This paper studies the interaction between a single long-lived principal and a series of short-lived agents in the presence of both moral hazard and adverse selection. We assume that the principal can influence the agents' behavior only through her choice of a retention rule; this rule is further required to be sequentially rational (i.e., no precommitment is allowed). We provide general conditions under which equilibria exist where (a) the principal adopts a "cut-off" rule under which agents are retained only when the reward they generate exceeds a critical bound; and (b) agents separate according to type, with better agents taking superior actions. We show that in equilibrium, a retained agent's productivity is necessarily declining over time, but that retained agents are also more productive on average than untried agents due to selection effects. Finally, we show that for each given type, agents of that type are more productive in the presence of adverse selection than when there is pure moral hazard (i.e., when that type is the sole type of agent in the model); nonetheless, adding uncertainty about agent-types cannot benefit the principal except in uninteresting cases.


We construct automorphic representations of non-linear two-fold covers of simply connected Chevalley groups via residues of Eisenstein series. In the process, we establish some basic results in representation theory of local groups.


Abstract : The Automated Reconnaissance and Surveillance, (R and S) Planning Tool is a prototype of the Army's proposed Common Ground Station, and serves as a Intelligence interface to NPSNET. This system incorporates Intelligence Preparation of the Battlefield (IPB) and intelligence asset modeling in order to create realistic intelligence collection. IPB is the analysis of the affects of the terrain, weather, and enemy doctrine on the friendly situation. Intelligence System Modeling is performed for Mounted and Dismounted Scouts, Ground Surveillance Radars (GSR), Joint Surveillance and Attack Radar System (JSTARS), and Remotely Piloted Vehicles (RPV). These systems collection effort can be monitored by displaying their individual perspectives of the battlefield, or their combined collection effort can be plotted on a 2D or 3D representation of the Terrain. The raw intelligence data produced by these systems is analyzed according to the number and types of enemy vehicles located. Probable enemy courses of action is also generated. Automated R and S planning can greatly enhance the already lethal capability of the Army by speeding up the Collection and Dissemination Process. R and S Planning, IPB, CGS, NPSNET, Intelligence System Modeling, GSR, RPV, JSTARS.


Issue 48 updates the reader on recent additions to the instruments covered in our booklet series on the history of chemical apparatus.


The key components of feedback control systems -- sensors, actuators, computation, power, and communication -- are continually becoming smaller, lighter, more robust, higher performance, and less expensive. By using appropriate algorithms and system architectures, it is thus becoming possible to "close the loop" on almost any machine, and to create new capabilities that fully exploit their dynamic potential. In this talk I will discuss various projects -- involving mobile robots, flying machines, an autonomous table, and actuated wingsuits -- where these new machine competencies are interfaced with the ultimate dynamic entities: human beings.


Seed treatments are used on cotton acres in the Mid-South to manage early season pests. The most popular seed treatments used today are neonicotinoid insecticides with the active ingredients of thiamethoxam and imidacloprid. Recently, there has been concern about the effectiveness of neonicotinoid seed treatments against thrips (Thysanoptera) populations in upland cotton (Gossypium hirsutum). This concern coincides with an increase in herbicide use to manage glyphosate resistant weeds. Field and greenhouse studies were conducted in 2013 to determine the effects of pre-emergence herbicides on neonictotinoid seed treatments and their control of thrips populations. The studies also evaluated the effects of pre-emergence herbicides on the uptake of neonicotinoid insecticide concentrations within the plant structure. Seed with neonicotinoid seed treatments Cruiser (thiamethoxam, Syngenta) and Gaucho (imidacloprid, Bayer Crop Science) were treated with three herbicide combinations. The results indicated that the pre-emergence herbicides interacted with and negatively affected the performance of at-planting thrips treatments, primarily with Cruiser. The use of pre-emergence herbicides increased thrips numbers and injury ratings as well as reduced vigor and plant biomass. The failure of Cruiser was the main factor of the test. Results also indicated that although pre-emergence herbicides appeared to increase thrips injury and negatively affect plant growth, neonicotinoid concentrations in leaf tissue were similar or higher where herbicides were applied. 777 2014 Beltwide Cotton Conferences, New Orleans, LA, January 6-8, 2014


Objective: To understand nursing care provided to children and adolescentes living in situations of domestic violence, from graduating nursing students' perspective. Methodology: This is a qualitative descriptive study, which was carried out in July 2014 using a semistructured interview with 30 nursing undergraduates from a public institution of higher education located in Pernambuco state, Brazil. The data analysis was conducted using Thematic Content Analysis (tca). Results: Nursing care is understood according to the logic of providing curative care and refering the problem to the other professionals in the health team. It was also acknowledged that, in order to confront domestic violence, whole health team and social protection network bodies need to participate, emphasizing the importance of health education. Conclusion: It is essential to address the issue of domestic violence in undergraduate curriculum, for the purpose of facilitating effective health care by future health professionals in domestic violence cases.


The article discusses the peculiar features of the semantic structure of lexical units describing nominative fields of American holidays. The author singles out four groups of lexical units revealing certain differences in the aspect of their semantic organization and arrives at the conclusion that the semantic structure of the units under study doesn't undergo any significant change in the investigated nominative fields, but is characterized by a large degree of stability.


The invention belongs to the technical field of medicine, and relates to an acridine derivative, particularly to 2-methyl-9-acridine(p-methoxyphenyl cresol amine)thiourea, a preparation method and uses thereof, wherein the structure formula is represented as the follow. According to the acridine derivative, the acridine mother nucleus is connected with the active group phenol amine thiourea so as to provide the strong potential biological activity. The results of in vitro anti-tumor tests show that the acridine derivative provides the strong inhibition effects on a variety of tumor cells, and can be used as the anti-tumor drug or the lead compound so as to be further development.


ion (detail), and/or to ensure that the use case name consists of an active verb followed by a measurable noun indicating the goal or value that the use case is providing to its actor, and is relevant to the customer. Also, the SoS use case diagram can be verified to ensure that the name of an actor is a noun, is relevant to the customer, and models a role, not a particular person; and to ensure all use cases lead to the fulfillment of exactly one goal for an actor, and that goal is clear from the use case name. 0096. In addition, the SoS use case diagram can be verified in comparison to the use case descriptions, as shown in block 260. More particularly, the SoS use case diagram can be Verified in comparison to the use case description to ensure consistency between the SoS use case diagram and the asso ciated use case descriptions, and/or to ensure consistency among the use case descriptions. Also, all the use cases can be verified to ensure that the use cases are described at the same US 2009/0


This paper reviews the literature in two areas of research on the social development of siblings. Specifically it compares and contrasts studies of sibling relationships of handicapped children with the wider literature on non-handicapped siblings. The focus is on the methodological and conceptual features which characterise research in each area, with a particular emphasis on identifying the unique contributions each can make to the advance of knowledge in developmental psychology. For the purpose of clarity in this review, the term "siblings" will refer to the non-handicapped brothers and sisters of a handicapped child, unless otherwise specified.


The gene encoding monophosphatidylinositol inositol phosphohydrolase (PI‐specific phospholipase C, PI‐PLC) of Bacillus thuringiensis was cloned in Staphylococcus carnosus TM300. The complete coding region comprises 987 base pairs corresponding to a precursor protein of 329 amino acids (molecular weight, 38095). The NH2‐terminal sequence of the purified enzyme from Escherichia coli indicated that the mature PI‐PLC consists of 299 amino acid residues with a molecular weight of 34586. Polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis revealed the same molecular weight for the purified enzyme isolated from the DNA‐donor strain of B. thuringiensis and from the E. coli clone. By computer analysis, the secondary structure was predicted. The enzyme from the E. coli recombinant shows no activity on other phospholipids and sphingo‐myelin. The cleaving specifity of PI‐PLC was examined by thin layer chromatography.


Background and purpose: Doxazosin mesylate (DOX) is an antihypertensive drug that possesses poor water solubility and, hence, poor release properties. Both nanosuspensions and self-nanoemulsifying drug delivery systems (SNEDDS) are becoming nanotechnology techniques for the enhancement of water solubility of different drugs. Experimental approach: The study's goal was to identify the best drug delivery system able to enhance the release and antihypertensive effect of DOX by comparing the physical characteristics such as particle size, zeta potential, entrapment efficiency, release rate, and main arterial blood pressure of DOX-loaded nanosuspensions and SNEDDS in liquid and solid form. Key results: DOX nanosuspension preparation had a particle size of 385±13 nm, poly-dispersity index of 0.049±3, zeta potential of 50 ± 4 mV and drug release after 20 min (91±0.43 %). Liquid SNEDDS had a droplet size of 224±15 nm, poly-dispersity index of (0.470±0.01), zeta potential of -5±0.10 mV and DR20min of 93±4 %. Solid SEDDS showed particle size of 79±14 nm, poly-dispersity index of 1±0.00, a zeta potential of -18 ±0.26 mv and DR20min of 100 ±2.72 %. Conclusion: Finally, in terms of the mean arterial blood pressure lowering, solid SNEDDS performed better effect than both liquid SNEDDS and nanosuspension (P >0.05).


