The article analyzed and reviewed the fruits of the studies on service innovation by researching the literatures about innovation in service in the Ckni database and the Vip database. The present literatures show that, the scholars are more and more concerned with the field of service innovation. And the contents of their studies mostly focused on the aspects of service innovation strategy, customer and service innovation, the particularity of service innovation, process of service innovation, the type of service innovation, technology effects on service innovation, human resources and service innovation,and so on. On the base of the results of reviewing, the article also put forward some significant issues for scholars to study further. 


Introduction : In the 'Total Purchasing' (TP) scheme, a general practice, or group of practices, had a delegated budget from the local health authority to purchase a range of services which were outside the standard GP fundholding scheme. 'Extended fundholding sites' (EFH) were given the freedom to develop purchasing in selected specialities. This paper reports on the initial findings from an evaluation of the impact of TP and EFH in relation to mental health services. Method: We carried out qualitative, semi-structured telephone interviews with representatives from 27 TP and 13 EFH sites. These were either the lead GP or the project manager at each of the sites. A total of 57 interviews were carried out between September 1996 and August 1997. Findings: Although the aims of the pilots were extremely diverse, a consistent objective has been to improve the communication and information flows between primary and secondary care. A popular means of trying to achieve this was to increase the number of specialis...


The activity patterns of a coarse browser, the moose. Alces alces, and a selective browser, the roe deer, Capreolus capreolus. in a north boreal forest, central Sweden, were compared with respect to time allocated for foraging and processing (ruminating) in different seasons. Data were quantified by measuring 24 h activity patterns which included both the duration and frequency of active and inactive periods. Activity patterns were measured from 9 female moose and 9 roe deer that were radiomarked during April 1974–May 1978 (roe deer) and February 1982–December 1984 (moose). In total, data were available from 4345 h for roe deer and 14745 h for moose. Roe deer differed from moose in having active bouts more evenly distributed over the day. Generally, both species were most active during sunrise and sunset. Total daily active time varied with season, reaching the highest value in late May – early June among roe deer (56.7% of the day) and a month later among moose (51.9%). Both species were least active in February (30–40%). Average length of active bouts did not differ significantly between the species but changed with season (roe deer 48.6–99.2 min, moose 61.6–88.7 min). Average length of inactive bouts varied significantly with season, with moose having consistently longer bouts (89.3–156.3 min) than roe deer (55.8–107.0 min). The number of activity bouts per day were also higher among roe deer. During midsummer, they changed activity nearly twice as many times as moose (26 times d−1 vs 16 times d−1).


In the context of the rapid development of the Internet, the influence of public opinion on social events is further expanded. This paper uses the word frequency analysis method to study the copyright events of China Literature Limited. On the basis of obtaining the information related to this crisis event, the content is summarized and integrated. According to the time of the former, the expression of network public opinion and the response of China Literature Limited according to the trend of public opinion are analyzed. It is found that network public opinion promotes the spread of crisis events. If enterprises underestimate the importance of network public opinion in crisis management, it is easy to have a serious negative impact on enterprises. Finally, this paper summarizes the experience and lessons of China Literature Limited in crisis management of network public opinion events, and puts forward research enlightenment for enterprise crisis management in the new media era.


An ultra-performance liquid chromatography/quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry(UPLC/Q-TOF-MS)method was established to investigate the compounds of methanol extract from Moutan Cortex.UPLC separation was performed on a Waters BEH-C18column(10.0mm×2.1mm i.d.,1.7μm)using a mobile phase consisting of 0.1%formic acid water solution.The flow rate was set at 0.25 mL/min and the detection wavelength at 254nm.The mass spectrometer used was a Waters ACQUITY Q-TOF-MS equipped with an electrospray ionization(ESI)interface in positive and negative modes.The result indicated that the negative mode was suitable for the chemical components identification in Moutan Cortex.Thirteen compounds were identified from the methanol extracts of Moutan Cortex and paeoniflorin sulfonate was founded for the first time in Moutan Cortex by analyzing the total ion current(TIC)chromatograms and MS fragmentation patterns.Fragmentation pathway of monoterpenes components in Moutan Cortex also concluded.


