The observation that the fluorescence of certain polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (perylene, 1.2 ;5.6-dibenzoperylene, 9.10-diphenylanthracene and rubrene) is quenched by alkyl iodides only slightly is explained on the basis of the energy levels of these hydrocarbons. In these systems an effective radiationless desactivation of the fluorescing state S1 by intersystem crossing into the triplet manifold is prevented by a wide energy gap between S1 and the lowest triplet state, and the absence of excited triplet states below s,.


The natural herbal medicine is natural substance of the special effect. It provides the prevention and cure of disease and health care as well. The natural herbal medicine fodder additive extracted from nature material was pure natural material and ideal additive. It insured safe food and health for both animal and human beings. Nowadays,the toxic leftover of chemical synthesized additive and chemical medicine accumulate gradually,which seriously affect stock raising and industry of marine product breeding. Since the natural herbal medicine fodder additive was applied in the industry of aquatics breeding,it has already displayed natural quality of being free from pollution,medicine leftover,drugresistance,poisonous effect as well as having benefits to environmental protection.


In 1946, E.H. Carr wrote that: "The place of morality in international politics is the most obscure and difŽcult problem in the whole range of international studies." Over 60 years later, it remains so. Indeed, it can be argued that in the light of contemporary work by post-structuralists and post-moderns, life for the moral theorist in international relations is even more uncomfortable than it was prior to World War II. The central difŽculties, however, remain the same and unresolved, namely moral relativism, international anarchy, and the practical application of ideal standards in a awed world. This paper re-examines these issues in the light of contemporary debates. Its particular concern is to assess whether or not the international society approach can advance moral theory in international relations beyond the amorality of political realism without getting embroiled in the foundational complexity involved in positing universal values. Having outlined the key difŽculties that face moral theory in international relations the paper therefore goes on to make an assessment of the school of international society. It focuses in particular on the tension within the approach between the alternative principles of pluralism and solidarism in an effort to assess the extent to which international society can advance the understanding of the place of morality in international politics.


This paper provides a mass, momentum, and energy flux conservation analysis between the linear and nonlinear steady-state wave groups. Convergent high-order solutions for nonlinear wave groups with multiple steady-state near resonances in deep water have been obtained by means of the homotopy analysis method. The small divisors associated with nearly resonant components are transformed to singularities that are originally caused by exact resonances by a piecewise auxiliary linear operator. Both two primary components and other nearly resonant ones are considered in the initial guess to search for finite amplitude wave groups. It is found that as nonlinearity of wave groups increases, more wave components appear in the spectrum due to the nearly resonant interactions. The nonlinear wave fields change from the initial bi-chromatic waves that contain only two nontrivial primary components into the steady-state resonant waves that contain both two primary components and other nearly resonant ones. The conserv...


Human Resources Management literature regards training as the bloodstream of any organization because the success of an organization to achieve its objectives and goals highly depends on its workforce. For this reason, organizations should invest in employees' training to enhance their performance and that of an organization. Nonetheless, some organizations regard training as an unnecessary expenditure and always cut training budgets to improve their financial standing to the detriment of their employees' welfare because that action incapacitates staff to adapt to the everchanging working environment and uncertain conditions on account of, inter alia, rapid technological innovation and organizational change. This study employed stratified sampling technique to draw a sample of 60 employees from a population of 70 employees through selfadministered questionnaire to examine the impact of training on employees' performance, employee's motivation and job satisfaction in the banking sector in Private bank of Noakhali region in Bangladesh. This results show that the mean for on the job training and development located Original Research Article Jeni et al.; SAJSSE, 9(2): 1-18, 2021; Article no.SAJSSE.64804 2 from 3.23 to 4.4 and for off the job training and development from 2.36 to 4.05. The overall impact of training and development from the perspective of employees of private banking sector in Noakhali region has mean and standard deviation respectively 3.54 and 0.95 in total. This result indicates that training and development has a high impact on the employee's performance and productivity in the perspective of employees of private bank in Noakhali region. The findings of the study generally revealed that training not only increases employees' performance but also positively affects employees' motivation and job satisfaction within the Private banking sector in Bangladesh Therefore, the banking sector in Bangladesh should regularly allocate resources for employees' training based on identified skill gaps to sharpen employees' skills, knowledge and abilities to capacitate them to cope with the ever-changing working environment and uncertain conditions and to improve their motivation and job satisfaction.


Cricket is a complex game, requiring many physical and psychological skills, and involves the subtle interaction of individual and group behaviour over time and changing conditions. The psychological tasks and difficulties of elite cricketers are discussed employing a framework of the relationship with self, other and group. Key issues are competition, identity, emotional regulation, depression and group membership. Cricket teams reflect organisational and group dynamics. Cricket has a sustained relationship with broad culture and has always adapted to societal change. It will be affected by future climate change.


The Reading habit is an essential and important aspect for creating the literate society in this world. It shapes the personality of an individual and helps them to develop the proper thinking methods and create new ideas. At present, due to the influence of the mass media, people do not show much interest in reading books, magazines and journals. Therefore, there is an urgent need to embed and develop the reading habit in the minds of our young children. This study was conducted to assess and determine some appropriate measures and methods to improve the reading habits of Class III students of Patshaling Primary school. Reading habits are best formed at a young impressionable age in school, but once formed it can last one's lifetime (Green, 2001). The mixed, observational descriptive study of longitudinal design used instruments like observation, diaries and interviews to collect both qualitative and quantitative data. In this paper, the researcher also discussed various methods and benefits in improving reading habits. Findings from this study concluded that the intervention program implemented on 14 students of Class III students could significantly improve the reading habits and develop a positive attitude towards reading. This research comes as the solution to both the teachers and students of lower primary school students who are struggling to improve their reading habits. The study provides some useful insight into developing reading habits and how reading habits can be enhanced to achieve maximum development in our young children.


We prove that symplectic 4-manifolds with $b_1 = 0$ and $b^+ > 1$ have nonvanishing Donaldson invariants, and that the canonical class is always a basic class. We also characterize in many situations the basic classes of a Lefschetz fibration over the sphere which evaluate maximally on a generic fiber.


This study was carried out in central Anatolia region in 2008–2010. Surveys were conducted in Isparta (Uluborlu, Merkez (Sav), Atabey), Afyon (Sultandağı) and Çankırı (Eldivan) cherry orchards. In this study, species and density of bark beetles were determined in cherry orchards. Investigations were done by using red sticky traps (Rebell rosso) to determine important Scolytus species and densities in the cherry orchards in Central Anatolia. Traps baited with ethanol were used to determine flying period and population density of adult shothole borer species. In this study other than Scolytus rugulosus Müller, Xyleborus dispar Fabricius, Lymantor coryli Perris and Taphrorychus villifrons Dufour were observed. Scolytus rugulosus was as an important species and some of the biological data of this species were determined.


Jung Young Lee is a Korean-born theologian who employs creatively the doctrine of the Trinity from an Asian worldview. This article aims to analyze Lee's approaches of the Trinity with the Yin-Yang symbolism. The main reference is based on the book written by him entitled 'The Trinity in Asian Perspective (1996)'. Lee has turned his attention to the topic of Trinity through the lens of the culture and thought patterns of his own milieu. One of the leading point in presenting Yin-Yang principle as Trinitarian thinking, Lee examines the interpretation of the term "in" in the Bible, "Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me" (John 14:11). The statement leads to the point that Yin and Yang cannot exist without each other because relationality is given priority than individuality. The idea is based on the terminology of 'both/and'. So, 'and' indicates a Trinitarian statement, there is interdependence and unification. With reference to Trinity, the Father and the Son are One because of 'and'. In addition, the same concept implements to the Holy Spirit. Lee views 'and' is not only a linking principle in both-and thinking but also the principle that is 'between' two. When 'two' exists, the third also exist between them. Based on the idea of 'middle', represents the connecting element between two, which contributes for the existence of the Third. Accordingly, the Spirit is the third element in the Trinity relationship.


While walking on split-belt treadmills (two belts running at different speeds), the slower limb shows longer anterior steps than the limb dragged by the faster belt. After returning to basal conditions, the step length asymmetry is transiently reversed (after-effect). The lower limb joint dynamics, however, were not thoroughly investigated. In this study, 12 healthy adults walked on a force-sensorised split-belt treadmill for 15 min. Belts rotated at 0.4 m s−1 on both sides, or 0.4 and 1.2 m s−1 under the non-dominant and dominant legs, respectively. Spatiotemporal step parameters, ankle power and work, and the actual mean velocity of the body's centre of mass (CoM) were computed. On the faster side, ankle power and work increased, while step length and stance time decreased. The mean velocity of the CoM slightly decreased. As an after-effect, modest converse asymmetries developed, fading within 2–5 min. These results may help to decide which belt should be assigned to the paretic and the unaffected lower limb when split-belt walking is applied for rehabilitation research in hemiparesis.


