Theodolite is a framework for benchmarking the scalability of cloud-native applications. It automates deployment and monitoring of a cloud-native application for different load intensities and provisioned cloud resources and assesses whether specified service level objectives (SLOs) are fulfilled. Provided as a Kubernetes Operator, Theodolite allows defining, sharing, and archiving benchmarks and experiment configurations in declarative files. We demonstrate Theodolite's benchmarking method and show how researchers and cloud engineers can execute existing scalability benchmarks or define new ones with Theodolite.


Peter Christian (Chris) Murphy had worked his way up the "food chain" at AT&T for 19 years, culminating in his position as Sales Center Vice President for South Florida. When he and a coworker realized there was an opportunity in the marketplace for a small, nimble company to take advantage of emerging communications technology that a stodgy, lumbering corporation would have trouble integrating into its service package, Chris decided to jump into an entrepreneurial opportunity.


This paper investigates the impact of Contingent Convertible (CoCo) bonds on systemic risk in terms of liquidity risk. We compare the differences in default contagion and clearing payments for financial systems with and without CoCo bonds regarding their network and liquidity channels. By analyzing the sensitivity of equilibrium payments and the market price of illiquid assets, we find that CoCo bonds affect the performance of intervention policies by changing the banking system's relative liability matrix and illiquid assets prices. Finally, we illustrate our model using 15 Chinese banks' annual data in 2017. Results show that CoCo bonds can enhance the risk resilience of issuing banks, but the defaults of issuing banks will lead to systemically broad contagion when an external shock is too large.


Andrew Lansley claims radical NHS reform is necessary to drive up the UK's poor health outcomes compared with Europe. But is our record really so bad, questions John Appleby?


Internet of Things (IoT) has been an increasing trend in the education and industry applications. In schools and smart-manufacturing industries, learners need to study hardware, software, mechanical, and automation professional knowledge. However, there are no training systems in current market, so the cost is extremal high. This study purposes to solve the problems of start-learning restrictions, developing a low cost IoT training system for smart-manufacturing education in which learners can study remotely and easily at anytime and in any place. The IoT training system for smart-manufacturing education combined three major fields, the AC/DC power distribution system, C and Python structure-oriented programming language, and mechatronics design. The results showed a successful test and confirmed during training courses.


Copyright c 2012 by The Korean Society of Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition This is an openaccess article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) which permits unrestricted noncommercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Cytomegalovirus Infection in Infantile Hepatitis


A dynamic risk analysis model of offshore fire and explosion is proposed in this paper. It considers the effect of human and organizational factors in a more explicit way than current traditional risk analysis methods. This paper begins with exploring the recent advances on offshore fire and explosion risk analysis theories, followed by briefly introducing the research techniques employed in the proposed hybrid causal logic model which consists of event tree, fault tree, Bayesian network, and system dynamics. Thereafter, it proposes a quantitative risk analysis framework. At last, the applicability of this model to the offshore platform is also discussed. It aims to provide guideline for risk analysis of offshore fire and explosion.


This article evaluates two alternative ways to execute the sampling of modulated data for large-signal behavioral modeling. We show that the nonlinear metric domain uniform sampling outperforms the time-domain uniform approach, and examine how the level of improvement depends on the number of samples used for model generation. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J RF and Microwave CAE, 2010.


T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL) results from the malignant transformation of thymocytes and affects both children and adults. In T-ALL, multiple genetic lesions in oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes cooperatively contribute to leukemogenesis. Recently, our research group identified inactivating mutations and deletions in the PHF6 gene in 16% of pediatric and 38% of adult T-ALL patients. Although these frequencies suggest an important role for PHF6 as a tumor suppressor in T-ALL, the role of PHF6 in normal and malignant T-cell development remains largely unknown.
Whole mount in situ hybridization (WISH) revealed phf6 expression in developing zebrafish in hematopoietic regions and in the thymus. Upon morpholino-mediated knockdown of phf6, WISH experiments demonstrated a normal onset of primitive hematopoiesis at 15 somites, while increased expression of lmo2, a marker for primitive hematopoiesis and erythropoiesis at 24hpf (hours post fertilization) can be observed. Moreover, also c-myb expression, a marker for definitive hematopoiesis, is increased in the caudal hematopoietic tissue at 36hpf after phf6 knockdown. Rag1 and rag2 are useful markers for following the development of lymphoid tissues since they are expressed together exclusively in immature lymphocytes. Interestingly, a significant reduction in thymus development and size could be observed in phf6 morphants at 5dpf (days post fertilization) using the transgenic zebrafish line tg(Rag2:GFP). In line with these results, strongly reduced rag1 expression was evident upon performing WISH on 5dpf phf6 knockdown embryos, as compared to control embryos.
All together, our data provide strong evidence for an important role of phf6 in primitive hematopoiesis and thymopoiesis. Further studies will include phf6 knockout zebrafish to assess long-term effects and susceptibility to T-ALL formation in vivo.


The authors determined the accuracy and reproducibility of two noninvasive methods of measuring half-value-layer (HVL), ring and localization, compared with an invasive technique (suspending tube rotation). The ring method uses concentric aluminum rings about a CTDI ionization chamber at isocenter. Data was acquired using axial CT protocols (rotating X-ray tube, stationary patient table). The localization technique uses square aluminum sheets secured to the patient aperture surface, and a CTDI chamber suspended externally at isocenter. Data was acquired using localization image protocols (stationary X-ray tube, moving patient table). The invasive technique was similar to the Localization technique except that the ion chamber was placed on the patient table and the tube rotation disabled using service software. Data for all techniques were collected on the same CT system (HiSpeed CT/i). Independent data sets were collected to determine reproducibility. Sensitivity to ionization chamber lateral displacement from isocenter was investigated. Measured HVLs (mm aluminum, mean/spl plusmn/std, n=4) were 7.19/spl plusmn/0.03 (ring); 7.17/spl plusmn/0.04 (localization); and 7.23/spl plusmn/0.02,which were significantly different (p=0.05). Displacing chamber from isocenter changes the HVL, depending on the bow-tie filter, by as much as 5-mm aluminum. Aluminum filter to ion chamber distances of 25 to 35 cm provided accurate results. In conclusion, both noninvasive techniques were accurate and reproducible at isocenter. However, the measured HVL was dependent upon the bow-tie filter and the location of the ionization chamber with respect to isocenter.


This chapter examines Irish realist fiction produced during the era of the Irish Revival, particularly between 1890 and 1916. It argues that realist writing by authors such as George Moore, Emily Lawless, Shan F. Bullock, W. B. Yeats, and James Joyce stands in subtle but definite contrast to conventional nineteenth-century realist fiction. Writing from a distinctly naturalist perspective, these authors challenge the conventions both of realism and idealism in their representation of the past and its orientation towards the future. Rather than revive an idealized past in the name of the Irish nation, they deploy the past (as narrative, as trope, as misrecognition) as part of a critical reflection on that nation and its futurity.


For evaluating and optimizing the efficiency of power converters, the loss model of the power semiconductor devices is needed. The analytical loss model is favorable for its simplicity. However, the model accuracy needs to be improved. This paper proposes an analytical loss model for the commutation pair of silicon carbide (SiC) MOSFETs and SiC Schottky barrier diodes. Compared to the conventional loss calculation method, the proposed model is derived based on the conservation of energy, which considers the impact of the displacement currents on estimating the turn-on and turn-off losses. The modeling and extraction methodology of the model parameters are given, and the impact of operational conditions on the model parameters is studied. Using the proposed model, the losses can be calculated analytically and also the switching trajectories can be predicted with good consistency. A double pulse tester is built to verify the proposed model. The results show that an average modeling error is reduced from 20% using the conventional piecewise linear model, to around 10% using the proposed model under various operational conditions, and the time cost is at least 3000 times smaller compared to the existing SiC MOSFETs models.


We test the performance of AODV and a new variant of 6PSR with Crowds to provide anonymity to the sender.


If the man-in-the-street were asked 'Why are there two slots in the top of a violin?' he might answer 'To let the sound out'. Is he correct? If so, is this all there is to it? Although the shape, size and position of the two f -holes have been established through centuries of practice, we can still ask how important they are to the quality of sound produced, and whether other holes in other places would work just as well.


This paper introduces a virtual reality-based approach for the systematic testing of intelligent mechatronic systems. The method of systematic testing is a model-based and formal testing method for the verification of the information processing of mechatronic systems. Systematic testing emerges from the field of embedded systems where it is used to evaluate the embedded electric circuits especially the discrete controllers, which are represented by these circuits. The challenge in the field of mechatronic is to evaluate and to understand the test results itself, in particular, the relations between the continuous behavior of the system, the reactions of controller, and the test inputs. Virtual reality facilitates the analysis of systematic tests by the combination of virtual 3D models and visualization techniques. The 3D models show the behavior of the system, visualizations explain the abstract test data. The paper explains the use of VR for the systematic testing, the created visualizations techniques and their benefit with an application example.Copyright © 2010 by ASME


Superpixel segmentation can be defined as an image partition into connected regions, such that image objects may be represented by the union of their superpixels. In this context, multiple iterations of superpixel segmentation from improved seed sets is a strategy exploited by several algorithms. The Iterative Spanning Forest (ISF) framework divides this strategy into three independent components: a seed sampling method, a superpixel delineation algorithm based on strength of connectedness between seeds and pixels, and a seed recomputation procedure. A recent work shows that object information can be added to each component of ISF such that the user can control the number of seeds inside the objects and so improve superpixel segmentation. However, it is uncertain how the added information impacts each component of the pipeline. Therefore, in this work, a study is conducted to evaluate such inclusion in the seed sampling procedure, partially elucidating its benefits. Additionally, we introduce a novel object-based sampling approach, named Object Saliency Map sampling by Ordered Extraction (OSMOX), and demonstrate the results for supervised and unsupervised object information. The experiments show considerable improvements in under-segmentation error, specially with a low number of superpixels.


