The term gangsta rap started to gain currency in 1989. Its first American broadsheet appearance was in the Los Angeles Times (Hilburn 1989), when the controversial single "Gangsta, Gangsta" by N.W.A. (Niggaz with Attitude) was in Billboard's Hot Rap Singles chart. (1) The new coinage denoted a fresh and provocative rap sound--a cocktail of bass-driven and usually minor-key tracks, heightened first-person street gang rhymes, irreverent and humorous stories, and antiestablishment social commentary on deindustrialized black life--created by a cluster of rap artists chiefly in the Los Angeles region. The genre tag stuck, and by the early 1990s, this most controversial strain of hip-hop was fast becoming the market leader. At the same moment that gangsta rap began to make an impression with audiences and critics, debates were heating up in the field of black cultural studies. Across the Atlantic in England, Stuart Hall proclaimed "the end of the innocent notion of the essential black subject" in a 1989 conference paper and article entitled "New Ethnicities"--a controversial statement that was to take on manifesto resonances. Along with other notable scholars, Hall (1996c, 443-444) identified "a significant shift in black cultural politics": a shift away from the essentialist strategies of replacing "their" bad forms with "our" good ones and toward the "new phase," which was concerned with "the struggle around strategic positionalities." He characterized the shift as a move away from focusing on the "relations of representation" (a dualistic approach to cultural politics: Is it good or bad? authentic or not?) and toward a concern with the "politics of representation." This view entailed looking behind the relations of individual media representations and self-representations of blackness in order to explore the wider determinants and deeper structures that shape the black popular-culture terrain and that frame and inform the practice of both culture workers and critics. Hall's pronouncement of a new phase was in fact as much prescriptive as descriptive. In 1992, he provided an extended version of this challenging critique, revised this time for the U.S. intellectual arena. He delivered the paper "What Is This `Black' in Black Popular Culture?" at a New York conference, and this paper was positioned as a kind of keynote article (before those of Henry Louis Gates and Cornel West) in the influential conference collection Black Popular Culture (Dent 1992). Hall's address conveys a note of critical exuberance and intellectual mission: "[B]lack popular culture ... can never be simplified or explained in terms of the simple binary oppositions that are still habitually used to map it out: high and low; resistance versus incorporation; authentic versus inauthentic; experiential versus formal; opposition versus homogenization" (Hall 1992, 26). Although simplified for rhetorical effect, Hall's description of "still habitually used" binaries were perhaps nowhere more apparent than in much of gangsta rap's reception. The polemical critical climate, the provocative and, to many, offensive nature of gangsta rap, and the high stakes resulting from the music's close connection to an impoverished lived experience all contributed to the emergence of a variety of totalizing judgmental responses. The subgenre was frequently cast as incorporated and inauthentic (gangsta rappers as cultural dupes, as "slaves to the system," as neo-blackface minstrels). Alternatively, critics read it as resistant and authentic (gangsta as a black, proletarian voicing, as antipolice, antihegemonic protest). Very often, and in line with longstanding trends in the criticism of black cultural forms, critics understood gangsta rap as experiential rather than formal, construing gangsta as social realism (reflecting the grim realities of the so-called black experience) and at the same time as formally basic, as musically debased, and as aesthetically unworthy of close attention. …


Multi-anvil-type high-pressure systems have been successfully applied to synchrotron radiation experiments. The first system with DIA type apparatus named MAX80 was installed at Photon Factory in 1980. A Kawai type double stage assembly with thrust of 1500 ton was installed at the 3rd generation SR facility SPring-8 in 1997. The family is widely spread all over the world. Using these systems, the quality of X-ray diffraction under pressure was revolutionary developed. In addition to the diffraction experiment, XAFS, viscosity measurement, density measurement, high pressure generation using sintered diamond anvil and ultrasonic measurement have been newly developed and opened new fields in high pressure science.


Nested logic programs have recently been introduced in orde r to allow for arbitrarily nested formulas in the heads and the bodies of logic program r ules under the answer sets semantics. Nested expressions can be formed using conjunction, d sjunction, as well as the negation as failure operator in an unrestricted fashion. This provides a very flexible framework for knowledge representation and reasoning. Previous results show that n ested logic programs can be transformed into standard (unnested) disjunctive logic programs in an e lem ntary way, applying the negation as failure operator to body literals only. This is of great prac tical relevance since it allows us to evaluate nested logic programs by means of off-the-shelf disjunctiv e logic programming systems, like DLV. However, it turns out that this straightforward transforma tion results in an exponential blow-up in the worst-case, despite the fact that complexity results in dicate that there is a polynomial translation among both formalisms. In this paper, we take up this challen ge and provide polynomial translations of logic programs with nested expressions into disjunctive logic programs. Moreover, we show that these translations are modular and (strongly) faithful. We have implemented both the straightforward as well as our advanced transformations; the resulting compiler serves as a front-end to DLV and is publicly available on the Web. Finally, we also report experimental results, comparing the different translations on several classes of benchmark pro blems. 1ESCET, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos Campus de Mostoles, DI-2 36, Calle Tulipan s/n, E–28933 Madrid, Spain. E-mail: email@example.com 2Institut für Informatik, Universität Potsdam Postfach 9 0 03 27, D–14439 Potsdam, Germany. E-mail: [sarsakov, torsten]@cs.uni-potsdam.de 3Institut für Informationssysteme, Abteilung Wissensbas ierte Systeme 184/3, Technische Universität Wien, Favoritenstraße 9-11, A–1040 Wien, Austria. E-mail: [tompit s, stefan]@kr.tuwien.ac.at Acknowledgements: This work was partially supported by the German Science Fou ndation (DFG) under grant FOR 375/1-1, TP C, as well as by the Austrian Science Fun d (FWF) under grant P15068-INF. The authors would like to thank Agata Ciabattoni for pointing ou t some relevant references. Preliminary versions of this paper appeared in the Proceedi ngs of the 9th International Workshop on NonMonotonic Reasoning (NMR'2002), pages 57–66, 2002, as well as in the Proceedings of the 19th International Conference on Logic Programming (ICLP'2002), pages 405–420, 2002. Copyright c 2002 by the authors


The invention relates to a solid culture medium which is intended, in particular, for micro-organisms and eukaryotic cells. The inventive medium comprises, by way of a gelling base, a polysaccharide having a reproduction unit comprising a side chain and six neutral sugars, including glucose and galactose, and an acid sugar, pyruvate substituents and acetates being present. A solution in water or a saline solution having a concentration of said polysaccharide which is greater than or equal to 2g/l forms an elastic, transparent gel.


The application of Geographical Information System (GIS) and research the application of GIS on Medical Information System were introduced. The function and character of CIS, analysis and control of infectious disease source, application of ambulance dispatcher were recounted. The efficiency of treatment and rescue can be improved in modern information condition. It has played an active role in medical service system and reasonable distribution of medical resources.


Objective:To develop a new type of nerve tissue engineering scaffold material by combining collagen protein with heparan sulfate to treat the nerve defect.Methods:The silicon pipe filled with collagen protein-heparan sulfate was dipped gradually into the liquid nitrogen(-180 ℃),the suspension was frozen and lyophilized.The microstructure of the material was observed by optical microscope and scanning electron microscope(SEM) and the size of the micro pores was measured.Result:The micro tubes of the scaffold material were arranged in vertical and parallel manners and their three-dimensional structures were highly bionic.Conclusion:The scaffold made up of collagen protein combined with heparan sulfate can be widely used in the treatment of peripheral nerve defect in the future.


Articular chondrocytes undergoes age-related changes that increase the risk of joint degeneration. The goal of this study was to characterize the changes of viscoelastic properties of rabbit chondrocytes in nature degeneration of knee articular cartilage. The micropipette aspiration combined with a standard linear viscoelastic solid model was used to quantify changes in viscoelastic properties of chondrocytes isolated from different age groups. Results have shown that the viscoelastic properties of chondrocytes in old group exhibited a significantly lower instantaneous modulus, equilibrium modulus, and apparent viscosity compared with young group (p 0.1). These findings may be relevant for chondrocyte-based cartilage tissue engineering.


Difluornaphthalinderivat of formula (I), R in which the symbols and indices have the following meanings: the group B is R R


Magnetic materials constitute a field of research covered by continuous and large interest. Their broad use in various areas and their potential adaption in novel and promising applications motivates the search for new materials and investigation on their fundamental properties. Magnetic samples are in fact candidates for applications in various fields. Especially their potential adaption in high density magnetic storage media increased in the recent years the interest in investigating different types and shapes of magnetic materials. Potential carriers of information could be for instance domain walls or magnetic skyrmions. A fundamental knowledge about the stability, the size and the controllability is needed before any kind of magnetic material can be implemented into a device.

The motivation of this thesis is to give a contribution to the understanding of the growing, interesting and versatile field of magnetic materials by using dynamic cantilever magnetometry (DCM), which is sensitive, non-invasive and compatible to a broad range of samples with different properties. Using DCM we provide both complimentary and new information about the properties of novel or well-known magnetic materials, taking advantage of the high sensitivity of nanomechanical resonators.

In fact, we demonstrate the use of DCM, in combination with numerical simulations, to study the process of magnetic reversal of short ferromagnetic (FM) nanotubes (NTs). This reversal is driven by the nucleation of vortices at the end of the tubes and shows a strong aspect-ratio dependence. For instance, short FM NTs go through a vortex state and tubes above a certain length through a mixed state composed of a vortex at each end of the tube and an axial domain in the center. Apart from the aspect ratio, we find that the shape of the ends and impurities have a significant influence on the starting of the reversal process and how it evolves. A precise knowledge of the magnetic reversal is important, since a reliable process is needed for applications like magnetic storage.

