A system (100) for treating a medical condition comprising: - at least one electrode (125) coupled to at least one rib (127) bum a patient, - an implantable device operatively coupled to the electrode and comprising a generator ( 110) electrical signal capable of applying an electrical signal to the vagus nerve at a selected point in a physiological cycle of the patient selected cardiac cycle of the patient and the patient's respiratory cycle using the electrode to treat the medical condition, and - a device coupled operatively electrode and capable of detecting said selected point in the physiological cycle of the patient, wherein the electrical signal comprises a plurality of microestallido, each microestallido comprising a plurality of pulses, adjacent the plurality of pulses are separated by a interpulsos interval, adjacent of the plurality of microbursts that are separated by a period interestallido, and wherein each microestallido comprises from 2 to 25 pulses per microestallido being selected interpulsos interval ranges from about 1 to 50 milliseconds, and each microestallido lasts 100 milliseconds or less.


This study is based on the views of practitioners and [the author's] research over the last decade. She examines whether there have been any real changes in participation in organised forms of education and training [since 1990]. The study starts by looking at surveys and research into adult participation trends over the last decade and goes on to analyse some of the reasons why the social class profile of learners in organised forms of education and training has changed so little. [The author] argues that non-participation in postcompulsory education and training is the product not just of personal circumstances, dispositions and preferences but also of economic and labour market changes, institutional factors and government policies which have often militated against efforts to encourage a wider mix of people to engage in organised learning. She considers some of the approaches and strategies that have proved most effective in widening participation and examines whether current policies are likely to achieve the intended goal of lifelong learning. The study concludes with a discussion of what still needs to be done in order to achieve a more balanced adult learner profile. By providing a clear analysis of what has fostered or inhibited engagement in learning over the last decade, [the study] will be of value to all who are concerned with widening participation.


Interested in how does the quality of governance in a country affect the ratio of the value added share of capital intensive goods to the value added share of labor intensive goods, I am testing the hypothesis that the ratio of the value added share of capital intensive goods to the value added share of labor intensive goods is higher for countries that have better quality of governance. The intuitive explanation of my hypothesis is that the risk of expropriation by corrupt government officials is higher in the case of capital-intensive projects due to the larger size of the prize (many economists argue that it is easier for a corrupt government official to expropriate large non-standard capital-intensive projects as opposed to smaller standardized labor-intensive projects), so in countries where the quality of governance is low, investors prefer to invest in labor-intensive projects with lower output per worker instead of capital-intensive projects with higher output per worker. In my analysis I develop a game theoretic model and conduct an empirical analysis to test my hypothesis. In my game theoretic analysis I model the interaction between firms and corrupt government officials as a contest while allowing for international variability in the quality of governance. Based on my model I offer an explanation for the variation in physical capital intensity across countries where the model predictions show that a lower quality of governance in a country results in a decrease in the output of capital-intensive goods and an increase in the output of labor-intensive goods. In conducting panel data regressions (17 developing countries and 23 OECD countries over a period of twelve years 1982-1995), controlling for time and country fixed effects as well as quality of governance, I find a positive and statistically significant relationship between the Bureaucratic Efficiency Index (the higher the Bureaucratic Efficiency Index the higher the quality of governance) and the ratio of the value added share of capital intensive goods to the value added share of labor intensive goods. The relationship remains positive and statistically significant even after controlling for the value of human capital, the value of the capital stock, primary school and secondary school enrolment, a measure of financial development, the number of employees, the average wage per employee, and whether a country is an oil producer. Predictions of our theoretical model plus our empirical analysis suggest that success in accumulating physical capital is not sufficient to achieve higher levels of productivity. Our model predictions suggest that differences in productivity and therefore output per worker across countries are driven primarily by differences in the quality of governance. A country's long-run economic growth is determined primarily by the institutions and government policies that make up the economic environment.


ABSTRACT A simple and inexpensive system was devised to determine fuel use under field conditions. The system can be turned on and off while the tractor is in motion. This allows the tool to remain at working depth and the tractor to be at operating speed while the measurement is being made. Only two simple readings are needed at the end of the plot.


Background The classic histological appearance of inflamed temporal arteries (TA) in giant cell arteritis (GCA) is transmural cell infiltration. However, periadventitial small vessel vasculitis (SVV) surrounding uninflamed TA and/or isolated vasculitis of the TA vasa vasorum (VVV) is found in a minority of patients with GCA. These patients have less frequently cranial manifestations and lower inflammatory markers at diagnosis compared to the patients with classic GCA, whereas the frequency of cranial ischemic events is similar (1). Color-doppler-sonography (CDS) can demonstrate a hypoechogenic (inflammatory) halo in the TA from patients with GCA in approximately 70% of cases. A study found a correlation between positive CDS findings and transmural inflammatory cell infiltration in GCA (2). There are no data on the performance of CDS in the diagnosis of SVV and/or VVV. Objectives The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of the characteristic halo sign in the TA from patients with SVV and/or VVV and to compare it with that found in patients with classic GCA. Methods 30 consecutive patients with biopsy-proven SVV and/or VVV GCA who underwent CDS of the TA before TA biopsy were analyzed. Of this 30 patients, 16 had SVV, 11 isolated VVV, and 3 associated SVV and VVV. The identified patients were randomly matched to 30 biopsy-proven classic GCA patients. SVV was defined as aggregates of mononuclear inflammatory cells around capillaries located in the connective tissue surrounding the adventitia. VVV was defined as isolated vasculitis of TA vasa vasorum. A hypoechoic halo >0.4 mm around the TA lumen on CDS was considered diagnostic of GCA. For GCA categorization using the 1990 ACR criteria, SVV or isolated VVV were not considered to represent a positive TA biopsy. Results Of the 30 patients with SVV and/or VVV-GCA 14 (46.6%) satisfied the ACR criteria for the classification of GCA. Table 1 shows the comparisons between the patients with SVV/VVV and classic GCA. Table 1. Characteristics of the patients with SVV and/or VVV versus those with classic GCA SVV and/or VVV (N=30) Classic GCA (N=30) P Halo on CDS (%) 6/30 (20%) 23/30 (76.6%) 0,0001 Bilateral Halo on CDS (%) 1/6 (16.7%) 15/23 (65.2%) 0,064 Abnormalities of TA at physical examination (%) 8/24 (33.3%) 18/30 (60%) 0,061 Conclusions The prevalence of the halo sign on CDS of the TA is significantly lower in patients with SVV/VVV-GCA compared with those with classic GCA. These results suggest that CDS does not perform well in these two subsets of GCA. TA biopsy is required to confirm the diagnosis of GCA in patients with SVV- and VVV-GCA. References Restuccia G et al. Small-vessel vasculitis surrounding an uninflamed temporal artery and isolated vasa vasorum vasculits of the temporal artery: two subsets of giant cell arteritis. Arthritis Rheum. 2011 Sep 27. Schmidt D et al. Comparison between color duplex ultrasonography and histology of the temporal artery in cranial arteritis (giant cell arteritis). Eur J Med Res. 2003 Jan 28;8(1):1-7. Disclosure of Interest None Declared


A push-push transformer-based voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO) is proposed and analyzed to achieve high efficiency and a wide tuning range at sub-terahertz (THz) frequencies. Analyses show that the coupling factor of the transformer to obtain high output power (POUT) has to be carefully chosen by consideration of gate-to-drain voltage gain as well as matching impedances seen from the drain and to the gate of a VCO transistor at the 2nd harmonic frequency (2fo). Analysis also shows that the transformer-based resonator allows a wide tuning range. In addition, it has been shown that the introduction of a parallel inductor to a varactor leads to high POUT and low phase noise. The proposed 239 GHz VCO with a 65 nm CMOS process demonstrates the high efficiency of 1.45%, the POUT of -4.8 dBm, and the wide tuning range of 12.5% with a supply voltage of 1.2 V.


Dae(帶) belongs to the category of a belt in a wider sense, ranging from a string shape to a belt shape. Gwadae (?帶), among Daes, is a belt to which a metal ornamental plate is attached. Dae, according to its material, is largely divided into 3 types: Hyeokdae(革帶: a leather belt), Pobaekdae(布帛帶: a cloth/silk belt), and Gwadae(?帶). Most of the figures in the murals found in Kokuryo tombs wear Pobaekdae including Pihyeokdae(皮革帶: a leather belt). Then appeared Gwadae with a metal ornamental plate, which further developed into a very decorative tool that symbolizes the status of the ruling class. Ornamental plates became more diversified by using not only metal but also Ock(玉: jade)?Seo(犀: a buffalo horn)?Gak(角: horn)?Mok(木: tree) ?Seok(石: stone), thereby leading to Gwandae(冠帶) that came to represent different class status in Chosun Dynasty. In the basic form of Gwadae in the Three Kingdom period, Gyogu(?具: a buckle, a band ring) and Daeseongeumgu(帶先金具) or Sami(?尾) (band tip decoration) are fixed on both sides of the leather band; ornamental Gwapan(?板: a band decorating plate) is fixed by nails on the leather band; various Paesiks(佩飾) are hung below Gwapan. This Paesik is called Yopae(腰佩: a band for dangling ornamental materials). Gwadae and Yopae are well developed, especially, in Shinla, and their manufacturing style emerged from an original idea, thus constituting a distinctive feature in costume in Shinla and other corresponding kingdoms as well. Eohyeong(魚形: a fish-shaped ornament) used in Dae (and put in Eopu(魚袋: a pouch containing a fish-shaped ornament)) signified the degree of official hierarchy as in Tang's(唐) system. The fact that it was widely used as an ornament in Dae in Korea, China, and Japan indicates that it was a common ornament, with strong symbolic function.


