T he railroad right-of-way often has been described as a thin, steel ribbon, separating neighborhoods, villages, even farm fields. But, in a new and penetrating analysis, John Stilgoe looks at it as an "energizing spine" which "objectified in its unprecedented arrangement of space and structure a wholly new lifestyle" (p. 3). Stilgoe examines the railroad industry during its peak years, 1880 to 1930, not in a statistical but in a visual manner, and finds that it supported a corridor alive with activity and innovation. During this half century, he argues, trains provided virtually the only means of transporting people and freight. Never before, and never since, has the corridor had so much influence on the lives of Americans: "Trains, right-ofway, and adjacent built form had become part environment, part experience, a combination perhaps best called metropolitan .... Understanding their half century of importance may indeed facilitate understanding rural, suburban, and urban environment, for trains and rightof-way created a fourth distinctive environment--the metropolitan corridor" (p. ix). Stilgoe expands on these ideas in thirteen chapters, all rich in detail. "Industrial zones, small-town depots, railway gardens, suburbs, even backyard vegetable gardens and lawns drew characteristics from the railroad and its fabulous trains. For one half-century moment, the nation created a sort of environment characterized by technically controlled order" (p. 339). Throughout the book, the toy train industry is analyzed as a further indication of the impact of the corridor. The 1929 Lionel catalog "hints at the larger significance of the metropolitan corridor, for it depicts not only railroad items, but models of other constituents of the built environment lining the rails" (po 13). Railroad mileage reached its peak in 1916, and passenger train ridership in 1920. It was, not until the Great Depression, when automotive transportation became dominant and railroad passenger and freight traffic less important, that the corridor vanished from national attention. Stilgoe, an associate professor of landscape architecture and visual environment at Harvard University, is at his best when he is bringing together seemingly unconnected passages from a wide range of contemporary sources, fiction and non-fiction, to support his premises about the corridor. "An exhaustive analysis of periodicals, including not only mass-circulation magazines but specialinterest journals and children's publications, underlies the position taken throughout this book" (p. xi), he writes in an explanation of his methodology. He adds in a note: "I have also carefully tabulated listings and numbers of listings in the Reader's Guide to Periodical Literature and in Poole'slndex" (note 10, p. 347). It is unfortunate that Stilgoe did not have access to railroad company records. A sampling of station maps would have helped support the statements about the corridor environment. The maps, most of them drawn early in the 20th century, show buildings and streets near the right-of-way. Although the exact information depends on individual railroad policy, usually changes on the railroad property were carefully recorded or obliterated, while the surrounding areas remain untouched as a record of the time the map was made. For example, an examination of maps of midwestern rural communities would show more farm-related industries, especially stockyards (not just the large Chicago stockyard illustrated on page 90). Most of the chapter entitled "Garden" appeared in Landscape Journal (Fall 1982) as "The Railroad Beautiful: Landscape Architecture and the Railroad Gardening Movement." A review of the midwestern work of a pioneer woman landscape architect, Annette E. McCrea, would have added to the scope of this chapter. She designed station parks for at least six companies, and promoted "Railroad Station Improvement" in the railroad trade press as well as with civic associations. Inevitably, mistakes creep in. For example, in the chapter on cinema, Stilgoe describes in sparkling detail how the real star of a 1930 RKO Radio Pictures Company film, Danger Lights, is the railroad and its trains. But the "madly speeding train" is rushing to Chicago's Union Station--not, as he says, to Milwaukee (p. 260). If space had been available, some parallels to the 1980s might have been made. The "old popular love of railroad trains" (p. 3) could explain why even today some people search out the corridor to see the occasional steam engine still operating in parts of the country. And a contemporary counterpart of the illustrations of turn-of-the-century hobos and their jungles (pp. 148-149) may be seen in "The New Breed of Hobo," a photo story which received an award in the 1983 National Press Photographers Association--University of Missouri "Pictures of the Year" contest. Metropolitan Corridor is well written and well designed, with conveniently placed illustrations that support the text. It examines the railroad industry in an original and stimulating manner, as only a visually-oriented person could do. It is a significant addition to our knowledge and way of thinking about cultural landscapes. John Gruber is Special Projects Coordinator and a graduate student in Landscape Architecture at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, Wisconsin 53 706. He has photographed the metropolitan corridor for more than 20years.


Yield-time curves have been obtained for the illumination with 1849 Å light of aqueous solutions of N2O and the effect on these of added methanol has been measured. The results indicate that: (i) the oxygen atom produced by photolysis of N2O is in a singlet state, 1S or 1D, and can insert into a water molecule forming hydrogen peroxide, a conclusion confirmed by use of N218O ; (ii) the H2O2 is attacked and decomposed to oxygen and water by H atoms and OH radicals produced in the photolysis of water; (iii) if ϕ(N2O + hv -> N2 + O) is unity, ϕ(H2O ->H + OH) = 0.30 ±0.3 and ϕ(CH3OH + hv -> CH2O + H2 or CH3O + H) = 0.46 ±0.05; (iv) if the linear extinction coefficient of H2O for 1849 Å light is 1.8 cm-1 that for D2O is 0.14 cm-1 and the molar extinction coefficient for N2O is 60 ± 8 M-1 cm-1; and (v) when two CH2OH radicals interact ca. 4 % form CH2O + CH3OH and 96 % form (CH2OH)2.


Objective: To test the hypothesis that demyelination is associated with glial cell senescence Background: Age-related neurodegenerative processes are thought to play a key role in disability progression in MS. Cell senescence (CS) is an age-dependent process, known to promote inflammation and contribute to loss of function associated with aging and neurodegenerative disease. Design/Methods: Demyelination was induced in young (9 week-old), aged (48 week-old) and Terc KO mice (9 week-old), which exhibit accelerated senescence by cuprizone feeding. LFB, MBP, Iba-1, GFAP, APP staining were used to quantify demyelination, microglial/macrophage activation, astrogliosis and axonal damage. Senescent glial cells were detected with senescence-associated β-galactosidase (sen-β-Gal) and lipofuscin histochemistry. The forelimb grip strength test (FLGST) was used for functional assessments. Results: After 16 weeks of cuprizone administration the extent of callosal demyelination did not differ significantly among young, aged and Terc KO mice. Demyelination was less extensive in the aged, compared to the young cuprizone-treated mice after at 4 weeks (P= 0.008), suggesting that ageing is associated with delayed demyelination. Senescent glial cells were significantly increased in the corpus callosum at week 16, compared to controls (P Conclusions: Our study provides evidence of an association of accelerated cellular senescence with demyelination, brain atrophy and motor impairment. Study Supported by: This work is supported by a research grant by the Multiple Sclerosis Trials Collaboration (MSTC), UK Disclosure: Dr. Karamita has nothing to disclose. Dr. Nicholas has nothing to disclose. Dr. Kokoti has nothing to disclose. Dr. Rizou has nothing to disclose. Dr. Mitsikostas has nothing to disclose. Dr. Gorgoulis has nothing to disclose. Dr. Probert has nothing to disclose. Dr. Papadopoulos has nothing to disclose.


Background: Early detection and start of antibiotic therapy neonatal sepsis (N.S) dramatically improves outcomes, so it is important to perform fast, reliable and specific early laboratory biomarkers. Aim: This study aimed to detect the prevelance, the risk factors, hematology profile, microbial profile of neonatal sepsis patients and also investigate the value of PCT and CRP, in comparison to presepsin in establishing the early diagnosis of neonatal sepsis. Methods: A cross sectional study was performed from March to September 2019 in Al Quwayiyah General hospital involving 120 neonates who were classified into 3 groups. The patients groups Original Research Article Khater and Al-Hosiny; JAMB, 20(1): 80-90, 2020; Article no.JAMB.54569 81 were: Proved N.S, suspected N.S and control healthy neonates, classified depending on Tollner score. Haematology profile and blood culture for each neonate were done. CRP, PCT and presepsin values were analyzed, compared, and their effectiveness as diagnostic markers was determined. Sensitivity, specificity, positive, and negative predictive values of the markers were calculated. Results: The prevelance of neonatal sepsis was 20.8%. 75 neonates were males and 45 neonates were females. 74 neonates were preterm, while 46 were full term. Gestational age in weeks was 31.1±5.9w for neonates with proved sepsis, 32.4±6.7w for neonates with suspected sepsis and 36.4±4.4w for control group. The mean birth weight was 1740±105.3 g for neonates with proved sepsis, 32.4±6.7 g for neonates with suspected sepsis, 2.650±205.2 g for control group. 36 babies suffered from respiratory distress syndrome, 10 had jaundice, 8 had cough, 28 had fever and 8 complained of other symptoms. Blood cultures were positive for all patients of proved sepsis. The identified bacteria included Gram positive bacteria 22(55%) which were Coagulase negative staph. 13(32.5%) followed by Staphylococcus aureus 4(10%) while Gram negative bacteria 15(37.5%) which were E. coli 5(12.5%) followed by Klebsiella peumoniae and also fungal infection (Candida species) detected in 3(7.5%) cases. There was significant difference between the mean and standared deviation of CRP, PCT and presepsin levels in proved and suspected N.S. groups when compared with healthy controls (P< 0.05). CRP sensitivity and specificity (72%, 61% respectively) which were less useful in diagnosis of neonatal sepsis compared to presepsin which has the highest sensitivity and specificity (95%, 81% respectively) followed by procalcitonin with sensitivity and specificity (90%, 69% respectively). Conclusion: The prevalence of neonatal sepsis among all admitted neonates in Al-Quwayiyah general hospital was 20.8%. Our results also detected higher sensitivity, specificity and positive and negative predictive values for presepsin more than and PCT CRP in the diagnosis of NS.


The large amount of existing textual data justifies the development of new text mining tools. Bioinformatics tools can be brought to Text Mining, increasing the arsenal of resources. Here, we present BIOTEXT, a package of strategies for converting natural language text into biological-like information data, providing a general protocol with standardized functions, allowing to share, encode and decode textual data for amino acid and DNA. The package was used to encode the arbitrary information present in the headings of the biological sequences found in a BLAST survey. The protocol implemented in this study consists of 12 steps, which can be easily executed and/ or changed by the user, depending on the study area. BIOTEXT empowers users to perform text mining using bioinformatics tools. BIOTEXT is freely available at https://pypi.org/project/BIOTEXT/ (Python package) and https://sourceforge.net/projects/BIOTEXTtools/files/AMINOcode_GUI/ (Standalone tool).


