Background Chronic inflammation and airway remodeling have important roles in asthma pathophysiology. Transforming growth factor β1 (TGF-β1) and YKL-40 play a very important role in the pathogenesis of asthma. Aim The aim of this work was to find noninvasive biomarkers that may enable us to assess asthma severity as a surrogate for invasive bronchial mucosa biopsy. Therefore, we studied the correlation between TGF-β1 and YKL-40 and asthma severity. Patients and method The work was done on 40 patients with asthma who were classified into two groups: 20 patients with mild asthma and 20 patients with severe but stable asthma. A third group of 20 normal participants was taken as control. Immunoglobulin E total, YKL-40, and TGF-β1 were determined in serum of all studied groups. Results The results showed highly significant increased serum TGF-β1 and serum YKL-40 in patients with asthma compared with control group, and they were positively correlated with disease severity. Conclusion We conclude that increased serum levels of TGF-β1 and YKL-40 may be a biological characteristic of asthma exacerbation.


This paper presents the electrical properties of innovative sol-gel coatings for connectors. A first study has shown the feasibility of developing a conducting and anti-corrosion coating for connector housing based on sol-gel chemistry. Such coatings aimed at replacing cadmium and chromium (VI) as recommended by REACH and RoHS regulations must have equivalent properties. A large consortium has been established in order to tackle aspects of the project from the formulation, the characterizations and the scale-up phases. The electrical properties of the coatings are obtained with conductive fillers of various types. We present here electrical characterizations both at the macroscopic scale and at the microscopic scale and try to correlate the conduction to the various parameters involved in the complex mechanisms ruling the film formation.


This paper presents an analysis and design of an integrated self-oscillating power factor correction (PFC) light emitting diode (LED) driver. The PFC is based on a Single Ended Primary Inductance Converter (SEPIC) operating under Discontinuous Conduction Mode (DCM). This converter was chosen because of its low input current distortion characteristic making possible reducing, or eliminating, the electromagnetic interference (EMI) filter. The LED is supplied by asymmetrical Half-Bridge resonant converter (HB) with isolated LLC filter. It is used the leakage inductance of the transformer and the magnetizing inductance in the LLC filter voltage gain, so as to reduce the volume. The integration of these converters is performed in order to reduce the number of components, drivers and consequently the volume and cost of the circuit. A self-oscillating driver circuit is used avoiding the use of integrated circuits. Design and experimental results are presented to demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed LED driver.


The present article discusses the drawbacks in strategic planning of higher education internationalization on the meso level (universities) in Armenia and possible impact of internationalization strategy development on the macro level (national). It seeks to identify the major issues and outlines some recommendations for further planning and performance improvements in higher education internationalization. Thereby, it draws upon the findings of survey and study conducted within the framework of Erasmus + HARMONY project on the level of internationalization, research and innovation of higher education in Armenia.


BACKGROUND Obesity is characterized by abnormal or excessive fat accumulation and is one of the major health concerns affecting young children, adolescents, and adults, the world over. The main predisposing factors for many non-communicable diseases are overweight and obesity which has high mortality than underweight. Hence, we aimed to study the determinants of obesity. METHODS A cross-sectional study was undertaken among the representative sample of 590 adults in 50 villages of Villupuram district, Tamilnadu. Data was collected by house-to-house survey. Data collection was done using WHO Step questionnaire step-1 and step-2. Analysis was done using SPSS 24 software package. RESULTS The overall prevalence of overweight and obesity was 18.3 % and 33.6 % respectively. Female gender, less physical activity and less consumption of vegetables and fruits were identified as significant risk factors for obesity. CONCLUSIONS More than half (52 %) of adults have overweight or obesity, and some of the factors identified as determinants are preventable. Hence, primordial preventive measures should be applied for reducing BMI in early phase of life especially school going children. KEYWORDS Community, Determinants, Overweight, Obesity, Rural


Results from an energy audit of heat consuming plants in heat-supply systems are discussed by way of example of the following three installations : central heat-supply substations, an infirmary-sanatorium complex, and a group of office buildings. Results from measurements under actual operating conditions in the system with the aid of advanced instruments and facilities are given.


13 High-order harmonic generation (HHG), attosecond pulse train (APT), and non-sequential double 14 ionization (NSDI) in the He atom under high intense femtosecond laser pulses are calculated by 15 time-dependent Schrodinger equation (TDSE) in one dimension (1D). By considering the mutual 16 electron-electron and electron-nuclei interactions along with calculating the He atom ground state 17 wave function by imaginary time propagation (ITP) method, besides calculating probability 18 density of electrons, dipole acceleration, HHG, and APT, we could generate the well-known "knee 19 structure" in the probability of the He atom ionization against the intensity in an ionization 20


The site-specific Northwestern Ontario Forest Ecosystem Classification (NWO FEC) was adapted to provide a landscape-scale (1:20 000) forest ecosystem classification for a study area located in the boreal forest of northwestern, Ontario, Canada. High spatial resolution remote sensing data were collected at two altitudes (600 m and 1150 m AGL) using the Compact Airborne Spectrographic Imager (CASI). Variogram analyses were performed on these data to determine the nature of spatial dependence of spectral reflectance for selected forest ecosystems. It was determined that an optimal size of support for characterizing forest ecosystems, as estimated by the mean ranges of a series of variograms, differed based on the altitude of the remote sensing system, indicating that different ecological units and/or processes are captured at these two altitudes. Results imply a linear aggregation of reflectance when discrete objects are not resolvable. This observation has significant implications for scaling of reflectance data, albeit restricted to a narrow range of spatial scales.


This study examined how the relationships among the fossil fuel, clean energy stock, gold, and Bitcoin markets have changed since the COVID-19 pandemic took place for hedging the price change risks in the fossil fuel markets. We applied the Bayesian Dynamic Conditional Correlation-Multivariate GARCH (DCC-MGARCH) models using US daily data from 2 January 2019 to 26 February 2021. Our results suggest that the fossil fuel (WTI crude oil and natural gas) and financial markets (clean energy stock, gold, and Bitcoin) generally had negative relationships in 2019 before the pandemic prevailed, but they became positive for a while in mid-2020, alternating between positive (0.8) and negative values (−0.8). As it is known that negative relationships are required among assets to hedge the risk of price changes, this implies that stakeholders need to be cautious in hedging the risk across the fossil fuel and financial markets when a crisis like COVID-19 occurs. However, our study also revealed that such negative relationships only lasted for three to six months, suggesting that the effects of the pandemic were short term and that stakeholders in the fossil fuel markets could cross hedge with the financial markets in the long term.


This paper describes the effort in developing a sapphire temperature prototype sensor for coal gasifier applications. The sensor is tested in laboratory to 1600 degree C and demonstrated 0.47% accuracy with respect to full measurement range. The efforts on sensor prototype development ranging from sensor probe packaging at each level, sensor electronics, LED modulation to remote data access are addressed.


Residual dense nonaqueous phase liquid (DNAPL) composed of trichloroethene (TCE) was identified in a deeper interval of an overburden groundwater system at a manufacturing facility located in northern New England. Site hydrostratigraphy is characterized by two laterally continuous and transmissive zones consisting of fully-saturated fine sand with silt and clay. The primary DNAPL source was identified as a former dry well with secondary contributions from a proximal aboveground TCE storage tank. A single additive-injection mobilization in 2001 utilizing a food-grade injectate formulated with waste dairy product and inactive yeast enhanced residual TCE DNAPL destruction in situ by stimulating biotic reductive dechlorination. The baseline TCE concentration was detected up to 97,400 μg/L in the deeper interval of the overburden groundwater system, and enhanced reductive dechlorination (ERD) achieved >99 percent reduction in TCE concentrations in groundwater over nine years with no evidence of sustained rebound. TCE concentrations have remained nondetect below 2.0 μg/L for the last five consecutive sampling rounds between 2013 and 2015. ERD utilizing a food-grade injectate is a green remediation technology that has destroyed residual DNAPL at the site and achieved similar results at other residual DNAPL sites during both pilot- and full-scale applications. ©2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.


A series of free yawing wind tunnel experiments was held in the Open Jet Facility (OJF) of the TU Delft. The ≈ 300 W turbine has three blades in a downwind configuration and is optionally free to yaw. Different 1.6m diameter rotor configurations are tested such as blade flexibility and sweep. This paper gives a brief overview of the measurement setup and challenges, and continues with presenting some key results. This wind tunnel campaign has shown that a three bladed downwind wind turbine can operate in a stable fashion under a minimal yaw error. Finally, a description of how to obtain this open access dataset, including the post-processing scripts and procedures, is made available via a publicly accessible website.


OBJECTIVE To determine the optimized formulation of DXMA-NLC.METHODS The film-ultrasonic wave dissolving technique was chosen to prepare DXMA-NLC.The amount of DXMA,the concentration of surfactants and the quantity of soybean oil were defined as the independent variables while the size and entrapment efficiency were defined as the dependent variables.Experiments were done based on the theory of central composite design.The data were simulated using second-order polynomial equation.The optimal formulation was predicted by response surface methodology.RESULTS The optimized formulation was 15 mg DXMA,0.04 g·mL-1 surfactants,100 mg soybean oil.According to the optimized formulation,DXMA-NLC was prepared,resulting in a particle size of 156 nm and entrapment efficiency of 98.48%.CONCLUSION Central composite design could achieve the desired particle size and entrapment efficiency of DXMA-NLC.


