Even though there has been decade-long ongoing progress in the advancement of scanning electron microscopes (SEMs), the data acquisition rates and therefore the realistically addressable region of interest has been more or less unaltered since. Using multiple electron beams in parallel can overcome the inherent throughput limitations of conventional single-beam electron microscopy. The setup of such a multi-beam SEM has been described elsewhere [1]. Figure 1 visualizes the basic principle of operation.


A boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT) system, using boron-10-introduced agents coupled with companion diagnostics, is anticipated as a promising cancer theranostic. Thus, this study aimed to synthesize and evaluate a probe closo-dodecaborate-(Ga-DOTA)-c(RGDfK) (16) [Ga = gallium, DOTA =1,4,7,10-tetraazacyclododecane-1,4,7,10-tetraacetic acid, and c(RGDfK) = cyclo(arginine-glycine-aspartate-d-phenylalanine-lysine] containing closo-dodecaborate ([B12H12]2-) as a boron cluster, a [67Ga]Ga-DOTA derivative for nuclear medicine imaging, and an RGD peptide for tumor targeting. Moreover, we prepared a radioiodinated probe [125I]17 in which I-125 is introduced into a closo-dodecaborate moiety of 16. [67Ga]16 and [125I]17 showed high stability and high uptake in cancer cells in vitro. Biodistribution experiments in tumor-bearing mice revealed similar biodistribution patterns between [67Ga]16 and [125I]17, such as a high uptake in the tumor and a low uptake in other non-target tissues. Meanwhile, [125I]17 exhibited higher accumulation in most tissues, including the tumor, than [67Ga]16, probably because of higher albumin binding. The higher the [125I]17 accumulation in the tumor, the more desirable it is for BNCT, with the possibility that the iodo-closo-dodecaborate site may work as an albumin binder.


l s a E t b BSTRACT ngestion of sufficient dietary protein is a fundamental rerequisite for muscle protein synthesis and mainteance of muscle mass and function. Elderly people are ften at increased risk for protein-energy malnutrition, arcopenia, and a diminished quality of life. This study ought to compare changes in muscle protein synthesis nd anabolic efficiency in response to a single moderate erving (113 g; 220 kcal; 30 g protein) or large serving 340 g; 660 kcal; 90 g protein) of 90% lean beef. Venous lood and vastus lateralis muscle biopsy samples were btained during a primed, constant infusion (0.08 mol/ g/min) of L-[ring-C6] phenylalanine in healthy young n 17; 34 3 years) and elderly (n 17; 68 2 years) indiiduals. Mixed muscle fractional synthesis rate was calulated during a 3-hour postabsorptive period and for 5 ours after meal ingestion. Data were analyzed using a wo-way repeated measures analysis of variance with ukey's pairwise comparisons. A 113-g serving of lean eef increased muscle protein synthesis by approximately 0% in both young and older volunteers. Despite a threeold increase in protein and energy content, there was no urther increase in protein synthesis after ingestion of 40 g lean beef in either age group. Ingestion of more han 30 g protein in a single meal does not further en-


Production, purification and characterization of the α-amylase from local bacteria isolate Bacillus subtilis ITBCCB148 has been successfully carried out. The purified enzyme increased 149.9 times with specific activity of 115,500 U/mg compared to enzyme crude extracts. This enzyme has an optimum pH of 5.5 and an optimum temperature of 60°C and can maintain its stability at a temperature of 60-80°C, thus this enzyme is categorized as a thermostable enzyme.


The species of the chrysidid genus Ipsiura are reviewed with emphasis on the taxa occurring in Brazil. In the present study 34 Ipsiura species are recognized, diagnosed, and illustrated. Two new species are described here: Ipsiura bohartiana Lucena sp. nov. and I. duckeana Lucena sp. nov., and two others are transferred from Neochrysis to Ipsiura: I. assecia (Linsenmaier, 1997), comb. nov. and I. guayanensis (Linsenmaier, 1997), comb. nov., increasing to 41 the total of valid species in the genus. New diagnoses and redescriptions are provided for 34 species based on study of their types. For the first time, a comparative and illustrated study of male genitalia is presented for the majority of Ipsiura species. Notes on types and depository collections, a revised key for identification of species along with illustrations of diagnostic features, as well as geographical distribution maps are also given.


Abstract A Dionex ion chromatograph was used to measure the anion content of four vegetable species. Separation of the anions by ion chromatography permitted their quantitation by conductivity measurement, following suppression of background (eluant) conductivity by a fiber cation exchanger. Aqueous extracts of pumpkin, tomato, turnip, and lettuce leaves yielded chromatographic profiles with substantial differences in the relative amounts of chloride, phosphate, nitrate, and sulfate. Common to each profile were two additional major anion peaks, which appear to be organic acids. A high degree of precision was achieved in the quantitation of all anions except phosphate. Organics were not found to pose serious problems in these analyses. Some potential interference by proteins extracted from the dried leaf powders was eliminated or controlled by using short (15 min) extraction times, and/or briefly boiling the extracts to denature and remove the proteins.


Floating Sargassum horneri has flowed into Jeju Island and the coast of the Korean Peninsula every year between February and May since 2015, causing considerable damage to aqua-farming sites and navigation. This study aimed to address the relationship between Sargassum distribution in the Yellow Sea (YS) and the East China Sea (ECS) and environmental variables for determining Sargassum distribution toward the Korean Peninsula. From feature importance ranking, we found that sea surface temperature (SST) is the most influential environmental variable in Sargassum distribution. From variables such as sea surface height (SSH), eastward seawater velocity (uo), and northward seawater velocity (vo), it was observed that Sargassum patches were not distributed in the southeast below 29 °N. Subsequently, we employed bagged tress models to evaluate the specific sensitivity of each environmental variable to Sargassum distribution. This model showed the best quantitative and qualitative performance when trained with physical and geographical variables. When estimating expanded areas of Sargassum distribution over time with the change in SST, a sider distribution range of Sargassum patches than usual and an early inflow into the Korean Peninsula were observed when the SST increased from the original. In addition, we found that the tolerable and favorable SST for Sargassum was 12–20 and 18°C, respectively. These results will enhance the understanding of the relationship between environmental variables and Sargassum distribution and provide valuable data for establishing a pre-disaster system for Sargassum blooms flowing toward the Korean Peninsula.


Bermudagrass (Cynodon spp.) is the most popular warm-season turfgrass used in warm climatic regions of the world due to its recuperative ability, high traffic tolerance, heat tolerance, and relative drought and salt tolerance. However, shade is a microenvironment in which bermudagrass performs poorly. In order to evaluate the interaction of photoperiod and irrigation on [Cynodon dactylon (L.) Pers. California Origin], a greenhouse experiment was conducted at the Research Greenhouse of the Department of Horticultural Sciences, College of Agriculture, Shiraz University, Shiraz, Iran. The experiment was conducted with four field capacity regimes (25%, 50%, 75% and 100%) and three light durations (8, 12 and 16 h) in a completely randomized design factorial arrangements with four replications. Results showed that decreasing field capacity and photoperiod decreased fresh and dry weights shoot and root, chlorophyll and starch contents and superoxide dismutase, catalase and ascorbate peroxidase activities. Decreasing the field capacity and light duration increased proline content. Reducing sugars and peroxidase enzyme in leaves increased with decreasing field capacity. Shoot height and leaf area increased by shortening the photoperiod. In overall, results showed that, the increase in irrigation alleviates the destructive effects of reduced day lengths and vice versa. Further studies are needed to clarify more the interaction between irrigation and light treatments at structural and ultrastructural levels, in common bermudagrass.


Grid computing has enormous impact in the field of scientific research as well as in the realms of application world. The online presence of reliability and ease of flexible operations are the main features. The evolution of distributed computing with the virtualization of various forms of grids is the key to the understanding its utility. The utility management infrastructure consists of diverse nature of numerous virtualization in grid leading to functionality in web services core/hosting, work load and information. The virtualization layers are briefly described here. The levels of virtualization can be explained enormously owing to the never ending demand of consumer world.


The pair [IrCl6]2–/[IrCl6]3– has been demonstrated to be a good redox probe in biological systems while L-ascorbic acid (AA) is one of the most important antioxidants. D-isoascorbic acid (IAA) is an epimer of AA and is widely used as an antioxidant in various foods, beverages, meat, and fisher products. Reductions of [IrCl6]2– by AA and IAA have been analyzed kinetically and mechanistically in this work. The reductions strictly follow overall second-order kinetics and the observed second-order rate constants were collected in the pH region of 0 ≤ pH ≤ 2.33 at 25.0°C. Spectrophotometric titration experiments revealed a well-defined 1 : 2 stoichiometry, namely Δ[AA] : Δ[Ir(IV)] or Δ[IAA] : Δ[Ir(IV)] = 1 : 2, indicating that L-dehydroascorbic acid (DHA) and D-dehydroisoascorbic acid (DHIA) were the oxidation products of AA and IAA, respectively. A reaction mechanism is suggested involving parallel reactions of [IrCl6]2– with three protolysis species of AA/IAA (fully protonated, monoanionic, and dianionic forms) as the rate-determining steps and formation of ascorbic/isoascorbic and ascorbate/isoascorbate radicals; in each of the steps, [IrCl6]2– acquires an electron via an outer-sphere electron transfer mode. Rate constants of the rate-determining steps have been derived or estimated. The fully protonated forms of AA and IAA display virtually identical reactivity whereas ascorbate and isoascorbate monoanions have a significant reactivity difference. The ascorbate and isoascorbate dianions are extremely reactive and their reactions with [IrCl6]2– proceed with the diffusion-controlled rate. The species versus pH and the species reactivity versus pH distribution diagrams were constructed endowing that the ascorbate/isoascorbate monoanionic form dominated the total reactivity at physiological pH. In addition, the value of pKa1 = 3.74 ± 0.05 for IAA at 25.0°C and 1.0 M ionic strength was determined in this work.