Lower Congo-Congo Fan Basin is one of the most important basins with abundant oil and gas resources in western coast of Africa.Since it is a passive margin basin with multistage tectonic evolution and sedimentation,the traps formed in this long-term evolved basin are very complicated and diversified.In this study,based on the HIS(Global Oil and Gas Exploration Database) and CC(Global Oil and Gas Field Comparison System) database,the 369 traps discovered in Lower Congo-Congo Fan Basin are classified into three types and eight sub types.The horizontal and vertical distribution of different trap types is analyzed based on this classification.The results show that the vertical distributions of different trap types change from older to younger strata to the seaside and south direction with distinct zonality.This study pointed out that the Oligocene-Miocene turbidity channel trap in deep-water and the Lower Cretaceous Albian anticline and pinch-out trap in shallow-water are favorable prospecting target.


Azobenzene dimer 1 has been previously shown to form chiral nanorings in nonpolar solvents. In this study, azobenzene chromophores are replaced with oligo(p-phenylenevinylene) (OPV). The resulting ...


PURPOSE: A current collector and a stack for a fuel cell are provided to reduce inside electric resistance of a fuel cell thereby increasing the performance of the fuel cell and to apply joint pressure required for a fuel cell even though the thickness of an end plate is thin. CONSTITUTION: A current collector comprises a substrate(12), a double-sided adhesive layer(14) formed at one side of the substrate, a current collection pattern(16) formed at the other side of the substrate, and a conductive adhesive layer(18) formed on the current collection pattern. An opening into which gas can pass through is formed on the substrate.


Introduction Commonly, methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE) is the primary oxygenates used for reformulated gasoline (RFE), however, recent issues showed that the application of MTBE could cause some disadvantages such as contamination of drinking water. For a long time, higher alcohols (C1-C5) are thought as an potential additive to gasoline to boost octane number and reduce emissions. The current interest is focused on the application of this process to produce high value gasoline octane enhancers in view of both utilization of resources and environmental protection. Reaction condition: T=573K, P=8.0MPa, GHSV=4000h H2/CO=1.0


Gongsanseong Fortress was registered of a World Heritage Site in 2015 as a representative cultural heritage from the Woongjin Baekje period, and it has been used throughout the entire period from Baekje Kingdom to the Joseon Dynasty. Within Gongsanseong Fortress, the area around Ssangsujeong is presumed the site of royal palace of the Woongjin Baekje. Also, the excavated culture layers of the Baekje Kingdom, the Unified Silla period, and the Joseon Dynasty were confirmed. In this study, paleotopography was modeled by digitally converting the elevation data obtained through surveying the excavation process, and the use of the topography in the Ssangsujeong area was considered by examining the variations in the topography according to the periods. As a result, the topography of the slope around the peak changed by periods, and the topography did not change on the flat land. The topography between the Baekje Kingdom and the Unified Silla period appeared to be almost identical, and it seems that the space of the Baekje period was maintained as it is. Also, during the Joseon Dynasty, it is confirmed that flat surfaces in the previous period were used. However, sediments on the slopes flowed down, reducing the area of the flatland, and architectural techniques that could utilize the natural topography of the changed slope were applied to interpret it as having a different topography from the previous period. In order to model and interpret the paleotopography, excavation data, geological and topographic analysis, and digital data must be secured. It is expected that location conditions and ancient human life can be identified if the analysis technique in the study is applied to other archaeological sites in the future.


Model tests were carried out in a towing tank to investigate the effects of helical grooves on the drag loading of stationary circular cylinders in uniform and steady currents. A series of models were made and tested, including smooth and rough cylinders with and without grooves. The maximum Reynolds number achieved in the tests was about 4×105 . The comparative results between the smooth and grooved cylinders show that the helical grooves reduce the drag loading by between 18 and 25% depending upon the cylinder surface roughness and the Reynolds number. This is a continuation of our work published in OMAE06 in Hamburg on VIV suppression by the use of helical grooves.Copyright © 2007 by ASME


Solid body structure's internal friction measurement methods for the most part are very difficult in their practical realization. There the damped oscillation method was chosen because of its simplicity. In this paper for damped oscillation observation and registration on high temperatures designed plant's functional diagram is presented. The test's results demonstrate functionality of this plant and of the method we have chosen.


Global changes, e.g. global warming, elevated nitrogen deposition, and shifts of precipitation regime, exert a major influence on forests via affecting plant water use efficiency (WUE) and plant nitrogen (N) availability. Large-scale ecological sampling can help us to better understand variation across regions and provide opportunities to investigate the potential impacts of multiple aspects of global change on forest ecosystem responses. Here, we determine the geographical patterns of key isotopic measures of ecosystem function—plant WUE (calculated from foliar δ 13C values) and plant N availability (assessed by foliar δ 15N values)—across China's forests covering ∼21 latitude (∼22–43°N) and ∼28 longitude (∼93–121°E) degree, and investigate how a suite of soil, plant, and atmospheric factors regulate them. We found that plant WUE increased but N availability decreased with latitude, while plant WUE and N availability did not vary with longitudinal gradient. Different factors regulate the large-scale patterns in WUE and N availability. The mean annual temperature, atmospheric N deposition, and soil water content exhibit considerable effects on plant WUE over both the north-to-south and east-to-west transects, while the mean annual precipitation, soil potassium content, foliar N, and precipitation seasonality considerably affect the latitudinal patterns of plant N availability. In addition, the east-to-west spatial pattern in plant N availability is associated with the variation in solar radiation. Our results suggest that key forest ecological functions respond to an array of environmental factors, and imply that changes in many different environmental attributes need to be considered in order to successfully assess plant WUE and N availability responses to global changes this century.


The change of social needs puts forward the new requirements on accounting teaching of vocational institutions.Work-study combination training is a new training model which is career-oriented.This mode makes full use of internal and external different educational environment and resources and integrates the classroom teaching and practical experience gaining to improve the students' practical ability effectively.


9 Abstract In this work laser ablation of commercial and especially designed triazene polymers has been studied with time resolved methods. Several techniques have been combined to obtain a better overview of the active processes. Laser ablation of polymers is a promising method to create directly 3d structures. The commercial application of this technique has been limited due to high ablation threshold and the redeposition of debris. In the past triazene polymers, with superior ablation properties, have been developed to overcome these limitations. The time scale of the ablation process of the triazene polymers is compared to the commercially available polymers. The following methods have been applied to study the different processes. 1) Irradiation with different light sources The triazene polymer has been illuminated with different light sources to study the influence of the pulse length, respectively the laser intensity, and the wavelength of the irradiating light. Excimer lasers emitting ns-pulses and with high intensities and excimer lamps emitting quasi continuously with low intensity have been applied. The decomposition of the polymer has been studied by measuring the ablation rate and the UV-VIS spectra of the polymer. The measurements reveal that the pulse intensity, respectively the pulse length, and the irradiation wavelength have a significant influence on the decomposition processes of the polymer. 2) Ns-surface interferometry This method can be used to measure the change of the thickness and the specular reflectivity of the polymer film during and after the laser pulse. The surface displacement of three different polymers has been studied during and after irradiation with a XeCl (308 nm), a KrF (248 nm) and an ArF (193 nm) excimer laser. Material removal could only be observed during the laser pulse for fluences above the threshold of ablation.


The strong correlation between magnetic storms and southward interplanetary magnetic eld (IMF) is well known from linear prediction lter studies using the Dst and IMF data. However, the linear lters change signiicantly from one storm to another and thus are limited in their predicting ability. Previous studies have indicated nonlinearity in the magneto-spheric response as the ring current decay rate varies with the Dst value during storms. We present in this letter nonlinear models for the evolution of the Dst based on the OMNI database for 1964-1990. When solar wind data are available in advance, the evolution of storms can be predicted from the Dst and IMF data. Solar wind data, however, are not available most of the time or are available typically an hour or less in advance. Therefore, we have developed non-linear predictive models based on the Dst data alone. In the absence of solar wind data, these models cannot predict the storm onset, but can predict the storm evolution, and may identify intense storms from moderate ones. The input-output model based on IMF and Dst data, the autonomous model based on Dst alone, and a combination of the two can be used as forecasting tools for space weather.


Background The prognosis of metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) depends on the metastatic site and systemic therapy regimen. Peritoneal metastases are associated with a relatively unfavorable prognosis among patients with mCRC. In this article, we present the treatment outcomes of patients with peritoneal carcinomatosis (PC)-only, liver metastasis (LiM)-only, and lung metastasis (LuM)-only CRC. Methods Overall, 206 mCRC patients with single-site metastasis and who had received treatment from January 2014 to December 2018 were recruited. Among 206 patients with mCRC, 15 had PC-only mCRC, 145 had LiM-only mCRC, and 46 had LuM-only mCRC. They attended regular follow-ups until November 2020, and the median follow-up period was 24.7 months (5.1–41.3 months). Patients' characteristics, including clinical data, gene mutation profiles, and clinical outcomes, were evaluated. All patients with PC-only CRC were treated with first-line bevacizumab and FOLFIRI, and the irinotecan dose escalation depended on UGT1A1 polymorphism. Results Of the 206 patients, no statistical difference was observed between the PC-only, LiM-only, and LuM-only groups in terms of age, primary tumor location, RAS mutation status, BRAF mutation status, and epidermal growth factor receptor overexpression (all P > 0.05). Patients with PC-only CRC had a median progression-free survival (mPFS) of 18.0 months and a median overall survival (mOS) of 24.6 months. Patients with LiM-only or LuM-only CRC had mPFS of 18.2 and 26.6 months and mOS of 25.0 and 44.5 months, respectively. No significant differences regarding PFS and OS (both P > 0.05) between the three groups of patients with mCRC were observed. Conclusion Our study revealed that in patients with PC-only mCRC treatment of first-line bevacizumab and FOLFIRI through irinotecan dose escalation according to UGT1A1 polymorphism could confer such patients with comparable outcomes to that of patients with LiM-only and LuM-only mCRC.


