Teachers' confidence in navigating the complexities of 'being a teacher' influence their behaviour, how they are perceived, how they make sense of their environment and circumstances and their successes. A web-based survey was developed and distributed to music teachers via an online community of practice. This paper reports on the respondents' self-reported confidence through the use of an Importance-Confidence Analysis. The responses of early career music teachers and experienced teachers are also compared to understand confidence over the career. Results show that both early career and later career teachers placed greater importance on pedagogical knowledge and skills relative to professional knowledge and skills and music knowledge and skills. Later career teachers reported greater confidence with respect to pedagogical knowledge and professional knowledge compared with teachers who were early in their career, whereas music knowledge and skills were viewed quite similarly by teachers across the career. The analysis highlights the need for ongoing support for experienced teachers alongside early career teachers. Recommendations are made for ongoing support of teachers throughout their careers.


Neuromorphic and bio-inspired circuits have reached considerable attention since Moore's Law is coming to its limitations. Information processing in mammalian brains takes place in a far more energy-efficient manner and significantly faster than in the best computing architecture nowadays. We propose an approach to bring those benefits to a superconducting information processing circuit. Since the computation in a neuronal network is considered as analogue and the computation as digital, the design is grown around a Josephson comparator with its inherent non-linearity in the transfer function as the central information processing unit. Furthermore, a modified version of the Josephson Transmission Line is used to realize an adaptable coupling between neuron cells. This circuit design benefits of the noise in a 4.2 K environment and is therefore more resilient to noise and switching errors than conventional digital circuits. The proposed circuit behavior in a 2-neuron configuration and the integration in a network topology will be investigated.


The effects of 1-sec light pulses on testicular size and the circadian rhythm of locomotor activity in male golden hamsters were examined utilizing two different paradigms. First, adult male hamsters that had been maintained on 14L:1OD were transferred to either a 6L:18D or 6L:18D light cycle with a 1-sec light pulse interrupting the dark phase of 8 h after lights-off. Exposure to 6L:18D for 11 weeks induced complete testicular regression which was accompanied by low serum testosterone levels. In contrast, the paired testis weights and serum testosterone levels of animals receiving the 1-sec night interruption were maintained at values comparable to those found in hamsters maintained on photostimulatory long days. The daily onset of activity occurred 4-6 h after lights-off in the animals exposed to 6L:18D. Animals receiving the 1-sec night interruption exhibited two distinct patterns of entrainment: one in which the onset of activity occurred near the time of the 1-sec light pulse, and another in which activity was initiated daily near the offset of the 6-h light phase. In the second study, adult male hamsters that had been maintained on 14L:1OD were transferred to either constant darkness or to a 1-sec skeleton photoperiod consisting of two 1-sec light pulses separated by dark intervals of 14 h and 10 h (i.e., 1 sec L:14D:1 sec L:IOD). As expected, exposure to constant darkness for 11 weeks induced complete testicular regression. However, in 7 of 12 animals exposed to 2 sec of light per day, testicular size was maintained in the range of values normally observed in hamsters exposed to stimulator>' long-day photoperiods. Following transfer to constant darkness, the circadian rhythm of locomotor activity was observed to free-run with a period greater than 24 h in all animals. In contrast, entrainment of the activity rhythm was observed in all animals exposed to the 1-sec skeleton photoperiod with the pattern of activity resembling that exhibited by animals maintained under a complete 14L:1OD photoperiod. These results demonstrate that as little as 2 sec of light per day can influence the neuroendocrine events underlying the photoperiodic maintenance of gonadal function, and can be effective stimuli for the entrainment of the circadian rhythm of locomotor activity.


The application of systems science to both renewable and non-renewable resources is evaluated in this paper, Generic models of natural resource utilization and allocation problems are specified in the context of a control theory formulation. This formulation incorporates the complexity of natural resource systems and admits a comprehensive view of resource economics. The model formulations are sufficiently flexible to deal with traditional topics of land, extractable minerals, and timber as well as air, wilderness, bodies of water, quality of life, and other-features of the environment. It is shown how these diverse and changing topics of interest within the field of natural resource economics require extreme care in defining and formulating systems models. A number of solution algorithms are developed and distinguished for systems models appearing in the literature


Development of a Hierarchical Fuzzy Model for the Evaluation of Inherent Safety. (August 2004) Michela Gentile, B.S., Universidad de las Americas, Puebla, Mexico Chair of Advisory Committee: Dr. M. Sam Mannan Inherent safety has been recognized as a design approach useful to remove or reduce hazards at the source instead of controlling them with add-on protective barriers. However, inherent safety is based on qualitative principles that cannot easily be evaluated and analyzed, and this is one of the major difficulties for the systematic application and quantification of inherent safety in plant design. The present research introduces the use of fuzzy logic for the measurement of inherent safety by proposing a hierarchical fuzzy model. This dissertation establishes a novel conceptual framework for the analysis of inherent safety and proposes a methodology that addresses several of the limitations of the methodologies available for current inherent safety analysis. This research proposes a methodology based on a hierarchical fuzzy model that analyzes the interaction of variables relevant for inherent safety and process safety in general. The use of fuzzy logic is helpful for modeling uncertainty and subjectivities implied in evaluation of certain variables and it is helpful for combining quantitative data with qualitative information. Fuzzy logic offers the advantage of being able to model numerical and heuristic expert knowledge by using fuzzy IF-THEN rules. Safety is traditionally considered a subjective issue because of the high uncertainty associated with its significant descriptors and parameters; however, this research recognizes that rather than subjective, "safety" is a vague problem. Vagueness derives from the fact that it is not possible to define sharp boundaries between safe and unsafe states; therefore the problem is a "matter of degree".


Dermatophytosis is a zoonosis in whose etiology the dermatophyte Microsporum canis is frequently involved. The fungus can be transmitted to man by dogs and cats. In the present study, guinea pigs were experimentally inoculated with M. canis and the course of the lesions was evaluated. Inoculation resulted in lesions in 100% of the animals, with a clinical course consisting of an incubation period, an inflammatory and a phase of lesion resolution. The histopathologic evaluation of the skin biopsies revealed the presence of acanthosis, hyperkeratosis, spongiosis and marked dermal edema. M. canis spores and hyphae were detected in histologic sections stained with periodic acid-Schiff. The combination of the fluorescent dyes FD and EB permitted the adequate visualization of viable and dead fungal cells in skin fragments of guinea pigs inoculated with M. canis and the identification of the morphologic characteristics of the cells. This experimental model represents a valuable instrument for the study of the pathogenesis of dermatophytic infection with respect to the evaluation of the efficacy of antifungal drugs, and may also be used for the study of the immunology of dermatophytoses and of dermatophyte morphogenes


The Health Committee of the League of Nations held it? twenty-fifth session from 26th April to 1st May. The health committee discussed and approved its next three-year programme. The last three-year programme expired at the end of 1936. The new programme is largely a continuation of the work already being done by the health organization. It is divided into two categories: permanent activities and those intended to deal with topical problems. In the former category may be mentioned the work of the Epidemiological Intelligence Service, the Commission of Biological Standardization, Leprosy and Malaria, and the duties of the Health Organization under international conventions.


We develop a highly sensitive quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) biosensor with a fundamental resonance frequency of 170 MHz. A naked AT-cut quartz plate of 9.7 microm thick is set in a sensor cell. Its shear vibration is excited by the line wire, and the vibration signals are detected by the other line wire, achieving the noncontacting measurement of the resonance frequency. The mass sensitivity of the 170 MHz QCM biosensor is 15 pg/(cm2 Hz), which is better than that of a conventional 5 MHz QCM by 3 orders of magnitude. Its high sensitivity is confirmed by detecting human immunoglobulin G (hIgG) via Staphylococcus protein A immobilized nonspecifically on both surfaces of the quartz plate. The detection limit is 0.5 pM. Limitation of the high-frequency QCM measurement is then theoretically discussed with a continuum mechanics model for a plate with point masses connected by elastic springs. The result indicates that a QCM measurement will break down at frequencies one-order-of-magnitude higher than the local resonance frequency at specific binding cites.


Introduction: Despite established guidelines for diagnosis and treatment, almost 20 million adults with hypertension (HTN) in the US remain undiagnosed and untreated. Racial disparities exist in HT...


© LUGOVOI, P.Z., SIRENKO, V.N., SKOSARENKO, Yu.V., and BATUTINA, T.Ya., 2016 Methods and computing program to determine displacements and accelerations of points of the cylindrical shell (adapter) middle surface under the action of local momentary loads have been developed. Effect of local load on the oscillation parameters and deformation of the shell (adapter) has been studied by test example. The displacement and acceleration under the action of local momentary load have been established to be localized in the action points. The designed methods can apply to initial calculations of the parameters of oscillations and deformations of cylindrical shell (adapter) structural elements undergoing the action of heavy local momentary loads in the course of operation.


This famous new translation is one thatisdaily being read with understanding and pleasure by more and more people. They are finding in it an intelligible and inspiring message. ? There are seven editions now available in different styles lit and bindings and at prices ranging from $1.50 to $5.00. Your bookdealer has them all on display, or we will mail them for ii you, specially wrapped and labeled not to be opened till At Christmas, at an additional cost for postage of 10 cents per Iy volume.


