Background: Skin flap vascularity is a critical determinant of aesthetic results in autologous ear reconstruction. In this work, we investigate the utility of intraoperative laser-assisted indocyanine green angiography (ICGA) as an adjunctive measure of skin flap vascularity in pediatric autologous ear reconstruction. MethodS: 21 consecutive pediatric patients undergoing first stage autologous total ear reconstruction were retrospectively evaluated. The first 10 patients were treated traditionally (non-ICGA) and the latter 11 patients were evaluated with ICGA intraoperatively after implantation of the cartilage construct and administration of suction. Relative and absolute perfusion units in the form of contour maps were generated. Statistical analyses were performed using independent sample Student's t test. reSultS: Statistically significant differences in exposure and infection were not found between the two groups. However , decreased numbers of surgical revisions were required in cases with ICGA versus without ICGA (p=0.03), suggesting that greater certainty in skin flap perfusion correlated to a reduction in revision surgeries. In cases of exposure, we found an average lowest absolute perfusion unit of 14.3 whereas cases without exposure had an average of 26.1 (p=0.02), thereby defining objective parameters for utilizing ICGA data in tailoring surgical decision making for this special population of patients. concluSionS: Defined quantitative parameters for utilizing ICGA in evaluating skin flap vascularity may be a useful adjunctive technique in pediatric autologous ear reconstruction. Background: Identification of lymphatic vessels for lymphaticovenular anastomosis (LVA), which is an effective surgical treatment for obstructive lymphedema, is important. Indocyanine green (ICG) lymphography is useful for that purpose, but is not common in many institutions. Although ultrasound is a very common modality, no research has yet underlined the feasibility of the device to detect the lymphatic vessels.


The declining influence of the United States abroad, brought about both by the rise of China and other emerging powers and by weaknesses at home, is haunting United States politics and has significant implications for Australia. Mr Switzer catalogues the decline and its causes; and describes Australia's need to adjust its foreign policy and become more nuanced in diplomacy.


Categories and research progress of profile control and displacement with foam were summarized.The mechanism of profile control and displacement with all kinds of foam was analyzed,the synergetic mechanism of profile control and displacement with foam and other chemical agent was also analyzed.The disadvantages of profile control and displacement with foam were pointed out in mechanism research and field application at present,and its development directions was proposed.


Regulatory mutants were isolated for six genes required for the production of antibiotic TA in Myxococcus xanthus, using Tn5lac as a promoter probe. Two of the regulatory mutants were closely linked to their corresponding Tn5lac insertions and three were separated by at least 40 kb from their original insertions. All of the β-galactosidase-overproducing mutants showed higher specific activities than their parent strains in three different media. The specific activity was higher throughout the growth cycle, starting earlier and finishing higher. In addition to helping to understand the mechanism of repression of TA genes, the mutants are potentially useful in the construction of antibiotic-overproducing strains.


In the new century,Ethnic changes in politics,economy,society and culture are large and fast.Under this circumstance,the ethnic identity and ethnic relation in multi-ethnic concentrated areas are presenting some new features,such as the frequent interactions building up the ethnic boundaries,the increase of mutual knowledge etc.This paper,through fieldwork research,analyzes the ethnic relations in Xunhua Salar Autonomous County,Qinghai Province,in order to provide some suggestions to the better development of local ethnic relations.


We present a theoretical model for the evolution of mass, angular momentum and size of galaxy disks and bulges, and we implement it into the semi-analytic galaxy formation code SAGE. The model follows both secular and violent evolutionary channels, including smooth accretion, disk instabilities, minor and major mergers. We find that the combination of our recipe with hierarchical clustering produces two distinct populations of bulges: merger-driven bulges, akin to classical bulges and ellipticals, and instability-driven bulges, akin to secular (or pseudo-)bulges. The model mostly reproduces the mass-size relation of gaseous and stellar disks, the evolution of the mass-size relation of ellipticals, the Faber-Jackson relation, and the magnitude-colour diagram of classical and secular bulges. The model predicts only a small overlap of merger-driven and instability-driven components in the same galaxy, and predicts different bulge types as a function of galaxy mass and disk fraction. Bulge type also affects the star formation rate and colour at a given luminosity. The model predicts a population of merger-driven red ellipticals that dominate both the low-mass and high-mass ends of the galaxy population, and span all dynamical ages; merger-driven bulges in disk galaxies are dynamically old and do not interfere with subsequent evolution of the star-forming component. Instability-driven bulges dominate the population at intermediate galaxy masses, especially thriving in massive disks. The model green valley is exclusively populated by instability-driven bulge hosts. Through the present implementation the mass accretion history is perceivable in the galaxy structure, morphology and colours.


During the process of leading the Vietnamese revolution, President Ho Chi Minh always paid attention to the issue of training and fostering the young generation. The person who once said "A year begins in the spring, a life begins in youth, youth is the spring of society", Ho Chi Minh's thought on training and fostering the young generation is a system scientific and comprehensive viewpoint on building a generation of Vietnamese youth with full qualities and capabilities to build and defend the socialist Vietnamese Fatherland. To this day, Ho Chi Minh's thought on training and fostering the young generation is not only an invaluable spiritual asset, but also a very important direction and direction for the career education and training of Vietnam, creatively applied and developed by the Communist Party of Vietnam in the new situation.


Context: Laparoscopic cholecystectomy is one of the most commonly performed minimal access surgeries nationwide, safely done as a day care procedure. Anesthetic techniques facilitating early recovery and home discharge have become the need of the hour. Aims: To compare early, intermediate, late recovery characteristics and time to home readiness following use of sevoflurane or desflurane as maintenance anesthesia in laparoscopic cholecystectomy in Indian subpopulation. In addition, postoperative complications such as coughing and shivering and total antiemetic and analgesic requirements postoperatively were also noted. Settings and Design: This was a prospective randomized study, and randomization was done by computerized random number table into two groups (30 patients in each group). Group S received sevoflurane and Group D received desflurane as maintenance agent. Subjects and Methods: Sixty patients of age group 18–60 years belonging to the American Society of Anesthesiologists Grade I and II undergoing laparoscopic cholecystectomy were recruited. A standard anesthesia induction was done and airway was secured with a ProSeal laryngeal mask airway of appropriate size. The patients subsequently received either sevoflurane 1%–2% or desflurane 3%–6% with 60% N2 O in O2 as per group assigned. Inhalational agent was discontinued at the time of endoscope removal. Early, intermediate, and late recovery parameters were noted. Statistical Analysis: The tests of significance used were parametric test (unpaired t-test) and ANOVA. The outcome measures were compared statistically using unpaired t-test and ANOVA, and P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: Early recovery parameters were achieved faster in patients receiving desflurane as compared to sevoflurane with no difference in time to achieve intermediate recovery and home readiness. Conclusion: Despite a faster early recovery with desflurane, no additional benefit in terms of home discharge and patient satisfaction was found, thus making use of either of the agents suitable for laparoscopic cholecystectomy on a day care basis.


The goal of reduced basis algorithms is to provide a relatively small set of functions which can serve as a basis for sufficiently accurate numerical solutions of some parametrized problem for any choice of parameters. We deal with greedy reduced basis algorithms. An important part of these algorithms is to estimate the difference between the exact solution of a discretized problem and its projection onto the space spanned by a reduced basis. We introduce a new kind of the estimate, which is based on a multilevel splitting of a discretized solution space, and we compare it with a widely used estimate based on bounds to coercivity and continuity constants. We discuss the numerical complexity, accuracy and localization of errors. We also compare guaranteed two-sided bounds, which can be obtained for both types of the error estimates. Some numerical examples are introduced.


M. Bevan showed in the mid-seventies that cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) responses may be initiated by antigen-presenting cells that do not express the antigens themselves (1). He called this process cross-priming. The antigen-presenting cells involved in cross-priming must therefore internalize and present antigens to CD8+ T cells in the context of MHC class I molecules. This process is often referred to as "cross-presentation." Cross-presentation by antigen-presenting cells in vivo results in either cross-priming (initiation of CD8+ T cell responses) or in cross-tolerance (induction of CD8+ T cell unresponsiveness; reference 2). These results raised the question of the nature of the "cross-presenting cells." In vitro, dendritic cells cross-present antigens more efficiently than any other antigen-presenting cell (3). They are also the only antigen-presenting cells that activate naive T lymphocytes (4). Dendritic cells, indeed, are sufficient for cross-presentation in vivo (5).


The purpose of the article is to identify areas for improving the activities of a road enterprise based on a comprehensive assessment of the level of economic security of the enterprise. Methods . As research methods, the article uses analysis, synthesis, deduction, induction, system analysis, comparative analysis, strategic management tools. Results. The author proposes an interpretation of the economic security system as a type of functional strategy of an enterprise, substantiates indicators for assessing the level of eco-nomic security of an enterprise. Effectively for practice, the directions of increasing the eco-nomic security of the enterprise have been identified. Scientifi c novelty . The novelty of the author's approach lies in the application of the balanced scorecard methodology to the construction of indicators for assessing the level of economic security of an enterprise.


The Multi-User downlink, particularly in a Multi-Cell Massive MIMO setting, requires enormous amounts of instantaneous CSIT (Channel State Information at the Trans-mitter(s)), iCSIT. Here we focus on exploiting channel covariance CSIT (coCSIT) only. In particular multipath induced structured low rank covariances are considered that arise in Massive MIMO and mmWave settings, which we call pathwise CSIT (pwC-SIT). The resulting non-Kronecker MIMO channel covariance structures lead to a split between the roles of transmitters and receivers in MIMO systems. For the beamforming optimization, we consider a minorization approach applied to the Massive MIMO limit of the Expected Weighted Sum Rate. Simulations indicate that the pwCSIT based designs may lead to limited spectral efficiency loss compared to iCSIT based designs, while trading fast fading CSIT for slow fading CSIT. We also point out that the pathwise approach may lead to distributed designs with only local pwCSIT, and analyze the sum rates for iCSIT and pwCSIT in the low and high SNR limits.