The critical problems of capacity and coverage will be discussed in the process of third generation mobile network planning and optimization. The simulation result shows that the analysis on the relation of capacity and coverage in a cell is true.


College counselors are the main force of ideological and political education in colleges and universities.This paper elaborated on how to do the counselor work in colleges and universities from actual conditions in the new situation.


This paper presents an experimental study on the effect of three types of water-soluble high molecular weight cellulose ethers on the rheological properties of cement mortars in fresh state. Vane-cylinder test was used to determine the rheological properties of fresh mortars. The flow curves, obtained in the tests, were exploited to determine the rheological parameters, including the yield stress, the consistency coefficient and the fluidity index. The results indicate a difference between the mixes corresponding to the different cellulose ethers at high shear rate, while at low shear rate, all the mortar mixes behaved as a shear thinning fluid. The investigation of the influence of molecular weight on the properties of fresh mortars has shown a similar observation to the reported research in literature. The yield stress of the mortar decreases with the increase of molecular weight. This decrease is not significant at low molecular weights, and becomes much more significant at high molecular weights. Inversely, the mortar consistency is found to increase with the increase of molecular weight.


The effects of sublingual nifedipine and isosorbide dinitrate on oesophageal emptying were compared in 11 patients with Chagasic achalasia. The oesophageal emptying of a radiolabelled test meal was assessed three times in each patient by a scintigraphic technique. No treatment preceded one of the studies (basal study). Nifedipine (20 mg) by the sublingual route 30 min before the meal, preceded one study. Isosorbide dinitrate, 5 mg by the sublingual route 5 min before the meal, preceded the third study. The order of the studies was allocated randomly for each patient. Oesophageal retention at the completion of the meal was significantly less (P < 0.01) after isosorbide dinitrate (median: 54%, range: 5–87%) than after sublingual nifedipine (median: 78%, range: 7–99%) or after the control study (median: 83%, range: 5–100%). This difference persisted up to 20 min after the meal. Values measured in the control study and after sublingual nifedipine were not different (P > 0.10).


The paper deals with the novel filtration techniques for analog high-speed data signal preprocessing working on the base of a pure current mode filters. Because of better current-mode properties and frequency features, and due to the tendency to lower supply voltages, which is given by the possibilities of the technology used, where the dynamic range in the voltage area goes down due to the use of the voltage mode, a fast development in the field of current-mode application design can be witnessed. The paper shows possibilities of current-mode filter realizations using only current amplifiers. The paper shows also various possibilities of current amplifier realization such as basic building blocks for circuits working in the current-mode. Current amplifier realization possibilities are presented using both the existing elements, e.g. current conveyors and OTA elements, and those based on the transistor level. The currentmode filter with only current amplifier, without any active element with voltage terminal is designed.


After a median of 2 years in an active surveillance cohort being followed with multiparametric-magnetic resonance imaging and MRI-transrectal ultrasound fusion-guided biopsy ("targeted biopsy"), rates of biopsy-proven pathologic progression are similar among men with low-risk and intermediate-risk disease, say researchers from the National Institutes of Health.


We investigate the satisfiability and finite satisfiability problem for probabilistic computation-tree logic (PCTL) where operators are not restricted by any step bounds. We establish decidability for several fragments containing quantitative operators and pinpoint the difficulties arising in more complex fragments where the decidability remains open.


Carbon nanotubes have been observed to emit ultraviolet, visible and infrared radiation when exposed to microwaves. We have performed experiments in which both short (0.5 microns to 2 microns) and long (5 microns to 30 microns) single and double walled carbon nanotubes were exposed to 2.46 GHz microwaves at a pressure of 10^-6 Torr. Structural modifications of the-carbon nanotubes due to microwave absorption have been studied using the Raman spectroscopy G-band and D-band intensities, which suggest that microwave irradiation at relatively low pressure results in an increase in nanotube defects, especially in the case of the long nanotubes. Furthermore, a comparison of the spectra of the radiation emitted from the nanotubes suggests that the longer nanotubes emitted radiation of much greater intensity than the shorter nanotubes. Based on the results of the experiments and results described in previous reports, the ultraviolet, visible and infrared radiation emitted as the result of microwave absorption by carbon nanotubes seems to be primarily blackbody radiation emitted due to Joule heating. However, the presence of several broad photopeaks in the spectra of the emitted radiation (which do not seem to be related to gases absorbed by the nanotubes or the presence of catalyst particles) suggest that emissions are not the result of Joule heating alone.


Through a comparative analysis of the existing data redundancy algorithm, radar intelligence data transmission and storage conditions must meet the requirements of the modern battlefield, The Grid will be transplanted to radar intelligence network for data processing and providing the fault-tolerant in Unmanned conditions. In this environment, we present a data fault-tolerant method to realize, and analysis results of the data, at last, demonstrated the feasibility of this method.


Reference interval is critical for interpreting laboratory results, monitoring response to therapy and predicting the prognosis of the patients in clinical settings. The aim of the present study was to update established reference intervals for routine hematologic and serum chemistry values for a population of clinically healthy dogs (range, 1-8 years) seen in an animal hospital. Blood was obtained by venipuncture while animals were physically restrained, and samples were analyzed for 9 chemistries on MS9-5H (Melot Schloesing Lab, France) and 6 hematology on Vet Test 8008 (IDEXX, USA). Data from 105 dogs (52 males and 53 females) for hematology and 113 dogs (37 males and 76 females) for chemistry were used to determine reference intervals using the parametric, nonparametric and bootstrap methods. Prior to analysis, all parameters were tested for normal distribution using Anderson-Darling criterion. Of the 9 biochemical analytes, alkaline phosphatase, alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, creatinine, total protein, and glucose concentrations did not fit normal distribution for both original and transformed data. All but eosinophil count satisfied normal distribution for either original or transformed data. Parametric method can be used for original cholesterol concentrations, RBC, WBC, and neutrophil counts. This technique can also be used for power-transformed values of blood urea nitrogen concentrations and for logarithm of lymphocyte and monocyte counts. Non-parametric or bootstrap method was the preferred choice for the remaining 7 biochemical parameters and eosinophil count as they did not follow normal distributions. All three statistical techniques performed in similar reference intervals. When establishing reference intervals for clinical laboratory data, it is essential to assess the distribution of the original data to increase the accuracy of the interval, and non-parametric or bootstrap methods are of alternative for the data that do not fit normal distribution.


The discovery of quasicrystals by Dan Shechtman in the early 1980s was a conspicuous event in materials science not only because it led to the production of a plethora of new materials but also because it signified the demise of a dogma in the science of condensed phase materials concerning symmetry restrictions. Having the discovery recognized was not easy and it required stamina on Shechtman's part. The story of the quasicrystal dis- covery offers a set of lessons that might be useful to remember in similar situations.


Different bodies of literature emphasise the separate impact of the manufacturing sector and scientific capacity for competitiveness in developing countries. Scientific knowledge can increase productivity and promote innovation, while the manufacturing sector creates spillovers and generates processes of learning-by-doing. Yet, do these two processes complement each other? Do they, together, contribute to even higher international competitiveness? This paper explores these questions, drawing on an eleven-years panel data set for ten South American economies. We develop a moderation hypothesis model based on the congruence between science, industry, and international competitiveness. Our results support our hypothesis that scientific capacity and manufacturing development have a joint impact on international competitiveness that goes beyond their marginal effects and thus calls for future efforts to implement industrial policy.


Objective To investigate the probability of non-operative management of closed hepatic rupture injuries and summarize its experience.Methods The clinical data of non-operative management of 92 cases with closed hepatic rupture injuries from October 1991 to December 2009 was retrospectively analysed.Results Eighty eight cases (95.65%) were cured among them,3cases (3.26%) suffered from complications with perihepatic abscess and were cured underwent percutaneous transhepatic cholangiographic drainage(PTCD);2 cases (2.17%) transferred to operation;2 cases (2.17%) died due to severe cerebral injuries.Conclusion The non-operative management of closed hepatic rupture injuries is safe and available when indication is strictly controlled and change of injury condition is constantly observed.The non-operative treatment could avoid the wound of operation;The operation should be promptly performed when the patient's hemodynamics is unstable or delayed hemorrhage occures during the period of non-operative management.