The three books under review are recent works in West African history written by wellestablished and widely published scholars in this field. Together, they offer an opportunity to assess the state of the field 25 years after A. G Hopkins published his authoritative Economic History of West Africa} Hopkins's study helped to put African economic history on the scholarly map, and it remains a standard work to this day. His main argument was that Africans were as economically motivated as persons of European descent; hence the economic principles that had been developed in studying the economies of Europe and North America applied with equal force to Africans. This perspective, seemingly incontestable, in fact challenged a large body of more anthropologically oriented literature that depicted African societies as more communal, less individualistic, and thus less driven by economic calculations. The three studies reviewed here embrace Hopkins's perspective entirely, treating Africans as full-fledged economic actors, even when they found themselves in subordinate positions in the world economy, either as suppliers of captives to European slavers or as secondary actors in colonial economies. They extend the notion of the African as homo economicus in at least three of the ways that have come to figure prominently in the historical literature on Africa that has appeared since Hopkins's work. The first emphasizes the dynamic role of African middlemen in linking the economics of the continent to the rest of the world. It has, of course, long been known that African middlemen and African political leaders were integral to the Atlantic slave trade. Less well appreciated is the part that these men and women played in enabling European investment houses to establish their presence on the African continent. Raymond Dumett, for instance, highlights the role of Gold Coast merchants in ensuring the success of gold mining companies there. Their superior knowledge of local political, social, and economic conditions made them indispensable for introducing businesses, gaining vital economic and political concessions, and procuring labor. Second, these three works indicate that the dividing line between the precolonial and colonial periods must be viewed as a blurred one. Martin Klein's analysis of slavery in Francophone West Africa makes clear that Europe's military and financial weaknesses and the need to curry favor with slave-owning African Elites meant that colonial agents had to share power with their African collaborators and had to be mindful of the cultural and economic interests of these individuals. A third point emerges just as solidly from Ralph Austen and Jonathan Derrick's study of Duala middlemen. Members of this group helped Europeans to impose colonial rule in their area but, like so many other early collaborators, they later saw their privileges and powers eroded by new elite groups. At first the Duala staved off marginalization by becoming planters and using their educational advantages to


Circumstance of the former times when environment is satisfactory in order to grasp the circumstance of the Ariake Sea of time before 1970 where the scientific data becomes insufficient, I did hearing investigation the fishermen of the Ariake Sea in the object and took and investigated, obtained the importance and the significant data. These valuable data are used as the fundamental data of master plan of Ariake Sea playback.


In many empirical studies, researchers seek to estimate causal relationships using instrumental variables. When only one valid instrumental variable is available, researchers are limited to estimating linear models, even when the true model may be non-linear. In this case, ordinary least squares and instrumental variable estimators will identify different weighted averages of the underlying marginal causal effects even in the absence of endogeneity. As such, the traditional Hausman test for endogeneity is uninformative. We build on this insight to develop a new test for endogeneity that is robust to any form of non-linearity. Notably, our test works well even when only a single valid instrument is available. This has important practical applications, since it implies that researchers can estimate a completely unrestricted non-linear model by OLS, and then use our test to establish whether those OLS estimates are consistent. We re-visit a few recent empirical examples to show how the test can be used to shed new light on the role of non-linearity.


Some principles of ecological engi-neering for to protect, utilize and manage thewater resources, aqua-environment are pro-vided They are the essence of the welfare forthe people as well as harmony between natureand human being; Optimization of the wholeand ecological relationship; coordinationamong structure, function and both; give fullplay to the function of ecological self-regulation, self-resiliency( self-organization);regeneration and beneficial circulation.


Presentation of research in progress for the film 216 Westbound by Shona Illingworth and panel discussion on the themes in the work with Professor John Tulloch and Professor Andrew Hoskins, Anxious Places symposium. The symposium examined the ways in which anxiety 'contaminates' urban and social environments. Artists and scholars discussed contemporary angst from a range of cross-disciplinary perspectives and artistic medium.


In this note, we are concerned with a class of semi-linear elliptic pdes with exponential nonlinearity in a bounded domain. Here, the nonlinearity is more or less growing exponentially with power p. We consider the problem under two types of Dirichlet boundary condition. We give existence and non-existence of solutions for those problems and some asymptotics.


The utility model relates to a waterproof frame system for solar modules, which comprises grooves and elongated inserting plates, wherein each groove with an inverted L-shaped section extends outwardly from the outer side edge of each aluminum frame of each solar module, the inserting plates are arranged between the adjacent aluminum frames of the solar modules which are adjacently and parallelly arranged, grooves on two sides of each inserting plate are connected with the inverted L-shaped grooves on the aluminum frames of the solar modules which are adjacently and parallelly arranged in a matched mode, an upper cover plate and a lower plate are arranged above or below the adjacent ends of the adjacent inserting plates respectively, and the upper cover plate and the lower cover plate are fixedly connected by the aid of a bolt. The two end portions of the inserting plates are downwardly recessed portions, the upper cover is arranged on the downwardly recessed portions of the inserting plates so as to be fastened in, and the upper edge of the upper cover is level with the heights of the inserting plates. The upper cover plate comprises an upper aluminum alloy plate and a lower waterproof rubber pad so as to prevent seepage of water.


Abstract The author studied a public junior high school identified as successfully implementing authentic instruction. Such instruction emphasizes higher order thinking, deep knowledge, substantive conversation, and value beyond school. To determine in what ways higher order thinking was fostered both for students with and without disabilities, the author analyzed contextual factors, classroom observations, interviews, assessment tasks, and work samples from five inclusive English and science classrooms. Teachers consistently and systematically used higher order questions, metacognitive strategies, modeling, specific feedback, connections to prior learning, critical pedagogy, elaborated writing tasks, and assignments that connected to students' lives outside of school. Students with disabilities completed the same authentic tasks as their peers without disabilities but with somewhat lower scores. Contextual analysis suggested that the culture of respect throughout the school fostered higher order thinking, and likewise, the expectation for that kind of thinking fostered the culture of respect. The Partnership for 21st Century Skills (2009) has identified creativity, innovation, critical thinking, problem solving, communication, and collaboration as key skills needed for the 21st century. In contrast, No Child Left Behind's requirement that students, including those with disabilities, participate in high-stakes testing, has led to greater emphasis on basic skills, factual material, and formulaic writing (Costa & Kallick, 2004; Dede, 201 0; Fischer, Bol, & Pribesh, 2011; Kixmiller, 2004). This emphasis seems misguided, because research has demonstrated that students do better on high stakes tests when their teachers engage them in high quality intellectual work rather than emphasizing basic skills and broad coverage of material (e.g., Newman, King, & Carmichael, 2007; Wenglisky, 2004). Research findings suggest that higher order thinking skills can be nurtured in elementary and secondary students representing diverse racial and socio-economic backgrounds when schools practice authentic instruction (Newman, Bryk, & Nagaoka, 2001; Newman, Marks, & Gamoran, 1996). Authentic instruction refers to teaching that promotes constructing knowledge, disciplined inquiry, and assignments of immediate value beyond school (Newman et al., 1996). The approach seeks to academically challenge students and engage them in issues that have personal or social significance. Engaging students in high quality intellectual work has resulted in comparable positive outcomes for secondary students with and without disabilities (Morocco, Hindin, Mata-Aguilar, & Clark-Chiarelli, 2001; Phelps, 2005). In fact, King, Schroeder, and Chawszcaewski (2001) found that students with disabilities in grades 9-12 who were given challenging tasks performed better than students without disabilities at the same grade level who were given less challenging tasks. Nevertheless, many teachers reserve authentic instruction for higher-functioning students who are perceived to have a more solid knowledge base (Collins, Palincsar, & Magnusson, 2005), even though students with disabilities often have similar background knowledge (Palincsar, Magnusson, Collins, & Cutter, 2001). Background to the Study In the mid-1990s, Newman and his associates (Newman, Secada, & Wehlage, 1995) created standards for authentic instruction, assessment, and performance that examined higher-order thinking, substantive conversation, deep knowledge, and relevance to the outside world. They studied 24 elementary and secondary schools by evaluating instruction and student work, the relationship between instruction and student performance, and access to such instruction for diverse groups of students (Newman, Marks & Gamoran, 1 996). Where authentic instruction was identified, the average student performance improved from the 30th to the 60th percentile. …


Impostor phenomenon (IP) is a psychological state in which individuals doubt their abilities and achievements and attribute them to external factors such as luck, chance, or deception. IP can have negative consequences for individuals' well-being, motivation, and career development. However, little is known about how IP affects job performance and what factors can mitigate its impact. In this study, the authors proposes a conceptual model that links IP to job performance through three mediators: vicarious learning, impression management, and self-reflection. It also discusses the implications of the model for research and practice. The model suggests that IP can negatively affect job performance by hindering vicarious learning, impression management, and self-reflection. Through the use of this conceptual model and literature analysis, a total of 10 propositions were developed. Additionally, it might increase awareness to support therapies aimed at overcoming feelings of dishonesty that aid in developing people's skills to their fullest potential. The model also suggests that individual differences and contextual factors can moderate these relationships. The model provides a comprehensive and dynamic framework to understand and address the phenomenon of IP and its impact on job performance.


Abstract Background Sunlight relationship with allergies is poorly studied in children. Thus, we examined how early exposure to solar radiation is associated with allergic morbidity in the PARIS birth cohort. Methods This study dealt with children who attended at least one of the two health check-ups: 18 months (n = 2012) and 8/9 years (n = 1080). Early exposure (prenatal and during the first year of life) to solar radiation was assessed using meteorological data (solar radiation, temperature, relative humidity). Children with similar exposure trajectories were grouped by longitudinal and multidimensional cluster analysis. Association of solar radiation exposure with allergic morbidity (i.e. allergic sensitisation at 18 months and 8/9 y., current asthma, rhinitis, and eczema at 8/9 y.) was quantified by multivariable logistic regression models adjusted for potential confounders. The effect modification of maternal vitamin D (VitD) supplementation during pregnancy was also tested. Results Four exposure trajectories were found. The trajectory with the highest exposure to early solar radiation had a reduced risk of sensitisation at 8/9 y. compared to the trajectory with the lowest exposure (p = 0.06). This association was statistically significant in the VitD supplemented subgroup. Solar radiation during pre- and post-natal period was significantly associated with a lower risk of sensitisation at 8/9 y. (for ↗IQR, aOR: 0.47; 95%CI: 0.25-0.87 and 0.84;0.70-1.00, respectively). Increased prenatal exposure to solar radiation was significantly associated with a lower asthma risk at 8/9 y. (for ↗IQR, 0.32; 0.10-0.96). Conclusions Early sunlight exposure may reduce the risk of sensitisation and asthma in school-aged children, especially in those prenatally exposed to VitD intake. These findings highlight the importance of VitD in preventing allergic diseases in children, either through supplementation or sunlight exposure. Key messages • Pre-natal and early postnatal exposure to sunlight could reduce the risk of sensitisation and asthma among school-aged children. • The association may be explained by vitamin D immunomodulatory effect, highlighting its importance in preventing allergic diseases in children through supplementation or sunlight exposure.