The paper presents a systematic analysis of the isotopic composition of carbon (δCCaCO3) in carbonate rocks in central Slovenia, representing karst and fissured aquifers, and share of carbon contributions from carbonate dissolution and degradation of organic matter in aquifers, calculated from the mass balance equation. 59 samples of rocks (mainly dolomites) from Upper Permian to Upper Triassic age were analyzed. Samples of carbonate rocks were pulverized and ground to fraction of 45 μm and for determination of δCCaCO3 analyzed with mass spectrometer for analyses of stable isotopes of light elements-IRMS. The same method was used for determination of isotopic composition of dissolved inorganic carbon (δCDIC) in groundwater for 54 of 59 locations. Values of δCCaCO3 are in the range from -2.0 ‰ to +4.1 ‰, with an average δ CCaCO3 value of +2.2 ‰. These values are typical for marine carbonates with δCCaCO3 around 0 ‰, although δ CCaCO3 values differ between groups depending on the origin and age. Early diagenetic dolomites have relatively higher values of δCCaCO3 compared to other analyzed samples. The lowest values of δCCaCO3 were observed in Cordevolian and Ba~a dolomite, probably due to late diagenesis, during which meteoric water with lower isotopic carbon composition circulated in the process of sedimentation. Values of δCDIC range from -14.6 ‰ to -8.2 ‰. Higher δ CDIC values (-8.2 ‰) indicate a low proportion of soil CO2 in the aquifer and rapid infiltration, while lower values (-14.6 ‰) indicate higher proportion of soil CO2 in the aquifer and slower infiltration. Calculated contributions of carbon from organic matter / dissolution of carbonates in the karstic and fissured aquifers show a similar proportion (50 % : 50 %). 220 Ajda KOCELI, Tja�a KANDU^ & Timotej VERBOVSEK


Diffie-Hellman (DH) provides an efficient key exchange system by reducing the number of cryptographic keys distributed in the network. In this method, a node broadcasts a single public key to all nodes in the network, and in turn each peer uses this key to establish a shared secret key which then can be utilized to encrypt and decrypt traffic between the peer and the given node. In this paper, we evaluate the key transfer delay and cost performance of DH in opportunistic mobile networks, a specific scenario of MANETs where complete end-to-end paths rarely exist between sources and destinations; consequently, the end-to-end delays in these networks are much greater than typical MANETs. Simulation results, driven by a random node movement model and real human mobility traces, showed that DH outperforms a typical key distribution scheme based on the RSA algorithm in terms of key transfer delay, measured by average key convergence time; however, DH performs as well as the benchmark in terms of key transfer cost, evaluated by total key (copies) forwards.


Abstract Social media, an open and free platform containing large volume of user-generated content (UGC) is an ideal data source to achieve risk-informed decisions for epidemics. The probability and predictive value of how social systems deal with epidemics can be conceptually and empirically studied by monitoring social media data for formulating risk-informed decisions in improving preparedness and response to epidemics. ILI (influenza-like illness) surveillance by monitoring social media data offers opportunity to provide early warning signs for improving public health interventions. In this research, we monitored Weibo, a Chinese social media data on swine flu in 2011 to analyse the post content, the correlation with official surveillance data as well as geography distribution in order to verify whether Weibo is an effective platform for conducting risk-informed decision for epidemics.


Petroleum geomechanical modeling is a process of determining mechanical properties of a rock and its reactions to impacts during development of an oil field. When constructing a geomechanical model of an object, the initial stage is building of a structural model of the geological environment. One of the main elements of this model is a skeleton of fault tectonics. Ordered fracturing as an element of the skeleton is manifested itself by the anisotropic properties of seismic wave fields. In this article, we will consider the possibilities of studying the anisotropy of the geological environment in connection with the construction of a geomechanical model based on using amplitude information of reflected waves. The feasibility study of using azimuth attributive analysis of seismic data at selected research facilities located in the southeast of Tatarstan will be performed. In these studies, as a tool, we used a full wave modeling Tesseral software.


Hemorrhagic stroke is less common than ischemic stroke and is heavier and in most cases has an adverse outcome in the form of death of a patient or permanent disability.Recently, there has been a tendency to increase the frequency of GI, which is increasingly found at a younger age. GI is based on a rupture of blood vessels, the development of hemorrhage and as a consequence - the formation of cerebral edema, ischemia of brain tissue, violation of the integrity of GBS, imbalance of the neuroimmune system, as well as violation of the function of other systems and organs.


To validate electromagnetic and thermal simulations with in vivo temperature measurements, and to demonstrate a framework that can be used to predict temperature increase caused by radiofrequency (RF) excitation with dipole transmitter arrays.


This report is the first in a series being developed under Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) RP2548, Demand-Side Management (DSM), which will integrate the data, information, and tools pertaining to utilities' ability to influence their load levels and shapes. This report focuses on the utility environment, planning processes, and analytical requirements bearing on the setting and implementation of DSM objectives. The report first explores the reasons why many utilities have found it difficult to develop DSM objectives and concludes that organizational and cultural factors explain much of the difficulty. It next provides a general framework covering five major planning steps. Then it discusses the analytical requirements of objective setting, stressing the distinction between DSM and supply-side planning. It concludes with a case study of the DSM objectives-setting process at Carolina Power and Light Company.


This paper, based on CBERS (China Brazil Earth Resources Satellite) and NOAA/AVHRR Satellite Remote Sensing Data and other information acquired in the summer of 2001 and 2006 respectively, came up with the following results: a) the urban build-up area in Chengdu widened by approximate 38%; b) the urban area under heat urban effects expanded whilst some areas witnessed abatement in the intensity of effects and industrial and commercial districts turned to be new spots of urban heat island; c) factors such as progress of urbanisation, change of urban structure, and increase in population and green area acted as drivers in the evolution of urban heat island.


Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF‐A) is a major pathogenic factor and a therapeutic target for age‐related macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, and retinopathy of prematurity. Despite intensive effort in the field, the cellular mechanisms of VEGF action remain virtually uninvestigated. This situation makes it difficult to design cellular target‐based therapeutics for these diseases. In light of the recent finding that VEGF is a potential neurotrophic factor, revealing the cellular mechanisms of VEGF action becomes necessary to preserve its beneficial effect and inhibit its pathological function in long‐term anti‐VEGF therapeutics for ocular vascular diseases. We therefore generated conditional VEGF knockout mice with an inducible Cre/lox system and determined the significance of Müller cell‐derived VEGF in retinal development and maintenance and ischaemia‐induced neovascularizartion and vascular leakage. Retinal development in the conditional VEGF knockout mice was analysed by examining retinal and choroidal vasculatures and retinal morphology and function. Ischaemia‐induced retinal neovascularization and vascular leakage in the conditional VEGF knockout mice were analysed with fluorescein angiography, quantification of proliferative neovascular cells, immunohistochemistry, and immunoblotting using an oxygen‐induced retinopathy model. Our results demonstrated that disruption of Müller cell‐derived VEGF resulted in no apparent defects in retinal and choroidal vasculatures and retinal morphology and function, significant inhibition of the ischaemia‐induced retinal neovascularization and vascular leakage, and attenuation of the ischaemia‐induced breakdown of the blood‐retina barrier. These results suggest that the retinal Müller cell‐derived VEGF is a major contributor to ischaemia‐induced retinal vascular leakage and pre‐retinal and intra‐retinal neovascularization. The observation that a significant, but not complete, reduction of VEGF in the retina does not cause detectable retinal degeneration suggests that appropriate doses of anti‐VEGF agents may be important to the safe treatment of retinal vascular diseases. Copyright © 2009 Pathological Society of Great Britain and Ireland. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


. We study learning by privately informed forward-looking agents in a simple repeated-action setting of social learning. Under a symmetric signal structure, forward-looking agents behave myopically for any degrees of patience. Myopic equilibrium is unique in the class of symmetric threshold strategies, and the simplest symmetric non-monotonic strategies. If the signal structure is asymmetric and the game is infinite, there is no equilibrium in myopic strategies, for any positive degree of patience. JEL : C72, C73, D82, D83.


56) References Cited U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS 3,845,181 10/1974 Ravault ................................. 264/59 3,893,917 7/1975 Pryor et al.......................... 210/510 3,947,363 3/1976 Pryor et al. ......................... 210/510 3,975,165 8/1976 Elbert et al. .......................... 264/60 4,056,586 11/1977 Pryor et al. ..... ... 264/44 4,081,371 3/1978 Yarwood et al. ..................... 210/69 Primary Examiner-Donald E. Czaja Assistant Examiner-W. Thompson Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Bachman and LaPointe 57 ABSTRACT A method for integrally bonding a gasket seal to the bevelled peripheral surface of a ceramic foam filter used in the filtration of molten metal.


The title compounds, LiKB(4)O(7) and LiRbB(4)O(7), are newly developed non-linear optical crystals containing two kinds of anionic groups, namely (B(3)O(8))(7-) and (B(5)O(10))(5-). The (B(3)O(8))(7-) groups form infinite spiral chains parallel to the [100] direction, which are interconnected by sharing O atoms with (B(5)O(10))(5-) groups.


The three-dimensional structures of endo-1,4-xylanase II (XYNII) from Trichoderma reesei complexed with 4,5-epoxypentyl beta-D-xyloside (X-O-C5),3,4-epoxybutyl beta-D-xyloside (X-O-C4), and 2,3-epoxypropyl beta-D-xyloside (X-O-C3) were determined by X-ray crystallography. High-resolution measurement revealed clear electron densities for each ligand. Both X-O-C5 and X-O-C3 were found to form a covalent bond with the putative nucleophile Glu86. Unexpectedly, X-O-C4 was found to bind to the putative acid/base catalyst Glu177. In all three complexes, clear conformational changes were found in XYNII compared to the native structure. These changes were largest in the X-O-C3 complex structure.


my day's no-business beckoning me to the East end of London, I had turned my face to that point of the metropolitan compass on leaving Covent Garden,* and had got past the India House,* thinking in my idle manner of Tippoo–Sahib and Charles Lamb,* and had got past my little wooden midshipman,* after affectionately patting him on one leg of his knee-shorts for old acquaintance' sake, and had got past Aldgate Pump, and had got past the Saracen's Head* (with an ignominious rash of posting bills disfiguring his swarthy countenance), and had strolled up the empty yard of his ancient neighbour the Black or Blue Boar, or Bull, who departed this life I don't know when, and whose coaches are all gone I don't know where; and I had come out again into the age of railways, and I had got past Whitechapel Church, and was―rather inappropriately for an Uncommercial Traveller―in the Commercial Road.


