The digitalisation of payment systems is accelerating and appears unstoppable. Today, we use mixed payment systems based on cash and digital money, but an increasing number of central banks are exploring the possibility of introducing central bank digital currency and full digitalisation. The greatest obstacle to this is not only the increase in the amount of cash in circulation, but also the situation of those social groups that do not use electronic payment methods and are excluded from financial services. There are several reasons for the latter, including economic and intellectual access difficulties, low levels of digital and financial literacy, banks' business policies and difficulties in accessing digital infrastructure. Subsidising digital access and various educational training programmes can help reduce financial exclusion, but the most impactful solution may be developments that use artificial intelligence to replace face-to-face contact. This requires rapid, safe, transparent innovations that take into account the specific characteristics of the heterogeneous groups affected by financial exclusion.


Because of the terrible performance of TCP protocol in data center environment, DCTCP has been proposed as a TCP replacement, which uses a simple marking mechanism at switches and a few amendments at end hosts to adjust congestion window based on the extent of the congestion in networks. Thus, DCTCP can make a proper tradeoff between high throughput and low latency. However, through our observation, we discover that DCTCP causes severe oscillation of queue under some parameters and network configuration. Our perceptual analysis concludes that the rough single-threshold marking mechanism may be the essential reason. Therefore, we propose Double-Threshold DCTCP as an improvement of DCTCP. Then, by applying describing function method in nonlinear control theory, we analyze the stability of both DCTCP and Double-Threshold DCTCP, and theoretically explain why Double-Threshold DCTCP is more stable than DCTCP. At last, we validate theoretical analysis and conclude that the Double- Threshold DCTCP can achieve smaller queue, and the queue length of Double-Threshold DCTCP is less sensitive to the growing number of flows. Further, Double-Threshold DCTCP can postpone the throughput collapse caused by Incast traffic and reduce the tail latency in completion time experiment.


Background With college tuition and student loan debt rising, high school students and their families are increasingly concerned about "how to" pay for college. To address this, federal/state policy makers encourage individuals to financially prepare for college early in their child's life. Drawing from social reproduction theory, we anticipate wide inequalities in who engages in college financial preparations and savings and when they begin these activities. Purpose This study updates and extends the literature on how families financially prepare for college. Data High School Longitudinal Study of 2009 (HSLS:09), a nationally representative sample of 9th grade students who began high school in 2009. Research Design We use logistic and multinomial regression to estimate four different outcomes: (1) whether the family plans to help the student pay for college; (2) whether the family has financially prepared for college; (3) whether the family has opened a college savings account; and (4) when families financially prepare for college (kindergarten, elementary, or secondary school). Results Our results have implications for social reproduction theory as we find that socioeco-nomically privileged families have greater likelihoods of financially preparing their children for college before or soon after their children enter formal schooling. Conclusions Current policy efforts to encourage college financial preparation may disproportionately benefit already-privileged families and likely exacerbate educational inequalities.


SUMMARY Repeated laboratory-induced weak mechanical shocking (c. 0.57 kg m s'1) of marine sandstone samples showing drilling-induced remanence, from commercial bore cores from the North Sea and Prudhoe Bay, causes increases in their low-field susceptibility ( x) and their ability to acquire an isothermal remanent magnetization (IRM). These enhancements are reduced by some 20 per cent by AF demagnetization in 100 mT. Doubling the intensity of the shock doubles the susceptibilities and IRMs acquired. The susceptibility increase ceases after 300 to 400 shocks for the North Sea samples and 20 to 30 shocks for those from Prudhoe Bay, while the IRM saturates after 800‐1000 and 30‐50 shocks respectively. Continental, haematite-bearing sandstones from commercial bore cores with no drilling-induced remanence subjected to the same shocks do not show these eVects. DiVerences in the magnetic mineralogy of shocked and unshocked marine samples suggest that the magnetic enhancement is predominantly due to the creation of pyrrhotite by shock-induced irreversible crystallographic changes in iron-bearing sulphides. When shocked during commercial drilling, these new ferromagnetic minerals acquire strong chemical (crystalline) remanences, associated with a wide spectrum of grain sizes, in the magnetic field of the drill string, and these are resistant to both thermal and AF demagnetization. Similar processes are likely in any situation involving the shock of physically metastable iron-bearing minerals, particularly anoxic sediments. A 5 cm non-magnetic collar between the drill stem and crown should drastically reduce the magnetic intensity of this eVect under commercial conditions, but would not prevent its occurrence.


Purpose
This paper aims to examine a congestion situation of a certain type of restaurant in a theme park (Tokyo Disney Resort) by a simulation based on Little's law, which is a basic principle in Queueing theory. In the restaurant, a guest (customer) lines up to order, pay and receive dishes. A problem is that even when a guest can easily find vacant tables, it takes a long time to receive dishes. Because guests can see there are vacant tables, there are many tweets of complaints. This situation is a factor to undermine customer satisfaction.

Design/methodology/approach
This paper proposes dedicated special menu lines only providing special set as one solution that can be realized at a low cost to reduce vacant tables. Here, if the number of special menu lines is fixed, the difference between a queue in regular lines and that in special menu lines will be big. To shorten the difference, the author proposes a technique to regulate by using feedback control (Proportional control or Fuzzy control).

Findings
The simulation result shows that the number of vacant tables decreases by about 16 per cent compared with the current situation.

Originality/value
This paper considers a specific restaurant, but the proposed method can be applied to the same type of restaurant in the theme park. If the restaurant in the theme park is crowded, the feedback control of the queue brings new possibilities.


This paper presents a current sensor for the 16 series Li-ion battery cells. In order to detect the large current of 3.0 A at 57.6 V charging voltage and avoid the gate oxide overdrive problem, the feedback control loop with two source followers and the single stage differential amplifier are used. The proposed design is implemented using a typical 0.25 μm 1P3M 60V BCD process. The sensing current range is from 0 A to 3.0 A. The transimpedance is simulated to be 0.427 V/A.


Flexible Machining Cells (FMC) have become very popular in many manufacturing environments due to the reduction in set-up down-time using off-line set-up. A similar procedure is not yet available for assembly cells. This arises from the need for accurate positioning of parts from bulk storage containers prior to assembly. Complex fixturing and orientating devices are often required for correct assembly. This paper investigates the development of a tactile array sensor that would define the type of component and its position relative to a datum point. The type of component would be given by its shape and weight. This would, in conjunction with software and a suitable control system, enable the assembly cell to identify, locate and assemble a component without the need for expensive and complex orientating devices. Whilst there are some vision systems available capable of carrying out a similar task, they tend to be slow in analysis and high in cost. It is hoped to develop a low cost method of parts identification that removes the need for expensive tooling.


The local electronic structure of ceramic materials can be determined from valence electron energy loss (Veel) spectra via the dielectric function. The quality of the data is comparable to vacuum ultraviolet spectroscopy with the added benefit of high spatial resolution. We have built and implemented a system for spectrum imaging which not only allows automatic data acquisition but also analysis of the full data set. The system consists of a Gatan PEELS and a Gatan Digiscan fitted to a VG HB501 UX STEM and home-built hardware additions. The hardware extensions allow to acquire 1, 2, 3, 4 or 8 spectra for each pixel and in the case of 2 spectra/pixel to vary the exposure time of the specimen to the primary electron beam by controlling the beam blanker (Fig. 1). The first spectrum (2 to 20 ms) contains an unsaturated zero loss peak and the second spectrum (0.05 to 100 s) at the same position the plasmon peak near to but below saturation (Fig. 2).


With a wide range of applications in cosmetic dentistry treatments, and treatment planning, the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning is having a growing influence in the field of dentistry and is enhancing the growth of digital tools and technology. The surgical sector, automatic disease diagnosis, and recently established customized medicine are just a few of the disciplines that might benefit from AI support. Personalized medicine provides the inclination to diseases, diagnosis, and selection of the best treatment for a specific individual. In fields like image processing, deep learning has been able to match and improve human performance for exceedingly complicated tasks such as object detection models with classification, and prediction capabilities and for the identification of numerous dental diseases and their differential treatments. Many of these neural network applications face significant challenges due to the lack of labeled medical datasets, and oral disease datasets are no exception. This pilot study makes it possible to identify various dental diseases and the treatments for them by utilizing a dataset of 664 dental panoramic X-ray images which is considered a small number. These images have been used for training after being manually labeled for 9 separate classes. You Only Look Once (YOLO) version 5, a one-step search method primarily utilized for real-time object detection, is the deep neural network that was used in this study. Bounding boxes helped identify six differential treatments and three classes of dental diseases. Results show that this strategy was able to attain a Precision of 1.00, F1 score of 0.74, Recall of 0.83, and mAP of 72.4 percent by training with this smaller number of images, which shows tremendous potential for dentists and radiologists.


Cache memories are widely accepted in shared-memory multiprocessor systems because they make possible the reduction of network traffic and memory latencies. However, they impose substantial overheads of cache coherency maintenance and also engender some inefficiencies of coherence misses. The paper considers that constraints of cache coherency can be relaxed in a region where exclusive accesses are guaranteed by synchronization operations, so that the execution time of parallel programs can be decreased. When an acquire operation occurs, the cache coherence protocol could not be applied to the operations following an acquire operation until a release operation is issued. The updated data in the region are transferred to other processors when a release operation is performed. The authors alleviate the overheads of release operations using QOLB synchronization primitives. Using a program-driven simulation, the new cache coherence protocol shows performance improvements in most parallel applications, and execution times can also be reduced effectively as the number of processors is increased.