World-wide attention to reduction of Ozone-Depleting Substances (ODS) requires redesigning many optical fabrication processes to eliminate or drastically reduce ODS usage. We will discuss progress toward the goal of the Texas Instruments Optical Fabrication and Coating Facility to be ODS-free by the end of 1994. There are similar pressures to eliminate the mildly radioactive Thorium Fluoride coating material often used when coating infrared optics. We will describe the scope of coating redesign required and the measured results of new Thorium-Free coatings. We will describe the mixed hazardous waste minimization program required to continue repair of customer returns and results of decontaminating our equipment and facilities during 1992.


Several investigators have suggested that Borrelia burgdorferi, the spirochete responsible for Lyme disease, also causes morphea, a localized form of


Electrohydrodynamic phenomena appearing as a result of interaction of liquid media, both homogenous and heterogeneous, isothermal and non–isothermal, with the external electric fields are considered. Classification of electrohydrodynamic phenomena is presented and their physical and applied aspects are discussed. Solutions of some electrohydrodynamic problems are considered.


In this paper, according to the feature of photogrammetric satellites,the concept of the satellite launching window is introduced, and the formulae of its determination deduced. With these formulae, the pertinent parameters of a simulated satellite are solved, and some data of a mission period are obtained when the satellite flies over different areas, including the solar altitudes, the angles betweent the main optical axis and the directions of the sun and the moon.


In a recent paper describing Hubble Space Telescope observations of Cepheids in the spiral galaxy NGC 4258, Newman et al. report that the revised calibrations and methods for the Key Project on the Extragalactic Distance Scale yield that the true distance modulus of this galaxy is μ0, 4258 = 29.40 ± 0.09 mag, corresponding to a metric distance of 7.6 ± 0.3 Mpc. This Cepheid distance, which holds for 18.50 mag as the true distance modulus of the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), is not significantly larger than 7.2 ± 0.5 Mpc, the value determined by Herrnstein et al. from purely geometric considerations on the orbital motions of water maser sources. However, if the metallicity difference Δ[O/H] ~ 0.35 between NGC 4258 and the LMC is taken into account, then the Key Project methods lead to a metallicity-corrected value of μ0, 4258 = 29.47 ± 0.09 mag, with μ0, LMC = 18.50 mag, namely, to a Cepheid distance of 7.8 ± 0.3 Mpc, which is 1.2 σ from the maser determination. One might argue that these results are suggesting that a smaller distance to the LMC, μ0, LMC ~ 18.3 mag, should be used to calibrate the Cepheid brightness. However, even though the well-known controversy between short and long distance scale is far from being settled and current determinations of the LMC distance modulus span ~0.4 mag, it seems that the various empirical methods converge on the value adopted by the Key Project (see Carretta et al.). In this paper we show that the metallicity correction on Cepheid distance determinations, as suggested by pulsation models with three different chemical abundances (Y = 0.25, Z = 0.004; Y = 0.25, Z = 0.008; Y = 0.28, Z = 0.02), might provide a natural way of reaching a close agreement between Cepheid and maser distances to NGC 4258 for a wide variety of LMC distance determinations. In fact, by adopting μ0, LMC = 18.50 ± 0.10 mag we derive a Cepheid distance of 7.3 ± 0.6 Mpc, which is only 0.2 σ from the maser determination, while using μ0, LMC = 18.60 ± 0.10 or 18.40 ± 0.10 mag, the Cepheid and maser distances are 0.8 σ and 0.4 σ apart, respectively.


Lidocaine is a widely utilized as local anesthetic in medical and dental procedures due to its effectiveness and low toxicity. In recent years, there has been a growing interest in the development of lidocaine formulations that can enhance drug delivery and provide prolonged analgesia. One such approach involves the utilization of nanostructured lipid carriers (NLCs) containing lidocaine base. NLCs, which belong to the category of lipid nanoparticles, offer advantages such as improved drug solubility, stability, and bioavailability (Suto et al., 2015). The objective of the study was to prepare and optimize formulation parameters by selecting appropriate lipids and surfactants in conjunction with lidocaine base. Subsequently, a comprehensive evaluation of in vitro drug release and drug permeation through the skin was conducted. Furthermore, the study aimed to develop a method for investigating a drug delivery system combined with solid microneedles to enhance the penetration of lidocaine.


Total energy calculations based on first principles reveal that a (5,3) gold nanotube has a helical pitch of 10.05nm or a natural length of 20.1A per unit cell at the minimum total energy. The figure is about 9.5% shorter than the experimental pitch of 11nm under stress from the experimental setup. Energy bands for both pitches are similar, giving five units of quantum conductance. The calculations indicate that the single-walled gold (5,3) nanotube is a robust and stable conducting wire suitable for nanoelectronic applications.


PURPOSE
To compare risk factors for skin breakdown between Philadelphia and Aspen cervical collars.

METHODS
Crossover design. Twenty healthy volunteers wore Philadelphia and Aspen cervical collars in random order. Occipital pressure, relative skin humidity, and skin temperature measured at 0 and 30 minutes. Paired t-tests compared changes between collars from 0 to 30 minutes.

FINDINGS
Occipital pressure and skin temperature were not statistically different between collars. Relative skin humidity increased more in Philadelphia (29% +/- 17%) than Aspen (8% +/- 9%), p < 0.001.

CONCLUSIONS
Aspen resulted in lower relative skin humidity.


There is an increasing demand for the low-cost and high-efficient speech coders used in personal multimedia communications and Voice over IP applications. In this paper the general aspects of G.729 8kb/s CS-ACELP speech coder is presented, then several methods to reduce its complexity with a very slight degradation in speech quality is proposed. The more efficient proposed methods for encoder are "fast openloop pitch estimation based on pre-search in down sampled signal domain" and "using previously computed pitch delay instead of current pitch based on the difference between the previous and the current LSP coefficients", and for decoder is "low-cost postfiltering by using an efficient long term postfilter". The performance of the proposed methods was measured in terms of segmental SNR and DMOS listening test.


Historians and anthropologists in Sri Lanka have tended to migrate in opposite directions, but away from the multiethnic confusion of the port cities. Typi- cally, the heterogeneous, semi-Westernized, postcolonial urban society of Colombo and the larger towns has been only a transit point on intellectual journeys outbound to European archives or inbound to "traditional culture." This was certainly my viewpoint as I arrived "inbound" in Sri Lanka for my first anthropological fieldwork. I took only passing notice of the clerks of mixed European and Sri Lankan descent who sold me stationery supplies at Cargill's and mosquito nets at Carvalho's. These people are given the official designation of Burghers in the government census: they are the racially mixed descendants of the Portuguese, Dutch, and British personnel who occupied the island during four and a half centuries of colonial rule.


Aiming at the problems encountered in the process of developing vocational and technical education and based on the thinking of enhancing the quality of personnel training and providing a strong talent and intellectual support for the Central Plains Economic Zone,the paper analyzes the problem of the current vocational and technical education.It also indicated the necessity of high-quality vocational and technical education and the realistic path of improving the personnel training quality of vocational and technical education in accordance with local economic development needs.


Myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) are an immunosuppressive cell type found in high abundance in early life. Currently, there has been limited mechanistic understanding of MDSC phagocytosis of bacteria and the corresponding consequences in the context of acute infection. We set out to determine whether human granulocytic MDSCs have phagocytic capacity that is comparable to other professional phagocytes. To investigate these properties, we utilized fluorescent confocal microscopy, flow cytometry, and bacterial burden assays. We demonstrate that human granulocytic MDSCs phagocytose E. coli O1:K1:H7, and subsequently traffic the bacteria into acidic compartments similar to other phagocytes. However, MDSCs were significantly less efficient at bacterial uptake and killing compared to monocytes. This activity is associated with an inflammatory response, but the amount of TNFα gene and protein expression was reduced in infected MDSCs compared to monocytes. Interestingly, we also found that MDSCs release DNA (MeDNA) into the extracellular space that resembles neutrophil extracellular traps. We found that MeDNA had some impact on bacterial viability in single cultures, with an increase in bacterial recovery in MDSCs treated with DNAse. However, MeDNA did not impact the ability of monocytes to eliminate bacteria in co-cultures, suggesting that MDSC extracellular DNA does not compromise monocyte function. Overall, our data reveals mechanistic insight into MDSC activity during infection that includes the kinetics and efficiency of bacterial uptake, elimination through trafficking to acidified compartments, and inflammatory contributions relative to primary human monocytes. These results enhance our understanding of MDSC contributions during acute bacterial infection and identify host-directed targets for immune intervention to improve outcomes and reduce susceptibility to infection early in life.


Despite an epidemic of muscular-skeletal disorders (MSD), these are under-reported. We conducted a telephone survey of 391 general practitioners and 96 rheumatologists in Southeast France to study the barriers to physicians' reporting of occupational diseases (OD). We presented them with a case study of a patient with work-related sciatica. A total of 72% of GPs and 84% of rheumatologists did not recommend reporting this as OD, for the following reasons, respectively: hesitation due to the possible role of extra-professional activities as the root cause (77%, 74%), a preference for reporting it as an occupational accident (67%, 42%), the acknowledgement that reporting such cases is the role of occupational physicians (60%, 60%), and fear of the risk of losing one's job (47%, 36%). The results of multiple regression analysis suggest that the lack of awareness of reporting procedures and the presumption of causality may constitute major barriers to reporting.


