During the period of the Vietnam conflict from the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution in 1964 to the withdrawal of American troops in 1973, there was a turn in public opinion on the war from a supportive stance to an oppositional one. This change in public opinion put pressure on the government and resulted in a change in both American foreign policy and Vietnam policy.
This dissertation examines what factors were influencing public opinion in their turn to an oppositional stance, and the consequential change in governmental policy and withdrawal of troops from Vietnam in 1973. The influence of the media, the counterculture, and the elite consensus on public opinion is considered, and by determining to what extent each of these groups influenced each other's opinion it can aid in evaluating who had the most significant bearing on public opinion, and by extension, the Vietnam conflict. This dissertation contends that it was the break in the elite consensus which bore the most influence in spreading the anti-war sentiment into the mainstream and resulted in the turn of public opinion and eventual withdrawal of American troops from Vietnam.


This paper is devoted to study the problems of chaos and optimal control of tumor system with drug. The stability analysis of the biologically feasible steady states is presented using a local stability approach. The necessary optimal control inputs for the asymptotic stability of the positive steady states and minimize the adopted optimality measure are obtained as nonlinear functions of tumor, hunting and resting cells. Numerical analysis and extensive illustrative examples of the uncontrolled and controlled systems were carried out using various parameters values and difierent initial densities.


Inter- and intra-molecular interactions of five anthocyanins (one non-acylated and four acylated with either sinapic acid or 4-methylated sinapic acid) obtained from cell culture of the wild carrot (Daucus carotassp. carota) have been studied by one- and two-dimensional proton nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. Temperature and concentration dependencies of proton chemical shifts show that self-association of non-acylated anthocyanins depends upon the number and position of the sugar units. It was found for the first time that there were non-acylated anthocyanins that were not protected by self-association. Both intra- and inter-molecular interactions were found in the acylated anthocyanins under study. These compounds form strong intra-molecular π-complexes between the sinapoyl group and the anthocyanidin nucleus, the double bond of sinapic acid being involved as well as its aromatic ring. Upon increasing the concentration of the anthocyanins or lowering the temperature of the NMR sample, the π-complexes form multinuclear complexes as shown by the resultant negative nuclear Overhauser effect (NOE) values. Spin diffusion was observed in the acylated anthocyanins for temperatures below −40°C. It was also concluded that, because anthocyanins fall in the range of medium-size molecules with NOEs of small magnitude, and because they readily form complexes, two-dimensional NOE experiments are more reliable for structural elucidation of the anthocyanins than are one-dimensional steady-state NOE experiments. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


The automatic mosaic method for unmanned aerial vehicle( UAV) water-area images was researched. When there was not only water-area but also one small land in images( the monitoring water area was relatively larger and the image gradation changed small),SIFT and Harris algorithms were used to extract the feature points, and RANSAC algorithm was used to filter the mismatched. When there was only water-area,POS directional data was used to help image mosaic. Oil spill monitoring for offshore surface was taken as an example to illustrate the practical application value of UAV in water resources monitoring and emergency relief.


From time to time we need to be reminded that although the United Nations (UN) in New York is the seat of most political activity by the United Nations, Geneva has an important and at times determinate impact on UN and other international organizations' thinking about security issues. These two books remind us of that importance. Victor-Yves Ghebali, a professor at the Graduate Institute of International Studies in Geneva is widely acknowledged as one of the best informed academic commentators on the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). His work is well known in article form to readers of the top English language journals, but it is unfortunate that his two main 'blockbusters' on the OSCE are written in French and therefore are largely overlooked by libraries in the Anglo-Saxon countries where much of what passes for mainstream international relations is concentrated. This is a great pity as these two books are by far the most comprehensive catalogues of OSCE activity since the origins if the Organization in the early 1970s. The first volume, which covered the period up to 1989 when the organization was still known as the Conference for Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE) has now been followed by this one, that covers the period from 1990 to 1996. During this crucial period the CSCE (after 1995 the OSCE) assumed much wider and deeper functions as the key pan-European organization dealing with security problems in Europe. The Russians had hoped, even before the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, that the CSCE (as it then was) would be able to play a key rôle in bringing together East and West after the end of the Cold War. As such it has often been able to enjoy the confidence of all the states of the new Europe in a way that other international organizations (even the EU) have not. Ghebali's text is a mine of information for the OSCE scholar, and even for those who do not have a central interest in the OSCE per se but who need to have a snapshop of the major post-Cold War conflicts in Europe. Not only are are the relevant OSCE documents (up to the date of publication naturally) to be found commented upon and in footnotes but Ghebali also gives his own interpretation of events in a succinct and interesting style. The book is also a fine repertory of the main conferences held by the CSCE grouped by BOOK REVIEWS


The paper considers problems and perspectives of the ethnographical, historical, and anthropological research of Chukchi trade, barter, and gift exchange. It briefly describes the history of studying those phenomena in the indigenous population of Chukotka and concludes that there is a need for the comprehensive research basing upon approaches that have never been used in the Russian science before. The author analyses the works which in a varying degree describe the phenomena of barter, gift exchange, and trade and their contents in culture, and emphasizes urgency of the further study of these phenomena in the modern society with application of ethnographic and anthropologic instruments.


The fluidized b ed granulation p rocess is used in v arious applications in areas like pharmaceuticals, chemical, food and d airy industries. This process takes place inside a fluidized b ed column where a binder solution is sprayed onto the fluidized powder in order to granulate the powder. Controlled spraying and atomization of the binder solution is necessary for an optimal process. It is important to determine dependence of spray properties on the atomization parameters at different scales used during development, as this information can be used as a basis for establishing process parameters for the manufacturing process. This paper presents the spray characteristics of hydroxypropyl Cellulose (HPC) solution sprayed through two d ifferent size nozzles used for the top spray granulation process in a fluidized bed column.


Abstract The structure of the [011] σ = 9 and σ = 11 symmetrical tilt grain boundaries in germanium, very close to the exact coincidence orientation, has been studied using the α-fringe and electron diffraction techniques. Diffraction patterns from the grain boundary at various inclinations were recorded, those at normal incidence examined in detail, and fine matrix and double-diffracted spots identified. The boundary zones are dilated, and from the results of both techniques we can conclude that there is no rigid body translation parallel to the grain boundary. The σ = 9 periodicity is that of the coincidence site lattice, while that of the σ = 11 bicrystal is double. In both cases there is a glide-reflection plane parallel to the grain boundary which leads to the existence of favourable, symmetrically alternated atomic arrangements. Five-ring and seven-ring units and "boat-shaped" six-ring units are combined in geometrical models without dangling bonds.


In this paper, we establish a new version of Hermite-Hadamard-Fejér type inequality for harmonically convex functions in the form of weighted fractional integral. Secondly, an integral identity and some weighted midpoint fractional Hermite-Hadamard-Fejér type integral inequalities for harmonically convex functions by involving a positive weighted symmetric functions have been obtained. As shown, all of the resulting inequalities generalize several well-known inequalities, including classical and Riemann–Liouville fractional integral inequalities.


We present a novel brain-computer interface that allows users to control virtual reality us-ing only their brain waves and eye gazes. The interface allows users to control multiple objects with two dimensions of control. The system is portable, non-invasive, and runs on commercial-grade hardware. It thus provides a high-transmission and user-adaptive interface for users to engage in virtual reality. In addition, we present a training procedure that allows the user to increase control over the brain-computer interface by engaging with the program in an intuitive manner. We explain this procedure and demonstrate its effectiveness in formulating more readily interpreted commands.


Proposals to Redesign Medicare Part D Amid concerns about high drug prices, policymakers are considering options for modifying the Medicare Part D prescription-drug benefit to reduce spending by be...


The title compound, C14H20N3O4+ C6H2N3O7−.H2O, contains a 15-membered macrocycle which has two ether O atoms, two pairs of amide N and O atoms, and an amine N atom as potential donor atoms. The macrocycle has undergone protonation at the amine N atom. The picrate ion interacts through its phenolic O atom with the –NH2 group via an N-H⋯O hydrogen bond. The water molecule is linked in an endocyclic manner to the macrocyclic ring through both the amide groups by forming an O⋯H-N hydrogen bond. The ether O atoms do not participate in any hydrogen-bonding interactions. The water molecule is also intermolecularly linked to one symmetry-related nitro group O atom of the picrate and to one amide O atom.


The use of microwaves as the energy source for synthesis and sintering of ceramics offers substantial advantages compared to conventional gas-fired and electric resistance furnaces. Benefits include much shorter processing times and reaching the sintering temperature more quickly, resulting in superior final product quality. Most oxide ceramics poorly interact with microwave irradiation at low temperatures; thus, a more complex setup including a susceptor is needed, which makes the whole process very complicated. This investigation pursued a new approach, which enabled us to use microwave irradiation directly in poorly coupled oxides. In many solid-state electrochemical devices, the support is either metal or can be reduced to metal. Metal powders in the support can act as an internal susceptor and heat the entire cell. Then sufficient interaction of microwave irradiation and ceramic material can occur as the sample temperature increases. This microwave heating and exothermic reaction of oxidation of the support can sinter the ceramic very efficiently without any external susceptor. In this study, yttria stabilized zirconia (YSZ) and a Ni-YSZ cermet support were used as an example. The cermet was used as the support, and a YSZ electrolyte was coated and sintered directly using microwave irradiation without the use of any susceptor. The results were compared to a similar cell prepared using a conventional electric furnace. The leakage test and full cell power measurement results revealed a fully leak-free electrolyte. Scanning electron microscopy and density measurements show that microwave sintered samples have lower open porosity in the electrode support than conventional heat treatment. This technique offers an efficient way to directly use microwave irradiation to sinter thin film ceramics without a susceptor.