A new device setup for temperature and injection‐dependent lifetime spectroscopy (TIDLS) is described. It comprises two off‐the‐shelf components: a heating and cooling stage (HCS) from INSTEC and an inductive‐coil photoconductance (PC) instrument (WCT‐100) from Sinton Consulting Inc. The HCS was fitted to the WCT‐100 in a manner that circumscribes the inductive coil (the sensor) of the RF bridge circuit and controls the temperature of the wafer effectively. This setup has the advantage of requiring minor modifications to industry standard instruments while attaining a large temperature range. As experimental verification, injection‐dependent lifetimes were measured over a temperature range, 0–230°C, in three iron‐implanted silicon wafers. The measured lifetimes are consistent with the Shockley–Read–Hall equation using the impurity concentration calculated from the implant dose and the energy level and capture cross‐sections of interstitial iron from the literature. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


ABSTRACT: α2‐Macroglobulin (α2‐MG) is a nonspecific protease inhibitor and binding protein for peptide hormones that was recently isolated from Sertoli cell‐enriched culture medium and shown to be the same protein as α2‐MG in serum. The present study was conducted to determine the localization of α2‐MG in the seminiferous epithelium in order to gain insight into its possible site(s) of action. Immunostainable α2‐MG was present in the lumen of the tubules consistent with its proposed role as a protease inhibitor needed to inactivate the protease released from defective spermatozoa in the male reproductive tract. Immunoreactive α2‐MG was also localized adjacent to the heads of elongated spermatids, the most mobile cells in the seminiferous epithelium; immunostainable α2‐MG was not observed adjacent to round spermatids and spermatocytes, which are relatively less mobile. The intensity of the staining around the elongated spermatids was dependent on the stage of the spermatogenic cycle. Stainable α2‐MG was present adjacent to the spermatids in stage XI soon after the elongation process began. Immunoreactive product was in stages XI‐XIV but only faintly visible. The most intense staining reaction for α2‐MG was in stages XI‐XIV; it was reduced in stage VII; and virtually no α2‐MG was detectable in stages VIII‐ X at and just after spermiation. The postnatal changes of α2‐MG in the testis was also examined. During the first 2 weeks after birth, α2‐MG was not detected in the seminiferous epithelium. Positive α2‐MG staining was detected in Sertoli cells by 21 days of age, which progressively increased. By day 42, α2‐MG was mainly in the perinuclear region of the Sertoli cells and in the longer cytoplasmic processes extending to the heads of the elongate spermatids. Conclusions: (1) The localization of α2‐MG adjacent to etongated spermatids suggests that this molecule is secreted to limit the action of proteases that are required for migration of these germ cells in the epithelium; and (2) the marked reduction of α2‐MG just prior to spermiation allows for maximal activity of proteases that facilitate this process.


Beyond the catalytic activity of nanocatalysts, the support with architectural design and explicit boundary could also promote the overall performance through improving the diffusion process, highlighting additional support for the morphology‐dependent activity. To delineate this, herein, a novel mazelike‐reactor framework, namely multi‐voids mesoporous silica sphere (MVmSiO2), is carved through a top‐down approach by endowing core‐shell porosity premade Stöber SiO2 spheres. The precisely‐engineered MVmSiO2 with peripheral one‐dimensional pores in the shell and interconnecting compartmented voids in the core region is simulated to prove combined hierarchical and structural superiority over its analogous counterparts. Supported with CuZn‐based alloys, mazelike MVmSiO2 nanoreactor experimentally demonstrated its expected workability in model gas‐phase CO2 hydrogenation reaction where enhanced CO2 activity, good methanol yield, and more importantly, a prolonged stable performance are realized. While tuning the nanoreactor composition besides morphology optimization could further increase the catalytic performance, it is accentuated that the morphological architecture of support further boosts the reaction performance apart from comprehensive compositional optimization. In addition to the found morphological restraints and size‐confinement effects imposed by MVmSiO2, active sites of catalysts are also investigated by exploring the size difference of the confined CuZn alloy nanoparticles in CO2 hydrogenation employing both in‐situ experimental characterizations and density functional theory calculations.


The design and simulation of a low signal wireless communication system for detecting, measuring and analyzing heart rate (pulse) is proposed. A composite personal health monitor solution bridges the gaps between patients and doctors/health personnel. The system is user friendly and can use optical technology to detect the flow of blood through wrist. The phases that were adopted include pulse detection, signal extraction, pulse amplification and broadcasting through readable output, alarm and text messages. The information are log and can be monitored and retrieved at any time for analysis. This system is an effective means of preventing sudden death by timely response, improving and providing an easy-access and convenient human health monitor solution, critical information can be shared on large scale coverage within a short time to prevent sudden emergency.


The paper argues that far from a real picture of Britain's second city. These literary and filmic versions of Manchester show it to be a dystopian place of the imagination, and that this mythical Manchester still persists in the unconscious as a grey and depressed zone. The Manchester city centre of today, post the IRA bomb of 1996 and subsequent reconstruction, is a regeneration success story. The textile warehouses of Princess Street, built to resemble Florentine palazzos, burnish red on a summer's evening, as the crowds stream between the lights of Chinatown and the night-time culture of Canal Street and the Gay Village. But the Manchester of the imagination as represented in literature and film, is a profoundly different place, a city of' 'ruins, dust, deserted streets, blocked canals' 1 , and of rain and decay. A post-industrial Hades.


An experiment was carried out based on the ratio of male parent to female parent, the fertilization level, the number of pollinated flower per plant, pollination time during daytime and seed production in different crop season to study seed production techniques of flue-cured tobacco MS hybrid in Hunan Province. The results showed that the optimum ratio of male parent to female parent was 1:3, and 210 kg / hm2 N fertilization was better. The results showed that plant with 40-60 pollinated flowers produced higher yield and quality seeds, and the optimum pollination time was 10:00-11:00 AM and 4:00-5:00 PM. It was concluded that hybrid seed production in two crop seasons, especially the second crop season based on the utilization of ratoon was beneficial to higher seed yield with lower production and labor cost.


This project was conducted to examine how science vocabulary instructional strategies might increase science literacy and comprehension in science. In the literature review, a combination of direct instruction and vocabulary strategies were suggested to improve understanding. During this project, the students spent a lot of time learning vocabulary words for each unit. The summative assessment indicated the students had shown improvement in comprehension and science literacy. Additionally, the students started to use more of the vocabulary terms in their Science Interactive Notebook.


Genetic diversity of embryo cultured makapuno coconut whose endosperm is thicker and softer instead of hard crispy, growing at the University of the Philippines, Los Banos, was assessed using morphometric characters from March 2004 to October 2005. Shannon 2 Weaver Diversity Index and Chi-square (÷ ) tests were used to analyze variation in both the qualitative and quantitative characters. Substantial variation in crown shape, bole category, color of young fruit, petiole and inflorescence pigmentation, shape of stem base, fruit characteristics, and leaf structure was observed in the population of 52 palms. Yield of makapuno was estimated as 88%. Simultaneous occurrence of male and female phases allows self-pollination, which favors higher yield of makapuno. The principal component analysis revealed that fruit, nut and husk weight accounted for 99 % of the observed variation. Twelve morphological variables, grouped the population into 6 clusters. Common characters of palm belonging to cluster I are lower weights of fruit, nut and husk with shorter fruit equatorial diameter and shorter internodes. Palms belonging to cluster II have higher weight of nut and longer equatorial diameter. Palms of cluster III are characterized by cylindrical stem and lower number of green leaves. Cluster IV is characterized by heavy fruit and nut weight with elongated shape of nut. Higher number of green leaves presence is the common character of palms of cluster V. Girth at bole region and longer petiole length of leaves are the common characters of palms belonging to cluster VI.


A new hydrometallurgical process for complex concentrate ore containing copper, zinc and silver was introduced. In this process, Cu 2+ was reduced to Cu + first by sodium sulfite, then Cu + combined with chloride to form cuprous chloride which could not dissolve in water.Cupric sulfate was formed after cuprous chloride being oxidizated. The total recovery and the purity of cupric sulfate was 94.29% and more than 96.72%.The residual solution after being deposited of cuprous ions was used to product zinc oxide that purity was over 99.5%.Leaching silver with high concentrate ammonium chloride solution from the leaching slag, total recovery of silver was more than 99.5%.


Trace minerals exist in cells and tissues of the animal body in a variety of chemical combinations, and in characteristic concentrations, depending on the trace mineral consumed and the tissue in which the trace mineral is metabolized (McDowell, 1992; Underwood and Suttle, 1999). Concentrations of trace minerals must be maintained within narrow limits in a cell (McDowell, 1989, 1992; Underwood and Suttle, 1999). Trace mineral deficiencies, toxicities, and imbalances require the animal to metabolically compensate for the nutrient deviation (McDowell, 1989, 1992; Underwood and Suttle, 1999). In doing so, certain metabolic diseases can be produced and overall animal performance can be depressed. The intent of this review is to: 1) give a general description of the function of certain trace minerals; 2) briefly discuss trace mineral absorption; and 3) discuss factors that affect trace mineral requirements in ruminants (Galyean et al., 1995; Galyean et al., 1999; Spears, 2000; Baker et al., 2003).


Sixteen Modular Neutron Detectors (MNDs) and two Modular Gamma-Ray Detectors (MGDs) were integrated into a Wearable Detector Device (WDD) for covert or overt operations regarding nuclear non-proliferation search and localization of Special Nuclear Material (SNM). Each MND contains an array of 24, 1-cm2 active-area Microstructured Semiconductor Neutron Detectors (MSNDs) with intrinsic thermal-neutron detection efficiencies of approximately 30%. All necessary signal processing, communications, and power conditioning electronics are also housed within the MND, which measures 1.2 cm × 6.1 cm × 1.7 cm (4.4 in. × 2.4 in. × 0.65 in.). The battery within the MND allows for approximately three weeks of continuous operation on a single charge. The MGD comprises seven LND model 713 Geiger-Müller detectors, an on-board battery, and all necessary signal processing, communications, and power conditioning electronics. Each detector module interfaces with a handheld Android device through Bluetooth Low Energy communications. When the number of counts reported by the MNDs is greater than the background neutron environment, the Android device will alarm to alert the operator to the possible presence of neutron-emitting SNM. The reported count rate from the MGDs can then be used as secondary confirmation of SNM, because SNMs that emit neutrons also emit gamma rays. The neutron response of the WDD for bare 252Cf with fluxes of 0.1, 1, and 10 n cm-2 s-1 measured at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) was 1.34 ± 0.02, 9.93 ± 0.01, and 99.65 ± 0.01 cps, respectively. The corresponding neutron background count rate was 0.36 ± 0.02 cps, significantly lower than any of the foreground count rates. When the 252Cf source was placed in 4-cm thick, spherical HDPE moderator cask, the recorded count rate increased to 200.2 ± 0.5 cps for 10 n cm-2 s-1 flux. The Gamma Absolute Rejection Ratio for neutrons (GARRn) for the WDD was measured at PNNL and was determined to be 1.02 for a neutron flux of 10 n cm-2 s-1 and 60Co gamma-ray exposure field of 10 mR/h indicating excellent gamma-ray rejection for the neutron detector modules. The PNNL measurement results compared well to measurements repeated at Kansas State University.