Field life table of Earias vittella indicated that egg stage contributed 20 per cent mortality mainly due to egg sterility. Younger and older larval group contributed 25.94 and 8.73 per cent mortality, respectively. Viral, bacterial, fungal infection, Cotesia sp, etc. was key mortality factors operating under field conditions. The value of generation survival and trend index was found 0.44811 and 0.0166, respectively. In immature stages the maximum mortality was recorded during pupal stage which was recorded 0.1637 value of 'K's while, lest mortality was observed in the older larval group with a 0.0645 'K's value.


The scope of this paper is to present a theoretical study of a catalytic polymeric dense membrane reactor (CPDMR) assuming isothermal conditions, plug flow pattern without pressure drop in both retentate and permeate sides, shell side feed and cocurrent operation. The conversion enhancement over the thermodynamic equilibrium value is studied for a gas-phase reaction of the type aAÐ bB, considering two different stoichiometric ratios: Dn > 0 and Dn < 0, where Dn = b a. For each of these cases, the influence of the relative sorption and diffusivity of the reaction species is studied. It is concluded that the conversion of a reversible reaction can be significantly enhanced when the diffusivity of the reaction products is higher than that of the reactants and/or the sorption is lower. It is also concluded that, even for equal sorption and diffusion coefficients, the conversion could also be improved for reactions with Dn 61⁄4 0. The extension of this enhancement depends on the reaction stoichiometry, the overall concentration inside the membrane, the Thiele modulus, and the contact time. # 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.


Solid pseudopapillary neoplasm of the pancreas (SPN) is an infrequent entity that represents 2 to 3 per cent of pancreatic neoplasms and 10 to 15 per cent of cystic lesions of the pancreas. These neoplasms are characterized by low malignant potential and excellent prognosis with a five-year survival rate of 95 to 97 per cent.1 It frequently occurs in young women in the second and third decade of life, mainly affecting the body and tail of the pancreas. Although metastatic disease is infrequent, it is present in 9 to 15 per cent of cases and predominantly affects the liver. In a systematic review published in 2014 by Law et al.2 at the Johns Hopkins University, it was found that 70 per cent of the information emerged after the year 2000, and up to 99 per cent of this information, were series reports with an average of 9.9 cases (range of 2–114 patients). Most cases corresponded to Asian countries, especially China and South Korea. The aim of this work is to describe the clinical, imaging, and pathological characteristics of patients with SPN registered in our institution in the last 30 years. Patients with a histopathological diagnosis of SPN between 1986 and 2016 were included. Electronic and physical records were reviewed to obtain the clinical, imaging, and pathological characteristics of each patient. A relationship between SPN and cystic lesions of the pancreas documented in the same period was made. Mean and SD were included for quantitative variables, and frequency and percentages for qualitative variables. Within the period of time studied, 82 patients with cystic lesions of the pancreas were documented, of which 33 cases (40.2%) corresponded to SPN, 84.8 per cent of the cases detected in the last 10 years. Of the patients with histological diagnosis of SPN, 31 patients (93.9%) were women and two patients (6.1%) men with an average age of diagnosis of 30.7 and 56.7 years old, respectively. Abdominal pain was the most frequent symptom in 72.7 per cent of cases, followed by early satiety in 18.2 per cent and weight loss in 15.2 per cent; other referred symptoms include jaundice, fever, nausea or vomiting, and bleeding from the upper gastrointestinal tract. In three patients (9%), the diagnosis was incidental through imaging studies. Regarding the location of the tumor, 57.6 per cent of the tumors were located in the body-tail of the pancreas, whereas 39.4 per cent in the head and 3 per cent in the neck. One patient had elevated Ca 19-9 levels at the time of diagnosis. In relation to surgical treatment, distal pancreatectomy was performed with splenectomy in 51.5 per cent of the cases and pancreatoduodenectomy in 30.3 per cent; other procedures included central pancreatectomy and enucleation. In two cases portal vein vascular reconstruction was required. Considering the short-term complications, defined as complications within the first 30 postoperative days, the most frequently observed scenario was intra-abdominal sepsis in eight patients (24.2%); however, other complications include delay in gastric emptying, infection of the surgical wound, and pancreatic fistula, of the latter, no case required surgical treatment and one case was associated with abdominal sepsis; regarding longterm complications, the development of diabetes mellitus was the complication most frequently observed in 27.3 per cent of patients followed by intestinal malabsorption in 21.2 per cent. Tables 1 and 2 summarize the clinical characteristics of the studied patients. CTwas the imaging study performed on all patients, so it was the modality used to document characteristic findings. In the 33 patients, a single lesion was observed in the absence of pancreatic atrophy or dilation of the Wirsung's duct; in 18.2 per cent of the cases, the presence of calcifications was observed. Imaging studies showed no lymph node or liver involvement. Address correspondence and reprint requests to Ismael Domı́nguez Rosado, M.D., Department of Hepatic Surgery, National Institute of Medical Sciences and Nutrition "Salvador Zubirán", Avenue Vasco de Quiroga, 15 Col. Sección XVI. Del., Tlalpan CP, Mexico City, Mexico 14080. E-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com.


Insects are consumed as food in many cultures of the world and are promoted through products that increase acceptance of the practice. Insects are a potential source of nutrients and bioactive compounds; however, lack of acceptance is an obstacle to widespread consumption. Extraction of Pterophylla beltrani (Bolivar and Bolivar) was evaluated in water, 50% ethanol, absolute ethanol, tequila, vodka, and rum. Total phenolic compounds (TPC) and free radical scavenging capacity against 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and 2,2′-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulphonic acid (ABTS) radicals were extracted, mostly with hydroalcoholic solutions and water rather than with absolute ethanol. The best extraction solvent for total phenolic compounds, DPPH, and ABTS was 50% ethanol with 37.21 milliequivalents of gallic acid per gram (mGAE/g), 412.40 milliequivalents of Trolox per gram (mTE/g), and 1,604.32 mTE/g. Of commercial beverages, tequila and vodka were better for extraction and activity of total phenolic compounds against the DPPH radical, while rum was better for extracting activity against the ABTS radical. Incorporation of total phenolic compounds and activity against the two radicals highlights the potential of entomochemicals of P. beltrani to be incorporated into alcoholic and other beverages. The insect has potential to be incorporated as a functional ingredient in the food industry.


We describe two modified methods for median‐to‐ulnar motor conduction comparison in the diagnosis of median neuropathy at the wrist: the median–thenar to ulnar–thenar latency difference (TTLD), and the median–thenar to ulnar–hypothenar latency difference (THLD). We also describe an F‐wave ulnar‐to‐median comparative test, the F‐wave latency difference (FWLD). The abnormal cutoffs based upon 34 normal controls are: TTLD, 0.8 ms; THLD, 1.2 ms; FWLD, 0.6 ms. In 50 patients (79 hands) with clinically defined carpal tunnel syndrome and electrophysiological evidence of median neuropathy at the wrist (based upon a prolonged median nerve palm–wrist latency), the diagnostic sensitivities were: 95–98%, 85–88%, and 75–78%, respectively. These tests are therefore highly sensitive. They are easily performed and require minimal additional effort to incorporate into commonly used clinical electrodiagnostic routines. They may be advantageous when a concomitant polyneuropathy is present, and they may also help avoid technical pitfalls and aid in identification of anatomic variants. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Muscle Nerve 22: 88–98, 1999


In apparatus for analysing the performance of a helicopter rotor and making consequent adjustments to the rotor and/or to the helicopter, an analogue signal is derived trom an accelerometer (11) mounted on the rotor bearing housing and is converted to a digital signal in a converter (14) sampling at a multiple of rotor frequency. The digital signal is fed to a fast Fourier transform unit (21) controlled at a frequency (22) derived from a pick-off (17) on the rotor so that the unit (21) gives outputs representative of the amplitude and phase of the signal at the frequency of rotation or a multiple or fraction of that frequency.


A planet's orbital orientation relative to an observer's line of sight determines the chord length for a transiting planet, i.e., the projected distance a transiting planet travels across the stellar disk. For a given circular orbit, the chord length determines the transit duration. Changes in the orbital inclination, the longitude of ascending node, or both, can alter this chord length and thus result in transit duration variations (TDVs). Variation of the full orbital inclination vector can even lead to de-transiting or newly transiting planets for a system. We use Laplace-Lagrange secular theory to estimate the fastest nodal eigenfrequencies for over 100 short-period planetary systems. The highest eigenfrequency is an indicator of which systems should show the strongest TDVs. We further explore five cases (TRAPPIST-1, Kepler-11, K2-138, Kepler-445, and Kepler-334) using direct N-body simulations to characterize possible TDVs and to explore whether de-transiting planets might be possible for these systems. A range of initial conditions are explored, in which each realization is consistent with the observed transits. We find that tens of percent of multiplanet systems have fast enough eigenfrequencies to expect large TDVs on decade timescales. For the directly integrated cases, we find that de-transiting planets might occur on decade timescales, and TDVs of 10 minutes per decade are expected to be common.


Isomerization of soybean oil, methyl oleate, and methyl linoleate with thionyl chloride was investigated under various conditions. The amounts of conjugated dienes formed are relatively small, and infrared spectroscopic study shows that conjugated dienes are mainly of the trans-trans form. In the isomerization of methyl oleate with 1% thionyl chloride at 180°-250°C, the double bond migrates from 6 to 12 position.The thermal decomposition of thionyl chloride was examined by the IR spectral analysis and organoleptic test. Moreover, the effects of the possible thermal decomposition products of thionyl chloride, Cl2, SO2, and S2Cl2, upon the isomerization of soybean oil were studied. From the results, it can be inferred that, in the isomerization of soybean oil with thionyl chloride a greater fraction of the thionyl chloride will remain unchanged below 220°C. Moreover, it is considered that some of the decomposition products of thionyl chloride, if formed in small quantities, may play a role of catalyst.