The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of microbially inoculated alfalfa haylage on apparent diet digestibility in twelve dairy cows. A cross-over design with two periods of sampling was used. Diets contained 50% of concentrate and 50% of alfalfa haylage (50.0% DM and 16.5% CP) control or microbially inoculated with Silobac ®: product ( Lactobacillus plantarum and Pediococcus pentosaceus ). Each experimental period extended for twenty-one days and the last five days were used for feces sampling. The inoculation increased the apparent digestibility of DM (inoculated = 81.7 vs. control = 74.2%), CP (83.1 vs. 74.6%), EE (90.1 vs. 81.7%), NFE (84.1 vs. 78.7%), CF (74.8 vs. 61.9%), NDF (70.0 vs. 58.0%), ADF (75.2 vs. 63.9%), GE (82.4 vs. 74.7%) and TDN (80.5 vs. 73.3%) compared to control. However, it neither influenced digestible DMI (14.5 vs. 13.3kg/animal/day or 2.67 vs. 2.46% of BW), nor TDN (14.3 vs. 13.2kg/animal/day or 2.63 vs. 2.43% of BW).


The vibration features of high voltage circuit breakers (HVCBs) shift with the changes of their working conditions. The existing pattern recognition methods are lack of the ability to pursue this transition, which degrades the performance of the corresponding diagnostic systems. This paper introduces the mechanism of natural immune system and immune network theory, borrowing ideas from which, a self-learning method for diagnosing mechanical failures of HVCBs is presented on the basis of artificial immune network memory classifier (AINMC). Finally, this network is applied to classify vibration patterns of HVCBs. Comparison has been made between self-learning method and non self-learning method, and result shows that self-learning method can achieve more precise judgment of the mechanical condition of HVCBs.


By J. S. Brubacher London: McGraw-Hill Publishing Co. Ltd. Pp. ix + 366. Price 52s. 6d. This third edition of a justly renowned book by one of the most eminent professors of education in the UnitedStates 'still remains a comparative study of different philosophic approaches to educational problems' (page vii). It represents, then, on the one hand, an attempt to outline some of the basic questions philosophers have asked and to show how their different answers bear on theories which are basic to an understanding of education.


The evolution of anisotropy in momentum and coordinate space of the parton system produced in relativistic heavy-ion collisions is discussed within the free-streaming approximation. The momentum distribution evolves from the prolate shape (elongated along the beam) to the oblate one (squeezed along the beam). At the same time, the eccentricity in coordinate space, which occurs at finite values of impact parameter, decreases. It is argued that the parton system reaches local thermodynamic equilibrium before the momentum distribution becomes oblate.


In this issue of Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology begins a series of review articles on recent research advances into the mechanisms of diabetic vascular complications. The goal of this series is to review basic mechanisms by which diabetes accelerates vascular disease, an intense area of current interest. Research into diabetic vascular complications has received increased attention over the last 10 years as indicated by the number of articles published annually in ATVB that featured the term "diabetes" in the title, abstract, or text (Figure). Looking at the Figure, you might wonder what accounts both for the increase, and for the apparent lack of interest before this. This burst of activity was preceded by a greater realization that both type I and type II diabetes dramatically increase the risk for the development of macrovascular disease and its complications. The increase in published articles is also undoubtedly caused by many interdependent factors. First, it is now generally accepted that risk factors such as diabetes, hypertension, and hyperlipidemia have relatively acute effects on vascular cells to which their chronic adverse effects on vascular structure and function can be ascribed. For instance, in the case of diabetes, this principle is based on results from short-term cellular and physiological models in which vascular or blood cells in both animal models and in vitro are exposed to elevated concentrations of glucose for relatively brief periods of time. These are reasonably easy experiments to do, and bolstered by the fact that elevated …


v Introduction vi Chapter One: The Metaphysics and Epistemology of the Platonic Doctrine of Forms......1 Chapter Two: Plato: As Interpreted By the Moderns 24 Chapter Three: A Closer Look at Forms and Recollection 43 Chapter Four: Exposing the Misunderstandings of the Moderns 62 Conclusion 79


The purpose of this study was to investigate online learning service management (ORNAMENT) for student learning activeness by using the Rasch model analysis. The research method used is the mixed method. Samples for this study were three public junior high schools (PJHS) in Bandung, West Java, Indonesia. The data source are 58, consisting of 19 PJHS X (high quality), 19 PJHS Y (medium quality) and 20 PJHS Z (low quality). For quantitative data, a 7-item questionnaire is used and for qualitative data, interviews were conducted. The results show that almost all data sources, especially PJHS X (100%), agree with all statements on the questionnaire. It can be concluded that through ORNAMENT students' learning activeness can develop. In addition, the learning activeness of PJHS X students is superior to those of the other two schools. Schools can use ORNAMENT, which was developed and adapted to standards and principles, to develop student learning activeness.

Keywords: ORNAMENT, Rasch model, learning activity


This study describes the development and psychometric analysis of a new questionnaire for the measurement of attitudes toward equality between the genders. It includes a description of the questionnaire and its factor structure, and an analysis of its reliability and validity. It also describes the content of the thirty items on the scale.


Ischemic stroke, a major cause of death and disability worldwide, is caused by occlusion of cerebral arteries that, coupled with or without reperfusion, results in prolonged ischemia (hypoxia and hypoglycemia) and, ultimately, brain damage. In this study, we examined whether methanol extract of the whole plant of Cassia mimosoides var. nomame Makino that grows naturally in Korea, as well as Japan and China, and some of its fractions obtained by partitioning with organic solvents could protect human hepatocellular carcinoma cells (HepG2) under hypoxic condition by inhibiting apoptosis. We also investigated if these extracts could attenuate brain damage in a rat model of 2 hr of ischemia, generated by middle cerebral artery occlusion, and 22 hr of reperfusion. The whole extract (100 ㎍/mL) maintained the cell number at more than half of that initially plated, even after 24 hr of cell culture under hypoxic condition (3% O₂). In the absence of the whole extract, almost all of the cells were dead by this time point. This improvement of cell viability came from a delay of apoptosis, which was confirmed by observing the timing of the formation of a DNA ladder when assessed by gel electrophoresis. Of fractions soluble in hexane, ethyl acetate (EA), butanol and water, EA extracts were selected for the animal experiments, as they improved cell viability at the lowest concentration (10 ㎍/mL). The whole extract (200 ㎎/㎏) and EA extract (10 and 20 ㎎/㎏) significantly reduced infarct size, a measure of brain damage, by 34.7, 33.8 and 45.2.0%, respectively, when assessed by 2,3,5-triphenyl tetrazolium chloride staining. The results suggest that intake of Cassia mimosoides var. nomame Makino might be beneficial for preventing ischemic stroke through inhibition of brain cell apoptosis.


An InP/InGaAs uni-travelling-carrier photodiode with a record 3 dB bandwidth of 220 GHz at a wavelength of 1.55 µm has been fabricated. The estimated average electron velocity in the depletion region is > 2.3 × 107 cm/s, which indicates that non-equilibrium electron transport is taking place in the collection layer.


The media, which plays an important role in shaping citizens' knowledge of natural disasters and perceptions of risk, is an integral part of risk and disaster management. Risk communication activities carried out through the media concerning earthquakes, -which are one of the highest risk factors that Turkey is exposed to- determine the nature of important social and communicative processes. The fact that the news media is among the main sources of reference for risk information requires an investigation of the media as a means of risk communication. Based on this perspective, in this study content analysis was applied to Istanbul and Izmir earthquake news through the sample of Sabah, Hürriyet, Sözcü, Posta, Milliyet and Türkiye newspapers with the highest circulation based on the data of the Basın İlan Kurumu (Press Advertising Agency) (2021). Within the scope of the study, qualitative research was carried out between the time period when the earthquake was not on the country's agenda and the periods when the disaster occurred and took an important place on the agenda. The study found out that, the media directed almost all of its attention to the earthquake only after the occurrence of it. In addition, the actors who gave explanations and information about the earthquake varied according to the social effects of the earthquake. In the context of risk management, it has been also concluded that the forms of news about earthquakes have similar frameworks.


This research was carried out with the aim of investigating into new technological developments in automotive technology that are important to be integrated into the present curriculum of auto-mechanics work at technical college level. Three (3) research questions were answered and the findings of this study represent the opinions of major stakeholders in the automotive sector and education in Nigeria. Findings of the study indicates thatt all the identified new technological innovations have implication for the works of today's automobile maintenance personnel. The design adopted for this study was survey research design and the area of the study covers two states from north-eastern part of Nigeria, these are Bauchi and Gombe States. The population used was automobile technology teachers and automobile workshop supervisors. A simple random sampling was adopted in selecting four technical colleges and five workshops from each state and the total no. of thirty two (32) respondents were used for the study which comprised of twenty two (22) auto-mechanic teachers and ten (10) supervisors. A semi-structured questionnaire containing 33 items which was validated by 5 experts in automobile technology >was used to collect data from the respondents. The data collected for the study was analyzed using mean and standard deviation.


Unlike other operators in the region, CNR International (Cote d'Ivoire) has opted for a fast-track development, with a four-year discovery-to-production time frame.


In the monograph, in the process of studying the problems of lending to small and medium-sized businesses in modern conditions, factors affecting the conditions of business financing, the shortage of financial resources of Russian companies are identified. The analysis of the financial instruments of lending to small and medium-sized businesses in the digital environment is carried out. The current directions of development of financial instruments of business lending are considered. Based on a systematic approach to the issues under study, technologies for lending to small and medium-sized businesses in the digital environment are proposed, including increasing the financing potential of small and medium-sized businesses in the conditions of platformization and digitalization of business through: the use of the business model of the sharing economy; the use of crowdsourcing features; expanding the capabilities of decentralized large-scale public platforms.
It is intended for relevant ministries and departments to develop approaches to lending to small and medium-sized businesses in the conditions of digitalization of the economy, as well as for graduate students and students studying in the areas of training and specialties "Economics" and "Management".