Background The most important factor determining the quality of orthodontic tooth movement is the relationship between the force and the tooth center of resistance. Tooth supporting structures features affect the center of resistance location and these features varies in different areas around the speci�c tooth. So the aim of this study is the multi-planar analysis of the center of resistance using �nite element models of the human mandibular canine to �nd the exact location of the center of resistance when viewed from different aspects. Method The left mandibular canine, periodontal ligament, cortical bone and spongy bone designed in Soidwork (version 2021) according to a contralateral canine with a complete eruption in a case with an impacted canine which has been ordered for CBCT. the tooth dimension was slightly modi�ed according to wheelers dental anatomy. The meshed model was created. A 1N.mm couple was applied to the model and the center of resistance was evaluated from different 24 planes with 15 degrees intervals.


Matricola: 062812 Relatore: Michele Battisti Materia: Politica economica GDP and beyond: alternative indicators to measure social progress The statistical indicators are a key element for the promotion of human well being: they help to evaluate policies, to point out undesired effects and to promote social consensus towards political decisions. The drawbacks of GDP as measure of economic welfare and social progress are well known since the indicator has been created but only recently many studies focused on these issues: among these the Report by the Commission on the measurement of economic performance and social progress, chaired by the prize Nobel winners Joseph Stiglitz and Amartya Sen and by JeanPaul Fitoussi, on request of former French President of the Republic Nicolas Sarkozy. 1) Historical framework: the debate on GDP After Second World War politicians and economists started considering economic welfare as a synonymous of general well being and GDP became the most relevant statistical indicator to measure social progress even if his creator, Simon Kuznets, cautioned to not confuse this indicator with a measure of general well being. However GDP became the principal indicator to evaluate the level of development of different countries and only few politicians (for example Robert Kennedy) and economists (see the well known article written by Nordhaus and Tobin "Is growth obsolete?") showed awareness about the drawbacks of the indicator and about the necessity to find additional measures. Recently some international organizations and some governments have started working in this direction: from the beginning of the 90s the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) started to work on indicators capable to evaluate the multidimensionality of well being, launching on 1990 the first version of HDI and on 2000 the Millennium Development Goals accompanied by many indicators. From 2000s OECD began to be interested in these matters too, organising three world Forum called "Statistics, knowledge and policy", launching the Global Project on measuring the progress of societies and the global network WikiProgress, and presenting on April 2011 the Better Life Index, a new interactive index. At the same time EU launched the "Beyond GDP" project. In a communication provided in 2009 by the European Commission to the Parliament and the Council called "GDP and beyond. Measuring progress in a changing world" GDP is described as a powerful indicator, nevertheless not able to analyse all the issues discussed by public opinion. Gradually many governments are becoming interested in the reform of the statistical systems: each country is pursuing a different way. While Bhutan has worked since 70s in the development of his national index, Gnh (gross national happiness), in Canada a private university developed a synthetic indicator called Canadian index of well being and the Australian bureau of statistics measures the level of development of the country with the Measures of Australia's progress. In Italy Cnel and Istat are engaged in the creation of a new set of indicators called Bes (equitable and sustainable well being) which should be ready soon. Today we observe a growing attention on this issue not only by politicians and economists but also by society and media. In this debate we find the work of the Commission on the measurement of economic performance and social progress with the final Report presented on September 2009 in Paris. The Report is based on the idea that "what we measure affects what we do", therefore misleading and insufficient measures can cause as much distorted decisions. Frequently political choices are made on the base of expected effects on economic growth but if the index were distorted, also the decisions could be wrong. Furthermore many people have lost trust in statistical data because of the discrepancy between them and what they perceive in their life: this gap cannot be completely explained by the monetary illusion phenomenon but it is necessary to consider changes in term of inequality. For the Commission GDP is not wrong in itself but it is wrong used: consequently it is important to ameliorate the existing measures of economic performance, to shift the emphasis from the economic production to the measure of people well being end to analyse if the development we are pursuing is sustainable or if it cannot be kept by future generations. 2) Classical question related to GDP GDP can be defined as the value of goods and services produced in an economy in a time, as the sum of added value produced in that economy or as sum of incomes of the economy in a time. GDP measure essentially the economic production and it is not an index of general economic welfare. There are, in fact, many problems related to the construction of GDP: it is obtained using market prices of goods and services but ratio between prices of different goods is representative of the buyer preferences only if market and price system are working well; allocations are used to consider products which do not have a market price, making GDP less comprehensible and reliable; concepts of price and quantity often do not consider properly qualitative improvements (the problem is even more evident and considerable for services' improvements); GDP estimates as positive some expenses which do not contribute directly to the society well being: Nordhaus and Tobin defined as "defensive expenses" those which are not immediate sources of utility but are necessary for activities which generate utility; GDP completely ignores two elements which have a positive impact on well being, housework and leisure: it would be important to have data to consider these two components because the shift of a service from family circle to market should not influence aggregate production since it does not provoke an improvement of social well being. Seeing that all the suggested approaches and the available data are inadequate, the Commission encourages a process of data gathering and urge the formulation of new indicators less fallacious that make possible a comparison between countries and historical period, which is the main GDP strength. All aggregate indicators of national accountancy are calculate per capita, so they do not give information about the resource distribution in society and about the level of inequality: they offer data on population as a whole and do not permit to study specific categories of families. In this way it is possible to explain why some people do not see effects in their life subsequent to an official GDP growth: sometimes only some categories profit from the GDP increase. Consequently it is fundamental to know the level on inequality of a country to evaluate the well being. Since neither average income nor average consumption give information on segment of the population, it is useful to consider median income, consumption and wealth. Median data, half of the population is above and half of it is below, give the representation of the "typical" individual: the level of inequality is high if the distance between them and average data is ample. It is necessary to have microeconomic data to observe distributive aspects: since the definition of some concepts is not universally shared, there is not complete harmonization of this data and international comparability is not perfect. The Commission encourages to calculate income not per capita but per consumption units (families) and to consider real income and not nominal income to evaluate standard of living. In the actual systems of national accountancy the analysis of existing indicators alternative to GDP could be a first step towards a better measurement of welfare. They highlight phenomenon and trends that would not be clear observing only GDP. Net index would always be preferable than gross measures since the output set aside as depreciation does not have positive effects on well being. However GDP is preferred to Net Domestic Product because is easier to calculate and generally the ratio between them remains unchanged. Nevertheless recently, with the development of IT (information technology), depreciation time changed and it would be useful to analyse separately GDP and NDP. NDP considers only depreciation of fixed capital: to be a more reliable index it should include depreciation of every capital. To evaluate well being it is more suitable to examine income (demand) than production (supply): National Net Disposable Income considers flows of incomes between countries, including transfers that benefit residents of different areas as to country considered. This index can be quite different from GDP because part of incomes produced by residents is sent abroad while residents can receive income from foreign countries. Adjusted Disposable Income is the best index to evaluate the individual standard of living et to make comparisons between countries since it considers not only monetary but also in kind social transfers from the state to the families: for this reason this measure help to apply the invariance principle because it permit to compare countries with completely different institutional set-ups.


The aim of this study was to assess the variation of extractives components of ironwood based on altitude above sea level (100, 500 and 700 meter) and the relationship between shared extractives compounds growing in three different altitudes (by GC-MS) and wood density. There were 6 extractives compounds at low altitude and 4 extractives compounds at intermediate and high altitudes. There were two shared extractive compounds of acetone extracts in three altitude classes, namely 1,2-benzendicarboxylic and 1-methyl-5,8-dimethoxy-1, 2,3,4-tetrahydro-1,4-iminonaphthalene. The highest contents of 1,2benzendicarboxylic and 1-methyl-5,8-dimethoxy-1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-1,4iminonaphthalene were found in high (700 m) and low altitudes (100m), respectively. A positive relationship between 1,2-benzendicarboxylic and wood density was found, whereas a negative relationship between 1methyl-5,8-dimethoxy-1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-1,4-iminonaphthalene and wood density was observed.


Goal. Modern situational centers are focused on the preparation of evidence-based management decisions of the executive authorities of the federal and regional levels. Their work is aimed not only at making decisions in emergency situations but also at questions of forecasting, planning and implementing socio-economic trends and development programs. Modification of input-output (IO) models is an actual task for these purposes. Materials and methods. The article proposes a modification of the IO model, focused on the simultaneous modeling of the production process and the dynamics of the consumption sphere, as well as taking into account the influence of exogenous macroeconomic parameters. A classification of models is given; methods for the identification of their parameters on the basis of publicly available global and domestic databases are described. Results. We developed methods for customizing models for solving specific problems. The model varies depending on the consideration of various macroeconomic parameters and the degree of detail of the basic balance ratios. Linear continuous and discrete models allow solving investment management problems. Variation of exogenous parameters leads to non-linear dynamic IO models. Conclusion. It is shown that the proposed approach allows providing information support to public administration associated with the analysis and correction of socio-economic trends, as well as the development of the necessary software. At the same time, its successful implementation is possible only if there are relevant statistical databases on regional economies and information infrastructure.


We present a volumetric imaging method for biological tissue that is free of mechanically scanning components. The optical sectioning in the system is obtained by structured illumination microscopy (SIM) with the depth of focus being varied by the use of an electronic tunable-focus lens (ETL). The performance of the axial scanning mechanism was evaluated and characterized in conjunction with SIM to ensure volumetric images could be recorded and reconstructed without significant losses in optical section thickness and lateral resolution over the full desired scan range. It was demonstrated that sub-cellular image resolutions were obtainable in both microsphere films and in ex vivo oral mucosa, spanning multiple cell layers, without significant losses in image quality. The mechanism proposed here has the ability to be integrated into any wide-field microscopy system to convert it into a three-dimensional imaging platform without the need for axial scanning of the sample or imaging optics. The ability to axially scan independent of mechanical movement also provides the opportunity for the development of endoscopic systems which can create volumetric images of tissue in vivo.


