phytate spiked into runoff samples. Phytate was found only in the sediment fraction of runoff and was not detected in the liquid fraction, even after concentration by lyophilization. This agreed with an adsorption study, which showed strong adsorption of phytate to soil. Phytate had no effect on DRP in runoff for any treatment, indicating no net inorganic P was released through competitive binding. The majority of P lost in runoff was in forms other than DRP and sediment bound phytate. Existing efforts to control the erosive loss of soil during rainfall events still appear to be the best way to reduce total P loss, irrespective of the presence of phytate.


(73) Assignee: Immunex Corporation, Thousand OTHER PUBLICATIONS Oaks, CA (US) GenBank Accession No. AA889581. "EST. h. Sapiens cDNA clone IMAGE: 1407260." Apr. 6, 1998. (*) Notice: Subject to any disclaimer, the term of this Friend, S.L., and Far, A., "Initial characterization of Thymic patent is extended or adjusted under 35 Stromal Derived Lymphopoietn (TSLP)." FASEB.J. 8: A506, 1994 U.S.C. 154(b) by 591 days. (Abstract). Lai. L. et al., Identification of an IL-7 associated pre-pro-B cell (21) Appl. No.: 10/376,406 growth-stimulating factor (PPBSF) II. PPBSF is a covalently linked heterodimer of IL-7 and a M, 30,000 Co-factor'. J. Immunol. (22) Filed: Feb. 27, 2003 160:2280-2286, Mar. 1, 1998. Ray, R.J. et al., "Characterization of thymic stromal-derived (65) Prior Publication Data lymphopoietin (TSLP) in murine B cell development in vitro.' Eur: J. Immunol. 26: Jan. 10-16, 1996. US 2003/O18136O A1 Sep. 25, 2003 Friend, S.L. et al., "A thymic stromal cell line Supports in vitro development of surface IgM B cells and produces a novel growth factor Related U.S. Application Data affecting B and T lineage cells. Exp. Hematology 22(3): 321-328, Mar.


Population genetic models of molecular variation usually assume that most genetic variability is neutral or nearly so (Kimura, 1983). However, even if most variability is neutral, patterns of polymorphism may be indirectly shaped by natural selection (Gillespie, 1997). Indeed, theoretical studies show that neutral variability linked to selected sites may be influenced by different types of natural selection, including balancing selection (Strobeck, 1983; Hudson & Kaplan, 1988), Hill-Robertson interference (Hill & Robertson, 1966) or directional selection (Maynard Smith & Haigh, 1974; Charlesworth et al., 1993; Gillespie, 1997). In all these models of evolution, the recombination rate is a key parameter. Other factors being equal, the lower the recombination rate, the larger the chromosomal segment affected by selection at a linked site. The theoretical importance of recombination is confirmed by what is perhaps one of the most convincing patterns to emerge from population genetics over the last decade: levels of nucleotide polymorphism are reduced in genomic regions with low rates of meiotic crossing-over. Evidence for this trend has been gathered in a wide variety of organisms (Nachman, 1997; Dvorak et al., 1998; Stephan & Langley, 1998; Przeworski et al., 2000). To date, the main body of data comes from Drosophila melanogaster, where the local recombination rate accounts for a large portion of the variance in nucleotide diversity among genes (Aquadro et al., 1994). This general pattern is thought to reflect the distinct effects of variation-reducing selection on neutral variability in different recombination environments. Recombination rates vary both across the genome and between closely related species of Drosophila (cf.


The complicated construction of the nose, with its folds, crests, grooves, sinuses and mucous coverings, and the manifold irritations from the outside predispose to the development of different tumors. Benign tumors, such as polyps, and malignant tumors, such as carcinomas and sarcomas, occur frequently. All these tumors are situated mostly in the nasal cavity or either in the sinuses or originating from them. Few are located at the apertura, and still more rare are cysts in this location; only about sixty have been reported up to the present time. The first case was reported by Zuckerkandl1in 1893. The first microscopic examination of such a cyst was made by Brown-Kelly,2who was the first to look for an explanation of the origin of this cyst. No mention of these cysts is made in any of the textbooks in English, except by St. Clair Thompson.3 Within the


For the purposes of this entry, "Indigenous peoples" refers to those societies which exercised powers of self-governance prior to colonization by and incorporation into the modern nation-state and who continue to experience and resist this as unjust. Such peoples are, thus, distinct from ethnic or other minority groups in that the primary issue framing Indigenous–settler state relations is "not racist exclusion … but forced incorporation into the state." The continued structure of imposed rule expresses itself as settler colonialism; distinguished from other forms of colonialism by the intended permanent settlement of foreign peoples and, thus, access to Indigenous land in perpetuity. Consequently, it has been argued, settler colonialism is "first and foremost a territorial project" where land (as opposed to natural or human resources) is the precondition.

Keywords:

colonialism;
decolonization;
legal theory;
liberal theory


here is a current trend for Chinese herbalists to prescribe medicinals based on their Western function. For example, modern research demonstrates that da qing ye (Isatidis Folium) and ban lan gen (Isatidis/Baphicacanthis Radix) are antiviral. Consequently, there are those in both Asia and the West that recommend their use for the treatment and prevention of the common cold and flu (gan mao), regardless of the pattern. For example, ban lan gen


(57) Abstract: The stent has a controllably polymer coating to release the active drug contained. Polymer coating, the second case is a single that emits a first polymeric material which releases the drug at high speed the first speed, over a long period of time an agent if a single at slower second speed including a mixture of polymer materials. One stent coating, use a fast-release hydrophilic polymeric material, and a slow release hydrophobic material. One stent coating comprises a mixture of a high-speed release PLA-PEO copolymer and slow release PLA-PCL copolymer. One active agent is taxol. One application of taxol transmission and distribution stent is to perform a restenosis after angioplasty.


The endemic Cuban species Rauwolfia salicifolia GiusEB. has been investigated so far only by KORZUN et al. [iJ They described the presence of deserpidine, reselysiline, rescinnamine and reserpine on the basis of paper chromatography of the extract and comparison with standards. In this paper the partial results of our own studies are presented. We isolated and characterized totally nine alkaloids of the indole type. Seven of them were detected and described already earlier in various species of the Rauwolfia genus: ajmalidine, reserpiline, isoreserpiline, isocarapanaubine, ajmalicine, vellosimine and yohimbine. Two new indole alkaloids were also isolated and characterized, i.e. raucubaine and raucubainine.


The effect of the electron mass on the differential cross section for the scattering of high energy electrons by atomic nuclei is investigated. It is shown that it is negligible for point nuclei above 5 MeV. The effect on the scattering by extended nuclei is more difficult to estimate, but is almost certainly negligible in the 100-200 MeV region.


Background: Malnutrition among under 5 years old children is a common public health issue in both developed and developing countries. As mothers are the key persons responsible for their young children, this study aimed to assess the levels and predictors of knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) of mothers of malnourished children less than 5 years old on South Tarawa, Kiribati. Methods: This study is a cross sectional prospective design. This study conducted in pediatric ward and public health clinics of 11 public health centers on South Tarawa in Kiribati and among 82 mothers with under 5 years old malnourished children who were admitted to the Pediatric ward and public health clinics. The knowledge, attitude and practice on breastfeeding, weaning, diet and immunization was collected using a self-administrated validated questionnaire. Bivariate correlation and linear regression were applied and the significance level for this study was 5%.Results: Majority of the mothers (66%) were 19-32 years old, 69.5% were Roman Catholics, 67% had attended high-school, 46% had husbands as breadwinners and 85% were married. The participants had a low level of knowledge and middle level of attitude and practice on breastfeeding, weaning, diet and immunization. Education level (r=0.319, p=0.004) and breadwinner at home (r=-0.239, p=0.031) were positively correlated with attitude. The results of linear regression were significant, F (2, 81) = 6.757, p= 0.002, r2 = 0.146, suggesting that education level and breadwinner accounted for 15% of the variance in attitude score. Conclusion: This study showed the importance of mothers' attitude towards malnutrition. Encouraging female education could be a potential target for future policies to reduce malnutrition in Kiribati.


The issue of evaluation remains a difficult problem in online seminars just as it has been in traditional discussion classes. When it is educationally more meaningful to give qualitative feedback to participating students, it is also part of the university teachers' "unpleasant duties" to have to provide quantitative grades for administrative purposes. In conventional discussion classes, it is common practice for teachers in Japan, as in many other countries, to give out grades by assessing "class participation," but its criteria have usually been simply subjective. Though we have not reached a solution to this problem, we are in the process of setting up relatively objective criteria for evaluating the students' performance in our online seminars, based on such factors as "depth of insights" and "collaboration." Another perspective for evaluation, which is the evaluation of educational effects of online seminars, will also be presented


Venereal disease is a major disease problem in University students in East Africa (Arya and Bennett, 1967), where about 25 per cent. are affected each year. It was apparent that a programme of health education was needed, though what should be taught was not clear. As some students do not become infected and others are infected repeatedly, it was thought that a study of the differences in behaviour, attitudes, and knowledge between these two groups might provide data as a starting point for discussion groups, and information on the aspects of the subject most in need of attention.