We present the results of a case study that monitored changes in the electrical properties of soils on a bi-monthly basis between August 1999 and November 2000 at two sites located along the banks of the Rio Grande, west Texas. One site was located within an abandoned channel of the Rio Grande and showed relatively homogeneous layering, while the second site exhibited complex interfingerings of crevasse splay (sands and silts) and floodplain muds. Repeated EM-31 ground conductivity measurements at both sites showed that conductivities within the upper 3m of soil could change by up to a factor of 2 within a year's time. DC resistivity studies suggested up to a factor of 5 change in resistivity values within the upper 1m of soil. These changes appear to be related to remobilization of salt in the soil following rainfall or irrigation events. These dramatic fluctuations make it difficult to image deeper (>5m depth) conductivity changes in the subsurface.


The effects of flare control on the aerodynamic characteristics, performance, and stability of a cylindrical body under laminar and turbulent boundary layer conditions have been studied experimentally and computationally. The experimental study has been carried out in a hypersonic gun tunnel at a Mach number of 8.2 and a Reynolds number of 158,100, based on the cylinder diameter, at flare angles 0, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25 and 30 degrees and at pitch angles of (cid:1) 12 to 12 deg for the 10deg flare case only. The surface flow was studied using the oil-dot technique. Some information regarding the shock layer was obtained from schlieren pictures. The effects of turbulence on onset of separation were also deduced from pressure measurements over the cylinder and the flare. The forces were measured with a three-component balance equip-ped with semiconductor strain gauges. The effects of centre of gravity (CG) location on the aerodynamic characteristics and in particular on the C M (cid:1) were examined. The results under turbulent conditions and zero-incidence were compared with numerical simulations performed using a 3-D time-marching Navier-Stokes code. The magnitude of the separated region, the minimum flare angle required to induce separation, and the effects of small-scale separation are detailed.


A 10-MJ Ignitron Crowbar Array for the 2X II fusion machine has been installed, and is now in operation. It is designed to handle about three times the energy of the previous array used with the 2X machine, which has been supplanted by the 2X II. In addition, this array is expected to be considerably more reliable than previous designs. Furthermore, the floor utilization of the assembly is considerably improved, access to all components is better, and the overall cost per kilojoule is substantially reduced. Two insulated identical main pulse coils are incorporated in the 2XII machine. Similarly, the crowbar array is split into two equal parts, with each connected permanently across its pulse coil. The crowbar array is expected to handle 10 MJ at 40 kV. However, because of reliability limitations of the capacitor banks above 30 kV, operation above this value is not planned except for possible special tests. With the present coils, the decay time constant of current to I/? of its peak value will be about 7 msec. A mechanical switch, actuated by exploding a copper foil against one electrode, has been built and installed within a foot of the coil terminals. It has not yet been perfected adequately for use, but calculations indicate that it could extend the time constant above 20 msec.


Click-Through Rate (CTR) prediction, estimating the probability of a user clicking on items, plays a key fundamental role in sponsored search. E-commerce platforms display organic search results and advertisements (ads), collectively called items, together as a mixed list. The items displayed around the predicted ad, i.e. external items, may affect the user clicking on the predicted. Previous CTR models assume the user click only relies on the ad itself, which overlooks the effects of external items, referred to as external effects, or externalities. During the advertising prediction, the organic results have been generated by the organic system, while the final displayed ads on multiple ad slots have not been figured out, which leads to two challenges: 1) the predicted (target) ad may win any ad slot, bringing about diverse externalities. 2) external ads are undetermined, resulting in incomplete externalities. Facing the above challenges, inspired by the Transformer, we propose EXternality TRansformer (EXTR) which regards target ad with all slots as query and external items as key&value to model externalities in all exposure situations in parallel. Furthermore, we design a Potential Allocation Generator (PAG) for EXTR, to learn the allocation of potential external ads to complete the externalities. Extensive experimental results on Alibaba datasets demonstrate the effectiveness of externalities in the task of CTR prediction and illustrate that our proposed approach can bring significant profits to the real-world e-commerce platform. EXTR now has been successfully deployed in the online search advertising system in Alibaba, serving the main traffic.


Magnetostriction, which refers to the deformation of the core material of transformers and electrical machines, is a main contributor to the total noise. In this work, a technique is proposed to calculate the magnetostrictive deformations of the core of the aforementioned devices. This technique is based on finite element approach with an artificial neural network model of the magnetostrictive behaviour of the core material. The strain measurements are carried out by using a dual heterodyne laser
interferometer setup. The proposed technique is then applied to a single-phase test transformer core. As a validation, the vibration of the magnetised core of the same setup is measured by using a laser scanning vibrometer.


Fedics Site Services (FSS), backed by Fedics, has over 40 years of experience in outsourced catering in Africa. It is owned by Tsebo Outsourcing Group, a leading hospitality, facilities and cleaning management service provider.


A drop-fall computer simulation of the medical kit is made and stress and deformation calculation is performed by using MSC.Dytran and MSC.Patran software of MSC company. Compared with the test results, the kinetic analytic results by using MSC.Dytran are basically consistent with the factual condition.


Objective
To investigate where is the suitable anatomical locations to cut off in the surgical treatment of adult inguinal hernia with giant hernia sac.

Methods
127 patients with giant inguinal hernia sac were selected in the First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University from Mar 2014 to Aug 2016. Finally, 106 patients were included. All of them were divided into two groups randomly. All of the selected patients underwent the Lichtenstein's operation. In the group one with 54 patients, we cut off the hernia sac closed to the internal inguinal ring. And in the group two with 52 patents, we cut off the hernia sac closed to the external inguinal ring. Then the operation duration, bleeding volume, edema degree of scrotum, volume of drainage of the incision, and postoperative chronic pain were compared.

Results
All of the operations were completed successfully. Group one had less complications in edema degree of scrotum and volume of drainage of the incision than group two. The result had statistical significance (P 0.05).

Conclusion
In the operation of inguinal hernia with giant hernia sac, it can result in less complication by cutting off the hernia sac closed to the internal inguinal ring and leaving the distal part of the sac where it was.

Key words:
Hernia, inguinal; Herniorrhaphy; "Neck-shoulder" technique


The kinetics of hydrolysis at 99·5 °C of urea, NNN′N′-tetramethylurea, and O-methylisourea in aqueous sulphuric and methanesulphonic acids have been studied. In solutions of intermediate acidity the three substrates share a common mechanism of hydrolysis, believed to be a bimolecular reaction between water and the diprotonated urea. At lower acidities a demethylation reaction, with alkyl–oxygen fission, intrudes with O-methylisourea, and the mode of decomposition of urea changes to the well known unimolecular decomposition of the free base. In highly concentrated sulphuric acid, urea only is thought to undergo sulphonation before decomposition.


Natural rubber is reinforced with a novel type of grass fiber (Cyperus Tegetum Rox b). The effects of fiber loading of different mesh sizes on curing characteristics and mechanical properties of grass fiber filled natural rubber composite are studied. Since 400 mesh grass fiber loaded natural rubber composite shows superior mechanical properties, therefore the effect of silane coupling agent was studied for this particular composite. Here composites were prepared by using water leached grass fiber. Optimum cure time increases with the increase in fiber loading but the change in scorch time is less. The same trend of increase in optimum cure time is observed in the presence of Si69. But the value is higher compared to that of rubber composite without Si69. With increase in the fiber loading, modulus and hardness of the composite increases but tensile strength decreases. The mechanical properties of the composite, namely moduli at 200 and 300% elongation and hardness increase in the presence of Si69 but tensile strength is less compared to that of the composite without Si69. Elongation at break is not much affected due to the presence of Si69. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


Selective scientific realists disagree on which theoretical posits should be regarded as essential to the empirical success of a scientific theory. A satisfactory account of essentialness will show that the (approximate) truth of the selected posits adequately explains the success of the theory. Therefore, (a) the essential elements must be discernible prospectively; (b) there cannot be a priori criteria regarding which type of posit is essential; and (c) the overall success of a theory, or 'cluster' of propositions, not only individual derivations, should be explicable. Given these desiderata, I propose a "unification criterion" for identifying essential elements.


Country sports tourism consumption market in China is booming gradually,and occupies an important position in the tourism industry.The structure of the sports travel market has certain relations with the nationality,age,sex,degree of education,income level and vocational structure of tourists.This paper studies the behavior characteristics of the tourists who participate in the sports tourism projects,the sports tourism products and related marketing theory are considered as the theoretical foundation.The paper makes an analysis and research of the sports tourism market and puts forward a corresponding development strategy of sports tourism market.


This instructional unit about Germany is designed for primary students and may be integrated into the existing curriculum or used as a stand-alone unit. Each lesson begins with an outline for teaching that includes instructional objectives, a list of needed materials, and a sequenced list of procedures for implementing the lesson. The unit is divided into four sections: (1) "Germany in the World" (four lessons); (2) "The People of Germany" (six lessons); (3) "Neighborhoods and Communities in Germany" (five lessons); and (4) "Political and Cultural Symbols of Germany" (five lessons). Includes maps and transparencies. (BT) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. A Kid Like Me Across the Sea: A Look into the World of a German Child. Social Studies, Grades Kindergarten-3. Update 2002. Glen Blankenship Goethe House, New York, NY. Inter Nationes, Bonn (Germany). PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE AND DISSEMINATE THIS MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) 1 BEST COPY AVAILABLE 2 U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Office of Educational Research and Improvement EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) ffr)This document has been reproduced as received from the person or organization originating it. Minor changes have been made to improve reproduction quality. Points of view or opinions stated in this document do not necessarily represent official OERI position or policy. A KID LIKE ME ACROSS THE SEA A Look Into the World of a German Child Viw A ate 206 SOCIAL STUDIES GRADES KINDERGARTENGRADE 3 GOETHE-INSTITUT 3 inter Nationes A KID LIKE ME ACROSS THE SEA A Look Into the World of a German Child SOCIAL STUDIES GRADES KINDERGARTEN-GRADE 3


This application relates to the use of a wire comprising a coating of a bio plastics material as a bookbinding wire or paperclip. The coating is a closed coating offering the wire a good corrosion protection when exposed at normal ambient conditions during use as bookbinding wire or as paperclip and the coating is degradable, biodegradable or compostable once said wire is exposed to an environment Suitable for decom position of said coating. More particularly, the application relates to the use of and to a bookbinding wire and paperclip with a PLA coating. The application further relates to a method for recycling said bookbinding wires and paperclips.