In article the model of the integrated technology of the developing professionally focused training is offered to the mathematics in profile classes of the comprehensive school, promoting formation mathematical competence, bases of creative potential, professional self-determination trained


The aims of this research are (1) to analyse the factors between aspects of mathematical disposition, namely self-confidence, reflection, interest, perseverance, application, perceived value and flexibility in mathematics, (2) to examine the effect of mathematics disposition toward 7 grade students' mathematics anxiety that have just passed the national examination. The research utilized a survey design with quantitative approach. The population in this research were 16 students in 7 grade from one of junior high school in South Tangerang and using saturation sampling technique. The instruments composed of disposition and mathematics anxiety scale. The quantitative analyses used were factor analysis and regression. The result of factor analysis showed that the aspect of disposition correlated with each other except the mathematics flexible aspects. In addition, the results of the regression test showed that there was no influence of mathematics disposition toward mathematics anxiety of 7 grade students who have just passed the national examination.


Although there are evidences that the proper supply of mineral nutrients to plants relieves water stress, little is known on the approach of how the drought affects the absorption and accumulation of nutrients by distinct sugar cane genotypes, or in different parts of a same plant. Thus, the objective of this study was to determine the content and accumulation of N, P and K in the aerial part of plant from three genotypes of sugar cane, submitted to three water potentials in the soil, and check the relationship of these variables with the tolerance of plants to prolonged drought. In order to access this objective, an experiment under greenhouse conditions, comprised by a fatorial 3 × 3, in a randomized block design, and four replicates was carried out. After 90 days from treatment imposition, the plant transpiration rate, plant dry mass, concentration of N, P and K were determined in leaves and culms, as well as in total plant shoot were measured. It was found that tolerance to drought in sugar cane is related to higher levels of N and K in the leaves and stems, and larger accumulations of K and P in the plant shoot. There is high positive correlations among accumulation of N, P and K in the plant shoot and dry matter production by plants submitted to drought. There are intermediate correlations among plant transpiration and nutrient uptake by plants under drought. Plants of the genotype SP81-3250 are more tolerante to prolonged drought, than the RB855453 and IACSP95-5000 plants.


With the aim of identifying marine sediments we study the conditions of validity of two homogeneization models giving estimates of the effective velocity in inhomogeneous media. We have considered the Kuster-Toksoz quasi-static model and the Waterman-Truell. dynamic model. Here, we compare the two models experimentally by making measurements on inhomogeneous samples made of glass spheres in gel. We then propose a process for identifying the radius of inclusions and their volume concentration from the measured values of the wave velocity versus frequency, well estimated by the Waterman-Truell model


This paper mainly introduces the principle and the components of the resistance strain measurement system.Based on the analysis of the state of its forcing and moving of the extractor of a kind of aerial cannon.Also the processing of dynamic-strain-measurement is given thoroughly in this paper.


By explaining the Edward Coke's legal ideas of Common Law and of limitation on sovereignty foundationally,the origin of Edward Coke's reason for his judicial dictum on Bonham's Case is delineated in this article.And Edward Coke's judgment provides an embryonic form for the later judicial review system of the USA.The application of Common Law ideas of Common Law that has a long history in the judgment inspires the later text of the Constitution of the United States and constitutional and administrative practice thereafter.


During the last thirty years there has been a rapidly growing interest in the field of genetic algorithms (GAs). The field is at a stage of tremendous growth, as evidenced by the increasing number of conferences, workshops, and papers concerning it, as well as the emergence of a central journal for the field. With their great robustness, genetic algorithms have proven to be a promising technique for many optimisation, design, control, and machine learning applications. This paper presents a new technique for detecting the source of fault in spinning mills from spectrograms by using genetic algorithm.


The present invention provides a method for decoding a differential modulation already received symbol differential modulation already received symbols, corresponding to the transmission of differential modulation version of a codeword certain of the set of code words that can be taken, received symbol is transferred on the resources of the channel, resources are equally spaced, to a method. Receiver for each codeword that can be taken, a vector of the differential demodulated symbols by a differential modulation already received symbols are obtained by combining two consecutive differentially modulated already received symbol differential demodulation acquired, and calculates the product of each differential demodulated symbols by the conjugate of the code word of the elements with the same rank as the differential demodulated received symbols in the code word, and calculating the measure of the sum of products, a measure of the sum of products There decodes the vector of the differential demodulated symbols by selecting the codeword having the largest.


The general coupling matrix representation of bandpass filter (BPF) circuits is a widely used technique that has simplified the analysis and optimization of complex microwave filters. In this paper, we demonstrate a novel application of the general coupling matrix for modeling wireless power-transfer (WPT) systems based on the BPF model of magnetically coupled resonators. Compared to other methods of WPT analysis, our model simplifies accommodation of complex loads and provides direct expressions for impedance matching (IM) in WPT systems. Using this tool, we achieve optimal IM for two resonator systems with a complex load, thus achieving the greatest possible power-transfer efficiency (PTE). Furthermore, our model reveals additional design constraints for optimizing PTE in coupled resonator systems exhibiting low quality factor and small interresonator coupling. Overall, this paper introduces a new, versatile framework for the analysis and optimization of coupled resonator WPT systems. Experimental results are presented, verifying the optimal IM design process.


The reception of material and immaterial culture and heritage is a rapidly growing field. Indeed, scholars representing a variety of disciplines, such as anthropology, sociology, classics, public archaeology, heritage studies – to name just a few- have been investigating the reception of the 'past', in its widest sense, from different and diverse perspectives. This paper adopts a cross-disciplinary methodological and theoretical approach. Although this research is still at its initial stages, the analytical approach that this paper introduces is vital for understanding people's interaction with the 'past'. The element of the 'past' that has been chosen for analysis is the depiction of ancient Greek myth on tourist shops located in the historic centre of Athens (Plaka). The paper will demonstrate through a semiotic and ethnographic approach the ways in which the representation of myth projects dominant national discourses. Simultaneously, the paper will reveal the personal reasons for shop owners to select a particular mythical figure or theme for naming their shop. Thus this paper will focus on analysing the reception of myth during its 'production' – the selection by shop owners – and its 'consumption' by tourists and everyday citizens.


Confronting the financial turmoil, the international liner shipping industry is turning to sea-rail through transport business strengthening for new profit increasing. Traditional studies on empty container repositioning problem are mainly focused on that between seaports of call of container lines, with less effort on sea-land, especially sea-rail through transport. This study analyzes in detail characteristics of container movement under sea-rail through transport, sets up reasonable mathematical model, and its conclusions are of benefit to the improvement of empty container repositioning efficiency and the decrease of costs thereof for existing container lines both theoretically and practically.


Abstract. There was a recent freaque wave encounter near Scituate, Massachusetts by a local transport ferry en route from Provincetown to Boston. The encounter resulted in minimal damages, fortunately, and provided us a chance to examine a possible connection between the freaque wave occurrence and the ambient wind field, since the place of encounter was in the vicinity of a NOAA NDBC buoy where wind and wave data were recorded. Here we present a brief analysis. In particular, we found it is plausible that the freaque wave was the result of a wind speed reduction in the wind field that preceded its occurrence.


an acute or chronic character, induced by the eating of sausages and other kinds of stale animal food. The poisonous effects have been especially observed after eating such kinds of animal substances which, to all appearance, had undergone but little change, or which, at least, had no stronger or more unpleasant smell, or discoloration, or other more decided indications of decomposition than what is termed ripe game, which is


The Greek philosopher, Heraclitus, who lived around 500 BC, observed that 'everything changes, nothing stands still'. In an age of the Internet and instant electronic communication, the pace of change seems to be ever increasing.


FIELD: heating. SUBSTANCE: invention relates to the field of heat and power engineering and may be used to evaporate media in liquid state. An evaporator of cryogenic liquid comprises a body, in which there are heat exchange elements and a heater. The body is made in the form of two double-layer shells, forming a circular cavity for passage of heating coolant. Each shell comprises two rigidly joined shells, between which there are channels combined into headers for supply and drain of a cryogenic component. At the inlet to the circular cavity there is a cover, where mixing elements and an igniting device are installed. At the outlet there is a gas duct. Body shells comprise a cylindrical part and a narrowing conic part to form a circular cavity with channels for passage of the cryogenic component. Ribs that form channels for passage of the cryogenic component in the inner shell are made on the inner surface of the cylindrical part of the external shell, at the same time on the narrowing part of the shell the specified ribs are made on the outer surface of the internal narrowing part of the shell. Inside the conical part in its central zone there is a nozzle connected with the cavity of the internal shell. Headers for supply and drain of the cryogenic component into the inner cavity of the external shell are installed on the narrowing part of the external shell. EFFECT: simplified design, reduced dimensions and weight. 6 cl, 4 dwg


This paper reviews the literature on the similarities and differences in child-directed speech (CDS) employed by fathers and mothers. The contributions that fathers are thought to make to their children's language and communicative development are discussed, and factors influencing the findings and interpretations of empirical studies of fathers' CDS are presented.


EJD, vol. 30, n◦ 4, July-August 2020 areas affected by seborrheic dermatitis or psoriasis of the scalp [6]. Several reports described the coexistence of AA and psoriasis, with psoriatic lesions that tended to be spared from hair loss, suggesting that patches of clinically active psoriatic lesions involving the scalp could prevent hair loss or induce hair regrowth [7, 8]. The Renbök phenomenon has been hypothesised to result from activation of different T-helper cell (Th) pathways (Th1, Th2, and Th17) with the amplification of an inflammatory pathway and concomitant suppression of other subsets. In HS, as in psoriasis, the interaction between cytokines may play a key role in the competition between the two concomitant immune responses, a phenomenon also known as "duelling cytokines" (described for the first time by Happle in 1980 to explain the therapeutic efficacy of immunomodulatory therapy in the management of AA). Specifically, the Th17 pathway may polarize and recruit T cells, excluding the Th1 subset primarily involved in AA, and exert a nonspecific inhibitory effect on the immune response against hair follicles [9, 10]. Thus, we postulate that in our patient, two events may explain the presence of HS lesions in areas with healthy scalp hair. First, HS inflammatory lesions primarily involved areas with normal hair follicles and second, the HS inflammation antagonized the inflammatory mechanisms involved in AA, inducing hair regrowth. Our case is the first description of the Renbök phenomenon in association with HS. Further investigation into the nature of the relationship between these two disorders is warranted.