The utility model discloses a multifunctional antenna of an automobile, which comprises a shark fin shell and a base, wherein a spiral spring, a machine plate component and a function signal receiver are connected in sequence and are arranged on the base; the spiral spring is arranged on a support of the base; and the function signal receiver is electrically connected with a vehicle-mounted device. The spiral spring of the multifunctional antenna of the automobile is used as powerful gain of an antenna vibrator and an amplifier and guarantees good signal receiving effect, high sensitivity and strong antijamming capability of the antenna. Meanwhile, the antenna has reasonable structure and distribution, simple structure and longer life.


The cumulative probability distribution of the lightning current amplitude can reflect the lightning activity and is important for the lightning protection engineering technology. Based on the lightning location data from 2009 to 2019, the distribution characteristics of the lightning current amplitude and cumulative probability are studied. The results show that a total of 8,634,858 lightning flashes occurred in Zhejiang province in last 11 years. Negative flashes are much more common than positive ones, accounting for 87.44% of the total. The percentage of the lightning current amplitude between 2 and 100 kA is 94.3%. The average amplitude of positive flashes is significantly higher than that of negative flashes. For the current amplitude of positive flashes, the peak occurs in March and gradually decreases with the increase of the month, reaching its lowest in December. But the monthly distribution of negative flashes is relatively concentrated, especially from February to October. When lightning current amplitude is higher than 25.5 kA, the cumulative probability of positive flashes is significantly higher than that of negative flashes and vice versa. The cumulative probability distribution of negative flashes is closer to that of total flashes and is significantly different from that of positive flashes. In order to get a more suitable cumulative probability formula of lightning current amplitude and corresponding parameters in Zhejiang province, the Levenberg–Marquardt method is used. By fitting the measured data with the formulas recommended by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and Electric Power Industry Standard of China (Code for design of overvoltage protection and insulation coordination for AC electrical installations GB/T 50064-2014), respectively, the correlation coefficients of different polarities are obtained. By comparing the aforementioned two fitting results, it is found that the formula recommended by the IEEE can more objectively reflect the probability distribution characteristics in Zhejiang province, and the accuracy of the derived formula is verified by using the lightning current data in 2020. It shows that the curve based on the measured values is consistent with that fitted by the IEEE formula but quite different from that fitted by the GB/T 50064-2014 formula.


Despite the increased use of technology in higher education classrooms, we need a better understanding of pedagogical strategies that improve student ability to produce quality scholarly digital content in the humanities. This research was designed to examine student learning through scholarly digital storytelling, a technology-enhanced assessment. The researcher collected data during and after an interdisciplinary, graduate scholarly digital storytelling course, including student work, student reflections, and individual interviews, to examine experiences at key points throughout the learning process. The results indicate that this pedagogical approach, when carefully scaffolded alongside formative feedback and ongoing student support, can increase student capacity—including digital agency, problem-solving skills, and digital knowledge production skills—to produce scholarly digital work in the humanities. Students can also learn to understand the interplay between disciplinary learning and digital skills and the ways in which both are essential for scholarly communication within and beyond the classroom.


An approach to application of power supplies for resistance welding machines based on three-to-one matrix converter as reactive power compensator is offered. By setting a predetermined phase shift of the input current, it is possible to achieve reactive power compensation also for the consumer demand. The range of variation of the possible compensation angles is limited by the electromagnetic compatibility standards for the boundary current harmonic levels. Proposed control system is simulated using MATLAB. The simulation results confirmed high effectiveness of proposed approach.


Larval development of Hyas coarctatus alutaceus Brandt, 1851, consisting of two zoeal stages followed by a megalopa, is described for the first time from larvae of known parentage. Mean duration of the first and second zoeal stages was 41 and 30 days at ambient temperature (3–12 °C) and 30 and 36 days at 9 °C, respectively. First megalopae appeared after 69 and 62 days post-hatching at ambient temperature and 9 °C, respectively. For comparison, all larval stages of Hyas araneus, Hyas coarctatus coarctatus, and Chionoecetes opilio were also cultured from local populations. Zoeae of all these species were found to be very similar. Larvae of H. c. alutaceus were significantly larger than those of H. c. coarctatus, surpassing even those of H. araneus. Laboratory-reared and wild-caught larvae from different geographic areas were also compared. Characters potentially useful in the interspecific and subspecific differentiation of zoeae are presented. These include (i) relative dimensions of the carapace, spinule...


The relationship between smoking status and total immunoglobulin levels in patients with COPD is not fully understood. Decreased immunoglobulin levels have been observed in patients with COPD [1–4], a disease largely attributed to current or former smoking, and cigarette smokers [5, 6]. These studies focused predominately on serum (systemic) or salivary (upper respiratory tract) immunoglobulins. Levels of immunoglobulins in induced sputum, a more direct measure of airway immunoglobulins, are less well studied. Given the vital role immunoglobulins perform in microbial defence and tissue homeostasis, we assessed airway immunoglobulins in induced sputum of smokers and patients with COPD. Current smoking status in subjects with mild to moderate COPD was associated with reduced total induced sputum IgM and IgG. This reduction in immunoglobulins was independent of inhaled corticosteroid use. https://bit.ly/2FtBg1t


Constant technological developments of remote sensing techniques utilizing drones (specifically of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, UAV) are increasing spatial and temporal resolution of data available for land and crop management. However, despite the promising potential, actual implementation of UAVs continues to be quite limited. Low costs and maintenance of the vehicles are advantageous in exploring agricultural applications, however, inadequate performances are still limiting their full capability. Three main categories of unmanned aerial vehicles are determined as: fixed wing, helicopters and multicopters. The performance and applicability of such systems depend on multiple factors such as the aircraft mass, payload capacity, average dimensions, flying range, average speed, expenses, etc. The present paper proposes a technical analysis on unmanned aerial vehicles' performances in order to understand their actual applicability to agricultural operations. In order to achieve this, the technical sheets of over 250 models available on the market have been analyzed and summarized. The aim of the paper is to synthesize specific information in order to acquire a better understanding of effective applicability to the agricultural field.


Background: Transitional Educational Health Program (TEHP) has a significant positive effect on knowledge of person with chronic disease. It is a cost-effective method to improve the quality of life of person with sickle cell disease (SCD), and is one of the basic steps to control several complications. Spread of SCD in kingdom of Saudi Arabia significantly different in the parts of the country, with the major spread is in the Eastern province, then the Southwestern provinces. The incidence of sickle-cell trait ranged between 2% to 27%, and up to 2.6% will have SCD in some areas. Aim: The aim of the current study was to develop, implement and evaluate outcomes of transitional educational health program suitable for female adolescent students with sickle cell disease. A Quasi-experimental research design was adopted to conduct this research. This study was carried out in female general secondary schools in Qatif, Eastern Province, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Subjects: A purposeful sample of 82 secondary school aged between 14-18 years, Saudi female adolescent students with sickle cell disease. Tools: Two main tools were used: 1) Interview questionnaire sheet, 2) The pre/posttest sheet to evaluate the adolescent knowledge before and after implementation the program developed by the researcher. The sample size was divided into four groups, each group have twenty or twenty-two students. The health program was carried out in two days per week for one week for each group. The pre/post test was applied to evaluate outcomes of transitional health program, Results: the results showed that approximately 14.6% of study female adolescent students were receiving special educational services, and more than 80% reported SCD interfered with their school achievement. Also, the most (79.3%) of the studied adolescents had no desire to complete SCD treatment. The results showed improvement on the studied adolescents' knowledge about sickle cell anemia. Conclusion: TEHP for adolescent students with SCD essential for improving their knowledge and their awareness towards disease. Recommendations: Nurses should include in national educational management program to increase awareness and improve their knowledge towards SCD. Continuous educational and training program concerning management of SCD among health personnel are necessary.