Using sensitive sequence profile searches and contextual information gleaned fromdomain architectures and predicted operons we identify a novel family of proteindomains with predicted ribonuclease activity. These domains are found in theeukaryotic proteins typified by the Nedd4-binding protein 1 and the bacterial YacPlikeproteins (Nedd4-BP1, YacP nucleases; NYN domains). We show that the NYNdomain shares a common protein fold with two other previously characterized groupsof nucleases, namely the PIN (PilT N-terminal) and FLAP/5'->3' exonucleasesuperfamilies. We also show that all these proteins share a common set of 4 acidicconserved residues that are predicted to constitute their active site. Based on theconservation of the acidic residues and structural elements we suggest that that PINand NYN domains are likely to bind only a single metal ion, unlike the FLAP/5'->3'exonuclease superfamily, which binds two metal ions. We also present evidence thatthe other conserved residues shared by all these three domains are likely to playcritical roles in sensing the substrate and positioning the catalytic residues in theright conformation. Based on conserved gene neighborhoods we infer that thebacterial members are likely to be components of the processome/degradsome thatprocess tRNAs or ribosomal RNAs. Eukaryotic versions appear to have undergoneextensive functional diversification as suggested by the several distinctive multidomainarchitectures showing fusions with various other RNA-binding domains likeCCCH, PPR and KH domains. Interestingly, the eukaryotic NYN domains also showmultiple fusions to the UBA domain, an ubiquitin-binding adaptor domain. Thisobservation, together with the mono-ubiquitination of Nedd4-BP1 by the ubiquitinligase Nedd4 suggests that the NYN domain proteins of eukaryotes are regulated bymono-ubiquitination. Given the localization of Nedd4-BP1 to punctuate nuclearbodies, it is likely that they are parts of nuclear RNA-processing complexes that aredependent on mono-ubiquitination for their assembly.


Morphological and structural details of silicon carbide type 141R are given. This polymorph, having a structure represented by the zigzag sequence 3333333333333332, is a member of the `3...2' rhombohedral series proposed by Ramsdell [Am. Mineralogist 32, 64 (1947)].A detailed study of the `3...2' series is undertaken, resulting in an empirical mechanism which can be used for the direct determination of the structure of any member of this series. Using this means the structure of the new polymorph 393R is suggested.


This book is edited by a respiratory physician and a general physician based in Aberdeen. The book has had contributions from a significant number of experts in medicine and appropriate sub-specialties. The book aims to deliver a new approach to medical books for students of medicine and is part of a series of such books. The book is divided into 12 parts with each part comprising three sections. The first section is the big picture with a contextual placement of the issues regarding that subject area. The second section contains condensed high return revision facts. The third section is fleshed out with a more detailed in-depth read of the subject matter. This approach makes the book not only a quick revision guide but also a source of more detailed information. The text and pictures make it entirely readable as well as memorable and the quality throughout is of a high standard. Although the book is directed at those in medical training or the early years of training, as an occupational physician who completed the MRCP examinations many years ago, it has also proved a useful reference aid and continuing professional development tool. I certainly have already used this textbook and intend to keep it on my desk as ready reference. For those occupational physicians with a keen interest in continuing their knowledge and understanding of general medicine, I would highly recommend this book. Rating


The satellite structure in the x-ray photoelectron spectra of Zn and Cd metals has been measured with particular attention being paid to the core subshells. The interesting result of these observations is that, as for pure metals, it is possible to obtain experimental information on the unoccupied band structure through the satellites in the core spectra with the use of electron spectroscopy for chemical analysis.


Abstract : The results of an experiment which subjected high diffraction efficiency holograms (average: 40%, max. = 58%) written into DCPVA (Dichromated polyvinyl alcohol) photopolymer thin films to the combination of ionizing radiation, temperature and atomic oxygen. This simulated to some extent, the synergistic effects of the LEO (Low Earth Orbital) environment. Remarkably, diffraction efficiency was not found to be significantly degraded in these experiments. A regression model for gamma ray radiation induced degradation in DCPVA holograms is presented. Photopolymer, Dichromated poly (Vinyl Alcohol), Photonics, Photonic memories, Hologram.


Abstract— In order to investigate the toxic effects of long‐term treatment with anthraquinone laxatives, rats were fed either chocolate alone, or chocolate adulterated with senna or danthron (1,8‐dihydroxyanthraquinone) for 5 months. Mesenteric blood vessels and the outer muscle layers of the caecum, together with the myenteric plexus, were examined using ultrastructural, histochemical, immunohistochemical and immunoassay techniques. There was no ultrastructural evidence of degeneration in either the mesenteric vessels or the caecum. In the mesenteric vessels, levels of neuropeptide Y were significantly reduced in the danthron‐fed rats, but levels of substance P (SP), calcitonin gene‐related peptide (CGRP) and vasoactive intestinal polypeptide (VIP) were unaffected by all treatments. In the caecum, VIP‐, SP‐ and CGRP‐immunoreactivity and catecholamine‐fluorescence were unchanged by the laxative treatments.


Published online: 22.12.2014 DOI: 10.1055/s-0034-1379776; Art ID: st-2014-v0503-v Amparo Sanz-Marco was born in Valencia, Spain, in 1986. She obtained her B.Sc. and M.Sc. degrees in chemistry from the University of Valencia, where she is currently pursuing her Ph.D. under the supervision of Prof. José Ramón Pedro and Prof. Gonzalo Blay. She has carried out a pre-doctoral stay at Boston College, Massachusetts, USA, with Prof. James P. Morken. Her Ph.D. research is focused on asymmetric conjugate alkynylation.


Moving to Industry 4.0 involves the collection of massive amounts of data and the development of big data applications that can ensure a quick data flow between different systems, including massive amounts of data and information collection from smart sensors, and sending them to cloud applications that allow real-time data monitoring and processing. Securing and protecting the transmitted data represents a big issue to be discussed and resolved. In the paper, we propose a new method of data encoding and encryption for cloud applications using PNG format images. The proposed method is described in comparison with one of the classical methods of data encoding and transmission used currently. The paper includes a case study in which the proposed method was used to collect and transmit data from an automated waste collection system. The results show that the proposed method represents a secure, fast and efficient way to send and store the data in the cloud compared to the methods currently used. The proposed method is not limited to being used only in waste management but can be used successfully for any type of manufacturing system from smart factories.


Implicit education is a method of ideological and political education.Compared with explicit education,it is pleasing,informative,diverse and latent,[1] avoiding the backward spoon-feeding way.American ideological and political education is known for its permeability and implicity.Learning from its characteristics,we try to promote the effectiveness of ideological and political education in our country.


Objective To explore the epidemiological characteristics of acute and subacute arsenic poisoning due to drinking water source pollution by arsenic-alkali residue from antimony metallurgical enterprise in Hunan area,so as to provide scientific basis for the prevention and treatment of waterborne arsenic poisoning.Methods A waterborne arsenic poisoning was investigated and analyzed by retrospective epidemiology.Results The waterborne arsenic poisoning was mainly due to water source pollution by arsenic from arsenic-alkali residue released from the antimony metallurgical enterprise.It mainly manifested acute and subacute poisoning,which was sudden,latent and colonial.The sufferers shared the same drinking water source.The incidence was not different among different age and sexes.Their nervous,digestive,cardiovascular,blood and urinary system could be inflicted.The diagnosis could be confirmed by elevated arsenic levels in the urine and drinking water source.Conclusions The retrospective epidemiological investigation of the arsenic poisoning due to drinking water source pollution by arsenic-alkali residue from antimony metallurgical enterprise in Hunan area indicates that the arsenic poisoning has established characteristics helpful for its early diagnosis and timely treatment.The arsenic poisoning accident can be contained if the drinking water sources are protected against arsenic pollution.


By the summer of 1971 Leonid Brezhnev had apparently become effective head of state of the Soviet Union and its spokesman. When Chancellor Brandt visited the Soviet Union in September he conferred with no one else, and Pravda reported (September 19) that "responsible members of the Secretariat of the General Secretary" participated in the conversations. One is reminded of the power obscurely exercised by Stalin's personal secretariat, especially the mysterious Poskrebyshev during the later years of his rule, and of the role of Hitler's secretariat, headed by Martin Bormann. Yet Brezhnev is certainly not the despot implied by these analogies. Officially, he has assumed no new powers. More important, no one has been ousted from the top circle since 1965, when the regime seemed to be truly a plural leadership in which no individual was clearly dominant. Yet it is practically the first task of a new tyrant to replace with his dependents those who were formerly his equals or at least potential rivals.


A design methodology of a dual active bridge (DAB) converter for solid state transformer applications is proposed using an elaborate mathematical model of the converter. The DAB converter is popular in bi-directional power conversion applications because of soft switching capability and seamless control in bi-directional power flows. However, several design considerations should be considered to overcome its demerits such as high RMS current at heavy load condition and limited soft switching capability at light load condition. Design methodology of the power stage will be discussed to minimize the conduction loss and to enlarge the soft switching region. In addition, the algorithm for soft start will be discussed to reduce overcurrent stress of the power switches during a start-up sequence. Experimental results of a 3.3 kW prototype DAB converter demonstrate the validity and effectiveness of the proposed methods.


