Lisianthus is among the most popular cut flowers. Regarding the postharvest losses, these experiments were designed to compare the effects of a nanosilver (NS) based preservative to the standard preservative containing 8-hydroxyquinoline citrate (8-HQC) and sucrose (S). Additionally, the effect of 24 h conditioning in the NS solution on the postharvest longevity and the general condition of lisianthus (Eustoma grandiflorum 'Mariachi Blue') was tested. The vase life of flowers on conditioned and non-conditioned stems was extended by the preservatives, more so by NS + S than by 8-HQC + S (44–54% versus 13–23%). Conditioning had no detectable effect on longevity. Daily water uptake showed alternative peaks and drops, with a general tendency of the uptake rate to decrease over time. The highest uptake intensity and the highest transpiration rate were in stems in the NS + S solution while the lowest was in 8-HQC + S. Conditioning negatively affected the average fresh weight of the flowering stems in all holding solutions with stems in preservatives being heavier than those in water. Preservatives did not induce accumulation of the total soluble or reducing sugars in petals; such accumulation was promoted by conditioning, but only in the upper flowers. The free proline content increased in senescing lower flowers on non-conditioned stems; conditioning limited this increase in flowers in preservatives. In the upper flowers, free proline increased in both water controls while the preservatives and conditioning generally reduced the proline contents below the initial level. Conditioning lowered the hydrogen peroxide contents in senescing lower flowers, relative to the initial level and the non-conditioned stems. The catalase activity kept dropping during the vase life in both the lower and upper flowers, in conditioned and non-conditioned stems, with the exception of flowers from water where the activity remained the highest from all three treatments. It appears that the NS preservative with sucrose improves the overall condition of lisianthus flowers and extends their vase life.


Oral contraception (OC) can, at times, be the cause of a feeling of heaviness in the legs. This is, however, a phenomenon common to many women whether they are on OC or not. If such a problem should persist after having tried lower doses of progestational agents, then the patient should consider a different method of contraception.


The paper presents an explorative study on creative climate and innovativeness at the county level in the EU27. We explored a possibility to extend the Ekvall's concept of creative climate for innovativeness from the level of individual organization to the national level. The main research goal was to identify fragments of national creative climate and to prove its relation to innovativeness. As the measurement for national innovativeness we took the Summary Innovation Index. The fragments of national creative climate were identified by 25 questions and answers selected from different public opinion polls published in the Eurobarometers. Using hierarchical clustering we clustered all EU member states and compared them with the clusters that identify Innovation Leaders, Innovation Followers, Moderate Innovators, and Catching-up countries. We found membership of both sets of clusters similar, which means that two essentially different sets of variables arriving from two completely different sources led to comparable result. We also identify top ten variables that contributed the most to distinguishing between Creative climate clusters. Finally, we argued that understanding creative or innovative climate in the EU countries is an important national policy-making tool that could complement hard macro-economic indicators that are focused on innovative performance only, and not also on innovative socio-cultural environment. We wished-for a unified approach in the EU to develop an objective measurement for creative climate at country level. We also discussed some research challenges linked to this idea.


Multicomponent reactions have been demonstrated as a promising tool for the creation of diverse molecular structures with enhanced efficiency, reduced waste, and a high atom economy. Arylglyoxal monohydrates with two different carbonyl groups are well known as worthwhile synthons in organic synthesis. 2-Pyrone and pyrimidine-2,4,6-trione are versatile building blocks for the synthesis of key intermediates in synthetic organic chemistry as well as in medicinal chemistry. A simple and efficient tandem Knoevenagel–Michael protocol for the synthesis of the previously unknown 5-(1-(4-hydroxy-6-methyl-2-oxo-2H-pyran-3-yl)-2-oxo-2-phenylethyl)-1,3-dimet-hylpyrimidine-2,4,6(1H,3H,5H)-trione was elaborated. The suggested method is based on the multicomponent reaction of phenylglyoxal hydrate, 1,3-dimethylbarbituric acid, and 4-hydroxy-6-methyl-2H-pyran-2-one. The structure of the synthesized compound was proven by 1H, 13C-NMR, and IR spectroscopy, mass spectrometry, and elemental analysis. A procedure for predicting the possible types of its biological activity was carried out for the title compound.


Abstract The purpose of this study was to determine differences in student learning outcomes between types of Reciprocal Teaching approach with conventional learning in biology teaching. This type of research is experimental research study design randomized posttest Only Design Group. The study population was all students in class VIII MTsN Tarusan consisting of 5 classes and enrolled in Semester 1 Academic Year 2012/2013. Sample grading done by purposive sampling technique, while to determine the experimental class and the control class is done by random sampling. In order to obtain class VIII-D as an experimental class with 36 students and the number of classes VIII-E as a control class with the number of students 37. The data in this study is a final test results later on though with the t test. Of research in getting that data analysis using the t test, obtained t is 4.29. When compared with the 1.67 ttable t> t table. (Α 0.05), with the meaning hypotheses are acceptable. From the study it can be concluded that the results of biological studies between types of Reciprocal Teaching approach produces results that are very real (average 80.69). whereas the conventional learning (average 70.85). affective assessment results in the experimental class is 80%. whereas 83% control class. psychomotor assessment results in the experimental class is 81%. 70% while the control class. Therefore the type of Reciprocal Teaching Approach can be applied in biology in MTsN and considering the time available. Kata Kunci : Reciprocal Teaching, hasil belajar,kognitif,afektif dan psikomotor


This paper critically analyses a few observations documented by Francois Bernier, French traveller and physician, during his stay in the Mughal Empire of Aurangzeb's (1656-1707 A.D.) time in the seventeenth century. Bernier has endeavoured to elucidate upon almost every aspect of the Mughal Empire viz. political developments, wealth of the emperors, economic conditions of the general populace, living conditions in Agra, Delhi etc, customs, traditions, beliefs of the subjects and so on. No doubt the author provides first hand interesting information on seventeenth century Mughal Empire, but at times his comparative analysis of the West and East clearly reflects his propensity of superior feeling towards West, and also the idea of otherness, the other being India.


Automatic registration of multimodal remote sensing data [e.g., optical, light detection and ranging (LiDAR), and synthetic aperture radar (SAR)] is a challenging task due to the significant nonlinear radiometric differences between these data. To address this problem, this paper proposes a novel feature descriptor named the histogram of orientated phase congruency (HOPC), which is based on the structural properties of images. Furthermore, a similarity metric named HOPCncc is defined, which uses the normalized correlation coefficient (NCC) of the HOPC descriptors for multimodal registration. In the definition of the proposed similarity metric, we first extend the phase congruency model to generate its orientation representation and use the extended model to build HOPCncc. Then, a fast template matching scheme for this metric is designed to detect the control points between images. The proposed HOPCncc aims to capture the structural similarity between images and has been tested with a variety of optical, LiDAR, SAR, and map data. The results show that HOPCncc is robust against complex nonlinear radiometric differences and outperforms the state-of-the-art similarities metrics (i.e., NCC and mutual information) in matching performance. Moreover, a robust registration method is also proposed in this paper based on HOPCncc, which is evaluated using six pairs of multimodal remote sensing images. The experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method for multimodal image registration.


Objective: To study the correlation of the expression of Smad4 and TGF-β receptor Ⅱ(TβR-Ⅱ) with clinical pathology in cervical adenocarcinoma,and to explore its possibility as a marker to decide the prognosis of cervical adenocarcinoma.Methods: To detect the expression of Smad4 and TβR-Ⅱin 36 cases of cervical adenocarcinoma and 20 cases of normal cervical glandular epithelium tissue and to investigate the relation between the expression of Smad4 with TβR-Ⅱand clinical pathology. Results: The expression of Smad4 and TβR-Ⅱin cervical adenocarcinoma is significantly lower than normal cervical glandular epithelium tissue(P0.05).The expression of Smad4 and TβR-Ⅱin cervical adenocarcinoma with poor differentiated was significantly lower than that of moderate or well differentiated(P0.05).The expression of Smad4 and TβR-Ⅱis significantly lower in cervical adenocarcinoma with metastatic lymph nodes than in the tissue with no metastatic lymph nodes(P0.05).The expression of Smad4 and TβR-Ⅱ was significantly related with clinical stage(P0.05). Conclusion: The deleted expression of Smad4 and TβR-Ⅱ was associated with development,advanced,differentiated and metastasis in cervical adenocarcinoma.Smad4 and TβR-Ⅱmay be a marker for differentiated and metastasis of cervical adenocarcinoma.To detect Smad4 and TβR-Ⅱmay be a useful tumor marker to decide the prognosis of cervical adenocarcinoma.


A growing economy creates cryptocurrency virtual money residing in cyberspace. Cryptocurrency Is an online payment tool that uses an open source peer-to-peer payment network. There are many problems faced by users, where Cryptocurrencies are said to include money or a commodity. This phenomenon really makes users feel uncomfortable, feel at a loss, therefore the government must immediately provide an evaluation of the use of Cryptocurrency as a means of obtaining transactions. more attention, especially from the government so that the community gets their rights and obligations in muamalah. This paper aims to discuss how to use Cryptocurrency transactions from the Perspective of the DSN-MUI Fatwa and Law No. 7 of 2011. This research is classified as normative research, using a statutory approach and a conceptual approach. The results of the discussion show that Cryptocurrency is linked in the DSN MUI fatwa No.28/DSN-MUI/III/2002 regarding al-sharf that in the provisions of the fatwa the conditions for exchanging Cryptocurrency digital money are prohibited because of the element of speculation. In Article 2 paragraph (1) of Law Number 7 of 2011 concerning Cryptocurrency, it does not meet the requirements as a type of currency in Indonesia. Judging from the six criteria of money, Cryptocurrency only meets the criteria of portability and visibility.