Even a general reader will surely find much of interest in the four chapters of this little book, which comprises an illustrated and amplified text of a series of lectures given by Professor Hoyle in the USA in 1 9 7 1 . For example the last two chapters, on cosmology, will afford any receptive reader a taste of the excitement generated by some of the perplexing discoveries that astronomers have made recently, though it should perhaps be said that the interpretations on offer are very much Hoyle's own. Equally individual and provocative is the content of the first chapter, on science and society, but it is the second chapter, on Stonehenge, to which most readers of ANTIQUITY will wish to turn first. As we learn from this quite personal account, Hoyle's interest in the astronomical problems associated with Stonehenge was inspired, through the medium of the Editor of ANTIQUITY, by the work of Professor G . S. Hawkins, and on reading Hawkins's book Stonehenge decoded, Hoyle recognized that its main thesis seemed 'to have a genuine ring of truth'. He significantly improved certain of Hawkins's suggestions in a letter to Nature, which is reproduced in this book, and wrote an extended account of the subject, including details of the relevant mathematical formulae, in this journal (ANTIQUITY, 1966, 262-76). Much of the second chapter of this book is a beautifully clear and concise introduction to the astronomical aspects of Stonehenge and to Hoyle's own views on the subject. There is scarcely a line of mathematics to deter the reader and, although it is necessarily a little technical in a few places, the material is logically arranged and presented in that readable style which makes all Professor Hoyle's factual books so engrossing. For all that, there is little that is new beyond some curious but speculative suggestions as to how the supposed megalithic astronomers counted. To those inclined to scepticism, and such people are not in short supply, despite the support for Hawkins's theories from one of the world's most distinguished astronomers, details of this kind mean little when placed beside the question, 'Where is the evidence to persuade me, as a reasonable person, to accept the astronomical theory?' Such critics will find little to satisfy them in Hoyle's new book, beyond certain plain statements of opinion which, though reasoned qualitatively in places, are hardly convincing. As an example, Hoyle was impressed by the discovery that the station-stone rectangle would enjoy its astronomical properties only at a latitude close to that of Stonehenge : he 'found it impossible to dismiss this property as a mere coincidence'. One exception to these qualitative considerations, being susceptible to statistical test, concerns the fact, discovered by Hawkins and essentially confirmed by Hoyle, that the alignments deviate slightly from the directions expected on the basis of the astronomical theory. Hoyle proposed an explanation in his letter to Nature and says that, on this basis, the sign of the error should be the same as that of the declination. Unfortunately, his argument here is incorrect, for the rule should be that the sign of the error is the same as that of the declination except at what Professor Thom, in his book Megalithic lunar observatories, calls the 'minor standstill', when the signs should be opposite. When Hoyle's calculation is corrected it is found that this piece of support for the astronomical theories, which is the only reasonably unequivocal statistical test to have been performed on the data from Stonehenge, loses most of its weight. Perhaps the lesson of such considerations as these is that it is time to shift effort and emphasis away from the further elaboration of the theories, towards the fundamental problem of replying satisfactorily to the doubts of those reasonable sceptics who, while recognizing that many facts about Stonehenge fit well with the astronomical hypothesis, still question its statistical significance. D O U G L A S C . H E G G I E


UBVRI H-alpha photographic photometry was obtained for a sample of low-mass stars in the young open cluster NGC 2264 in order to investigate the star-forming history of this region. A theoretical H-R diagram was constructed for the sample of probable cluster members. Isochrones and evolutionary tracks were adopted from Cohen and Kuhi (1979). Evidence for a significant age spread in the cluster was found amounting to over ten million yr. In addition, the derived star formation rate as a function of stellar mass suggests that the principal star-forming mass range in NGC 2264 has proceeded sequentially in time from the lowest to the highest masses. The low-mass cluster stars were the first cluster members to form in significant numbers, although their present birth rate is much lower now than it was about ten million yr ago. The star-formation rate has risen to a peak at successively higher masses and then declined.


A method for high-fidelity coherent adiabatic transport in a zig-zag tight-binding chain, based on application of two external periodic driving fields, is theoretically proposed. The method turns out to be robust against imperfections and disorder of the static lattice Hamiltonian, is tolerant to next-nearest neighborhood interactions, and enables coherent transport in long chains without the need for a local control and timing of the trapping potential.


Scoliosis, spinal deformity and vertebral spondylolisthesis are spinal disorders with high incidence, which seriously affect people's lives and health. CT is an important medical tool for the detection and diagnosis of spinal disorders and provides a large amount of pathologically valid information in various clinical practices such as spine pathology assessment and computer-assisted surgical interventions. As the spine presents long span, complex shape of biological curve and high multi-stage similarity in the sagittal plane of CT images. Therefore, fast and accurate spine segmentation technology has become an important research direction for computer-aided diagnosis. We proposed an RUnT network based on the combination of residual U-Net feature extraction network and Vision Transformer structure for fast and efficient automatic segmentation of multiple vertebrae of the spine. The deep vertebral features are first extracted using the residual U-Net network to prevent gradient diffusion while improving the accuracy of vertebral contour segmentation. Then the multi-scale feature maps extracted by the residual structure containing rich vertebral superficial information are input to the edge segmentation module. We designed the vertebral contour feature extraction structure to refine the segmentation boundaries and ensure the segmentation consistency of each vertebra by combining the operations of deconvolution and convolution for three different scales of deep features.Finally, the global information extraction module based on Transformer structure is combined with the local feature extraction module to achieve the blending of global location information of vertebrae with local features through the self-attentive feature map of multi-scale volume. By mixing edge features with semantic features, the semantic confusion arising from the high similarity between vertebrae when the decoder extracts vertebral features is reduced. The model proposed in this paper is experimented on the CTSpine1K and VerSe 20 public datasets. The results show that the model proposed in this paper obtains the state-of-the-art segmentation performance with the average DSC scores of 88.4% and 81.5% on CTSpine1K and VerSe 20, respectively, while reducing the average distance of HD95 from 4.86 to 3.88.


Software testing is an important means to ensure software quality. The quality and efficiency of software testing can be greatly improved by modeled software testing. Software test maturity model (TMM) is a reference model to guide software organizations to improve test maturity. However, there is a lack of guidance on software testing objectives and process improvement, which leads to poor enforceability and low execution efficiency. To solve the above problems, based on the maturity objectives and content of the five test levels of the TMM model, an improved software testing V model (RAD) is proposed, and a software quality evaluation method is proposed for the improved RAD model.


Two genes with high sequence homology to human CXCR1 (hCXCR1) and CXCR2 (hCXCR2) were cloned from blood of cynomolgus monkey (Macaca fascicularis). Comparison of the expression pattern of these receptors in different species demonstrated that, like in humans, cynomolgus CXCR1 (cCXCR1) and CXCR2 (cCXCR2) are highly expressed in blood. Membranes from transfected BaF3 cells expressing cCXCR1 bind interleukin (IL)-8 with an affinity similar to hCXCR1 (Kd values, 170 ± 87 and 103 ± 37 pM, respectively) and show low binding affinity to Gro-α. Cynomolgus CXCR2 also binds hIL-8 but with somewhat higher affinity than the hCXCR2 (46 ± 28 and 220 ± 14 pM, respectively). Surprisingly, cCXCR2 has a reduced binding affinity to hGro-α (3.7 ± 2.2 nM), a specific ligand of hCXCR2 (540 ± 140 pM). Furthermore, the CXCR2-specific antagonist SB225002 [N-(2-hydroxy-4-nitrophenyl)-N′-(2-bromophenyl)urea] is 10-fold more potent in inhibiting IL-8 binding to hCXCR2 than to cCXCR2, suggesting that some of the observed differences in the amino acid sequences of the human and monkey receptor affect ligand binding sites or the conformation of the receptor. Both cynomolgus receptors were functionally active in inducing guanosine 5′-O-(3-thio)triphosphate exchange on membranes in response to IL-8 and Gro-α and in mediating chemotactic activity of recombinant BA/F3 cells in response to IL-8 and Gro-α. These results identify the products of the novel cynomolgus genes as functional homologs of hCXCR1 and hCXCR2.


Attenuation in soft solids are governed by power laws with non-integral exponents. Attenuation is a critical component for correctly modeling the wave propagation physics. For nonlinear waves, in particular nonlinear shear waves, it important to model the two competing effects accurately i.e. the generation of higher harmonics due to nonlinearity and its decay due to attenuation. Current numerical methods can model a linear attenuation power law using a single Kelvin or Maxwell body. In this work a collection of Maxwell bodies is used to model power laws with non-integral exponents, which is more general. Also, the nonlinear propagation of shear waves modeled using a system of hyperbolic PDEs together with the relaxation mechanisms is simulated using a custom high order finite volume method: piecewise parabolic method. The numerical method is validated using a set of power laws with different non-integral exponents, and also the dispersion incurred due to causality is validated. Further, attenuation law obtained from linear experiments of shear wave propagation in fresh porcine brain were used to validate the method. This method can be used to accurately determine the other unknown parameters like nonlinearity of soft tissues in brain, liver etc.


