The Sixth Annual Knowledge-Based Software Engineering Conference (KBSE-91) was held at the Sheraton University Inn and Conference Center in Syracuse, New York, from Sunday afternoon, 22 September, through midday Wednesday, 25 September. The KBSE field is concerned with applying knowledge-based AI techniques to the problems of creating, understanding, and maintaining very large software systems.


Anyone even remotely involved in academic, organised or medico-political family practice will know that the proverbial "potjie" is cooking, transforming the firewood. Ingredients, and spices into a new, hopefully very enjoyable, feast of a "family medicine" meal.

The firewood fuelling the ire of change and transformation comes from many sources. There were divisions In the past, some based on disagreements over monetary matters in the early eighties and some along political and/or racial lines. The meal ingredients were the many organisations in family practice, such as the South African Academy of Family Practice/Primary Care (SAAFP), the College of Pamily
Practitioners (CFP), the National General Practitioners Group (NCPG), the Family Practitioners Association (FPA), and some others.


A technique to optimize the stability of a general mechanical system is outlined. The method relies on decomposing the damping matrix into several component matrices, which may have some special structure or physical relevance. An optimization problem can then be formulated where the ratio of these are varied to either stabilize or make more stable the equilibrium state subject to sensible constraints. For the purpose of this study, we define a system to be more stable if its eigenvalue with largest real part is as negative as possible. The technique is demonstrated by applying it to an introduced non‐dimensionalized variant of a known minimal wobbling disc brake model. In this case, it is shown to be beneficial to shift some damping from the disc to the pins for a system optimized for stability. (© 2016 Wiley‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)


The Petri Net Theory provides a method for the formal speci{ication of concurrent systems (e.g. distributed computer systems for diagnostic- and shutdown functions in Fast Reactors). This method includes the ueri{ication/ualidation ofthe net specification about the causal behavior of the modeled concurrent system. Especially the Predicate/Transition Nets (most important class of high level nets) provide very compact net specifications. Additionally, a Predicate/Transition Net can be described by different Ievels of a system abstraction (for example in form of a net morphism). So it is possible to describe a concurrent system in a formal manner and to validate its causal behavior already during the design phase in the softwarelive cycle. For example it can be shown, that allglobal states of an application protocol do not include deadlocks and livelocks. Formal net specifications and the results of their analysis raise the reliability of software systems themselves and also the quality ofthe software documentation. For the verification and documentation of net specifications computer tools are an absolute necessity.


Abstract There are a number of problems with the articles in this issue. As I read the articles in this guest edited issue of Humor, I could not help being reminded of George Santayana's (1863–1952) point: "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." One of the problems is certainly that most of the authors (with the exception of the guest editors) simply failed to do their homework (i.e., read the relevant literature) or chose to ignore it. As for the other problems, let me state bluntly two points, to which I will return in my conclusions.


In Taiwan the primary personnel involved in the family planning program are physicians and the prepregnancy health (PPH) workers who refer most of the cases to the doctors. As of November 1969 there were 745 doctors and 385 PPH workers. Of the 7273 registered midwives in Taiwan only 2255 are active and most of these are engaged in general practice. Within the 346 health stations throughout the province only 3 midwives are employed for maternal and child health and their involvement with family planning services is indirect - occasional referral of postpartum women to family planning workers. The responsibility of the midwife includes attending deliveries; antenatal postnatal and child health care; and home visits. The 2 types of training for midwives are occupational education and junior college nurse-midwifery training. Only a small proportion of the approximately 1000 midwives who graduate each year actually work and 62% of the practicing midwives have little formal training. More effective use of midwives could be stimulated by incorporating them into the government insurance system through special midwifery clinics. Government support could also encourage midwives to work in rural communities. Midwives should be incorporated into family planning for several reasons: 1) their numbers are adequate; 2) their tasks overlap with the family planning workers; and 3) if not included they may work against family planning by encouraging additional births for their own short-term benefit.


This study focuses on the influence of local knowledge in water resources protection. Based on an empirical study on water resources protection in Hotan, China, the study found the following major results: (1) the impact of local knowledge on rural ethnic areas is very important, even surpassing the importance of science and related policies; (2) local knowledge is historical, practical, and empirical, most importantly, it is sustainable, it supplements ecological protection and aids sustainable development; and (3) the local knowledge of Xinjiang's Uyghur can also be adapted to by local residents in other arid lands experiencing degradation. These findings provide a reference for researchers, policy makers, and environmental regulators, both in China and in other regions of the world, to further explore the influence of local knowledge on the impact of water resources protection and sustainable development.


Describe application scope, calculation methods, and its construction measures of cast-in-situ foundation beam of the frame structure through practical calculation cases.


This paper reports the numerical results of the flexural response of ultra-high-performance concrete (UHPC) beams reinforced longitudinally with glass fiber-reinforced polymer bars (GFRP). In this paper, the finite element commercial software ABAQUS is used to evaluate the behavior of UHPC beams reinforced with GFRP bars through modelling a three-dimensional model subjected to four-point bending. Material and geometric nonlinearities were incorporated in the model to provide a valuable simulation that yields similar results to beam tested in the laboratory. For validation purposes, the finite element model is verified against existing experimental results that were conducted previously by the same authors. The main objective of this paper is to extend the numerical analysis to cover a more exhaustive set of parameters, including the effect of longitudinal reinforcement ratio and the beam's cross-sections on the flexural capacity of the GFRP-UHPC beam. The results of the study revealed a significant improvement in the flexural capacity of UHPC beams with the increase in GFRP reinforcement. The load capacity of GFRP UHPC Beam was doubled when the GFRP longitudinal reinforcement ratio increased from 0.26 to 1.66%.


The problems that are perceived as the most important by journalists from four Spanish regions: Catalonia, Madrid, Basque Country and Andalusia are reported. Fieldwork using both quantitative and qualitative methods found that precarious and uncertain job security are the issues of most concern to journalists in all the regions surveyed. Of the variables analyzed, age, sex and ideology accounted for the greatest differences in responses.


THE tomb of Prince Djehuty-hetep at Deir el Bersheh (No. 2) was completely published by Percy E. Newberry in 1895. Some portions of the tomb had been copied earlier and the famous scene of the colossal statue being dragged from the alabaster quarries appeared in various nineteenth century books about Egypt such as Sir Gardner Wilkinson's AManners and Customs of the Ancient Egyptians (III 328). The owner of the tomb was governor of the province in Middle Egypt known as the Hare-Nome, a personification of which appears as early as the Fourth Dynasty in the Boston slate triad of King Mycerinus. The town called by the Greeks Hermopolis Magna was the capital of this district in which Akhenaten in the Eighteenth Dynasty founded his new capital at Tell el Amarna on the east bank of the river only a few miles south of Bersheh. Opposite, on the western edge of the desert, the residents of Hermopolis in Graeco-Roman times buried their dead in the remarkable tombs of the necropolis at Touneh el Gebel. Here there was a sanctuary of the god of wisdom, the Ibis-headed Thoth (Djehuty), with its underground galleries filled with the mummified bodies of the animals sacred to the god. Thoth had supplanted in Hermopolis the Hare Goddess Wenut whose emblem remained in the name of the province. The region showed four periods of important artistic activity: at Sheikh Said in the Old Kingdom tombs, in the Middle Kingdom tombs at Bersheh, at Amarna in Dynasty 18, and in the Graeco-Roman necropolis at Touneh beginning at about the time of Alexander with the tomb of Petosiris. Prince Djehuty-hetep, Governor of the Hare Nome and High Priest of Thoth at Hermopolis, tells us in his tomb inscriptions that he was a child in the reign of Amenemhat II, held important offices under Sesostris II and continued as a great official into the reign of Sesostris III when he prepared his tomb. This tomb is the last in the series preserved at Bersheh and represents the culminating point in the skill of the craftsmen as well as in the wealth of the local nobility. The Boston coffin of Djehutynekht similarly embodies the full realization of the efforts of a long line of Bersheh painters. A statue of the Nomarch was found at Megiddo in Palestine where he seems to have served as a sort of High Commissioner, like the Vizier Sesostris-ankh at Ugarit, the modern Ras Shamra on the coast of northern Syria. The parallel with the Nomarch of Elephantine, Sa-renput, and the Nomarch of Assiut, Hepzefa, who probably succeeded him as governor of the fortified trading post of Kerma in the Sudan, suggests that, after establishing a considerable political control beyond their southern border, the Middle Kingdom kings turned toward a more thorough domination of Palestine and Syria than was once believed.1 In his Bersheh tomb, Djehuty-hetep displays a herd of cattle which he may have acquired during his foreign service, since their label says, "Utterance of ... the cattle of Retenu (Syria-Palestine) during the counting (?). 'Ye (once) trod on sand, ye (now) walk on the herbage.' "2 The chapel of the tomb of Djehuty-hetep consisted of a large rock-cut chamber with a small shrine in its back (north) wall and entered from a portico supported by a pair of palm columns. A subsidence of the rock strata during an earthquake forced forward the upper part of the inner chamber, throwing down large portions of the east wall and virtually destroying the portico. Newberry restored what fragments he could find in his drawing of the east wall but a re-clearance of the site by the Har-


Five Car Stud by Edward Kienholz (1927–1994) was first exhibited in 1972 inside an inflated dome at Documenta 5, in Kassel, Germany. After its debut, a Japanese collector acquired the work and moved it to a storage facility in Sakura, Japan, where it slowly fell into disrepair. With Pacific Standard Time fast approaching, the piece was transported to the Kienholz studio in Hope, Idaho, where Nancy Reddin Kienholz and her team agreed to take on the restoration process.