We further investigate the stability of the skyrmion lattice phase of two different materials carrying the two different types of skyrmions. We measure MnSi nanowires (NWs) hosting Bloch-type skyrmions and a GaV4S8 single crystal carrying Neel skyrmions. During the studies of MnSi NWs we observe an unexpectedly stable skyrmion phase, extending from 29 K down to at least 0.4 K. The stability of the skyrmion lattice is strongly dependent on the applied magnetic field direction. An extended skyrmion lattice is present only if the long axis of the NW is parallel to the magnetic field. This stabilization occurs despite of the fact that the dimensions of the NW are too large to spatially confine the skyrmion lattice. In fact, an important difference between a NW and a single-crystal bulk sample is that a NW has an especially large surface-to-volume ratio for surfaces perpendicular to the long axis of the wire. The demagnetization influence of theses surfaces may produce an effective magnetic anisotropy which suppresses the conical phase, and therefore, in combination with a parallel applied magnetic field, stabilize and extend the skyrmion lattice.

The investigation of a single-crystal of GaV4S8 also results in a surprising stability of the skyrmion lattice phase. In this case, we study the occurrence of the skyrmion phase depending on the orientation of the applied magnetic field. We find the skyrmion lattice still formed with a misalignment of 77:1˚ ± 2:3 between the [111] crystal axis, which is the axis along which the skyrmions form in this material, and the applied magnetic field direction. The stability of the skyrmion phase is correlated with the strength of the uniaxial anisotropy present in this material. Since the observed stability is higher than what the theoretical model predicts, for the moment we cannot conclude on the strength of the anisotropy, but the findings could help to refine the model, so that it may include all relevant interactions and fit the experimental observations.


To annotate the biological function of a protein molecule, it is essential to have information on its 3D structure. Many successful methods for function prediction are based on determining structurally conserved regions because the functional residues are proved to be more conservative than others in protein evolution. Since the 3D conformation of a protein can be represented by a contact map graph, graph matching, algorithms are often employed to identify the conserved residues in weakly homologous protein pairs. However, the general graph matching algorithm is computationally expensive because graph similarity searching is essentially a NP-hard problem. Parallel implementations of the graph matching are often exploited to speed up the process. In this chapter,the authors review theoretical and computational approaches of graph theory and the recently developed graph matching algorithms for protein function prediction.


Background: Mandibular advancement devices (MAD) are recognized as an effective option in the management of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). Thornton adjustable positioner (TAP) allows gradual forward titration of mandible to optimize treatment outcome. Karwetzky activator is a fixed MAD and titration is not possible. Therefore a study was under taken to compare the therapeutic efficacy of TAP with Karwetzky activator in the management of OSA. Methods: Twenty polysomnography diagnosed OSA patients were prescribed TAP (Group I) and another twenty were prescribed Karwetzky activator (Group II). The therapeutic efficacy was evaluated on Apnea-Hypopnea Index (AHI) and Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS). Results: The percentage improvement in AHI scores in Group I was 52.48% compared to 42.37% in Group II. Statistically significant improvement (P<.001) in AHI and ESS scores was observed in Group I and Group II.75% and 55% positive responders (AHI improvement of >50) in Group I and Group II respectively were observed. Conclusion: Therapeutic efficacy and clinical acceptance of TAP was superior to Karwetzky activator. Superior performance of TAP can be attributed to gradual titration and optimum mandibular positioning.


Abstract Decrease in the time interval between the first node death and the last node death, due to the completion of their energy supply, is the main goal of load-balancing methods in Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN). This paper proposes a Load-Balancing Enhancement (LBE) method, in WSN. LBE method uses a mobile data collector to data gathering from sensor nodes. The mobile data collector can directly communicate with the base station. Indeed, the mobile data collector acts as an interface between sensor nodes and the base station. LBE method divides WSN to four logical partitions. Then, LBE method directs the mobile data collector to the center of each logical partition of the network with considering the density and the mean residual energy of the desired partition, i.e., the more the partition density and the mean residual energy, the more the obtaining chance of the desired partition. Simulation results that have been implemented with NS-2 software show LBE method achieves load-balancing in energy consumption for all logical partitions. LBE method also balances logical partitions density and it increases the network coverage efficiency.


Interest in utilizing aluminum alloys in automobiles has increased in recent years as a result of the desire to lower automobile weight and, consequently, increase fuel economy. While aluminum alloy use in cast parts has increased, outer body panel applications are still being investigated. The industry is interested in improving the formability of these sheet alloys by a combination of alloy design and processing. A different avenue of improving the formability of these alloys may be through patterning of the sheet surface. Surface patterns hold the lubricant during the forming process, with a resulting decrease in the sheet-die surface contact. While it has been speculated that an optimum surface pattern would consist of discrete cavities, detailed investigation into the reduction of forming friction by utilizing discrete patterns is lacking. A series of discrete patterns were investigated to determine the dependence of the forming friction of automotive aluminum alloys on pattern lubricant carrying capacity and on material strength. Automotive aluminum alloys used in outer body panel applications were rolled on experimental rolls that had been prepared with a variety of discrete patterns. All patterns for each alloy were characterized before and after testing both optically and, to determine pattern lubricant capacity, using three dimensional laser profilometry. A draw bead simulation (DBS) friction tester was designed and fabricated to determine the forming friction of the patterned sheets. Tensile testing and frictionless DBS testing were performed to ascertain the material properties of each sheet. The most striking result of this work was the inversely linear dependence of forming friction on the lubricant carrying capacity of the discrete patterns.


Strictinin is a relatively tiny ellagitannin, which is found in many plants as a minor constituent. Catechins are known as the major constituents in the young leaves of most tea plants, while strictinin was found as a major constituent in the Pu'er tea plant. In some Pu'er tea varieties, strictinin was identified as the most abundant phenolic compound rather than catechins. In the past decade, strictinin was demonstrated to possess several functional activities, including antiviral, antibacterial, anti-obesity, laxative, anticaries, anti-allergic, antipsoriatic, antihyperuricemia, antidiabetic, and anticancer effects. These functional activities were in accordance with the therapeutic effects empirically perceived for Pu'er tea. Evidently, strictinin is the key ingredient in Pu'er tea that acts as a herbal medicine. In functionally-based applications, an instant powder of Pu'er tea infusion was formulated as an active raw material to be supplemented in food, cosmetics, and beverages; a new type of tea named Bitter Citrus Tzen Tea was developed by combining three teas empirically consumed to expel the cold, and new edible oral care products were designed for caries prevention by supplementation with Pu'er tea extract. More functional activities and practical applications of strictinin are scientifically anticipated in follow-up research.


Canine distemper is a systemic infection, frequently lethal in dogs. The canine distemper virus(CDV) causes a persistent infection within the central nervous system resulting in aprogressive, multifocal demyelinating disease. In dogs, CDV infection may lead togastrointestinal and/or respiratory signs, frequently with central nervous system involvement.Myoclonus has been a common and characteristic sign observed in dogs with distemperencephalomyelitis. However, the nervous form of distemper may occur in the absence ofmyoclonus and systemic involvement. This review will point the clinical course and theneurological signs of nervous distemper, as well the clinical syndromes of CDV infection,neuropathology of acute and chronic demyelination, and diagnostic aids of CDVencephalomyelitis.


In this paper, a new approach for the stability analysis of continuous-time type III (Takagi-Sugeno-Kang) fuzzy impulsive system is proposed. Based on Lyapunov criterion, some conditions are derived to check stability and exponentially stability of type III fuzzy impulsive systems. These conditions are given in terms of matrix inequalities.


a very large number of reflections are needed, as well, a surprisingly large system size is often required. A single reliable pressure data point measurement required single-processor simulation times of the order of weeks! We were surprised by the computational demands for a, seemingly simple, primitive model system. It is likely that these two requirements are linked. That is, large numbers of reflections means that relevant distances perpendicular to the walls is large. These long-range reflections will exert their influence over large distances in the lateral directions.


Summary The occurrence of intra vascular coagulation and fibrin deposition in the kidneys in situations known to produce acute renal failure has been assessed quantitatively by radio-fibrinogen studies. Apart from the Shwartzman reaction a primary process of fibrin deposition in the kidneys due to intravascular coagulation has been found in glycerol haemoglobinuric nephrosis, BSA glomerulonephritis and some cases of placental abruption and tourniquet shock, and as a secondary process in mercuric chloride intoxication. Fibrin in glomeruli may explain in part the oliguria of acute renal failure and fibrin deposition in the peritubular circulation be the cause of tubu lar necrosis. Inhibition of fibrinolysis in the course of the defibrination of glycerol nephrosis and placental abruption actually caused renal cortical necrosis.


Catalyst is the main part of SCR system. The operation cost of SCR system is determined by Catalyst life-span. In order to decrease the cost,it's of great significance to carry on the research on the cause of catalyst poisoning and prolong its using life. The arsenic transference rule during the combustion process is introduced; the relations between concentration of arsenic oxidation and catalyst poisoning were determined with experiments; the dynamic equation of the reaction velocity of NOx was established after arsenic poisoning and even was verified by using several sets of SCR data from abroad. The results matche well with the actual values. Some suggestions are given on how to reduce the harmful influence of Arsenic.


For patients with ischemic stroke, accurate identification of the etiology and mechanism of stroke are important for guiding treatment and prevention. The long-term recurrence rate and mortality rate of cardioembolic stroke are high. Echocardiography is a powerful diagnostic tool for evaluating cardioembolic sources. This article reviews the application of echocardiography in evaluating cardioembolic sources in patients with ischemic stroke.