Redox chemical remanent magnetization (CRM) results from current flow associated with a redox potential cell. An active redox cell covered by later volcanics may continue in operation for a period of time, sufficiently long that the current flowing in the overlying volcanics will cause or assist in the remobilization of iron. The remobilization may be either in situ as an alteration of minerals or by actual migration as a ferrous hydroxide, with fixation at a higher Eh nearer the surface.Redox CRM will leave a characteristic pattern as a magnetic memory in the rocks. Measurement of the magnetic rock properties and interpretation of resulting patterns can be used to locate the ancient redox cell. Redox cells in nature are usually associated with oxidizing sulfide deposits. Under appropriate conditions, redox CRM can be utilized as an indirect method for sulfide exploration.Field results for two porphyry sulfide deposits and a massive sulfide deposit under approximately 400 m of post-mineral volcanic cover demonstrate the feasibility of this technique. Field tests in nonsulfide areas indicate that pervasive occurrence of false redox CRM anomalies do not exist except in the presence of sulfides. Laboratory experiments in the simulation of the redox CRM concept give support to the theory.


The construction of harmonious society is a complex social system project,it is the permanent object of human society as well.However,the sluggish development of economy and society caused by the dislocation and lack of the governmental functions which even led to the turbulence of country.The thesis starts from the Marxist functions of country,analysing the gains and losses of the orientation of governmental functions and its connections with the level of social economic development,expounding the significance of adjusting the governmental functions timely to the construction of harmonious society.


A preparation procedure for the Tl-Ba-Ca-Cu-O superconducting samples which can be levitated above or beneath a magnet is described. X-ray powder diffraction data for these samples are presented and discussed. Their electronic and magnetic properties are presented. The explanation for the unusual levitation is briefly discussed.


Modern therapy for acute 1 ymphocytic leukaemia (ALL) induces remission and prevents evident central nervous system (CNS) leukaemia in over 90% of children (Simone, 1974). The quality and duration of remission has so improved that therapy may be stopped safely in a significant proportion of patients (Aur et al , 1974). Despite these advances, the current treatment of ALL leaves much to be desired. Modern therapy is complex, costly and largely empirical; it has side effects ranging from merely annoying to life-threatening ; it is potentially carcinogenic and may have latent functional effects on organs such as the gonads, liver, nervous system and heart. The most serious immediate problem facing modern therapy, however, is its inability to prevent haematological relapse in one-third to two-thirds of patients. When haematological relapse occurs in patients receiving chemotherapy at the time, the chance for survival is virtually eliminated. Although the ideal therapy for preventing or delaying haematological relapse is unknown, useful guidelines have been developed. Studies have clearly established the necessity of continuing therapy during remission (Freireich et al, 1964), the superiority of intermittent over daily methotrexate administration (Acute Leukemia Group B, 1965) and the value of giving maximum-tolerated doses of chemotherapy (Pinkel et al , 1971). While methotrexate and mercaptopurine have been the most effective agents for prolonging haematological remission, controlled studies failed to establish the substantial superiority of simultaneous, sequential or cyclic combinations (Frei et al , 1961; Australian Study Group, 1968; Krivit et al , 1968). The addition of other chemotherapeutic agents prolonged remission in some studies (Holland & Glidewell, 1972; Leikin et al , 1969; Pinkel, 1971; Haghbin et al, 1974) and not in others (Aur et a l , 1972; Sackman Muriel et al , 1974; Simone et al , 197~a, b). However, since no regimen has emerged with sufficient efficacy to become standard, the composition of therapy during remission requires periodic re-examination (Simone, I 974). This annotation presents new data from an analysis of factors influencing haematological remission duration in four consecutive 'total therapy' studies of ALL at this hospital and attempts to explain the inferior results in one study. As shown in Table I, all studies employed multiple-agent therapy and, after Study V (Aur et a/, 1971a), a series of modifications was tested by randomization in Studies VI (Aur et al, 1972), VII (Aur et a!, 1973) and VIII (S' imone, 1974; Simone et al, 1975a, b). All patients who attained haematological remission are included in the comparisons between studies except the 20 patients in study VIII randomized to receive methotrexate alone; excessive neurotoxicity required early termination of this limb (Simone et al, 197sa). To quantify the haematological relapse rate for each study and subgroup, the regression coefficient was derived by the least squares method from the proportion of patients remaining in haematological remission at 6 month intervals. Analysis is limited to 24 months in Studies V-VII because most relapses occur during this time and the slopes subsequently become


Based on SA800 (social accountability 800), a system which is being conducted and will gradually affect our enterprises, this paper, from the point of economics, business management and business ethics, gives a discussion on the issue of social responsibility of enterprises. It further expounds the change of connotation on social responsibility of enterprises and the corresponding attitude which the enterprises should hold, so as to bring to the attention of both society and enterprises.


. Increased attention has been paid to how the spatial dimensions of social–ecological systems are formative in shaping their ability to negotiate change and remain resilient. This paper moves this research further by exploring how diverse forms of power play a crucial role in shaping these spatial dimensions and the production of social–ecological outcomes. Grounding these explorations in a National Protected Area in Lao PDR, this paper explores how power relationships operate through the spatial and temporal domains of complex systems. Findings suggest (at least) four important insights: (1) the exercise of power materializes in policies and programs and becomes written onto the spaces of social–ecological systems through boundary creation, zonation, and other social processes that (re)define spatial meanings; these meanings vary by social actor; (2) policies and programs map out unevenly across space and time as they interact with antecedent social–ecological conditions in ways that preclude linear causal relationships between policy and outcomes; (3) although local in their expression, spatialized disputes in social–ecological systems draw on cross-scalar discourses and networks of power to bolster, undermine, and (de)legitimize competing environmental and social narratives; and (4) however powerful institutions and actor-networks may be, they are never fully hegemonic as they are attenuated by other discourses and operations of power, although these all play out across a highly uneven sociopolitical terrain. Paying greater attention to the spatial and temporal dynamics of power may be much more than a project of introducing yet another variable into the already complex admixture of analytic elements. Rather, by rendering these explicit as objects of analysis, common insights may change entirely or even be overturned.


RESULTS: The low producer predicted phenotype was present in 76.9% of Crohn's disease cases and 75.8% of controls (OR 0.94 [0.45-1.97]). The TNF2 allele and the high producer predicted phenotype were more frequent among patients with Crohn's disease penetrating behavior (p=0.004). The TNF2 allele and the high producer predicted phenotype were also associated with a history of colectomy (p=0.02), and the TNF2 allele was associated with small bowel resection (p=0.03). CONCLUSIONS: The TNF-a -308 polymorphism appears to affect the severity of the disease. However, TNF-a -308 polymorphism does not appear to be important for the susceptibility in the development of Crohn's disease.


IN AUGUST 1959 THE MIDDLE BRIDGE IN DRESDEN WAS REPAIRED BY USING A 1/2" LATEX MORTAR OVERLAY. THE DOW LATEX ADDITIVE, DOW SM-100 (FORMERLY 560), WAS USED IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF CONCRETE CURBS AND A 1 1/4" WEARING SURFACE AT PAYNE ROAD BRIDGE IN SOUTH PORTLAND. THE 3" X 3" X 16", TEST BEAMS AFTER DRY CURING FOR 28 DAYS WERE SUBJECTED TO RAPID FREEZE-THAW I IN A 3% SALT SOLUTION AND AFTER ONLY 30 CYCLES EXHIBITED SEVERE SPALLING. HOWEVER FIELD PERFORMANCE OF SIMILAR MATERIAL CURER FOR 70 TO 90 DAYS WAS EXCELLENT. GREAT WORKS BRIDGE IN BRADLEY WAS ALSO CONSTRUCTED IN 1969 WITH THE SAME ARRANGEMENT AS PAYNE ROAD BRIDGE. RESULTS TO DATE ARE SIMILAR TO PAYNE ROAD BRIDGE. A 1972 FIELD INSPECTION FOUND BOTH AREAS IN GOOD CONDITION. CURING TIME HAS BEEN FOUND TO BE A CRITICAL FACTOR AND SHOULD BE EXTENDED A MINIMUM OF 90 DAYS BEFORE APPLICATION OF DE-ICING CHEMICALS. MAINE SPECIFICATIONS REQUIRE APPLICATION ONLY AT AMBIENT TEMPERATURES BETWEEN 50 DEG F AND 90 DEG F. SKID RESISTANCE MEASUREMENTS WERE TAKEN TWICE YEARLY AT PAYNE ROAD AND GREAT WORKS FOR 1970 AND 1971: SKID NUMBERS DECREASED APPROXIMATELY 5 POINTS OVER A 2 YEAR PERIOD. THERE REMAINS LITTLE DOUBT THAT A LATEX WEARING COURSE IS FAR BETTER THAN STANDARD ASPHALT AND FABRIC MEMBRANE UNDER REGULAR BITUMINOUS CONCRETE MIXES. THE PRINCIPAL PROBLEM IS, CAN IT WITH VOLUME USAGE, BECOME COST COMPETITIVE IN THE LONG RUN WITH A WELL BONDED LINSEED OILED PORTLAND CEMENT CONCRETE WEARING COURSE CONTAINING NEWLY DEVELOPED DURABILITY ENHANCING ADDITIVES? /AUTHOR/