We present an advanced low-cost computational microscope based on simple components such as a cheap objective lens, a LED illumination matrix and 3D-printed parts. By implementing the Fourier Ptychographic Microscopy (FPM) technique onto a raspberry PI, we are able to acquire and synthetically produce images with wide field of view and high resolution. We present preliminary results, with the aim that at the end of this project, a low-cost kit will be presented to the community with assembly diagrams, 3D models and the FPM algorithms developed as a fully integrated system, so that it can be used and configured with relative simplicity such as in schools.


The energy saving characteristic is investigated for a gas engine cogeneration system combined with a photovoltaic array and a gas engine heat pump with power generation or a gas-fired absorption chiller heater with input of exhaust heat, when it is installed into a hospital as an example of commercial buildings. The on-off status and load of each piece of equipment are determined to minimize the primary energy consumption of electricity and natural gas purchased from utility companies. This optimization problem is formulated as a mixed-integer linear programming one and is solved using a commercially available solver. A numerical study shows that the gas engine cogeneration system is superior to a conventional system in the energy saving characteristic: the energy saving rate of the system with the gas engine heat pump with power generation is about 11 %, and that of the system with the gas-fired absorption chiller heater with input of exhaust heat is about 8 %.


Background: We quantified CMV antiviral use and hospital length of stay (LOS) associated with CMV infection in a contemporary cohort of conventional (CONV) and CD34-selected (T-cell depleted) HCT recipients managed by preemptive therapy (PET) in a single US center. Methods— Adults who received first allogeneic HCT at MSKCC from June 2010 through December 2014 were analyzed. Days on PET, number and LOS of readmissions by day 180 post HCT were summarized. Estimated unit value (EUV) was defined as the expected number of PET days for a cohort of 100 HCT with characteristics as the analyzed cohort. Standardized incidence ratio (SIR) was calculated as the ratio of observed outcomes of patients with CMV viremia over the outcomes of patients without CMV viremia. Results: Of 318 patients, 88 received CONV and 230 CD34-selected HCT. Rates of CMV viremia were 26.3% for CONV and 41.9% for CD34-selected (P = 0.003). Among pts with viremia 68.2% CONV and 97.9% CD34-selected received PET. EUV for PET was 852 days and 2,821 days for CONV and CD34-selected respectively. The SIR for number of readmission and readmission LOS were 1.7 [95% CI (1.4–2.1)) and 1.2 (1.1–1.3) respectively for CONV and 1.7 (1.3–2.1) and 1.6 (1.5–1.7) respectively for CD34-selected. Overall survival (OS) was similar between patients with and without CMV viremia by HCT type. CMV end-organ disease was associated with lower OS only in CD34-selected HCT (P = 0.0007). Conclusion: CMV infection managed by PET requires substantial antiviral utilization and is associated with longer readmission LOS and larger numbers of readmissions particularly among CD34-selected HCT. alleviating the need for additional pharmacologic immunosuppression 6–9 . Higher rates of viral infections have been reported in CD34-selected HCT because of delayed immune reconstitution 2,10,11 . We analyzed a contemporary cohort of CONV and CD34-selected HCT managed preemptively for CMV. Our objectives were to: 1) quantify use of PET and 2) assess the impact of CMV viremia on hospital length of stay (LOS) by Day +180 after HCT.


The validity and reliability process of dental anxiety scales for children in Spanish has been scarce. The aim of this research was to determine the psychometric properties of a Spanish adaptation of the Abeer Children Dental Anxiety Scale (ACDAS) as a self-report measure of dental anxiety in children. The ACDAS includes 13 items about the anxiety reactions of receiving dental care and a cognitive component assessed to children, parents and operators. We adapted the Abeer Children Dental Anxiety Scale to Spanish language, and then determined its psychometric properties in a sample of 200 children patients from the Dental Clinic at Universidad Cooperativa de Colombia, Pasto, Colombia. The scale's structural validity was estimated through an Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and the reliability was established by examining its internal consistency (Cronbach's α). The consecutive sample was comprised of 112 men and 88 women and their ages ranged from 5 to 10 years. The EFA loaded a four-factor structure which accounted for 72.12 % of the variance. We labeled to those factors according to anxiety reactions to potential harmful stimuli as "pre-intervention stimuli", "invasive/ restrictive stimuli", "innocuous stimuli (touch, taste)" and innocuous stimuli (smell, hearing)". The internal consistencies of the sub-scales were 0.88, 0.71, 0.84 and 0.76, respectively. The sub-scales showed good convergent, discriminant and construct validity. The results suggest the ACDAS is a valid, reliable, and clinically useful instrument for assessing dental anxiety in children.


Nowadays, several functions related to transient phenomena are implemented in transformer differential relays, especially inrush detection algorithms based on harmonic content. Analysis of the behavior of this kind of function is more properly carried out in time domain. However, to perform a time domain study it is necessary to pay attention to the modeling of the system components. To perform an analysis of inrush detection algorithms, for instance, the accuracy of the transformer model is significant, especially of its core. The aim of this paper is to analyze the effect of the parameters of the transformer core model on the harmonic content of inrush currents and discuss how these parameters could affect the setting of the inrush detection functions based on the harmonic content. To do this, hundreds of simulations of the energization of a three-phase power transformer modeled by the Hybrid Model available in ATP are performed using statistic switches for different parameters related to the core model. The obtained results, which are compared to a theoretical curve obtained for a single-phase transformer, indicate that core topology and dimensions could affect significantly the harmonic content of the inrush current and, consequently, the setting of inrush detection functions.


Traditional background noise spectra were measured predicting the construction of a 108 MW wind farm power generating facility 8 - 18 km off the Dutch coast of Egmond aan Zee. Off-shore windmill


Background: The role of environmental determinants in the community's resilience in flood, as a predominant hydrological disaster, has not been investigated.

Objectives: This systematic review aimed to discuss the role of environmental determinants on communities' resilience in floods using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) protocol.

Methods: A total of 50 relevant papers were extracted, including those on the subject of water resource planning (n=32), soil-plant systems (n=8), and air and climatic factors (n=10).

Results: The results revealed that although most studies have investigated climatic factors, biological effects, surface water flooding, and groundwater contamination, the researchers did not have a comprehensive approach to environmental determinants. This study highlighted the role of water, soil, and air, as the main environmental determinants. In addition, the related subdeterminants should simultaneously be considered in flood risk management and community resilience.

Conclusion: Eventually, a conceptual model is presented for analyzing the effects of environmental factors on the communities' resilience against floods.


The characteristics of MFL system was studied and the software platform for MFL based on Windows components object model and computer network is designed,which includes server,client and network.In order to make the software platform adapt to each kind different MFL system,the framework of software platform which is based on interface of signal acquisition model and signal analysis mode is introduced.The signal acquisition model and analysis model of drill pipe MFL testing system is developed.The effect of application shows that this software platform works steadily and have good capacity for expansion.


The longitudinal aerodynamic characteristics of a six-fan, tip-driven (remote) lift-fan VTOL transport through transition were determined by an investigation conducted in the Langley V/STOL tunnel. Tests were also made with the large midspan lift-fan pods and lift-cruise fans removed to determine their their influence on the stability and control of the configuration. Data were obtained for a range of model height above ground.


Let Λ be an Artin algebra, Γ be a component of its A-R quiver Γ_Λ and Γ contains no oriented cycle. Size Li has proved theorem: Let Γ be a component of Γ_Λ containing no oriented cycle. Then Γ can be embedded in some ZΔ with Δ isomorphic to a section of Γ, if every possible path from an injective vertex to a projective vertex is sectional.The theorem is usesl to discuss the embedding of the components which satisfy some conditions. A property of section is also provided.


Dr J Shola Omotola is Senior Lecturer in the Department of Political Science and Public Administration, Redeemer's University, Nigeria; a visiting member of the editorial board of The Guardian newspaper, Lagos, and author of the award-winning essay, 'Elections and Democratic Transition in Nigeria under the Forth Republic', which appeared in African Affairs 109(437). He was runner-up for the 2012 African Scholar Award given by the African Affairs and African Studies Association, UK e-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com


The rapid deployment of autonomous mobile guards require the guards to smartly use their energy in order to patrol and chase intruders where applicable. This paper provides solutions and strategies for conserving energy when a guard robot is chasing a mobile robot intruder while having limited information about the intruder's location. In this paper we look at energy conservation of the Moving Target Search with Snapshots problem where a mobile guard Ah is chasing a mobile intruder At in R2. Here, Ah can obtain At's location either by requesting a snapshot or by sensing At if Ah is close enough to At. The objective is to reduce the amount of energy that the guard robot is spending, where the total energy consists of the energy spent to roam around and the energy for taking/receiving a snapshot. In this paper we present 1) Solution for computing the minimum amount of energy required to catch the intruder in the worst case. 2) Algorithmic solutions for conserving energy used by Ah when using a limited number of snapshots computing the path, the locations and the time that Ah should take the snapshots.


The horizontal well cementing quality involves numerous technical problems. The article covers the main techniques while cementing, including casing centering, water-seepage water-loss of cement slurry and cuttings disposal etc. The problems are effectively resolved. The application of the technology in several horizontal wells in Jianghan OilField ensures good cementing quality.


The purpose was to find the correlation between a Figure of Merit (FoM) calculated from a new (simple) test object for Quality Control in digital mammography and CDMAM threshold thicknesses. The FoM included the signal difference to noise ratio, modulation transfer function of the complete system (including scatter and grid) and normalized noise power spectrum. The pre-programmed exposure settings for clinical work were used, as was done for the CDMAM acquisitions. The FoM is calculated from 2 images only (an image from the QC test object and an image of a corresponding homogeneous plate imaged with the same exposure settings). This FoM was evaluated in frequencies that match with the diameters of the gold disks in the CDMAM phantom. Computerized CDMAM analysis uses 16 images per system. The software program "cdcom" (www.euref.org) was used for the 4-AFC experiment. All matrices were averaged, smoothed with a Gaussian filter and psychometric curves were fitted through the correctly detected fractions to obtain the threshold thickness with a detectability of 62.5% for all diameters. Images have been acquired on 10 different systems (2 computed radiography (CR) systems, 6 direct radiology (DR) systems and 2 photon counting systems). The reproducibility of the QC metrics from images of the new phantom was assessed. The standard error on the mean of the FoM was for the highest frequency 8.1% for a CR system and 5.6% for a DR system. The main component in this error is due to the NNPS and the limited number of independent pixels used in this analysis. Parameters calculated from both phantoms are sensitive to variation in mean glandular dose levels. Present results show a weak correlation (R2=0.60) between the FoM at 5lp/mm and CDMAM threshold values for the 0.1mm objects when all system data are pooled. If evaluated for separate systems, the correlation holds promise for automated, periodic performance evaluations of digital mammography systems with the simplified phantom.