Key words:
Stroke; Brain ischemia; Echocardiography; Intracranial embolism; Heart diseases; Heart


Bis{oxo-bis[(N-p-tolylsulfonyl-glycinato)dibutyltin(Ⅳ)]} was synthesized by the reaction of N-p-tolylsulfonyl-glycine with dibutyltin(Ⅳ) oxide.The compound has been characterized by elemental analysis,IR,(()~1HNMR) and X-ray single crystal diffraction.It crystallized in a monoclinic system with space group P2/n.The crystal data were:a=1.401 6(13) nm,b=1.453 7(14) nm,c=2.233 3(2) nm,β=97.62(2)°,(Mr=)1 002.50,Z=4,D_c=1.476 g/cm~3,mμ=1.337 mm~(-1),F(000)=2 038,R_1=0.043 7,wR_2=0.096 6.The compound was of a centro-symmetric dimer structure mode with a four-membered central endo-cyclic Sn_2O_2 unit in which the bridging oxygen atoms were tri-coordinated.All the tin atoms were fivecoordinated with distorted trigonal bipyramid geometry.The quantum chemistry calculation on the title complex has been performed by means of G98W package with the Lanl2dz basis set.


Mikayo Sakuma examines Herman Melville's aesthetic appreciation of the natural world and his moral interest in it. Her account extends from animals' visual images to cultural incidents that impacted Melville. After completing his phenomenal work of sea literature, Moby-Dick, Melville traveled the Levant region and encountered Oriental culture, which provided him with additional opportunities to become aware of animals in different cultural contexts. His last long pilgrimage poem Clarel exhibits a human-animal communal world. By following Melville's trajectory of animal representation, the essay elucidates his awareness of nature and culture toward broader recognition of ecology.


Design art is the artistic creation activity conducted by human beings for a certain purpose.Over the years,the modern design has diversified:design work is a means of keeping up with fashion;the purpose of design changes;the nature of design is getting ambiguous.By means of the concepts of arts and games,an analysis of the nature of design tells us that design is an artistic creation,the creative realization of ideas in relation to aesthetics,and the manifestation of game spirit.


Zinc sulfate (ZnSO4•2H2O) fertilizers have been found to be the most reliable source of Zn fertilizer due to their high water solubility. However, there are other forms of Zn fertilizers derived from industrial by-products with low water solubility that claim to be just as effective as ZnSO4•2H2O. Studies have found that industrial by-product Zn sources with low water solubility are not as effective in supplying Zn for plant use as ZnSO4•2H2O. However, there is a question as to the residual amounts of Zn left in the soil after the application of low water soluble fertilizers and the affects on subsequent crop growth. It has been hypothesized that over time more Zn should become available using low water soluble Zn fertilizers as the residual Zn is exposed to the soil environment and becomes more soluble. The objective of this study was to determine the relationship between Zn fertilizer water solubility and Zn availability to plants over time. In a greenhouse study four corn crops were grown (one after the other) to analyze Zn fertilizer residual affects. Zinc fertilizer was only applied at the first planting, requiring the subsequent corn plantings to use residual Zn for its nutrient needs. Three Zn sources (high, medium, and low water solubility), five application rates (0, 5, 10, 15, and 20 lbs ac -1 ), and 2 soil pH levels (5.6 and 7.5) were studied. Corn biomass was collected for each crop planting and Zn uptake was determined. Our results show that corn Zn uptake is a function of crop planting x Zn fertilizer solubility, Zn fertilizer rate x fertilizer solubility, crop planting x fertilizer rate, and crop planting x soil pH interactions. When examining each of these interactions we find no evidence that low water soluble Zn sources become more available over time. In no subsequent crop did the medium and low water soluble sources become more available and uptake more Zn than the high water solubility source. From these results we conclude that Zn water solubility level in fertilizer is the most important factor controlling Zn uptake.


lnagawa (2015) and Barrs (2015) present contrasting views of the role of English language advertising signs in Japan. lnagawa sees signs as innovative and creative whereas Barrs sees signs as hindering communication of information to English speakers. Several commentators support the points of view of Inagawa and Barrs. Ideal reconciliation of the contrasting views presented by Inagawa, Barrs and others might be possible if a local variety of innovative English is preserved for Japanese speakers while, at the same time, mistakes are reduced by proof-reading. Crystal (2004) recommends that the linguistic slogan for this century be known as 'eternal tolerance', replacing the 'eternal vigilance' prescriptive slogan of former times (p.128-129). A range of varieties of English has emerged, and this is indicated by the emergence of the plural use of the noun 'Englishes'. Jenkins (2007) provides an important survey of attitudes towards world Englishes, including Japanese English. Hino (2009) provides a robust defence of Japanese English. These sources reflect a myriad of opinions about Japanese English. Accordingly, the use of English in advertising signs in Japan merits attention.


A linear relationship was demonstrated between the reciprocals of the concentration of free hematoporphyrin and the moles of hematoporphyrin taken up by the platelet in the dark. radiated platelets took up more hematoporphyrin than did controls; this increase in uptake was accounted for by the movement of the dye across the damaged membrane of the cell. platelets irradiated at 4°c remained impermeable to hematoporphyrin until warmed to 37°c. during the initial three to four minutes of exposure to light at 37°c, there was no additional uptake of hematoporphyrin by platelets in comparison to controls. between six to ten minutes irradiation, the uptake of hematoporphyrin increased linearly with the log time of irradiation. thereafter, no further uptake occurred. a further increase in uptake of dye was demonstrated by both control and irradiated platelets at a reduced ph. this study enables a correlation to be made between the effects of hematoporphyrin on the platelet and the uptake of this agent by the platelet.


"Ideological and political theories teaching in all courses" refers to the integration of moral education into the courses, which emphasizes the organic combination of knowledge transfer and value guidance. It is an inevitable choice for higher education to realize the whole process and all-round education. By analyzing the application of online course platform in the teaching of Floriculture and the necessity of ideological and political theories teaching in Floriculture course for landscape architecture majors, this paper fully explores the ideological and political elements contained in the Floriculture course, starting from combing ideological and political elements to carry out the teaching reform of Floriculture course, so as to provide reference for ideological and political education of landscape majors.


This annual report is presented under the following major headings: 1) acting officer-in-charge's report; 2) project coordinator's report; 3) evaluation of some components of the Lake Kariba "kapenta fishing unit"; 4) comparative study of growth of Limnothrissa miodon (Boulenger) in Lake Kariba; 5) the pre-recruitment ecology of the freshwater sardine Limnothrissa miodon (Boulenger) in Lake Kariba; 6) the ecology of the inshore fishery of Lake Kariba; the biology of Synodontis zambezensis ; 7) database; and, 8) publications.


A brief mention of unnamed CoSbS was made in an abstract lsee Ama. Minao)' 55, 144y'. (1970)1. The fuil description now has been published. Paracostibite occurs as irregular and subhedral grains up to about 130 microns in size' It occurs in two assemblages: (1) with sphalerite, chalcopy'rite, and galena; (2) with pyrargyrite, pyrrhotite, antimonial silver, galena, and chalcopyrite. The mineral is weakly bireflecting, appearing white with a faint grayish tinge in air and in oil immersion. Reflectivity values are:470 nm, max. 47.8, min. 46.9;546 nm, Max. 48'1, min. 47'5; 589 nm' max. 48.4, min. 47 .7 ; 650 nm, max. 48.8, min. 48.0. \4HN microhardness with a 15 g weight gave an average value of 1009 kg/mm2 (range 936-1091). Electron-probe analyses of five grains gave the following average values (the range is given in parenrheses): Co 26.4 (25.1 to 27.0), Fe 0.4 (0.0 to 0.6), Ni 0.8 (0.6 to 1.6), Sb 56.8 (56.1 to 57.6), S 14.9 (14.7 to 15.4), total 99.3 (98.5 to 100.6) wt /s.These data yield an empirical formula of (Co, Fe, Ni)r oorSbr.oooS0.996, equivalent to CoSbS (the formula CbSbS on page 237 is obviously a tlpographical error). Although no single-crystal X-ray studies were carried out, the X-ray powder pattern oI paracostibite is very close to that of pararammelsbergite. On this basis, paracostibite has space group Pb ca, with a 5.764,b 5.952, c 11.635 (all in A) and Z:8. The calculated density is 7.1 g/cc (7.069 g/cc for synthetic CoSbS). The measured density o-f the slmthetic material is 6.9 g/cc. The strongest spacings in the X-ray powder pattern (in A for the Fe-fiItered, Co radiation) are: 5.813 (8) (002), 2.555(10) (21 1,1 2t),2.0354 (8)(221), and 1.8525 (8) (13). The Iast spacing also corresponds to a chalcopy'rite spacing. In the abstract of the paper, the authors list the following strongest spacings: 5.81(8)(002), 2.83(7)(113)' 2.65(7)(022), 2.555(10)(211,121), 2.409(7)(122), and 2.035(8)(221). There are some obvious intensitv difierences between equivalent spacings in the natural and synthetic materials, and probably are caused by the pressence of the other phases in the natural sample. Paracostibite was found in drill-core from Mulcahy Township, District of Kenora, Red Lake Mining Division, Ontario. The name is for the composition and probable sffuctured relation to pararammelsbergite. The mineral and name were approved by the Commission on New Minerals and Mineral Names, I.M.A. Tlpe material is preserved at the National Mineral Collection, Ottawa, and the Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto. J. A. MeNoenrNo


Rechargeable alkaline zinc batteries are a promising technology for large-scale stationary energy storage due to their high theoretical energy density similar to lithium-ion batteries, as well as their use of abundant and inexpensive raw materials that could push costs below $100/kWh. However, the poor reversibility of zinc anodes in alkaline electrolytes poses a formidable challenge to commercial viability, and certain cathodes for zinc battery chemistries suffer similar poor reversibility. The development of zinc batteries for the electric grid market is still in its infancy, with only two companies having deployed such systems to date and several other young companies having demonstrated proof of concepts. In addition, while zinc batteries are often touted as being inherently safe because of their environmentally benign active materials and nonflammable aqueous electrolyte, there are few detailed studies on their safety aspects and behavior under abuse conditions. This chapter discusses the principles behind the leading zinc battery technologies, their current implementation in grid markets, the specific challenges to reversibility, possible safety concerns, and recent developments by companies and their collaborators to improve the performance of zinc batteries to enable a practical cost-effective, long-duration storage technology.