A study of rare earth oxide phosphors activated by rare earths revealed that fluorescence occurs only in those matrices where the cation possesses no unpaired electrons. The fluorescent intensities of the rare earth activators were divided into three categories, strong, medium, and weak, each having a characteristic excitation spectrum. (auth)


Soil quality assessment was done in Grewia (Grewia optiva) based agroforestry system in Himalayan foothills. Soil samples were collected from six different treatments viz., (i) Sole Grewia (ii) Grewia + Finger millet (Eleusine coracana), iii) Grewia + Barn yard millet (Echinochloa crus-galli), iv) Finger millet alone, v) Barn yard millet alone and vi) fallow and evaluated for different soil properties and soil quality. There were significant differences in soil properties and quality under different treatments after four year of plantation. Saturated hydraulic conductivity was higher in sole Grewia (1.45 cm h−1) plots followed by that under agroforestry plots (0.80–0.95 cm hr−1). Soil bulk density was least in sole Grewia plot (1.40 mg m−3) and was highest (1.50 mg m−3) in fallow plots. Water stable aggregates were 16–18% higher in agroforestry plots. In sole Grewia plots increase of 42% was observed for water stable aggregates as compared to fallow plot. Organic carbon increased by 13–46% in different treatments as compared to fallow plot. N, P and K were also higher under sole Grewia and agroforestry plots. The soil quality index (Q) varied from 0.32 in fallow to 0.50 in sole Grewia thereby indicating the superiority of forest land use system in terms of maintaining greater soil quality than other land-use systems. Results further reveals that as compared to sole Grewia plots, there was 33% reduction in soil quality in fallow plots and 16.822.8% in agriculture plots. Soil quality in agroforestry plots was comparatively better than sole crops and fallow with only 6.9% reduction in soil quality as compared to sole Grewia.


This paper presents the results of the experiments related to measuring the impact of the suction space leaks in the gear pump on the pressure pulsation, resulting in the aeration of hydraulic fluid. The research authors claim that it is possible to detect leaks in the suction line, causing aeration of the hydraulic fluid, by recording and analyzing the pressure pulsation in the positive displacement pump discharge line. The measurements were performed for six leakage values, five discharge pressure settings and under constant hydraulic fluid temperature. The obtained results were analyzed in the time and frequency domains. The results of experimental research confirmed the author's thesis.


ABSTRACT The present article studies the interplay of perceived peer delinquency and perceived sanction risk in crime causation. Different sets of hypotheses are formulated. From Situational Action Theory (SAT), it follows that adolescents who have many delinquent friends are more frequently exposed to a crime-conducive moral context. As a consequence, they will more often feel tempted to engage in criminal behavior, which renders them more responsive to sanction risk. Rational Choice Theory (RCT) suggests that adolescents who have no or few delinquent friends are more responsive to sanction risk because these individuals have more informal costs following from punishment to fear. These hypotheses are tested with longitudinal data from the British PADS+ study. Results provide strong support for the propositions derived from SAT. Perceived peer delinquency conditions the effect of perceived sanction risk, and sanction certainty perceptions are most influential among adolescents with a large number of delinquent friends.


The invention provides a dead-time compensation system which comprises a current sampling unit, an adaptive filter, a forward conversion unit, a low-pass filter, a reverse conversion unit and a dead-time compensation unit, wherein the adaptive filter is used for adaptively filtering each of sampled three phases of current to obtain a three-phase current forecast value; the forward conversion unit is used for executing 3/2 conversion and rotary conversion on the three-phase current forecast value; the low-pass filter is used for performing low-pass filtration; the reverse conversion unit is used for performing rotary reverse conversion and 2/3 conversion; and the dead time compensation unit is used for performing dead-time compensation according to the current subjected to 2/3 conversion. The invention also provides a corresponding dead-time compensation method. According to the invention, the adaptive filter can filter the sampled three phases of current, thereby overcoming an error between a detected value and a real value, which is caused by current detection delay and further avoiding failure of dead-time compensation caused by inaccurate detected current value.


Project Plan for IPRO 308: Application Development and Business Planning for the Motorola Timeport Wireless Device for the Spring 2001 semester


The addition of water glass (64g SiO/sub 2//l) and ammonium persulfate (5 g/l) to TMAH (5 wt.%) for silicon anisotropic etching has been shown to passivate aluminium in the same manner as solid silicon or silicic acid. 1 h of etching results in an Si (1,0,0) etch rate of 1.1 /spl mu/m/min, and a surface roughness of <100 nm, making it suitable for MEMS applications.


A multidisciplinary pain management clinic specifically catering for the geriatric population, has been established in Melbourne and an analysis of the first 100 patients is presented. The major pathological problems referred to the clinic have been musculoskeletal disease (45) and post-herpetic neuralgia (18). A third major category of patients had no identifiable pathological process to account for their pain. Using a variety of measurement scales at least 50% of patients were considered to benefit from attendance at the clinic. It is considered that a pain clinic for the elderly is of value for a patient group often considered difficult to manage; it combines expertise in treatment of age specific pain syndromes with the holistic approach to the care of the elderly.


A 46-year-old woman came to our hospital because of dyspnea. Cytology of the pleural effusion was positive for adenocarcinoma. The patient had an irregular tumor measuring 4cm in diameter in her left breast, and a needle biopsy revealed breast carcinoma. Gastrofiberscopy showed an elevated lesion with slight erosion in the body of the stomach along the greater curvature. The pathologic findings in the biopsy specimen were compatible with gastric metastasis from the breast cancer. Axillary lymph node metastasis and multiple bone metastasis were also present. Chemotherapy with cyclophosphmide, epirubicin, and 5-fluorouracil, was effective, and radical mastectomy was performed. The patient is well with slight elevation of tumor markers, 25 months after surgery, We report this case with a discussion of the 18 cases reported in the Japanese literature.


Bulgaria is a country with exceptional opportunities for providing various types of tourism, including - sea, mountain, eco, rural, health, spa, spa, wellness, cultural, adventure, wine, gourmet, event, hunting, camping, yacht, golf Congress tourism. The diversity of anthropogenic and natural resources is a potential that the country could use to promote the specialized forms of tourism offered by tourist businesses within the tourist destination. The present study aims at presenting opportunities for increasing the attractiveness of a tourist destination Bulgaria by promoting cultural tourism, which would increase the interest of foreign tourists to the.


This thesis explores why the cxanmonly used broad definition of homelessness endorsed by many analysts and academics in the contenporary literature i s not useful in devising effective housing policy to alleviate the most urgent needs of those who are without safe, healthy, permanent and affordable shelter. The broad definition views homelessness as the absence of permanent home over which inhabitants have personal control and which provides shelter, privacy, security at an affordable cost together with ready access to social, economic and cultural public services. It i s often contrasted with a narrow definition of homelessness. While the narrow definition only focus on the needs of the absolute homeless (i.e., people without a roof over their head), the broad definition employs a comprehensive perspective to take into consideration the needs of the at risk homeless (i.e., people who are at the risk of losing their home) as well. Housing analysts who endorse the broad definition of homelessness believe that by framing the issue in its wider context they may be able to induce public policy change to tackle homelessness broadly in the public agenda. However, contrary to this well-intended motive, this study finds that the broad definition may actually hinder policy decision making to respond effectively and efficiently to those who are most in need. It does so for five reasons: 1) i t s broadness is inconsistent with the ideological and political realities in a hcmeownership dominant housing system; 2) i t contains an inadequately formulated category of "at risk homeless" which ignores or dismisses the housing difficulties (e.g., affordability, suitability and adequacy) of the at risk homeowners; 3) i t fails to establish precise i i boundaries of the broadly defined homeless population mainly due to technical and political ramifications; 4) i t is weak in coalescing inter-agency, cxaxirnunity and individual support and advocacy; and 5) the broader the definition the bigger the social problem and the more the public resources required to address the issue broadly which in turn urxiermines the concept's u t i l i t y in generating welfare consensus to mobilize resources in assisting the weakest members in the crsrfmunity In order to redirect housing policy decision making to be responsive to the neediest, this thesis proposes that: 1) the potential u t i l i t y of Housing Dimension of Hamelessness must be distinguished from the "general" broad conception of homelessness so that policy specific focus can be given to each individual dimension of homelessness to facilitate immediate actions and solutions to aid each target group (e.g., housing dimension of homelessness focuses mainly on housing aspect of homelessness therefore the concept has the highest u t i l i t y for investigating housing problems and formulating housing solutions for people with severe basic shelter need. The general broad view of homelessness focuses on a l l contributing factors of homelessness equally therefore the concept has the highest u t i l i t y in investigating broader social issues such as social inequality); 2) homeless should be recategorized into five subgroups: at risk renters, at risk homeowners, street homeless, shelter homeless and by-choice homeless in order to increase the concepts' u t i l i t y for prioritizing needs and allocating public resources to aid the neediest; and 3) policies and programs for the homeless must be targeted at "shelter homeless" and "street homeless" instead of "homeless" as a general broad category to ascertain that the most vulnerable members in the cxarrnminity will receive the highest priority assistance in Canada's housing system. i i i


This paper presents the final results of the work which the authors have been performing for the European Fusion Technology Programme (the NET Team), as a part of a task entitled: {open_quotes}Hydrogen effects and water corrosion in reference 316L steel and welds{close_quotes}. The contribution deals with the modeling of hydrogen embrittlement in AISI TYPE 316L solution-annealed austenitic stainless steel, to be used for the first wall of NET (Next European Torus). The mechanical behavior of the steel in the presence of hydrogen does not change from ductile to brittle in a macroscopic sense. In hydrogen environment the steel also fails by plastic instability, but failure loads are lower than in air and decrease with embrittlement time. The zones of high strain, where material must be expected to be altered according the behavior in air should damage consisting of voids and microcracks. Numerical modeling of hydrogen diffusion in the samples was performed on the basis of a set of non-conventional diffusion equations, in which hydrogen diffuses not only to the points of minimum concentration, but also towards those places of maximum hydrostatic stress. The diffusion computer program was coupled with an elastic-plastic FEM program so as to achieve the calculation ofmore » both the stress state and the distribution of hydrogen concentration at the sample points step by step.« less


It is already known that hardness value of cold-forged product is in close conjunction with its effective strain. This paper presents the method to predict the relation between effective strains and hardness values by using FE-simulation of hardness test from the conception that hardness indicates resistance to plastic deformation. The results of FE-simulation for the material with pre-strain arc compared with those of experiments of the references to show the feasibility of the proposed method.