Unexpectedly large values have been determined for the electron relative effective mass, mc* in GaNxAs1−x, which show a non‐monotonic variation with x. We show that a quantitative understanding of this variation can be obtained by combining the experimentally motivated band‐anti‐crossing (BAC) model with detailed calculations of the electronic structure of nitrogen cluster states. The unexpectedly large mass values observed are due to interactions and hybridisation between the conduction band edge (CBE) E− and nitrogen cluster states close to the band edge. These cluster states will also strongly influence the carrier mobility. We have previously established a fundamental connection between the composition‐dependence of the CBE energy and the n‐type carrier scattering cross‐section in dilute alloys, with the scattering rate in the BAC model proportional to |dE−/dx|2, the square of the variation of the conduction band edge energy with alloy composition, x. The mobility estimated in GaNxAs1−x using the two‐...


The concept of rehabilitation of citizens exposed to illegal or unreasonable criminal penalty has been defined. The main reasons for such phenomena as unlawful conviction have been disclosed. The analysis of the legal framework of rehabilitation institute in Russia has been conducted. The main methods of rehabilitation of citizens have been studied.


(Received 3 May 2011; published 29 July 2011)High-order harmonic generation efficiency is theoretically modeled and compared with experiments using400 and 800 nm driver pulses. It is shown that, for a short drive wavelength and a Keldysh parameter largerthan 1, the Ammosov-Delone-Krainov (ADK) ionization model does not give a good agreement between theoryand experiment. Since the ADK ionization model only accounts for tunnel ionization, it underestimates theyield of low-order harmonics from the wings of the driver pulse. In contrast, the Yudin-Ivanov ionization model[Phys.Rev.A


The powdery mildew disease caused by Erysiphe cichoracearum on Oxalis corniculata and O. corymbosa was recorded for the first time from Uttar Pradesh, India. The symptoms of disease appeared in the first week of March on the upper surface of leaves and then on other green parts of the plant. The development of few cleistothecia on the upper surface of leaves was also observed in the last week of April, when conidial production was slowed down and ceased. The infected plants remained stunted due to reduction in size and number of the leaves. The effect of severe infection of E. cichoracearum on O. corniculata also led to a premature defoliation and early death of the plants. The disease severity was more on Oxalis corniculata as compared to O .corymbosa. The frequency of occurrence of disease on O. corniculata was 75.8 % as compared to 46.0 % on O. corymbosa.


The univesal driveshaft of the cross is widely applied to all kinds of mechanical drive, and the cross axle bearing is its important part. Crown Drop of a Needle Roller decides the pressure distribution between roller and raceway, capability and life. In this paper, the effects of chamfer dimension at the roller end and the grinding undercut of raceway on the longitudinal pressure distribution of the needle rollers with Lundberg's profile, which are used in the needle roller bearings with machined guide ribs for cross universal joints, are discussed. Based on the frame of numerical method for the crown drop evaluation considered these two effects is presented according to above analyses. The method used makes it possible to profile the needle rollers axially until the longitudinal pressure distribution is neither any "edge effects" nor high-pressure concentration at the center part of contacts.


In this article,the standard signals of auto system frequency response function are expatiated.All factors that affect yaw frequency response function about the steering wheel angle pulse input test are analyzed.


We report the detection of flaring events in NGC 4395 ULX1, a nearby ultraluminous X-ray source (ULX), for the first time, using recent XMM-Newton observations. The flaring episodes are spectrally harder than the steady-emission intervals, resulting in higher fractional variability in the high-energy regime. A thin Keplerian and a slim accretion disk provide the best-fit continuum for XMM-Newton spectra. All observations show a broad hump-like feature around ∼0.9 keV, which can be associated with a collection of blended emission lines, and suggests the presence of a wind or outflow in this ULX through comparison with other ULXs that show a similar feature. The flaring spectra correspond to higher slim-disk temperatures due to a higher mass accretion rate under an advection-dominated accretion scenario. The luminosity–temperature (L-T) values in different flux states show a positive trend. When characterized with a power-law relation, the L-T profile is broadly consistent with both L ∝ T 2 and L ∝ T 4 relations for the analyzed data. The empirical predictions for a slim accretion disk in the case of super-Eddington accretion onto a stellar-mass compact object is L ∝ T 2, which is a possible scenario in ULX1. The origin of the flaring events is understood as an intrinsic change in accretion rate or presence of variable clumpy wind in the inner region of the accretion disk.


Now that President Donald Trump has commenced the fifth month of his administration, federal courts experience 121 circuit and district court vacancies. These statistics indicate that Mr. Trump has a valuable opportunity to approve more judges than any new President. The protracted open judgeships detrimentally affect people and businesses engaged in federal court litigation, because they restrict the expeditious, inexpensive and equitable disposition of cases. Nevertheless, the White House has been treating crucial issues that mandate careful attention-specifically establishing a government, confirming a Supreme Court Justice, and keeping numerous campaign promises. How, accordingly, can President Trump fulfill these critical duties and his constitutional responsibility to nominate and, with Senate advice and consent, appoint judges? This Article initially canvasses judicial appointments in the administration of President Barack Obama. The evaluation ascertains that Republican obstruction allowed the upper chamber to approve merely twenty jurists across the entire 114th Congress, leaving 105empty seats and fifty-one expired nominations when the Senate adjourned on January 3, 2017. The Republican Senate majority's refusal to confirm a single jurist after July 6, 2016encompassing three circuit nominees whom the Judiciary Committee approved with bipartisan support and twenty district court aspirants whom the committee voice voted without dissent* Williams Chair in Law, University of Richmond. I wish to thank Margaret Sanner for valuable suggestions, Katie Lehnen for exceptional research and editing, the Washington and Lee Law Review Editors for exceptional editing, Leslee Stone for excellent processing as well as Russell Williams and the Hunton Williams Summer Endowment Fund for generous, continuing support. Remaining errors are mine alone.


In this paper we examined how Korean learners of English process presumably semantic relationships by employing the event-related potentials (ERP)...


The "Stop the Spread" campaign is a two-year, all island initiative by safefood and comprises television and radio advertising as well as a campaign 'pledge'. The campaign is also supported by pharmacies and chemists across the island of Ireland where consumers can pick up one of 250,000 free measuring tapes. The campaign is targeting all adults on the island of Ireland.

The Stop the Spread campaign aims to alert people that being overweight is now the 'norm', has become visually and socially acceptable and that we no longer recognise the fact that we are carrying extra weight. The campaign's call to action is urging people to measure their waist to see if they are overweight.


ABSTRACT Rock-climbing is commonly understood as a lifestyle sport. This article argues for a novel conceptualization – that in China, climbing can be best defined as 'serious leisure' rather than a lifestyle sport in its traditional sense. The article contributes to the field of sport and leisure studies by providing a self-reflexive analysis of the author's lived experiences as a Western, female climber in mainland China, whilst also providing thematic analysis of data from other climbers, both Western and Chinese. Due to different sociocultural and economic factors, it is argued that defining climbing as a lifestyle sport fits poorly into the Chinese sporting arena, although a slow change is happening. Rather, an alternative concept of 'serious leisure' is proposed that is more apt for all enthusiastic participants; outdoors, indoors and in competitions.


Why do some UN targeted sanctions (or "smart" sanctions) cause collateral damage to the general population, while others minimize it? We suggest the scope and the effectiveness of smart sanctions, as well as the political institutions of target countries, are critical determinants of sanctions' adverse effects on human rights. Leaders targeted by sanctions with a broad scope will have a greater incentive to oppress people to ward off potential support for challengers. The degree to which they can carry out successful oppression, however, hinges upon the effectiveness of the implementation of sanctions. Furthermore, we expect that authoritarian systems are more likely to encourage oppression than other ones. We conduct a quantitative analysis of 56 UN-imposed smart sanction episodes. Our study reveals sanctions with a broad scope that are less effective result in deteriorated human rights conditions, especially in authoritarian countries. However, we find when sanctions with a narrow scope work effectively, they do not hurt innocent citizens.


The authors present a family of object-based real-time operating system kernels that address portability, extensibility, and customizability for low-level and subsystem-level operations. The family is extensible in that new abstractions and functionalities can be added easily and efficiently, thereby maintaining uniform kernel interfaces and permitting the implementation of domain or target machine specific features while preserving some given kernel interface for existing programs. It also provides an environment for experimenting with and prototyping of new operating system constructs and policies. The family is customizable in that existing kernel abstractions and functions can be modified easily, facilitating changes to an operating system for uses with different target architectures or application domains. The family is portable in that its implementation is based on the Mach C threads standard as a base layer for uniprocessors and parallel architectures.<<ETX>>


Increasing concern about the health effects of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in air has resulted in a comprehensive attempt to regulate all sources of VOC emissions. Several recent regulatory initiatives address not only industrial processes that emit VOCs, but waste streams including process wastewater. Until recently, facilities could discharge aqueous waste streams that contained VOCs to publicly owned treatment works (POTWs), or to onsite treatment or pretreatment facilities, with no regard as to whether those processes treated the VOCs or simply vented them to the atmosphere. With several recent regulatory initiatives--the Benzene in Waste Operations National Emissions Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (Neshap) and the Hazardous Organics Neshap (HONM; box, right)--US regulators have begun targeting wastewater as a source of air emissions. Such agencies are continuing to develop a multimedia approach to eliminate the discharge of VOCs to the atmosphere.