The statistics of the average height fluctuation of the one-dimensional Kardar–Parisi–Zhang (KPZ)-type surface is investigated. Guided by the idea of local stationarity, we derive the scaling form of the characteristic function in the early-time regime, with t time and N the system size, from the known characteristic function in the stationary state () of the single-step model derivable from a Bethe ansatz solution, and thereby find the scaling properties of the cumulants and the large deviation function in the early-time regime. These results, combined with the scaling analysis of the KPZ equation, imply the existence of the universal scaling functions for the cumulants and an universal large deviation function. The analytic predictions are supported by the simulation results for three different models in the KPZ class.


Nearly one decade before the first humans set foot on the moon, the birth control pill for women was developed and made available to the public to meet a level of global demand for contraception that many would argue is akin to ameliorating world hunger. Fast forward to more than six decades later, despite an international race to find a male contraceptive pill that has consumed hundreds of millions of dollars, not a single pill for men exists on the market. Part of the reason for this is simple. Hormones act powerfully in the body to influence fertility, and the female pill is a hormonal method. While manipulation of male hormones could be used to cause infertility in men, the side effects have thus far been deemed too dangerous and unsafe to be considered a viable option. Therefore, the quest for a male pill is driven by a relatively unified agreement across the male contraceptive development community that the best drug candidates must target fertility in a nonhormonal manner—or carefully engineered hormonal manner—with perfect to near-perfect efficacy (unwanted pregnancies cannot and must not result when used properly). Furthermore, the best candidate drugs must do so in such a way that they are safe and result in minuscule to no side effects. To achieve this, to ensure safety, many investigators start by looking at druggable protein targets that are present only in the male reproductive tract, or in sperm cells, to help safeguard against effects occurring elsewhere in the body. The next step is to identify drug targets for which genetic studies show that animal models lacking the gene are sterile, not subfertile, to help predict that a


Air pollution has become a growing concern around the world. Human exposure to hazardous air pollutants is associated with a range of health problems and increased mortality. An estimated 40,000 early deaths per year are caused by the exposure to air pollutants in the UK alone, which cost over £20 billion annually to individuals and health services1. In this work, novel solidly mounted resonator (SMR) devices were developed for integration in a low-cost, portable air quality monitor for the real-time monitoring of particulate matter and volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Finite element models of the SMRs were developed to aid their design and simulate the response of the sensors to particles and exposure to VOCs.

For particle sensing, a SMR based unit was developed, working in a dual mode configuration. The unit was characterised inside an environmental chamber, together with commercial reference instruments, to particles of known size and composition. A detection limit of 20 μg/m3 was found (below the safe exposure limit). To target fine particles (<2.5 μm), a virtual impactor was incorporated into the system.

For VOC detection, the SMR devices were functionalised with polymer coatings to detect acetone and toluene vapours (most common VOCs in air). A polymer drop-coating system was developed to complete this aim (polymer film thicknesses <100nm). An automated VOC test station was developed to characterise the SMR based sensors to low ppm concentrations of the target vapours (<200 ppm). The SMR devices demonstrated a limit of detection of 5 ppm to toluene and 50 ppm of acetone (well below the safe exposure limits).

A novel CMOS based SMR device, suitable for volume production and monolithic integration, was designed with an integrated microheater and CMOS acoustic mirror. The heater was included to vary the temperature of the sensing area (to enhance the sensitivity of the SMR to a particular VOC through temperature modulation or to clear particles off the surface). The fabricated device (1.9 GHz) exhibited good performance (


By analyzing the problems existing in sharing information resources of the library, this thesis poses that the key to realizing document resources share is joint construction and gives its countermeasures.


This study gives an overview of retirement modelling, starting from the single-period consumption/leisure model up to the recent life-cycle multiple-decisions and joint retirement models, paying particular attention to the role played by the option value model in the economic literature on retirement.


