Abstract An ultrastructural, immunocytochemical and electrophoretic study on keratinocytes forming the corneous layer of claws in the frog Xenopus laevis has been conducted in order to analyze the process of cornification in amphibians and compare it with cornification in amniote claws. During claw differentiation pre-corneous keratinocytes accumulate dense corneous bundles containing keratin filaments and inter-keratin material. Ribosomes are associated with keratin bundles, suggesting that neo-synthesized matrix molecules are rapidly aggregated onto the keratin filaments, turning the complex into an amorphous, electron-dense, and resistant horny material. Most proteins of the claw are acidic to neutral keratins of 45–66 kDa, but other protein spots outside the molecular weight range of keratins are also present. These proteins of 16–17 kDa with pI at 7.0–7.3 contain little histidine and may represent 'amphibian keratin associated proteins' (aKAPs). The association of keratins and aKAPs determine the formation of the hard corneous material of claws and likely of the other corneous structures present in amphibian skin, such as the horny beak and horny nuptial pads. The cornification in amphibian claws, compared to the process of cornification present in amniote claws, shows common aspects, but is more simplified in amphibians.


Artemisia capillaris is a species from class Magnoliopsida and family Asteraceae. Artemisia capillaris also know as wormwood or wormwood capillary in European (ShamanShop.net, 2002), Yin Chen Hao in China (ShamanShop.net, 2002; Dharmananda, 2002) and in common names are Pokok Ru Nyamuk and Pokok Daun Ru. Artemisia capillaris is a member of the parsley family, is a strong-smelling, fennel-like, annual plant reaching a height of about 4 feet or more. Artemisia capillaris leaves are alternate, basal large and petiolate, upper often subsessile to sessile, undivided or toothed-shallowly to deeply incised or lobed, palmati or pinnatipartite or pinnatisect. The Flowers is yellowish and tubular. Ray-florets: pistillate and fertile; corolla narrowly tubular, generally tapering upwards, toothed, oblique, eligulate; style exserted, 2-cleft, branches recurved, linear-filiform and terete-oblong, flattened (eFloras.org, 2006). Artemisia capillaris was introduced to this country from Asia (Duane and Martha, 2006; Plant for Future, 2006), America and Europe (Duane and Martha, 2006). It is in flower from August to October, and the seeds ripen from September to October for country that had seasonal (Plant for Future, 2002). It is cultivated in China, Japan, Taiwan (ShamShop.net, 2002) and some extent in this country. Small acreages f Artemisia capillaris have been grown successfully as a commercial crop. o About 2,000 years before Artemisia capillaris has been used in Chinese herbal medicine. This Artemisia capillaris considered to be a bitter and cooling herb, clearing "damp heat" from the liver and gall ducts and relieving fevers (Chevallier, 1996). Artemisia capillaris widely used in Asia to prevent and treat neonatal jaundice, also effective remedy for liver problems, works on stomach and spleen (Chevallier, 1996; Huang et al., 2003; Abestmall, 2006). Modern research has confirmed that the plant has a tonic and strengthening effect upon the liver, gallbladder and digestive system (Chevallier, 1996). The studied from Hong et al., 2004 suggest that Artemisia capillaries can be a useful therapeutic agent for endotoxin-induced flammation and injuries of the liver. in DNA extraction is a routine procedure to collect DNA for subsequent molecular or forensic analysis. Extracted genomic DNA contains nuclear and mitochondrial DNA, if DNA is extracted from plant material it will also contain chloroplast DNA. Each of these types of DNA has forensic, diagnostic and phylogenetic uses, and makes use of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to obtain specific information from the DNA. Purified DNA may also be used for studying DNA structure and chemistry, examining DNA-protein interactions, carrying out DNA hybridizations, and for cloning and sequencing (Jimmy and Larry, 2005). The problem of DNA extraction is still an important issue in the field of plant molecular biology. Various plants contain high levels of polysaccharides and many types of secondary metabolites affecting DNA purification (Zidani et al., 2005). According to Henry, (2001) yield and quality of DNA often varies among plant tissue types. Besides, purification of genomic DNA in plant is difficult due to co-extraction of high quantities of tannins, polyphenols and polysaccharides (Shepherd et al., 2002). Isolation of plant nucleic acids for use in Southen blot analysis, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplifications, restriction fragment length polymorphisms (RFLPs), arbitrary primed DNA amplifications


Over the past few years, metropolitan crime has fallen significantly in the United States while nonmetropolitan crime has continued to increase. The main aim of this study is to investigate the relationship between crimes and urban development. This study had chosen a survey research, to analyze the relationship between the relationship rural development and crimes. The author applied a structured survey as tool of this research. I distributed 150 questionnaires, but only 118 questionnaires I was able to receive. The findings revealed that there is positive and significant relationship between crimes and urban development. Keywords— Crimes, Urban Development, Law Reinforcement, Public Law.


The digital TV deployment brings to think a new paradigm for the vehicles of mass communication, by inserting mechanisms of interactivity. This means a new way to transmit content and connect the people of a nation and, thus, eventually shows up on various social aspects of a country. Brazil is undergoing a period of definitions and experimentations regarding the implementation of these mechanisms in the programs for digital TV. Therefore, many aspects (technicians and mainly socials) must be taken into account in this phase, because due to the interactivity, it is expected that there will be changes in education, industry, social inclusion, among other areas.


Potted greenhouse-grown, l-year-old 'Hamlin' orange (Citrus sinensis (L.) Osbeck) trees on 1.5-year-old rough lemon (C. jambhiri Lush.) rootstock were tem- perature-conditioned for 6 consecutive weeks in a controlled-environment room to test cold-hardening ability. Holding at 15.6 ± 0.6C during 12-hr days (425 µmol·s -1 ·m -2


The advent of liver transplantation provided a treatment option for several pediatric terminal liver diseases. In September 1989, we performed the first pediatric liver transplantation in a child with biliary atresia at the Instituto da Crianca do Hospital das Clinicas da Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de Sao Paulo after an extensive program of basic science and animal training. Thanks to institutional efforts and the dedication of a multi-disciplinary team composed of doctors, nurses, hospital administrators, pharmacists, physiotherapists, nutritionists, social workers and psychologists, it was possible for us to create and maintain a Brazilian pediatric liver transplantation program that is comparable to those of the world's best centers. From 1989 to the present, we have performed 680 liver transplantations in children with different terminal liver diseases, including the most severe cases of fulminant hepatic failure.

However, the scarcity of suitable deceased donors has been a great problem for all liver transplantation programs, particularly in the pediatric area because the need to reduce the volume of liver grafts and the relative severity of the clinical conditions of our patients make the procurement of deceased donors even more difficult and selective. The positions of liver recipient candidates on the waiting list (a single list for adults and children) were based on chronologic criteria until June of 2006 and the mean time from inclusion on the list until transplantation was three years. Consequently, waiting-list mortality (affecting more than 50% of patients) was an important problem that had yet to be solved. From that time until the present, despite the introduction of the Pediatric End-stage Liver Disease (PELD)/Model for End-stage Liver Disease (MELD) criteria for the inclusion and classification of patients based on the severity of their hepatic disease and clinical conditions, the waiting-list mortality rate has remained persistently high.

In this context, we began a program of living donor transplantation and the first procedure was performed in 1998. To date, careful selection and preparation of potential living donors have allowed us to perform 280 procedures, with a low morbidity rate and no donor complications or deaths 1. Resection of the left lateral segment or the left lobe (which provides sufficient liver mass for pediatric recipients) is a procedure that is relatively safe for the donors 2. Our center's surgical team includes only pediatric surgeons, with extensive experience in pediatric liver surgery and liver transplantation, including experience with adolescents, which allows us to perform the donor hepatectomies without the participation of adult surgeons. We emphasize that the donor and recipient procedures are performed in adjoining rooms, with full synchronization, in an exclusively pediatric hospital that has undergone logistical and structural adjustments to allow for the procedures in the adults to be performed safely and comfortably. Additionally, in the early postoperative period, the donor (in general, a mother or father) and the recipient can stay together in the same hospital. Finally, another advantage is that the team of pediatric surgeons can perform adequate early and late follow-ups of all donors.

Regarding the benefits of living donor transplantation for the recipients, the advantages of good-quality grafts outweigh the technical difficulties related to the smaller caliber of the vascular anastomoses and to biliary reconstruction 3. Thus, despite the introduction of MELD and PELD scores to determine waiting-list positions, living donor liver transplantation maintains a crucial role in our program because children can be treated earlier and receive extensively evaluated grafts with optimal function that have been exposed to minimal cold ischemia.

However, liver transplantation is a complex procedure, and as such, it is still associated with several postoperative complications. Surgical complications may involve the vascular (hepatic artery, portal vein and hepatic vein) and biliary structures. In this context, we introduced the utilization of simplified arterial microsuture techniques, which make the performance of arterial anastomoses much easier and more practical 4 and the precise utilization of arterial grafts 5, which allows for progressively better results in terms of arterial complications. Moreover, the utilization of a Rex shunt (i.e., a bypass between the superior mesenteric vein and the portal vein left branch) in cases of portal thrombosis 6 and technical modification of the hepatic vein anastomosis procedure, which involves the creation of a wide opening in the anterior wall of the inferior vena cava 7, have been responsible for a decrease in the rate of venous complications.

However, biliary complications and size mismatches remain unsolved problems and are thus the subjects of important experimental studies. A weaning rat model of selective biliary obstruction was developed in our laboratory, with the aim of improving our understanding of biliary cirrhosis in cases of intrahepatic segmental biliary stenosis 8,9.