The concept of salt water fishing tourism is elaborated.The basic idea to develop salt water fishing tourism is as the following:focusing on fishing tourism planning to establish fishing tourism management agencies;depending on the fishing platform to develop public fishing market;taking the island scenery as background and to expand the connotation of fishing tourism;considering fishing as the main game to build high quality marine tourism festival;developing fishing tourism system to protect fishing tourism resources.Shengshan Island in Zhoushan is taken as an example in the empirical study.


Wide application of underbalanced drilling techniques has directly or indirectly influenced logging operation to some extent. Beginning with an analysis of the underbalanced drilling technologies, this paper studies its various influences on logging, especially engineering logging, conventional geologic logging and mud logging. It is believed that underbalanced drilling technology has significant influences on logging operation, most of which can be eliminated through adjusting logging methods, changing logging position, and improving interpretation methods, but some still cannot be eliminated at present and need further studies. In the long term, it is necessary to develop logging equipment and software adapted to the underbalanced drilling technology. Moreover, speeding up research of logging technology and keeping up with the development of drilling technology are also the trend of long term development of modern compound logging.


The present invention relates to a patient such as toluene and the like to treat pyridone suffer from acute myocardial infarction (AMI) with a therapeutic agent having an anti-fibrosis. Treatment of patients suffering from acute myocardial infarction methods may comprise administering to a patient a therapeutically effective dose of the therapeutic agent has anti-fibrotic effect, wherein at the start of treatment, optionally of about 1 to 42 days after suffering AMI period, and optionally last up to 3-6 months.


This paper surveys the young people of Hangzhou city,for the sportswear group's consumer status quo by a detailed questionnaire and the specific analysis.The survey deals with,in-depth,many young urban sportswear consumer psychology,buying behavior,preferences,purchasing information,and other factors relating to statistical analysis,concluding with recommendations for consideration by the domestic apparel manufacturers and merchants,appealing to young people's health movement and the concept of culture to guide and foster a mature sportswear market.


Let X = {x1, ..., xn} be a set, and let P = {P1, ..., Pm} be a set of subsets of X. The goal is to find the smallest sub-collection of sets R ⊆ P whose union covers all of X. More concretely, we can say that each xi, 1 ≤ i ≤ n represents a "skill", and each Pj, 1 ≤ j ≤ m represents a "person". In this case, xi ∈ Pj if person Pj has the skill xi. Then, as an employer, the goal is to find the minimum number of people to cover all of the skills.


The Environmental Protection Agency of the Republic of Serbia continuously
 monitors and collects air quality parameters at numerous measuring points
 throughout the country. The results revealed that the levels of air
 pollution recorded during the lockdown differed from those recorded during
 the same period the previous years. In this paper, we examined pollutant
 concentration trends in 2020 and a few previous years to determine the
 underlying causes of these trends. Pollutants are measured at five stations
 in Belgrade from the beginning of March to the end of July between 2015 and
 2020. Because no hourly data were available, nitrogen dioxide, sulphur
 dioxide, and suspended particles PM10 and PM2.5 are average daily values,
 whereas carbon monoxide and ozone are daily 8-hour maximums. Concentrations
 were compared and averaged only when data for the same period over time was
 available, i.e. when comparing 2020 to previous years. The results were
 compared to the annual and daily limit values (for ozone and carbon monoxide
 8h maximums, respectively), as well as the variations in concentrations over
 time. The goal of calculating and displaying these values is to specifically
 identify a change in air pollution during the COVID-19 virus pandemic
 isolation period. In general, for Belgrade in 2020, NO2 concentrations are
 lower at four stations; PM2.5 concentrations are lower at two stations; PM10
 concentrations are higher at one station and lower at another; and SO2
 concentrations are higher than in previous years (2015-2019).


Modern international organization managers are confronted with an articulated and fast-changing environment. The competitive environment increasingly challenges them because financial resources are highly volatile, new entrants and sister agencies have become more aggressive and donor expectations for demonstrable value for money have risen and become much more precise. The challenges facing populations in need as well as international cooperation priorities are also highly dynamic and increasingly complicated, requiring organizations to focus on their competitive advantages and to show adaptability and flexibility. In such a context, organizations need to assume a "strategic" approach. In this chapter we will explore the main concepts, systems and tools of International Institutions (II) and International Non-Governmental Organizations (INGO) strategic management. We start this chapter with an exploration of the concept of strategy for IIs andINGOs and of its growing importance in the context of current management reforms. We then identify a tailored definition of strategy both in terms of "positioning" in a competitive arena and "fit" of the organization within the external environment. In the following sections, we explore the process of strategy formulation and its complementary aspects of strategic "thinking" and "planning", where the first is intended as a moment of discontinuity and creation and the second as one of rationalization and alignment. We conclude with a section on how to assess, manage and monitor strategy. We examine how to distinguish operational from strategic decisions. We utilize the "strategic triangle" framework that Michael Moore (2000) first introduced as conceptual lenses to use when formulating strategic decisions. Finally, we adapt and tailor the competitive forces model (Porter 1985) to the context of IIs and provide a framework for assessment of the relative strength of the positioning of an organization in its competitive arena.


The Strawberry ( Fragaria × ananassa Duch .) is the world's most important berry. Around 9.2 million tonnes of strawberries were produced worldwide in 2021 over approximately 395,844 hectares distributed across almost all continents. However, industrial farming approaches, which include the application of high volumes of pesticides, have placed the fruit on the list of foods most contaminated by pesticide residues. Such management negatively affects food security and environmental sustainability. Agroecology is proposed as a holistic alternative to solve this problem, and within this, some practices associated with homeopathy and biodynamic farming involve the application of high-dynamized dilutions as alternatives to chemical pesticides. Research indicates that the use of high-dynamized dilutions holds the potential to promote crop vitality through building natural equilibrium and resilience of agricultural systems. The objective of this research was to explore the extent to which high-dynamized dilutions can increase the sustainability of commercial strawberry production as well as understand the challenges and benefits of using high-dynamized dilutions in agriculture. To do this, natural and social science methods are combined in a multidisciplinary approach that was developed simultaneously in Brazil and the UK. Results of controlled trials demonstrated that the use of high-dynamized dilutions of Phosphorus 12CH, Sulphur 12 CH, and Kali Carbonicum 12CH positively influenced crop production, pest disease levels, and plant vigor in strawberry plants. In addition, data collected from a web survey and interviews with farmers, researchers, and advisors who work with homeopathy, evidenced the role of homeopathy and biodynamic farming as transformative tools regarding ecological awareness and ecological education, helping to advance the concept of the agriculture organism and subtle aspects of life into agricultural research and society.


A total of 180 Muscovy ducklings at 7 days of age were used in an experiment, which lasted 9 weeks. The experiment aimed to investigate the utilization of Date Stone meal (DSM) by using pelleting process and grinding and their interaction effects on growth performance of muscovy ducklings. Birds were divided into 4 equal experimental groups of 45 ducklings each. Every group was sub-divided into three replicates (15 ducklings / rep.). The first and second groups were fed the mash diet of coarse or fine DSM, while the third and fourth groups was fed pelted diets of coarse or fine DSM. The experimental diets were isocaloric and is nitrogenous. Results obtained could be summarized as follows: Muscovy ducklings fed pelleted diets of DSM had significantly (P < 0.01) highest average live body weight and body weight gain as compared with those received mash DSM diet. The grinding particle size and the interaction between dietary treatment had insignificant effects on performance. Moreover, Pellets form of DSM improved significantly (P < 0.01) feed conversion ratio (g feed/g gain) and fine DSM diet had improved significantly (P < 0.01) feed conversion ratio. Digestion coefficients of CP and CF showed a highly significant (P<0.01) increase for group fed fine pelleted DSM diet. Duckling fed coarse pelleted DSM diet had significantly ( P<0.01) highest digestive tract weight (g), Cecum length (cm), Liver% , Edible giblets % and had the highest insignificant Gizzard % as compared with other treatment groups. The highest value of economic efficiency among all experimental groups was recorded by group fed pellets form with fine grinding of DSM. From the nutritional and economical efficiency stand points of view, pelleting process with fine grinding of DSM could be recommended to be used successfully and safely in formulating diets for growing Muscovy ducklings raising under new reclaiming region without adversely affecting their growth performance.


We prove an optimal systolic inequality for nonpositively curved Dyck's surfaces. The extremal surface is flat with eight conical singularities, six of angle theta and two of angle 9pi - theta, for a suitable theta with cos(theta) in Q(sqrt{19}). Relying on some delicate capacity estimates, we also show that the extremal surface is not conformally equivalent to the hyperbolic surface with maximal systole, yielding a first example of systolic extremality with this behavior.


We propose a model for a hard disk drive (HDD) based on a flexible multibody dynamics formulation. All the main components in the HDD, i.e., the spindle head actuator, spindle disk, and base are considered flexible components connected by bearing joints. The model takes into account nonlinearity and discontinuity caused by the contact between the dimple and flexure. The air bearing force is obtained by solving the Reynolds equation using the finite volume method and considering Intermolecular force. We found that the intermolecular force will lower the flying height. We investigated the effect of the base stiffness on the shock tolerance of the HDD and found that a stiffer base will benefit the increase of the shock tolerance.


This article investigates and analyzes the actual career situation of students "offline" and "online" with the help of network data resources or mobile APP. Based on the object-oriented data model, key technologies such as level of detail technology and multi-resolution texture model are used to solve the problem of 3D visualization, and the rendering speed of 3D scenes can be accelerated. The existing problems are convenient to give positive guidance to the professional behavior of students in higher vocational colleges, and provide a basis for the school's education and life management of students. The experiment results shown the efficiency has been promoted up to 7.35%. The comparison analysis has proven the effectiveness of the model.