In the multi-mode navigation receiver, reconfigurability technology of FPGAs can realize different function using the same hardware resource at alternative time. Based on the research of the reconfigurability technology of top grade FPGAs, the hardware has been designed using the Flash+CPLD scheme to reconfigure the FPGA, and the Verilog HDL program of the CPLD is provided . The result indicate that the method is feasible.


erences Macho Row's alleged dalliances (to put it mildly) with PEDs, making the '93 club an early poster child for one of the most troubling eras of baseball. This taint, along with the fact that Macho Row's denizens appear to have been particularly unlikeable individuals, should cast a darker hue on the '93 club but somehow here it doesn't. Kashatus doesn't shy away from discussing Macho Row's alleged PED use and pointing out just how unpleasant these players could be but he clearly loves this club anyway. Some readers might feel differently, at least in hindsight. Finally, Kashatus hits on a fascinating point near the end of the book when he quotes A's GM Billy Beane remarking on how the '93 Phils, with their patient approaches at the plate and their cumulatively high onbase percentage, became something of a blueprint for the "Moneyball" approach he would go on to institute in Oakland within the next several years. Here, Beane realized as he watched the '93 Phils, was a new way to construct a lineup, one which could be done on the cheap, which was how Lee Thomas, the Phillies' GM, was compelled to do it, given the pennypinching budgets he was forced to work with. Although the Phillies never were and never will be a "smallmarket club," as Kashatus mistakenly alleges (242)— market size refers to the populace of a region irrespective of the miserly ways of a particular ownership group— Kashatus is correct that Thomas was forced by ownership to act as though his club played in Philadelphia, Mississippi., rather than Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In the process, Thomas perhaps became a bit savvier and exploited efficiencies he might not have been compelled to seek out had he been given more financial freedom. What emerged, most likely by accident, was a new way to build a ballclub. Forget the Code; it's here that, perhaps, the '93 Phillies were special after all.


Participation is an approach that became a trend in the design of government programs related to social welfare. Through the participation of community empowerment, impact is expected to appear in addition to the achievement of program outputs. This study aims to determine the forms of participation that emerged from government programs and community behavioral factors that determine the success of participation and community participation model based on behavior that can be raised in order to overcome the problems of participation. The type of research used in this research is descriptive research with qualitative approach and by applying multiple methods of data collection, such as the study of data secondary and observations. Data analysis in this study used Milles and Huberman qualitative data analysis method.

This result of the research showed that emerging typology of participation in the management of public participation program in Lampung Province is located in the area of non-participation, risk taking and partnership. Conditions of participation that occurs is also driven by factor of public behavior that consists of three factors, namely; (1) Confidence or a chance to participate. (2 The ability to participate, and (3) Willingness to participate in every activity, which is determined by the presence or absence of the relevant interest. In the end, the participation of behavior-based management model is built by adopting the concept of community engagement and personal engagement.


Conformance checking is a class of process mining techniques, which contrasts the modeled behaviors with the observed behaviors of a process, to detect, locate and explain the deviations between them. Even though deviations can occur anytime and in any perspectives, currently there is no such conformance checking technique available, which is able to take into account other perspectives than the control-flow perspective of the investigated process when computing the conformance statistics on running, incomplete cases. In this paper, a multi-perspective online conformance checking technique is introduced, which aims to confront the modeled behaviors in form of a Data Petri net process model with a stream of events as the observed behaviors. For the conformance checking, two existing techniques were merged: a prefix-alignment-based technique, which is able to compute conformance statistics for incomplete process executions by applying incremental heuristic search, and an alignment-based multi-perspective conformance checking technique, which is able to compute conformance statistics for complete process instances while focusing on multiple perspectives.


Adsorptive separation using narrow-micropore adsorbents has demonstrated the potential to separate hydrogen isotopes. In this work, we employed an isotope-responsive separation using cobalt formate. A D2-responsive third sorption step was revealed, and consequently, a noticeable difference was observed in the uptakes of D2 and H2. This may have resulted from the additional space created for D2 due to its dense packing, as DFT calculations revealed that cobalt formate possesses 2.26 kJ/mol higher binding strength for D2 than for H2. The exploitation of this D2-responsive third sorption step renders a promising separation performance, with a D2/H2 selectivity of up to 44 at 25 K/1 bar. Lastly, cobalt formate was synthesized on a gram scale here, which makes it a prospect for commercialization.