We present calculations of the interplane charge dynamics in the normal state of cuprate superconductors within the valence-bond dynamical mean-field theory. We show that by varying the hole doping, the $c$-axis optical conductivity and resistivity dramatically change character, going from metalliclike at large doping to insulatinglike at low doping. We establish a clear connection between the behavior of the $c$-axis optical and transport properties and the destruction of coherent quasiparticles as the pseudogap opens in the antinodal region of the Brillouin zone at low doping. We show that our results are in good agreement with spectroscopic and optical experiments.


A FIELD INVESTIGATION WAS PERFORMED IN ORDER TO FIND OUT THE TRUE AMOUNTS OF CRUSHED ROCK USED IN MACADAM ROAD BASES. THE FRACTIONS STUDIED WERE 75 TO 200 MM AND 25 TO 75 MM. THE AMOUNTS USED FOR FINAL ADJUSTMENT, 25 TO 75 MM, WERE NOT INCLUDED. THE MEASURING METHODS WERE WEIGHING OF THE ROCK THAT WAS USED ON CHOSEN SECTIONS AND CALCULATION OF THE CORRESPONDING BASE THICKNESS BY LEVELLING. THE TOTAL AMOUNT OF ROCK IS EXPRESSED IN RELATION TO THE BASE THICKNESS IN TERMS OF TON PER SQ. METRE AND TON PER ROAD-METRE. RELATIONSHIPS FOR THE TWO FRACTIONS MENTIONED ARE PRESENTED. THE INVESTIGATION ALSO INCLUDES AN ESTIMATION OF THE CONVERSION FACTOR BETWEEN THE THEORETICAL FIXED VOLUME AND THE THEORETICAL RESULTING VOLUME FOR THE CRUSHED ROCK PRODUCTS.


The metaverse has taken huge steps in the realization of a realm where awareness between participating agents is taken to an entirely new level, providing not only interaction and participation but also "presence", creating far deeper reaching implications than what a mere novel display system or tool would indicate: New forms of embodiment, of presentation as well as perception, and of autopoiesis are being materialized. Artistic practice constitutes a field requiring specialized creative strategies for the implementation of this novel condition.


Manfred Kets de Vries, one of the pioneers in the field of global leadership, was interviewed on the topic of global leadership development. He described various intervention techniques he utilizes in his Challenge of Leadership program at INSEAD – a year-long seminar aimed at CEOs – that include exercises, life case studies, 720-degree feedback instrumentation, and the use of the group coaching intervention technique to create a "transitional space" or safe environment where senior executives can be both vulnerable and honest; a place where they can experiment with new ways of dealing with their world. Kets De Vries's reliance on psychodynamic-systemic concepts, given his background as a psychoanalyst and management professor, was also explored. In addition, he discussed the future of global leadership development and the role business schools can play in producing global leaders.


The decision-makers of large cities are more and more concerned about the sustainability of their transport systems. In the case of emerging cities, it is very difficult to achieve at the same time the creation of basic infrastructures and the efficient management of the existing modes of transport. In spite of considerable differences between traditional and emerging cities, it is possible to identify some similarities between the districts of developed cities where transport offer is insufficient and the situation in large parts of emerging cities. The results of several case studies show that French and Chinese cities will have to invent and deploy some new and innovative solutions for transport problems and that ITS can play a leading role in these policies. These include the improvement of the collection of data on the traffic and the operations of all the modes of transport and the development of data sharing and exchange between control centres of companies and authorities involved in day to day management of the whole system. Innovative transport systems, like bus rapid transit, public transport on demand, and other customer - oriented information services focused on seamless and more comfortable travels need to be developed. New ways for financing infrastructures, like urban toll and parking payment should be explored. Better management of mobility in public and private organisations is required in order to reduce the movements of people and freight linked to the activity of their staff, their suppliers and their customers. These ideas open the possibility of creating a platform to share the experiences gained by municipalities in France and China in deploying ITS and possibly to extend these comparisons to the cities of other countries. For the covering abstract see ITRD E140665.


The Visual Grammar approach is effective in examining the communicative value of healthcare posters. As semiotic resources, these posters comprise both images and text for persuasive and informative ends. Previous studies have looked at multilingual health care texts and medical information leaflets using different approaches, but the focus here was monolingual healthcare posters written in English. Hence, this study analyzed five purposefully selected online healthcare posters meant for a Nigerian audience. It looks at the ways image and text cohere as syntagm within narrative and conceptual representations to form persuasive and informative messages, and the multimodal constraints on the healthcare posters as they serve communicative ends. A descriptive research design was adopted to analyse corpus from five online health care materials. Features of the materials were identified and classified according to manifested multimodal features before they were subjected to narrative and conceptual analyses. The way image and text cohere; their functions and communicative values were also discussed to highlight attendant constraints. Findings show that as a multimodal text the healthcare posters employ semiotic resources to project messages as either contextualized or decontextualized. Major and minor semiotic processes, achieved by image and text coherence, form both narrative and conceptual meaning-making units. Added to this informative value are colour variations and font size which are also employed as enhancers of detail, mood and contrast as well as attention drawing devices. Logos of sponsors give the health messages varying credibility values as rhetorical questions and advice-clauses serve persuasive ends. Thus, the study concluded that the communicative potential of a healthcare poster are hinged on semiotic resources that constrain readers' or viewers' perceptions on health matters.


This paper discusses comparative efficiency of resource allocation under alternative forms of land tenure—sharecropping, fixed rental, wage cultivation, and owner cultivation. It shows that when transaction costs, the role of entrepreneurship, and economic incentives are explicitly introduced and analyzed within the framework of intersectoral interactions and linkages, land reform measures redistributing land to the peasants, substituting owner-cultivators for share tenants, tend to improve agricultural production efficiency, resource allocation between farm and other sectors, and contribute to economic development of less developed countries, contrary to conclusions reached by writers of the "equal efficiency" school.


This study deals with a comprehensive water quality assessment for Dianchi Basin.Based on the water quality assessment method,NP,PD,LPI and LSI were selected as the key parameters to describe the landscape patterns,and it is analyzed the impacts on water quality from the dominant landscape patches of the basin.The results indicated that the quantity and irregularity in shapes of urban patches were positively correlated with the delayed deteriorate of water quality;While concentrated large farmland patches contribute to the generation of non-point pollution,but the pollutant concentration in runoff gradually reduced when it flows through large farmland patches due to the absorption by the farmland soil;The higher density of forest patches,the greater effect of adsorption of contamination in run-off,but large patches may result in the limitation in which the pollutants,without flowing through forests,can go into the river directly to contaminate the water quality.


This research is primarily focused on the effect of teaching innovation on learning effectiveness in a certain technical-vocational college in Taiwan, with the students' learning satisfaction as the mediating variable. The sample population of the research was the student body of a technical-vocational college in Taiwan. Convenience sampling was used to take the samples. Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) was used to verify the research overall model, its structural model, and to measure the model's goodness-of-fit. Bayesian estimation is used to test whether the direct effect, mediating effect and overall effect of the model was significant. The research results showed that teaching innovation has a positive, direct effect on students' learning effectiveness, but it was insignificant. Secondly, teaching innovation has a significant, positive effect on learning satisfaction. Students' learning satisfaction has a significant, direct effect on students' learning effectiveness. In summary, students' learning satisfaction has a complete mediating effect.


The catalytic performance of nanoparticles (NPs) of Ag anchored on different supports was evaluated during the selective hydrogenation of 1-pentyne and the purification of a mixture of 1-pentene/1-pentyne (70/30 vol %). The catalysts were identified: Ag/Al (Ag supported on ɣ-Al2O3), Ag/Al-Mg (Ag supported on ɣ-Al2O3 modified with Mg), Ag/Ca (Ag supported on CaCO3) and Ag/RX3 (Ag supported on activated carbon-type: RX3). Besides, in situ DRIFTS analysis of 1-pentyne adsorption on each supports, catalysts and 1-pentyne hydrogenation were investigated. The results showed that the synthesized catalysts were active and very selective (≥85%) for obtaining the desired product (1-pentene). Different adsorbed species (-CºC- and -C=C-) were observed on the supports and catalysts surface using in situ DRIFT analysis, which can be correlated to the activity and high selectivity reached. The role of the supports and electronic properties over Ag improve to H2 dissociative chemisorption during the hydrogenation reactions; promoting the selectivity and the high catalytic performance. Ag/Al and Ag/Al-Mg were the most active catalysts. This was due to the synergism between the active Ag°/Ag+ species and the supports (electronic effects). The results show that Ag/Al and Ag/Al-Mg catalysts have favorable properties and are promising for the alkyne hydrogenation and olefin purification reactions.


PurposeThis study uses the notions of institutional harshness and uncertainty avoidance in the home country to explain the choice between direct and indirect exporting strategies by emerging market firms.Design/methodology/approachThis study is based on a dataset of 23,256 observations on firms from 32 countries spread over 11 years (2006–2016). Since only some firms undertake exports, the Heckman procedure is used to control for sample self-selection. In the first stage, we predict which firms will choose to export, and, in the second stage, we examine the factors driving the choice made by firms involved in exports between direct and indirect exports strategies.FindingsThe analyses reveal that firms are more likely to choose direct exports when institutional harshness is high and when they are from countries with low uncertainty avoidance. We also find that the strength of the relationship between institutional harshness and the choice of direct exports is moderated at high levels of uncertainty avoidance.Research limitations/implicationsWhile this study's empirical models account for many firm-level factors as well as home country differences discussed in the literature, we acknowledge there could be other temporal, firm or country idiosyncratic factors not included in our analysis driving the key choices examined in the paper.Originality/valueThis study makes three contributions to exporting literature. First, it highlights the drivers of the choice between direct and indirect exports. This choice is an important facet of exporting strategy and has received scant attention in prior IB research. Second, it demonstrates how the choice between direct and indirect exports is impacted by the degree of the home country's institutional harshness and uncertainty avoidance. Third, it offers insights on how the interaction of formal and informal home market institutional factors influences export strategy.