One of the first steps in many hydrologic design projects is determination of rainfall event. Use of inappropriate design storms could lead to malfunctions of the infrastructure systems. Hence development of IDF curves for precipitation remains a powerful tool in the risk analysis of natural hazards. Thus, this study was undertaken to develop IDF curves with their mathematical expressions in three selected rainfall stations of Ethiopian Somali region. To provide IDF information, historically observed hourly rainfall data was gathered and annual maximum data series for durations of 1, 2, 3, 6, 12 and 24 hours were extracted and fitted to different probability distribution functions for selecting best fitting distribution function to perform the frequency analysis. Extreme rainfall quantiles (X T ) were then computed for the return periods of 2, 5, 10, 25, 50, and 100 years and taking these as an input the IDF parameters (A, B and C) were estimated with the help of MIDUSS IDF Curve fit tool software and their performance were evaluated using the regression coefficient (R 2 ) and the Nash and Sutcliffe simulation efficiency (E NS ). Finally, mathematical relationships were developed and IDF curves were constructed for the respective return periods of all the selected stations. Generally, the outcomes of this study indicate that Gumbel (EVI) was found to be the best fitting probability distribution in describing the given data series for all the selected stations. The IDF curve fit parameters (A, B and C) generated with the MIDUSS software shown an increasing or decreasing trend with an increase or decrease in return period and vary from 752 to 8239.3 for 'A', 0.21 to 101.49 for 'B' and 0.86 to 1.19 for parameter 'C' and parameter 'C' was found to be the most sensitive parameter. Since the R-squared and ENS values was very high, over 0.99 that depicts a strong relation between the observed and computed intensities, the developed IDF parameters can be used as a useful tool for the estimation of the rainfall design parameters. Keywords: Rainfall, Intensity Duration Frequency Curve, Probability Distribution, Water resource management infrastructures, Ethiopian Somali region


This paper summarizes our experience with using Knowledge Discovery in Data (KDD) methodology for automated requirements tracing, and discusses our insights.


Background: Patients need to know dosing instructions of their medicines to ensure safe and effective therapeutic outcomes. Pharmacists play a key role in providing accurate and complete dosing instruction to patients each time medicines are dispensed. Objective: To assess perceptions of pharmacists, on the importance of giving specific dosing instructions, suitable mode, current practices, difficulties encountered, and on factors that could improve current practices of giving dosing instructions to patients. Method: A cross-sectional study was conducted among all pharmacists working in out-patient pharmacies of a selected teaching hospital and a selected community pharmacy in the Colombo district. An interviewee administered questionnaire, developed in-house was used. Results: Only 73% pharmacists agreed it was essential to give dosing instructions every time medicines were dispensed. Pharmacists' perception on the suitable mode of giving instructions differed from their self-reported current practices (P Conclusion: Pharmacists agreed that giving dosing instructions to patients was essential but most did not practice what they believed. They highlighted the high patient to pharmacists ratio as a main barrier and requested more training on providing dosing instructions to improve this process.


Conventional guidelines for maintenance procedures in the nuclear power industry need to be revised or expanded to address those situations that require the technician to interface with a computer program. As software is being used more frequently to accomplish such tasks as testing and data analysis, procedure writers find that current writer's guide to be too restrictive or not applicable to computer interface procedures. Writers must write what is in reality a software user manual using a conventional prose procedure. Methods are recommended so that a paper-based procedure clearly describes how to use a software program to accomplish a procedural task. It is suggested that writer's guides for maintenance procedures permit the use of these methods.<<ETX>>


In this paper effect of cryogenic treatment on mechanical properties of cold work tool steels at various combination of heat treatment cycle (process sequence) are studied. The material selected for these processes are AISI D2 and D3.Cryogenic treatment is commonly referred as cryotreatment, is an add-on process to the conventional heat treatment of tool steel. Cryogenic treatment improves hardness, microstructure of metal (retained austenite to marten site), dimensional stability and decreases residual stresses. The effects of these process sequences of cryotreatment on properties of tool steel were studied by conducting some laboratory tests. Study of microstructure characterization of different specimens is carried out using optical microscope. Also hardness measurement was done by using Vickers indentation method.


Short wavelength rail defects or short-wave effects of rail have a significant influence on the system behaviour of railways. The influence of additional dynamic loads due to short-wave effects on component wear and the general quality behaviour of track is shown by several research papers. However, the described effect cannot yet be quantified comprehensively. This paper attempts to fill this gap. With the help of extensive data analysis, we can show that short-wave effects lead to a track geometry that is up to 50% worse than on average. Furthermore, we show examples illustrating the influence of untreated welded joints on the development of isolated defects of the track geometry. A detailed in-depth analysis of sections with different boundary conditions finally shows that short-wave effects have a significant influence on track geometry if the amplitude of the effect exceeds 0.15 mm. This value can be recommended as a threshold value in Austria and as a reference value in other countries.


The Acid Rain Provisions (Title IV) of the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments (CAAA) are designed to reduce the deposition of SO{sub 2} and sulfate and, to a lesser extent, the deposition of NO{sub x} and nitrate through reduction of SO{sub 2} and NO{sub x} emissions. However, other important benefits are anticipated from the emission control strategies, including improvement of regional visibility and reductions in concentrations of fine particles (PM2.5). In this study, the authors coupled utility emissions forecasts with the Advanced Statistical Trajectory Regional Air Pollution (ASTRAP) model and the Visibility Assessment Scoping Model (VASM) to calculate and compare the relative improvements by 2010 in visual impairment, PM2.5 concentrations, and sulfate wet deposition at selected sites in the eastern United States.


PURPOSE
This research examined uncertainty as a salient theme for families in which a parent was dying while receiving hospice care.

METHODS
Interviews were conducted with 61 participants from 26 families in the parent study to explore the strategies used by adolescents with a parent in a hospice. Second interviews were conducted with 15 original participants after the death of their parent. Conventional content analysis was used to analyse data.

RESULTS
Uncertainty was a prevalent and salient theme in the participants' stories revealing patterns about the causes, barriers, effects and strategies used to manage uncertainty.

CONCLUSION
Uncertainties associated with the end of life can be problematic for some people, requiring attention by health professionals.


In labor-intensive industries such as services industry, utilization of precious manpower resources can make the difference in terms of profitability and meeting customer and/or project demands. Employing part-time workers on top of full-time workers is not uncommon in Singapore and the number of part-time workers is gradually increasing in the recent few years. From the modelling point of view, although set covering model proposed by Dantzig is able to incorporate part-time and full-time workers, the problem size can become very large, and this creates intractability. In this paper, an implicit manpower scheduling model with part-time workers is proposed. The implicit model is able to achieve optimal solution with a much reduced computation time as compared to the set-covering formulation, based on computational experiment on various distribution pattern of required staffing level with increasing complexity and problem size.


Objective:To establish a new animal model with cerebral palsy and identify the animal model.Method: 24 Wistar pregnant rats were divided into two groups: lipopolysaccharide(LPS) (n=16) and normal saline(n=8). Pregnant rats were consecutively injected intraperitoneally with LPS (350μg/kg) or saline on gestation 16d and 17d. The interval from infusion to delivery for each group was recorded, as well as their birth weight. The abilities of sensorimotor movement (hanging test and inclined plane test),emotional behavior(open field test and resistant to capture test), posture, and muscle tension, et al were tested till 30d. The brain damage of the preterm rats was observed by optical and electron microscopes.Result:There were 26 live preterm pups delivered by 6 LPS-treated rats.The birth weight of the pups reduced compared with the saline controls.And there was motor reduction of preterm pups.There was intrauterine infection of LPS group rats.There was white matter damage of animal modal. 10 of 16 preterm pups were the ones with cerebral palsy.The behavioral abilities of CP pups were much lower than those of normal control group.There was much abnormality of posture and muscle tension with CP pups.Conclusion: Preterm delivery can be induced by LPS.A new animal model for investigation of cerebral palsy is established by LPS-induced preterm.A method for identifying rats with cerebral palsy is successfully established. The damage location of the CP animal model is white matter.


ABSTRACT River Ganga, one of the largest perennial rivers, conserves the cultural heritage of the Indian sub-continent, supporting as the nectar of life to millions residing on the banks of the river basin. With unlimited use, the river also receives a large amount of untreated wastewater discharged from different industrial, commercial and residential complexes, unbalancing the nutrient concentration at many points along the stretch. The current study assesses water samples collected from 20 monitoring locations and the Ganga River System in the Himalayan region, evaluating the potential risk of heavy metal pollution. The concentration of Zn, Pb, Mn, Fe, Cu, Al, Ni, Cd, Mg and Co is determined by atomic absorption spectrophotometer (AAS). Fe, Cd and Mg's observed values exceeded various standards (WHO, BIS and USEPA) for drinking water. The pollution assessment index (heavy metal pollution index: HPI) and multivariate analysis (principal component analysis: PCA and cluster analysis: CA) were implemented to identify the intensity of pollution and its sources. The seasonal values of HPI were found 88.69, 90.32, 88.53 and 84.96 in winter, summer, monsoon and post-monsoon seasons. The index value on all monitoring locations varied between the range of PCA outcomes for three factors and explained 72.1% of the variance, indicating natural and man-made activities as responsible metal abundance factors in the river system. The hazard quotient (HQ) and hazard index (HI) are used to assess non-cancer health risks to humans. The seasonal evaluation recorded HQ < 1 for all the metals and HI > 1 was found for the entire study period. This study contributes to various conservation initiatives for the River Ganga System with factual datasets and characterization of various sampling locations using heavy metal indexing while sharing common masses' findings for people participation at the regional level.