Moreover, the consequences of engrafting liver grafts that are disproportionately large relative to the recipients' size, i.e., cases of infant recipients who are less than 5 kg in size, have not been completely elucidated. Therefore, we created a new swine "large-for-size" liver transplantation model 10 and many studies that have tentatively clarified the molecular and flowmetric mechanisms of lesions in this situation 11 as well as therapeutic measures to attenuate such lesions have been reported 11.

Finally, the immunologic mechanisms involved in the humoral and cellular rejection of solid organ transplants remain a matter of continuing research in the literature. Despite all of the advances in immunosuppressive regimens and the development of accurate drugs with fewer collateral effects, acute and chronic rejections remain dreaded complications of pediatric liver transplantation. The diagnoses of acute and chronic rejection are based on histopathological findings, and portal inflammation and centrilobular necrosis are characteristics of acute rejection. Moreover, biliary duct paucity in the portal space and foam cell arteriopathy are the main aspects of chronic rejection 12. Regarding acute cellular rejection, treatment and management are relatively standardized and most cases exhibit good responses to corticosteroid bolus treatments as well as tacrolimus level adjustment 13. The treatment and evolution of pediatric patients with chronic rejection are not well characterized, as few published studies are present in the literature.

Indeed, the mechanisms of chronic rejection are not completely known and the progressive biliary duct paucity may not respond to increased immunosuppression, which can lead to severe liver dysfunction, a need for retransplantation or death, as discussed in the paper by Tannuri et al. in the current issue of Clinics. Finally, the early histological findings and histological aspects that are suggestive of irreversibility must be defined, and prognostic factors after chronic rejection is diagnosed must be identified, although certain investigations have previously tried to identify the risk factors for the development of chronic rejection following liver transplantation in pediatric 14 and adult 15,16 populations.

In conclusion, liver transplantation is a relatively new procedure that allows for the survival of many infants and children who otherwise would die. However, this procedure also results in a number of conditions and complications that have never been previously recognized and treated. Therefore, much remains to be studied and accomplished, particularly in the field of immunology.


Although it is well established than plasma C-reactive protein (CRP) levels predicts cardiovascular events beyond traditional risk factors, the main drivers of elevated CRP in the population are st...


In the brain of the Carp an anti met-enkephalin serum reveals some telencephalic fibres, about half of the N.P.O. cells and furthermore a subependymal zone of nervous tissue close to the third ventricle of the superior hypothalamus and thalamus. These structures do not react with an anti alpha-endorphin serum, which however reveals cells of the lateral N.L.T. and the corresponding fibres.


This paper was originally published without the accompanying figures. The complete paper is published in the Appendix of AIP Conference Proceedings 672, Short Distance Behavior of Fundamental Interactions, edited by B. N. Kursunoglu et al., pp. 210–219, 2003. The correct citation to be used for this paper is AIP Conference Proceedings 624, Cosmology and Elementary Particle Physics, edited by B. N. Kursunoglu et al., pp. 201–210, 2002. The online version of this paper has been corrected.


Aims/ objectives: Let Q1; Q2 and Q3 be three non-vanishing meromorphic functions, and be an entire function. In this paper, we consider the dierential equation of the form:


Wear is the phenomenon that determines the lifetime of the collector strips. Since wear is an inevitable effect on pantograph-catenary systems, it is necessary to determine optimal operating conditions that can mitigate its effects. In this study we have performed a simulation model of the pantograph-overhead conductor rail system which allows the evaluation of the dynamic conditions of the system through the contact force. With these results we have made an evaluation of the quality of current collection, a calculation of the pantograph wear and a definition of the optimal operation conditions of the pantograph-overhead conductor rail system.


What is teaching and learning mathematics for social justice (TLMSJ)? How has TLMSJ been taken up in mathematics education—both historically and contemporarily? Along with unpacking these two central questions, another purpose of this article is to assess the current capacity and stance of TLMSJ toward addressing issues of racial injustice. We begin with an overview of TLMSJ as an epistemic perspective and introduce an analytical lens based on selected tenets of critical race theory. We then use this analytical lens to examine extant TLMSJ scholarship toward broadening the possibilities of justice-oriented scholarship in mathematics education.


Repeated testing of any construct in research is essential, as it reinforces knowledge, promotes validity and enables its successful use in other applications. The purpose of this paper is to present results of repeatedly testing the impact that three different tilt angles have on the output power of a PV module in a semi-arid region of SA, thereby contributing to absolute validity. An experimental design is used with a longitudinal study cover 2015 through 2017. These three years of results for the winter season reveal that the PV module which was set to a tilt angle of 9 + 10° produced the highest yield of output power. It can thus be recommended that PV modules be mounted at 9 + 10° for the winter time period in semi-arid regions of South Africa and that the setup and procedures used in this study are valid.


The dynamical Lie algebraic approach developed by Y. Alhassid and R.D. Levine combined with the intermediate picture is applied to the study of translational-vibrational energy transfer in the collinear collision between an atom and an anharmonic oscillator. By solving equations of motion for the group parameters under the first-order approximation of the group parameters, the authors calculate the vibrational transition probabilities of anharmonic molecule scattering with an atom in the intermediate picture. Numerical test calculations are carried out for the collinear scattering system HBr + He; the results show that the dynamical Lie algebraic approach can be useful for the description of atom-molecule collision phenomena.


This paper proposes an attitude transfer alignment method using direction cosine matrix (DCM) matching for Inertial Navigation System Calibration. The relationship between the calculated attitude DCM by inertial navigation system and reference attitude is established, which is used as measurement model for attitude transfer alignment. The validation of the proposed model is demonstrating in the Inertial Navigation System calibration. In order to calibrate the error parameters such as gyro drift, accelerometer bias, installation errors and the scale factor errors, a system-level calibration model with 18-error parameters needs to be established. By dimensionality reduction of high-dimensional system, 18-error parameters are effectively coupled into 6-error parameters. An 10-position "stationary" calibration scheme is designed and a 12-dimensional Kalman filter equation is established. The experimental results show that the accuracy of the error coefficient calibration of Inertial Navigation System is improved effectively after the addition of high-precision attitude information. The relative errors of gyro drift and accelerometer bias are less than 0.1%.


Plain GFRP, copper wire embedded GFRP and SMA short fibres included copper wires embedded GFRP laminates have been prepared by hand lay-up method. The mechanical properties like flexural and tensile strength were investigated. To study the impact properties of the laminates an experimental set up was designed and the impact strength of the laminates was studied by drop weight method. Three point bend method was adopted for flexural studies and the tensile strength was found by Instron Machine. It is found that the inclusion of SMA short fibres significantly improved the mechanical properties of the composites.


Abstract
This article propose an analysis of the concept of Cosmovision as both a signifier and conceptual category in order to 1) construct and/or refine its use in a research project, and 2) establish its relationship with the conceptual category of the phantasm. This analysis will point to a freudian ēthos that will provide the basis and direction for an approach to the current master discourse.

Resumen
Se propone un analisis del termino Cosmovision, en tanto que significante y categoria conceptual, a fin de construir, primero, un proyecto investigativo y, segundo, para establecer su vinculacion con la de Fantasma (Lacan). Tal analisis nos llevara a un ēthos freudiano que fundamenta y dirige una linea de abordaje al discurso amo actual.


An empirical analysis is employed to study interprovincial changing of returns to education in China and its influencing factors by the database of "Synthesis Investigation of Living Status for Residents in Urban and Rural Regions (2005)" in CGSS and a regressive technology of Hierarchical liner model, the followed results are approved: returns to education in China has surpass mean level of the world; man's return to education surpass woman's, the minority's returns to education surpass the Han's, returns to education descend with rising of education level, but rise with increasing of income in recent China.


To study aerosol‐cloud interactions over the Gangetic Basin of India, the Weather Research and Forecasting model coupled with chemistry (WRF‐Chem) has been applied to a typical monsoon depression event prevalent between the 23 and 29 August 2009. This event was sampled during the Cloud Aerosol Interaction and Precipitation Enhancement EXperiment (CAIPEEX) aircraft campaign, providing measurements of aerosol and cloud microphysical properties from two sorties. Comparison of the simulated meteorological, thermodynamical, and aerosol fields against satellite and in situ aircraft measurements illustrated that the westward propagation of the monsoon depression and the cloud, aerosol, and rainfall spatial distribution was simulated reasonably well using anthropogenic emission rates from Monitoring Atmospheric Composition and Climate project along with cityZEN projects (MACCity)+Intercontinental Chemical Transport Experiment Phase B anthropogenic emission rates. However,the magnitude of aerosol optical depth was underestimated by up to 50%. A simulation with aerosol emissions increased by a factor of 6 over the CAIPEEX campaign domain increased the simulated aerosol concentrations to values close to the observations, mainly within boundary layer. Comparison of the low‐aerosol simulation and high‐aerosol simulation for the two sorties illustrated that more anthropogenic aerosols increased the cloud condensing nuclei (CCN) and cloud droplet mass concentrations. The number of simulated cloud droplets increased while the cloud droplet effective radii decreased, highlighting the importance of CCN‐cloud feedbacks over this region. The increase in simulated anthropogenic aerosols (including absorbing aerosols) also increased the temperature of air parcels below clouds and thus the convective available potential energy (CAPE). The increase in CAPE intensified the updraft and invigorated the cloud, inducing formation of deeper clouds with more ice‐phase hydrometeors for both cases. These case studies provide evidence of aerosol‐induced cloud invigoration over the Gangetic Basin.