In tonal languages, syllabic fundamental frequency (F0) patterns (''lexical tones'') convey lexical meaning. Listeners need to relate such pitch patterns to the pitch range of a speaker (''tone normalization'') to accurately identify lexical tones. This study investigated the amount of tonal information required to perform tone normalization. A target CV syllable, perceived as either a high level, a low level, or a mid level Cantonese tone, was preceded by a four‐syllable carrier sentence whose F0 was shifted (1 semitone), or not shifted. Four conditions were obtained by gating one, two, three, or four syllables from the onset of the target. Presentation rate (normal versus fast) was set such that the duration of the one, two, and three syllable conditions (normal carrier) was equal to that of the two, three, and four syllable conditions (fast carrier). Results suggest that tone normalization is largely accomplished within 250 ms or so prior to target onset, independent of the number of syllables; additio...


Bezafibrate was synthesized from 4-chlorobenzoyl chloride and 4-hydroxyphenethylamine to give N-(4-hydroxyphenethyl)-4-chlorobenzamide followed by reaction with acetone and chloroform in the presence of TEBA in sodium hydroxide aqueous solution with an overall yield of about 67%.


The concept of binding, as used in programming systems, is analyzed and defined in a number of contexts. The attributes of variables to be bound and the phases of binding are enumerated. The definition is then broadened to cover general issues in information systems. Its applicability is demonstrated in a wide range of system design and implementation issues. A number of Database Management Systems are categorized according to the terms defined. A first-order quantitative model is developed and compared with current practice. The concepts and the model are considered helpful when used as a tool for the global design phase of large information systems.


Tumor progression is accompanied by fibrosis, which is associated with diminished anti-tumor immune infiltrate. Here, we demonstrate that tumor infiltrating myeloid cells respond to the stiffened fibrotic tumor microenvironment (TME) by initiating a TGF-beta (TGFβ)-directed, collagen biosynthesis program. A collateral effect of this programming is an untenable metabolic milieu for productive CD8 T cell anti-tumor responses, as collagen-synthesizing macrophages consume environmental arginine, synthesize proline, and secrete ornithine that compromises CD8+ T cell function. Thus, a stiff and fibrotic TME may impede anti-tumor immunity not only by direct physical exclusion of CD8+ T cells, but also via secondary effects of a myeloid mechano-metabolic programming we identified that creates an inhospitable metabolic milieu for CD8+ T cells.


Abstract Catogenus inbio Ivie and Ślipiński new species is described from Costa Rica. It is illustrated, and incorporated into existing keys. Catogenus rufus (Fabricius), C. castaneus (Perty), Taphroscelidia rostrata (Sharp) and Passandra fasciata (Gray in Griffith) are recorded from Costa Rica for the first time.


The purpose of this study was to identify the existing level of self-regulated learning (SRL) among Thai online learners, to examine the relationship between SRL and academic achievement based on a) course completion and b) course grades, and to investigate differences in SRL as they correlate to demographic factors. A mixed-methods research design with modified MSLQ online surveys and semi-structured interviews was used during the process of data collection. One hundred eighty-eight of the 580 online learners enrolled in the certificate programs of the Thailand Cyber University Project responded to the surveys; 7 of these also participated in the interview process. The findings indicated that Thai online learners reported high levels of SRL characteristics. Independent sample t-test results revealed that successful learners were higher in SRL learning strategies than those who did not succeed the course. Results from multiple regression analyses indicated that critical thinking and time/study environmental management were significant predictors of academic course grade with a small effect size (R2 = .113). Comparison of mean differences revealed that some SRL characteristics were different among demographic subgroups determined by factors including gender, age range, marital status, and Internet use; female reported a significantly higher level of task value than male; younger learners had a significantly higher level of test anxiety than older learners; married learners reported a significantly higher level of self-efficacy and task value than single learners; online learners who had more Internet experience reported a significantly higher level of self-efficacy, metacognitive self-regulation, and time/study environmental management than those who had less Internet experience. In addition, the qualitative findings confirmed that participants reported the use of learning strategies in four categories, with a high number of references to metacognitive self-regulation and elaboration, and a low number of references to critical thinking and time/study environmental management. Furthermore, the qualitative results revealed that Thai online learners used different tools for social and personal activities, communication, and information searching.


The term "hemolytic–uremic syndrome" was coined by Gasser et al. in 19551 to describe a devastating illness consisting of acute renal failure accompanied by nonimmune hemolytic anemia and thrombocy...


Abstract A total of 90 15‐16‐year‐old female pupils from a single‐sex secondary grammar school did the Cognitive Styles Analysis which assessed their position on the Wholist‐Analytic and Verbal‐Imagery learning style dimensions. They were asked to select their preferred format of a single‐sheet handout on study skills which was offered in three modes: Unstructured‐Verbal, Structured‐Verbal and Structured‐Pictorial. Each mode contained the same information and differed only in format. On the format preference, there was a significant effect of the Verbal‐Imagery dimension (p = 0.002), with the majority of Verbalisers choosing the Structured‐Verbal sheet and the Imagers opting for the Structured‐Pictorial version. There was a smaller effect on the Wholist‐Analytic dimension, where Wholist had a preference for the Structured‐Pictorial and the Analytics for the Structured‐Verbal version (p = 0.056). The findings were discussed in terms of their practical implications for a differentiated approach to instruction.


A cleaner with water filter is composed of a casing with handle, a battery bay, a sucking tubular mouth with a holder, a fixing sleeve arranged between said holder and casing, a motor, a blower, a water container on said holder, an air diversion pipe relative to said sucking tubular mouth, and an air inlet tube with one end immersed in water for filtering the air.


The subject of &storation/'Presenmtion conjures up as m y mental images as does the nostalgic word 'kastle" to a rabid historic f ic t ion buff. While F&s/Pres has been an integral part of the architectural and cu l tura l fabr ic of every European and Pkditerranean nation, it has been only w i t h i n the tire f r m following World W a r I1 that the American people have embraced the subject with concern, dedication, and f ina l ly as a f a c t of every day existance. our country's youth, its obsessiveness with things new and mechanical, counled with the creature comforts of our sc i en t i f i c age (which softens our wide climatic range) has delayed the renewal and recognition of our early architectural stages. Certainly tile turning p i n t is d i f f i c u l t to p in -p in t chronologically, but concerns of the environment, ecology, energy, population grawth, urban sprawl, and inf la t ion have served up some posit ive action: t h a t was once an integral part of every day l i f e s t y l e .... the residence o r private she l t er.... public or mmrcial building. Perhaps


Abstract : The density, vapor pressure, surface tension and viscosity of thickened Dowanol, DPM, were measured experimentally according to standard techniques. Each of the techniques is explained in detail and a brief summary of the theory is also presented. A new parameter called the 'dissolved density' was defined which promises to allow differentiation between thickening polymers. The addition of an acrylate polymer had no effect on the surface tension or vapor pressure of the solvent. The effect of thickener concentration on viscosity was determined over a range of shear rates where the thickened solutions were found to follow the power-law fluid model. (Author)


Abstract Ramanujan′s equation x 2 + 7 = 2 n + 2 is generalized in a natural way to the form B 2 n + 7A 2 n = 2 n + 2 , and its complete solution is given. Within this class of equations Ramanujan′s equation becomes a special case, and all the results obtained apply to it. The generalized equation is rich in producing interesting results, among them many recursion relations. We do not think that the consequences of it are still exhausted.


Recently, the deterioration of concrete structure has been caused by the corrosion of reinforcing steels. Specially, the corrosion of steels in concrete is accelerated by airborne salt from the sea. Besides, there are some reports which show that the road salt decreases the corrosion resistance of steel in concrete structures in winter season. Therefore the stainless steel has been applied to reinforcing rebar,1–3) however, it is not widely used because of its high cost. Although Cr bearing steel has the attractive attention as a high corrosionresistant steel, only a few studies4) have evaluated its corrosion performance. The corrosion resistance of Cr bearing steel in concrete is thought to depend on the rust (corrosion product) on the surface under actual environment. In the case of the low alloy weathering steel, there are many reports analyzed the rust formation and the effect of alloying element.5–19) However, the structure of the rust on Cr bearing steel is not fully understood. In the previous paper,20,21) Cr bearing steel have showed high resistance against the corrosion in accelerate tests. Specially, the rust (Rrust) and the corrosion resistance (Rt) of Cr bearing steel were demonstrated to be very high in concrete as compared to SM after the wet and dry test by EIS. Moreover, the nano complex iron oxides containing Cr and Si were detected by TEM in the rust of Cr bearing steel, which could increase the corrosion resistance of this steel. In this paper, the exposure test performance evaluation of Cr bearing steel in concrete was examined in a coastal environment in Miyako-island in Okinawa prefecture. Exposure Test Performance for Chromium Bearing Steel in Concrete under Coastal Environment


A general process for the desingularization of smooth actions of compact Lie groups is described. If G is a compact Lie group, it is shown that there is naturally associated to any compact G manifold M a compact G × (Z/2)p manifold on which G acts principally. Here Z/2 denotes the cyclic group of order two and p + 1 is the number of orbit types of the G action on M.


By analysing 121 opinion polls, Harold D. Clarke, Matthew Goodwin, and Paul Whiteley outline what happened with the EU referendum survey results. They explain why internet surveys performed substantially better than telephone ones – contrary to the post-2015 General Election 'wisdom' that telephone surveys should be preferred. Underlying trends showed that once methodological artefacts are controlled, Leave was almost certainly ahead of Remain over the entire last month of the campaign – and possibly throughout 2016.