Hypothalamic Hamartomas (HH) are benign tumors consist of hyperplastic heterotopic tissue growing in a disorganized fashion. They are associated to epilepsy usually refractory to medical treatment. The classical description of seizures are "Gelastic", however HH can produce different types of focal seizures or even generalized symptoms. Objectives: To determine the pre surgical aspects as well as operative techniques with the best outcomes in HH associated to gelastic seizures and epilepsy refractory to medical treatment. Methods: We studied pediatric patients with HH who underwent Epilepsy surgery between 2004 and 2017. It was analyzed the type of seizures before surgery, the neurological comorbidity, the type of hamartoma seen in MRI, the electroencephalography records and the type of surgery and outcome according to the Engel's and ILAE's classification. Also we compare the neuropsychological evaluation before and after surgery. Conclusions: Indistinctly of the open surgery technique used, the possibility to remove the totality of the tumor was only 14%. Nonetheless the results evaluated with ILAE's and Engel's outcome score were not so bad, possibly because the surgery gets the splitting of the hamartoma from the rest of the hypothalamus. Biography: Maximiliano Paez Nova MD. is a neurosurgeon graduated from the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana in Bogota (Colombia), his neurosurgical life has been dedicated to the Epilepsy surgery and functional neurosurgery. He performed his subspecialty in Epilepsy surgery in National Autonomous University of Mexico, National Neurosurgery and Neurology Institute" Manuel Velasco Suarez", Mexico; being alumni from Prof. Mario Alonso Vanegas recognized Epilepsy surgeon in America. Then, motivated by the SEEG decided to perform his fellowship in Functional neurosurgery beside one of the most known experienced professors in this area in the world Prof. Paresh Doshi in Mumbai, India and with Prof. Takaomi Taira at Tokyo Women's Medical University, Japan. His particular emphasis in pediatric epilepsy and abnormal movements disorders in pediatric population motivated him to perform a fellowship in Pediatric neurosurgery in the famous "Dr. Asenjo" Neurosurgical Institute in Santiago de Chile, under the tutorial of Prof. Sergio Valenzuela. 26 World Congress on Neurology and Neurodisorders, 2020 August 26-27, 2020


IT IS indeed a rare occasion when a physician in New England is called upon to treat a bona fide case of snake-bite poisoning although the same statement certainly cannot be made of the false alarm. The following experience is related not primarily to suggest an ideal routine for handling poisonous snake bites, but rather to call attention to the fact that such cases can occur in New England and to suggest that there should be in the mind of every physician a rational plan for emergency and definitive therapy. The opinions of others with extensive experience in this problem . . .


The antioxidant α-lipoic acid has shown some promise in treating diabetic neuropathy. In this industry-sponsored, double-blind randomized trial — a collaboration among researchers at Mayo Clinic and in Israel, Russia, and Germany — 181 diabetic patients with symptomatic diabetic neuropathy received either α-lipoic acid (at …


People who waffle on the question of whether or not business is an art still concede that art is, for sure, business. It has to be managed and organized to reach an audience and have an effect on it. Some artists are so good at this 'management' thing that business becomes envious and covets the secrets behind the 'art firms'. This, in turn, spawns management consultants pretending to know how 'creative industries', 'experience economies', or other art‐based activities, should be run. For a little more than a year, provocative writer Witold Gombrowicz (1904–1969) and provocative artist Jean Dubuffet (1901–1985) exchanged letters articulating their similar and differing views on business, i.e., on culture. Soon, they got into a dialogue about the role of their 'enterprises', i.e., the role of art. The upshot of their exchange was that each seemed to run his art firm according to a somewhat similar philosophy, even consulting a management guru, a 'super‐insultant' 1 Antonin Artaud, for management strategies...


A simple approach is developed to use semantics as defined by virtual actions to guide the construction of manipulable symbol representations for objects and actions, in particular to obtain a model of syntactic processing in the developing infant. This uses a simplified model of the frontal lobes, and in particular the various sets of neurons involved in the process of chunking of temporal sequences observed in monkeys. The manner in which such neurons play a role in phrase structure grammar is elucidated at a simple level.


This paper presents Compressive Stress Relaxation (CSR) results for various elastomer samples to ascertain their performance in sealing applications. The paper presents results of percent retained sealing force (%RSF) behavior and its relationship with compression set and hardness. Materials studied are used in critical piping and medical seal applications. CSR methodology is used to benchmark various materials in terms of sealing performance. Potential problems with the current standard of testing have also been identified that can affect the resolution and variability of the test. The paper details all the steps involved to perform accurate CSR testing and discusses advantages and disadvantages CSR testing might have over conventional tests used to verify seal performance such as compression set. This is only an introductory study and requires further tests with the same elastomers subjected to other process conditions, such as heat aging are also studied to understand how they affect %RSF. This can also be expanded to other materials to build a database of standard %RSF behavior under identical conditions.


This work proposes a model of a curricular design in Physics and its application in the classroom. It is developed according to the guidelines of the elaboration theory and it is put into practice in a basic university course. It includes an analysis of the structure of knowledge and an organization of the contents involved at different levels. Besides, it provides information about what and how to teach and what and how to evaluate. The results achieved in the classroom according to what is prescribed in this design about Waves and Sound are analyzed and discussed in this paper.


Robotic complexes and robotic manipulators are widely used in the management of various objects and processes of control systems; their performance is directly related to the execution element. Electromagnetic actuators of multi-function control systems are structurally created separately for each adjustment body and lead to system complexity. To solve these problems, improve the executive system's weight-gauge indicators, and simplify the structural schemes, implementing intelligent mechatronic modules that perform linear and rotational movements in space coordinates is one of the urgent tasks. In this article, dynamic correction in manipulator control systems built based on an intelligent linear motion mechatronic module is considered. In manipulator control systems, the use of intelligent mechatronic modules in dynamic correction for manual and semi-automatic control manipulation systems that do not have a feedback channel for forces and moments and the relevance of the handle movement and manipulation objects with such a selection of the forces and moments vector m developed by them was seen. The article presents mathematical models for calculating vector components based on the current values of the generalized coordinates of the manipulator, their speed and acceleration, and the selection of the vector of forces and moments m developed by the intelligent mechatronic modules of the manipulator.


The aim of this paper is to investigate the use of the FE (Finite Element) tool in analyzing masonry walls. Masonry is made up of highly nonlinear materials that have different properties depending on where they are used. Experimenting on a full-scale model of a masonry wall is challenging. Its impact is also undervalued in the construction of low-rise structures. As if the wall was properly confined and bonded to the beam and column. It improves the seismic efficiency of low-rise buildings. Energy is dissipated by cracking, much as it is in low-rise buildings. When a masonry wall is cast monolithically (like confined masonry) with the column, it increases the stiffness of the building and allows it to withstand additional load. The FE tool is used to perform a numerical nonlinear analysis of a wall panel in this research (ABAQUS). Using a Damage Plasticity Model for Concrete (CDP) and the findings are compared to previous studies by other researchers, with the conclusion that the results were satisfactory.


Abstract Two strains of White Leghorns which had been selected for hatching time so that they differed by 48 hr in the average time required for incubation were studied to determine if correlated genetic responses to the selection for hatching time had occurred. Significant differences between the fast and slow hatching lines were observed for average embryo weight and embryo length from three to 14 days of incubation. Significant differences between the selected lines were also observed for chick weight on day of hatch, at 25 days after die start of incubation and at three and six weeks of age. The correlated responses observed were asymmetrical because for most measures the response was a reduction of weight or length in the slow hatching line, with no significant changes from the control line in the fast hatching line. No changes which could be considered correlated genetic responses were observed for age at first egg or in rate of lay. Both selected lines matured at significantly later ages and laid at higher rates than the control line.


The aim of this paper is to review today's information base about classification and chemical composition of single crystal nickel base superalloys. The general effect of alloying elements and classification to six generation is reviewed.


Students of the undergraduate course Computer Science get acquainted with the most prevalent methods of Steganography and Cryptography in history as well as with up to date applications. To teach Cryptography and Steganography is complicated, because you need to plot figures and tables at the blackboard plus calculating the frequency of characters in the text is consuming a lot of work and time. Concealing information within pictures or voices is impossible to show on the blackboard and you can only partially explain how to apply the LSB (least significant bit) technique. Therefore, we have devised some applications which are appropriate to show all these algorithms. We wanted to know the usefulness of all the programs we wrote. The safety technology engineering students attended my lectures held at different times in two groups. In the first group of lectures I presented and used the programs described above while the lectures for the second group were delivered without these materials. Our hypothesis was that a group where we used the developed multimedia applications got better marks in the papers written than the other. An analysis of the results (Man-Whitney test) showed significant difference in paper results of the two groups (p<0,05). This showed: the paper results of students attending the multimedia lectures were better by one mark than the results of the other group where lectures were delivered without multimedia presentations. We can say the using of multimedia applications when teaching cryptography and steganography is productive, and the students understand the methods easier, and get better result when writing papers.


This Resource Book reviews the physics opportunities of a next-generation e+e- linear collider and discusses options for the experimental program. Part 2 reviews the possible experiments on Higgs bosons and supersymmetric particles that can be done at a linear collider.