Abstract : This preliminary report has two parts. First the literature on biomimetic calcite synthesis is reviewed with an aim of establishing gold-standard techniques for making biomimetic eggshell in large quantities. The literature is found to be surprisingly uniform in that most controlled studies of calcite biomineralization have utilized a vapor diffusion technique where calcium is in solution and carbon and oxygen atoms or ions are introduced as a gaseous phase. Although well controlled this process is slow and produces small quantities of material. As such the evidence supports our continuing with solution-based calcite synthesis with a mind towards scale-up of material synthesis for eggshell-like material in large quantities. Second the results of a series of preliminary experiments on this project are presented comparing calcitic materials we produce with natural eggshell. Spectroscopy is utilized for examining the mineralization of calcite and the presence of amorphous calcium carbonate in the calcite matrix. Thermal analysis is used to establish the presence of organic materials within calcium carbonate. Next steps on this project will add a focus on how little is known about the quantitative thermodynamics of calcite formation in the presence of organic molecules such as eggshell proteins in order to facilitate larger-scale production of eggshell-like organic-inorganic composite materials.


In the area of medical clinical and basic research, measurements on human body function have an important value. Normal range of all parts of the body function can be provided in this paper, whether the current function of every part of the human body is normal can be judged according to the results measured. In this way, whether the one which accepted the test needs related treatments can be determined, so that it avoids illness deterioration in the unknown condition and guarantee the human's health. According to the subject, it is required to design and develop a system based on single chip to send an test pulse of human body and collect the feedback signal, then send the collected data to the upper software through the serial port. The top software analyzes the data to measure the health status of the various parts of the body and produce results of the analysis, feeding back to the user. This paper describes the overall system development process and the implementation of the software and hardware.


This study empirically examined the effect of external debt on economic growth in Nigeria under the period of 37 years (1981-2017). The study specifically examined the influence of external debt, external debt service payment and exchange rate on economic growth proxy as real gross domestic product. The study employed least square econometric technique to ascertain the relationship between external debt variables and economic growth in Nigeria. The study found that external debt and external debt service payment have negative effect on economic growth while exchange rate has positive effect on economic growth in Nigeria. The coefficient of multiple determinations (R) showed that approximately 77% of variations in economic growth are explained by the explanatory variables (EXTD, EXTDS and EXR) while the remaining 23% is accounted by factors not specified in the model. However, The Durbin Watson correlation test indicated that there is positive autocorrelation in the model which implied there is about 23% missing variables in the model. The conclusion that may be drawn from the study is that external debt has negative effect on economic growth in Nigeria. Hence, it is recommended that Debt Management Office should set mechanism in motion to ensure that loans were utilized for purposes for which they were acquired and channel towards productive uses and sourcing external debts should be considered as a means of long run development not just for solving short run problems. KEYWORD: External Debt, Domestic Debt, Economic Growth, Debt Management, Nigeria


PurposeUsing the resource-based and the resource dependence theoretical approaches of the firm, the paper explores firm responses to supply chain disruptions during COVID-19. The paper explores how firms develop localization, agility and digitization (L-A-D) capabilities by applying (or not applying) their critical circular economy (CE) and blockchain technology (BCT)-related resources and capabilities that they either already possess or acquire from external agents.Design/methodology/approachAn abductive approach, applying exploratory qualitative research was conducted over a sample of 24 firms. The sample represented different industries to study their critical BCT and CE resources and capabilities and the L-A-D capabilities. Firm resources and capabilities were classified using the technology, organization and environment (TOE) framework.FindingsFindings show significant patterns on adoption levels of the blockchain-enabled circular economy system (BCES) and L-A-D capability development. The greater the BCES adoption capabilities, the greater the L-A-D capabilities. Organizational size and industry both influence the relationship between BCES and L-A-D. Accordingly, research propositions and a research framework are proposed.Research limitations/implicationsGiven the limited sample size, the generalizability of the findings is limited. Our findings extend supply chain resiliency research. A series of propositions provide opportunities for future research. The resource-based view and resource-dependency theories are useful frameworks to better understanding the relationship between firm resources and supply chain resilience.Practical implicationsThe results and discussion of this study serve as useful guidance for practitioners to create CE and BCT resources and capabilities for improving supply chain resiliency.Social implicationsThe study shows the socio-economic and socio-environmental importance of BCES in the COVID-19 or similar crises.Originality/valueThe study is one of the initial attempts that highlights the possibilities of BCES across multiple industries and their value during pandemics and disruptions.


Background and Objectives: Therapeutic errors are considered an important threat to the patient safety. An effective strategy for controlling medical errors is timely reporting and analysis. The aim of this study was to determine the type and frequency of errors over a period of 5 years in Kerman teaching hospitals. Materials and Methods: This is a cross-sectional research with the population of all educational hospitals of Kerman Medical Sciences University. Sample size was all reported errors reviewed by census. Descriptive statistics were used. Results: The highest number of error reporting statistics was in 2018. Paraclinical and morning shift support units and nurses had the highest error reporting rate. Cases leading to serious injury were 5.6%. Conclusion: During the study years, 2326 errors were extracted in the mentioned centers. Reporting errors in the studied hospitals is not favorable. The need to promote a safety culture in hospitals is a fundamental step in error management. Conflict of


Abstract We conducted seven behavioral choice tests with Lindgren multiple-funnel traps in stands of mature lodgepole pine in British Columbia, from 1988 to 1994, to determine the dose-dependent responses of the mountain pine beetle, Dendroctonus ponderosae Hopkins, to its pheromones. A multifunctional dose-dependent response was exhibited by D. ponderosae to the pheromones cis- and trans-verbenol in areas with low population numbers. In an area with a high population level of D. ponderosae, the response was directly proportional to release rates. No dose-dependent response was exhibited by D. ponderosae to exo-brevicomin at low release rates. At rates of release >0.5 mg/d, exo-brevicomin interrupted the attraction of D. ponderosae in a dose-dependent fashion. The bark beetle predators, Enoclerus sphegeus (F.) and Thanasimus undatulus (Say), showed dose-dependent responses to only a few pheromones, with trap catches directly proportional to release rates. The multi-functional response of D. ponderosae to verbenols is consistent with an optimal attack density hypothesis.


The Superfund Innovative Technology Evaluation Program: Annual Report to Congress is an annual status report on the accomplishments and status of the program. The Demonstration Program completed 11 demonstrations in FY95. During the FY95, the Characterization and Monitoring Program completed seven demonstrations and seven reports. Over a one-year period, more than 467,000 SITE documents were distributed to industry, consulting firms, and state and federal agencies.


Appendicitis remains one of the most commonly presentations as acute abdominal pain to the emergency departments (EDs). Stump appendicitis is the reinflammation of any residual appendiceal tissue after appendectomy and one of the long-term complications. In case of stump appendicitis, the diagnosis is often not considered, and proper management is delayed because most emergency physicians do not realize that appendicitis can occur in the appendiceal stump that remains after an appendectomy has been performed. We present the case of a 56-year-old man with right flank pain admitted to ED 1 year after appendectomy procedure and was diagnosed by computed tomography with stump appendicitis. On arrival, his vital signs were normal, and physical examination depicted bilateral right lower abdominal and right flank knocking tenderness. The inflamed, thickened, and enhanced wall of appendiceal stump was detected at the medial side of the cecum near the ileocecal valve by computed tomography. He underwent stump appendectomy. The postoperative course was uneventful, and he was discharged in stable condition. The diagnosis of stump appendicitis should not be forgotten in patients with right lower quadrant pain even if they had a history of appendectomy in ED. Computed tomographic scan has been the most frequently used imaging tool.


Information and cultural service convergence is an increasingly frequent response by local governments to external pressures, especially changes in technology and user expectations. This article examines convergence using the case study of the City of Wanneroo, and conclusions are made as to convergence's potential to meet future challenges.


Background: Non-syndromic hearing loss may be induced by mutations in both nuclear and mitochondrial genes.
Mutations in mtDNA are present in less than 1% of the children with pre-lingual deafness but are more prevalent later.
Most of the molecular defects responsible for mitochondrial disorder, associated with hearing loss may be induced by
mutations in the 12SrRNA and tRNA genes. This aim of this study was to investigate the frequency of three common
mtDNA mutations including A1555G, A3243G and A7445G in a cohort of autosomal recessive non-syndromic hearing
loss (ARNSHL) subjects in Sistan va Baluchestan province.
Material and Methods: In this descriptive- experimental based study, a total of 110. ARNSHL subjects from Sistan va
Baluchestan province were investigated for three common mtDNA mutations using PCR-RFLP procedure. The possible
mutations were confirmed by direct sequencing.
Results: None of the A1555G and A7445G mutations were detected in this study. However, we found one sample to
carry A3243G mutation (0.9%). Moreover abolishing a MTTL1 restriction site close to A3243G mutation revealed a
G3316A allelic variant in 0.9% of patients studied.
Conclusion: This study showed that mtDNA mutations are responsible for less than 1% of pre-lingual ARNSHL
associated subjects. The present study will improve the genetic counseling of hearing impaired patients in Sistan va
Baluchestan province, Iran.


Since the pioneering work by Langer and Vacanti, in vitro mimicry of the juxtacrine interactions has been achieved mainly through the use of polymers in regenerative medicine and cell therapy. Although the primary function of polymeric sca olds was initially structural, providing the physical sites for cell adhesion and growth in a 3D form, scientific and technological developments have advanced to enable the manipulation of cell behavior and function, ultimately controlling cell fate, by the use of polymers, including supramolecular hydrogels. The purpose of this Special Issue is to highlight the recent achievements in the use of polymers as cell scaffolds on a broad scale, not only limited to the use of polymers as cell-culture sca olds, but also including polymer-based approaches for controlling interfacial interactions of cells in vitro.