In order to determine the fluid flow pattern within the sandstone formation in the Upper Rhine Graben (Buntsandstein, Lower Triassic), we compare two temperature gradient logs: on the one hand, the observed gradient log derived from temperatures measured along a borehole, on the other hand, a calculated one based on thermal conductivities measured on borehole cores. If the heat fluxes are only due to conduction processes, calculated and observed temperature gradient logs are expected to be similar. If they are also governed by convection processes discrepancies should be observed between the two temperature gradient logs. Comparison of logs, by subtracting one from the other, allows locating flow path zones along a borehole. We applied this methodology to the sandstone formation of the Buntsandstein cored by borehole EPS1 (Soultz-sous-Forêts, Upper Rhine Graben, France), for which temperature logs and cores samples are available. Variations between the two temperature gradient curves revealed three main hot fluid flow intervals alternating with non-flow zones. The temperature gradient logs were then compared with the fracture distribution along the borehole and with sedimentological and petrophysical analysis carried out on the borehole cores, in order to identify parameters explaining the presence of flow zones. Two types of flow zones can be distinguished: (1) those structurally controlled with two major fault zones providing a flow path for the deep hot fluids, and (2) those controlled by sedimentary or diagenetic processes within the Playa-lake and Fluvio-aeolian marginal erg facies. We can also determine that some high matrix permeability levels (braided river formations) do not support macroscopic fluid flows because macroscopic sedimentary structures of thick oblique clayey layers drastically reduce the matrix connectivity, hence the macroscopic permeability. This data, associated with fracturation and sedimentological data, drive to the building of a 3D bloc model of the Buntsandstein sandstones reservoir of the Upper Rhine Graben.


Aiming at some uncertainty problems such as quality inspection of adhesive structure and risk assessment in the practical engineering application, a possibility estimation model is established. Firstly, according to the fuzziness, randomness and uncertainty of the measurement data, a transformation method of possibility distribution with non-single peak values and nonlinearity is proposed from probability density function. Secondly, for possibility distributions of measurement data of each sensor, a kind of possibility fusion rules is put forward, then the fusion distribution is estimated by the possibility mean. Finally the model is applied to the mechanical property estimation of adhesive structure, and the result forecasts the quality. The proposed model with strong applicability, not only provides convenience for the operations among possibility distributions, but also offers new ideas and new methods to deal with uncertain problems.


The robust filtering problem for a class of uncertain discrete-time fuzzy stochastic systems with sensor nonlinearities and time-varying delay is investigated. The parameter uncertainties are assumed to be time varying norm bounded in both the state and measurement equations. By using the Lyapunov stability theory and some new relaxed techniques, sufficient conditions are proposed to guarantee the robustly stochastic stability with a prescribed performance level of the filtering error system for all admissible uncertainties, sensor nonlinearities, and time-varying delays. These conditions are dependent on the lower and upper bounds of the time-varying delays and are obtained in terms of a linear matrix inequality (LMI). Finally, two simulation examples are provided to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed methods.


In a reeent paper) Hasse has developed an interesting theory of eonstruction and characterization of Galois algebras with given Galois groups, which specializes in the case of abelian Galois groups to the well-known theory of Kummer fields; an algebra 9l over a f ield is called a Galois algebra with Galois group G when 9l possesses G, a finite group, äs a group of automorphisms and 9l is (ö, ß)-operator-isomorphic to the group ring G(Q) of G overß). Hasse's ingenious device is, on assuming that the characteristic of does not divide the order of G and that the absolutely irreducible representations of G lie in ß, to construct a certain ß-basis of 9l, called factor basis, in accord with the decomposition of the group ring G ( ) into simple components, and to characterize 9l by a certain matric factor System which defines the multiplication between the constituents of the factor basis belonging to the single simple components of (?(£?). Now we want, in the present work), to off er a similar theory freed from the restriction on the characteristic. We shall indeed obtain a theory which, though complicated, generalizes Hasse's theory and comprises the case of a non-semisimple modular group ring &( ). Our main tool will be the theory of modular regulär representations of Brauer's school, in particular the theorem of Brauer-Nesbitt-Osima on the Kronecker product of regulär representations) and the orthogonality relations of Nesbitt-Nakayama). The work is moreover in a trend similar to that of the writer's former work which freed Deuring's theory on Galois moduli from the same restriction on the characteristic, by making use of the theory of Frobenius algebras).


SYSTOLIC HYPERTENSION The risk of cardiovascular complications from hypertension is more closely related to systolic blood pressure than to diastolic levels. For instance, the cardiac load is more accurately described in terms of aortic impedance than in relation to peripheral resistance or diastolic blood pressure. However, the treatment of systolic hypertension poses special problems because of the non-homogeneity of the disease. Altered compliance of the aorta as well as diminished baroreceptor sensitivity in some patients dictate a prudent approach to the reduction in blood pressure. However, a determined attempt should be made to lower excessive systolic levels when signs of target organ damage are apparent. Haemodynamic characteristics range from a hyperkinetic circulation in some to marked reduction in stroke volume in others.


The present communication deals with the development of a new, simple, specific, sensitive, rapid and economical procedure for simultaneous estimation of atorvastatin calcium and amlodipine besylate in a combined dosage form. The method is based on the native ultraviolet absorbance maxima of the two chemotherapeutic agents. As both compounds do not interact chemically in methanol, two wavelengths 246 nm for atorvastatin calcium and 360 nm for amlodipine besylate were used. Both the drugs obeyed Beer's law in the concentration range that was employed in the method.


A pretest and posttest two group design was employed to investigate the effects of a Self- Concept Enhancement Activities Program on the general self-concept of 41 sixth grade students. This program was developed to establish a strategy for improving students' self-concept in the classroom. The two groups designated as the implementation and the comparison groups were evaluated with an instrument developed by the Instructional Objectives Exchange, the Self Appraisal Inventory. Four subscales and the total inventory were investigated. An investigation was also made to determine the effects of the program on the implementation group who scored above and below the median on the pretest. Each hypothesis tested employed the one-way analysis of covariance. The results of statistical analysis indicated all null hypotheses had to be accepted at the .05 level of significance. Although statistical analysis showed no significant difference in the implementation group, the researcher reported noted gains in students in acceptance of others and feels gains in self awareness were created.


SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS
FOR THE AWARD OF THE DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY DEGREE
IN GEOGRAPHY DEPARTMENT, AHMADU BELLO UNIVERSITY,
ZARIA
MARCH 2006


The purpose of this study was considerate a specified education space for creative education of children and youth, based on the cases of museum. For case study, 10 museums in country were surveyed within visit and interviews of 7 gifted education specialists in country were used for preliminary data. In this study, Smithsonian, Washington D.C, was only selected and analyzed as specified space of creative education, but the other well-developed countries in gifted education prepare the diverse resource for gifted and creativity education. In the case of museums in country, most of museum operates good in facilities, but relate space into a creative education, concerning a space is insufficient compare to education program. Creative education is not only for a few 'Gifted Children', but for all children for future, also gifted children can be developed from creative education. Therefore, specified education space study for creative and experiencing education, also for a view of educator and education is expecting for future study.


Transition path sampling is a numerical technique to compute transition rates between two stable states without having to assume a priori information about a dividing surface. However, when there are many different pathways to go from one stable state to another, for example, when there are many saddle points in the free energy surface, it can be difficult to sample all possible pathways within the timescale of a single simulation. In this work, we demonstrate the use of parallel tempering to overcome this problem.


High temperature lead-free piezoelectric ceramics of Na0.25K0.25Bi2.5Nb2O9-0.4wt% Cr2O3-xwt% CeO2(x =0.00-1.00) were fabricated by solid-state reaction method.The effects of Ce addition on the microstructure and electrical properties of ceramics were investigated.It was found that all the ceramic samples had a single phase of bismuth oxide layered structure.The piezoelectric activity and ferroelectric properties of the ceramics were significantly improved by an appropriate amount of Ce addition.The electrical conductivity and dielectric loss decreased after Ce doping.The ceramic exhibited the optimum electrical properties with the doping content x = 0.50,d33= 27 pC /N,tanδ = 0.09%,kp=7.97%,Qm= 2637,Tc= 656 ℃,Ec= 46 kV /cm and Pr= 4.4 μC /cm2,which demonstrated that the ceramic had a good prospect on high-temperature applications.


In this paper, Two single crystals of Magneto Optic Garnets(YBiGd)Fe 5O 12 (BiGd∶YIG) and (YGd) 3 Fe 5O 12 (Gd∶YIG),which have high Faraday rotation and low temperature sensibility, were grown from high temperature melt. Their structure and compositions were determined with XRD and SEM. Their absorption and Specific Faraday Rotation under differnet wavelength were measured also. The magneto optical properties, Faraday rotation and magnetization, were analyzed with Molecular Field theory model. The measurements and analyses results show that BiGd∶YIG is very suitable for magneto optic devices, such as optical fiber current sensors.


We present some new reverses of Cauchy-Bunyakovsky-Schwarz inequality, and Triangle and Boas-Bellman Type inequalities in n-inner product spaces. The results obtained generalize the results of Dragomir (2003–2005) in n-inner product spaces. Also we provide some applications for determinantal integral inequalities.


This paper explores lay Buddhism in contemporary rural North China through investigating the practice and practitioners of "Buddha-chanting" (nianfo
 念佛) in relation to local religion, monastic Buddhism, and spirit mediums. The nianfo groups are led by and consist of ordinary villagers, overwhelmingly female. They meet in private houses or village temples of local deities. The groups are not subject to the authority of clergy, but individual group members, especially the leaders, may maintain a close relationship with a Buddhist monastery. These individuals are a link from monastic Buddhism to the Buddhist masses in villages, and the nianfo groups are the nexus of the networks. Members of the nianfo groups have a clear sense of being Buddhist while they also participate in activities of local religion. In addition, village spirit mediums, with whom the villagers often consult during crises, command some influence. They have also played a consequential role in the process of restoring Buddhism in the area.


We present a regularization scheme for deriving finite, unitary, and causal amplitudes to each order in the major coupling constant for nonderivative nonpolynomial Lagrangians for the self‐interaction of massless neutral scalar particles. The results are shown to contain no arbitrary constants, though these may be introduced consistently into the superpropagator, the second‐order contribution.


The fourth section adopts a critical perspective to explore the notion of hybridity in third-sector management systems and processes. Although the theme of hybridity runs through most of the previous chapters, it is in this section that empirical data is gathered on how it is enacted by organizations. Both chapters provide accounts of the tensions and conflicts that emerge between actors that endeavour to generate social change.