Amino acids have a dual role in cellular metabolism, as they are both the building blocks for protein synthesis and intermediate metabolites which fuel other biosynthetic reactions. Recent work has demonstrated that deregulation of both arms of amino acid management are common alterations seen in cancer. Among the most highly consumed nutrients by cancer cells are the amino acids glutamine and serine, and the biosynthetic pathways that metabolize them are required in various cancer subtypes and the object of current efforts to target cancer metabolism. Also altered in cancer are components of the machinery


ABSTRACT The partially hydrogenated soybean methyl ester (PHSME) is produced from soybean methyl ester (SME) via catalytic transfer hydrogenation. It is revealed that after the catalytic transfer hydrogenation of SME, the high unsaturated components are selectively converted to low unsaturated or saturated components by Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometer (GC-MS) analysis. Although the kinematic viscosity of PHSME is increased slightly, its oxidation stability is improved significantly, and the cetane number of PHSME rises to a desirable level as well. Based on the analysis of thermogravimetry-differential scanning calorimeter (TG-DSC), it is found that PHSME has a greater average oxidation rate. In summary, the hydrogenated biodiesel has excellent ignition characteristic.


Use of antibodies (CDMAB) H460-16-2 for the isolation and identification methods of treatment as well as cancer cells of human tumors that express CD44 antigenic sites. Monoclonal antibody H460-16-2 binding to CD44 antigenic site (ATTC Accession No. PTA-4621) have cytotoxicity against cancer cells. Here, cytotoxicity is mediated through antibody dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC) and complement dependent cytotoxicity of (CDD). Monoclonal antibodies H460-16-2 are useful for disease progression delay of human tumors. .FIELD 1


OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effects of triptolide on the activities of drug-metabolism enzymes in rat liver microsome. METHODS: SD rats were given triptolide (150, 300, 450 μg·kg-1) via i.g. gtt once a day for 1 or 14 days. The contents of cytochrome P450, cytochrome b5 in rat liver microsome and the activity of ERD, NDMA, MROD, EROD, PROD were assayed respectively. Western blotting was applied to test the protein expressions of CYP3A and CYP2E1. RESULTS: Single-dose administration of triptolide has no effect on the activity of drug-metabolism enzymes and the protein expression of CYP2E1 and CYP3A. multiple-dose administration of triptolide (450 μg·kg-1,14 d) induced the activity of NDMA and inhibited the activity of ERD while protein expression of CYP2E1 was increased slightly and protein expression of CYP3A decreased significantly. CONCLUSION: Multiple-dose administration of triptolide(450 μg·kg-1,14 d) inhibite the activity of CYP3A but induce the activity of CYP2E1.


Diabetes is one of the major health problems, the world is facing today and its rising rate necess itat es alternative treatment methods. An anti - diabetic chemical constituent of Syzygium cumini (L.) Skeels , bergenin was chosen for the study . The present study aims to isolate, characterize and quantify bergenin from methanol extract of stem bark of S. cu mini. This compound was extracted , characterized by spectroscopic methods and estimated quantitatively by HPTLC.


On 14th December 2012 Rens Bod delivered his inaugural address as Professor of Computational and Digital Humanities at the University of Amsterdam. Under the ominous title Het einde van de geesteswetenschappen 1.0 [ The End of the Humanities 1.0 ], the lecture provided a spirited agenda for the future of the arts and humanities. This Forum of the BMGN - Low Countries Historical Review seeks to facilitate a discussion about Rens Bod's ideas from the perspective of current historical science in the Netherlands and Belgium. For this purpose the editors have asked three historians with expertise in digital humanities – Inger Leemans, Andreas Fickers and Marnix Beyen – to engage with Bod's agenda from their respective cultural, political and media historical perspective.


Coronectomy is a valuable technique in the management of symptomatic mandibular third molars at high risk of inferior alveolar nerve injury. When applied appropriately, the technique may reduce the incidence of inferior alveolar nerve injury in comparison to full surgical removal. Currently, no definitive guidelines exist on when to opt for coronectomy versus full surgical removal, and therefore significant variation in clinical practice exists. This article summarizes the surgical stages involved in the coronectomy procedure, reviews the indications and hazards of the technique, and finally provides suggested guidelines to assist the practitioner in the decision-making process of when to opt for coronectomy versus full surgical removal in the management of symptomatic mandibular third molars. CPD/Clinical Relevance: To review the coronectomy technique and highlight potential hazards with inappropriate application of the technique.


Liquid lens is a novel optical device which can implement active zooming. With liquid lens, zoom camera can be designed with more miniature size and simpler structure than before. It is thought that the micro zoom system with liquid lens has a very wide potential applications in many fields, in which the volume and weight of the system are critically limited, such as endoscope, mobile, PDA and so on. There are mainly three types of tunable-focus liquid lens: liquid crystal lens, electrowetting effect based liquid lens and liquid-filled membrane lens. Comparing with the other two kinds of liquid lens, the liquid-filled membrane lens has the advantages of simple structure, flexible aperture and high zooming efficiency. But its membrane surface will have an initial shape deformation caused by the gravity when the aperture of the lens is at large size, which will lead to the wave front aberration and the imaging quality impairing. In this paper, the initial deformation of the lens caused by the gravity was simulated based on the theory of Elastic Mechanics, which was calculated by the Finite Element Analysis method. The relationship between the diameter of the lens and the wave front aberration caused by the gravity was studied. And the Optical path difference produced by different liquid density was also analyzed.


Anaerobic degradation characteristics of dewatered liquid of household food waste including methane conversion efficiency and degradation kinetics were studied in an anaerobic batch reactor of 5 L volume. The ultimate methane production for dewatered liquid of household food waste tested was over 0.31L liquid of household food waste. The kinetic constant of dewatered liquid of household food waste tested was . The kinetic behavior of anaerobic degradation was described as a first order series reaction. The determinant of rate-limiting step(DR) that is balanced out from the rates of reaction steps was defined by the logarithmic difference of the maximum acidification rate and the maximum methanation rate. Anaerobic degradation characteristics of organic materials were evaluated by the value of DR. The DR of dewatered liquid of household food waste tested was 1.17.


Because high‐resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) relies on a complex contrast mechanism to produce images of gate dielectric films in cross section, there are many factors affecting the uncertainty of thickness measurements based on these images. A preliminary survey revealed approximately 50 parameters that affect the uncertainty in a gate dielectric dimensional metrology experiment using HRTEM, along with approximately 1,200 two‐term interactions and almost 20,000 three‐term interactions. Using established design‐of‐experiment (DEX) methodologies, I performed a screening experiment based on a 2IV(8−4) fractional factorial design to determine which factors had the greatest impact on the absolute error of the thickness measurements. Absolute error was determined by simulating HRTEM micrographs using a multislice calculation. The model used for the simulation consisted of a variable SiO2 film approximately 2 nm thick positioned between two pieces of crystalline Si. This approximation to a g...


ABSTRACT The incidence of iron poisoning, once the most common cause of fatal pediatric unintentional ingestions, and the use of its antidote deferoxamine have declined. We describe a case of a 17-year-old girl who presented to a hospital following an intentional polysubstance ingestion, which included ferrous sulfate. She developed severe gastrointestinal symptoms including hematemesis, as well as anion gap metabolic acidosis, coagulopathy, and liver toxicity. She was treated with a prolonged course of greater than 24 h with deferoxamine due to a markedly elevated serum iron concentration of 2565 g/dL and worsening clinical status. Clinical features and management of complex iron poisoning are discussed. This case demonstrates the benefit of early poison control center and medial toxicology involvement in instances regarding the off-label usage of deferoxamine in the treatment of severe iron toxicity.


In this thesis, the problem of question answering using conversational context is explored for the Conversational Assistance Track of the Text REtrieval Conference. The goal of the task in this track is to provide an answer to a query by retrieving responses from a large set of short text passages and ranking these according to their computed relevance to the query. The state-of-the-art NLP model BERT [1] is compared to the baseline ranker BM25 [2]. It is researched how including conversational context in the input influences the predictive power of these models. Multiple methods for dealing with the input restrictions of the BERT model are compared; clipping, summarization and, rank and score fusion. This was evaluated on two datasets of a different nature; a dataset containing artificially generated conversational sessions and one containing handcrafted, more human-like sessions. The results show that BERT outperforms BM25 in all experiments, regardless if or how much context is taken into account. Adding conversational context to the input however does not increase predictive power in both models. Nonetheless, the context processing methods can still be compared; the fusion methods perform best. Additionally, it does not matter for the experiments in this works whether the data is constructed artificially or in a more realistic manner.


Abstract Background Infants experience higher pertussis incidence and mortality compared with other age groups and 85% of infant cases are acquired from a household member. The Chicago Department of Public Health (CDPH) noted increased pertussis incidence among Hispanics from 2014 (5.3 cases per 100,000 population) to 2016 (12.3 cases per 100,000 population) while other ethnicities remained stable. Methods All pertussis cases reported to CDPH through the Illinois National Electronic Disease Surveillance System with onsets from January 1, 2010 to December 31, 2016 were included in the analyses. Variables of interest were age, race/ethnicity, household size, disease severity, healthcare location of diagnosis, and hospitalization. To assess differences in demographic and care-related indicators between Hispanic and non-Hispanic White (NHW) infants, chi-square tests were performed; risk ratios and 95% confidence intervals were estimated. Results From 2010–2016, 1,036 pertussis cases were reported to CDPH including 276 infants aged <1 year. Among infant cases, 187(68%) were <4 months of age, 143(52%) male, 151(55%) were Hispanic and 54(20%) were NHW. Median household size for infants of all ethnicities was four members (range: 0–15). Of all infants with household member size of ≥4 persons (157), 64% were Hispanic. 185 (67%) of infants had ≥1 severe symptom (apnea, cyanosis, pneumonia, seizure, encephalopathy) and 133 (48%) were hospitalized. Diagnosis occurred in the emergency room (ER) for 199 (72%) infants. Hispanics were more likely than NHW to have household member size ≥4 (RR 1.9, P < 0.05), severe symptoms (RR 1.6, P < 0.05), hospitalization (RR 2.3, P < 0.05), and diagnosis in the ER (RR 2.8, P < 0.05) (Table 1). Conclusion Among Chicago infant pertussis cases, Hispanic infants have larger household sizes and more severe disease at time of diagnosis compared with NHW. Table 1: Chicago Hispanic Infant Pertussis Case Characteristics Compared with Non-Hispanic Whites (NHW), 2010–2016 Infant Characteristics Race/Ethnicity N (%) RR (95% CI) Household size ≥4 NHW 19 (35.2) Ref. Hispanic 100 (66.2) 1.9 (1.3–2.8)* Severe symptoms NHW 25 (46.3) Ref. Hispanic‡ 113 (75.3) 1.6 (1.2–2.2)* Hospitalization NHW 14 (25.9) Ref. Hispanic 90 (59.6) 2.3 (1.4–3.7)* Diagnosis in ER NHW 16 (29.6) Ref. Hispanic 124 (82.1) 2.8 (1.8–4.2)* * Significant at P < 0.05. ‡ population = 150, one patient missing data. Disclosures All authors: No reported disclosures.