Dear Editor, A 47-year-old woman presented with a 3-month history of pruritic erythema, which began on her scalp and spread to her face, trunk, arms, palms, and thighs. Histological analysis revealed psoriasiform epidermal hyperplasia, hyperkeratosis with alternating orthokeratosis and parakeratosis, and superficial perivascular dermal lymphocytic infiltrate. Blood tests (full blood count and biochemistry) did not reveal any abnormalities except for a mild elevation in serum levels of lactate dehydrogenase and aspartate aminotransferase. Additionally, anti-HIV antibody was negative. Based on the clinical course, histologic findings, and blood test results, we diagnosed this patient with type 1 pityriasis rubra pilaris (PRP). Treatment with oral etretinate (30 mg/day) was ineffective and was stopped because of side effects (liver injury). Oral apremilast therapy and phototherapy (bath-PUVA) combined with topical steroid (class 1-2) also had no beneficial therapeutic effects. During these treatments, the erythema spread further, and the percentage of the affected body surface area (BSA) and static physician global assessment (sPGA) reached 90% and 5, respectively (Figure 1, week 0). Pruritus was also increased, and the patient's quality of life was severely impaired. After obtaining written informed consent from the patient, we initiated treatment with guselkumab 100 mg administered as a single subcutaneous injection. After 4 weeks, the severity and extent of erythema was slightly but undoubtedly decreased. Therefore, we repeated the administration of guselkumab 100 mg subcutaneously after 4 weeks and continued it at 8-week intervals. At 24 weeks after the initial injection, BSA and sPGA reduced to 2% and 1, respectively (Figures 1 and 2). Therefore, subsequent injections were discontinued. At 38 weeks after the initial injection, erythema and pruritis were completely absent, and no relapse occurred at 36 weeks after the last injection.


Based on the characteristics of college students' network users and micro blogs, this paper studies the analysis of micro blog emotional tendency, and proposes a micro blog emotional tendency method integrating users' behavior. Firstly, the LDA model is constructed to reflect the topic distribution of microblog. Considering the needs of follow-up research, a topic emotion joint model is proposed. Then, LSTM algorithm is used to profile users based on sentiment analysis and personality prediction, and the relationship between each attribute is analyzed. Finally, through the subjective and objective category prediction of the evaluation task data, the effectiveness of the proposed behavior analysis fusion algorithm and the generality of the classification model based on emotional tendency are verified.


Perfluorosulfonic Acid (PFSA) proton exchange membranes (PEMs) have great advantage in operating efficiencies, power densities and system versatility. However, their performance is heavily dependent on sufficient water uptake. It is beneficial for PEMs to operate at hotter and drier conditions to prevent poison of Pt catalyst and excessive swelling, 1 and to simplify heat exchange system. 2 One way to achieve this goal is through addition of inorganic particles such as HPAs. Due to HPAs' strong interactions with the sulfonic acid groups of ionomers, 3 morphological changes may occur upon doping, resulting in altering of performances and properties of the PFSAs.


We study the regularity properties for degenerate weakly(k1,k2) quasiregular mapping.By using the techniques of Hlder inequality,the analysis method of Sobolev space and Interpolation theorem,we obtain a sufficient for degenerate weakly(k1,k2) quasiregular is in fact degenerate quasiregular mappings.The result is also hold for nondegederate case.


The primary objective of this study was to investigate the usefulness of a stress wave technique for evaluating wood strength and stiffness of young-growth western hemlock and Sitka spruce in standing trees. A secondary objective was to determine if the effects of silvicultural practices on wood quality can be identified using this technique. Stress wave measurements were conducted on 168 young-growth western hemlock and Sitka spruce trees. After in situ measurements, a 0.61-m-long bole section in the test span was taken from 56 felled trees to obtain small, clear wood specimens. Stress wave and static bending tests were then performed on these specimens to determine strength and stiffness. Results of this study indicate that in situ stress wave measurements could provide relatively accurate and reliable information that would enable nondestructive evaluation of wood properties in standing trees. The mean values of stress wave speed and dynamic modulus of elasticity for trees agreed with those determined from small, clear wood specimens. Statistical regression analyses revealed good correlations between stress wave properties of trees and static bending properties of small, clear wood specimens obtained from the trees. Regression models showed statistical significance at the 0.01 confidence level. Results of this study also demonstrate that the effect of silvicultural practices on wood properties can be identified with the stress wave properties of trees. This indicates that this nondestructive stress wave technique can be used to track property changes in trees and help determine how forests could be managed to meet desired wood and fiber qualities.


To reduce the amount of conventional fertilizer in the process of tobacco cultivation and improve the tobacco leaf internal quality,based on the situation of the current tobacco production of Juxian County,by field experiments,research about bio-organic fertilizer on the impact of tobacco quality was carried out.The results showed that:under the same circumstances,the Jinbanghe bio-organic fertilizer could increase the potassium content in leaves,improve leaf quality,lower input costs,and gain a better integrated effect.


The EPR study of optical‐quality AgGaS2 has proven the existence of the point defects Ni3+, Fen+, (n⩽2), a shallow donor (ED<0.11 eV), and one associated defect Fe3+‐X, the charge states of which are all photosensitive. The effectiveness of the standard annealing procedures, employed to obtain crystals of low absorption in the 0.5–12‐μm range, is associated with an oxidation of these transition‐metal impurities.


Retaining rings can be used either externally on a shaft or internally within a bore are provided to form assemblies that can retain a component adjacent to the shaft or bore. The retaining rings can have a rectangular cross-section, and an axial thickness greater than the radial width. Components retained by such retaining rings can have a chamfered or radiused edge, and can overhang the retaining ring. The thrust load applied to the retaining rings can have an axial portion and a radial portion.


Abstract — In order to research the sortie generation rate (SGR) of carrier-based aircrafts, an analytical method based on closed queueing network was put forward. A multi-class, multi-server non-preemptive (or Head of Line, HOL) closed queueing network model was analyzed. As the exact mathematical solution is not available, an approximate method based on reduced work-load assumption and mean value analysis (MVA) iteration was used to gain the performance of the network. As a result, this approximation method can provide the marginal distribution of customers at each service facility of the queueing network. Numerical results that show that the accuracy of the method is good was given. Keywords-SGR; closed queueing network; HOL; MVA I. INTRODUCTION The sortie generation rate (SGR) of carrier-borne crafts is the key component of aircraft carrier's ability to project power against any enemy.In order to gain insight into SGR, queueing theory based on Fork-join closed queueing network have been used


A 62-year-old woman with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (PAF) and no structural heart disease underwent circumferential pulmonary vein antral isolation (CPVAI). Pulmonary vein (PV) isolation was confirmed with abolition of PV potentials and the demonstration of entrance and exit block. Four months after the initial ablation procedure, palpitations recurred. Both atrial fibrillation (AF) and a regular atrial tachycardia were documented, which were initially well controlled with a previously ineffective pharmacologic agent but increased in frequency over the following 3 years. The flecainide was discontinued 5 half-lives before a second ablation procedure being undertaken. Catheters included a decapole in the coronary sinus (CS), a hexapole in the His position, a 15 mm PV lasso catheter, and a 4 mm irrigated radiofrequency (RF) catheter. During catheter manipulation, atrial ectopics initiated a regular atrial tachycardia with cycle length (TCL) of 260 milliseconds and P-wave morphology, which was positive in V1 and negative in inferior leads (Fig. 1a). The lasso catheter positioned in the right inferior PV (RIPV)


In this dissertation, the scalability and recyclability were evaluated for the catalytic transesterifications of polysaccharides with the Im-Il (EmimOAc) serving as both a solvent and an organocatalyst. The synthesis and characterization of various polysaccharide derivatives from cellulose, xylan, dextrin, pullulan, rice husk and coconut fiber using EmimOAc or EmimOAc/DMSO catalyzed TER were conducted. The results show that the EmimOAc was recycled for four times without an obvious decrease in catalytic activity and the recovery rate of the EmimOAc reached sufficiently high (at least, 96 wt %). The applicability of the EmimOAc catalyzed transesterifications was expanded to gram-scale reaction with various materials (avicel, pulps, rayon, xylan, dextrin and pullulan), affording polysaccharide esters with practically perfect conversions of the starting hydroxyl groups. Structural determinations of the obtained products by FT-IR and 1 H NMR measurements confirmed the successful syntheis of polysaccharide derivatives bearing acetyl, butyryl, pivaloyl and benzoyl groups, respectively. The kinetic evolution of the TER of polysaccharides in EmimOAc was investigated. These investigations indicated that the EmimOAc-mediated polysaccharide modification reactions were quantitatively proceeded. Furthermore, the thermal properties and solubility of the obtained polysaccharide derivatives were characterized presenting significant improvements after TER. The M n,SEC and M w / M n were determined by the SEC measurements, which indicated the Im-IL-catalyzed TER was the mild reaction without any polysaccharide decompositions. Finally, this homogeneous system composed EmimOAc, DMSO and IPA could be applied eco-friendly and efficiently to synthesize polysaccharide acetates from raw lignocellulosic biomass.


Objectives: To analyse the effects on technical and cost efficiency of seven hospital mergers over the period 1992–2000 in Norway. The mergers involved 17 hospitals. Methods: First, efficiency scores were generated using Data Envelopment Analysis for 53 merged and non-merged hospitals over the nine years. Second, the effect of mergers was estimated through panel data analysis. Results: In general, the mergers showed no significant effect on technical efficiency and a significant negative effect of 2–2.8% on cost efficiency. However, positive effects on both cost and technical efficiency were found in one merger where more hospitals were involved, and where administration and acute services were centralized. Conclusion: The findings indicate that large mergers involving radical restructuring of the treatment process may improve efficiency as intended, but most mergers do not.


The concept of The Internet of Things builds up a higher demand on logistics fleet management. As a new kind technology, fleet remote management technology meets the new requirements. Logistics fleet remote management system integrates modern electronic technology, internet technology and wireless communication technology as a whole, and it can provide remote fault diagnosis and management services for logistics fleet in real-time. The present paper analyzes the requirement of remote fleet management system, and proposes a framework of remote logistics fleet management, which includes on-board fault diagnosis terminal, remote data transmission and manage client. This system prototype is established and tested on several logistics fleets. It has shown great stability, and most of the management and feedback messages can be accurately and reliably transmitted in real-time.


In research,the sample is a selected subset of the study population. It may be randomly or non-randomly selected
representative or non-representative of the study population. To have a clear understanding on how to obtain the sample, it is important to have a good idea of various types of sample.


We review past and present eo rts to perform asteroseismic studies of the distant stars from an observational viewpoint. We discuss the challenges, problems and successes for the dierent kinds of pulsators that seem suitable for asteroseismology and we outline some paths along which the understanding of the interior structure of these stars could progress.