In oxygenic photosynthesis, two photosystems work in tandem to harvest light energy and generate NADPH and ATP. Photosystem II (PSII), the protein-pigment complex that uses light energy to catalyze the splitting of water, is assembled from its component parts in a tightly regulated process that requires a number of assembly factors. The 2pac mutant of the unicellular green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii was isolated and found to have no detectable PSII activity, whereas other components of the photosynthetic electron transport chain, including photosystem I, were still functional. PSII activity was fully restored by complementation with the RBD1 gene, which encodes a small iron-sulfur protein known as a rubredoxin. Phylogenetic evidence supports the hypothesis that this rubredoxin and its orthologs are unique to oxygenic phototrophs and distinct from rubredoxins in archaea and bacteria (excluding cyanobacteria). Knockouts of the rubredoxin orthologs in the cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 and the plant Arabidopsis thaliana were also found to be specifically affected in PSII accumulation Taken together, our data suggest that this rubredoxin is necessary for normal PSII activity in a diverse set of organisms that perform oxygenic photosynthesis. Photosystem II (PSII) uses absorbed light energy to catalyze the splitting of water into molecular oxygen and protons and is the only enzyme complex known to be capable of this energetically unfavorable process. Working together with photosystem I (PSI), the cytochrome b6f complex and the ATP synthase, PSII drives oxygenic photosynthesis and is responsible for producing most, if not all, of the oxygen present in http://www.jbc.org/cgi/doi/10.1074/jbc.M113.487629 The latest version is at JBC Papers in Press. Published on July 30, 2013 as Manuscript M113.487629 Copyright 2013 by The American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Inc. by gest on M arch 3, 2020 hp://w w w .jb.org/ D ow nladed from Rubredoxin required for PSII accumulation 2 the Earth's atmosphere (1,2). Recent work has further refined our knowledge of the structure (3) and biogenesis (4-11) of PSII, but a complete understanding of how the 20-30 protein subunits and ~70 cofactors are correctly assembled into a functional light-driven water:plastoquinone oxidoreductase remains elusive (12-14). The structural and functional homology between PSII and the pheophytin-quinone (type II) reaction center of anoxygenic photosynthetic bacteria, along with many geological and biological lines of evidence, indicates that these two complexes share a common evolutionary origin and that this ancestral complex was almost certainly anoxygenic (15). Despite the availability of crystal structures for both reaction centers (3,16), knowledge of their common ancestor is remarkably limited and therefore the evolutionary inventions and innovations that enabled a protoPSII to use water as an electron donor (and to concomitantly release molecular oxygen) are poorly understood. Rubredoxins are [1Fe-0S] proteins in which one iron atom is coordinated by four cysteine residues (17,18). Most studied rubredoxins exist as small soluble proteins that act as electron carriers in a variety of biochemical processes including carbon fixation (19), detoxification of reactive oxygen species (20-22) and fatty acid metabolism (23,24). The distribution of rubredoxins within the tree of life is distinct in that these proteins appear to be limited to divergent groups within the archaea and bacteria, whereas they are found in only one group of eukaryotes: plants and photosynthetic algae that contain a plastid derived ultimately from primary endosymbiosis of a cyanobacterium. Interestingly, this eukaryotic "photosynthetic" rubredoxin is thylakoid membrane-associated and, together with the homologous protein found in cyanobacteria, appears to represent a class of rubredoxins unique to the oxygenic photoautotrophs that is distinct from all other known rubredoxins (25,26). Previous studies of thylakoid membrane rubredoxins have yielded conflicting results. Analysis of a mutant strain of the cyanobacterium Synechococcus sp. PCC 7002 lacking rubA, the membrane-bound rubredoxin, led to the conclusion that the function of this protein was to aid in iron-sulfur cluster assembly of PSI and that it had little or no effect on PSII (26,27). Surprisingly, however, an antibody raised against the membrane-bound rubredoxin from the photosynthetic cryptophyte Guillardia theta was found to react with a homologous protein in PSIIenriched particles from spinach (28). Here we report the characterization of mutants lacking the thylakoid membrane-associated rubredoxin in the green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, the cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 and the flowering plant Arabidopsis thaliana. We show that these mutants exhibit a PSII-specific defect and that the role of this rubredoxin in contributing to the assembly or stability of PSII is likely conserved in oxygenic


Retinol binding protein 4 (RBP4) is a retinol transporting protein, secreted mainly by the liver. It is also an adipokine. Experiments in mice proved that overexprcssion of RBP 4 is associated with the decreased activity of phosphatidylinositol 3 kinase and tyrosine phosphorylation of insulin receptor substrate1,and 4 may link to insulin resistance in human. Compared with normal subjects,serum RBP4 concentration is elevated in patients with obese, impaired glucose tolerance, insulin resistance, polycystic ovary syndrome and gestational diabetes mellitus. It may play a role in the pathogenesis of these diseases.

Key words:
Retinol binding protein 4 ;  Insulin resistance ;  Polycystic ovary syndrome ;  Gestational diabetes mellitus ;


Abstract. The infl uence of added alcohols, ethanol and butanol, on the main biofuel properties, as the specifi c gravity, Reid saturated vapour pressure and distillation curves have been investigated. These properties are intimately related to the fuel composition and their prediction relies on the knowledge of its components characteristics. This research proves the possibility of obtaining fuels with different levels of resistance to detonation, using gasoline with different chemical components and various fractions of alcohols.


In real-world applications, a cross-model retrieval model trained on multimodal instances without considering differences in data distributions among users, termed as user domain shift, usually cannot generalize well to unknown user domains. In this paper, we define a new task of user-generalized cross-modal retrieval, and propose a novel Meta-Learning Multimodal User Generalization (MLMUG) method to solve it. MLMUG simulates the user domain shift with meta-optimization, which aims to embed multimodal data effectively and generalize the cross-modal retrieval model to any unknown user domains. We design a cross-modal embedding network with a learnable meta covariant attention module to encode transferable knowledge among different user domains. A user-adaptive meta-optimization scheme is proposed to adaptively aggregate gradients and meta-gradients for fast and stable meta-optimization. We build two benchmarks for user-generalized cross-modal retrieval evaluation. Experiments on the proposed benchmarks validate the generalization of our method compared with several state-of-the-art methods.


We present a survey of approaches for providing broadband Internet access to trains. We examine some of the barriers that hinder the use of broadband Internet on trains and then discuss some of the opportunities for broadband deployment to trains. This survey considers some of the basic concepts for providing broadband Internet access and then reviews associated network architectures. The review of network architectures shows that we can subdivide networks for providing broadband Internet access to trains into the train-based network, the access network-for connecting the train to the service provider(s)-and the aggregation network-for collecting user packets generated in the access network for transmission to the Internet. Furthermore, our review shows that the current trend is to provide Internet access to passengers on trains using IEEE 802.11; however, a clear method for connecting trains to the global Internet has yet to emerge. A summary of implementation efforts in Europe and North America serves to highlight some of the schemes that have been used thus far to connect trains to the Internet. We conclude by discussing some of the models developed, from a technical perspective, for testing the viability of deploying Internet access to trains.


Morocco is a Mediterranean country with wide ranging ecological conditions. As a result its land offers a rich biodiversity with more than 4200 species of plants. About 800 of these flora have an aromatic and therapeutic virtues and known as medicinal and aromatic plants [1]. Rosemary, Rosmarinus officinalis, which belongs to the Lamiaceae family, is deemed the most used aromatic and medicinal plant worldwide [2]. It's an evergreen shrub with needle like leaves and grows spontaneously especially in the western part of the Mediterranean basin [3,4]. In Morocco, rosemary is found in various regions. It grows wild, especially in the eastern parts of the country [1,5]. It's used in folk medicine and as a culinary additive since antiquity [6,7]. Those benefits are especially due to its essential oil, which are volatile compounds synthesized by aromatic plants as secondary metabolism [8]. The essential oil volatile composition of the Rosmarinus officinalis has been the focus of numerous researches in the recent years. It contains mainly monoterpenes and monoterpene derivatives (95-98 %), the rest is sesquiterpenes [9,10]. Volatile Variability and Antioxidant Activity of Rosmarinus officinalis Essential Oil as Affected by Elevation Gradient and Vegetal Associations


The remarkable feature of traditional historical study is the stress on serving practical purposes,which is the motive power for the development of the study.The profound thought is mainly embodied in learning from history,retelling historical events as a mirror for government,praising goodness and criticizing wickedness,eulogizing virtues and achievements,enriching the moral system,etc.The profound thought has greatly impacted the development of historiography.The impact can be found in the creation and development of the literary form — historical book,and the writing styles,such as,recording historical events as they were,making comments on historical figures.


Traffic network processing technology is one of the keys in transport planning Traditional traffic network processing technology isfar from perfect, this paper introduces geographic information system (GIS), with which it is easy to realize conversion betweenraph and data, and puts forward the processing technology based on GIS This improves visualization and maneuverability of network processing, enhances the efficiency of traffic planning


Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to expose the errors of existing common evaluation frameworks such as Kirkpatrick and to suggest superior approaches.Design/methodology/approach – The paper is based on work done in a variety of organizations as well as existing research evidence.Findings – The paper finds that evaluation of learning and development can be both more rigorous and simpler.Practical implications – The paper has real practical implications for leaders/managers and learning and development professionals, as it shows how to overcome the limitations of existing approaches to evaluation. By proposing an alternative approach to Kirkpatrick's model it encourages practitioners to be clearer about evaluation activity.Originality/value – The paper will be of value to managers and learning specialists as it raises important issues about how to evaluate learning and development activity.


Based on the results of the simulation of a deterministic multi-path propagation scenario it has been shown that for ultra wideband signals the received power does not show any fading characteristics but follows the simple log distance path loss model even in a dense multi-path environment. Furthermore, a similar log distance law has been derived for the channel capacity and a direct relation between the path loss exponent of the log distance path loss model and the capacity decrease has been found.