Pareto compliance is a critical property of quality indicators (QIs) focused on measuring convergence to the Pareto front. This property allows a QI not to contradict the order imposed by the Pareto dominance relation. Hence, Pareto-compliant QIs are remarkable when comparing approximation sets of multi-objective evolutionary algorithms (MOEAs) since they do not produce misleading conclusions. However, the practical effect of Pareto-compliant QIs as the backbone of MOEAs' survival mechanisms is not entirely understood. In this paper, we study the practical effect of IGD++ (which is a combination of IGD+ and the hypervolume indicator), IGD+, and IGD, which are Pareto-compliant, weakly Pareto-compliant, and not Pareto-compliant QIs, respectively. To this aim, we analyze the convergence and diversity properties of steady-state MOEAs based on the previously mentioned QIs throughout the whole evolutionary process. Our experimental results showed that, in general, the practical effect of a Pareto-compliant QI in a selection mechanism is not very significant concerning weaker QIs, taking into account the whole evolutionary process.


SBA-15 has been successfully synthesized from ash of brickyard with the surface area of 700.100 m2/g, pore volume of 0.813 cm3·g−1, and pore size of 7.5 nm. SBA-15 material has been modified by a simple impregnation method, and the ZnO/SBA-15 obtained material retains the hexagonal structure of SBA-15, but the hexagonal capillary tube size is reduced, in which the surface area, volume of pores, and pore size is 212.851 m2·g−1, 0.244 cm3·g−1, and 3.7 nm, respectively. The ZnO/SBA-15 materials were investigated by the photodegradation of methylene blue under ultraviolet light and exhibited significant photocatalytic activity with the reached MB removal efficiency about 96.69%.


The utility model provides a multi-stage-absorption ammonia desulphurization system. The system adopts the structure that an absorption tower comprises an oxidation section, a concentration section, an absorption section and a cleaning section from the bottom up, wherein the concentration section, the absorption section and the cleaning section are separated by trays; the trays are one-way passages; flue gas can penetrate the trays from a position below the trays upwards, while slurry liquid in the trays can not penetrate the trays downwards; the concentration section, the absorption section and the cleaning section all have independent slurry liquid circulating systems which do not interfere one another; the slurry liquid in a circulating slurry liquid tank is sent to the concentration section to form a spraying ammonium sulfate slurry liquid which is in contact with the original flue gas in a reversed manner, so as to allow the ammonium sulfate solution to be concentrated to a saturated solution about 40 percent; the flue gas enters into the absorption section after being subjected to spraying temperature reduction in the concentration section and is in contact with spraying fogdrops of the reversedly flowing ammonium sulfate slurry liquid, so as to dissolve SO2 in the flue gas; process water at the cleaning section is sprayed on the flue gas so as to wash liquid ammonium sulfate drops and gaseous free ammonia, and to effectively reduce aerosol formation and ammonia volatilization. The system provided by the utility model has a simple and compact structure, and can effectively avoid escaping of ammonia in the flue gas.


Literature is a product from human thinking. By reading literary works especially novel, the readers can improve their understanding about life in every aspect. Novel is also a picture of human behavior and signal of time which it was written. This research aims to find out the Erin Gruwell's teaching writing strategies and the students' responses toward her strategies.
This research design used descriptive qualitative. The researcher focused on deep understanding of Gruwell's teaching writing strategies. The study observed the
phenomenon in teaching writing strategies and students' responses toward teaching writing strategies by Gruwell.
The result of the research shows that first; Gruwell used two teaching writing strategies.
Those are: free writing and revised writing. Furthermore, the implementation of those strategies in the class could help students to improve their writing skill technically and
fluent writers.
Second, the students' responses accepted those strategies. Students not also changed into higher skill but also changed their mind set and personality out. The researcher found students' responses showed cognitive, affective and behavioral response. Cognitive responses showed that students changed their mind set. Affective responses showed the student felt sympathy to others. And Behavioral responses indicated students can accept each other.


This analysis considers how racial segregation affects the residential geographies of households headed by mixed-race couples. We also become interested in assessing whether diverse households live in diverse places. To measure neighbourhood diversity, we develop a new index of diversity based on the exposure index. The analysis of 12 large US metropolitan areas finds that race (in tandem with status markers like income) and nativity provide some of the best understandings of the neighbourhood geographies of mixed-race households. The study also reveals that instead of fitting into and thus reinforcing the existing racialised urban spatial structure, some households formed by 'partnering out' live in spaces characterised by their racial diversity. We focus on the mixed-race household because such a collective constitutes a scale at which mixed-race contact takes place and a site for identity construction of individuals, partners, and the surrounding neighbourhood. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


We present a combined magnetic x-ray and neutron scattering study of the order parameter of the diluted antiferromagnet Fe{sub 0.5}Zn{sub 0.5}F{sub 2} in an applied field. This system is believed to be modeled by the three-dimensional random-field Ising model. A long range ordered (LRO) state is prepared through a zero-field-cooled procedure (ZFC). The evolution of this LRO state is studied on warming at fixed field. The x-ray order parameter data are well described by a power-law-like transition at all fields with an exponent {beta}{sub ZFC} varying from 0.21 to 0.12. The transition region is broadened and may be described by a Gaussian distribution of transition temperatures, centered at T{sub C}(H), of width {sigma}{sub ZFC}(H). It is found that {sigma}{sub ZFC}(H)=AH{sup 2}+B. This rounding is attributed to anomalously slow dynamics, which prevents equilibrium being attained for experimentally relevant time scales for T{lt}T{sub M}(H) where T{sub M}(H) is the temperature below which metastability effects occur. The apparent critical behavior in fact represents a continuous evolution from metastable behavior towards equilibrium behavior. Neutron scattering studies on the same sample allow identification of T{sub C}(H) with the temperature at which the correlation length of the zero-field-cooled fluctuations reaches a maximum value, equal to themore » corresponding field-cooled value. A qualitative finite size scaling argument is presented to explain the H{sup 2} width dependence. Data showing similar scaling of the width of the ZFC transition region inferred from the temperature derivative of the uniform magnetization as measured by SQUID magnetometry and from neutron scattering measurements of the pseudocritical scattering are also presented. These results lead to an interpretation of indirect specific heat measurements in which the ZFC peak structure is seen to arise entirely from a LRO contribution to the measured quantity. (Abstract Truncated)« less


This paper investigates distributed control of a heterogeneous MAS with unknown disturbances, actuator saturations and sensor faults connected through a directed graph. The RBFNNs have been employed to estimate the uncertain nonlinear functions and design the nonlinear disturbance observer. The distributed controller is designed to stir the followers to follower the leader with very small tracking errors. The stability of the closed loop system has been guaranteed with the aid of a Lyapunov function. Finally, a simulation example has been provided to illustrate the effectiveness of the presented method.


Besides relative economic policies,the development and boosting of vocational advanced study can solve the unemployment problem by enhancing the employability of citizens,and its material functions are:prevent the happening of structural unemployment problem,prevent the unemployment problem resulted from international competition,help the unemployed resume work or guide the women or adults who have left employment market to get new jobs,assist the unemployed enter into employment market smoothly,and satisfy the sustainable professional career development demand from individuals.


In aquaculture, efficiency of feed is very important to decrease cost production. Besides, excess of feed consumptions caused disturbance of water quality which affected on productivity and survival rate. Fasting day interval was one of best chosen method to make efficiency and effectively on feeding schedule. The research was aimed to know the effect on fasting day interval against its growth and survival rate. Experimental design used was completely randomized design with 4 treatments, 3 replication. The treatments were: P1 (1 day given feed, 1 day fasted), P2 (2 day given feed, 1 day fasted), P3 (3 day given feed, 1 day fasted), P4 (given feed everyday/control). Red nile used gave length 7–10 cm and weight 10 - 19 g were placed on cement pond 1 m2 of sized. Fish density was 20 fishes/m2 with fed consumption about 3% daily of total biomass weight. Result showed that treatment using fasting day interval on red nile fish did not affect on both compensatory growth and its survival rate. Better growth occurred at P4 which fed intake consumption everyday without fasted. While P1 revealed same result (p>0,05) on survival rate with P4.


Unemployment is the state of an individual, while capable, willing and available to work, unable to find work. Within the framework of this thesis, we refer to the unemployment rate, its types as well as its effects towards the deepening of the economic crisis in our country. The importance is emphasized by many researchers. Starting point and rise of this study entitled as > was the need of defining the factors that contributed to the attitude of the unemployed to find work. Primary target of research is to explore the literature of incentives that encouraged the unemployed to continue their efforts to find work. The findings are identical to those of previous researchers on the same issues. Specifically, we concluded that, a small percentage of unemployed willingly risked labor choice and we were wages below the basic and the highest percentage of unemployed would choose to create their own business to achieve professional stability with better earnings. Though statistical comparison, we noted that a large number of sample consists of unemployed providing necessary supplies for the job to educated as graduate and foreign languages and come from families who support them financially to survive.


Stable silylenes, 1 and 2, and germylenes, 3 and 4, have been studied computationally and by cyclic voltammetry (CV). Electron affinities (EA) and ionization potentials (IP) were calculated; the latter agree well with available gas phase photoelectron spectroscopy data. All CV measurements in THF−Bu4NClO4 exhibit irreversible waves for all compounds, for both oxidation and reduction processes. However, in 1,2-dichlorobenzene−Bu4NClO4, the germylene derivative 3 shows a single reversible oxidation couple, whereas 4 exhibits a reversible couple at its second oxidation step, the first one being irreversible. In both cases, the redox couples become irreversible by replacing the electrolyte with either Bu4NBF4 or Bu4NHSO4, indicating the importance of the counteranion on the stability of the intermediates. The CV results also show that the unsaturated 1 and 3 are more easily oxidized than their saturated counterparts 2 and 4, and oxidation is easier for the silylenes 1 and 2 than for their germanium analogues....