Determining the activity of enzymes those destroy peptidoglican is the important part of the bacterial cell wall that can substantially help in diagnosis of bacterial infections. We propose the method of separation of a cell wall from gram-positive bacteria, which significantly simplifies and allows reducing cost of the isolation of peptidoglycan, which can be used as substrate for measuring activity of such peptidoglycandestroying enzymes.


The effect of a daily dose of 14 mg atrazine and/or 2.5 mg zearalenone that were administered to rats during 5 days of estrous cycle on the number of receptor binding sites for 3 H-estradiol in uterine cytosol was investigated. Comparison with a control group of animals showed no effect of atrazine influence on the number of receptor binding sites for 3 H-estradiol in the rat uterine cytosol until day 6 of the experiment, when a significantly lower value was recorded (P < 0.05). In the group of animals administered zearalenone, a decline in the number of receptor binding sites for 3 H-estradiol in uterine cytosol was observed. On day 4 of the experiment, the number of binding sites was significantly greater (P < 0.05) in this group than in the control group of animals, whereafter it gradually decreased to a significantly lower value (P < 0.05) as compared to the control group on day 6. In the group of animals administered a mixture of atrazine and zearalenone, the number of receptor binding sites for 3 H-estradiol in uterine cytosol did not decrease but showed a similar pattern as in the control group of animals, however, at a statistically significantly ( P < 0.05) higher level.


The corrosion-abrasive wear behavior of lower bainite ductile iron was investigated by corrosionabrasive wear tests. The main factors of mass loss rate were analyzed. SEM and TEM were used to observe the worn surfaces. The strain-hardening effects beneath the contact surfaces were analyzed by microhardness profiles.The influence of load to corrosion resistance was researched by polarization curves. The results show that the main corrosion wear mechanism was corrosion mass loss and furrow wear. The roughness of worn surface, friction between sample and abrasive, depth of furrow all increased with the test load, which increased the corrosion-abrasive wear rate sharply. Meanwhile, the corrosion micro-cell formed along with the appearance of graphite ribbon and delamination at a higher load, which enhanced the corrosion rate rapidly, and the fracture of delamination resulting from plastic deformation fatigue was another critical factor of the increased mass loss. With the increase of test load, dislocation multiplication and pile-up took place in the retained austenite, which improved the wear resistance of material to some extent. However, the improvement was limited. The average mass loss rate was still increased from 0.16 g/(cm2· h) to 0.42 g/(cm2· h) with the increase of test load; the corrosion current density(icorr) was enhanced from 0.56 m A/cm2 to 5.62 m A/cm2 along with the increase of roughness. In addition, the mass loss curves of lower bainite ductile iron were divided into three stages: point contact wear(initial stage), surface contact wear(transition stage) and fatigue wear(stability stage).


With rapid development in the Telecommunication Service Sector and implementation of the "Mission Better Communication" objective of the Department of Telecommunications, it has become essential for not only importing new technologies but also developing expertise on those areas within the country. In doing so the Indian entrepreneur is faced with a number of problematic situations. The Department of Telecommunications as a custometer accepting the products has to ensure adequate quality and reliability which are on par with those attained by collaborators of transfer of technology for subscriber satisfaction. This paper discusses the various issues and suggests remedial measures to overcome some of the problems.


ABSTRACT. Five large reinforced concrete arch bridges have been bui1t so far on the Adriatic coast in Croatia, while the sixth is currently under construction. The performance in service of some arch bridges built between 1968. and 1980 cannot be deemed satisfactory. Structural defects were found at an early age and hence cannot be blamed primarily on the aggressive environment, but are attributed to conceptual design and errors and negligence on site. The Maslenica Highway arch bridge, completed in 1997, was designed taking into the account the severity of the marine environment, and the experience from inspections of other arch bridges. Skradin bridge over the Krka river canyon is curently under construction. The designer offered two a1ternatives. The first one envisioned a conventional prestressed concrete superstructure made of precast girders and in situ slab, similar to the Maslenica Bridge, while the other, which was adopted, a composite superstructure. Further developments of true reinforced concrete arches are discussed with respect to the structural materials, structural system and construction methods.


The concentration of persons with serious mental illness in jails and prisons is a growing problem for managers of these systems as well as patients who come to be incarcerated. As the proportion of jail and prison inmates with mental illness increases, so too does friction between these patients and the rigid correctional setting in which they are housed. 1 Approximately one third of persons admitted into the New York City jail system become recipients of mental health services while in jail, with one quarter of these patients diagnosed with mental illnesses meeting criteria for serious mental illness. Consequently, between 700 and 1000 of the approximately 12 000 inmates in the New York City jail system have serious mental illness at a given time. Most patients with a serious mental illness designation are housed in dedicated mental observation units (MOUs) that are staffed with specially trained security and mental health professionals. Patients who exhibit psychosis or other symptoms that cannot be effectively managed in these units are transferred to a nearby hospital forensic ward for a higher level of care. In the New York City jail


Weproposeacontrolmechanismforthestabilizationofsymmetry-brokenmodesinBose-Einsteincondensates and optical beams trapped in double-well potentials in the presence of symmetric or asymmetric noise. The control, based on periodic π shifts of the phase in one well, is demonstrated for solitons and in the two-mode approximation. The latter setting is considered in both the mean-field and quantum (Bose-Hubbard) regimes. and their quantum counterparts. In fact, these results imply that periodic sequences of phase π flips represent a universal control mechanism for the stabilization of self-organized coherent states against the noise-induced depletion, which is efficient in MF and quantum settings alike. In this connection, it is relevant to mention that a qualitatively similar mechanism forthesuppressionofglobaldecoherencewasproposedearlier in a completely different context: It was demonstrated that the suppression of the turbulent drag in fluids may be provided by perturbations generated by periodic gratings mounted on wells of the channel (18) or by a periodic injection of weak jets (19). In BECs, periodic phase flips may be implemented by a sequence of laser pulses directed at one well or by periodically modulating the energy difference between the wells. In optics, the same can be achieved by means of an array of narrow phase plates built into one core of the double waveguide.


In this work, the corrosion performance of a new developed high-entropy alloy (HEA) of the composition Al10Cr30Fe25Mn30Ti5 (at. %) was studied. The corrosion testing of the Al10Cr30Fe25Mn30Ti5 HEA was carried out in 2.5 M NaOH, 0.6 M NaCl, and in 0.5 M H2SO4. The correlation between the microstructure, elemental composition, density, hardness, and corrosion resistance of the new developed Al10Cr30Fe25Mn30Ti5 HEA was investigated. The impedance response showed protective corrosion behavior for the neutral and acidic pH, while the alkaline environment led to a passivity breakdown due to dissolution of Al forming Al(OH)3. The outcome of the presented study suggests that new developed HEA is suitable to be used in industrial environments with a neutral and acidic pH.


The subject of the present work is Wolfgang Herrndorf's award-winning youth novel Tsch- ick (i.e. "German Youth Literature Prize" (2011) and "Clemens Brentano Prize" (2012)). The novel, released in 2010, has sold more than two million copies to date and has been translated into more than 25 languages. In the novel, the story is told by Maik Klingenberg, a fourteen- year-old teenager who is left devastated by the surrounding circumstances and his outsider position before the summer holidays, but through his friendship with Tschick (during the summer holidays) experiences a solution and development process that changes his view of the world and his positioning to his environment and to himself in a positive way. The main focus of the work lies on the (explicit and implicit) character selection, characterization and constellation in the text. The methodological approach to textual analysis is based on insights from narratology, sociology and psychoanalysis. After a theoretical-introductory part, the text-analytical part begins with the selection of the staff of the fictitious world depicted in the novel and shows that the author's novel gives a pluralistic-heterogeneous-inter- or transcul- tural social image of the German capital Berlin and its (wider) environment. In the following chapter of the work, the introductory characterization of the main character and the related figure constellations will be discussed in more detail. It is shown that Herrndorf uses these constellations to address the complex interrelation between the individual and various col- lective identities, such as those into which the subject is born (Maik's parents), and those to whom the subject belongs based on the present circumstances of life (Maik's teacher and the other students of the school). The focus of analysis of the following part lies on those figure constellations that have arisen as a result of Maik's escape from the structures crushing him (Maik's voluntary social interactions and friendly ties) and by which the author refers to the dynamic constitution of personal identity, of which the developmental process defies static defining and reveals the possibility of self-change and self-development. Based on the pre- viously given text analysis, the last part of the thesis gives a conclusion corresponding to the analysis results.


AbstractA vulnerability assessment of bridges subjected to hurricane events is beneficial to policy makers prioritizing their critical assets for inspection, maintenance, and retrofit. The proposed...


Extracts of two indigenous Ghanaian medicinal plants Clausena anisata and Hyptis spicigera were bioassayed against housefly (Musca domestica L.) and cockroach (Periplaneta americana (L)) for various insect control activity. The extractives bioassayed were the petroleum ether and methanol extracts and essential oil of the plants. The lethal toxicity of the plant extractives were bioassayed using topical application and petri dish residual method against adult flies and cockroach nymphs respectively. The essential oils exhibited knockdown effect when they were bioassayed against housefly by topical application. A treated filter paper method was used to evaluate the repellency of the extractives against housefly. The crude extracts were also bioassayed for growth regulatory effect against the second larval instar of housefly using a treated larval breeding medium. A treated rearing medium method was also used to test the antifeedant effect of the crude extracts against cockroaches. Per cent mortality, knockdown and index of repellency induced by the extractives against the insects were generally dose-dependent. The essential oil of the two plants were however more effective as toxicants and repellents than the crude extracts. The LD 50 of the essential oil of C. anisata and // spicigera were 2.2101 and 0.8580 //g respectively, against flies and 0.0096 and 0.0310 /ig cm' 2 respectively against cockroach nymphs. The LD50 of the solvent extractives ranged between 0.4143 and 1746.2 mg for housefly and 0.6869 to 2.600 mg cm "2 for cockroach The knockdown potency of essential oils from H. spicigera (KD 50= 0.2631) was better than for C. anisata (KD50 — 0.7445). The RD50 of C. anisata and H. spicigera University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh


From several recent publications we know that the mortality can be as high as 17% and ranges probably around 10%, that about 35% may suffer from significant intellectual and/or neurological handicaps, that hearing defects occur in 2—3% of the cases and that the so-called normal survivors are significantly different from matched controls as to their intellectual performance (SPROLES et al. 1969; SELL et


Mechanical pulping, also called high-yield pulping processes, are pulping systems where a great deal of effort is taken with regards to the fractionation in screens and cleaners as well as to optim ...