Approximately 60% of the AIDS patients have neurological symptoms and 80-90% is found to have neuro pathological abnormality at biopsy. The pattern of neurological complication in HIV infection in India is different from that of western countries. A descriptive study was carried out among 50 patients with CNS manifestations at a Tertiary care hospital and data was collected by interview technique. Among total study subjects, 60% were males and 40% were females. It was noted that 80% of patients had meningeal irritation and 8% had signs related to cerebellum. K e y w o r d s HIV, Neurological manifestations, Opportunistic infections


In children with Kanner syndrome in the stable state a decrease in metabolism of epinephrine/norepinephrine path has been observed whereas in the state of aggravation increase in metabolism of dopamine path also took place suggesting disbalance of dophamine and epinephrine/norepinephrine paths. Changes in urinary secretion of tyrosine and the components of dophamine and epinephrine/norepinephrine paths only in some cases are parallel to the changes in serum. Changes in CSF in general did not parallel the changes in serum, with the exception of decrease in tyrosine and increase in 3-methoxy-4-hydroxyphenylglycol (MHPG) that were the most typical changes in the state of aggravation for all the studied biofluids (serum, urine and CSF). Combined analysis of changes in the levels of catecholamines and their metabolites is the most informative approach in the study of the effect of autistic disorders.


Automation reduces input length and potential data-entry errors. Matrix Automated Reduction and Coupling (MARC) program used for combining NASTRAN substructural models with primary structural model MARC also constructs job-control language (JCL) stream for NASTRAN batch job that utilizes previously-written user library of dynamic models. Minimizes lengthy input and reduces potential data-entry errors. MARC procedure used in assembling Space Shuttle orbiter dynamic models since 1983 and reduced NASTRAN modeling input time by as much as 50 percent. MARC program written in FORTRAN IV for interactive execution.


1 Wood KE. Major pulmonary embolism: review of a pathophysiologic approach to the golden hour of hemodynamically significant pulmonary embolism. Chest 2002; 121: 877–905. 2 Klok FA, Mos IC, Huisman MV. Brain-type natriuretic peptide levels in the prediction of adverse outcome in patients with pulmonary embolism: a systematic review andmeta-analysis.AmJRespir Crit Care Med 2008; 178: 425–30. 3 Becattini C, Vedovati MC, Agnelli G. Prognostic value of troponins in acute pulmonary embolism: ameta-analysis.Circulation 2007; 116: 427– 33. 4 van der Meer RW, Pattynama PM, van Strijen MJ, van den BergHuijsmans AA, Hartmann IJ, Putter H, de Roos A, Huisman MV. Right ventricular dysfunction and pulmonary obstruction index at helical CT: prediction of clinical outcome during 3-month follow-up in patients with acute pulmonary embolism. Radiology 2005; 235: 798– 803. 5 Quiroz R, Kucher N, Schoepf UJ, Kipfmueller F, Solomon SD, Costello P, Goldhaber SZ. Right ventricular enlargement on chest computed tomography: prognostic role in acute pulmonary embolism. Circulation 2004; 109: 2401–4. 6 Klok FA, Djurabi RK, Nijkeuter M, Eikenboom HC, Leebeek FW, Kramer MH, Kaasjager K, Kamphuisen PW, Büller HR, Huisman MV.HighD-dimer level is associated with increased 15-d and 3 months mortality through a more central localization of pulmonary emboli and serious comorbidity. Br J Haematol 2008; 140: 218–22. 7 Kearon C, Kahn SR, Agnelli G, Goldhaber S, Raskob GE, Comerota AJ, American College of Chest Physicians. Antithrombotic therapy for venous thromboembolic disease: American College of Chest Physicians Evidence-Based Clinical Practice Guidelines (8th Edition). Chest 2008; 133: 454S–545S. 8 Davies CW, Wimperis J, Green ES, Pendry K, Killen J, Mehdi I, Tiplady C, Kesteven P, Rose P, Oldfield W. Early discharge of patients with pulmonary embolism: a two-phase observational study. Eur Respir J 2007; 30: 708–14. 9 Huisman MV, Klok FA. Diagnostic management of clinically suspected acute pulmonary embolism. J Thromb Haemost 2009; 7(Suppl. 1): 312–7.


The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of bright artificial light exposure on the rhythms of 6‐sulphatoxy melatonin cortisol excretion in urine. Six healthy males were exposed to light (> 3,000 lux) from 1900 to 0200 h (sunset 1928 h) on one occasion. The artificial light delayed the onset of 6‐sulphatoxy melatonin excretion. On the next evening the onset of 6‐sulphatoxy melatonin excretion in normal light/darkness was delayed by 1 h. The timing of the peak excretion of cortisol was not affected by the light treatment; however, cortisol excretion rate was maintained at a signficantly higher rate in the morning afternoon after the treatment. These results demonstrate the inhibitory action of high intensity light in humans suggest that one 6‐h period of extra light in the evening can phase delay the melatonin onset.


Background: Celiac disease is reported to be the most common genetic and food related intolerance, globally. Celiac disease is an autoimmune disease that reported among genetically susceptible individuals. The autoimmune process is reported to be triggered by a well-identified associated environmental factor known as gluten and its related prolamins which are present in wheat, barley and rye.
Material & Methods: The present prospective study was conducted at department of pediatrics of our tertiary care hospital. The study was an observational study on 30 self-reported patients during a period of one year from January 2017 to December 2017. Patients without any exclusion criteria of sex, religion and socioeconomic status were enrolled by simple random sampling.
Results: In the present study, on the basis of clinical symptoms we found that in the age group of less than 5 years 75% had diarrhea, 87.5% had abdominal distension, 87.5% had abdominal pain, 75% had anorexia. In the age group of 5-10 years 50% had diarrhea, 66.6% had abdominal distension, 58.3% had abdominal pain, 66.6% had anorexia and 16.6% had constipation. In the age group of more than 10 years 70% had diarrhea, 60% had abdominal distension, 50% had abdominal pain, 40% had anorexia and 20% had constipation.
Conclusion: We concluded from the present study that most common clinical symptom among children was diarrhea followed by abdominal distention, pain in abdomen, anorexia, constipation, pallor,edema, vitamin deficiencies and mouth ulcers.
Keywords: Celiac disease, IgA-anti tissue transglutaminase antibodies, Screening.


To satisfy QoS requirements we should take into consideration routing metrics that affect directly to the QoS. We will consider three parameters: bandwidth, losses and delays. For transmitting multimedia services it is desired to design some controlling mechanisms for solving different problems in a network in case of packet delays, losses etc. Because of complex nature of controlling mechanisms it is desired to design fuzzy logic controller. As input parameters will be three routing metrics mentioned above, whereas as output parameter will be network efficiency. The aim is to obtain better values of network efficiency using different rules from Rule Editor and using appropriate defuzzification method.


Based on ADINA,a 3D auger-soil FEM model was developed to study the impact of pattern of the drill auger,screw-pitch and the soil parameter on the required torque.Secondly,the model tests of auger squeezing into cement-soil mixture were done to get the optimized drill auger with least torque.At last,on-site test result of drill auger squeezed into ground verified the correctness of the numerical analysis and model test.The conclusions in this paper can provide a basis for optimal design of drill auger.


There is a paucity of research on motivation and education in developing countries. Although psychological constructs relating to academic engagement and achievement have been identified and researched in a number of cross-cultural settings this body of research has rarely been extended to the developing world. The processes by which students from majority, indigenous and under-developed nations are motivated in school are unclear. The current research sought to identify what motivates students from such demographics by investigating the psychometric properties of two instruments measuring student motivation. Three-hundred and fifty-five students from Papua New Guinea completed the Inventory of School Motivation and the General Achievement and Goal Orientation Scale. These instruments measured students' endorsement of academic (mastery and performance) and social goal orientations. Results supported the a-priori factorial structure and reliability of the instruments and deemed them to be satisfactory and useful measures of motivation in Papua New Guinea. Results are discussed in the light of motivational goal theory.


In this study, an n-ZnO/p-Si diode with a ZnO/AZO homogeneous metal contact was fabricated and compared with a ZnO/Al metal contact. AZO films were deposited using atomic layer deposition (ALD). Prior to the device fabrication, the AZO films were optimized in terms of their characteristic as TCO on a soda lime glass. Their resistivity is 1.08 × 10−3 Ω·cm and their transmittance is over 80% in the visible light region for a 5% Al doping concentration. The leakage current of ZnO/AZO homogeneous contact diodes is lower than that of ZnO/Al devices. In addition, under thermal stress induced by changing substrate temperature from 300 to 450 K, the contact resistance of the ZnO/AZO structure is more stable than that of the ZnO/Al structure.


This study experimentally and analytically investigates the shear behavior of corroded reinforced concrete (RC) beams repaired using steel fiber-reinforced concrete (SFRC) in the flexural zone. The experimental parameters are the corrosion degree (0%, 12%, and 17%) and the steel fiber volume in the SFRC (1.0%, 1.5%, and 2.0%). The test results reveal that corrosion degree significantly affects the shear resistance of the beams. The shear capacity of the beam with the corrosion degree of 17% was higher than that of the uncorroded beam, whereas the shear capacity of the beam with the corrosion degree of 12% was lower than that of the uncorroded beam. The shear efficiency of damaged beams can be recovered by repairing them using SFRC that contains a reasonable amount of steel fibers. In addition, two methods to estimate the shear capacity of the repaired beams are developed using the modified truss analogy and strut-and-tie models. The estimated shear capacity of the beam using the modified truss analogy model agrees well with the experimental data.


Purpose: To evaluate the effect of intravitreal injection of the combination of Triamcinolone Acetonide and Bevacizumab in patients with diabetic macular edema. Materials and Methods: Twenty seven eyes of 17 patients with diabetic macular edema were treated with an intravitreal injection of triamcinolone acetonide (2 mg) combined with bevacizumab (1.25 mg). Results: During the 6 months follow-up period 24 eyes (89%) had to repeat the treatment according to the monthly follow-up examination.The mean visual acuity and the central macular thickness improved significantly (P<0.05) throughout the follow-up period. Conclusion: Intravitreal combination of Triamcinolone Acetonide and Bevacizumab seems to be effective in improving visual acuity and macular edema in patients with diabetic maculopathy.