There are errors in Table 2 and Figure 3. In Table 2, the contents are incorrectly duplicated. In Figure 3C, the western blot representing FGF-1 is a duplicate of the one correctly representing Wnt11 in Figure 3B. Copyright: ß 2014 The PLOS ONE Staff. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.


T HE identification of K.3445+Rm.396, hereafter cited as text E, as part of Ee V was declared improbable by L. W. King, STC, I, 197ff., for reasons which are as well known as the argument which refutes them.1 The discovery of Assyrian texts of the epic in which the god An'ar (AsAur) was found to take the place of Marduk undermined the essential argument on which King's opinion was based. Subsequently, the opposite view, namely the identification of E as part of Tablet V, was expressed by Landsberger in his translation of Ee in Lehmann-Haas, Textbuch filr Religionsgeschichte, Second Edition, 1922, 289, where a short summary was given. This opinion was repeated by Landsberger, Af K, I, 74, n. 2 (1923) (69, n. 3 in the second edition), and was accepted by von Soden, ZA, 40, 168. Furthermore, in his list of sources for Ee V, Labat, Crdation, 136, stated, "a cette tablette appartiennent aussi: K. 3445+Rm.396 ... et K. 14949." Inexplicably, however, Labat offered no transliteration or translation of the cited text, and this misfortune, probably more than anything else, resulted in the temporary eclipse of E, for it does not appear in the later editions. The edition of the Fifth Tablet of Creation which follows employs E as a known source, and adds thereto S.U.51/98 (Gurney and Finkelstein, STT, I, 12), cited as text F, this being rightly seen by Gurney to be a duplicate of E (see PBA, 1955, 24, and STT, I, 1), but being wrongly assessed. If doubts as to the correct identification of these texts still prevail, they may be refuted on two counts. Firstly, with regard to subject matter, it is found that the reconstructed text begins at exactly the point where one would expect Marduk to continue his works of creation. Secondly, the commentary Rm.395 (King, STC, II, pl. 62) contains lines quoted from Tablet VII on the reverse and others quoted from Tablet V on the obverse, and these latter lines check with the evidence found on both E and F. This point was observed independently by the two authors of this article and has resulted in the present joint communication.2


Eastman Kodak Company will begin production of photographic sensitized goods in China in 1998. The purpose of this study was to examine the transportation infrastructure of the country and to estimate whether the distribution environment was likely to be more severe than those previously tested. The study used work previously done by Kodak to examine the magnitude and frequency of package drops in three other countries. While not performing the same instrumented analysis previously undertaken, this study laid the foundation for those types of tests by examining the geography, infrastructure, vehicles and handling cycle used to distribute products in China. The results of this examination suggest that the distribution environment in China will likely to be more severe than those previously tested. Based on this study, packaging used for sensitized photographic products produced in China will have more cushioning and be made of stronger materials than packages for the same products used in other countries.


Compared with its European neighbours, the more stringent Dutch pensions legislation has hampered its ability to compete with other IORPs.


A new in vitro invasion model system, based on monolayers of 10T1/2 fibroblastic mouse embryo cells, is presented. When inoculated onto such a confluent monolayer, cells from a nonmetastatic T-cell lymphoma line remained on top, whereas cells from metastatic derivative lines penetrated through the monolayer. Combined differential interference contrast and interference reflection microscopy were used to follow the relative vertical cell positions in the co-cultures. The number of underlying lymphoma cells per unit area can be used as a quantitative invasion index, allowing a systematic comparison between cell lines. Moreover, since the invasive cells could be recovered separately, this invasion system allowed the isolation of minor subpopulation of invasive cells from a 1000-fold excess of noninvasive cells.


In Sudan (Khartoum state), the material was collected during the winter and summer seasons. The aim of the work to show the steroid histochemical of the adrenal gland of adult Sudanese chicken (Gallus domesticus) and duck (Anas platyrhynchos) . The adrenal glands were two small organs, irregularly oval and pale yellow in the colour (Ghosh et.al.2001 and Sarker et.al.2014). The histochemical localization of steroid enzymes was studied in the adrenal gland of adult chicken and duck. Δ5-3β hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase and 17β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase were demonstrated solely in the cortex.


Myeloid sarcoma (MS) is an extramedullary tumor of the myeloid cells and usually develops in lymphoid organs, bones, skin, adipose tissue, and the central nervous system. Gastrointestinal or isolated mesenteric involvement is an extremely rare without bone marrow (BM) involvement. Only a few cases had reported before. In this paper, we report a case of a 37-year-old male who presented with small bowel intussusception due to mesenteric MS. Abdominal computed tomography findings revealed intussusception of the small bowel in the left lower quadrant of the abdomen and mesenteric masses. The patient underwent operation, and masses were excised with segmental small bowel and segmental colon resection because the masses were adjacent to the bowel wall. Histopathology and immunohistochemistry showed MS in mesentery. Patient received 2 cycles of cytosine arabinoside combined with idarubicin chemotherapy in the postoperative period and was doing well at 6 months of follow-up. MS in mesentery presenting as intussusception of small bowel without BM involvement is very rare and it should be considered in the differential diagnosis of intestinal obstruction.


In order to improve the thermal stability of polylactides (PLA), conjugation approaches have been applied to both the terminal and initiating chain end of PLA. We selected benzyl alcohol as the initiator to introduce an aromatic group at one end. The terminal hydroxyl group of the resultant PLAs was conjugated with 3,4-diacetoxycinnamic acid (DACA). The modified polymers showed a dramatic improvement in their thermal decomposing temperature (T10) from 326 to 355 °C. The stereocomplexation of the modified PLAs could be achieved by a variety of molecular weight (Mn) combination. The melting temperature (Tm) increased after stereocomplexation with any size of polymer mixture, but the best improvements on thermal properties in both Tm and T10 were obtained by a mixture of specific Mn ranges of enantiomeric PLAs (Mn = 11 400 and 9600). In contrast, the longer and shorter Mn discouraged the simultaneous improvements in the Tm and T10, suggesting that a balance of chain end groups and stereocomplexation efficien...


Particularities in the specific heat of UPd2Al3, a λ-type of peak with a maximum at 14.5 K and a Schottky-type of peak with a broad maximum at 55 K, has been attributed to the 5f-subsystem of the U atoms. The U-5f contribution has been found to be described surprisingly well within a single-ion Hamiltonian that includes the charge multipolar (CMP) interactions and the antiferromagnetic (AF) exchange interaction between the U3+ ions. The AF exchange parameter and the full set of the CMP parameters associated with the hexagonal symmetry have been evaluated. The energy-level scheme (ELS) of this Kramers ion is constructed. The ground-state function Γ8 of the 5f3 electrons is highly anisotropic. This state results from higher-order charge multipolar interactions. Magnetic properties resulting from this scheme including the metamagnetic-like transition at 18 T, the strongly-reduced value for the U-ion moment and its field dependence are found to be in good agreement with experimental observations.


A machine (10) includes a power source (12), a transmission (16), and a drive system (14) configured to transmit torque from the power source (12) to the transmission (16). The drive system (14) includes a planetary gear set (30), a variator (28) coupled to the planetary gear set (30), and a storage device (68) operably connected to the variator (28). The storage device (68) is configured to receive energy from and provide energy to the variator (28).


A true understanding of granulocyte contributions to airway inflammatory pathology remains elusive. These cells undoubtedly have an impact on inflammatory disease with correlations existing between disease severities and their presence at inflammatory sites [1]. Eosinophils are associated with asthma and allergy and their presence is known to correlate with disease severity. They have well-documented cytotoxic potential resulting in damage to the epithelium while their release of lipid mediators such as cysteinyl leukotrienes can obstruct airflow [2, 3]. Two recently developed eosinophil-deficient mouse models, although yielding differing results, have provided strong support for eosinophil involvement in asthma [4, 5]. Divergence between the models may have reflected differing mouse backgrounds, i.e. Balb/c vs. B6 mice, but taken together a predominant role for eosinophils in airway remodelling and disease severity was suggested [6]. Balzar et al. [7] reinforced this view by showing that transforming growth factor (TGF)-b2, secreted primarily by tissue eosinophils, is the predominant isoform in severe asthma and is associated with augmented pro-fibrotic responses. With approximately 50% of asthma attributed to eosinophils, neutrophil-mediated asthma could represent a major subset of asthma pathology [8, 9]. After allergen challenge it is neutrophils that infiltrate the lung first and their high numbers in nocturnal asthma correlate with disease severity [10]. Mucus secretion has also been linked to neutrophil elastase's potent secretagogue capacity on airway epithelial cells and submucosal gland cells and it has been postulated that neutrophil-driven goblet cell metaplasia is a key facet of neutrophilic asthma [11]. Although we know much of their ingression mechanisms, recruited granulocyte fate remains unresolved. The where, when and why of apoptosis induction and phagocytic clearance are crucial facets required for our understanding of airway inflammation.


It is of great significance for building a set of effective collective construction land price evaluation system.This paper argues that as for the assessment of collective construction land prices,we must define the connotations of benchmark land price scientifically,and analyse its price structure in precise term according to the principles of exploring the nature,respecting the reality,reflecting differences,and putting people first.Three technical ways adopted for collective construction land price evaluation include the sampling point land price method,urban state-owned land datum value method,and cost method.This paper proposes that in practice,these issues such as the land quality evaluation,cost structure,land value-added income,modified index selection,and the quantitative method of correction factor should be given intensive study.