In 1977, the Soviet Union's leadership was in a jubilant mood as Ethiopia had just switched sides to the socialist camp.1 By the time of this event, the Kremlin had been conducting a renewed offensive on the continent for several years, propping up socialist regimes and 'liberation movements' in Angola, Mozambique, Namibia, Rhodesia (later Zimbabwe) and South Africa. Yet contrary to warnings that the Soviets might eventually 'swallow' all of sub-Saharan Africa,2 by 1990 the offensive had fizzled out: ideologically and financially broken, Moscow cut military aid, suspended credit lines, wound down diplomatic representations, closed cultural centres and ultimately withdrew political support. When rebel forces advanced towards Addis Ababa in 1991, Moscow stood idly by as the Derg regime – its former poster child – disintegrated.


This paper proposes a general strategy of parameter selection for single-electron threshold gates. By considering the background charges with the gates, we analyze and optimize the parameters to improve their reliability. All circuits with given parameters are simulated and verified by SIMON — a simulator for single-electron circuits


Arctic health professionals will meet in Nuuk, Greenland, in September of this year. The meeting will be a rich source for new ideas and an opportunity to refresh, or bind new international linkages between colleagues. I hope many of us will have the opportunity to be present. Also Antarctic health researches had a successful meeting with I50 participants in Plymouth, UK in May. Abstracts from this event will be published as a supplement in this journal. In this issue, we have two rare views of the arctic environment; one concerning contaminants in indoor environments and another on cold work environments of dairy farms. Both reports also offer useful information for health care practitioners. Similarly useful is the article describing the associations between life in cold environments and obstructive respiratory diseases and symptoms at the population level. Finally, the articles concerned with cold in this issue are concluded with a method development report describing how, in practice, to manage health and safety risks related to cold in workplaces. Stress due to modernization of indigenous populations in Siberia and health culture in northern Finland describes interestingly relationships between health and Arctic societies today.


On 14 April 2010, a destructive earthquake (Ms 7.1) occurred along the Ganzi–Yushu fault (GYF), which is the boundary between the Songpan–Ganzi and Qiangtang Blocks of the eastern Tibetan Plateau. In this study, we present an effective workflow for microearthquake detection and location that assembles three main methods including a graphics processing unit-based match and locate technology (GPU M&L), a deep-neural-network-based noise-reduction technique (DeepDenoiser), and a U-net-based phase picking method (PhaseNet). Following this workflow, a high-resolution catalog has been constructed based on continuous seismic data from 2008 to 2018 recorded by 13 seismic stations deployed by Qinghai seismic network in Yushu, Qinghai. The GPU M&L is first applied to detect earthquakes which are usually hard to pick by routine methods due to their low signal-to-noise ratios. Then the DeepDenoiser is applied to remove noises from events we detected by GPU M&L, providing a better picking of seismic phases. The PhaseNet and hypoDD are conducted to pick seismic phases and relocate detected events, respectively. The spatial–temporal evolution of the foreshock sequence of the Yushu earthquake suggests that a triggered cascade model is responsible for the nucleation of the mainshock. The mainshock and aftershocks southeast of the mainshock mainly rupture on the primary northwest (NW)-trending GYF while the foreshocks and aftershocks on the NW segment rupture along the northeast (NE)-trending fault normal to the strike of the GYF. The average cumulative slip rate of the GYF estimated from six repeating earthquakes is $7.4~\pm ~1.7$ mm/year, which is consistent with the geodetic and geological observations.


In this paper we prove a general result concerning continuity of
the blow-up time and the blow-up set for an evolution problem
under perturbations. This result is based on some convergence of
the perturbations for times smaller than the blow-up time of the
unperturbed problem together with uniform bounds on the blow-up
rates of the perturbed problems.