In the April number of the Journal is an article calling your attention to the importance of Cerebro-Spinal Meningitis. The Doctor asks you to lay before your readers all that is known on the subject. I should say the single word all covers a large field. How to distinguish Meningitis from typhoid is another question. Cerebro-Spinal Meningitis should never be mistaken for typhoid fever. The suddenness of the attack, intense headache, absence of febrile movement in the beginning of the attack, headache increas ing as the disease advances, and the occurrence of symptoms denoting inflammation of the meninges of the brain and spinal cords, should distinguish it from typhoid fever. In typhoid the attack is gradual; we have diarrhoea, meteorism, iliac tenderness, and the peculiar expression of the countenance, which, once seen, cannot be forgotten. In Meningitis we have tonic contraction of the muscles of the neck and back, rachialgia, convulsions, and delirium, occurring not infrequently. In typhoid fever the rise of temperature is gradual, and reaches 104 degrees Fahrenheit on the fourth day. In Meningitis the onset is abrupt, and the tempera ture ranges from 100 to 101 degrees Fahrenheit, and never reaches as high as in typhoid fever. Nausea and vomiting are prominent symptoms in Meningitis. The clinical history of the two differ widely.


Due to the repaid development of intervention therapy technology and close combination with new achievement of science,PCI has a strong vitality and a great deal of latent capacity.Transplantation with stem cell or muscle cell and coronary artery bypass grafting in stenosis can be a revolution in the history of intervention.


Building on Chapter 2, which introduced the reader to the purpose, principles, and statistical methods of cost-effectiveness analysis, this chapter provides a case study of a cost-effectiveness analysis undertaken alongside a trial of a public health intervention conducted by Edwards and colleagues into enhancing ventilation in homes of children with asthma. The association between poor housing and ill-health has long been recognized. This chapter reproduces in full a paper reporting the CHARISMA study, one of the first economic evaluation studies worldwide alongside a pragmatic randomized controlled trial of improving heating and ventilation in the homes of children with asthma. In summary, tailored ventilation and heating modifications moved 17 per cent of children in the intervention group from below the original median ('severe asthma') to above that median ('moderate asthma'), while only 3 per cent of controls moved from 'severe' to 'moderate'. Thus, a net 14 per cent of children (or 29 per cent of children with 'severe' asthma) became 'moderate'.


The electroplating of Zn–Ni–P thin film alloys from a sulfate bath containing phosphoric and phosphorous acid was investigated. The bath composition and the deposition parameters were optimized through Hull cell experiments, and the optimum experimental conditions were determined (pH = 2, temperature = 298–313 K, zinc sulfate concentration = 30 g·L−1, EDTA concentration = 15 g·L−1, and current density, = ,1.0–2.0 A·dm−2). The SEM analysis of the coating deposited from the optimum bath revealed fine-grained deposits of the alloy in the presence of EDTA. Optical microscopy analysis indicated an electrodeposited thin film with uniform thickness and good adhesion to the steel substrate. The good adherence of the coatings was also demonstrated by the scratch tests that were performed, with a maximum determined value of 25 N for the critical load. Corrosion resistance tests revealed good protection of the steel substrate by the obtained Zn–Ni–P coatings, with values up to 85.89% for samples with Ni contents higher than 76%. The surface analysis of the thin film samples before and after corrosion was performed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS).


The main objective of the experimental research was to assess the quality of the birch wood surfaces after sanding them with 60, 80, 100 and 120 grit sizes, by analyzing the roughness parameters of the sanded surfaces in each phase. The birch wood specimens were sanded parallel, perpendicular and inclined with 45 degrees against the wood grains. The variables of the sanding process were considered to be the feed speed and the cutting depth. For conducting the research, the samples were sanded in an industrial mode on a wide belt sanding machine, at SC NIKMOB SA Company, in Nehoiu, Buzau county. The equipment used to measure the roughness of the sanded surfaces was an optical profilometer FRT-MicroProf type (German production) with results in roughness parameters that characterize the quality of that surface. Among all the parameters obtained for this study, two roughness parameters were chosen, namely: Rk, the parameter that estimates the machining roughness and Rpk parameter, which estimates the raised fiber - for the two areas of the specimens with and without wetting. Data processing after measuring and recording the quality of the surface in terms of roughness parameters was achieved by nonlinear regression method, using a second-order equation with two variables. In order to assess the quality of the sanded surfaces, the results were compared by varying the grit sizes, machining direction, feed speed and the sanding depth for the two distinct areas of the specimens, respectively with and without wetting. The results were also interpreted by ANOVA test for two separate variables, namely the sanding depth for wet and dry method, in case the speed feed was constant. The data were processed for each sanding schedules and each direction of processing. The results have shown that the quality of the wet surfaces was higher than that of the surfaces sanded prior wetting, disregarding of the direction of processing. It was also found that for the final grit size of 120, the best results were obtained in case of prior sanding with other two different grit sizes. The results of the present research can be successfully applied in the wood industry, for birch wood furniture production, in order to reduce the material consumption and to improve the sanding process by using appropriate technology with results in the high quality of the surface obtained.


The terms "internal justification" and "external justification" are often used to analyse the justification of legal decisions. The aim of this research paper is to identify and critically analyse different notions of "internal justification" and "external justification" in order to improve them. The author rejects the notion of "internal justification" and "external justification" offered by Jerzy Wróblewski and the thesis that the role of internal justification is to test the validity of arguments. The author demonstrates that the notions of "internal justification" and "external justification" used by Robert Alexy are mutually contradictory and offers ways to avoid this contradiction.


Physicians often evaluate and recommend changes in the diet of their patients. Just as the role of dietary saturated fat in coronary artery disease led physicians to recommend moderation in red meat consumption,' the data on the physiologic effects of vegetarianism should encourage further reductions in meat consumption.* At the end of this article is a "Page for Patients" that refutes some of the common myths about vegetarianism.


Design methods have been suggested for many years, but have received limited use. The regions of design engineering, integrated product development, and industrial design are briefly compared. A continuing development is based on Engineering Design Science, and is demonstrated on a case example of conceptualising a large system. These methodologies assume a novel design problem, emphasize the major design phases, and show clearly how the gaps can be bridged. Only those parts of this designing process that are useful are employed. This cannot possibly be done in a linear procedure; feedback, iteration (repeating the operations with better understanding) and recursion (dividing a problem into parts, solving, and re-combining) are needed.


The Judgment of the International Court of Justice in the Barcelona Traction case,1 like the Supreme Court's decision in Banco National de Cuba v. Sabbatino,2 was completely unexpected, both as to outcome and to the near unanimity of the result.3 While the Court disposed of the case on a rather narrow ground—Belgium's lack of jus standi to present the claim of Belgian shareholders in Barcelona Traction, a Canadian cor poration allegedly put out of business by acts attributable to Spain—its Judgment raises a whole host of complex issues which in due course will generate scores of learned monographs.4 This comment, by no means definitive, constitutes a modest critique of a single but significant aspect of the Court's Judgment, namely, its method of ascertaining the customary international law rule governing the case.


TN our age of electronic surveillance, centralized * data banks, and computerized solicitation, the topic of privacy is eliciting a good deal of attention. But what exactly is the value of privacy, of freedom from surveillance or information-gathering? The view I shall argue for here is that privacy is a necessary condition for something of basic value? the development of an autonomous self. Autonomy requires a conception of self for which privacy is indispensable. As necessary to the development of autonomous people, privacy is more than just con? tingently good. While it surely does secure us from misuse or abuse of information about us, its value goes beyond such contingencies. On the other hand, privacy does not seem to be intrinsically good. It is difficult to articulate what is good about privacy without connecting it to other, more basic, goods.1 The view proposed here, then, sees privacy as more than contingently good but not quite valuable in itself. Defense of the claim that privacy is necessary for autonomy turns on exhibiting the role of privacy in the formation of self-concept. A concept of self as empowered to determine one's life, it will be argued, is requisite to acting autonomously. And privacy is needed for such a self-concept to develop. Following this, moral and social dimen? sions of autonomy in our self-concept will be shown to depend upon privacy. The discussion will con? clude with the implications of this account of the value of privacy for the difference between actual and perceived privacy. Since the view offered here involves related causal claims its ultimate vindication will require empirical support.2 I will, in fact, cite some evi? dence as well as professional conjecture to buttress my claims; however, the evidence is far from con? clusive. Most studies are of situations which include variables besides privacy (so, the effects on autonomy could be "overdetermined") and we lack repeated studies for sufficiently similar condi tions. A satisfactory rejection of my view, how? ever, would require more than empirical counter? examples (such as people growing up with little privacy but lots of autonomy). What would also be needed is an alternative account of how autonomy does indeed develop in these unprivate circumstances. This would involve a rival moral psychology with perhaps its own philosophical analysis of self-concept.3 Although the scope of this paper does not permit wading through the host of subtleties and qualifica? tions that define different senses of privacy, some rough and ready notion needs to be offered, if only to avoid certain confusions and objections. Privacy includes some control over some information about


This paper first provides some context for understanding the Japanese and Chinese venture capital industry. Then it set forth an evolution of venture capital. The heart of the paper is devoted to a discussion of the key features of Japanese and Chinese venture capital. This includes information concerning the size of the industry, the players, and the nature of the venture capital investment. This is followed by an analysis of the comparison of Japanese and Chinese venture capital industry.


