Laboratory studies of nitrogen and water vapour adsorption on mucks originating from Lublin Polesie Region are presented. The Brunauer-Emmet and Teller (BET) equation was used to analyze the experimental results and to calculate the specific surface area from both nitrogen adsorption and water vapour sorption isotherms in relation to the degree of mucking (secondary transformation). The existence of relationship between surface area determined from water vapor desorption data and water holding capacity index W1 which characterizes the state of the secondary transformation of peat was proved. The relationships between the specific surface areas determined from water vapour and nitrogen adsorption data, and some important physical properties, eg ash content, bulk density and total porosity of the mucks studied were found. Both classification schemes of the secondary transformation of the peaty-muck soils, that according to Okruszko and W1 index according to Gawlik, should be used simultaneously. In order to characterize the state of muck transformation, simultaneous evaluation of specific surface area from adsorption of polar and non-polar adsorbates is advisable.


In order to demonstrated the pathologic changes and immune response of Brucella aboruls strain 19. Vaccinated guinea pigs were experimentally infected With Nocardia asteroides, 24 guinea pigs of both six were divided into four equal groups. The first group was inoculated sub-cutaneously with Brucella abortus strain 19 vaccine. The second group was inoculated inuapulmonary with 1 X 103 C.F.U of viable Nocardia asteroides. Thirty days post-inoculation the first, second and third groups were challenged intrapulmonary with 2.5 K 109 C.F.U. of Nocardia asteroides, the last group served as control. The results showed that mortality was 100 % in non~ vaccinated -animals, 33.4 % in immunized animals with Nocardia asteroides and zero in Brucella abortus vaccinated animals.


The study examined second cycle students' program choice and their aspired programs at the tertiary level. The descriptive design was adopted and used for the study. The data was collected from a sample of 229 respondents using the questionnaire. The data collected was analyzed using frequency and percentages, independent samples t-test and chi-square. The study revealed that one of the challenges first year students' faced in the choice of academic program at the SHS level was that educational guidance on programs available at the SHS and their respective careers is not often done, gender did not have any influence on students choice of academic program among first year SHS students, and there was a significant positive relationship between students' choice of program at the SHS and the academic programs they aspire to offer at the tertiary level. We therefore, recommended that guidance on academic programs should be put in place to help students make informed choices of programs that would commensurate with students' aspired careers, and role of gender should not be given prominence in such guidance programs.


Dear Sir, We would like to thank Boucher et al. for their insightful comments on our recent publication. Of importance, the study of hormone-related supplements (HRS) was not the primary purpose of this study. Thus, those authors have raised a number of important points about the collection, measurement and validation of HRS that we wholeheartedly endorse as being necessary to achieve clinically relevant inferences in future studies on this topic. Boucher et al. correctly observed that some relevant HRS were not included in our questionnaire, which may have led to exposure misclassification. Our study exposures were identified using a survey of natural products and supplements recorded in the literature as well as from the surveys of local stores that sell these products. The HRS identified from these sources reflects the information available to us in 1998 when our study data collection instruments were designed and implemented. We agree, however, that our data collection reflects an incomplete approach to the identification of HRS, and in particular may not reflect HRS exposures or patterns of use common since the inception of our study. Indeed, although some HRS have been consistently available, it is also likely that preparations, name brands and labels have changed over time. Even in the absence of these changes, the unregulated nature of HRS makes it very difficult (if not impossible) to accurately determine the actual content of these exposures using existing epidemiological tools. Improved exposure assessment tools are required, but the large and changing number and labeling of HRS continues to challenge the accurate assessment of the ''true'' HRS exposure in epidemiological studies. Thus, although Boucher et al. have raised valid concerns with the exposure measurements used in our study, there is no fully accepted standard by which HRS can be reliably determined. Improved exposure assessment therefore remains a critical area of research that should be addressed before clinically meaningful translation of the results of studies similar to ours can be made. Even FDA-regulated drug exposures with standardized labeling and validated methods for exposure assessment face potentially serious misclassification in some pharmacoepidemiological study settings. The assessment of HRS exposures is in many ways more akin to that of nutritional intake. The optimal assessment of nutritional intake remains widely debated despite years of careful instrument development and validation. Nonetheless, the kind of systematic assessment developed for nutritional intake should be developed to assess HRS exposure. Our attempt to analyze HRS grouped by any exposure or by classes of exposures reflects an attempt to address misclassification of exposure, but we agree with Boucher et al. that our approach does not fully address the potential that some HRS exposures were left unmeasured, whereas others may have been misclassified in our analyses. Finally, Boucher et al. have raised questions about possibly inconsistencies regarding the reported sample sizes in our study. We did not present menopausal status, but rather age at menopause among postmenopausal women (n 5 358). Boucher et al. correctly identified an error in our published Table II for 2 variables (age at menarche and full term pregnancy). In both cases, the column and row values for 2 variables were transposed so that the numbers of cases and controls do not add up correctly. This appears to have occurred during the process of revisions to the manuscript after additional data were requested by the reviewers. The corrected data for these 2 variables are shown in the attached Table II. These errors reflect typographical errors that did not affect the p-value associations shown in the original Table II or the results presented in the original Table III. No other data errors were noted in the original publication. Boucher et al. also question the association of some reproductive and hormone exposure variables with breast cancer and the lack of association with others. As shown in Table II, the smaller sample size among HRS users and the concomitant loss of power to observe weak covariate associations is 1 explanation for the lack of statistical significance in the HRS subgroup. Importantly, our study was not designed or powered to detect interactions between HRS use and other risk factors, and therefore these interaction tests were not performed. Instead, we appropriately use these risk factors to adjust for confounding that may have affected our associations involving HRS. However, the data in Table II are indeed consistent with possible differences in the distribution of breast cancer risk factors between HRS users and nonusers, including family history of cancer, smoking, hormone replacement therapy use, parity, body mass index and other variables that are likely to be associated both with HRS use and breast cancer risk. These possibilities would need to be explored in the studies designed to answer these questions. As we acknowledged in the abstract and discussion of our paper, our analyses were intended as hypothesis generating.


: Aluminum alloy, magnesium alloy and other lightweight materials have been widely used in the lightweight body. The mechanical clinching does not require additional parts and is a kind of green connection technology, which has a broad development prospect in connecting lightweight materials. The scholars have studied the process about this technology and have put forward some reliable connection methods. In this paper, these methods are classified into two types according to the movement forms of the punch is vertical or composite in the clinching process. The working principle and characteristics of the typical methods of each type are mainly described in detail.


Taking the example of bridge substructure constructing technology for National Excellent Course in Liaoning Provincial College of Communications,this paper introduces the thought of curriculum construction,the curriculum goal and the compilation of teaching materials.It discusses how to develop and take use of curriculum resource and what kind of teaching condition should be qualified.It puts forward the standard of exam for students,and completes the whole structure of curriculum,providing certain reference for curriculum development and resource structure in the major of national demonstrative bridge.


The arising of Public Channel is the certain result of rapid development of television broadcasting in- dustry in China.In July,2002,Public Channel began to be put into operation in all the television stations of provincial level throughout the country.The purpose is mainly to integrate broadcasting resources,promote the transformation of the responsibility and function of broadcasting institutes in cities and counties,and establish and perfect the television broadcasting system.However,the discussion and exploration on Public Channel is about in full swing with no signs of slowing down.Despite prosperity of Public Channel in China recently,problems still exist in the operation.This paper points out that the principle of running the channel,the operation cost,market orientation,program planning as well as audiences need be taken into consideration while exploring the best way for Public Channel to survive and to operate, since the broadcasting market has come into being and is relatively saturated,


Profound hypothermia is an alternative to the heart‐lung machine with oxygenator. The different perfusion techniques, their development and details are described. A total of 27 patients has been operated upon under profound hypothermia. Fourteen of these died. In three cases, the hypothermic technique itself was considered to be the cause of death. In the other cases, the cardiac defects were inoperable for anatomical reasons. With increasing experience of perfusion under both normo‐ and hypothermia, the indications for the use of profound hypothermia were reduced. The anaesthesia used in these cases was as light as possible with nitrous oxide and a neuromuscular blocking agent. Ventilation was adjusted, so that the patients had an acid‐base balance as near to normal as possible. Moderate metabolic acidosis was found in only a few cases apart from the final stages.


A dynamic electrode impedance matched acupuncture-type diagnosis system is proposed for an active electro-acupuncture (EA) treatment with the concurrent feedback of physiological signals. The 4-channel ExG sensor front-end and the independent component analysis (ICA) processor, is used for the acquisition of pure ECG, EEG, and EMG signal when the EA stimulation is simultaneously applied to the human body. The EA stimulator front-end adopts both the large time constant (LTC) S/H current matching technique and the offset current regulation for the accurate charge balancing. As a result, it can achieve less than 10 nA DC offset current. There are 25 concentric circular electrodes in the bottom of the proposed system. The dynamic electrode impedance matching circuit monitors the stimulation voltage swing and optimizes the area of the stimulation electrodes and the sensing electrodes for the high CMRR. The proposed diagnosis IC of 5.0 mm × 5.0 mm is fabricated in 0.13 μm RF CMOS technology, and dissipates only 3.6 mW from 1.2 V.


To date, several automated strategies for identification/segmentation of Multiple Sclerosis (MS) lesions with the use of Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) have been presented, but they are out-performed by human experts, from whom they act very differently. This is mainly due to: the ambiguity originated by MRI instabilities; peculiar variability of MS; non specificity of MRI regarding MS. Physicians partially manage the uncertainty generated by ambiguity relying on radiolog-ical/clinical/anatomical background and experience. To emulate human diagnosis, we present an automated framework for identification/segmentation of MS lesions from MRI based on three piv-otal concepts: 1. the modelling of uncertainty; 2. the proposal of two, separately trained, CNN, one optimized for lesions and the other for lesions with respect to the environment surrounding them, respectively repeated for axial, coronal and sagittal directions; 3. the definition of an ensemble classifier to merge the information collected by different CNN. The proposed framework is trained, validated and tested on the 2016 MSSEG benchmark public data set from a single imaging modality, the FLuid-Attenuated Inversion Recovery (FLAIR). The comparison with the ground-truth and with each of 7 human raters, proves that there is no significant difference between the automated and the human raters.