In the literary study of biblical texts a recent gain has been a developing sensitivity to the forms and conventions that ancient and modern authors and audiences presuppose. Such sensitivity must be partially based on historical and sociological studies and in turn contributes to them. We have sets of expectations which we bring to anything we hear and see and so did any given audience in ancient Israel. Perhaps the &dquo;grids&dquo; that traditional societies place upon various human expressions are more fixed than are ours; that is a debatable question, complicated by the fact that we are too deeply engaged in our own unconscious cultural patterns to get a good view of the question. We do know that we have certain literary and dramatic conventions that writers for a popular audience will use formulaically: there are customarily expected and accepted rules, with stock personages, functions and scenes that characterize given genres of representation /1 /. Robert Alter, whose recent essay on biblical type-scenes and the uses of convention has influenced this study /2/, presents an interesting hypothetical example of what future historians of 20th century cinema might find /3/. Twelve Hollywood Westerns survive: in eleven of them there is a sheriff who can draw his gun out of its holster faster than


The article expresses the author's opinion that the successful reform of the agrarian economy must take into account the specific features of agriculture. The technological and socio-economic characteristics of agricultural production, given their characteristics.


R EGIONAL and societal variants influence any design for health preservation so that a blueprint for one area may require modifications before use in another. Our approach has been to focus on the major health problem of the community we serve and permit the several aspects of education, screening, treatment, and clinical investigation to function as the scaffold for complete health maintenance. The Harlem Regional Stroke Program, initiated in 1970 at Harlem Hospital Center under the auspices of the affiliation program of Columbia University, was directed toward the prevention and treatment of stroke and hypertension. The Hypertension Unit of the program as it stands today is the result of partially cultivated and partially spontaneous growth. Phase I had three particular aspects: i) the establishment of an inhospital teaching program for more effective treatment of known hypertensive patients, particularly those with malignant hypertension; 2) the institution of a community-health-worker training program of six months duration to prepare workers who would serve as lay health counselors and blood-pressure technicians and provide a visible link between the hospital and the community; and 3) the initiation of an ambulatory treatment facility prior to and adjunctive with a detection program. This was consonant with our philosophy that screening data accumulated by the Health Examination Survey' and by other programs2' 3 were sufficiently indicative, especially in the black population, of a health problem which should no longer be merely identified but should be the object of intensive treatment and active clinical investigation. A sensitive and effective staff had to be assembled who would not


If Blau is known for his theoretical rigour, he is even more famous for the difficulty of his texts. Yet there is also a seductive sublimity in their fulsome complexity, a poetry that demonstrates the critical theory that it strives to explain. The Audience oozes ironies of logical contradiction that any deconstructive critic with the commitment to realize the implications of thought must eventually face: the paradoxes of utter scepticism. He moves easily through the inventory of conceptual terms that contemporary theory hopes will stabilize its visions of determined collapse, yet he is also aware of their tendency (in the application of crucial principles like desire, event, identity and difference) to speed toward tautological superfluity. His spirit of reflective contradiction is a modernist's post-modernism, an American New Critic's textuality, and a shaken phenomenologist's theatre of disappearance. Yet there may be no other way to make historical sense of the contemporary scene without yielding to Utopian fantasy.


Using the Total Electron Content (TEC) data from the Global Navigation Service System (GNSS) site in Jeju, operated by the Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute (geographic location: , ; geomagnetic location: ) for 2002-2014 in Korea, the results of the statistical analysis of positive and negative ionospheric storms are presented for the first time. In this paper, ionospheric storms are defined as turbulences that exceed 50% of the percentage differential Global Positioning System (GPS) TEC ratio () with monthly median GPS TEC. During the period of observations, the total number of positive ionospheric storms ( > 50%) was 170, which is greater than five times the number of negative ionospheric storms (


Nonlinear transmission curve of ferrocene in toluene solution was recorded at 532 nm in an open-aperture configuration as a function of the incident energy of 9 ns pulses of a doubled Nd:YAG laser at the repetition rate of 1 Hz.
This is the first observation of reverse saturable absorption by this molecule. Pump and probe measurements showed that ferrocene excited states with lifetime of the order of some tenth of ns are present in the nonlinear process.
The transient excited state was found to be a triplet state since the same transient absorption was found by exciting a solution of eosin-Y and ferrocene, for which it is known that a triplet–triplet energy transfer from eosin to ferrocene occurs.
A Kasha rule violation was also observed in (2-ferrocenil)indene by TICT process.


We report a case of a 15-year-old male presenting with Multi-System Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MIS-C) following vaccination with the BNT162b2 mRNA SARS-CoV-2 vaccine. Fifty days after receiving the second dose of the vaccine, he visited local institution complaining of fever and chest pain. Then, he was referred and admitted to our institution due to suspected acute myocarditis on an electrocardiogram (ECG). His father is a Japanese Brazilian. His body mass index was 29.6 kg/m2. Physical examination revealed a body temperature of 39.8 °C, 96% oxygen saturation (room air), and blood pressure of 109/69 mmHg. His bilateral eyeball revealed conjunctival hyperemia. ECG


In this paper, a new method to control an active power line conditioner (APLC) using neural networks is presented. Actually, there is an increase of voltage and current harmonics in power systems, caused by nonlinear loads. The APLCs are used to compensate the generated harmonics and to correct the load power factor. The proposed control design is a pulse width modulation control (PWM) with two blocks that include neural networks. Adaptive networks estimate the reference compensation currents. On the other hand, a multilayer feedforward network (trained by a backpropagation algorithm) works as hysteresis band comparator. An experimental prototype was built to check the proposed control performance. The practical results confirm the possibility and usefulness of controlling an APLC by means of artificial neural networks.


This contribution presents the results of an analysis of the style and use of terminology in the work of Domingos Vandelli, who is considered to be one of the most important of the scientists and influential people in the Portugal of his time. The works analysed, especially memoirs on the natural resources of Portugal and Brazil, were published by the Academy in 1789 in the first volume of Memorias economicas da Academia Real das Sciencias de Lisboa, para o adiantamento da agricultura, das artes, e da industria em Portugal, e suas conquistes. Apart from examining the linguistic peculiarities that may be attributed to the author as an Italian speaker (or non-native speaker of Portuguese), attention must be paid in the work to the formal aspects of the composition of the text.


Objective:To establish an RP-HPLC method for determination of the content and related substances of helicid dispersible tablets.Methods:Diamond C_(18) chromatographic column (250 mm×4.6 mm,5μm) was used and the mobile phase consisted of 1.11% acetic acid solution-acetonitrile(85:15)with a flow rate of 1.0 mL·min~(-1), the UV detection wavelenth was set at 270 nm.Results:The calibration curve was linear within the range of 1.98 to 39.6μg·mL~(-1)(r=1.000);The lowest limit determination was 0.05 ng(S/N=3).The mean recoveries(n=3)of high,middle and low concentration were 100.0%(RSD=0.8%),100.3%(RSD=0.6%),99.6%(RSD= 0.6%);The chromatographic peaks of helicid and its related substances were well isolated.Conclusion:The meth- od is simple,selective,accurate,reproducible.It is suitable for determination of the content and related substances of helicid dispersible tablets.


The path-integral representations for the propagator and the effective action of three-dimensional Euclidean fields with arbitrary spins are found which differ from the analogous path-integrals for scalar particles by Polyakov's spin factors. For half-integer and integer spins the spin factor coincides with Abelian and non-Abelian Berry phase, respectively.


The study examines financially 24 civil aviation companies. All of them are public companies with shares traded on the New York Stock Exchange, of which three are European, 4 are located in Latin American countries, two Asian, and others based in United States, with total annual revenues around 200 billion dollars. The analysis, covering five years of financial publications from airlines, approach capital structure variables such as operating cash flow, cash flow to shareholders, leverage and profitability ratios. The authors have observed that there were ten occurrences of unfunded liabilities in the annual publications analyzed. Two companies had just third parties capital from 2004 until 2006 and four airlines had no equity shareholder in the balance sheet. Among the evidences found, one stands in relation to operating margin, which suggests there aren't economies of scale, with a consequential reduction of costs and operating expenses for companies that get more revenue, because it is precisely among those companies that the highest incidence of negative operating margins are found.


Individuals with social phobias fear evaluation of their performance in social situations. They have a simultaneous need for self-control and for the acceptance and approval of others. Due to the frequency of evaluation of performance in the university setting, students are an especially vulnerable group. Being conscientious and often perfectionistic, their overwhelming fear of disapproval or failure in specific social situations is accompainied by autonomic fear responses and a despair of never finding a coping technique. In this paper suggestions are made for attitudinal change and for both some well-known and orginal techniques for behavior revision. A special psychotherapeutic style is suggested which is appropriate for working with students during the relatively brief period of time they are in college.