Road traffic sign detection and recognition problem has always been a hot and difficult point in the field of intelligent driving. Complex road conditions always take challenges to the detection and identification of traffic signs. This paper attempts to use machine learning and deep learning algorithms to detect and identify traffic signs. The study is realized in two basic parts. The first part is detection on traffic sign. A color probability model based on YCbCr space and an improved color enhancement method based on MSER are proposed to detect Candidate Areas (CA). By using these two methods, most negative samples in CA can be reduced. Then, in the Region of Interest (ROI) feature extraction stage, PHOG features with strong spatial information expression ability are combined with SVM to classify and process. The second part is recognition on traffic sign. An improved lenet-5 model is used to promote speed and accuracy of the recognition. It has been proven that the proposed model has the characteristics of shorter classification time, higher classification accuracy and better generalization ability by comparing the other algorithm with ours used in GTSDB data set.


If experience can be defined as the affectively charged interaction with the world by means of the body as agency or medium, various sites of such affectively charged interaction mapped on to the body may be fruitfully analysed to explain the operations of religion as discourse. Baptism is one such site. In fact, baptism as the shorthand for of collective noun denoting a spectrum of ritual practices is a particularly apposite example. Baptism as ritual practice has had a varied history, both in terms of originary context as well as interpretive or discursive trajectories. This essay primarily tracks two such significant trajectories: the one being baptismal practices as purification rites operating in socially 'heterodox' early Jewish and early Christian groups within an apocalyptic, dissociative framework; the other being 'orthodox' baptismal discourse as expressed in, for instance, Cyril of Jerusalem's Mystagogical Catheceses. In the former, the strong affect of dissociation is coupled with visionary experiences, hence its embeddedness in apocalyptic trajectories with their strongly dismissive stance to the surrounding world. In the case of the latter, the dramatic performances of the Easter liturgy, arguably, created the experience of salvation and resurrection. In both instances, the intersection of ritual, bodily experience, religious discourse, and social imaginaire provides the explanatory framework for baptism as foundational ritual practice in the making and maintenance of religious discourse and its attendant experiential effects. In this sense, such is the argument pursued in the essay, baptism is a core facet of early Jewish and early Christian religious experience.


The description of the nature in Jane Eyre plays a very important role. It hints or pushes the development of the plots, reflects about the temper of the characters, gives color to the atmosphere and the scenes. The expression of scenery and emotion are blended happily in the novel.


This paper investigates the rheological, mechanical and electrical properties of a Ethylene-Vinyl Acetate (EVA) polymer filled with 1, 3 and 5 wt.% multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs). The melt flow and pressure-volume-Temperature (pvT) behaviors of the EVA/MWCNT composites were investigated using a high-pressure capillary rheometer, while the electro-mechanical response was investigated on injection-molded samples. Rheological experiments showed that the melt shear viscosity of the EVA/MWCNT composite is dependent on nanotube loading and, at high shear rates, the viscosity showed temperature-dependent shear thinning behavior with a flow index n < 0.35. The specific volume of the EVA/MWCNT composite decreased with increasing pressure and MWCNT wt.%. The transition temperature, corresponding to the pvT crystallization, increased linearly with increasing pressure, i.e., about 20 to 30 °C when cooling under pressure. The elastic modulus, tensile strength and stress at break increased with increasing MWCNT wt.%, whereas the strain at break decreased, suggesting the formation of MWCNT secondary agglomerates. The electrical conductivity of the EVA/MWCNT composite increased with increasing MWCNT wt.% and melt temperature, reaching ~10−2 S/m for the composite containing 5 wt.% MWCNTs. Using the statistical percolation theory, the percolation threshold was estimated at 0.9 wt.% and the critical exponent at 4.95.


Most chapters open with "Overview" and close with "Chapter Summary," "Guided Tour," "Application Exercises," and "Multiple Choice Questions." 1.Research Awareness. Introduction. Research Awareness Pretest: True or False? Answers with Explanations. 2.Constructs, Variables, and Hypotheses. Constructs and Operational Definitions. Types of Variables. Hypotheses. 3.Research as a Process. Theory-Based Research. Problem-Based Research. 4.The Research Hypothesis. The Research Hypothesis versus Research Question. Sources of Hypotheses. Is It Researchable? Is It Legal and Ethical? Is It Meaningful? Has It Already Been Answered? What Type of Data Will Answer It? 5.Types of Educational Research. Research Differences. Quantitative versus Qualitative. Descriptive versus Inferential. True Experimental versus Quasi-Experimental. Causal Comparative versus Correlational. Single-Subject versus Group. Teacher versus Traditional. 6.Samples and Sampling. Describing Data. Sample Size Determination. Sampling Methods. External Validity. Population and Ecological Generalization. Sampling Blunders and Short Cuts. 7.The Reliability and Validity of Measures. Introduction to Reliability and Validity. Reliability Explained (In Theory). Reliability Explained (In Practice). Validity. 8.Research Bias and Control. Experimenter Expectancy and Blinding. Hawthorne Effect, John Henry Effect, and Placebos. Campbell and Stanley Threats and Control Groups. Randomized Control Groups. Order Effects and Counterbalancing. 9.Common Experimental Research Designs. Research Designs. True Experimental Designs. Quasi-Experimental Designs. Single-Subject Designs. 10.Common Non-Experimental Research Designs. The Basic Causal Comparative Design. Correlational Research Designs. Descriptive Designs. 11.Data Analysis. Coin Flips and Probability. Reading Faces. The Null Hypothesis. The p Value Determination (Conceptually). Common Statistical Tests. Parametric vs. Nonparametric Tests. Statistical Errors. The Importance of Power. Qualitative Data Analysis. 12.Research Critiques. What Is a Critical Review? Guidelines for Critiques. Good Critiques Take Practice. References. Index.


NJI-APR-2014 Like every coin has two sides, the Indian health care delivery system has both strengths and weaknesses in terms of safety of patients. Among many fastest growing sectors, health care is prominent in the country. Modern, state-of-the-art hospitals with the highly skilled professionals are available. The health professionals of India have high reputation and are in demand all over the world. They have multi linguistic skills which help them to communicate well with patients. The cost of treatment is comparatively low and cost effective. Unlike developed countries, the waiting time for seeking health care services is less in India. The cost of health insurance is comparatively low. People in India are becoming health conscious and are keen to have quality health care. The health infrastructure has expanded substantially in the past few years. Yet, the health indicators are unfavourable in the country. India has about 20 percent of all maternal and the highest under five mortality in the world. Every year about 1.9 million babies die before they see their first birthday. Every hour one new-born baby dies in the country (UNICEF, 2008). The delivery of health care is challenged by a wide range of safety problems. Though the health care sector is growing rapidly, the health care practices in hospitals are poorly organised thus in turn affect the safety of patients. The traditional medical oath – first do no harm – is rarely violated intentionally by health professionals, but the fact remains that the patients are harmed everyday across the country in the course of receiving health care.


The Medical Journal of Australia ISSN: 0025729X 1 November 2004 181 9 505-506 ©The Medical Journal of Australia 2004 www.mja.com.au MJA practice essentials – paediatrics common written examination for paediatrics and ad was abandoned, and the medical world formally re children are n t just little adults when it comes disease. Today, paediatrics is a vibrant discipline e the whole gamut of medical subspecialties, plus so to childhood, such as neonatology and child devel The differences between the disciplines of pa A series looking at everyday practice in the light of the evidence


GLP-1 (Glucagon-like peptide 1) is an incretin (a metabolic hormone modulating glucose metabolism) known to lower blood glucose by stimulating insulin release and inhibiting glucagon release. The effects of GLP-1 are well documented in adults, but little is known about the role of GLP-1 during development. The hypothesis of this project is that GLP-1 assists the pancreas in development, differentiation, and proliferation. To test this hypothesis, Glucagon-like peptide 1 receptor knockout mice (GLP-1R KO) were compared to control mice to block the mechanism of GLP-1. Sections of the pancreas were taken from both GLP-1R KO and control mice and were stained for insulin, glucagon, and proliferation. The data from the experiment suggests that GLP-1R KO mice have less islet cell mass (both α and β) and proliferation compared to controls. Further studies could investigate the role of GLP-1 during pancreatic organogenesis.


To overcome the difficulties of the traditional inventory management system in adapting environmental change, the decision support system for inventory management was developed based on multi-agent. The paper analyzed the feasibility of applying the Agent technology in the inventory management decision support system, and presented the framework of the system, the functions of its sub-agents and an example of the agent's structure as well as the system's working flow. The technology of the Distributed Component Object Model (DCOM) is applied to realize the sharing of distributed resources and information in the system. The communication in the multi-agent is carried out by the message transfer. The operation of the system validates that the intelligence and decision-making efficiency have been improved by using multi-agent technology.