This short essay tries to conclude an outline of key projects which have been
realized in Institute of Contemporary History CAS by using oral history method between years 1996–2011. There would be outlined thematic, historical and
methodological aspects of these projects and also resumed the later reactions of
scholars and media.


The hydrolysis of tetramethyldisiloxane, which is a silicone industrial refuse, provides a convenient method to generates H2 on demand. Herein, the highly selective and efficient 2D graphene-like carbon nanosheets (GCN)...


This paper reviews what is known about the structure of monotone operators on non-reflexive spaces. It focusses on Asplund's interesting but neglected decomposition theorem.


A field experiment was conducted during spring 2008 to evaluate the efficacy of some new insecticides in the management of head borer, Helicoverpa armigera (Hubner) on sunflower crop. The results revealed that maximum larval mortality (84.81%) and maximum yield (3294 kg/ha) were obtained with the treatment spinosad, which was at par with endosulfan (82.28% and 3255 kg/ha, respectively) and followed by quinalphos (72.93% and 3147 kg/ha, respectively). Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt.) brand Kurstaki and cypermethrin failed to give an appreciable control. Endosulfan treatment provided maximum (1 : 21.3) cost : benefit ratio followed by quinalphos (1 : 15.8).


Extended-spectrum beta-lactamases (ESBLs) are plasmid-mediated beta lactamases that are capable of hydrolysing beta-lactams except carbapenems and cephamycins. The ESBL types include SHV, TEM and CTX-M, OXA, PER and VEB-1. The most common ones isolated from clinical specimen are the CTX-M, SHV and TEM.  The specific ESBL-producing organisms have different genetic characteristics which mark their identification at the molecular level. This work sought to determine the genetic characterization of ESBL-producing K . pneumoniae and E . coli in Accra. The molecular investigations of the ESBL-coding genes included extraction of 100 DNA templates of phenotypic ESBL-producing isolates by boiling method, preparation of the PCR reaction mixture using appropriate primers, standard PCR reaction in a thermocycler,   agarose gel electrophoresis, bands visualization by ultraviolet trans-illumination and bands photography using a Kodak EDAS 290 gel documentation system. The results significantly (p<0.05) indicated that of the 100 ESBL producers, 90(90%) possess CTX-M genes and 25(25%) had TEM genes. None of the ESBL producers possesses SHV genes. Seventy (70%) of the ESBL producers possess only CTX-M genes and 5(5%) had only TEM genes. Twenty (20%) of the isolates had both CTX-M and TEM genes. Of the 100 ESBL phenotypes, 78(78%) and 2(2%) were positive for CTX-M-1group and CTX-M-9group ESBL genes respectively. Organisms producing CTX-M-type ESBL are more prevalent in Accra than other ESBL types. CTX-M-1group producing isolates dominated the ESBL phenotypes with CTX-M-15 likely to be the dominate CTX-M-type ESBL. There is the need for further studies into the characteristic transmission, pathogenesis, antibiotic resistance expression, and infection control of CTX-M-type ESBL and TEM-type ESBL in Accra. Keywords : Extended spectrum beta-lactamase, CTX-M genes, TEM genes, SHV genes, Molecular


Objective: To investigate the value of three-dimensional speckle tracking imaging( 3DSTI) in evaluation of resting left ventricular( LV) systolic function in patients with hypertension. Methods: Thirty-eight patients with hypertension and thirty-three normal subjects as control group were enrolled. Real-time full volume images of LV were collected and stored up,and 3D-STI software was used to analyze and calculate LV ejection fraction( LVEF),LV longitudinal peak systolic strain and area peak systolic strain on-line; Test results of the two groups were compared,and then the feasibility of using 3D-STI to assess LV myocardial strain characteristics in patients with hypertension was analyzed. Results: LV longitudinal and area peak systolic strain in patients with hypertension were lower than those of the control group( P 0. 05); LV longitudinal peak systolic strain of control group showed a increasing trend from basal segments to apical segments of the hearts. Pearson correlation analysis indicated that the LV global longitudinal peak systolic strain and area peak systolic strain in patients with hypertension were correlated with LVEF( r1= 0. 758,P1= 0. 000; r2= 0. 567,P2= 0. 000). Conclusions: 3D-STI can assess LV systolic function in patients with hypertension by accurately measuring myocardial strain.


The paper considers the choice of mortgage instrument when the rate of interest is fixed for a short duration, with reversion to a variable (bullet) rate mortgage contract. The research is the first direct test for regressive interest rate expectations using United Kingdom data while testing for wealth and portfolio effects. The econometric modeling uses a variety of nonparametric and parametric techniques to control for classification error in the dependent variable. There is evidence that households adopt regressive interest rate expectations. The lack of statistical significance of wealth and portfolio effects confirms the short run cash flow perspective of United Kingdom mortgage choices.


In order to promote the transmission capacity and to increase the reliability of ultra-high voltage direct current (UHVDC) transmission, a new generation synchronous condenser was developed and installed in both the sending-end and receiving-end converter stations. The synchronous condenser has excellent dynamic characteristics of fast response and overload capacity, which can provide dynamic reactive power reserve to support the system voltage and reduce the possibility of DC commutation failure when there is a system fault. To make further use of the synchronous condenser during normal operation, a study was carried out to coordinate the condenser with other reactive compensation equipment in the converter station, which not only can make smooth switchover of the filter or the capacitor by utilizing the reactive power reserve of the synchronous condenser, but can also reduce the number of operations of the on-load tap changer (OLTC), thus extending its service life.


The equilibrium and nonequilibrium Kondo transport properties of the serially coupled triple quantum dots (TQD's), including one intermediate dot and two peripheral dots, were studied theoretically. As the Kondo resonance is strongly renormalized in a nontrivial manner by the interdot coupling, the zero-bias conductance shows an asymmetrical double-peak pattern, which is significantly different from the single-conductance-peak pattern that appeared in the TQD device in the Coulomb regime. Furthermore, in the finite-bias case, the current versus the bias shows a peak and a relatively large negative differential conductance is observed. In addition, the superposition of the Kondo spin singlet and the usual naked state is also investigated and strong mixture between them is observed even though they belong to different kinds of states.


Summary form only given. In this talk I will sketch some challenges in improving Web-site or Web-application performance from the perspective of the CDN. To motivate the problem I will provide some summary statistics describing the constitution of a modern Web site, and approximate timing data on the network-layer operations needed to deliver that content to an end-user. To establish background I'll move quickly through a set of relatively well-known techniques for improving Web site performance: caching, TCP-layer optimization, route optimization via overlay networks, data deduplication, prefetching. In the latter part of the talk I will cover, in more depth, two specific problems Akamai continues to research and refine: optimizing the performance of TCP connections on http content, and parent selection in overlay networks. I'll give examples of challenges that exist in this space, and highlight ongoing research at Akamai to address them.


The verification problem for security protocols is undecidable, but it is feasible to verify protocols by abstract interpretation. This paper presents a method based on local abstraction and refinement for verifying security protocols terminably. Local abstraction produces a safe approximation of the security protocol, modeled as a set of Horn logic rules. Refinement removes false attacks introduced by local abstraction. In contrast with methods based on global abstraction, our method abstracts only certain rules that can lead to non-termination when computing fixpoints, that is, it does not abstract all rules. We implement this method in a verification tool SPVT and are able to verify well-known protocols. Moreover, our experiments indicate that local abstraction is less costly than global abstraction.


This paper presents an empirical investigation of the performance of five strategies for estimating the finite population mean using parameters such as mean or variance or both of an auxiliary variable. The criteria used for the choices of these strategies are bias, efficiency and approach to normality (asymmetry).


The Internet has seen a great improvement in new knowledge to both learners and tutors or mentors. The traditional learning systems involved student-teacher interaction in classroom, but however there are now new methods that aid learning to both the teacher and the student. Education, research materials and knowledge can now discovered and be shared world wide through the Internet, e-learning materials, e-portfolios, web portals and discussion forums. Websites have been development that helps learners and educators to upload and share learning materials. These learning materials are stored in repositories (databases, files, or data warehouses) stored over the Internet in dynamic websites. This paper discusses the use of Data Warehouse resources to aid in the sharing of learning material in Zimbabwean schools, colleges and institutes of higher learning. This paper is also of great essence to most African countries, whose educational system needs improvement. Information considered relevant for the sharing of learning material is presented, as is the modeling of a data warehouse to store this information as well as the environment, which allows for knowledge discovery to be performed in the data warehouse.