Capturing changes in foreign reserves and exchange rates through the exchange market pressure, this article investigates whether economic policy uncertainty plays any role in exchange market pressure movements while controlling for the effects of domestic and external factors. A panel of 20 countries was examined from 2003Q1 to 2017Q4 using panel techniques that are consistent in the presence of heterogeneity and cross-sectional dependence. The study finds that a long-run relationship exists between exchange market pressure and economic policy uncertainty. Our estimation results reveal that a rise in economic policy uncertainty, consumer price index, trade openness, and financial openness increases the severity of the exchange market pressure in the long run. However, gross domestic product (GDP) growth, domestic credit, and foreign direct investment inflows can cushion the effect of the pressure. Therefore, irrespective of whether a country operates fixed, flexible, or intermediate exchange rate regime, its foreign exchange market is still significantly affected by economic policy uncertainty.


Kinetic structures have gained popularity in architecture and structural engineering due to their ability to meet environmental factors and user needs. Among these structures, kinetic roof structures hold an important place, as they are deployable and/or transformable structures that can change their forms between two or more different geometries. Various categorizations of kinetic roofs based on their material, mechanism, and geometry have been offered in the literature. However, in most studies, they are placed under the broader category of kinetic structures. This paper critically reviews existing classifications of kinetic roofs, highlighting their advantages and limitations. Subsequently, a novel detailed classification system for kinetic roof structures is proposed. The superiority, advantages, and shortcomings of this proposed classification are presented. A more comprehensive and tailored classification system for kinetic roofs is provided by this study, contributing to the literature in this area.


The detectionof explosions using ionospheric techniques relies on measuring perturbations induced in radio propagation by acoustic waves which disturb the electron density of the ionosphere. We have proposed such techniques as a supplement to seismic for discrimination of underground nuclear explosions from commercial mining explosions. The nighttime ionosphere presents a difficulty for the detection of explosions because in the absence of solar ionizing radiation the electron density in the altitude range of 90 to 200 km decays after sunset and perturbation effects are correspondingly reduced. On the other hand, acoustic waves produced by weak explosions reach a maximum amplitude in the altitude range of 100 to 150 km and are highly attenuated at altitudes above 200 km. For safety reasons, most planned explosions are conducted during daylight which has limited our experimental measurements during nighttime. However a recent opportunity for a nighttime measurement occurred in connection with the Non-Proliferation Experiment which consisted of the detonation of a large chemical charge underground at the Nevada Test Site near midnight local time. Our results, based on a new technique of using medium frequency radio transmissions provided by commercial broadcasts to detect explosion effects, were negative. Although discouraging, this result need not defeat our goal of developing an ionospheric technique for discrimination of mining explosions because the majority of such events are conducted during daylight.


As a major energy consumer, the tall building does not ordinarily conjure images of sustainable design. But a new generation of tall buildings is incorporating new developments in technology and design to produce smarter, energy-efficient buildings. This paper will show that tall buildings Tall buildings conceived as "vertical garden cities" can use urban space and resources more efficiently and, at the same time, create more user-friendly and habitable buildings. Consequently, future sustainable high-rise buildings will need to be even more energy-efficient and functionally diverse with emphasis on multi-functional tall buildings that consolidate living, working, retail, and leisure spaces into a single building. The relationship between tall buildings and their urban infrastructure must also be considered. Transportation systems, water and waste distribution, energy, and heating and cooling must be considered relative to the tall building and its impact on the city's physical resources and infrastructure in terms of sustainable design. Finally, concepts such as mega-structures and mega-buildings will need to be revised and allied with new building systems technology to meet the challenges of future sustainable tall buildings that are integrated with their urban habitats. Introduction Until recently, tall buildings have been viewed as mega-scale energy consumers with little regard for sustainable architecture. However, this is changing with a new generation of high-rise buildings that have been designed with energy conservation and sustainability as their principal criteria. Cities throughout the world are growing rapidly creating unprecedented pressure on material and energy resources. According to the World Commission and Environmental Development or Brundtland report, Our Common Future, sustainable design is an effort to meet the requirements of the present without compromising the needs of future generations by encouraging the wise and prudent use of renewable resources, alternative strategies for energy production and conservation, environmentally friendly design, and intelligent building technology. It adds that "Sustainable development is not a fixed state of harmony, but rather a process of change in which the exploitation of resources, the direction of investments, the orientation of technological development, and institutional change are made consistent with future as well as present needs" (WCED, 1989). Two crucial elements are addressed in this definition of sustainable development. First, it acknowledges the concept of "needs," especially with regards to disparities between rich and poor, such as food, clothing and shelter essential for human life, as well as other "needs" to allow a reasonably comfortable way of life. Second, it accepts the concept of "making consistent" the resource demands of Figure 1: Swiss Reinsurance Headquarters, London, 2003, Foster and Partners.


At the beginning of the 19th century, wallpapers containing Scheele's green pigments were a commonplace finding in the houses of Britain. Despite apprehensions and documented cases concerning their safety dating back as far as this, it was not until later in the century when leading physicians began to support poisoning theories and a potential mechanism was found, that the general public took notice. Despite the increasing body of support for campaigns to ban the production of such papers, parliament ignored the public health scandal choosing instead to favour the huge profit arsenic mining brought by it. Regardless of the lack of legislation, wallpapers containing arsenic pigments eventually fell out of popularity as the public voted with their feet and chose to purchase "arsenic-free" papers instead.


The catch performance of the silver-white jig for automatic jigging machine, developed to improve the effectiveness of LED fishing lamp in catching squid, was compared to that of the conventional green jig. The vessels used in this investigation were Haesong-ho (A-vessel), a training vessel of Gangwon State University and Haengbok-ho (B-vessel), a commercial fishing boat. In the case of the A-vessel, five to eight automatic jigging machines were used in the fishing operation with a 31.3 kW LED fishing lamp in summer. As for the B-vessel, fourteen automatic jigging machines were used with a 43.2 kW LED fishing lamp in autumn and winter. The results showed that the catch performance of the silver-white jig was similar to that of the green jig in the case of the A-vessel (p>0.05). However, in the case of the B-vessel, the catch performance of the silver-white jig was superior to that of the green jig in both winter (p<0.05) and autumn (P<0.001). Based on the catch performance results regarding the B-vessel in autumn, it is expected that the annual income increase that can be earned by using the silver-white jig will be KRW 26,385,000.


Submitted for the MAR16 Meeting of The American Physical Society Blackbox quantization and numerical simulation of a concentric transmon superconducting qubit ALIREZA NAJAFI-YAZDI, KEVIN LALUMIERE, Anyon Systems Inc., J. BRAUMÜLLER, MARTIN WEIDES, KIT — We present a blackbox quantization [1] and numerical study of a planar concentric transmon superconducting qubit. This architecture has been recently proposed and experimentally investigated by Braumller et al [2]. The device involves a gradiometric SQUID loop for a fast tuning of the qubit transition frequency. This allows for full tomographic control of the quantum circuit. A fully automatized numerical package for quantization of superconducting qubits is developed and used for the study of the concentric transmon. A systematic characterization of loss channels such as Purcell decay and radiative losses are also studied. Numerical results are in close agreement with experimental data and suggest the platform to be a useful tool in the design of superconducting circuits. References: [1] Firat, S., DiVicenzo, D. W., David, P., Physical Review B, Vol. 90, No. 13, pp. 134-504, 2014. [2] J. Braumller et al., arXiv:1509.08014 Alireza Najafi-Yazdi Anyon Systems Inc. Date submitted: 11 Jan 2016 Electronic form version 1.4


This paper presents a practical numerical solution to predicting large deformations of flexible materials such as fabrics. Previous researchers have employed various other approaches such as pure analytical solutions or computer-based finite difference or finite element approaches. They made simplifications in the analysis in terms of the object geometry, load conditions, boundary conditions and material behaviour. However, the present model can predict the deformations based on the exact geometry and a non-linear moment-curvature relation. The modelling technique reported in this paper is verified by comparing deformation results with those published elsewhere. In addition, the present authors have obtained data from their own experimental work in order to verify the non-linear capability of their modelling technique. The non-linear large deformation modelling technique gives closer agreement with the practical tests than previously published methods.


The effects of intravenous ouabain (0.015 mg/kg body weight) were assessed in 13 patients 3-5 weeks after an uncomplicated acute myocardial infarction. The patients were not in clinical cardiac failure and were not having anginal pain.The mean ± SEM of the values prior to (C) and 1 hour after ouabain (A) were: left ventricular end-diastolic pressure (LVEDP), C 18.6 ± 1.5, A 10.2 ± 1.4; stroke index, C 35.8 ± 3.9, A 39.5 ± 4.8; left ventricular stroke work (LVSW), C 99.4 ± 15.8, A 120.3 ± 19.5; mean rate of LV ejection (MRE), C 237.3 ± 21.9, A 274.5 ± 28.9; peak LV dp/dt, C 1,614 ± 141, A 2,145 ± 230; preejection period corrected for heart rate (PEPc), C 135.8 ± 8.7, A 125.1 ± 9.2; left ventricular ejection time corrected for heart rate (LVETC), C 407.9 ± 10.3, A 389.5 ± 9.2. These changes were significant (P < 0.05 for paired determinations). There were no significant changes in cardiac index, heart rate, mean arterial pressure, and systemic resistance.The reductions of LVEDP, PEPc, and LVETc and increases in SI, LVSW, MRE, and peak LV dp/dt show improvement of ventricular performance after ouabain and suggest that digitalis therapy could contribute to the management of patients convalescing after uncomplicated acute myocardial infarction.


The set of most-parsimonious trees for a data matrix may include several distinct classes (islands) of trees. An island is defined as a collection of trees, all less than a specified length, each tree connected to every other tree in the island through a series of trees, and each one differing from the next by a single rearrangement of branches. One advantage of this method of defining classes of trees is that islands are easily found by tree-searching programs. Multiple islands can be discovered by conducting many searches using a tree-searching program, each search beginning with a different tree. Among 37 data matrices examined, all 8 data matrices with two or more islands have retention indices less than 0.67. Trees are generally more similar within islands than among islands, as judged by analysis of partition metric distances between trees. As a consequence, trees in different islands may have different implications for character evolution, and for this reason should be sought. (Parsimony; phylogeny; tree searching; opti- mization; multiple optima; islands of trees; character evolution.)