• Summary: Mysticism holds that there is an unseen non-empirical reality which is just as important in people's lives as concrete, observable reality and experience. Practical mysticism implies that this unseen reality results in concrete experience and a particular kind of knowing which is just as influential on people's actions and behaviour as observable reality. The authors draw a connection between practical mysticism and the increasing interest in themes relating to religion and spirituality in social work. These themes relate mainly to issues of meaning, motivation and intention in social work. Like all service professions, social work is undergoing re-evaluation away from merely pragmatic and instrumentalist conceptions of its mission to ones concerned with broader issues of meaning and purpose. In this context, issues of religious and spiritual motivation and intention become relevant. • Findings: We propose that `practical mysticism', arguably revived in Habermasian critical theory, has particular relevance to debates relating to the role of religion and spirituality in social work education and practice. Importantly, practical mysticism has the effect of impelling a rethinking of the relationship between spirituality, religion and the applied values inherent in day-to-day social work practice. We see the consideration of practical mysticism to be a fruitful way of embracing religious and spiritual discourses relevant to social work, including their link with social work ethics and practice. • Applications : When combined with Habermasian critical and communicative action theories, a practical mystical approach to social work impels a practice (or praxis ) with enhanced potential to motivate the actions of social workers themselves, including in their sensitivity to the religious and spiritual motivations and needs of their clients, and so their capacity to engage more effectively with these clients.


In this volume, philosophers discuss ontological and methodological aspects of Critical Realism and its relation to explanatory pluralism in the social sciences


Mitral valve disease, MVD, occurs chiefly in small breed dogs. In large breeds this is an uncommon condition. Clinical findings and progression of the disease may be somewhat different in larger compared to smaller breeds. More rapid progression may occur due to factors which are mentioned in the article. Thoracic radiographs taken either conscious or under sedation are recommended in symptomatic dogs. A blood test to measure Pro BNP is available but its limitations should be recognised. Echocardiography is more useful in large breeds, mainly to differentiate from DCM. Therapy is highlighted. Pulmonary hypertension, a complication in a significant number of dogs with MVD, is discussed and its treatment outlined.


There is usually little that is novel to comment upon in a new "method" or "system" of penmanship. One "method" uses copy slips, another copy sheets. One uses one style of alphabet, another a style the same in fundamentals, but different in a few minor details. One uses a slant of 55 degrees, another a slant of 60o degrees. And so one might extend the list of minor details of method which constitute the cornerstone of penmanship systems. In Penmanship, the Kirby Rhythmic Method' there is more reason in the designation "method." Counting, or some method of indicating time, has been used in teaching writing for a long time and, in fact, is one of the important elements of most modern systems. The novel feature of the Kirby method is the grouping of the counts so as to bring the first count, which receives the accent, always on the first stroke of the letter. In this way each letter is marked off from the preceding and succeeding letters. The individual letters are characterized as written by two-part, three-part, or four-part time, according as they are given two, three, or four counts. Thus i, e, a, n, and o are written in two-part time, m and w in three-part time, and capitals B and T in four-part time. The announcement is made that the author has prepared phonograph records to keep the time for writing the various exercises. Rhythm has been shown by experimentation to be an important characteristic of good writing, and this elaboration of the principles in teaching is a step in the right direction. The success of any such attempt will depend in large measure upon the choice of the correct rhythm for each letter or combination of letters. It seems to the writer that the time which is chosen for some of the letters is not the best. This is a question to which practical trial will give the answer.


IN A STEAM GENERATOR (1) OF AN INSTALLATION OF GAS TURBINE AND STEAM HEAT CONTENT IN THE MIDDLE OF ESCAPE (AG) of the gas turbine (2A) for generating steam for a steam turbine USED ( 2B) CONTAINED IN A CIRCUIT VAPOR-WATER (3), feeding CONDENSED VAPOR STEAM tURBINE (2B) CIRCUIT VAPOR-WATER (3) as condensate (K). To achieve high performance regardless of the fuel (B, B) used in the gas turbine (2A) BY USING FUEL OIL AS FUEL (B) IN THE GAS TURBINE ARE TAKING IN ACCORDANCE WITH invention, a PARTIAL POWER (T SUB {1}) CIRCUIT AGUAVAPOR (3) for preheating condensate THAT TO BE USED AS FUEL GAS (B) FOR GAS TURBINE (2A) is used for preheating the fuel. EXPECTED THEREFOR a heat exchanger (56) HEATING SELECTABLE, GOOD FUEL (B) GAS TURBINE, CONDENSATE WELL WITH substream (T SUB {1}).


Acrylic acid was grafted onto cellulose respectively in ionic liquids([Amim]Cl) and NaOH / Urea aqueous solution by using ammonium persulfate as an initiator in the presence of N,N'-methylenebisacrylamide as a crosslinker under graft copolymerization method.The spherical polymer was obtained by using light liquid paraffin as the dispersed phase by an inverse suspension polymerization technique.Investigation was conducted on the effect of spherical reaction parameters,such as dispersant dosage,oil / water volume ratio and stirring speed.The structure of the graft copolymer was confirmed by FT-IR,thermogravimetric analyzer.The desorption properties for metal ions of the polymer microspheres were studied.Results indicated that polymer microsphere is an effective metal ion adsorbent for Cu 2 + and performs well in regeneration.Moreover,the microspheres adsorbent preparing in [Amim]Cl has a higher yield and a little lower adsorbance than NaOH / Urea system.


This paper deals with the wonderful fractal structure of a kind of cauliflower (Brassica oleracea botrytis cimosa). The fractal dimension of the vegetable is empirically detected by measurement.


A method and associating apparatus for displaying an image that represents a dragging object allow Java applications to implement better Visual effects during a drag and drop operation. The method and apparatus is an extension to a Standard Java drag and drop API that Supports drag image. Without limiting the Size of the drag image, the method and apparatus allow the drag image to appear Semi-transparent, achieving a better visual effect. Displaying an image of a dragging object typically gives the user additional informa tion about the dragging object, thus making the dragging operation more intuitive.


Objective: To evaluate cytotoxicity of plastics starch. Methods:The viability and proliferation of L-929 cells were tested by MTT assay. Relative growth rates of cells were calculated and the cytotoxicity were was graded by generally accepted standard. Results:The Relative growth rates of cells in starch groupare more than 75%, the standard of GB/16175-1996, and increased gradually, from 85.63% in the second day, 82.22% in the fourth day to the 113.05% in the seventh day according to the standard of GB/16175-1996. The plastics starch's cytotoxicity is was graded 0-1 according to the standard. Conclusion:Plastics starch has no evidence of cytotoxicity.


Tensile behaviour of quasi-isotropic [0/μ45/90]s liquid crystalline fiber reinforced composites were discussed. The fracture modes were observed by microscope and scanning electron microscope. As the result, initial fracture did not originate in 90° lamina, but in 45° lamina.


Although APOE4 gene carriers are at elevated risk for dementia, only about half actually develop dementia; the factors protecting the other carriers


Objective: The study was conducted to quantitatively evaluate the dosimetric effects of high definition (2.5 mm) and standard definition (5.0 mm) MLC on the quality of SBRT plans using SIB-IMRT and SIB-VMAT technique for carcinoma prostate and also to evaluate the dosimetric advantage of one technique over the other. Materials and Methods: Seventeen annonymized planning CT data sets were used to generate plans for both VMAT and IMRT techniques using 2.5 mm and 5.0 mm MLC.The prescription to the nodule was 45Gy in 5 fractions and to the prostate was 35Gy in 5 fractions.CI, GI, D2%, D98%, D50% and V95% for target; D2%, Dmean, V80%, V20% for OAR's; V5% of the irradiated volume, and delivered MU's were analyzed.An independent t-test was used to compare the plans. Patient specific QA for all plans were also performed and analyzed. Results: Minor difference in dosimetric indices was observed between 2.5mm and 5mm MLC VMAT plans, except D2% (PTV35) and D98% (GTV45) were better in 2.5mm MLC plans (p<0.05).D2% and D50% to GTV45 with p<0.009 and <0.03 respectively, and D2% of bladder (p<0.03) were significantly lesser for VMAT plans compared to IMRT plans. GI was significantly better for 2.5mm MLC plans in both techniques (p<0.05). 2.5mm MLC plans on an average had 9.9% and 7% more MU for VMAT and IMRT plans respectively. Conclusion: All the plans provided adequate dose coverage to target. Highly gradient plans with better conformity were achieved with 2.5mm MLC and VMAT combination with an increase in MU delivered, compared to 5mm MLC plans.


Postoperative epistaxis is a known possibility following endoscopic sinonasal surgery. Tranexamic acid (TXA) has been shown to reduce intraoperative blood loss and improve the visual field. This study evaluated the clinical efficacy of TXA when given at end of surgery to reduce postoperative bleeding.


The hydraulic characteristics of slipway influence greatly the safe operation of reservoir.Based on the hydraulic model test of slipway of Guojiajiaotou Reservoir,this paper researches the hydraulic characteristics of slipway such as the discharge capability,the distribution of flow velocity and flow pattern,and the energy dissipation and erosion prevention of spillway,etc.