Thin films of BaTiO_3 deposited on (100)LaAlO_3 substrate by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) are investigated using several electron-optical techniques. Combined high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), electron energy loss spectrometry (EELS), and convergent beam electron diffraction (CBED) indicate a substantial influence of lattice strain on the structural and optical characteristics of BaTiO_3 films. Spatially resolved EELS and CBED studies indicate that the substrate influence persists up to about 40 nm away from the interface. The changes in the dielectric function of the films, as inferred from spatially resolved EELS, appear to correlate well with internal lattice strain in the films as deduced from convergent beam electron diffraction (CBED).


Hypothyroidism is a popular endocrine disorder caused by a thyroid hormone deficit. Changes in the state of the thyroid gland significantly affect many organs, including the heart. This study examined the cardioprotective effects of an artificially induced hypothyroidism in female rats using an ethanol extract from the root plant Saussurea lappa (Costus). For the current study, 25 adult female albino rats were employed. They were split into five equal groups, including control, hypothyroid group, post-treatment group with costus extract, co-administered hypothyroid group with costus extract, and post-treatment group with levothyroxine. Thyroid hormones (T3, T4, and TSH), lipid profile, and oxidative stress indicators (catalase, superoxide dismutase, reduced glutathione, and lipid peroxidation levels) were also measured in the serum. The heart muscle was the subject of a histological research. The findings suggested that Costus root ethanol extract improved hypothyroidism in female rats, as proven by the reversal of many biochemical abnormalities and improvements in the heart's histology. Our study indicates that the root of Costus exhibited cardioprotection efficiency against hypothyroidism-induced serious effects on the heart, The antioxidant and radical-scavenging properties of its components may be responsible for this promising effect.


To solve the problems in traditional home control network,such as complex cabling and blind communication and high power consumption,the paper designed and implemented the embedded smart home system based on ZigBee and GPRS.The system was based on ARM11 embedded processor S3C6410,ARM-Linux real-time operation system,built a home wireless network to realize the wireless link of the controller and the home intelligent modules using Zigbee technology,and implemented the wireless connection of the controller and the mobile phone using GPRS network.The tests show that the system has good real time performance,high reliability,convenient to extend,easy to operate,and has a wide market application value.


We have evaluated the cooling rates of specimens mounted in a variety of freeze‐fracture holders when plunged into a series of liquid coolants. These rates were measured using miniature thermocouples placed within the mounted specimens. The most rapid cooling rates were obtained using propane at 83 K as the coolant. When mounted on a newly devised 'copper sandwich' holder, specimen cooling rates in excess of 4500 K/s have been recorded.


This paper proposes a diagnostic approach to quantify the maintainability of a Commercial Off-the-Shelf (COTS)-based system (CBS) by analyzing the complexity of the deployment of the system. The approach integrates architectural dependencies and the system's concept of operations to derive a network-based representation of the software system. A greater understanding of the deployment complexity is gained by comparing the in-degree distribution of the derived network to the power-law distribution. The resultant measure is useful in evaluating the maintainability of the operational system while the system is being designed and throughout the lifetime of the system. The measure is applied to deployed production systems with known maintainability histories to validate the approach.Copyright © 2013 by ASME


The construction process of high strength macroporous permeating concrete road containing active mineral includes the following steps: mixing materials including stone, sand, water, cement, flyash, water reducing agent to form flowable cement mortar and concrete; molding the concrete via vibrating; demolding after 24 hr to obtain water permeating concrete paving material. The present invention solves the difficult problem of making water permeating concrete material possess high strength and long endurance.


Due to the complexities and follow-up requirements of nonsurgical treatments for skin cancer, patient selection is critical. Expert offers tips for using various noninvasive treatment options for BCC, SCC, and melanoma.


Each weekday I'm forced into the backward and forward punt road shuffle. Around November last year this trip was punctuated by two billboards near Richmond station (cr. Brunton Ave.). One was of a semi-naked woman in skin coloured undies and a big red question mark covering her nipples and crotch. It was a Riki Nathan 'Haven't got a thing to wear?' spread. The photoshop overkill gave a cute plastic finish to this moderately voluptuous 'Barbie'. I couldn't help but be caught by Riki's enormous, looming woman. This curiosity gave over to a kind of delight at the ad's shock contrivance and the free publicity the company must have been getting from outraged moral panics. I wasn't offended, in fact I thought the whole campaign was a canny challenge to the politically correct.


In a method and apparatus for charging a disposable camera with a photographic roll film (201) is located in a rotatable film spool containing film cassette (203) in the initial state and with a leader portion (201a) from the film cassette, protrudes with a film winding (202 ) formed outside of the film cassette under pulling out a corresponding film length from the film cassette and after insertion of the film cassette and of the film roll in a core assembly (1) the film forming length is transported back gradually into the film cassette in the imagewise exposure of the film to the film roll of the camera, takes place insertion movement of the film cartridge (203) relative to a film cassette chamber (104) of the core assembly (1) in a first direction and then in a direction perpendicular to the first direction, such that the film cartridge in the insertion movement in the first direction (203) in an intermediate position passes, in which the Filmkassett e (203) from the film cassette chamber (104) of the core assembly (1) is partially received, and wherein the insertion movement in the second direction, the film cartridge (203) from the intermediate position reaches a final position in which the film cassette (203) from the film cassette chamber (104) the core assembly (1) is completely accommodated.


Part One Poultry production: origins and biology poultry industry environment husbandry systems economics public opinion and legislation. Part Two Behaviour management and welfare: control of behaviour feeding and drinking social behaviour reproduction egg laying movement and maintenance conclusions references index.


In the article, I draw an imagined community (Hall, 2001) of African Americans in the difference. In it, I examine identity mobility (Hall, 2001) and a politics of conversion (West, 1994) from the perspective of metaphors Shakespeare, 1999; Rodo, 2006; Retamar, 2005; Gates, 1988) and textual signification (Gates, 1988). I relate assimilationist, nationalist and catalyst identities to Pecola Breedlove's, Milkman Dead's and Jadine Childs's political conversions. I also link the identities and the characters with the metaphors Ariel, Caliban and Esu. Finally, I develop a conversation among Morrison's novels The Bluest Eye (1994), Song of Solomon (2004) and Tar Baby (1987), emphasizing dialogue among the metaphors, identities, conversions and characters.

Key-Words: metaphor, identity, conversion.


The study aims to analyze the influence of nutrition on the course based on students' ability to choose healthy foods and snacks as needed. The study design was cross sectiona study. Samples were Catering Education Program students who have passed the course base on nutrition courses Basic Cookery, nutritional science and ethical diet determined proportionally as many as 54 students. The results showed that snack foods accounted for 17% compliance rate of energy sufficiency of Nutrition Adequacy (RDA) The recommended daily allowance of his. The selection of street food student Catering Education Program influenced by nutrition-based courses at 55.5% and the remaining 44.5% is influenced by other factors that are not observed in this study.


Abstract The method of the Lie theory of extended groups has recently been formulated for Hamiltonian mechanics in a manner which is consistent with the results obtained using the Newtonian equation of motion. Here the method is applied to the three-dimensional time-independent harmonic oscillator and to the classical Kepler problem. The expected constants of motion are obtained. Previously unobserved relations between generators and invariants are also noticed.


The analog VLSI implementation of an on-chip learning neural network is discussed in this paper. The multi layer perceptron paradigm and back propagation learning rule have been mapped onto analog circuits. A local learning rate adaptation rule has been also considered to improve the training performance (i.e., fast convergence speed). Experimental results confirm the chip functionality and the soundness of our approach.


Organic semiconductors (OSCs) are attractive for fabrication of thermoelectric devices with low cost, large area, low toxicity, and high flexibility. In order to achieve high‐performance organic thermoelectric devices (OTEs), it is essential to develop OSCs with high conductivity (σ ), large Seebeck coefficient (S), and low thermal conductivity (κ ). It is equally important to explore efficient dopants matching the need of thermoelectric devices. The thermoelectric performance of a high‐mobility donor–acceptor (D–A) polymer semiconductor, which is doped by an organic salt, is studied. Both a high p‐type electrical conductivity approaching 4 S cm−1 and an excellent power factor (PF) of 7 µW K−2 m−1 are obtained, which are among the highest reported values for polymer semiconductors. Temperature‐dependent conductivity, Seebeck coefficient and power factor of the doped materials are systematically investigated. Detailed analysis on the results of thermoelectric measurements has revealed a hopping transport in the materials, which verifies the empirical relationship: S ∝ σ−1/4 and PF ∝ σ1/2. The results demonstrate that D–A copolymer semiconductors with proper combination of dopants have great potential for fabricating high‐performance thermoelectric devices.


This research focuses on exploring the English learning process for elementary school students. We employ Amazon Echo Dot, one of the most popular intelligent voice assistants nowadays, as a tool to facilitate language learning. We developed an Amazon Skill that incorporates the content from English textbooks for the participants to interact with using voice input. The operation logs from Echo Dot faithfully reveal student's usage patterns and preferences. A semester-long experiment has been conducted with the assistance of the Affiliated Experimental Elementary School (AEES) of National Chengchi University. After data collection has been completed, we utilize acoustic and transcript evaluation metrics to examine the voice recordings and user logs. Our initial analysis focuses on the active users, i.e., participants who have continued to engage in conversations with the voice assistant. Several questions regarding user behavior are prompted and responded based on the collected and processed data. Analyzing the content of the conversation will help disclose more detailed information regarding the learning process. The progress of individual students can also be monitored to determine if further assistance is needed.