Catastrophic environmental effects resulting from the combustion of fossil fuels along with the fast depletion of the fossil reserves threaten both energy security and environmental sustainability as the objectives of sustainable development in the context of energy. Hydrogen, which is regarded as the main energy carrier of the future is one of the most versatile alternatives for energy supply in the future and to approach carbon-free society for combating climate change. However, hydrogen can't be found in its pure form in nature while it can be made from some hydrogen-containing resources. Nowadays, more than 90% of hydrogen is produced from steam methane reforming method which uses methane as a fossil fuel. Biomass as an abundant and renewable resource which contains significant amounts of carbon and hydrogen have been used for production of energy carriers and chemicals in the recent decades. Algal biomass as third generation of feedstocks has advantages over agricultural wastes. More availability of cellulosic content, minimum and usage for cultivation and no conflict with food cycle are among these advantages. Hydrothermal gasification has been known as an efficient method for producing hydrogen-rich gas from bio-waste materials. However, there are some challenges in the decomposition of biomass depending on its structure and operational conditions of the reactor system. Catalysts are used mostly to enhance the yield of intended products. Gasification of Enteromorpha Prolifera as macroalgae found in Caspian Sea has been investigated in this study using stainless steel batch micro-reactor in supercritical water media (T>374 °C, P>22.1 Mpa). Solid waste of this process was employed as a catalyst to improve the gasification efficiency and increase hydrogen yield. Noncatalytic experiments were performed first, to obtain the optimum condition in term of hydrogen yield. Catalytic experiments were carried out using the solid waste of hydrothermal gasification named hydrochar as a catalyst. The algal hydrochar contained significant amount of Alkali and alkaline earth metals favored it for enhancing the decomposition of biomass and for higher gas production. Moreover, K and Na existed in the hydrochar accelerated the water-gas shift reaction which produced H2 and CO2 by the consumption of CO and H2O. The produced hydrochar had also a porous structure which made it suitable for catalytic use. H2 and CO2 production were promoted significantly by re-adding hydrochar as a catalyst to the process and it was comparable with that of conventional catalysts made of transition metals. * Corresponding Author: Farid Safari, Email: email@example.com, Phone: +989215368135


A clinical need is evident in neurosurgery to facilitate portable, real-time image guidance of interventional tools such as biopsy needles. This work presents imaging studies with microultrasound transducers incorporated into neurosurgical biopsy needles. Two design orientations are shown with the intention to provide both a forward and side field of view to a neurosurgeon. To examine the performance of these needle devices, preliminary B-scans were obtained of resected lamb brain with an embedded target whereby the forward facing and side facing needles were mechanically scanned linearly and radially respectively. The results presented images indicating the feasibility of the transducers to identify a target within brain tissue. To further investigate the transducers potential application as a viable neurosurgical tool, real-time M-mode images were generated within ex vivo porcine brain tissue with an embedded target. Assessing the M-mode images produced by the forward and side facing transducers, the devices are seen to have the potential to offer simple but effective guidance for navigating and positioning the needle within brain tissue close to a target such as a cancerous lesion or in the ventricles.


The stability of the photo injector is a key issue for the successful operation of linac based free electron lasers. Several types of jitter can impact the stability of a laser driven RF gun. Fluctuations of the RF launch phase and the cathode laser energy have significant influence on the performance of a high brightness electron source. Bunch charge measurements are used to monitor the stability of the RF gun phase and the cathode laser energy. A basic measurement is the so called phase scan: the accelerated charge downstream of the gun is measured as a function of the launch phase, the relative phase of the laser pulses with respect to the RF. We describe a method which provides simultaneous information on RMS jitters from phase scans at different cathode laser energies. Fluctuations of the RF gun phase together with cathode laser energy jitter have been measured at the Photo Injector test facility at DESY in Zeuthen (PITZ). Obtained results will be presented in comparison with direct independent measurements of corresponding instability factors. Dedicated beam dynamics simulations have been done in order to optimize the method performance.


A method comprising that: electrically conductive nanoparticles (20) to be electrochemically treated, be supported on a working electrode (16), the working electrode (16) with the supported nanoparticles (20) in a liquid electrolyte solution (14) is immersed, a counter electrode (22) in the electrolyte solution (14) is immersed and a polymer electrolyte membrane (26) in the electrolyte solution (14) between the working electrode (16) is dipped with the supported thereon nanoparticles (20) and the counter electrode (22) to a working electrode chamber (7) and a counter electrode chamber (9) of the cell (10) to define a potential or current across the electrodes (16, 22) is applied to treat the nanoparticles (20).


In this paper we report 163 cases of senile cardiopulmonary disease. Among them, 60 sustained multi-system organ failure(36.9%). Of those 60, 19 patients died(death rate 31.7%). We believe that most of the acute attacks of senile cardiopulmonary disease were induced by pneumonia. Therefore it is very important to control infection while treating respiratory-circulation failure, pulmonary encephalopathia, shock, acid-base imbalance, and other complications.


Most of us bake, roast, and broil our food using a technology that was invented 5,000 years ago for drying mud bricks: the oven. The original oven was clay, heated by a wood fire. Today, the typical oven is a box covered in shiny steel or sparkling enamel, powered by gas or electricity. But inside the oven, little has changed.


In this paper, we investigate a relaton between the tracking error that a manual preview control system may make and a certain amount of information contained in the input signal. At first, we introduce a quantity, called "multivariate information", as a physical measure which represents the degree of the statistical pattern contained in the stochastic input signal. Next, we define a psychological measure, called "sensory information", based on "the imaginary noise model". This measure depends upon the characteristics of the human perception and manipulation.As the results of some experiments with respect to a manual preview control system, we obtain that (1) the effect of the preview signal changes when the limit of preview is more than about 0.3sec, and (2) there exists a quantitative reciprocity between the sensory information and the integral of the tracking squared error. Roughly speaking, the integral of the squared error is inversely proportional to the sensory information.


The objective of this study was to assess the effect of neutrophil activation on the expression of T cell immunoglobulin and mucin domain-containing protein-3 (TIM-3) and its ligand Galectin 9. T cell immunoglobulin and Mucin-Domain-Containing-Protein 3 is a type I transmembrane protein involved in the regulation of cell-mediated immunity. Galectin-9 is a β-galactoside-binding lectin, that can function as an alarmin in response to diverse pathogens. Binding of Gal-9 to TIM-3 and stimulation with phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA) induced activation of NADPH oxidase on human neutrophils. Increased understanding of Gal-9 to TIM-3 gene expression and modulation in cow neutrophils is needed. Blood was collected from the jugular vein of clinically healthy Holstein-Friesian cows (n = 3) from North Carolina A&T dairy unit. Neutrophils were isolated by differential centrifugation and incubated with either 10ng/ml of PMA or maintained in Phosphate buffer saline for 30 minutes at 370 C. Total RNA was isolated from neutrophils reverse transcribed to cDNA. Specific primers for TIM-3 and LGALS -9 were designed using the NCBI Primer 3 tool. Pooled cDNA samples were used for real-time PCR. Housekeeping genes RPLP0 and UCHL5 served as internal controls. Fold change in transcript abundance was calculated using the Livak method (Fold change >2 were considered as significant). Both LGAS9 and TIM-3 were expressed in resting neutrophils. Treatment with PMA upregulated transcription of TIM-3 (5.55 fold). Whereas, LGALS -9 transcription remained unchanged. Activation of cow neutrophils using PMA changes in the expression of TIM-3. Further studies are needed to define the signaling pathways involved and functional implications for animal health and production.


We investigated the use of transparent conductive oxide for near‐ultraviolet light‐emitting diodes based on co‐sputtered gallium oxide (Ga2O3) and indium tin oxide (ITO). The electrical and optical properties of Ga2O3/ITO (IGTO) were observed to improve through hydrogen annealing, which resulted in a sheet resistance of 164 Ω/□ and an optical transmittance of 94% at increased carrier concentration and crystallization of the co‐sputtered film through hydrogen annealing. Moreover, ohmic‐like contacts were formed on the p‐GaN substrate with a specific contact resistance of 3.9 × 10−1 Ω cm2.


Studies have shown that market orientation influences content. However, scant research examines how news organizations with different market orientations covered the same story. This study utilizes textual analysis and long-form interviews to compare coverage of the 2013 St. Louis mayoral race. The study compares the strongly market oriented St. Louis Post-Dispatch and the weakly market oriented St. Louis Beacon. Findings showed major differences in content, especially concerning how the two covered race, periphery candidates and the presentation of campaign issues. These results are interpreted through the lens of gatekeeping theory.


A metastable, dark red solution of SnICl is prepared by reaction of Sn and HCl at 1240 °C followed by condensing the product at -196 °C with a mixture of toluene and PBu3 (10:1) and warming to -78 °C.


Abstract : This Interface Control Document (ICD) defines the electrical, mechanical, physical, thermal, and functional interfaces between the forward looking infrared (FLIR) mission payload system (FMPS) and the remotely piloted vehicle (RPV) system. The interfaces defined include those with specific air vehicles (AV) subsystems: flight controls electronic package (FCEP), attitude reference assembly (ARA), and the modular integrated command and navigation system (MICNS). Both a mission payload subsystem (MPS), as used in the daylight RPV system, and an FMPS are required for the Aquila RPV System (YMQM-105). The AV and other RPV subsystems must be common to both payloads and both payloads must be interchangeable among air vehicles. The FMPS must be fully interchangeable with the MPS.


To assess the safety of CrMo steels devices at high temperature,the criterion for creep avoidance of 1.25Cr0.5Mo steel was presented.Fatigue-creep interaction tests of 1.25Cr0.5Mo steel were conducted at 540 ℃, and the cyclic hardening curve of the material was obtained.The change rules of the inelastic strain,mean strain and inelastic strain energy with cycles under different stress amplitudes and mean stresses were researched,and the first and third facture characteristic maps of fatigue-creep interaction were established.Research results show that when the stress amplitude is slightly less than the mean stress,fatigue-creep interaction occurs in the material,the rupture life decreases rapidly,and the fracture ductility reaches the minimum.When the stress amplitude is larger than or equal to the mean stress,the creep effect can be neglected,and the material assessment can avoid creep.


Content Kannada Based Image Retrieval (CKBIR) is a mode of dealing with storing and retrieval image sets having Kannada text. This is being done in few steps like pre processing, feature extraction, classification and few optimisation techniques. This paper is a way in comparison of the three optimisation techniques like PSO(Particle Swarm Optimisation), GA(Genetic Algorithm) and HS(Harmonic search). We compare the techniques with respect to their performance measured in terms of their speed in retrieving the pages of search result which has the content as in the source data image. Various kinds of data sets are dealt here to get the output comparisions in finding out which algorithm is speedier.