The missing of the right of education as a social nature right for migrant workers in the process of urbanization has been presented in such aspects as:it is not well established as a regular educational system; it lacks of efficient educational institutes; it lacks of fair allocation of related training. However,the migrant workers should not be regarded as the others of a city,and their right of education has been regulated by both international and domestic laws. Thus the authors of this article think that it should be obligatory for public service organizations to meet the educational needs of the migrant workers'. And the authors have put forward such suggestions as strengthening the legislation of related regulations and laws,enlarging the scope of administrative appealing,policy supporting from the governments,financial input and capital construction of necessary educational facilities.


For a set of connected subgraphs, an -factor denotes a spanning subgraph D of G if each component of D is isomorphic to a member of . In this paper, some sufficient conditions with regard to tight toughness, isolated toughness and binding number bounds to guarantee the existence of the -factor and -factor for a graph are obtained.


Abstract This paper reports on two experiments which examine the effects of iconic and direct manipulation interfaces on the performance of casual users using an electronic mail system. There are two key aspects to these experiments. First, they have been carefully designed to separate the effect of iconic representation from that of direct manipulation in order to examine the independent effect of each as well as their joint effect. Second, subjects performed the same experimental task three different times over 1 week, thus allowing for the effects of icons and direct manipulation interfaces to be assessed over repeated trials. Each experiment measured time taken and errors made in task completion as dependent variables. Results indicate that there were no advantages associated with iconic representations compared to text-based representations of actions and objects. Subjects working with direct manipulation interfaces completed the task faster than those with menu-based interfaces. However, this difference in time was not significant when the task was repeated for a third time, indicating that the benefits to direct manipulation might diminish after a learning period. No interface was better than others in terms of reducing error rates when interacting with the computer system.


e are very pleased to present to you the special section of the Journal of Modern Power Systems and Clean Energy on the coordinated planning, operation, and control of electricity and natural gas infrastructures. This special section aims at addressing the existing challenges in integrated planning, operation and control of natural gas and electric power systems that will enhance the resilience, economics, efficiency, reliability sustainability, and security of both infrastructures. We had invited original submissions from various countries focusing on the computational and technological aspects of the integrated natural gas and electric power systems.  The development of sustainable, affordable, and clean sources of energy is considered a prerequisite for today's global economic strength and will benefit tomorrow's resilient society. Under the impetus of competition in the energy industry, the unbundling of the electricity sector has introduced new technologies for the generation and the delivery of electricity, which signify less pollutant, highly efficient, and less


Discuss the periodic solutions of neutral functional differential equations with infinite delay of the followingd/dt(x(t) -∫-∞o Q(s)x(t + s)ds) = A(t, x(t))x(t) + f(t, xt).Some results on the existence and uniqueness of periodic solutions are obtained by using matrix measure and Krasnoselskii's fixed theorem. Especially, when Q(s) ≡ 0 and A(t, x) = A(t), the conditions which guarantee the existence of unique and stable periodic solutions are derived.


Introduction:
 Stroke is a leading cause of death, also serious cause of long-term disability in the US. r-TPA and mechanical thrombectomy apply to 5-10% of patients, while others have the risk of intracerebral hemorrhage. Ischemic reperfusion following stroke exacerbates the condition and initiates various molecular signals. However, with a better therapeutic regimen, the detrimental effects can be limited. Lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) is a bioactive phospholipid regulated in physiological and pathological conditions. LPA is formed by the enzyme Autotaxin (ATX). ATX-LPA axis affects endothelial permeability in ischemic stroke.

 Hypothesis:
 ATX-LPA axis favors endothelial permeability in ischemic stroke.

 Methods:
 Transient middle cerebral artery occlusion with 90 minutes of ischemia and 24 hours of reperfusion (I/R) was used as a stroke model in mice. LPA was analyzed in plasma with mass spectrometry and in tissue with immunohistochemistry. AR-2 probe fluorescence assay was used to measure ATX activity. Evans Blue Permeability in vivo was measured with infrared imager. Mitochondrial bioenergetics was measured with an XF24 analyzer. Permeability was studied using Electric Cell Substrate Impedance System (ECIS).

 Results:
 ATX enzymatic activity is prominently raised in I/R mice compared to sham mice. Increased ATX activity coheres with the Evans Blue permeability in the mice brain. Simultaneously LPA levels are elevated (P<0.01) in I/R mice. LPA was increased in brain tissue along the vasculature, indicating an unfavorable role of ATX in maintaining endothelial integrity. LPA receptors were regulated differentially following stroke. Permeability measured in MBMEC showed that LPA treatment increased the permeability in a time and concentration-dependent manner. LPA treatment also increased superoxide in MBMEC suggesting redox imbalance with LPA exposure. Mitochondrial superoxide elevated following I/R was limited with ATX inhibitors which also restricted the permeability compared to that of the I/R mice

 Conclusion:
 LPA produced by ATX plays a significant role in ischemic stroke, increasing BBB permeability and elevating mitochondrial dysfunction. Targeting the ATX-LPA axis could be a better therapeutic avenue for stroke management.


The establishment of psychological committeeman system in China is the result of referring to the peer counselling model in western countries and areas such as Hong Kong and Tai Wan.To establish such a system and to fully play the bridging function of class leaders in carrying out reciprocal peer psychological support and education extensively and deeply is of great help for the extension of mental health education and its influence,to promote the effectiveness of mental health education and to construct persistent effect mechanism for the prevention and intervention of psychological crises.The work of psychological committeemen is professional,and therefore,they should be chosen and trained specially and systematically,and also be examined as qualified before actually carrying out their work.Besides,they also need professional supervision and guidance in their work.In the meantime,mental health education agencies on both college and department level should strengthen the guidance,management and examination of their work so as to perfect and develop the system continually.


An imbalance of the battery pack in the voltage and state of charge(SOC) leads to problems in the lifetime, performance, and safety. To efficiently operate the battery pack in the power-driven systems, each cell in the battery pack has similar electrochemical characteristics. This paper proposes the optimal cell screening method using K-means clustering algorithm, which is one of the unsupervised learning methods. To investigate the proposed scheme, 2000 units of 18650 Li-ion cell are used in this paper. The results of the verification demonstrate that the proposed screening method minimizes the cell imbalance.


In the exploration and implementation of formation control schemes, bandwidth limitations and communication breakdown form a barrier to large scale formation control applications. The limitations of current formation control strategies involving a leader-follower approach and a consensus-based formation control approach with fully available group trajectory information are explored. A unified formation control scheme that accommodates an arbitrary number of group leaders and arbitrary information flow between vehicles is proposed. The scheme requires only local neighbor-to-neighbor information exchange. In particular, an extended consensus algorithm is applied on the group level to estimate the time-varying group trajectory information in a distributed manner. Based on the estimated group trajectory information, a consensus-based distributed formation control strategy is then applied for vehicle level control. The proposed scheme is experimentally implemented on a multi-robot platform under local neighbor-to-neighbor information exchange. The effect of a single or multiple leaders within the formation is also experimentally explored and discussed.


Background and Purpose— The prognostic value of cardiac troponins and natriuretic peptide in acute ischemic stroke is uncertain. We measured cardiac troponin T (cTnT), cardiac troponin I (cTnI), and N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) at admission in acute ischemic stroke patients without evident myocardial damage. Methods— In 174 consecutive patients with MRI-confirmed ischemic stroke, serial measurements of cTnT, cTnI, and NT-proBNP were performed at 3 different time points in the hyperacute phase (at admission, on days 1 and 2). Relation of laboratory values to risk factors, stroke subtype classification, and clinical outcome after 3 months was analyzed. Results— The highest proportion of raised parameters was found at day 2 for cTnI in 8 of 103 (7.8%), at day 3 for cTnT in 8 of 174 (4.6%), and NT-proBNP in 114 of 174 (65.5%) patients. Proportion of patients with good outcome was significantly reduced in the group with highest NT-proBNP quartile. However, using multivariate regression ...


The New Paradigm of Technical and Vocational Education and Training: Framework Thought Of Learning Innovation. Innovative and Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) has not involve a significant situation in our instructive stage, while the world keeps on changing alongside every one of the new requests. Networks are likewise expanding mindful that specific sorts of occupations abruptly diminished and afterward vanished. It follows on that the arising new sorts of work with his new charges. Basically there are three difficulties to be looked all together for the TVET keep on assuming a huge part in the coming century, for example TVET should zero in on how best to serve the students, the climate should give the best instructive chances, and assemble support in inside the bigger instructive local area about the significance of TVET as a component of instructive structures. The pattern of new TVET change exertion requires a thorough and sincere. The degree of learning, paradigmatic shift needed in playing out the learning developments.Keywords: New Paradigm, Education, Technology, Vocational, TVET


In this paper, a mathematical model is built, we study the dynamic behavior of Hopfield neural network. The existence and uniqueness of the equilibrium point and the global asymptotic stability of dynamic neural network models are investigated. We do not assume that the signal propagation functions satisfy the Lipschitz condition and do not require them to be bounded, differentiable or strictly increase. These conditions are presented in terms of system parameters and have important leading significance in designs and applications of the GAS for Hopfield neural networks.


Racial minority student persistence is of paramount importance to higher education policymakers and practitioners. This study was aimed at understanding racial differences in the direct and indirect effects of campus racial climate on degree completion using structural equation modeling techniques and a nationally representative sample. The findings of this analysis highlight the importance of examining conditional effects and indicate that students from disparate racial backgrounds may experience and react to their campus racial climates in different ways. Implications for research and practice are discussed.