ABSTRACTCoronary heart disease is a condition in which the buildup of plaque in the heart arteries triggers a heart attack. This study aims to see the nutritional adequacy of individuals with coronary heart disease in Salatiga City Hospital. The research used a survey method. Respondents in this study were 100 individuals with coronary heart disease who live in Salatiga. Data collection techniques used anthropometric measurements, food frequency and food recall. The results of anthropometric and metabolic measurements showed that out of 100 individuals with coronary heart disease, 5 people (5%) lean body mass index (BMI), 19 fat (19%), 76 normal (76%) were obtained. Nutritional intake of 100 individuals with coronary heart disease using a 24-hour food recall showed that the average energy consumption was ± 1034.36 kcal, protein ± 38.92 g, fat ± 22.98 g, carbohydrate ± 167.11 g. Fulfillment of nutritional intake based on the adequacy category is mostly included in the weight deficit category, namely still energy (94 respondents), protein (78 respondents), fat (94 respondents), carbohydrates (94 respondents) but there are respondents who are in the good category, namely energy. (3 respondents), protein (4 respondents) fat (3 respondents), carbohydrates (3 respondents).  Keywords: Adequacy of Nutrition, Coronary Heart Disease, Salatiga


The article is devoted to the developing of cognitive activity at schoolchildren in the process of distant education. It presents the different approaches to the definition of "cognitive activity" (GI Shchukin, TI Shamova, AV Hutorskoy), "distant education" (AV Hutorskoy, ES Polat) explains the specificity of cognitive activity of schoolchildren of 5-9 classes in the process of distant education, which is regarded as an integral concept with its own structure. The article describes the structural components of cognitive activity in the process of distant education: motivational, orientational, content-organizational, emotional and evaluative components. In the article there is the description of methods, forms, means of distance education by means of modern information and communication the Internet of technologies. The article presents various approaches to the organization of the educational process in the process of distant education directed at the development of cognitive activity of schoolchildren of 5-9 classes.


The reflectances of a number of different barium sulfate substances were measured. The measurements show a correlation between the reflectance and chemical impurities as well as their grain sizes. In view of the problem of developing better working white standards, the importance of these results is discussed with respect to the magnesium oxide white standard, as well as the perfect diffuser which the CIE recently recommended for ultimate adoption as the reference standard.


This paper surveys common gasket materials and construction types evaluated against sealing conditions. The end-user often asks the question, "Which type of gasket should I use for this application?" While much attention has been recently focused on temperature/pressure performance, other end-user concerns include whether or not a particular joint is capable of achieving a desired leakage range (e.g., tightness) and how well a gasket may compensate for some non-ideal flange issues. Different gasket materials/constructions are more forgiving than others. Selected gaskets often used in the chemical process industry will be compared for minimum gasket seating stress to achieve various tightness levels, the required "chemical service tightness" gasket stress against the "max out" component stress for a typical joint, and associated gasket compression. This paper compares ASME Class 150 NPS 3" and 4" joints using gaskets of various materials and constructions. Materials include fiber, filled and expanded PTFEs, flexible vermiculite, and flexible graphites. Construction types include sheet-based rings, spiral wounds, groove-profiles, and corrugated metal. Comparing typical stress and compression ranges for the various materials and constructions will help the end-user learn to narrow the selection of available gaskets and achieve a more economical bolted joint design.Copyright © 2013 by ASME


We report the dielectric constant, Young's elastic modulus, and hardness of disordered mesoporous silica films prepared by spin-coating a silica precursor and nonionic triblock copolymer surfactant templates. The effects of selection of surfactant molecule on the properties of mesoporous silica films with disordered pore structures were investigated. One of the disordered mesoporous silica films studied had a low dielectric constant k = 2.0 and a high mechanical strength of elastic modulus = 4.14 GPa and hardness = 0.4 GPa. It has been shown that the modulus and hardness of the disordered mesoporous films can be made as high as those of two-dimensional hexagonal ordered mesoporous films.


We investigate the total mass distribution of bright X-ray ellipticals (with diffuse X-ray luminosity higher than 10 41 erg s -1 ) studying the gravitational equilibrium of three component models constituted by stars, hot diffuse gas and dark matter. Assuming a constant mass-to-light ratio for the stars described with anisotropic distribution function in phase space, an emission in X-ray from the hot, diffuse gas, and a dark component in form of massive fermions, we derive constraints on the dark matter distribution by using optical and X-ray data. Comparison of model results with observations does not allow a tight determination of the amount of dark matter which results to be in the range 0.4-9 times the amount of the stellar mass. We specialize our investigation to the elliptical NGC 4472 for which spectroscopic data of relatively good quality are available.


The Bud Rot Complex (BRC) is still the greatest disease of the oil palm in the eastern zone of Colombia. In 1996 a 12% incidence in 22,667 hectares was reported, achieving a 50% in 25,035 hectares on December 1999. At the beginning it developed in the areas of Bajo Upia and Cumaral, moving to new areas towards the south of Meta such as San Carlos de Guaroa. For this historic diagnose, four palm regions of the Eastern Zone were selected: Bajo Upia, Cumaral, San Carlos de Guaroa and San Martin. In Bajo Upia the BRC incidence from 1996 to 1999 went from 36% to 74%; in Cumaral from 34% to 65%; in San Carlos de Guaroa from 2% to 9%; and. in San Martin the BRC is not reported. Even though the high BRC incidence in the different regions of the eastern zone and the fact that there are no positive answers for the agricultural management to avoid the dissemination, the affection is not lethal. About 80 to 90% of the palms recover in a period of 1 1/2 to 3 years with or without surgeon/. The BRC is a high economical impact disease which incidence on: the costs of the sanitary management (approximately US $307 ha/year); the 100% increment of the agricultural labors ( greater number of hand plating, chemicals, and rocerias); in the general pruning ( greater value/palm); in the significant yield lowdown (ton/ ha). The production yield may reach a 62% in the second and third year. Regarding oil extraction, it can be reduced in 8% comparing healthy palms against unstable palms. In a plantation, which incidence presents different states of development (unstable recuperation, good recuperation and high recuperation or in production) the loses in FFB production and in oil extraction go from 40% to 50% and from 3% to 4% respectively. The Asian materials present the highest incidence of BRC in the Eastern Zone, with 39 to 61%. The African materials have fewer incidences which vary from 33% to 41%.


The imaging technique presented here demonstrates the feasibility of a novel approach to allow in-vivo imaging at extreme spectral ranges with enhanced resolution and ~ms acquisition times. This technique is based on the concept of induced coherence, which in a summarized way allows illuminating the sample with the desired light of an extreme spectral range whereas capturing its image on the camera with visible light. This way, high-performance cameras can be exploited for visible light detection while the correlated partner illumination wavelength can be set for optimum interaction with the sample.


In recent years, the growing use of IoT and electronic devices with limited resources has created a need for lightweight cryptography algorithms that can provide secure communication between devices. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST's) lightweight cryptography initiative aims to develop standards for cryptography algorithms, and in such a algorithm's S-box is one of the most important elements of this approach. In this paper, we analyze the performance of the S-box when implemented in both serial and parallel modes, with a focus on its use in RFID systems. We present detailed comparisons between the two implementations and discuss the implications of our results. Our findings suggest that the parallel implementation of the S-box may offer improved performance in certain scenarios, highlighting the importance of careful consideration when selecting the most appropriate security primitives for specific applications. Overall, our work contributes to the ongoing effort to develop effective lightweight cryptography solutions for a wide range of electronic devices.


This chapter reports on a study of 39 Preservice Mathematics Teachers (PSMTs) enrolled in a course on mathematical problem solving with technology. Qualitative data were collected with the purpose of examining the extent to which the course was supporting the development of a vision of teaching with technology amongst secondary preservice mathematics teachers. Two findings are discussed. First, PSMTs developed a vision aligned with the vision provided by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics Technology Principle. Second, PSMTs drew heavily on instructional experiences gained in the course to illustrate that emergent vision. The voices in this study challenge key assumptions that may be prevalent in current practice in the preparation of PSMTs.