According to the demand of high-speed railway operation development,this paper discusses the permanent way maintenance and repair management method based on analyzing the operation mode of permanent way management and inspection.Targeting with problems existing in permanent way management and inspection,the paper expounds high-speed railway management and inspection quality system based on process and makes use analysis on quality management of high-speed railway permanent way.According to the change principle of quality controls parameter,the paper puts forward the track service quality principle and control of high-speed railways,which could consist the track service quality with sound level under reasonable maintenance circle and economic maintenance cost.


This is not the book for which Eric Hobsbawm will be remembered. Readers of his many historical works will know better than to regard it as "a concise summary of the thinking of one of the century's preeminent historians," as the flyleaf claims. But if you ever wondered about the intellectual fit between this brilliant historical talent and his erstwhile Stalinist "socialism," this book may provide some answers.


Membrane protein structure and function, especially for small membrane proteins, can be highly sensitive to the membrane mimetic environment used for structural characterization, as exemplified by the M2 protein from influenza A virus that has been characterized in liquid crystalline lipid bilayers, detergent micelles and in detergent based crystals.[3–8] Various transmembrane (TM) helical tilt angles, different drug binding sites and amphipathic helix interactions, as well as a lack of consensus on the sidechain geometry for the functionally critical residues is apparent from this set of structures. Many of these structural differences can be explained based on the influence of the protein's environment. Hydrophobic thickness influences the helical tilt; detergent penetration into the helical bundle and crystal contacts influence the packing and hence tilt of the helices, while the highly curved surface of micelles destabilize the interactions of amphipathic helices with what would be the bilayer interface.[9] These structural perturbations can influence functional properties such as the binding of the antiviral drug to the protein and our understanding of the proton channel functional mechanism. Exactly how well the native membrane needs to be modeled to achieve a native membrane protein structure is explored here, where we aim to validate the structure of the tetrameric M2 conductance domain (M2CD; residues 22–62; PDB #2L0J) that has been structurally characterized in synthetic lipid bilayers. We have set out to do this by observing the full length protein in synthetic bilayers, as well as in native E. coli membranes. For the first time we report on structural insights from the full length M2 (M2FL) protein using magic angle spinning solid state NMR (ssNMR) and we present spectra of the protein as it is inserted into the E. coli membranes by the cellular apparatus without ever being exposed to a detergent environment. These results validate the earlier structural results obtained from the M2CD observed in a liquid crystalline bilayer envionment.


Will China Become Democratic? Elite, Class and Regime Transition, by Zheng Yongnian. Singapore: Eastern Universities Press, 2004. x + 371 pp. SGD$39.00/US$26.00 (paperback). This book is composed of eleven previously published essays by Zheng Yongnian, largely written over the course of the 1990s. The introduction sets forth the book's intent: "to outline possible linkages between elite, class and regime transition" (p. 13). Zheng states that if democracy comes to China it will be the result of elite politics and "class" power, more than civil society or social forces (though a broader variety of scenarios are presented in the Conclusion). It is "class" that will have the best chance of overcoming the "structural barriers" to China's political modernization. While this view is not altogether incorrect, the concept of "class" has become more and more murky, and many social problems cannot be understood in class terms. Take, for example, blood-borne HIV, which has resulted in a catastrophe for which the elite bears considerable responsibility. To the extent that the elite have finally had their feet held to the fire, one can thank a heterogeneous mix of social forces, not class-based forces. A similar point could be made about environmental pollution. Then there are the vast divides between coast and hinterland, and between ethnic groups, none of which have much to do with class. While it is true that the Party has invited the business class into its ranks, it may be too early to know whether this is democratization or simply co-optation. For his part, Zheng has no doubts; he believes that "class power is playing an increasing role in China's elite politics" (p. 13) and that "future historians will probably find that nothing was more important than admitting capitalists into the Party" (p. 311). Parts of the book read like recitations of the views of Chinese officialdom, with little effort on Zheng's part to distance himself from them. Although there is some mention of the fear that China might disintegrate in the way that Yugoslavia did, there seems to be no realization that in both cases it is precisely the artificiality of the multi-national state that is destabilizing. Instead, the view is that the threat of chaos stems from the prospect of democracy: "Yes, democratization occurred to Taiwan and South Korea recently. But social chaos also followed" (p. 107). (If development's prerequisite is stability, one would think that these two lands must have a lot of it.) Parts of this book might well fit into a course on Chinese politics. Chapter 4, "Will China Become More Democratic", best pulls together in one place the various ideas in the book; it would be good to expose students to this Sino-Singaporean point of view, according to which external factors are blamed for democracy's slow progress. …


The utility model provides a central air conditioner robot used for detecting temperature and humidity parameters. The robot comprises a machine frame, a camera, a rotary motor and a sampling suction tube, wherein the rotary motor is arranged above the machine frame, the camera is arranged above the rotary motor, and the sampling suction tube is arranged on one side of the machine frame. The robot is characterized in that the other side of the machine frame is provided with a temperature and humidity sensor which is an HSU-07J6T sensor, an LED lamp used for illumination is arranged above the camera, the illuminating direction of the LED lamp is consistent with the shooting direction of the camera, and the rotary motor is a 360-degree rotary motor. Due to the fact that an HSU-07J6T sensor is additionally arranged on the side edge of the machine frame of the robot, the parameters such as temperature and humidity can be transmitted to detection personnel in real time so that the detection personnel can make corresponding judgment. Meanwhile, the camera can rotate by 360 degrees, so that pipeline detection is more accurate.


This research is devoted to the examination of the status of the writing in the French school and extra-curricular exercise books. We carry out an analysis of the exercises including graphical representations, contained in books of several known publishers. They are exercises of mathematics, intended for children in Kindergarten (5 to 6,5 years old). Our objective is to locate up to what point these exercises support a process of reasoning on behalf of the child. Three cognitive functions are observed : the function of selection-marking, the referential function and the inferential function. The analysis we make shows that the graphical representations (drawings) of the exercises are seldom conceived in order to encourage the children to produce inferences but that, on the other hand, they often put forward referential and semantic correspondences.


This past year has seen several interesting patterns in the literature on schizophrenia research. Increasingly, the emphasis has been on early detection and treatment, but two social aspects of the illness, comorbid substance abuse and suicidal behavior have also been investigated, one having a tendency to lead to the other. Clues to the etiology from brain imaging studies are reviewed in this issue, as well as a revival of the 'estrogen hypotheses' and olfactory processing as an indication of cortical dysfunction. Genetic susceptibility from the results of new large genome-wide scans and some new candidate genes have also been reported and are reviewed by Levinson (pp. 157–170). Genetics (see Malhotra (pp. 171–174)) is also examined by how genomics can aid in the prediction of treatment response and to the occurrence of deleterious side effects.


Dialysis per se represents an independent risk factor for peripheral arterial obliterating disease and in particular for critical ischemic limb. Conventional by-pass surgery or endovascular revascularization frequently did not avoid major limb amputation in dialysis patients or are excluded for wild calcificating atherosclerosis. Extracorporeal LDL-apheresis by means of Heparin-induced LDL Precipitation (H.E.L.P.) is proposed in some cases in combination to the traditional clinical approach.

 Here we describe the case of a 83-year old patient who undergoes thrice weekly hemodialysis from 1 year and who is affected by COPD, ischemic cardiopathy, previous stroke and had a Charson score of 6. He was also affected by dry necrosis of the second toe and parcel of the third toe of the right foot. The patient was not affected by diabetes. Lower limb arteriography showed right tibial artery obstruction anterior to the distal and dorsal third and severe stenosis with short sub-obstruction in subarticular area of the left popliteal artery. The plan foot x-ray excluded osteomyelitis. The vascular surgery consultant found the arterial lesions not suitable for revascularization advising monitoring and dressing of lesions. Nonetheless the patient complained of pain and opioid analgesics were administered. Cardioaspirin and atorvastatin were also administered. The patient was considered eligible for (H.E.L.P.) apheresis for the rescue of his limb. The patient underwent 8 sessions of H.E.L.P. apheresis once a week for eight weeks in a non-dialysis day. His vascular access was a permanent cuffed hemodialysis catheter. H.E.L.P. consists firstly in plasma separation, then apolipoprotein B-containing lipoproteins and fibrinogen are precipitated at a pH-value of 5.12 by the addition of a mixed acetate-heparin buffer to plasma. Before returning the plasma to the patient, the excess heparin is adsorbed and the pH normalized by a bicarbonate dialysis. A total of 3 litres of plasma per session was treated. Each session lasted 3 hours and was carried out in the Dialysis ward. Blood samples were obtained directly before and immediately after each H.E.L.P. apheresis for laboratory measurements.