Bhagandara is one of the Ashtamahagada (~eight grave diseases) that resembles with the anal fistula in modern parlance. Many surgical techniques are available in modern practice though management of the fistula is challenging due to its high recurrence rate and associated complications. This study aims to diagnose a case of fistula-in-ano and to treat the case by two-staged surgical approach along with Ksharasutra. A 28-year-old male patient came to out patient department (OPD) of Shalya tantra with complaints of painful swelling with pus discharge from perianal region, which was diagnosed as complex, nonspecific, posterior horse-shoe shaped fistula-in-ano with approximately 80 mm long track. The condition is not only difficult but also takes a longer period for complete cure with varied success rate, hence, two-staged surgical approach along with Ksharasutra has been employed. The fistulous track was completely healed by almost 13 weeks. Follow-up was done for the next three months. There was no recurrence of the condition, and normal sphincter tone was achieved. The result of the present case is encouraging, and the patient was treated effectively without any complications and without disturbing his daily social life.


To address the problem of density imbalance between nearby and faraway regions in point clouds, we propose a density-aware 3D single-stage object detector named Density-Net. First, a new 3D data augmentation method is designed to generate low-density areas by using the DBSCAN cluster method to acquire the cluster of point clouds, then by setting several different downsample ratios to stimulate sparse regions. By this way, there will be many sparse regions in point clouds. To restore the representative information, we propose Density-Set-Abstraction (Density-SA) to harmonize the high-level representative feature and low-level spatial feature, which boosts the final object detection performance. Moreover, we design a new Mask Sample branch to accomplish point sampling based on point-wise annotations, which increases the recall rate of meaningful points. We evaluate it on the widely used KITTI dataset. The experiments demonstrate that our method outperforms the well-established and highly-optimized 3DSSD (implemented by MMdetection3D) baseline 2.2% APs in moderate difficulty setting. At the same time, the runtime performance is also on par with 3DSSD. Code: https://github.com/Physu/density-net


To study the characteristic features of teachers personal attitude towards children, system of individual valuation sets of 166 respondents aged 21 to 69 years was investigated. The study brought out the structure of professional values (attitude to children) of the teachers from educational institutions, as well as the nature of other professionals personal attitude to children. It was statistically proven that such factors as marriage and parentage reduce the possibility of manifestation of negative attitudes and increase the possibility of manifestation of positive attitudes towards children.


In this paper, we investigate a class of 2-generator 2-relator groups G(n) related to the Fibonacci groups F(2,n), each of the groups in this new class also being defined by a single parameter n, though here n can take negative, as well as positive, values. If n is odd, we show that G(n) is a finite soluble group of derived length 2 (if n is coprime to 3) or 3 (otherwise), and order |2n(n + 2)gnf(n, 3)|, where fn is the Fibonacci number defined by f0=0,f1=1,fn+2=fn+fn+1 and gn is the Lucas number defined by g0 = 2, g1 = 1, gn+2 = gn + gn+1 for n≧0. On the other hand, if n is even then, with three exceptions, namely the cases n = 2,4 or –4, G(n) is infinite; the groups G(2), G(4) and G(–4) have orders 16, 240 and 80 respectively.


ALI Acute lung injury ARDS Acute respiratory distress syndrome COPD Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease CT Computerized tomography CXR Chest X-ray (radiograph) DLT Double lumen endotracheal tube(s) ECG Electrocardiogram EGD Esophagogastroduodenoscopy EUS Endoscopic ultrasound GDFT Goal-directed fluid therapy GERD Gastroesophageal reflux disease LEA Lumbar epidural analgesia LES Lower esophageal sphincter LVEDVI Left ventricular end diastolic volume index MIE Minimally invasive esophagectomy MRI Magnetic resonance imaging NGT Nasogastric tube OLV One lung ventilation PCA Patient controlled analgesia PEEP Positive end expiratory pressure PET Positron emission tomography PH Paraesophageal hernia(s) PONV Postoperative nausea and vomiting SLT Single lumen endotracheal tube(s) TEA Thoracic epidural analgesia TEF Tracheoesophageal fistula THE Transhiatal esophagectomy TTE Transthoracic esophagectomy UES Upper esophageal sphincter Key Points


With the growing legal consciousness of nation,the contradiction in the clinical trials appears gradually.Researchers and subjects face many complicated problems.In that case,the clinical investigators and patients should clearly know their rights and obligations.Then,we should propose the practical ways to protect patients.There are three ways:(1) Medical Ethics Committee set up a position and the staff should track every stage of the clinical trial;(2) Regular doctor should provide professional advices to patients and let them know the effect of the clinical trial;(3) Improvement the registry of clinical trials as soon as possible.


From a careful reading of Joao Guimaraes Rosa's manuscripts
one may realize the incisive presence of visual arts in the
writer's interests. Quotations from artists, critics and visual
arts theorists, as well as Nature's role in leading human
relationship in Rosas's work, make a discussion about
landscape possible. Landscape is taken as a reflection of one's
experience and as a result of an ambivalent process in which
the perceptive being is part of the observed landscape. Finally
this article analyses the short-story "The little dust-brown
donkey".


Since Sept. 26, 2005 the 750kV transmission and transformation pilot project of State Grid Corporation of China has operated securely and stably. To further validate the quality and effect in design, execution and tests of this pilot project as well as to overall evaluate this engineering, by means of power grid calculation a test scheme was decided in which five 300MW units in Gongboxia power plant were chosen as power source of the test, the power system stabilizers of generation units in Gongboxia power plant were renovated and put into operation, correspondingly, a complete test scheme and accident prevention program were drafted. Based on the preparation, on Sept. 1st, 2006 the rated load test for the pilot project was carried out, the environmental data and temperature rise data of equipments were measured during the test. Test results showed that the environmental data of the pilot project satisfied the requirement of national environmental protection standard, after the test all equipments operate normally and the pilot project can operate at full load.


This article firstly introduces the theory of construction of domain-specific ontology and oil ontology business framework model, and then puts forward the method to construct the oil exploration and development of ontology library, the exploration and development of oil field involved is divided into multi-level business activity levels, and takes reservoir-seal combination activity as an example and lists to explore the construction method of the corresponding micro-ontology library, at last constructs a complete petroleum domain-specific ontology model.


Living in Low-lying areas is a challenging task, but due to the lack of suitable land at affordable prices, thousands of householders have been establishing their own houses on Low-lying areas. Manipulation and conversion of low lying areas have led to an increase in the frequency and severity of micro disasters because the cumulative effect of these settlements is very high. Therefore, it is needed to examine how individual households have been emerging in Low-lying areas. This process is primarily influenced and controlled by Socio-economic factors. In the field survey conducted for this study, 388 householders were interviewed face to face to obtain the primary data. Collected data were applied to the Multivariate binary logistic Model. The Dependent variable of the model was set as Stable Houses and Non-Stable Houses based on the weighted values that were obtained from the field observations. Independent variables of this study are nine key aspects of the socio-economic conditions in these areas. Unit...


Abstract Methylthio substituted 1,2-dithiolylium-4-olates 1 are obtained by thiolation of 1,3-dichlorpro pane-2-one or pyruvic thiomorpholide with sulfur and triethylamine in dimethylformamide and subsequent alklyation. Aminolysis yields the amino substituted derivatives. IR and UV/VIS spectra of the bis(methylthio), methylthio dimethylaminophenyl and bis(dimethylaminophenyl) compounds provide evidence in favour of the cyclic structure 1 whereas the spectra of the bis(amino) and amino methylthio compounds are rather compatible with non-cyclic valence isomeric structures 2. Both 1 and 2 react with acids to form 4-hydroxy-1,2-dithiolylium salts. The colour-structure relationships of 1,2-dithiolylium-4-olates were examined by PPP-type calculations. The lowest excited states and the colour determining transitions are accounted for in terms of the dithiolylium and olate moieties. The negative solvatochromism of the colour bands of 1 is related to the marked amount of oxygen-to dithiolylium charge transfer of t...


Two of the four Best Film nominees in this year's AFI awards werequeer-themed. But both Priscilla, Queen of the Desert and The Sum of Us missed out on that prize and most others they were up for. Some may scream homophobia. Stephan Elliott, the spoiled brat - sorry, enfant terrible - director of Priscilla, will probably just scream as usual. W h o knows why the AFI voters really decided to overlook The Sum of Us and Priscilla? But I say good for them.


The problems of robust control and dynamical input reconstruction through results of observations of phase states of time-delay systems are considered. Algorithms solving these problems which are stable with respect to informational noises and computational errors are suggested. The algorithms are based on the principle of auxiliary models with adaptive controls.


A substrate, comprising a body, said body comprising a Group III-V material and having an upper surface, said body comprising an upper surface defined between the reference surface and the crystal cut angle, said body further having no more than about 0.6 degrees cutting angle changes.


An empirical method for estimation of probable resolving power of a lens affected by longitudinal chromatic aberration is discussed. Values of the resolving power at a series of values of the f-number are calculated for selected values of longitudinal chromatic aberration, dc. The variation of resolving power with f-number is presented graphically for selected values of longitudinal chromatic aberration and relative contrast. Indication is given of a critical aperture for which the resolving power is a maximum for a given set of values of chromatic aberration and relative contrast. The variation of relative contrast with resolving power is presented graphically for several values of the f-number for a lens having selected amounts of longitudinal chromatic aberration. A method for predicting the resolving power of a given lens–film combination is also indicated.


In this paper, death and immortality ideas of Russian cosmists are in syncretic way put together with key ideas in postmodern philosophy. The problem considered in world philosophy on creating co-evolutionary conditions for the emergence of «immortal» man is illustrated by a wide variety of ideas and concepts. This paper contains innovative ideas of the Russian cosmists as the starting point of the research. Special attention is paid to the extraordinary teachings of N. F. Fedorov, who is the founder of Russian Cosmic philosophy. Using the system-diachronic method and technologies of ascending from the abstract to the concrete, the author compares the ideas of Russian cosmism with manifest concepts of modern philosophy (synergetics, phenomenology, transhumanism). The author also gives the most striking facts of discoveries of modern natural science and draws conclusions about ideas of Russian cosmists that have been put forward ahead of their time and retained their relevance and ontological potential until now. The paper presents the prospects for further studying the heritage of Russian cosmism to search for philosophical tools that could, without going beyond the limits of ethical universals, successfully combine the controversial theoretical directions of modern philosophy for the future positive practical development of society.