A theoretical description of the current limit phenomenon based on the limited ionizing ability of the electrons has been obtained. The current limit is found to be a double-valued function of pressure. This limited ionizing ability implies that positive column existence is only possible when the product of the gas density and column radius is greater than a critical value. High currents reduce the gas density to the critical value causing current limitation. Assumptions of the form of the electron velocity distribution at current limit are avoided by working with the mean free path of the neutral for ionization, lambda , as a parameter. Both the ion wall current and the neutral depletion are calculated in terms of lambda and, by relating ion wall current and arc current, gas density is related to arc current. Low currents reduce the plasma radius until the critical value is reached causing current limitation.


A review is presented of full-custom SAW (surface-acoustic-wave) components for radio systems, e.g., for cordless telephone, mobile radio, digital radio relay, satellite radio, and spread-spectrum communication. Design, results and applications are discussed, including the comparison with alternative filter techniques. Low-loss filters are presented with insertion losses down to 2 dB; bandpass filters with ripples less than 0.1 dB and 1 degrees , and stopband rejections better than 60 dB; delay lines up to 2.5 GHz; SAW oscillators at a fundamental of 2 GHz with phase noise of 100 dBc/Hz; and SAW convolvers with about -60 dBm efficiency and 160 MHz bandwidth.<<ETX>>


In order to determine the spatio-temporal distribution of macrobenthic faunal communities in Jinhae Bay, quantitative faunal samples were collected seasonally at 23 sites in Jinhae Bay from February, 2011 to November, 2012. Sediment facies were found to be mud except for those at Chilcheon-do near Geoje Island. Mean values of TOC (%) ranged between 1.3 and 3.6%, and these are the highest values recorded excluding special management areas in Korea. Hypoxia occurred every summer in the whole areas of Jinhae Bay except around Geoje Island in the bay mouth. Due to the summer hypoxia, species richness, density and biomass also declined during the summer in Jinhae Bay. Opportunistic species such as Paraprionospio patiens, Sigambra bassi, Nectoneanthes oxypoda and Theora fragilis occurred as the dominant species before and after the hypoxia. However, Capitella capitata appeared as a dominant species only during the winter-spring season every year. From cluster analysis, Jinhae Bay could be divided into two sites groups: one group occupied the normoxic zone and the other one located in the hypoxic zone.


The dynamics of relative motion in a perturbed orbital environment are exploited based on Gauss' and Cowell's variational equations. The inertial coordinate frame and relative coordinate frame (Hill frame) are used, and a linear high fidelity model is developed to describe the relative motion. This model takes into account the primary gravitational and atmospheric drag perturbations. Then, this model is used in the design of a navigation, guidance, and control system of a chaser vehicle to approach towards and to depart from a target vehicle in proximity operations. Relative navigation uses an extended Kalman filter based on this relative model to estimate the relative position/velocity of the chaser vehicle with respect to the target vehicle. This filter uses the range and angle measurements of the target relative to the chaser from a simulated LIDAR system. The corresponding measurement models, process noise matrix, and other filter parameters are provided. Numerical simulations are performed to assess the precision of this model with respect to the full nonlinear model. The analyses include the navigation errors and trajectory dispersions.


CASE DESCRIPTION The primary subject matter of this case concerns the ethics of upgrading a pub's outdoor seating area to specifically accommodate smokers after the state legislature banded indoor smoking at restaurants and pubs because of the proven danger of second hand smoke to patrons and employees. The secondary issue examined concerns the profitability of the upgrade and the owner's objective of a one year payback on any investment in the pub. The case has a difficulty level of three, appropriate for junior level students. The case is designed to be taught in one hour with two hours of preparation if both the ethical and financial aspects of the case are assigned. CASE SYNOPSIS After the state legislature banned smoking in restaurants and bars, Jim Foster, an enterprising pub owner, was considering upgrading his outdoor area to accommodate smokers. Twenty years of pub ownership had convinced Jim that his patrons liked to smoke when they drank. While he understood the well documented hazards of second hand smoke to customers and employees, he wondered whether their protection was his responsibility. After all, customers could always go inside or choose to go elsewhere, and no one was forcing bar tenders and waiters to work at the pub. Further, there was no documented study of the harmfulness of second hand smoke in outdoor areas. Jim also needed to determine the financial viability of the upgrade regardless of the ethical issues. Jim had always thought of the outdoor area as an overflow space in the cool months and casual beer garden in the summer months. To suggest that the area was rustic was being generous, with its inexpensive canvas umbrellas, plastic chairs, and mesh tables, Jim knew that to do the upgrade right it was going to be expensive and risky on several levels. Jim needed to weigh the ethical and cost issues before making the decision. A SMOKING DILEMMA May was coming to an end and the bar was packed. Nothing could be better thought Jim Foster, owner of the Selwyn Pub in Charlotte, NC. However, as he looked around, he could not help but notice that there was at least one smoker at almost every table. What concerned Jim was that the state legislature of North Carolina had just passed a law banning smoking in bars and restaurants. The ban would begin on January 2, 2010, just months from now. Since the ban only affected the inside areas of bars and restaurants, with his large patio, he wondered if he could take advantage of the situation by improving the patio where smoking was permitted. Jim knew that financially, this could be a significant risk; however he thought that if he developed the outside seating area he might not only keep his current patrons but also attract smokers from the nearby pubs without patios. Jim appreciated the dangers of first and second hand smoke, and why the legislature had put the ban in place. His mother, a lifelong smoker had recently died from smoking related complications. He wondered if he had a social responsibility to discourage smoking in his pub and protect not only smokers but also the non smokers from the effects of second hand smoke. Additionally, he wondered about the effect on his staff, if he developed a smoker friendly environment on his patio, would he be putting is workers at greater risk. What should he do? JIM FOSTER Jim worked in an Irish Pub while attending Albany Law School in upstate New York. He loved working at the pub and bought into the notion that a pub should be a comfortable place where everyone in the neighborhood including families could come to meet friends. Upon graduation, he moved to Charlotte and began a practice. Although his practice was financially successful, he found the work less than fulfilling. When in the early 1990 a small Cuban restaurant in the affluent Myers Park area of Charlotte became available, he decided to follow his dreams and take a long term lease on the property. The property had several advantages: first, its location was in the heart of the Myers Park, an area which was considered a very fashionable place for the 25-45 professionals to live; second, the location was on a main thoroughfare enabling easy access; and third, the location had room to build an outside seating area capable of serving 100 customers. …


The temperature dependencies of the specific heat and the anisotropic magnetic susceptibility of the heavy-fermion superconductor UPd2Al3 show distinct anomalies which can be described by a crystalline electric field (CEF) model for Uranium with hexagonal site symmetry. We find that a CEF-level scheme for the 3H4 multiplet (5f2 configuration) implying two low lying singlets surprisingly well fits the experimental results.


Within a short drive from Keflavik International Airport, Iceland reveals its magnificent environment. Steam rises from the landscape, and waterfalls thunder over canyons. It is just what a visitor might expect of a country so rich in natural resources. A leader in renewable energies, Iceland harnesses approximately 80 percent of its heating and electricity from geothermal and hydropower energy sources. (Gran) However, Iceland has utilized only an estimated 30 percent of the available energy from its total hydropower and geothermal potential. (Steingrimsson et al., p. 4) As would any country with an abundance of a natural resource, Iceland has sought ways to use its resources to draw in revenue. Unable to physically export the country's excess energy, Iceland turned to foreign investment. Landsvirkjun, Iceland's national power company founded to utilize these energy resources to supply the country with electricity, offered low energy prices to foreign companies in power-intensive industries, such as aluminum smelting. ("Karahnjukar HEP...," p. 1) The construction of numerous power plants has fueled not only these power intensive operations but also widespread controversy. The main challenge entails finding a balance between expansion of power production and conservation of the country's natural resources. Beginning in 1999, Iceland developed a mechanism to address this challenge in its Master Plan for Hydropower and Geothermal Development in Iceland, the subject of this article. The Master Plan is currently undergoing final preparations and the final resolution will be presented to the Icelandic parliament, Althingi, for discussion in late 2011. Iceland's Master Plan is a sound policy and, if passed, would be instrumental in addressing this challenge but must be adapted to changes in the economy in order to continue to be effective in the future. A study of the shortcomings of the current environmental policies reveals that energy development decisions are not made from a holistic standpoint. The Althingi first passed the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) legislation in 1994. An EIA is required for all energy development projects; however, this


In order to perform specific measurements in the high atmosphere region, the High Atmosphere Soarer (HAS) sounding rocket upper stage is under development at the German Aerospace Center and Bayern-Chemie. This paper briefly describes the scientific mission behind as well as the HAS vehicle concept. More emphasis is dedicated to the description of the trajectory, the technology of the controllable gelled propellant rocket motor and the design of the remaining key propulsion system components.


Following on recent experimental characterization of the transport properties of stealth hyperuniform media for electromagnetic and acoustic waves, we report here measurements at ultrasonic frequencies of the multiple scattering of waves by 2D hyperuniform distributions of steel rods immersed in water. The transparency, for which the effective attenuation of the medium is cancelled, is first evidenced by measuring the transmission of a plane wave propagating in a highly correlated and relatively dense medium. It is shown that a band gap occurs in the vicinity of the first Bragg frequency. The isotropy of both transparency and bang gap are also evidenced for the case of waves generated by a point source in differently ordered and circular shaped distributions. In other words, we thus obtain a representation of the Green's function. Our results demonstrate the huge potential of hyperuniform as well as highly correlated media for the design of functional materials.