Response characteristics of a ZnO element generally used for surge arresters against very fast transients are hardly known. They have not only non-linear resistance characteristics but also dielectric ones. We have developed an analytical digital program to study internal resistive and capacitive currents of the element to very fast transient current based on Maxwell equations. And moreover its equivalent circuit has been developed. This paper shows not only the outline of theory and equivalent circuit, but also that of skin and Ferranti effects on ZnO internal currents.


At inspection in persons of youthful age short-term memory and attention parameters were estimated by various techniques. Further their integrated indicators paid off. The following approach is used – integrated indicators paid off as average Euclidean distance of all its components to the "reference" examinee. As the "reference" examinee the examinee having the best results of each of techniques was taken. For computer processing and the analysis of data the applied Statistica 6.0 package was used. Estimates of integrated indicators of memory and attention were received, inspection of a hypothesis of the normal law of distribution of these indicators were made. Results of the researches conducted by authors allow to claim that the methods presented in article and approaches open new prospects in the field of the analysis of psychophysiological parameters and solve a problem of essential decrease in dimension of basic experimental data in scientific researches.


Nineteen air strikes onto seven target locations in Bosnia and Herzegovina were carried out by aircrafts A-10, using ammunition PGU-14. During these air strikes, 10.086 pieces of PGU-14 were fired, strafing such targets as armoured vehicles, trucks and bunkers. Exact locations of targets and PGU-14 ammunition quantity, which were spent for six attacks, are still unknown. But for one target, which was located near Sarajevo at suburb settlement Hadzici it was possible to collect more information. Two targets, an ammunition depot and the tanks and armoured vehicles maintenance facility, were attacked at the Hadzici location. During the five air strikes, 3.400 DU projectiles of PGU-14 ammunition were fired onto these targets. One of the targets was located within the urban part of the settlement, while another one was at suburb part of the settlement. Research points to very large number of unknown locations and uncompleted data on quantity of ammunition PGU-14 that was fired onto individual targets. There is disproportion between points of impact of DU penetrators into hard surfaces and number of located penetrators (ricochet effect), which in longer time period increases health risks for civilian population. Purpose of this paper is to perform an estimation of the dispersion zone with ground-penetrated projectiles PGU-14 using ballistic trajectory simulation for aircraft gun GAU-8/A and ammunition PGU-14 fired from aircraft A-10 and available input data such as aircraft velocity during the air strikes and ballistic performances of projectile PGU-14. In order to obtain final dimension of the hit dispersion pattern, theoretical results are corrected by using a dispersion figure gained from a real combat action. For this purpose, a detailed analysis of video-records (1995-2008 years) of combat actions carried by aircrafts A-10 on area targets without anti-aircraft protection and under conditions of very intensive anti-aircraft fire. Hit probability is determined on the base of US researches, which were performed during 1978 and 1979, in order to simulate attacks on Russian tanks under low attack angles. Based on the estimated number of hits for armoured or other hard targets, it is possible to approximately determine dispersion of PGU-14 ammunition during air strikes in target zone near urban areas.


Long-term patency of modified Cabrol technique in composite aortic root replacement is not well documented. We report a unique case in which a patient presented for prosthetic valve dysfunction with patent Cabrol grafts 22 years after composite root replacement requiring redo aortic root. This case also demonstrates how modified Cabrol grafts can be reutilized in aortic root replacement without compromising adequate fluid dynamics.


The hyperinsulinism/hyperammonemia (HI/HA) syndrome is the second most common cause of hyperinsulinemic hypoglycemia of infancy. HI/HA syndrome is caused by a mutation in the GLUD1 gene, a gene located on chromosome 10q23.3., composed of 13 exons that encode the mitochondrial enzyme glutamate dehydrogenase (GDH). It is characterized by hyperinsulinemic hypoglycemia accompanying hyperammonemia. We report HI/HA syndrome with a 4-month-old male who hypoglycemic seizure.


In September of 2002, Sight eSound published its annual "Top Ten" poll, a ritual enacted every decade since 1952; what surprised even the editors of that journal was how similar the poll was to previous polls: Citizen Kane was the number one choice, as it has been in every one of the Sight & Sound polls since 1962. La Regle du Jeu placed third: it remains the one film that has placed consistently in the Top Ten since the poll was initiated in 1952. In each of the polls, one could discern the vagaries of the educational, cultural, and critical contexts of the period. Nick James, in an editorial comment in the December 2002 issue, wrote: "When Sight & Sound's 2002 Critics' and Directors' Polls to establish the top ten films of all time were first faxed and emailed into action, we were quietly hoping to see some fresh graffiti on the concrete edifice of cinema's canon. If this was an urgent wish, it was mainly because talk of the 'death of cinema' during the seventh art's centenary in 1996 threatened to make a list largely unchanged from that of ten years ago look too much like an epitaph." Well, the Sight & SoundTop Ten Poll of 2002 was largely an epitaph, with most of the choices culled from the years prior to 1960. Even as the poll cast its net wider and wider, with more critics from what used to be called the Third World included, the results were more conclusively established.


During our work on the development of performance standards for breath alcohol analyzers [1], it was necessary to prepare known concentrations of ethanol in distilled water for the purpose of measuring the performance capabilities of such instruments. In these studies we were concerned with the preservation of our reference ethanol solutions. For this reason we prepared a solution of known ethanol concentration and stored it in a number of flame-sealed, glass ampules. Some questions have been raised concerning the stability of ethanol solutions when stored in this manner [2]. We have measured the ethanol concentration by dichromate oxidimetry over a period of two years, and the results are reported in this paper.


In our model, groups grow in size and fragment. The growth of groups is governed by a set of biological 8 reactions 9 Xi ibigi −−−→ Xi+1, (13) where Xi is a groups of size i and bi is the growth rate of cells in a group of size i. After the growth of the 10 group size by i+ 1, they will stay together with the probability gi, which is determined by the utilized life cycle 11 and the group size. 12 Group fragmentation occurs immediately after cell growth and is described by reactions in the form 13