The geomagnetic cutoff rigidity R (momentum per unit charge) is the threshold rigidity below which the particle flux becomes zero due to geomagnetic shielding. The properties of the geomagnetic screen vary greatly during magnetic storms, depending on the dynamic interaction of the solar wind (SW) magnetic fields with the magnetospheric fields and currents. The correlation between the variations of geomagnetic cutoff rigidity ΔR and interplanetary parameters and geomagnetic activity indexes during various phases of the superstorm on November 7 – 8, 2004 has been calculated. On the scale of the entire storm the most geoeffеctive parameters were Dst, Kp, and SW speed, while other parameters, including total interplanetary magnetic field B and Bz component, were effective at different phases of the storm.


Rockfall catch fence is a mechanical barrier system that is used at the foot of cliffs to stop and retain falling rocks from reaching nearby infrastructures. A typical system comprises of a high tensile strength wire mesh that is anchored to the ground by rigid posts and strengthened to the lateral and upslope sides by anchoring tension cables. Additional components, such as shock absorbers, might be added to improve the system capacity to dissipate energy. This multi-component system characterises by geometrical complexity and high nonlinear response to impact loads.
A light-weight catch fence system is a simple system that can be easily installed in a time efficient manner using manpower rather than heavy machinery, which makes it ideal for railways located in mountainous and difficult terrain regions where there is difficulty in accessing sites with limited workspaces and restricted installation times. However, this should be combined with a proper design to ensure that the system provides the required protection to impede falling rocks from reaching the train lines. In this paper, a parametric study based on finite element analysis is developed to optimise the design of a light-weight catch fence system that has an energy absorption capacity of up to 100 kJ.


The optimum conditions for the determination of nitrogen in ferrosilicon nitride by inert gas fusion thermal conductivity method and ON-2008 oxygen/nitrogen analyzer are investigated.A satisfactory result is obtained when the determination is performed in the following conditions.The sample mass is selected as 0.100 g.The power for analysis is 5 500 W.The flow of analytical gas is 0.3 L/min.The waiting,heating,sampling time is 40 s,50 s,60 s,respectively.The nickel foil is used as bath material.The instrument and method described in the article are applied to the determination of nitrogen in one ferrosilicon nitride.giving the result as 27.52%,which is in consistant with that obtained by a certain type instrument from abroad or distillation-titrimetry.


The paper introduces the practical process of changing the communication medium from twisted pair to optical fiber communication of MB+ network in material transportation workshop in detail,and deeply analyzes the idea of transformation.It also explains the details of specific implementation process.


Hybridization between Asiatic lily'Petit Brigitte'× Lilium tsingtauense was conducted with cut style pollination and embryo rescue. Fourteen progenies were obtained,and the parents and 4 progenies were analyzed using FISH with 45S rDNA as probe. The results showed that all of them are diploid(2n = 2x = 24);'Petit Brigitte'has 10 loci of 45S rDNA distributed on chromosome CH-1,CH-2,CH-5 and CH-7 and Lilium tsingtauense has 8 on CH-3,CH-4,CH-5 and CH-10 respectively,2n = 2x = 24 for Lilium tsingtauense and 2n = 2x = 24 for hybrids,respectively;all four progenies have 9 loci of 45S rDNA,unambiguously,coming from'Petit Brigitte'and Lilium tsingtauense respectively.


Sustainable transportation systems play a key role in the socio-economic development of a country. Microscopic simulation models are becoming increasingly useful tools in designing, optimizing, and evaluating the sustainability of transportation systems and concerned management strategies. VISSIM, a microscopic traffic simulation software, has gained rapid recognition in the field of traffic simulation. However, default values for different input parameters used during simulation need to be tested to ensure a realistic replication for local traffic conditions. This paper attempts to model driving behavior parameters using the microscopic simulation software VISSIM through a case study in the Khobar-Dammam metropolitan areas in Saudi Arabia. VISSIM default values for different sensitive parameters such as lane change distances, additive and multiplicative parts of desired safety distances, the number of preceding vehicles spotted, amber signal decisions, and minimum headway were identified to be most sensitive and significant parameters to be calibrated to precisely replicate field conditions. The simulation results using default values produced higher link speed, larger queue length, and shorter travel times than those observed in the field. However, measures of effectiveness (MOEs) obtained from calibrated models over desired simulation runs were comparable to those obtained from field surveys. All compared MOEs used to validate the model matched within a range of 5–10% to the field-observed values.


Isotropic scattering in various spatial dimensions is considered for arbitrary finite-range potentials using non-relativistic effective field theory. With periodic boundary conditions, compactifications from a box to a plane and to a wire, and from a plane to a wire, are considered by matching S-matrix elements. The problem is greatly simplified by regulating the ultraviolet divergences using dimensional regularization with minimal subtraction. General relations among (all) effective-range parameters in the various dimensions are derived, and the dependence of bound states on changing dimensionality are considered. Generally, it is found that compactification binds the two-body system, even if the uncompactified system is unbound. For instance, compactification from a box to a plane gives rise to a bound state with binding momentum given by ln 1 2 ( 3 + 5 ) in units of the inverse compactification length. This binding momentum is universal in the sense that it does not depend on the two-body interaction in the box. When the two-body system in the box is at unitarity, the S-matrices of the compactified two-body system on the plane and on the wire are given exactly as universal functions of the compactification length.


A Neural network based on Kalman Filter and Phase Correlation is devised to recognize and distinguish objects moving in a plane. A bank of Kalman Filters in parallel are used to track the moving objects and the Phase correlation method is used to recognize the moving objects. Both methods together are used to distinguish identical objects based on Kalman estimates of the location and speed. Experiments were performed using MATLAB 2013a and it is seen errors occur when identical objects are occluded moving at similar speeds.


Abstract : The study is an attempt to utilize the expansion of pressure fields into a series of Chebyshev polynomial with a view to establishing prognostic ratios to currents. The results of multiple correlation of elementary pressure fields to currents for various periods in advance are listed. The calculated currents are compared with the observed currents. (Author)


Objectives To assess the long-term results of pacing in patients with obstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy(OHCM). Methods Twenty-five patients with OHCM were treated with pacemaker therapy. Data of clinical symptoms,hemodynamic parameters,obtained from echocardiography,were collected before implantation and then for a period of the following 12 months. Results Twenty-one patients were implanted dual-chamber pacemaker,and four patients were treated with single-chamber pacing. During the follow-up period,the syncope attacks were eliminated in 15 cases,the dyspnea and chest pain were significantly improved in 82.6% and 75.0% patients respectively,the left ventricular outflow tract gradient(LVOTG) notably decreased from (90±24) mm Hg to(37±13) mm Hg(P0.01),and the mitral valve systolic anterior motion(SAM) and mitral regurgitation were both distinctly improved. Conclusions Pacing treatment is effective in reducing the LVOTG and improving symptoms in patients with OHCM.


Products made of basalt are recently gaining sufficient attention due to depletion of raw materials serving as reinforcement for construction, and wear resistant materials. Basalt has sufficient mechanical strength, high hardness, low density and superior corrosion resistance. Basalt and other minerals are used in thick metal coatings to adjust their thermal expansion to that of the steel substrate. High velocity oxygen fuel (HVOF) sprayed coating method allows to prepare solid basalt-steel composite materials since the melting temperatures of basalt and steel are very close and materials obtained by casting or sintering will have low mechanical properties. The aim of the current work is to study the change in tribological response under erosive, abrasive, reciprocal and continuous sliding conditions when basalt is added to the harder matrix. It was found that the addition of 12 vol % of basalt to the FeCrSiB HVOF sprayed coating is generally unfavourable in tribological conditions due to the brittleness of basalt and its flake shape. The worst relative performance was observed in reciprocal sliding conditions and the best one in mild conditions of continuous sliding. Discussion on the mechanisms of materials performance is based on SEM and EDS results.