The principle is described of inertial corfinement of plasma in which a cylindrical metallic shell compresses a magnetic field and plasma in a soft- core'' geometry. The shell transforms a part of its kinetic energy irto the thermal energy of the compressed plasma and into the stored magnetic energy. The source of the kinetic energy of the shell can be either a condenser bank or an annular explosive charge. Two experiments, each using one of these energysources, are described. (auth)


In this paper,the deformation process of the soft clayey foundation are simulated though the 1-D consolidation test with loading and unloading.The results of the test show that stage-loading in theproceed of the embankment construction is not sufficient to affect the total distortion in the long course of deformation with whole load;during the process of superimposed loading,if the loading time is less than the prime time of equal preloading,it will not bring any influence to the total deformation,else the total deformation will increase.


With the continuous improvement of wind power penetration, the impact of the random fluctuation characteristics of wind power on the frequency control of the power system is growing. Currently, researchers began to study the methods of wind farms participation in frequency control to reduce the frequency adjustment pressure of other power plants and increase the wind power penetration. However, the existing simulation software for the short and long term frequency control of the power system is not so good. So in order to analyze the impact of load fluctuations or wind farm power fluctuations on system frequency control, this paper propose a frequency fluctuation simulation method based on the quasi-steady-state method.


The relationship is stable for most of the oil-producing regions of the country. During this period, rates of transfer of the unexplored part of potential resources into commercial categories of reserves were reduced sharply. See Figs. 2 and 3. The averaged curves of these values can be extrapolated into the prediction period with adequate reliability and used to calculate possible volumes of reserves. With the great diversity of geology of the regions and spatial di stribution of pools, regularities in the dynamics of the indic ators considered here are similar: When 20-40% of the initial potential reserves are proved, there is an intensive growth in specific costs of exploration drilling for increasing the de gree of exploration each successive percent, If it is taken into account also that along with this the cost of a raster drilled increases, then these specific costs are yet higher.


Analysis of preoperative risk factor for delirium is important to identify patients at risk of it after head and neck cancer surgery. This study shows the results of 257 cases with head and neck cancer surgery at Nippon Medical School Hospital. Postoperative delirium developed in 34 of 257 patients (13.4%). Incidence of it after major operation including free flap head and neck reconstruction was 25.4%. Risk factors were a history of psychiatric disease, poor cognitive state and postoperative respiratory dysfunction due to lung edema. From this point of view, we made an original predictive score using five criteria : male sex, psychiatric disease history, poor cognitive state, living alone and respiratory complication just after surgery. We suggest that this scoring method may be useful in the identification of high-risk patients and for planning further treatment for postoperative delirium.


By following McNay's conceptualization of agency and adapting Mills' feminist stylistics, this chapter examines the creation of female agency and subjectivity in the Mexican political drama Ingobernable [The Ungovernable]. The series has two complete seasons and 27 episodes so far. The plot revolves around the actions of five women, who can be identified with their unexpected and unanticipated as well as disobedient and resistant behaviors at varying levels. Each woman has different relations with power; however, all aim to engender change within the established order. Here, the author proposed a multi-layered method for analyzing female agency and subjectivity in the series by weaving the analysis through women archetypes from Mexican history and argued that female agency is created through audacious and cautious actions in Ingobernable which exists in-between these two action-based tensions.


The classification of white blood cells (WBCs) from microscopic blood image provides invaluable information for diagnosis of various diseases. Deep Convolutional Neural Networks are often used to classify WBCs automatically and have obtained certain achievements. However, when the training (source) dataset and test (target) dataset fall from different data distributions (i.e. domain shift), deep convolution neural networks adapt poorly. To solve the problem, we proposed a DANN-based method aiming to help our classifier learn domain-invariant information by using adversarial training. Two datasets were tested and our method achieved 97.1% accuracy, 97.2% recall, 97.2% precision and 97.4%f1-score, respectively. Domain adaptation verification shows that the proposed method has higher performance than other adaptive methods, and has broad application prospects in WBC classification.


A comprehensive directory listing all IEEE members, with grade of membership, position title, and business address, will be made available toward the end of this year. The new directory is expected to contain more than 1000 pages and the information in it will be compiled using the IEEE's new computer.


This work presents a methodology to tackle the problem of classifying the pixels of a given image into three possible classes: contour, regular or texture points. A neuro-fuzzy approach is proposed to derive, starting from a training set and exploiting the processing capabilities of a neural network, a fuzzy rule base that can be applied in pixel classification problems providing a good degree of accuracy and interpretability. The method is based on the spatial properties of the image features and makes use of multi-scaled representation of an image. Examples are reported to test the effectiveness of the proposed approach.


We show how the exhaustion constraint of non renewable resources, against which maintaining a minimum level of consumption may collapse in the long run, could be relaxed by an appropriate effort in RαD. However along any optimal trajectory of the economy, this effort has to be made if and only if the productivity in the research sector is high enough compared with the impatience. We show that, in the case of strong impatience, the society must choose an increasing RαD effort but initially low, resulting in a long run decrease of the consumption level.


PurposePrevious research has investigated knowledge transfer and the external consultant's role in it, during enterprise resource planning (ERP) implementation. In this study, the authors explore the processes through which knowledge creation happens during ERP implementation and how external consultants help operationalize the same.Design/methodology/approachThe authors engaged the SECI model of the theory of organizational knowledge creation and conducted an interpretive study that interviewed 14 ERP implementation experts in India. The interviews were transcribed and then analyzed using the ATLAS.ti package.FindingsThe findings reveal fine insights into how knowledge creation takes place during ERP implementation through the four modes of knowledge conversion – socialization (S), externalization (E), combination (C) and internalization (I). The external consultants aid in operationalizing this knowledge creation process through five types of knowledge-related activities: (I) importing external knowledge, (D) discovering internal knowledge, (E) extricating confined knowledge, (A) activating flows of knowledge and (S) solving problems using knowledge. These activities can be represented by the acronym, I-D-E-A-S.Originality/valueThe study makes two overarching contributions: (1) offering an interpretation and description of ERP implementation as a knowledge creation process and (2) extending the understanding of the external consultants' role during ERP implementation to include new knowledge creation.


As silicon integrated systems become ubiquitously present, it becomes mandatory that their operation be reliable and robust. We are already confronted with the continued downscaling of silicon technologies; while we will also about to be confronted with the challenges associated with nano-fabrication technologies which are inherently nondeterministic and prone to have higher defect rates. Research must address the combination of new device-level defect/error-prone technologies within systems that must deliver high levels of reliability and dependability while satisfying other hard constraints such as low energy consumption. With increased complexity, decreased power supply voltages, and higher switching speeds, signal integrity issues are rapidly becoming critical, of course governing reliability and dependability, but also a number of other performance-related parameters of electronic systems. This session will focus on these issues, as they specifically pertain to microprocessor platforms, systems on chip, and systems in package. Presenters:


The major of Information Security is a new emerging professional science which was approved by the ministry of education in China in this century. Guangzhou University has enrolled Information Security majors from 2002. Currently, the major of Information security has been set up in more than 70 institutes of higher learning all over the country. Owning to the particularities of this major---short development period, extensive use and different demand for technical talent, the ministry of education has not worked out a unified plan. According to the present situation, development of this major in China and the social demand for technical in this field, we worked out the future development project for the major of information security in Guangzhou University, which includes training objective, training methods, curricular system, practice plan and so on。We have the reason to believe the paper has some directive significance for the development project of this field.


AIM To explore the effect of Carthamus tinctorius extract on left ventricular hypertrophy induced by partly abdominal aortic coarctation operation in Wistar rats and to study the involved mechanism. METHODS: 12 rats were sham operated when the hypertensive hypertrophy was induced with abdominal aortic coarctation in 40 rats, which were randomly divided into control group, captopril group, Carthamus tinctorius extract group one week later. The drugs were given by gastric perfusion once a day for 6 weeks. The weight of the rat and the left ventricle were measured, cardiac coefficient were calculated and MMP-2, MMP-9 were evaluated by ELISA means. [WTHZ]RESULTS: The cardiac coefficient of the control group was significantly increased and the expression of MMP-2, MMP-9 was greatly enhanced in the control rats. After 6 weeks treatment with captopril and carthamus tinctorius extract, cardiac coefficient was significantly attenuated as well as the expression of MMP-2, MMP-9 in serum respectively. CONCLUSION: Carthamus tinctorius extract can prevent from the remodeling process of ventricular muscles, which might be related with the expressive depression of MMP-2, MMP-9.


Lipstick quality can be affected by the dye and base composition. Natural dyes areoften used empirically is anthocyanins contained in the flower of hibiscus (Hibiscus rosa-sinensis L.). The use of various types and compositions of different wax bases can provide different characteristics in lipstick. This study aims to determines the effect of a combination of beeswax and paraffin wax in various formula of lipstick from hibiscus flower extract in the physical properties, physical stability, and security. Anthocyanin dyes obtained from hibiscus flower in maceration with 96% ethanol. Lipstick made in 3 formulas consisting of formula 1 (10% Beeswax and 15% Paraffin wax), formula 2 (14% Beeswax and 11% Paraffin wax),and formula 3 (18% Beeswax and 7% Paraffin wax) with 6% of hibiscus flower extract. Lipstick tested physical properties and stability (organoleptic, hardness, adhesion, and melting point) for 4 weeks after the making. Security level of lipstick, tested with primary irritation test using female albino rabbits. Data were tested by One-Way ANOVA with confidence level 95%, followed by Tukey test. Organoleptic data were analyzed descriptively. The result showed that hibiscus lipstick produces a purple color, characteristic odor, and tasteless when applied topically. Lipstick on formula 1 and 3 are stable in storage in all response (organoleptic, hardness, adhesion, and melting point), while formula 2 is unstable in response to adhesion. Lipstick with ethanol extract of hibiscus flower (Hibiscus rosa-sinensis L.) as natural dyes do not provide primary irritation reactions (erythema dan edema) in test animals.