The U.S. Army RDECOM CERDEC NVESD Modeling and Simulation Division is charged with the development and advancement of military target acquisition models to estimate expected soldier performance when using all types of imaging sensors. Two elements of sensor modeling are (1) laboratory-based psychophysical experiments used to measure task performance and calibrate the various models and (2) field-based experiments used to verify the model estimates for specific sensors. In both types of experiments, it is common practice to control or measure environmental, sensor, and target physical parameters in order to minimize uncertainty of the physics based modeling. Predicting the minimum number of test subjects required to calibrate or validate the model should be, but is not always, done during test planning. The objective of this analysis is to develop guidelines for test planners which recommend the number and types of test samples required to yield a statistically significant result.


Past theories of consumer innovation and creativity were devised before the emergence of the profound collaborative possibilities of technology. With the diffusion of networking technologies, collective consumer innovation is taking on new forms that are transforming the nature of consumption and work and, with it, society and marketing. We theorize, examine, dimensionalize, and organize these forms and processes of online collective consumer innovation. Extending past theories of informationalism, we follow this macro-social paradigm shift into grassroots regions that have irrevocable impacts on business and society. Business and society need categories and procedures to guide their interactions with this powerful and growing phenomenon. We classify and describe four types of online creative consumer communities—Crowds, Hives, Mobs, and Swarms. Collective innovation is produced both as an aggregated byproduct of everyday information consumption and as a result of the efforts of talented and motivated groups of innovative e-tribes.


This report describes a kinematic fitting program, FIT70, written as a closed subroutine in FORTRAN IV (on IBM System 360/91). This was used to perform the kinematic analysis of a large scale photoproduction experiment with the streamer chamber at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center. Features are described. In Section II we give the mathematical formulation, which also serves to introduce notations. In Section III, the programs are described. And finally, in Section IV we discuss how this program was used in the photoproduction experiment and summarize results.


290 college-student subjects chosen in random sample,are surveyed by the coping style questionnaire and exercise amount scale.The mathematical statistical analysis shows that the scores of mature factors of coping style for the students participating in physical exercise often and regularly are significantly higher than those for the students not participating in physical exercise often and regularly;while scores of immature factors of coping style for the students participating in physical exercise often and regularly are significantly lower than those for the students not participating in physical exercise often and regularly;and the moderate exercise load has best effects on to positive coping style.It is revealed that the students participating in physical exercise often and regularly incline to choose positive coping style of problem-solving and the students not participating in physical exercise often and regularly incline to choose negative coping style of fantasy.


Two important sequence tasks are sequence modeling and labeling. Sequence modeling involves determining the probabilities of sequences, e.g. language modeling. It is still difficult to improve language modeling with additional relevant tags, e.g. part-of-speech (POS) tags. For sequence labeling, it is worthwhile to explore task-dependent semi-supervised learning to leverage a mix of labeled and unlabeled data, besides pre-training. In this paper, we propose to upgrade condtional random fields (CRFs) and obtain a joint generative model of observation and label sequences, called joint random fields (JRFs). Specifically, we propose to use the potential function in the original CRF as the potential function that defines the joint distribution. This development from CRFs to JRFs benefits both modeling and labeling of sequence data, as shown in our experiments. For example, the JRF model (using POS tags) outperforms traditional language models and avoids the need to produce hypothesized labels by a standalone POS tagger. For sequence labeling, task-dependent semi-supervised learning by JRFs consistently outperform the CRF baseline and self-training, on POS tagging, chunking and NER.


Objective: To improve the method of TLC for identifing Panax quinquefolium L.Method: Improved developing solvent be used to distinguish the main ingredients between Panax quinquefolium L.and ginseng.Conclusion: The method was available for distinguishing the true Panax quinquefolium L.and the false.


In domains with insufficient matched training data, language models are often constructed by interpolating component models trained from partially matched corpora. Since the n-grams from such corpora may not be of equal relevance to the target domain, we propose an n-gram weighting technique to adjust the component n-gram probabilities based on features derived from readily available segmentation and metadata information for each corpus. Using a log-linear combination of such features, the resulting model achieves up to a 1.2% absolute word error rate reduction over a linearly interpolated baseline language model on a lecture transcription task.


AN196, a 13-page illustrated report by A. De Vries, R. Giesy, L. Ely, M. Sowerby, B. Broaddus, and C. Vann, summarizes the financial performance of 22 dairy farms that participated in a 2006 survey. It is intended for general use by dairy farmers, the allied industry, government, and educational professionals. Published by the UF Department of Animal Science, March 2008.


The present invention relates to a method for operating a brake control system (10) for a rail vehicle (5) with a braking system (7), wherein the braking system (7) proportionally comprises at least one friction brake, having at least the following steps: - It is virtual and / or at least one real reference braking the rail vehicle (5) determined by means of at least one at least one characteristic that sets at least one control variable for compliance with at least one power size relative to each other; - the characteristic curve is stored in the brake control system (10); and - the characteristic serves as a basis for the control of the braking system (7) of the rail vehicle. Furthermore, the present invention provides a brake control system (10), a brake system (7) and a rail vehicle (5) relates.


The purpose of this article is to study and describe a method for computing the innitesimal invariants associated to deformations of subvarieties. An interpretation of the innitesimal invariant of normal functions as a pairing similar to the innitesimal Abel-Jacobi mapping is given. The computation of both invariants for certain forms is then reduced to a residue computation at a nite number of points of the subvariety. Applications of this technique include a nonvanishing result for the innitesimal Abel-Jacobi mapping leading to niteness results for low degree rational curves on complete intersection threefolds with trivial canonical bundle and a generalization of a formula of Voisin for the innitesimal invariant of certain normal functions.


Aiming at the problem of the strong strata behaviors during the No.21305 working face out of the upper dip coal pillar in Huojitu Coal Mine of Daliuta,the mechanism and law of the problem were researched based on the stability analysis of the key block structure above the coal pillar and physical simulation.The research results indicate that the three hinged structure of key blocks above the coal pillar is unstable which results to the relative rotary motion of the two key blocks with the subsidence of the under strata.As a result,the fault block structure will lose its stability due to the excessive load.This is the fundamental source for the problem.Generally the turning angle of the two key blocks can not reach the extreme condition to maintain the structure's stability,which leads to the universality of the strong strata behaviors during the working face out of the upper dip coal pillar.When the fracture line of the key block structure is in the outside of the pillar's boundary,the moment of the holding power to the structure is the least.Therefore the load on the under seam key strata will be the largest,which leads the problem of the strong strata behaviors mostly.


In terms of regional development, let's call the period up to 2008 the industrial age. Until then, the development of regions depended on their integration into globalization through production, and their positioning in the spatial division of labor: this illustrates the concept of competitiveness. Now, globalization also plays a role in terms of consumption. This dimension is discussed in the literature, for example by Markusen (Markusen, 2007, Markusen & Schrock, 2009) and the proponents of the so-called residential and presential economic trends in France (Davezies, 2009, Davezies & Talandier, 2016): this illustrates the concept of attractiveness. This research greatly improves the understanding of the current development processes of the regions insofar as it considers both consumption and productive flows. Nevertheless, the question of understanding the dynamics of development based on competitiveness and attractiveness still arises. This article proposes an analytical framework based on the idea put forward in Camagni's (2005) conceptualization of the region as a meeting place for different supplies and demands. We propose a typology of income flows and regional and urban activities that considers local and extra-local demands, as well as local supply, firstly as a productive agglomeration and secondly as both a place of consumption and a living environment. The concept of an "innovative milieu" (e.g. clusters, industrial districts, etc.) allowed the industrial context to take into consideration local capacity for renewing competitiveness; we suggest that the "local postindustrial milieu" development model should encompass the capacity of a city or a region to manage tensions and to exploit the synergies between the various types of activities and people in the region which result from the integration of the region into various forms of globalization.


Objective 15 cases of cauda equina tumor were reported.Their clinical and MRI characteristics were discussed.Methods All of these 15 cases,including 10 males and 5 females,were examined with MRI.14 of them were treated with surgical resection.Results The pathological diagnoses of these 15 cases of cauda equina tumor revealed that there were 8 cases of neurofribroma,3 cases of dermoid cyst and epidermoid cyst,2 cases of lipoma,1 case of ependyma tumor and 1 case of metastasis.The MRI diagnoses were consistent with the results of surgical diagnoses.Conclusion By providing accurate pathological diagnoses for the clinical surgery,the MRI was confirmed to be a very reliable method for cauda equina tumor diagnosis.


The reactions of [60] fullerene with excess fluoroalkanesulfonyl azides RfSO2N3 in o-dichlorobenzene under thermal or microwave irradiation condition afforded monoadduct opened [5,6]-bridged azafulleroids. While, similarly treatment of 2,2,2-trifluoroethyl azides CF3CH2N3 With C-60 gave two monoadducts, i.e., opened [5,6]-bridged azafulleroids, closed [6,6]-bridged Aziridino-fullerene, and some multi-addition product. A general mechanism for these addition reactions was proposed. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.


- In the area of neurology often need to retrieve multimodal magnetic resonance (MR) images of the brain to study disease progression and to correlate observations across multiple subjects. Given a 2-D MR query slice, the technique identifies the 3-D volume among multiple subjects in the database, associates the query slice with a specific region of the brain, and retrieves the matching slice within this region in the identified volumes. The proposed technique is capable of retrieving an image in multimodal and noisy scenarios In this study, sup.port vector machines (SVM) are used for identifying 3-D MR volume and for performing semantic classification of the human brain into various semantic regions.