This paper reports the results of experiments evaluating the corrosion resistance of a mixture of limestone-clay (MLC) and perlite in concrete mixes. Variables were MLC and perlite additions of 0–15% as cement replacement and cement contents. Electrochemical measurements tests were used to monitor the corrosive behaviour of embedded steel bars in concretes. Results showed that additions of MLC and perlite are effective in inhibiting corrosion of reinforcing bars. The superior performance in inhibiting corrosion in reinforcing steel is attributable to the densification of the cement-paste matrix due to pozzolanic action in the additives concrete mixes. INTRODUCTION Mild steel embedded in concrete is protected against corrosion by both a chemical and a physical mechanism. Chemical protection is provided by the high pH of the concrete, which causes passivation of the reinforcing steel. Concrete also provides physical protection, by hindering the access of aggressive agents. Severe corrosion problems occur in many concrete structures. Most frequently, corrosion is induced by the ingress of chloride ions which leads to a local destruction of the passive film [1]. Addition of ash, slag, silica fume as a pozzolanic material to concrete has become common practice in recent years [2-9]. These materials can also improve the durability of concrete and the rate of gain in strength and can also reduce the rate of liberation of heat, which is beneficial for mass concrete [4,5]. Studies have been published concerning the effect of fly ash on concrete porosity and resistivity [10], pore solution chemistry [12], oxygen and chloride ion diffusivity [11–14], carbonation rates [15], passivation [16] and corrosion resistance [17] especially chloride-induced corrosion. The aim of this study is to investigate effects of a mixture of limestone-clay (MLC) and perlite on corrosion of reinforcing steel embedded in concrete mixes. In this study has investigated the effect of adding MLC and perlite in different proportions (5%, 10% and 15% on behavior of reinforcement mild steel in concrete. 2 International Balkans Conference on Challenges of Civil Engineering, BCCCE, 23-25 May 2013, EPOKA University, Tirana, ALBANIA. 684 MATERIALS AND METHODS ASTM C 150 Type I Portland cement was utilized in all the concrete mixtures. MLC, and Perlite were used as fillers. Table 1 shows the chemical composition of Type I Portland cement, MLC and perlite. Potable water was used for mixing the concrete constituents. Table 1 Chemical composition of Type I Portland cement, MLC and Perlite Constituent (wt.%) The concrete ingredients were mixed in a revolving drum mixer for approximately five to seven minutes to obtain a uniform consistency and flowable characteristics. Reinforced Specimens Reinforced specimens measuring 100 mm in diameter and 150 mm high, were prepared 12 mm diameter 3 steel bar placed at the center. Reinforcement corrosion was monitored by measuring the corrosion potentials, according to ASTM C 876, and by the Tafel polarization method. Corrosion Potentials The corrosion potentials were measured using a saturated copper/coper sulfate reference electrode (Cu/CuSO4). The electrical lead from the reference electrode was connected to the negative terminal of a high impedance digital voltmeter while the steel bar in the concrete was connected to its positive terminal Figure 1. Tafel Polarization Method The three electrode method was utilized to measure the corrosion rate using a Potentiostat/Galvanostat. The steel rod was connected to the working electrode terminal while a steel plate and a reference electrode were connected to the counter and reference electrode 2 International Balkans Conference on Challenges of Civil Engineering, BCCCE, 23-25 May 2013, EPOKA University, Tirana, ALBANIA. 685 terminals of a Potentiostat/Galvanostat, respectively. The steel was polarized from -1.0 V 1,0 V at a scan rate of 2 mV/s and the resulting corrosion rate. The tests were continued over a period of 12 months. Open circuit potential measurements were monitored with reference to saturated Copper/Copper sulfate electrode periodically with time as per ASTM C876. From the results potential vs. time plot is drawn using the average potentials obtained. Figure 1 Schematic representation of specimens RESULTS AND DİSCUSSİON The corrosion of the samples was estimated by monitoring the corrosion potential vs. exposure time (Figs. 2 and 3). During the 12 months of exposure the potential values range between -250 and -500 mV. Just after the immersion in the NaCl solution, cement specimens exhibit corrosion potential values ranging between -250 and -350 mV Cu/CuSO4 for perlite and MLC specimens, whereas that of the non-additive ones equals -500 mV. Then a decay of Ecor to more electronegative values is observed, which is faster for non-additve specimens. 2 International Balkans Conference on Challenges of Civil Engineering, BCCCE, 23-25 May 2013, EPOKA University, Tirana, ALBANIA. 686 Figure 2 Open Circuit Potentials on reinforcement in different proportion replaced MLC specimens After about 4 months of exposure, all the specimens reached to more or less stable Ecor value ranging between about -325 mV for perlite contain specimens and 400 mV for MLC contain specimens, while that of non additive ones is equal to about -500 mV. The steeper decay of Ecor of the uncoated specimens and their more electronegative final Ecor value imply an increase in the electrochemical activity of the system, that can be attributed to an increased corrosion of the steel rebars. Figure 3 Open Circuit Potentials on reinforcement in different proportion replaced perlite specimens Fig 4 shows that the differences between containing perlite and MLC specimens. As it is shown in Figs 3and 4, the specimen prepared MLC and perlite resisted better against corrosion than the ones prepared with no additive specimen. 2 International Balkans Conference on Challenges of Civil Engineering, BCCCE, 23-25 May 2013, EPOKA University, Tirana, ALBANIA. 687 Figure 4 Open Circuit Potentials on reinforcement in specimens non additive, specimens with replaced MLC and perlite Figure 5 Tafel polarization cuırves for specimens non additive, specimens replaced MLC and perlite Specimens replaced MLC from the beginning of the exposure more electropositive Ecor values than the non additive one and more electronegative values than the corresponding specimens replaced Perlite. Fig 5 shows Tafel polarization curves. As it is shown in Fig 5, corrosion rate decreases the specimen prepared MLC and perlite. The corrosion rate measured by Tafel Polarizatin method and determined the corrosion rate 0.08, 0,02 and 0,015 respectively for non additve, replaced MLC and replaced perlite specimens. Perlite resisted better against corrosion than the MLC. 2 International Balkans Conference on Challenges of Civil Engineering, BCCCE, 23-25 May 2013, EPOKA University, Tirana, ALBANIA. 688 REFERENCES [1] Tuutti, K. (1982) Corrosion of steel in concrete. Swedish Cement and Concrete Research Institute; Stockholm, Sweden. [2] Hossain, K.M.A. (1998) Volcanic ash and pumice based blended cement. 23 Conference on Our world in Concrete & Structures, incorporating 3 International Seminar on blended cements, Singapore. [3] Hossain K.M.A. (1998) Volcanic ash as cement replacement material. IEPNG International Conference, Rabaul, Institute of Professional Engineers of Papua New Guinea. [4] Al-Ani, M. and Hughes, B. (1989) Pulverized-fuel ash & it's uses in concrete. Mag Concr Res 41(147), 56–63. [5] Mehta, P.K. (1979) Properties of blended cements made from rice husk ash. J ACI 74, 440–2. [6] Swamy, R.N. (1983) New concrete materials, concrete technology and design, vol. 2, Surrey University Press, Great Britain. [7] Swamy, R.N. (1986) Cement replacement materials, concrete technology and design, vol. 3, Surrey University Press, Great Britain. [8] Berry, E.E. and Malhotra, V.M. (1980) Fly ash for use in concrete––a critical review. J ACI, 77(8), 59–73. [9] Bilodeau A. and Malhotra, V.M. (2000) High volume fly ash system: the concrete solution for sustainable development, ACI Mater J, 99(1),41–8. [10] Thomas, M.D.A. and Matthews, J. (1996) Chloride penetration and reinforcement corrosion in marine exposed fly ash concretes. 3 CANMET/ACI International Conference on Concrete in Marine environment, Detroit. [11] Preece, C.M. Gronvold, F.O. and Frolund, T. (1983) Corrosion of reinforcement in concrete construction, Halstel, London, UK. [12] Lin, S.H. (1990) Calculation of seawater pH at polarized metal surfaces in the presence of surface films, Corrosion,46,964. [13] Mangat, P.S. and Gurusamy, K. (1987) Chloride diffusion in steel fibre reinforced concrete, Cement Concr Res, 17, 385–96. [14] Salta, M.M. (1994) Corrosion and corrosion protection of steel in concrete. International Conference, University of Sheffield, UK. 2 International Balkans Conference on Challenges of Civil Engineering, BCCCE, 23-25 May 2013, EPOKA University, Tirana, ALBANIA. 689 [15] Montemor, M.F. Simoes, A.M.P. and Ferreira, M.G.S. (1998) Analytical characterization of the passive film formed on steel in solutions simulating the concrete interstitial electrolyte. Corrosion, 54(5), 347–53. [16] Montemor, M.F. Simoes, A.M.P. and Salta, M.M. (2000) Effect of fly ash on concrete reinforcement corrosion studied by EIS, Cement Concr Compos, 22,175–85. [17] Hossain, K.M.A. (2000) Volcanic ash as admixture in concrete, Second Asia Pacific Conference on Durability of Building System,Bandung.


®ung cancer is one type of cancer for which treatment has been "personalized" through the use of specific protein tyrosine kinase inhibitors. Several genes encoding protein kinases have been identified as driver oncogenes in lung adenocarcinoma, the most frequent histological type of lung cancer. The activating aberrations of these genes that drive carcinogenesis include EGFR mutations, ALK fusions, ROS1 fusions, and RET fusions. These aberrations cause oncogenic addiction in cancer cells; this phenomenon makes the aberrations a therapeutic target for tyrosine kinase inhibitors and has been validated in genetically engineered mouse models (GEMMs) in which oncogene activation is artificially reproduced in the lungs (Table 1). Interestingly , secondary genetic aberrations have been detected in GEMM tumors as in human lung adenocarcinoma. 1 Therefore, GEMMs are useful for understanding the carcinogenic processes and for identifying potential diagnostic and treatment seeds. In this issue, Dr. Gazdar et al. report a pathological study of tumors in five GEMMs that mirror the development of small-cell lung cancer (SCLC), the most aggressive type of lung cancer, which shows neuroendocrine features. 2 Because SCLC metastasizes and disseminates at an early stage, only a small subset of patients are eligible for surgical resection with curative intent. Therefore, the number of tumor specimens available for largescale Omics analysis is very limited, and only a few studies have performed genome-wide analysis of the genetic aberrations underlying SCLC. 3–6 Unfortunately, to date, druggable genetic alterations, such as FGFR1 amplification and PTEN/PIK3CA alterations, have been detected in only a small subset of cases, thereby preventing us from developing a personalized medicine approach to SCLC. Notably, however, observation of human SCLC has led to the generation of five GEMMs, in which well-known tumor suppressor genes, TP53 and RB1 (and others), have been engineered to be inactivated in the lung. 3–6 Distinguished pathologists from different institutions performed a detailed and uniform pathological analysis of the resulting lung tumors that developed in those GEMMs. The authors found that these GEMMs were extremely useful for studying human SCLC. The GEMM tumors generated by these engineered genetic aberrations display definite characteristics of SCLC and, as such, will aid future research by compensating for the shortage of human SCLC samples. Future comprehensive Omics analysis of these GEMM tumors should identify genes, pathways, and molecules worthy of further study. Thus, comparative studies of human and mouse lung tumors will facilitate the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of the deadliest type of lung cancer.


Objective To investigate the changes in cysteine-containing aspartate-specific proteases 3(caspase-3),Bax and Bcl-2 expressions in hippocampal tissues and the effect of Xingnaojing(XNJ) on them after subarachnoid hemorrhage(SAH) in the rats with diabetes.Methods Twenty-eight adult male Wistar rats with SAH were randomly divided into 4 groups of 7 animals each,i.e.normal group,diabetic group;diabetic and SAH group;XNJ treatment group.The diabetes models were established by intraperitontal injection of streptozotocin(STZ) in rats.SAH models were established by two injections of fresh autologous blood into the cisterna magna of diabetic rats.Expressions of caspase-3 mRNA,Bax mRNA,and Bcl-2 mRNA in the hippocampal tissues,which were derived from the rats scarificed 48 hours after the second intraperitoneal injection of the autologous blood,were detected by real-time PCR and were further verified by Western blot.Results The levels of caspase 3,Bax and Bcl-2 mRNA expressions in diabetic and SAH group and XNJ group were significantly higher than those in the normal and diabetic groups(P 0.05).The levels of caspase-3 and Bax mRNA expressions were significantly lower and the level of Bcl-2 mRNA expressions was significantly higher in XNJ group than those in the diabetic and SAH group(P 0.05).Western blot showed that the changes in caspase-3 Bax and Bcl-2 protein expressions levels were siuilar to those in their mRNA expressions levels in all the groups.Conclusions ① It is suggested that the cellular apoptosis may occur after SAH in the hippocampal tissues of the rats with diabetes.② XNJ has protective effect on hippocampal tissue by inhibiting the apoptosis and promoting antiapoptosis in the diabetic rats with SAH.


Electronic structures of La-Sr-Cu-O and Nd-Ce-Cu-O compounds are investigated from first principles, taking CuO 6 , CuO 4 , Cu 2 O 11 and Cu 2 O 7 clusters, as a model. Many-body states are calculated in the presence of the correlation effect by the MCSCF-CI variational method. In the hole-doped CuO 6 cluster we have shown that the ground state changes from 1 A 1g to 3 B 1g near the doping concentration of the onset of superconductivity, owing to the effect of the apical oxygens. While in the electron-doped CuO 4 cluster the ground state is always 3 B 1g , in which the dopant electron is accommodated in the Cu 4s orbital. The effects of the doped ions are also discussed. In the undoped Cu 2 O 11 and Cu 2 O 7 clusters two electrons are localized at Cu sites, reflecting the strong correlation effect, and are coupled antiferromagnetically. The destruction mechanism of the antiferromagnetic ordering is shown to be different between in the hole-doped Cu 2 O 11 and in the electron-doped Cu 2 O 7 clusters.


Autism Spectrum Disorder is an inherently complex phenomenon requiring large studies of many different types to further understanding of its causes. The National Database for Autism Research (NDAR) is being constructed to aid in this effort by providing a means for researchers to share and integrate data. An autism ontology drafted by a group at Stanford is being incorporated for use by NDAR to allow semantic data integration. The architecture upon which NDAR is built — the UCSD Developed Data Integration Environment — supports the use of this autism ontology, including annotation of data with ontological concepts and ontology enhanced queries on databases, both central and federated.


This article summarises the results of an online survey on the use of optimisation in Building Performance Simulation (BPS). The survey aims to better understand the major uses of optimisation and its tools and the obstacles that prevent the widespread use of automated optimisation in the BPS. The survey got 202 responses from researchers, building energy analysts, consultants, engineers, architects and students.