The paper deals with the phenomenon which is supposed to be enigmatic and mysterious, namely the ball lightning. The exemplary hitherto explanations are quoted. New explanation, based on electromagnetic phenomena, like magnetophosphenes and transcranial magnetic stimulation has been proposed.


Therefore, here we will describe the implementation of the hair scattering model described in the paper A Practical and Controllable Hair and Fur Model for Production Path Tracing , by Matt Jen-Yuan Chiang, Benedikt Bitterli, Chuck Tappan, and Brent Burley. The paper itself is available here: benedikt-bitterli.me/ pchfm/. See the "Further Reading" section at the end of this document for more information about previous work in scattering from hair (some of which is also incorporated in our implementation here.) Figure 1.1 shows a model of curly hair rendered using this BSDF.


For moving cargo between the North Pacific region and Northern European ports, the Northern Sea Route, along Russia's coastline, is 35-60% shorter than the traditionally used routes through the Suez or Panama Canals. In addition to its shorter distance, there exist extensive ports and shipping infrastructure, and the potential for developing new markets in Russia and other northern countries including Korea and Japan. These incentives attracted considerable attention from the international shipping and shipbuilding industries and have formed a cooperative international research program, called as the International Northern Sea Route Programme (INSROP). This paper is a general compilation of the historical usage, recent trade developments, the physical environment, and the practical considerations that may shape future operational mode of shipping in the NSR based on results from INSROP reports. This study focuses mainly on an operation of commercial icebreaking cargo vessels that may be utilized along the NSR.


The article presents the mechanization of the process for obtaining powdered cellulose using the technology of steam explosion treatment of lignocellulosic material. The presented unit combines the methods of steam explosion treatment and acid hydrolysis of cellulose-containing raw materials.


The paper describes the relevant set of analogical, mathematical and phisical models used to simulate the hydrodynamics phenomena of the Venice lagoon. The various models are devided in two classes, depending on the scale: the great scale models, to examine the problems interesting the entire lagoon, and the little scale models for the problems localized near the inlets, where the barrages will be built to control the lagoon water level.


In this paper we introduce Enzo, a 3D MPI-parallel Eulerian blockstructured adaptive mesh refinement cosmology code. Enzo is designed to simulate cosmological structure formation, but can also be used to simulate a wide range of astrophysical situations. Enzo solves dark matter N-body dynamics using the particle-mesh technique. The Poisson equation is solved using a combination of fast fourier transform (on a periodic root grid) and multigrid techniques (on non-periodic subgrids). Euler's equations of hydrodynamics are solved using a modified version of the piecewise parabolic method. Several additional physics packages are implemented in the code, including several varieties of radiative cooling, a metagalactic ultraviolet background, and prescriptions for star formation and feedback. We also show results illustrating properties of the adaptive mesh portion of the code. Information on profiling and optimizing the performance of the code can be found in the contribution by James Bordner in this volume.


This research aims to determine the effect of palm oil empty fruit bunches ( POEFB ) powder and silica into the matrix of unsaturated polyester resin (UPR) and the influence of chemical modification OPEFB with using acetic acid 50% (v / v). In this study, (UPR) was mixed with silica and OPEFB to weight ratio (UPR: Silica: OPEFB ) 80: 20: 0, 80: 15: 5, 80: 10: 10, 80: 5: 15, 80: 0: 20 by hand lay-up method. Analysis was done by impact test, a n d analysis of scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Results showed that impact strength at a ratio of 80: 5: 15 was higher than those without modification viz. 3622.5 J / m 2 . In this case the chemical modification has lowered OPEFB polarity so that the interfacial tencion between the filler with a matrix became low resulting in good interfacial interaction and adhesion between matrix and fille . Impact strength values  were supported by the results of SEM . From water adsorption test, composite with chemical modification showed low values as compared without modification indicating that modification has lowered the polarity of OPEFB.


Sugar metabolism in kernels of starch-deficient endosperm mutants of maize (Zea mays L.) was examined to determine how single locus mutations of carbohydrate metabolism affect carbohydrate metabolism as a whole. Activities of 14 enyzmes were measured in extracts from endosperms from isogenic lines of normal, shrunken, shrunken-2, shrunken-4, brittle-1, and brittle-2 maize in an OH43 background. Nearly every enzyme activity examined was affected in some or all of the mutants. Sucrose synthase and aldolase activities were lower in all mutants compared to normal. ADP-Glc pyrophosphorylase activity in immature kernels was much higher in brittle endosperms than in normal, but absent in brittle-2 and shrunken-2 endosperms. The activity in those genotypes exhibiting activity was positively correlated with sucrose concentration in the kernels. Sucrose may be modulating the coarse control of ADP-Glc pyrophosphorylase activity by affecting the genetic transcription of message for this enzyme. Sorbitol dehydrogenase activity was negatively correlated with its substrate, fructose, supporting the hypothesis that sorbitol dehydrogenase converts fructose produced during sucrose degradation into sorbitol. Glucokinase activity was positively correlated with mature kernel dry weight. This supports the hypothesis that glucokinase activity may limit sucrose utilization. Shrunken4 extracts had lower activities for a number of enzymes, supporting the view that this mutant may have an impediment to protein synthesis. Elevated sucrose levels were evenly distributed throughout 20-day postpollination shrunken-2 kernels, whereas a sucrose concentration gradient existed in normal kernels between the basal region and the upper endosperm. This gradient is apparently generated by the utilization of sugars and may facilitate the movement of sugars into developing corn kernels. The metabolic characterization of starch-deficient endosperm mutants can provide valuable information about metabolism in normal kernels. For example, the substantial decrease in starch accumulation in bt-2 and sh-2 mutants indicates the importance of the enzyme ADP-Glc pyrophosphorylase in the synthesis of starch. The small amount of starch found in these mutants is attributed to a low residual activity of ADP-Glc pyrophosphorylase (8). The observation that the sh mutation results in only a 30% or less decrease in dry weight (5, 13) indicates that the residual sucrose synthase activity and the unaffected invertase activity ( 11) are capable of partially compensating for the deficiency in the sucrose synthase1 activity. Previous studies (2, 6, 13) have shown that the starchdeficient mutations result in profound changes in sugar, starch, and protein accumulation in developing kernels. In this study, a selected set of enzyme activities were measured in endosperm extracts from normal and starch-deficient maize kernels in order to evaluate how the genetic lesions affect the overall carbohydrate metabolism ofmutant kernels. Some correlations between enzyme activities and kernel characteristics are presented that provide evidence for the roles and regulation of certain enzymes in carbohydrate metabolism. Finally, the distributions of sugars in the tissues of normal kernels and the sh-2 mutant were evaluated in order to observe the effect of sucrose utilization on sugar concentrations in the different tissues of developing corn kernels. MATERIALS AND METHODS A number of mutants of maize are known that accumulate less starch and storage protein in the endosperms of their kernels than do normal kernels (2, 6, 13). The genetic lesion of several of the starch-deficient mutants are known. The sh' mutant is known to be deficient in sucrose synthase1 (5), the endosperm specific or inducible form of sucrose synthase (4, 15). Both sh-2 and bt-2 mutants are deficient in ADP-Glc pyrophosphorylase activity (17). The sh-4 mutant reportedly affects pyridoxyl phosphate metabolism (3). The nature of the bt mutant is not known (2). Abbreviations: s/i, shrunken; bt, brittle; bt-2, brittle-2; sh-2, shrunken-2; sh-4, shrunken-4; DPP, days postpollination; r, correlation coefficient for linear regression; P, probability. Normal OH43 maize (Zea mays L.) and isogenic sh, sh-2, sh-4, bt, and bt-2 mutants in an OH43 background were grown in the field in the summer of 1986 and 1988. Enzyme activities were measured in kernels grown in 1986. The distribution of sugars in normal and sh-2 kernels were determined on kernels grown in 1988. Ears were pollinated by hand and harvested at designated times after pollination. Whole endosperms were dissected by hand from freshly harvested kernels, frozen immediately on dry ice, and lyophilized. Lyophilized endosperm tissue was ground to a powder and stored at -80OC until used for enzyme extractions. Designated samples of freshly harvested kernels were dissected into base, pericarp, embryo, lower endosperm, middle endosperm, and upper endosperm by hand as described previously (10), frozen, and lyophilized as described above. Enzymes were extracted from lyophilized endosperms by the procedure described earlier (10). The activities of sucrose


A new composite beam and floor system has been developed herein to achieve a stronger strength and ductility, as well as to yield a more economical design purpose. This new composite beam system consists of three elements: reinforced concrete slab on corrugated cold-formed metal, back to back cold-formed steel joists, and cold-formed furring shear connector. The shear connectors are screwed through the top flange of the support joists in order to provide vertical interlocking and horizontal shear resistant between the concrete slab and the cold-formed steel joists. The self-drill fasteners are used for fastening the furring shear connector through the metal deck into supporting joists. To understand the behavior of the new composite beam, a total of six large-scale bending tests were conducted to obtain the positive moment capacity, vertical deflection, and end slip of proposed composite beam system. Comparing with the non-composite section, the proposed composite section presents a better performance for both strength and ductility. The present experimental test results are also compared with the proposed analysis and design method which is not currently available in the AISC or AISI specifications.


Biotechnology is widely viewed as a field of economic activity that exemplifies a new (science-based, knowledge-intensive, post-industrial, networked, localized) way to organize production. For that reason it has been a frequent subject of research in organizational studies, industrial economics, and regional science. From this research, the picture emerges of a sector that is characterized by small, high-tech companies, recently started (often as a university spin-off), clustering in regions where world-class universities are present, benefitting from each other through 'knowledge spillovers', and providing a stream of science-based products that can be absorbed and brought to the market by large companies. This standard picture, or stereotype, is largely based on studies of medical or pharmaceutical uses, and it does not necessarily apply to other domains of biotechnology. To sustain this claim, we will describe the birth and early life of an entrepreneurial Dutch firm in plant biotechnology. It will appear that this firm's biography deviates from the standard picture in many ways. It is not a university spin-off, uses regional resources only sparsely, tends to prefer arm's-length collaboration and, noticeably, it handles its intellectual property in a very distinctive way.