Background Immune checkpoint therapy is a major advance in the field of oncology. Agents targeting CTLA-4, programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) and PD-ligand 1 have produced significant survival benefits in patients with malignancies. With these therapies have come a unique spectrum of adverse events related to over-activation of the immune system with resultant autoimmune disease. To date reports of rheumatic immune related AEs (irAEs) have not been adequately characterized, as they are infrequently reported in clinical trials. We describe the largest series of rheumatic irAEs secondary to checkpoint inhibitors to date. Objectives To report our 22 month experience with 19 patients evaluated in the Cleveland Clinic Rheumatology department. Methods A retrospective chart review was performed on 19 patients, 16 without pre-existing autoimmune disease (AID) and 3 with pre-existing AID, seen in our rheumatology department February 2015-December 2016. 2 designated rheumatologists evaluated all patients. Recorded information included gender, age, age at malignancy diagnosis, malignancy details, checkpoint inhibitor, nature of rheumatic irAE, time of onset, diagnostic data, treatment of irAE and response to treatment. Results In the group without pre-existing AID 56% developed a rheumatic irAE within 16 weeks of starting immunotherapy, with median time to onset of 14.5 weeks (table 1). Of the 3 patients with pre-existing AID, 1 experienced a disease flare after starting immunotherapy.Table 1. Demographic features, cancer types, immunotherapy and rheumatic irAEs Patient Age Sex Malignancy Immunotherapy irAE Serology Time to onset (weeks) Treatment Improvement Immunotherapy held for irAE 1 74 F NSCL Nivo Arthritis ANA 1:160 7.3 Prednisone 40 mg Significant Y Anti-dsDNA 77 2 49 F Melanoma Ipi Arthritis 52.7 Prednisone 20 mg Moderate Y Pembrolizumab HCQ 3 42 F RCC Ipi/Nivo Arthritis 3 Prednisone Moderate N Infliximab, MTX Etanercept 4 57 M RCC Ipi/Nivo Arthritis RF 214 48.4 Prednisone, MTX Significant N Etanercept Adalimumab 5 59 F Melanoma Ipi/Nivo Arthritis 21.7 Prednisone 60 mg Minimal N 6 81 M Melanoma Ipi/Nivo Arthritis ANA 1.5 13.1 Prednisone 15 mg Moderate Y 7 59 M RCC Ipi/Nivo Arthritis ANA 1.8 56 Prednisone 10 mg Minimal N 8 53 M Melanoma Ipi/Nivo Arthritis 16 Methylprednisolone 80 mg IM Minimal Y 9 63 59 NSCL Nivo Arthritis ANA 1:160 38 Prednisone 30 mg Minimal Y Methorexate 10 57 F Melanoma Ipi/Nivo Arthritis ANA 1:320 6.7 Prednisone 30 mg Significant Y Sicca 6.7 11 61 M Melanoma Ipi/Nivo Sicca 5.3 Prednisone 60 mg* Significant Y^ 12 63 M RCC Atezolizumab Sicca 21.9 Prednisone 60 mg* Significant Y^ 13 68 M Melanoma Ipi/Nivo Sicca ANA 1:1280 8.1 Prednisone 30 mg Significant Y PMR SSA 14 79 M Melanoma Nivo PMR 2 Prednisone 20 mg Moderate Y Sicca 15 63 M RCC Nivo PMR 213 Prednisone 40 mg Moderate Y Infliximab Tocilizumab 16 68 M NSCL Tremelimumab Myositis 4.6 IV methylpred 60 mg Moderate Y Durvalumab Prednisone 60 mg NSCL non-small cell lung cancer, RCC renal cell carcinoma, Ipi ipilimumab, Nivo nivolimumab, RF rheumatoid factor HCQ hydroxychloroquine, MTX methotrexate, *Prednisone given for hypophysitis. ^Immunotherapy held for hypophysitis. Conclusions Rheumatic irAEs is a new field that will continue to grow. At this stage we have more questions than answers regarding their epidemiology, natural history and pathophysiology. Our findings reinforce that rheumatic irAEs are complex, at times require aggressive immunosuppression and can impact checkpoint inhibitor therapy for the underlying malignancy. Disclosure of Interest C. Calabrese: None declared, E. Kirchner: None declared, A. Kontzias: None declared, V. Velcheti Grant/research support from: Genentech, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Merck, Astra Zeneca, Genoptix, Consultant for: Genentech, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Merck, Astra Zeneca, Celgene, Genoptix, Foundation Medicine, L. Calabrese Consultant for: Bristol-Myers Squibb


In a wide range of applications, the stochastic properties of the observed time series change over time. The changes often occur gradually rather than abruptly: the properties are (approximately) constant for some time and then slowly start to change. In such situations, it is frequently of interest to locate the time point where the properties start to vary. In contrast to the analysis of abrupt changes, methods for detecting smooth or gradual change points are less developed and often require strong parametric assumptions. In this paper, we develop a fully nonparametric method to estimate a smooth change point in a locally stationary framework. We set up a general procedure which allows to deal with a wide variety of stochastic properties including the mean, (auto)covariances and higher-order moments. The theoretical part of the paper establishes the convergence rate of the new estimator. In addition, we examine its finite sample performance by means of a simulation study and illustrate the methodology by applications to temperature and financial return data.


PART ONE: THEORY AND METHOD IN QUALITATIVE RESEARCH What Is Qualitative Research? In Search of a Working Definition Loaded Evaluations of Research Methods Methods Should Fit Your Research Question The Good Sense of Quantitative Research The Nonsense of Quantitative Research The Good Sense of Qualitative Research The Nonsense of Qualitative Research Varieties of Qualitative Research Designing a Research Project Selecting a Topic Formulating a Researchable Question Fitting your Research Question into an Appropriate Theory Choosing an Effective Research Design An Effective Literature Review Basic Terms in Research Design Conclusions Data Analysis Some Rules for Data Analysis Content Analysis Grounded Theory Narrative Analysis Conclusion Research Ethics Ethical Pitfalls Ethical Safeguards Some Ethical Complications PART TWO: METHODS Ethnography and Observation The Ethnographic Focus Methodological Issues The Theoretical Character of Ethnographic Observations Conclusion: The Unity of the Ethnographic Project Interviews What Is an 'Open-Ended' Interview? Why Interview? Implications: Three Versions of Interview Data Positivism Emotionalism Constructionism Adolescent Cultures: Combining 'What' and 'How' Questions Moral Tales of Parenthood The Three Models: A Summary Summary: Basic Issues Three Practical Questions - and Answers Conclusion Focus Groups What Are Focus Groups? Analysing Focus Group Data in Social Science Form or Substance? Concluding Comments Texts Structure of This Chapter Comparative Keyword Analysis (CKA) Ethnography Ethnomethodology: Membership Categorisation Analysis Conclusion Naturally-Occurring Talk Why Work with Tapes? Transcribing Audiotapes Why Talk Matters Conversation Analysis Discourse Analysis Conversation Analysis and Discourse Analysis Compared Conclusion Visual Images Kinds of Visual Data Research Strategies Content Analysis Semiotics Workplace Studies Conclusion PART THREE: RESEARCH PRACTICE Credible Qualitative Research Does Credibility Matter? Reliability Validity Generalisability Conclusions Writing Your Report Beginnings Your Literature Review Your Methodology Section Writing Up Your Data Your Final Section A Short Note on Plagiarism Self-Expression or Argument? PART FOUR: IMPLICATIONS The Relevance of Qualitative Research Three Roles for the Social Scientist The Audiences for Qualitative Research The Contribution of Qualitative Social Science Summary Conclusion The Potential of Qualitative Research: Eight Reminders Take Advantage of Naturally Occurring Data Avoid Treating the Actor's Point of View as an Explanation Study the Interrelationships Between Elements Attempt Theoretically Fertile Research Address Wider Audiences Begin With 'How' Questions Then Ask 'Why?' Study 'Hyphenated' Phenomena Treat Qualitative Research as Different from Journalism Concluding Remarks


It is well-known that a Lagrangian induces a compatible presymplectic form on the equation manifold (stationary surface, understood as a submanifold of the respective jet-space). Given an equation manifold and a compatible presymplectic form therein, we define the first-order Lagrangian system which is formulated in terms of the intrinsic geometry of the equation manifold. It has a structure of a presymplectic AKSZ sigma model for which the equation manifold, equipped with the presymplectic form and the horizontal differential, serves as the target space. For a wide class of systems (but not all) we show that if the presymplectic structure originates from a given Lagrangian, the proposed first-order Lagrangian is equivalent to the initial one and hence the Lagrangian per se can be entirely encoded in terms of the intrinsic geometry of its stationary surface. If the compatible presymplectic structure is generic, the proposed Lagrangian is only a partial one in the sense that its stationary surface contains the initial equation manifold but does not necessarily coincide with it.


The improved conditions are applied to a broad spectrum of amino compounds to produce the desired formylated products with good to excellent yields within a short time.


As M. Belbenoit's contribution was much lengthier than the articles normally accepted for the "revue ATEE journal", the Editorial Secretariat were at first inclined to try to condense it. We found, however, that condensation would not allow a fair representation of the author's views, and so decided to publish it in two instalments, of which the first in the preceeding issue (p. 127‐150). This is the second instalment.


Several articles have appeared recently regarding cystitis emphysematosa, indicating the increasing interest in this entity and showing the value of early diagnosis and treatment. So far as we are aware, however, the complication of ureteritis emphysematosa has not been reported previously. Case Report A 68-year-old white woman with poorly controlled diabetes was admitted to the hospital for gastrointestinal study because of vague abdominal complaints, diarrhea, weakness, and anemia. On the day of the gastrointestinal examination, nausea and vomiting developed and the gallbladder was found to be filled with calculi. The patient improved under conservative management, but two days later experienced sudden lower abdominal pain with urgency and frequency. A tender mass, which proved to be a distended urinary bladder, was palpated in the lower abdomen. The patient was sent to the x-ray department with a clinical diagnosis of "acute abdomen." Roentgenograms showed the characteristic findings of cystitis emphys...


Conceptually, the high intensity laser represents the simplest thin film deposition techniques that consists of both a target and a substrate holders housed in a vacuum chamber with a high powered pulsed laser as the external energy source for evaporation of target material (Semiconductor Glass). Using deposit thin laser films three ranges of frequencies were produced: (0-15,000 mJ/cm2) as a result tuning of semiconductor was satisfying condition, while the second, 0-33,000 mJ/cm2 as a result tuning of semiconductor had a stable condition and the last 0-100,000 mJ/cm2 as a result tuning of semiconductor was unstable condition. The results demonstrate a decrease in resistance due to charging the semiconductor glass by high intensity laser as well as a superior charge efficiency and lifetime of semiconductor glass coated cells compared to high intensity laser. The current increase in the charge appeared proportional with extra energy stored of the semiconductor glass coated electrodes at 2Co (>23%) in comparison with control. It is concluded that an increase in the capacity of semiconductor glass may address the main difficulty for utilizing the high intensity laser chemistry for future demands.


This study assessed the impact of stress on the academic performance of students in the Bolgatanga Technical University. It investigated the causes of stress, the symptoms of stress, the effects of stress and how students can overcome stress. The quantitative research strategy was used for the study. The research data collection was preceded by a literature review to provide an in-depth understanding of the research topic. A structured questionnaire designed in the form of a Likert-Scale was administered to One Hundred and Forty (140) students who were the participants of the study. The data was analysed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) and the results were presented in the form of descriptive statistics using the Relative Importance Index (RII). The study revealed that several factors namely high cost of living, poor time management, limited facilities, difficult relations and the workload caused stress among students of the Bolgatanga Technical University. It was concluded that stress has a negative impact on the academic performance of students. The study recommends that the guidance and counselling department of the university should be strengthened to make it more effective in supporting students to overcome stress. In addition, guidance programmes such as seminars and public lectures on stress awareness should be organized periodically for students so that they can be adequately equipped with the needed skills to handle issues related to academic stress better. Finally, provision should be made in the curriculum for adequate time for students to rest by not allowing lectures to extend to weekends.