Today, autism is a significant social problem that is becoming more widespread, affecting children who have the same type of developmental problems, but with different options for overcoming them. This is what causes the idea of autism as a set of autism spectrum disorders. Children with ASD are a polymorphic group, which manifests itself in psychological and pedagogical features, which complicates social adaptation. In psychological and pedagogical terms, children with ASD are allocated to a special group, since interaction is built differently due to qualitative communication disorders. In many cases, children with ASD who come to school have unformed learning behaviors. For the successful development of the program material in children with ASD, it is necessary to form a stereotype of educational behavior, on which all school education is based. Deficits in the formation of these skills can lead to a longer period of adaptation of the child in school and to difficulties in mastering the program. In this article, we consider the necessary skills, the formation of which is aimed at psychological and pedagogical assistance to a child with ASD in preparation for school.


In this paper we examine the effect of laser radiation on tribological properties of multi-coatings. Coatings prepared by ion-plasma sputtering method while the composite cathode Cr-Mn-Si-Cu-Fe-Al and titanium cathode in an atmosphere of argon and nitrogen. When precipitating Cr-Mn-Si-Cu-Fe-Al-Ti in a nitrogen atmosphere, the structure of the coating changes abruptly, are formed at this region containing titanium nitride and chromium. After the laser treatment coatings Cr-Mn-Si-Cu-Fe-Al-Ti, obtained in argon and nitrogen, the friction coefficients are reduced. Coatings obtained in argon, reducing the friction coefficient more significantly than that for the coatings obtained in a nitrogen atmosphere. The effect of laser irradiation on the tribological properties of the coatings is associated with a decrease in surface roughness due to its fusion with a laser beam.


This book explores through fresh detail and approaches unanticipated, heterogeneous dispersions of the English language world-wide. Through data collection, comparative analysis, and typological study, the book's chapters capture patterns that now affect established dialects and shape those recently emerging. From classroom to mature design, the volume sparks linguistic undertakings in the increasing complexities of communication.


Isoenergy surfaces were calculated for the α‐ and β‐anomers of isomaltose and gentiobiose, based on 46,656 conformers for each disaccharide. Low‐energy regions exist for each of the three staggered positions about the C‐5′  C‐6′ bonds, and known crystal structures lie in two of these regions. As expected, the molecular partition function showed greater flexibility for these three‐bond‐linked disaccharides than for comparable two‐bond‐linked structures. A model miniature crystal of gentiobiose accounts for most of the remaining structural differences between the modeled isolated molecule and the crystal structure. Based on models of isolated molecules of isomaltose and gentiobiose, the predicted Boltzmann‐weighted nmr coupling constants were satisfactory, as were predicted optical rotations for gentiobiose. © 1994 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.


The goal of the contribution is to develop an asymptotic interface crack-tip solution under conditions of plane strain for a bi-material that obeys a special form of linear isotropic gradient elasticity. Several fracture mechanics problems have been solved in the past within the framework of strain gradient elasticity which is capable to capture additional length/size parameters. However to our best knowledge no solution concerning an interface crack is available in the literature.


Phase change memory (PCM) is a scalable, non-volatile emerging memory. The storage density of the PCM can be enhanced by using the multi-level cell (MLC) operation. However, the MLC PCM suffers from low reliability due to resistance drift. The rate of resistance drift is proportional to the initial resistance of the cell with intermediate storage levels being particularly vulnerable. Using heavy Error Correction Codes (ECC) results in poor effective storage density (data bits per cell) of the MLC PCM. The state-of-the-art Tri-level cell technique improves reliability by using only three out of four storage levels, thus eliminating the ECC overhead. However, its storage density is much less than the ideal MLC PCM. Moreover, its storage density is fixed even if practically the MLC PCM reliability is improved. This paper introduces a more flexible pattern redistribution technique, Flipcy, to improve the MLC PCM reliability and effective storage density. The proposed method proportions the data-patterns according to the rate of resistance drift for different storage levels. A simple flip or a complement operation is used to reduce the percentage of the most error-prone pattern. The simulation results show up to 107X reduction in the error rate and 31% improvement in performance compared to the conventional MLC PCM. With a reduced overhead of the auxiliary bits and ECC parity bits, the proposed method can achieve about 25% improvement in effective storage density over the Tri-level cell approach for a similar level of reliability while incurring about 11% degradation in performance compared to the Tri-level cell approach. This performance degradation can be reduced when the proposed method is accompanied with orthogonal techniques to improve MLC PCM reliability and efficient scrubbing methods.


Introduction The use of internet among children and adolescent has risen in the last decade. In addition, suicide is the second cause of death among adolescents. Previous research have indicated the relation between Problematic Internet Use (PIU) and different mental health problems. Nonetheless there is a lack of studies analyzing the relation between suicide behaviour and PIU Objectives The main objective of the present work was to analyze the relation between Problematic Internet Use and suicide behaviour and depression in adolescents Methods A total of 1036 adolescents (450 males) were randomly selected. Mean age was 15,21 (SD = 1,23). The Adolescent Behavioural Suicide Scale SENTIA, The Reynolds Adolescent Depression Scale Short Form (RADS-SF), and The Compulsive Internet Use Scale (CIUS) were used. A Manova was performed with two groups (risk and non-risk to PIU) as independent variables and suicide and depression scores as dependent variables Results The results revealed a statiscally signifficant association between PIU and both depression and suicide behaviour (λ = 0.245, F(2,81,000) = 15.549, P ≤ 0.001, η² = 0.116). In particular, adolescents at a higher risk for PIU obtained higher scores on suicide behaviours and depression. Conclusions Results found in the present study reveal that adolescents have moderate prevalence rates for PIU. Also adolescents at risk for PIU with a total of more than 3 hour sof internet use everyday were at a higher risk for suicide. Prevention strategies should be devote to intervene in internet use as it maybe a variable affecting suicide behaviour. Disclosure No significant relationships.


This work characterizes the principal components and geological processes involved in atypical igneous petroleum systems, systems that can generate hydrocarbons in commercial quantities faster than traditional petroleum systems.


College English Teaching and Learning Reform lays emphasis on the transition from teachers-center to students-center in college English class.Therefore,the development of learner-autonomy is the key to the reform and make the students meet the new model and requirement.


Based on the analysis of local government debt and the issues on debt structure,this paper studies the debt burden of local governments from the angle of level and region.It proposes some countermeasures on resloving debt issues after the analysis of the reasons for debt formation of local goverments.


Two one-dimensional(1D) chain-like heteropolyoxotungstates K5H11[WO2(PW9O34)2]·33H2O(1) and K6Na2H2[Ni4(H2O)2(PW9O34)2]·23H2O(2) have been obtained in aqueous solution and characterized by IR,element analysis and single-crystal Xray analysis.Compound 1 crystallizes in the orthorhombic system and space group Fddd with a=0.290 6 nm,b=3.179 0 nm,c=3.914 8 nm,α=90°,β=90°,γ=90°,V=36.194 0 nm3,Z=2,R1=0.070 6,ωR2=0.162 1.Compound 2 is crystallizes in the monoclinic system and space group P2(1)/n with a=1.191 6 nm,b=1.654 7 nm,c=2.121 1 nm,α=90.00°,β=100.66(3)°,γ =90.00°,V=4.109 8 nm3,Z=16,R1=0.063 8,ωR2=0.143 2.


We report ongoing research in search of characteristics of mobile work and use of mobile ICT (information and communication technologies) to support such work. Based on an explorative case study of the work of mobile service technicians at Telia Nara, we outline five areas of questions where mobility changes fundamental aspects of the work. The areas concern both individuals as a professional and as a social being. The professional aspects include sharing knowledge, explicit as well as tacit, forming a professional identity. The social being aspects include becoming a member of a social group, and maintaining the community.


Purpose: (1) to model mixes of coal and dry OPW incineration, (2) to model the biogas production from orange waste (OPW), and (3) to compare and evaluate these two scenarios, with the current situation of the company from the economic and environmental perspective. Methods: The simulation of the energy production was used to compare economically and environmentally the incineration of coal, OPW and mixtures of both as fuel alternatives for a boiler in company extractor of orange juice, located near the city of Manizales, Colombia. In addition, a biogas production was simulated and evaluated. Results: Coal incineration had the highest environmental impact. While biogas production shows to was environmentally friendly. However, for small and medium-sized citrus extraction companies, the installation of a biogas production plant is not viable in the near future, due to the high investment costs. It was obtained that the incineration of a mixture of coal (20%) and OPW (80%) was the best option. Due to, this presented a decrease in environmental impact and a reduction in waste disposal costs. In addition, the investment costs are very low (near to 10%) compared to biogas production. Conclusions: It is possible to study of the cost of incineration and non-incineration technologies has been undertaken to build on the current evidence base to support the adoption of the appropriate mix and scale of technologies to help manage FLP Procesados the OPW disposal.


Chronology Introduction Pat Rogers 1. Pope, self, and world Helen Deutsch 2. Pope's friends and enemies: fighting with shadows David Nokes 3. Pope's versification and voice John Sitter 4. Poetic spaces Cynthia Wall 5. Pope's Homer and his poetic career Steven Shankman 6. Pope and the classics Howard D. Weinbrot 7. Pope and the Elizabethans David Fairer 8. Pope in Arcadia: pastoral and its dissolution Pat Rogers 9. Pope and ideology Brian Young 10. Pope and the poetry of opposition Howard Erskine-Hill 11. Crime and punishment Paul Baines 12. Landscapes and estates Malcolm Kelsall 13. Money Catherine Ingrassia 14. Pope and the book trade James McLaverty 15. Pope and gender Valerie Rumbold 16. Medicine and the body G. S. Rousseau 17. Pope and the other Laura Brown Guide to further reading Index.