Determining relationships among names has been identified as an essential task in schema integration in fully integrated heterogeneous database systems as well as in the interoperability of federated database systems [BrHu91, Demi89, Lars89, Shet89, Kim89, SiMa89]. The relationships of interest include IS-A relationships, aggregations, homonyms, and synonyms. This is done manually and co-operatively by many database administrators (DBAs). There have been a few approaches to address the determination of at tr ibute relationships semi-automatically for database schema integration [BrHu91, DemiS9, Lars89, Shet89]. In [YSDK91], we have proposed that the semantics of names (attributes/entities) can be captured by a set of "common concepts", i.e. we make use of sets of concepts to represent the semantics of names. By comparing the concept sets of different names, we may establish relationships among these names.More specifically, our method uses concept hierarchies. Concept hierarchies are formed such that concepts on the top are either more general than concepts on the bot tom of the hierarchy or are composed from lower level concepts. A similarity function is used to measure the semantic closeness of two names. Both [BrHu91]'s and [YSDK91]'s method assume that the mapping from names to term hierarchies or common concepts is done manually by DBAs. We describe briefly here an automatic mapping process, a process to recognize potential relationships among different names and a process to expand knowledge in our knowledge base so as to facilitate the first two processes.


We report the selective erasure of a previously recorded 100% diffraction efficiency grating in a photorefractive lithium niobate crystal. Both the recording and the selective erasure are carried out using self-stabilized holographic recording techniques. The recording and the erasure are shown to be in excellent agreement with the proposed corresponding theoretical model. After erasure, a grating of less than 5% diffraction efficiency remains in place. Almost no sensible light scattering was detected.


Objective
To evaluate the relationship between cold hyperalgesia and trafficking of transient receptor potential melastatin 8(TRPM8)to cell membrane in the dorsal root ganglion(DRG)of rats with neuropathic pain(NP).

Methods
Ninety-six healthy male Sprague-Dawley rats, aged 10-12 weeks, weighing 250-280 g, were divided into sham operation group(S group, n=48)and NP group(n=48)using a random number table.NP was produced by chronic constriction injury to the sciatic nerve.The number of paw lifts on the cold plate and mechanical paw withdrawal threshold(MWT)were measured on 1 day before operation and 1, 4, 7, 10 and 14 days after operation.Rats were sacrificed after behavioral testing, and ipsilateral DRGs of the lumbar segment(L4-6)were dissected for detection of the expression of TRPM8 in total and membrane proteins by Western blot, and the ratio of TRPM8 expression in the membrane protein to that in the total protein(m/t ratio)was calculated.

Results
Compared with group S, the number of paw lifts on the cold plate was significantly increased, the MWT was decreased, the expression of TRPM8 in total and membrane proteins was up-regulated, and m/t ratio was increased on postoperative days 4, 7, 10 and 14 in group NP(P<0.05 or 0.01). In group NP, the number of paw lifts on the cold plate was gradually increased with the prolongation of time after operation and reached the peak on postoperative day 10, maintaining at the peak until postoperative day 14; the MWT was gradually decreased and reached the lowest level on postoperative day 10, maintaining at the lowest level until postoperative day 14; the expression of TRPM8 in total and membrane proteins and m/t ratio were gradually increased with the prolongation of time after operation and reached the peak on postoperative day 10, maintaining at the peak level until postoperative day 14(P<0.01).

Conclusion
The mechanism underlying the development of cold hyperalgesia is related to enhanced trafficking of TRPM8 to cell membrane in DRGs of rats with NP.

Key words:
Neuralgia; Hyperalgesia; TRPM cation channels; Ganglia, spinal


An evanescent field sensing platform is being pursued through excitation of cladding modes using long-period (LPGs) inscribed in an endlessly single-mode photonic crystal fiber (ESM PCF) by CO2 laser irradiation. Core-cladding mode coupling and recoupling has resulted in significant improvement in the evanescent field overlap throughout the cladding air channels in the PCF-LPG, compared to the PCF alone. Our numerical simulation has shown that design optimization of the PCF-LPG configuration can lead to a field power overlap as high as 23% with a confinement loss of less than 1 dB/m in the cladding mode.


Traditional biomass is a major source of cooking and heating energy in Tanzania. Although Tanzanian energy policy insists on the need to diversify energy sources, the level of diversification at a household level is not well known. This study identified energy use patterns and their associated factors in Kilimanjaro Region of Tanzania. Specifically, the study identified the types of cooking fuels and stoves available and used by households, as well as how and why households combined various cooking fuels. The household survey was conducted in 294 randomly selected households in the districts of Rombo and Hai. We found that although biomass is becoming scarce, it is still a major source of cooking energy, combined with the traditional cooking stove. Only 10.2% of the households reported full-time use of improved biomass cookstoves (ICS). The rest combined ICS with the traditional stove, threatening the sustainability of the biomass resource. It was found that 15% of ICS used by households were abandoned due to various technical flaws. Factors like woodlot ownership, kitchen location, electric grid connection, quality of living, and sources of firewood were associated with partial switching of households to either transition fuels or cleaner fuels. We conclude that energy use patterns in this region demonstrate a partial switching of fuel source, because some households use transition fuels or cleaner fuels combined with firewood. Fuel diversification focused more on cooking with biomass than moving to cleaner fuels. This implies that biomass will continue to be a major source of cooking fuels for Tanzanian households and, hence, ICS remains the best solution. For ICS to have a broad impact and achieve more widespread use, it is necessary to address some technical problems associated with ICS. The government of Tanzania should revisit the cost of alternative energy sources like LPG to improve their affordability for the masses.


Equivalent conductivities of dilute solutions of calcium nitrate, cadmium nitrate, zinc nitrate, and calcium chloride (c < 0.0021 eq·dm−3) were measured in binary aqueous mixtures containing up to 70 wt % cosolvent (methanol, ethanol, and acetone) at 298.15 K ± 0.1. Data were treated by the Fuoss−Edelson equation, and its parameters, the limiting equivalent conductivity, Λ0, and the primary association constants, K1A, were evaluated. Variations in Walden products and K1A were interpreted in terms of ionic properties as well as solvent structure and dielectric constant.


In the study, there has been a sharp upward trend in road maintenance cost as the expansion of road networks increases. Running a pavement management system(PMS) is indispensable for efficient and scientific maintenance of the whole road networks with limited maintenance budgets. With a PMS, a maintenance plan should be drawn up after surface conditions are precisely examined and analyzed. The majority of the present PMSs are run by the fact that experts first examine surface conditions on sites, and then enter results into systems. However, considering the actual circumstances of the present time and the increase in paved road hereafter, it is inefficient that experts examine the whole paved roads in person and long-lasting PMSs can not be kept up. As a result, after analyzing the accuracy of 3-D coordinates representing road surfaces that was decided using multi orientation and digital photogrammetry, the average of standard errors turned out to be 0.0427m on the X-axis, 0.0527m on the Y-axis and 0.1539m on the Z-axis. It was found to be good enough to be put to practical use for maps drawn on scales below 1 :1000, which are being currently made and used within the country, and GIS data.


A modular sensor system, wherein at least a cubic frame base element (2) is arranged with at least six sides (4), wherein at least three sides (4) of the cubic frame base element (2) each have at least one universal receiving opening (6) for a module (8).


The invention discloses a film as a protective film for the back of a photovoltaic module and a preparation method of the film. The film contains main resin at least composed of one of polyolefin resin and luting resin; the film also contains a functional additive; and the thickness of the film is 15-150 mum. The preparation method of the film comprises the following steps of: firstly, mixing the functional additive and the main resin, and preparing functional master batches at the temperature of 100-250 DEG C by using a screw extruder, wherein the content of the functional additive is 30-80%; mixing the functional master batches and the main resin, and preparing the film at the temperature of 100-250 DEG C by using one of an extrusion calendaring method and a blow molding method, wherein the content of the functional master batches is 2-25%. The film not only can replace an inner fluorine film of the protective film of the traditional polyvinyl fluoride composite film (TPT) structure, but also is environment-friendly.


An overview of intrusion detection was proposed in wireless ad-hoc networks,and then several existing intrusion detection techniques was proposed that could be applied to wireless ad hoc networks.Finally,a hybrid intrusion detection system for wireless ad-hoc networks was given in order to be helpful for the research of intrusion detection in ad hoc networks.


With the improvement of people's living standards, garbage classification is gradually forced. However, due to people's awareness and knowledge, the classification accuracy and disposal of garbage are difficult to keep pace with guideline changes. With the consideration of the problems of low efficiency, heavy task and poor environment of garbage manual classification, an improved YOLOv7 target detection method is proposed to realize the effective classification of garbage. In this study, the recursive gated convolutional gnconv was used to establish the HorNet network architecture, and the model was trained by making specific data sets. The C3HB module is added to the YOLO model, and the pooling layer is optimized to replace SPPFCSPC to improve the detection accuracy of the target. The experimental results show that the garbage detection and classification method proposed in this study has excellent accuracy. Experiments show that the map value, accuracy and recall rate of the proposed model on garbage datasets are 99.25%, 99.33% and 98.03%, respectively, which are 1.50%, 3.99% and 1.41% higher than those of YOLOv7. The overall results are better than the original model.


My final project consists of a project and a written report of its production. As my final project I created a 3D-animation short Jack in a Box. In the written report I'll go through all the stages of production starting from the selection of the subject and the process of defining goals for the finished product. Starting from general planning and design, I'll go through all the major stages of production, emphasizing on the aspects of visual design. I'll take a closer look especially on 3Dmodeling and digital compositing. In the latter part of the thesis I'll take a look on the completion of goals and reflect upon the sufficiency of my skills in comparison to the projects requirements. This thesis gives a general view of the production of a 3D animated short. It's not a guideline, but rather a description of a method of creating an animation short using 3Dmodeling and Digital Compositing. The subject is approached mainly from a practical point of view, but also from theoretical ground.