State medicine as now understood belongs entirely to modern times. It began in England just before the middle of the present century, when Edwin Chadwick, a barrister, made what has been called his "Epoch-making report" to parliament on the health of towns. By his investigations and report he secured the attention of the government and the interest of the people; laws were passed, and English sanitary work and control were inaugurated. More than fifty years have passed, and England's system of sanitary control, both inland and marine, is a strong feature of her government. The statistics in the Register General's office show that the annual death rate for England and Wales for the ten years 1871-1880, averaged 21.27 per 1,000; while for the period 1881-1890 it was 19.8, a decrease of more than 11 per cent. The former death rate in England was given at 32 per 1,000. The present


A series of Y 1- x Eu x Ta 1- y Nb y O 4 ( x =0—0.20, y =0—1.00) are synthesized by a modified solid state reaction method. When the concentration of NbO 3- 4 in yttrium tantalate is low, the structure of these systems is M′ type YTaO 4. With increasing concentration of NbO 3- 4, its structure completely changed from M′ type YTaO 4 to fergusonite YNbO 4. Under UV excitation, the emission spectra of YTaO 4∶Nb,Eu consist of two parts, the emission band between 300—450 nm is the charge transfer emission of NbO 3- 4, and the sharp line emissions in the range of 500—720 nm originate from the transition of electrons in 4 f shell of Eu 3+ . The main peak at 612.7 nm can be ascribed to the Eu 3+ 5 D 0→ 7 F 2 transition and shows a strong red emission. Fixing the concentration of Nb 5+ and Eu 3+ separately, and changing the concentration of another ions, the luminescent properties of Y 1- x Eu x Ta 1- y Nb y O 4 will change rapidly. The difference of luminescence is originated from different structures. The excitation spectra of NbO 3- 4 emission ( λ =400 nm) in YTa 0.98 Nb 0.02 O 4 is a strong excitation band peak at 235 nm. In fact, the band is composed of charge transfer excitation of TaO 3- 4 and charge transfer excitation of NbO 3- 4. The excitation spectra of Eu 3+ 5 D 0→ 7 F 2 transition emission have two parts, the sharp lines between 300—600 nm and wide band between 200—300 nm. The sharp lines originate from Eu 3+ f f electron transitions, and the wide band includes both charge transfer excitation of TaO 3- 4 and NbO 3- 4, and charge transfer excitation of Eu 3+ . The excitation spectra of NbO 3- 4 emission ( λ =400 nm) in Y 0.99 Eu 0.01 Ta 0.98 Nb 0.02 O 4 is also a strong band, in which there also exists a charge transfer excitation of TaO 3- 4 and a charge transfer excitation of NbO 3- 4. The strong evidence from excitation spectra, emission spectra of this system show that there is a energy transfer from host lattice to activator in the process of luminescence. [WT5HZ]


Abstract Chinahasalonghistoryingarliccultivationand is the biggest country of garlic production in theworld. 375 accessions of garlic from 23 provinces andareas in China has been collected and preserved innational germplasm repository for vegetatively propa-gated vegetables in Beijing since 2002. However, thegenetic background and diversity of garlic from Chinahasnotbeenwellcharacterized.Inthisstudy,212of375accessions of garlic were evaluated based on 29morphological traits and allicin content. Cluster, prin-cipal compound, principal ordinates, Shannon diversityindex and Pearson correlation analysis were used. Theresults showed that the garlic clones from China had awidely diversity among all traits. Principal componentanalysis showed the cumulative proportion of the firsteight components explained 71.35 % of total morpho-logical variation in all accessions. Germplasm clusteranalysis whether based on 29 morphological traits orbulb yield-related traits could distinguish all germ-plasm.Allaccessionsweredividedintotwogroupswithbolting and non-bolting respectively, or into fivesubgroups with different traits based on 29 morpholog-ical traits. Principal coordinate analysis based on eightbulb related traits divided all accessions into 6 groups.Yield among the accessions ranged from 1.60 to 16.78t/ha, and three accessions yielded above 15 t/ha.Pearson analysis suggested bulb yield was significantlypositively correlated with bulb weight (r = 0.99), bulbdiameter (r = 0.73), bulb height (r = 0.53), clovenumber (r = 0.52), leaf width (r = 0.52). Allicincontent ranged from 0.81 to 3.01 %. Pseudostemdiameter was found to be significantly positivelycorrelated with allicin content but with the low corre-lation coefficient (r = 0.23). The result will obviouslybe helpful for breeder and researchers to comprehen-sively understand the genetic background of the collec-tion and more easily select the target accessions,especially those with high yield and allicin content.Keywords Garlic Diversity Morphologicaltraits AllicinIntroductionGarlic (Allium sativum L.) has been cultivated for atleast 5,000 years presumably having originated inCentral Asia (Vavilov 1951) and has been spread west,


In the world of neural networks, deep neural nets having a large set of parameters are very powerful machine learning systems. But, such networks comes across a serious problem known as overfitting. With large networks being slow to use, overfitting becomes even more difficult to deal with by combining the predictions of many different large neural nets at a test time. However, there is a technique known as Dropout to address this problem. Dropping the units randomly along with their connections from the network during their training is the key idea behind this technique. What this does is that this prevents the units from co-adapting too much. Dropout samples from an exponential number of different "thinned" networks. The approximation of the effect of averaging the predictions of all these thinned networks is easy at the test time and it's simply done by using a single unthinned network that has smaller weights. And this results in the significant decrease of overfitting giving major improvements over other regularization methods. In short, we will be showing that dropout improves the performance of neural networks on supervised learning tasks in vision, speech recognition, document classification and computational biology, obtaining state-of-the-art results on many benchmark data sets.


Many experiments were tried in this study with orthogonal test as an example, in order to determine the optimal formulation and processing conditions of the fermented Bifidobacteria beverage of carrot-jujube compound juice. Results showed that the optimum technological parameters for the fermented Bifidobacteria beverage of carrot-jujube compound juice (V:V=2:1) are: 100 ml/L carrot-jujube compound juice, 150 ml/L milk, 60 ml/L sugar and Bifidobacteria dosage 5×106/ml.


Background: The outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and its rapid spread may have led to individuals developing post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and psychological distress. Under this context, teachers merit more attention as a group with high levels of work stress. The purpose of this study was to verify the relationship between PTSD and psychological distress and to explore sleep problems as a possible mediator in the relationship between PTSD and psychological distress, as well as the moderator of internet gaming disorders (IGD) in the relationship between sleep problems and psychological distress. Methods: A total of 11,014 Chinese primary and middle school teachers participated in this study. The survey was conducted online between 25 May and 30 June 2020. Results: PTSD was shown to have both a direct and indirect effect on teachers' psychological distress. The indirect effect was mediated by sleep problems. IGD played a moderating role between sleep problems and psychological distress. Conclusions: During the COVID-19 pandemic, PTSD has been shown to have had a serious impact on the psychological stress of teachers, which was mediated by sleep problems. In addition, IGD raised the harm brought from sleep problems on teachers' mental health.


In recent years , deeplearning has almost invaded the world of telecom electronics and other fields, given the spectacular results it achieves in terms of improving the performance of digital processing chains. Wireless Access in Vehicle Environments (WAVE) technology has been developed, and IEEE 802.11p defines the Physical Layer (PHY) and Media Access Control (MAC) layer in the WAVE standard. However, the IEEE 802.11p frame structure, which has a low pilot density, makes it difficult to predict wireless channel properties in a vehicle environment with high vehicle speeds (high Doppler frequency), thus system performance are degraded in realistic vehicle environments. The motivation of this article is to improve channel estimation and tracking performance without modifying the IEEE 802.11p frame structure. Therefore, we propose a channel estimation technique based on deeplearning that can perform well over the entire range of SNR values, the effects of ISI and ICI interference remain inescapable phenomena. The improvement brought by the LS channel estimation methods, MMSE and linear equalizers, cubic spline, linear DFT ET and cubic spline DFT interpolation are reviewed, these interpolation techniques contribute to the reduction of the BER in the chain. The different vehicular channel environment scenarios are split, simulations of the new estimation DNN method are performed on examples of high mobility channels, and compared to the LS and MMSE methods. A strong immunity of the proposed estimator against the high mobility of the channels is observed.


In Nebraska during late November, drilling activity increased substantially, and there were indications it would continue at a fair level through the first of this year. There has been more seismic activity in the state in the past year than ever before, suggesting there is growing interest in finding new, more widespread production. Nebraska also has a considerable amount of natural gas yet to be connected to pipelines. Favorable changes in the natural gas market also would tend to stimulate drilling activity in the shallow Niobrara gas-producing areas of the state.


The distortion reasons for chain gear after high frequency heat treatment were reviewed from the principle of high frequency induction heat,heating temperature and the influence which comes from the tissue structure change after quench cooling,and was analyzed in detail from the aspects of material,thermodynamics,stress,strain and so on.Finally,the measure for avoiding the distortion of chain gear after high frequency heat treatment was worked out.The chain gear which is disposed by these measures can satisfy the workshops' technique plant,reduce the waste product rate,and have acquired good economic benefit.


In the last decade, there is an increasing interest in selenium compounds because of their environmental, biological, and toxicological importance, and in particular, because of their anticancer activities. We have examined the effect of sodium selenite on colony formation of different human cultured malignant cells. In addition, the antimutagenic activities of this chemical was examined against the indirect-acting mutagen benzo[a]pyrene (BP) by using the Ames/Salmonella test assay TA98 strain. Results of these experiments demonstrated that sodium selenite caused a dose-dependent inhibitory effect on colony formation of tested malignant cells. It was also shown that sodium selenite exhibited dose-dependent antimutagenic effect on BP. These results suggest the potential use of selenium compounds as an anticancer and antimutagenic agent.


Biochemical studies on the oxygen uptake by bovine gingival ephitelium slices and mitochondrial fraction were made using the classical manometric technique of Warburg. The integrity of the structure of bovine epithelium mitochondrial fraction was controlled by electron microscopy. The oxygen quotients for bovine gingivai epithelium slices were similar to that reported by others. Only succinate (QO2=1.05) and malate (QO2= 0.89) were oxidized by slices. The mean oxygen quotient endogenous for mitochondrial fraction was 1.46; for succinate and malate were 4.40 and 3.00, respectively. No evident effects of diphenylhydantoin on oxygen consumption either by bovine gingivai epithelium slices or mitochondrial fraction were observed.