The article is dedicated to the functioning of denominations in the publicism. The object of the investigation is German personal names. The aim is to examine methods and functions of the denomination of people in mass media. On the basis of the analysis it was found out that the anthroponyms in the mass media are able to perform prognostic and pragmatic functions.


................................................................................................................................ 5 Introduction ........................................................................................................................... 6 Methods ................................................................................................................................. 8 Study Sites ......................................................................................................................... 8 Sampling .......................................................................................................................... 17 Statistical Analysis .......................................................................................................... 19 Results ................................................................................................................................. 26 Discussion ........................................................................................................................... 50 CHAPTER 3: MOSQUITOES AND FIRE IN THE SCRUB ................................................ 55 Abstract ............................................................................................................................... 55.............................................................................................................................. 55 Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 55 Methods ............................................................................................................................... 59 vi Study Sites ....................................................................................................................... 59 Sampling .......................................................................................................................... 61 Statistical Analysis .......................................................................................................... 63 Results ................................................................................................................................. 67 Discussion ........................................................................................................................... 79 CHAPTER 4: CONCLUDING REMARKS ON SOUTH-CENTRAL FLORIDA MOSQUITOES ............................................................................................................................. 82 APPENDIX A: FIGURES EXTENDED ................................................................................ 84 APPENDIX B: R CODE ...................................................................................................... 100 REFERENCES ..................................................................................................................... 160


In this paper authors have considered maximization of Employment Creation (EC) and Human Development Index (HDI) along with optimization in terms of sizing of hybrid system consisting of solar power (SP), wind power (WP), Battery energy power (BEP) and diesel generator power (DGP) generation units. Surplus energy generated and supplied by hybrid system may increase HDI, as HDI depends on usages of electricity. Employment creation will depends on various configuration of generating units of hybrid system and varies accordingly. Bare Bone Particle Swarm optimization (BBPSO) is applied for optimal results of the considered system. Three different technologies of solar panel have been considered for comparison. Results shows that AP-120 has best results as compared to other technologies.


Outdoor lighting can cause light pollution depending on the installation environment and the installation method even though it was designed as good as possible. Complaints are increasing recently about the lighting in gas stations, the religion facilities and outdoor sports facilities, but the present-condition investigation about this problem is insufficient. This research on the actual conditions has performed the installation status investigation and the luminance measurement about a total of 300 places regarding the gas stations, religious facilities and outdoor sports facilities in 9 areas nationwide which have been excluded as the objects for management according to the light pollution preventive act.


Profit is an increase in capital (net assets) derived from transactions that rarely occur within the company and from all transactions and other events that affect the company, except revenue (revenue) or investment owners . Study This aim For analyze Influence Cost Production And Cost Marketing to Company Profits , as well For know variable which one is the most dominant influence to profit company manufacturing sub sector food And drink . Processed data form secondary data from report annual company manufacturing sub sector food And drink the years 2017-2021 are taken in a manner in Total Smpling . Method used  in study This is Panel data regression using application eviews 10 results study state  that : Cost Production influential positive to profit company And Cost Marketing No influential to profit company.


The extent of Hodgkin's disease at the time of diagnosis is the most important single factor affecting prognosis and the choice of treatment.1 2 Thorough investigation is needed to determine the stage of the disease,3 and it is best to refer patients to a centre with special experience of the condition. The staging process requires haematological, biochemical and radiographic studies, including abdominal lymphography.4 Some patients may also need laparotomy with splenectomy and hepatic and node biopsy to localise any intra-abdominal spread, particularly into the liver which is ominous and an important determinant in the choice of therapy.5 6 Laparotomy is less usually performed in patients over 60. In children under 6 splenectomy should not be carried out because it makes them more susceptible to infection.7 In young women the ovaries may be sewn to the abdominal wall in the mid-line so that they can be shielded from x-rays directed at iliac lymph nodes.


Coccidiosis, the Eimeria spp infections, in goats is common and worldwide in distribution. Disease occurs in various age groups though most common during 2-6 months of age. Prevention of the disease mainly depends on maintenance of hygienic standards in farm premises. Treatment includes the use of Amprolium, Sulfonamides, Decoquinates, Toltazuril and Ionophores. Present study, however, describes the resistance against amprolium in Eimerian parasites in goats. A goat  ock showing threshold level of Eimerian oocysts during random faecal examination was treated with Amprolium (50mg/kg B.W) for 7 days. Post treatment (7days) FOC of randomly selected animals from the  ock were compared with pre-treatment (FOC) level. The analysis of transformed data (SAS, version 9.2) showed that FOC in pre and post treatment animal groups was not signi cantly different. It was concluded that Amprolium resistance exists among the Eimeria spp. infecting goats.


The results obtained from the experimants may be summarized as follows:1. The veneral growth of the dog was transplanted to other dogs by intratesticular inoculation.2. The transmitted growth represented a neoplasm rather than a connective tissue reaction.3. No decision regarding the classification of the neoplasm was reached.


This paper discusses the financial and operational performance of Korean coastal cruise firms between 1995 and 1997. Costal cruise firms show a very high ratio of the fixed-assets because these firms own relatively expensive ships. The current debts are composed of short-term borrowings and lease and the ratio of the current debts is so high compared to the size of firms. The equity ratio of costal cruise firms has recently been decreased, but the debt ratio has been increased. Both the profitability and activity ratios have grown worse in recent years. The productivity indexes of 1997 also show the worse results compared to the previous year. These worse results might origin from the decreasing of population who live in the costal islands and visit the costal islands during the summer vacation. In order to improve the performance of costal cruise firms, they should develop the leisure facilities and good items to attract the travellers.


This paper considers how processes of quantification are implicated in settler colonial political imperatives. I examine how colonial numbers operate as forms of governmentality that obfuscate, depoliticize, commensurate, fiscalize, promote transparency and visibility, and ultimately reduce the density of Indigenous Nations. The paper specifically focusses on how fiscal surveillance flows from colonial numbers to make Indigenous life legible to the state, markets, and settlers. The paper concludes by complicating the relationship between colonialism, numbers, governance, and ignorance.


In Rugby Union and Globalization: An Odd-Shaped World, John Harris examines developments in the eponymous sport since 1995. With globalisation identified as the conceptual framework underpinning th...


Abstract This study reports on the microstructure, structural characteristics, thermal stability, electrical property, and electric-heating performance of a series of hybrid cellulose fibers. For the purpose, we alternately dip-coated cellulose fibers with multiwalled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) and silver nanowires (AgNW). The scanning electron microscopy image and X-ray diffraction patterns show that MWCNT and AgNW are sequentially coated on the surface of the cellulose fiber as the dip-coating cycle increases. This result is validated by the fact that the electrical conductivity of the MWCNT/AgNW/hybrid cellulose fiber increases by 0.23 S/cm from 3.94 × 10−9 S/cm in the longitudinal direction as the coating cycle increases after the seventh final coating. These results indicate that a highly effective and conductive MWCNT/AgNW network is layer-by-layer created on the cellulose fiber. This fiber exhibits stable electric-heating performance at a heating range of 2 × 3 cm for a network that is knitted using rib- and garter-stitches.


Review(s) of: Back to school: Why everyone deserves a second chance at education, by Mike Rose, The New Press, New York, 2012, ISBN 978-I 59558-786-2.


In this study, a micro-tensile test method that can measure the strength at a grain boundary has been developed by applying a focused ion beam system. In order to clarify the relationship between the micro structures of grain boundaries and their strength, the crystal quality of grain boundaries was evaluated by electron back-scatter diffraction (EBSD) analysis method. It was confirmed that the strength of grain boundaries with low crystallinity was much lower than that with high crystallinity.


In recent years, ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy has been widely used for measurements of water quality in seawater, because full spectrum contains large amounts of information. NO3 can be detected in 220-230 nm, and chemical oxygen demand (COD) and total organic carbon (TOC) can be detected in 280-290 nm. In visible spectrum, water color, turbidity and total suspended solids (TSS) can be measured. We presented a water environmental multi-parameter sensor developed for the simultaneous measurement of these parameters. In order to research their absorptive characteristics and explore the detection methods, we sampled the absorption spectra of artificial seawater solutions of NO3, COD and turbidity. In the measurement of NO3, COD and TOC, the cross sensitivity between NO3 and organic substances was avoided by selecting the appropriate characteristic wavelengths of partial least squares (PLS) models, and the interference of turbidity was eliminated by using fourth derivative spectrum. Turbidity and TSS was detected outside the spectral range around the absorption peak caused by water color. The water color was calculated to warn for harmful algal blooms. The feasibility of this instrument was demonstrated by a series of experiments.