Introduction Polymer electrolytes are of great interest for many applications, including lithium batteries, fuel cells and actuators. Ever since poly(ethylene oxide) was found to be useful, great progress has been achieved; while the conductivity of current polymer electrolytes is still lower than practical. Of particular interest are single-ion conducting ionomers, for which the conductivity is simply the product of conducting ion number density p, their mobility μ and charge e. p e    (1)


Objective: To investigate whether Rovsing's sign in the diagnosis of appendicitis is described and applied inaccurately in current literature, scientific papers and books, quantify the problem and investigate the cause of this error.


A total of 1855 records were analysed using restricted maximum likelihood (REML) techniques to estimate heritabilities separately for males and females lambs on birth weight (BW), weaning weight (WW), 90-day weight (W90) and average daily gains birth to weaning (Cl) and weaning to 90 days (C2). An animal model including fixed effects of year × season, parity, litter size and rearing type; and random effects of direct genetic effect (h 2 D ) and residual was applied. Estimates ofh 2 D for BWwere 048 (males) and 0·50 (females); for WW 0·35 (males) and 0·22 (females); for W90 0·21 (males) and 0·31 (females); for Cl 0·20 (males) and 0·25 (females); and for C2 0·18 (males) and 0·29 (females).


In Optimality Theory, grammaticality is defined in terms of optimization over a large (often infinite) space of candidates. This raises the question of how grammatical forms might be computed. This paper presents an analysis of the Basic CV Syllable Theory (Prince & Smolensky 1993) showing that, despite the nature of the formal definition, computing the optimal form does not require explicitly generating and evaluating all possible candidates. A specific algorithm is detailed which computes the optimal form in time that is linear in the length of the input. This algorithm will work for any grammar in Optimality Theory employing regular position structures and universal constraints which may be evaluated on the basis of local information.


The acoustic prediction of internal combustion engine exhaust systems is one of several important aspects needed to meet customer expectations and legislation targets. One dimensional flow duct aco ...


Supplementation of wheat straw with multi nutritional blocks: effects on the digestibility of straw and interest for dry ewes and growing lambs. Two blocks characterized by the presence of olive cake in the first block (BMNI) and dropping of poultry in the second block (BMN2) were compared with a classical concentrate (C). The BMN1 or BMN2 blocks were char- acterized by a high mineral matter (26-31 %) and crude protein (21-22 %) level. In vitro digestibil- ity of the two blocks were different, advantaging the BMN2 block. These blocks, fed with straw (P) to adult sheep, dry ewes and growing lambs, improved straw ingestibility in similar quantities com- pared to the concentrate. Straw supplemented with the BMN I block or BMN2 block increased the ad libitum intake by 21 % in contrast to straw without supplement. Straw in vivo digestibility was increased by the supplementation with the blocks. Ration nitrogen balance (P+BMN2) with 30.0 % was higher compared to ration (P+BMN I with 27.0 °Io and similar to the ration (P+C). The (P+BMN2) ration allowed better results with dry ewes (5.9 g per day) and with growing lambs (105 g per day). The (P+BMN I ) ration allowed one weight gain to 83 g per day and reduced the live weight of 8.4 g per day with dry ewes. The ration containing the BMN I block and BMN2 block enabled a saving of, respeclively, 13.6 and 16.7 % on the feeding cost per day with dry ewes and 12 and 23 % on the feed- ing cost per kg of weight gain with growing lambs compared to the ration containing the concentrate. (© Elsevier / Inra)


Graphite evaporation by DC arc discharge in rarefied hydrogen gas forms three types of carbon allotropes on the cathode surface as carbonaceous deposit. Typical one is multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) found in the central region of the cathode deposit. Other carbon allotropes are carbonaceous hard outer shell and petal-like graphene sheets. As-grown MWNTs could be easily purified by removing few co-existing carbon nanoparticles with the use of thermal etching in air. The X-ray diffraction patterns of purified MWNTs were similar to those of graphene sheetsand those of the outer shell and the raw graphite rod bore a resemblance to each other. In Raman spectra of purified MWNTs, downshift more than 10cm-1 was observed for the first order Raman-allowed phonon mode. Particular new peaks of Raman spectra for purified MWNTs were also observed.


Abstract This paper examines whether the current South African legal framework and subsequent policies post-1994 encourage and have emphatically fostered industrialisation in South Africa primarily and Southern Africa more generally. The primary contention of this paper is that the South African State, unlike fellow Southern African States, has a long history with industrialisation and should have laid the foundations for Southern Africa's large scale industrialisation trajectory. However, the post-1994 government vision for South Africa has never had a Law and Development philosophy that prioritises and fosters industrialisation. Industrial Promotion in Africa, is understood as being concerned with drafting, strategically implementing and investing in industrially minded action plans. Through the prism of Local Economic Development policy and legislation in the Sedibeng region, this paper contends that industrialisation is still a farfetched endeavour despite industrially minded policies like the New Growth Path and the Industrial Policy Action Plans in South Africa. Moreover, South Africa's industrialisation agenda is compromised by the Law and Development philosophy of the African National Congress led government. At the core of this philosophy is an overestimation of social justice activity like Human Rights promotion at the expense of Asian Developmental States' non-human rights approach to economic development activity, like industrialisation in rural and township regions of South Africa.


Topological nodal line semimetals, hosting one-dimensional Fermi lines with symmetry protection, have become a hot topic in topological quantum matter. Due to the breaking of time reversal symmetry in a magnetic system, nodal lines require protection by additional symmetries. Here, we report the discovery of antiferromagnetic type-I and type-II nodal lines coexisting in the monolayer ${\mathrm{CrAs}}_{2}$ based on a systematic first-principles calculation. Remarkably, the type-I nodal line in ${\mathrm{CrAs}}_{2}$ is filling enforced by nonsymmorphic analog symmetry and robust against spin-orbital coupling. The type-II nodal lines are protected by the mirror symmetry in the absence of spin-orbital coupling. The antiferromagnetic monolayer ${\mathrm{CrAs}}_{2}$ proposed here may provide a platform for the correlation between magnetism and exotic topological phases.


A process for customized implants, that minimizes bone removal while maximizing the fit and the "usability" of the implant, is developed. The process involves integrating technologies of Computed Tomography (CT), image processing, stereolithography, finite element analysis (FEA), and investment casting in the design and fabrication of a near optimal fit between the patient's bone and the implant component. The analysis verified that the optimized interface surface produced a more even load distribution compared to the "standard" design. A conservative estimate of 40% decrease in bone removal may result following the procedure in this research.


Reaction of 6-mercapto-7H-1,2,4-triazolo[1,5-d]tetrazole (1) wtih 1,2-phenylenediamine afforded N-{7H-1,2,4-triazolo[1,5-d]tetrazol-6-yl}-1,2-phenylenediamine which was cyclized to benzimidazolyl-1,2,4-triazolo[1,5-d]tetrazoles using various one-carbon cyclizing agents. Also, the treatment of 1 with maleic anhydride or phthalic anhydride gave the corresponding thio derivatives followed by hydrazinolysis to afford the thio heterobicyclic systems. Former structures of the products have been established upon elemental and spectral analyses.


The OpenFlow technology that can control the switch function from an external control server is beginning to attract attention. We offer a method that builds a virtual infrastructure by creating a virtualized control plane on this control server. This paper describes the architecture of the overall virtual infrastructure and the network operating system as the control server integration platform.


An appealing goal in the training of decision makers is the development of formal reasoning skills based on decision analysis. Such techniques are applicable to virtually any problem and are guaranteed to be formally consistent. Behavioral evidence regarding "heuristics and biases," however, suggests that deviations from such methods are systematic, hard to eliminate, and characteristic of both novices and experts in a number of real-world domains. Would training in formal methods to avoid biases (if it were possible) produce an improvement in the quality of decision making? There are reasons to believe that it would not. "Biases" may in fact be inescapable by-products of the knowledge structures and problem-solving methods that make experienced decision makers effective. Inconsistencies in judgments and choices (1) may simply not matter much in real-world domains; (2) may be corrected in dynamic environments; and (3) may be offset in any case by the advantages of effective use of decision-maker knowledge. Moreover, the identification of biases based on the current experimental literature may itself be mistaken, due to incomplete or otherwise inadequate models. Effective performance in most domains is the result of (a) a reportoire of recognition-based responses, and (b) a set of meta-recognitional strategies that facilitate recognition and validate the results. In training based on these concepts, "errors" are avoided by acquiring and making the most effective use of domain knowledge, and by adapting to feedback, changes in the situation, and shortcomings in one's current approach as they appear.


Most interesting here are the passages in which the writer develops his ideas of the organic character of the state-society. His notion of the organic state is defined fairly well in its very opposition to the liberal conception of the state. Attempting to show that political organization is no superficial phenomenon in the life of societies, Mr. Hoffman expounds some considerations closely related to those which are implied in the aristotelian theory of the politia. Politia is a term whose meaning is unsatisfactorily conveyed by the word constitution; regime would be a better translation. Now the aristotelian notion of politia is not at all identical with the liberal notion of political regime. By politia, the aristotelian school understands something which is more profound than institutions providing for the selection of the governing personnel; something even more profound, than the whole body of the political institutions of a given society. Politia designates the whole form of the political society. This form includes, in addition to the political institutions, the set of public uses and customs, habits and ideals, which give the body politic its particular nature and its specific life. Mr. Hoffman shows very nicely that the true political community is that in which the regime is a politia. Let us note on the other hand, that, in his endeavor to demonstrate that the political organization is in no way extraneous to the politically organized community, he is led to overemphasize the part played by the political matter in the determination of the political form. When he says (p. 9) that the Nazi regime "is what it is because the German community is what it is," we fear that there might be, in his thought, a touch of sociological fatalism. In connection with those views on the close connections between the political forms and the spontaneous life of the national communities, Mr. Hoffman has some good observations on the apolitical tendencies of the liberal mind and on the affinities between liberalism and anarchism (pp. 17 and ff, 98 and ff.). The liberal state, a materialisation of the idea that the best government is that which governs least, was partly realized during the period of peace and industrial expansion which took place between the Napoleonic wars and the Franco-Prussian war of 1870. Soon after 1870, a number of symptoms evidenced the need of a new and more truly political state organization; the need of an organic state. Capitalists call upon the state for tariff protection, the proletariat uses its vote to secure free social services, etc; everybody asks the government to do things that it would not have been permitted to do fifty years earlier. Thus, the achievement of the new type of state is prepared step by step.