The nonlinear dynamical system of turbo code decoders and LDPC code decoders has been analyzed in detail by a lot of researchers. But the dynamical behaviours of turbo product code (TPC) decoders have not been reported so far. In this paper, we model a discrete dynamical system of two-dimensional (2-D) TPC decoders using one input parameter (corresponding to the SNR) and one output parameter (corresponding to E(l)-the mean square value of the posterior probabilities of all the zero code words at the lth iteration), and apply E(l) measures to study their dynamical behaviours. Typical periodic and chaotic behaviours at low SNRs, periodic behaviours at waterfall region and two types of fixed points are discovered and systematically analyzed.


The present work was undertaken to characterize kinetics, including activation, desensitization and deactivation, of responses mediated by GABA A and GABA C receptors on carp retinal bipolar cells, using the whole-cell patch-clamp technique. It was revealed that the GABA C response was generally slower in kinetics than the GABA A response. Activation kinetics of both the receptors could be well fit by monoexponential functions with time constants t, being 44.57 ms (GABA C ) and 10.86 ms (GABA A ) respectively. Desensitization of the GABA A response was characterized by a fast and a slow exponential component with time constants of τ fast = 2.16 s and τ slow = 19.78 s respectively, whereas desensitization of the GABA C response was fit by a monoexponential function of the time constant τ = 6.98 s. Deactivation at both the receptors was adequately described by biexponential functions with time constants being much higher for the GABA C response ( τ fast = 674.8 ms; τ slow = 2 090 ms) than those for the GABA A response ( τ fast = 42.07 ms; τ slow = 275.1 ms). These differences in kinetics suggest that GABA C and GABA A receptors may be involved in processing signals in different frequency domains.


To improve the near-Earth meteoroid and orbital debris environment definition, a large area particle sensor/collector is being developed to be placed on the International Space Station (ISS). This instrument, the Large Area Debris Collector (LAD-C), will attempt to record meteoroid and orbital debris impact flux, and capture the same particles with aerogel. After at least one year of deployment, the whole system will be brought back for additional laboratory analysis of the captured meteoroids and orbital debris. This project is led by the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) while the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) Space Test Program (STP) is responsible for the integration, deployment, and retrieval of the system. Additional contributing team members of the consortium include the NASA Orbital Debris Program Office, JAXA Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (ISAS), Chiba University (Japan), ESA Space Debris Office, University of Kent (UK), and University of California at Berkeley. The deployment of LAD-C on the ISS is planned for 2008, with the system retrieval in late 2009.


Abstract : A pair of wideband antennas was designed, fabricated and tested. The transmit antenna and the receive antenna are eight (8) ft paraboloidal reflectors with open horn feeds. The system can transmit and receive a 200 ps wide baseband pulse with a gain-aperture of 200 sq m, good fidelity, and time sidelobes below 25 db. These antennas are the first practical high gain, short pulse experimental models ever constructed. (Author)


ABSTRACT Many young people in foster care experience significant mental health difficulties, leading to attendance at services where engaging them in psychotherapy that adequately meets their diverse needs is an ongoing challenge. There is a dearth of research exploring the experiences of young people in foster care, and even less on their experiences of therapeutic engagement. Using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA), individual interviews were conducted with seven young people in foster care about their experiences of psychotherapy. Four superordinate themes were identified: being powerless; risking relationship; opening up; and finding connection. Young people revealed complex intrapersonal and interpersonal processes where they felt disempowered, drew on their courage to gradually build trust in therapists, were able to share their innermost thoughts and feelings and established deeper connections with themselves and others. This lived experience, illustrating a journey of relational connection, aligns with recognition theory, highlighting young people's need for authentic recognition as individuals in their totality, for psychotherapy that offered emotional connection and opportunities for systemic relational growth. The study illuminates the inherent challenges of working with this population, while informing practice about how to engage with young people in foster care in a meaningful and helpful way.


Through two complementary approaches, using modal response and wave propagation, this presentation will show the conditions under which a decaying impulse response, or a nearly irreversible energy trapping, takes place in a linear conservative continuous system. The results show that the basic foundation of near‐irreversibility or pseudo‐damping rests upon the presence of singularity points in the modal density of the systems. To illustrate the concept of pseudo‐damping in detail, a simple undamped beam is modified to introduce a singularity point in its modal density distribution. Simulations show that by a suitable application of a compressive axial force to an undamped beam on an elastic foundation, the impulse response of a beam shows the characteristics of a nearly irreversible energy trap and a decaying impulse response. Attaching such a modified beam to a single degree of freedom oscillator shows energy trapping by the beam producing pseudo damping. [Research carried out while AA served at NSF.]


Working as agents for their patients, health care providers often make treatment decisions
on the patient's behalf. By establishing common standards, clinical guidelines are central
to efforts to improve patient care and can expedite the introduction of new technologies.
Each year considerable resources are used to disseminate clinical guidelines, though
conventional public health interventions often have a limited effect in changing providers'
practice.
Using economic theory and methods, research was undertaken to design and evaluate
interventions to support the roll-out of malaria rapid diagnostic testing. This thesis
contains five research papers on providers' knowledge, preference and practice in treating
patients with malaria symptoms in Cameroon and Nigeria. In this setting, uncomplicated
malaria is routinely diagnosed and treated by health workers in outpatient departments
and primary health centres, or self-treated using antimalarials purchased at pharmacies
and drug stores.
Major problems with malaria diagnosis and treatment were identified. Relatively few
febrile patients were tested for malaria, many did not receive the recommended
antimalarial, and when patients were tested for malaria the test result was often ignored
when treatment was prescribed. Moreover, there was no significant relationship between
providers' knowledge and their practice, and preferences over alternative antimalarials
were similar among providers working in the same facility or locality.
The results of a cluster randomized trial in Cameroon demonstrated that introducing rapid
diagnostic tests with enhanced training, which targeted providers' practice, was more
cost-effective than introducing rapid diagnostic tests with basic training, when each was compared to current practice. Since the trial concluded, the Ministry of Health has
incorporated the enhanced training in the nationwide roll-out of rapid diagnostic testing.
The findings are also relevant for policy makers elsewhere, and highlight the value in
developing strategies to improve providers' adherence to malaria treatment guidelines
when expanding access to malaria testing


The detection of spatial distribution and temporal development of soil erosion processes and forms on abandoned land still represents a great scientific challenge. Abandoned fields as a result of land use changes during the past century can frequently be found in the Mediterranean. The former fields are generally used for grazing and therefore are highly complex concerning the variability of soil erosion processes.


Diploma thesis assignment Average Difficulty evaluation of the diploma thesis assignment. The main aim of the thesis was to prepare a rough techno-economic study of waste CO2 to methanol technology, i.e. to design PFD chart, to perform an economic study of investment and productions costs, and payback. This topic was, therefore, a typical job for mechanical engineering, so its difficulty was average.


Planar groove gap waveguide (PGGWG) has similar characteristics to substrate integrated waveguide (SIW) in planar media, but with the advantage of DC isolated conducting planes. This work shows how this DC isolation can be exploited for device biasing by presenting an electrically tunable PGGWG resonant cavity. It is shown that varactor tuning is possible without bridging wires or concentric etched rings. A tuning range of 1.4% in a Ka-band cavity is achieved.


Abstract : NASA's space shuttle orbiter is the premier manned spacecraft. The space shuttle orbiter allows astronauts to perform many tasks such as docking with space stations, deploying satellites, rendezvousing with and repairing the Hubble Space Telescope, etc. The shuttle orbiter would never be able to perform such tasks without its rocket propulsion system. Whenever the orbiter makes changes to its orbit, or performs orbital maneuvers, it uses propellant from its on board orbital propulsion system. The ability to perform such orbital maneuvers depends on the orbital mechanics, spacecraft dynamics, and rocket propulsions. The purpose of this paper is to gain insight into the propulsive capabilities of the space shuttle orbiter. The analysis will reveal the limits of the space shuttle's ability to perform multiple orbital maneuvers on any given mission.


AbstractThe compression and bending modulus of elastomeric bearings, commonly applied as vibration isolators, are important design considerations. Analytical solutions have demonstrated that the sensitivity to the compressibility of the elastomer can be significant and begins at relatively low shape factors. These analytical solutions, which include the effects of compressibility on the compression and bending modulus, are often complex and not suitable for design purposes. Alternatively, an ad hoc approximation has been recommended that expresses the compression and bending modulus, including the compressibility of the elastomer, by assuming incompressibility and correcting with the bulk modulus. It is demonstrated that the ad hoc approximation provides an unconservatively large value of the compression and bending modulus for infinite strip, square, circular, and annular pad geometries. A correction factor to the ad hoc approximation is determined by expanding and simplifying the analytical solutions. T...


The authors report electrical transport properties of p-n junction based on semiconducting single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs). The formation of p-n junction is realized in SWCNTs, which are encapsulated with Fe nanoparticles at low filling fractions. The devices exhibit an excellent rectifying behavior, and no current down to 10−14A level flows when the device is biased in reverse. During measurements performed in the temperature range from 10to300K, the devices maintain high reproducibility. More importantly, even after exposure to air, the rectifying characteristic keeps stable, which strongly suggests that ideal p-n junction diodes can be fabricated by SWCNTs.