ABSTRACT The pulsed gas tungsten arc welding with hot wire was used to clad Inconel 625 on the surface of X65 steel. The influences of welding current in horizontal welding position on the dilution, in further the composition, microstructure, and property of the Inconel 625/X65 cladding interface were investigated. Experimental results show that with the increase in welding current, namely, in heat input and arc force, dilution rate increased; the composition transition region in the cladding layer close to the fusion line, controlled by the cladding temperature, would be widen; in further, the microstructure would be different due to the heat transfer and composition change; the precipitates were niobium-rich MC carbide with a low welding current, but tended to be the intermetallic compounds, Laves phase, with a high welding current; the highest and lowest hardness values appeared on the heat-affected zone and cladding layer next to the bonding interface, respectively.


Constraints and obstacles experienced by Vocational High School (SMK) students in the academic field are not only about the lack of information about the world of work or higher education, but the ability of SMK students in preparing their careers is still relatively low, students do not yet have a clear picture of their abilities, interests, and abilities. their goal. The purpose this a research is to form the career identity of students through career guidance services. This study uses descriptive qualitative research methods through Counseling Guidance Actions (PTBK). Data analysis was obtained from observations, interviews, and documentation. Based on the results of interviews and observations in this study, there is a significant difference between before and after being given career guidance actions to form career identities for class XII students of SMK Darussalam Blokagung Tegalsari Banyuwangi. Thus, students have a change in career identity after being given career guidance services, so it can be concluded that career guidance services can be used to form an identity in students' careers.


In this paper we address the problem of dose correction in the data bases consistent with ultra- large-scale integration. It is shown that recent advances in transformation theory provide a natural platform on which to build these dose correctors. Specifically, transformation approaches making use of compactly supported, smooth basis functions are shown to be particularly suitable. This is a natural result of the evolution of mathematically based correctors currently in use. Previous work in Parikh, MacDonald and others employed global transform method to determine the values of 'corrected' dose. In most cases, the mathematical inversion is essentially ill posed, in other words, the exact pattern desired cannot be obtained using a finite Gaussian sum. In this paper a set of smooth basis elements of compact support are employed. The mathematically smooth form of the basis makes it easy to match doses at boundaries without Gibbs phenomenon. Thus the transform field can be partitioned for optimum speed. Consequently, while most transformation complexities are of order N6 (the inversion of an N2 X N2 matrix) where N2 is the number of grid points characterizing the database, we developed an algorithm of complexity N2 log N. A method of dose field bias is employed to stem the requests for negative dose. The heart of the numerical process is essentially based on an adapted fast non-uniform-grid Fourier Transform combined with proper filtering and geometric localization methods. Several examples are given.


AIM To study the role of oncogene N ras mutation in the progression of primary hepatocellular cancer (HCC). METHODS Polymerase chain reaction and restriction fragment length polymorphims (PCR RFLP) analysis were performed in 30 surgically resected HCC specimens to determine the point mutations at codon 12 of N ras gene. RESULTS Point mutation was detected in 5 of 30 (16 7%) of HCC specimens. No significant correlation was found between the positivity of N ras mutation and the status of background lesions, tumor size, differentiation, metastasis and hepatitis B virus ( P 0 05). CONCLUSION The point mutation at codon 12 of N ras gene is involved in the development of HCC.


To solve the problems in WSN including energy limitation,capacity limitation of memory and computing,we presented EBAC,an energy-balanced clustering algorithm. It made an improvement on CH selection based on LEACH,with the nodes residual energy considered. Simulation result proves that EBAC performs better than LEACH in lifetime. Moreover,due to balanced energy consumption in EBAC,all the nodes die almost at the same time (in the last 20 rounds),so the reliability of sensing information in EBAC is higher than that in LEACH.


The use of local or regional skin flaps for repairs after head and neck cancer surgery often increases the deformity of the patient. We present a new procedure using a gastric flap on an omental pedicle. It has been successful in dog experiments where we transferred it to the head and neck region, to serve as a substitute for the standard skin flaps.


The purpose of this study is to understand the experience of watching movies in group streaming, focusing on Watcha party users, and to understand how watching movies in spaces outside the cinema is different from watching in cinema. Accordingly, an in-depth interview was conducted with nine users who had experienced a watcha party by selecting the phenomenological research method of Giorgi. As a result of the study, a total of 8 components and 27 sub-components were derived, and the following results were obtained. First, it was found that due to the diversification of OTT services and the development of group streaming, audiences chose not only cinema but also various spaces when watching movies. Second, it was found that while continuously using Watcha Party, users experienced differentiated interests that they had not experienced with the existing movie viewing method. Third, based on these experiences, it was confirmed that the choice of the movie viewing space was expanded according to the type of movie or the given situation in the future. This study is significant in that it specifically analyzes the experiences of Watcha Party users through phenomenological methods and can help identify and understand the types of movies watched through group streaming.


The use of interactive simulations (sims) in physics education is increasing. Aside from direct observation, teachers currently lack options for gaining useful insights into how their students are using these sims. A teacher dashboard to analyze and visualize student interaction with sims holds promise for responding to teacher needs and providing opportunities for improved classroom implementation of such sims. In this work we present progress in the design and development of a teacher dashboard that analyzes and visualizes student interaction with sims. A survey of over 800 teachers was conducted to identify the types of information teachers' perceive as useful and how they would use that information to guide instruction. Teacher report valuing information that helps them to review student performance, to improve the design of sim-centered activities, and to plan lessons. A prototype dashboard design informed by this survey is also presented, including data collected from student sim use during a college homework activity. Finally, we describe how this dashboard design can address teacher needs related to insights around sim-based activities. Future work will evaluate teacher opinions regarding their interpretation of the data visualizations and the dashboard design in general.


It is a system (1) discloses a plurality of different work modules, which are each designed for the handling of beverage containers. The system comprises at least a first operating module (3) and at least one second power module (5), wherein the at least one first power module (3) and the at least one second working module (5) in each case at least one conveyor for transporting beverage containers as well as different work functions for acting have on beverage containers. In addition, the system (1) comprises a mounting position (30) into which the respective operating at least one first power module (3) or the at least one second working module (5) can be introduced selectively. Moreover, the system (1) comprises an installation device (14), wherein the installation device (14) for selectively introducing the at least one first power module (3) or the at least one second power module (5) is actuatable in the mounting position (30) and / or can be actuated.


The control of an aerial flexible joint robot (FJR) manipulator system with underactuation is a difficult task due to unavoidable factors, including, coupling, underactuation, nonlinearities, unmodeled uncertainties, and unpredictable external disturbances. To mitigate those issues, a new robust fixed-time sliding mode control (FxTSMC) is proposed by using a fixed-time sliding mode observer (FxTSMO) for the trajectory tracking problem of the FJR attached to the drones system. First, the underactuated FJR is comprehensively modeled and converted to a canonical model by employing two state transformations for ease of the control design. Then, based on the availability of the measured states, a cascaded FxTSMO (CFxTSMO) is constructed to estimate the unmeasurable variables and lumped disturbances simultaneously in fixed-time, and to effectively reduce the estimation noise. Finally, the FxTSMC scheme for a high-order underactuated FJR system is designed to guarantee that the system tracking error approaches to zero within a fixed-time that is independent of the initial conditions. The fixed-time stability of the closed-loop system of the FJR dynamics is mathematically proven by the Lyapunov theorem. Simulation investigations and hardware tests are performed to demonstrate the efficiency of the proposed controller scheme. Furthermore, the control technique developed in this research could be implemented to the various underactuated mechanical systems (UMSs), like drones, in a promising way.


Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is associated with debilitating myopathic symptoms including muscle wasting, weakness, and fatigue. Mitochondria have been implicated as a mediator of skeletal muscle dysfunction in CKD, however, the underlying mechanisms of mitochondrial dysfunction in CKD are unknown.


ARCHER, C. P., editor. Improvement of Rural Li f e. Washington 6, D. C.: National Eduation Association, 1201 Sixteenth Street, N. W. 1960. 100 pp. $1.50. The role of community schools around the world in building up living standards of the areas they serve while providing basic education for children and adults is told in a new publication of the Department of Rural Education of the National Education Association. This publication brings together accounts of how community schools have functioned in many areas of the world-the Philippine Islands, South America, Israel, Egypt, and Norway, among others. Included also are some of the experiences in rural areas of the United States where community schools have undertaken programs which produced noticeable improvements in the level of living. The community school is one which devotes itself not merely to the formal education of its pupils, but also to the quality of living of the people it serves. In underdeveloped countries the problems to which community schools address themselves may be as basic as the provision of food, clothing, and shelter. More complex problems confront the community schools in rural areas of southern states in this country, for instance, which may be concerned with crops diversification or the beginnings of industrialization. The author finds as a common denominator in all the reports presented in this book recognition that the school has responsibility for leadership not only in academic matters, but also in programs of cooperative action centered around community problems of broad concern to both the school and the community. Acknowledging that the problems of rural communities of America are far different than those of the primitive areas described in the book, he writes that the weekly or daily newspapers of any American community will provide an index of problems to which the community school might well address itself. Among them he cites traffic and home accidents, inadequate fire and police protection, overcrowded schools, water shortages, juvenile delinquency caused by lack of adequate guidance and recreation services, problems of taxation, housing and zoning, social services, and efforts. to meet the


Experimental drug was applied to a white male mouse taken ill with allergic contact dermatitis to investigate the effects of Yanghyulsamultanggamibang. 1. In case of skin moisture, when it was checked 72 hours later, there showed up meaningful differences among the normal, control, and sample groups. Especially, the moisture increased more noticeably in the sample group than in the control group. 2. With regards to RBC count in blood, it increased more in the control and sample groups than in the normal group when it was checked both in 24 hours and 72 hours. When it was checked in 48 hours, the number of RBC in the sample group increased the most, and the count in the control group increased more than in the normal group. 3. About the neutrophil rate in WBC count, it increased meaningfully more both on the control and sample groups than in the normal group in 24 hours. When the rate was checked in 48 hours, it increased the most in the sample group, and it increased more in the control group than in the normal group. When in checked72 hours later, it increased substantially more in the control group than both the sample and normal group. 4. As of the lymphocyte rate in WBC count, when measured in 24 hours, it increased in the normal group than in the control and sample groups. In 48 hours, it increased the most in the normal group, and it increased meaningfully more in the control group than in the sample group. 5. Regarding the total IgE, when measured 24 hours later, it increased noticeably more in the normal group than in the control and sample groups. In 48 hours, there showed up substantial differences among the normal, control and sample groups. In particular, it increased meaningfully more in the control group than in the sample group. 6. When the sample of skin tissue was examined, the corneal layer restoration increased more in the sample group than in the normal group. The above-mentioned results prove that Yanghyulsamultanggamibang can be taken when allergic contact dermatitis develops on the skin. Long-term observation afterward is also advised.