The present study is concerned with the perception of the stop consonant clusters /pt/ and /kt/ and CVC-Sequences /pVt/ and /kVt/ in European and Brazilian Portuguese. A certain neutralisation of these lexical differences in both varieties has been attested (Bisol 1999, Mateus & d'Andrade 2000, Mateus et al. 2005, Vigario 2003), and therefore we tested the following three hypotheses: firstly, that listeners would not distinguish between clusters and CVC-sequences in Brazilian Portuguese (BP) and in European Portuguese (EP). Secondly, that they would be more likely to hear a cluster for the European and a CVC-sequence for the Brazilian data, thirdly, that the native listeners would be more likely to recognise subtle differences in the phonetic detail than non-native listeners. Twenty-one L1 EP and sixteen L1 BP speakers participated in a forced choice perception experiment in which they had to judge whether medial /pt/ and /kt/, /pVt/ and /kVt/, excised from real words that had been produced by one EP and one BP speaker, had been produced as a cluster or as CVC-sequence. The results showed support for the second, but not for the other two hypotheses. The general conclusion is that the lexical differentiation between stop clusters and CVC-sequences is neutralised in different ways, and that their perception depends more on the speaker's variety and on the consonantal place of articulation than it does on the native or non-native listener's varieties.


This paper deals with a problem in fuzzy logic that can be traced back to classical logic: the reduction of one conditional to another. In particular, the reduction of R-implications to S-implications and to Q-operators is considered, although the more complex case is the reduction of a Q-operator to an S-implication, equivalent to find the complete solution of a functional equation involving strong negations, continuous t-conorms, and continuous t-norms. Necessary and sufficient conditions for the validity of such equation are presented in several cases, but other cases remain open and deserve to be studied.


In June 2012, the ERC-funded Project 'Foundations in Medieval Societies. Cross-Cultural Comparisons' (FOUNDMED) commenced work at the Humboldt University of Berlin: Under the direction of the medievalist Michael Borgolte as the project's principal investigator, five post-docs from Byzantine Studies, Indology, Islamic Studies, Jewish Studies and Medieval Studies were to compile the knowledge about endowments in their individual fields of research and to arrange the information systematically in order to enable comparisons between various foundation traditions between roughly 500 and 1500 CE. This goal was to be achieved by a three-volume Encyclopedia of foundations in medieval societies to which all of the researchers would contribute systematic articles on the basis of their respective historical sources. At the same time, Michael Borgolte planned to write a global historical monograph on premodern foundations, drawing on the results of the working group as well as on further foundation histories. After five years of collaborative research, FOUNDMED has now concluded its comparative work and was able to discuss its findings at a closing conference in Berlin: Insights were given into the group's working process, and specialists commented on the project's contributions to endowment studies in different civilizations and epochs. In a broader perspective, the


The reaction of propargyl difluorides R 1 CF 2 C≡CR 2 with alkylzincs R 3 ZnCl giving axially chiral fluorinated allenes R 1 FC=C=CR 2 R 3 with high enantioselectivity (up to 99% ee) was found to be catalyzed by a chiral diene/rhodium complex. A key step in the catalytic cycle is selective elimination of one of the enantiotopic fluorides at b-position of an alkenyl-Rh intermediate which is generated by regioselective addition of R 3 -Rh onto the triple bond of the starting difluorides.


This study focuses on the development of a conceptual simulation modeling tool that can be used to structure a domain specific simulation environment. The issues in software engineering and knowledge engineering such as object-oriented concepts and knowledge representations are addressed to identify and analyze modeling frameworks and patterns of a specific problem domain. Thus, its structural and behavioral characteristics can be conceptualized and described in terms of simulation architecture and context. Moreover, symbols, notations, and diagrams are developed as a communication tool that creates a blueprint to be seen and recognized by both domain experts and simulation developers, which leads to the effectiveness and efficiency in the simulation development of any specific domains.


A simple batch microcosm had previously been developed to simulate the behavior of volatile organic compounds in unconsolidated subsurface material. The microcosm was evaluated by comparing the behavior of tetrachloroethylene, bromoform, carbon tetrachloride, 1,2-dichlorobenzene, and hexachloroethane in (1) the microcosm, (2) the microcosm constructed with autoclaved material, and (3) an experimental plume constructed in a joint field study conducted by Stanford University and the University of Waterloo at a site on Canadian Forces Base, Borden, Ontario. The microcosm study adequately simulated nonbiological removal of these compounds from solution in the experimental plume. However, it failed to detect biotransformation of 1,2-dichlorobenzene despite extensive degradation of this compound in the field. One of the samples of aquifer material used to construct the microcosms had a much greater capacity to biotransform bromoform and carbon tetrachloride than did the other samples of aquifer material, or the aquifer in general. As a result, the microcosm study overestimated biotransformation of bromoform and carbon tetrachloride. The microcosm accurately simulated the behavior of tetrachloroethylene and hexachloroethane.


Plate separators are widely used for oil-water separation in the petrochemical industry. The spreading process of oil droplets at the solid surface is the key to understanding the oil-water separation mechanism in the plate separator. This study uses VOF method to capture oil-water phase interface change and sets up a two-dimensional model of oil droplets spreading on solid surface in water. The influences of droplet diameter, oil-water interfacial tension and viscosity are studied. The numerical simulation results show that the maximum spreading length of oil droplets increases with the increase of droplet size and interfacial tension. The average spreading speed of oil droplets decreases with the increase of oil droplet size, and increases with the increase of surface tension. The maximum spreading length and average spreading speed of oil droplets decrease with the increase of the dynamic viscosity of the oil droplets.


Receiver functions, calculated by deconvolving P (or vertical) component records of teleseismic waveforms from the corresponding SV (or radial) components, have been widely used to obtain receiver‐side Green's functions in an approximate form. Conventional receiver function methods, however, often fail due to numerical instability of the deconvolution and strong multiples on the P components. These problems become severe when analyzing in high frequency and using data from ocean bottom seismometers (OBSs). We present a novel technique to estimate Green's functions of receiver‐side structure from teleseismic P waveforms. In this method, two components of Green's functions, which are assumed to form a series of pulses, are directly related in a single equation without explicit deconvolution. Based on the equation, we construct posterior probability distributions regarding the number of pulses, their timing, and amplitudes within a transdimensional Bayesian framework. A reversible‐jump Markov chain Monte Carlo method is used for this purpose, and we further utilize a parallel tempering method to achieve rapid convergence. Synthetic tests and application to an OBS installed at the Yamato Basin, the Sea of Japan, show that the proposed method can estimate radial‐component Green's functions more accurately than conventional receiver function methods. We suggest that the high‐frequency Green's functions estimated by the new method can be used to reveal fine‐scale (in order ~100 m) structure of the seafloor sediment.


. The article is devoted to the study of the problems of a separate criminalistic methodics, its concepts and features, the formation of its theoretic-methodological foundations and prospects of certain areas of modern criminalistic research. A critical analysis of scientific approaches to the studied concepts of "separate criminalistic methodics" and proposed the author's definition of understanding of this criminalistic category. It`s proposed to consider a separate criminalistic methodics as an information-cognitive model that contains a system of methods, tools, techniques, recommendations, investigative and forensic technologies of a standardized nature, set out in descriptive or formalized form for the organization and optimal implementation of the process of collecting, evaluating and using evidence information committing criminal offenses in order to ensure their effective investigation, prevention and trial of criminal proceedings. It is substantiated that the essential features of a separate criminalistic methodics should include the following: information; systematicity; structure; formality; manufacturability; recommendation; efficiency. It`s noted that the modern development of criminalistic methodics requires expanding the boundaries of research and clarification of its subject and modern understanding.


: Wearable devices which capture and analyze physiological data in a non-invasive and not restraining manner are increasingly popular, but usually employ specialized hardware. Software is often limited, specific, and expensive. This paper shows how system-level modeling, virtual prototyping and electronic design can interact to help designing low-cost wearable bio-medical devices. We propose a design method which allows validation against actual electronic/mechanical prototypes and present a first case study, a daytime sleepiness detector.


The Late Pleistocene is a crucial period of dramatic changes in lithic technologies as well as interactions between modern humans and other archaic human groups. In this paper, we describe the technological analysis of lithic assemblages collected from 28 newly discovered Paleolithic sites along the Daoshui River, a tributary of the Lishui River (itself a tributary of Yangtze River) in northern Hunan Province, central South China. Luminescence dating of several sites in this region has provided a general Late Pleistocene age range for lithic assemblages. Technologically, high quality raw materials are predominantly exploited (e.g., chert and siliceous slate) and direct hard hammer percussion predominates which lacks the classic Levallois technology though conceptually, some specimens do exhibit a certain degree of volumetric control and share other common features with prepared cores, here we tentatively define them as "simply prepared cores." Small flakes and flake tool production plays a primary role in the overall technological strategy, accompanying a small proportion of large flakes and Large Cutting Tools production. Our examination of lithic technologies in the region clearly contrasts with the traditional view of South China being characterized by a simple cobble tool industry over the course of the Pleistocene period. We further discuss the issue of the Middle Paleolithic in China, as well as the ecological adaptations of hominins in the Daoshui River valley within a Late Pleistocene climatic context.


We consider the model of a stochastic financial exchange economy where time and uncertainty are represented by a finite event-tree of length T. We provide a general existence result of financial equilibria, which allows to cover several important cases of financial structures considered in the literature, such as nominal and numeraire assets, when consumers may have constraints on their portfolios.