 A C-reactive protein of 4 mg/dL reflected systemic inflammation. At baseline (prior to H.E.L.P. apheresis), fibrinogen was 394 mg/dL, LDL cholesterol was 122 mg/dL, lipoprotein(a) was 50.5 mg/dL. Total cholesterol was fairly normal even before H.E.L.P. apheresis with concentrations of 170 mg/dL. The pre vs post H.E.L.P. values were significantly reduced for all the parameters considered (p<0.0001). The median reduction rate (RR) per session for fibrinogen was 63.8% (range 57.1-75.3%), for lipoprotein(a) 66.1% (range 54.6-76.5), for LDL-cholesterol 50.8% (range 40-59.3%), for total cholesterol 40.7% (range 35.4-43.5%) (Figure 1). C reactive protein RRs was 61.2% (range 56.2-63.2%). Nonetheless, in the period between the H.E.L.P. apheresis a rebound was observed: for fibrinogen it was 64.9% (range 52.5-73.4%), for total cholesterol 29.2% (range -4 – 54.3%), for LDL cholesterol 36.4% (range -20 – 68.8%), for lipoprotein(a) 69.1% (range 44.1-73.9%). After the 8 sessions of H.E.L.P. apheresis, fibrinogen RR was 21%, LDL cholesterol RR was 75.4%, total cholesterol RR was 64%, lipoprotein(a) RR was 17%. After 6 months the patient underwent minor amputation of the second toe of the right foot, the third toe healed completely. The lesions of the foot before and after 1 year after HELP are showed in Figure 2.

 Drastic reductions of fibrinogen, LDL cholesterol and lipoprotein(a), together with an adequate wound care, reduced the risk of major limb amputation in this dialysis patient with critically ischemic foot that was not qualified for revascularization.


at how the company has grown. ITC's FMCG business is around Rs 5,000 crore. Patanjali has disrupted the FMCG space with simple products that promise the goodness of tradition" 1. has got his branding spot on. He has gone back to the basics. His ads are rustic, he talks about the products. I'm excited about Ramdev. He could turn out to be the silent MNC killer of the future" 2


Successful agroforestry management depends on the interactions between the mixed species. Belowground interactions between shrubs and native grasses are complicated and poorly understood in China's agroforestry practice, especially in the silvopasture systems of droughty northern China. The distribution of fine roots (


As a conjunctive constituent between the discourse units,"That Is to Say"(就是说)implies the semantic relation of interpreting and being interpreted,abstract and concrete,profound and simple,complementing and being complemented,emphasizing and being emphasized,restricting and being restricted,summarizing and being summarized,precondition and conclusion etc.between previous sentence A and the following sentence B.Comparing pragmatic features between "就是说" and its associated "这/那也就是说," we found "说" in "就是说" has the main procedural role of grammar,and a strong affirmation.


The study was done to see the inheritance of soluble protein in two quantitative characters, such as seeds and nodules per plant in Blackgram [Vigna mungo (L.) Hepper]. Dominance and additivity were detected for soluble protein in both of the characters. Soluble protein in seeds was found to be regulated by partial dominance whereas, the same in nodule character showed over dominance. The asymmetry in the proportion of genes with positive and negative effects in the parents was indicated for soluble protein in both of the characters. The soluble protein in seeds indicated the presence of an excess of dominant genes in the parents. On the other hand, the same in nodules indicated the presence of an equal proportion of dominant and recessive genes. The negative dominant genes were controlling the character whereas, only one group of dominant genes was found to the same condition in both of the characters. This study also suggested that dominance effect over all loci in heterozygous phase was important for the soluble protein in seeds yield per plant but the dominance effect over all loci in heterozygous phase was important for the total amount of soluble protein in nodules. The general combining ability and specific combining ability were found to be significant for the soluble protein. It was noted that the line 20 (E2025) was good general combiner for the same. The crosses 5 (EML013) × 17 (E86325) and 5 (EMLO13) × 20 (E2025) for soluble protein in nodules and 5 (EMLO 13) × 21 (E86309), 17 (E86325) × 21 (E86309) in seeds were found to be the best combiners as judged from the specific combining ability effects.


Background: Skeletal muscle dysfunction is a common manifestation in patients with COPD. Resistance training (RT) is the most effective exercise strategy to improve muscle function (e.g. strength, endurance) in patients with COPD. A RT intervention for an individual patient with COPD needs to be personalized by varying mandatory RT principles and acute training program variables, as per the guideline of The American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM). The aim of this review is to investigate if the application of the mandatory RT principles and acute program variables is described sufficiently in current evidence on effects of RT interventions in COPD. Methods: A search of electronic databases (PubMed/MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, Cochrane Library, PEDro) will be performed. English trials with RT intervention in COPD patients published from 1990 to October 2015 will be selected after screening by title and abstract. To evaluate applied RT mandatory principles (progressive overload, specificity, variation) and acute training variables (e.g. intensity, volume) a data collection sheet is developed according to the ACSM 2009 RT Position Stand. Selection and data extraction will be done by two reviewers independently. Discrepancies will be discussed and resolved by a third reviewer. Discussion: The significance of reported RT effects should be evaluated in relation to the application of the mandatory RT principles and program variables. The results of this project will provide important information to guide future RT interventions and clinical work in patients with COPD.


PURPOSE To examine the link between MVPA, blood pressure, % body fat and total cholesterol in a cross-sectional sample of middle-to-high income Mexican men and women. METHODS Systolic/diastolic blood pressure, % body fat, total cholesterol and 7-day self-reported physical activity were assessed in 101 men (height 168±0.1 cm; body mass 82.9±16.3 kg; age 31.7±8.9 years) and 65 women (height 159±0.1 cm; body mass 60.1±9.4 kg; age 26.6±6.3 years) from Monterrey. Using daily minutes spent in MVPA (intensity > 4.5 METS) subjects were assigned to either an active (achieved 30 minutes or more of MVPA on at least 5 days per week) or inactive (did not achieve 30 minutes or more of MVPA on at least 5 days per week) group. An independent samples t test was used to analyse intra-sex differences in systolic/diastolic blood pressure, % body fat and total cholesterol between these active/inactive groups. RESULTS Inactivity was high with only 9% of men and 16% of women achieving minimal health-related guidelines. Comparisons of other healt-related guidelines. Comparisons of other health-related risk factors between active and inactive groups revealed significant differences (p > 0.05) for men's (mean difference of 9.9%) and women's (mean difference of 5.3%) body fat (Table 1). CONCLUSIONS Low activity rate was a limitation of this cross-sectional study, highlighting the need for future controlled, experimental studies in this population. However, with respect to % body fat, findings showed trends towards a higher prevalence of health-related risk for inactive men, whose mean % body fat exceeded the 20% pre-obesity threshold. Habitual MVPA may thus play an important role in maintaining healthy % body fat in this sample of Mexican men.


Editor's note: Beginning with this issue, we are pleased to introduce "Teaching Talking History," a column designed to help you incorporate the American history radio show, Talking History into your classroom. Talking History is a thirty-minute national weekly radio program produced by the Oraganization of American Historians that separates fact from fiction and myth from reality through interviews with nationally recognized historians and writers. Listening to episodes with students or even incorporating pieces of the episodes in the classroom not only introduces students to an interesting subject, but also gives them another view of historians at work. Future issue of the OAH Magazine of History will feature various episodes of Talking History with suggestions for ways in which those episodes might be used in the classroom. To learn more about the show, and to listen to the over 250 past episodes, please visit .


B-schools are entering an era characterized by constrained budgets, pressures for increased productivity, and increased regulation and oversight. The responses are varied but typically reflect the application of such corporate sector concepts as reengineering, benchmarking, learning alliances, and partnerships. Other responses include an acceleration in distance learning programs, technology investments to accelerate faculty productivity, restructuring of programs in the context of mission driven accreditation, and efforts to reduce the cost and amount of time needed to complete a degree. Faculty, in the face of such initiatives, must have assurance that quality remains supreme and that every action taken is supportive of the College's mission statement.


Measurements of reflectivity versus ac electric field E were performed in the nematic phase of octylcyanobiphenyl homeotropically aligned between two indium tin oxide\char21{}coated glass slides. The change in reflectivity \ensuremath{\delta}R was found to be linear in E, with d(\ensuremath{\delta}R)/dE increasing monotonically toward the nematic-isotropic transition temperature. In addition, the phase of \ensuremath{\delta}R at the front and back surfaces differed by \ensuremath{\pi}. Such an effect will arise from t/Iorder electricity, whereby a term proportional to the product of the electric field and the gradient of the nematic order parameter appears in the bulk free energy. This term integrates to yield a pair of surface terms such that there is a y/Ilinear change in the order parameter close to the interface. Similar terms will also arise from ferroelectric interactions at the surface.