Purpose – The research world is full of women who have explored the scientific world and given their best to humanity. Kashmir, known for its conflict rather than its beauty now, has also given birth to a number of women researchers who have excelled in their respective fields. The study attempts to explore the contributions to the scientific world of women from the University of Kashmir, one of the leading institutions of Kashmir. The research contributions of women from a conflict zone, Kashmir, have been taken into account in the study. Methodology – The data related to the women researchers of Kashmir were extracted from the largest citation and abstract database of peer-reviewed literature, Elsevier's Scopus, which features smart tools that track, analyse and visualise research from varied dimensions. Findings – The study reveals the effect of conflict on women in the scientific world. The findings show that there are significant differences by gender in terms of research productivity in a conflict r...


Annular flow topology for three air-water conditions in a vertical duct is investigated through the use of a traversing double-sensor hot-film anemometry probe and differential pressure measurements. Near wall measurements of mean and fluctuating velocities, as well as local void fraction, are taken in the liquid film, with the highest turbulent fluctuations occurring for the flow condition with the largest pressure drop. A modified law-of-the-wall formulation for wall shear is presented which, using near wall values of mean velocity and kinetic energy, agrees reasonably well with the average stress obtained from direct pressure drop measurements. The linear profile using wall coordinates in the logarithmic layer is preserved in annular flow; however, the slope and intercept of the profile differ from the single-phase values for the annular flow condition which has a thicker, more turbulent, liquid film.


Agriculture is the source of food, clothing, and the foundation of human existence. In recent years, various countries have been increasing investment in agricultural production and actively carrying out agricultural pest control work. Therefore, how effectively realizing pest identification is a top priority at present. Traditional identification methods have disadvantages, such as time-consuming and laborious, untimely diagnosis, and limited diagnosis range. With the development of modern digital technology, image processing technology develops rapidly, which opens up a new way for pest identification. This paper proposes an improved network model for pest identification using the YOLOv5 target detection algorithm. Firstly, the data sets of pests and diseases are collected and marked. Then, an improved anchor frame size is proposed to make it more suitable for the data set used in this paper. Finally, an improved network structure of YOLOv5 is proposed, which improves the ability of the network to capture characteristic information. The experimental results show that the mean Average Precision (email@example.com) of the improved network model reaches 79.7%. At the same time, compared with Faster R-CNN, Dynamic R-CNN, Double-Head R-CNN, YOLOv3, and YOLOv5, the email@example.com is improved by 8.5%, 8.1%, 8.8%, 9.3%, and 3.7% respectively.


Sarco(endo)plasmic reticulum calcium (Ca2+) ATPase (SERCA) transports Ca2+ in muscle. Impaired SERCA activity contributes to diabetic myopathy. Sirtuin (SIRT) 3 regulates muscle metabolism and function. However, it is unknown if SIRT3 regulates muscle SERCA activity. We determined if SIRT3 overexpression enhances SERCA activity in mouse gastrocnemius muscle and if SIRT3 overexpression preserves gastrocnemius SERCA activity in a model of type 2 diabetes, induced by high fat-high sucrose (HFHS)-feeding. We also determined if the acetylation status of SERCA proteins in mouse gastrocnemius is altered by SIRT3 overexpression or HFHS-feeding. Wild-type (WT) mice and SIRT3 transgenic (SIRT3TG) mice, overexpressing SIRT3 in skeletal muscle, were fed a standard- or HFHS-diet for 4-months. SIRT3TG and WT mice developed obesity and glucose intolerance after 4-months of HFHS-feeding. SERCA Vmax was higher in gastrocnemius of SIRT3TG mice, compared to WT mice. HFHS-fed mice had lower SERCA1a protein levels and lower SERCA Vmax in their gastrocnemius than control-fed mice. The decrease in SERCA Vmax in gastrocnemius muscle due to HFHS-feeding was attenuated by SIRT3 overexpression in HFHS-fed SIRT3TG mice. SERCA1a and SERCA2a acetylation in mouse gastrocnemius was not altered by genotype or diet. These findings suggest SIRT3 overexpression improves SERCA function in diabetic mouse skeletal muscle.


During the last years, organizational performance of manufacturing organizations is considered to be a key for a country's economy. As a result of high positive performance of manufacturing organization; the overall effects on the society have attributed the attention and the interest of organisational researchers. Armstrong and Baron (2003) highlighted the need of performance management as being strategic, integral (vertical, functional, human resource integration and integration of individual needs), focus on performance improvement as well as with the development. Gates and Otley (1999) further broaden the scope of performance measurement to include strategy development and the taking of action. In this study, researcher investigates the extent to which an organizational performance is affected by the actions of manufacturing leaders than by just implementing strong rules and regulations in the manufacturing organization. It was also examine whether differences in manufacturing organizational performance and actions of their leaders relate directly to manufacturing organizational performance or vice versa. There are number of tools and techniques available to measure organizational performance e.g. balance score card theory (BSC) by Kaplan and Norton (1992) based on stakeholder theory. The balanced scorecard approach was used as an operational tool, and it is employed to measure and improve operational performance of manufacturing organizations. According to Professor, Bob Kaplan, balance scorecard approach has further extended the measurement of organizational performance. Lipe and Salterio's (2000) observed that the application of balance scorecard approach facilitates managers' judgment, they further elaborate that balance scorecard approach improves managers' judgement regarding what is actually essential without any overloading of information. Further according to Tomasello M et al (2005), humans are more skilled than other animals at discerning what others are perceiving, intending, desiring, knowing, and believing—allowing group decision based on mutual discussion. It is therefore expected that the performance of the manufacturing organizations in this study to be attributed to the ability to actually do the job of their subordinates by the manufacturing leaders and thus set an example for the workers and thus enhance the performance of the manufacturing organization. Based on the results of data analysis of 132 manufacturing organization leaders/workers, it was found that organizational performance measured using balance score card approach is negatively related to both strong rules and regulations than by the actions of manufacturing organization leaders. Researcher argues this is due to strong rules and regulations in manufacturing organizations and so subordinates own innovativity reduces and causes organisational performance at stack. On the other hand manufacturing leaders' positive attitude has a significant positive relation between manufacturing organisational performance. Finally, it was also observed that manufacturing leaders educational background, related field experience positively influences the manufacturing organizational performance. Overall, results suggest that the more skilled and experience a manufacturing leader has, the more positive is the organizational performance. In a nut shell it can be concluded that manufacturing organizational performance is directly related to the actions of manufacturing leaders as well as the skills, experience and ability to do the job of his/her subordinate. A model for improving performance of manufacturing organizations has been developed as a result of data analysis of this study and is presented in this paper to enhance the performance of manufacturing organizations. [Syed Athar Masood, Mirza Jahanzaib, Khalid Akhtar. Do actions speak louder than words? An empirical investigation in terms of organizational performance in manufacturing organizations. Life Sci J 2012;9(4):687-693] (ISSN:1097-8135). http://www.lifesciencesite.com. 107


Background: The outcomes of the two procedures; self-expandable metal stent (SEMS) insertion and percutaneous gastrostomy (PG) feeding procedures, used in patients with malignant esophageal obstruction, are still controversial. We aimed to compare the outcomes between the two procedures, following propensity score (PS) matching. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed 568 esophageal cancer patients who underwent SEMS insertion (stent group) or PG (gastrostomy group) at the Samsung Medical Center between January 1996 and December 2018. Procedures for reasons other than malignant obstruction were excluded. We analyzed the datasets after PS matching. Primary outcomes were the post-procedural nutritional status, and need for additional intervention (AI). The secondary outcome was overall survival (OS). Results: In a matched cohort, the gastrostomy group showed less decrease in albumin level after the procedure (−0.15 ± 0.57 vs. stent group; 0.41 ± 0.59, p = 0.021). The gastrostomy group required less need for, and number of, AIs (2.1% vs. stent group; 23.4%, p < 0.001 and 0.04 ± 0.25 vs. stent group; 0.31 ± 0.61, p < 0.001). After matching, there was no significant difference between the two groups in OS. However, PG was associated with OS based on multivariable analysis of the matched cohort (vs. stent group, hazard ratio 0.69, 95% confidence interval 0.5–0.95). Conclusions: PG tends to provide better post-procedure nutritional status than SEMS insertion in patients with malignant esophageal obstruction.


