Value Stream Mapping has the reputation of uncovering waste in manufacturing, production and business processes by identifying and removing or streamlining non-value-adding steps. A flow diagram showing the process is drawn to reflect the current state of the operation. The non-value actions are identified in each step and between each step by their waste of time and resources. The process is analyzed with the help of simulation software for opportunity to drastically reduce and simplify it to the fewest actions necessary. By reducing wastefulness the proportion of value adding time in the whole process rises and the process throughput speed is increased. This makes the redesigned process more effective (the right things are being done) and more efficient (needing fewer resources). This paper explains about the corrective methods for eliminating the non-value added activities in the die casting industry with the help of Arena simulation software. The reengineered process is flow charted in its future state with process steps and information flows redesigned, simplified and made less expensive and increase in productivity.


: Rhyncholaeliocattleya Haw Yuan Beauty (Rlc. Haw Yuan Beauty) is a traditional orchid in tropical and subtropical Asian regions, which has attracted attention for its fragrant flowers with diverse colors. This study aimed to investigate the effects of different extraction methods on the phenolic profile, total flavonoid and cyanidin-3-O - glucoside contents, and anti-aging properties of Rlc. Haw Yuan Beauty crude extracts. The crude extracts were obtained using solvent, ultrasonic, and supercritical carbon dioxide fluid extraction methods. The major phenolic compounds including gallic, chlorogenic


The software,online-monitoring system of commuting circuit state in DC arc furnace,measures several real time data,include the current of DC arc furnace rectifier thyristor,the voltage pulse of rectifier,the temprature of water and room.It also shows the trend of data by chart and table,thus alarming and predicting fault.


This paper presents a method to monitor and analyze the vibration of induction machine due to the rotor imbalance. A novel health monitoring system of electric machine based on wireless sensor network (ZigBeeTM) is developed in this paper. The communication protocol and software design for both wireless sensor network node and base station are also presented in detail. Moreover, the positioning scheme in ZigBee wireless network is also investigated. Based on the receiving strength signal indicator (RSSI), we can determine the distance of the sensed node by applying the distance-based positioning method. Experimental results of the proposed severity detection technique under different levels of rotor imbalance conditions are discussed and show the feasibility of this method for on-line vibrating monitoring system.


Network Function Virtualization (NFV) and Service Function Chaining (SFC) offer flexible end-to-end services that deploy virtual network functions in clouds of competing providers. Orchestration of virtual network functions occurs in a distributed and trustless environment that must tolerate byzantine failures and collusion attacks. This paper proposes BSec-NFVO, a blockchain-based system that secures orchestration operations in virtualized networks, ensuring auditability, non-repudiation and integrity. We propose an NFV-tailored blockchain and a transaction model. BSec-NFVO provides a modular architecture to secure orchestration in a simple and agile way. We develop a prototype of BSec-NFVO for the Open Platform for Network Function Virtualization (OPNFV) with an adaptation of the normal-case of a collusion-resistant consensus protocol. The results show BSec-NFVO incurs low overhead to the cloud orchestrator and presents stable performance as the number of consensus participants increases.


Purpose
This study aims to focus on the four user characteristics of innovation diffusion (availability, observability and trialability [AOT], simplicity, relative advantage [RA] and interoperability) to observe their influence on building information modelling (BIM) usage. This study focuses on the Kenyan construction industry, specifically the building contractors.

Design/methodology/approach
This study uses purposive sampling and specifically focusses on active construction sites that met requirements needed for BIM usage to thrive. Data was collected manually using questionnaires (N = 62).

Findings
This paper contributes to the analysis of the current state of BIM usage by the Kenyan construction industry specifically among building contractors and confirms that Kenya is at the early majority adopters' stage of diffusion characterised by low BIM usage. In terms of correlation, this study found out that AOT had a strong positive correlation with usage, RA had a moderate positive correlation with usage, simplicity had a weak positive correlation with usage and interoperability had no correlation with usage.

Practical implications
This study gives a clear trend on BIM usage among building contractors to assist potential BIM users make informed decision. The recommendations in this study can be adopted by any late adopter jurisdiction whose structure of the construction industry is similar to Kenya's.

Originality/value
This paper highlights variables that enable or subdue BIM usage. It goes further to localise and contextualise the barriers for deeper understanding of what makes these barriers be major hindrances towards BIM usage and giving practical solutions to these barriers.


This paper presents an analytical model of punctual elastic contact between a rigid body of arbitrary geometry and a plane surface. A simple analytical model is developed in order to evaluate the contact force knowing the volume of interpenetration, the surface and the perimeter of the base of this volume and the mechanical characteristics of surfaces in contact. Analytical and experimental validations are made for this model in the case of simple shapes (spherical, conical and pyramidal). Next, an approach for the resolution in case of contact between a rigid body and a viscoelastic plane is presented. The elastic constants are replaced by an integral operator corresponding to the viscoelastic stress-strain relation. At last, the viscoelastic punctual contact is studied analytically and validated experimentally.


Information technologies are increasingly involved in industrial practices to improve production processes and optimize the entire cycle of creating products for different purposes. A method for modeling temperature-humidity processes during drying and firing ceramics considering the phenomenon of thermal diffusion.


The purpose of this study was to establish how students' family socio-economic status influenced their participation in public secondary schools in Siaya County. The researcher used mixed methods approach and descriptive data was collected. The target population was 21,017 comprised of 276 school principals, 6 subcounty directors of education and 20,735 form IV students with a sample size of 2,160. The researcher adopted stratified simple random sampling technique to get respondents from categories of the schools. Data collection instruments were questionnaires, interview schedules and document analysis. Both descriptive and inferential data analysis methods were used in analyzing data. The study findings established that students' family socio-economic status had a significant influence on students' participation in public secondary school in Siaya County. Introduction A home is a place where one lives permanently as a member of a family or household. According to Hawes & Plourdes (2005) environment is the total aggregate of all internal and external conditions influencing the existence, growth and welfare of organisms. A Child's immediate environment therefore includes parents, siblings and peers with whom the child interacts with thus determining the destiny in later life and for that matter parents have a distinct advantage over their children than anyone else in that they provide a more stable environment that reinforces learning both at home and in education. Purpose of the Study The purpose of this study was to establish how students' family socio-economic status influenced their participation in public secondary schools in Siaya County. Objective of the Study The objective of the study was to examine the influence of family socio-economic status on students' participation in public secondary schools in Siaya County, Kenya. Literature Review Parents' support in provision of conducive home environment can be viewed as their participation in education related activities since it determines how the children perform in education since some of what a child learns from home reinforces what is taught at school. Parents in that instance should show some concern about school work by supervising homework and providing guidance as children go through their studies (Fiore, 2001 & Thomson, 2018). Mwangi et al. (2017) observes that environment may be classified as urban or rural environment and it entails objects, materials, parents, siblings, peers and social life which exists in homes that influence ARTICLE INFO Received 17, August, 2020 Received in Revised Form 5 September, 2020 Accepted 10 October, 2020 Published online 12 October, 2020


Abstract DISTANCE EDUCATION EVOLUTION: ISSUES AND CASE STUDIES. Monolescu, Dominique, Catherine Schifter, and Linda Greenwood (Eds.). Hershey, PA: Information Science Pub., 2004, 326 pp., $74.95, ISBN: 1-5914-0120-8. Reviewed by Ellen Neuhaus. LIBRARIES WITHOUT WALLS 5: THE DISTRIBUTED DELIVERY OF LIBRARY AND INFORMATION SERVICES. Brophy, Peter, Shelagh Fisher, and Jenny Craven (Eds.). London: Facet Publishing, 2004, 269 pp., $125.00, ISBN 1-85604-511-0. Reviewed by Jerilyn Marshall.


This paper addresses the problems associated with defining and classifying events as nosocomial infections, discusses the methods by which rates of nosocomial infection are calculated and their rationales, and presents some specific rates useful in nosocomial epidemiology. Previously unpublished data demonstrate important differences between antibiotic susceptibility tallies produced by clinical laboratories and similar tallies derived from nosocomial infection surveillance data. Conversion of real world events into categorical data presents formidable difficulties. Surveillance personnel must classify a given series of clinical events as 0,1, or more infections and make a determination as to whether each infection is nosocomial or community acquired. High-quality research studies to validate these efforts should compare the sensitivity and specificity of methods used to some "gold standard." The gold standard is usually a review of medical records or patients by an infectious diseases physician. But even the standard is flawed. In clinical practice this flaw presents less of a problem because therapy for infectious diseases is generally quite safe and may be instituted when the probability of infection is 10%, 5%, or even lower. For surveillance purposes a higher standard is required, which is particularly important when surveillance information is used to provide feedback data to physicians who understandably bridle at overestimates of infection rates in their patients. The overestimation of infections based on weak evidence under-cuts feedback efforts.


An up-dated account of an ongoing audio enquiry with UAL Academics - exploring the ways in which digital pedagogy is developing within a large creative university.


Approximately 90% of US tuberculosis (TB) cases among non-US-born persons are attributable to progression of latent TB infection to TB disease. Using survival analysis, we investigated if birthplace is associated with time of progression to TB disease among non-US-born persons. We derived a Cox regression model comparing differences in time to TB diagnosis after US entry among 19 global birth regions, adjusting for sex, birth year, and age at diagnosis. Compared with persons from Western Europe, the adjusted hazard rate of developing TB was significantly higher (p[≤]0.05) for persons from all other regions, except North America and Northern Europe, and highest among persons from Middle Africa (adjusted hazard ratio = 7.0; 95% confidence interval: 6.5-7.4). Time to TB diagnosis among non-US-born persons therefore varied by birth region, which represents an important prognostic indicator for progression to TB disease.