Under a Kennedy Space Center Small Business Innovation Research contract, GEO-CENTERS, Inc. developed a sensing element or 'optrode,' which NASA needed for space life support research to measure a hydroponic culture's pH factor. The company then commercialized the technology in the PC Based pH Monitoring System. The system employs the optrode to enable long term continuous monitoring of the pH level of fluids in standing and flowing conditions, an optoelectronic board with light sensors and detectors that fits into a desktop computer, and a fiber optic cable that connects the two. The system is effective in monitoring the pH output of industries to maintain ranges acceptable to the Environmental Protection Agency.


In this workshop, we reflect on and share the fun and frustrations of working in interdisciplinary research. We ask participants to openly reflect on their experiences of interdisciplinarity. What approaches have worked and what have failed? In addition to identifying phenomena, we aim to sketch out the next decade of interdisciplinary research in computing, especially in HCI. The third paradigm of Human-Computer Interaction focuses on the qualitative aspects of use experience and the situatedness of technologies. This new orientation has drawn in researchers from various other research and arts backgrounds and traditions, including the social sciences, architecture and industrial design among others. Therefore, we consider this third paradigm to be inherently interdisciplinary. Through workshop participants' reflection of their own experiences, we strive to identify the common problems and pitfalls of interdisciplinary research, and to celebrate successes, as well as share best practices.


: This study aims to investigate the main influencing factors and mechanisms of cross-cultural communicative competence of Chinese students in Thailand. The study hypothesized that culture shock and Sociocultural Adaptation were important predictors of intercultural communicative competence; culture shock had a significant negative impact on intercultural communicative competence, while Sociocultural Adaptation competence had a significant positive effect on intercultural communicative competence. Chinese students in Thailand (n=189) completed the questionnaire. This study adopts the path model of linear regression of SPSS to verify the proposed theoretical hypothesis. The study selected demographic characteristics of international students, including gender, age, length of study abroad and education level. The results of the study show that there are two internal dimensions to measure the Sociocultural Adaptation ability: personal skills and social skills. In addition, the study also found that they were all significantly positively correlated with intercultural communicative competence (P<0.05). This article explores these findings and implications.


Abstract Outlines of macrophytical vegetation of Lesina and Varano lagoons. — Some observations on the vegetation of Lesina and Varano lagoons, in Puglia, are reported. After a short introduction some geographical accounts are given. The presence of well represented associations as Zosteretum marinae, Ruppietum maritimae, Scirpetum maritimi, Phragmitetum communis, Salicornietum fruticosae, Suaedo-Kochietum hirsutae, Salicornietum herbaceae, Salsoletum sodae, of a new subassociation, Suaedo-Kochietum hirsutae salicornietosum herbaceae subassoc. nova, and of some consociations of Lamprothamnion papulosum, Potamogeton pectinatus, and Juncus acutus has been ascertained. Both a diffuse phytogeographical description of these ambients and a schematic synthesis of the individuated types of vegetation are referred.


Rural-to-urban migration is a major pattern of population movement in Thailand. The aims of this movement are significantly related to various dimensions of the migrants' well-being, such as better education, job opportunities, health facilities, standard of living, and wages (Van Landingham, 2003). This study explores the benefits of rural-to-urban migration by examining Nang Rong District, Buriram Province, as a case study. The changes in the migrant's life, including income, savings, housing, living condition, working hours and social networks, were assessed as indicators of a better life. The study employed data from a longitudinal study entitled "Demographic Responses to a Changing Environment in Nang Rong: 1984-2000,", with 2,270 cases observed as the units of analysis. Unlike a cross-sectional study, which records activities at a single-point in time, the subject of a longitudinal study is observed over a period of time, sometimes years. Results indicated that rural-urban migration was able to meet migrants' expectation for a better life at a level of 40.3 percent, overall. More than half of the migrants failed to meet the criteria of a better life standard. Nevertheless, if considering that the main purpose of migration was to gain higher income, the vast majority (84.2 percent) accomplished their goal. The most influential determinants on migrants' better life are moving cohort, years in education, marital status and social network. For these reasons, well-managed migration can help maximize potential benefits and reduce the risks when people move. People who desire to migrate from a rural to an urban area for a better quality of life, should first assess the current economic situation, social networks, couple support and their individual characteristics, especially age and education. A favorable combination of these supportive components could help migrants achieve their expectation of improved life conditions.


COMPOUND AND FOR MAKING PROCESS COMPOUND FOR USE IN DIAGNOSTIC OR THERAPEUTIC PHARMACEUTICAL UNDERSTANDS a phosphorous or germanium core and at least two groups HYDRAZINE FORMING A BINDER FOR LINK TO A METAL EXTENDING FROM THE NUCLEUS PHOSPHOROUS OR GERMANIUM .


Remote sensing geological interpretation ordinarily make use of eye interpretation chiefly and computer interpretation . This paper takes the HuiZhou part of CongHua to DongGuan freeway for example, applying the way of remote sensing geological interpretation, and introducing the procedure of geological interpretation including the way with eye and computer interpretation, especially introduce interpretation sign such as fault , collapse ,landslip and lithology according with the freeway. Based on the job above geological situation the freeway need to choose line are presented. finally, line K is chosen to be the best case.


The distribution of mitomycin(MIT) for injection in aqueous surfactant two phases(ASTP), consisted of cetyltrimethylammonium bromide(CTAB) and sodium oleate(SO) has been studied by spectrophotometry. The results show that for ASTP system with a certain ratio of CTAB to SO the volume of the upper phase decreased and that of the lower phase increased with increase of MIT added, while the distribution ratio K d and single extraction yield Y of MIT in two phases remained approximately constant.


Building management systems in commercial spaces commonly operate on predefined temperature setpoints and control schedules. These systems typically do not consider the individual occupant's thermal preferences, which often leads to high thermal dissatisfaction rates, especially in shared spaces. Recent studies target human-in-the-loop personalized control, where each occupant's thermal preferences are taken into account. These control systems require occupants to frequently submit votes regarding their thermal comfort. Such votes are usually acquired using surveys with standardized scales. However, occupants often find these too cumbersome or literally do not understand the questions. This paper presents an intuitive thermal desirability scale to assess occupants' thermal comfort in scenarios with frequently queried feedback or control applications. The scale was tested in a survey with 100 participants against three common standardized thermal comfort scales. Results show that the thermal desirability scale provides a finer-grained understanding of control options for occupants than using a single standardized scale.


The goal of orthodontic treatment is to achieve a stable, functional result with enhanced aesthetics. In the discussed case report, a case with skeletal class III malocclusion is presented with compromised periodontal features and a bilaterally posteriorly edentulous mouth in upper and lower jaw. The case report highlights the corrections achieved and their stability without the support and utilization of the posterior teeth, otherwise deemed essential in the orthodontic treatment planning. The case is treated with orthognathic surgery in upper and lower jaw to improve aesthetic balance of the face. With the use of position screws, the case has been concluded displaying a stable occlusion with improved function. A four-year follow-up and an important note on retention and stability is discussed in the following case report


Background. Cardiac surgery carries a well-known risk of perioperative myocardial infarction (MI), which is associated with high morbidity and both in-hospital and late mortality. )e rapid haemodynamics deterioration and presence of myocardial ischemia early after cardiac surgical operations is a complex life-threatening condition where rapid diagnosis and management is of fundamental importance. Objective. To analyse the factors associated with mortality of patients with postcardiotomy MI and to study the role of emergency coronary angiography in management and outcome. Methods. We retrospectively enrolled adult patients diagnosed to have postcardiotomy MI and underwent emergency coronary angiography at our tertiary care hospital between January 2016 and August 2019. Results. Sixty-one patients from consecutive 1869 adult patients who underwent cardiac surgeries were enrolled in our study. )e studied patients had a mean age of 49± 16.2 years with a mean BMI of 29.5± 6.6 and 65.6% of them were males. As compared to the survivors group, the nonsurvivors of perioperative MI had significant preoperative CKD, postoperative AKI, longer CPB time, frequent histories of previous PCI, previous cardiotomies, pre and postoperative ECMO use, higher median troponin I levels, higher peak and 24 hours median lactate levels. Regression analysis revealed that reoperation for revascularization (OR: 23; 95% CI: 8.27–217.06; P � 0.034) and hyperlactataemia (OR: 3.21; 95% CI: 1.14–9.04; P � 0.027) were independent factors associated with hospital mortality after perioperative MI. Hospital mortality occurred in 25.7% vs 86.7% (P< 0.001), AKI occurred in 37.1% vs 93.3% (P< 0.001), haemodialysis was used in 28.6% vs 80% (P � 0.002), and mediastinal exploration for bleeding was performed in 31.4% vs 80% (P � 0.006) in the PCI and reoperation groups, respectively, while there were no significant differences regarding gastrointestinal bleeding, cerebral strokes, or intracerebral bleeding. )e median peak troponin level was 795 (IQR 630–1200) vs 4190 (IQR 3700–6300) (P< 0.001) in the PCI and reoperation groups, respectively. Absence of significant angiographic findings occurred in 18% of patients. Conclusions. Perioperative MI is associated with significant morbidities and hospital mortality. Reoperation for revascularization and progressive hyperlactataemia are independent predictors of hospital mortality. Emergency coronary angiography is helpful in diagnosis and management of perioperative MI.


Abstract : This protocol will implement two separate but complementary efforts. The first is the clinical follow-up of Desert Storm patients with known or suspected imbedded depleted uranium (DU) fragments, DU contaminated wounds or significant amounts of inhaled DU. The second is the conduct of research into the toxicological and radiological effects of this unique exposure modality.