We exhibit a transformation taking special Lagrangian submanifolds of a Calabi-Yau together with local systems to vector bundles over the mirror manifold with connections obeying deformed Hermitian-Yang-Mills equations. That is, the transformation relates supersymmetric A- and Bcycles. In this paper, we assume that the mirror pair are dual torus fibrations with flat tori and that the A-cycle is a section. We also show that this transformation preserves the (holomorphic) Chern-Simons functional for all connections. Furthermore, on corresponding moduli spaces of supersymmetric cycles it identifies the graded tangent spaces and the holomorphic m-forms. In particular, we verify Vafa's mirror conjecture with bundles in this special case.


Atomic scale structures are studied using first principles or ab initio simulations. We first review the formalism required for a typical calculation and then proceed to examine a few applications. All the simulations were performed using plane wave based pseudopotential methods and by a direct minimization of the Kohn-Sham total energy functional.


Thermal generation of combustible vapors has been measured up to 500 degrees C for green Douglas-fir, ponderosa pine, and lodgepole pine foliage. The relative contributions to combustible products are given for ether, benzene-ethanol, and total extractives, as well as for holocellulose and lignin. Each of these components makes a sizeable contribution to flammable vapors. Extractives account for about 80 percent of the volatiles below 300 degrees C. Most of these low-temperature volatiles were extracted with benzene-ethanol, but only 15 to 30 percent were ether soluble. For these fuels, ether extractive content was found to be of limited value as an indicator of differences in flammability.


It can be stated that in Romania there is a clear dependence of taxation on accounting that one can argue biases the quality of the information provided by the accounting information system. In this paper the authors analyzed, by use of environmental analysis and different methodological methods several possible causes that conduct to the statement of the following paradigm: "The accounting information quality is biased by taxation". In order to achieve this, as an environmental analysis tool the Ishikawa diagram or cause-effect diagram was used. The main findings are that in Romania, to a large extent, accounting is not disconnected from taxation, although steps were made in this direction through the adoption and implementation by the listed companies of the IFRS. There can be noticed a book-tax alignment tendency in what concerns the accounting result and the tax result, although there are regulatory differences meant to address the possible temptation towards the manipulation of the accounting result by the taxpayer. To some extent it can be argued that the main user of the financial reports issued according to accounting rules and regulations is mainly the state and to a smaller extent the other stakeholders and that sometimes professional judgments made by specialists when choosing accounting policies and treatments are influenced by taxation.


The importance of stressing the realism or policy relevance of a contingent valuation (CV) survey is commonly recognized by CV researchers. This paper focuses on the relationship between the probability that a subject's response will result in "real" consequences and the subject's accurate reporting of willingness to pay. Results from experiments support the argument that efforts to make contingent valuation surveys "real" are important. However, our results also suggest that the connection between the survey and the likelihood of a payment must be rather powerful before surveys generate accurate reporting of willingness to pay for a public good.


Laser-Ultrasonics (LUS) provides a means of obtaining microstructure information and NDT data continuously in both in the laboratory industrial quality control systems. Ultrasound is generated and recorded using lasers, which permits remote, non-contact operation and the capability of working at high temperatures or/and with at moving surfaces. This paper reports results from experiments aimed at industrial in-line applications during processing of aluminium. The investigations cover LUS abilities to detect possible defects in extruded profiles and in friction stir welds (FSW). The results show that LUS is a potential tool to use for these applications although data interpretation may be complicated. Compared to other NDT devices, the LUS approach has unique and considerable advantages due to its remote operation, especially when complemented with fiber optics. This enables operation under conditions where transducer and EMAT devices are difficult or impossible to implement. Ultrasonic waves that travel through a metal sample interact with the microstructural features, so that the registered wave spectrum will carry microstructural information about the penetrated volume. In traditional applications of non-destructive testing, the data analysis is focused on the possible presence of echoes of waves. An echo may indicate that the wave met an obstacle (a defect) and the echo's time of flight provides information on the obstacle's location. A more descriptive analysis is achieved by studying the velocity, attenuation and dispersivity of the wave. The work presented here is focused on classical NDT applications, where relatively cheap and robust piezoelectric transducers and EMAT- coils traditionally dominate. However, such devices suffer from the fact that both sensor and actuator need to be either very close to or in direct contact with the specimen examined, while LUS permits true non-contact operation, which enables measurements in aggressive environments and on moving surfaces. Considering aluminium products, there are several fields where non-contact systems for in-line quality control could be applied. In this report, we present investigations of LUS abilities to detect possible defects in extruded aluminium profiles and in friction stir welds. Extrusion is a process that is extraordinary feasible for manufacturing of tubes, bars and complex profiles in aluminium, which is a major reason to the vast importance of aluminium as a construction material. The extrusion process is schematically shown in Figure 1: preheated aluminium billets are forced through a die that forms the final shape to the profile. Although the process is effective and reliable, some defects can appear at the interface between individual billets. The interface between the billets is called the charge weld and consists of oxides and cavities that impair the mechanical properties of the profile. To maintain required quality, these defective parts of the profiles have to be removed.


Ionizing radiations produce distinct chromosomal aberrations in human cells exposed either in vitro or in vivo (1, 2). Although chromosome breakage is generally thought to result from ionizations of the directly exposed chromosomes (3), the secondary effects of radiation might also induce chromosome lesions in irradiated cells. Experiments conducted in this laboratory to test for an indirect effect of x rays on chromosome integrity (4, 5) showed that cell-free plasma from patients who had received large doses of therapeutic x radiation could break chromosomes of nonirradiated leukocytes. The present paper extends the observations of the effects of the "plasma breakage factor" on leukocyte chromosomes and summarizes data on breakage frequencies in a control population. Subjects Twelve patients who were receiving or scheduled for therapy for solid tumors were chosen as experimental subjects. X-ray tumor doses ranged from 1,000 to 7,000 R. None of the patients received radiomimetic drugs, and none had clinic...


Objective To sum up the clinical nursing experience in infantile pneumonia complicated with cardiac failure.Methods Sixty nine childish cases of pneumonia complicated with cardiac failure were divided into usual care group(34 cases)and holistic nursing group(35 cases).Patients in holistic nursing group were treated with conventional therapy associated with individualized nursing care based on comprehensive nursing assessment and nursing diagnosis.Results The improvement in symptoms and signs of patients in holistic nursing group was significantly better than that of control group,and the difference was statistically significant(P 0.05).Conclusion The improvement of symptoms and signs in children with pneumonia complicated with cardiac failure can effectively be controlled and the course of disease will be shortened in holistic nursing group.


An analytical and numerical study is carried out addressing the concept of interface mobilities. The introduction of such quantities would enable transmission theory to be employed for primary excitation distributions at interfaces between subsystems covering more than a fraction of the governing wavelength. Complex interface mobilities are derived for the important case of plate-like structures comprising the effective characteristics at the directly excited interface as well as transfer and cross-transfer characteristics between different interfaces. The analysis, which supplements previous work on distributed excitation [1], likewise is for annular interfaces. While the interface mobilities developed are strictly confined to such interfaces, the approach is applicable and the results are also qualitatively valid for other geometries. It is found that the direct interface mobilities can be replaced by ordinary point mobilities in the range over which the circumference (perimeter) of the interface is less than a wavelength of the governing wave. For shorter wavelengths, the interface mobilities decrease with both frequency and size of the interface. With respect to interface transfer and cross-transfer mobilities, the applicability of ordinary point quantities is, besides frequency, also dependent on the interface geometries as well as their relative, spatial locations. The mobility elements derived for the annular case are directly implementable in calculation procedures and the asymptotic expressions developed give essential information with respect to design.


Under the goal and tide of building national central cities,Guangzhou should expand exports of services so as to upgrade the core competitiveness of modern service industry,strengthen the city's agglomeration degree and radiometric force.The implementation of "The Outline of the Plan for the Reform and Development of Pearl River Delta" and the promotion of regional economic integration provide an excellent opportunity for Guangzhou's services industry.By introducing the strategic measures of innovation development,agglomeration of services,regional integration,sevice upgrading,serrive standardizing and internationalizing,ultimately,expanding the export of services will become a strategic choice of Guangzhou to develop service industry.


A mechanism for generating massive but naturally light Dirac neutrinos is proposed. It involves composite Higgs within the standard model as well as some new interaction beyond the standard model. According to this scenario, a neutrino mass of 0.1 eV or higher, signals new physics at energies of 10–100 TeV or lower.


Objective To evaluate the influences of infection with Ureaplasma urealyticum(UU) and Chlamydia trachomatis(CT) on the sperm morphological changes. Methods The sperm morphological analysis of 724 cases of infertile men caused by UU and/or CT infection was performed by sperm morphological detection system and artificial adjusted method. 335 cases of health fertile men were used as control. The detection of UU and CT were performed by cultivation and tachyphylaxisrespectiveness. Results The percentages of normal morphological sperm in UU infection group, CT infection group and the group with both UU and CT infection were significantly lower than that in normal fertile group (P0.01). The percentages of abnormal morphological sperm in the former three groups were significantly higher than that of normal fertile group(P0.01) . The percentages of head and tail deformity in UU infection group were significantly higher than that in normal fertile group(P0.01, P0.05). The percentage of head deformity in CT infection group was significantly higher than that in normal fertile group (P 0.05). The percentages of head, tail and combined deformity in the group with both UU and CT infection were significantly higher than that in normal fertile group(P0.01,P0.05,P0.05) .Conclusion Either UU or CT infection can cause abnormal change of sperm morphology.