Multiple shot impacts are analyzed using a three-dimensional Finite Element model with a user defined temperatureand strain-rate-dependent material formulation. Based on this analysis, a method was developed for the prediction of changes in the material state in areas close to the surface by applying similarity mechanics. This approach provides a tool for the quick estimation of interesting work piece properties after peening especially when a vast field of process parameter variations has to be analyzed. The predictions of the applied similarity mechanics were compared with an explicit Finite Element analysis. SUBJECT INDEX Finite Element analysis, similarity mechanics, residual stresses INTRODUCTION Finite Element (FE)-simulation of shot peening processes may be used to predict surface states after shot peening without costly experiments and provide clear physical results already in the design process. Especially when variations of process parameters are of high interest the claim for fast results can be met by applying similarity mechanics on this process simulation. Based on the 3D shot peening FEsimulation of (Schwarzer, 2003) and the similarity rules applied on a 2D single shot simulation in (Kotschenreuther, 2003) a promising tool for the quick estimation of interesting work piece properties after peening for a vast field of process parameters will be presented. METHODS Model Geometry and Material Definition The FE-simulations were performed using ABAQUSlexplicit by applying the procedure described in (Schwarzer, 2003). The work piece is defined as a cuboid with a quadratic base. The dimensions of this plate can be set to any designated value. The plate is meshed with hexahedral elements with reduced integration and an decreasing element size from the edges of the cuboid to the impact centre. Shock waves occurring after an impact shall not be reflected. Therefore the plate is framed by so-called "infinite elements". The shot is formulated as a rigid body half sphere with the mass and moment of inertia of a full spherical shot based on measurements of the cast steel shot. Size, MODELLING AND SIMULATION kinematics, impact location and order are parameterized and allow a vast field of a single or combined variation of the typical shot peening parameters. The behaviour of the work piece material, quenched and tempered steel AlSl 4140 (German grade: 42CrMo4), was properly described using a constitutive law considering the influence of temperature and strain-rate on the flow stress on the basis of thermally activated dislocation slip (Schulze, 2000). It was implemented into the finite element code using a user subroutine VUMAT (Kotschenreuther, 2003), (Schwarzer, 2003) together with the work hardening behaviour using a "generalized Voce" constitutive equation according to (Tome, 1984). The material behaviour was calculated adiabatically since 3D-elements with thermo-mechanical coupling were not available in the FE code. The lack of heat conduction can be tolerated for the realistic impact duration of few microseconds. The complete formulation consists of 9 material parameters that were determined by a numerical fit of data obtained from tensile tests at different temperatures and strain-rates to the material law similarly to (Schulze 2000). By comparing the shape of simulated and experimentally produced shot impacts, the material law could be validated. To describe the contact between shot and work piece, isotropic Coulomb friction with a coefficient of friction ,U = 0.4 is used. The cast steel shot is modelled as a rigid body with a density of 7.85 g/cm3. To achieve a realistic modelling of a shot peening process an arrangement of the spheres was chosen that provides a closest packed dimple pattern on the surface with a certain impact order of the shots (Fig. 1). The grey marked inner area which can be approximated with a circle was used for the calculation of residual stress profiles. As shown in (Schwarzer, 2003) the fact that the shots impact one after the other instead Fig. 1: Arrangement and order of of impacting simultaneously has great impacts as well as area evaluated to influence on the developing residual calculate the residual stress profile stresses due to inhomogeneous plastic and roughness deformations and therefore changes in the local stress states. Similarity Mechanics According to the Buckingham theorem (Buckingham, 1914), a dimensionless output value a of a physical problem depends only on p = n q dimensionless numbers D,, ..., D, where n is the number of influence parameters and q is the rank of the dimension matrix (Kotschenreuther, 2003). In this study the influence parameters are: shot diameter d, shot velocity v, impact angle a, distance between dimple centres I determining coverage, initiate temperature 6, friction coefficient p, Young's modulus El Poisson's ratio v, density of plate and shot p,, and ps and the above mentioned 9 remaining material parameters, hence altogether 19 influence parameters. Further parameters characterizing the impact arrangement and sequence are not considered here and were always kept constant. In this case the rank of the dimension matrix equals the number of the relevant fundamental units: length, mass, time and temperature. That means that to fully 96 ESP9 : SHOT PEENING describe the scaling problem of the impacts it is necessary to consider p = 19 4 = 15 dimensionless numbers. The knowledge of the functional dependencies of a dimensionless output a on the 15 numbers a = a (Dl , ..., Dl5) would then completely describe the scaling problem. As previously described in (Kotschenreuther, 2003) the choice of the dimensionless numbers is done in a way that whenever possible, each varying influence parameter only affects a single number. As can be seen below the shot velocity for example only affects the so called Cauchy number, giving the ratio of the impact velocity to the internal sound velocity of the plate. Three process parameters and hence their according similarity numbers were varied: where S i is the size number representing the shot diameter. Ca is the Cauchy number describing the shot velocity. a is the angle between the normal to the work piece surface and the impact velocity vector. The remaining 12 dimensionless numbers were kept constant and describe the coverage, the initial process temperature, the friction and the material properties. Dimensionless Output Values The results of the simulation were evaluated using the characteristics of the residual stress profile in a dimensionless manner. In order to get normalized values the residual stress components perpendicular and parallel to the projection of the velocity RS onto the surface at the surface and in the maximum OF , 0: ; and a,,, were related to the Young's Modulus E. The depths of maximum and zero residual stresses z , , , and zo as well as the roughness Rt of the dimples were related to the shot diameter d. Estimation of Output Values The determination of the full functional dependence of an output variable a on the 15 similarity numbers would exceed a maintainable computational effort. Therefore only the 3 process parameters were taken into account and as further simplification, a product ansatz, stating 1 a (Si, Ca, Q) = a, (Si) . a, , (Ca) . a, (a) a0 (2) was made, where a0 represents the output value for standard material and process parameters and a; (0 are functional descriptions of the influence of the dimensionless input parameter i on the output parameter when all other input parameters were kept constant at standard values Sio = 1.10 10' (acc. to d = 0.564 mm), Cao = 6.77. 10 -3 (acc. to v = 35 m/s) and GO = 0'. With tolerable computational costs of hardly more than a dozen of calculation variations for the deduction of the one dimensional functional relationships it is possible to determine interesting output values for arbitrary input values within minutes by using the product ansatz whereas a single FE-analysis and its evaluation take about 24 hours in this example. The impressive time advantage of the product MODELLING AND SIMULATION 97 ansatz is then given when the number of different parameter variations that are of possible interest exceeds the number of necessary FE-analyses for the determination of the functional dependence of the output values from one input value. RESULTS The two charts in Fig. 2 show the dependence of the dimensionless output values on the Si-number with a variation range of 0.5 3.5 Sio while all other 14 input values remained constant. Results of the computations with standard values are highlighted with larger symbols. With increasing Si-number the normalized maximum and surface residual stresses decrease slightly although the impact energy, proportional to the shot mass, increases with the third power of the diameter. This development of the residual stresses can be explained considering Hertzian stress theory with higher and sharper stress distribution caused by decreasing radii of the contact partners. Despite an impact angle of a0 = 0" the residual stress components in two perpendicular directions spanning the surface of the work piece differ systematically of about 20 %. This may be an artefact caused by the asymmetric impact order in the simulation. A total constancy of the dimensionless ratio z / d over Si was determined for the depth of the maximum stresses, the zero-crossing depth of the stresses and the output value for the roughness depth Rt / d meaning that the bare depth and roughness values increase linearly with ascending shot diameter. Fig. 2: Dimensionless output values vs. Si for constant Ca = Cao and a = a. v [rnls] 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 6 . 0 ~ 1 0 ~ ~


ther resists nor sublimates melancholy, but instead allows melancholy itself to speak. There is a detailed account of the mechanism of the sublime, through which poetry aspires to fix what is mobile. This aspiration is viewed as the very condition of poetry's effect, contrasting with the usual tendency to valorize effects of movement in literature. In its effort to describe this dynamic, the analysis sometimes relies overly on phrases such as 'fixer la puissance même qui fixe' to sum up Nerval's aesthetic goal (p. 228). However, there is also valuable discussion of the Voyage en Orient (1851) as a journey into melancholy which never reaches its origin, and tantalizing passages on Nerval's handling of time, the inorganic, and ruins. Part Two is about the effect of literature, termed 'puissance', and studies the poetic imagination of both poet and reader. A persuasive analysis of the narrative structures of Sylvie (1853) and Aurélia (1855) brings out the disjunction between the narrator-character who confuses dream and reality, and the works, which clearly grasp the distinction. Because it sees itself seeing, the poetic imagination is shown to be inherently double. Part Three considers the epistemological implications of the previous two sections, by reflecting on the relationship between literature and philosophy and arguing that literature is already reflecting on the way it thinks far more than philosophers usually recognize. The book is convincing in its presentation of Nerval's writing as actively thinking about the gap between dream and reality, and is particularly valuable in refusing to read these texts as an expression of a troubled subjectivity. The analysis is rigorous and the approach will be stimulating for Nerval specialists. Originally a thesis, the theoretical discussion is repetitive in places, but patient readers interested in French romanticism more generally will also be rewarded.


Abstract The nature of high-temperature superconductors is discussed. Special attention is paid to the phonon and exciton mechanisms of superconductivity.


Numerical simulations of the multi-fluid equations are utilized to investigate the effects of a directed photon flux on the structure of an electrostatic plasma sheath in the presence of nano-sized dust grains. The results revealed that the sheath width decreases with an increase in the photon flux as well as the photoelectric efficiency, and that the effect is prominent at high plasma number densities. With the increase in the incident flux, the absolute dust charge decreases immediately until it changes sign and becomes positive at moderate fluxes and then increases quite slowly. The ion drag is also reduced by the photoemission, while the electric force is enhanced. The net effect is an enhancement of the total force on the dust grains towards the sheath edge, leading to a significantly reduced dust speed and consequently an increased dust number density throughout the sheath.


A thermomechanical buckling analysis is presented for simply supported rectangular symmetric cross-ply laminated composite plates that are integrated with surface-mounted piezoelectric actuators and are subjected to the combined action of in-plane compressive edge loads, two types of thermal loads, and constant applied actuator voltage. The formulation of equations is based on the classical laminated plate theory and the von-Karman non-linear kinematic relations. The analysis uses an exact method to obtain closed-form solutions for the buckling load. The effects of applied actuator voltage, thermal and mechanical loads, plate geometry, and lay-up configuration of the laminated plates are investigated. The novelty of the present work is to obtain closed-form solutions for electro-thermomechanical buckling of hybrid composite plates, and to cover non-uniform temperature distribution loading. The results for various states are verified with known data in the literature.