D. P. Pattanayak has been in the forefront of language-related activities in India for over three decades. He was the first director of the Central Institute of Indian Languages (CIIL), in Mysore, until his retirement. The Institute was the brainchild of two visionaries, S. M. Katre and V. K. R. V. Rao; and Rao was able to implement the idea as the then Education Minister in the central government. The Institute has become a major research center in India, with regional centers in several states. This volume has eight contributors, six of whom were closely associated with the CIIL. In a sense this book is primarily based on the resources available at the Institute and the fieldwork supported by the CIIL. In his Introduction (v-xii), Pattanayak provides a broad backdrop for the topic; this is essentially a pot-pourri of ideas, related neither to India nor to the eight contributions that follow the introduction. Rather, Pattanayak reflects on multilingualism in the West, primarily in the US and the UK. The following samples are all taken from p. x:


The invention discloses a marine fluid kinetic energy integrated generating system, which comprises energy capturing devices converting fluid kinetic energy into mechanical energy, a mechanical energy transmission mechanism and a generating mechanism converting the mechanical energy into electrical energy. The system is connected with a pressure increasing valve. The flow at an inlet of the pressure increasing valve is controlled by a switch valve. The hydraulic branch circuit is a hydraulic branch circuit group formed in a mode that at least more than two hydraulic branch circuits are connected in parallel. Each hydraulic branch circuit is connected with one energy capturing device. The marine fluid kinetic energy integrated generating system adopting the structure not only can capture high-energy marine fluid kinetic energy, but also can capture weak marine fluid kinetic energy and is particularly suitable for the integrated generating system for capturing the weak marine fluid kinetic energy.


Objective To understand the normal value of glycosylated hemoglobin in pregnancy. Methods 455 pregnant women with normal glucose metabolism were selected among which 231 cases were in 24~28 gestational weeks, 159 cases in 28~32 gestational weeks,31 cases in 32~36 gestational weeks and 34 cases in 36 gestational weeks. Venous blood was taken to measure the level of glycosylated hemoglobin. Results The mean value of glycosylated hemoglobin in normal pregnant women was 4.1%(95%CI=2.5~5.7%). No difference was shown among different gestational weeks. Conclusions The normal value of glycosylaed hemoglobin in pregnancy is 2.5%~5.7%.


The vision of multi Gbit/s data rates in future mobile networks requires the change to millimeter wave (mm-Wave) frequencies for increasing bandwidth. As a consequence, new technologies have to be deployed to tackle the drawbacks of higher frequency bands, e.g. increased path loss. Development and verification of those novel technologies required an understanding of the propagation effects at mm-Wave which enabled by channel sounding measurements and analysis. Due to the variety of considered frequency bands and the necessity of spatial resolved measurements for e.g. testing of beamforming approaches, measurement duration and comparability becomes problematic. This paper presents multi-band channel sounder architectures, usable to measure up to four frequency bands simultaneously. Furthermore, we present a measurement campaign, featuring full polarimetric and directional resolved dual-band measurements, which comprises the microwave band at 10 GHz and the mm-Wave band at 30 GHz. Preliminary analysis results are presented.


This article tracked, identified, and demonstrated the economic and financial viability of the renewable energy sector from biomass in a Spanish Thermal Power Plant. The methodology used came from Theoretical postulates (GITMAN, 2004; VAN HORNE, 1993) called, Technical Preparation of capital budgets (Economic and Financial Analysis) called, payback, Net Present Value, and Internal Rate of Return). The economic and financial viability results demonstrated were in two stages: the first identified that the plant is viable according to the payback. The second traced the economic and financial viability from the thermal energy production hypothesis equivalent to electricity power in the amount of 7,699.08 MWh, which resulted in the following indicators: payback of seven years and three months, NPV of R$ 369,064.98, and the IRR of 12.46%. Therefore, managers would have to make a user raising campaign in the ratio of 24.66%, taking into account of an unused capacity of 25%. These indicators were calculated using the following financial data: initial investment of R $ 3,654,731.86, operational income of R $ 1,262,264.16, operational inputs of R$ 503,639.59, and capital cost of 10.95% over 20 years. This industrial plant is located in the city of Cuellar in northern Spain, having two employees working eight hours a day; it produces only thermal power, represented in this study by MWh of electric power. This industrial plant produces power by burning forest residues from tree pruning. It was concluded that, given the research question developed in this paper—is the study plant profitable from the economic and financial point of view?—The response was identified by calculating the economic and financial indicators that the plant studied is viable from the proposed of maximizing sales revenues to 7,699.08 MWh.


This experiment was carried out in sandy loam soil of private from at Romana , North Sinai Governorate, Egypt during two successive winter seasons 2017 / 2018 and 2018 /2019, to study the effect of three types of biochar, (A) produced from corn stalk, straw rice , straw of faba bean and cotton stalk, (B) produced from trees stalk and (C) town refuse, with three levels from Urea fertilizer (0, 20, 30 Kg N/fed), plus control treatment which received the recommended dose of urea (46 %N), to examine the effects of biochar types combined with or without nitrogen fertilizer on faba bean productivity under saline soil conditions. Faba bean variety Giza 843 were sowed on 12 November 2017 and 2018The experiment was carried out in a split plot design with three replicates. The used to three biochar types were arranged randomly as sub plot, were different rates of mineral nitrogen fertilizer was distributed randomly as main plot. Results obtained that, the combination between biochar types with different levels of N fertilizer enhanced all tested parameters. Moreover, biochar type (C) with level 30 Kg N/fed recoded the highest values of all tested parameters. On the other hand, the same treatment was the most effective on the root rot and wilt incidences, where the survival plants was % 97.9 and 93.4 respectively and decreased the number of the pathogenic fungi.


PURPOSE: To provide an electron beam drawing apparatus, which continuously moves the stage to draw an IC pattern or the like using an electron beam, with an arithmetic circuit having a realtime drift compensating function by compensating the electronic drift and the mechanical drift of a mirror cylinder. CONSTITUTION: A circuit for drift compensation consisting of a linear arithmetic time axis generator, a multiplier, an offset adder, etc., is installed at the succeeding stage of a follow-up quantity arithmetic circuit 22 inside a follow-up controller 5. By this, the compensation of electronic beam drift and the compensation of the mechanical drift of a mirror cylinder are applied to stage position data to eliminate beam deflection for the stage position in radiation with the electronic beam, thereby enabling the apparatus to carry out high speed and highly accurate drawing. COPYRIGHT: (C)1993,JPO&Japio


Catalan number is a kind of permutation,which can be formed by 1 and 0 and the number of 1 or 0 is n,respectively,its partial sum satisfying that a_1+a_2+...+a_k≥k2,k=1,2,...,2n.It is known that the number of this kind of permutation have the equality C_n=1n+12nn(n≥0). In this paper,they improve a kind condition of Catalan number problem and some theorems.They introduce the property and result of Catalan number and some examples.


This paper introduces developing process of body welding for various models and states resolutions for difficulties and key points in tooling designing and process layout,through which longer version is able to be produced on the same line by flexibility reformation.


The theory of planned behaviour (TPB) has been promoted as a theory that predicts behaviour across a variety of domains and has been used with road safety behaviours with some success across a number of years. However the intention-behaviour gap is often an issue. This paper presents the results of a study in semi-rural Western Australia that used the TPB to investigate the speeding behaviour of young drivers. Re-analysis of the data reveals some important lessons that provide useful information for other researchers who wish to investigate this behaviour. Seventy three young drivers in the South West of Western Australia completed TPB questionnaires at two points in time: firstly to establish the underpinnings of intention and expectation to speed, and the second to establish the links between intention, expectation, and behaviour. Between 21.5 and 50 per cent of the variance in intention/ expectation was accounted for. Intention/expectation accounted for 17.4 to 19.2 per cent of the variance in behaviour. Analyses using logistic regression revealed rates of behavioural prediction that were sensitive but not specific and these results fit with Sheeran (2002) description of inclined actors, inclined abstainers, disinclined actors, and disinclined abstainers. The TPB needs refinement to account for increased amounts of variance in intention/ expectation and behaviour for young driver speeding. Theoretical issues are discussed and information to increase the relationships amongst the TPB variables is presented. The analysis provides information to improve prediction of speeding behaviour in young drivers.


V-support vector machine(v-SVM) can take up a lot of training time when large-scale samples set.V-support vector machine hybrid classification algorithm based on boundary of rough set(RSBv-SVM) is proposed.According to the merits of boundary region of rough set theory,the algorithm gets the boundary set of the classified data,which includes all support vectors.The boundary set can substitute the original inputs as a training subset,and the size of the training set is decreased.Training time is reduced by v-SVM while keeping the accuracy of classification and the performance of generalization.The simulation experiments show the effectiveness of the suggested hybrid method.


This investigation focuses on the performance of the Automated Structural Optimization System multidisciplinary optimization code in the structural weight optimized design of two e nite element models of a low-aspect ratio e ghter-type wing. Optimal designs for the wing with the structure represented by a coarse and a more complex e nite element model are obtained with constraints imposed on strength, aileron reversal, and e utter using subsonic and supersonic aerodynamic theories. The results demonstrate the ability of ASTROS to effectively e nd local minima with weight as the objective function. The trends in the e nal weights illustrate the impact of changing design constraints on optimal design.


This study seeks to investigate the case of language transfer by using an analysis of errors adopted from Elliott (1983) towards ESL students' Multimedia Project Work saved in CDs. The data for the study were obtained from six sets of CDs produced by the group of previous ESL students from Faculty of Computer Science, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia Skudai for their English for Academic Communication course (UHB 1412). The CDs were analyzed via checklist in order to identify the types of errors and patterns of the errors made. The analysis of the students' Project Work has shown that there are twelve types of errors that are closely related to the case of language transfer. Verbs contributed the highest percentage of errors in this study while the infinitive-to is the lowest. Errors are unavoidable in learning a second language. Subjects tend to make errors in this area as indication of their confusion of both languages. Therefore, they tend to use their knowledge of first language to cope with the insufficient knowledge of a second language. Moreover, the analysis also indicates that the subjects faced two categories of errors that are known as Intra-lingual errors and Inter-lingual errors due to conscious and subconscious transfer. Analyzing these errors would give insights into the reasons for the language transfer or interference underlying the occurrence of these errors as pedagogical implication that could help students to improve their knowledge on both Languages (L1 and L2).