We apply diagram geometry and amalgam techniques to give a new proof of a theorem of K.-W. Phan, characterizing the special unitary group as a group generated by certain systems of subgroups SUð2; qÞ.


In this paper we present a truly semantic-oriented approach for meronymy relation extraction. It directly operates, instead of syntactic trees or surface representations, on semantic networks (SNs). These SNs are derived from texts (in our case, the German Wikipedia) by a deep linguistic syntactico-se mantic analysis. The extraction of meronym/holonym pairs is carried out by using, among other components, an automated theorem prover, whose work is based on a set of logical axioms. The corresponding algorithm is combined with a shallow approach enriched with semantic information. Through the employment of logical methods, the recall and precision of the semantic patterns pertinent to the extracted relations can be increased considerably.


Background. Pituitary adenomas are benign tumors located in the anterior hypophysis. It´s appearance is associated with the development of parameters related to metabolic syndrome; therefore, surgical treatment could reduce associated morbimortality.Methods. Pre- and post-surgical MRI, using the Hardy-Wilson and Knosp classification, and clinical data according to the American Association of Clinical Endocrinology (AACE) criteria for metabolic syndrome: all the patients were followed-up until 208.57 days were reviewed on 217 consecutive patients with pituitary surgery.Results. Seventy-four patients were included in this study. There was a significant reduction in tumor size in mm3 [average pre- and post-surgery respectively: 12,362 mm3 (± 12,397); 3,910 mm3 (± 7,160)], (p < 0.0001). This was confirmed by the Hardy-Wilson and Knosp classification, where most patients went from grade IV C (33.7%) to grade 0 (12.1%), IA (20.2%), IIB (21.36%), and IIC (16.2%); as well as from grade 4 (24.3%) to grade 0 (45.9%), respectively. After surgery, there were statistically significant reductions in total serum levels of glucose [average pre- and post-surgery respectively: 116 mg/dL (± 26.9); 90 mg/dL (±10.2)], (p < 0.001), triglycerides [average pre- and post-surgery, 240 mg/dL (± 102); 171 mg/dL (± 60.5)], (p = 0.001); and HDL-c [average pre- and post-surgery, respectively: 39 mg/dL (± 11.8); 44.6 mg/dL (± 8.4)], (p = 0.029). The other parameters remained unchanged.Conclusion. This is the first study to demonstrate the relationship between the presence of pituitary adenoma and significative changes in serum glucose, triglycerides and c-HDL related to metabolic syndrome.


The key to fictionality is the construction of fictional minds. A fictional narrative is, in essence, the presentation of the mental functioning of the characters who inhabit the storyworld created by that narrative. Readers enter a storyworld primarily by using their knowledge of how to interpret other people's thought processes in the real world in order to try to follow the workings of characters' minds. Otherwise, readers will lose the plot. In this essay, I will suggest that there are twelve features relating to fictional minds that recur in all or nearly all novels. This argument will be put into three contexts: the cognitive turn in literature studies, discussions regarding the concept of narrative universals, and the longstanding debate on how the term narrative should be properly defined. I will also argue that my generalizations regarding the twelve features are not invalidated by a few counterexamples, and that some, particularly postmodern, novels gain their power and impact precisely from their attempts to undermine the default assumptions contained in these features. 1. The cognitive turn The background to my argument for the existence of universal minds in novels is the widespread cognitive turn in the study of literature. Examples include such three research areas as cognitive narratology, cognitive approaches to literature, and cognitive poetics. Cognitive narratology has applied the findings of the various cognitive sciences to a number of different aspects of the narrative comprehension process. Notable examples of the success of this approach include Ryan (1991), Fludernik (1996), and Herman (2002). The second new development, cognitive approaches to literature, di¤ers from the first in that it has emerged from literary criticism generally, rather than from literary or narrative theory, and has Semiotica 165–1/4 (2007), 205–225 0037–1998/07/0165–0205 DOI 10.1515/SEM.2007.040 6 Walter de Gruyter poetry and drama as its subject matter as well as narrative. One of its particular areas of interest is the analysis of metaphor. Among important works in this field are Turner (1991), Scarry (1999), and Zunshine (2006). Cognitive poetics is an area of applied linguistics that, like the previous area, is concerned with poetry as well as narrative and, in particular, with the role of metaphor. It di¤ers from the other two fields in its use of specifically linguistic tools for the analysis of texts. Leading texts in this field include Stockwell (2002), Emmott (1997), and Gavins and Steen (2003). All of these approaches have made a number of important contributions to our understanding of the reading process. As my interest is in the fictional minds of characters in novels it seems to me to make sense to explore the various disciplines concerned with the study of real minds such as the philosophy of mind; social, cognitive, and discursive psychology; cognitive science; and psycholinguistics. My cognitive approach is a very pragmatic and undogmatic one: if these real-mind disciplines assist our study of fictional minds, then that is fine; if they do not, then there is no reason to use them. However, it has been my experience that we understand fictional minds much better when we apply to them some of the work done on real minds by psychologists, philosophers, and cognitive scientists. In fact, I would go further and argue that all serious students of literature are cognitivists, whether they like it or not. We all think of novels in terms of the mental functioning of characters. Otherwise, we would not be able to read them. 2. Narrative universals One of the tasks of the various cognitive approaches is to consider whether or not narrative universals exist. That is, are there any features of narratives that are universal, in the sense that they are common to all narrative traditions? Work on this question has been done by Patrick Colm Hogan (2003). He has looked at patterns of stories across a wide range of written and oral traditions within various cultures to see whether he can identify recurring patterns and has concluded that he can do so. He defines narrative universals as 'features of stories or discourse that recur across a greater number of genetically and areally unrelated traditions than predicted by chance' (Hogan 2005: 384). In his view, narrative universals can be identified on both sides of the story and discourse distinction. An example of a discourse universal is the existence of di¤erent types of temporal ordering. Examples of story universals include universals of scene (the association of lovers and birds), character (the heroes who strives for goals), and event (the quest). Within the last-named category, Hogan has found three recurring types of story structure: romantic, he206 A. Palmer


Based on the deep recognition of the geology,the emotional love of the traditional culture,and the considering observation of social phenomena,this paper puts forward the concept"geological culture",and first describes its basic framework,construction principle and actual fragments.Geological culture construction will play a substantive role in the development of geology and the construction of our culture;also it is the important part for building a harmonious society.


Fluorescent analogs of phosphatidylcholine (PC) and sphingomyelin (SM) were prepared and incorporated into the surface layer of human low-density lipoprotein (LDL) and lipoprotein (a) [Lp(a)]. Diphenylhexatrienylpropionic acid (DPH) was covalently linked to PC (DPH-PC) and SM (DPH-SM). Fluorescence lifetimes of the labeled lipoproteins were determined by phase and modulation fluorometry. Bimodal Lorentzian distributions for the decay times of DPH-PC and DPH-SM in LDL and Lp(a) were found. Lifetime distribution centers for labeled lipids were very similar except for DPH-PC in Lp(a) which was shifted to longer lifetimes. Thus, PC experiences a less polar environment in Lp(a) than in LDL. The distributional width of DPH-PC in Lp(a) was broader than in LDL. Accordingly, phosphatidylcholine must be localized in a much more homogeneous environment in LDL as compared with Lp(a). On the other hand, no difference in distributional widths was observed for DPH-SM in both lipoproteins, showing that SM organization in Lp(a) is unaffected by apo(a). From the obtained fluorescence data, it is proposed that apoprotein B preferentially associates with phosphatidylcholine.


Abstract Eastern gamagrass [Tripsacum dactyloides L.] is a native, warm-season, perennial, bunch-type grass adapted generally to moist sites throughout much of the eastern United States. Nitrogen concentrations of eastern gamagrass will normally exceed 20 g/kg at growth stages (boot and anthesis) that produce reasonable yields. With moderate N fertilization, concentrations of N approaching 32 g/kg are realistic in whole-plant tissue harvested at boot stage in the upper Midwest. Recent studies suggest that high proportions (>50%) of this N are insoluble in neutral detergent (NDIN), thereby implying association with the cell wall. In situ studies in Kansas have shown that the potential extent of ruminal N degradation for gamagrass harvested at boot stage is comparable with that of high quality legumes, but degradation occurs at slower rates; generally, similar trends have been observed for in situ disappearance of DM and fibrous components. Increasing plant maturity appears to limit extent primarily, but not the rate, of degradation for these plant components. Concentrations of NDF are generally high (>600 g/kg), even at immature growth stages; this observation is consistent with findings for other warm-season grasses. In studies conducted throughout the mid South, researchers report that ADG ranged between 0.5 and 1.0 kg/d for steers continuously grazing eastern gamagrass pastures. Daily gains are likely to be reduced as days on pasture increase. Mounting evidence suggests that gamagrass grown in the Midwest demonstrates better quality characteristics than that grown in the Southeast.


Phengite is the most common metamorphic mineral in HP-UHP metasedimentary rocks, which can convey H 2 O, LILEs (especially K, Ba, Cs and Rb), Li, B and N in their structure formed at depths up to 300 km. The breakdown of phengite in a downgoing oceanic slab would cause fluid-induced element transport into the overlying mantle wedge. We have investigated the 2 H/ 1 H (D/H) and 18 O/ 16 O ratios of twenty-four phengite separates from pelitic schists of the Devonian–Carboniferous Renge Belt (SW Japan), Permian Shaiginsky Complex (Far East Russia) and Cretaceous Sambagawa Belt (SW Japan).