In this paper we describe a concept and a research project under way to develop a packing method for three dimensional objects of complex shape. Selective Laser Sintering (SLS) is a rapid prototyping (RP) technology which allows manufacturing of three dimensional objects directly from a solid CAD model by sintering fine plastic or metal powder in thin layers. When more than one part is to be manufactured at the same time, an operator has to build a batch out of CAD files making sure that parts do not intersect each other, they are totally inside the build cylinder and all other constraints are satisfied. This packing problem has several features which make it different from classical bin packing problems or other similar problems studied so far: (i) there are no restrictions on part shape or orientation, (ii) smaller parts can be built inside cavities of larger parts and (iii) no part is required to be underneath a part to provide support (parts "float" in powder). Developed packing algorithm is based on a genetic algorithm (GA) search. An order–based two dimensional chromosome represents both, the order and orientation of parts to be packed. Part geometries are included in the decoder which simulates the packing in order to evaluate each individual's fitness. Packing schemes violating hard and soft constrains are penalized to reduce their fitness evaluation.


A cyclic horizontal loading test was carried out using circular RC columns damaged by different degrees of rebar corrosion.In the experiment,the seismic behaviors of circular corroded RC columns under different degrees of axial loads,such as bearing capacity,stiffness,ductility and dissipated energy capacity were studied,and the hysteretic and skeleton curves for the circular corroded RC columns were obtained.Test results show that the stiffness,ductility and energy dissipation capacity,as well as areas of hysteresis loops of circle corroded RC columns can be significantly reduced along with the increase of rebar corrosion extent and degrees of axial load.If the circular RC columns contain extremely corroded rebars,the column damaged by plastic failure will be prone to brittle shear failure under seismic loads.


This study aims to examine and analyze the effect of Financial Distress, Leverage, Profitability, and Firm Size on Earnings Management. The population in this study are retail industry companies listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange in 2016-2018. Sample selection using purposive sampling and 22 companies meet the sample criteria. The method used in this study uses multiple linear regression. The results of this study suggest that Financial Distress hurts earnings management, leverage and profitability have a positive effect on earnings management, and company size has a negative influence on earnings management.


A cascade reaction of 3-phenacylideneoxindoles with trimethylsilyl cyanide is described. This method provides an efficient route for the synthesis of furan-fused 1,3-benzodiazepin-2-one derivatives by simply refluxing a reaction mixture of various 3-phenacylideneoxindoles with trimethylsilyl cyanide in the presence of H2O and K2CO3.


The recent episode of the financial meltdown has drawn attention to global imbalances, raising concerns about inability to sustain low saving rates in the USA. The objective of this paper is to shed light on the downward trend in household savings in the USA starting in the mid-1990s. In addition to the theoretical determinants of household savings, the paper's innovation is in tracing the effect of the widely tracked consumer sentiment index on savings. Applying the dynamic autoregressive distributed lag model with bounds testing approach, the evidence confirms the relevance of the consumer sentiment index as an important factor that affects household savings, both in the short-run and long-run.


Recently the governance debate has moved from the private to the public sector. Growing concerns in health care systems have propelled governance to the forefront of the agenda of policy makers and managers alike. This study examines the concept of governance in a hospital setting and questions the drivers of this phenomena in both its internal and external environments. A similar approach was adopted in a Belgian study by Eeckloo et al 2002.


The regularities of multiwalled carbon nanotubes (CNTs) oxidation by hydrogen peroxide vapor were researched. The raw and the treated CNTs were studied by electron microscopy, IR-, XPSand Raman spectroscopy, XRD, TG and specific surface area analysis. The effect of temperature conditions, the duration of the process and the metal oxide catalyst particles on the qualitative and quantitative content of the surface functional groups formed during the oxidation of CNTs by hydrogen peroxide vapor was shown. The grapheme layer structure changing was studied. It was shown that polymer composites based on functionalized CNTs have improved radio shielding and electrical conductivity. The proposed method for CNTs treating is cost-effective, environmentally friendly and can be easily scaled.


Optical planar wavelength selective filter 100 is formed on a printed circuit board (110). The optical low-loss polymer is used to produce a gyeokcheung structure including a waveguide and a pre-travel zone 240. A diffraction grating 270, so that the diffracted by the grating to be transmitted through the optical pre-travel zone 240, other waveguide exit from the waveguide 232 (234, 236, 238), a printed circuit board ( onto 110) it is strategically placed. The optical low-loss polymer is a reaction product of the organic hydrolysis and condensation reaction of functionalized alkoxysilane. Suitable gratings, the device may be used as an optical triplexer of a 1310, 1490, 1550 ㎚ frequency. Optical planar wavelength selective filter, and the printed circuit board, an optical low-loss polymer, a diffraction grating, a waveguide


The main objective of this study was to develop and test effective messaging and marketing efforts for the Appalachian Grown™ regional branding program. The study included the following activities: 1) A pilot consumer survey to design and evaluate messages and promotional materials to be used in the marketing campaign, 2) Pre and post intervention consumer surveys, and 3) Implementation of the marketing campaign in three stores in the region. The evaluation of the impact of the marketing efforts utilized contingent valuation methods. Our results indicate that consumers' willingness to pay may be positively impacted by the implementation of in-store local food marketing campaigns. We also identified criteria of trustworthiness, including information about farm name and location, which local food marketing campaigns should consider implementing in the future.


A factor analysis study was conducted of the Wide Range Assessment of Memory and Learning (WRAML), a test developed from a test structure model of memory and learning. The battery is composed of nine subtests (three verbal, three visual, and three learning subsets). The sample consisted of 903 students aged 5 years through 8 years 11 months, and 1,460 students aged 9 years through 17 years 11 months. For the first sample, principal components analysis indicated a three-factor solution. A possible third factor was also indicated for the second sample. The factor analyses suggest a general confirmation of the model with a majority of subtests loading on the factors as predicted. However, several clear exceptions were found, indicating that the structural model was not completely confirmed. Further refinement of the subtests appears necessary. Test users are cautioned to be careful in generalizing beyond the present evidence for these subtests and indices. Two tables present the correlation matrices and principal components for the two samples. (SLD) * Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made * from the original document. IL U.S. DaPARTmaNT eo amicaTmiN Office of Educatical Rasearch and improvemoint EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) 0146 document has basin reproduced as receivei from the person of orpaninhon Originatusp it. 0 Minor champs have been made to improve reproduction quality Points 01 view co opinions stated in the dome mont do not womanly repressnt officio! OE RI position of policy "PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE THIS MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY Am K Tovr TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC)" PSYCHOMETRIC PROPERTIES OF THE WIDE RANGE ASSESSMENT OF MEMORY AND LEARNING (WRAML) Division 12 American Psychological Association August 12, 1990 Boston, MA Mark Stone Adler Institute Chicago, IL This paper, part of a Division 12 session on Assessing Memory in Children: A New Test Battery, provides notes and tables to accompany a presentation describing a factor analysis study of the Wide Range Assessment of Memory and Learning (WRAML). Test Structure The WRAML was developed from a test structure model of memory and learning. The test battery is comprised of 9 subtests: 3 verbal, 3 visual and 3 learning subsets. The test battery provides scores for the 9 individual subtests, indices for verbal memory, visual memory and learning together with a total general memory index. Sample The sample consisted of two groups (1) 903 students ages 5-0 through 8-11 and (2) 1460 students ages 9-0 through 17-11. The sample was drawn according to a national, stratified plan (see Administration Manual pp. 74-80) with the test battery administered by trained examiners. Data was collected between December 1988 and November 1989. Methodology Two separate analyses were made, one for each of the twa samples described above. They are described separately as samples 1 and 2.


Classiication is one of the central issues in any system dealing with text data. The need for eeective approaches is dramatically increased nowadays due to the advent of massive digital libraries containing free-form documents. What we are looking for are powerful methods for the exploration of such libraries whereby the discovery of similarities between groups of text documents is the overall goal. In other words, methods that may be used to gain insight in the inherent structure of the various items contained in a text archive are needed. In this paper we demonstrate the applicability of unsupervised neural networks for the task of text document clustering. Speciically, we describe the results from using self-organizing maps for the exploration of document archives. We further argue in favor of paying more attention to the fact that text archives lend themselves naturally to a hierarchical structure. We take advantage of this fact by using a hierarchically organized network built up from self-organizing maps to represent the contents of a text archive in order to enable the true establishment of a document taxonomy.


Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) has been proven as a highly accurate and effective algorithm that has been used in a variety of applications such as handwriting digit recognition, visual recognition, and image classification. As a matter of fact, state-of-the-art CNNs are computationally intensive; however, their parallel and modular nature make platforms like FPGAs well suited for the acceleration process. A typical CNN takes a very long development round on FPGAs, hence in this paper, we propose a tool which allows developers, through a configurable user-interface, to automatically generate VHDL code for their desired CNN model. The generated code or architecture is modular, massively parallel, reconfigurable, scalable, fully pipelined, and adaptive to different CNN models. We demonstrate the automatic VHDL generator and its adaptability by implementing a small-scale CNN model "LeNet" and a large-scale one "AlexNet". The parameters of small scale models are automatically hard-coded as constants (part of the programmable logic) to overcome the memory bottleneck issue. On a Xilinx Virtex-7 running at 200 MHz, the system is capable of processing up to 125k images/s of size 28×28 for LeNet and achieved a peak performance of 611.52 GOP/s and 414 FPS for AlexNet.