T H E A S T R O N A U T ' S journey into space w~ill require a series of adaptations to multiple sequential changes in environmental circumstances. These adaptations will involve an in,ter-relationship of more than one biological stress and more than one organ system. The success of the astronaut's flight into the cosmos may well hinge on his ability to make a series of interdynamic adaptations. Many of the biological stresses imposed by modern aircraft and proposed rocket type vehicles are acute in nature and may markedly influence the vital Ifunctions of the body, particularly the circulatory system. The abi.lity to make sequential adaptations to a variety of different biological stresses is greatly influenced by individual characteristics. Undesirable cardiovascular responses detected in apparently healthy persons indicate that many normal, healthy people are not suited for the journey into space. This report a ttemgts to highlight some of the acute problems which' must be considered on an individual basis ill conjunction with a rocket flight. The initial difficulties can begin at the time of rocket launching. With the subject placed in .the supine position, .being exposed to transverse G


Abstract According to the contour maps of the three-dimensional fluorescence spectra of non-quenching crude oil samples, we have found the common and diverse fluorescence characteristics of various crude oils. the common fluorescence characteristic is that the main peaks of various crude oils are located in around the position of excitation/emission wavelength pair 228nm/340nm. the diversity of fluorescence characteristics can be represented with several indexes α, K, F and R, and these indexes provide measurable parameters for division of fluorescence fingerprints of crude oils. the fluorescence fingerprints of crude oils can be divided into three models named O, B and Q that are corresponding to condensate oil, light oil, and heavy oil respectively.


INTRODUCTION
Bladder neck-sparing modification of radical retropubic prostatectomy has been reported to lower the risk of urinary incontinence after prostatectomy. We reviewed the outcomes in men with prostate cancer who had undergone prostatectomy with either bladder neck preservation or bladder neck reconstruction.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
In this retrospective study, a total of 103 patients who had undergone radical retropubic prostatectomy were assessed. The patients were divided into two groups of bladder neck preservation (51 patients) and bladder neck reconstruction (52 patients). We compared frequency of biochemical failure, bladder neck stricture, and urinary incontinence between these two groups. Biochemical failure was defined as a serum prostate-specific antigen level higher than 0.2 ng/mL and its rising trend in at least 2 postoperative subsequent measurements. Continence was defined as no need to use sanitary pads or diapers.

RESULTS
The two groups were comparable in terms of age, serum prostate-specific antigen level, Gleason score, and prostate volume. After a mean follow-up period of 32.5 months, all patients with bladder neck preservation and 46 (88.5%) with bladder neck reconstruction were continent (P = .03). There were no significant differences in the frequency of biochemical failure and bladder neck stricture that required dilation between the two groups of patients.

CONCLUSION
Bladder neck preservation during radical retropubic prostatectomy may improve long-term results of urinary continence and be effective in eradicating prostate cancer without increasing recurrence rate.


There is a problem associated with the impact generated by environmental education in Latin American educational institutions and how it is reflected in the behaviour of students and its contribution to society. This research proposes the design of a sustainable strategy to develop Environmental Programs in Educational Institutions. The research was carried out in the city of Neiva – Colombia. A sample of 34 institutions was used, and an interview was conducted with three schools that reported successful environmental projects at a national level. It was found that by 2018 only 9% of educational institutions had successfully developed School Environmental Programs, 93% state that the availability of time is one of the biggest obstacles for its implementation, and 67% of these ensure that they have not received technical advice nor have the necessary financial resources.


The problems of atomic structure and electron scattering from heavy atoms are investigated using the relativistic Hartree approximation. The results obtained from the self-consistent field calculation of structure indicate the necessity for including relativistic effects for heavy atoms. Previously reported scattering calculations, also made using the Hartree approximation, have been extended and it is shown that the approximation ceases to be valid for an incident energy below a few hundred eV.


For the precise characterization of block copolymers of 2-ethylhexyl acrylate (2EHA) and methyl acrylate (MA) produced via RAFT (reversible addition−fragmentation chain transfer)-mediated dispersio...


The NRAO Green Bank Telescope (GBT), located in Green Bank, West Virginia, is supported by 16 steel wheels which rest upon a composite steel and concrete Azimuth Track, 210 feet (64 meters) in diameter. From the start of observing in February 2001, the Azimuth Track design presented an operational problem for NRAO. By the spring of 2001, slippage of the top plate on the base plate was causing hold-down bolt failures. In July 2002, wear between the top and base plates (fretting) had become evident around the entire track circumference. NRAO engineers took immediate action to reduce both the track slippage and wear problems. But in January 2003, cracks were discovered in two adjacent top plates; by 2006 the top plates were cracking at a rate of almost one a month - an alarming rate given the design service life of 20 years. This paper will summarize the engineering analysis efforts that were subsequently conducted to assess the root cause of the GBT track degradation problem. We will also discuss a trial modification section that was installed in June 2004. Finally, we will discuss the design solution that was developed to remedy the track performance problem.


• In our combined thirteen years of working in resource room programs for gifted and talented students, we have learned that self-directed independent or small group study habits do not develop in students without careful assistance on the part of their teachers. Our expertise in helping to d.evelop independent study skills results from the years we have spent as resource teachers and coordinators of gifted programs based on Renzulli's Enrichment Triad Model (1977a). The TAG (Talented and Gifted) Program in Torrington, a small city in Northwestern Connecticut, began six years ago and provides service to students in grades K through 8 in eight elementary schools and a junior high school. The TAG Program in Harwinton, a neighboring rural community, began five years ago and serves students in grades 4 through 8. Both TAG programs are based on Renzulli's Enrichment Triad Model, which includes three distinct types of enrichment experiences.


Summary Honeybee species Apis dorsata F; A. mellifera L; A. cerana F. and A. florea F. were the most important and efficient pollinators of litchi flowers (Litchi chinensis Sonn.). They constituted more than 65% of the total pollinating insects. The ecological threshold for commencement and cessation of flight activity of each honeybee species varied from one another. In general, 15.5 -18.5°C temperature, 600 -1700 lx light intensity, and 9 -20 mW/cm2 solar radiation appeared to be the minimum ecological conditions for commencement of flight activity in Apis species. Cessation of activities in all the honeybee species was controlled mainly by decline in values of light intensity and solar radiation irrespective of other factors. Between commencement and cessation, the foraging activity of all honeybee species followed the same general pattern as temperature, light intensity, solar radiation, nectar sugar concentration and inversely with relative humidity. Path analysis revealed that all honeybee species differed in their responses to temperature, light intensity and solar radiation, the three most important factors in foraging behavior.


Today's intermediate‐scale quantum computers, although imperfect, already perform computational tasks that are manifestly beyond the capabilities of modern classical supercomputers. However, so far, quantum‐enabled large‐scale solutions have been realized only for limited set of problems. Here a hybrid algorithm based on phase estimation and classical optimization of the circuit width and depth is employed for solving a specific class of large linear systems of equations ubiquitous to many areas of science and engineering. A classification of linear systems based on the entanglement properties of the associated phase‐estimation unitary operation is introduced, enabling a highly efficient search for solutions that is facilitated by a straightforward matrix‐to‐circuit map. A 217‐dimensional problem is implemented on several IBM quantum computer superconducting quantum processors, a record‐breaking result for a linear system solved by a quantum computer. Demonstrated realisation sets a clear benchmark in the quest for the future quantum speedup in the linear systems of equations solution.


The objective of this study was to synthesize the basic aspects of the Spanish sailors´ life on board in the 16th century. Given the time they used to spend sailing, the ship was the sailors´ main residence, a better or worse "house" depending on the range of the crew. But if life on board was hard, many of those sailors were in glory when compared with their hardships on land, at least they could eat on the ship. To many hours of work were palliated with some leisure based on games, some religious readings and sex on board, which they also had. Shipwrecks, fires, epidemics, battles and other diverse scares "entertained" the intrepid sailors, a sort of hustlers of the time. All this in the midst of unfortunate hygienic-sanitary conditions, which were not much worse than those offered on the mainland.


"Metamorphosis of the city": Resilience and Interculturality. – With the advent of urban sprawl, the places have changed its physical structure by influencing the social and urban fabric. New Urbanism is a decisive movement for America and Europe, through it was possible to draw new planning visions. A current that would currently shooting for the operation, which has been show to improve the livability of neighborhoods and cities. The methodology of resilience thinking and participation tools could improve the strategic planning and management of change and transformation of the social and urban systems, helping the administration to manage the urban policies.


Challenging as cross-cultural communication can be, content and nuances may occasionally fall by the wayside as facts, thoughts, and opinions are transferred from one language and culture into another. This is what is commonly referred to as being 'lost in translation'. (As a first-year translation student, I thought it referred to myself being lost in a maze of translation, so I guess the phrase has a dual meaning.)


A number of papers in literature have looked for momentum profitability in international stock markets, but little is known about these investment strategies in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) markets. This dissertation seeks to investigate positive return continuation in these emerging markets and proceeds to examine the profitability of momentum investment over the period 2001 to 2007. Interestingly, we find that momentum trading does not yield significant profits in five out of six individual markets, and vanishes altogether once all the markets are combined. A comprehensive analysis provides some evidence that the momentum effect in the GCC markets is dependent on market conditions but independent of the US momentum factors.


With the generalized factorization approximation, we calculate the branching ratios and $\mathrm{CP}$ asymmetries in B meson decays into two charmless pseudoscalar mesons. We give a new estimation of the matrix elements of $(S+P)(S\ensuremath{-}P)$ current products with the perturbative QCD method instead of the equation of motion. We find that our results are comparatively smaller than those in the literature.


We demonstrate UV poling of a pure fused silica sample by applying to it an electric field of 200 kV/cm and irradiating it with high-intensity (∼40GW∕cm2) femtosecond (220 fs) laser pulses at 264 nm.


Kali warkapi bridge km 49+250 Manokwari, West papua which connects several districts in West papua province stretches 80m based because the bridge previously decreased until it is no longer feasible to use, the type of steel frame bridge structure, then in this final project the design for the replacement of kali warkapi bridge using prestressed concrete structure type at this initial stage the analysis of exsisting conditions, planning of upper and lower bridge structures and calculations is carried out. Superstructure planning takes into account the loads that may occur, namely self-load, additional dead load, traffic load, wind load and earthquake load. In planning the bridge is calculated using Ms.Excel.