Importance: Contemporary health care reform strives to fulfill the "triple aim" by, 1) reducing costs, 2) improving the care experience, and 3) improving population health. There is great need for such reform in caring for pediatric patients experiencing medical complexity and social vulnerability given that this subset of patients makes up a disproportionately large percentage of total health care utilization and expenditures. Novel Interventions in Children's Healthcare (NICH), a novel clinical behavioral health program, was developed to address the triple aim for pediatric patients experiencing both medical and social complexity. This study describes initial NICH pilot …


In the 20th Century literature, Both Yu Dafu and Ding Ling are the disputed writers, there are many similarities in their early writings. Love and sex are their focus concerns, and physiological desire and mental distress are the subject of their writings. Their writings have great impact on the development of Chinese new literature.


(57) ABSTRACT An Inductive Power Transfer (IPT) pick-up apparatus includes a magnetically permeable core, a first coil, being wound about the core so as to be inductive coupled therewith such that a current induced in the first coil is most sensitive to a first directional component of magnetic flux and a second coil, being wound about the core so as to be inductively coupled therewith such that a current induced in the second coil is most sensitive to a second directional component of magnetic flux. The first directional component is Substan tially orthogonal to the second directional component.


Super-tough nylon 6 was prepared by using polyethylene–octene elastomer (POE) grafted with maleic anhydride as a toughener. The influences of maleating and a compatibilizer on interfacial adhesion and mechanical properties of nylon 6/POE blends were investigated in terms of mechanical testing, Molau tests, SEM observations, IR analyses, and rheological behavior. The results show that the unmodified POE has hardly any contribution to toughness of nylon 6, whereas the maleic anhydride-grafted POE (POE-g-MA) significantly improves the compatibility of POE with nylon 6 and sharply reduces its size in the nylon 6 matrix due to the in situ formation of a graft copolymer between POE-g-MA and nylon 6 during melt processing. With the POE-g-MA, a transition from brittle to ductile occurs. Besides, the use of a compatibilizer in nylon 6/POE-g-MA system shifts the brittle–ductile transition curve to a lower POE-g-MA content, which is attributed, in part, to the chain-extending effect of CE-96 on the nylon 6 matrix leading to further reduction of the sizes of POE-g-MA in the matrix, in part, to the coupling reaction of CE-96 between POE-g-MA and nylon 6. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 69: 1711–1718, 1998


In this study, HP/ENR blends were prepared in aqueous solution with different hydrophilic polymers for rubber glove donning coating application. HP/ENR blend films were prepared using cast films technique to investigate the film formation prior to coating onto rubber glove. The films surface morphology were characterised using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Light Microscopy (LM). While, the thermal properties of the films were determined using Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC). The microscopy results showed that coherence film formation can be obtained even though the PVA/ENR and PAA/ENR blends were immiscible. DSC result showed that the glass transition temperature (Tg) of the blends shifted to higher temperature compared with Tg of ENR. The preliminary evaluation of coating onto rubber latex film indicated that PVP/ENR blend is feasible as coating material.


SUMMARY This article examines three clusters of metaphors or cultural images of aging which function to marginalize older adults: metaphors which focus on aging as physical decline, on aging as aesthetic distance from youth, and on aging as failure of productivity. It then sketches out two ways to counter the marginalizing power of these cultural images of aging, to shape new metaphors or images of aging within a community of meaning, and to help make new sense of growing old, namely the formation of face-to-face groups of older adults and the creation of rituals in worship which name publicly the realities and experiences of aging.


We report a new process for making superconducting Y‐Ba‐Cu‐oxide ribbon from a ductile metal alloy precursor ribbon. We begin by melt‐spinnng an alloy having the composition YCu3 to obtain the microcrystalline precursor ribbon. The ribbon is coated with a molten mixture of Ba inorganic compounds at 550 °C, and reacted in air at 925 °C to form the superconducting YBa2Cu3O7−x phase. The superconducting onset occurs at 92 K and zero resistance is reached at 89 K. X‐ray diffraction, electron microscopy, and magnetization measurements confirm that the ribbon is predominantly superconducting YBa2Cu3O7−x.


A statistical downscaling method based on Self-Organizing Maps (SOM), of which the SOM Precipitation Statistical Downscaling Method (SOM-SD) is named, has received increasing attention. Herein, its applicability of downscaling daily precipitation over North China is evaluated. Six indices (total season precipitation, daily precipitation intensity, mean number of precipitation days, percentage of rainfall from events beyond the 95th percentile value of overall precipitation, maximum consecutive wet days, and maximum consecutive dry days) are selected, which represent the statistics of daily precipitation with regards to both precipitation amount and frequency, as well as extreme event. The large-scale predictors were extracted from the National Center for Environmental Prediction/National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCEP/NCAR) daily reanalysis data, while the prediction was the high resolution gridded daily observed precipitation. The results show that the method can establish certain conditional transformation relationships between large-scale atmospheric circulation and local-scale surface precipitation in a relatively simple way. This method exhibited a high skill in reproducing the climatologic statistical properties of the observed precipitation. The simulated daily precipitation probability distribution characteristics can be well matched with the observations. The values of Brier scores are between 0 and 1.5 × 10−4 and the significance scores are between 0.8 and 1 for all stations. The SOM-SD method, which is evaluated with the six selected indicators, shows a strong simulation capability. The deviations of the simulated daily precipitation are as follows: Total season precipitation (−7.4%), daily precipitation intensity (−11.6%), mean number of rainy days (−3.1 days), percentage of rainfall from events beyond the 95th percentile value of overall precipitation (+3.4%), maximum consecutive wet days (−1.1 days), and maximum consecutive dry days (+3.5 days). In addition, the frequency difference of wet-dry nodes is defined in the evaluation. It is confirmed that there was a significant positive correlation between frequency difference and precipitation. The findings of this paper imply that the SOM-SD method has a good ability to simulate the probability distribution of daily precipitation, especially the tail of the probability distribution curve. It is more capable of simulating extreme precipitation fields. Furthermore, it can provide some guidance for future climate projections over North China.


Multi-tasking machine tools are very useful to manufacture complicated workpiece efficiently. However, it is very difficult to generate NC data when an operator uses multi-tasking machine tools. Currently, there are some CAM systems for multi-tasking machine tools. However, there are such problems as the manual allocation of parts to generate tool paths, the difficulty of self-interference recognition without a simulator, and so on. Therefore, this study deals with the development of CAM system which can recognize part configurations, calculate tool paths automatically for turning and milling operations, and sort them in machining order, based on 3-D CAD data of workpieces.


R et a.Sim u lan eo u s Perration of Th ee M jo r Lver B lod V esels b y TB D · En d ocop y 20034:844 Biliovenous fistula represents the most common source of bleeding after percutaneous transhepatic biliary drainage (PTBD), and the course is usually self-limiting [1]. Severe hemobilia from arteriobiliary fistula must be expected in 0.4 % [2] to 2 % [3] of all procedures performed and often necessitates immediate treatment by selective arterial embolization [2] or transbiliary embolization [4]. We report here the simultaneous perforation of a lobar hepatic artery, a lobar portal vein, and the central right portal vein during PTBD for choledocholithiasis. A 76year-old woman with a history of cholecystectomy and Billroth II gastrectomy was admitted to our institution because of multiple bile duct stones and a common bile duct stricture, diagnosed by computed tomography (CT) scan and endoscopic retrograde cholangiography. PTBD was done using a right intercostal approach, revealing massive dilatation of intrahepatic bile ducts and several large calculi on top of a high-grade common bile duct stenosis. After a Terumo wire had been passed through the stricture, a 10-Fr pigtail drainage catheter was successfully placed in the duodenum. When the pigtail catheter was removed for further tract dilation, 7 days later, massive bleeding occurred from the percutaneous tract, which was controlled by deep placement of a 12-Fr Nimura catheter without sideholes. Selective hepatic arteriography was immediately performed, and showed normal hepatic artery branches without arteriobiliary fistula. However, a portobiliary fistula within S8 and a centrally located lesion of the right portal vein were suspected. The portobiliary fistula was verified by retraction of the PTBD device (Figure 1a) and the perforated vessel was embolized using a direct transhepatic approach (Figure 1b). Since the right portal vein lesion could not be reached via this approach, direct portography was performed, confirming circumferential extravasation of contrast medium from the right portal vein close to the bifurcation (Figure 2), and a Yomed Covered Stent (18 mm length, 10 mm central and 8 mm peripheral diameter) was placed to cover the lesion. After a second PTBD device had successfully been placed, via S6, 4 days later, an attempt was being made to remove the Nimura drainage catheter within the first tract, when once again, there was massive bleeding of sudden onset from the percutaneous tract. Retrograde tracing now revealed an arteriobiliary fistula within S8 (Figure 3a). Selective arteriography was performed and the perforated hepatic artery branch was embolized by the application of endocoils (Figure 3b). No more bleeding was observed, the Nimura catheter was removed, and further therapy was successfully performed by percutaneous cholangioscopy and laser lithotripsy, after dilation of the second tract. This report describes, for the first time to our knowledge, recurrent serious bleeding episodes after PTBD, from three different lesions of major hepatic blood vessels including the hepatic artery and portal vein. We conclude that severe bleeding complications, with delayed onset and from multiple locations, may occur with PTBD, and that adequate interventional angiography facilities should be available when PTBD is carried out.