Facilities held by the leasing company as greatly easing consumer finance companies that lack the capital to buy the business support tools, then leasing an alternative in his system linking the interests of the three parties 1) The lessor, 2) Lessee, 3) Supplier. The lessor to the lessee relationship is often characterized by a variety of problems, and delays in the fulfillment of the obligations of Lessee to Lessor. Formulation of the problem 1) how the implementation of the lease agreement with PT. Adira Finance Branch Padang. 2) What is the legal protection for the parties to the lease agreement with PT. Adira Finance Branch Padang. The purpose of the research to identify and analyze as well as to determine and analyze legal protection for the parties to the lease agreement at PT. Adira Finance Padang. This study uses sociological juridical approach to the specification decomposition descriptive analysis and qualitative data analysis methods. Data used in the study through field research and literature study with data collection tool in the form of interviews and document study. The results of the study showed that the relationship of law on leasing agreements PT. Adira Finance Padang among consumers with credit agreements PT. Adira Finance Padang as intermediaries, so-called creditors at the same time acting as the insurer can not be called a lease agreement. As for the legal protection of creditors to surrender fiduciary collateral, while the legal protection of debtors contained in the agreement that the vehicle insured is held by PT. Adira Finance Branch Padang. Keywords: Perjanjian, Leasing , Lessor , Lessee .


The utility model discloses a low-nitrogen immersion combustion device. A gas pipe (2) and an air distribution chamber (1) are connected to a combustion chamber (3), wherein the combustion chamber (3) is connected with a smoke pipe (4); a plurality of smoke holes (5) are formed in the smoke pipe (4); the combustion chamber (3) is connected with the air distribution chamber (1) through a return flue (9); a fan (8) is arranged in the return flue (9); a chimney (7) is connected to a water bath device (6). The low-nitrogen immersion combustion device is relatively low in running cost, energy-saving and environment-friendly.


AbstractThis study aims to determine whether speed and agility exercises have a significant effect on improving catching abilities in roundball games. The method used in this study is the experimental method, with the independent variables being speed and agility, and the dependent variable is the round ball catching technique. The sample used in this study was 40 students - 19 public elementary school students and as a comparison for students at the base of the city of Bengkulu. The data collection instrument or tool used in this study is a 30-meter sprint, running back and forth with a distance of 10 meters with 4 times back and forth and throwing a catch into the target wall of 2 meters in 30 seconds. Based on the management and analysis of the data obtained, the results of this study are the initial test average of 42.65. agility 19.66 and catching 59.60 the average test finally speeds 56.14. Agility 5.06 and throw catch 7.20 - the average difference of 1.9. The conclusion of this study, judging from the data, is that speed and agility training have a significant effect on round ball catching. Keywords: exercise speed and agility


Involving residents in decisions on the planning and design of the built environment can deliver numerous benefits, but soliciting their productive and meaningful engagement is not easy. There are various pitfalls to navigate and issues to address. This paper reflects on several of these by drawing on the experience of conducting focus groups with a variety of residents' groups where attitudes to environmental design were discussed. The paper considers issues around the process of identifying and selecting groups to engage with, barriers to group and individual participation in engagement exercises, and the process of opinion formation and evolution in a group setting (and the implications of this for the interpretation of focus group data). Interestingly, for some residents' groups, preferences for the design and development of the built environment appeared to be rather conservative although there was scepticism of the agenda and activities of local government and property developers. The paper consider...


The objective of this thesis was to develop new methodologies to assess upper gastro-intestinal function in health and disease. Several different technologies were studied in a range of upper gastro-intestinal diseases and adapted to try and provide more meaningful insights. The thesis has three main sections.

In the first section, High Resolution Oesophageal Manometry (HRM) was used to assess unexplained upper gastro-intestinal symptoms in a group of patients referred to a tertiary centre. 46 patients were diagnosed with rumination syndrome following HRM. A retrospective review was completed of these patients case notes and HRM data. The predominant aim of this section was to identify if common mechanisms exist within rumination and its variations and to establish if the variety of presenting symptoms is due to different underlying problems or a common behavioural response to a variety of stimuli, with symptoms being dependent on the circumstance the behaviour exists in. This would support a generic biofeedback technique being useful regardless of presenting complaint.

Comparing the variety of symptoms, exhibited behaviour and manometric findings, a new classification system for rumination was then developed;
1. Primary or "classical" rumination
a. Increase in abdominal strain with corresponding rise in intra-gastric pressure and return of gastric contents to the mouth
2. Secondary or reflux-related rumination
a. Reflux event causes the patient to respond with increase in intra-abdominal muscle strain and subsequent rumination
3. Supra-gastric belching independent of meals.
a. Rise in intra-gastric pressure whilst a closed gastro-oesophageal junction, therefore producing rapid belching of air from the oesophagus without any return of gastric contents

Generic biofeedback therapy was used (regardless of presenting symptoms) to control the abnormal behavioural response to symptoms. 20/46 patients reported full resolution of their symptoms and a further 13 / 46 reported improvement in their symptoms with this, while underlying mechanisms were targeted e.g. reflux with proton pump inhibitors, pain in functional dyspepsia.

In the second main section of this thesis, gastro-oesophageal reflux disease (GORD) is considered. GORD is currently diagnosed by 24 hour pH studies. These are often difficult for patients to tolerate and require time off medication. A more attractive method would be for diagnosis to occur at the same time as gastroscopy. A novel instrument is the EndoFLIP® device. This measures cross-sectional area (CSA) and distensibility at the gastro-oesophageal junction (GOJ) via a long catheter with a balloon at the end that straddles the GOJ. It has been hypothesised that these measurements will be increased in those with GORD, as the GOJ is more distensible, allowing more retrograde movement of gastric contents. The aim of this section of the thesis was to establish if GOJ CSA and distensibility differentiate between healthy volunteers (HV) and GORD patients based on i) symptoms and ii) prolonged oesophageal acid exposure.

21 HV and 18 patients with GORD (based on symptoms) had EndoFLIP® measurements and wireless pH studies to assess this. 14% of HV and 50% GORD patients had pathological acid exposure. CSA and distensibility were both significantly higher in the HV's compared to GORD patients. However, there was an inverse correlation between CSA and body mass index (BMI) which was significantly higher in the patient population. This may explain differences seen due to corresponding higher intra-abdominal pressure in those individuals with a high BMI, sub-sequentially affecting the CSA and distensibility. The complex structure of the GOJ and multiple factors involved in the pathogenesis of GORD present difficulties in using EndoFLIP® to diagnose GORD. It may find applications in other areas, such as serial measurements in single patients.

In the final section of this thesis, gastric emptying is the focus and its pathogenesis in functional dyspepsia (FD). Current gastric emptying studies only find abnormalities in approximately 40% of patients with FD. Gamma scintigraphy is used in routine clinical practice for gastric emptying studies. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is emerging as a modality in gastric emptying assessment and potentially provides additional information.

This thesis hypothesised that standard gastric emptying studies may not be measuring the parameters reflective of underlying pathophysiology in FD. Also, most have a relatively small meal size that may be too small to trigger dysfunction. MRI may provide additional insights as can assess gastric contents and surrounding structure (unlike GS). To investigate these a 400ml test meal was utilised and gastric emptying parameters i) gastric contents volume at time 0 (GCV0, representative of early emptying), ii) gastric emptying rate at the time taken for half the meal volume to empty (GE rate @T50, representative of later emptying) and the more traditional measurement iii) time taken for half the gastric contents to empty (T50) in bopth GS and MRI studies. The hypothesis of this study is that early emptying is more rapid in FD due to impaired accommodation (therefore a lower GCV0) leading to a slower later emptying (therefore a lower GE rate @ T50). Following validation studies in a large healthy population (n=53), GS and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies with a test meal of 400ml were used in 8 FD patients and 24 matched HV (from the pool of HV) . FD had a significantly lower BMI. Early emptying (represented by gastric contents volume after ingestion of meal (GCV0)) was significantly lower in GS for FD patients but higher in MRI. Time for half the meal to empty (T50) and gastric emptying rate at T50 (GE rate @T50) were similar. The difference between the two modalities was thought to be due to increased secretion production in the patients, which is measureable in MRI but not in GS. A further study with a solid component of 12 non-nutrient agar beads in addition to the liquid component was completed. 24 HV's, 17 FD patients and 11 gastro-oesophageal reflux disease (GORD) patients were studied. FD patients and GORD patients had rapid early gastric emptying in comparison to HV in gamma scintigraphy (represented by GCV0) but higher GCV0 in MRI (significantly so between HV and GORD), suggesting increased secretion production is present in both conditions. These findings do support impaired fundal accommodation within the FD population but that other factors, such as secretion production and the rate of this in comparison to gastric emptying are important in the later stages of emptying. Further work is ongoing within the MRI department to quantify and measure the emptying of these secretions.

This thesis explores how existing and new technologies can be applied to clinical conditions to identify possible pathophysiology and potential targets for treatment. Only by these ongoing efforts can we endeavour to improve the care we deliver to our patients.


To provide technical service for enterprises is one of the points of vocational colleges' scientific research,which plays vital role in HVE teacher's group construction.It is one of the best methods for teachers to serve the society and the guarantee of improving the teaching quality.It also serves as the main approach to building HVE teachers teaching ability.