This describes a search for novel ultra-long-range molecular resonances between rubidium Rydberg atoms in a magneto-optical trap (MOT). We use the technique of photoassociative spectroscopy by directly scanning the wavelength of our Rydberg excitation laser about a 5PJ12 90pJ12 transition in a weak electric field and by scanning mm-waves about a 39sl/2 39p3/2 transition. The results of both of these surveys are inconclusive.


The empty-cavity electromagnetic eigenmodes of vertical- cavity surface-emitting lasers, including light-vector polarization properties, are calculated from Maxwell equations in cylindrical symmetry. The electromagnetic field in each layer is expanded into local modes of the corresponding cylindrical waveguide and the vectorial transform matrix method is used to calculate the light propagation through the structure. A simplified approach for the case of uncoupled modes is also formulated. For the cavity geometry under consideration the resonant frequencies of eigenmodes predicted within the CMA agree very well with results of exact calculations. The presented method for the empty-cavity eigenmode determination may be useful for future calculations of a steady-state laser models with semiconductor material gain parameters and carriers and temperature diffusion processes taken into account.


This essay studies the mysterious circumstances of Mr. Tulliver's loss at court in George Eliot's The Mill on the Floss (1860). Where the social world of the novel deems Tulliver overzealous and wrongheaded in "going to law," this essay suggests that Eliot incorporated contemporary (1850s) developments in riparian doctrine (the law pertaining to access to and use of rivers) into her novel, such that Tulliver seems to have held a legitimate position under a previous legal paradigm and been stymied by a new way of thinking about river water. This central but unelaborated problem ramifies through the Tulliver family in the form of siblings Maggie and Tom's respective "judgment pathologies."


Abstract Unethical behaviours, such as blaming subordinates for their shortcomings, taking credit of others' work, favouritism, and excessive publicising of ethical leadership failures are prominent among the leaders of the organisation. Although research has been conducted on ethical culture, particularly on the causes and effects of ethical-decision, few studies emphasised on the topics outside the business ethics research, such as employee well-being. Therefore, this study focused on the mediating effects of organisational ethical culture on the relationship between ethical leadership, work engagement, employees' well-being, and performance. The data collection process involved the distribution of highly structured questionnaires to 697 employees working in Italian and Pakistani hospitality industry. This was followed by the analysis of cultural differences through measurement invariance tests and mediation techniques. As a result, it was found that ethical leadership and ethical culture have positive impact on employee wellbeing, work engagement and financial performance where ethical culture has relatively stronger influence on financial performance. The results also revealed that ethical leadership had a relatively stronger impact on the well-being of the Italian employees compared to Pakistani employees. However, the association between ethical leadership and work engagement was stronger among Pakistani employees. The study implications, limitations, and future research directions were presented hereunder. Graphical Abstract


This letter presents a cooperative spectrum sensing scheme with beamforming for cognitive radio networks. Here, secondary users report spectrum measurements to a fusion center simultaneously with assigned beamforming weights. Under correlated log-normal shadowing, optimal beamforming weights are derived to maximize the global detection probability subject to a global transmit power constraint. Global detection performance with optimal beamforming weights is then evaluated. The analysis is tested on a linear, equi-distant network where secondary users have identical channel gains to the fusion center. Results show that more secondary users improve detection performance.


This paper is a comparative study of the variation in 10Be content of different late Cenozoic sedimentary environments recovered during ODP Leg 117. The Oman Margin site, Hole 728A, with overlying high-productivity cells, the pelagic Owen Ridge site, Hole 722A, and the Indus Fan site, Hole 720A, each display a specific 10Be distribution with time. Differences in scavenging intensity and upwelling in the water column, must account for the variations in the initial 10Be input into the sediments from Holes 728A and 722A, whereas differences in sediment character and sedimentation rate can explain the variances between Holes 722A, 728A, and 720A.


TiO2 is one of the photocatalyst materials that is widely used and proven for environmental treatment. To increase the activity of TiO2, TiO2 has been modified into a nanotube shape with nickel metal doping. The TiO2 nanotubes with Ni doping have been synthesized with one step hydrothermal process. In this research, it shows that nickel doped with TiO2 led to a reduction of crystal size and band gap energy. The smaller crystalline size and lower band gap energy enhanced its photocatalytic activity. The best results for photocatalytic activity were TiO2/Ni with a crystal size of 7.30 nm and a band gap energy value of 3.12 eV. The photocatalytic activity of TiO2/Ni was tested by degrading methylene blue under mercury lamp radiation, with the best result of 92.73 % degradation of methylene blue, within 240 minutes of photocatalytic activity.


The management audit is in audit system's important audit form,is opposite in the outside audit says,is playing the influential role in the modern business management.The management audit does not have in the outside audit characteristic and the function,it has the important status and the unreplaceable function in the company management structure.The management audit and the modern company govern inseparable,depends on each other mutually,mutual influence.


Introduction: When viewing the lunar exosphere there appear to be three major sources of optical scattering that are typically observed: atomic line emissions from the exospheric gases [1]; the relatively bright coronal and zodiacal light (CZL) background [2]; and the putative scattering of sunlight by exospheric dust, which is also referred to as "lunar horizon glow" (LHG) [3]. The lunar exospheric environment has not been well characterized, and there is still much to discover about the various physical processes taking place. This was recognized in the NRC SCEM report by "Concept 8: Processes involved with the atmosphere and dust environment of the Moon are accessible for scientific study while the environment remains in a pristine state" [4]. In response, NASA is going to fly the Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) to address these goals [5]. LADEE will carry a neutral mass spectrometer, a dust detector, and an ultraviolet/visible (UV/Vis) spectrometer. It will be placed in a near-circular retrograde equatorial orbit at an altitude of ≈50 km, and is due for launch in 2011. Here we focus on the modeling necessary for the analysis of the UV/Vis spectrometer data. We have developed an adaptable code that can simulate the optical scattering processes that can be observed at UV and visible wavelengths from an orbiter within the shadow of the Moon. The predictions presented here indicate that the LADEE UV/Vis spectrometer will be able to readily distinguish between atomic line emissions and CZL, as well as LHG. Lunar Exospheric Environment Overview: Atomic line emissions. The lunar exosphere consists of various elements (e.g., H, He, Na, K, Ar, Rn), which are continuously sourced from the lunar surface and are either lost to space or recycled back to the surface [1]. Although only trace elements in the lunar exosphere, the bright emissions from sodium (Na) and potassium (K) with scale heights H ~ 100 km have been extensively used to study the variability of the exosphere from ground-based observatories [6,7]. The Na-D lines, at wavelengths λD1 = 589.6 nm and λD2 = 589.0 nm, are particularly bright in the visible with intensities up to several kiloRayleighs. Coronal and Zodiacal Light. This refers to both sunlight scattered by the solar corona, and that scattered by interplanetary dust in the inner solar system. The Zodiacal dust population is distributed about the ecliptic plane and produced by asteroids and comets [2]. A formulation for the spatial and spectral characteristics of CZL was developed [8], and later refined by fitting to spectral broad measurements from the Clementine Star Tracker cameras [2]. Lunar Horizon Glow. Observations of a glow along the lunar horizon suggest that there is a greater abundance of lunar exospheric dust than is expected to be produced by meteoritic ejecta alone [9]. Therefore, it has been proposed that electric charging of the lunar surface by plasma and solar UV could result in the electrostatic transport of dust [e.g.,10]. The Surveyor landers observed LHG along the local western horizon after sunset, which indicated that micron-scale dust grains (radii a ~ 5 μm) were "levitating" within ≈1 m of the surface. Direct detection of highly-charged lunar dust moving at ~100 m s was likely provided by the Apollo 17 Lunar Ejecta and Meteorites (LEAM) experiment [10]. The LEAM dust counts peaked around the terminator, which strongly suggests a connection with LHG [11]. Evidence for exospheric dust "lofted" to higher altitudes came from Apollo astronaut observations and coronal photography from orbit while within lunar shadow [3,12]. These observations indicated that the high-altitude dust was submicron (a ~ 0.1 μm) with H ~ 10 km [13]. Further evidence from the astrophotometer aboard the Soviet Lunokhod-II rover revealed a brighter than expected lunar twilight sky [14], while the Apollo 16 Far-Ultraviolet Camera/Spectrograph possibly detected LHG during the lunar daytime [15].


Objective To investigate the effect of pinacidil preconditioning on calcium-sensing receptor (CaSR) expression of ventricular myocytes after hypoxia/re-oxygenation.in rats.Methods Adult rat cardiomyocytes were isolated by heart perfusion apparatus and randomly divided into the following four groups: normal group (group N), control group (group C), pinacidil preconditioning group (group P) and glibenclamide group (group G). The cells in group N were normally cultured. In the other three groups, oxygen was deprived for 45 min followed by re-oxygenation for 60 min. Groups P and G were pretreated with 30 μmol/L pinacidil for 15 min before hypoxia. Group G was treated with 50 μmol/L glibenclamide for 5 min before pinacidil preconditioning. The expressions of CaSR mRNA and protein were detected by the Real-Time PCR and Western blot, respectively. Results The expressions of CaSR mRNA and protein in group N decreased compared with other three groups (P0.01). When compared with group P, CaSR expressions in groups C and G were increased (P0.05).Conclusion Pinacidil preconditioning can inhibit hypoxia/reoxygenation induced CaSR expressions, which might be mediated by the opening of ATP sensitive potassium channel.