HfO2 coatings are undoubtedly one of the most successful materials for high power laser applications. The ion beam assistance during the film growth is one of the most useful methods to obtain dense film along with improved optical and structural properties. As a consequence of the ever increasing application field of modern optical technologies, new demands for the optimization of deposition processes for high quality optical coatings with increased power handling capability, lower stress and optical uniformity are required for HfO2 film. In this paper, HfO2 films have been evaporated with ion assistance, provided by three different ion or plasma sources (APS, lion, RF). The influence of working gas flow (Ar and O2), ion energy and ion beam density on the HfO2 film properties was experimentally investigated. The film properties such as index of refraction, optical absorption and residual stress have been examined by spectrophotometry, laser calorimetry, and substrate curvature measurements. Microstructure have been studied by xray diffraction. Furthermore, a set of HfO2 monolayer were tested for LIDT at 1064 nm and 355nm for 10 ns pulses. The results suggest that the residual stress of HfO2 film is correlated with momentum transfer parameter, while both the ion energy and working gas flow maybe critical for the LIDT (absorption). The correlation between the microstructure and HfO2 film properties is discussed.


Orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) is an attractive technique for wireless communications. However, in high-mobility scenarios, the time-variation of mobile radio channels over an OFDM symbol leads to a loss of subcarrier orthogonality, and resulting in intercarrier interference (ICI) which severely degrade the OFDM performance and introduce an irreducible error floor. In this thesis, a novel scheme is proposed to estimate the channel in OFDM systems. The key idea is to distort the data of OFDM symbol in frequency domain, such that an impulse signal is used to estimate the channel, in time domain at pilot samples. Then, a piecewise linear model is used to estimate the channel variation over an OFDM symbol. Simulation results show the proposed scheme can achieve a substantial improvement in the bit error rate (BER) performance of OFDM compared with Zhao, Chang, and Mostofi schemes. Moreover, the error floor significantly is reduced, particularly, at low signal to noise ratio (SNR) regions compared with the previously mentioned schemes. Recently, Mostofi proposed a channel estimation scheme to mitigate ICI in OFDM system by approximating the channel variation over OFDM symbol by piecewise linear model. But, for high Doppler spread the channel over OFDM symbol exhibit high order variation. Thus, a generalisation of Mostofi scheme is proposed, where a general polynomial model is used to estimate the channel. Simulation results show that at a high Doppler spread, the generalised scheme show remarkable improvement in the BER performance of OFDM over the Mostofi scheme. Additionally, in this thesis, a modified of "better than" raised cosine pulse-shape is proposed to improve the performance of OFDM in the presence of frequency offset. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed pulse outperforms raised-cosine pulse and "better than" raised cosine pulse in terms of BER performance, ICI reduction and SIR enhancement.


Clinical angiographic studies revealed that coronary angiography cannot predict the site of subsequent acute coronary occlusion by thrombus formation, since occlusive thrombosis often begins in the lesions that previously showed less than a 50% reduction of the coronary diameter as judged by a previous coronary angiogram. Thus, the mechanisms of acute thrombotic occlusion still remain to be elucidated. Until now, few studies of experimental induction of the conversion of chronic arteriosclerosis to sudden onset of acute cardiovascular events have been attempted because such studies are very difficult. Previously, we reported that acute myocardial infarction (AMI) and complete coronary occlusion were induced by sudden coronary spasm at the site of coronary arteriosclerosis in miniature swine.] In this swine model, a complete occlusion of the coronary artery resulted from intraplaque hemorrhage in the arteriosclerotic lesions but not from plaque rupture or thrombosis. In 1960s, Constantinides and his colleagues reported that AM1 and arterial thrombosis in the aorta as well as in the coronary artery were produced in arteriosclerotic rabbits by intraperitoneal administration of Russel's viper venom (RVV), a proteolytic procoagulant, and intravenous administration of serotonin and/or angi~tens in .~ ,~ Since Constantinides, no study has reexamined their results, except for one recent study by Abela and colleague^.^ However, they did not examine AM1 and coronary thrombosis and only studied aortic thrombosis. The aim of the current study is first to reexamine the studies done by Constantinides and then to clarify whether AM1 is the result of plaque rupture and thus necessitates the presence of coronary arteriosclerosis. Secondly, we aim to study any differences in the mode of thrombosis in the coronary artery and aorta. According to studies done by Constantinides and his colleagues in 1960s, we used RVV as the most suitable agent to increase blood coagulability without causing massive thrombosis at an amount of 150 pgkg B.W. intraperitoneally (Lp.). For vasoactive agents, we administered intravenously (i.v.) either serotonin (100 p e g ) or angiotensin II(2MO pgkg), respectively. This treatment was given on two successive days. In order to develop advanced atherosclerosis in the rabbits, 55 Japanese white male rabbits were fed a 1% cholesterol diet for two months alternating with a two-month period of normal diet and were fed in two-months cycles. This resulted in intermittent hyperlipidemia (IHL) for eight or 12 months (IHL-8, IHL-12). This type of hypercholesterol-


M. H. A. Newman (1928) criticized Russell's structuralist philosophy of science. Demopoulos and Friedman have discussed Newman's critique, showing its relevance to the structuralist positions held by Schlick and Carnap, and to Putnam's argument against "metaphysical realism". I discuss Richard Braithwaite's (1940) appeal to Newman in a critique of Arthur Eddington. Braithwaite believed Newman had shown that "structure depends upon content". Eddington, in his reply, misunderstood the generality of Newman's argument.


The abstract is well-written. Please provide the ORs and CIs for negative findings as w ell. Answer: We provided ORs and CIs also for negative findings. Introduction A fair presentation of the case and hypothesis. I am not convinced if actual physical fitness has not been used before the Copenhagen City Heart Study? I agree with the authors that cross-sectional studies only show associations (like the present) and cannot claim causali ty. However, this goes for the prospective cohort studies as well. And they do not 'indicate' any causality. 'Suggest' is more soft. Answer: We agree with your comment and used 'suggest' instead of 'hypothesis'.


In the neighbourhood of Aldwarke and Thrybergh extensive workings have proved that wash-outs have occurred at various horizons in the Middle and Lower Coal-measures, and the limits of certain of these have been accurately laid down on plans. Denudation in the Barnsley Seam has been found over an area 1.700 yards in length from east to west, and in the Parkgate Seam (240 yards below) over an area 2,600 yards long from north to south. In neither case was the wash-out completely crossed, but its width cannot be less than 600 yards. The Swallow-Wood Seam, lying 60 yards below the Barnsley and above the Parkgate Seam, lias been partly worked under the same area; but no signs of s wash-out have been found. The opinion of the author is that the wash-outs occupy the sites of winding streams, meandering through the alluvial tracts in which the coal-seams were being formed.


| 2023; 7:S1 7 Conclusion: Our analysis indicates a clear and strong increase in hemoglobinopathy carriage rates among pregnancies in all federal states in parallel to the increase in migration into Germany between 2014 and 2016. Further studies are required to verify these findings and to evaluate the necessity of new public health measures as prenatal screening and consulting services for hemoglobinopathies in Germany.


In order to meet the requirements of a giant magnetostrictive actuator for a microstep, high precision, and wide range of input power supply, a design scheme of the high performance programmable current source based on a field programmable gate array processor and the OPA549 amplifier is proposed. Based on the circuit principle of the microstepping continuous adjustment current source, the microstepping control circuit and the constant current source control circuit are designed and the feasibility of the design scheme is verified by circuit simulation and experimental test. The results show that the current output range of the programmable current source is 0 A–6.99 A and the minimum step value is 1.7 mA. The output current precision can reach 1.10% in circuit simulation and 4.38% in experimental test. The research results show that the proposed design scheme of the programmable current source satisfies the requirements of the giant magnetostrictive actuator.In order to meet the requirements of a giant magnetostrictive actuator for a microstep, high precision, and wide range of input power supply, a design scheme of the high performance programmable current source based on a field programmable gate array processor and the OPA549 amplifier is proposed. Based on the circuit principle of the microstepping continuous adjustment current source, the microstepping control circuit and the constant current source control circuit are designed and the feasibility of the design scheme is verified by circuit simulation and experimental test. The results show that the current output range of the programmable current source is 0 A–6.99 A and the minimum step value is 1.7 mA. The output current precision can reach 1.10% in circuit simulation and 4.38% in experimental test. The research results show that the proposed design scheme of the programmable current source satisfies the requirements of the giant magnetostrictive actuator.


Last year, I asked a crowd of a few hundred geoscientists from around the world what positions related to climate science and policy they would be comfortable publicly advocating. I presented a list of recommendations that included increased research funding, greater resources for education, and specific emission reduction technologies. In almost every case, a majority of the audience felt comfortable arguing for them. The only clear exceptions were related to geo-engineering research and nuclear power. I had queried the researchers because the relationship between science and advocacy is marked by many assumptions and little clarity. This despite the fact that the basic question of how scientists can be responsible advocates on issues related to their expertise has been discussed for decades most notably in the case of climate change by the late Stephen Schneider.


Scholars highlight a wide array of factors that can influence individual decision-making under risk. Utilizing survey data, we explore many potential factors that affect risk perception and protective behaviors. Our focus is on coastal Georgia, which has lower historical risk relative to the rest of the Southeast U.S., and which many people perceive as relatively safe, but was recently adversely affected by two major storms. The results indicate a majority of coastal residents expect coastal storms and other hazards to be worse in the future. The regression results suggest perceived damages, risk tolerance, wealth exposure, and flood zone are robust determinants of flood insurance purchase. Other factors, like flood zone awareness and attitudes towards community risk management initiatives—like shoreline armoring, beach replenishment, and coastal retreat—are also indicated to have a high correlation with flood insurance purchase.