In this paper we propose and assess the performance of virtual MIMO or relay-assisted cooperative schemes designed for the UL OFDMA based systems. We consider the use of an antenna array at the base station and a single antenna at both the mobile terminal and relay. The proposed cooperative schemes emulate a MIMO channel with 2 transmit and M receive antennas. Two types of relays are considered: amplify-and-forward and selective decode-and-forward. We derive the instantaneous normalized capacities and both the outage capacities and bit error rate are compared against the non-cooperative SISO and SIMO systems, considering different scenarios. The proposed relay-assisted schemes are suited for existing and for the future broadband wireless systems to increase the system capacity and coverage.


The invention discloses a method for manufacturing a multilayer composite aluminum/steel transition joint. The transition joint comprises a multilayer composite metal layer, wherein the multilayer composite metal layer sequentially comprises an alloy aluminum layer, a titanium layer, a copper-nickel alloy layer and a steel layer, or an aluminum layer is added between the alloy aluminum layer and the titanium layer, wherein the layers are connected in an explosive welding mode; the thicknesses of the layers are different and range from 0.5 to 20mm and the total thickness of the layers is 10 to 60mm; and the layers are strip, blocky, platy, annular, round or rectangular. Multilayer composite metal is taken as an aluminum/steel transition structural material, and the layers are connected in the explosive welding mode, so that the comprehensive performance of the aluminum/steel transition material is effectively improved.


The first synthesis of the immunosuppressant (−)-FR901483 (1) has been accomplished in 2% overall yield from O-methyltyrosine methyl ester (31) in 22 steps establishing the absolute stereochemistry of the natural product. A 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition of nitrone 5b with ethyl acrylate gave predominantly isoxazolidine 4b that was hydrogenated to give azaspirolactam 3b with the correct absolute and relative stereochemistry for the synthesis of 1. Elaboration of 3b to keto aldehyde 38 and an intramolecular aldol reaction gave tricyclic keto alcohol 40 with reasonable selectivity using KO-t-Bu in t-BuOH. Further elaboration afforded (−)-1 in 9 steps with spectral data identical to that of the natural product.


Spontaneous parametric processes have proved to be integral to the advancement
 of quantum information science. Their incredible versatility, in terms of the
 emission properties of entangled photons, allows for nearly unimaginable
 applications in the transmission and processing of quantum information.


Effective inquiry-based instruction requires that teachers possess a detailed understanding of the target concepts to be taught. Because astrobiology, the search for the origins and evolution of life in the universe, is a new field of science bringing together many fields of study, it presents a formidable challenge for most K-12 science teachers. The NASA-funded Center for Educational Resources (CERES) Project (URL: http://btc.montana.edu/ceres/) at Montana State University has designed a set of classroom activities and an accompanying Internet course for teaching astrobiology. These activities have been designed to combine on-line data resources from NASA with the student-centered inquiry instructional strategy emphasized in the National Science Education Standards. The activities have been developed and field-tested by pre-college science teachers and university faculty. The accompanying asynchronous Internet course is a 15-week, graduate-level course in astrobiology for teachers. The course integrates the NASA Astrobiology Roadmap, the NRC National Science Education Standards, and the astrobiology curriculum supplements available online at URL: http://btc.montana.edu/ceres/astrobiology/LabActivities/. The two main goals of this course are: (1) To provide information on the central concepts related to the field of Astrobiology, and (2) To provide experiences with using and creating student-centered and inquiry-based curriculum materials for teaching astrobiology. Specifically, each of the teacher-participants, who are in-service teachers: identify NASA's science goals for the study of Astrobiology; complete lab activities designed to develop knowledge and skills in Astrobiology; create an original reading activity that synthesizes Astrobiology information; develop inquiry-based curriculum in Astrobiology education that are aligned with the National Science Education Standards; field-test an Astrobiology lab activity with middle or high school students; and write an implementation plan for teaching an existing lab activity with students. Course evaluations, conducted externally by Horizon Research in North Carolina, overwhelmingly suggest that the course meets its goals of improving teachers' astrobiology content knowledge and skills at implementing these topics in their classrooms. In total, 18 credit-hours are now available in a series of 'astronomy for teachers courses' which, when combined with 14 graduate credit-hours in curriculum and instruction, can constitute a foundation for a new astronomy education option in the Montana State University Master of Science – Science Education (MSSE) online degree program.


Due to the utilization of waste heat of flue gas from sulfuric acid-making with ferrous sulfate in rural sulfuric acid plant,a waste heat boiler was introduced,and some problems in design and correlative solutions were proposed.The economic benefits of boiler was analyzed based on an example.


Any social or economic theory needs reality and feasibility to erect its status. The feasibility of Marx's theory of labor value comes from the accurate grasp and deduction of the basic characteristics of his time,and it has undergone the practice examination in more than half centuries.However,for the great changes of the capitalism society,the reality and feasibility of the theory of labor value was inevitably transformed into its historical limitation.


Taking non-Shanghainese daughters-in-law as research samples,this paper studies the social support for urban women marriage immigrants.From the perspective of the social support characteristics,urban women immigrants have a smaller scale of supporting network,and that network is mostly constituted by "strong relationship".From the sources and contents of the social support,it is family members,friends and other informal social support that provide them with the material support and emotional support;and the formal social support from the government and the community is obviously inadequate for them.The factors that predominantly affect their access of social support are their social status,their marriage and their relocation.


 Abstract—In the twenty-first century, the rapid growth of information and communication technologies (ICTs) have brought remarkable societal changes. Nowadays, ICT is becoming increasingly important both in the everyday life and in the education system. It therefore makes sense to examine the impact of ICT adoption on the conduct of academic activities. The aim of this paper is precisely to examine the perceived impact of ICT adoption on academic workload and on academic productivity. This aim is achieved within a theoretical framework on the factors affecting academic productivity. This research was conducted as a questionnaire based survey of 103 academic staff drawn from four Higher Education Institutions in the KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa. The survey data was analyzed in Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software using a quantitative approach. The results of this survey indicate that ICT adoption has no impact on teaching workload, or on research workload, or on administration workload. No evidence was found on the impact of ICT adoption on academic productivity. This research contributes to new evidence on the possible impact of ICT adoption on academic workload and on academic productivity. 


Elbrus is an explicitly parallel VLIW instruction set architecture developed by MCST. In this paper, we introduce the microarchitecture of the 5th generation 8-core Elbrus-8C processor implemented on 28nm. Elbrus-8C has 5x the peak performance for floating-point operations as compared with its predecessor, the Elbrus-4C processor, due to improved single-core performance and doubled number of cores. Microarchitecture enhancements include a 16 MB shared third-level cache, high-bandwidth, low-latency on-chip network, and a new cache coherence protocol. Elbrus-8C improves bandwidths of memory and I/O subsystems using four DDR3-1600 memory channels and a new 8 GBps full-duplex I/O link. The Elbrus-8C processor also offers energy saving, reliability, and die yield improvement mechanisms required due to large die area and power.


This invention discloses a gear-shifting transmission device, including fixed clamp, axletree with wheels, piston, mobile board with a perforation in the middle of its wimble disk, an axletree cover is vertically stretched out along the circumference of the perforation, the inside of the axletree cover and on the axletree with wheels are arc keyways with steel balls in them; the circumference of the edge of the wimble disk is paralleled with the piston chamber cover stretching out of the bearing cover. Because of the above relating structure, the mobile board of the derailleur is connected with the steel ball of the axletree, and the steel balls are laid three rows of 120 degree parting, so as to assure the steel ball can bear huge pressure when it revolves; the ball and the keyway is point-contacting, so there is no clearance because of friction and therefore avoid hollow journey phenomenon. This invention has strong rigidity, sound balance and improves the transmission efficiency.


Aluminium alloys are widely used due to their combination of low weight and high strength resulting from heat treating, which takes place by heating-up the material at temperatures high enough for the alloying elements to dissolve into the aluminium matrix; the material is then cooled-down to room temperature at a rate fast enough for the alloying elements to remain in solution; strengthening occurs by aging, in which particles of different size, shape and nature precipitate from the supersaturated matrix promoting changes in the lattice parameter of the aluminium. X-ray diffraction analyses were conducted in different aluminium cast alloys after aging them at different temperatures for up to 100 hours, revealing that changes in the value of the lattice parameter of the aluminium matrix depends on the alloying elements. Aluminium-copper alloys have the tendency to increase the parameter due to precipitation of Al2Cu particles, whereas those that harden by precipitation of Mg2Si are affected to a lesser degree.


The University of Kansas Center for Research, Inc. was commissioned by the Kansas Energy Office and the US Department of Energy to conduct a review of certain oil shales in Kansas. The purpose of the study focused on making an inventory and assessing those oil shales in close stratigraphic proximity to coal beds close to the surface and containing significant reserves. The idea was to assess the feasibility of using coal as an economic window to aid in making oil shales economically recoverable. Based on this as a criterion and the work of Runnels, et al., (Runnels, R.T., Kulstead, R.O., McDuffee, C. and Schleicher, J.A., 1952, Oil Shale in Kansas, Kansas Geological Survey Bulletin, No. 96, Part 3.) five eastern Kansas black shale units were selected for study and their areal distribution mapped. The volume of recoverable oil shale in each unit was calculated and translated to reserves. The report concludes that in all probability, extraction of oil shale for shale oil is not feasible at this time due to the cost of extraction, transportation and processing. The report recommends that additional studies be undertaken to provide a more comprehensive and detailed assessment of Kansas oil shales as a potentialmore » fuel resource. 49 references, 4 tables.« less


Going concern issues are complex so that need factors that used as a benchmark in determining the company's going concern status. This study aimed to examine the effect of the audit committee, the size of the company, the audit tenure, and reputation of KAP against going concern audit opinion. The object of this research is manufacturing companies listed in Indonesia Stock Exchange. Methods of sampling using purposive sampling techniques where appropriate criteria set acquired 21 companies. The data in this study were collected through non-participant observation method by downloading data from BEI. The analysis technique used is logistic regression analysis. Testing hypothesis in this study using logistic regression analysis techniques. Hypothesis testing results showed that the variables of the audit committee, company size, and audit tenure does not affect the going concern audit opinion, while the reputation of KAP variables significantly influence the going concern audit opinion.