WSN consists of a collection of nodes where each node is connected to one or more sensors which are intended to function for years without any human intervention. Today WSNs play very important role in event sensing, information processing and data communication.WSNs have been replacing the traditional networks because of its ease of deployment, extended transmission range and self-organization. Many of the current routing protocols in WSN assumes that nodes and sink are static. Disadvantage of static WSN is that the neighbor nodes of sink consumes more energy and thus leads to network isolation(hotspot problem).This problem can be avoided by providing mobility to nodes thereby improving the network life time. In this paper we are conducting a comparative study on various protocols used in mobile WSN.


INTRODUCTION : Climacteric is the passage between the reproductive and non-reproductive period of women, characterized by hot flushes and sweating that generate changes in their quality of life, which may interfere with sleep and routine activities. OBJECTIVE : To evaluate the sleep quality and insomnia level of climacteric women and compare with women of regular menstrual cycle. METHODS : Data were collected from January to April 2018. Personal data, date of last menstruation, use of medication, physical activity, alcohol or cigarette use, and anthropometric data were collected. Three questionnaires were applied: the Kupperman Menopausal Index (IMK), applied to women who were in the climacteric; Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI-BR) and Insomnia Severity Index. RESULTS : The sample consisted of 53 women, 30 with regular menstrual cycle and 23 during climacteric. The average age was 45 ± 9 years, weight 70 ± 7 kg and height 158 ± 4 cm. Regarding the severity of climacteric symptoms, 61% of women had moderate symptoms and had poor sleep quality where only women in the climacteric were evaluated with the presence of sleep disorder and 67% of women in the climacteric had insomnia. mild to moderate. There was a significant difference between sleep quality (p = 0.001) and insomnia severity (p = 0.014) between groups. CONCLUSIONS : Climacteric women have worse sleep quality and mild to moderate insomnia compared to women who regularly menstruate.


Bachelor thesis deals with an instrumental analytical methods using to determination of
dissociation constants of drugs. Drugs are chemically acids or basis and their acid-base
properties affect their pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics. The acetylsalicylic acid was
used in the experimental part of the work to validate the method of potentiometric titration in
aqueous-methanolic environment.


Neural networks are currently used in various fields of science and technology, as well as in experiments related to particle physics. DarkSide-50 is a two-phase (liquid and gas) argon TPC which has two main signals: scintillation in LAr (S1 signal) and electroluminescence in GAr (S2 signal) [1]. In the low-mass dark matter search only the more energetic second signal is used for position reconstruction [2]. As a result only events detected by seven central photomultiplier tubes are used for the analysis. Here we attempt to improve reconstruction using the convolutional neural networks (CNN).


Abstract : A formulation of the radar integration segment of a Tactical Data System is presented in this report. The main features consists of the filtered set of raw detections containing the most tract information, a data compression procedure for transmission over a communication link, and the concept of a distributed system operating philosophy. Other features included are a simple error analysis technique using a truncated Taylor series, a new formulation of the grid-lock problem, a simple track filter, and a discussion of coordinate systems and their relationships.


This study investigates the way in which different concepts of contemplation and seclusion are negotiated in Jewish spiritual literature. Focusing on (early) modern examples, it particularly addresses the functions and goals of physical and mental exercises designed to achieve detachment from worldly concerns. It shows how practices denoted by the terms perishut (lit. "separation") and hitbodedut (lit. "solitude") serve as preparatory steps that enable individuals to approach the divine, with the ultimate goal of bringing about various experiences of oneness with the deity. Against this background, it elucidates how perishut and hitbodedut were considered by some authors instrumental to gain divine knowledge, and how this idea relates to earlier Jewish conceptions of prophecy. Lastly, it will illustrate how in contemporary sources, contemplative seclusion is presented as a practice that transcends the temporal framework to which humans are bound.


The ship lift in Shuikou Hydropower Station is the largest in China which has operated for five years.The observation data for it show that the deformation of the ship lift tower is mainly affected by temperature.The trend of deformation and the effects of ship-carrying chamber's operation on the tower's horizontal deformation and opening of tower joints are inconspicuous.So the deformation behavior of ship lift tower in Shuikou Hydropower Station is normal.


Abstract Nowadays the use of the multivariate statistical process control (MSPC) toolbox is efficiently generalized beyond assuring product quality through the monitoring of industrial processes in order to be used in many other non industrial fields (e.g., public health, environmental, financial monitoring, etc.). Data produced by non industrial processes usually require the development of problem-oriented monitoring procedures. In this article we develop a method for monitoring bivariate random variables defined on contingency tables and introduce an appropriate one-sided control procedure, motivated by a problem from double reading used in many medical processes. Specifically, we propose a procedure for monitoring simultaneously the measure of agreement between Cohen's kappa defined on a contingency table associated with the process stability and one percentage associated with the process quality level, defined on the same contingency table. The procedure is based on an appropriate approximation that is assessed numerically and shows an excellent performance. Then we explore the performance of several candidate one-sided techniques for monitoring the process and we propose a new one that is based on a penalization strategy that appears to have the best performance. The new technique is very easy to implement by a non statistician, as illustrated by its application to a real case from double reading.


(1962). Effect of Overload Warm-up on the Velocity and Accuracy of Throwing. Research Quarterly. American Association for Health, Physical Education and Recreation: Vol. 33, No. 3, pp. 472-475.


Predictable behaviour of any system is important in order to ensure that its performance is always optimal. Researchers have used many techniques to model system's performance based on the data collected in many different runs to predict the ideal setting for any system. In idea mining, the probabilistic weights of the position of idea in a text needs to be set for optimal setting. In this paper, an experiment with a total of 10,000 runs with different randomly assigned weights is conducted for the idea mining model in order to discover the optimal setting. Based on the mean average score (MAP) score produced in each run, a prediction of the optimal weight is discovered by using the curve fitting based on the least squares method and the artificial neural network (ANN) model. Based on the findings, the ANN model appears to be more suitably fit as compared to the least squares method, which suggests that the data is nonlinear in nature.


— Discomycttis longicaudatus (Imamura, 1931) Thome, 1939 is redescribed on the basis of LM and SEM studies. The male is reported for the first time. The diagnosis of the genus Discom/yctus is emended and a diagnostic compendium of its species is provided.


[Objective]To survey the attendants of hotels, in order to improve people's knowledge standard, self- prevention ability, and sanitary service of hotel with active way of health education. [Method]Through questionnaire and anonymous survey among 309 hotel attendants . [Result]This group has basic learning of AIDS related knowledge, average score is 71, especially in the respect of Aids hazards, main routes of transmission, and basic prevention method, but they had no all - round knowledge of individual prevention measures related directly to this calling. 78.64% and 92.23% attendants felt frightened once they learned the guest they served were infected with HIV or AIDS and refused to serve them. 26.34% attendants were not willing to report the epidemic situation in time. And it was found the attendants of state - own hotels were better than those of private - own hotels in terms of knowledge, attitude, self- prevention, and epidemic situation reporting. [Conclusion]Departments responsible for the work should strengthen education and management. Departments in charge of public hygiene supervision should set related requirements for training workers before they were engaged in work, sanitary service standard, and individual prevention measures.


Cereal crops, particularly rice, maize, sorghum and millets serve as major staple food for millions of people in different parts of the tropical world. These crops are of relatively low cash value, and are frequently grown by a large proportion of the world's family farmers, who are usually resourcepoor. One of the major constraints to the production of these crops, and a major challenge to scientists and technologists because of the diversity of technological problems and resource poverty of the family households, is the attack by various major insect pests, especially crop borers. Among the key genera of crop borers, Chilo is knownto include 41 significant pestiferous species. More than 25 species infest cereal as well as sugar-cane crops, 18 of which occur in Africa. The grain yield losses caused by Chilo partellus in sorghum alone have been estimated to amount up to 88% in Kenya on many occasions.


The purpose of this research is to describe the teacher's effort to manage the challenging behaviors of students with ASD in inclusive school settings. This effort is classified into minor intervention and moderate intervention. This research used descriptive qualitative research design. Data were collected through interview and non-participant observation. Moreover, data were analyzed by applying interactive model. This research was held in one inclusive school in Sidoarjo, Indonesia. There are five participants in this research. Findings indicate that teachers are able to understand the triggers of challenging behaviors of students with ASD. However, all of the teachers are only able to implement minor intervention. Furthermore, teachers are still struggling in implementing the moderate intervention. Keywords—challenging behaviors; students with autism spectrum disorder; inclusive schools.


Objective: To estimate the prevalence of hazards in the home environment that may contribute to unintentional falls among young and middle‐aged New Zealanders.


[Objective] To analyze the composition characteristics of patients consulted by chief residents in General ICU, and investigate the work station from an aspect. [Methods] Patients consulted by chief residents from 5th January 2007 to 28th December 2008 in the General ICU of First Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University were retrospectively analyzed. [Results] A total of 376 new inpatients were consulted during a 10-month periods of ICU residency, including emergency consultation for 354 cases (94.15%). Consultation involved in 25 departments (69.44% of total clinical departments). The most common department for consultation was the emergency department (18.35%), the second was the department of hepatobiliary surgery (13.83%) and the third was the department of thoracic surgery (13.30%). The most common diagnosis for consultation were respiratory failure (20.74%), important surgery (11.97%) and shock (11.44%). 167 patients who weren't transferred to ICU were followed up. Among these 167 patients, 21 patients (12.57%) died, 78 patients (46.71%) healed and 68 patients (40.72%) abandoned treatment. The frequency of medical dispute was zero. [Conclusion] As the variety and severity of the diseases for ICU consultation, the chief resident of ICU should have profound clinical knowledge, qualified operating skill, independent clinical thinking, stable psychological quality, excellent communication skills and high responsibility.