Process variations have a significant impact on performance and yield in the nanoscale design of integrated circuits (ICs). Monte Carlo simulation is useful in predicting these variations due to its simple implementation. However, the simulation cost of this method increases exponentially as the number of random parameters increases. In this paper, we solve these problems by using an Improved OMP algorithm based on sparse regression. The proposed algorithm solved heuristically $\mathbf{L}_{0}$ regularization problem and effectively model performance based on a limited number of simulation samples. Numerical results for circuit designed in a 28nm process demonstrate that IOMP achieves up to 1.625× speedup compared to the traditional OMP method.


This paper reports two preliminary studies on interpersonal influences in CFS. The first study explored histories of abuse in patients with CFS and the second report assessed fatigue activity level and relationship satisfaction in CFS patients. The results of the first study indicated that the patients with CFS reported high levels of prior abuse compared to prior experiences of healthy controls. In the second study, higher levels of fatigue were moderately correlated with inactivity for CFS individuals in satisfied relationships, but not among patients in dissatisfied relationships. These findings suggested that solicitous partners may be inadvertently reinforcing disability. The results of the two studies support a biopsychosocial model of CFS.


Direct evidences and indirect evidences have different proof theory for fire investigation. Two different evidence systems, which can prove the main truth of fire causation in effect, are established from combining the two kind evidences in this paper.


Cloud resources represent an unforeseeable breakthr ough in ITC industry. Load balancer is a key elemen t in resource provisioning for high available cloud s olutions, and yet its performance depends on the tr affic offered load. We develop a discrete event simulatio n to evaluate the performance with respect to the different load points. The performance metrics were the average waiting time inside the balance as wel l as the number of tasks. The performance study includes evaluating the chance of immediate serving or rejecting incoming tasks. Pareto traffic was consid ered for the offered traffic.


Diarrhea remains the second leading cause of death in children below 5 years of age; in addition it is also the reason for a considerable morbidity in children of all ages throughout the globe. Apart from oral rehydration solution, continued feeding, oral zinc and antibiotics for diarrhea of bacterial etiology, there have been no other proven measures for diarrheal illnesses in children. Probiotics are non-pathogenic live microorganisms. When ingested, probiotics can survive passage through the stomach and small bowel. Probiotics are supposed to have preventive as well as curative effects on several types of diarrhea of different etiologies.


Culture is an irreplaceable means of transferring information between generations. The development of culture, the cultural environment, and the effect of culture exist over the long term. The results are not shown immediately, whereas the economics of subjects of this area (including theatres) are subject to public control. Public control forces these entities to use public finances efficiently, economically, and effectively. A sample of 11 indicators showing techniques and financial efficiency was chosen to conduct a complex evaluation of the economy of Czech theatres. The importance of the indicators was set by three objective methods used in combination by the Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) for the evaluation of management. We show significant differences among the results; in our opinion, it is not possible to exactly set the best method that could be applied in general. Every method can potentially serve as a tool for complex comparison among homogeneous groups of theatres of the Czech Republic, depending on the preferences of their founder, in the public sector such as a municipality, region, or state.


Arm made of composite material comprising a plurality of articulated segments (12-16) with a longitudinal main axis (x), articulated one with respect to the other, each of said articulated segments (12-16) comprising a shaped structure box (23) and at least one sealing element (24) attached thereto by means of gluing, said shaped structure housing (23) having one end (23a) cooperating with one end (24a) the sealing element (24) inside the surface of the sealing element (24) characterized in that said ends (23a, 24a) define an area reciprocally substantially conical overlap (22) and have profiles consistent inclined at an angle ( α) with the longitudinal axis (x).


The time evolution of the field quantum entropy in the system of a multi-mode coherent field interacting with a two-level atom through the non-degenerate multi-photon process is investigated using the Von Neumann reduced entropy, the analytical expression of the multimode field entropy including the frequency detuning is obtained. The numerical results for the three-mode field interacting with the atom are presented. The influence of the frequency detuning on the field quantum entropy is discussed. It is found that the frequency detuning has nearly no effect on the entanglement between the three-mode coherent field and the two-level atom when the field and the atom are near resonance, but the time evolution of the field quantum entropy is strongly dependent on the values of the frequency detuning when the field and the atom are far from resonance, especially when the frequency detuning is large enough, the field and the atom are nearly always in entangled states.


SUMMARY TEMPUS projects rely heavily on academic resources being freely given by the EU university partners. They may consider this to be a good 'investment' if it accords with their strategy of developing international partnerships in Central and Eastern Europe. But TEMPUS programmes also involve the EU universities in contractual obligations to fulfil the objective of each project. This requires good planning and cooperation between all of the partners to try to ensure cost‐efficient project outputs. But this case study shows how, at Faculty level in the 'eligible' university, different agendas can come into play that impede the EU universities' ability to assist in the achievement of the objectives. These can raise critical issues about the viability of the EU universities' continuing with a longer‐term partnership beyond that established through TEMPUS, or even of their desire to do so.


The Internet technology development is building a huge opportunity to expand existing businesses and forming what is called a Global Economy, New Economy, or Electronic Commerce (eCommerce). General, eCommerce portrays business transactions that involve ordering, delivery and payment, customer services and intra business missions that make use of the internet as well as the digital networked computing environment that links individuals and organizations in business, government, industry and the home. On the other hand, many organizations are frightened by the new technologies, hesitant of how to take advantage of them, and doubting how these new technologies will sustain existing investments in infrastructures and skills. Adding up, eCommerce comes with a batch of challenges especially those related to trust and security issues. Security in eCommerce is the protection of eCommerce assets from unauthorized access, use, alteration, or destruction. Dimensions of eCommerce security are; Integrity, Non-repudiation, Authenticity, Confidentiality, Privacy, Availability. This eCommerce offers the banking industry huge opportunity, but also forms a set of new risks and vulnerability including security threats. Without trust, a large amount of prudent business operators and clients may choose to abstain from use of the Internet and revert back to traditional methods of doing business. To defy this trend, the issues of network security at the eCommerce and customer sites must be constantly reviewed and appropriate countermeasures devised. These security measures must be implemented so that they do not inhibit or dissuade the intended eCommerce operation. This dissertation analyzes the threat classification and control measures and on this basis, proposes a novel conceptual eCommerce transactions framework that integrates several security parameters, policy, stakeholders in business for proper and secure information exchange. A security plug-in software was developed and validated to measure the effectiveness of the proposed framework. Results show that; prior to commencing an eCommerce transaction, the merchant and customer parties must be registered by the Third-Party trustee (TPT); which will provide tokens for transaction to all Customers and Merchants parties involved. Thus when each customer and merchant gets their transactions tokens, then both parties start to communicate and this proposed framework will offer protection against security attacks. Hence, with this framework, a secure eCommerce information exchange can be achieved.


This article investigated the symptoms and signs,clinical effects,benefits and defects of blue-ray,exchange transfusion,enzyme inducer,probiotics,Yinzhihuang preparations that were commonly used in the treatment of neonatal jaundice.In clinical,the intervention plan for neonatal jaundice should be established on the basic of clinic history,course of disease,physical examination and weighing the merits and demerit.Prompt treatment for the children can help to effectively reduce hyperbilirubinemia and decrease the rates of brain injury caused by bilirubin.


Balance solar radiation between photovoltaic panels or between groups of photovoltaic panels will help to improve the efficiency of electricity generation of the entire solar power system, making the most of the solar energy converted into electricity power. In order to achieve this, it is necessary to reconfigure the connection of photovoltaic panels or groups of photovoltaic panels in the solar power system. In this paper, the general mathematical model for implementing resconfiguring of photovoltaic panels or groups of photovoltaic panels is presented in 2 parts: calculating to find out the optimal configuration connecting photovoltaic panels or groups of photovoltaic panels to achieve the highest performance of the solar system; and find out the best way to switch from the initial connection configuration state to the optimal configuration. The author focuses on analyzing and proposing mathematical models for two main problems in previous studies, developing objective functions and clear constraints, which are the rationale for evaluation of the quality and accuracy of the proposed algorithms, thereby developing more optimal algorithms than previous algorithms. Several experimental studies have been applied on a system of 4 solar panels. The archived results demonstrated the correctness and efficiency of the proposed mathematical model and optimal algorithm.


Managing a complex, boundary‐spanning function to maximize its contribution to the firm can be a challenging task. This research is concerned with providing management with increased understanding of the effects of different ways of managing a function, especially a significant boundary‐spanning operation. Conducted in the context of a procurement function, through a laboratory experiment, explores the impact of performance measures, interaction with other internal organizations and access to information about external events on an individual′s decision making and "comfort level". Results indicate that the performance measurement system determines an individual′s decision‐making performance. The broader, more effectiveness‐oriented measures also tend to make the individuals more confident and satisfied with their operating environment and decisions. The availability of interaction with other internal organizations and the access to information about external events impact on an individual′s decisions but ...


A battery-operated industrial truck, characterized in that two or more individual battery cells of a maintenance-free battery in existing voids or other difficult to access locations of the industrial truck are not or hardly expandable or replaceable intergriert.


According to the physical characteristic and working features of the stainless steel, the paper compared the respective machining accuracy, surface roughness and production efficiency between grinding machining and electrolytic grinding. On the basis of the theoretical analysis and experiment, the combined electrolytic grinding was selected as the machining process for the stainless steel's surface, the roughness of the stainless steel's surface had met the requirement of the product quality.