This is a protocol for a Cochrane Review.
The objectives are to evaluate the effects
of dual antibiotics for treatment of adults
and children with non-cystic fibrosis
bronchiectasis


Urbanisation of coastal habitats, particularly the increased numbers of pier-pilings, jetties and seawalls along shorelines, affects natural systems. Epibiota on secondary substrata (kelps, Ecklonia radiata) in man-made structures differ from those in natural habitats, but they have received considerably less attention. To understand the consequences of changes in the structure of these assemblages, it is therefore necessary to determine which ecological processes are being affected and the factors influencing them. In Sydney Harbour, kelps on pier-pilings sup- ported greater covers of bryozoans, particularly of the non-indigenous species Membranipora membranacea, than found on natural reefs. Experimental transplants of kelps without epibiota from reefs to pilings showed that recruitment and growth of colonies of M. membranacea were much greater on pilings than on reefs. Patterns of distribution and abundance of this epibiotic bryo zoan are determined by a combination of these processes and probably influenced by differ- ences in abiotic and biotic characteristics between habitats. Understanding how these compo- nents of habitats affect ecological processes is necessary to allow sensible prediction of the effects of modifying habitats on the ecology of organisms.


The utility model relates to a hose coupler component used for connecting a hose to another device. The hose coupler component comprises a sleeve, a coupler and the hose, and is characterized in that the sleeve is connected with the coupler in a sleeving manner, a connecting rod is arranged on the coupler, the house is sleeved on the connecting rod, a plurality of clamping portions and barbs are arranged on the inner wall of the sleeve at intervals, the hose is pressed by the clamping portions and clamped by the barbs, and an annular limiting surface is arranged in the sleeve. Compared with the prior art, the hose coupler component has the advantages of simple structure, reasonable design, reliability in connection and good sealing effect.


Abstract The spatiotemporal variability of vegetation in the Middle East was investigated for the period 2001–2019 using the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) 16-day/500 m composites of the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI; MOD13A1). The results reveal a strong increase in NDVI coverage in the Middle East during the study period (R = 0.75, p-value = 0.05). In Egypt, the annual coverage exhibits the strongest positive trend (R = 0.99, p-value = 0.05). In Turkey, both the vegetation coverage and density increased from 2001 to 2019, which can be attributed to the construction of some of the biggest dams in the Middle East, such as the Atatürk and Ilisu dams. Significant increases in the annual coverage and maximum and average NDVI in Saudi Arabia are due to farming in the northern part of the country for which groundwater and desalinated seawater are used. The results of this study suggest that one of the main factors affecting vegetation coverage in the Middle East are governmental policies. These policies could lead to an increase in vegetation coverage in some countries such as Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Iran, and Turkey.


Examines how the US, the Soviet Union and various European powers have developed their grand Strategies - how they have integrated their political, economic and military goals in order to preserve their long-term interests in times of war and peace.


This research examines the contribution of plant height, number of flowers, number of stems, as well the joint impacts of mutualists and antagonists on the pollination biology and seed production of the imperiled, deceptive orchid, Cypripedium candidum. We found flowering stem height to be the only morphological feature significant in reproduction, with taller flowering stems simultaneously receiving increased pollination and decreased seed predation. Furthermore we found decreased seed mass in individuals subjected to hand-self pollination treatments. Our results may help explain the factors limiting seed production in other Cypripedium and further emphasize the importance of management in orchid conservation.


The invention relates to an acquisition circuit for improving the acquisition precision of a voltage signal, which consists of a voltage-dividing circuit (1), a subsection identification circuit (2), an amplifying circuit (3) and an A/D acquisition chip (4). The subsection identification circuit (2) judges whether a voltage acquisition signal is positioned in a low-voltage interval (0, V1) or a high-voltage interval (V1, V) according to an intermediate value V1 set by a user, and outputs a corresponding identification level; and a contactor K1 in the amplifying circuit (3) closes a normally closed contact and a normally open contact according to a level signal outputted by the subsection identification circuit (2) to select a corresponding gain resistor. According to different sampling intervals where the voltage acquisition signal is positioned, the amplifying circuit (3) amplifies the voltage acquisition signal by adopting different amplification factors, so when the voltage acquisition signal is positioned in the low-voltage interval, the amplification factors are improved, so that the low-voltage interval is amplified to the integral acquisition interval to improve the acquisition precision of the voltage signal in the low-voltage interval.


In this paper we show how a simple Current-Starved Pseudo Floating-Gate (CSPFG) inverter can be used to realize bi-directional Circuits. The direction of the signal through the inverter is reversed (the input becomes output and vise versa) by swapping vdd and gnd, without adding any extra amplifier or circuitry. This is possible because of the symmetry of the CSPFG inverters. We use the bi-directionality property of the inverter to realize a bi-directional CSPFG Differentiator/integrator. Typical applications are in filter design and IO ports in ICs. Linearity and AC simulations are presented to show the good properties and versatility suited for Bi-directional analog circuit design.


It is shown that regimes with dynamical chaos are inherent not only to nonlinear system but they are widely represented in dynamics of linear systems.


A list of the dynamically changing group membership of a meeting supports a variety of meeting-related activities. Effortless content sharing might be the most important application, but we can also use it to provide business card information for attendees, feed information into calendar applications to simplify scheduling of follow-up meetings, populate the membership of collaborative editing applications, mailing lists, and social networks, and perform many other tasks.
 We have developed a system that uses audio sensing to maintain meeting membership automatically. We choose audio since hearing the same conversation provides a human-centric notion of attending the same gathering. It takes into account walls and other sound barriers between otherwise closely situated people. It can sense participants attending remotely by teleconference. It does not require attendees to perform any explicit action when participants leave a meeting for which they should no longer have access to associated content. It works indoors and outdoors and does not require pre-populating databases with mapping information. For sensors, we require only the commonly available microphones on mobile devices.
 Our system exploits a new technique for matching sensed patterns of relative audio silence, or silence signatures, from mobile devices (mobile phones, tablets, laptops) to determine device co-location. A signature based on simple silence patterns rather than a detailed audio characterization reveals less information about the content of potentially private conversations and is also more robustly compared across devices that are not clock synchronized. We evaluate our method in formal indoor meetings and teleconferences and in ad hoc gatherings outdoors and in a noisy cafeteria. Across all our tests so far, our approach determines audio co-location with a worst-case accuracy of 96%, and recovery from these errors takes only a few seconds. We also describe a content sharing application supported by silence signature matching, the limitations of our approach, current status, and future plans.


Variants of presenilin (PS1 and PS2) are the main genetic risk factors of familial Alzheimer's disease and thus central to the disease etiology. Although mostly studied as catalytic units of γ-secretase controlling Aβ production, presenilins also affect calcium levels, which are disturbed in Alzheimer's disease. We investigated the interaction of calcium with both PS1 and PS2 using all-atom molecular dynamics (MD) simulations in realistic membrane models, with the specific aim to identify any Ca2+ sites. We did not observe any complete Ca2+ leak event, but we identified four persistent Ca2+ sites in membrane-bound PS1 and PS2: One in HL2 near the C-terminal of TM6, one in HL2 towards the N-terminal of TM7, a site at the catalytic aspartate on TM7, and a site at the PALP motif on TM9. The sites feature negatively charged glutamates and aspartates typical of calcium binding. Structural homology to di-aspartate calcium transport proteins and mutation studies of calcium efflux support our identified calcium sites. Calcium consistently dampens HL2 motions in all comparisons (PS1, protonated PS1, PS2, protonated PS2). Due to their location in HL2 and the active site, we propose that the calcium sites control auto-proteolytic maturation of presenilin by a pH-dependent conformational restriction of the HL2 recognition loop, which also regulates calcium transport proteins such as inositol 1,4,5-triphosphate receptor and ryanodine receptor. Our structural dynamics could provide a possible molecular basis for the need of both calcium and presenilin for lysosome proteolytic function, perhaps relevant also to other protein misfolding diseases.


Abstract Fractional dispersed phase hold-up and overall dispersed phase side mass transfer coefficients were measured in 34, 50, 70 and 95 mm i.d. spray columns using an aqueous two phase system. Sodium sulphate-polyethyleneglycol (PEG) (4000)-water formed the aqueous two phase system and amyloglucosidase was used as a solute for the estimation of mass transfer coefficient. The dispersed phase hold-up (eD) and volumetric dispersed phase side mass transfer coefficient (KD) both increased with increasing PEG-rich phase velocity. The eDand KDawere found to be independent of the column diameter and column height above a certain critical value. An increase in the phase concentration of sodium sulphate and PEG was found to reduce eDand KDEmpirical and semi-empirical correlations for eD and KDahave been developed.