The device has an actuating knob (1), a rotary sleeve (2), a stationary guide sleeve (3) and a sleeve (4) to accept a cartridge (9) of injection liquid. The actuating knob (1) is connected to a spring-loaded (8) advancing sleeve (6) fitted inside the rotary sleeve (2). When the rotary sleeve (2) is rotated about its longitudinal axis, the advancing sleeve (6) is first released and this moves with the actuating knob (1) into a starting position from which both can be moved in opposite directions. A piston-moving element (7) inside the advancing sleeve (6) is prevented by a pawl (31) for moving into the starting position and initially remains where it is. In the opposite direction, another pawl (32) engages in the piston-moving element (7) and pushes it together with the advancing sleeve (6) into the sleeve (4) with the cartridge (9) in which there is a piston (33) which is engaged by the piston-moving element (7) and finally pushed through the entire cartridge (9).


Biogas is conventionally utilized in a gas engine to convert the chemical energy into electricity and into thermal energy for heating purposes and is also pumped into the natural gas grid line after impurities are removed. Biogas production from palm oil mill effluent is one of the best options for economic expansion and this would reduce environmental impacts in developing countries like Malaysia. This study aims to perform an analysis of the economic and environmental prospects of biogas production from the anaerobic codigestion method from palm oil mill effluent mixed with cow manure. Anaerobic codigestion technology is considered a practical process by which to overcome the complications of substance properties and system optimization in particular substance digestion operations. Comparisons among various treatment technologies of palm oil mill effluent and their applications have been studied thoroughly. The factors that affect biogas production, along with strategies for their improvement, were studied in present report. The economic feasibility of biogas plant where palm oil mill effluent and cattle manure are main substrates and anaerobic codigestion is the method, has been successfully predicted. Results revealed this might be more feasible if this technology is used on a large scale. Construction of the proposed biomethanization plant is economically feasible because it is projected that about a four-year return-on-investment will be achieved. In conclusion, the present work
demonstrates a comprehensive feasibility framework by which to integrate the different features needed to enhance biomethane generation.


Objective Occupational safety in healthcare settings is an integral part of treating COVID-19. A growing body of evidence suggests that the inhalation of both respiratory droplets (>5 µm) and tiny aerosols (<5 µm) is a possible route of virus transmission. Recently, innovative barrier enclosures (aerosol boxes) have been designed to cover patients' heads while allowing the implementation of airway management procedures through fitted holes. The initial design has undergone a series of modifications to improve staff safety, operators' ergonomics, and the efficacy of airway procedures. Methods We reviewed the literature concerning different box modifications and provided an insight into our experience of using the box. Aerosol boxes have garnered the attention of clinicians who are frequently exposed to aerosols while performing aerosol-generating medical procedures, particularly endotracheal intubation. Current evidence comes from simulation-based studies rather than real-life clinical investigations. Results The reports indicated that the box has significantly reduced the diffusion of aerosols into the room; however, the operators have experienced difficulties in the maneuverability of airway devices. Conclusion Aerosol boxes should be used for patients necessitating simple elective intubations after healthcare providers are adequately trained. Customized designs can be further made based on clinicians' experiences.


The projected rise in wireless communication traffic has necessitated the advancement of energy-efficient (EE) techniques for the design of wireless communication systems, given the high operating costs of conventional wireless cellular networks, and the scarcity of energy resources in low-power applications. The objective of this paper is to examine the paradigm shifts in EE approaches in recent times by reviewing traditional approaches to EE, analyzing recent trends, and identifying future challenges and opportunities. Considering the current energy concerns, nodes in emerging wireless networks range from limited-energy nodes (LENs) to high-energy nodes (HENs) with entirely different constraints in either case. In view of these extremes, this paper examines the principles behind energy-efficient wireless communication network design. We then present a broad taxonomy that tracks the areas of impact of these techniques in the network. We specifically discuss the preponderance of prediction-based energy-efficient techniques and their limits, and then discuss the trends in renewable energy supply systems for future networks. Finally, we recommend more context-specific energy-efficient research efforts and cross-vendor collaborations to push the frontiers of energy efficiency in the design of wireless communication networks.


Voice biometrics (e.g., Speaker Verification) is a critical type of biometrics based on human voice characteristics and is known for security and user-friendliness. It has been widely applied in worldwide applications, such as voice assistants and online banking. However, a concern is raised rapidly about the demographic fairness that different subgroups may have different speaker verification performance due to the inherent voice characteristics. And little work done investigates this concern. A diverse group of 300 speakers by race and gender is recruited for exploration. After running some speaker verification evaluations, three conclusions were reached. Firstly, the Latinx are performed the worst among the four major races in the US (White, Black, Latinx, and Asian) in speaker verification. Secondly, that gender shows little difference in performance between men and women. Thirdly, that high entropy voices performed better than low entropy voices in speaker verification performance.


This article describes one new species, Corticaria juanjoi sp. n. from the Iberian Peninsula. A key of the species of the Corticaria pubescens group from the Iberian Peninsula is provided. (© 2013 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)


We have modelled the subsidence, thermal and maturation history of the Drmno and Markovac depressions in the SE Pannonian Basin (Serbia) in order to calculate quantities of generated, expelled and migrated hydrocarbons. Stratigraphic, lithofacies, structural, thermal and geochemical data were used to create a conceptual model of the basin's evolution to depths of 5,000m. The models were calibrated using present‐day temperature and vitrinite reflectance data from representative wells. The results show that in the centres of these depressions, possible Badenian and pre‐Badenian (i.e. Middle and Lower Miocene) source rocks are sufficiently mature to have generated oil and gas.


The article presents publication and attempt of the analysis of the brooches from grave 165 of the Bol'shoe Isakovo (formerly Lauth) burial ground. They are a special findings which produce a pieces of animal-headed crossbow brooches of the Migration Period in the Sambian-Natangian culture and western Baltic region. Brooches from grave of the Bol'shoe Isakovo burial ground shoul be one of the earliest examples of animal-style in the southeast Baltic and the instance of contacts between northern Europe and Sumbian population in the Early Migration Period.


Diphenylethylamine and compounds related to it have some of the pharmacological properties of morphine: they may depress the righting reflex in rats, raise the blood-sugar level in rabbits, and produce nausea, hyperexcitability and pupil dilatation in cats (Dodds, Lawson & Williams, 1943, 1944). If the compounds are to be of clinical value they must produce analgesia. Preliminary clinical trials of four of the compounds showed that two of them (diphenylethylamine and hydroxy-diphenylethylamine) relieved the pain of patients suffering from the pressure effects of secondary deposits in malignant disease. The present paper records an attempt to estimate the analgesic potency of the compounds, but no such action could be demonstrated by the methods adopted. TOLERANCE OF HEAT PAIN IN MAN


With plate-buckling problem still being an active area of research in the field of mechanics of materials, researchers need to validate the proposed solutions and theories, using robust analysis tools such like ANSYS, which is a robust finite element analysis tool. This article investigates modeling and buckling analysis of rectangular plates in ANSYS mechanical APDL through a series of comparative studies conducted on various models and options. Shell and solid models of homogeneous and functionally graded plate (FGP) using various elements are investigated. Expressing boundary conditions on both shell and solid models of plate for buckling analysis is discussed. Procedures of buckling analysis in ANSYS are presented and effects of meshing, boundary conditions and element options are examined though comparative studies. Results obtained from ANSYS are compared to various analytical solutions.


Objective To evaluate the significance of over expression of P 53 protein using the exfoliative smears and tissue specimens.To study the relationship between over expression of P 53 protein and micronucleus assay. Methods Exfoliative smears and tissues were obtained from 20 patients with leukoplakia and 18 patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma.Over expression of P 53 protein was detected by immunohistochemistry.The frequency of micronucleated cells was calculated in the exfoliative smears. Results P 53 positive tissue sections were observed in 10% of leukoplakia without dysplasia and 60% of leukoplakia with dysplasia.There was no significant difference of the frequency of micronucleated cells between P 53 positive group and P 53 negative group. Conclusion P 53 alteration is an early event in oral carcinogenesis and an indicator of a developing carcinoma.It is also correlated with the dysplasia of the lesion.The micronucleus test can observe the lesion more early than P 53 immunohistochemical methods.


Several types specific insulin-like growth factor binding proteins (IGFBPs) are produced by peripheral tissue-derived cells and they modulate the functions of insulin-like growth factors. In this study, both the secretion of IGFBP-3 from a human osteosarcoma cell line MG63 and effects of 1, 25-dihydroxyvitamin D(3) (1,25-(OH)(2)D(3)) on the production of IGFBP-3 were investigated. The β subunit of IGFBP-3 was detected immunocytochemically in the perinuclear cytoplasm of MG63 cells. Immunoblotting and SDS-PAGE analysis revealed that both 140-150KD MW entire molecules and 40-60KD MW β subinit molecules of IGFBP-3 were present in cell-conditionel media. 1,25-(OH)(2)D(3) stimulated the production of the IGFBP-3 molecule by MG63 cells. The concentration of IGFBP-3 conditioned media began to rise at 24 hours after the addtiton of 10(-9)M of 1,25-(OH)(2)D(3) and reached the peak level at 48 hours. Dose-dependent effects of 1,25-(OH)(2)D(3) were demonstrated. These findings show that MG63 produces IGFBP-3 and that 1,25-(OH)(2)D(3) stimulates the production of this protein. These findings suggest that the synergistic effects of 1,25-(OH)(2)D(3) on the action of IGF-I on osteoblastic cells may be modulated by locally produced IGFBP-3.