This study investigates the effect of the structure of managerial stock ownership, and the fundamental variables of the firms before they acquired the target firms i.e. free cash flow, financial leverage, sustainable growth, relative firm size and market to book value, on the method of payment in acquisition i.e. with cash or stock payment, and on the choice of the type of acquisition i.e. internal or external acquisition, and also investigates the long-term stock return performance after the acquisition, for the public acquiring firms in Bursa Efek Jakarta, Indonesia between 1995 and 2000. Contingency table analysis performed in this paper finds that there is no systematic relation between the structure of managerial stock ownership and the method of payment in acquisition, and also between the structure of managerial stock ownership and the choice of the type of the acquisition. From logistic regression analysis shows that the probabilities to pay with cash in acquisition decrease when the target firm sized increased. Furthermore, the long-term stock return of the acquiring firms that pay with cash significantly difference than that of pay with stock, but the stock payment was the better. The long-term stock return of the acquiring firms also significantly difference than that of non-acquiring firms, and non-acquiring firms was the better. This study also detects that there is insignificantly difference between the long-term stock return between the acquiring firms that choose the internal acquisition and external acquisition, and there is also insignificantly difference between the long-term stock return of the acquiring firms that choose the internal acquisition with cash payment and the internal acquisition with stock payment. Keywords: acquiring firms, target firms, cash and stock payment in acquisition, internal acquisition, external acquisition and long-term stock return.


Though hypertension has been known for over a century, its pathophysiology and management remain a problem. It remains to be the major reversible risk factor for cardiovascular disease (CVD) and renal failure. In Malaysia, it was reported that the proportion of death due to CVD in peninsular Malaysia has multiplied more than three-fold since 1965 • A high prevalence of hypertension has attributed to this increase. Osman et at.,' reported that among rural Malay adult, out of 359 people examined, 26% had hypertension which was defined as systolic blood pressure (SBP) more than 140 mmHg and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) more than 90 mmHg. In another study', 14% of 963 respondents were found to be hypertensive with 16.8% of them from urban area compared to 12.3% from rural area. This figure doubled in 1996 where report from The Second National Health and Morbidity Survey" showed the overall estimated prevalence of hypertension among adults in Malaysia is 29.9%. This figure comprised 14.0% of the self-reported hypertension and 15.9% of undiagnosed hypertension.


The fine structure of the zoospore of Physoderma gerhardti Schroeter is described. It possesses a single very large lipid body (sometimes accompanied by several smaller ones) situated laterally to the nuclear cap – nucleus complex and is associated with electron-dense material (the microbody) and the single large posteriorly located mitochondrion. The single posterior flagellum proximally terminates in a kinetosome just short of the posterior cone-shaped end of the nucleus. The kinetosome lies in a deep groove in the mitochondrion and is associated with this organelle by striated rootlets. The kinetosome terminates in electron-dense material from which an array of microtubules arises. These microtubules run along the sides of the cone-shaped nucleus and nuclear cap. There is an accessory centriole lying close to and more or less parallel with the kinetosome. The cytoplasm contains a small amount of smooth endoplasmic reticulum and several inclusion bodies in the anterior region and several small vacuoles ...


The peripheral blood absolute lymphocyte count (ALC) on day 15 after autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT) has been shown to be an independent predictor for overall survival (OS) for many malignancies including acute myelogenous leukemia (AML), breast cancer, multiple myeloma (MM), primary systemic amyloidosis, and Hodgkin's and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL). A recent report (Dean et al. BMT2005; 36, 1049–1052) suggested that infused autograft dendritic cells (DC) affect survival post-ASCT in NHL. Thus, DC recovery at day 15 post-ASCT was assessed and correlated with OS. Preliminary data from an ongoing prospective study of 28 NHL patients post-ASCT are reported. Absolute DC at day 15 was analyzed by four color flow cytometry using antibodies to CD3, CD14, CD16, and CD19. In this approach lymphocytes and DCs were initially gated by their similar forward and side light scatter characteristics; DCs were then identified as cells in this gate that lacked staining for the lymphocyte antigens CD3, CD16, and CD19 and the monocyte antigen CD14. The percentage of antigen negative cells cells in the lymphocyte gate was then multiplied by the coincident peripheral blood absolute lymphocyte to determine the absolute DC count. Survival was then analyzed using the Kaplan-Meier method. With a median follow-up of 18 months, patients recovering a DC of 10 cells/μl or above experienced superior median OS versus those who did not (not reached vs 21 months, p


While accepting the responsibility of the "chief editor" of ASCE's Journal of Bridge Engineering effective October 1, 2009, I would like to thank Mr. Bruce Peterson, previous editor of the Journal, for his exemplary service to the Journal and the profession. I am committed to maintain and to make further advancements in the reputation of the Journal that Bruce has established. The Journal, devoted exclusively to bridge engineering, reports on both the theory and the practice of the structural design, inspection, construction, and performance of bridges. From materials to rehabilitation, safety to demolition, papers published in the Journal address all aspects of a bridge's life. Currently, all manuscripts are submitted to the Journal online through Editorial Manager http://www.editorialmanager.com/ jrnbeeng/default.asp . Review and revision process for all submitted manuscripts are also conducted online. This has helped us in reducing the review time significantly while maintaining the quality of manuscripts accepted for publication in the Journal. The Journal has also started preview of manuscripts on the Journal's Web site that have been peer-reviewed, accepted, and posted online before the final, copyedited version is published online and in print. We can maintain our tradition of excellence and promotion of cutting-edge advances in the bridge engineering research and


Disclosed is an elevator safety brake device used in an elevator cage. The elevator safety brake device comprises a safety clamp device and a driving device. The safety clamp device comprises a clamp body, a braking wedge block, a roller subassembly, a bent plate, a first liner plate, a braking plate and a butterfly spring set. One side of the clamp body is open; an elevator lead rail vertically passes by in front of the clamp body; the braking wedge block is arranged in the clamp body, with one side bordering upon the surface of the elevator lead rail and the other side bordering upon the roller subassembly; an adjusting bolt is arranged at the upper end of the braking wedge block and a driving device is arranged at the lower end of the braking wedge block; a spring is connected at the lower end of the roller assembly, and the other end of the spring is connected with the bent plate; the bolt sequentially perforates the bent plate and the first liner plate from the right wall of the clamp body; a bolt is arranged at the lower part of the bent plate; a cover board is installed at the open side of the clamp body; two long slots are arranged on the cover board; pins and bolts fixed on the braking wedge block respectively run through the two long slots; and braking plate and the spring set are arranged between the other side of the elevator lead rail and the side wall of the clamp body and are connected through bolts. The elevator safe braking device is simple in structure and low in cost and is convenient to install.


FIELD: chemistry. SUBSTANCE: invention relates to compounds of general formula (I) (I), where: R 1 and R 2 , which can be identical or different, independently selected from a group consisting of: - (C 1 -C 6 )alkyl, optionally substituted (C 3 -C 7 )cycloalkyl; - (C 1 -C 6 )halogenalkyl; - (C 3 -C 7 )cycloalkyl and - (C 3 -C 7 )heterocycloalkyl, containing heteroatom O; R 3 represents hydrogen, (C 1 -C 6 )alkyl or (C 1 -C 3 )alkylthio(C 1 -C 6 )alkyl; A is a partially unsaturated or unsaturated bicyclic ring system consisting of two condensed monocyclic ring systems B and C, presented in cl. 1 of formula, where ring C is a monocyclic aryl or monocyclic heteroaryl ring system, ring B is a 5- or 6-member heterocycloalkyl group, zero of Y groups is bonded to ring C, n of groups Y is bonded to ring B, and n is an integer from 1 to 3; and where ring B and C optionally contains additional heteroatoms in amount of 1 to 4, selected from N, O or S; p is an integer from 0 to 3; Y denotes oxo group; K is selected from a group consisting of: - (C 1 -C 6 )alkyl, optionally substituted with one (C 3 -C 7 )cycloalkyl group; - (C 3 -C 6 )heterocycloalkyl(C 1 -C 4 )alkyl containing 1 or 2 heteroatoms selected from N or O; - (C 3 -C 6 )heterocycloalkyl containing 1 or 2 heteroatoms selected from N or O, optionally substituted with one or more (C 1 -C 6 )alkyl group; - (C 1 -C 4 )halogenalkyl; - OR 4 , where R 4 selected from a group consisting of: - H; - (C 1 -C 6 )alkyl, optionally substituted (C 3 -C 7 )cycloalkyl or heteroaryl; - halogen atoms; - CN; - NO 2 ; - NR 5 R 6 , where R 5 and R 6 , which can be identical or different, independently selected from a group consisting of: - H; - OH; - (C 1 -C 4 )alkyl-NR 7 R 8 , where R 7 and R 8 , which can be identical or different, independently selected from a group consisting of: H; (C 1 -C 6 )alkyl, possibly substituted (C 1 -C 6 )alkoxyl; and (C 1 -C 6 )alkyl-NR 9 R 10 , where R 9 and R 10 , which can be identical or different, represent H or (C 1 -C 6 )alkyl; or they form together with a nitrogen atom to which they are bonded, (C 3 -C 6 )heterocycloalkyl ring containing 1 or 2 heteroatoms, selected from N, O or S, optionally substituted (C 1 -C 6 )alkyl or (C 1 -C 6 )alkylcarbonyl group; -(C 1 -C 6 )alkyl, optionally substituted with (C 1 -C 6 )alkoxyl or heteroaryl, (C 3 -C 6 )heterocycloalkylcarbonyl containing 1 or 2 heteroatoms selected from N or O, heteroarylcarbonyl, wherein all of them may further be substituted with one or more (C 1 -C 6 )alkyl, (C 1 -C 6 )halogenalkyl or (C 1 -C 6 )alkoxyl groups, which are identical or different and are selected independently; - SO 2 R 11 , where R 11 represents (C 1 -C 6 )alkyl; - C(O)R 12 , where R 12 is (C 1 -C 6 )alkyl, optionally substituted with (C 1 -C 6 )alkoxyl; - (C 1 -C 4 )alkyl-NR 13 R 14 , where R 13 and R 14 , which can be identical or different, are independently selected from a group consisting of groups: - SO 2 (C 1 -C 6 )alkyl, H, (C 1 -C 6 )alkyl and (C 3 -C 7 )heterocycloalkyl(C 1 -C 4 )alkyl containing 1 or 2 heteroatoms selected from N or O; and - SO 2 NR 15 R 16 , where R 15 and R 16 , which can be identical or different, independently represent H or (C 1 -C 6 )alkyl; where groups with R 4 at R 16 have similar or different values in each case, if they are present in more than one group; and where heteroaryl is a mono- or bicyclic ring system with 5–10 ring atoms, containing 1 or 2 heteroatoms selected from N, O or S; or its pyridine-N-oxides, pharmaceutically acceptable salts or solvates. As well as to methods of producing such compounds, compositions containing them and their therapeutic application as inhibitors of phosphodiesterase 4 (PDE4) enzyme. EFFECT: disclosed are derivatives of 1-phenyl-2-pyridinyl alkyl alcohols as inhibitors. 16 cl, 16 tbl, 52 ex


One hundred and four isolates of E.coli isolated from cases of bovine diarrhea were subjected to antibiogram testing using 17 antibiotics and antibacterials. By disc diffusion technique the isolates were differentiated into 91 different antibiotic resistance pattern indicating high order of reliability and sensitivity (88%). Nearly all the isolates were susceptible to norfloxacin, enrofloxacin, ofloxacin. The drug of choice for bovine diarrhea due to E.coli warrants manufacture of patent preparations containing norfloxacin, enrofloxacin and ciprofloxacin.