Both the American Petroleum Institute (API) 17N: 2009 and Det Norske Veritas (DNV) RP-A203 (2011) recommend that the technologies inserted into subsea installations should be assessed during design and manufacturing using a technology readiness level (TRL) scale. This should be used as a measure of maturity of all the individual technologies, for qualification and readiness assurance. This paper proposes the creation of a system-based approach for managing the development of subsea systems and making effective decisions to ensure the efficient progress of the project. It recommends complementing TRL with an integration readiness level (IRL) scale, to address IRL between the inserted technologies, along with a system readiness level (SRL) scale to assess the overall project status. It also presents a method for combining the current TRL scale and the proposed new IRL scale to determine an estimate of SRL at all stages of a subsea system development. This provides a composite metric for determining the system readiness level for project delivery. The application of the new proposed scales is demonstrated using a case example.


We consider a committee voting setup with two rounds of voting where committee members, who possess private information about the state of the world, have to make a binary decision. We investigate incentives for truthful revelation of their information in the first voting period. Coughlan (2000 shows that members reveal their information in a straw poll only if their preferences are homogeneous. By taking costs of time into account, we demonstrate that heterogeneous committees have strictly higher incentives to reveal information and can be strictly better off if the straw poll allows for an earlier decision for high level of consensus.


We give a recipe to generate "nonlocal" constants of motion for ODE Lagrangian systems and we apply the method to find useful constants of motion for dissipative system, for the Lane-Emden equation, and for the Maxwell-Bloch system with RWA.


A process for the recovery of thorium as anhydrous thorium tetrachloride from monazite sand was described. Thorium chloride was obtained by chlorinating monazite and subsequently distilling thorium chloride from the reacted mass by taking advantage of the differences in the volatility of the various chlorides. The product obtained contained 0.18% rare earths. (auth)


In-situ measurements provide vast information for additive manufacturing process understanding and real-time control. Data from various monitoring techniques observe different characteristics of a build process. Fusing multi-modal in-situ monitoring data can significantly enhance process anomaly detection, part defect prediction, and build failure diagnosis, thus improving AM part quality control. This paper compares the powder bed fusion in-process observations from two types of AM in-situ monitoring, coaxial melt pool imaging, and layerwise imaging, and investigates the correlation between the two observations for a build of parts with multiple geometric features and scan patterns. All data were collected from an open architecture powder bed fusion AM testbed. Data analysis shows that both datasets exhibit significant statistical changes when new features are introduced during the build. However, further machine learning-based modeling indicates that statistical features extracted from the two data sets do not correlate very well. Discussions are provided on how the statistical analysis of the observations from the two modality monitoring system can be utilized for data fusion strategy development, especially toward improving process anomaly detection.


A head-up display device comprising: an indicator configured to emit display light; lower case, the indicator is attached to the lower case; upper case, the upper shell is mounted to an upper portion of the lower case; a of the support portion, the pair of support portions provided on the lower case, and extending toward the upper housing; a guide groove, the guide groove is formed on the support portions at opposite sides of the support portion; and the mirror, the mirror of the two lateral edges are engaged with the guide groove, toward the bottom of the mirror surface of the lower case is inserted and mounted to the lower case, the indication to reflect from emitted display light, and the reflected light guided to the display of the vehicle windshield.


An approximation formula of buildup factor for two-layer shields proposed previously was improved to fitting to the newly calculated buildup factors for point isotropic source gamma-rays of 0.1, 0.3, 0.6, 1,3,6 and 10 MeV penetrating two-layer shields combinations of water, iron or lead materials with the Monte Carlo code EGS4 included the effects of Bremsstrahlung and fluorescent radiations. A f-function in the formula was modified to reproduce precisely the reference data up to the total thickness 40 mfp and the value of buildup factor at the interface of two-layer shields. The functions α and β used in improved f-function f(x1,x2) = α(x1)/{α(x1)+B2(x1)*β(x1,x2)x2} were represented by simple formula fitted to reference data in excellent agreement. Consequently, the two-layer shields buildup factor for any arbitrary thickness of the first-layer x1, and the second-layer x2, and for arbitrary source energy can easily be estimated by interpolation of functions α and β with respect to energy.


Product development sourcing is vital due to the significant impact on company and product success. Different technology life-cycle (TLC) stages also necessitate product development sourcing to focus accordingly. Understanding the dynamics of product development sourcing over TLC's can prove beneficial. This study analyses product development sourcing strategies through three strategy formulating theories of transaction cost theory, knowledge-based theory, and resource-based theory over TLC stages. Three sourcing strategies of outsourcing, strategic acquisitions, and strategic alliances are considered. The topic is approached both by analysing literature and applying inductive logic for analysing product development sourcing over three technology generations in the context of an important player in the high-tech infrastructure business. A framework is introduced where product development activities emphasis and sourcing strategies' focus is presented over TLC, indicating the priorities in different situations. Contribution is provided by analysing motivations behind product development sourcing decisions over three technology generations' life-cycles.


Suli in Baguala Bay, Central Maluku Regency has waters with various types of substrates, namely sandy, muddy and rocky which are rich in benthic organisms. One of them is the gastropod type Nerita sp which is widely used by the population for food needs. The existence of gastropods, especially Nerita sp needs to be maintained and preserved so that the diversity and density of Nerita sp can be maintained and well maintained. This study aims to determine the type and density of Nerita sp. In the coastal waters of Suli, Baguala Bay, Central Maluku district. This research is a descriptive study, namely research to reveal information about the density of Nerita sp in the coastal waters of Suli Baguala Bay, Central Maluku district which is presented in the form of tables and numbers and the research was conducted in July 2019. Based on the description of the morphology of Nerita sp. from the land of Suli, including the species Nerita chamaeleon. The total number of Nerita chamaeleon found was 566 individuals with a density value of 11.32 and categorized as having sufficient density. It is necessary to do further research on the nutritional content and its use by the people of Suli.

Keywords: Density, Nerita sp, Suli


After the 2007 financial crisis, the world's major stock indexes have fluctuated greatly, and the investment risk of the stock market has increased. This thesis carries out volatility analysis and risk analysis for CSI 300 Index before and after financial crisis through GARCH-VaR model. After comparing the result with the stock market in developed countries, the paper will put forward appropriate suggestions for China's stock market based on the experience learnt from other mature stock markets, in order to reduce the risk of Chinese financial market and make it gradually move towards mature financial market. The main contents of this paper include: First, the paper selects index data from January 1, 2005 to December 31, 2016 and perform descriptive statistical analysis; Secondly, the paper uses the Var method of various GARCH family models to forecast the future risk of CSI 300 stock market to find the optimal model of it. Thirdly, based on the literature review and empirical results, the paper concludes the volatility factors of Chinese stock market and puts forward some suggestions. The empirical results show that before the financial crisis, CSI 300 index appeared significant volatility before and during the financial crisis. Moreover, after financial crisis, the volatility of CSI 300 still remains high. Based on the literature review, it is found that it is policy intervention, retailers, speculation and other reasons that lead CSI 300 index to high volatility. Therefore, in response to these problems, the thesis put forward some related suggestions to improve the Chinese stock market management mechanism, including less intervention, stricter supervision, setting barriers, etc.


We develop a comprehensive approach for fatigue analysis of SMAs in three steps: first, the determination of the constitutive law allows the computation of the stabilized thermomechanical state of the structure. In order to better predict this state, tensile-compressive asymmetry and strong thermomechanical coupling are introduced into the ZM models. Second, the stabilized state is computed using an extension of the Direct Cyclic Method, which is shown to provide significant saving in computation time compared to the conventional incremental method. Third, the fatigue lifetime of the structure is determined with an energy-based criterion accounting for the influence of the hydrostatic pressure. The dependence of the fatigue lifetime on temperature and loading frequency is discussed. The prospects of this work include the validation of the constitutive laws and fatigue criterion for the case of non proportional loadings.


This article discusses attitudes of young men towards sexuality and birth control. Group discussions were held with adolescents aged between 16 and 19 years from a variety of social backgrounds. Approximately 8 people took part in each group. Discussion was directed to cover several topics. A major finding was the striking difference which still persists between the male and female view of sexual relations with separate rules governing girls and boys behavior. The sexual career of a boy progresses through a number of stages with chances of using contraception varying with each stage. To use a condom is to run the risk of appearing foolish. The greater the degree of responsibility attached to a relationship the greater is the concern to use contraception. The traditional double standard still appears to play a major role in boys attitudes to girls. Girls are assumed to be more mature and sensible than boys. To be motivated to use a condom a boy has to accept either that he would be responsible for a pregnancy or that he could be forced to accept responsibility. Oral contraceptives take the place of condoms for couples in a steady relationship. It is apparent that the approach to sex education currently adopted by schools parents and agencies holds little relevance for teenage males.


The worldwide pandemic caused by COVID-19 has had a significant negative impact on transplant activity (1) and caused uncertainty among solid organ recipients. To address this uncertainty the European Society for Organ Transplantation organized a webinar on the 27th April 2020. The webinar was developed for patient organizations in collaboration with the European Transplant Patients' Organisations (ETPO) alliance. The aim was to exhange and discuss concerns regarding the Covid-19 virus and possible strategies to master the uncertainty.