Nitidulids are primary vectors of the oak wilt pathogen, Ceratocystis fagacearum (Bretz) Hunt, in the north-central United States. Species of adult nitidulids associated with different ages of oak wilt fungus mats on red oaks (Quercus rubra L. and Quercus ellipsoidalis E.J. Hill) during spring in east-central Minnesota were determined. The exoskeletal surfaces of representative specimens were assayed for the presence and abundance of the pathogen. Six species comprised 94% of 2542 adults, representing at least 12 species, collected between 1994 and 1996. Of these six species, Colopterus truncatus Randall and Epuraea corticina Erichson were the most abundant ones on immature mats (94% of 154 nitidulids). They were also more abundant than the other species on mature mats (77% of 868 nitidulids). Carpophilus sayi Parsons was the most common species (28% of 1134 nitidulids) on aging mats, while Carpophilus sayi and three Glischrochilus species (Glischrochilus sanguinolentus (Oliv.), Glischrochilus fasciatus (...


This study was carried out in 200ha of the Experimental Forest Station (EFLEX) of Paraopeba-MG with the purpose of evaluating the trunk diameter distribution of local "cerrado" vegetation. Twenty sampling plots were randomly distributed through out the experimental area and the floristic composition was studied using the point-centered-quarter method, including individuals of at least 5cm diameter at the ground level. Twenty-five sampling points were located in each plot. Diameter distribution of 2,000 individuals was unbalanced, with 66,559b of these in the smallest diameter class (5-10cm). This could be due to population restablishment caused by deforestation that took place in 1952. This suggests that a 30 year rotation period might not be long enough for managing "cerrado" vegetation. The situation of populations with at least 50 individuals sampled or with highest importance value (IVI) was studied: Qualea parviflora Mart., Byrsonima crassa Nied. Qualea grandiflora Mart., Erythroxylum suberosum St. Hill., Eugenia dysenterica D.C., Kielmeyera grandiflora (Wawra) Saddi, Dimorphandra mollis Benth., Curatella americana L., Terminalia argentea Mart., Annona crassiflora Mart, and Machaerium opacum Vog. Hypothesis were postulated to explain problems that may affect the establishment of the species. Observations indicate that digging for earthworms has adversely affected the establishment of new individuals. It is recomended that the native seedlings being produced at EFLEX could be used to regenerate natural "cerrado"; however effective enforcement is needed to guarantee its success.


The Jigsaw teaching strategy is a collaborative learning approach that allows teachers to become participating "experts" during the lesson presentations. This study explores the impact of Jigsaw pe...


Abstract There are three major types of crop-related weather insurance: hail, all perlis, and rain insurance. The development of rates is an exercise in applied climatology, and the importance of the historical data selected for assessing risk (and developing rates) is revealed by the problems encountered by firms insuring against deficient summer rainfall during the drought of 1988. Extensive purchase of premiums costing $9 million for coverage ($400 million) in the Midwest occurred with buyers (farmers) apparently aware during May and June 1988 that an unusually dry event was in progress. The levels of loss (50% or less of average June-August rainfall) offered by insurance firms were exceeded throughout the Midwest. The firms attempted to refund the record number of premiums accepted in June, and in turn, 8000 farmers filed a class-action suit against the firms for failure to accept premiums and to provide coverage. The insurance firms ultimately settled by agreeing to pay $48 million in claims. The cov...


In this study,an excellent Fu Hawthorn(C.brettschneideri Schneid.)cultivars,Zuo Fu 3 Hao were selected as the materials.The tissue culture and in vitro preservation of Zuo Fu 3 Hao were studied.The suitable initiation culture medium is MS medium supplemented with 6-BA 1.0mg·L-1 and IAA 0.08mg·L-1.The save rate of initiation culture was 93.3%.The suitable subculture medium is MS medium supplemented with 6-BA 0.8mg·L-1 and NAA 0.01mg·L-1.The propagation coefficient of subculture was 5.5.Halved MS medium replenished with NAA 0.5mg·L-1 was best for rooting culture.The plants of taken roots,transplanted,can be survived.PP333 0.4~2.0mg·L-1 is inappropriate to preservation of Zuo Fu 3 Hao at the normal temperature,while CCC 40mg·L-1 and ABA 2.0mg·L-1 are more suitable.


Polypyrrole (PPy) is one of the most studied conducting polymers and a very promising material for various applications such as lithium-ion secondary batteries, light-emitting devices, capacitors, and supercapacitors, owing to its many advantages, including good processability, easy handling, and high electronic conductivity. In this work, PPy films were chemically and electrochemically synthesized, both in and around carbon nanotubes (CNTs). The cyclic voltammograms of the device, composed of the electrochemically synthesized PPy/CNT composites as working and counter electrodes (Type I supercapacitor with p-type doping), showed a predominantly capacitive profile with low impedance values and good electrochemical stability, with the anodic charge remaining almost constant (11.38 mC), a specific capacitance value of 530 F g-1 after 50 charge and discharge cycles, and a coulombic efficiency of 99.2%.The electrochemically synthesized PPy/CNT composite exhibited better electrochemical properties compared to those obtained for the chemically synthesized composite. Thus, the electrochemically synthesized PPy/CNT composite is a promising material to be used as electrodes in Type I supercapacitors.


Human presence in space, whether permanent or temporary, is accompanied by the presence of microbes. However, the extent of microbial changes in response to spaceflight conditions and the corresponding changes to infectious disease risk is unclear. Previous studies have indicated that spaceflight weakens the immune system in humans and animals. In addition, preflight and in-flight monitoring of the International Space Station (ISS) and other spacecraft indicates the presence of opportunistic pathogens and the potential of obligate pathogens. Altered antibiotic resistance of microbes in flight has also been shown. As astronauts and cosmonauts live for longer periods in a closed environment, especially one using recycled water and air, there is an increased risk to crewmembers of infectious disease events occurring in-flight. Therefore, understanding how the space environment affects microorganisms and their disease potential is critically important for spaceflight missions and requires further study. The goal of this flight experiment, operationally called MICROBE, is to utilize three model microbial pathogens, Salmonella typhimurium, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Candida albicans to examine the global effects of spaceflight on microbial gene expression and virulence attributes. Specifically, the aims are (1) to perform microarray-mediated gene expression profiling of S. typhimurium, P. aeruginosa, and C. albicans, in response to spaceflight in comparison to ground controls and (2) to determine the effect of spaceflight on the virulence potential of these microorganisms immediately following their return from spaceflight using murine models. The model microorganisms were selected as they have been isolated from preflight or in-flight monitoring, represent different degrees of pathogenic behavior, are well characterized, and have sequenced genomes with available microarrays. In particular, extensive studies of S. typhimurium by the Principal Investigator, Dr. Nickerson, using ground-based analog systems demonstrate important changes in the genotypic, phenotypic, and virulence characteristics of this pathogen resulting from exposure to a flight-like environment (i.e. modeled microgravity).


The success of allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (allo-HCT) has been hampered by GVHD, which is initiated by host antigen-presenting cells (APCs). GVHD is characterized by the induction of donor effector T cells, which recognize host antigens, and the suppression of functional regulatory T cells (Tregs).2 Donor effector T-cell expansion is a prerequisite for GVHD induction. Alloreactive effector T cells produce high levels of proinflammatory cytokines (eg, interferong [IFN-g] and tumor necrosis factor-a) and cytolytic molecules (eg, Fas ligand, perforin, and granzyme B).


The present investigation was under taken to study "Effect of GA3 and NAA on plant growth and yield of Cherry Tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum var. cerasiforme) under polyhouse condition". Variety -Pusa Cherry tomato-1. The experiment was laid out in Randomized block design with 12 treatments and each replicated thrice. The treatments consist plant growth regulators GA3 and NAA. Among these 12 treatments, the growth attributes like plant height, total number of leaves per plant, number of flowers /cluster are maximum, yield attributes like, average fruit weight, fruit yield are maximum and The maximum plant height (175.15) was recorded in the treatment T6 (GA3 75 ppm) and minimum plant height (149.14) was observed in case of T1 (control). The maximum fruit yield per plant (6.94 kg) was recorded in the treatment T6 (GA375 ppm) and minimum fruit yield per plant (1.35 kg) was observed in case of T1 (control).The maximum fruit diameter (5.52) was recorded in the treatment T6 (GA375 ppm) and minimum fruit diameter (1.06) was observed in case of T1 (control).


Objective To study the protective effect of 6-gingerol on primary cultured hippcampal neuron injury induced by oxygen-glucose depletion and its mechanism. Methods The model of oxygen-glucose depletion(OGD) was established in the primary cultured hippcampal neurons to simulate ischemic condition.The experiment was divided into four group: control group,OGD group,6-gingerol(10μmol/L)+ OGD group and 6-gingerol(30μmol/L)+ OGD group.The MTT method was adopted to detect cell viability,the expression of SGK1 was tested by Western blot.Results The cell survival rate was decreased following OGD(P0.01).Pretreatment with 6-gingerol at the concentrations of 10μmol/L or 30μmol/L could significantly increase the survival rate of cultured hippcampal neurons exposured to OGD(P0.05),elevate the expression of SGK1 protein.Conclusion 6-gingerol has protective effect on OGD-induced hippcampal neuron injury through restoring the expression of SGK1.


The ease of learning concepts from examples in connectionist learning is highly dependent on the attributes used for describing the training data. Decision-tree based feature construction may be used to improve the performance of back-propagation, an artificial neural network algorithm. We use disjunctive concepts and DNA-sequencing data to illustrate feature construction, which builds better representations and reduces concept difficulty. The performance of the combined feature construction and back-propagation strategy improves performance compared to either method alone, in terms of the accuracy of the concepts learned and the time taken to learn.