Objective Analysis of patients with mental illness pathogenic bacteria distribution and risk factors of infection, strengthen mental hospital infection prevention and control. Methods For from Jan 2010 to Dec 2013 in our hospital patients of the distribution of pathogenic bacteria were analyzed. Using ATB semi-automatic bacteria identification instrument of the bioMerieux company for bacteria identification and drug sensitive test, data using WHONET software for statistical analysis. Results The infection is given priority to with the respiratory tract, followed by urinary tract; Infections caused by gram-negative bacteria more than gram-positive cocci; Age distribution is given priority to with 20~60 patients; Schizophrenia patients 232 cases,accounting for 70.9%,mood disorder patients for 43 cases,accounting for 13.2%.Conclusions Through the analysis of related factors,found that psychiatric hospital infection is associated with the particularity of mental illness,corresponding prevention and control measures should be taken:1To strengthen hospital infection in mission work;2Every day ward for ventilation and strict hand hygiene standard,to carry out the disinfection system;3Patients with medication,monitoring of relevant inspection items on a regular basis;4The implementation of basic nursing care and life.


Abstract The northwest coast of North America was one of the most important of the last frontiers on the continent in the second half of the 19th-century. The beauty, the dangers, and the richness of the topography attracted dozens of artists, beginning with the Spanish explorers of Vancouver Island in the late 1700s. Vancouver Island and the mainland of British Columbia were colonies of Great Britain between 1849 and 1871. Both came to the attention of the world in the spring of 1858, as hordes of would-be miners poured through the tiny Hudson's Bay Company fur-trading fort of Victoria (estimated population 1857, 300–400) on the island, seeking licences from the governor and his officials to mine gold on the Fraser River on the mainland.


In order to solve the problem of nitrogen over-use in high yield direct seeding rice after cultivating wheat, the research explored different nitro-saving cultivation method from 2008 to 2009, by increasing the rice planting density to enhance yield on wheat stubble. This study set up a test of different direct seeding density in 2 years continuously with 150 kg nitrogen application dose per hectare (as much as 50%–60% nitrogen application dose in regular high yield cultivation condition). By analyzing the productivity, constituent factors, index of quality, RVA of rice, dynamics of leave and tilling, dry matter accumulation etc, the results showed that in conditions of 300 million basic seedlings per hectare, the yield was similar to the conventional nitro-use cultivation. This solution not only relieved the pressure of fertilize on environmental pollution by saving 100–120kg nitrogen per hectare, but also the improved benefits exceed the prime cost of increased use of seeds. This breakthrough innovation provided an alternative for the research of high quality direct seeding rice.


Biasing of the basilar membrane displacement by a loud low‐frequency tone causes changes of the DPOAEs depending on the phase of the masker. A corresponding model helps to understand the nonlinear behavior of the cochlea and to improve the diagnosis of inner ear diseases. Up to now, short time Fourier transform has been used to measure the DPOAE suppression pattern. This method has inherent time and frequency resolution limits. Therefore a new approach is presented, where the primaries and all frequencies generated by the process are harmonics of the masker. A rectangular time window with length according to the masker period is used. The part of the spectrum representing the DPOAE signal is regarded as modulated tone, consisting of a DPOAE frequency (2f1−f2) and spectral side frequencies. The time course of the DPOAE suppression pattern is computed by superposition of these complex components. The results are compared with a simulation of the distortions of the outer hair cells' mechano‐electrical transf...


We consider a fluid model including viscoelastic and viscoplastic effects. The state is given by the fluid velocity and an internal stress tensor that is transported along the flow with the Zaremba–Jaumann derivative. Moreover, the stress tensor obeys a nonlinear and nonsmooth dissipation law as well as stress diffusion. We prove the existence of global-in-time weak solutions satisfying an energy inequality under general Dirichlet conditions for the velocity field and Neumann conditions for the stress tensor.


Distinguishing the current transformer saturation is one of difficulties for current differential protection.Therefore,many methods have been proposed to detect CT saturation based on one or more current transformer saturation characteristics,but some may not work reliably when the primary current is the load current,which does not result in current transformer saturation due to its small value.Based on the load current characteristics,a new anti-CT-saturation method for distinguishing load current is put forward in this paper,and it can be used as an assistant criterion for distinguishing current transformer saturation with clear characteristics and simple logic.


Sir Jeremy's article highlights the extent to which there are still uncertainties about the thresholds in UK merger control, even though their 40th birthday is this year. He has highlighted the uncertain meaning of "controlling interest" and the consequences of that uncertainty for those seeking to understand precisely the boundaries between the different levels of control. It is, perhaps, to be regretted that the Department of Trade and Industry did not use the Enterprise Act to remove some of the uncertainties that we are discussing. The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) and Competition Commission have emphasised the need, in each case, to consider any transaction in the context of all of the surrounding circumstances, particularly when looking at de facto control and material influence. This is reflected in their decisional practice, which has taken account of a wide range of factors beyond the legal structure of the transaction under consideration. It follows that the level of control enjoyed by a shareholder is capable of changing without any action whatsoever on the part of that shareholder. This might occur, for example, on the fragmentation of other shareholdings or a change in personalities on the board. Because a relevant merger situation occurs whenever two or more enterprises cease to be distinct, such a change appears capable of triggering the operation of section 26(4). Where there is provision for mandatory references, such a change would appear to give rise to the duty to make a reference. To take the point to its extreme, it


Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte (1818-1848) is a novel which is windswept and weatherbeaten both in the world outside and in the world inside of human emotion. The total book leaves a deep impression of an intense but dreary romantic view of life and of an unusual mystery and conflict. None of the Victorian novelists has been able to create these traits. Some of Emily's characters appear like creatures of their autonomous, unreal world. This paper shows that the novel is an expression of Emily's rare sense of imagination that is absent in many other contemporary novelists. It also shows that Emily paints an unusual love before which the demonic passion melts. So, this novel stands far apart from other Victorian masterpieces. Not only this, Wuthering Heights does not portray Victorian realism which is the focal point of most of the Victorian great novels.


We analysed solar-like oscillations in 1523 $\textit{Kepler}$ red giants which have previously been misclassified as subgiants, with predicted $\nu_{\rm max}$ values (based on the Kepler Input Catalogue) between 280$\mu$Hz to 700$\mu$Hz. We report the discovery of 626 new oscillating red giants in our sample, in addition to 897 oscillators that were previously characterized by Hekker et al. (2011) from one quarter of $\textit{Kepler}$ data. Our sample increases the known number of oscillating low-luminosity red giants by $26\%$ (up to $\sim$ 1900 stars). About three quarters of our sample are classified as ascending red-giant-branch stars, while the remainder are red-clump stars. A novel scheme was applied to determine $\Delta \nu$ for 108 stars with $\nu_{\rm max}$ close to the Nyquist frequency (240$\mu$Hz < $\nu_{\rm max}$ < 320$\mu$Hz). Additionally, we identified 47 stars oscillating in the super-Nyquist frequency regime, up to 387$\mu$Hz, using long-cadence light curves. We show that the misclassifications are most likely due to large uncertainties in KIC surface gravities, and do not result from the absence of broadband colors or from different physical properties such as reddening, spatial distribution, mass or metallicity. The sample will be valuable to study oscillations in low-luminosity red giants and to characterize planet candidates around those stars.


The invention relates to multilateral well completion tool, in particular to a five-level multilateral well seal tool. A main borehole pre-reserved hole pipe side wall of the tool is provided with a branch hole. A lower connector is connected to the lower end of the main borehole pre-reserved hole pipe. An arc hollow deflector is mounted in the main borehole pre-reserved hole pipe. A multilateral well pre-reserved hole inserting tool is inserted into the main borehole pre-reserved hole pipe. An upper connector is connected to the upper end of the multilateral well pre-reserved hole inserting tool. An axial ditch and an annular ditch are machined on the outer wall where the multilateral well pre-reserved hole inserting tool is closely matched with the main borehole pre-reserved hole pipe. Seal rubber is vulcanized in the axial ditch and the annular ditch. An arc notch is obliquely machined on the upper end side pipe wall of the arc hollow deflector, and the arc pipe wall face at the notch is closely matched with the pipe wall oblique face of the multilateral well pre-reserved hole inserting tool. By the multilateral well completion tool, hydraulic seal can be performed at a multilateral well window, and mechanical connection can be provided for multilateral well borehole tubular piles.


State and local law enforcement training academies differ in a myriad of ways, including the content of their classes, the type of instruction received, and the tests mandated for graduation. The focus of this study is the physical fitness test and how it affects the proportion of women to men matriculating from these academies. A predictive model of academy completion rates is derived from a sample of 96 police training academies. The presence of gendered physical testing requirements was found to be positively related to the proportion of women to men graduating from training. In addition to the empirical models, data on the specific content of these tests are provided. The variability of tests suggests that gendered physical requirements are an illusionary panacea, as they do not address the fundamental assumptions of the tests themselves.


In this paper, we propose a new approach to map-based indoor localization for walking people using an Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU). Generally, an office building includes various components such as corridors, rooms, floors, staircases, elevators. We consider the components for personal positioning. We present two mapping methods that are a map representation method and a position compensation method. The map representation method is applied to classification and representation of components in an indoor building map. The position compensation method is derived based on the distance and direction estimation using a dynamic scale factor. To evaluate our proposed methods, we have developed an indoor localization device using a small IMU and experimented on an office building. We show that our proposed approach achieves higher accuracy than traditional dead reckoning navigation.


A compatibility test of the chemical elements in the surface environment of Inner Mongolia has revealed that the 1∶200 000 regional geochemical survey can provide all kinds of geological information in the primary environment,especially the reconnaissance and prospecting information.The geochemical data quality can be ensured through data leveling processing for eliminating the major systematic errors in the test results of regional geochemical elements.Information provided by maps,such as the maps of ln(wCr×wNi×wCo),can be used to make geochemical divisions and also serve as valuable reference for basic geological study.Based on the regional geochemical map,the authors delineated geochemical metallogenic areas of chemical elements in Inner Mongolia,which could provide important information for geochemical metallogenic prognosis.