Background and aim: Ankyloglossia is a congenital anomaly that can affect breastfeeding. The aim was to evaluate the prevalence of ankyloglossia in newborns and breastfeeding difficulties reported by mothers; assess possible factors that may interfere with breastfeeding. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted with 391 pairs of mothers/newborns at a university hospital. A pediatric dentist examined the oral cavity of the newborns for the occurrence of ankyloglossia. We analyzed medical records and the mothers answered a self-administered questionnaire to assess birth variables, breastfeeding difficulties, and sociodemographic factors. We calculated prevalence ratios (PRs) of breastfeeding difficulties according to the independent variables. Results: The mean age of the newborns was 2.5±2.9 days and 52% were male. The prevalence of ankyloglossia was 15% and 91.4% of mothers reported not having breastfeeding difficulties. Ankyloglossia was not associated with breastfeeding difficulties (PR: 0.5; 95% CI: 0.2–1.4). Mothers with a low income (PR: 0.5; 95% CI: 0.3–0.8), those who received instructions on breastfeeding (PR: 0.4; 95% CI: 0.2–0.9), and those who breastfed exclusively (PR: 0.3; 95% CI: 0.1–0.8) had fewer breastfeeding difficulties. Conclusion: Successful breastfeeding was more dependent on being born at full term, the family income, receiving guidance with regard to breastfeeding, and exclusive breastfeeding. Although ankyloglossia was not associated with breastfeeding, future prospective studies should evaluate the long-term factors that may interfere with breastfeeding. Relevance for patients: This study brings a new perspective on the importance of assessing ankyloglossia and breastfeeding difficulties, reinforces the benefits of exclusive breastfeeding and the need for breastfeeding instructions, as well as the need to evaluate breastfeeding before making a decision regarding frenectomy.


Significance The high photostability of single nucleobases is related to the rapid disposal of the UV excitation energy from high-lying electronic states into heat, preventing damaging reactions. However, in the biological important DNA strands, further long-living excited states are found. With femtosecond vibrational spectroscopy, these excited states in DNA are now identified as charge-separated states, which are delocalized along the strand. The charge separation is directed by the redox potential of the involved bases and is thus encoded in the DNA sequence. The presence of delocalized charged species in DNA strands for a considerably long time after UV light absorption may lead to reactions—oxidative or reductive damage—currently not considered in DNA photochemistry. Base stacking in DNA is related to long-living excited states whose molecular nature is still under debate. To elucidate the molecular background we study well-defined oligonucleotides with natural bases, which allow selective UV excitation of one single base in the strand. IR probing in the picosecond regime enables us to dissect the contribution of different single bases to the excited state. All investigated oligonucleotides show long-living states on the 100-ps time scale, which are not observable in a mixture of single bases. The fraction of these states is well correlated with the stacking probabilities and reaches values up to 0.4. The long-living states show characteristic absorbance bands that can be assigned to charge-transfer states by comparing them to marker bands of radical cation and anion spectra. The charge separation is directed by the redox potential of the involved bases and thus controlled by the sequence. The spatial dimension of this charge separation was investigated in longer oligonucleotides, where bridging sequences separate the excited base from a sensor base with a characteristic marker band. After excitation we observe a bleach of all involved bases. The contribution of the sensor base is observable even if the bridge is composed of several bases. This result can be explained by a charge delocalization along a well-stacked domain in the strand. The presence of charged radicals in DNA strands after light absorption may cause reactions—oxidative or reductive damage—currently not considered in DNA photochemistry.


Multi-agent system as a bottom-up approach has been shown powerful in better understanding processes of urban development and growth. Most of them are approaching from economic theory and social behaviours but urban planning. This paper proposes an alternative approach to urban simulation that combines urban planning with agents' behaviour in multi-agent modelling thus to make scenarios analysis more reasonable particularly for decision based on urban land use plan. This paper discusses the approach as a computer simulative solution of a new large-scale shopping centre location for most regional cities in Japan where commercial heart of inner city is facing decline. We postulate that policy decision makers can get better understanding of the policies' impact on inner city commercial environment under different scenarios through computer experimentation.


This paper aims to explain the complex meaning of 'the national' in contemporary South Korea. The main argument is that the national discourse in Korea is so complex that 'the national' should be differentiated into three concepts; kukmin, minjok and hankukin, Kukmin is used to identify the Republic of Korea as a nation (for example national income is usually expressed as 'kukmin income'). Minjok is used to express both South and North Korea as a historically and culturally homogeneous community (for example 'national unification' is said as 'minjok unification'). Finally hankukin is used to mention ethnic Koreans without relation to any specific political community. Three factors are examined for the differentiation of 'the national' : development of the stateness in South Korea, cultural nationalism and globalization. Due to the strenthening of the stateness since democratization and industrializaion, the kukmin identity is growing rapidly in recent Korea. At the same time, there is still a strong sense of commonness between South and North Korea based on the minjok identity. Finally globalization brings about multi-ethnic and multi-national phenomena in Korea, which makes Koreans sensitive to the ethnic identity. In conclusion, 'the national' needs to be explained contextually in order to understand its historical specificity.


Website: http://www.ujcem.med.sumdu.edu.ua/ e-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com © Sumy State University, 2015 © Сумський державний університет, 2015 УДК 616.127-005.8-055.1/.2-0.85.273.55.-037 Abstract Netyazhenko N.V. Bogomolets national medical university, 13, T. Shevchenko boulevard, Kyiv, 01601, Ukraine THE INFLUENCE OF SEX FOR THE NEXT FORECASTS AND EFFECTIVENESS OF THROMBOLYTIC THERAPY IN PATIENTS WITH ACUTE CORONARY SYNDROME WITH STSEGMENT ELEVATION The aim to study and compare the results of pharmacological reperfusion and its influence on the course of acute coronary syndrome (ACS) in both sexes. Materials and Methods The study included 73 patients of comparable age, comorbidities, a history and treatment assigned and distributed the following groups: group I (n = 14 men, n = 14 women) patients who conducted thrombolytic therapy to 4 hours from the beginning of symptoms and the group II (n = 20 males, n = 20 women) patients who conducted thrombolytic therapy in term> 4 <6 hours from the start of the first symptom. After thrombolytic therapy for hospital period it was evaluated in patients develop fatal and non-fatal cardiovascular events: recurrence of pain, acute left ventricular failure (ALVF) class II-V by Killip, arrhythmias and conduction recurrence of MI, hemorrhage, mortality. The development of these events in patients regarded as a manifestation of adverse flow. Results Thrombolytic therapy (TLT) <4 hours of the first symptoms accompanied by an increased risk of bleeding is 5 times among women compared with men. Among men in the group of early TLT lethal consequence developed in 4 (22.6%), while among women had no place (all p <0.05). Gender differences were detected in the remote TLT group (> 4 <6 hours). Among women group I (TLT (<4 hours) compared with women group II (TLT> 4 <6 hours) was noted increase in the frequency of re-MI (p <0.05) and mortality (p <0,01). Conclusions 1. Implementation of TLT in up to 4 hours of onset of symptoms of ACS with ST-segment elevation is associated with increased risk of bleeding is 5 times among women compared with men (p <0.05). Death among men was significantly higher than in women whith early pharmacological reperfusion (<4 hours), and occurred in 28.6% (p <0.05). 2. The risk of complications such as MI recurrence (p <0.05) and mortality (p <0,01) increased with time from onset of symptoms to start of thrombolysis only among women. 3. The effectiveness of thrombolysis among women and men with early (<4 hours) and remote thrombolytic therapy (> 4 <6 hours) were not significantly different.


This paper aims to review the use of artificial neural networks (ANNs) in prediction of cancer recurrence. The sources of publications were randomly selected from PUBMED database, IEEE explore, and the google search engine with the keywords for searching as "recurrence" or "relapse" or "disease free" + "neural network" + "cancer". Increasing of the predictive performance was considered. In addition, handling incomplete data and feature selection techniques usually employed in this application were examined.


We believe society can use a modified engineering risk management model that frames terrorism as a combination of serial steps that can, if successful, lead to a terrorist event. Like the nuclear reactor fault tree, we suggest terrorist events be classified by the magnitude of the consequences based on a combination of property damage, deaths, and fear that each can create. We recommend an assignment of conditional probabilities to each of the steps necessary to complete a terrorist sequence (no matter how crude the estimate) and to calculate the probability of a terrorist event in terms of the serial conditional probabilities associated with each step. While the terrorist is attempting to maximize the combination of fear, property damage and deaths, the counter-terrorist wishes to minimize that combination. Minimization of a particular path can be accomplished by driving one of the conditional probabilities to near zero and thus, the counter-terrorist need not minimize every conditional probability. In contrast, the terrorist must maximize each conditional probability, i.e. he must practice total quality assurance-the most expensive solution for his success. This model can provide a method for assessing the value of a wide variety of counter-terrorist activities and provides guidance in the optimum allocation of resources to minimize the combination of fear, property damage and deaths of potential terrorist targets.