In 1949 Selye produced an arthritis in rats by injecting formaldehyde solutions into the feet. He said that adrenocorticotropic hormone (A.C.T.H.) and "cortisone" prevented the acute and chronic stages of "formalin-arthritis," having an action opposite to that of deoxycortone acetate (D.C.A.), which exacerbated the condition. He further asserted that the lesions of " formalin-arthritis " resembled, microscopically, in the acute oedematous stage the rheumatic, and in the chronic stage the rheumatoid, type of arthritis. In clinical treatment Lewin and Wasse-n (1949) and later among other workers, Le Vay and Loxton (1949) reported that the treatment with D.C.A. and ascorbic acid parenterally was effective in cases of rheumatoid arthritis. This has been disputed by many workers (Empire Rheumatism Council, 1950). Below we report our experience with " formalinarthritis"; the histological picture of this condition will be presented elsewhere (Bourne, 1951 ; Bourne, Parkes, and Wrigley, 1951). At an early stage in the work it was recognized that means should be sought for estimating quantitatively the changes in limb volume which occurred. Selye gave no indication that more than visual observatipn was employed; and indeed his illustrations would support the impression that the differences to be observed were sufficient for subjective evaluation to be adequate. Brownlee (1950), however, followed the changes in limb volume in the course of development of " formalinarthritis" in rats by calliper measurements. The method we used (Bergel, Parkes, and Wrigley, 1951) consists in photographing a limb in such a way as to obtain a negative silhouette, which is cut out and weighed. Twelve such shapes provide enough paper for reasonable aCcuracy in weighing. Duplicate exposures are made of front and side aspects of the limb in groups of six rats, and the silhouettes are bisected into regions corresponding respectively to " foot" and " ankle," which are the parts affected by the acute and chronic stages of " formalin-arthritis." The product of the weights of corresponding front and side shapes serves as an index of limb volume for the group. It was considered of importance that work should be accompanied by some knowledge of the histological changes attending the course of " formalin-arthritis." Consequently, a series of rats were injected with formalin (see below) and killed after the elapse of a period varying from five minutes to four weeks. Limb volumes were measured before injection and immediately before sacrifice. Ankle-joints and adrenals were sectioned, the histo'logical details of which are reported in another paper (Bourne, 1951). They show that with increase in the period following injection there is a progressive increase in the degree of inflammatory reaction of the ankle-joint of the injected limb, which is followed to a smaller degree by changes in the joint of the contralateral limb. At the same time there is a progressive decrease in lipoid content of the adrenal cortex. These changes can be correlated with the alteration in swelling of the injected foot and ankle. However, while there appears to be a return of the histological appearance of the contralateral ankle-joint to normal, the degree of inflammation of the joint of the injected limb increases still further. By the end of the fourth week after injection all limb volumes have returned to normal.


It is becoming increasingly clear that the Russian leadership cannot stand Western pressures around Ukraine. Simultaneously, from the Russian point of view, there has never been a complicated situation like this, when an opponent side, such as NATO, may approach closer to Russia's borders. The core of Russia's interest is to maintain the opportunities of interference in Ukraine's internal affairs in the future. Consequently, the separation of Eastern rebel territories from Ukraine may become an isolation factor for Russia. There is an assumption that Putin is interested in a Russian designed "peacekeeping regime" in the region which could see him retain and even enhance the impact in Ukraine. In contrast to this, pro-Russian separatists exceeded their activity that, eventually,could likely circumscribe the political and military role of Russia in Eastern Europe in general and in whole Ukraine in particular.


ABSTRACT In this article, we focus on child perspective methodology when co-researching well-being with children and young people. The paper explores how to produce and analyse data produced with children and young people, and how to further develop the method of co-researching with them? We combined visual and verbal methods by using photo elicitation interviews (N = 16) and drawing group discussions (N = 49) to study the subjective well-being of 2–16-year-olds in their residential areas. We found out that by combining two methods it is possible to achieve a wider view of children's subjective well-being. However, we must be aware that well-being is a complex entity and that there are barriers to use child perspective methods. Co-researching requires situationality, reciprocity and the researcher's willingness to hear the perspectives of children.


Thin plates of carbon short-fiber reinforcement polycarbonate were injection molded. The mold was designed to produce a uniform melt flow across the cavity and an extended knock-out pin was incorporated to form a circular hole at the center of the molded plate. The elastic constants of the plaques were determined using sections cut from the plate at different angles to the direction of flow. Analysis of the data showed that the plates could be treated macroscopically as being orthotropic. Microscopic observations revealed that the fiber orientation was primarily in the flow direction and was tangential in the vicinity surrounding the hole. The fracture toughness, as measured by the stress intensity (K), was determined using the compliance method. Experimental calibration curves were constructed at 0° and 90° to the axis of flow by loading specimens containing saw cuts of varying length. The resultant curves were non-dimensionalized by incorporation of the elastic moduli, thickness, and width. The fracture toughness values were determined using a razor notch as a starter crack. The crack growth during testing was found to be stable, which could allow several determinations to be made on each plate. The effects of crack length, flow in the cavity, and fiber orientation around the hole were investigated. The fracture toughness was found to decrease with increasing crack length, but was not found to reach a limiting value within the practical range of testing. The effect of flow was also found to be significant. Specimens oriented 90° to the axis of flow showed higher toughness values. This was attributed to the fibers being oriented perpendicular to the axis of the crack. The samples tested with razor notches cut at the edge of the molded holes had still higher apparent toughness values. Similarly, this effect was explained by the higher fiber orientation shown with photomicrographs of specimens cut near the edge of the hole.


An experiment was conducted to study the effect of four planting dates from 1 November to 31 December on the growth and bulbing of garlic (Allium sativum L.) under shortday condition of Bangladesh. Planting dates had significant effect on emergence, crop growth, crop duration and bulb yield. Higher fresh bulb weight (FBW) in November plantings (November 01 and November 21) was due to higher dry matter (DM) production, greater plant height, leaf number, leaf area, and bulb diameter at different stages of crop growth. Plantings during November 1 and 21 were found to be more favourable by availing longer cooler climate for plant growth and bulb development. In delayed plantings (December 11 and December 31), crop growth and bulbing were adversely affected by prevailing higher temperatures. The cultivar 'Rajshahi' showed superiority over 'FaridpurP as evaluated through various morphological, phenological and yield characteristics of garlic.


Synchrotron light sources have been applied in many fields of scientific researches, including advanced physics, chemistry, life science, materials science, environmental protection, nanotechnology and so on. It is also an important indicator of the high technology performance in many countries. This research integrated the knowledge and concepts of synchrotron light source into the curriculum of science and life technology in elementary schools by developing the virtual synchrotron light source model and its digital learning contents, hoping to increase the interest of elementary students in familiarizing and learning this advanced technology.


The purpose of this thesis is to establish the extent of river transportation in the period 1189 - 1600. Investigation is made as to which rivers were physically usable, which were legally usable and the comparative cost of land and river transport. The evidence of historic use is examined and these records are compared with the recent limits of use of the rivers. Hence an estimate is made as to which sections of rivers were probably used during that period.

The principles of fluvial geomorphology have been used to estimate past channel changes. The legal records have been studied and analysed. Considerable evidence of the use of rivers has been found which materially increases the lengths of rivers for which there are records of historic use.

It is concluded that:-

1. all rivers which were physically usable were legally usable,
2. there is a high probability that each section of a river which is now physically usable was usable by small boats in the period 1189-1600,
3. on the balance of probabilities each section of a river which is now physically usable was used during that period.

Finally the implication of this research for the present day law relating to public access on rivers is considered.


In order to strengthen students' understanding of the curriculum system, improve the effect of teachers' teaching and students' learning, the training route of students' ability is designed. Taking the information management and information system specialty of a university as an example, this paper introduces DEMATEL method into the analysis of training scheme structure, and identifies the basic courses and core courses in the curriculum system by calculating the correlation degree of each course, which provides a theoretical basis for the allocation and arrangement of course hours, provides a reference for teachers to impart knowledge, students to select courses, and both sides to clarify the knowledge context. This paper divides the curriculum ability group into curriculum ability groups, clarifies the connection between courses, and provides strong support for the formulation of curriculum plan. It also designs the training path of students' ability from the perspectives of course study time and teaching content.


The influence of the main parameters of rotary cutting on the surface roughness, residual stresses and microhardness of the surface layer of the machined part is investigated. It is established that increasing the depth of cutting and feed increase the roughness, residual stresses and hardness of the surface layer. The influence of other cutting parameters on the quality of the surface layer is mainly related to the kinematic and dynamic features of processing. The possibilities of regulating the quality of processing by changing the cutting parameters are revealed.

Keywords: rotary cutting, quality, roughness, residual stresses, hardness, regulation, modeling. firstname.lastname@example.com


The expending interest in cuttings re-injection process has brought into focus on technical problems relating to the flow and stability properties of suspensions. To design a successful injection program, it is necessary to obtain an optimum delivery efficiency of the cuttings into the formation and the problem of annulus plugging must be avoided. This paper presents the results of a laboratory study to investigate the slurry transport and settling velocity of particles in slurry in vertical annulus. Some aspect of the investigation into the effects of particle size, particle concentration, carrying fluid viscosity and slurry flow rate towards the particle velocity were examined. A criterion for assessing the efficiency of particle transport in slurry in a downward vertical annulus flow, using a relative particle velocity (Vp/Vm) measurement, has been established. The results indicate that the gross effect on particle velocity is similar in both static and dynamic condition. An increase in base fluid viscosity and particle concentration lowers the particle velocity, while a greater particle size increases the particle velocity. A prediction of optimum slurry condition based on results from static and dynamic tests has been done and it shows that slurry with base fluid viscosity of 66.7 cp is needed to achieve the optimum condition in carrying 30% by volume of sand particles with the size of 425 I¼m - 500 I¼m into the fractured formation.