A car sealing strip material TPV is prepared by from a vulcanization mixture by the dynamic vulcanization process, the vulcanization mixture comprises at least 100 parts by weight of vulcanizable elastomer, 50 to 200 parts by weight of thermoplastic polyolefin, 5 to 75 parts by weight of cross-linked polystyrene, 0.5-15 parts by weight of benzimidazole-modified graphene oxide and 0.5-15 parts by weight of a crosslinking agent, the cross-linked polystyrene repeating unit is styrene containing one sulfonic acid group. The car sealing strip material TPV has excellent sealing property, weather resistance and stability in use.


Mode-locked (ML) lasers have found many important applications in nonlinear optics, biomedical imaging, and precision metrology. They generate ultrashort optical pulses on picoand femtosecond timescales. These are among the shortest events in nature. Special training and experience have traditionally been required to build a ML fiber laser, but this may no longer be the case. Building a ML fiber laser using carbon nanotubes (CNTs) is becoming so easy that an undergraduate student can build one from scratch in a few hours with minimal guidance and without any prior experience. A saturable absorber (SA) that is inserted into the laser cavity is responsible for mode locking, thereby allowing creation of ultrashort optical pulses. An SA can be any device that transmits more at higher intensities. In ultrafast fiber lasers, two types of SAs are typically used, including semiconductor SA mirrors (SESAMs) and artificial SAs based on nonlinear polarization evolution (NPE). Carbon-based nanoscale materials have many uses. One surprising (and perhaps unexpected) application is in facilitating generation of ultrashort optical pulses. Because of their unique physical properties, CNTs have ultrafast (<1ps) recovery lifetimes1 (a desirable feature for SAs), which can be used to phase-lock laser cavity modes. This new SA material has significant advantages as compared to traditional SESAMs or NPE, including fabrication simplicity, low cost, and broadband operation. CNTs can be incorporated into a laser cavity in several ways. The simplest is by depositing a thin film of CNTs onto one of the cavity mirrors.2 This thin-film configuration, however, suffers from a low damage threshold, which is also a disadvantage Figure 1. (top left) Schematic of our fiber-taper-based carbon-nanotube (FTCNT) saturable absorber (SA). SWCNT: Single-walled CNT. (bottom left) Packaged FTCNT SA. (right) Hand-held mode-locked fiber laser with FTCNT SA.


Wireless networks came into the computing world replacing the costlier and more complex wired method of connecting numerous equipment in the same or different location via the use of cables. It provides the user devices a connection to one another and the greater internet via connections to access points. Generally, 802.11 access point products follow a default strongest signal first approach in selecting user devices or nodes to connect to the access point or overlapping access points. This standard does not make provisions for even distribution of load and hence the quality of service and the throughput in areas of congestion would be reduced. This article brings forward two algorithms used in load balancing and they include round-robin technique and the weighted round-robin technique to be used in the simulation of the distribution of the load amongst the access points with the results collated and compared to clearly show which algorithm is best suited to be used as a standard for access point load distribution.


OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the curative effect of Rituximab combined CHOP chemotherapy in patients with non-Hodgkin lymphoma in China.

METHODS
We conducted this study in the Affiliated Shengjing Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang, China between June and December 2010. We used the systematic review method of The Cochrane Collaboration to collect randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of Rituximab combined CHOP chemotherapy for non-Hodgkin lymphoma by computer databases during the period 2004-2009.

RESULTS
Seven trials involving 357 patients were retrieved. The complete remission rate of Rituximab combined CHOP chemotherapy was higher than that of CHOP chemotherapy alone (odds ratio = 3.02, 95% confidence interval: 1.94-4.72, p<0.00001).

CONCLUSION
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma treated by Rituximab combined CHOP chemotherapy can produce a positive therapeutic effect in China.


—This work is the first dowel in a rather wide research activity in collaboration with Euro Mediterranean Center for Climate Changes, aimed at introducing scalable approaches in Ocean Circulation Models. We discuss designing and implementation of a parallel algorithm for solving the Variational Data Assimilation (DA) problem on Graphics Processing Units (GPUs). The algorithm is based on the fully scalable 3DVar DA model, previously proposed by the authors, which uses a Domain Decomposition approach (we refer to this model as the DD-DA model). We proceed with an incremental porting process consisting of 3 distinct stages: requirements and source code analysis, incremental development of CUDA kernels, testing and optimization. Experiments confirm the theoretic performance analysis based on the so-called scale up factor demonstrating that the DD-DA model can be suitably mapped on GPU architectures.


is undoubtedly a very interesting plant full of potential for biomass production under harsh conditions, the literature on Jatropha has been plagued by uncritically optimistic assessments that usually combine optimistic expectations of yield with optimistic downplaying of environmental factors required – the claim that high yields can be achieved with little water, few nutrients and little management is not scientifically verified and probably not readily realised (even in ecology, little is for free). This paper follows to some extent in this vein of combining numbers and extrapolations in an optimistic manner: a. Jatropha growing in irrigated desert for 3 years were extrapolated to growth after 20 years using data from Brazil – a very different environment; Jatropha productivity strongly varies with climate and soils as is the case with all plants and has therefore to be treated in a spatially heterogeneous manner rather than, as here, applying numbers from one site to another, then inferring results for global production from that by multiplying with area. Yields of 4.9–6.9 t/ha/yr as assumed here neglect a real possibility that yields are lower (some studies have found yields to be as low as 2-3 t/ha/yr, with 4-5 t/ha/yr already being a maximum – see various summaries e.g. by van Eijck et al.) Interestingly, the authors call their estimate "conservative" and compare it to desert tree productivity rather than other Jatropha experiments. b. Salination of irrigated soils is a very common problem not addressed but of long-term impact on yields. (The authors also seem to have an unproblematic view of using urban waste water based on this use in Luxor, their test site; experience from previous decades in Europe shows that the negative effects of land poisoning through assorted toxins in the water can lead to long-lasting and serious environmental problems in areas originally billed, as in this paper, as improving through the use of these urban wastes.) c. The economic evaluation seems to me to be superficial, drawing on a single set of numbers that are not further explained or justified, except with reference to the Luxor test case, which is only one particular case under particular circumstances and not fully developed. Estimated costs of 1060 euro/ha/yr of cultivation seem optimistic – the value of land targeted for Jatropha cultivation will not remain at 10 euro/ha/yr once found suitable (why would land remain cheap once it is part of a very luctrative energy market set by high fossil


Theheatresistance ofbacterial spores attemperatures where this resistance islowcanbedeterminedbymeansofStumbo's "Thermoresistometer" (2)orbysubmitting suspensions of spores inglass capillary tubes toheat. Sucha method hasbeendevised byStern andProctor (1), whodesigned anapparatus inwhichcapillary tubes arerapidly transferred fromahottoacold


Implementing an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system project is a difficult and high cost proposition as it places tremendous demands on organization's time and resources. The ERP implementation literature contains many case studies of organizations that have implemented ERP systems successfully. However, many organizations do not achieve success in their ERP implementation projects. Much has been written about implementation and the critical success factors for ERP implementation projects. But there very few studies have scientifically developed and tested constructs that represent critical success factors of ERP implementation projects. Based on a survey of 53 organizations in Australia, the results suggest that a 65 item instrument that measures seven dimensions of ERP implementation is well validated. It is argued that model proposed in the paper is valuable to researchers and practitioners interested in implementing Enterprise Resource Planning systems.


The large numbers of bolt holes cut into truck frame side members act as joineries and points of attachments for various sub systems of the truck. While these bolt holes are unavoidable due to their primary functional importance, the near hole residual stress resulting from the type of hole cutting operation plays a significant role in deciding the fatigue performance of frame rail structures. If the residual stress is tensile in nature, this along with the surface roughness at the hole surface can lead to early initiation of fatigue cracks around bolt hole surface. In order to assess the extent of plastic deformation and resulting residual stresses in near hole areas of frame bolt holes cut using drilling, punching, laser cutting and water jet cutting processes, experimental investigation was carried out through microstructure analysis and X-ray diffraction measurements. Apart from this, an assessment of shot-peened hole surface was taken up to understand the effect of shot-peening on fatigue behavior of frame rail section with bolt holes. Also the test specimens extracted from frame rail sections were tested for comparing the fatigue life of specimens having bolt holes cut using different hole cutting operations.


Most heuristic and optimal methods for assembly line balancing are designed either to minimize the number of workstations required given a production rate, or to maximize the production rate given a fixed number of workstations. This singular focus on line design efficiency typically results in an imbalanced allocation of tasks among the stations. This paper presents a new procedure that rebalances a given solution to level the allocation of tasks. Characteristics of dominant levelled solutions are identified and incorporated into this heuristic procedure. Computational results indicate that the procedure is very effective in levelling workloads.


Objective Risk of venous thromboembolism (VTE) is increased in patients with hypo/hyperthyroidism. It is unknown whether VTE may be a presenting symptom of occult cancer in these patients. Design Nationwide population-based cohort study based on Danish medical registry data. Methods We identified all patients diagnosed with VTE during 1978–2013 who had a previous or concurrent diagnosis of hypothyroidism (N=1481) or hyperthyroidism (N=1788). We followed them until a first-time cancer diagnosis, death, emigration, or study end, whichever came first. We calculated 1-year absolute cancer risk and standardized incidence ratios (SIRs) for cancer incidence in the study population compared with national cancer incidence in the general population. Results During the first year after a VTE diagnosis, the 1-year absolute cancer risk was 3.0% among patients with hypothyroidism and 3.9% among those with hyperthyroidism. During the first year of follow-up, SIRs for cancer in the study population compared with the general population were 1.96 (95% CI: 1.42–2.64) among patients with hypothyroidism and 2.67 (95% CI: 2.07–3.39) among those with hyperthyroidism. SIRs declined substantially after 1 year but remained increased during the remainder of the follow-up period (up to 36 years) (SIR for hypothyroidism=1.16 [95% CI: 0.97–1.39]; SIR for hyperthyroidism=1.26 [95% CI: 1.08–1.46]). Conclusion VTE may be a marker of underlying occult cancer in patients with hypothyroidism or hyperthyroidism.