Butz and Du Vigneaud at the University of Illinois discovered homocysteine about 70 years ago. By heating methionine in sulfuric acid these investigators isolated a homolog of cystine, bis-( -amino-carboxypropyl) disulfide, that they called homocystine since it had the structure of the "next higher symmetrical homolog of cystine." 1 Since its original discovery, homocysteine has received increasing attention as a risk factor for atherosclerosis2 and recently, evidence is accumulating that it may be involved in the pathogenesis of alcoholic liver injury (reviewed by Ji and Kaplowitz.3) Homocysteine plays a pivotal role in the metabolism of the essential amino acid methionine, which is the precursor of S-adenosylmethionine (SAMe), the methyl donor in hundreds of methylation reactions including RNA, DNA, proteins, and lipids. Homocysteine is formed upon demethylation of SAMe and subsequent hydrolysis of S-adenosylhomocysteine (SAH) and lies at the junction of two intersecting pathways, the transsulfuration pathway — the pathway that converts the sulfur atom of methionine to cysteine and glutathione, as well as its ultimate removal as sulfate — and the remethylation pathway —the pathway that conserves homocysteine as methionine, and that is coupled to cobalamin, folate and betaine metabolism (Fig. 1) (reviewed by Finkelstein4). It has long been recognized that methionine metabolism is altered in patients with liver disease. In 1947 Kinsell et al. demonstrated marked impairment in methionine clearance following a methionine load in patients with liver injury, thereby establishing the central role of the liver in methionine metabolism.5 Later, Horowitz et al.6 provided evidence for impairment of the transsulfuration pathway in cirrhosis, and in 1988 we demonstrated that the marked impairment of methionine metabolism in patients with cirrhosis was due to a striking reduction in the rate of hepatic SAMe synthesis.7 Homocysteine belongs to a group of molecules known as cellular thiols. The most abundant cellular thiols are glutathione (the intracellular concentration of glutathione is about 1 to 10 mmol/L) and cysteine (plasma total cysteine ranges from 200 to 300 mol/ L). These two thiols are considered the "good thiols," because their functions include maintaining intracellular and extracellular redox homeostasis, facilitate the removal of toxic compounds, and are also part of the cellular antioxidant defense system.8 Homocysteine is normally found at much lower concentrations than glutathione and cysteine. The concentration of homocysteine within the cell is around 1 mol/L, and in plasma ranges from 5 to 15 mol/L. Different from glutathione and cysteine, homocysteine is considered a "bad thiol" because of its association with a variety of health conditions including cardiovascular disease,2 end-stage renal disease,9 neural tube defects,10 and cognitive dysfunctions including Alzheimer disease.11 Recently, homocysteine has also been implicated in the pathogenesis of alcoholic liver injury.12 One of the most common mutations, or polymorphisms, that is associated with a mild increase in plasma homocysteine (hyperhomocysteinemia) is the 677C3T substitution (an alanine to valine change) in the enzyme methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR). Because MTHFR catalyzes the conversion of 5,10-methylenetetrahydrofolate to 5-methyltetrahydrofolate, the primary circulating form of folate and the one-carbon donor for homocysteine remethylation to methionine (Fig. 1), a disruption of MTHFR activity is expected to increase homocysteine levels. The frequency of this variant in the homozygous state varies from 0% to1% in African Americans to 25% in Hispanic Americans, ranging for most populations (Canada and United States, Europe, Asia, and Australia) between 10% to15%.13 In this issue of HEPATOLOGY, Adinolfi et al. report that mild hyperhomocysteinemia and MTHFR 677C3T polymorphism is associated with steatosis and fibrosis in chronic hepatitis C (CHC) patients.14 These investigators have examined 116 CHC patients for histology activity index, fibrosis, steatosis grade, hyperhomocysteinemia, and MTHFR 677C3T polymorphism. As expected, hyperhomocysteinemia is associated with TT genotype of Abbreviations: SAMe, S-adenosylmethionine; MTHFR, methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase; CHC, chronic hepatitis C; NASH, nonalcoholic steatohepatitis ; HCC, hepatocellular carcinoma; ER endoplasmic reticulum; UPR, unfolded protein response; SREBP, sterol regulatory element-binding proteins. 1CIC-Biogune, Metabolomics Unit, Building 801a, Technological Park of Bizkaia, Derio 48710, Bizkaia, Spain; and 2USC Liver Disease Research Center, USC-UCLA Alcoholic Liver and Pancreatic Disease Center, the Division of Gastrointestinal and Liver Diseases, Department of Medicine, Keck School of Medicine USC, Los Angeles, CA. Address reprint requests to: Dr. José M. Mato, JCIC-Biogune, Metabolomics Unit, Building 801a, Technological Park of Bizkaia, Derio 48710, Bizkaia, Spain. Copyright © 2005 by the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases. Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/hep.20708 Potential conflict of interest: Nothing to report.


We consider higher-dimensional massive Brans-Dicke theory with Ricci-flat internal space. The background model is perturbed by a massive gravitating source which is pressureless in the external (our space) but has an arbitrary equation-of-state parameter $\Omega$ in the internal space. We obtain the exact solution of the system of linearized equations for the perturbations of the metric coefficients and scalar field. For a massless scalar field, relying on the fine-tuning between the Brans-Dicke parameter $\omega$ and $\Omega$, we demonstrate that (i) the model does not contradict gravitational tests relevant to the parameterized post-Newtonian parameter $\gamma$, and (ii) the scalar field is not ghost in the case of nonzero $|\Omega|\sim O(1)$ along with the natural value $|\omega|\sim O(1)$. In the general case of a massive scalar field, the metric coefficients acquire the Yukawa correction terms, where the Yukawa mass scale $m$ is defined by the mass of the scalar field. For the natural value $\omega\sim O(1)$, the inverse-square-law experiments impose the following restriction on the lower bound of the mass: $m\gtrsim 10^{-11}\,$GeV. The experimental constraints on $\gamma$ requires that $\Omega$ must be extremely close to $-1/2$.


A facile method for N-deallylation at the amide nitrogen of peptides is described. One-pot deallylation of a substrate through ruthenium hydride-catalyzed terminal olefin isomerization and subsequent ozonolysis gave the corresponding deallylated product under mild conditions.


Abstract Wide ranging reviews, of housing policy are a significant feature of policy making in many countries. In England a major review carried out in 1977 was intended to provide a comprehensive basis for the future. In this article the 1977 national housing policy review is considered and conclusions are offered about the lessons to be learned from it on the form of such reviews and the importance of monitoring.


In All Is Lost, shot by Frank DeMarco and Peter Zuccarini, a lone sailor battles the elements after his boat is damaged far from port


The effect of sulfur (S) on oxygen chemisorption and the initial stages of oxidation of the Ni(111) crystal surface have been studied with Auger electron spectroscopy, low‐energy electron diffraction, and x‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy at room temperature under ultrahigh vacuum conditions. It is found that sulfur strongly retards the oxygen adsorption kinetics, but does not change the oxidation mechanism. The initial chemisorption sticking coefficient (s) is found to follow the relationship s ∝ (1 − 3θs)2, where θs is the S coverage. Oxidation of S precovered surfaces can be described fairly well by an island growth model; the decrease in oxidation rate, relative to that of the S‐free surface, can be attributed to the reduction in the density of oxide nuclei. Some experimental observations indicate that the oxide layer is partially removed by S at 440 K. Sulfur is believed to remain at the Ni/NiO interface during oxidation.


Abstract : Hydrogen bonding in DNA bases was investigated using reliable nonempirical ab initio computational methods. Gradient optimization was carried out on 30 DNA base pairs using the Hartree Fock (HF) approximation and the 6-31G basis set. The optimizations were performed within the Cs symmetry. However, the harmonic vibrational analysis indicates that 13 of the studied base pairs are intrinsically somewhat nonplanar. The interaction energies of the base pairs were then evaluated at the optimized planar geometries with inclusion of the electron correlation energy at the MP2 level. The stabilization energies of the studied base pairs range from 24 kcal/mol to 9 kcal/mol, and the calculated gas phase interaction enthalpies agree well (within 2 kcal/mol) with the available experimental values. The binding energies and molecular structures of the base pairs are not determined solely by the hydrogen bonds, but are also strongly influenced by the polarity of the monomers and by a wide variety of secondary long range electrostatic interactions involving the hydrogen atoms bonded to ring carbon atoms. The stabilization of the base pairs is dominated by the Hartree-Fock interaction energy. This result confirms that the stability of the base pairs originates in the electrostatic interactions. For weakly bonded base pairs, the correlation interaction energy amounts to as much as 30-40% of the stabilization. For some other base pairs, however, a repulsive correlation interaction energy was found. This fact is explained as a result of a reduction of the electrostatic attraction upon inclusion of the electron correlation. The empirical London dispersion energy does not correctly reproduce the correlation interaction energy.


Arachnids are the most abundant land predators. Despite the importance of their functional roles as predators and the of necessity to understand their diet for conservation and nutrient fluxes, the trophic ecology of many arachnid species is not fully understood. In the case of the wandering spider, Phoneutria boliviensis F. O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1897, only selected field and laboratory observational studies about their diet exist. By using a DNA metabarcoding approach, we compared the prey found in the gut content of males and females from three distant Colombian populations of P. boliviensis. By DNA metabarcoding of the cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI), we detected and identified 234 prey records belonging to 96 operational taxonomic units (OTUs), as prey for this wandering predator. Our results broaden the known diet of P. boliviensis with at least 75 prey taxa not previously registered in fieldwork or laboratory experimental trials. These results suggest that P. boliviensis feeds predominantly on invertebrates (Diptera, Lepidoptera, Coleoptera and Orthoptera) and opportunistically on small squamates. Intersex and interpopulation differences are observed. Assuming that prey preference does not vary between populations, these differences are likely associated with a higher local prey availability. Finally, we suggest that DNA metabarcoding can be used for evaluating subtle differences in the diet of distinct populations of P. boliviensis, particularly when predation records in the field cannot be established or quantified using direct observation


I draw on the Narcissistic Admiration and Rivalry Concept (NARC) that disentangles two facets of narcissism and expect both facets of narcissism to predict relationship conflict differently. Follow...