Determining the size of the representative elementary volume (REV) for properties of fracture networks, such as porosity and permeability, is critical to robust upscaling of properties measured in the laboratory to crustal systems. Although fractured and damaged rock may have higher porosity and permeability than more intact rock, and thus exert a dominant influence on fluid flow, mechanical stability, and seismic properties, many of the analyses that have constrained the REV size in geologic materials have used intact rock. The REV size is expected to evolve as fracture networks propagate and coalesce, particularly when fracture development becomes correlated and the growth of one fracture influences the growth of another fracture. As fractures propagate and open with increasing differential stress, the REV size may increase to accommodate the larger fractures. The REV size may also increase as a consequence of the increasing heterogeneity of the fracture network, as many smaller fractures coalesce into fewer and longer fractures, and some smaller fractures stop growing. To quantify the evolving heterogeneity of fracture networks, we track the REV size of the porosity throughout eleven triaxial compression experiments under confining stresses of 5-35 MPa. Acquiring X-ray tomography scans after each increase of differential stress provides the evolving three-dimensional fracture network in four rock types: Carrara marble, Westerly granite, quartz monzonite, and Fontainebleau sandstone. In contrast to expectations, the REV size does not systematically increase toward macroscopic failure in all of the experiments. Only one experiment on sandstone experiences a systematic increase in REV size because this rock contains significant porosity preceding loading, and it subsequently develops a localized fracture network that spans the core. The REV size may not systematically increase in most of the experiments because the highly heterogeneous porosity distributions cause the REV to become larger than the core. Consistent with this idea, when the rock does not have a REV, the fractures tend to be longer, thicker, more volumetric, and closer together than when the rock hosts a REV. Our estimates of the REV for the porosity of the sandstone are similar to previous work: about two to four times the mean grain diameter, or 0.5-1 mm. This agreement with previous work and the <15% change in the REV size in two of the sandstone experiments suggests that when a system composed of sandstone does not host a localized, system-spanning fracture network, estimates of the REV derived from intact sandstone may be similar to estimates derived from damaged sandstone. Using the existing REV estimates derived from intact sandstone to simulations with more damaged crust, such as the damage zone adjacent to large crustal faults, will allow numerical models to robustly simulate increasingly complex crustal systems.


not assume much (if any) prior knowledge of the field. I have only two negative comments. First, Chapters 4 and 5, while still good, are not as well written as the rest of the book. Second, the author occasionally refers to examples and definitions without telling the reader where the ideas are introduced. As a result, I had to flip through the book looking for text that I remembered reading, but whose details I couldn't recall. This situation may be helped by adding a glossary to future editions. Review of Modal Logic 6 Cambridge Tracts in Theoretical Computer Science ~ 5 3 Patrick Blackburn, Maarten de Rijke, and Yde Venema Cambridge University Press, 2001


This paper explains how peer review can be used to teach software testing, an important skill that is typically not carefully taught in most programming courses. The goals of such peer review are (1) to frame testing as a fun and competitive activity, (2) to allow students to learn from each other, (3) to demonstrate the importance of testing by uncovering latent bugs in the students' code, and (4) to provide a mechanism for evaluating testing skills. This paper explains how we added peer review to an honors data structure course without significantly reducing its heavy programming load. We evaluate our intervention by summarizing surveys of student attitudes taken throughout the course.


As genomic data used for prediction of complex traits rapidly expand in size, the importance of computational efficiency of genomic prediction algorithms becomes paramount. In this paper we describe an expectation-maximisation (EM) algorithm for genomic prediction (OptBR) with the speed-up scheme that is up to 30 times faster than MCMC implementations. The algorithm is flexible for joint analysis of data from different sources, as it includes weightings for the accuracy of phenotype, and can accommodate effects of factors such as breed, age, sex and additional covariates. A further advantage of the method is that QTL mapping is performed simultaneously with genomic prediction.


I HAVE not been able to discover any references in the literature to the transplantation of human vitreous from the eye of one person to the eye of another person. It is believed that the cases reported here are the first recorded instances of this procedure. This report is based on some as yet unpublished experiments on transplantation of vitreous in animal eyes. HISTORICAL REVIEW Although there are no reported cases of the transplantation of human vitreous, there have been various attempts to provide a clearer vitreous by other methods. In 1890 Ford 1 withdrew vitreous from several eyes, the loss being made up by the aqueous. He reported improvement in visual acuity from perception of light to 20/60 in 1 case. Deutschmann, 2 in 1906, reported on the injection of vitreous from calf and rabbit eyes into human eyes for the treatment of detachment of the retina. Of 67


Studying of mite communities in hives of Apis mellifera Linnaeus, 1758 in Zhytomyr region revealed Aeroglyphus peregrinans (Berlese, 1892) mites. Feeding stages of this species most frequently disperse on large carpenter bees, rarely on bumble bees, or honey bees. This is the first documented finding of A. peregrinans in beehives in Ukraine [2]. The record of A. peregrinans most close to Zhytomyr region was from the nature reserve "Mys Martian", Crimea. There this species were observed on Xylocopa violacea (Linnaeus, 1758). The A. peregrinans is a subdominant (by Shitikov's scale of dominance structure) in the mite complex of acaridia mites of honeybee hives in Zhytomyr region. Most of the specimens are recorded at the north of Zhytomyr region in Ovruch town. It is possible that the mite species can be introduced from the southern regions with bee packages and queen bees. The A. peregrinans mites were able to inhabit bee hives due to the presence of abundant feeding substrate (especially ambrosia, litter and dead bees) and the A. mellifera hives also provide relatively stable conditions (temperature, humidity). Seasonal fluctuations of their numbers in samples are analyzed. The 99 % of mites were found in spring samples, and the remaining 1 % of mites was recorded in autumn samples. This is explained by the difference in sample content; the spring samples are mostly bees which died during winter. That why most of the specimens were found in samples of dead bees. The A. peregrinans mites were absent in samples consisting mostly of ambrosia and litter (honey crystals, wax crumbs) from the hive bottom. According to the published data, previous records and our research dead bees are the main feeding substrate of the studied species in honey bee hives.


Exploring unknown terrains demand for the sophisticated algorithms for path planning in case of multi-robot systems. Robots searching for common goals are complicated as they need to avoid collisions. We need to provide paths for all robots which should be collision free and should take less amount of time. Usually these algorithms use square tessellations in this type of investigations, which leads to the lack of variation and enlargement of neighborhood. In this paper we present the construction of a cellular automaton over triangular and hexagonal tessellations and show the complexity for the same. After going through various literatures on robot path planning most don't consider many objectives, like finding shortest path with least time taken and much less waiting time. This paper is unique in a way that apart from hexagonal tessellation we have given a triangular tessellation as well which adds to the efficiency of this paper.


Technology on how to measure the quality of the audio signal in a mobile device is generally described. In some instances, the mobile device includes a receiving unit, configured to receive an audio signal transmitted from another device, and an audio quality measurement unit configured to measure received quality of the audio signal , and a transmission unit configured to transmit the measured quality of the audio signal to another device.


This study aims at presenting and discussing the process of designing and producing a Video Case in Hypertext, meant to be used both in pre- and in-service m...


OCR errors hurt retrieval performance to a great extent. Research has been done on modelling and correction of OCR errors. However, most of the existing systems use language dependent resources or training texts for studying the nature of errors. Not much research has been reported on improving retrieval performance from erroneous text when no training data is available. We propose a novel algorithm for detecting OCR errors and improving retrieval performance on an E-Discovery corpus. Our contribution is two-fold : (1) identifying erroneous variants of query terms for improvement in retrieval performance, and (2) presenting a scope for a possible error-modelling in the erroneous corpus where clean ground truth text is not available for comparison. Our algorithm does not use any training data or any language specific resources like thesaurus. It also does not use any knowledge about the language except that the word delimiter is blank space. The proposed approach obtained statistically significant improvements in recall over state-of-the-art baselines.


Creative writing students need to become better readers in order to become better thinkers, and thereby to become better writers, posits Andrew Melrose. He argues that the separation of creative writing from literary studies disables this cycle, and the cost to creative writing has been critical reading, and critical and creative writing in its turn. In this paper I argue that the separation has similar (but different) consequences for literary studies students. Creative writing has much to offer in teaching literary studies students a creative approach to close reading, a skill that many students pay insufficient attention to in their rush to the political. This paper explores the potential of this approach through a consideration of the relationship between narrative voice, authorial identity and authorial agency, drawing on the work of Adriana Cavarero, and in reference to Margaret Atwood's Negotiating with the Dead.


Based on the study of the forming mechanism about gold geo-electrochemical anomalies,the feasible prospecting experiments and prospecting prediction research about using geo-electrochemical methods were carried out in the Hulalin gold deposit covered by Daxing'anling forest in northeast China and in the Challenger gold deposit located in Australia Quaternary thickly overburdened area.The experiments' results showed that geo-electrochemical anomalies were detected obviously on the profiles of both known ore areas,which indicated that geo-electrochemical methods would be used effectively to prospect for concealed gold deposits in forementioned areas.Besides,prospecting prediction was made in the periphery and deep part of the two ore areas with 4 favourable ore-forming targets detected and 2 gold orebodies discovered by engineering verification.In addition,good economic and social benefits were obtained.


We analyze the static potential of a quark-antiquark pair at $T\,\geq\,T_c$, where $T_c$ is a temperature of a deconfinement phase transition in QCD. We discuss the possibility that the non-perturbative part of this potential can be studied through the modification of the correlation functions, which define the quadratic field correlators of the nonperturbative vaccuum fields. We use the non-perturbative quark-antiquark potential derived in this way and the screened one-gluon-exchange potential with $T$-dependent Debye screening mass to calculate $J/\psi$, $\Upsilon$ and $\Omega_{bbb}$ binding energies and melting temperatures in the deconfined phase of the full 2-flavors QCD.