We analyse and figure a total of 18 sectioned cheek teeth of Plesiohipparion houfenense, Proboscidipparion pater and Proboscidipparion sinense to digitally document and characterize the morphologic changes through their ontology and to discover possible synapomorphies between these Chinese taxa and other Eurasian and African hipparion lineages. The maxillary and mandibular cheek teeth of P. houfenense are found to likely share characters in common with Spanish Plesiohipparion crusafonti, Turkish Plesiohipparion aff. P. huangheense and the African Eurygnathohippus lineage. In turn, these Eurasian and African lineages may in fact have their evolutionary roots in the Siwalik Sivalhippus lineage. The two Proboscidipparion species, P. pater and P. sinense are clearly related to each other, and likely related to Turkish "Proboscidipparion" heintzi. Likewise, our analysis of P. pater and P. sinense maxillary and mandibular cheek teeth support this genus' relationships with the Plesiohipparion and Sivalhippus clades previous argued by other authors.


attention to an interesting subgroup of aneurysms which have in common unique morphologic and histologic features but which vary in location and in the presence of important perforating arteries and therefore in therapeutic responsiveness. Fusiform aneurysms are enlarged segments in continuity with a main arterial trunk, often with relatively smooth tapered ends and with separate inflow and outflow openings. Perforating arteries may be incorporated into the enlarged segment, particularly in the basilar and proximal middle cerebral arteries. The histologic hallmark of this group of aneurysms is a circumferential absence of normal elastica and media without atherosclerosis. Such fusiform aneurysms may in some cases evolve into serpentine aneurysms that are giant lesions full of thrombus and traversed by a meandering residual arterial channel. Fusiform aneurysms may occur in association with tuberous sclerosis, Marfan's Syndrome, neurofibromatosis, and cutaneous vascular anomalies. They have been reported following craniopharyngioma removal, usually, but not invariably, when radiation therapy has been used following the surgery. Rarely, involved arterial walls of some fusiform aneurysms have been shown to have an inflammatory process present. A curious sub-group of fusiform aneurysms is that of the anterior cerebral artery associated with an adjacent lipoma of the corpus callosum. The fusiform aneurysms described above should be differentiated from the atherosclerotic aneurysms involving the vertebrobasilar circulation in elderly males, in which there is not only expansion of long arterial segments but also elongation [dolichoectasia].2,3 In by far the largest surgical series,4 about half of the fusiform aneurysms presented with mass effect and about one-fifth with hemorrhage. Good outcome occurred in three-quarters of anterior lesions and none out of ten posterior ones. In a smaller but still large series, the fractions were reversed.5 Proximal ligation by clip or balloon is the simplest and frequently a very successful treatment. This is particularly true in younger patients with proximal internal carotid, posterior cerebral and vertebral aneurysms. It is much more problematic with proximal middle cerebral or basilar ones. The outcome depends on the ability of collateral circulatory beds to supply both the cortical and deep-perforating circulations rendered ischemic by proximal occlusion, trapping or clip reconstruction. I am skeptical about the general utility of wrapping, which is obviously impractical when long segments of arteries with the numerous perforators are involved. The good short-term outcome reported in Case 11 in Findlay's series probably reflect the natural history rather than the benefit of wrapping an incidental seven-millimeter fusiform aneurysm. I think that ECIC bypass is probably unnecessary in the great majority of children and teenagers subjected to carotid ligation.6 It would be interesting to know whether remodeling of the communicating arteries, leptomeningeal collateral circulation development or the bypass were responsible for the good outcome in Case 2. Recently ,there has been some hope that internal stenting and extra-stent intra-aneurysmal coiling could be used effectively in some fusiform aneurysms previously considered refractory to treatment, such as the one causing death in this series, which followed a surgical clipping.7,8,9,10 Bryce Weir Chicago, Illinois


This work deals with the adaptation of beginning teacher into kindergarten environment. Bachelor thesis contains basic concepts that correspond with the topic of beginning teacher and also presents a wide range of relationships associated with it. The practical part of this work presents the real situation of beginning teachers in kindergarten through thematic analysis of texts writing, which was implemented with 30 kindergarten teachers. The work presents a new perspective on the situation in kindergartens and provides suggestions for policy making to support work with novice teachers.


Chlorophyll-a (Chl-a) is the principal component of photosynthetic pigment that truly reflects phytoplankton biomass which negatively impacts water quality. Landsat based spectral indices can be applied to estimate the amount of Chl-a in water. This study quantifies the uncertainties for the estimation of Chl-a using cross-validation of linear machine learning (ML) algorithms. The results for the comparison of Chl-a retrieved by four indices: normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), maximum chlorophyll index (MCI), normalized difference chlorophyll index (NDCI), and multi-linear regression (MLR) showed that MLR, a multi-linear regression composite of the three (NDVI, MCI and NDCI) spectral indices explanatory variables evaluating the relative effect of these explanatory on the outcome of Chl-a, outperformed the other indices. As a result, the performances of the indices ranked in ascending order based on the coefficient of determination (R2) are as follows: $\text{MLR} > \text{NDCI} > \text{MCI} > \text{NDVI}$. Additionally, for all the indices, leave-one-out cross-validation (LOOCV) displayed robust model performances with the lowest magnitude of bias and RMSE ranging from ($(0.014 \leq \text{Bias} \leq 2.998\ \text{mgL}^{-1})$ and $(0.18\leq \text{RMSE}\geq 1.74\ \text{mgL}^{-1})$ respectively. In contrast, a k-Fold cross-validation configured at an optimum fold ($\mathrm{k}=5$) had fairly comparable performances to LOOCV with regard to R2. This research developed a unique and easily applicable MLR composite index based on satellite remote sensing technique for water quality monitoring for a relatively small water reservoir in southern Taiwan. Overall, our research findings highlight the importance of readily accessible satellite data for near real time evaluation of water quality.


In their arguments on Sineoamphisbaena and a purported Amphisbaenia Macrocephalosauridae relationship, the discussers (X.-C. Wu, A.P. Russell, and D.B. Brinhan) regarded earlier comments by the authors (K. Gao and L. Wou) as "neither justified nor supported by available evidence" (p. 883). There is much to respond to in their discussion, but I address the following points as they have been used as supporting evidence for their phylogenetic interpretations.


walked through the shop while other customers were having their hair tinted or bleached. The patient and her family had no history of atopic rhinitis or asthma. Skin prick testing of a screening series and of indoor allergens revealed no sensitizations. Total IgE was 114 kU/l, a screening for inhalative allergens showed IgE of ,0.35 kU/l (CAP class 0), and a screening test for chemical allergens also showed IgE of ,0.35 kU/l (CAP class 0). Skin prick testing of a bleaching agent (Blondor Pulver) used in the hairdressers' shop gave a positive reaction (+++). Further investigation revealed that this bleaching agent contained APS and potassium persulfate. Therefore, skin prick testing of a hairdressers' panel used in patch testing was performed, revealing a positive reaction (++) to APS 2.5%. This reaction could be con®rmed by negative testing of APS 2.5% in 10 nonatopic and 10 atopic volunteers. No speci®c IgE (,035 kU/l) to APS could be detected in an external laboratory with a commercially unavailable RAST. In contrast to type IV sensitizations, which are frequent in hairdressers, type I sensitizations to hair-care products are rare. Besides APS, permanent wave solutions (5), conditioners (6), hair spray (7), and dyes such as henna (8, 9), senna (10), and basic blue 99 (11) have been described as causative. The mechanism underlying asthma induced by APS is disputed. Asthma due to a type I sensitization, including speci®c IgE for APS, has been described (12). Besides speci®c allergy, APS seems to be able to induce bronchial hyperreactivity, at least in a rabbit model (13). In our patient, no speci®c IgE could be detected, possibly because of the lack of a standardized method for the detection of speci®c IgE to the hapten APS. Nevertheless, positive skin prick testing, in contrast to negative testing, in a series of volunteers indicates speci®c sensitization. The good correlation of skin prick testing with APS, history of asthma, and lung function has been shown in a series of industry workers with exposure to APS (14).


This letter presents an area-efficient and PVT-insensitive segmented duty-cycled resistor (SDR) intended for neural recording amplifiers. The feedback resistor of the capacitively coupled low-noise amplifier is realized with segmentation of the polysilicon resistor and supplementary switches in between. The proposed SDR suppresses impedance reduction due to the switching of the resistor's parasitic capacitance. It ensures higher than 1-<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\text{T}\Omega $ </tex-math></inline-formula> resistance and a switching frequency above the signal bandwidth simultaneously, thus removing in-band switching artifacts and output dc drift. Fabricated in 0.18-<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\mu \text{m}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> CMOS, the prototype SDR achieves up to 1.18T<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\Omega $ </tex-math></inline-formula> with the smallest temperature variation of 6.5% and chip-to-chip variation of 1.5%, while only occupying an area of 0.001375 mm2. Furthermore, it offers sufficiently low and stable cut-off frequencies for both action and local field potential recordings.


Looking at marrieds, I often wonder how much is love and how much the ordinary needs of life," mused Emily Carr, arguably Canada's most famous ever-single woman.1 In Carr's lifetime, the ideal of companionate marriage and heterosexual romance were understood to be the chief fulWllment of women's lives. But, as Carr observes, under that veneer of mutuality (not, however, equality), the fact remained that marriage was the chief mode of survival for adult women in Canada across all divisions of race, ethnicity, or region. Yet for a variety of reasons, a signiWcant proportion of Canadian women did not marry, especially before the Second World War. How did women like Carr provide the "ordinary needs of life" for themselves (and often others) outside the marriage bond? The woman who did not marry had a very diVerent experience of work, economic survival, legal status, and social interaction than did her married (or widowed) counterpart. Living arrangements, family relations, and (often) the pursuit of lifelong waged labour marked her life as signiWcantly diVerent from the married woman's. As women in Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States moved from legal infants to voting citizens through the decades between 1880 and 1930, the transition and struggle in these years from women's constrictive identiWcation with nature and motherhood to autonomous personhood can be seen in the lives of women who did not take up marriage but, instead, remained outside traditional roles. Yet this period also saw a


The receiving of plain problem by analytical appearance with horizontal edges on the endless layer of propagation of the vertical crack and the dependence of the inner pressure of crack is observed. It supposed that the bottom edge of the layer is fixed to absolutely hard semi-flatness, but the upper edge is free. In this respect, we have tried to get the propagation measure of the opening and the analytical aspect of pressure change dependence acting inside it, by method of local modifications using the received solutions. The corresponding methods of approximate illustration of functional dependence are used. In the environment of the opening and the received measure of crack propagation the analytical expressions of distribution of stresses give the full image of peculiarities of those dependences for that immeasurable domain and correspond to the received results by method of modifications. The received formulas may be applied by solving concrete applicable problems and in studies of opportunities of cracks' propagation for environment of fragile material. Those opportunities are increasing moreover if we take into account that the solutions are received for immeasurable environment.