Aim: To investigate how different formulations of Amphotericin-B (Amp-B) affect the activity of phospholipid transfer protein (PLTP) when incubated with hyperlipidemic and normolipidemic plasma at physiological temperature (37°C). Methods: Six hyperlipidemic and six normolipidemic plasma samples were collected and tested for protein concentration. Equivalent protein levels (25 μg) were then tested for PLTP activity using an in vitro established kit at physiological temperature (37°C). Increasing concentrations of different Amp-B formulations (1, 2, and 5 μg/mL) in the pharmacological range were then added to the plasma and tested for activity from 5 to 90 minutes. The Amp-B formulations used in the study were Fungizone®, Abelcet®, and AmBisome®. Results: In normolipidemic plasma, PLTP activity was found to be increased by Abelcet® and AmBisome® but inhibited by Fungizone®. In hyperlipidemic plasma, PLTP activity was found to be increased by Abelcet® and AmBisome® but not changed by Fungizone®. The Vm value for Abelcet® and AmBisome® was higher than Fungizone®; although, no difference was observed in the Km values between formulations. Conclusions: Findings suggest that lipid-based formulations of Amp-B promote the transfer of Amp-B into high-density lipoprotein fractions at a degree of increase inversely proportional to the lipid levels in the plasma.


The invention aims to solve the technical problem to provide a device for eliminating a common mode component coefficient of interference optical signals. The device comprises a first photoelectric path and a second photoelectric path. The first photoelectric path comprises a photoelectric detector 1 and an amplifying circuit 1. Similarly, the second photoelectric path comprises a photoelectric detector 2 and an amplifying circuit 2. A programmable attenuator or amplifier and a detection input end of a detection and adjustment interface are connected between the amplifying circuit 1 and a differential amplifier and are used for detecting the waveform of a first voltage signal through an oscilloscope. If the waveform common mode components of the detected first and second voltage signals are different, the waveform common mode components of the detected first and second voltage signals are adjusted to be consistent by adjusting the programmable attenuator or amplifier through the detection and adjustment interface, so that the first voltage signal and the second voltage signal transmitted to the amplifying circuit are two voltage signals with the same common mode component. A differential amplifying circuit performs subtraction calculation on the two voltage signals without difference. Therefore, accurate differential mode signals are obtained, and the function of eliminating the common mode signal coefficient is realized.


The utility model discloses a carbonated water preparation device. The carbonated water preparation device comprises a body, a material injecting head and blades. The body comprises a stirring cavity which is provided with an inlet in the head end of the body and is provided with an outlet in the tail end of the body; the material injecting head is installed on the inlet of the body and comprises a material injecting cavity which is communicated with the stirring cavity, a liquid injecting opening is formed in the end face of the material injecting head, and at least one portion of the side face of the material injecting head is provided with a radial gas injecting port which is communicated with the material injecting cavity; the blades are arranged in the stirring cavity and can rotate around the axis of the stirring cavity, and therefore mixing between pure water injected through the liquid injecting port and carbon dioxide injected through the gas injecting port can be accelerated. The carbonated water preparation device can effectively increase the carbonated water conversion rate, responding time is shortened, production efficiency is improved, and the carbonated water preparation device is simple in structure and easy to use.


Palisaded encapsulated neuroma (PEN) is a rare intraneural neuroma. It usually occurs as a solitary asymptomatic skin-colored papule, and commonly affects the butterfly area of the face of middle-aged adults. We report a case of PEN which developed on the right upper eyelid of a 30-year-old man. It was a 3 mm-sized skin colored papule, and histologically, there was a well- defined encapsulated nodule in the dermis, composed of spindle cells with basophilic and plump nuclei in a palisading pattern. On immunohistochemical staining, the tumor cells of the nodule were positive for S-100 protein, while the capsule of the nodule was positive for epithelial membrane antigen.


Some patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) experienced sudden death because of sudden symptom deterioration. Thus, an alarm system that could detect early signs of COVID-19 exacerbation beforehand, to prevent serious illness or death of patients while receiving outpatient treatment at home or in hotels is necessary. Here, we tested whether estimated oxygen variations (EOV), a relative physiological scale that represents users' blood oxygen saturation level during sleep measured by Fitbit, predicted COVID-19 symptom exacerbation. Study period was from August to November 2020. We enrolled 23 COVID-19 patients diagnosed by SARS-CoV-2 polymerase chain reaction-positive (mean age ± standard deviation, 50.9 ± 20 years; 70% female), let each patient wore the Fitbit for 30 days; COVID-19 symptoms were exacerbated in 6 (26%). High EOV signal (a patient's oxygen level exhibits significant dip and recovery within the index period) had 80% sensitivity before symptom exacerbations, whereas resting heart rate signal only had 50% sensitivity. Coincidental obstructive sleep apnea syndrome confirmed by polysomnography was detected in a patient by consistently high EOV signals. This pilot study successfully detected early COVID-19 symptoms exacerbation by measuring EOV and may help to identify early signs of COVID-19 exacerbation.


Self-leadership should be integrated within a nomological network, and its associations with the Dark Triad of personality comprising narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy, explored. In this self-report study, participants completed measures of self-leadership and the Dark Triad. Narcissism was positively associated with self-leadership scales, whereas Machiavellianism and psychopathy were not. Findings are discussed with respect to narcissism's role in self-leadership, and future lines of research are proposed.


e16071 Background: The mutation spectrum has been extensively studied in Renal Cell Cancer (RCC), a heterogeneous disease. While major investigations have focused on metastatic RCC (mRCC). This study intended to explore the molecular characteristics between early-stage (stage I/Ⅱ) and advanced-stage (Ⅲ/Ⅳ) of RCC patients (pts). Methods: 36 tumor specimens were obtained from individual pts diagnosed RCC, including 22 tissues paired with blood samples. Somatic mutations were identified via targeted next generation sequencing with Acornmed panel including 808 genes associated with tumor development. Sequencing data were analyzed to call tumor specific single nucleotide variants (SNV), small insertions and deletions (InDels), copy number alterations (CNA) and chromosomal rearrangements. Clinical data of a cohort from TCGA who had RCC was collected and analyzed. Results: Among the 36 pts enrolled, 61% were early-stage group and 39% were advanced-stage group. The most frequently mutated genes in RCC were VHL (50%), PBRM1 (14%), BAP1 (11%), TP53 (11%) and PIK3CA (6%). Truncating mutations were the most frequent alterations accounting for 66% (33/50) of genetic alterations. Mutations in VHL, BAP1, PBRM1 and TP53 were shared by both early and advanced RCC. While mutations in PIK3CA, CDKN2C, EGFR, FAMCA, GRIN2A, KDM6A, SOX17, TSC1 and APC were only detected in early stage group. KNSTRN, KRAS, MYD88, NF2, ATM, PTEN and STAT5B mutations were only detected in advanced group. Among 22 plasma samples, genomic alterations were detected in 40.9% (9/22) of pts postoperatively, such as TP53, PIK3CA, PTEN, and APC. Functional annotation clustering revealed that 4/9 in these genes were tumor suppressors, which negatively regulated apoptosis. Pts with genomic alterations in TP53 (p = 0.0034), PIK3CA (p = 0.0015) or PTEN (p = 0.00017) had worse OS significantly (TCGA). Conclusions: VHL, PBRM1, BAP1 were the most important driver genes mainly detected in all stages of RCC. The heterogeneity between early and advanced-stage may be related with clinical status. Gene alterations in plasma ctDNA postoperatively should have the potential to stratify patients with different prognostic outcome.


Composite insulators are widely being used in power industry to alternate traditional porcelain-based insulators for their advantages, including better pollution performance, low maintenance cost, light weight, compact line design. However, due to the short application
history and experience, the degradation of composite insulators in natural environment is a big concern for the power utilities. The knowledge on the degradation of composite insulators is being studied world wide. The methods to assess the working conditions of composite insulators are being studied and created. In Queensland University of Technology (QUT), the approach based on chemical analysis methods was first developed. The work in this thesis based on the previous research work is focused on correlating electrical characteristics with chemical analysis results of the composite insulators and physical observations results. First,the electrical characteristics of composite insulators were presented and analysed, including leakage current, cumulative current, peaks of leakage current, the statistic results of the leakage current. Among them, the characteristics of leakage current were mainly studied. The shape of waveforms was found to relate to the degree of discharge activities of the composite insulators. The waveforms analysed by FFT revealed that the odd harmonic components became obvious during the discharge activities. The correlations between the electrical characteristics of composite insulators and chemical analysis results showed that the composition of composite insulators plays significant roles in terms of electrical performance. The oxidation index (O.I.) and the ester/ketone ratio (E/K) differentiated the different degradation reasons of the composite insulators in the test conditions. Finally, the thesis presents one approach, which aims to assess the surface conditions of composite insulators in an easy manner and in short time.


This paper offers a concept for a battery-powered, GPS-based tracking system with continuous tracking and an SOS function that is based on IoT. The device when triggered uses a micro-controller and a GPS module to extract location data and send it to a group of registered users and a central server using a GSM module via SMS and AT commands. The central server will store the location periodically in a MongoDB and NodeJS based database. This data will be accessible to the user presented on a map using Open Layers via an HTML pages-based website hosted on AWS using registered credentials. The SMS received by registered guardians will also have the triggered location of the device formatted in a link that opens the location in google maps. During the SOS mode, all nearby devices whose location is stored in the database will also be alerted creating a community of secure users.


CDN is a critical Internet infrastructure that helps Internet users get contents with a short delay. With the development of CDN application scenarios, CDN requests will involve more than one resource type. Unfortunately, the existing CDN server selection schemes targeting one resource type cannot select the most suitable CDN server by considering different resource types together. In this paper, we propose Polygon, a CDN server selection system supporting multiple resource demands. The keystone of Polygon is the deployment of a set of dispatchers at strategic network locations, which can be accessed via anycast. The dispatchers are responsible for resource status collection, server assignment with resource demands, and forwarding requests to suitable CDN servers. Meanwhile, Polygon adopts the 0-RTT and connection migration features of the QUIC protocol to mitigate the extra delay for connection and forwarding. We conduct real-world experiments on the Google Cloud Platform to demonstrate the advantages of Polygon. The results show that the deployment of the dispatchers enables Polygon to provide a better CDN service with a median job completion time reduction of up to 54.8%. Also, Polygon improves resource utilization efficiency by 13% in terms of bandwidth and by 7% in terms of CPU.