Microwave sounder is a payload of a certain satellite. The software design of time sequence table is introduced in detail. The method is adopted in microwave sounder software design. The running process of the software is inquiring time sequence table. The advantages are simple software structure, incompact module function and structure, high running efficiency, easy to modify and test. The advantages are sufficiently verified in the procedure of microwave sounder design, test and calibration. It will provide refer- ence for developing of other spaceborne software.


Upon entering the basilica of San Lorenzo in Florence one is immediately impressed by the nave arcades, those rhythmic, monumental assemblages of columns, entablature blocks and arches that in the first half of the fifteenth century established a benchmark of elegance and refinement for all subsequent architecture of the Renaissance [1]. Cool, orderly and restful yet, like springs coiled in compression, full of energy, the nave arcades are works of tremendous artistic power. By functioning so strongly as complete compositions, the nave arcades suppress the individuality of their component parts: viewed from ground level, the repeated bays all appear to be identical, even though when viewed up close the capitals and other carved details betray notably uneven levels of quality in both design and execution. This variation in quality constitutes a rich and largely untapped source of evidence pertaining to the construction history and original meaning of this pivotal work in the history of architecture.


The study aims to investigate learning processes that take place in the European Innovation Community. The research is based on a case-study of one of the EU projects - Lifestyle AM. The project dealt with knowledge transfer issues, providing support to the EU innovation projects. The study addresses what- and how have the team-members of Lifestyle AM learnt in their work. Interview and document qualitative studies are employed as methods of research. Based upon a contextualised model that builds on Argyris' model of single- and double-loop learning and Ellstrom's model of adaptive- and developmental learning, an analysis of the learning loops in the Lifestyle team is carried out. The results of the study showed that elements of single- and double-loop learning intertwined at different levels of work in the team. Nyckelord: Learning, single-loop learning, double-loop learning, task, methods, results.


In newborn babies with clinically ambiguous genitalia, a variety of conditions must be considered. The most important ones are congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH), genital malformation as part of an overall pattern of malformation, androgen resistance syndrome, pure gonadal dysgenesis or true hermaphroditism (Houk CP et al. UpToDate, Online Publication; 2007: http://www. utdol.com.; Stöllinger O. In: Oswald J et al. Kinderurologie 1999: 136–140). When ultrasound (US) findings are not clear, injecting sonographic contrast media through the opening of the urogenital sinus may be helpful for delineating the urogenital sinus and internal duct structures (Kiechl-Kohlendorfer U et al. AJR 2001; 177: 1041– 1044). This will help to determine the presence of Wolffian versus Müllerian ductal structures (Nguyen HT. In: Baskin LS et al. Handbook of Pediatric Urology 2001: 33–49).


The 20th century witnessed the linguistic turn in western philosophy characterized by Wittgenstein's meaning being usage and family resemblance,Gadamer's unification of subjective and objective and dialogue of language,Lyotard's games of science and legalization,and Derrida's explanation being a game,all of which are the main representatives of the thought of language game,which offers a new perspective on teaching in that teaching can be a game of dialogue.


From the lens of symbolic interaction and impression management framework, people tend to manage their impressions in the front stage settings, and their performances are guided by the conventional moral rules within that setting. My study explores the role of impression management framework in multi-language settings. In a front stage setting, Chinese speakers are able to use language to set up a barrier, and this barrier enables them to include the Chinese speakers into the conversation and exclude the rest of the audiences. Thus, impression management, especially verbal impression management is conducted in an unconventional and different way. This study provides the inappropriate, sometimes offensive topics Chinese speakers talked about in front of American audiences, Chinese speakers' thoughts on speaking a foreign language in front of American audiences and American students' perceptions of feeling offended by the Chinese conversations or not. It is applicable to many other social psychology areas because Chinese is not the only "secret code" one can use to include and exclude certain people while conducting a conversation. This study also explores a more complicated setting situation that includes cross-culture and multi-language components. Thus, the mono-language setting from the majority of previous impression management studies are extended and much fully learned.


"Constitutional government," Glenn Schram affirms, "in the sense of government effectively limited by preestablished rules. . is something of immense value"; and he quotes Charles McIlwain's "constitutionalism ... is a legal limitation on government."1 But he shrinks from testing judicial "activism" by those limitations, stating, "Nor is the cause of constitutionalism helped by Berger, who comes very close to charging the United States Supreme Court with usurpation for not adhering to what ... he considers to have been the intent of the majority of the authors of the Fourteenth Amendment," thereby "detract[ing] from the legitimacy of the Court.'"2 If, however, the Court has assumed power withheld, constitutionalism can only be advanced by demonstrating the "usurpation." With Philip Kurland, I consider that "the most immediate constitutional crisis of our present time [is] the usurpation by the judiciary of general governmental powers on the pretext that its authority derives from the Fourteenth Amendment."3 That is the thesis of my Government by Judiciary: The Transformation of the Fourteenth Amendment. Schram' s reference to what Berger "considers to have been the intent of the majority" of the framers does scant justice to the proof, which even my critics acknowledge stands solidly. So Nathaniel Nathanson wrote that Alexander Bickel "conclusively demonstrated" that the framers understood that the amendment "would not require school desegregation," that Justice Harlan II "quite convincingly demonstrated" the same with respect to suffrage, and that "Berger' s independent research and analysis confirms and adds weight to these conclusions.'"4 One who fastidiously opens a critique with charges that an author misspells "the names of at least four authors""5 does himself little credit by representing as Berger "considers" what a noted British political scientist,


Geologists of the metallogeny department of VSEGEI [All-Union Research Institute of Geology of the Ministry of Geology and Conservation of Natural Resources] have taken a leading role in perfecting methods of mapping ore-mineral resources. Numerous other geologic groups of the U.S.S.R. have joined in the amassing of data and the mapping of various regions. VSEGEI mappers stress the need for differentiating type, age and mode of occurrence in mapping. Four scales from 1:2, 500,000 to 1:200, 000 are employed, each with its own function. With the growing complexity of metallogenic mapping, the authors suggest multiple overlays to show the many factors involved in a given region. The article reflects the economic urgency of the Soviet plan to survey its vast mineral reserves.—A. Eustus.