A method of synthesis of α-acetylthioformanilides (yield 90%) was reported. The α-acetylthicformanilides can condensed with 1,2-diaminoethane to form heterocyclic compounds 5-(4'-substituted-anilino)-6-methyl-2,3-dihydropyrazine.


Software engineering may be defined as the systematic design and development of software products and the management of the software process. Software engineering has as one of its primary objectiv...


This paper is to introduce General(護軍) Bak Jinhun(朴眞訓)'s epitaph at the end of the Goryeo Dynasty and to study his career which did not be recorded in Goryeo documents at all. First, Bak Jinhun's epitaph have several features different with existing epitaphs of Goryeo. While the chronological era and the sexagenary cycle was recorded in epitaphs of Goryeo, King's name such as King Gongmin(恭愍王) and Sinu(신우) was recorded in Bak Jinhun's epitaph. Especially, Bak Jinhun's epitaph was recorded King U into Sinu. It also wasn't recorded his family origin or native place, while epitaphs of Goryeo were generally recorded one of the two. Editors of epitaph in Goryeo were mostly intellectuals who were acquainted with the subject of epitaph, but editor of Bak Jinhun's epitaph was his henchman. Second, Bak Jinhun got rapid promotions by subjugating Tamla(耽羅) in 23 years after the reign of King Gongmin and repulsing Japanese pirates(倭寇) during the reign of King U. He had close relations with Choi Young in these military actions. For example, He was promoted form a lieutenant general(中郎將) to a general(護軍) in 10 years after the reign of King U, when Choi Young extended his political power. Third, Bak Jinhun took an active part in Choi Young's strength as a military subject at the end of the Goryeo Dynasty. Choi Young' group was mainly made up soldiers such as An So(安沼), Jeong Seungga(鄭承可), and Song Gwangmi(宋光美), who were killed after a troop withdrawal in Wihwado(威化島回軍). Bak Jinhun was in lower middle group than their group. He was killed in the battle of Gaegyeong after a troop withdrawal in Wihwado and his sons also was killed by the defeat of Choi Young' group.


This issue of the BMS appears at the same time as the French Association of Sociology (Association Française de Sociologie or AFS) tolds its third congress in Paris. In cooperation with the AFS Methodology Section (RT20, Riseau Thimatique 20 Mgthodes), the BMS has encouraged the text analysis of all abstracts of presentations made at the first AFS congress in 2004 in Saint DenisVilletaneuse and the second AFS congress in 2006 in Bordeaux. This project has involved the Prosp6ro, Calliope, Trideux and Alceste text analysis programs, and the BMS has published the results of these analyses of the 2004 and 2006 abstracts in previous issues. This issue of the BMS includes three research articles concerning the 2009 AFS congress.


A discrete theory of gravity, locally invariant under the Poincaré group, is considered as in a companion paper. We define a first-order theory, in the sense of Palatini, on the metric-dual Voronoi complex of a simplicial complex. We follow the same spirit as the continuum theory of general relativity in the Cartan formalism. The field equations are carefully derived taking in account the constraints of the theory. They look very similar to first-order Einstein continuum equations in the Cartan formalism. It is shown that in the limit of small deficit angles these equations have Regge calculus, locally, as the only solution. A quantum measure is easily defined which does not suffer the ambiguities of Regge calculus, and a coupling with fermionic matter is easily introduced.


Despite late Jacobean and early Caroline playwrights' appropriation of the idea that theater could serve as an imaginative cure for the melancholic spectator, Robert Burton's 1621 The Anatomy of Melancholy articulates a much more ambivalent perspective on using performance to effect change in audiences or in melancholics who partake too readily in the fictions presented before them. Burton's text argues that entertainments can be harmful for the melancholic individual, whose unstable imagination leads him or her to confuse fiction and reality, sometimes transforming into "an actor himselfe." Although Burton occasionally mitigates his condemnation of theater, he presents a picture of impressionable melancholics who are susceptible to fiction's power and might cause self or social harm because of their diseased imaginations. Theater, in this case, only exacerbates an already existing condition of ailing discernment in the mind and body. Burton, a self-styled "Anticke actor," crafts a critique of theater that is part of the wider concern among his contemporaries over unruly audiences and rebellious playwrights, who together threaten to undermine the social structure and political order of England. These concerns help to explain why Burton, in a manner quite different from earlier authors on melancholy, anticipates and participates in a flourishing meta-theatrical discourse in the 1620s and 1630s.


Affordable communication radios for fishermen do not usually have data communication feature which is able to send important informations in text format with the updated coordinate locations. The lack of standard radio for fishermen communication could cause a big risk for fishermen's safety. In this paper, data communication system using UHF spectrum for marine radio was designed and implemented. The system design was done by utilizing a micro controller with its supporting modules. The implemented data communication system could work on 300–400 MHz frequency with its bit rate 32,59 byte/s and 30 meters for communication range. The sent information in this data communication consisted of a message format with coordinate location and ship identity code inside of it.


Infectious diseases continue to present a serious threat in the Latin America and Caribbean region. Finding strategies to address this threat is becoming more complicated due to growing resistance to the antimicrobial medicines presently available. Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) develops over time and is exacerbated by an increased exposure of the microorganisms associated with infectious diseases to antimicrobial medicines and the subsequent development of survival mechanisms within these microorganisms. There are many factors that contribute to the development of AMR but one of the major contributors from a public health perspective is the unnecessary use of antimicrobials for common conditions and/or the use of inappropriate doses of the drugs in cases when they are required. Health systems contribute to this situation by lacking the proper legal frameworks regulations and guidelines for the use of antimicrobials and by implementing poor managerial mechanisms for proper selection procurement distribution and use of these valuable medicines. Physicians pharmacists and drug vendors contribute to the unnecessary use of these drugs by prescribing and selling inappropriate treatments. Patients experienced with the benefits of antimicrobials tend to self-medicate even when they may have access to formal health care services. The implication is that new strategies and more resources for second line drugs may be needed in the near future for these highly prevalent diseases as conventional treatments fail. USAIDs Regional Bureau for LAC has promoted an initiative called "South American Infectious Disease Initiative" (SAIDI) that allows organizations working in Cooperative Agreements with USAID other US Government Departments and the Pan American Health Organization to join efforts in developing sound strategies to contain the advance of AMR in Peru Bolivia and Paraguay. The SAIDI model enhances the collaboration of these technical organizations with country counterparts and governments and promotes extensive South-to-South information-sharing. Based on the experiences with this initiative significant economies in terms of training research and interventions may be gained for the region. The SAIDI will be jointly managed out of the USAID/Peru Mission and the USAID Washington based Regional Bureau for LAC. (excerpt)


With the growing pace of technological advancement, electronic and thermal components play a crucial role in every domain. These components are however challenged by continuous heat generation which is required to be dissipated for their efficient working. This gives rise to the need of heat dissipating measures and hence, an extensive research is being done in this field. Extended surfaces, known as fins provide an efficient way of cooling components and their utility ranges from medical, power, thermal to microelectronic components. The present work is aimed to augment the thermal performance of pin fins by the introduction of protrusions on the surface of the fin along the length, in two rows, each row having three protrusions. Different geometrical configurations viz. cuboidal, cylindrical, triangular and hemispherical for the protrusion were analysed using Computational Fluid Dynamics. From the results, it is evident that the maximum increase of approximately 7% of the total heat flux is obtained from the surface of the fin with cylindrical protrusions and considerable increase in the total heat flux is obtained in other configurations. It was also concluded that cuboidal and cylindrical protrusions have lowest temperature profiles indicating better heat transfer behaviour. The temperature profile for the fin without protrusions was experimentally validated. The results of the fins with protrusions are in agreement with the existing research papers.


: Seed borne pathogens can cause reduction in germination capacity of seeds resulting in crop losses. Many biologically active metabolites are produced by Aspergillus species some of which have herbicidal activity. This study was undertaken to study the phytotoxic effect of cell free culture filtrates of two Aspergillus isolates on germination of Vigna radiata seeds (green gram seeds). Fifteen-day old culture filtrates of both the Aspergillus isolates inhibited the germination of Vigna radiata seeds but CFCF of Aspergillus isolate #11 was more phytotoxic in comparison to Aspergillus isolate #14. Culture filtrate of both isolates was extracted with chloroform to obtain crude extract. The crude extract of both isolates was observed to be phytotoxic as they inhibited germination of Vigna radiata seeds. It was thus inferred that reduction in seed germination was due to phytotoxic metabolites produced by these isolates.


The regulation of safety in a range of industries is changing to support government legislation and advances in technology. Historically, safety regulations have contained a list of prescriptive requirements describing the 'means' to achieve an acceptable level of safety. More recently, there has been a tendency in the industrialised nations to shift towards performance based safety regulation whose requirements describe 'what' levels of safety must be achieved, without prescribing the 'means' by which it is to be achieved. There is a need for a clear understanding of the safety requirements to be satisfied in meeting legal obligations, especially as this shift aims to move more responsibility and ownership onto the shoulders of the service providers. This responsibility will include the presentation of a safety case to provide the safety evidence in a comprehensible and sound argument to satisfy the safety requirements of the domain regulating bodies. This shift, from the use of prescriptive based standards to a more performance-based regime, is set to provide challenges to the safety community. The alternative approaches and the motivation for change are reviewed; current thinking on the challenges ahead are also discussed and identified. It is shown that performance standards offer increased freedom and opportunities to the supplier in developing their design, which the author believes has the potential to increase uncertainty. It is further shown that the additional responsibility associated with performance-based development requires that the scope of the system safety hazards is well recognised and understood. The tools and methods used in the design and analysis must be applied and performed systematically by suitably qualified engineers so as to achieve an acceptable design, capable of meeting safety targets, tolerable to the regulator and society. The uncertainty in this process must firstly be identified and then managed effectively to progressively increase confidence for the argument strategies to be employed in support of the safety case. Uncertainty is considered through the lifecycle to identify common sources and manage them effectively. The uncertainties likely to be encountered in the development of a system safety case are identified and categorised. A checklist of these uncertainties is provided for use by the system developers, auditors and the regulator as a guide to recognising uncertainties, at each phase of the lifecycle, as they materialise and indicate how to combat such uncertainties. Any uncertainty identified during the safety lifecycle needs to be recognised and a means of reinforcing the …