In this paper, we recognize chunks of data in a MANET which can use decode technology from coded blocks by inculcating defending mechanism for security breech in a network of nodes. Here we infer solutions for pollution attack induced by any kind of malicious nodes which can be blocked by deliberate modification of payloads transmitting the original chunks of data. When a node is created and whatever chunk of data is decoded by the pair comprising of decoded chunks of data. Distribution of bipartite loaded chunks of data can be propagated towards the integrity of code identification accuracy. Cryptography related to attack applied on nodes of corrupted data of a data chunk which can be seamlessly disseminated. We propose a model for identifying the attacked nodes in the preliminary level using cuckoo hashing technique along with implementation of dijkstra's algorithm which is highly effective in eliminating attacks. Attackers or the attacking nodes can be identified by the effective identification algorithm known as dijkstra's algorithm. Such attacking nodes will be counter attacked and disassociated from the network. Inferring from the calculations made by cuckoo hashing technique number of data chunks lost or injected by the attacker can be found and relocated in the network so that we can prevent loss of data or irrelevant data intervention. Thus by using this defending mechanism we can ensure that any attacker can be found before attacking and eliminated along with surety given for data chunks integrity in each and every level of data transmission in a MANET network.


The mining area circulatory economy industrial chain is an important management forms of resources recycling.Circulatory economy is able to form chain between industries because of the revenue from the existence of cooperation.This is the value basis of circulatory economy industrial chain.Therefore,there exist not only the instability of transactions factors but also the instability of nontrading factors.The paper first gives a brief review of the related literature, then analyzes the value basis of circulatory economy industrial chain,and then discusses its stability,in the end the management and innovation ways of coal mining enterprise value chain are proposed to promote circulatory economy industrial chain healthy operation.


* and Aghanajafi, C.***Department of Mechanical Engineering, Islamic Azad University-South branch, Tehran, Iran**Department of Mechanical Engineering, K.N. Toosi University of Technology, Tehran, Iran(Received 7 December 2013; Received in revised form 3 March 2014; accepted 19 March 2014)Abstract − This study focuses on analysis and comparison of entropy generation in various cross-sectional ductsalong with fully developed laminar flow and constant uniform wall heat flux. The obtained results were compared inducts with circular, semicircular, and rectangular with semicircular ends, equilateral triangular, and square and sym-metrical hexagonal cross–sectional areas. These results were separately studied for aspect ratio of different rectan-gular shapes. Characteristics of fluid were considered at average temperature between outlet and inlet ducts. Resultsshowed that factors such as Reynolds number, cross section, hydraulic diameter, heat flux and aspect ratio were effec-tive on entropy generation, and these effects are more evident than heat flux and occur more in high heat fluxes. Con-sidering the performed comparisons, it seems that semicircular and circular cross section generates less entropy thanother cross sections.Key words: Entropy Generation, Variety, Cross-sectional, Laminar, Flow, Heat Flux


Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic systemic joint disease characterized by synovial inflammation, leading to destruction of cartilage and bone. Local recruitment of immune cells and defective apoptosis results in chronic inflammation with increased synovial citrullination and local hypoxia. Synovial inflammation by itself can promote destruction of bone by modulating the RANKL/RANK/OPG system. Recently it has been suggested that the two mechanisms are at least partly uncoupled. The aim of this thesis was to better understand pathogenic mechanisms responsible for inflammation and bone destruction and to study their modulation by effective antirheumatic treatment. We demonstrated that T cells-resistance to apoptosis and protein citrullination are important features of the rheumatoid joints, potentially contributing to perpetuation of local inflammation. Intra-articular glucocorticoids fail to modulate synovial apoptosis but successfully decreased synovial citrullination both in vivo and in vitro. Modulation of synovial citrullination appears to be a drug specific effect rather than a consequence of decreased inflammation as far as methotrexate showed no effect when tested both in vivo and in vitro. We have identified synovial RANKL expression and hypoxia as two important factors mediating bone destruction independent of inflammation. First we showed that high levels of the RANKL/OPG ratio characterize early-untreated RA. Methotrexate treatment modulates synovial expression of RANKL and protects against future radiographic progression independent of the anti-inflammatory effect. The direct effect of methotrexate on bone metabolism was confirmed in vitro where dual mechanisms of action were identified consisting in both RANKL modulation and direct cellular effects on osteoclasts. Second we demonstrate that hypoxia modulates RANKL and OPG expression in osteoblasts through a HIF-2α mediated mechanism. Hypoxia promotes osteoclastogenesis and bone destruction acting both through up-regulation of the RANKL/OPG ratio and direct cellular effects on osteoclasts. The additive effect of hypoxia and inflammation observed in our in vitro osteoclastogenesis assays further support the idea that inflammation is not the only mechanism responsible for bone destruction in RA. In conclusion we have identified T cell resistance to apoptosis, citrullination, synovial expression of RANKL and hypoxia as important denominators of chronic inflammation and bone destruction in RA. Specific targeting of these molecular pathways might provide further insight in the complex pathogenesis of the disease and lead in the future to new therapeutic concepts. LIST OF PUBLICATIONS I. Dimitrios Makrygiannakis, Shankar Revu, Pertra Neregård, Erik af Klint, Omri Snir, Cecilia Grundtman, and Anca Irinel Catrina. Monocytes are essential for inhibition of synovial T-cell glucocorticoid-mediated apoptosis in rheumatoid arthritis. Arthritis Research & Therapy 2008,10:R147. II. Dimitrios Makrygiannakis*, Shankar Revu*, Marianne Engström, Erik af Klint, Anthony P Nicholas, Ger JM Pruijn and Anca I Catrina. Local administration of glucocorticoids decreases synovial citrullination in rheumatoid arthritis. Arthritis Research & Therapy 2012,14:R20 III. Shankar Revu, Petra Neregård, Erik af Klint, Marina Korotkova, Anca Irinel Catrina. Methotrexate inhibits RANKL and prevents osteoclastogenesis in early, untreated RA. Submitted manuscript IV. Shankar Revu, Xiaowei Zheng*, Akilan Krishnamurthy*, Vivekananda Gupta Sunkari, Ileana Ruxandra Botusan, Marina Korotkova, Sergiu-Bogdan Catrina, Anca Irinel Catrina. HIF-2α dependent RANKL induction and osteoclastogenesis is augmented by inflammatory cytokines. Submitted manuscript * authors equally contributed


Tantalum and niobium carbides are characterized by its high hardness and chemical corrosion resistance. Both carbides, but mainly TaC, are used in hard metals (sintered carbides), together with other carbides, to manufacture cutting tools and dies and in special machining applications involving mechanical shock at high temperature. Its use as reinforcement of wear resistant materials through powder metallurgy techniques are being investigated. However, the use of TaC is usually limited because of its high cost. Therefore tantalum carbide with niobium content, which is cheaper, is used. In this work the obtention of complex tantalum and niobium carbides from a Spanish columbotantalite ore is studied through a relatively cheap and simple process as it is carbothermic reduction. Concentration of the ore, its reduction and the characterization of products are described.


This cases study analyses Theory of Mind (ToM) development in two children with Down syndrome and in two normally developing children, matched on their developmental age. Their understanding of emotions and beliefs was assessed and also their cognitive development (by means of the differential scales of intellectual efficiency-revised version, Perron-Borelli, 1996), their language abilities (by means of a test of syntaxic-semantic comprehension, Lecocq, 1996). Inter- and intra-individual variability in ToM were examined in these children. Some similarities (emotions) and some differences (beliefs) were analysed qualitatively in referring to their abilities in cognition, in language, in temporal structuring and social understanding.


What: A country-led effort to design, implement and evaluate an inspection system for public and private health facilities in Kenya with the overall aim of improving patient safety standards (practices that reduce the probability of preventable harm to patients and healthcare workers during the process of healthcare, such as availability of hand hygiene supplies and new syringes) and health outcomes in the country. The original regulatory framework brought together all professional boards and councils with a legal authority to inspect health facilities (around 8 at the time), and defined a unique agreed tool with a set of minimum mandatory patient safety standards gazetted in in 2012 in what is known as the Joint Health Inspections Checklist (JHIC). The Kenya Patient Safety Impact Evaluation (KePSIE) is participating in the piloting of a revised version of the program, informed through an adaptive learning process. This project will start the implementation of the inspection pilots in November 2016, therefore, the analysis of the adapting learning process so far only includes the pre-implementation phase: design, baseline, and preparation for implementation.


Mammal, for example, in a human subject, cell-specific antigen is detected and a method for localizing the T lymphocytes in PBMC in the condition of antigen-specific activation of the mammalian peripheral blood mononuclear cells the (PBMC), were exposed to an immunogenic peptide epitope of the antigen, thereby discloses a method comprising causing an antigen-specific T lymphocytes that at least binds to the cell-specific antigen. Labeled antigen-specific T lymphocytes, in general, without IL-2, it is administered intraperitoneally or intravenously to a mammal. Distribution of these cells in the mammal is determined by the imaging, thereby detecting the cell-specific antigen in the mammal is localized. PBMC exposure to immunogenic peptides generally include a cell-free peptide preparation and interleukin -2 (IL-2), not including additional cell for example separately antigen pulsed antigen presenting cells (APC). Antigen-specific T lymphocytes are generally cytolytic against cells expressing the cell-specific antigen, also CD4 +, CD8 +, and / or CD45RO + memory T cells may contain.


Nowadays OFDM is combined with advanced multiple access and multiple antenna techniques in order to improve the link capacity. In this context, a lot of effort is spent on developing inexpensive wireless OFDM-based receivers. Direct-conversion radio frequency receivers are appealing because they avoid costly IF filters. This kind of receivers implies analog RF I/Q separation introducing an unwanted in-band image interfearence encedue to the mismatch between the in-phase and quadrature branches. Unfortunately, systems combining OFDM with multiple antennas and multiple access techniques are very sensitive to I/Q mismatch, mostly when high order modulation schemes are applied. A digital compensation of this un-wanted effect is required. In this paper, we propose a method for estimating jointly the frequency dependent I/Q imbalance and the propagation channel in the frequency domain. First the channel is estimated based on a pilot optimized to suppress the interference caused by I/Q imbalance. Second I/ C imbalance is estimated and compensated relying on the estimated channel. Both steps are low cost in terms of implementation complexity. Finally, it is shown that the performance of the channel estimate is not degraded by I/Q imbalance. The proposed algorithm enables the system to work at high SNRs.