A versatile PC-based stimulator has been developed for experimental cardiac electrophysiological investigations. The stimulator is based upon generator units which can be activated in any desired sequence. Each unit includes a trigger controlling the synchronisation conditions, a core determining the pulse characteristics and a sequencer controlling the interconnections between generators. The stimulator allows uninterrupted control over the pulse sequence during the entire experimental time, regardless of the number and nature of protocols. Pulse sequences are automatically generated but are continuously accessible for immediate on-line dynamic adjustments. The stimulator can also operate in a beat to beat sensing and pacing mode. The stimulator generates a broad range of protocols without software modification.


Taurodontism is a morphological variation in which the body of the tooth is enlarged and the roots are reduced in size. Taurodontic teeth have large pulp chambers and apically positioned furcation.1 This variation was first described by Gorjanović-Kramberger;2 however, the term "taurodontism" was first introduced by Sir Arthur Keith3 to describe molar teeth resembling those of ungulates, particularly bulls. The term "taurodontism" comes from the Latin term "tauros", which means "bull" and the Greek term "odus", which means "tooth" or "bull tooth".4 Such morphological variations are an endodontic challenge and even more difficult to treat when additional roots and/or canals are present. The endodontic management of one such taurodontic molar is reported in this case report.


This research activity is based on the assessment of the immunity features of a field programmable analog array (FPAA) circuit to radiated disturbance. The methodology is focused on the evaluation of the effects of the radiated electromagnetic field onto the functional and operational characteristics of a front-end element to be used in ECG signal conditioning devices. More specifically, possible effects of electromagnetic disturbance on the parameters of the ECG signal, within a range of frequency from 250 MHz to 3 GHz, are investigated.
The research is carried out with a methodology based on both time and frequency domain analysis, relying on a typical ECG signal. The obtained measurements revealed a complex effect of the EM radiation on the FPAA input and output channels, which consist not only of additive noise on the useful signal, but is also causing an important offset shift, a superposition of several harmonics of the amplitude-modulation carrier added to the useful signal on both channels, and a non linear behavior of the FPAA. Moreover, the electromagnetic disturbance has a considerable effect on the time duration of different parts of the ECG signal (P-wave duration, PR interval to name a few) which can lead to wrong diagnosis. The main objective of this work is to contribute and propose modifications to the immunity test standards for these kind of applications.


Nuclear receptors are ligand-regulated transcription factors that control a range of (patho)physiological processes. Lipids are the most common type of nuclear receptor ligands. Here, we utilize a metabolomics approach that detects protein-metabolite interactions to identify endogenous peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR) ligands from tissue and cell extracts.


Objective To construct a lentiviral vector of small hairpin RNA( shRNA) of rat G protein-coupled receptor 91 gene( GPR91), and explore the regulative effects of GPR91 on the vascular endothelial growth factor( VEGF) secretion induced by high glucose. Methods Four special single strand oligonucleotide were selected according to rat GPR91 mRNA sequence, and double strand DNA containing the target sequence was chemically synthesized, annealed, and inserted into the lentivirus expression vector pGCSIL-GFP by double digestion with Age I and EcoR I. After being identified by polymerase chain reaction and sequencing,these plasmids were cotransfected into 293 T cells to package lentiviral particles. The titer of virus was tested. The lentiviral vector particles were transducted into RGC-5 cells. Western blot was used to assess the gene silencing efficacy of these recombinants. High glucose( 45 mmol·L- 1)-mediated VEGF expression was determined by ELISA in RGC-5 cells transducted with or without lentiviral vector. Results PCR and sequencing confirmed that lentiviral vectors had the correct structure and could express high titer of virus: 1. 5 × 109 TU·mL- 1,1. 5 × 109 TU·mL- 1,3. 0 × 109 TU·mL- 1,3. 0 × 109 TU·mL- 1. After being transducted into RGC-5 cells,the expression of GPR91 had no obvious statistical difference between control group( 0. 62 ± 0. 07) and blank vector control group( 0. 60 ± 0. 08)( F = 49. 03,P 0. 05). GPR91 expression was knocked down significantly by all of these lentiviral vectors( 0. 48 ± 0. 05,0. 34 ± 0. 06,0. 30 ± 0. 04,0. 11 ± 0. 06) at protein levels compared to the control group,the difference was statistically significant( F = 49. 03,P 0.01), and the pGCSIL-GFP-shGPR91-3 had the most efficient interference( F = 49. 03,P 0.01). ELISA showed the VEGF secretion of control group,high glucose group,high glucose + NC group and high glucose + pGCSIL-GFP-shGPR91-3 were( 25. 63 ± 4. 52) pg·mL- 1,( 72. 74 ±8. 24) pg·mL- 1,( 71. 68 ± 8. 31) pg·mL- 1 and( 46. 77 ± 6. 21) pg·mL- 1, respectively,the high glucose-induced VEGF expression was significant down-regulated after silencing GPR91 gene,the difference was statistically significant( F = 30. 852,P 0. 01). Conclusion The lentivirus shRNA vector of GPR91 is constructed successfully. The lentivirus shRNA vector of GPR91 can decrease high glucose-induced VEGF expression in RGC-5 cells,which provides basement for assessing diabetic retinopathy mechanism and animal gene treatment via GPR91 gene.


Because of the fatigue fracture on lateral supports of JAT610loom,the paper study the stress of the bar by FEM,software ANSYS.Combining the stress result of actual measure in facture,we obtain the conclusion that the fatigue on the bar is conduced by stress concentration,and calculate the fatigue life of the bar.The result of the calculation is accorded with the fact very well.


Current graphs and a theorem of White are used to show the existence of almost complete regular bipartite graphs with quadrilateral embeddings conjectured by Pisanski. Decompositions of Kn and Kn, n into graphs with quadrilateral embeddings are discussed, and some thickness results are obtained. Some new genus results are also obtained.


A review is given of the fundamentals of diffraction theory and the application of the theory to several problems of aircraft noise generation, propagation, and measurement. The general acoustic diffraction problem is defined and the governing equations set down. Diffraction phenomena are illustrated using the classical problem of the diffraction of a plane wave by a half-plane. Infinite series and geometric acoustic methods for solving diffraction problems are described. Four applications of diffraction theory are discussed: the selection of an appropriate shape for a microphone, the use of aircraft wings to shield the community from engine noise, the reflection of engine noise from an aircraft fuselage and the radiation of trailing edge noise.


Author(s): Tian, Xi | Advisor(s): Link, Perry | Abstract: My dissertation rethinks satire and redefines our understanding of it through the examination of works from the 1930s and 1940s. I argue that the fluidity of satiric writing in the 1930s and 1940s undermines the certainties of the "satiric triangle" and gives rise to what I call, variously, self-satire, self-counteractive satire, empathetic satire and ambiguous satire. It has been standard in the study of satire to assume fixed and fairly stable relations among satirist, reader, and satirized object. This "satiric triangle" highlights the opposition of satirist and satirized object and has generally assumed an alignment by the reader with the satirist and the satirist's judgments of the satirized object. Literary critics and theorists have usually shared these assumptions about the basis of satire. I argue, however, that beginning with late-Qing expose fiction, satire in modern Chinese literature has shown an unprecedented uncertainty and fluidity in the relations among satirist, reader and satirized object. My dissertation analyzes not only satire, but several related varieties of pathos and humor, in the work of Wu Jianren, Xiao Hong, Lao She, Yang Jiang and Qian Zhongshu and makes comparative references to foreign writers such as Nikolai Gogol and Jonathan Swift, who were deeply influential in shaping the understanding of satire among Chinese writers of the era.


This paper reports a self-identity study of the undergraduates from 10 universities in Guangdong through the questionnaire for the students.The results indicate that the majority of them have the sense of self-identity,but some are shown to have self-identity crisis characterized by self-denial,alienation from others,the indifference to the society,based on which,the solutions are given—constructing a harmonious culture,prompting subjectivity education and establishing a generative self-concept.


The UNIQUAC equation was used for calculation of vapor liquid equilibrium (VLE)as well as excess enthalpy (hE). Four sets of binary interaction parameters were applied: first, parameters estimated only from VLE data, then parameters from hE data for both the original UNIQUAC equation and the Anderson modification, and finally parameters estimated from hE and VLE data simultaneously. Calculations were performed for seven binary systems with polar components, representing different hE behavior. The cross-prediction of hE from VLE data works better than the reversed prediction. The model with parameters estimated simultaneously to both kinds of data can be applied successfully to both kinds of calculations, but it is a compromise between the models estimated from one kind of data.


Data assimilation (DA) of satellite soil moisture (SM) observations represents a great opportunity for improving the ability of rainfall-runoff models in predicting river discharges. Many studies have been carried out so far demonstrating the possibility to reduce model prediction uncertainty by incorporating satellite SM observations. However, large discrepancies can be perceived between these studies with the result that successful DA is not only related to the quality of the satellite observations but can be significantly controlled by many methodological and morphoclimatic factors. In this article, through an experimental study carried out on the Tiber River basin in Central Italy, we explore how the catchment area, soil type, climatology, rescaling technique, observation and model error selection may affect the results of the assimilation and can be the causes of the apparent discrepancies obtained in the literature. The results show that: (i) DA of SM generally improves discharge predictions (with a mean efficiency of about 30%); (ii) unlike catchment area, the soil type and the catchment specific characteristics might have a remarkable influence on the results; (iii) simple rescaling techniques may perform equally well to more complex ones; (iv) an accurate quantification of the model error is paramount for a correct choice of the observation error and, (v) SM temporal variability has a stronger influence than the season itself. On this basis, we advise that DA of SM may be not a simple task and one should carefully test the optimality of the assimilation experiment prior to drawing any general conclusions.


By realizing seamless converting Founder format files into PDF ones, and by using the Founder Book 9.11 to process the Founder small sample, the function of the virtual printer of PSPPRO software, and the functions of Adobe Acrobat software for creating and interpreting PDF files, and so on, we have realized authors' long-distance proofreading, and improved the authors' proofreading quality and efficiency.