ABSTRACT
The investigation had the goal to evaluate the disergonomic risk level in the activities carried out by the administrative staff at "CESAR VALLEJO - LIMA NORTE" UNIVERSITY, in the different jobs located in headquarters offices. Disergonomic risk is defined as those inadequate factors of the man - machine system according to the design view point, construction, operation, location of machinery, knowledge, ability, conditions and characteristics of employees and the interrelationships with the workplace, such as: monotony, fatigue, bad postures, repetitive movements and physical overload. For this reason, ergonomic assessments were carried out to determine the levels of dysergonomic risks present in the activities evaluated. The Basic Norms of Ergonomics and Procedures for the Evaluation of Disergonomic Risks, approved by R.M. N°375-2008-TR, recommends the exclusive use of the RULA Method, for the evaluation of disergonomic risks during the execution of repetitive jobs in a seated position. The 5th, 6th, 7th, 9th and 12th of December, 2016, the ergonomic evaluation was done in the different jobs of the administrative offices at "Cesar Vallejo - Lima Norte" University. The investigation results provided information to the University about its most frequent dysergonomic risks, as well as suggestions for action and effective tools for the prevention of risks related to its tasks during its processes.


The utility model relates to a pair of ventilation riding boots. Each of the ventilation riding boots is characterized by comprising a boot vamp, a boot leg and a boot sole, wherein after being sewn with the boot leg integrally, the boot vamp is made into a whole with the boot sole; a rear leather trim strip is positioned at the position at the rear parts of the boot vamp and the boot leg and vertical to the heelpiece; three ventilation metal nets are arranged on each of the two sides of the rear leather trim strip, on the boot leg, the three ventilation metal nets arranged on each side are arranged in parallel and at an interval, and each ventilation metal net is inclined; a metal net is positioned at the flank part of the boot vamp. The ventilation riding boots have excellent ventilation and shape maintenance performances, and can be widely applied to the manufacture field of boots worn in various occasions.


This paper considers a model predictive controller with reference tracking that manipulates the integer switch positions of a power converter. It is shown that the optimal switch position can be determined with a reduced online computational burden. Instead of solving the optimization problem in each sampling period, the optimization problem can be solved in a new coordinate system, partially offline by means of a polyhedral partition of the solution space. The optimal switch position can then be found during online operation by using a binary search tree. This concept is exemplified for a three-level, single-phase converter with an RL load.


In his article "Philosophy rules" (August p17) Robert P Crease asks the question "Why do physicists so often, and confidently, condemn a field that is not their own?".


We analyze the link between pessimism and risk-aversion. We consider a model of partially revealing, competitive rational expectations equilibrium with diverse information, in which the distribution of risk-aversion across individuals is unknown. We show that when a high individual level of risk-aversion is taken as a signal for a high average level of risk-aversion, more risk-averse agents are more optimistic. This correlation between individual risk-aversion and optimism leads to a pessimistic consensus belief hence to an increase in the market price of risk. Risk-sharing schemes and welfare implications are analyzed. We show that agents' welfare may increase upon the receipt of more precise information.


Heart failure (HF) is a chronic progressive cardiac disease with high morbidity and mortality.1 A key pathophysiological feature of HF is chronic overexcitation of the sympathetic nervous system and release of catecholamines.2 The subsequent activation of cardiac β-adrenoceptors (β-ARs) results in molecular and structural changes that lead to cardiac hypertrophy, myocardial fibrosis, or electromechanical dysfunction. This cascade of cellular events creates a setting for lethal cardiac arrhythmias and increases the prognostic risks for mortality and detrimental cardiovascular outcome.3 Accordingly, pharmacological intervention with β-blockers remains a mainstay practice in clinical management of HF.4 Nevertheless, chronic β-blocker therapy is known to be accompanied by adverse side effects that include bradycardia, heart block, bronchospasm, fatigue, muscle cramps, and sleep disturbances.5 Furthermore, not all patients experiencing HF benefit from β-blocker treatments or tolerate the doses necessary to achieve disease improvement.6 These disadvantages prompted the quest for alternative medication against HF with therapeutic targets other than β-ARs.

Article, see p 120

There are 3 subtypes of β-ARs: β1-, β2-, and β3-AR. Both β1-AR and β2-AR can be found in healthy cardiac cells, and the expression of β3-AR is considerably low in the unstressed heart.7,8 In the failing heart, β1-AR and β3-AR expression are, respectively, decreased9 and increased.8 However, changes in β2-AR levels are somewhat controversial, varying from increase10 to decrease.11 After catecholamine stimulation, both β1-AR and β2-AR couple to adenylyl cyclase stimulatory G protein, Gs, leading to cAMP accumulation within the myocyte and activation of protein kinase A (PKA).12 In contrast, β3-AR activation increases the activity of protein kinase G via cGMP-dependent signaling.13 The cAMP/PKA signaling …


This study, conducted as partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Education, has confirmed previous research that most primary students look forward to the new experiences and challenges of secondary school, make the transition from primary to secondary school with a minimum of fuss and thrive in this new context. However, some students may approach this time with apprehension and do not make the transition easily. Transition programs, of different formats and complexities, based on both Australian and international research, have been introduced in some schools to facilitate transition. The aims of this research were to investigate and compare the perceptions of students, parents and teachers involved in several of these programs and to examine the extent to which transition programs can alleviate issues associated with transition between primary and secondary schools. Although executive staff and teachers also provided valuable information and perceptions this paper only addresses the perceptions of students and parents. Surveys which included scale items and open-ended questions were completed by students, parents and teachers in each school and interviews conducted with executive or nominated staff members. The responses from each school were compared to each other and to previous research. The results of the study raised questions about the issues that need to be addressed in transition programs, the effect of different programs on transition and a gender difference in the pre and post conceptions of students and parents about transition.


A novel impulse radio (IR) ultra wideband (UWB) pulse generator (PG) intended for RFID tags is presented. A new pulse-shaping approach suited for CMOS implementation is proposed. The power consumption and chip area are reduced compared to the conventional higher order Gaussian PGs. The proposed PG uses digital gates for timing achieving good power efficiency and, meanwhile, acceptable spectral filling. The circuit is scalable both in bandwidth and center frequency. The PG is designed in a TSMC 90 nm CMOS technology. Post-layout simulations show a worst-case power consumption from a 1.2 V supply to be 6.5 pJ/pulse for a 100 MHz pulse repetition frequency (PRF). The chip area is 0.00079 mm2 (38.2 µm×20.8 µm) for the PG core.


Rayleigh laser guide star technology is discussed here with particular attention paid to the effects of laser pulse length, a parameter that becomes more significant to the design when telescope apertures are greater than 10 meters. After reviewing the relative return signal for Rayleigh versus sodium laser guide stars, a brief review of the pulse length characteristics of sodium lasers is given. Only one of the proposed sodium laser systems is pulsed while the others are CW. To insure star-like sources at the wavefront sensor with FWHM < 1.0 arcsec, lasers that will be most useful for Extremely Large Telescopes must have a short pulse format whereas CW lasers will be of little to no use. A relatively simple Rayleigh laser guide star method is described for Ground Layer Adaptive Optics (GLAO). This method provides a way to average out the effects of high altitude turbulence with a single Rayleigh laser guide star leaves intact the wavefront sign needed to correct ground-layer wavefront perturbations.


This work was financially supported by the Australian Research Council (Discovery Project DP150103953). SSY Leung is a research fellow supported by the University of Sydney. WJ Britton is funded by the National Health and Medical Research Council Centre of Research Excellence in Tuberculosis Control (APP1043225).


We use data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth Mother-Child Files to estimate the effect of age at enrollment in first grade on eight to eleven year old children's cognitive test scores and behavior problems. We find that children who enroll in first grade at a young age score higher on cognitive tests and have fewer behavior problems than children of the same age who enroll at an older age. This is mainly because children who enroll earlier have had more schooling than their same-aged peers who enrolled later. We also find that among children with the same amount of schooling, those who enrolled at a younger age have higher verbal scores than those who enrolled at an older age. This is because they were exposed to schooling at a younger age. We assess the extent to which early gains in test scores attributable to enrolling at a younger age decline as children progress through school and the extent to which the benefit of early enrollment is due to family background characteristics.


The SO_2 concentration in the exhaust tail fume and the control parameters for a sintering machine were analyzed using gray correlation method,so as to assess the key factors affecting the SO_2 concentration in the exhaust fume,and hence to provide a guideline for optimizing the sintering process and reducing the residual sulfur in the material bed.


Apache Spark is one of the most popular tools for big data analytics and processing. It's based on a distributed data processing on clusters. Especially on the shared clusters, the performance of the applications is of great importance. The presented thesis focuses on a design and development of an opensource application called Sparkscope, which can be used for a support of optimization and performance tuning of the Spark applications. An analysis of the most common performance issues of Spark applications was also done. Sparkscope aims to detect and visualize these issues for the existing Spark applications. With this approach, it helps to optimize the workload on the shared clusters.