Abstract Management of textile and metallic effluents rich in omega chrome red ME, metaomega chrome orange GL, omega chrome fast blue B, and Cr (VI) and Cd (II), respectively, was carried out using wollastonite as an adsorbent. Batch adsorption experiments were performed for removal studies at different initial adsorbate concentrations, temperatures, and pH. A reaction kinetic study was undertaken by considering adsorption of the pollutant species on the outer surface as well as diffusion within the pores of the adsorbent. The mass transfer coefficient was calculated to explain the results. The effect of pH on the removal of the above adsorbates has been clarified on account of aqua-complex formation and subsequent acid-base dissociation, considering various surface site reactions. A Langmuir isotherm model fits the equilibrium data well. An attempt has been made to develop models correlating percentage uptake with the principal variables.


Significant research has been performed to evaluate the challenges and mitigation options associated with integration of individual Wind Generation Resources (WGRs) to weaker portions of the electric grid. This paper focusses on the development of a screening approach to assess control instability issues on a weak portion of grid expected to have a cluster of wind farms connected to it. A Control Instability Index (CII) based approach is introduced in the paper. The CII approach utilizes a system strength matrix of the weak portion of the network in conjunction with net gains of the voltage control loops for the wind farms to assess potential for control instability. The performance of the mathematical premise of CII based approach has been evaluated on the ERCOT transmission grid. Thresholds associated with CII levels have been established to assist system operators and planners to screen for potential instability conditions. The proposed approach provides a unique approach to address wind farm cluster integration on weak grids.


Determining the ideal ratio of macronutrients for increasing life expectancy remains a high priority in nutrition research. We aim to investigate the association between carbohydrate, fat, and protein intake and all-cause mortality in Koreans. This cohort study investigated 42,192 participants from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES) linked with causes of death data (2007–2015). Hazard ratios (HRs) were calculated using the multivariable Cox proportional regression model after adjusting for confounders. We documented 2110 deaths during the follow-up period. Time to exceed 1% of the all-cause mortality rate was longest in participants with 50–60% carbohydrate, 30–40% fat, and 20–30% protein intake. Adjusted hazard ratio (HR) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) was 1.313 (1.031–1.672, p = 0.0272) for <50% carbohydrate intake, 1.322 (1.116–1.567, p = 0.0013) for ≥60% carbohydrate intake, 1.439 (1.018–2.035, p = 0.0394) for <30% fat intake, and 3.255 (1.767–5.997, p = 0.0002) for ≥40% fat intake. There was no significant association between protein intake proportion and all-cause mortality. We found a U-shaped association between all-cause mortality and carbohydrate intake as well as fat intake, with minimal risk observed at 50–60% carbohydrate and 30–40% fat intake. Our findings suggest current Korean dietary guidelines should be revised to prolong life expectancy.


The moist potential vorticity (MPV) equation is derived from complete atmospheric equations includingthe effect of mass forcing, with which the theory of Up-sliding Slantwise Vorticity Development (USVD)is proposed based on the theory of Slantwise Vorticity Development (SVD). When an air parcel slides upalong a slantwise isentropic surface, its vertical component of relative vorticity will develop, and the steeperthe isentropic surface is, the more violent the development will be. From the definition of MPV and theMPV equation produced here in, a complete vorticity equation is then put forward with mass forcing, whichexplicitly includes the effects of both internal forcings, such as variations of stability, baroclinicity, andvertical shear of horizontal wind, and external forcings, such as diabatic heating, friction, and mass forcing.When isentropic surfaces are flat, the complete vorticity equation matches its traditional counterpart. Thephysical interpretations of some of the items which are included in the complete vorticity equation butnot in the traditional one are studied with a simplified model of the Changjiang-Huaihe Meiyu front. A60-h simulation is then performed to reproduce a torrential rain event in the Changjiang-Huaihe regionand the output of the model is studied qualitatively based on the theory of USVD. The result shows thatthe conditions of the theory of USVD are easily satisfied immediately in front of mesoscale rainstorms inthe downwind direction, that is, the theory of USVD is important to the development and movement ofthese kinds of systems.


The increase of plant nutrients in aquatic ecosystems favours eutrophication, a problem widely recognised since the 1950s (HARPER 1992). In lowland waters, phytoplankton developments affect water treatment at several stages: filter blockages (TAYLOR 1963), coagulation/ sedimentation disturbances (YOUNGMAN 1975), oxygen depletion in reservoirs, or taste and odour consequences (HAYES & GREENE 1984). Four million inhabitants of the metropolitan area of Paris are supplied with drinking water coming from surface water: the Seine River and two of its major tributaries, the Marne and the Oise. Currently, operators of the drinking water treatment plants ofNeuilly-sur-Marne, Choisy-le-Roi and Méry-sur-Oise do not have the means to predict the occurrence of algal blooms, but must cope with operational difficulties such as sudden adjustments in the treatment used. For several years, Générale des Eaux, operating the water system of the Paris suburban area on behalf of the water authority Syndicat Des Eaux D'Ile de France (SEDIF), had to address variations of raw water quality related to algal blooms in spring. In order to obtain a better knowledge of bloom processes and their consequences for drinking water systems, a 3-year algal monitoring program of these three water courses was undertaken.


Neural networks ensemble is a promising tool in the field of structure-activity relationship (SAR). Based on support vector machine (SVM), a new method called RRSE (rough reducts based SVM ensemble) is employed to discriminate between high and low activities of ethofenprox analogous based on the molecular descriptors. By using RRSE, individual SVMs of ensemble model are constructed by projection of training dataset on sufficient and necessary attribute sets (reducts). Finally, the results from all individuals are combined by majority voting to finalize the ensemble results which predict activities of ethofenprox analogous with accuracy of 93.5%. Experimental results indicate that performance of RRSE is better than those of SVM bagging, optimal reducts based SVM and single SVM. Therefore, RRSE could be a promising and useful tool in SAR research.


The aim of this study was to evaluate the relative expression of three candidate genes, CHIA1, SGF14c and CHS8 * possibly involved in seed quality, in contrasting seed coats from four soybean genotypes. Two genotypes with yellow seed coats, BMX Potencia RR and CD 202, and two genotypes with black seed coats, TP and IAC were studied to determine the relative gene expression through the qPCR technique, in seven stages of seed coat development for all four genotypes, at 25, 30, 35, 40, 45, 50 and 55 days after anthesis. The CHIA1 and SGF14c genes showed higher expression in cultivar CD 202; the former in the final stages of seed coat development, at 55 days after anthesis, the latter gene at earlier stages, specifically at 25 days after anthesis. The CHS8* gene showed higher expression in CD 202 seed coats at 50 days after anthesis. All three genes expressed at higher levels on genotypes of yellow seed coats, and are considered relevant to new areas of research based on the expression of genes related to seed quality.


In-memory object caches, such as memcached, are critical to the success of popular web sites, such as Facebook [3], by reducing database load and improving scalability [2]. The prominence of caches implies that configuring their ideal memory size has the potential for significant savings on computation resources and energy costs, but unfortunately cache configuration is poorly understood. The modern practice of manually tweaking live caching systems takes significant effort and may both increase the variance for client request latencies and impose high load on the database backend.


This article gives a wide perspective on the use and potential of brain atlases for surgery of movement disorders, ranging from the stereotactic printed brain atlases to self-organized neurosurgical community services. An electronic brain atlas database with complementary atlases was constructed, atlas-assisted applications developed, and a procedure for atlas-assisted surgery of movement disorders proposed. The discussed atlas-assisted operations include three groups: atlas-related (interactive 3-D atlas-to-data warping, global and local registrations, multiple labeling, two-way anatomical indexing); atlas-data exploration-related (display and manipulation of cerebral structures presented as orthogonal planes, triplanar and 3-D models, continuous exploration of the data-atlas space); neurosurgery-related (targeting in multiple orientations, targeting with multiple atlases, stereotactic trajectory planning in 2-D and 3-D, calculation of the structures along the trajectory; movement tracking or simulating insertion of the microelectrode, mensuration). All these operations are real-time. The developed electronic brain atlas database along with applications and methodology allow for rapid surgery planning and for more sophisticated trajectories. Additionally, this might result in increased accuracy of targeting, as well as reduced duration


In this work series new theobromine derivatives containing an arylpiperazine moiety at N with established antioxidant and antiproliferative activities were evaluated for their hepatotoxic effects on cellular and sub-cellular level. On isolated rat hepatocytes, 3c and 4c expressed lowest toxicity, while 3f and 4f showed highest toxicity. The same compounds 3f and 4f showed the most evident pro-oxidant effect in a lipid peroxidation model on rat liver microsomes, followed by 3b and 4b, while the other compounds didn't reveal statistically significant pro-oxidant effects. The performed quantitative structuretoxicity relationship (QSTR) analysis show that increased lipophilicity of the tested compounds positively correlates to their hepatotoxicity. Opposite, the presence in the structure of highly positive H-atoms and strongly negative oxygen, possibly originating from hydrogen bond donor groups, are associated with reduced hepatotoxicity.


The invention relates to a tiny component frictional force test device. The test device comprises a normal load loading device, a horizontal work table, sensors and a sensing system signal processor. The sensors form an array and are uniformly arranged on the horizontal work table. The normal load loading device applies a normal acting force on a sample to be tested on the horizontal work table. The horizontal work table is in rectilinear motion. The sensors collect normal acting force and horizontal frictional force signals and send the collected signals to the sensing system signal processor. Each sensor comprises an X-direction capacitive unit group and a Y-direction capacitive unit group. The X-direction capacitive unit group and the Y-direction capacitive unit group comprise a capacitive unit module respectively. The capacitive unit module has a comb-shaped structure composed of more than two strip-shaped capacitive units. The tiny frictional force test device for a micro-mechanical system component can obtain a frictional force between two different media, and meets requirements of a component with zero friction or a frictional force of a stable value during the micro mechanical design process.