An algorithm for ellipsometry data reduction is described. The proposed numerical procedure allows for extraction of any two parameters. e.g., film thicknesses, real part, or imaginary part of the refractive index of an arbitrary multilayer film. Thickness results for 100-350 nm thick single and double layers on single-crystal silicon substrate generally agree to within 3% with those determined solely by a conventional ellipsometer and its associated softwares. Accuracy of sub-10 nm thick oxide measurements is discussed. Application of the present multilayer software to poly-oxide thickness measurements is demonstrated


The invention discloses a ground auxiliary cargo loading device of an unmanned plane. The loading device comprises at least one power supply, a man-machine interface, a communication module, a controller, a cargo lifter and a driver thereof, a lifting ring positioning clamp and a driver thereof, and an overall framework, wherein the overall framework is a cubic structure and is at least divided into two layers in a vertical direction; the two layers comprise a bottom plate and a top landing field which are connected via a plurality of support posts; a window is formed in the center of the top landing field. Based on the loading device, the unmanned machine communicates with the loading device via the communication module, positions and lands on the landing field; the cargos are conveyed by the lifter to pass through the window and arrive at an onboard lifting device of the unmanned machine; the cargos can be automatically lifted.


Automatic evaluation of natural language generation has long been an elusive goal in NLP.A recent paradigm fine-tunes pre-trained language models to emulate human judgements for a particular task and evaluation criterion. Inspired by the generalization ability of instruction-tuned models, we propose a learned metric based on instruction tuning. To test our approach, we collected HEAP, a dataset of human judgements across various NLG tasks and evaluation criteria. Our findings demonstrate that instruction tuning language models on HEAP yields good performance on many evaluation tasks, though some criteria are less trivial to learn than others. Further, jointly training on multiple tasks can yield additional performance improvements, which can be beneficial for future tasks with little to no human annotated data.


for their report on direct visualinspection for cervical carcinoma screening. However, we ques-tion their recommendation to link visual inspection with immediateablative treatment, an experimental strategy that they refer to as'screen and treat'.Because poor-quality cervical screening programs can do moreharm than good, and because entropy is real, cervical screeningprograms require routine audits.


Various attempts have been made to apply Radio Frequency IDentification (RFID) technologies to current construction operations and processes; however, RFID applications have still required considerable investments and efforts to be successfully applied in the real construction projects. This paper examines the RFID technology applied to construction projects. A simulation model is developed to quantitatively evaluate the possible productivity benefits of RFID in construction. The model is based on the case study of a real construction project where the critical points of economically feasible solution for RFID application can be searched variable depending on the costs of RFID tags and RFID readers The simulation model also compares performances to apply RFID applications before and after. The results of simulation showed that RFID technology is effective for enhancing the project performances improvement at the operation and process level by reducing cycle time, decreasing queuing time, and improving other benefits including reliability of construction operations compared to invested costs. The results, however, also indicated that RFID application needs for further analysis in view of assessing qualitative aspects as well as implementation obstacles, based on more broaden case studies.


Rapid increasing activity in Fiber To The Home (FTTH) deployment in Malaysia and general desired to eventually migrate to these systems inspire to the reduction in overall cost and components required to deploy FTTH. This paper proposed implementation of Multiple Input Multiple Output Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (MIMO-OFDM) in FTTH to provide higher capacity gain, high data rate, low complexity system and triple play service (voice, video and data). The complete MIMO OFDM based Photonic Access Point (PAP) system to accommodate Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) 802.11n standard was implemented in a two transmits and receives antenna using simulation with Optisystem software. Perfect constellation on each 64QAM points at receiver part and wide eye opening shows that the system is reliable for FTTH application.


1Department of Civil Engineering, Pandit Deendayal Petroleum University, Gandhinagar, India ---------------------------------------------------------------------***---------------------------------------------------------------------Abstract A corrugated web steel beam has a thinner web as compared to conventional steel beams. The corrugated profile enables increased utilization of plastic limit loading by preventing the failure of the beam due to loss of stability. Thus, even without stiffeners, the beam has considerably stiffness and can achieve adequate bending resistance. Using of thinner web material results in a reduction of weight of the beam and ultimately decreased the dead load of the structure along with the reduced material consumption resulting in reduced cost. Thus, by comparing the performance of trapezoidal corrugated steel beams with a different angle between the diagonal and the parallel strip of the web, the angle that provides adequate strength characteristics along with material saving is found. For this, steel beams with the trapezoidal corrugated web with corrugation angle 25°, 30°, 35°, 45° and 60° are compared for their central deflection and lateral displacement up to an elastic limit. Out of these five beams, beam with the corrugated web with corrugation angle of 35° is found to be having maximum strength characteristics along with optimal use of material compared to other beams


Iron carbonyls are used to synthesize catalysts of Fe supported on Al2O3 which are more than an order of magnitude more dispersed than those that have been obtained by the traditional techniques of catalyst synthesis.


We address the problem of recovering a sparse signal observed by a resource constrained wireless sensor network with fading channels. Sparse random matrices are exploited to reduce the communication cost in forwarding information to a fusion center. The presence of channel fading leads to inhomogeneity and non-Gaussian statistics in the effective measurement matrix that relates the measurements collected at the fusion center and the sparse signal being observed. We analyze the impact of channel fading on recovery of a given sparse signal by leveraging the properties of heavy-tailed random matrices. We quantify the additional number of measurements required to ensure reliable signal recovery in the presence of nonidentical fading channels compared to that is required with identical Gaussian channels. Our analysis provides insights into how to control the probability of sensor transmissions at each node based on the channel fading statistics to minimize the number of measurements collected at the fusion center for reliable sparse signal recovery. We further discuss recovery guarantees of a given sparse signal with any random projection matrix where the elements are subexponential with a given subexponential norm. Numerical results are provided to corroborate the theoretical findings.


A proposal of quantum cognition advances the hypothesis that quantum entanglement between 31 P nuclei could serve as a means of information storage in the brain. Testing this hypothesis requires an understanding of how long-lived these quantum effects may be. We used NMR spectroscopy and molecular dynamics simulations to study the mechanisms that limit these quantum processes in 18 O-enriched molecules of pyrophosphate, the simplest biomolecule that can sustain quantum-entangled 31 P nuclear spin singlet states. We confirmed that chemical shift anisotropy limits the singlet magnetization order lifetimes in high magnetic fields, and we discovered that rapid rotation of the phosphate groups limits the lifetime in low magnetic fields. These findings represent an important starting point in studying whether quantum cognition can be a true biological phenomenon.


The paper presents a subgrade damage approach that supports procedures based on subgrade stress ratios. The method estimates rutting in the subgrade based on the stress distribution produced by the aircraft loads on the subgrade, subgrade strength and aircraft traffic characteristics. The concepts and procedures demonstrated and developed in this study are based on comprehensive laboratory testing conducted with fine grained subgrade soil samples. Additional testing is required to verify them for other cohesive soils. It is anticipated that trafficking data from NAPTF pavement sections can be used to validate the procedures and methodologies presented in this paper.


Using a national longitudinal dataset of college students, this study examines satisfaction with diversity of the student body and identifies predictors of White, Black, Latino/a, and Asian American student satisfaction at Predominantly White Institutions. Across races, students at more diverse institutions were the most likely to be satisfied or very satisfied with student body diversity. The strongest predictor of diversity satisfaction for White and Asian American students was the percent of students of color enrolled; the strongest predictor for Black and Latino/a students was contentment with community, peer interactions, and the overall college experience. Additionally, students of all races attending college on the West Coast were significantly less likely to be satisfied with the diversity of the student body. The findings suggest that while increasing the number of students of color is an essential component of nurturing a positive campus racial climate, so is supporting positive peer interactions and a sense of community.


Background: Intravesical lithogenesis following IUD intrauterine device migration is a serious complication which has been rarely reported. Case Report: Here in, we report the case of 46 aged woman, 7th gestation and 7th parity, who started with periodic complains of pollakiuria, burning and urgenturia 6 months after IUD insertion. Ultrasonography and Plain abdominal X ray evoked an intra bladder T device witch branch was enclosed by lithiasis. Referred to the hospital for proper management, the diagnostic confirmation has been done by uretrocystoscopy. A cystolithotomy was performed and post operatory follow up has been uneventful. Rapid specialized management is advisable face to IUD cord missing, especially when this is associated to LUTS (low urinary tract syndrome).


The present invention is directed to a power cable comprising a power cable (power line) that is at least substantially free of loading and a holding cable that at least substantially absorbs all of the mechanical forces that occur in maintaining the wind power plant 100 at a single, The wind power plant 100 may be connected to the anchor point 111 to allow movement of the wind power plant 100 by six degrees of freedom by means of a cable 110 designed in combination with the cable 110 ) And a wind power plant (100), wherein a slip coupling is provided to provide electrical connection and a swivel coupling is formed to provide mechanical power transmission Plant. The wind power plant 100 includes a supporting unit 101, in particular a floating unit designed as a semi-submersible unit with a ballast unit and a buoyancy unit. The wind power plant 100 includes a supporting nail 104 fixedly connected to a supporting unit 101 and a machine nacelle fixedly disposed on the supporting mast and having at least one rotor 106 and at least one electric generator, . The maximum possible horizontal distance between the rotation plane of the rotor 106, which is substantially perpendicular to the connection point 118, is formed.