Based on the disturbing effect mechanism of shield construction on surrounding soil and buildings, the construction process of shield tunnel down-crossing nearby existing tunnel is simulated with the FLAC-3D numerical simulation software, taking the engineering situation of a shield section tunnel in Beijing Subway as research objects. The disturbing effect on existing tunnel caused by shield tunnel construction underneath is compared under the different reinforcement scheme and the displacement of existing tunnel structure and ground surface induced by shield tunnel down-crossing is discussed. The comparison between monitoring results and simulation results is presented. The results indicate that shield construction makes the existing tunnel structure have the deformation trend of ovalization. The vertical displacement curve of the existing tunnel structure is wavy, the maximum settlement occurs in the place of about D behind the excavation face, and the uneven settlement mainly occurs in the range between 2 D in front and 3 D behind the excavation face. Besides, the influence range of the vertical displacement of the ground surface caused by construction is within the scope of 20 m from the new metro tunnel axis, and the longitudinal influence range of existing metro tunnel structure is within the scope of 16m before and after the tunnel axis intersection point.


Abstract New kinetic data from time resolved ONP-data are presented for the solid state photoreaction of a hydrogen transfer from fluorene to photoexcited acridine in doped fluorene single crystals. They remove existing uncertainties about the reaction pathway which proceeds via the lowest excited triplet state of the acceptor. In contrast to general belief, this 3(ππ*) abstraction shows comparable kinetic parameters to 3(nπ*) abstractions observed in solid glass matrix.


needs copyediting and German words are often split in odd places in linebreaks). The inclusion of excellent illustrations, clear definitions, explanatory background history, and English translations of German terminology and names makes the volume also ideally suited for use by students and by scholars not familiar with the German case, generating one more way in which the editors reach beyond traditional academic divisions. But even highly knowledgeable scholars of Germany will discover many new historical details and a fascinating addition to previous works on memory and urban studies. Certainly, this volume will inspire additional work in this area (perhaps focusing on smaller towns, sites related to the victimization of other groups, or even examples from rural Germany). I highly recommend these essays and the volume as a whole for their thoughtful engagement with what Jaskot calls "the instrumentalization of former sites of perpetrators and victims [that] requires a closer look at the agency of individuals and institutions" (p. 160).


Bicyclic acetal derivatives of the type 3 were prepared based either on a dihydroxyaldehyde 5 or an oxiranebutanal 6 (cf. Scheme 2). Lewis acid catalyzed reaction of the bicyclic acetal with allyltrimethylsilane introduces the side chain (as yet unfunctionalized) and sets the stereogenic centers at the tetrahydro-2H-pyran ring of the pederin moiety.


Using earthquakes to find earthquakes Earthquake catalogs elucidate the behavior of faults and allow for rough estimates of when large earthquakes might occur. Cataloging small earthquakes is challenging because the small signal is often indistinguishable from noise. Ross et al. used a template-matching algorithm to find almost two million tiny earthquakes previously missed by other earthquake-logging techniques in Southern California (see the Perspective by Brodsky). This more-complete catalog can be used to better understand faults, earthquake reoccurrence, and other geophysical processes. Science, this issue p. 767; see also p. 736 A template-matching algorithm increases the number of earthquakes in the Southern California catalog by more than a factor of 10. Earthquakes follow a well-known power-law size relation, with smaller events occurring much more often than larger events. Earthquake catalogs are thus dominated by small earthquakes yet are still missing a much larger number of even smaller events because of signal fidelity issues. To overcome these limitations, we applied a template-matching detection technique to the entire waveform archive of the regional seismic network in Southern California. This effort resulted in a catalog with 1.81 million earthquakes, a 10-fold increase, which provides important insights into the geometry of fault zones at depth, foreshock behavior and nucleation processes, and earthquake-triggering mechanisms. The rich detail resolved in this type of catalog will facilitate the next generation of analyses of earthquakes and faults.


available at http://jurology.com/ Editorial Comment: I used to believe that a surgeon who was planning to use the robot needed to be skilled in conventional laparoscopic technique. This article traces the mid career evolution of a conventionally trained open reconstructive surgeon to a skilled robotic surgeon. The ease and precision of suturing on in situ organs and the comfort of sitting in the robotic console are attractive to all surgeons. I used to believe that complex laparoscopic surgery belonged to the next generation. This report has convinced me that select, motivated surgeons without formal residency training in minimally invasive surgery can successfully migrate to robotic assisted laparoscopic reconstructive surgery even in children. Abstract available at http://jurology.com/ Editorial Comment: These surgeons, with vast experience in the care of children with exstrophy, share perioperative details on a large series of primary bladder closure. They report a mean hospital stay of 35 days and a mean postoperative neonatal intensive care stay of 4.9 days in 90% of patients. More than 50% of infants required a ventilator for a mean of 3.1 days. Osteotomy was performed in 19 of 65 consecutive newborns (mean age 8.8 days) who underwent closure later, compared to 39 newborns (mean age 2.9 days) who underwent closure earlier and did not undergo osteotomy. The authors used postoperative total parenteral nutrition in more than half of the patients and far more frequently in those undergoing closure after 2000. Tunneled postoperative epidural for a mean of 11.4 days was used in 93% of patients, with 96% receiving anticholinergics postoperatively. Antibiotics were used preoperatively and postoperatively in virtually all patients. In a child with exstrophy the chance of voiding with continence depends on a successful initial closure. In this series no expense was spared to ensure that every variable was addressed with an aggressive approach to decrease the risk of urinary tract infection, and to optimize nutrition and


Abstract The direct and indirect production of C-1′ radicals has been achieved through the synthesis of modified nucleosides. Product studies and spectroscopic investigations have been used to study the structure and fate of C-1′ radical species under anoxic or aerobic conditions. The results are of fundamental importance in understanding the mechanism of DNA cleavage via C-1′ radicals. The mechanistic schemes of some very recent synthetic applications have also been revisited.


Despite their small occupancy, the apical oxygen {ital p}{sub {ital z}} states have the indirect effect of modifying the relative occupancy of holes in states with different local symmetries in the CuO{sub 2} planes. A well-defined correlation is found between the maximum critical temperature {ital T}{sub {ital c}}{sup max} of various cuprates and the excess of holes in states with local {ital a}{sub 1} symmetry with respect to the doping {delta}{sup max} at which {ital T}{sub {ital c}}{sup max} is obtained for each compound. Implications for superconductivity models are discussed.


The history of jazzing the theme of the variations from the Allegretto of Beethoven's Seventh Symphony began with a revision of its four-measure fragment in the vein of a light-popular style and traversed the path towards a deep transformation, which in all likelihood would be quite congenial to the composer of the original work, as a 50-minute variation cycle. The article discusses three jazz revisions – the potpourri Beethoven Wrote It... But It Swings! by Dolly Dawn and her Dawn Patrol, written in 1939, the composition Beethoven Riffs On created by the John Kirby Sextet in 1941, and the album Beethoven. Allegretto from Symphony no. 7 created by the Jacques Loussier Trio, 2003. The author reveals the typical methods of the stylistic transformation of the original for jazz practice, as well as individual features for each musical example.


Over- and under-synchronous converter cascade with a three-phase asynchronous machine (2) with slip ring rotor (4), a rotor circuit-short-circuiting device (10), a voltage intermediate circuit converter (6) and a converter transformer (8), said voltage-source inverter (6 ) has on the machine side and the network side in each case a self-commutated pulse-controlled inverter (22, 24), the DC voltage side (by means of an intermediate circuit capacitor 26) are coupled together, wherein the machine-side pulse current converter (24) the alternating voltage side (by means of the rotor circuit short-circuiter 10) with the slip ring rotor (4 ) is associated, wherein the network-side pulse current converter (22) is the alternating voltage side (by means of the inverter transformer 8) with the stator (12) of the induction machine (2) supplying network (18), and wherein each switch (46) of the rotor circuit short-circuiter (10) a resistor (48) is electrically connected in series.


The frequency and time of precipitation can influence the storage, allocation and management of water resources. But the precipitation frequency becomes more random and the precipitation process becomes more complexity due to the climate change and human activities, which increases the difficulty of technology and management. In this research, the fractal dimension based on Continuous Wavelet Transform (CWT) as the index of the precipitation complexity is applied to describe the precipitation process; using it, the complexity distributions of different precipitation processes in Liu-Kuang zone of Qingzhang basin China in different periods is illuminated respectively. The result indicates that in research region: (1) the annual precipitation frequency in the late period is less than that in the early period; (2) the urbanization and human activities increase the precipitation frequency. This result can reflect the frequency change of precipitation in changing environment and provide reference for the decision-making of water resources management in the local basin.


Experiments using 2 methods of treating Impatiens with colchicine showed that 10-36% of seedlings treated soon after germination and 33-50% of colchicine treated cuttings developed stable polyploids. Most of the stable polyploids were complete tetraploids. Periclinal cytochimeras and octoploids were also isolated. Tetraploids of the inbred cultivars Blaze, Dwarf Bright Rose, General Guisan, Pinkie, and F1 hybrid White Imp, 2 interspecific hybrids between New Guinea and Java spp., 2 New Guinea hybrids, and 2 clones of a Java sp. were isolated and compared with diploids for differences in morphology and fertility. Tetraploids were larger than diploids. With certain exceptions, tetraploids had greater percentages of abortive pollen and less fertility than the diploids. Sterile diploid hybrids of 'New Guinea' X 'Java' were made fertile by tetraploidy. New Guinea 13 (2n = 64) did not cross with 'New Guinea' hybrid diploids (2n = 32), but it crossed readily with the 'New Guinea' hybrid tetraploids (4n = 64). The octoploids were sterile and ornamentally inferior to diploids or tetraploids.