The verses in the Qur'an are categorized into two types: first, the verses that were revealed as guidance and guidance for humans without being preceded by certain causes, and second, the verses that were revealed in response to events and reality. what happened in the community where the Qur'an was revealed. Although in quantity, fewer verses of the Qur'an were revealed due to certain reasons, but the scholars paid special attention to these verses through a discussion of the reasons for the revelation of the verses of the Qur'an or commonly known as the Qur'anic verses. Asbab al-Nuzul science. The results obtained in this article are first, because the revelation of verse 26 is due to the denial of unbelievers and hypocrites to the parables made by Allah SWT for them in surah al-Baqarah verses 17 and 19. Second, the content of the interpretation in the verse 26 in Surah al-Baqarah which explains the purpose of Allah's parable in the verse, also explains the nature of the characteristics of believing Muslims and the nature of hypocrites, and explains the recompense for the fasiq who Allah has misguided with his parables. . Third, the interpretation of verse 26 in surah al-Baqarah because al-Nuzul is two interrelated elements (relevant), which is a rebuttal verse against the denial of hypocrites to the parable made by Allah SWT, and the parable is in line with the meaning His word is that he does not hesitate to use it (mosquito) as an example.


Background: Patients fear dental treatment due to its association with pain and vibration caused by the dental drill. Hence there is a need for an alternative treatment modality like laser which overcomes the drawbacks of the conventional drill and is more conservative, painless, and comfortable and provide good esthetics. Argon,CO2 ,Nd :YAG ,Er :YAG Lasers are used in operative dentistry for different therapeutic purpose . The tissue reactions to laser irradiation in clinical situation are yet to be completely understood.


The Medicine Wheel concept from Native American culture provides a model for whom we are as individuals: We have an intellectual self, a spiritual self, an emotional self, and a physical self. Strength and balance in all quadrants of the Medicine Wheel can produce a strong, positive sense of well-being, whereas imbalance in one or more quadrants can cause symptoms of illness. Addressing issues of imbalance can potentially diminish your patient's symptoms and enrich their quality of life.


Helminthic contamination of fresh vegetables is common. 116 samples of Coriandrum sativum was processed by Baermann funnel method for recovering Strongyloides stercoralis larvae which were identified by their morphology. The prevalence rate of contamination with larvae was found out. Out of 116 samples, 73 (63%) samples were harboring the parasites and 43 (37%) samples had no larvae. Among 73 positive samples, 25 samples contained rhabdatiform larvae, 12 contained filariform larvae, and 36 contained both types of larvae. 63% prevalence rate of contamination of Coriandrum sativum in Karimnagar is the definite risk factor for acquiring infection by farm workers, handlers, transporters, and consumers of this vegetable. This high prevalence of larvae acts as an environmental source of the parasite; especially the infective filariform forms constituting 65% of the contaminated samples. Larvae can spread from the source through direct contact while handling the vegetable, necessitating estimation of asymptomatically infected persons and burden of the parasitic infestation.


The increasing apprehension regarding water shortage and environmental contamination has heightened the pursuit of sustainable remedies in the field of water treatment. This detailed research examines the use of sustainable materials in water treatment systems. This study aims to examine the pressing demand for environmentally friendly and highly effective methods of water treatment. It comprehensively explores a diverse range of sustainable materials, encompassing both natural biomaterials and sophisticated nanomaterials. The evaluation of key features such as adsorption capacity, selectivity, and regeneration potential is conducted for each material, hence offering valuable insights into their suitability for the purpose of pollutant removal and water purification. The present study provides a critical evaluation of the appropriateness of these sustainable materials by an examination of key criteria like adsorption capacity, selectivity, and regeneration capabilities. The aforementioned attributes, which are crucial for the elimination of pollutants and unwanted substances, highlight the significant contribution of these materials towards the progression of water purification methodologies. In addition to their practical attributes, the analysis explores the ecological consequences and enduring viability of these substances, emphasising the need of mitigating detrimental impacts on natural systems and their associated services. The evaluation further evaluates the environmental consequences and long-term viability of these materials, placing emphasis on their contribution to addressing water-related difficulties. By integrating the most recent research discoveries and technical progress, this literature review not only provides a thorough examination of sustainable materials used in water treatment, but also emphasises potential directions for further investigation and improvement in this crucial field.


The Antarctic ice sheet is the largest single m踊 sof fresh water in solid form on Earth and could ca田 ea sea level rise of 65 m if it melted. The Antarctic has been studied intensively since IGY (International Geophysical Year 1957-58) but much remains to be investigated. Of prime importance is the determination of the detailed surface topography and volume of the Antarctic Ice Sheet, which could be accomplished with highprecision data obtained with advanced instrumental technology. A second question is, how old is the Antarctic ice? Ice at least seven hundred thonsand years old may be expected in Antarctica, formed at a time d町 ingthe Ice Age when glacial and interglacial conditions a1ternated every one hundred thonsand years. The oldest ice from the Vostok (Russia) and Dome F吋i(Japan) ice cores may exceed three hundred thousand ye訂 sin age. The greatest mystery relates to subglacial lakes. Recent observations reveal that they are widespread, but the mechanism of lake formation and water characteristics are町由lOwn.


The mix design of self-consolidating concrete (SCC) is crucial in order to obtain a robust SCC that is fluid enough to completely fill the form and simultaneously stable against segregation of aggregates and bleeding. This study investigates the effect of chemical stabilizers or additional filler on the castability and rheological properties of concrete and its matrix. Viscosity and thus thixotropy is of special interest since these parameters are believed to influence stability, form-filling ability, the migration and evacuation of entrapped air bubbles and thus the final surface quality of hardened concrete elements. The study includes three different types of filler: limestone powder, fines from crushed sand, and fines from sand which is both crushed and washed. Two types of chemical stabilizers and two types of superplasticizers with different stabilizing/splitting properties have, moreover, been used. Rheological properties have been measured both on concrete and concrete equivalent matrix.


The development of a state is not detached from state acceptance. The recipient of the country is the tax carried by each citizen. The main focus in this research is to know the influence of quality of service, taxation, testing and socialization of taxation of taxpayer compliance. Population and samples are private persons tax at the primary Tax Service office of Binjai. Then the sampling technique is accidental sampling. Where the taxpayer performs the payment transaction can be used as a sample. So the sample in this study was 125 respondents. Data analysis with a tinged linear regression analysis with assisted SPSS program version 22. The results showed that both partial and simultaneous variables of quality of service, taxation sanctions, testing and socialization of taxation were positive and significant for taxpayer compliance. However, variables that have the dominant influence are the variable quality of service, testing and socialization of taxation. Then the result coefficient indicates that the 77.5% variable variation is bound to the quality of service, taxation sanctions, taxpayer knowledge and socialization of taxation on the model can explain the taxpayer compliance variable in the Office Primary Tax service of Binjai while the remaining 22.5% is influenced by other variables outside the model.


Paper focuses on role and influence of business and tertiary education into economic development and analyzes selected aspects of the problem in conditions of the regions of the Slovak
economy.
The theoretical part is focused on knowledge as products of educational and scientific research
institutions which are transformed into innovations in enterprises and this way are becoming a driving force of regional development and society. On the background of theoretical generalizations
of essential parts of the subject and using an appropriate range of statistical methods (correlation
and regression analysis) article examines especially how a dimension of business and dimension
of education affects regional development of Slovakia measured by GDP, with the regions of Slovakia as an object of analysis and studied statistical figures are dimension of business, education
and the regional performance. Statistical evidence was drawn from a database of Slovak Statistical
Office.
The specific result of the analysis is to identify readiness for new challenges of the knowledge
economy, as demonstrated by business dimension in all regions of Slovakia. Dimension of educa-
tion has not taken the challenge yet. At the same time both dimensions in Slovakia should change
culture of isolation to culture of partnership and cooperation in favour of development and prosperity for everybody within the concept presented by Triple Helix.


The paper describes the legislative framework for mass layoffs. Among the important obligations of the employer in case of mass layoffs there belongs a previous announcement of the intention to employees, unions and the Labour Office. The paper analyzes particular cases within selected companies. Companies tried to avoid mass layoffs by reducing costs such as an elimination of selected employee benefits, shortening working hours, abolition of recruitment, etc. Businesses have also reduced employee training. When analyzing the process of mass layoffs, authors have built certain assumptions. Assumptions were divided into five groups dealing with the reasons for layoffs, employee selection criteria, layoff process itself, help for laid-off employees, and building a good reputation. The analysis proved correct approach of the employer and an effort to handle the challenging situation to everyone's satisfaction. The paper identifies the most common mistakes done in the lay-off process, which include specifically formal errors, like not defining the reasons of layoffs, absence of employer's representative signature, etc. Very important mistake can be considered insufficient communication of employers with employees. Problems in communication can cause useless nervousness of employees and subsequently also a lower performance of the whole business.


An extended model of asset price dynamics for modeling stochastic upward and downward jumps in asset prices is developed, and the modified Black-Scholes solution for value of vanilla options is derived. The change in volatility is identified in detail using the Ito integrals and Ito formulas.


Two computational models, Simulating WAve till SHore (SWASH) and DualSPHysics, with different computational costs and capabilities have been hybridized in this work. SWASH is a time-domain wave model based on a finite difference method for simulating nonhydrostatic, free-surface and rotational flow while DualSPHysics is a Lagrangian mesh-less model based on the Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH) technique. SWASH is a reliable model to generate and propagate waves in large domains, whereas DualSPHysics is normally used in areas close to the coastline to provide a detailed description of the interaction between sea waves and coastal structures. The presented technique is a one-way coupling, with a hybridization point where the information from SWASH is passed to DualSPHysics. SWASH is used to propagate waves along the fluid domain and to calculate velocities at different depths at the position of the hybridization point. Waves in DualSPHysics Eire generated by means of a moving boundary (MB) whose displacement in time is reconstructed using the velocities provided by SWASH. Each particle that forms the MB is displaced with its correspondent velocity that depends on its depth. The hybridization technique is validated with experimental data and the resulting model is proved to reproduce accurately wave heights and orbital velocities. Thus, the hybrid model preserves the flexibility and capabilities of DualSPHysics with important improvements in efficiency. In addition, it simulates wave propagation even more accurately than DualSPHysics taking advantage of SWASH strengths.