A single nucleotide polymorphism (−1438 G/A) located 1438 base pairs upstream of the consensus start site of the 5-HT2A receptor gene has been reported. The hypothesis that this gene polymorphism may be a susceptibility factor in bulimia nervosa was explored in a female population of purgative bulimics. Bulimia nervosa patients who have suffered preceding anorexia nervosa episodes formed the so-called previous anorexia nervosa bulimic patient group. At variance with some previous reports, when the frequency distribution of genotypes and alleles was compared in patients and controls, no differences were detected regardless of whether the bulimia nervosa patients had suffered prior anorexia nervosa episodes.


A direct load control (DLC) scheme of air conditioning loads (ACL), which considers the interrupted energy assessment rate (IEAR) of nodes where ACL are connected, is proposed in this paper for restructured power systems. The IEAR is utilized to determine the compensation for the discomfort of the ACL customers due to the service interruption caused by the DLC of ACL. Dynamic programming is used to determine the optimal DLC scheme of ACL under the minimum total system operating cost. The IEEE reliability test system is simulated to illustrate the proposed DLC technique of ACL.


394 © 2007 The Authors JEADV 2008, 22, 363–404 Journal compilation © 2007 European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology of the lymphocytes in FM are T-helper cells (CD4). Animal studies have indicated that PDT induces CD4-mediated immunosuppression. This fact could explain the response of FM to PDT. On the other hand, PDT has shown efficacy in the treatment of cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (CTCL). How PDT works in CTCL is not well documented. Unlike normal lymphocytes, T and B lymphoma cells lines can be effectively sensitized by aminolaevulinic acid, and the subsequent light irradiation causes a strong reduction of their number and suppression of proliferation. In addition, PDT has been shown to induce lymphoblast mutations and thus to have a potential for induction of toxicity in T cells. Some authors suggest that idiopathic FM may represent a variant of mycoses fungoides with localized disease and excellent prognosis, conceptually similar to the localized variant of pagetoid reticulosis. Thus, if FM and CTCL are in the same spectrum of diseases, the same treatment could be applied for both. Maybe, the rapid response in only one session (CTCL usually needs four or more) is because FM is the slight form. FM is a rare dermatosis with limited therapeutic options. We report a patient with an excellent response to PDT. We do not know exactly the reason of this result, and further studies and follow-up are necessary. This is, to our knowledge, the first reported case of FM treated with PDT.


Mergers and acquisitions(MA) has become a crucial method used in resource redistribution,and one of the necessary components of a successful market economy.In this research,the MA performance of listed companies was analyzed and appraised.It helps to find the factors that affect MA performance,and take effective measures to regulate the listed companies' behavior in MA and therefore improve the entire performance in MA of listed companies.In this study,30 stocks were chosen,six financial indexes of the years prior to,during,and after MA were analyzed by using factor analysis and binary relative evaluation model to evaluate the performance differences of the listed companies before and after MA.Finally,the causes for the differences were discussed and the rules that different composite scores of the initiative outstanding stocks were mostly positive were revealed.


This work investigates the impact of simply keeping eye-contact on users' perceptions of the humanoid robot NAO during the carry and handover phases of a fetch- and-handover scenario. Two conditions of NAO looking either towards its planned path or towards the human test subject's face are implemented in a within-subjects design. Evaluations of user experience and acceptance are conducted based on evaluated measures of human-robot interaction. The results of the user study reveal a significant increase of anthropomorphism, animacy, and social presence in the eye-contact condition even without an intelligent gaze control implementation. Additionally, significant interactions with the professional background of the test participants are found.


Handball is a very strong skills class projects often antagonistic,should be based on strong competitors,all the basic technology must be a high level of coordinated development.Through watching and South Korea to participate in national competitions and video game world,the collation of relevant data,and summarized the proposed men's handball players of the right technology to create the concept,and basic skills training through the training process should be always at the same time,but also to Be comprehensive,practical,accurate,and skilled.


Uninterruptible power supplies (UPSs) are vital for different industries. Along with a rise in their complexity, the requirements for a UPS become more important. UPSs are meant to protect technologies from damage caused by various interruptions of an electric power supply. Advanced monitoring of UPS ensured by a battery management system (BMS) is able to prevent from more serious damage thanks to a mechanism of in-time and accurate battery-fault detection, which is based on voltage metering. This mechanism is widely used, but its use gets very expensive. This also poses an obstacle in the further applications of the battery systems. This paper gives an overview of Czech national standards aimed at batteries used in industrial UPSs. As the temperature is the second key indicator of a battery's health, the battery voltage being the first, our research aims to develop a low-cost UPS monitoring system using infrared thermographic measurements. The research builds on an assumption that overheating of a battery implies a state of damage. The paper describes the design of an extended automatized metering platform.


A 3D numerical model for heating distribution of bread mold in the oven is presented in this study. In the process of bread production, heat effect is influenced by the shape of the mold. Being consistent with the results of calculation, the shape of the mold imposes great influence on the heating distribution uniformity and maximum temperature difference. Because of even boundary curvature, circular mold behaves better than elliptical and rectangular mold. By utilizing the introduced theoretical model, we are able to get the spatial heating distribution of all kinds of mold. And taking three kinds of mold as example, we illustrate that the more uneven the boundary curvature is, the less uniform the heating distribution will be.


Recently, there is a great demand for games and leisure in society. However, the user is not satisfied with just how to play, leading researchers and innovators to better natural interaction between man and machine. The evolution of games has been somewhat surprising, not only in graphics and design, but also in their style of play , moving to a stage where the interaction between man and machine becomes more natural and can be played only by gestures , audio or body positions . With the growing popularity of these games came the need and opportunity to include effectively the physically disabled, and bring along with sports games way more practical to apply the rehabilitation of users. This work shows an application using Virtual Reality or Augmented Virtuality for inclusion and rehabilitation of people with disabilities wheelchair through the Microsoft Kinect.


This issue of JEMT contains several of the papers presented at the 1984 Winter Annual Meeting as part of the Materials Division's symposium entitled "Crack Growth Behavior and Performance of Structural Components Susceptible to Stress Corrosion Cracking." The symposium attempted to group together papers in different fields where characterization of crack growth data was the key to reliable component performance. The majority of the papers dealt with crack growth of structural materials in nuclear power plant environments. However, there were papers on crack growth in liquid metal environments and hydrogen and on testing results in a sea water environment. In power plant environments, the papers discussed a wide variety of materials in several high temperature environments under both cyclic and constant load conditions. The papers in many instances were progress reports of on-going work and discussed the evolution of testing techniques used to obtain the data. It is clear that the state of the art needed to characterize both the growth rates as well as the subtle environment differences limits the current understanding. The methods used to evaluate the behavior of small specimens are improving, allowing measurement of very small growth increments in pressurized water environments. The increased use of potential drop crack growth monitoring methods are greatly enhancing data collection and understanding, particularly in coolant environments in contact with nuclear power plant structural materials. The purpose of the symposium was to bring together papers on data development and on component behavior prediction. The modeling accuracy lagged behind the laboratory techniques due to the added complexity of the full size component. The papers presented covered the use of both small specimen data and full size tests to support models that could be used to predict stress corrosion phenomenon. In all cases there were added factors that made the application of lab data difficult. For example, predictions of stress corrosion cracking of piping are affected by residual stress, crack initiation, and geometry. However, as the laboratory techniques are used to evaluate the behavior of real structures, modeling accuracy will increase as will understanding.


Treatment of fabrics containing polyester with strong alkali (of saponification strength) imparts pigment soil-release properties equivalent to those obtained by conventional Soil-Release finishes. The soil-release effect achieved by alkali treatment has excellent fastness to repeated washings. Their washfastness indicates some modification of the chemical constitution of the fiber surface as a result of the partial surface saponification; this is also indicated by an increased wetta bility.


The aim of this paper is to analyse whether perceptions regarding obstacles for doing business differ between innovative and non-innovative firms in posttransition period. To that end, we use the latest EBRD Business Environment and Enterprise Performance Survey (BEEPS round V) and perform the analysis for 9 countries in the Southeastern Europe: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, FYR Macedonia, Kosovo, Montenegro, Romania and Serbia. These countries have been chosen, since similar analysis is not available in the literature. We classify enterprises into 3 groups, according to their innovative performance: innovators (that have innovation output), R&D firms (that have innovation input) and non-innovators. The analysis reveals that in most countries and for most types of firms, tax rates and informal sector are perceived as the most important obstacles for business activity.


Percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) is frequently complicated by type 4a myocardial infarction (MI). We assessed the usefulness of the angiography-derived haemodynamic index (ADDED) index in predicting type 4a MI in patients with chronic coronary syndrome (CCS) undergoing PCI.

 We enrolled 442 patients treated with single-vessel PCI. The ADDED index was calculated as the ratio of the Duke Jeopardy Score (DJS) to the minimum lumen diameter (MLD) assessed with quantitative angiography analysis (QCA). Patients in the higher ADDED tertile presented higher occurrence of type 4a MI (17.7%, P < 0.0001). At ROC curve analysis, the ADDED index could significantly discriminate between patients with and without type 4a MI (area under the curve 0.745). At multivariate analysis, an ADDED index value >5.25 was the strongest independent predictor type 4a MI.

 Our results support the role of the ADDED index as a predictor of type 4a MI in patients with CCS treated with elective PCI.


Hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) can be supplied by hybrid energy storage systems (H-ESSs). Such kind of system needs to be handled by complex energy management strategies (EMSs) considering several objectives. Besides, to evaluate such EMSs, an optimal benchmark could be developed. Dynamic programming (DP) is suitable for that purpose because of its ability to obtain the optimal solution. However, it is non-trivial to address an energy management problem with multiple objectives by using DP because of the complexity of the system and computational issues. This paper develops a DP-based optimal EMS for a hybrid truck supplied by battery/supercapacitor H-ESS using a bi-level approach. This approach decomposes the EMS into optimal sub-strategies regarding the structure of the studied system. The validation of the optimal strategy is demonstrated by simulation results.