Handoff probability of a node depends on all states prior to the current moment,but considering all the states is impossible.Traditional methods only take into account states of the previous moment,resulting in large errors.A vertical handoff algorithm based on hysteretic levels of received signal strength and distance is proposed for heterogeneous networks composed of cellular networks and wireless local area networks.A twotracking method is also proposed to analyze performance of the algorithm and avoid drawbacks in tradition methods.We verify the results of analysis using the new method from the number of handoffs and probability of blocking.Simulation results agree with the analysis results.


Abstract The design requirements of fuel transport flasks for containment integrity is well covered by international regulations. Less well defined are the requirements for restraint, or tiedown, as a means of securing the transport flask to its prime mover. This paper refers specifically to the NTL range of LWR fuel flasks, though many principles are applicable to a wider range of transport packages. The tiedown system is defined, and different aspects discussed in detail: the practical requirements, for example, where operation, maintenance and inspection are considered, and the need for the tiedown to harmonise with the flask so that performance is not impaired. A review of regulations and guidelines appropriate to tiedowns is included, together with a statement on their applicability. The derivation of the standards applied by NTL is described, in the context of transport by rail, sea and road. Aspects of detail design of various components of the tiedown system are described, with specific reference ...


Abstract Context As many as 1.8% of adolescents identify as transgender and many more seek care, yet the impact of gender-affirming hormone therapy (GAHT) on cardiometabolic health is unknown. Objective To determine insulin sensitivity and body composition among transgender females (TF) and males (TM) on estradiol or testosterone, compared with cisgender females (CF) and males (CM). Design Pilot, cross-sectional study conducted from 2016–2018. Setting Academic regional transgender referral center. Participants Transgender adolescents on either testosterone or estradiol for at least 3 months were recruited. Nineteen TM were matched to 19 CM and 42 CF on pubertal stage and body mass index (BMI). Eleven TF were matched to 23 CF and 13 TF to 24 CM on age and BMI. Main Outcome Measures 1/[fasting insulin] and body composition (dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry). Results Total body fat was lower in TM than CF mean ± SD: (29% ± 7% vs 33% ± 7%; P = 0.002) and higher than in CM (28% ± 7% vs 24% ± 9%; P = 0.047). TM had higher lean mass than CF (68% ± 7% vs 64% ± 7%, P = 0.002) and lower than CM (69% ± 7% vs 73% ± 8%; P = 0.029). Insulin sensitivity was not different between the groups. TF had lower body fat than CF (31% ± 7% vs 35% ± 8%; P = 0.033) and higher than CM (28% ± 6% vs 20% ± 10%; P = 0.001). TF had higher lean mass than CF (66% ± 6% vs 62% ± 7%; P = 0.032) and lower than CM (69% ± 5% vs 77% ± 9%; P = 0.001). TF were more insulin resistant than CM (0.078 ± 0.025 vs 0.142 ± 0.064 mL/μU; P = 0.011). Conclusions Transgender adolescents on GAHT have significant differences in body composition compared with cisgender controls, with a body composition intermediate between BMI-matched CMs and CFs. These changes in body composition may have consequences for the cardiometabolic health of transgender adolescents. ClinicalTrials.gov NCT02550431


We propose a new method for therapeutic drug monitoring using Raman spectroscopy to quantify the concentration of analytes during droplet evaporation. The proposed method is demonstrated for quantitative measurement of methotrexate down to 0.5 mM.


Abstract Single grain 207Pb/206Pb zircon ages were determined for granitoids and gneisses which constitute the Archaean basement rocks of the Aravalli craton of Rajasthan, northwestern Indian Shield. The protolith ages for two gneisses, collected from east of Udaipur, are ˜3230 Ma and 2887 Ma respectively. The granitoids display an intrusive relationship with the gneisses and yielded ages ranging between 2666 Ma and 2620 Ma. These ages provide the basis for a geochronological model of evolution of the oldest basement of the Aravalli craton.


s SOON as reliable methods were developed A for determining alkaline phosphatase in the blood serum, it was diskovered that this enzyme is greatly increased in the serum of most patients with Paget's disease. Between 1930 and 1936 numerous reports on the blood chemistry in this disorder were published. The conclusions reached were that there were no gross abnormalities in the calcium and inorganic phosphorus in the serum, that the alkaline phosphatase was nearly always elevated and sometimes reached 20 or more times the normal level, that the degree of elevation was roughly proportional to the degree of bone involvement, and that the alkaline phosphatase activity of the serum did not change greatly in periods of a few months. Some of these studies61 7, * were made very carefully, using acceptable laboratory techniques and considerable numbers of patients. Because of the high caliber of these studies, and because the general validity of the conclusions has been confirmed by subsequent clinical experience, no need has been felt for extensive reappraisal of this early work. Subsequent reports have tended to emphasize the clinical and radiographic aspects of the disease, chemical findings usually being given incidentally and incompletely. Certain aspects of the blood chemistry of Paget's disease were necessarily left incomplete in the classical studies, and it is now possible to amplify them by means of material obtained during the past 22 years by the present author, working in collaboration with the Bone


Loss of supraspinal inputs to sympathetic preganglionic neurons causes a marked reduction in post‐ganglionic sympathetic vasoconstrictor nerve activity and sympathetic support of blood pressure in both humans and rats with spinal cord injury (SCI). The long‐term impact of this reduced sympathetic outflow on sympathetic neurotransmission is unknown. We investigated this question using established long‐term animal models of paraplegic (P, T2–3) and tetraplegic (T, C6–7) SCI in male Sprague Dawley rats (26 weeks in total age). Sixteen weeks after SCI, P and T rats showed significantly lower blood pressure than sham operated rats (P 103±2mmHg, T 97±4mmHg, sham 117±6mmHg) (P<0.05 P or T vs sham). P rats had faster heart rate (410±6bpm), while T rats had slower heart rate (299±10bpm) than sham rats (321±14bpm) (P<0.05, P or T vs sham). P and T rats also showed lower body weight than sham rats (P 380±5g, T 340±12g, sham 459±18g) (P<0.05, P or T vs sham). Small mesenteric arteries (MA) were collected from these rats for detailed examination of sympathetic neurotransmission. Norepinephrine (NE) release from sympathetic nerve terminals was measured using amperometry. ATP release was determined indirectly by measuring excitatory junction potentials (EJPs) in MA smooth muscle cells. Frequency dependent NE release curves in response to nerve stimulation were slightly leftward‐shifted in MA from P and T rats compared to sham rats. Interestingly, frequency dependent EJP response curves to nerve stimulation in MA of P and T rats were shifted markedly leftward and upward compared to sham rats; and responses in these rats also showed significant initially facilitation of EJPs during long‐train nerve stimulation. In pressurized MA, exogenous NE and ATP‐induced contractions were comparable in all rats. Immune staining of tyrosine hydroxylase in MA showed comparable sympathetic nerve density and distribution in all rats. NE content in tissues from left ventricle, kidney, spleen and MA were measured by HPLC. Compared to sham rats, NE content in left ventricle from P and T rats, and in MA from T rats, was significantly increased. NE content in MA from P rats was not different from sham rats, and NE content in kidney and spleen from P and T rats did not differ from sham animals. Our studies show that peripheral vascular NE, and especially ATP, release is enhanced during nerve stimulation 16 weeks after SCI, whereas post‐ganglionic nerve density and arterial reactivity to sympathetic neurotransmitters are unchanged. Even though overall sympathetic support of blood pressure is reduced after SCI, improvement in sympathetic neurotransmitter release may help maintain cardiovascular stability in long‐term SCI subjects. (Supported by NHLBI 2P01HL070687 and HL122223).


A solar power system, comprising a solar receiver (1) that absorbs solar radiation, at least first and second fluid flow paths (L1, L2) passing through the receiver, a first working fluid flowable through the first fluid flow path (L1) to absorb thermal energy from the receiver (1) up to a first maximum temperature and a second working fluid flowable through the second fluid path (L2) to absorb thermal energy from the receiver (1) up to a second maximum temperature.


In this paper, two self-adaptive bandwidth reservation schemes, which adopt support vector regression and swarm intelligence techniques, respectively, are proposed to reduce the forced termination probability of multimedia handoffs. Meanwhile, a proportional differentiated service model is incorporated into our schemes to accommodate new metrics used in processing handoffs in next generation networks. The simulation results show that both the proposed schemes can achieve superior performance than the representative band-width-reserving schemes in the literature when performance metrics are measured in terms of the forced termination probability for the handoffs, the call blocking probability for the new connections and bandwidth utilization.


Abstract Cooling of single crystals of ferrocene below the λ-type phase transition at 163.9 K leads to crystal disintegration with explosive violence independently of the λ-type transition. The strain energy evolved at the disintegration ("the disintegration energy" for short) was determined to be (1.10 ± 0.11) kJ mol–1 by a drop calorimetry system using a low-temperature Calvet microcalorimeter. The disintegration energy was independent of the crystal size with four sieve fractions in the range 2.5–0.25 mm. The violent disintegration is interpreted here in terms of an energy transfer from the strain energy accumulated in the domain boundaries in a form of elastic energy to the kinetic energy of disintegrated crystallites. The speed of a crystallite with the grain size of 60–70 pm was estimated to be 110 m s 1. On the other hand, kinetic aspect of a monotropic transition from the undercooled monoclinic to the stable orthorhombic phase at around 190 K. has been investigated with the same drop calorimetry s...