We propose a scheme to realize a $1\ensuremath{\rightarrow}2$ universal quantum cloning machine with superconducting quantum interference device qubits, embedded in a high-$Q$ cavity. The controlled-NOT operations are derived to present our scheme, and the two-photon Raman resonance processes are used to increase the operation rate. Compared with previous works, our scheme has advantages in the experimental realization and further utilization.


Today's manufacturing equipment increases in complexity and size which makes more difficult the identification of potential problems and generating maintenance procedures. In addition, manufacturing companies use many different generations of equipments that makes more difficult their maintenance. All these equipments represent an important, growing capital investment that makes necessary to develop procedures to locate and solve problems. However, often solving problems require an expert engineer or technician with specific know-how and knowledge about the equipment. But such an expert is not always available or is simply busy with other tasks that make the manufacturing system unavailable for a costly time. After a bibliography review about maintenance systems and the management of their knowledge, the purpose of this paper is to present a design of an integrated framework for semi-automating the diagnosis of failure and for assisting the generation of maintenance procedures. This framework is based on the integration of three applications: a Computer Aided Maintenance (CAM) system, a Knowledge Base and a Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition system (SCADA). The knowledge base is the core of the framework and was built using an ontology developed under "Protege". This knowledge base includes the use of default tree to automatically generate maintenance procedures, but also some maintenance control tools to update failure rates including micro-failures. Finally, a study case from a soap production plant is used to illustrate the framework.


In an evaluation device for determining a measured value at a component the component is supplied to a power during the readout of the measured value. A control device is used to determine the the component supplied during the read-out performance.


Effective reuse and recycling of end-of-life (EOL) products are essential for improving resource efficiency and protecting environment. Currently, many parts of construction machinery in EOL stage can still be reused directly because they are designed with extreme high strength to meet the bad working conditions, which minimizes the impact on the environment. In this context, a quality evaluation approach for reuse parts is proposed in this paper. Ontology model is built for representing evaluation information with semantic properties and constructing the semantic relevance among the various concepts involved in parts reusing domain, thus achieving the integrating, sharing, and reusing of evaluating parts knowledge. On that basis, analytic hierarchy process (AHP) is put forward to quantify the reusability degree of the parts of EOL construction machinery. Furthermore, combined with ontology, rule-based-reasoning method is utilized to get suggested strategies for reuse parts. In addition, a web-based system is developed to assist manufacturers in managing reuse parts, and a case study is analyzed to demonstrate the proposed quality evaluation approach.


The title compound was synthesized using N-methylpyrrolindone and H3PW12O40·nH2O as starting materials,and identified by elemental analyses,IR spectra,MS and single crystal X-ray diffractometry.The crystal belongs to triclinic,space group Pī,with a=1.335(2) nm,b=1.374(2) nm,c=1.826(2) nm,α=98.92(2)°,β=107.7(2)°,γ=109.9(2)°,V= 2.873(1) nm3,Z=2,Dc=3.840 Mg/m3,μ=24.05 mm-1,F(000)=2 926,R1 =0.063 2,wR2 =0.140 3.In the title compound,the heteropoly anions still reserve their Keggin structures,which combines the cations through static electric force.


Purpose: Acute pancreatitis (AP) is an acute infl ammatory response to pancreatic injury that is classifi ed as mild (MAP) or severe (SAP) depending on the development of local or systemic complications. Obesity markedly increases susceptibility to, and severity of AP, possibly through the action of adipokines. We tested the hypothesis that resistin mediates some of the eff ects associated with obesity in AP. Methods: AP patients and controls were enrolled from the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. SAP was defi ned by organ dysfunction with cardiovascular, pulmonary and/or renal dysfunction persisting for >48 hours. Serum samples were assayed for resistin levels using a commercial Luminex assay. Results: Serum resistin levels were assayed on 46 patients with serum samples obtained within 7 days of onset of abdominal pain (27 MAP, 19 SAP) and 58 controls. Serum resistin levels were signifi cantly higher in SAP patients (n=6, median=51316, IQR=30769-110451) than in MAP patients (n=22, median=7504, IQR=5879-11548) and controls (n=58, median=6,574, IQR=4,965-8225) on the day of admission (p<0.001). Resistin serum levels on admission (>16000pg/ml) has PPV of 86% in predicting severity. Conclusion: Elevated resistin levels on admission are associated with organ dysfunction in AP and is an accurate predictor of severity.


was determined to be 2.42 μMin a competitive MDM2 binding assay. Changing thestereochemistry of one aryl and the C3 acetic acid substituentin 1 and resolution of the active enantiomer yielded compound2, whose affinity to MDM2 is 50- to 70-fold better than 1.Assisted by computer modeling, the N-alkyl substituent in 2was optimized for its interaction with the Phe19 pocket inMDM2. Substitution at C3 with a methyl group led tostabilization of the desired gauche conformation of thedesigned molecules. These modifications resulted in thediscovery of 25, which has an IC


The flow of an electrically conducting fluid in an open channel in the presence of a strong magnetic field of oblique incidence to both the channel walls and the force of gravity is explored. This type of flow has possible applications to the protection of high heat flux surfaces in magnetic confinement fusion reactors. The governing equations of fully‐developed flow are derived retaining all viscous terms. They are then solved in the strong field limit in an asymptotic, iterative fashion, carrying the first two terms in the expansion with powers of the effective Hartmann number. The asymptotic solutions for the velocity, induced magnetic field and the flow rate are compared with a numerical solution of the complete governing equations. Good agreement is seen between the asymptotic and numerical predictions of velocity and electric current distribution when the core regions are dominated by magnetic forces. One novel feature of open channel flow of this type is the existence, predicted by the asymptotic a...


The concepts and importance of engineering alteration and claims are illustrated.And the author points out those construction enterprises should claim initiatively when engineering alters.The author also points out that to improve management and to link up with international usages,the qualities of engineers must be enhanced and engineering cost management must be reinforced too.


This paper describes the general design of a high-speed induction motor. Special focus is given in explaining how the main obstacles for designing this kind of machine were resolute and, with more details, how the patented rotor is built. A general overview of the magnetic bearings operation applied to this kind of machine is given as well. We shortly describe the choice of the inverter to drive the high-speed motor as well as its topologies.


The paper introduces features of MATLAB and the methods and program of simulating Fourier series by using MATLAB,which makes complicated maths problems visible and simplified


Ions were extracted through a grounded grid from a positively biased laser-ablation plasma and the behaviors were investigated. Since the plasma was positively biased against the grounded wall, we could extract the ions without insulated gap. We confirmed formation of a virtual anode when we increased the distance between the grid and the ion collector. Results also indicated that when the ion flux from the ablation plasma exceeded a critical value, the current was strongly suppressed to the space charge limited level due to the formation of virtual anode.


The aim of this study was to enhance ovarian follicular development and subsequent oocyte retrieval by the use of a combined equine chorionic gonadotropin (eCG) and recombinant bovine somatotropin (rbST) protocol, as well as to compare its efficiency between the Brazilian zebu breed Tabapua (TAB) and Holstein (HOL) nulliparous heifers. In a changeover design, TAB (n = 16) and HOL (n = 12) were allocated to 1 of 2 protocols in 2 distinct periods. Two days before initiation of the protocols (D2), dominant follicles were ablated by transvaginal ultrasound-guided aspiration: Group 1: on day 0 (D0) a subcutaneous injection of 500 mg of rbST (Boostin®, Intervet, SP) and on D2 an intramuscular injection of 500 IU of eCG (Novormon®, Schering-Plough-Intervet, SP); and control: vehicle only. Two days later (D4), ovum pickup (OPU) was performed and the ovarian follicle population was evaluated by ultrasound. Twenty days after the first OPU session, heifers were switched over across treatments and were aspirated a second time, so that a total of 28 sessions were performed for each treatment. Main effects of period, breed, and protocol and their interactions on follicle numbers and oocyte yield were analysed through the GENMOD procedure of SAS (SAS®, Cary, NC, USA) using the Poisson distribution option. Means were compared by orthogonal contrasts, and the probability value set at 0.05 for significance unless otherwise specified. There was an interaction effect between hormonal stimulation and breed (P < 0.05) on the number of aspirated follicles (2 to 10 mm in diameter) such that they were higher in TAB treated (41.4 ± 2.6) compared with control (29.9 ± 2.6) heifers and did not differ between the HOL heifers (15.5 ± 2.6 v. 14.4 ± 2.6 in treated and control heifers, respectively). Overall, follicle numbers were higher (P < 0.0001) in TAB (35.6 ± 1.84) than in HOL (15.0 ± 2.1) heifers and in treated (28.4 ± 2.0) v. control (22.1 ± 2.0) heifers (P < 0.001). There was no effect (P = 0.77) of treatment on total viable oocytes (grades 1 to 3) between treated (3.5 ± 1.2) and control (3.9 ± 1.1) heifers. Tabapua heifers had more (P < 0.05) viable oocytes than HOL (5.9 ± 0.9 v. 1.6 ± 1.4). In conclusion, the proposed protocol may improve OPU results but viable oocyte yield was not associated to the higher number of follicles available for aspiration. It may be necessary to modify this protocol to improve results perhaps by increasing the time window between rbST and eCG injections as well as by increasing the rbST dosage for heifers. The present protocol may be cost saving, compared with follicle stimulating hormone, for initial OPU sessions in the case of Tabapua heifers because it is expected that responses decrease after a sequence of eCG injections. It is also interesting to notice that it is possible that HOL heifers already have higher endogenous growth hormone concentrations, which could help to explain the interactive effect observed in the ovarian response. Further studies are necessary to improve this protocol especially in HOL heifers. CNPQ, CAPES, Schering-Plough-Intervet.