SH transient problem for the elastic half-space including a micro plane crack is considered. If there is no crack we can exactly analyze this problem with application of the Cagniard method. Even if there is a crack we can correctly estimate the stress response at the crack position on the arrival time of wave-front incoming to the crack. The calculated stress value at the crack position is newly defined as the stress boundary condition. The transient reflection response spreading outward from the crack can be analyzed by using the Wiener-Hopf technique. The reflection region from the crack is shifted by the parallel translation and the rotation of the coordinate, and is superimposed on the no crack response region. Finally, for stress, strain energy and displacement, the transient responses are calculated for all wave field and shown in the form of the contour mapping representation.


Concepts for producing tritium in an accelerator were translated into hardware for engineering studies of tritium generation, heat transfer, and effects of proton-neutron flux on materials. Small-scale target- blanket assemblies were fabricated and material samples prepared for these performance tests. Blanket assemblies utilize composite aluminum-lead modules, the two primary materials of the blanket. Several approaches are being investigated to produce large-scale assemblies, developing fabrication and assembly methods for their commercial manufacture. Small-scale target-blanket assemblies, designed and fabricated at the Savannah River Site, were place in Los Alamos Neutron Science Center (LANSCE) for irradiation. They were subjected to neutron flux for nine months during 1996-97. Coincident with this test was the development of production methods for large- scale modules. Increasing module size presented challenges that required new methods to be developed for fabrication and assembly. After development, these methods were demonstrated by fabricating and assembling two production-scale modules.


Abstract It is proved that if ƒ is a homeomorphism of the two-sphere with an invariant set V of cardinality N = 4, then either ƒ has periodic orbits of all periods or it belongs to one of a small number of algebraically finite isotopy classes relative to V. For N ≤ 4, the second case always holds. On the other hand, for each N ≥ 7 we give examples of pseudo-Anosov homeomorphisms of the sphere, relative to a set of N points, for which not all periods occur.


This volume gathers 16 papers originally written for the occasion of the 49th Colston Symposium, held in Bristol in 1997, and substantially revised for this publication. They reflect on some of the key developments in the discipline of Theatre Studies over the past fifty years and combine this with a discussion of new trends and approaches, especially in the fields of Performance Studies, reception analysis, interculturalism, sociocultural analysis, theatre anthropology, dance and movement analysis, computer-assisted reconstruction of performance venues, street theatre, guerilla theatre, ritual theatre, etc.


An analysis of nighttime temperature and water ice cloud extinction profiles from the Mars Climate Sounder aboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter provides evidence for the close relationship between tropical temperature structure and water ice clouds. The tropical temperature structure that evolves over the spring and summer seasons is closely coupled to the waxing and waning of tropical cloud activity. The presence of strong elevated nighttime temperature inversions in the Tharsis region is a robust feature of the equatorial atmosphere during the Ls = 0–135° season, with little interannual variation seen in the three Mars years examined. Mars global circulation model simulations imply that cloud radiative forcing plays a dominant role in the seasonal modulation of the observed longitude distribution of warm and cold anomalies in surface and low‐altitude air temperatures, respectively.


Abstract This study is to investigate an active control method, based on trailing-edge flap, in high-frequency vibration control of rotating blade beam. The structure is modeled as composite blade beam with circumferentially asymmetric stiffness configuration, which is based on analysis of the elastic flap-wise/twist displacements and incorporates the angle control of trailing-edge flap driven by a stepping motor. Aerodynamic expressions are based on a novel quasi-steady model suitable for trailing-edge flap. Based on a strip theory, the multi-body dynamic aeroelastic system is analyzed and solved. The active control is realized by Hœ algorithm using linear matrix inequality (LMI) design. This study is to investigate time-domain stability analysis and robust control method, realize displacement response analysis and robust performance analysis, and input signal display of trailing-edge flap angle. The optimization mechanism of LMI is to optimize uncertain robust performance parameters based on the selection of robust control parameters, so that the controlled displacement and control input are kept within reasonable ranges. The reliability and robustness of H» control algorithm based on LMI are verified by comparisons of the results of high-frequency vibration control using different robust performance parameters.


This is a brief article about open questions in prisoners' rights law—that is, legal issues over which the federal courts disagree. These range from issues regarding prisoners' exercise of religion, to interpretation of the Prison Litigation Reform Act, to the law protecting prisoners' physical safety. I hope that this article will be helpful to prisoners' rights lawyers who may consider seeking Supreme Court review of these unresolved questions.


Erotic Infidelities: Love and Enchantment in Angela Carter's The Bloody Chamber. by kimberly J. lau. (Detroit: Wayne State university Press, 2015. Pp. x + 180.)Erotic Infidelities is a valuable addition to the fields of fairy tale studies and literary criticism. kimberly J. lau has written a fascinating monograph on a transformative author. Angela carter's The Bloody Chamber is a popular subject for the study of contemporary fairy tales, and its short stories are useful texts for talking about modern practices of literary retellings and feminist discourse on traditional tales, if the frequency of references to The Bloody Chamber in conference presentations is any indication.lau seeks to uncover new ground on this much-loved and much-analyzed collection by "privileg[ing] carter's multiplicity and intertextuality-internally between and across the stories as well as externally with her theoretical and literary engagements-to explore the contours and possibilities of her alternative erotics" (p. 11). here, "alternative erotics" is meant to situate carter's work as a counterpoint to both male-centered pornographic aesthetics and feminist critiques. in Erotic Infidelities, lau gives a close reading of carter's iconic story collection and examines the author's use of fairy stories in conversation with and contestation of traditional psychosexual privileging of masculine experience.in chapter 1, "enduring narratives," lau reviews the scholarship on The Bloody Chamber. The review of previous carter scholarship does not fully contextualize the history of responses to carter's work, making it difficult for the reader to critically engage and evaluate lau's reasons why, prior to the publication of Erotic Infidelities, a "book-length critical reading of The Bloody Chamber in its entirety [did] not yet exist." lau asserts that carter's anthology is rich with material for examination, and yet it resists analytical conclusions. lau addresses this multiplicity of meaning by treating carter's stories as, for the most part, a series of reflexive duologies and trilogies. Short stories are read as extensions and mirrors of adjacent tales. lau's strategy of matching carter's fairy-tale revisions together is effective, and it would be impossible for this review to do justice to the intricacy of her arguments."labyrinthine Structures" (chapter 2) is one exception to these paired or trebled readings, focusing on the titular story and how it "opens the door to an enticing and seductively dizzying maze" (p. 17), introducing the reader to carter's project of using the erotic to reveal and challenge phallogocentric narratives. Also introduced to the reader is carter's resistance to the "implicitly gendered hegemonies of vision and language" (p. 36).in "beastly Subjects" (chapter 3), lau offers an intertextual analysis of "the feline stories" (p. …


FP 3.1 CORONARY ARTERY CALCIUM SCORE, AND SELECTED ESTABLISHED CARDIOVASCULAR RISK FACTORS, AS PREDICTORS OF ANATOMICALLY SEVERE CORONARY ARTERY DISEASE A COMPUTATIONAL MODELING AND DATA MINING APPROACH Zulkarnain AK, Fong AYY, Ong TK, Ang CK, Liew HB, Chang BC, Annuar R, Yew KL, Nor Hanim MA, Chua SK, Sararaks S, Azman AB, Sim KH. Institute of Health Systems Research, MOH; Department of Cardiology, Sarawak General Hospital; Faculty of Medicine & Health Sciences, UNIMAS


In this topical report, the nitrogen oxide emission issues from a coal fired MHD steam combined cycle power plant are summarized, both from an experimental and theoretical/calculational viewpoint. The concept of staging the coal combustion to minimize NO{sub x} is described. The impact of NO{sub x} control design choices on electrical conductivity and overall plant efficiency are described. The results of the NO{sub x} measurements in over 3,000 hours of coal fired testing are summarized. A chemical kinetics model that was used to model the nooks decomposition is described. Finally, optimum design choices for a low nooks plant are discussed and it is shown that the MHD Steam Coal Fired Combined Cycle Power Plant can be designed to operate with nooks emissions less than 0.05 lbm/MMBTU.


Objective To discuss the clinical effects of health education pathway in perioperative patients with thyroidectomy. Methods 114 perioperative patients with thyroidectomy were divided into the observation group( n = 57) and the control group( n = 57). The control group was given routine thyroid surgery care,and the observation group was given health education pathway based on the routine treatment received by the control group. A contrastive analysis of the two groups was implemented regarding hospitalization time,cost,the knowledge of diseases and the nursing service satisfaction. Results The length of stay in hospital of the observation group was significantly shorter than that of the control group( P 0. 01). The hospital costs of the observation group were significantly superior to those of the control group( P 0. 05). Acquisition of disease knowledge and satisfaction degree for nursing services in the observation group were significantly higher than that of the control group( P 0. 01). Conclusion The application of health education pathway can effectively improve the acquisition of disease knowledge and satisfaction rate of the perioperative patients with thyroidectomy,and facilitate postoperative rehabilitation,meanwhile save medical resources,which is worthy of promotion.


We develop the framework of Lp operations for functions by introducing two primary new types Lp,s summations for p > 0: the Lp,s convolution sum and the Lp,s Asplund sum for functions. The first type is defined as the linear summations of functions in terms of the Lp coefficients (Cp,λ,t, Dp,λ,t), the so-called the Lp,s supremal-convolution when p ≥ 1 and the Lp,s inf-sup-convolution when 0 < p < 1, respectively. The second type Lp,s summation is created by the Lp averages of bases for s-concave functions. We show that they are equivalent in the case s = 0 (log-concave functions) and p ≥ 1. For the former type Lp,s summation, we establish the corresponding Lp-Borell-Brascamp-Lieb inequalities for all s ∈ [−∞,∞] and p ≥ 1. Furthermore, in summarizing the conditions for these new types of Lp-BorellBrascamp-Lieb inequalities, we define a series of the Lp,s concavity definitions for functions and measures. On the other hand, for the latter type Lp,s Asplund summation, we discover the integral formula for Lp,s mixed quermassintegral for functions via tackling the variation formula of quermassintegral of functions for p ≥ 1.