Flooding of soil for 31 days reduced growth, induced marginal leaf necrosis and abscission, caused decay of root systems, and induced morphological and anatomical changes in 10-week-old Ulmusamericana L. seedlings. The seedlings adapted to flooding by forming hypertrophied lenticels and adventitious roots on submerged portions of stems, as well as forming new roots on preexisting roots. Hypertrophy of the lenticels resulted from accelerated phellogen activity and elongation of cork cells. The increased phellogen activity extended beyond the lenticels and often resulted in ruptures of the epidermis encircling the entire stem circumference. The flood-induced adventitious roots on stems originated denovo in the ray parenchyma of the secondary phloem.


The crop insurance program has become a cornerstone of domestic agricultural policy. An appropriate ratemaking procedure is essential to successful crop insurance program. All-risk apple insurance premium rates are estimated using both parametric and nonparametic crop yield density estimation procedures. It appears that the nonparametic rates are more accurate than the parametric rates in case cmp yield distributions are asymmetric.


Water pollution and its impacts on ecosystems in Jakarta Bay have been extensively studied over the years. Muara Angke is known anecdotally as one of the most heavily polluted parts of Jakarta Bay. In the context of the ongoing debate regarding contamination in the area, we present data on the concentration of metals in green mussels Perna viridis, one of the most popular edible commodities in Jakarta Bay. Histological examination of P. viridis gonads was also performed to demonstrate the direct effects of possible contamination on reproduction in this organism. The concentration of arsenic (As), copper (Cu), nickel (Ni), zinc (Zn), and mercury (Hg) exceeded the upper limits of heavy metal contents in marine biota, whilst only As exceeded the maximum limits of heavy metal contents in processed food, both limits set by Indonesian government. Although the histological observation of gonad tissue after being stained with hematoxylin and eosin revealed some pathologies, high contents of metals in mussels collected in Muara Angke seemed not to affect their reproduction. Ecologically, direct impacts on the tissue of P. viridis will provide vital information needed to predict the health of the species in Muara Angke and the sustainability of the population.


In the second part of the 21st century, literary theories laid emphasis on nationality derived from deconstruc-tionism, inherited the outstanding achievements made by structuralist and semantics researches, and formed a cultural literary research method with multiple equality and communication as its main feature, so that pure literary research was replaced by macro cultural research. The observation manner of neo-history' 'structual context' and the cultural network study of American Society of Criticism can be regarded as classical studies. To critically absorb these achievements is then the main task of comprehensively building up Chinese literary theory.


One of the main consequences of the ubiquitous usage of Internet as a means to conduct business has been the progressive internationalization of contracts created to support such transactions. As electronic commerce becomes International commerce, the reality is that commercial disputes will occur creating such questions as: "In which country do I bring proceedings?" and "Which law is to be applied to solve disputes?" The decentralized and global structure of the Internet and its decentralized operation have given e-commerce a transnational element that affects two questions essential to any transaction: applicable law and jurisdiction in the event of dispute. The sharing of applicable law and jurisdiction among States in respect of international transactions traditionally has been based on the use of contact factors generally of a territorial nature (the place where real estate is located, customary residence, principal establishment, place of shipping goods). The characteristics of the Internet as a new space sometimes make it difficult to apply these rules, and may make them inoperative or lead to results that are surprising or totally foreign to the contracting parties and other elements and circumstances of the case. Keywords—Electronic, European Union, Jurisdiction, Internet


OBSERVATIONS WERE MADE OF THE FREE-WATER CONTENT OF SNOW ON ROADS AND ITS BEHAVIOR UNDER TRAFFIC. A TAPLEY DECELEROMETER WAS USED TO MEASURE THE SKID RESISTANCE OF THE SNOW-COVERED ROADS. IT WAS FOUND THAT SNOW HAVING FREE- WATER CONTENT OF LESS THAN 15 PERCENT WAS COMPACTED BY TRAFFIC AND FORMED A SLIPPERY SURFACE ON WHICH A DECELERATION VALUE OF 0.30 WAS MEASURED. SNOW WITH A FREE- WATER CONTENT BETWEEN 15 AND 30 PERCENT WAS USUALLY NOT COMPACTED BUT REMAINED ON THE ROAD IN A SOFT, LOOSE STATE AND GAVE DECELERATION VALUES OF 0.35 TO 0.42. THE EXACT BEHAVIOR DEPENDED ON OTHER VARIABLES SUCH AS DEPTH, SHAPE AND SIZE OF THE GRAINS. SNOW WITH A FREE-WATER CONTENT OF 30 PERCENT WAS REMOVED BY TRAFFIC. DECELERATION VALUES BETWEEN 0.40 AND 0.5/ WERE MEASURED ON THIS SURFACE, AND A VALUE OF 0.60 WAS MEASURED ON THE BARE, WET PAVEMENT. THE OBSERVATIONS CONFIRM THAT CHEMICALS NEED TO BE APPLIED ONLY IN AN AMOUNT SUFFICIENT TO PRODUCE 30 PERCENT MELTING IF A DECREASE OF THE SKID RESISTANCE CAN BE TOLERATED. A MELTING OF 15 PERCENT WOULD PREVENT THE SNOW FROM BEING COMPACTED INTO AN ICE CRUST BUT USUALLY WOULD NOT CAUSE IT TO BE REMOVED BY TRAFFIC, AND THUS PLOWING WOULD BE RE- QUIRED. /AUTHOR/


Abstract : FAMSNUB is a digital computer program, written in single precision FORTRAN IV for the Philco-Ford/GE 265 time-sharing system, to determine the eigenfrequencies and eigenmodes of vibration in pure bending of loaded, piece-wise continuous single-span beams supported in any one of the ten possible combinations of the following end conditions: free, guided, hinged and clamped. Continuously variable beam properties may be accommodated by appropriate subdivision of the span. The distributed mass of the beam itself is taken into account by means of field transfer matrices; this represents an advance over the usual lumped-parameter approach. To preserve numerical accuracy at the higher mode values, a modified transfer matrix method is employed. Verification solutions have been obtained on the IBM 360-50/65 using the double precision facility.


We consider the link between the incidence of operational errors (OEs), operations counts, operational conditions, and weather in the US National Airspace System (NAS). Our main aim is to test the hypothesis--suggested by the human factors literature linking cognitive tasks and human error-that adverse operating conditions lead to higher rates of OEs. Poisson regression estimation results support this hypothesis in all three air traffic control domains—en route, tower, and TRACON. Our results also demonstrate that OEs increase supralinearly with operations volume, that convective weather causes more TRACON and en route operational errors, that low visibility increases tower OEs, and that there are large facility fixed effects for TRACON and tower OEs. One implication of this research is that investments to improve operational performance of the NAS may also improve its safety performance.


Some systems and methods for identifying the position of the vessel, is described in this disclosure. One embodiment of the blood vessel location system includes an image capturing device and the processing circuit. Imaging device, when a region of the skin of the subject is illuminated by the first light, as well as capturing the first image of the region, the area of skin is illuminated by the second light the Rutoki configured to photograph the second image of the region. Processing circuitry calculates the difference between the first image and the second image, configured to obtain a difference image. Processing circuitry further emphasizes the difference image, configured to obtain enhanced image of a blood vessel located on the surface of a skin of a subject.


Single machine scheduling with precedence relations are well studied. In this paper, we extend the standard concept of these precedence relations, and study scheduling problems with several classes of this extended concept.


Policy at our institution requires the hospital whole blood and packed RBC inventory (approximately 400 units) to be stored in an orderly arrangement without crowding, with units of the same ABO/Rh grouped together and each group of units clearly segregated from the others. In spite of this policy, over a 38-month period, 112 of 96,581 units (0.12%) were placed into the inventory incorrectly (so called unit placement errors). Thirty-seven of these unit placement errors (0.04%) could have resulted in ABO incompatible crossmatches or transfusions, and an additional 20 errors (0.02%) could have resulted in Rh incompatible transfusions. These data demonstrated the need for our laboratory personnel to routinely perform a systematic check of the blood inventory to detect incorrectly located units and to carefully check the group and type on each unit at the time of its selection. Although these data were collected at a large and busy transfusion service laboratory, they may be representative of what occurs at small as well as at other large facilities. It might be prudent for hospital transfusion services to have a policy that both minimizes the occurrence of unit placement errors and allows for their routine detection, should they occur.


The geographical range of Philophthalmus lucipetus 1 is quite wide. Populations of this trematode were recorded in many countries in Europe, Asia, Africa, and Americas in various ecological groups of birds. Mature trematodes parastitise the conjunctival sac and cause a grave disease in agricultural and game birds. In CIS countries this trematode species was recorded in Anser anser in Ukraine 2. Populations of Ph. lucipetus were also recorded in many other countries in geese, ducks, chickens, peacocks, turkeys, ostriches and rheas 3-10. Molluscs Melanoides tuberсulatus, Fagotia acicularis, Amphimelania holandri, Melanopsis praemorsa, Pleurocerca acuta and Tarebia granifera were identified as intermediate hosts of this trematode 11-14.


The conclusion of the United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea in 1958 has occasioned many commentaries by authorities on international law. Scant attention, however, has been paid to that part of the Conference dealing with jurisdiction over foreign merchant ships in the territorial sea. This is surprising in view of the centuries-old controversy affecting the interests of a vast number of ship-owners and seafarers. Indeed, the importance of the width of the territorial sea would not have assumed such serious proportions but for the fact that its determination would secure for the coastal states jurisdiction over a specific portion of the sea.