Oluwasanmi A. Adeyemi, Boluwatife M. Fejukui and Oluwapelumi O. Adeyemi Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Ajayi Crowther University, Oyo, Oyo State, Nigeria. School of Molecular and Cellular Biology, University of Leeds, LS2, 9JT, Leeds, Uk. ABSTRACT Vegetables provide humans with essential vitamins and minerals with enough ability to help reduce the risk of diseases and infections. However, a major issue associated with the consumption of fresh vegetable salad is their contamination with pathogenic microorganisms. Thus, this study was aimed at assessing the microbial contamination levels and evaluating the microbiological risk associated with the consumption of ready to eat mixed vegetable salads from food vendors in Oyo, Oyo state. Microbiological analysis was done using standard methods. Results showed that from 20 samples, a total of fifty-five (55) isolates were gotten, while 91% of the isolates were bacteria, 9% were fungi. The total bacteria count obtained in this study ranged from 6.00×10 to 7.30×10 cfu/ml. The bacterial isolates identified from the samples were: Aeromonas sp. (50%); Serratia sp. (20%); Pseudomonas sp. (21%); Escherichia coli (3%); Lactobacillus sp. (3%); and Staphylococcus sp. (3%). The fungal count realized in this study ranged from 1.67 × 10 cfu/ml to 2.90 × 10 cfu/ml. The fungal isolates were: Aspergillus sp.; and Rhizopus sp.; (78%) and (22%) respectively. The high microbial load found in the vegetable salad samples shows that there is an urgent need for food handlers to employ appropriate decontamination methods. Consumed food being sold by vendors must always meet up with stipulated microbiological standards for consumed food.


58 17 years. Thirty three subjects were diabetic, 75 non-dippers. Twenty four hour mean arterial pressure (MAP) was 97.1 9.8mmHg. Awake and asleep MAP were 100.6 9.9mmHg and 87.6 10.3mmHg respectivly. Twenty four hour awake and asleep pulse pressure were 59.6 12.6mmHg, 60.1 12.7mmHg and 57.8 13.1mmHg. MAP dip was 12.8%, 95% confidence interval (CI) 11.9-13.7 whereas pulse pressure dip was 3.7%, 95% CI 2.6-4.8. Thus, MAP dip was more than 3.5 times the pulse pressure dip (p 0.0001). This held true for diabetic, male, female, obese, elderly or young subjects. Pulse pressure correlated strongly with systolic blood pressure (correlation coefficient 0.70, p 0.0001). However, despite the high correlation between the two parameters systolic blood pressure dip was more than 2.5 times the pulse pressure dip (p 0.0001). We conclude that although pulse presssure is derived from blood pressure, it is more constant during a 24h period, with a lesser effect of sleep as compared to mean arterial pressure. Pulse pressure is a marker of the compliance properties of the aorta and major vessels, which are not under sympathetic or circadian influence. On the other hand, mean arterial blood pressure is determined by peripheral vascular resistance and cardiac output, which are strongly influenced by sympathetic activity and circadian rhythm. This more rigid nature of the pulse pressure could also partly explain the better prognostic value of pulse pressure compared to blood pressure.


The magnetoresistance and Hall effect data for polycrystalline samples of La 2/3 D 1/3 MnO 3 (D = Ba, Sr) have been analyzed. It has been revealed that the peculiarities of galvanomagnetic properties take place at the metal-insulator transition temperature which is less than the Curie temperature. The anomalous Hall coefficient is almost three orders of magnitude larger than the normal Hall coefficient. The effects observed have been explained by the shift of the mobility edge.


Address to: Dra. Monique Araújo de Brito. Depto Farmácia/FF/UFF. Rua Dr. Mário Viana 523, Santa Rosa, 24241-000 Niterói, RJ, Brasil. Phone: 55 21 2629-9599 e-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com Received in 07/10/2012 Accepted in 18/01/2013 The last two Editorials of the Journal of the Brazilian Society of Tropical Medicine (JBSTM), namely Parasite, vectors and reservoirs as determinants of tegumentary leishmaniasis and Dengue in Brazil were highlighted because of their content and the quality of their work, dealing with important issues for Brazil and for some developing regions/countries. Neglected tropical diseases have afflicted humanity since ancient time and have acquired notoriety as disabling and deforming diseases1. Their serious impact on health and productivity in the past led to considerable knowledge about the diseases, and effective control tools were developed for many. Moreover, opportunities for transmission were drastically reduced, as living conditions improved. Therefore, in populations that enjoy good access to health services and a reasonable standard of living these diseases are now rarely seen2. Although diverse, neglected tropical diseases share features that allow them to persist in conditions of poverty. Approximately 1 billion people (one sixth of the world's population) suffer from one or more neglected tropical diseases1. Conflict situations or natural disasters aggravate conditions that are favorable to the spread of these diseases. The three neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) highlighted in the articles of JBSTM above and seventeen more are currently been focus by the World Health Organization (WHO) and lack effective or adequate treatments1. The NTDs, classified by the type of infection, are: Protozoan infections (Chagas disease, leishmaniasis and human African trypanosomiasis); Bacterial infections (Buruli ulcer, cholera, endemic treponematoses yaws, endemic syphilis-, leprosy Hansen disease-, and trachoma); Helminth infections (cysticercosis, dracunculiasis, echinococcosis, fascioliasis, lymphatic filariasis, soiltransmitted helminthiasis, onchocerciasis, schistosomiasis, taeniasis), Viral infections (dengue and rabies)3. Despite this need, the drugs used to treat these diseases are old and have many toxic effects4. Therefore, there is urgency for new drugs, more effective and safer. However, a fundamental problem with neglected diseases is how to induce pharmaceutical companies to invest resources for developing effective treatments. The issue arises because most of these Investment in drugs for neglected diseases: a portrait of the last five years


Methods: This is a prospective descriptive study conducted in the 'Infertility clinic', Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Tribhuwan University, Teaching hospital, Kathmandu in 2423 patients from April2005-March2009. All couples were investigated with simple non invasive tests like total blood count with erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), mantoux test, Adenosine diaminase (ADA), polymerase chain reaction (PCR), to invasive procedure like endometrial biopsy to rule out tuberculosis.


The San FranciscoTM project is an IBM initiative, with over 130 independent software vendors, to provide business process components that can form the basis of rapidly developed distributed solutions for mission-critical business applications. This paper describes the original objectives of the San Francisco project and discusses the methodology, skills, and architecture that were used to achieve those objectives. The paper includes discussion of the importance of design patterns, extension points, and a well-defined programming model used in the San Francisco components. Most topics are touched on briefly to give an overview; some knowledge of object-oriented development techniques is assumed.


Hormones, growth factors, neurotransmitters, and other agonists bind to specific receptors on cell plasma membrane. Receptor occupancy initiates the formation of second messenger molecules including adenosine 3',5'-monophosphate (CAMP), guanosine 3',5'-monophosphate (cGMP), and other recently discovered messenger molecules, diacylglycerol, and inositolphosphates formed by hydrolysis of phosphoinositides. ' *' Second messengers control a number of cellular events including metabolism, secretion, shape change, and cellular growth.'*3 At present, cellular manifestations of human atherosclerosis are relatively well known. The progression of atherosclerotic plaque takes place in vascular intima; media and adventitia are not involved. It is known that in aging human vascular endothelium becomes morphologically heterogeneous; clusters of giant and small endothelial cells have been d e ~ c r i b e d . ~ . ~ Recently, using computer analysis of sudanophylic areas in human aorta, the zones with high and low probability of atherosclerosis were The study of morphologic heterogeneity of endothelial lining in these regions demonstrated that in the areas of high probability of atherosclerosis (ages 30-70 years) heterogeneous clasterized endothelium is met 2.7 times more frequently than in unaffected areas, and in the age group of 20-27 years this clusterization is found exclusively in these region^.^ Thickening of vascular wall in the region of atherosclerotic plaque is caused by local increase in the volume of extracellular matrix* synthesized by modified smooth muscle cells (SMC). Statistically reliable increase in the proportion of modified SMC was demonstrated in atherosclerotic plaque leading to a drop in the number of SMC of contractile phenotype.' The important cellular event in the development of atherosclerotic plaque is the appearance of macrophageand smooth muscle cell-derived foam cells in intima.' Thus, it is evident that the formation of human atherosclerotic plaque is accompanied by essential changes in morphology, functions, and cellular composition of intimal layer including endothelial cells. Therefore, it is logical to study the involvement of the second messenger systems in these events. This paper describes the results of the study of signal transduction systems and second messengers in intimal cells of human aorta in athero-


The association of obesity with diabetes has been known for over many (Reckless and Gallon, 1980; Kolterman et al., 1980; Caballero and Wurtman, 1991). It is'often present together with type-II diabetes mellitus (NIDDM). In both obesity and diabetes, reduced insulin sensitivity is found (DeFronzo, 1989)', The syndrome of obesity and hyperphagia produced by diabetes apparently results in part from disturbances in the autonomic control of metabolism. Thus, obesity is known to be associated with metabolic disorders, such as glucose intolerance and hyperlipidemia (Fujioka et al., 1987). Furthermore, human obesity has been come to be recognized as a heterogenous entity from etiologic and pathophysiologic aspects (Fujioka et al., 1987). Several lines of evidence suggest a significant role for parasympathetic activity in etiology of the syndrome (Powley, 1977; Bray and York, 1979).


Maritime patrols are necessary because Indonesia is vulnerable to maritime threats and disturbances. Patrols are not optimally covered the sea and the regulations are not comprehensive to be synergy guidelines. This article discusses how to synergize effective and efficient patrols at the six maritime security institutions, and finally reduce the level of threats and disturbances to maritime security. This article uses qualitative methods and synergy models, interviews were conducted with informants from six maritime security institutions. Various elements of the patrol require collaboration consisting of personnel, assets, and ideas from various institutions. The advantages of an institution that should be utilized together include the size of the budget or assets, personnel militancy, social patrols, targeting patrols, aerial monitoring, and shipping court mechanisms. Trust exists from long-standing interactions to see competence and integrity, not by coercion of regulations. Leaders must meet all the criteria for leaders, both those who want strong criteria and those who want accountability or integrity or can accept criticism. Maritime patrol synergy is formed by the interaction of collaboration, engagement, trust components, and leadership support to ensure the synergy runs.