Child health care requires intensive and careful attention. It is associated with limited capabilities of a child, especially a child with special condition, such as baby, toddler, and sick child, that has many limitation capabilities to communicate, to move, and to think. Moreover, children also has susceptible immunity system. The lack of care and monitoring health care for children can be caused by busy parents, the lack of parent's knowledge about health care, the lack of parent's awareness to monitor a child's health, that eventually can be some cause of disruption in children growth and development and health care process. This paper proposes a holistic health care framework that can be set according to child's condition and enable to distribute information accurately, directly to parents, person who take care the child, and pediatrician or hospital. Health care's reminder and information dissemination system will be directly sent to parent's or nanny's smartphone. A single click concept also enable parents to call pediatrician or hospital immediately in an emergency condition. All of child's daily data, included food, activity, medicine, and their treatment, will be recorded as an Electronic Medical Record (EMR) and displayed as a chart, to simplify parent and pediatrician in monitoring child's health condition. At the end, the use of this holistic framework also prevent the child from many harmful condition for their health, such as drugs complication, error on diet and activity, inaccuracy of health care needed.


Steeping is one of the major pre-treatment which can reduce anti-nutritional factors without losing dietary fibre and polyphenols unlike in dehulling. In the current study water absorption characteristics of pearl millet and finger millet during steeping at temperature 10°C, 20°C, 30°C, 40°C and 50°C were calculated. Two empirical and one phenomenological model were used to simulate water absorption kinetics. Both the Peleg model and Omoto model were found adequately capable to predict water uptake of pearl millet and finger millet under the designed experimental conditions with regression coefficient more than 0.96. Due to comparatively high variation in grain volume during the hydration process and longer process time, sigmoidal model cannot be utilized for calculation of effective diffusivity and activation energy. Peleg's rate constant shows an inverse relationship with steeping temperature. The activation energy was calculated by substituting effective diffusivity with reciprocal of Peleg's rate constant in Arrhenius equation and was found 25.97 kJ/mol and 32.36 kJ/mol respectively for pearl millet and finger millet.


Hydrophobins are small secreted proteins produced by filamentous fungi,which can form an amphipathic membrane at various surfaces.Hydrophobins have been considered as excellent substrates for protein immobilization.However,the driven force for protein adsorption on hydrophobin surface is not clear.In this work,we systematically investigated the protein adsorption on hydrophobins at different pH and ionic strength.Firstly,the adsorption of class Ⅰ hydrophobin HGFI and class Ⅱ hydrophobin HFBI on the surfaces of polystyrene were investigated via quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation monitoring(QCM-D) at different pH and ionic strength.The results show that both pH and ionic strength have greater impacts on the adsorption of HGFI on polystyrene than that of HFBI.Moreover,HGFI can form soft films on the polystyrene,whereas HFBI formed very rigid films under the same conditions.The adsorption of BSA and avidin on the HGFI and HFBI were further investigated by using QCM-D at the same pH and ionic strength.The results indicate that adsorptions of BSA and avidin on the HGFI and HFBI are dramatically affected by both pH and ionic strength,suggesting that the major driving force dominating the protein adsorption on hydrophobin is the electrostatic force.This study provides a theoretical guide for a controllable immobilization of a protein on a hydrophobin surface.


Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of financial factors on firms' financial and tax reporting decisions. Firms often face the difficulties of accomplishing both financial and reporting goals. The extent to which reporting they put more value depends on the differential weighting of firms' financial reporting and tax costs. The authors incorporate various financial factors as a source of cross-sectional differences in the weighing of both financial reporting and tax costs. Design/methodology/approach – To examine firms' decisions when fulfilling both the purposes of financial and tax reporting is difficult, the authors use a large set of firms in Korea, where book-tax conformity is high and aggressive tax shelters are restricted. The authors develop a new measure that can specify firms' decision making between financial and tax reporting by considering both earnings management and tax avoidance. Findings – The findings show that debt ratio affects firms' financial and tax repo...


This report presents new results from deterministic and probabilistic analyses to evaluate the significance of a number of technical aspects that may affect LBB or in-service flaw evaluations. The following summarizes the objectives and results from both the deterministic and probabilistic studies. The reasons for including each technical aspect being evaluated are given first. Then a table is given that summarizes the relative significance of each technical aspect. In most cases there are both deterministic and probabilistic results. The deterministic analyses were conducted independently of the probabilistic analysis, which offered the opportunity to validate conclusions from each of these studies.


To investigate whether men's self‐reported health‐related quality of life and lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) are associated with acceptance of prostate‐specific antigen (PSA) testing and subsequent prostate biopsy.


It is now widely acknowledged that biotechnology will have significant implications for development. While biotechnology's potential for low income economies is still the subject of controversy, this paper argues that it is precisely in these countries that food and agriculture related biotechnology could efficiently contribute to the achievement of development objectives. To date, however, biotechnological advances have been realized predominantly in industrialized countries. Policy-makers in developing countries and in development organizations are challenged to select appropriate strategies for optimally harnessing the potentials of biotechnology for the poor. Policy-oriented information on likely economic impacts of biotechnologies become the key parameter for guidance in program formulation, but little has been available thus far. Hitherto approaches of technology assessment proved rather inappropriate for providing such information for decisions. This paper presents a conceptual framework for ex ante economic studies in developing countries – a framework within which the efficiency and equity implications of specific technologies can be analyzed quantitatively. Technological impacts also depend on institutional arrangements and on political support systems, dynamics that are explicitly considered by the proposed scenario approach. The findings of such analyses can thus aid in decision-making at various phases of the technology path.


This work presents studies of the small signal stability applied to an electric power system with the consideration of the Power System Stabilizer in operation. The Power Sensitivity Model is used to represent the electric power system. Information about the stability of the electric power system when subjected to small disturbances is obtained simulating a test system.


The project team has continued with work on developing aggressive coarsening techniques for AMG methods. Of particular interest is the idea to use aggressive coarsening with polynomial smoothing. Using local Fourier analysis the optimal values for the parameters involved in defining the polynomial smoothers are determined automatically in a way to achieve fast convergence of cycles with aggressive coarsening. Numerical tests have the sharpness of the theoretical results. The methods are highly parallelizable and efficient multigrid algorithms on structured and semistructured grids in two and three spatial dimensions.


as for example "an institution of higher learning providing facilities for teaching and research and authorized to grant academic degrees," (Merriam-Webster Online, 2005) reveal little of the underlying complexities that characterise a university's working and learning environment. In fact, universities incorporate a multiplicity of different roles and aims aside from teaching and research. Findings are nowadays regularly turned into innovative products and services by spin-off enterprises and business incubators linked to universities. Through this and as major employers, they contribute significantly to the economic growth and wellbeing of their host regions. Universities are also stewards of cultural heritage through their libraries and museums and their staff act as mentors to generations of students entering a broad range of professions. Finally, in providing spaces for learning and thought development, universities are important agents of societal transformation on a large scale. Universities as places for study and education have persisted as organisations for around a millennium


Definition 10.2. If dim g < ∞, then the trace form of the adjoint representation is called the Killing form: κ(a, b) = tr ((ad a)(ad b)) Exercise 10.1. Let F be a field of characteristic 0. Suppose (·, ·) be an invariant bilinear form on g. Show that if v ∈ g is such that ad a is nilpotent, then (ead va, ead vb) = (a, b). In other words, the bilinear form is invariant with respect to the group G generated by ead v, ad v nilpotent.


This thesis deals with the synthesis of pnictogenylboranes and a detailed study of their reactivity. For the first time a Lewis base stabilized stibanylborane of the type H2SbBH2·LB (LB = Lewis base) was synthesized and completely characterized. A new route to substituted phosphanylboranes was developed and they were used for the generation of polymers and gave access to the first example of a high molecular weight poly(alkylphosphinoborane). The parent compounds of the type H2EBH2·NMe3 (E = P, As) were used as building blocks for novel anionic and cationic species. Furthermore the oxidation with elemental chalcogenides, the coordination to main group Lewis acids and Cu(I) and Ag(I) salts was studied.


For filled skutterudites, element Yb is one of the most common and important fillers. However, the optimal carrier concentration range in Y bxCo4Sb12 filled skutterudites has not been determined as a result of the low Yb filling fraction limit. In this study, a non-equilibrium fabrication process (MS-SPS process), consisting of a melt-spinning method and a spark plasma sintering technique, has been applied to prepare Y bxCo4Sb12 samples. The Yb filling fraction is successfully extended to 0.35, which provides the possibility to clarify the optimal carrier concentration range for Yb-filled skutterudites. High carrier concentrations, with a maximum of around 1 × 1021 cm−3, were achieved in the MS-SPS Y bxCo4Sb12 samples due to the significantly enhanced Yb filling fractions. The phase compositions, lattice parameters, electrical and thermal transport properties of the MS-SPS Y bxCo4Sb12 samples with high carrier concentrations were systematically investigated. An optimal carrier concentration range of around 5 ∼ 6 × 1020 cm−3, corresponding to the actual Yb filling fraction of around 0.21∼0.26, has been determined, which displays the highest thermoelectric performance in Y bxCo4Sb12 thermoelectric materials.


Sugar cane accounts for 70% and sugar beet for 30% of sugar production throughout the world. In the European Union, practically all sugar (98% of total production) comes from sugar beet. The production quotas introduced in 1968 have brought stability to sugar beet production and to areas under cultivation. The number of agricultural holdings producing sugar beet has dropped sharply, falling by 47% in 25 years. This crop, an ideal companion to other arable crops, is found primarily in a few European regions close to processing plants. The sugar beet industry in Europe now faces the need to adapt. On the one hand, it has to maintain profitability while complying with Uruguay Round agreements and Millennium Round negotiations as well as having to cope with particularly low world prices. On the other hand, European Union operators in this sector need to prepare for the arrival of the applicant countries.