Education has been viewed as a process of enculturation into the beliefs, practices, values and styles of discourse of a particular community. Recognition and awareness of an institution's particular cultural values and norms can be a useful tool to guide actions and reactions to change. A model is proposed to guide a cultural analysis, at the institutional or disciplinary level, based on Schein's (1985) theoretical framework. This model arose from an interpretive case study using ethnographic methods, undertaken at a multidisciplinary School of Engineering. As a tool for cultural analysis, the model provides an accessible framework to facilitate the exposure of the source of observable behaviours and practices in the unconsciously held beliefs and assumptions at the core of the culture of an institution or discipline. Introduction The concept of culture is common within the educational discourse. Not only is it recognised that schools (Beare, Caldwell & Millikan, 1989), academic disciplines (Becher, 1989; Neumann, 2001) and research groups (Alvesson, 1993) can, and do, develop particular cultures, but education itself has been viewed as a process of enculturation into the beliefs, practices, values and styles of discourse of a particular community. The concept of enculturation is not new, and recent theorists (Harker, 1990; Hodson & Hodson, 1998; Levinson, Foley & Holland, 1996; Margolis, 2001) build on the much earlier work of Vygotsky who viewed learning as a process of enculturation by guided and modelled participation and Bourdieu's linking of educational success to cultural capital. Definitions, perspectives and understandings of culture and enculturation abound in this discourse, but central to all is the notion of sharing sharing of experiences and values which guide action and reactions. Shared understandings, knowledge, symbols and experience are expressed as cultural norms in the behaviours and practices of an affiliated group which give them social definition and a sense of association. Margolis (2001) suggested that students in schools encountered norms, values and beliefs through the rules and practices that form the daily routines and social relationships in the classroom and the extended school which endorsed and normalised particular types of knowledge, ways of speaking, styles meanings dispositions and world views. Academic disciplines, particularly at tertiary level, have been described as involving a sense of identity and personal commitment, a way of being in the world, a matter of taking on a cultural frame that defines a great part of one's life (Geertz, 1983). At school level also, specific fields, such as science education, have been recognised by authors such as Hodson and Hodson (2001) as having a set of culturally defined methods for conducting inquiries and a set of conventions and mode of discourse for presenting results. If culture, as Levinson et al. (1996) suggest, is a continual process of creating meaning in social and material contexts rather than a static, unchanging body of knowledge transmitted between generations, then the importance and need to "know ourselves" in a cultural sense becomes evident for at least three reasons. Firstly, creating an excellent school, as seen by Beare et al. (1989), requires consideration of the underlying values, philosophy and ideology to influence observable and tangible manifestations so that they express what the school stands for. Whether it be a school, subject area or academic discipline Beare et al recognised that a transformational leader must be aware of cultural symbolism and how to handle it. Secondly, if learning is a process of enculturation, then an understanding of how day-to-day behaviours and practices become embedded as cultural norms will expose a match or mismatch between the lived experience of staff and students and espoused values. This understanding will also highlight what it takes to be successful in the particular environment, and how any gender, class or ethnic group's values or norms might dominate and prevent equitable access to learning. Thirdly, in the current educational climate, the only constant appears to be that ongoing change is, and will continue to be, a feature of teaching and learning environments. Implementing change, often imposed from external sources, yet strategising to maintain valued cultural features requires not only identification and awareness of an institution or group's cultural values and norms but the underlying beliefs and assumptions so taken for granted that they are rarely articulated – that provide resistance to change. This paper presents the development of a model able to guide a cultural analysis, a way of "knowing ourselves" and "how we do things round here" at the institutional or disciplinary level. This model was initially developed (Godfrey, 2003) to define the dimensions of the culture of engineering education exemplified by a case study of a multidisciplinary School of Engineering, but, in so doing, the generalisability of the model to other applications became apparent. As the analysis of engineering education reported on in the following sections demonstrates, the model provides a theoretical framework that exposes the source of observable behaviours and practices in the unconsciously held beliefs and assumptions at the core of the culture of an institution or discipline. Methodology and Analysis Schein's (1985) influential cultural framework was used as a starting point for the case study mentioned above, because of its clear delineation between three levels of culture: the observable manifestations of culture (Artefacts), the values and behavioural norms that underlie the Artefacts and, at the deepest level, the beliefs and assumptions that Schein saw as the core or essence of a culture. Schein believed that extensive ethnographic research was required to understand this deepest level of culture, although he suggested that the process could be shortened with the assistance of motivated "insiders". An interpretive (theory building) case study methodology (Merriam, 1988) was used, including, although not exclusively, ethnographic methods within an overarching interpretivist research paradigm. Multiple methods of data collection, which supplemented several years of participant observation and interviews with a range of staff and students, with questionnaires, focus groups, workshops, statistics, and a wide range of documents and publications, evidenced the use of methodological, data and time triangulation contributing to the credibility of subsequent theory development. These methods were seen to be well suited within a cultural study which needed to answer questions like "what is going on here?" and to decipher "how things are" and "how they got to be that way". As data collection progressed, and the quantity of data obtained from multiple sources grew, it was coded using inductive coding techniques suggested by Bogdan and Biklen (1982). Some data were clearly related to academic practices, such as course structures, the pervasive use of mathematics and value placed on design courses, and others related to social behaviours and practices both inside and outside the classroom, such as responses to the heavy workloads, the occurrence of binge drinking and the importance students placed on supportive relationships. From initial analyses of this coded data, understanding evolved of: firstly, the sense of depth and interconnected layers within the outermost, observable level of culture and secondly, the dynamic relationships between the levels of culture. An artefact such as a building, for example, gained cultural significance from the practices, behaviours and shared understandings which had developed around its use. Teaching practices in the form of curriculum, content and assessment items, were available on websites, handouts and in handbooks, and may have been considered as physical artefacts but for the purposes of this analysis were considered as Practices closely tied to the understandings and meanings attributed to them by the members of the culture. Consequently Schein's model of culture analysis was amended to more clearly illustrate those understandings and the model presented in Figure 1 guided the cultural analysis. Figure 1 Theoretical model for cultural analysis The model illustrates that even within the first level of observed and experienced manifestations of culture there were levels of cultural knowledge and understanding. Firstly there was the level visible to a visitor or newcomer; buildings, publications, dress, gender and ethnic composition. Secondly, after a longer period of observation and investigation the structures and practices, including those which were not written rules or regulations, were revealed and thirdly, after trust had been established, insightful discussions with members of the culture provided information about behaviour patterns and the reasons behind them. The first level of analysis was therefore divided into three overarching categories, Artefacts, Artefacts


The surface chemistries of three particulate samples collected from the lower stratosphere have been determined using a Scanning Auger Microprobe (SAM). These samples are typical of the most abundant natural and anthropogenic particles observed within the stratosphere in the >2µm diameter size fraction. Successive sputtering and analysis below the first few adsorbed monolayers of all particles shows the presence of a thin <150A) sulphur layer. These sulphur regions probably formed by surface reaction of sulphur-rich aerosols with each particle within the stratosphere. Settling rate calculations show that a typical sphere (10µm diameter) may reside within the aerosol layer for ~20 days and thus, provide a qualitative guide to surface sulphur reaction rates.


The field of soft mesoscopics targets meso-structures in soft materials to elucidate the emergence of complex material behavior and biological function in soft and living materials. A snapshot of some activities in the field is provided by the contributions gathered in this focus issue.


The motivations of cyber crimes play an important role in the guilty mind of cyber crimes.From the perspective of personality psychology,the motivations of cyber crimes include the desire to monopolize and destroy,abnormal sense of belonging,sense of accomplishment,and creativity.According to psychoanalysis,in order to reduce cyber crimes,it is important to form the superego in cyberspace,so cyber ethics should be advocated.Meanwhile,from the view of humanism,only when human's basic needs are meeted,can cyber crimes be reduced.The prevention and control of cyber crimes is a long-term process,but in cyberspace,people can make efforts to achieve this goal.


The simple magnetised torus (SMT) is a widely used experiment to investigate plasma instabilities and turbulence [1]. Fig 1(a) shows the setup of the plasma device TEDDI. The magnetic field is purely toroidal and has no rotational transform. It was shown, that in such configuration no MHD equilibrium can establish [2,3]. A vertical electric field should build up due to curvature and grad B drifts and the plasma should be lost on MHD time scales. However, a steady state plasma can be established in a SMT. The common method to produce plasma is a directly heated tungsten wire. The technical setup is shown in Figure 1(b). Electrons are accelerated between the negatively biased hot cathode and the grounded chamber walls. Due to ionising collisions with the background gas a plasma is produced. The plasma is strongly turbulent in all plasma parameters and coherent structures are observed, propagating around the plasma with local ExB-velocity [4,5, contribution CP 1.026 of O. Grulke on this conference]. The question arises, how sensitive they are on the properties of the plasma source. The heated filament acts as a charge source, the surplus of electrons is transported to the walls [6]. To obviate this effect, wave heating technics can be used. Rypdal et al. [7] used electron cyclotron heating. However, it was not possible to get satisfying plasma conditions. In the TEDDI device inductive resonant RF heating via a helicon antenna is used to produce a plasma. An Nagoja typ III right helical antenna [12] is mounted in the device. The steady state plasma has the advantage that no additional charge is penetrated into the plasma. Measurements with a B-dot probe show clearly the excitation of the m = +1 helicon mode. In agreement with the dispersion relation of helicon waves the plasma density increases linear with the magnetic field. However, the density is two orders of magnitude smaller. It should be pointed out, that the RF discharge established in TEDDI is not of the type commonly named 'helicon discharge . The ignition of a plasma with high degree of ionisation, which typically occurs when the RF-power is increased up to 1000W, is not observed. The observation of the magnetic wave field of the heliconm = +1-mode shows that the RF is coupled resonant inductively to the plasma via a helicon mode. For the presented results the plasma is driven by 200W RF power. Typical device and plasma source parameters are assembled in table 1. For both plasma sources, filament source and helicon source, poloidal sections of Langmuir characteristics are recorded with 2mm spatial resolution. The characteristics for the RF plasma where taken from a RF-compensated probe. The plasma parameters (Figure 3) are extracted form the Langmuir characteristics by a kinetic probe theory [10,11]. In comparison to classical probe theory, the kinetic probe theory gives electron density values which are a factor of ten higher. However, the spatial contour looks the same for both probe theories. The kinetic probe theory is used for two reasons: (i) It is well known that classical probe theory underestimates the electron density in a magnetised plasma. (ii) The algorithm is


R. Marie Griffith and Sarah Coakley suggest that feminist ecumenism across the evangelical-liberal spectrum is valuable for feminist studies of religion and theologies. In this context, I trace the conversation that has arisen around the idea of adopting 'submission' vis-à-vis the Christian notion of kenosis, and turn it in a new direction. I argue that Coakley's apophatically cruciform understanding of submission in contemplative prayer contrasts with womanist approaches like that of Delores Williams. Drawing on Williams' considerations of atonement and Friedrich Schleiermacher's understanding of prayer, I offer 'incarnational submission' as a way to acknowledge the value of prayerful submission while avoiding its potentially oppressive features.


A systematic method to design active filters to meet specified performance bounds over a wide range of values for the gain-bandwidth product (GB) is represented. The method finds a simplicial approximation to the acceptability region assuming ideal op amps and determines the minimum value of GB for which each of the boundary points is acceptable. The boundary point which allows the minimum value of GB is selected as optimal with respect to variations in GB. A balanced-structure filter simulating the operation of an LC ladder is considered as an example.<<ETX>>


Abstract Facility Layout Problems (FLP) are concerned with finding efficient factory layouts. Numerous resolution approaches are known in literature for layout optimization. Among those, intelligent approaches are less researched than solutions from exact or approximating approaches. The recent surge of research interest in Artificial Intelligence, and specifically Machine Learning (ML) techniques, presages an increase of such techniques' usage in FLP. However, previous reviews on FLP research induce that, to date, this trend has not yet emerged. Utilizing a systematic literature review coupled with a k-Means based clustering algorithm, we analyzed 25 relevant publication full-texts from an original sample of 1,425 papers. Our findings corroborate the statement that ML techniques have attracted substantially less research interest than most other resolution approaches. While a few papers used Unsupervised Learning algorithms directly as a solution to the FLP, Supervised and Reinforcement Learning were found to be practically irrelevant. ML usage was significantly higher in FLP-adjacent planning tasks such as group technology. Drawing from experiences with other NP-hard combinatorial optimization problems in manufacturing research, we conclude that Reinforcement Learning is most promising to bridge the evident gap between FLP and ML research. Our study further contributes to FLP research by extending established classification frameworks.