Generative programming aims at increasing programmer productivity by automating programming tasks using some form of automatic program generation or transformation, such as code generation from a domain-specific language, aspect weaving, optimization, or specialization of a generic program to a particular context. Key for achieving this aim is the construction of tools that implement the automating transformations. If generative programming is to become a staple ingredient of the software engineering process, the construction of generative tools itself should be automated as much as possible. This requires an infrastructure with support for the common tasks in the construction of transformation systems. In the Stratego/XT project we have built a generic infrastructure for program transformation. In this position paper we give an outline of this infrastructure and indicate where we think the challenges for research and development of program transformations systems lie in the coming years. Stratego/XT and its applications are organized in five layers (see diagram). (1) At the bottom layer is the substrate for a transformation system, that is the data representation and exchange format, for which we use the Annotated Term Format (ATerm) as basis, and XML where necessary to communicate with external tools. This substrate allows transformation systems to be rigorously componentized. (2) The foundation of any transformation system are syntax definition and parsing, pretty-printing, program transformation, and tool composition. The syntax definition formalism SDF provides modular syntax definition and parsing, supporting easy combination of languages. The pretty-printing package GPP supports rendering structured program representations as program text. The program transformation language Stratego supports concise implementation of program transformations by means of rewrite rules and programmable strategies for control of their application. Finally, the XTC library supports composition of simple transformation tools into complex ones. These are all generic facilities that are needed in any transformation for any language. (3) In the middle is a library of transformations and transformation utilities that are not specific for a language, but not usable in all transformations either. The Stratego Standard Library (SSL) provides a host of generic rewriting strategies, and the XT toolset provides utilities for generating parts of a transformation system. (4) Near the top are specializations of the generic infrastructure to specific object languages. Such a language specific environment consists of a syntax definition for a language along with utilities such as semantic


Simple Summary Castration of male piglets has traditionally been carried out to control boar taint, but animal welfare concerns about surgical castration has brought this practice under scrutiny. In addition, castration decreases growth performance and increases the environmental impact of pork production, so alternatives to castration are needed to control boar taint. In this review, we summarize the current knowledge on boar taint metabolism and outline some key areas that require further study. We also describe some opportunities for controlling the boar taint problem and propose that by defining the differences in metabolic processes and the genetic variations that can lead to boar taint in individual pigs, we can design effective custom solutions for boar taint. Abstract Boar taint is caused by the accumulation of androstenone and skatole and other indoles in the fat; this is regulated by the balance between synthesis and degradation of these compounds and can be affected by a number of factors, including environment and management practices, sexual maturity, nutrition, and genetics. Boar taint can be controlled by immunocastration, but this practice has not been accepted in some countries. Genetics offers a long-term solution to the boar taint problem via selective breeding or genome editing. A number of short-term strategies to control boar taint have been proposed, but these can have inconsistent effects and there is too much variability between breeds and individuals to implement a blanket solution for boar taint. Therefore, we propose a precision livestock management approach to developing solutions for controlling taint. This involves determining the differences in metabolic processes and the genetic variations that cause boar taint in specific groups of pigs and using this information to design custom treatments based on the cause of boar taint. Genetic, proteomic or metabolomic profiling can then be used to identify and implement effective solutions for boar taint for specific populations of animals.


In LTE-Advanced, both the co-frequency interferences and multipaths degrade the EBR of the receiver since the frequency reuse factor is 1. A multipath diversity receiving scheme is proposed which is based on DBF. The new approach separates the multipath by DBF firstly. Then the relative delays are estimated through the cross correlation between the reference signal and each mutipath instead of the pseudo code as the traditional method. A pha se shifter is employed for each multipath so that all the relative delay would be less than half cycle of baseband symbol, which makes sure the multipaths could be combined together. In the new strategy, the co-frequency interferences are mitigated and the multipaths diversity benefits the BER due to delay estimation and phase shifter. The impact of some parameters to delay estimation is illustrated and the computer simulation proves the validity of the proposed methodology.


With the appearance of computer network, could computing, the internet of things, big data more and more get the attention of people. Understanding and Application big data, and make a scientific decision, become the most necessary and urgent problem. Big data, not only let the database have always been known for efficient and secure storage embarrassed, but also allow the data warehouse that provide the convenience for business intelligence and decision-making lose their role. As to the data warehouse that support for global application and decision analysis, the paper from the perspective of technology start, study the data warehouse in big data, the aim is for the big data building data warehouse ready to early.


Enigma Version 12 software combines model building, animation, and engineering visualization into one concise software package. Enigma employs a versatile user interface to allow average users access to even the most complex pieces of the application. Using Enigma eliminates the need to buy and learn several software packages to create an engineering visualization. Models can be created and/or modified within Enigma down to the polygon level. Textures and materials can be applied for additional realism. Within Enigma, these models can be combined to create systems of models that have a hierarchical relationship to one another, such as a robotic arm. Then these systems can be animated within the program or controlled by an external application programming interface (API). In addition, Enigma provides the ability to use plug-ins. Plugins allow the user to create custom code for a specific application and access the Enigma model and system data, but still use the Enigma drawing functionality. CAD files can be imported into Enigma and combined to create systems of computer graphics models that can be manipulated with constraints. An API is available so that an engineer can write a simulation and drive the computer graphics models with no knowledge of computer graphics. An animation editor allows an engineer to set up sequences of animations generated by simulations or by conceptual trajectories in order to record these to highquality media for presentation. Enigma Version 12 Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center, Houston, Texas 28 NASA Tech Briefs, September 2013 Planetary Protection Bioburden Analysis Program NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California This program is a Microsoft Access program that performed statistical analysis of the colony counts from assays performed on the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) spacecraft to determine the bioburden density, 3-sigma biodensity, and the total bioburdens required for the MSL prelaunch reports. It also contains numerous tools that report the data in various ways to simplify the reports required. The program performs all the calculations directly in the MS Access program. Prior to this development, the data was exported to large Excel files that had to be cut and pasted to provide the desired results. The program contains a main menu and a number of submenus. Analyses can be performed by using either all the assays, or only the accountable assays that will be used in the final analysis. There are three options on the first menu: either calculate using (1) the old MER (Mars Exploration Rover) statistics, (2) the MSL statistics for all the assays, or This software implements penetration limit equations for common micrometeoroid and orbital debris (MMOD) shield configurations, windows, and thermal protection systems. Allowable MMOD risk is formulated in terms of the probability of penetration (PNP) of the spacecraft pressure hull. For calculating the risk, spacecraft geometry models, mission profiles, debris environment models, and penetration limit equations for installed shielding configurations are required. Risk assessment software such as NASA's BUMPERII is used to calculate mission PNP; however, they are unsuitable for use in shield design and preliminary analysis studies. The software defines a single equation for the design and performance evaluation of common MMOD shielding configurations, windows, and thermal protection systems, along with a description of their validity range and guidelines for their application. Recommendations are based on preliminary reviews of fundamental assumptions, and accuracy in predicting experimental impact test results. The software is programmed in Visual Basic for Applications for installation as a simple add-in for Microsoft Excel. The user is directed to a graphical user interface (GUI) that requires user inputs and provides solutions directly in Microsoft Excel workbooks. This work was done by Shannon Ryan of the USRA Lunar and Planetary Institute for Johnson Space Center. Further information is contained in a TSP (see page 1). MSC- 24582-1 Micrometeoroid and Orbital Debris (MMOD) Shield Ballistic Limit Analysis Program Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center, Houston, Texas Commercially, because it is so generic, Enigma can be used for almost any project that requires engineering visualization, model building, or animation. Models in Enigma can be exported to many other formats for use in other applications as well. Educationally, Enigma is being used to allow university students to visualize robotic algorithms in a simulation mode before using them with actual hardware.


The mechanisms of a charge injection-induced electrohydrodynamics (EHD) pump using the lattice Boltzmann method (LBM) is numerically investigated in this paper. The pump is composed of a dielectric liquid layer and two substrate layers with embedded electrodes. There are three possible flow modes are found, which are associated with the generation of local convective rolls for different electrode arrangements, namely, modes associated with one and two vortices and an irrotational mode. For different flow modes, results are presented for both the transient development of the flow field and the steady-state total flow rate and pressure. A distinctly four-state transition can be observed in the temporal record of the velocity field. Regarding pumping ability, it is found that the irrotational mode can lead to optimal performance, while the single-vortex flow mode gives the worst performance.


The authors conducted a comparative study of the effect of two oral contraceptives Varnoline and Diane in the treatment of androgenic manifestations: acne and hirsutism. The two products tested seem to have a similar efficacy on this type of clinical manifestations.


With the construction of digital city and the rapid development of large-scale 3D data acquisition technology, 3D laser scanning and dense matching of aerospace images have produced massive point cloud data. As a new digital representation method of 3D objects, 3D point cloud has gradually become a common processing object in various research and engineering applications because of its simplicity and flexibility. 3D point cloud data can build a real 3D city model for 3D geographic information system, simulation and virtual technology, and digital city construction. How to use the existing computer processing ability to efficiently organize and index the massive point cloud data and complete the 3D spatial visualization modeling of the point cloud data more quickly and accurately has become an important research topic. Massive point cloud data are collected by 3D laser scanning system, and finally saved to the computer. Through some software processing, the high-precision 3D model is reconstructed, and the 3D reconstruction and rapid visualization of point cloud data are realized.