Understanding filtration properties such as pressure drop, filter efficiency and filter lifespan are of great practical importance. These are dependant on the structure of the woven fabric filter media and the physical conditions in which the filtration process is carried out. This paper discusses the development of a software tool UniverFlitertrade, which is capable of geometrical modelling of 3D woven fabrics, interfacing with CFD tools to numerically determine the fluid flow path and simulating the filtration process by introducing particles of various shapes and sizes. To enable an enhanced understanding of the filtration cycle, specifically how the geometrical parameters of the woven fabric influence the filtration efficiency, an investigation is carried out on the effect such parameters have on the fluid flow behavior. The results obtained from fluid pressure and fluid velocity on the fabric show that the fluid flow is significantly influenced in the interstices and chamber downstream by the fabric. Fluid flow resistance and pressure loss are obtained from the results of fluid velocity and pressure. The results from the fluid pressure on the fabric could also be employed to more accurately predict how pore shapes and sizes are transformed


The first detailed studies on the subject of historiography itself and the first critiques on historical methods appeared in the works of the Arab Muslim historian and historiographer Ibn Khaldun (1332-1406), who is regarded as the father of historiography, cultural history, and the philosophy of history, especially for his historiographical writings in the Muqaddimah (Latinized as Prolegomena) and Kitab al-Ibar (Book of Advice). His Muqaddimah also laid the groundwork for the observation of the role of state, communication, propagandaand systematic bias in history, and he discussed the rise and fall of civilizations. Year of publishing: 1796/97.


We show that an embedding of a fixed 0-dimensional compact space $K$ into the \v{C}ech-Stone remainder $\omega^*$ as a nowhere dense P-set is the unique generic limit, a special object in the category consisting of all continuous maps from $K$ to compact metric spaces. Using Fra\"iss\'e theory we conclude that, assuming CH: -- every compact 0-dimensional F-space of weight $\mathfrak{c}$ can be embedded as a nowhere dense closed P-set in $\omega^*$, -- every homeomorphism of nowhere dense closed P-sets in $\omega^*$ can be extended to an autohomeomorphism of $\omega^*$ and every closed P-set of weight at most $\mathfrak{c}$ is a retract of $\omega^*$. We establish, assuming $\kappa^{<\kappa}=\kappa$, the following -- an ultrametric space $K$ of weight $\kappa$ can be uniformly embedded into $\kappa^\kappa$ as a uniformly nowhere dense subset, -- every uniform homeomorphism of uniformly nowhere dense sets in $\kappa^\kappa$ can be extended to a uniform auto-homeomorphism of $\kappa^\kappa$, -- every uniformly nowhere dense set in $\kappa^\kappa$ is a uniform retract of $\kappa^\kappa$. If we assume that $\kappa$ is a weakly compact cardinal (instead of $\kappa^{<\kappa}=\kappa$) we get the counterpart of the above result without the uniformity assumption.


The structure and dielectric properties of microwave dielectric ceramics Bi2(Zn1/3Nb2/3)2O7(β-BZT) doped with different MoO3 concentrations and sintered under the N2/air/O2 atmosphere were studied.The sintering temperature was reduced down about 100 ℃ with addition of MoO3.The effect of doping on structure and properties was studied in detail.The decrease of dielectric constant and Q with the increase of dopant was observed.The dielectric property of the sample with 0.05% of MoO3 was promising.Following combination of physical properties were obtained: dielectric constant er≈65,τC=76×10-6/℃,Q≈943.Sintering atmosphere also affected the grain size and dielectric properties of the ceramics.


With the progressing complexity of process industries, alarm flooding has become a critical problem in alarm management. Granger causality (GC) analysis provides a pivotal role in investigating ano...


Commercial shipping has been recognized as the primary vector for the introduction of nonindigenous species (NIS) into coastal environments in California, North America, and across the globe. These shipping-mediated introductions occur primarily through two mechanisms, ballast water and vessel biofouling (i.e. the attachment or association of organisms to a vessel's wetted surfaces). In California, vessel biofouling is believed to be responsible for up to 60% of the 257 nonindigenous species currently established in California's coastal waters. Most vessel operators manage the biofouling on their hulls because of the impact biofouling has on drag, fuel consumption, and operating costs. However, the biofouling associated with a vessel's remaining underwater surfaces, including the "niche areas" that are more susceptible to biofouling because of variable hydrodynamic flow or inadequate antifouling protection (e.g. bilge keels and sea chests), are often undermanaged or unmanaged and may pose a greater risk of species introduction. Biofouling management options vary depending on factors such as vessel type and speed. Because of this, there are many varied biofouling management strategies implemented across the global fleet of vessels. The patterns of these management schemes, along with patterns of voyage characteristics that influence biofouling accumulation, are important tools in assessing risk of species introduction. The California State Lands Commission's Marine Invasive Species Program has been collecting, on an annual basis, detailed information on these management strategies and voyage characteristics from every vessel operating in California since 2008. These data are currently being used to assess the risk of biofouling-mediated species introductions to California and to inform the development of mandatory management requirements to reduce NIS introduction risk to California.


We investigate the regularity of galaxy cluster gas density profiles and the link to the relation between core-excised luminosity, LXc, and mass from the Yx proxy, MYx, for 93 SZE-selected objects. The sample spans masses M500=[0.5 - 20] x 10e14 Msun, and lies at redshifts 0.05<z<1.13. Using XMM-Newton observations, we derive an average ICM density profile for the SZE-selected systems and determine its scaling with mass and redshift. This average profile evolves slightly stronger than self-similar (a_z = 2.09+/-0.02), and has significant dependence on mass (a_M = 0.22 +/- 0.01). Deviations from the average scaling with radius indicate different evolution for the core regions and the bulk. We measure the radial variation of the intrinsic scatter, finding a slight evolution with redshift. The average profile of the SZE-selected systems describes that of X-ray-selected systems at low redshift. The scaled core properties are positively skewed at later times, suggesting an increased incidence of centrally peaked objects at lower redshifts. The relation between LXc and MYx has an intrinsic scatter of 13%. Using simulations, we investigate the impact of selection effects, intrinsic scatter, and covariance on this relation. The slope is insensitive to selection and intrinsic scatter between quantities; however, the scatter is very dependent on the covariance between LXc and Yx. Accounting for our use of the Yx proxy to determine the mass, we estimate an upper limit to the intrinsic scatter with respect to the true mass of 22%. We probe the connection between the scatter in density profiles and that in the LXc-M relation. Our results suggest that the ICM bulk evolves approximately self-similarly, with the core regions evolving separately; indicate a variation of the gas content with mass; and show that LXc has a tight relation to the underlying mass.


This paper is devoted to the use of Phase Change Materials as a cement concrete modifier in Middle East climate. Due to large amplitude of daily air temperature in these conditions, Phase Change Materials can be used to reduce the dynamic of thermal peak in an ageing concrete. Partial results of studies to determine the influence of various factors on the effects of modifications are presented


Chemical examination of the methanolic extract from the stem bark of Daphne aurantiaca led to the isolation of two innovanoside dimers (1 and 2) with an unusual four-membered cyclobutane ring, together with the isoinnovanoside 3. Their chemical structures and configurations were elucidated by extensive spectral analysis and synthesis.


When Canada Post released a series of five Canadian comic book-based superhero stamps in 1996, it seemed something of a symbolic victory for the otherwise largely marginalized Canadian comics industry. In looking more deeply, however, we see that the five Canadian superheroes chosen--Superman, Johnny Canuck, Nelvana of the Northern Lights, Captain Canuck, and Fleur de Lys--illustrate a set of tensions that surround the intersection of popular culture and federal institutions within Canada. Superman is, of course, the most famous superhero among the five and is best associated with his dedication to "truth, justice and the American way," a jingoistic credo that immediately throws his status as a Canadian icon into question. Yet his incorporation into the national superhero mythos appears necessary for several reasons. Superman is included in the set most obviously because he was co-created by the Toronto-born (though Cleveland-raised) Joe Shuster, a connection that has often been used to suggest that the character's heritage is at least half-Canadian. Second, as the first comic book superhero, Superman takes on the role of forefather to the rest of the characters in the set, authorizing them as his symbolic heirs. Indeed, the specific Canadianization of Superman by the stamps serves to legitimize the entire project of Canadian superhero canonization generally. The remaining superheroes recognized by Canada Post are less familiar, though perhaps no less important in the history of efforts to nationalize the superhero icon. Both Johnny Canuck and Nelvana were heroes of the Second World War, and characters that are associated with the brief "Golden Age" of Canadian comics production. The decision to feature two characters from the same publishing house--both were produced by Bell Features--rather than a more popular wartime character such as Canada Jack can be traced to the fan-initiated processes of rediscovery and rearticulation that surrounded Canadian superheroes in the 1970s. A fourth figure, Captain Canuck, was one of the blatantly nationalistic heroes of the Canadian post-Centennial era of the late 1960s and early 1970s that were influential within comics fandom, albeit short-lived on the newsstands. The inclusion of Fleur de Lys, a supporting character in a little known and short-lived comic book from the mid-1980s, seems to be the most arbitrary inclusion. The fact that the character is Francophone in a genre almost completely associated with English language cultures was probably the key factor in the character's selection, as Canada Post would likely feel an obligation to represent Canadian linguistic duality in the stamp set and, because it developed in a much different cultural context, there are no Quebecois superheroes available to be recognized. Canada Post's choices, therefore, suggest that processes of national mythmaking and regional reconciliation collided with the generally insular culture of English-Canadian comic book fandom in shaping the orientation of the set of commemorative stamps. To understand the process whereby the Canadian comic book industry was repatriated as a part of Canadian nationalism, it is important to consider not only the history of the comic book in Canada but, more importantly, the ways that fan discourses helped to shape the recuperation of the Canadian superhero during its second wave of popularity in the post-Centennial period by distinguishing it from superheroes in the United States. In short, this paper will address the way that various comic book creators and publishers have, at different historical moments, mobilized the cliches of Canadian nationalism in the form of the superhero in order to create for themselves a unique niche in the overall field of superhero comic books. The Nationalist Superhero In his book, Superheroes: A Modern Mythology, Richard Reynolds seeks to identify a number of conventions related to the superhero narrative through reference to various mythical tropes. …


To acquire approved ultrasonic emulsification effects while using the power ultrasonic medical treatment instrument to cure patients, an ultrasonic vibration system is always needed to operate at a high vibration amplitude under different load conditions and to work in the electormechanical matching state under all load conditions. Firstly, the paper focuses on the equivalent electromechanical model to the power ultrasonic vibration system made up of a longitudinal composite_bar high_power transducer, a horn and a scalpel. Secondly, depending on the model, it analyzes the fundamental principles of dynamic impendence matching in the power ultrasonic vibration system. At the same time, according to the operating characteristics of the system, an approach to dynamic impedance on_line detecting has been devised and the parameters reflecting load state and change trend are obtained. Based on the identified dynamic load, the input and output parameters of the fuzzy controller can be determined.Finally, it presents an applied fuzzy control algorithm, which can be used as a dynamic impedance matching approach for the power ultrasonic vibration system. The experiment results show that when the power ultrasonic vibration system operates at the state of dynamic impedance matching by using the fuzzy control technique, the system can always have high electric power and good effects of the ultrasonic emulsification under the changing load.