This study aims to determine the influence of financial literacy and lifestyle levels against consumptive behavior of Generation Z during the Covid-19 pandemic in Special Region of Yogyakarta, Indonesia. The method used in this study was by distributing questionnaires to 200 students in D.I. Yogyakarta Province by sampling method through Google Form. This sampling determination is expected to be a representative of Generation Z i in Special Region of Yogyakarta, Indonesia. The result of this study is that lower level of Financial Literacy, the higher the consumptive behavior of Generation Z in Special Region of Yogyakarta, Indonesia during the Covid-19 pandemic. On the other hand, the higher the Lifestyle, the higher the Consumptive Behavior of Generation Z in Special Region of Yogyakarta, Indonesia during the Covid-19 Pandemic.


The Nuuchahnulth suffix -?at causes both syntactic and semantic changes, when it appears on the predicate. Previous work has assigned different functions to the suffix. In this paper, I provide both a morphological and syntactic analysis of - ?at, claiming that -?at is a passive marker sensitive to person hierarchy and topicality. For this purpose, I examine sentences with and without the suffix and show what kinds of morphological and syntactic changes the suffix causes. This paper establishes the syntactic status of the suffix by introducing evidence from various kinds of constructions.


indicate that local suppression of mouse il- 4 and il- 13 using siRNAs/ peptide dendrimer complexes possesses a significant therapeutic potential in therapy of AR.


The performance of cable terminations operating in contaminated environments is highly dependent on the material properties and the geometrical configuration of the termination's weather sheds. Two test methods incorporating salt fog, salt slurry, and metal salt contaminating procedures were used to performance rank several termination designs.


Background Because there is an increased inflammatory response to trauma, particularly of the skin, in patients with Behçet's syndrome (BS), an alteration in wound healing in BS is expected. The aim of this study was to investigate the healing features of punch biopsy wounds in BS and acne vulgaris (AV) patients used as controls.


This paper presents an algorithm GDCT, grid density clustering using triangle-subdivision, capable of identifying arbitrary shaped embedded clusters as well as multi density clusters over large spatial datasets. The experimental results establish the superiority of the technique in terms of cluster quality.


Recently, a new approach to the adaptive control of linear time-invariant plants with unknown parameters (referred to as second level adaptation), was introduced by Han and Narendra in [1]. Based on $N (\geq m+1)$ fixed or adaptive models of the plant, where $m$ is the dimension of the unknown parameter vector, an unknown parameter vector $\alpha\in R^{N}$ is estimated in the new approach, and in turn, is used to control the overall system. Simulation studies were presented in [1] to demonstrate that the new method is significantly better than those that are currently in use.
In this paper, we undertake a more detailed examination of the theoretical and practical advantages claimed for the new method. In particular, the need for many models, the proof of stability, and the improvement in performance and robustness are explored in depth both theoretically and experimentally.


Anthranilate synthase from Euglena gracilis strain Z was purified to electrophoretic homogeneity. The enzyme migrated as a single symmetrical peak on sucrose density gradients with a sedimentation constant of about 5.0 S. The molecular weight determined by gel filtration on Sephadex G-200 was 80,000 r 2,500. Polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of the pure enzyme after sodium dodecyl sulfate denaturation gave a single band at a position corresponding to a molecular weight of 79,000 f 2,000. These results suggest that Euglena anthranilate synthase is composed of a single polypeptide chain of about 80,000 that possesses both ammonia-and glutamine-dependent activity. All other known glutamine-dependent anthranilate synthases are heterodimers or hetero- tetramers with the chorismic acid and glutamine binding sites on distinct polypeptide chains. (EC 4.14.27) catalyzes the first com-mitted step in the biosynthesis of L-tryptophan: the conversion of chorismic acid to anthranilic acid utilizing either glutamine an amino source (Equations


Recurrent selection was used to breed Phaseolus species for resistance to white mold disease, caused by Sclerotinia sclerotiorum. Twenty diverse genotypes selected for resistance to white mold formed the cycle 0 population. These lines were intercrossed in a partial diallel, and the F2 progeny were tested for resistance to white mold using a detached blossom/ascospore technique. Twenty single-plant selections were made, and the F3 progeny of these selections formed the cycle 1 population. A 2nd cycle of intercrossing, evaluation, and selection was completed, and genetic gain was determined by evaluating disease resistance of the selfed progeny derived from the cycle 0, 1, and 2 populations. There was a highly significant linear improvement in mean disease response from cycle 0 to cycle 2. When a subjective rating was used to assess disease response, the average gain/cycle was 0.52 rating units, and the percentage gain from cycle 0 to cycle 2 was 31%. When measurement of lesion length (centimeters) on the main stem was used to assess disease response, the average gain/cycle was 1.96 cm, and the percentage gain from cycle 0 to cycle 2 was 50%. The results of this study indicate that recurrent selection may be a useful technique for the development of resistance to white mold in Phaseolus species.


The aim and principle of assessment for integrity of structures containing defects are expounded. And the current situation and trend of assessment for structural integrity is described. Moreover, the technical thoughts and extents of assessment for structural integrity of defective shaft have been presented. This paper presents an idea that techniques of structural integrity assessment can be extended to areas beyond pressure vessel and pipe.


Mountain as the twentieth Century swept the world of philosophical thoughts of Husserl, which covered the purely phenomenological turn-of-the-century public art aesthetic precedent. He put on a "back to things themselves ", " life world " and " essence to show" a phenomenological perspective for human inspection objective world, realize the objective object, examine oneself seek the rule. The film philosopher Krakauer film theory by Hu 's phenomenological theory influence, he will not only Husserl's philosophical principle skillfully applied to film art, the film nature, to ask increasingly decadent redemption of humanity 's appeal, more perfect interpretation of the film art of humanity, broaden the film art new theory field of vision.


Biodegradation of cellulose acetate and cellulose propionate was conclusively established with a naturally derived mixed microbial culture derived from activated sludge and 14C labeled cellulose esters. Radiolabeled cellulose esters were synthesized with either [1-14C]-acetate or [1-14C]-propionate and back hydrolyzed to the desired degree of substitution (DS) ranging from 1.77 to 2.64. Biodegradation was measured in an in vitro aerobic culture system that was designed to capture 14CO2 produced by the aerobic microbial metabolism of the cellulose esters. Microorganisms were able to extensively degrade cellulose [1-14C]-acetate (CA) with DS ranging from 1.85 to 2.57 over periods of 14–31 days. More than 80% of the original 14C-polymeric carbon was biodegraded to 14CO2 for CA substrates with a DS of 1.85. CA polymers with a DS of 2.07 and 2.57 yielded over 60% conversion to 14CO2. The amount of biodegradation that was observed with cellulose [1-14C]-propionate with DS of 2.11, 2.44, and 2.64 were lower than the corresponding acetyl ester and ranged from 0.09 to 1.1%. However, cellulose [1-14C]-propionate with a DS of 1.77 and 1.84 underwent very rapid degradation in the mixed culture system, with 70 to over 80% conversion of labeled polymeric carbon metabolized to 14CO2 in 29 days. The high level of microbial utilization of carbon from both cellulose esters and its conversion to CO2 confirms the biodegradability of these polymers and the potential they have for total mineralization in natural microbiologically active environments. © 1993 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.


Several pairs of contradictions should be correctly handled in the course of the new curriculum reform, which involve the contradiction between the theory model of educational evaluation and operational procedures, the contradiction between quantitative evaluation and qualitative evaluation, the contradiction between evaluation's westernization and nationalization. It is unbeneficial for the evaluation reform to arbitrarily declare the rationality or irrationality of one kind of evaluation. Meanwhile it is unbeneficial for the innovation of evaluation theory to simply duplicate the evaluation method from western countries, especially those methods having being eliminated by those countries. The educational evaluation research based on some specific situation and calmness bears permanent and general significance.


The adoption of Open Educational Resources (OER) in higher education has been extensively studied worldwide, but there is a lack of research on OER awareness and usage among university students in Vietnam. This study used both quantitative and qualitative approaches to investigate students' awareness of OER and their perceived benefits and challenges when using OER materials. Participants were students in the English Language Teaching Program at UD-UFLS, who were randomly selected to participate in semi-structured interviews through focus groups. The study collected data from 80 questionnaire responses and interview transcripts. Marcus's Theory of Technology Adoption provided a framework for the investigation of OER use. The study identified several benefits of OER utilization, including increased access to materials, cost-effectiveness, flexibility, and autonomy in learning. However, limited knowledge of OER and a lack of support from faculty were identified as barriers to the use of OER among students at UD-UFLS. The results of this study can inform stakeholders about the potential benefits of OER and encourage the promotion of OER in higher education institutions in Vietnam, including UD-UFLS.


Heavy metal ion pollution emerges as a potential threat to humankind and the ecosystem due to their increased spreading into the environment. Detection of highly toxic heavy metal ions requires rapid, simple, sensitive and selective detection methods in water environments. Optical fibre sensors facilitate the remote, continuous and in-situ detection due to their inherent properties. Herein, we report a fibre optic sensor based on evanescent wave absorption to detect heavy metal ions in water environments. Fibre optic sensor has been developed by coating dithizone on the surface of an optical fibre. Selectivity of the mercury, copper and chromium ions using dithizone has been illustrated using spectroscopy based detection approach. Effect of pH on the sensor has been investigated. The possibility of simultaneous multi-ion detection has been investigated. Copper ions concentrations in water has been detected using the developed fibre optic sensor.