The press always manages through some functions to provide us with radiographies of actions, situations or persons, to persuade us of attitudes and behaviours on the one hand, and to place them in a certain expressive light, on the other hand. This light becomes therefore the stylistic touch of every publicist. The preference for some lexical word formations, mainly negative or privative, demonstrates the interest of our communication in one of the most widespread prefixes in our language, namely the forming prefix ne-.


A message sent to a specific market or an audience contains certain types of information that affect the audience. For this reason, brand identity, nowadays increasingly in a digital form, plays an important role. Each state wants to create a robust, attractive, and different brand identity that will set it apart from other states and thus augment its reputation. This research aimed to determine the elements of brand identity that respondents mostly associate with Croatia and to examine their attitudes towards the belief that the brand identity that influences emotions is essential in the creation of national visual identity, as well as their attitudes towards the assumption that the brand identity of Croatia should be liked first by the inhabitants of Croatia, and only then by foreign tourists. Two research propositions were tested using the structural equation modeling, measuring the relationship between the emotional and formal elements of brand identity with the attitudes towards the emotions concerning the brand identity and the relevance of the brand identity to the country residents.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.


The problem of energy optimization of induction motor (IM) using the concept of a Rotor Field Oriented Control (RFOC) can be treated by an Optimal Control Strategy (OCS). Using OCS, a cost-to-go function can be minimized and subjected to the motor dynamic equations and boundary constraints in order to find rotor flux optimal trajectories. This cost-to-go function consists of a linear combination of magnetic power, copper loss, and mechanical power. The Dynamic equations are represented by using a reduced Blondel Park model of induction motor. From the Hamilton-Jacobi-Bellman (HJB) equation, a system of nonlinear differential equations is obtained, and analytical solutions of these equations are achieved so as to obtain a time-varying expression of a minimumenergy rotor flux. Under RFOC, this analytical solution of rotor flux achieved maximum IM's efficiency and was implemented in transient torque. The current study discusses a saturation model with respect to the rotor flux, which has significant influence in the motor's parameters. A comparative study of simulation results given from conventional and optimized RFOC proves the presented strategy's validity and effectiveness.


The main subject of this thesis is to find out customer perception about the price related to the product of the Chinese buffet that Paradijs Oosterhout Restaurant offer. The company will make a good decision about the price of Chinese buffet to face the strict competition between the buffet restaurant competitors. Therefore the company needs to know what the customers think about the price and product related at weekends and weekdays. This research is a descriptive research. The writer use questionnaires as an instrument of the research to collect data from customers and to measure the data in questionnaire the writers use ordinal scale. The writers also use percentage and pie chart to describe the result. The writers give recommendation what to do with the price and product, p whether to increase or decrease the price, whether to add more or less or extend the products (the buffet) based on the customer?sperception analysis.


Chinese studies on fiscal payment for public health services have focused on three directions: to convince the insufficiency of government subsidy for public health,how to manage and evaluate the effects of lined budget,and how to pay grass-root health institutions. This paper summarized research methods,main findings and shortcomings of existing studies,and proposed suggestions for future research.


The history of the reception and interpretation of Mary Wollstonecraft's Vindication of the Rights of Woman is a complex and fascinating one.1 It was praised by many of her radical contemporaries, including Tom Paine and Mary's husband, the radical anarchist philosopher and social theorist, William Godwin. It was condemned, sometimes vitriolically, by other contemporaries, including, notoriously, Horace Walpole, who called Mary a 'hyene in petticoats' and refused to have her book in his library. The Historical Magazine declared, in 1799, that her work should be read 'with disgust by any female who has any pretensions to delicacy; with detestation by everyone attached to the interests of religion and morality ... ' . It was not only men who condemned it. Many women disliked it intensely, including Hannah More, who felt justified in condemning it without even having read it. The fate of the Vindication cannot be separated from views of Mary' s personal life, nor from the fate of radical political ideas in the wave of repression and political reaction that dominated English politics in the years after the 1790s. Mary's name and her work were tarred with the brush of French-style liberty, free thought, free love, irreligion, the undermining of family life, and all those things that were anathema both to conservative political orientations and to 19th-century evangelicalism. Apart from the memoir published after her death by her husband William Godwin,2 obituaries were mostly ambivalent or condemnatory, and no biography was published until 1884, nearly 100 years after her death. One gets the impression that few people in the 19th century can actually have read the Vindication, and that Wollstonecraft's reputation was an embarrassment to the bourgeois, evangelical and philanthropic modes in which much Victorian feminism was cast. Some contemporary judgements are hardly less damning. Lundberg and Farnham, in their book Modern Woman: The Lost Sex (1959) wrote:


ABSTRACT An approach aimed to connect configuration and algebraic spaces is discussed. This approach emerges as the need to translate a vibrational description in configuration space to an algebraic representation based on unitary dynamical algebras, where a straightforward connection does not exist e.g. the vibron model case. Our method is based on the mapping of the algebraic to configuration states, a premise that allows arbitrary operators in configuration to be expanded in terms of generators of the dynamical algebra. The coefficients are determined through a minimisation procedure and given in terms of matrix elements defined in configuration space. We apply the general formalism to the Morse potential, representing anharmonic vibrations in a molecule, as a benchmark case where a dynamical symmetry exits, and to the symmetric double-Morse potential, representing vibrations that can tunnel through a potential barrier, as an example in which a dynamical symmetry is not present. We discuss how the tunnelling effect in the double Morse can be described very simply in the su(2) algebraic representation, taking the ammonia inversion vibrational spectrum as an example.


Six representative low carbon martensitic steels were analyzed under TEM,Observations showed as follow:The thin retained austenite films usually exist in the structure of the low car-bon(namely,0.1—0.25 wt-%C)martensitic steels;e-carbides formed in auto-tempering precipitate on the matrix of the lath mar-tensites;Internal twins exist in part of some lath matrix of the six steels;e-carbides transform into cementites when tempered at 300-400℃.Cementitesform in three sites,lath boundaries,{110}_M planes and twin boundaries;Twins disappear when tempering temperature raise to 500℃ but the outlineof lath boundaries still keeps its original shape.


Roving survey of insect pests on Khasi mandarin carried out during August 2018 to February 2019 in the East and West Khasi hills districts of Meghalaya revealed the spectrum of insect pests. The survey covered five villages in each district, that is major citrus growing one. The results revealed eight insect species as the more dominant, and incidence observed individually for these showed that the citrus leaf miner (Phyllocnistis citrella) was found in abundantly in all the villages. The vector pests of citrus aphid (Toxoptera citricida) was found more in citrus tristeza viral disease prone areas and citrus blackfly (Aleurocanthus woglumi) also occurred.


Biopetrol is defined as fuel which has the same characteristics with commercial petrol in terms of its molecular formula. The objective of this study is to find the concentration of biopetrol (isooctane) from palmitic acid. Thermal cracking process is used to produce isooctane from palmitic acid. Heat is supplied using hot plate at palmitic acid's melting point within a range of 63oC – 64oC, to melt the solid palmitic acid. After it turns to liquid, the heating is continuous at isooctane's boiling point of 98oC by using heating mantel 250ml to form new arrangements of carbon compounds including isooctane. The heating is continuous and the sample was collected at temperature 200oC, 300oC, 330oC and 350oC. The desired isooctane obtained is around 0.0455% - 0.0743% in the distilled palmitic acid. After the back calculation, the highest concentration of the desired isooctane is 2.92% at temperature 350oC palmitic acid.


Let A and B be random operators on a Hilbert space, and let 〈 〉 denote averages (expectations). We prove the inequality ∥〈A*B〉∥≤∥〈A*A〉∥1/2∥〈B*B 〉∥1/2. A generalized Holder inequality involving traces is also proved.


Dose‐finding clinical trials in oncology aim to determine the maximum tolerated dose (MTD) of a new drug, generally defined by the proportion of patients with short‐term dose‐limiting toxicities (DLTs). Model‐based approaches for such phase I oncology trials have been widely designed and are mostly restricted to the DLTs occurring during the first cycle of treatment, although patients continue to receive treatment for multiple cycles. We aim to estimate the probability of DLTs over sequences of treatment cycles via a Bayesian cumulative modeling approach, where the probability of DLT is modeled taking into account the cumulative effect of the administered drug and the DLT cycle of occurrence. We propose a design, called DICE (Dose‐fInding CumulativE), for dose escalation and de‐escalation according to previously observed toxicities, which aims at finding the MTD sequence (MTS). We performed an extensive simulation study comparing this approach to the time‐to‐event continual reassessment method (TITE‐CRM) and a benchmark. In general, our approach achieved a better or comparable percentage of correct MTS selection. Moreover, we investigated the DICE prediction ability.


The SuperNova / Acceleration Probe (SNAP) is a space-based experiment to measure the expansion history of the Universe and study both its dark energy and the dark matter. The experiment is motivated by the startling discovery that the expansion of the Universe is accelerating. A 0.7 square-degree imager comprised of 36 large format fully-depleted n -type CCD's sharing a focal plane with 36 HgCdTe detectors forms the heart of SNAP, allowing discovery and lightcurve measurements simultaneously for many supernovae. The imager and a high-efficiency low-resolution integral field spectrograph are coupled to a 2-m three mirror anastigmat wide-field telescope, which will be placed in a high-earth orbit. The SNAP mission can obtain high-signal-to-noise calibrated light-curves and spectra for over 2000 Type Ia supernovae at redshifts between z = 0 . 1 and 1.7. The resulting data set can not only determine the amount of dark energy with high precision, but test the nature of the dark energy by examining its equation of state. In particular, dark energy due to a cosmological constant can be differentiated from alternatives such as "quintessence", by measuring the dark energy's equation of state to an accuracy of ± 0 . 05 , and by studying its time dependence.