Eye-operated input devices have a common problem, namely, false operations caused by the incorrect detection of the eye position or gaze direction. In this study, we developed an eye-position prediction algorithm with polynomial regression to eliminate incorrect and overlooked eye detection, which induce false operations in the eye input device. We also investigated the suitable number of data points (history of eye positions) and the polynomial order for eye-position prediction by the Akaike information criterion (AIC). The experimental results showed that the first order and the history of five eye positions were appropriate for artificial eye movements approximated sine or rectangular functions.


Abstract We investigate positive solutions of a nonlinear equationLu=uαwhereLis a second order elliptic differential operator in a Riemannian manifoldEand 1 2. We establish a 1-1 correspondence between the set U of positive solutions and a class Z of functionals ofXwhich we call linear boundary functionals (they depend only on the behavior ofXnear the Martin boundaryE′). The class Z is a closed convex cone andu∈ U is a subadditive function ofZ∈ Z . Special roles belong to moderate solutions corresponding toZwith finite mathematical expectations and to a family of solutions determined by the range ofX. A new formula is deduced connectingu,ZandL-diffusions conditioned to hit the boundaryE′ at a given pointy. A concept of a singular boundary point foruis introduced in terms of the conditioned diffusion.


We read with interest the article by Collin et al. that described an increased risk of requiring intensive care in pregnant or postpartum women with SARS-CoV-2 infection, even when considering only cases needing invasive mechanical ventilation (RR: 3.49; 95% CI:1.89-6.52).1 The results of this study have implications for countries with limited resources, such as Brazil, the current epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic. Maternal deaths due to COVID-19 were not reported in initial studies from China.


Ainfrared temperature sensor,51 series single-chip,external E2PROM chip,12-bit high speed A/D converter chip and industrial RS485 serial communication chip were used in this paper to design a hign precision non-contact infrared temperature measure-ment terminal,the design of the terminal hardware,communication interface and the underlying software design,etc.were described in this paper.After testing,the end of the basic measurement accuracy is of±1℃.


An analytic series solution for TE-mode scattering from two junctions in the H-plane waveguide is obtained. A Fourier-transform technique is applied to express the scattered field in the spectral domain in terms of parallel-plate waveguide modes. The boundary conditions are enforced to obtain simultaneous equations for the transmitted field. The simultaneous equations are solved to obtain the transmission and reflection coefficients in simple series forms. Comparisons between our solution and other existing results show excellent agreements. The behaviors of scattering from two junctions are studied in terms of frequency and junction geometry. The obtained analytic solutions are simple series so that they are very efficient for numerical computation. >


We confirm the difference in chemical abundance between stars with and without exoplanets and present the relation between chemical abundances and physical properties of exoplanets, such as planetary mass and the semimajor axis of planetary orbit. We obtained the spectra of 52 G-type stars from the Bohyunsan Optical Astronomy Observatory (BOAO) Echelle Spectrograph and carried out abundance analyses for 12 elements: Na, Mg, Al, Si, Ca, Sc, Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Co, and Ni. We first found that the [Mn/Fe] ratios of planet-host stars are higher than those of comparison stars over the entire metallicity range, and we then found that in metal-poor stars of [Fe/H] < −0.4 the abundance difference was larger than in metal-rich samples, especially for the elements of Mg, Al, Sc, Ti, V, and Co. After examining the relation between planet properties and metallicities of planet-host stars, we observed that planet-host stars with low metallicities tend to have several low-mass planets (


Mucosal-associated-invariant-T (MAIT) cells are an innate-like T cell subset that recognizes microbial-derived vitamin B metabolites. In contrast to conventional T cells, MAIT cells have an antigen-experienced phenotype and express memory markers by default. When activated, MAIT cells rapidly produce copious amounts of cytokines, resembling IFNg+ Th1- or IL-17+ Th17 effectors cells. While memory-like vs effector-like states in conventional CD4 and CD8 T cells are controlled by mutually exclusive metabolic states, the question remains as to which metabolic programs MAIT cells adopt at steady-state and after infection. Here we integrate scRNA-seq analysis with single-cell metabolic characterization of MAIT cells from humans and mice. We discovered a memory-like metabolic program that is acquired in the thymus and at steady state in the periphery. We identify a novel cluster of circulatory MAIT cells which is metabolically similar to IFNg+ MAIT1-like cells and preferentially consumes glucose. MAIT17 clusters, most prevalent in mice, uniquely engage in fatty acid uptake and mitochondrial metabolism. Following exposure to bacteria, mouse MAIT cells expand as CD127−KLRG1+ and CD127+KLRG1− populations that adopt divergent transcriptomic and metabolic profiles with enhanced functionality. They remain altered long-term. CD127+, but not KLRG1+ MAIT cells engage in MAIT17-like metabolic and effector pathways and protect mice from lung infection with Streptococcus pneumoniae. In contrast, KLRG1+ MAIT cells depend on Hif1a-driven glycolysis and remain metabolically dormant but ready to respond, more rapidly engaging multiple metabolic programs to protect from viral infection.
 Supported by R01AI137230 (MK), R01AI71922 (MK), Wellcome Trust 210842_Z_18_Z (TR)


In this paper I explore tensions and conflicts over poverty reduction and urban development in Kigali, Rwanda's capital in terms of theories of performativity. On one hand, motorcycle taxis offer large numbers of young men good livelihoods – reflecting the government of Rwanda's stated commitment to poverty reduction, especially amongst youth; on the other, motorcycle taxi drivers suffer harassment at the hands of city authorities and police, who are keen to eradicate motorcycle taxis from the urban scene altogether. I interpret this tension as a conflict over the appropriate performance of development in the city; I argue that in pursuit of urban development, the city itself becomes an image, projected in order to attract the investment which will give body to the simulated spectacle that Kigali present. Conflicts between the city and motorcycle taxi drivers erupt because motorcycle taxis cannot perform to the aesthetic standards of the new Kigali. In conclusion, I suggest that the rendition of Kigali's development as image has broader lessons for studies of development in general. Specifically, these conflicts expose the operation of images and their performance as political resources, conferring intelligibility and legitimacy in the spectacle of national development. Key words: Rwanda, poverty reduction, urban development, performativity


A systematic investigations on the modification of interface potential by introducing doped microcrystalline Si (/spl mu/c-Si) and it's carbon alloys (/spl mu/c-SiC) at the TCO/p a-SiC interface has been made. It has been shown that a remarkable increase of the built-in potential with insertion of these materials. A series of technical data on the improvement of photovoltaic characteristics achieved by employing the microcrystalline materials are presented. The mechanism of improvements is discussed on the basis of systematic diagnostics on the interface properties.


We investigate the indications of flavor oscillations that come from the anomalous flavor composition of the atmospheric neutrino flux observed in some underground experiments. We study the information coming from the neutrino-induced {mu}-like and e-like events both in the sub-GeV energy range (Kamiokande, IMB, Fr{acute e}jus, and NUSEX experiments) and in the multi-GeV energy range (Kamiokande experiment). First we analyze all the data in the limits of pure {nu}{sub {mu}}{leftrightarrow}{nu}{sub {tau}} and {nu}{sub {mu}}{leftrightarrow}{nu}{sub e} oscillations. We obtain that {nu}{sub {mu}}{leftrightarrow}{nu}{sub e} oscillations provide a better fit, in particular, to the multi-GeV data. Then we perform a three-flavor analysis in the hypothesis of dominance of one neutrino square mass difference m{sup 2} implying that the neutrino mixing is parametrized by two angles ({psi},{phi}){element_of}[0,{pi}/2]. We explore the space (m{sup 2},{psi},{phi}) exhaustively, and find the regions favored by the oscillation hypothesis. The results are displayed in a form suited to the comparison with other flavor oscillation searches at accelerator, reactor, and solar {nu} experiments. In the analysis, we pay particular attention to the Earth matter effects, to the correlation of the uncertainties, and to the symmetry properties of the oscillation probability. {copyright} {ital 1997} {ital The American Physical Society}


A paper published before this society in 1953 reported some effects of nitrogen, phos phorus and potassium fertilization on the con stituents of Persian lime fruits (3). At that time, the first full crop year, the harvest had not been completed for the year, therefore no yield data were available. At this reporting, complete yield records for the crop years of 1953, 1954, and 1955 are available and are used in this paper. In addition to yield data, yearly growth records from 1951 to 1956 have been compiled and are herein reported. -


The first vibroseis 2D data was acquired with a 48-channel crew in 1967. Twenty four
years later, a 2D crew was upgraded to 720-channel 3D seismic crew. Initially,
productivity was slow with an average rate of 822 sweeps (137 vibrating points (VP))
per day. In the same terrain conditions, our current 4000-channel 3D production
seismic crews operating in flip-flop mode can achieve a rate of 3300 VPs per day. To
date, Saudi Aramco have acquired approximately 500,000 linear kilometers of 2D and
220,000 square kilometers of 3D seismic data (Figure 1). This presentation reviews
the best practices used to reduce the source and receiver cycle times while
maintaining data quality.


Much of the contemporary narrative on the Arctic tends to characterise the region as an arena for resource-driven jurisdictional and geopolitical rivalry among competing interested States. This chapter challenges salient aspects of this seemingly prevailing and remarkably persistent, yet arguably also rather misleading, vision of the Arctic as a potential or indeed likely zone of conflict. It provides an overview of climate change impacts on the Arctic. Key territorial and maritime jurisdictional developments are then addressed, and it is suggested that the maritime claims of the Arctic littoral States are in keeping with international norms. The chapter explores the emerging socioeconomic pressures in the Arctic system that have largely come to prominence in the context of a warming Arctic; in particular, suggestions that the Arctic may be a last great frontier for seabed oil and gas exploration is critically examined. Finally, the chapter presents a case study on Barents sea. Keywords:Arctic system; Barents Sea; climate change; maritime jurisdictional development


(p < 0.0005) in patients operated on for rupture of the quadriceps tendon (79%) than in patients with rupture of the patellar tendon (27%) or fracture of the patella (15%). In patients presenting with failure of the extensor mechanism of the knee in the presence of a patellar spur, rupture of the quadriceps tendon should be considered as a possible diagnosis. Rupture of the quadriceps tendon following trauma is often missed. There is no radiographic indicator of the injury. The clinical diagnosis can be confirmed either by ultrasound or MRI. There may be a greater delay in the diagnosis of rupture of the quadriceps tendon than in other causes of extensor failure such as fracture of the patella and rupture of the patellar tendon as the latter are obvious on radiographs. Delay in surgical intervention may compromise recovery. This paper examines whether an association exists between rupture of the quadriceps tendon and the presence of a patellar spur (Fig. 1), which is defined as a bony projection above the insertion of the quadriceps into the non-articular superior pole of the patella. Recognition of this association might improve the chances of diagnosis of rupture of the quadriceps tendon.