The article is devoted to the study of the role of the excursion in the formation of a sense of patriotism among the youth, as one of the most important characteristics of the individual. The question of becoming a tour movement in Russia in the second half of XIX early XX centuries, is determined by its main goals and objectives. Methodological framework made the principle of historicism in combination with the systematic approach that allowed the work to consider the excursion since its inception and track the entire process of its development in historical perspective, examine evaluation component at a particular stage of its development. The article discusses the educational potential of student trips to Russia in the second half of XIX early XX centuries. The experience of teachers of this period, the speakers of the pioneers of the revival of the excursion : the former director of the KievPechersk VI Grammar School Peter, director of Sumy real school in Kharkov province A. S. Grits, a teacher 1st Gymnasium N. A. Gortalova, director of the Alexander training school for teachers in Tiflis ( later transformed into a teachers' institute ) N. P. Zakharov. A special place in the article is the question to study the organization of student excursions to the spiritual and educational institutions, the main purpose of which was seen in the development and strengthening of the alumni of love for the motherland, the glorious past of the great Russian people. Much attention is paid to the executive order, circulars, influenced the development and consolidation of student excursions in high school. Describes the role of print media («Vacation Gazette», «Russian Tripper», «School trips and school museum»), which helped popularize the excursions.


We propose a method for real time recovering from tracking failure in monocular localization and mapping with a Pan Tilt Zoom camera (PTZ).


Under the premise that an embryo is a full person, the argument against using spare IVF embryos for stem cell research is the prisoner analogy. Namely, the analogy contends that just as we may not ravage a prisoner on death row for his body parts, likewise we may not harvest the embryo for its stem cells simply because it is destined for destruction. Here, I show that this comparison does not hold, for an immoral action is committed against the prisoner as a result of certain characteristics present in the prisoner but absent from the embryo. In particular, three wrongs - infliction of suffering, imposition of double punishment, and violation of human dignity - are perpetrated against the prisoner, but do not apply in the case of the embryo. Therefore, I conclude that the repudiation of the analogy implies that it is morally permissible to use spare IVF embryos for the purposes of stem cell research.


Nowadays, Python developers can rely on two major testing frameworks: unittest and pytest. Due to the benefits of pytest (e.g., fixture reuse), several relevant projects in the Python ecosystem have migrated from unittest to pytest. Despite being performed by the Python community, we are not yet aware of how systems are migrated from unittest to pytest nor the major reasons behind the migration. In this paper, we provide the first empirical study to assess testing framework migration. We analyze how and why developers migrate from unittest to pytest. We mine 100 popular Python systems and assess their migration status. We find that 34% of the systems rely on both testing frameworks and that Python projects are moving to pytest. While some systems have fully migrated, others are still migrating after a long period, suggesting that the migration is not always straightforward. Overall, the migrated test code is smaller than the original one. Furthermore, developers migrate to pytest due to several reasons, such as the easier syntax, interoperability, easier maintenance, and fixture flexibility/reuse, however, the implicit mechanics of pytest is a concern. We conclude by discussing practical implications for practitioners and researchers.


Our aim is to study Indian stock market data using matrix variate dynamic model (MVDM). We need a model which preserves non-linear structure and the complexity of stock market data. MVDM has some structure preserving property which helps in understanding behaviour of stock data. We model MVDM by taking latent and observed data as a matrix variate with Gaussian noise. We use expectation maximization iterative techniques for parameter estimation. MVDM prediction accuracy is more except during major political events and COVID-19 period.


The invention discloses a coolant nozzle capable of automatically stretching and retracting. The coolant nozzle comprises an outer sleeve (1), wherein a pipe (2) capable of sliding along the inner wall of the outer sleeve (1) is connected in the outer sleeve (1) in sleeved mode, a protruding portion (3) is arranged at one end of the pipe (2) located in the outer sleeve (1), a protrusion (4) matched with the protruding portion is arranged on the inner wall of the outer sleeve (1) close to the protruding portion (3) position, and a nozzle (5) capable of sliding along the outer wall of the pipe (2) is connected at one end of the pipe (2) located outside the outer sleeve (1) in sleeved mode. After adopting the structure, when workpieces need cooling, the coolant nozzle is arranged at the position close to a cutter, and the nozzle can ascend along the outer wall of the pipe under effect of coolant pressure when the coolant nozzle ejects coolants and resets when completes cooling. Therefore, the cooling effect is ensured, and the cutter can be retracted conveniently when cooling is completed.


Nowadays, nursing has been able to recognize the importance of ethical requirements linked to the act of caring, recognizing the different conflicts of value that nursing professionals must face daily. Nevertheless, the nursing profession has not yet been able to identify a single bioethical model that encompasses all the aspects that stem from its professional activity, and which would help to improve the perceived quality of health services, thus humanizing the professional act of caring. This study aims, through theoretical discussion and the constant comparison method, to demonstrate the nursing profession's need to know the various bioethical models; especially the so-called "ethics of care", a model proposed in 1982 by the American psychologist and philosopher Carol Gilligan, which may serve as the foundation to define a specific nursing bioethical model. Likewise, this article aims to explain the difference between ethics of care and ethics of caring


Laboratory studies were carried out to test the allelopathic effect of fresh leaf aqueous extract (FLE) of Moringa olifera on the germination and early growth of Euphorbia heterophylla in the Department of Plant Science of Ekiti State University Ado Ekiti. Freshly harvested leaves of Moringa olifera were blended and 5 g, 10 g, 15 g and 20 g each of the material was separately soaked in 100ml of distilled water for 24 hours and later filtered to make the FLE. 3ml from each filtrate was used to moisten the double laid filter paper in the Petri dishes and 20 seeds sowed in each. Speed of germination and germination percentage including other seedling growths were observed. The results showed that higher FLE concentration of Moringa olifera slowed down germination speed and also reduced total germination percentage of E. heterophylla than the lower concentrations and the control. No germination of Moringa olifera was observed at the highest concentration of 20 g Moringa olifera. All the growth parameters observed were reduced by higher concentrations of FLE of Moringa olifera more than the lower and the control. Seedling survival of E. heterophylla got reduced as the concentration of the fresh leaf extract of M. olifera increased. The result from this trial suggests that Moringa olifera possesses some bio-herbicidal properties that may be used to help suppress Euphorbia heterophylla.


A field trial to determine comparing of yield and yield components of hybrid rice (GRH1) in different application of nitrogen fertilizer, comprising of 2 treatments, nitrogen fertilizer at 100,200 and 300 kg/ha was main plot and spilt application at 3 level: T1=(1/2basal-1/2mid tillering), T2=(1/3basal-1/3mid tillering-1/3panicle initiation) and T3=(1/4basal-1/4 mid tillering-1/4panicle initiation-1/4 flowering) as sub plot. Using randomized complete block design (RCBD) with 3 replications in rice research institute of Iran-departy of mazandaran (amol) in 2006 cropping season. The results showed that leaf color chart (Lcc) values increased significantly with nitrogen fertilizer. Interesting in comparison to 100 and 200 kg/ha level application of higher N-fertilizer 300 kg/ha showed a positive respond to application of high nitrogen hybrid cultivar. Effect of different split application N-fertilizer was significantly on lcc values the each time.


Temperature dependent current-voltage characteristics in the dark and under illumination have been analyzed on up to 3.2% efficient solar cells with extremely thin absorber based on ZnO nanorods/In2S3∕CuSCN structures. The diode ideality factor and the open circuit voltage are strongly influenced on a thermal activation process. Significant enhancement of the devices efficiency by annealing at moderate temperatures has been demonstrated. After this annealing, the activation energy of the saturation current increased from 1.00to1.46eV (in the dark). Transport mechanisms at the In2S3∕CuSCN interface region are discussed.


The object of this paper is to construct a sufficiently comp ehensive framework of reference with which we can formulate theories of human behavior. The elementary behavioristics is directed on its first step to find a universal mode of description with which we establish general laws of human behavior. From this point of view, we will begin our work with logico-operational analysis about terminology such as behavior, valence, path, etc. used by Lewin, and will try to replace them by mathematically well-defined terms.Although any kind of behavior always comprises some change of human state, it never means that every change of human state is attributed to behavior. In the region of physics human being is also a kind of matter which changes its state in accordance with physical laws. Similarly in the region of physiology the state of human being as a kind of physiological system changes under the laws of physiology. Such a change shall never be called a behavior. On account of these conditions, we will classify all changes of human state into two groups, one behavioral and the other natural which is under the control of so-called natural laws.Now we may take such a mathematical space that every point contained in it has one-to-one correspondence to every mutually distinguishable human state, and that any continuous change of human state should be represented by continuous curved line in the space. We call this the "state space" of human being. There may be infinite number of lines in the space, most of which can never be traced by behaving. The rest traceable by behaving is called the "path" in the state space. Now, let us suppose that an individual traces a path and reaches a split-point. Since he can not stop even for a moment in the state space-for we regard the time as one of the coordinates of the space-he is bound to select instantly one of the alternatives and to continue tracing this path. Then, what may be the standard for this selection? In view of the conditions that the selection should be carried out at the location of a split-point, we are compelled to recognize the existence of a uni-dimensional quantity whose value is the standard measure of selection. And the path having the maximum value of this quantity should be always selected among others. We call this quantity "Behavior-function" or briefly "B-function" of path. Next question is to determine the form of this function in terms of components of path.In the space we may have the so-called desirable state. Putting it in our terminology, there exists such a state that any path passing it has a tendency to be easily selected at the split-point among others. As to undesirable state, it goes by contrary. This fact means that each point in the space has its particular cantribution to the B-function of the paths passing it. We name this contribution the "valence" of state, and the state which has a valence, "effecta." B-function must be additive about valences.It is necessary, however, to account for one more function as a constituent of B-function. Suppose that there is one effecta and several paths connecting an individual with it. In this case, what path is the best one? Let us call to our minds that natural changes are also members of human state change as well as behavioral ones. While an individual is going on a path by a sequence of behavioral changes, some natural changes might occur which separate his state from the effecta so that he can no longer find a new path connected with the effecta. We might not be certain whether such occasion does or does not takes place on each path, but there may be a difference for each path about the quantity named by the "degree of certainty" for occurance. And it is clear in such a case that one selects the path which has the naximam probability for the connection between the effecta and him. Such a path, we distinguish


In the present paper, we give the exact formula for the average hitting time (HT, as an abbreviation) of random walks from one vertex to any other vertex on the weighted Cayley graph Cay($Z_{2n},\{\pm1\}$). Furthermore, we also give the exact formula for the HT's of random walks on the weighted Cayley graph Cay($Z_N,\{+1,+2\}$).