Drilling of holes into laminates is essential to facilitate bolting or riveting to the main load-bearing structures. Delamination is the most evident damage that can be generated during the drilling of a laminate. This paper presents the design of experiments and analysis of variance (ANOVA) techniques of Taguchi useful in examining the effect of drilling induced damage on the notched tensile strength of woven GFR–epoxy composites. Fracture data of center-hole tensile specimens are correlated using a modification in the inherent flaw model.


Immunomodulatory and Antioxidant Protective Effect of Zingiber officinale, in Lead Intoxicated Rat
Zingiber officinale (ZO) is commonly used as one of natural food additives. This study was designed to evaluate immunomodulatory and antioxidant effect of Zingiber officinale extract (ZO) against lead toxicity in rats.


Introduction. The article reviews events to have aimed at preparing Russia's military for the war against Turkey in the late 1760s. The former included both general strategy development and involvement of Kalmyk troops. Special attention was paid to the preparation of orders on Kalmyk cavalry's mobilization, its distribution across Russian army groups, elaboration of tactical plans, provisioning and allowances. Goals. So, the study aims at answering the latter set of questions. Materials and methods. The paper analyzes documents and materials form the National Archive of Kalmykia, Archive of Foreign Policy of Imperial Russia, and a number of government decrees published in Collections of the Imperial Russian Historical Society and the Complete Collection of Laws of the Russian Empire. Results and conclusions. Having been the only combat effective force of Imperial Russia in the Lower Volga and North Caucasus, the Kalmyk Khanate was given utmost significance. In early April of 1769, Viceroy Ubashi gathered almost the whole of his troops in Yashkol area. The corps of Lieutenant General M. J. von Berg enforced with a ten thousand Kalmyk cavalry led by Prince Kirip was largely responsible for the Crimean direction. Another ten thousand cavalry group under the command of Viceroy Ubashi was to join the corps of Major General J. F. von Medem and suppress landlords of Kabardia that tended to support Turkey. After the departure of the twenty thousand troops all uluses (domains) were ordered to stay on the right bank of the Volga. But the subsequent campaign of 1769 unexpectedly witnessed a series of conflicts to have resulted from insufficient allowances and provisioning of Kalmyk military units.


Effective role of natural resources in sustainable development and natural ecosystem preservation has caused environmental and natural resources economists focused on non- market role of these resources in recent years. Therefore with valuation of natural resources and environmental systems these resources are prevented from destruction and excessive exploitation. This study was done in order to determine reclamation and protective value and also people tendency to payment for Jazmoryan wetland conservation by the use of Conditional Valuation Method. The sample content was determined with cochran formula and 111 questionnaires were completed in 2014, verbally. According to the results, the amount of each person tendency to payment was assessed 3030 Rial and the whole tendency of study area was calculated 23.09 Milliard Rial. The results of logit model by maximum likelihood method showed that recommendation, age, family, income and education variables had significant effect on acceptance probability of price. Age and recommendation variables had negative effect and family dimension, education and income had positive effect. Final effect of recommendation variable was calculated – 0.0003, it means that if proposed price has increase of 1%, acceptance probability of proposed price would decrease about 0.0003 units.


Urinary tract infection is the most common cause of infection in nursing home residents and the most common source of bacteremia in the elderly population. Escherichia coli (E.coli) is the most common cause of uncomplicated UTI, whereas antibiotic-resistant Enterobacteriaceae, Enterococci and Candida species often are the causes of complicated UTI. This study was to determine and analyze the distribution and antibiotic susceptibility patterns of bacterial strains isolated from patients with community acquired urinary tract infection (UTIs) at the Institute Of Preventive Medicines, Hyderabad. Many urological abnormalities may be associated with complicated urinary infection. There is a wide spectrum of potential infecting organisms and isolated bacteria tend to be more resistant to antimicrobial therapy. Morbidity and infection outcomes in subjects with complicated urinary infection are principally determined by the underlying abnormality rather than the infection. Principles of management include uniform collection of a urine specimen for culture before antimicrobial therapy, characterization of the underlying genitourinary abnormality and nontreatment of asymptomatic bacteriuria except before an invasive genitourinary procedure. The antimicrobial regimen is determined by clinical presentation, patient tolerance, renal function and known or anticipated infecting organisms. If the underlying abnormality contributing to the urinary infection cannot be corrected, then early post-treatment recurrence of infection is anticipated. The treatment of complicated urinary infection is individualized depending on patient variables and the infecting organism. Further clinical investigations are necessary to assist in determining optimal antimicrobial regimens.


The invention discloses a portable human health detector which is suitable for the crowd in wheelchairs and can be used for knowing various dynamic health indicators in time. The portable human health detector comprises a base plate, a control panel, a fixing band and a wrist band. The control panel and the fixing band are installed on the base plate, the wrist band is installed on the fixing band, the control panel is provided with a display screen, an SIM card slot, a storage card slot and a key module, a central control module, a data acquisition module and a power supply module are arranged in the base plate, a display module, a voice warning module, a remote communication module, an input module and a storage module are arranged in the control panel, and the central control module is connected with the data acquisition module, the power supply module, the display module, the voice warning module, the remote communication module, the input module and the storage module. The portable human health detector has the advantages that the portable human health detector can be used for knowing the various dynamic health indicators in time and performing locating, tracking and in-time rescuing on users, is convenient to operate, and has high practical value especially for the special crowd in the wheelchairs.


Considering diffusion in the presence of asymmetric disorder, an exact relationship between the strength of weak disorder and the electric resistance of the corresponding resistor network is revealed, which is valid in arbitrary networks. This implies that the dynamics are stable against weak asymmetric disorder if the resistance exponent ζ of the network is negative. In the case of ζ>0, numerical analyses of the mean first-passage time τ on various fractal lattices show that the logarithmic scaling of τ with the distance l, ln τ∼lψ, is a general rule, characterized by a new dynamical exponent ψ of the underlying lattice.


Letter from Copenhagen One of us recently returned from a periodic teaching assignment in Denmark, where this small country's rise to innovation leadership seems more impressive than ever. Danish companies play leadership roles in industries such as enzymatic processes, oil recovery, bio-fuels, and clean-tech. Given the structural disincentives that Denmark presents to entrepreneurial activity, it's interesting that these companies are such leaders. Danish regulations are perceived to weaken competition, the tax system is viewed by some as skewing the economic incentive structures, and the labor market could certainly be strengthened further. In addition, overall R&D investments are still modest compared to the best performers and to the Barcelona objective of 3% of GDP for all EU countries (1). Still, Denmark suffers from a lack of natural resources and must rely on innovation if it hopes to have a healthy economy. Overall, its national innovation system is structured to encourage innovation from all parties: SME's (small and medium enterprises), large firms and universities (see Perspectives, May- June 2008). Innovation policy remains high on the political agenda. The government is currently working on the implementation of numerous measures presented in the Innovation Action Plan of November 2006: a strategy aimed at keeping Denmark among the most innovative countries in the world (2). Among the Most Innovative The European Innovation Scoreboard 2007 , published in February 2008, indicates that Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Germany, and the United Kingdom are the most innovative EU countries and ahead of the United States (3). The EIS provides an assessment of innovation metrics across the EU in comparison with other leading innovative nations. Based on innovation performance, the countries included in the EIS 2007 are classified as innovation leaders, innovation followers, moderate innovators, and catching-up countries. The data used for the 2007 EIS show that the U.S. and Japan are still ahead of the EU, but the innovation gaps have been narrowing. The assessment is based on a wide range of indicators covering knowledge creation, innovative efforts by firms, structural conditions, and outputs in terms of new products, services and intellectual property. Denmark's Innovation Plan How has Denmark become this innovation leader? It's all part of a plan: The Innovation Denmark 2007-2010 plan, which is Denmark's national strategy and action plan for promotion of innovation and dissemination of knowledge (4). The plan is being executed in large part by two institutions, both part of the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation. First is the Danish Agency of Science, Technology and Innovation (DASTI) and second is the Danish Council for Technology and Innovation (DCTI). DASTI is responsible for executing all innovation-related initiatives in the country. Supported by the Danish Council for Technology and Innovation, the two organizations have put together an action plan for more innovation and effective knowledge dissemination in Denmark, with specific targets for 2010. * 45% of small enterprises shall be innovative. Today it is 40% (in manufacture and high-technology service). * 55% of medium-size enterprises shall be innovative. Currently, the percentage is almost 50%. * 75% of large enterprises shall be innovative. Currently, the percentage is 65%. The report adopts the Oslo Manual's definition (5) of an innovative firm as one that has implemented at least one innovation during the period under review (in this case, one year). An innovation is defined as the implementation of a new or significantly improved product, process, marketing method, or organizational method in business practices, workplace organization or external relations. To be innovative, it must be at least new to the firm, but also either new to the market or new to the world. …


Objective To investigate the role of the pre-diabetes intervention of college employees to diabetes mellitus. Methods 200 cases of college employee with pre-diabetes diagnosed at June 2011 were observed, who were randomly allocated to an intervention group(living intervention + pharmacological treatment) and a control group, which were observed for a period of two years. The basic information and diabetes prevalence after 1 year or 2 years in the two groups were compared. Results Differences of the basis information of employees with pre-diabetes between two groups were no statistically significant; one year later diabetes prevalence rate in the observation group was 1%, that in the control group was 13%, the difference was statistically significant(x2=11.06, P 0.01); two years later diabetes prevalence rate in the observation group was 2%, which in the control group was 20%, the difference was statistically significant(x2=11.06, P 0.01). Conclusion Living intervention and pharmacological treatment may delay the development of diabetes from pre-diabetes.