Laminated and nonlaminated sediments from Holes 480 and 479 have been analyzed for potential differences in the composition of organic matter. Their lipid composition is very similar and indicates a primary autochthonous microbial origin and some influx of allochthonous higher-plant detritus. The nonlaminated sections contain relatively more terrigenous plant wax detritus versus autochthonous residues and a much greater amount of perylene than the laminated sections.


TGF-beta1 is a pluripotent cytokine with diverse effects in the normal development of mammary glands, and in the development of malignant tumors of the breast. The aim of the study was to determine the levels of TGF-beta1 in the group of advanced breast cancer, in which increased TGF-beta1 levels were most likely to be expected. TGF-beta1 levels were also compared with estradiol levels. Our results suggested that TGF-beta1 synthesis may be regulated by estrogen or anti-estrogen through ER. Finding of increased TGF-beta1 levels, due to its possible role in predicting invasive phenotype in later phases of tumor progression, may indicate the tendency of tumor tissue towards autonomy.


Numerous attacks on Christians have recently taken place in Iran.
Sources close to Alliance member Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) report that Mohammad Roghangir, Suroush Saraie and Pastor Matthias Haghnejad have been arrested by Iranian security forces.


Microwave assisted extraction is an advanced technique of extraction process. This technique developed for the extraction of oil from natural plants using the microwave energy at atmospheric pressure. Microwave assisted extraction process used for the extraction of eucalyptus oil from Eucalyptus umbellata leaves, which was optimize with using full factorial design to find out the optimum conditions. Three parameters are involved in MAE, like extraction time, microwave power and drying period for optimization. For experimental procedure, four microwave powers such as 250W, 500W, 750W, and 1000W required with extraction time at higher level for 150 min. The result of this study is that the higher percentage of the yield is 0.49% (w/w) delivered at the 1000W with optimum 130 min. And also observed that the yield% directly proportional to the microwave power and dryness of leaves. This study concluded that the microwave assisted extraction gives the higher eucalyptus essential oil with shorter extraction time. Keywords---MAE, Extraction, essential oil, eucalyptus


In our previous research, [3] has put forward a method to extract surfaces of stone flakes. But for reassembling stone flakes, it is necessary to obtain the suitable flake surface. Extracting accurate and smooth edges of stone flake surfaces plays a significant part. The former method extracted the boundary edges of stone flakes based on the density of points. However, some surface boundaries are rough. It is hard to match flake surfaces with these irregular edges. To solve this problem, an effective method is proposed for optimizing edges based on a mesh. According to experiments, results of our optimization method indicate that the boundary edges become smooth, which will make a contribute to stone flake matching.


The actual climate in the world has an important impact in the entire agriculture field, especially in the sector of the culture of plants. This reason together with the global heating are determine the people to choose the greenhouse solution and, also, their specific applications. These applications are developed to monitoring and control the energy balance of the greenhouse climate. In the first part, this study focuses on the comparison between a classical method of the numeric algorithm PI controller and the intelligent control techniques represented by a fuzzy logic controller (FLC) with an efficient realization. Another objective of this paper is to describe the principles, methods and results of data compression employed when operating data transfers from environmental processes, which are the reasons why the data compression methods acquire a high importance for an efficient remote information transfer.
The practical part of this paper proposes some applications of greenhouse climate, developed into the LabVIEW environment that offers user a good graphical interface easy to use and understandable.


1.
To assess the efficacy of environmental management policies and practices, there is a progressive transition from monitoring of activities towards assessment of their outcomes for the environment.

2.
Population trends of key taxonomic groups can serve as useful indicators of broader environmental integrity and health. Several necessary and desirable criteria for selecting meaningful and suitable indicators are discussed. The attributes of a range of taxa and survey methods used for their assessment are discussed with reference to these criteria.

3.
Survey methods, data holdings and analytical methods for populations of wild birds at present provide a good basis for developing indicators of the quality of fresh waters at a landscape scale. Other taxa are not necessarily any less appropriate; however, survey design and data representativeness are often limiting factors to the use of other taxa for assessing geographic and temporal trends.

4.
Taxonomic science and ecological monitoring are necessary for determining society' progress with sustainable development and for informing appropriate enhancements to policy and management practice, particularly so for fresh waters.

Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


In this part of the paper the author argues that degrammaticalization should not be defined narrowly to cover only cases where a grammatical item becomes a lexical item. It should also include the gradual disappearance of a grammatical item and the acquisition of a pragmatic or lexical function by a grammatical item plus the formal changes it undergoes in the process. In this broad definition the deconditionalization of addressee-satisfaction conditionals such as if it please you is a kind of degrammaticalization. The author shows that the interjection please originated from the politeness conditional if it please you, without excluding the possibility that the sentence-initial please originated from "Please you to + verb" and even "Will it please you to + verb", thus disproving the OED's claim that please is the short form of "May it please you" and "Be Please to + verb". Among the four indirect conditionals that underwent degrammaticalization, if it please you was completely degrammaticalized when it was reduced to a bare interjection; if it like you became today's if you like, retaining the form of a conditional clause but expressing mainly politeness and metalinguistic conditions; if you will has remained intact formally, but is now used only to express metalinguistic condition; if you list was the only one that didn't survive the process.


Standard provocative stimulation tests for GH cannot always determine the actual physiologic secretion of GH. Subjects have been described who respond to pharmacologic tests but show a reduced physiologic secretion as evaluated by means of multiple serum GH measurements over 24 hours and successfully respond to hGH therapy. Reliability of a 12-hr GH spontaneous secretion evaluation was assessed. 27 subjects with short stature due to familial short stature (FSS), constitutional growth delay (CGD), total GH deficiency (TGHD), partial GH deficien cy (PGHD) or with idiopathic short stature (ISS) were studied. Mean nocturnal GH concentration (MNGHC)shows a statistically significant difference between controls (children with FSS) and children with TGHD (P<0.001)with no overlap between the two groups.MNGHC shows intermediate values in children with PGHD. All the patients with ISS, who had a normal response to pharmacologic tests, showed a reduced MNGHC. One of these patients showed a good height velocity increase during hGH therapy. In all subjects a significant correlation (P<0.001) between MNGHC and plasma SMC levels was observed while no correlation resulted between MNGHC and maximal GH response to pharmacologic stimuli. A significant correlation (P<0.001) between MNGHC and height velocity was observed. Our data show the full reliability of physiologic GH secretion assessment over a 12-hour night-time interval.


In this study,to explore an effective solving pressure method,an ISPH model for macro free-surface flow based on the SHAKE method has been developed. The fluid flow is governed by incompress-ible Navier-Stokes equations and k-e equations. Based on the SPH spatial discretization,the explicit two-order time integrator is used to the governing equations and then the SHAKE is used to explicitly solvepressure by solving the nonlinear equations of conserving particle initial volumes. Dam-break cases with dryand wet beds are simulated by the developed ISPH model,the ISPH model based on the projection meth-od and the VOF model. The simulated results show that the developed ISPH model has a more ability ofsimulating large deformation and physical details such as splashing and two waves colliding,so does thesame results for the ISPH model based on the projection method,but less the smooth pressure. By con-trast,the VOF model can simulate the main characteristic of flow and has a more smooth pressure distribu-tion. Compared with the ISPH model based on the projection method,the developed model presents a bet-ter mass conservation,that is,the developed model can completely prevent particle's non-physical leavingcomputational domain.


Abstract In this article, we evaluate how the analysis of open-ended probes in an online cognitive interview can serve as a metric to identify cases that should be excluded due to disingenuous responses by ineligible respondents. We analyze data collected in 2019 via an online opt-in panel in English and Spanish to pretest a public opinion questionnaire (n = 265 in English and 199 in Spanish). We find that analyzing open-ended probes allowed us to flag cases completed by respondents who demonstrated problematic behaviors (e.g., answering many probes with repetitive textual patterns, by typing random characters, etc.), as well as to identify cases completed by ineligible respondents posing as eligible respondents (i.e., non-Spanish-speakers posing as Spanish-speakers). These findings indicate that data collected for multilingual pretesting research using online opt-in panels likely require additional evaluations of data quality. We find that open-ended probes can help determine which cases should be replaced when conducting pretesting using opt-in panels. We argue that open-ended probes in online cognitive interviews, while more time consuming and expensive to analyze than close-ended questions, serve as a valuable method of verifying response quality and respondent eligibility, particularly for researchers conducting multilingual surveys with online opt-in panels.


The utility model relates to a medical apparatus, in particular to an oxygen catheter fixing device for a long-term oxygen uptake patient. The oxygen catheter fixing device for the long-term oxygen uptake patient comprises a semi-circular-arc-shaped fixing ring for fixing an oxygen catheter, and is characterized in that the fixing ring is arranged on the bottom face of an L-shaped support, and a fixing hook connected with one ear of the human body is further arranged at the upper end of the L-shaped support. According to the oxygen catheter fixing device for the long-term oxygen uptake patient, as the oxygen catheter can be fixed through the ears when the fixing device is used, the face of the human body can not be injured, injuries of binding tape to the patient are avoided, and the oxygen catheter fixing device for the long-term oxygen uptake patient is firm and reliable in fixation.