Abstract— Now-a-days Radar Signal Processing system is gaining a great deal of attention for realization of on-chip programmable signal processor for its real time applications. Application specific systems are being implemented using wide spectrum of Digital Signal Processing (DSP) algorithms. Such is the case for COordinate Rotation DIgital Computer (CORDIC) algorithm which is turned out to be widely researched topic in the field of vector rotated DSP applications. In this paper we have designed an application specific pipelined CORDIC architecture for digital demodulation in low power, high performance FMCW Radar. A complex Digital Phase Locked Loop (DPLL) has been used for digital demodulation. The FPGA implementation of CORDIC based design is suitable because of its inherent high system throughput due to its pipelined architecture where latency is reduced in each of the pipelined stage. Substantial amount of resource utilization has been reduced in proposed design. For better loop performance of first order complex DPLL during demodulation, the convergence of the CORDIC architecture is also optimized. Hardware synthesized result using Cadence design tools are presented.


This work deals with the calculation of pre-arcing time in the case of High Breaking Capacity fuses submitted to high fault currents. The fuse elements studied consist of silver fuse strips with reduced sections in their centre. During the fuse working the fuse element is fused partly and hence vaporized. The time necessary to obtain an electric arc is called the pre-arcing time. This latter is defined by the duration from the appearance of the fault current to the splitting of the fuse element due to the vaporization of the reduced sections. The mathematic model is based on the solution of the heat transfer equation, using an enthalpy formulation to take into account the phase transitions, supplemented by an energy source due to the heat produced by ohmic losses. In order to determine the current density evolution in the fuse element, the Laplace equation governing the electric potential and the Ohm's law are used. Two typical fuse elements close to industrial ones are chosen for the simulations. The calculated pre-arcing times are given together with the main electrical properties, and compared with the experimental values. The resistive case with cos phi ~ 0.9 is discussed for a 2.5 mm and 7.5 mm-width elements respectively with one and three reduced sections.


gen therapy in postmenopausal women causes uterine cancer.' In his otherwise excellent clinical discussion of postmenopausal osteoporosis at a University of California, San Francisco, Medical Staff Conference, Dr. Gordan presented two or three arguments that led him to the conclusion that "There is no evidence of increased mortality from endometrial carcinoma." Being deeply disturbed about the potentially dangerous effect this attitude may have in the clinical community, particularly in light of the relief expressed by clinicians exposed to his discussion,2 I should like to try to refute Dr. Gordan's arguments, and to summarize briefly some of the abundant evidence supporting the notion that estrogens are carcinogens. There are three recent and excellent epidemiologic case-control studies in women (only two of which Dr. Gordan cited) showing that estrogens increase the occurrence rate of endometrial carcinoma by a factor of between five and eight.35 A risk factor of this magnitude is considerable; if all postmenopausal women were subject to such a risk, for example, the overall incidence rate of carcinoma of the corpus uteri would make it the commonest cancer in American women. There is recent survey evidence from the SeattleTacoma area that more than 50 percent of menopausal women have received replacement estrogens for at least three months, and that median duration of use is ten years.6 United States Department of Commerce figures indicate nearly a quadrupling of dollars spent for these medications since 1963.7 Dr. Gordan has presented essentially three arguments: (1) That there has been no real increase in endometrial cancer (mortality); (2) That the three observed cases of endometrial cancer in his own case series of 220 estrogen-treated women did not differ significantly from the expected "one or two cases"; (3) That the elevated risk associated with estrogen therapy in recent epidemiologic studies is the result of increased case-finding, which is, in turn, the product of more frequent diagnostic curettages to which such women are subjected because of estrogeninduced bleeding. Regarding the first argument, there is new and abundant evidence of a precipitous increase in endometrial cancer incidence in the past several years. Indeed, Cramer and co-workers8 expressed perplexity that they did not find an increase when Third (1969-71) and Second (1947-49) National Cancer Survey rates were compared. This artifact is now largely ascribed to two sources: First, misclassification of cervix cancers whose locations were often described simply as "uterine" in the earlier survey to the corpus category.9 Second, the large number of women (as many as 25 to 40 percent of the postmenopausal population) in whom surgical hysterectomy has been done in the interim period has effectively decreased the real population-at-risk, while rate calculations continue to use census figures in the denominators. This latter argument was suggested by Cramer and co-workers in this very paper. Weiss and associates have shown in six population-based United States cancer registries for which each year's rates are available since 1970 or before, that in all six (Connecticut, Hawaii, New Mexico, Oregon, San Francisco Bay and Utah) the uterine cancer incidence rates have risen,10 in all but one they have risen every single year; the annual rise has been astoundingly more than 10 percent. In the five-county San Francisco Bay Area, the 1969 rate was 24.9;* in 1973, 40.3. Analysis of age, race and histologic type shows that the increase is observed only among whites, is greatest in the age groups between 45 and 70, is accounted for almost entirely by adenocarcinoma, and is highest in suburban areas such as Marin County.'1 In Alameda County, incidence rates from 1960 through 1974 have risen in every five-year age-group from 45 to 85. Aggregate rates for white women aged 50 to 74 have risen from 72.6 to 184.9* in the 13-year period from 1961 through 1973.12 Analysis of data abstracted from Vital Statistics of the United States for the years 1968-1972 shows that mortality rates for cancer of the uterine corpus (ICDA 182.0) have risen each year during that period. However, death rate analysis is complicated by the rather large proportion of noncervical uterine tumor deaths relegated to the site-unspecified group (ICDA 182.9), a propor-


Different integral equations are reduced to a system of linear equations via method of moments (MoM) where the different basis and testing function utilised are
sinusoid/pulse, sinusoid/sinusoid, sinusoid/triangle, triangle/pulse, triangle/sinusoid and triangle/triangle method. A hollow/layered dielectric cylinder has been taken as a representative case study. Comparison is made on the convergence and accuracy due to different testing function where the mean relative error is investigated numerically to show the essential differences of different basis and testing function in the MoM using different implementation techniques and different boundary conditions. The Gauss quadrature and staircase approximation technique is used in
calculating the impedance matrix elements. The different boundary conditions utilised is the exact and impedance boundary condition. Numerical results points out to the need to investigate the performance of other basis and testing functions for dielectric scatterers.


Clinical care and educational assignments both heavily rely on the categorization of medical images. However, the performance of the conventional approach has peaked. Additionally, employing them requires extensive time and effort to extract and choose categorization characteristics. An innovative machine learning technique called the deep neural network has demonstrated its potential for many categorization problems. On several picture classification tasks, the convolutional neural network stands out with the greatest results. Clinical care and therapy are greatly aided by accurate medical picture classification. For instance, the analysis X-ray is the best method for diagnosing pneumonia, which kills over 50,000 people annually in the US, but identifying pneumonia from chest X-rays requires qualified radiologists, which can be difficult and expensive in some areas. Medical image categorization has traditionally used standard machine learning techniques like support vector machines (SVMs). The main motive of the authors seem to be optimizing the medical image classification using Deep learning neural networks such as DNN, ANN and CNN.


s a part of our gencral interest in steroid A metabolism, Don H. Nelson began work in 1949 upon the problem of measurement of the adrenal hormones in human blood, using the phenylhydrazine reaction described by Porter and Silberl3 for steroids having a dihydroxyacetone structure in the side chain. After much work, Nelson succeeded in developing a procedure that seemed to measure little except free steroids that had the dihydroxyacetone side chain, the so-called 17-hydroxycorticosteroids.12 Since that time the method has undergone numerous modifications and refinements, but the specificity of the method has been generally confirmed.10 I t has helped us to understand a great deal about adrenal function, both normal and abnormal. When the cells were separated soon after blood was drawn, the chloroform-extractable 17-hydroxycorticosteroids were found to be almost entirely in the plasma. Normal levels were originally reported to lie between 3 and 26 pg. per 100 ml.1 This figure still stands, but we know now that there is a diurnal variation. If samples were drawn at a certain time, the spread of values was considerably less. As seen in Fig. 1, the curve is not symmetrical. The rise during the early morning hours was quite rapid, while the fall during the day was more gradual.11 Hospital employees on the midnight shift had a similar cycle. Sustained alterations in the cycle of activity, however, seem to have an effect on the diurnal curve. The level of any compound in the blood represents an equilibrium among production,


In China in recent years, the rental housing market has boomed, but insufficient attention has been paid to microsubject tenants in the market, and there is a lack of research results on tenants' decision-making processes. In keeping with the characteristics of China's accommodation-renting population, this study takes as its research object graduating students, who form an important group in the housing rental market, and focuses on the information retrieval process underlying prospective tenants' rental decisions. First, it investigates tenants' concerns during the renting process by means of questionnaires. Second, using eye-tracking experiments, the real online renting process is simulated and tenants' web listings are analyzed qualitatively and quantitatively. In the process of information search, the characteristics and rules of browsing the entry search page, the listings page, and the details page are obtained, and the factors that prospective tenants pay attention to in their search for rental information are obtained. The research results show that initial alphabetical sorting of the term search page can improve the subjects' efficiency in locating the target keywords, the text information display area of the listings page receives more attention than others, and the real concern factors of the tenants on the page listing details are generally consistent with their selected factors but deviate slightly. Finally, the layout and display of web page information affect how subjects' attention is distributed, and web page information presents a significant difference in attention between upper and lower pages.


Smooth & glowing complexion of the face increases the beauty of a person & gives self confidence. Vyanga is a disease,which decreases the glowing complexion of the face & affects the skin .The prevalence of vyang is increasing in the society due to changed life style. Hence a clinical study was planned on 36 patients having symptoms of Vyanga ( Facial melanosis ). They were given "Mukhakanti lepa" for local application for 30 days. The skin texture was observed before and after treatment and Niruja mandala was observed under two criteria, number of patches and colour of patches on face before and after treatment. Promotion in skin texture was seen along with decrease in Vyanga (Niruja Mandala).