National college students' electrical design competition is the competition attended by the largest colleges with the most extensive influence.The competition points out that vocational education should embody the requirement of occupation,which should stand out actual combat.The goal of competition is to lead the reform of vocational education.The major of electrical information engineering technology should set electrical product design and manufacturing curriculum,which should bring in knowledge study with projects.It needs to realize the whole teaching goal at different levels.It can put processing exam method many times into practice and realize the teaching of theory-practice integration.


In pharmaceutical and biomedical industries, quantitative analytical methods such as HPLC play a key role. Indeed, the analytical results obtained from them are used to make crucial decisions such as the release of batches of drugs, the evaluation of safety and efficacy of new drug candidates or the monitoring of patients health. Prior to their routine use, analytical methods are submitted to a stringent validation study [1] where they have to demonstrate that they are fit for their final purpose, i.e. providing accurate results: λ μ < − T i x


A glass fiber reinforced plastic (GFRP) with cyanate ester resin was fabricated and neutron irradiation tests up to 1×1022 n/m2 of fast neutron with over 0.1 MeV energy were carried out in fission reactor. The fabrication process of cyanate ester GFRP was established and a collaboration network to perform investigations on irradiation effect of superconducting magnet materials was constructed. Three kinds of samples were fabricated. The first was CTD403 GFRP made by NIFS, the second was (cyanate ester+epoxy) GFRP provided by Toshiba, and the last was CTD403 GFRP made by Toshiba. The irradiation was carried out at JRR‐3 in Japan Atomic Energy Agency using Rabbit capsules.After the irradiation, short beam tests were conducted at room temperature and 77 K and interlaminar shear strength (ILSS) was evaluated. The irradiation of 1×1021 n/m2 increased ILSS a little but 1×1022 n/m2 irradiation decreased ILSS to around 50 MPa. These tendencies were observed in all three kinds of GFRPs.


Abstract : The tong-term goat of this research is to improve breast cancer diagnosis, risk assessment, response assessment, ana patient care via the use of large-scale, multi-modality computerized image analysis. The central hypothesis of this research is that large-scale image analysis for breast cancer research will yield improved accuracy and reliability when optimized over multiple features and large multi-modality databases. In the first year of research, we designed a pilot study utilizing large scale parallel Grid computing harnessing nationwide infrastructure for medical image analysis. Also, using a 256-CPU high-throughput computing cluster, dimension reduction techniques were applied to ultrasound, full-field digital mammography, and DCE-MRI breast CADx feature spaces. Results indicated the ability to rival or exceed traditional breast CA Ox performance. Building on this success, during the second year, we investigated methods for using unlabeled (truth-unknown) data. Often, there are practical difficulties in assembling large, labeled (histo-pathology) breast image data sets, while unlabeled data may be abundant This is problematic for conventional CADx schemes reliant on supervised classifiers trained using labeled data only. We proposed using unlabeled breast image data to enhance breast CADx. We hypothesize that unlabeled data information call act as a 'regularizing factor aiding classifier robustness. After conducting experiments using previously collected data sets. encouraging na results were found indicating unlabeled data can improve CA Dx classifier performance.


A generalized Arrhenius model was used to build a test schedule containing high temperature and high temperature/high humidity stresses applicable to automotive microsystems.


A liquid-chromatography method has been developed for the separation of amino acids with the same specific activity in radiocarbon from bones impregnated with isotopically dead petroleum compounds found in the La Brea tar pits. This technique permits the application of radiocarbon dating to such bone assemblages.


The growth performance and nutrient digestibility on rice polish based feeding regime with and without phytase was studied in crossbred (Hampshire × Ghunghroo) pigs. The trial was conducted in two phases. In phase-I (Grower stage), four iso-nitrogenous (CP18%) diets were prepared by incorporating rice polish at 25 and 50% supplemented with phytase @ 20 and 40g/100 kg feed, respectively. The same animals were used in second phase for finisher trial. In phase II, animals were fed on four iso-nitrogenous (CP16%) diets prepared by incorporation of rice polish at 50 and 70% supplemented with phytase @ 20 and 40g/100kg feed, respectively. Growth was significantly higher (P<0.05) in pigs of grower phase which was fed on rice polish at 50% level having phytase enzyme (40g/100kg feed) with better feed conversion ratio (FCR) and lowest (P<0.01) feeding cost of Rs 49.33±1.48 per kg gain in comparison to other three groups. Digestibility of DM, CP, P and energy values increased significantly (P<0.05) by increasing rice polish from 25 to 50% in diet. However, the levels of inclusion of rice polish with different doses of phytase supplementation in finisher pigs during phase-II did not exhibit any significant effect on ADG, FCR and feeding cost in finisher pigs. The highest average daily gain (ADG) with better FCR and lower (P<0.05) feeding cost per kg gain was recorded in pigs fed on rice polish at 50% level with 20g phytase/100 kg. Digestibility of protein decreased (P<0.05) significantly with increasing rice polish from 50 to 70% in diet irrespective of phytase level. On the other hand, digestible energy values increased (P<0.05) significantly by increasing the rice polish from 50 to 70% in diet. Hence, at maximum of 40g phytase (two lac unit/100kg feed) and 20g phytase (one lac unit/100kg feed) was sufficient for better growth performance of crossbred grower and finisher pigs, respectively fed diets containing 50% rice polish.


SUBLETHAL concentrations of 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) have been shown to produce marked alterations in the physiology and chemical composition of a variety of plant species. A special phase of this problem is the effect of 2,4-D on the qualitative or quantitative change in plant toxins, or substances potentially toxic in nature. The relationship between 2,4-D treatment and hydrocyanic acid (HCN) content in wild cherry plants has been studied by Lynn and Barrens (7) and Grigsby and Ball (6). They found a decrease in HCN after treatment with the herbicide and concluded that application of 2,4-D or 2,4,5-trichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4,5-T) does not increase the danger already present in wild cherry to livestock.


unknown at any time or anywhere, but this is a very recent and fragile development. Of special fascination to historians of European imperialism from the fifteenth to the nineteenth century is Cohen's statement on page 141 that "a good case can be made that urban European populations of that period may have been among the nutritionally most impoverished, the most disease-ridden, and the shortest-lived populations in human history". Caucasian chauvinists will find it hard to accept Columbus and Captain John Smith as Typhoid Marys. The history of English plant-name usage remains to be written. The various stages in the development of English here have been unevenly covered (if covered at all). The obvious starting-point for a delineation of English plant-name history is Peter Bierbaumer's monumental Der botanische Wortschatz des Altenglischen (1975-9). Naturally, this work is considered by Tony Hunt in his book on Middle English plant names, as is the relevant information available for the ensuing periods. A welcome recent addition to the comparatively meagre literature on English plant names-which appeared too late to be included in Hunt's book-is Juhani Norri's Compoundplant-names in fifteenth-century English (Publications of the based on four collections of medicinal receipts. Ideally, assessments of paradigmatic word history, i.e., of the diachronic development of sets of "synonyms" or equivalents, should be founded on period-specific studies. In other words, the overall chronological perspective cannot be duly evaluated until the synchronic spectra have been clarified. This does not mean, however, that we must start from the beginning in our synchronic analyses, although a reliable diachronic background is of course an asset here. In spite of the work done and being done (e.g. the publication of the Middle English Dictionary), our knowledge of plant names as used in medieval England is deficient. Many relevant texts await scrutiny. Dr Hunt has searched 64 (non-edited) medical texts, dating from c. 1280 to 1500, which include synonyma herbarum. These lists of plant names "were compiled as practical aids to the understanding and making up of medical prescriptions" and they were obviously found useful. The amount of plant-name data unearthed is astounding: over 1,800 "vernacular" names (many of which can be classified as French in form or origin), about 500 of which represent additions to those recorded in the OED, covering over 600 plant species. As is well known, the OED is particularly weak at citations in the years prior to 1520. The Introduction, …


The utility model discloses a ferroalloy automatic grouping and packaging integrated device, which comprises a rotary distributor (1). The discharge ports of the rotary distributor are in centrosymmetric distribution; a plurality of grouping bins are parallelly arranged below the rotary distributor and correspond to the discharge ports respectively; the discharge ports of the rotary distributor are connected with the feed ports of the grouping bins respectively through pipelines; vibration feeding machines communicated with the grouping bins respectively are mounted below the grouping bins; the lower parts of the discharge ports of the vibration feeding machines are connected with the feed ports of grouping hoppers (4) through chutes; a vibration feeding machine (5) is mounted below the grouping hoppers; and an automatic packaging unit (6) is arranged below the vibration feeding machine. The device ensures the uniform mixing of the ferroalloy, reduces metal loss and realizes automaticgrouping and packaging.