Flowing electrolyte batteries are rechargeable electrochemical storage devices in which externally stored electrolytes are circulated through the cell stack during charge or discharge. The potential advantages that flow batteries offer compared to other secondary batteries include: 1) ease of thermal and electrolyte management, 2) simple electrochemistry, 3) deep cycling capability, and 4) minimal loss of capacity with cycling. However, flow batteries are more complex than other secondary batteries and consequently may cost more and may be less reliable. Flow batteries are being developed for utility load leveling, electric vehicles, solar photovoltaic and wind turbine application. The status of flow batteries has recently been reviewed by Clark et al. The flowing electrolyte batteries place rigorous demands on the performance of separators and membranes. The operating characteristics of the iron/chromium redox battery were changed in order to accommodate the limitations in membrane performance. Low cost alternatives to the presently used membrane must be found before the zinc/ferricyanide battery can be economically feasible. The zinc/bromine battery's efficiency could be improved if a suitably selective membrane were available. It is anticipated that better and less costly membranes to meet these needs will be developed as more is learned about their preparation and performance.


Despite our increasing understanding of the structure and dynamics of scientific domains, functional knowledge and functional language— such as referring to a central purpose or function of a molecule— permeate scientific articles. Cognitive systems that collaborate with scientists must therefore represent functional knowledge to support machine reading and explanation. This paper describes our progress on automatically inferring and representing functional knowledge in R3 (Reading, Reasoning, and Reporting). R3 automatically reads biology articles from PubMed Central, using a massive domain model from Pathway Commons (www.pathwaycommons.org/) as background knowledge. R3 now relates functional language to its background structural model and explains functional knowledge, which is the central contribution of this paper. We motivate the representation of functional knowledge in the biology domain— which many existing ontologies omit— using examples from PubMed articles. We then describe how R3 automatically adds functional knowledge to its model by parsing textual summaries of biological processes and extracting semantics. We then describe how R3 builds event structures and compositional models with functional knowledge, and we illustrate how R3 uses its functional knowledge to diagram protein activity from the information it learned from reading.


To ensure the integration of wireless sensor network and broadband wireless communication network, we establish a new generation of power IoTs information communication system for smart grid, and propose a distribution automation terminal solution based on eSIM card. An adaptive access algorithm based on multi logic eSIM priority, and a WSN based power acquisition system architecture, are also put forward. Then, according to the statistical analysis results of service arrival, the dialing and location information are integrated into one module. Through terminal classification and mobile modeling, a remote management mechanism based on EUICC is finally established. The system simulation test results show that the strategy adopted in this article can reduce the terminal access blocking rate in heterogeneous network environment, and the support of eSIM in WSN environment increases the integration of power equipment.


ed animal movement. Circuitscape performs habitat connectivity simulations by running an electrical current between pairs of nodes. During a Circuitscape simulation, I designated nodes of a certain landcover characteristic and the program ran simulations for every possible pair of nodes before aggregating all simulations into a cumulative map. I constructed and analyzed three resistance maps: a low resistance, medium resistance, and high resistance scenario. Each 90 x 90 m pixel in a map was then assigned a resistance value based on the given resistance of the landcover and roads within the pixel. Resistance values were assigned by ordinally ranking how resistant each landcover or road type would presumably be to a dispersing G. berlandieri individual. The lowest resistance value of 1 was assigned to lomas, scrublands and herbaceous grasslands, and the highest resistance value for each resistance category was assigned to primary roads such as multilane highways. All resistance values are listed in Table 1. Many pixels contained both landcover information from the NLCD and road information from TIGER. In these situations, the higher of the two resistances was assigned to the pixel. For the Circuitscape simulations, I placed focal nodes at the centroid of each loma at PABNHP where each loma was represented as a polygon in ArcGIS. The loma


Recent years have seen a meteoric rise in research attention paid to the big data across all areas of computer science. Methods of instruction in particular communicate vital prospects and possibility of radical change in a number of fields of thought and novel instructional approaches that tackle a wide range of problems. Recent developments in machine learning are discussed in this paper. Learning in the age of big data. New machine concepts are also discussed. Approaches to education, with a concentration on more approaches to learning are presented, such as representation active learning, deep learning, transfer learning, and other types of learning. An overview and discussion of the current state of machine learning tools, accompanying difficulties, and possible solutions are in addition to being shown and contrasted with the viewpoint data mining.


Abstract : Terminology for periodic non-harmonic loading conditions is described and a selection is made for proper characteristics defining the dynamic elasticity and mechanical losses in the material during non-harmonic loading. Expressions were obtained for the dynamic modulus and for the modulus of internal friction of viscoelastic materials, the properties of which are described by a tri-elemental model and a model with continuous relaxation time spectrum. An analysis was made of the nature of stress/time dependencies corresponding to various conditions of non-harmonic change in deformation. Graphic dependencies are given for a series of concrete cases. An analysis was made of the influence of various parameters of the non-harmonic condition: duration of intermissions, ratios between duration of intermissions, asymmetry of the cycle with respect to time and sign, magnitude of the plateau and curvature of impulse front on the magnitude of mechanical losses in the material, the properties of which are described by a model with continuous relaxation time spectrum. (Author)


Physiotherapy, additionally observed as physiotherapy or atomic number 78, is primarily involved with designation and treating physical dysfunctions of movement caused by injury or health problem. A physiotherapy primary goal is to forestall injuries or get their patients back in motion with exercises, massage and different techniques. They concentrate on preventing injuries and may facilitate individuals avoid surgery or an extended term-reliance on medications. This approach is definitely vital and may cause activities that are fulfilling, however a PT's main goal is to rehabilitate associate degree injury, not the whole patient


Disclosed herein is a furniture having a wireless charging function, including: one or more transmission coil units disposed on the same plane of a flat plate of the furniture; and a central transmission controlling unit configured to select at least one transmission coil unit corresponding to a wireless power reception apparatus when the wireless power reception apparatus is placed on the flat plate, and to transmit a wireless power signal through the selected transmission coil unit, the central transmission controlling unit being installed separately from the plurality of transmission coil units.


Steganography is an art of hiding the secret data or information inside the digitally covered information. The hidden message can be text, image, speech (audio) or even video and the cover can be chosen accordingly from either a text, an image, an audio or a video. The traditional method uses image as a cover which has the limitation of embedding dimension. So, cover should be a video to overcome the limitation of embedding dimension. Nowadays, the use of a video based steganography is common and numbers of steganalysis tools are available to check whether the video is stego-video or not. Most of the tools are checking for information hided by LSB, DCT, Frequency Domain Analysis etc and finds whether the video has hidden or secret data or not. In this paper, the video based steganography techniques are discussed specifically, video in another video technique this means that the cover is video and MATLAB based implementation is done to simulate the results.


Based on the thermal resistance analytical model,substrate thermal resistance of the microwave power devices is analyzed.The thermal resistance is obtained as a function of non-dimensional parameters of the substrate.The impact of substrate thickness on chip temperature is computed by numerical simulation.Then based on the theoretical model,chip temperature is tested under different heat power and substrate thickness.Relation between thickness,heat power and chip temperature is discussed.Experimental results match the simulation results.The chip performance under high heat flux can be improved.


This paper explored the relationship between the attitudes toward statistics and mathematics statistics engagement among undergraduate students taking the statistic course. A total of 293 undergraduate students from several programs at Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) were the sample of the study. A structured, self-administered questionnaire was used to elicit responses from these students. Descriptive analyses showed the overall mean for students' mathematics statistics engagement was 3.38 (SD = .36). The analysis on mathematics statistics engagement domains revealed behavioural engagement had the highest mean (M = 3.63, SD = .52), followed by affective engagement (M = 3.35, SD = .41) and cognitive engagement (M = 3.26, SD = .35). Inferential analysis indicated attitudes towards statistic were positively related to mathematics statistics engagement (p = .721**, p = .001). Further analysis on mathematics statistics engagement domain indicated attitudes towards statistics were positively related to the aff...


Large shareholder plays an important role in corporate governance.The emergence of large shareholder reduces the cost agency between the shareholder and manager because of solving the free-riding caused by dispersed ownership structure.But it gives birth to another agency problem between large and minority shareholders.Reviewed were recent literatures on large shareholder governance and agency problem between large and minority shareholders from the angle of the condition of ownership concentration,large shareholder's motivation,large shareholder's effect on the company and the interest conflict between large and minority shareholders.The agency problem in Chinese companies was also analyzed.


How to increase the reliability and life of piston ring-cylinder liner friction pair is one of key technique problem for increasing the reliability and durability of diesel engine.By using the one-dimensional Reynolds equation based numerical simulation method,the friction loss of 16V280ZJA diesel engine piston ringcylinder liner was studied.The calculation results show that the reduction in the friction loss can be realized by means of optimizing piston ring height,piston ring gap and clearance volume between rings.


Distributed Maximum Power Point Tracking (DMPPT) architectures are one of the most promising solutions to overcome the drawbacks associated to mismatching phenomena in photovoltaic (PV) applications. In these PV architectures, there is a DC-DC converter dedicated to perform the Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT) for each PV panel. In order to have the greatest flexibility, the converter needs to have the ability of voltage step-up and step-down. Other desired specifications for the converters applied in DMPPT architectures are high efficiency and low cost. This paper proposes a new DCDC converter topology for PV applications. Its operating principle, as well as its static characteristics, is analyzed. Moreover, a theoretical efficiency comparison analysis, between the proposed converter and the Non-Inverting Buck-Boost (NIBB) converter, is carried out for a 100 kW solar plant. Three different scenarios are studied, according to different mismatching conditions. In all the scenarios, the proposed converter provides higher efficiency than the NIBB converter.