Objective:To explore the diagnosis and treatment of intracanial hematomas caused by delayed Vitamin K deficiency bleeding syndrome.Methods:All eighteen cases were treated using operation,twelve were performed by evacuation of hematoma and six by puncture and catheter drainage.Results:Fourteen cases recoved and five cases had nervous sequelae.Conclusion:Early diagnosis and selective proper therapy scheme should be very important to decrease the mortality.


Metallic mesh coatings are used on visible and infrared windows and domes to provide shielding from electromagnetic interference (EMI) and as heaters to de-fog or de-ice windows or domes. The periodic metallic mesh structures that provide the EMI shielding and/or resistive electrical paths for the heating elements create a diffraction pattern when optical or infrared beams are incident on the coated windows. Over the years several different mesh geometries have been used to try to reduce the effects of diffraction. We have fabricated several different mesh patterns on small coupons of BK-7 and measured the transmitted power and the diffraction patterns of each one using a CW 1064 nm laser. In this paper we will present some predictions and measurements of the diffraction patterns of several different mesh patterns.


A crucial point still to be established in the prediction of oil-gas-sand multiphase production and transfer system performance is the identification of relevant mechanisms describing sand particle transport. To resolve this issue, experimental investigations are made on the behaviour of suspended sand particles in simulated oil-gas-sand multiphase pipe flows paying attention to the time-averaged local and global sand velocity and holdup. Simultaneous measurements of the time-averaged local and global sand velocity are made by digital imaging technique for better understanding of the oil-gas-sand multiphase flow hydrodynamics and sand transport mechanisms. The results show flow regimes of the multiphase flows significantly influence sand transport in the pipeflow. The shape of the local and global sand particle velocity and holdup profiles are also strongly modified by flow regimes. Furthermore, the experimental results indicate that the transport effect of the suspended sand particle can be enhanced by operating the multiphase flows under slug flow conditions. It is concluded that a new mechanism based on bubble-particle interaction needs to be considered in the modelling of sand transport behaviour during oil-gas-sand multiphase production and transfer operations.Copyright © 2006 by ASME


Abstract. The new blissid genus Wheelerodemus is described to accommodate the new species W. muhlenbergiae, based on specimens collected on the grasses Muhlenbergia lindheimeri and M. reverchonii from the Arbuckle Mountains in southcentral Oklahoma and the Edward's Plateau in westcentral Texas. Because the size of specimens from Oklahoma appeared consistently smaller than those from Texas, samples from each area were sequenced using the COI barcode region to help determine that only one variable species was involved. Diagnoses, descriptions, a color habitus illustration of the adult male, dorsal and lateral photographs of the adult male and female, photomicrographs of selected structures, illustrations of male and female genitalia, and a key to the U.S. blissid genera are provided to help distinguish this new genus and species from other Blissidae.


The growth-promoting and heat-mitigating effects of a commercially available protein-hydrolysate-based biostimulant, Kaishi, during the early vegetative stage was investigated by applying it as a foliar spray on soil-grown maize plants or in the nutrient solution of hydroponically grown plants. At 10−3 dilution, the biostimulant inhibited germination and delayed the growth progress, while at 10−6–10−12 dilutions, it promoted shoot and root growth. Heat stress caused biomass reduction, decreased leaf pigment content and the chlorophyll a/chlorophyll b (chl a/b) ratio, caused starch depletion, and increased lipid peroxidation. Kaishi priming resulted in the substantial mitigation of negative stress effects, maintaining growth, stabilizing pigment content and the chl a/b ratio, restoring the leaf starch content, lowering the malondialdehyde (MDA) level, and significantly increasing the free proline content. The expression profiles of a set of genes coding for heat shock proteins (HSPs), dehydrins (DHNs), and proteases were analysed using qRT-PCR after heat stress exposure. The biostimulant-treated plants had higher transcript levels of certain HSPs, DHNs, and protease-coding genes, which remained stable or increased after the applied stress. The results demonstrate that very low concentrations of the biostimulant exerted stress-mitigating effects that could be linked to organ-specific changes in the gene expression of certain stress-inducible proteins.


Lexical bundles are pervasive in English academic writing; however, little scholarly attention has been paid to how quantitative and qualitative research paradigms influence the use of lexical bundles in research articles. In order to investigate this, we created two equal-size corpora of research articles in the discipline of education. We examined four-word lexical bundles in terms of their structural characteristics and discourse functions in the quantitative and qualitative research articles published in international English-medium journals. We attribute intra-disciplinary variations in the use of lexical bundles to the knowledge-making practices that are specific to quantitative and qualitative research articles. This paper provides further evidence that the research article is not a unitary construct. The results have implications for academic writing, and corpus building and design in academic discourse. One of the key implications of this study is that L2 novice writers need to take into account the influences of research paradigms on the use of lexical bundles when writing research articles for English-medium journals in the discipline of education.


Ninety four alfalfa varieties which introduced from overseas and domestic regions were evaluated under alpine grassland conditions in Sangke Grassland Station, Xiahe county, Gansu province, China. The results showed that alfalfa resistance to downy mildew between varieties were quite different, the disease incidence and severity were 0~100%and 1~4, respectively. Two critical parameters disease incidence and severity were analyzed by tree diagram of cluster analysis, and 8 cluster groups for 94 varietieswere classified, which from resistance to susceptibility successively were immunity, high resistance, middle resistance, resistance, susceptibility, middle susceptibility, high susceptibility and extreme susceptibility. Among them, 14 varieties of immunity group are Algoquis, Baron, Apex, Angus, unknown(Japan), Eroqudis, Blager, Thor, 81 69 American, CP4350 Saranac, Beaver, Rambler, Range lander and Wisconsin, 4 varieties of high resistance group are Prowler, Banner, L2 1079 Hungaria and Xingping, 3 varieties of high susceptibility group are Zhaodong, Longzhong and Longdong, 5 varieties of extreme resistance group are 78 27 Czechoslovakia, Apollo, Zhungeer, Shaanbei and Hexi. The disease severity was increased from June to August during alfalfa growth period, All of immunity and most of high resistance varieties were introduced from overseas and most of extreme and all of high suspectible varieties were domestic. Such resistant difference was probably caused by the different origin of varieties.


The mixed radius model of porous media is established for the study of mylonite based on the uniform radius porous media model.The meso-damage mechanical representative volume element(RVE) of granite,a kind of concrete mylonite parent rock,is described.Based on the RVE,numerical simulation of brittle brokenness of porous media is done by using the MSC.Nastran program.The modified Mohr-Coulomb brokenness rule is applied to determining which point in the porous media may be broken.Compared with the results by the uniform radius model,the computational results by the mixed radius model are in good agreement with geological researches.


Mostly geothermal power plant placed around volcano on land. Sangihe Archipelago, the northern of Sulawesi Island known as volcano arc that formed by the subduction of Philippines plate beneath Micro-Sunda plate. The geothermal source is located under sea level, this condition needs some approach of remotely applied sciences. The possibility study is conducted by bathymetry, gravity, magnetic, and regional geology. The objective is searching the high value gravity at the high topography as indication of the magmatic product on the seafloor and the low value of magnetic as indication of the active heat resources. A profile section from Philippines oceanic plate to the Celebes Sea by using each data shown a sequence of subduction product, such as trench, outer-arc ridge, and volcano arc. Geological data is used to know the evidence volcano arc and outer-arc ridge. The volcano arc shows that the age is around Quarter which means it is possible for geothermal resources, the outer-arc ridge shows that the rock contents were melange complex and ultramafic rocks. Sangihe area has possibility for further research as geothermal offshores.


The U.S. Department of Education and Title IX Educational Act of 1972 shaped the way institutions of higher education address and prevent student victimizations. The law originally sought to eliminate sex-based discrimination in education but has evolved to include sexual misconduct. Since the Dear Colleague Letter of 2011, the position of institutions has changed significantly in the way they address student victimization as it relates to dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking (Rosenthal, 2017). One requirement is that institutions inform and train Responsible Employees to report when a student discloses experiencing sexual misconduct, including dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking.
The purpose of this study was to examine faculty members' knowledge of the Title IX Responsible Employee mandate, their experience with reporting student disclosures, and additional resources needed to aid faculty members with this reporting duty. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with 34 faculty members at a large research-intensive four-year university in the Southeastern United States.
The main findings relate to Responsible Employee trainings, reporting guidelines, issues that might arise for faculty during the disclosure/reporting process, and recommendations to thoughtfully and strategically engage faculty. Universities and colleges that include faculty members as Responsible Employees need to ensure that their institution is fulfilling its requirement from the U.S. Department of Education but must also do their best to prepare and support faculty so faculty can perform their reporting duties. In many cases, faculty members are on the front line when it comes to interacting with and being in a position to help their students. They need specific measures and resources to ensure that they are able to fulfill all their various duties as faculty members, including handling a student's victimization disclosure and then reporting the incident to the Title IX Coordinator so that the university can serve its students to the best of its ability.


We sought to explore how knowledge of videogames could inform the design of complex digital interfaces for bioinformatics visualization tools. Aquaria is an open-source web resource for visual exploration of protein structures. We present the results of a series of workshops conducted with participants who have expertise in videogame design and development. We report on emerging themes relating to how videogames might inform improvements in the design of Aquaria and other bioinformatics visualization tools. Future work is described.


In the article features images of female characters and female general theme in the story of Nicolai Gogol's "Shinel" ("Overcoat"). The article suggests an appeal to micro-poetics of the text to the functioning of certain parts of the text in order to expand the representation of some of the classic works of the content level.


This is a review of the book Dissonant Methods: Undoing Discipline in the Humanities Classroom, eds. Ada S. Jaarsma and Kit Dobson.