We previously reported that the electric permeability εr' of ferromagnetic nanocomposite oxide sputtered films with a Bi2O3-Fe2O3-PbTiO3 ternary system is subject to change with an external magnetic field H and that electric polarization induced by a small ac magnetic field, ∆Ph(ω), is observed. To explain these experimental results, we proposed a model based on magnetization rotation of ferromagnetic nanoclusters dispersed in a dielectric matrix. However, it was found that, when Si-wafers are used as substrates, a depletion layer attributed to the MIS structure is formed in the film-to-Si interface, which seriously affects measurements of the magnetic-field-sensitive portion of the permeability ∆εr'(H). In order to eliminate this completely, we used heavily doped n+-Si wafers (ρ = 0.0016 Ωcm) as substrates, by which means we were able to obtain accurate ∆εr'(H)-value for a wide range of frequencies. In addition, we measured the temperature dependence of ∆εr'(H) and the saturation magnetization, 4πMs, of a film to seek for the mechanism of this electromagnetic effect, as a result of which a close correlation was found to exist between ∆εr'(H) and 4πMs.


Areas covered in this report are as follows: nuclear safety in the Fuel Preparation Dept.; studies related to the present production reactors; studies related to future production reactors; studies related to separation plants; studies form the neutron cross section program; reactor development (gas cooled reactor program and test reactor operations); and biology and medicine.


The purpose of this study is to investigate the context of modern childhood in the Nordic countries, and to some extent in the Western world as well. The study may be divided into two approximately ...


Recently there has been an increasing interest in applying inductive learning algorithms to generate rules/patterns from a given example set. While such approaches serve as an efficient way of resolving the knowledge-acquisition bottleneck, their predictive accuracy, which is the popular measure of performance, varies widely. This paper contrasts major inductive-learning algorithms and examines their performance with two performance measures: the predictive accuracy and the representation language. Experiments involved three inductive-learning algorithms and five different managerial tasks in construction project assessment and bankruptcy-prediction domains. The test results indicate that the model performance is dependent on tasks with an exception of the neural network model and that there is a an effect of group proportion in the example set used to construct the model. The neural network approach presents relatively stable predictive power across different task domains, although it is difficult to interpret its representation.


Max E Sdn. Bhd. is a Private Limited Company business, which belongs to six shareholders who not contributes the same amount of capital. The capital is RM8000 from Managing Director, RM3000 from Administration Executive and Operation Executive, RM2000 from Marketing Executive, Finance Executive and Sale Executive. The total amount of our capital is RM 20 000. And the total of the bank loan is
RM 80, 000. The six shareholders will hold different task to manage the business. Our company produces isotonic drink to all sportsman, youngsters and teenagers. We are focusing to the customer in age 15 to 45 years old regardless of active in sports activity, party life style, function and gathering, games like indoor and out door, and events such
as festival, New Year and Merdeka Day.


Cost of living is an important consideration for the decision-making of expatriates and investment decisions of businesses. As competition between cities for talent and capital becomes global instead of national, the need for timely and internationally comparable information on global cities' cost of living increases. While commercial research houses frequently publish cost of living surveys, these reports can be lacking in terms of scientific rigour. In this context, this paper aims to contribute to the literature by formulating a comprehensive and rigorous methodology to compare the cost of living for expatriates in 103 world's major cities.,A cost of living index for expatriates composed of the ten consumption categories is constructed. The results from the study covers a study period from 2005 to 2014 in 103 cities. More than 280 individual prices of 165 goods and services have been compiled for each city in the calculation of the cost of living index for expatriates. New York has been chosen as the base city for the study, with other cities being benchmarked against it. A larger cost of living index for expatriates implies that the city is more expensive for expatriates to live in and vice versa.,While the authors generate the cost of living rankings for expatriates for 103 cities worldwide, in this paper, the authors focus on five key cities, namely, London, Hong Kong, Singapore, Tokyo and Zurich, as they are global financial centres. In 2013, the latest year for which data are available, Zurich was the most expensive for expatriates among the five cities, followed by Singapore, Tokyo, London and Hong Kong. These results pertain to the cost of living for expatriates, and cities compare very differently in terms of cost of living for ordinary residents, as ordinary residents follow different consumption patterns from expatriates.,Cost of living in the destination city is a major consideration for professionals who look to relocate, and organisations factor such calculations in their decisions to post employees overseas and design commensurate compensation packages. This paper develops a comprehensive and rigorous methodology for measuring and comparing cost of living for expatriates around the world. The value-addition lies in the fact that the authors are able to differentiate between expatriates and ordinary residents, which has not been done in the existing literature. They use higher quality data and generate an index that is not sensitive to the choice of base city.


Detailed investigations of the corona and the source regions of the solar wind have become possible with spectroscopic and imaging instruments on the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO). We present observations in the extreme ultraviolet (EUV), pertinent to the generation of the slow solar wind, which were obtained by the Solar Ultraviolet Measurements of Emitted Radiation (SUMER) spectrograph and by the Extreme-ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (EIT) in early 1998 under relatively quiet solar conditions, but with several active regions of the new solar cycle present. At the same time, forbidden iron lines in the visible were observed by the Large-Angle Spectroscopic Coronagraph (LASCO/C1). We study, in particular, the plasma parameters and the spatial structures of the low-altitude streamer regions, and find an electron density of $n_{\rm e} \approx 2\times 10^8$ cm -3 at 5 Mm above the equatorial limb for the coronal plasma, and $n_{\rm e} = (2~{\rm to}~6)\times 10^9$ cm -3 for the plasma at transition-region temperatures. High-temperature regions have been found at mid-latitudes with electron temperatures of $T_{\rm e} \approx 1.4\times 10^6$ K at heights of about 80 Mm and lower temperatures near the equator.


Five brands of ethylene oxide- and autoclave-sterilized membrane filters were examined for their ability to recover fungi from natural waters. Results showed that the recovery on Gelman membranes was consistently higher than on the other brands tested.


The satisfaction of 338 breast cancer patients were investigated and analyzed.Results showed that many aspects,such as the wards management,the hardware equipments,the nursing techniques,the health education and so on,need to be farther ameliorated.All has been done could ensure the entire satisfaction of the patient in the hospital.


The invention provides an ignition control apparatus for a general-purpose engine, which shortens the duration life of an ignition plug of the engine due to the waste ignition. The ignition control apparatus of the general-purpose engine controls ignition according to an ignition signal generated in a compression stroke and an exhaust stroke in four stroke cycle. The ignition control apparatus of the general-purpose engine includes: calculating the average rotation speed of the internal-combustion engine (S104) in a prescribed time; controlling ignition (S108) in a way of at least stopping once according to generated ignition signal; comparing the calculated average rotation speed of the internal-combustion engine and the rotation speed of the internal-combustion engine after stop, which is detected after at least ignition stop for one time and judging that the ignition signal is generated in the compression stroke or the exhaust stroke (S110-S118); selecting the ignition signal which is generated in the compression stroke from the generated ignition signal and controlling to ignite according to selected ignition signal.


Objective To explore the expression of iron-regulated transporter 1 mRNA in the temporal lobes of the patients with epilepsy and its relationship with drug-resistant epilepsy. Methods Using a cDNA microarray including 4 097 human genes, we identified those genes and their expressions were altered in the temporal lobes of the patients compared with the control brain tissues. The expression results determined by the microarray scanning were confirmed by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) analysis. Results In this study, 142 (3.47 %) of the 4 097 genes was found to be significantly altered in the temporal lobes of the patients with epilepsy. Of 142 cDNAs, 37(26.06%) genes showed down-regulation and 105 (73.94%) genes up-regulation. The target gene iron-regulated transporter 1 mRNA was significantly higher in the patients with drug-resistant epilepsy than that in the control group (P0.05). The genes data by RT-PCR was coincident well with the result of the microarray scanning. Conclusion It is suggested that the up-regulation of iron-regulated transporter 1 mRNA in the cerebral temporal tissue may play a role in epileptic pathogenesis of drug-resistant epilepsy.


Cratering and penetration data were obtained experimentally with intact, spherical, horosilicate glass projectiles 48 /* in diameter at velocities from 20,000-60,000-fps in a hypervelocity gun facility. A relatively close correspondence at high velocities exists between Bjork's theoretical penetration results and the empirical logarithmic law proposed by Herrmann and Jones. Empirical constants for the logarithmic law are presented for steel, Al, Mg, and Be target materials. The equations, combined with an appropriate meteoroid mass-flux distribution and impact probability, suggest that current protective requirements against the meteoroid hazard might be reduced. Results for velocities between 16,000 and 38,000 fps give values near 1.5 for the ratio of the thickness of a single sheet, which is just perforated to the depth of a crater in a thick target. Data obtained from equal-thickness, two-sheet configurations spaced 0.125 in. apart tend to define a velocity region above and below which perforations are not obtained. The perforation velocity region is interspersed with nonperforation data points, indicating the need for a statistical approach to determination of ballistic limits for multiple-sheet shielding configurations.


This Policy Paper submits that in the three years since the passage of the 1996 Act, the FCC has done very little to promote aggressively consumer welfare as the FCC has, in many instances, erected surreptitiously more regulatory barriers to entry than it has removed. Indeed, a brief laundry list of the FCC's anti-entry policies include, but are certainly not limited to: permitting the broadcast, cable and ILEC industries to reconcentrate; failing to enact meaningful access charge and universal service reform; only issuing meaningful collocation rules until over three years after the passage of the 1996 Act; and, on the international front, starting a telecoms trade war that is dangerously close to spiraling out of hand. The root of the problem appears to stem from the fact that despite its stated good intentions, the FCC has failed to admit where it has erred and, more importantly, has refused absolutely to set forth a clear analytical framework to solve the problems of the day. Instead, the Commission continues to engage in a politically driven ad hoc approach that simply cannot be sustained. Given the FCC's recalcitrance and apparent inability to engage in anything substantive, therefore, this paper suggests that the FCC view all of its problems through a simple litmus test: will the FCC's actions promote or deter entry?