The author's introduction to the Arctic came in 1936 as archaeologist to a small British expedition exploring the west coast of Baffin Island. He continued to work in the area until 1939 and excavated the first site of the pure Dorset culture near Igloolik. Moreover, the expedition was one of the last in the region to depend on traditional methods. Therefore, even if this book were a mere record of the expedition and its sequel, it would deservedly be high on the list of priorities for reading by any person who had Arctic interests. But it is much more than this. One of the most damning points ever made by any reviewer was the famous comment that the work being reviewed was hard to pick up and very easy to put down. Quite the opposite is the case here. This reviewer found it absolutely impossible to put the book down and, as he was in hospital at the time, the author's work was doubly appreciated. The reason for this is the sheer fascination of the tale that Rowley has to tell. Those were quite literally the days! A young man in Cambridge receives a two-line note and off he goes light-heartedly to the Arctic on what amounted to a University expedition. The story of the book covers the doings of that expedition and those of the author when it became clear that more could be accomplished in his area of research by working separately. Much of the book is devoted to the learning process that the author went through during his time there and this largely related, of course, to his being taught by the Inuit. Much relevant information is given, and one suspects that there are few alive now who would not learn something not only from the author's description of methods of travel, preparation of clothing, camping techniques, and the like, but also in the way life was led in the 1930s. For example, this reviewer was astounded to be informed that there was a squash court on a transatlantic liner in which Rowley sailed!


A 1.75- mu m CMOS interface circuit for a differential Manchester-coded 16-Mb/s token-ring local area network (LAN) is presented. The chip provides fixed gain and slicing functions as well as integrated clock recovery, data timing, and lock detection. When it is used in tandem with a digital controller/driver chip, a complete 16-Mb IEEE 802.5-1988 standard-compatible token-ring transceiver is realized. Block-level functionality of the interface circuit is discussed, following by more detailed subcircuit descriptions and a presentation of measured results. The measured jitter transfer function of the PLL phase-locked to a high-transition-density data stream is shown.<<ETX>>


For the f irst 35 years of its existence, the Star Wars franchise was branded as the inspired vision of a single auteur-genius, George Lucas, who controlled the franchise both creatively and economically. Among its major competitors in science f iction and fantasy, perhaps only Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings has been so closely identif ied with the mind of one person—and where Tolkien had his legendarium, the mythopoeic totality of the Middleearth narrative, Lucas had his saga. In interviews, Lucas typically spoke of the Star Wars saga as a unitary megatext from which the f irst movie just happened to draw somewhere in the middle.1 Lucas's self-conscious promotion of Star Wars as a modern myth—intensif ied by his frequent references to Joseph Campbell's study of mythic narrative, The Hero with a Thousand Faces—presented the narrative as emerging from a coherent "master plan" Lucas developed in the 1970s and that has slowly unfurled ever since. Borrowing from Foucault the concept of the episteme—that "strategic apparatus" within a discourse that allows "a f ield of scientif icity" to determine what is thinkable and unthinkable within that system2—we might say that Star Wars had, until recently, treated Lucas's authorial vision as the "one episteme that def ines the conditions of possibility of all knowledge."3 In this chapter, I discuss Rogue One in the context of the 2012 sale of the Star Wars franchise to Disney, which functions as a moment of epistemic break for the Star Wars franchise. While Star Wars remains Star Wars both before and after this moment, our relationship to it as a system of knowledge is entirely different; indeed, in this strange early moment of transition between one episteme and the next, we might even say the current Star Wars episteme f inds itself in a period of civil war.


In this paper we describe our experiences in using AcciMaps and the Risk Management (ActorMap) framework (RMF) to analyse two recent accidents – the infection outbreaks which occurred at the Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust and the 2005 Stockwell Shooting incident. We first review previous work using AcciMaps and the RMF, followed by an account of our goals and the procedure used to carry out the accident analyses and the differences in our use of the methods. Finally, we reflect on these differences in order to develop of a set of criteria which could be used to scope more detailed guidelines for the selection and use of the two methods.


The complexes formed by tiron with aluminium, iron and titanium can be used to determine these elements colorimetrically on a single aliquot of the solution of a mineral. The tiron also renders these solutions very suitable for analysis in a flame, the sodium from the tiron acting as a flame buffer and the complexing properties inhibiting chemical interferences. A single aliquot of solution can therefore be used to determine several elements and the procedure can form the basis of a scheme for the microchemical analysis of minerals. Little is known of the use of tiron for the determination of aluminium and this paper describes tests made on the usefulness of this method.


Castelletto et al. addressed in a Letter [1] the very interesting question of how the transition from electrostatically stabilized common black films (CBF) to sterically stabilized Newton black films (NBF) and vice versa takes place. However, some points are not in line with our current knowledge. (1) The fact that the transition from CBF to NBF is a first-order phase transition has been known for years. It has often been observed experimentally that the NBF arises through formation of NBF nuclei in the thicker CBF which then grow until the whole CBF becomes an NBF—a process known as ''black spot formation'' (reviewed in [2]). Contrary to what is stated in the Letter [1], a hysteresis of the transition was already observed in 1987 (Fig. 3.57 of [2], and [3]) using the thin film pressure balance technique with the porous plate film holder of Exerowa and Scheludko [2]. Metastable CBFs in the transition region have been described, including the time for the CBF-NBF transition (lifetime of the metastable CBF); see p. 210 in [2]. The authors of [1] have used exactly the same experimental method; hence the results can be well compared. (2) For the evaluation of the electrostatic part of the disjoining pressure a simple exponential is used [Eq. (1) of Ref. [1] ]. This is questionable as this approximation is based on two assumptions. First, a low surface charge density is required (as mentioned by the authors), and, second, the film thickness h has to be larger than twice the Debye length [4]. The latter assumption, however, is not fulfilled. Indeed, a very poor agreement between the experimental data and the theoretical curves is actually seen in Fig. 2, which is usually not the case for nonionic surfactants (reviewed in [5]). Moreover, it is mentioned on p. 048302-3 that a surface charge density of 0:9 mCm 1 was obtained. As the surface charge density strongly depends on the electrolyte concentration (reviewed in [5]), we are wondering to which composition this number refers. In any case, a fitting procedure using the exact equations of the Derjaguin-Landau-Verwey-Overbeek (DLVO) theory and an appropriate model for the determination of the most reliable water core thickness [2] have to be used in order to get reliable information from the experimental -h curves. (3) The results presented in Figs. 1 and 2 are not in line with the general observation that the surface charge density decreases significantly with increasing surfactant concentration at concentrations already far below the critical micellar concentration (CMC) (reviewed in [6]). In other words, the conditions reported in Ref. [1] (low salt concentration, surfactant concentration of 2 times the CMC, and pressures above 100 Pa) are not expected to lead to the formation of a CBF. Indeed, in a disjoining pressure study with the same surfactant (C12E6) published only recently [6], it is shown that no CBF is formed if (a) the surfactant concentration slightly exceeds the CMC (10 4M, i.e.,


This article discusses the influence of vehicle technical maintenance (VTM) on vehicle efficient operation period (VEOP), hence, on vehicle scrappage time. Procedures have been developed for arrangement of schedule of maintenance operations (MO) and current repair (CR) of road vehicles which determines capacities of production and technical facilities (PTF) and operates in real time, that is, enables adaptation of capacities of motor transport enterprise (MTE) to vehicle number in limited period of time. It has been revealed that PTF operating structures, procedures applied for its generation, influence directly on qualitative determination of VEOP and then on generation of structure of scrappage and reprocessing of decommissioned vehicles. VEOP should rapidly and reliably reflect regularities of variation of CR performances upon commissioning of new road vehicles (RV), increase in operation periods and depreciation of operating RV.


A structural equations model hypothesizing that individuals' core self-evaluations would significantly predict their preferences for various pay plan characteristics (e.g., high risk, variable pay, etc.) was tested. This hypothesis, which specified that individuals with higher levels of core self-evaluations would prefer pay plans that offered greater risk and less certainty regarding the amount of pay received, was supported. Furthermore, it was also hypothesized that congruence between an individual's preferred pay plan characteristics and the actual type of pay plan that he or she receives would result in higher levels of employee job satisfaction and pay satisfaction. This hypothesis was partially supported, as the relationship between congruence and job satisfaction was significant, while the relationship between congruence and pay satisfaction was not significant. Finally, it was hypothesized that the relationship between congruence and satisfaction would be moderated by the value that the individual places on money. This hypothesis was not supported. The results of this research indicate that personality characteristics may have a significant impact on the type of pay plan that an individual will prefer to receive. Furthermore, this research provides additional support for the belief that high levels of fit between the characteristics of individuals and the characteristics of the organizations for which they work will result in higher levels of employee satisfaction. Finally, the degree of importance that an individual places on money does not appear to alter the relationship between fit and satisfaction. These results have strong implications for businesses that wish to improve employee satisfaction and reduce employee turnover, as well as for individuals who are seeking occupations for which they will best be suited.


The more advance in technology of the mobile phones, the higher the rank the user is seen in the eyes of other people. Many people in this world believe that their mobile phones seem to be a fashion statement. It says something about the owner, much like owner clothing. Even though mobile technology often simplifies the complexion of everyday tasks, cell phone owners can also encounter some problems and unwanted interruptions in using their phones. Sometimes, consumers do not know why they made the decision in purchasing that particular brand of phone. Perhaps the following factors as proposed by the researcher, which are brand loyalty, price, quality, social influence or the mobile phone features might be the reasons that influence the consumer when deciding to purchase mobile phones. The researcher has selected quantitative research as suitable to obtain the desired results, as this approach was deemed as the most suitable and appropriate to test the hyphotheses. For this research, the researcher chosed the simple random sampling, where the respondents were potential consumers located in the vicinity of Kangar, Perlis. The number of respondents targeted to answer the questionnaires were 100. Based on the analysis conducted earlier and after the results were tabulated, brand loyalty, quality and social influence are lead to consumer purchasing mobile phones. Price and mobile phone features have negative relationship with consumer purchasing mobile phones.