   We also present several examples. Among them we consider changing
the spacial domain in which the heat equation with a power source
takes place. We consider rather general perturbations of the
domain and show the continuity of the blow-up time. Moreover, we
deal with perturbations on the initial condition and on parameters
in the equation. Finally, we also present some continuity results
for the blow-up set.


Abstract Carica papaya Linn. (papaya plant) is a ubiquitous crop in tropical regions which is mainly harvested for its sweet-tasting fruit. Various parts of the papaya plant are used in folklore medicines to treat various ailments. This work presented the toxic and teratogenic effects of fermented Carica papaya leaf (CPL) on zebrafish (Danio rerio) embryos. The eggs from the spawning of the adult male and female zebrafish were collected and exposed to different concentrations of fermented CPL; 250, 125, 62.5, 31.25, 15.625 and 0 µg/ mL for six to 72 h post fertilisation (hpf). The survival and sublethal effects of these treatments on zebrafish embryos such as mortality and hatchability were calculated using microscopic observation while the heartbeat rate was measured using DanioScope. The toxic effects of fermented CPL on zebrafish embryos was found to be concentration dependent. The median lethal concentration (LC50) was 133.1 µg/mL as calculated from the probit-log (concentration) regression model using Microsoft Excel. This value fell into the category of less than toxic according to OECD guideline. The total flavonoid content (TFC) of the fermented CPL was also higher at the end of the fermentation as compared to onset of fermentation.


The present invention provides an input protection circuit comprising: a first field-effect transistor connected in series between the input terminal and the electronic circuit, the input voltage is applied to the input terminal, the input voltage is input to the electronic circuit, when than the input voltage of the electronic circuit when the high voltage positive supply, the first field-effect transistor becomes OFF state; a second field-effect transistors connected in series between the first transistor and the electronic circuitry of room, when the input voltage is low than the negative supply voltage electronic circuit into an OFF state; and a voltage control circuit, based on the gate of the first transistor and the second transistor is the input voltage, the voltage between the source electrode and the supply voltage range maintained within the electronic circuit.


: This experiment was conducted during 2016 and 2017 seasons under Southern Tahrir district, Behera Governorate in order to study the changes in fruit properties of some new lemon cultivars (Prior, Corona, Monroe, Frost) at maturity and during cold storage at 10°C and 85-90% RH for four months. Morphological characteristics of fruits, total soluble solids, titratable acidity and ascorbic acid of juice were tested at maturity. Data showed that the fruits harvested after 260 days from full bloom (at140 days after fruit set) exhibited acceptable physic-chemical qualities with optimum fruit weight, texture%, fruit shape index, juice %, TSS: acidity, ascorbic acid. Lemons stored in perforated polyethylene bags for 4 months at 10°C, 85-90%RH simulated a long cold storage and transportation period, followed by 7 days at (18-20°C) of retail sale period simulating then a prolonged shelf life. Respiration rates of all cultivars stored at 10°C up to 4 months were 2 times highest, small differences among cultivars were observed in the changes of color parameters and chemical composition. The four cultivars remained marketable for up to 7days with a good retention of ascorbic acid. However, Corona lemon fruits had the highest keeping quality because of the greatest weight fruits, lowest number of seeds, the highest percentage of juice, vitamin C and its storage tolerance.


Autism is defined as a neurodevelopmental disorder which is characterized by repetitive behaviors, social withdrawal and communication deficits. It is defined as the second most common developmental disability after mental retardation, among children (Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, 2009). Edelson et. al (1999) has reported that children with autism have difficulty in managing the sensory input due to high arousal or anxiety level. They over react (hyper sensitivity) or under-react (hyposensitivity) to oral, tactile, visual & aural input and result in imbalanced reaction which further results in difficulty to participate in typical life activities. This is known as sensory processing disorder. These sensory issues are associated with the feeding problems in children with autism (Nadon et. al, 2011).