ABSTRACT This study deals with the probability distribution of fatigue damage of the mooring system for offshore fish cage considering the uncertainty of long-term wave conditions. A set of numerical simulations for offshore fish cage are performed to predict the fatigue damage of the mooring system. Through a virtual stochastic process model, the probability density function of the long-term fatigue damage of the mooring system is achieved by the generalized probability density evolution method, and the failure probability of the mooring system is predicted. The results demonstrate that the generalized probability density evolution method can effectively provide the fatigue damage distribution from the stochastic point of view. And the calibration of the engineering-based fatigue design factor of the current regulation can be conducted through the fatigue reliability analysis considering the uncertainty of the long-term wave conditions. This study provides a new understanding of the long-term fatigue damage distribution.


Local infiltration of stormwater in urban areas offers an alternative to the fast drainage via the sewerage system. Calculations show how different infiltration methods affect groundwater recharge over the long term, and canlead to a rising grounwater level. Local authorities should not allow artificial infiltration of stormwater without due examination.


The production of 7S and 19S antibody was compared in twenty-one patients with various types of carcinoma, four with lymphomatous neoplasms, and eleven healthy controls, at weekly intervals following administration of 17D yellow fever live virus vaccine. Sera were also tested for interferon and infectious virus. Mean and range of antibody titres were very similar in carcinoma patients and controls. There was a slight delay in antibody production in the cancer patients. Viraemia was demonstrated in 1/8 healthy controls, 4/20 carcinoma patients, and 2/3 lymphoma patients. No interferon was detected.


The development of ultra-light fibrous substrate mirrors allows serious contemplation of large multi-mirror space telescopes using rigid segments. Mirrors made of silica and alumina fibers have a small coefficient of thermal expansion and a density competitive with inflatable structures. Furthermore, they are without the imagery problems caused by non parabolic figures, gaseous expansion and contraction, tidal distortion of large gas filled structures, leaks, and long lived transient mirror perturbations caused by intentional pointing and tracking movements, micrometeor and space debris impacts, and mechanical vibrations. Fibrous substrate primary mirrors also have logistical advantages, since segments can be fabricated in orbit from small amounts of dense raw materials. One space shuttle flight, lifting about half its payload capacity, is adequate to transport all the material necessary to fabricate substrates for a one hundred meter telescope whose primary mirror consists of 12,086 hexagonal segments, each having a diameter of 1 meter and an area of 0.6495 square meters.


oxygen dependence, other quality of life issues such as severe ambulatory or activity intolerance, "excess" resource consumption while hospitalized, permanent loss of independence, and severe, permanent cardiovascular morbidity, eg, myocardial infarction with persisting congestive heart failure or disabling stroke. Input to determine these significant factors should not only come from physicians but from patients as only they can formally quantitate which outcomes are and are not worth the risk of surgery. Once we know what we're really worried about postoperatively, then we'll finally be able to focus in on a large cohort and figure out strong predictors of these negative outcomes. Until that time, all we have are weak predictors of surrogate outcomes that may not have any clinical validity.


We consider the inverse synthetic aperture radar problem in which high-range-resolution radar pulses interrogate a rotating target, and the measured echos are then used to isolate target features. Our approach to this problem is based on the techniques of microlocal analysis, which is a mathematical theory developed to handle high-frequency asymptotics. In essence, our approach M. Cheney, et al., (2003) is to relate high-frequency components of the data to features of the target. Because this scheme applies directly in the data domain, it may have a number of advantages over conventional imaging methods. The purpose of this paper is to show how this theory can be applied to realistic band-limited data. In particular, we propose an iterative algorithm (based on the generalized Radon-Hough transform) in which we estimate the target features associated with high-frequency components of the data, one after another, and subtract out the corresponding band-limited components. We show the results of numerical tests on simulated noisy data.


Objective: To explore the prevention of deep venous thrombosis in elderly patients after hip fractures.Methods: The effects of a series of treatments,including Danshen injection,low molecular weight heparin injection,endogenous electric,air pressure treatment,lower limb ankle pumps,quadriceps exercise,lower limb circulation monitoring in 50 cases of elderly patients with hip fracture before and after surgery,were evaluated.Results: Two cases of deep venous thrombosis in total 50 cases were observed.Satisfied effect was achieved after intravenous thrombolysis treatment in those 2 cases,pulmonary embolism and other serious complications were not found.Conclusion: The treatments discussed in the text can effectively prevent deep venous thrombosis.


The forward bias and reverse bias current‐voltage characteristics of some gold‐epitaxial CdTe‐on‐InSb Schottky diodes have been measured at room temperature. Series resistance is evident in undoped material (base electron concentration ∼1014 cm−3) which has been measured and corrected for and identified as arising from the reverse biased CdTe‐InSb junction. Two straight lines of differing slopes are present in the semilog plots for all the diodes, which we interpret as a bias‐dependent barrier height. The two barrier heights, 0.91±0.04 eV and 0.74±0.02 eV, are well known in the Au‐CdTe system, from which we conclude that two discrete states are present at the CdTe‐Au interface. The occupancy of the states is determined by the applied bias, and hence the barrier height changes.


Breast self-examination (BSE) is a patient-centred, inexpensive and noninvasive method of screening for breast cancer. In North America most women are aware of BSE, and about one-third perform the examination regularly.[1][1] The majority of primary care physicians report either teaching BSE to


VW Caravelle ad is unique because it does not follow the standard or style of car advertising commonly, which tend to accentuate the visual of a car or car's features in large sizes. Instead of communicating the product benefits loudly and directly (hard sell), VW Caravelle ads take the "high-risk pathway" by highlighting the symbols of expressions or human body language kinetics without visual of car (or its features). Using semiotics theory of Morris and kinetics theory of Birdwhistell, the meanings of messages in 2 (two) versions of VW Caravelle ad, i.e. "bulging eyes" version and "toothless" version were revealed in detail and comprehensively.
Revealed, the unusual way of delivering message is actually part of the VW brand culture that tends to intelligently communicate to their customers which is mostly upper class community. Perceived quality that has been established is making VW Caravelle can more freely explore the messages of product benefits indirectly (soft sell) and challenge the intellectuality of message recipients. By using symbolism and kinetics associations, VW Caravelle is also trying to "turn on" the inanimate objects and rigid product like cars. Thus, expression of human touch in the ads makes the VW Caravelle looks being product that is more than just an ordinary car.


The article analyses the issues of creative individuality of every student in connection with the fact that nowadays school should contribute to the formation of intellectually and creative developed personality. The author considers psychological and pedagogical peculiarities of developing intellectual and creative potency of schoolchildren as a basic criterion for developing key competences.


Abstract There is no need for eyes or arms in speech communication. Instead, both humans and machines communicate by speaking and listening. Therefore, speech communication not only helps physically disabled but also help people with hearing loss and/or language disorders. It is also used by people with vision or motor disabilities. There are various types of devices that are used for people with hearing loss. They can be classified as audio-visual stimulation devices, tactile devices, and speech processing devices. These devices consider the characteristics of speech and/or deploy automatic speech recognition inside it. This article focuses on such ASR system based on E2E model which can be useful in such devices. This research is carried out on the language used by the families of India's over 80 million speakers i.e., Marathi. These assessments provide valuable insights into the development of SR models for low-resourced Indian languages. We present E2E ASR model trained with code-switched text of Marathi language and decoded similarly to a normal E2E ASR system. This model achieves a better word error rate of 35.09%, according to experimental results on the code-switched Marathi corpus. We compared our model to Facebook's wav2vec2 model, which produces a WER of 23.72 percent on code-switched Marathi datasets without any language model and 12.10 percent on open ASR Marathi datasets.


This paper presents a planar wideband circularly polarized (CP) antenna with end-fire radiation for millimeter-wave (mmWave) applications. The antenna is realized by the combination of an open-ended substrate integrated waveguide (SIW) line and a pair of open-ended SIW cavities. The SIW line consisting of trapezoidal notch and inductive window is used for feeding network, symmetrical notches etched on the open-ended SIW cavities are designed for generating CP end-fire radiation. Its operating mechanism is explained for easy understanding. To verify the design, a prototype is fabricated and measured, which demonstrates the reflection coefficient bandwidth of 35.3%, 3dB axial ratio (AR) bandwidth of 37.3%, front-to-back ratio (FTBR) of larger than 6.8 dB, and a peak left handed circularly polarized (LHCP) gain of 4.87 dBic. The proposed CP end-fire antenna would be an attractive candidate for mmWave wireless applications.


Thirty -two (32) wistar rats were divided into four groups of eight. Group one was given 5ml/kgbw of normal saline and it served as the control, while groups two to four were given 100, 200 and 500 mg/kgbw of methanol extract Securidacalongepedunculata for twenty-eight (28) days. All the rats were maintained ad libitum on chick's mash and water. Sacrifices were done on the 7 th , 14 th , 21 st and 28 th day for the haematology and the histological examination was after the 28 th day. The result showed a significant (p<0.05) decrease in Hb concentration and WBC when compared to the control at weeks one (acute phase) and four (chronic phase). Weeks two and three showed variations. The same trend was seen in packed cell volume (PCV) with exception in group four of week four. On examination of the organs, there was no morphological difference, however, there were histological changes in the liver and kidneys of animals treated with the extract. These changes were characteristically severe degeneration/necrosis, severe congestion, lymphocytes infiltration, sinusoid enlargement and parenchyma hypertrophy. These results seemed to suggest haemolytic effect and significant organ damage of the methanol extract of Securidacalongepedunculataat the chronic phase.


We investigate the effect of COVID-19 on the investors' awareness about climate risk. The COVID-19 have led investors to draw a parallel between pandemic and climate risks, renewing investors' attention to climate change. Using a novel dataset of trading by each investor types for Korean listed firms, we compare trading behaviors of institutional investors and retail investors. We find that institutional investors divest away from high-emission firms, but on the contrary retail investors do not curtail financing for these companies. Overall, our results confirm the heterogeneity of investor preferences for climate finance.