The propagation characteristics of the TM mode wave in a two-dimensional dielectric slab with a sinusoidal corrugation are theoretically analyzed. A coupled-mode equation is derived for describing the coupling between the forward and backward waves near Bragg frequency caused by the corrugation and the Brillouin diagram is clarified. The theoretical characteristics of the reflection filter made of a dielectric slab with a finitely long corrugation are investigated. Using a Teflon slab loaded with a rectangular corrugation, experiments are conducted on the reflection filter in the 40-GHz band and the results are compared with theoretical values. It is found that such filter characteristics as the Bragg frequency, return loss and stopband half-width agree well with theoretical predictions.


Spectral-streak equalization is a technique that has been developed to compensate for the material dispersion in optical fibers when used in conjunction with an electronic streak camera. Material dispersion occurs because different wavelengths of light travel at different speeds through glass fibers; the resulting difference in transit time broadens light pulses, and can lead to errors in high bandwidth photonic measurements. An instrument designed to compensate for this effect has been in use for the past several years in systems used to evaluate underground nuclear tests. A new instrument has been developed that has the following advantages: it can equalize several channels with one set of optics; it uses considerably less space; it has better resolution and greater efficiency, and it is more cost effective. This paper reviews the basic principles, describes the equalizers currently in use, discusses the design considerations of the new equalizer, describes a prototype four channel instrument, details efficiency estimates, outlines calibration procedures, and gives test results.


This report investigates the perception of people about general banking skills, using a survey administered to academicians, banking professionals and corporate executives in and around Pune. The researcher attempts to gain a better understanding of the levels and types of skills possessed by banking professionals at the entry level. We can then analyze the gap of the skills in banking sector and suggest ways and means to improve the existing skill gaps. It has been found that the training programs that can be slated to give the highest customer care as well as create pathways to realize career goals. Our findings prove that there is a perceived skill gap in the new recruits of the banks. There is a scope for further improvement of the banking professional skills. As such the skill development training programmes can be designed and implemented.


Based on the author's own work and results obtained by international teams he coordinated, this SpringerBrief offers a concise discussion of the origin and early evolution of atmospheres of terrestrial planets during the active phase of their host stars, as well as of the environmental conditions which are necessary in order for planets like the Earth to obtain N_2-rich atmospheres. Possible thermal and non-thermal atmospheric escape processes are discussed in a comparative way between the planets in the Solar System and exoplanets. Lastly, a hypothesis for how to test and study the discussed atmosphere evolution theories using future UV transit observations of terrestrial exoplanets within the orbits of dwarf stars is presented.


Semiconductor manufacturing equipment having a wafer transfer robot and a control method thereof are provided to reduce the wafer transfer time and increase productivity of the equipment by variably adjusting the speed of the wafer transfer robot according to the presence of wafers to be carried by the wafer transfer robot. Semiconductor manufacturing equipment comprises at least one wafer transfer robot, and a control unit for variably modifying the transfer speed of the wafer transfer robot according to the presence of wafers to be carried by the robot. A control method of semiconductor manufacturing equipment having a wafer transfer robot comprises the steps of: discriminating if a wafer is mounted in a wafer transfer robot or not(S300); controlling the wafer transfer robot to move at a first speed, if the wafer is mounted(S310); and controlling the wafer transfer robot to move at a second speed which is faster than the first speed, if the wafer is not mounted(S320).


Explaining Categorization Response Times with Varying Abstraction Loes Stukken (email@example.com) Department of Psychology. Tiensestraat 102 3000 Leuven, Belgium Gert Storms (firstname.lastname@example.com) Department of Psychology. Tiensestraat 102 3000 Leuven, Belgium Wolf Vanpaemel (email@example.com) Department of Psychology. Tiensestraat 102 3000 Leuven, Belgium Abstract We use the Exemplar-Based Random-Walk model (EBRW) to extend the Varying Abstraction Model (VAM). Unlike the VAM which is designed to account for categorization proportions, this Varying Abstraction-Based Random-Walk (VABRW) model is able to predict categorization response times. The extension is especially useful in situations where response accuracies are not very informative for distinguishing between models. Application of the VABRW to data previously gathered by Nosofsky and Palmeri (1997) provides additional evidence for the view that people use partial abstraction in category representations. Keywords: response times; categorization; abstraction; cognitive models Introduction Because of its crucial role in almost every aspect of cognitive processing, categorization has been studied extensively in the past 35 years. Many different models have been proposed to account for the categorization results and tested using empirical data collected in category learning tasks. The vast majority of these experiments and models have focused on categorization decisions and on typicality ratings, neglecting the corresponding processing times. This is surprising, as response times are arguably the most prominent dependent variable in the whole discipline of cognitive psychology. Response times have been argued to provide a window into understanding the nature of cognitive representations and decision processes (Nosofsky & Palmeri, 1997). The few existing attempts of modeling categorization response times all start from the exemplar view on category representation (Smith & Medin, 1981). In this view, a category is assumed to be represented by memory traces of all the exemplars that were previously encountered as a member of the category. For example, Lamberts (2000) has extended Nosofsky's (1986) Generalized Context Model (GCM) to the Extended Generalized Context Model for response times and Nosofsky and Palmeri's (1997) Exemplar Based Random Walk Model (EBRW) combines elements of the GCM with Logan's (1988) instance based model of automaticity. Both approaches showed the usefulness of extending models that only account for categorization decisions to models that also predict response times. The exemplar view on category representation is not the only view that has gained support. The most notable alternative to the exemplar view in accounting for categorization decisions is the prototype view, which holds that a category is represented by a summary of its members. Though the exemplar model seems to outperform the prototype model in general (e.g., Nosofsky, 1992; Vanpaemel & Storms, 2010), in some conditions the prototype representation seems to be supported (Minda & Smith, 2001; Smith & Minda, 1998). Moreover, models have been proposed that leave room for partial abstraction in category representation (Anderson, 1991; Griffiths, Canini, Sanborn, & Navarro 2007; Love, Medin & Gureckis, 2004; Rosseel, 2002; Vanpaemel & Storms, 2008). These models provided a broader window on representational abstraction suggesting that also levels of abstraction that are intermediate between exemplar and prototype models are viable representations that deserve consideration. Despite more than three decades of research on categorization, the question about the nature of category representation still awaits conclusive evidence. Moreover, the field seems to be converging to the view that human conceptual structure is sufficiently flexible to adopt highly abstract representations as well as exemplar representations, shifting the focus from establishing the single representation that always underlies categorization decisions, to identifying the conditions in which one representation is more likely to be used than another. In this paper, we contribute to this debate by presenting a general framework to account for decision times. More specifically, we generalize the EBRW model to encompass a broad set of representations each assuming different levels of abstraction, as implemented in the Varying Abstraction Model (VAM; Vanpaemel & Storms, 2008). In what follows, we first describe the way the VAM and EBRW model are combined into the Varying Abstraction-Based Random-Walk model (VABRW). Next we apply the VABRW to data collected by Nosofsky and Palmeri (1997).


A means of converting a random variable into an approximate standard normal is described. It is an extension of the transformation inherent in the use of the exponential embedded family approach to multifamily likelihood ratio testing, which helps explain why the transformation employed corrects the deficiencies of the generalized likelihood ratio test.


Recreational Disturbance of a Desert Stream Fish Community: Detecting Ecological Effects of Environmental Impact by Johnny Mark Sappington Dr. James £. Deacon, Examination Committee Chair Professor of Environmental Studies University of Nevada, Las Vegas Fish assemblages in 22 pools were sampled over the summer of 1997 in the North Fork o f the Virgin River, Zion National Park, Utah, to asses effects of recreational activities on native fish communities. Pools experiencing high levels o f wading and float tubing contained altered population distributions and altered community structure as compared to pools generally lacking recreational activities. In addition, pools disturbed by recreation had lower abundance o f desert sucker {Çatostomus clarkî) and lower community diversity than pools without recreation. Food availability measured as algal biomass and macroinvertebate drift density was similar among all pools, but abundance of larval fish was lower in pools experiencing recreational disturbance. Flash floods at the end of the summer appeared to "reset" the system, redistributing fish in the river and resulting in similar communities throughout the study area. Results suggest that recreational activities do disturb native fish communities and that the greatest threat may be to larval fish. iii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.


Objective To investigate the allele frequencies of MDR1-C3435T gene in Han Chinese and compared those of the Uygur Chinese and Kazakh Chinese. Methods MDR1-C3435T alleles were determined by the polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism method. Frequencies of genotypes and alleles were calculated and compared with those in other populations. Results The most common allele type of MDR1-C3435T gene was MDR1-3435T, with the frequency of 43.3% in Han, 58.0% in Uygur and 56.9% in Kazakh. The frequency of MDR1-3435T genotype in Han was statistically higher than that in Uygur and Kazakh, but showed no difference between the latter two. Conclusion There were marked differences in the mutant frequencies of MDR1-C3435T between Han and Uygur Chinese and Kazakh Chinese.


Advances in vertebrate genetics have allowed studies of gene function in developing animals through gene knockout and transgenic analyses. These advances have encouraged the development of gene‐based therapies through introduction of exogenous genes to enhance and/or replace dysfunctional or missing genes. However, in vertebrates, such analyses often involve tedious screening for transgenic animals, such as PCR‐based genotype determinations. Here, we report the use of double‐promoter plasmids carrying the transgene of interest and the crystallin‐promotor‐driven Green fluorescent protein (GFP) in transgenic Xenopus laevis tadpoles. This strategy allows a simple examination for the presence of GFP in the eyes to identify transgenic animals. PCR‐based genotyping and functional characterization confirms that all animals expressing GFP in the eyes indeed carry the desired promoter/transgene units. Thus, the use of this and other similar vectors should dramatically improve current transgenesis protocols and reduce the time and cost for identifying transgenic animals. Mol. Reprod. Dev. 62:470–476, 2002. © 2002 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.