Scaled-model helicopters are highly nonlinear, coupled, and unstable machines. They have fast response and controlling them is very complicated and need high degree of precision. In this paper, a detailed nonlinear model is derived. The derived nonlinear model is linearized around a nominal point in the hovering state and a linear classical controller is designed. Then, an optimization algorithm is applied where the linear controller's parameters are adjusted offline so that the Integral Time-multiplied Square Error (ITSE), the error between the output response of the nonlinear system and the reference signal, is minimal. Both the linear and the optimized controllers are augmented with the nonlinear model and the simulation results are compared.


Many people are trying to be smarter every day. How's about you? There are many ways to evoke this case you can find knowledge and lesson everywhere you want. However, it will involve you to get what call as the preferred thing. When you need this kind of sources, the following book can be a great choice. racism the australian experience a study of race prejudice in australia by is the PDF of the book.


OBJECTIVE:
Viral infections are often suspected to cause pediatric acute liver failure (PALF) but large-scale studies have not been performed. We analyzed results of viral testing among non-acetaminophen (non APAP) PALF study participants.

METHODS:
Participants were enrolled in the PALF registry. Diagnostic evaluation and final diagnosis were determined by the site investigator and methods for viral testing by local standard of care. Viruses were classified as either Causative Viruses (CV) or Associated Viruses (AV). Supplemental testing for CV was performed if not done clinically and serum was available. Final diagnoses included "Viral", "Indeterminate" and "Other".

RESULTS:
Of 860 participants, 820 had at least one test result for a CV or AV. A positive viral test was found in 166/820 (20.2%) participants and distributed among "Viral" [66/80 (82.5%)], "Indeterminate" [52/420 (12.4%)] and "Other" [48/320 (15.0%)] diagnoses. CV accounted for 81/166 (48.8%) positive tests. Herpes Simplex Virus (HSV) was positive in 39/335 (11.6%) who were tested: 26/103 (25.2%) and 13/232 (5.6%) among infants 0 - 6 months and over 6 months, respectively. HSV was not tested in 61.0% and 53% of the over-all cohort and those 0 - 6 months, respectively. Supplemental testing yielded 17 positive, including 5 HSV.

CONCLUSIONS:
Viral testing in PALF occurs frequently but is often incomplete. Evidence for acute viral infection was found in 20.2% of those tested for viruses. HSV is an important viral cause for PALF in all age groups. The etiopathogenic role of CV and AV in PALF requires further investigation.


In the months prior to his death in August 1988, ill and aware that he was dying, Raymond Carver apparently spent a lot of time rereading Chekhov, one of his tutelary spirits. And what is probably the last story he published during his lifetime, "Errand," is a deeply felt, only in part imaginary account of Chekhov's last days. The ultimate source for much of Carver's story is the legendary account by Chekhov's wife, the actress Olga Knipper, of her husband's death in Badenweiler, where he had gone with some soon-abandoned hope of being cured of tuber culosis. At the ultimate moment, Knipper wrote, after the doctor had had a bottle of champagne brought to the room to ease the dying man's breathing when it was evident that any further medical efforts would be futile, "Chekhov sat up, and in a loud emphatic voice said to the doctor in German (of which he knew very little): 'Ich sterbe...'. Then he picked up the glass, turned to me, smiled his wonderful smile and said: 'It's been such a long time since I've had champagne.' He drank it all to the last drop, quietly lay on his left side and was soon silent forever." Carver's story adheres consistently to Knipper's spirit of wonder, but he augments her account with two other, I assume largely in vented, views of this death — that of the doctor, and that of the bellboy who knows nothing about the dying man except what he perceives when he brings the champagne to the room and then, when he comes up some hours later, when Knipper is alone in the room with the corpse, to retrieve the bottle and the glasses. The progressive awe felt by this


Until recently it was assumed that rigid unit modes, defined as the zero-frequency solutions to the dynamical equations for an infinite framework of rigid corner-linked tetrahedra, were confined to a small set of normal modes with wavevectors on lines or planes of special symmetry in reciprocal space. Using a search method that explores the full three-dimensional reciprocal space, we have located rigid unit modes with wavevectors on exotic curved surfaces in reciprocal space for a range of silicate minerals. This has led to the realization that the crystal structures of these minerals contain rather more topological floppiness than had previously been realized. The origin of the exotic RUM surfaces remains to be understood.


As the mobile VPN users have recently increased, the mobile VPN services are diversifying so the service needs to support the communication between two mobile VPN users in foreign networks. However, it could degrade the performance of the service because of the triangular routing problem. Therefore, we propose route optimization mechanism based on the mobile VPN using an x-HA allocated by diameter MIP to provide an optimized path between the mobile VPN users in foreign networks. i-HA maintains VPN-TIA as a CoA with x-HoA to solve the security problem and support efficient route optimization in the proposed scheme. Also, we proposed revised IPsec tunnel configuration for reducing IPsec tunnel overheads to a MN when the MN communicates with several MNs at the same time. The VPN server, which is a security management entity in home network, notifies an additional IPsec tunnel establishment between two x-HAs that the communication peer registered to.


The present invention provides a method for recycling by selecting a filler contained in the artificial turf in at least two substances, primary sorting for sorting on the basis of said at least two substances to the size of the particle size step and a secondary sorting step of sorting based on a substance having a size of particle size belonging to a predetermined range which has been selected by the primary screening step to gravity.


A statistical mechanical expression for the anisotropic surface (anchoring) en~ ergy of a nematic polymer melt is derived m the molecular field approximation using the density functional approach It is shown that this energy can be very large, W I 10 erg/cm~ It is shown that a crossover exists between the two characteristic scaling regimes of W. At low ne- matic order parameter S the anchoring energy is determined by the change in the single chain entropy due to the steric restriction near the wall and is proportional to the large longitudinal persistence length iii of the folded chain. In highly ordered system (S > 0.55) W is dominated by pair interactions between the chain segments, modulated by the steric effect of the wall, and is proportional to the higher power, 1(~~


Extensions of singular spectrum analysis (SSA) for processing of non-rectangular images and time series with gaps are considered. A circular version is suggested, which allows application of the method to the data given on a circle or on a cylinder, e.g. cylindrical projection of a 3D ellipsoid. The constructed Shaped SSA method with planar or circular topology is able to produce low-rank approximations for images of complex shapes. Together with Shaped SSA, a shaped version of the subspace-based ESPRIT method for frequency estimation is developed. Examples of 2D circular SSA and 2D Shaped ESPRIT are presented.


Survey results from two disparate rural areas of Bangladesh, Sirajgong and Gopalpur subdistricts in the north-central part of the country and Abhoynagar and Fultala subdistricts in the southwest, offer the opportunity to assess the changing status of women in rural Bangladesh. The survey, conducted by the Mother and Child Health/Family Planning Extension Project of the International Center for Diarrheal Disease Control during 1982-89, collected data on 7433 ever-married women 15-56 years old. The analysis focused on two indicators: women's freedom to move outside their homes (mobility) and women's authority in household decision making. Although most respondents moved freely between households, they rarely traveled outside their village alone. In addition, respondents had little input in household decisions regarding health or expenditures. 65% felt they should be able to decide whether to see a doctor when they were ill or to buy medicine for a sick child, but only 7% actually made such decisions on their own. The majority approved of women working outside their homes, but only 11% did so. Both mobility and authority tended to increase with a woman's age. Women who lived in households headed by their in-laws had less mobility and much less authority. Women from poor homes had greater mobility, but wealth had little effect on household decision making. Education tended to increase decision-making authority but decrease mobility. Finally, the greater economic development, ecological stability, cultural diversity, and social progressiveness in the southwestern region tended to increase both mobility and authority.


To reduce donor iron deficiency in whole blood donors, we changed our hemoglobin (Hb) cutoff in males and interdonation interval in females.


The cutting efficiency in underground excavations relies on the optimum parameters of the cutting tool and the cutting process. However, the optimization of the cutting tool design and the cutting process is a challenge and requires knowledge about the tool-rock interaction. This paper aims to investigate the tool-rock interaction using a rock cutting mathematical model. The confining pressure was considered in the rock cutting model with conical cutters and the discrete element method was adopted to calculate the dynamics of the rock breakage of this model. Graded particle assemblies were created, calibrated, and compressed in the horizontal direction with a certain confining pressure. Afterwards, the initiation and propagation of cracks during the rock cutting processes were recorded. A series of small-scale rock cutting tests were also carried out to verify the numerical model. The analysis results demonstrate that: 1) the confining pressure induced larger cutting force than that in the unconfined condition; 2) with increase of the confining pressure, the rock failure mode experienced predominantly brittle to predominantly ductile failure; and 3) there was a critical confining pressure/compressive strength ratio of 0.53 when the transition of failure mode occurred.


This work deals with the development of numerical tools predicting the lifetime of nozzle structures made of ceramic matrix composites (CMC). These materials are favorable for thermostructural components due to their excellent specific mechanical properties, high thermal conductivity and thermoshock resistance. The anisotropic constitutive behaviour of the CMC is reflected by a continuum model which is micro‐mechanically motivated. The model is based on structural tensors representing different fibre orientations. Furthermore, the thin structure of the nozzle requires an appropriate finite element technology in order to overcome locking phenomena. For this reason, a solid‐shell formulation with reduced integration is utilized, for which the implementation of the fibre orientation is crucial. The enhanced assumed strain (EAS) concept is used to avoid volumetric locking as well as Poisson thickness locking. The transverse shear and curvature thickness locking are cured by the assumed natural strain (ANS) concept. Using reduced integration together with hourglass stabilization leads to high computational efficiency. (© 2017 Wiley‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)


Reproduction and growth of high mountain species adapted to low temperatures could be affected by global warming, particularly at marginal altitudes where stress is more intense. This study evaluated seed quality and initial growth in various altitudinal gradients of three Pinus hartwegii populations (two in the State of Mexico and one in Veracruz State); seeds were collected between 3 400 and 4 100 masl. The experimental design was completely randomized and data on seed germination, cespitose stage breakage