To accelerate browsing, most browsers keep track of visited URLs and create a browser history. Unfortunately, history sniffing attacks exploit the saved state to learn users' private information and infer about their visits to other sites. Although browser developers have taken measures to defend against these attacks, Smith's method, a kind of side-channel sniffing attack, could still work effectively. However, since different devices perform differently, this method requires that a list of parameters should be manually set up according to the device platform. In this paper, we propose an adaptive method that introduces multiple auxiliary links and adopts a dynamic parameter search algorithm to improve Smith's method. Our adaptive method attains nearly 100% accuracy on most popular browsers in different operating systems and platforms. Keywords—Browser history sniffing; Cross-platform attack; Adaptive method


The installation method of the strain sensor and strain sensor according to the present invention, the first base member is fixedly supported to one side of the optical fiber. The second base member, for fixing and supporting the other side of the optical fiber. Connecting member is constituted by a member of the first base member and said second base member and another member, removably mounted between the first base member and the second base member. The optical fiber connecting member tension is applied in a state of being mounted between the first base member and the second base member, in a state where the tensioned first base member and the second It is fixedly supported on each of the base member.


A method of predicting the shape of an oil film cavity in the diverging region of a short journal bearing with a circumferential oil groove is presented. The first term of Reynolds' equation was neglected for mathematical simplicity, thus simulating a short bearing. The pressure distribution, load capacity and attitude angle were also discussed. Some numerical calculations were made to predict the shape of the cavity, and some experimental observations were made using transparent bearings to compare with the analysis.


In this paper,the measure suggestions were put forward such as energy provided quality,energy administration,saving energy technology development and techniques transformation based on analysis of coal fired coal industrial boiler.The VVVF control technique were presented for coal fired industrial boiler.


The effects of the physicochemical properties of soil such as soil pH, cation exchange capacity, and organic matter content on single extraction of Cd, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, and Zn using CaCl2, HOAc, HNO3, and DTPA were statistically investigated for 69 agricultural soils in Korea. Correlation analysis and multiple regression analysis were applied for soil samples which were grouped on the basis of average values of the physicochemical properties of the soil. Diluted HNO3 extracted higher concentrations of Cr, Cu, Ni, and Pb when compared with the other extractants, however, similar amounts of Cd and Zn were extracted by HOAc with HNO3. The results of correlation analysis indicated that DTPA extraction showed a high correlation with other single and pseudo-total extraction methods, and the physicochemical properties of soil influenced the concentrations of heavy metals leached by the single extraction methods. In the case of Zn, high correlations between pseudo-total and the studied single extraction methods were observed. As a result of regression analysis, it was found that the physicochemical properties of the soil could explain up to 74% of variances of the single extraction results. These results indicate that the physicochemical properties of the soil can have a direct influence on the concentrations of heavy metals extracted by the single extraction methods.


The size of the reservoir of salivary gland and length of the duct in praying mantis were directly related to the size and length of pro and meso thoracic segments respectively. Females had larger salivary gland enabling the insect to consume more pray than males.


Thoracic aortic dissections are among the cardiovascular diseases with the highest mortality rates. Their often belated diagnosis and, hence, poor prognosis call for further research of their pathophysiology and possible biomarkers that will aid early diagnosis and increase survival rates. Osteoprotegerin is a known biomarker in cardiovascular disease, but it is yet to be determined whether it participates in aortic disease and thoracic aortic dissection in particular.

 This clinical study aimed at researching the role of osteoprotegerin in thoracic aortic aneurysm and dissection.

 We compared three groups of patients; 20 patients with ascending aortic aneurysm (AAA), 10 patients with acute ascending aortic dissection (AAD) and 16 patients with normal aortic diameter undergoing cardiac surgery for other indication (control group). Serum samples were obtained from patients before surgery and osteoprotegerin levels were measured using the ELISA method.

 One-way analysis of variance revealed a significant association between the examined groups of patients and levels of osteoprotegerin (AAD: 62.72±44.53 pmol/L, AAA: 33.43±8.08 pmol/L, Control: 48.61±29.47 pmol/L, p=0.03). Importantly, after post-hoc analysis osteoprotegerin levels were found to be increased in patients with AAD compared to patients with uncomplicated AAA (62.72±44.53 pmol/L vs 33.43±8.08 pmol/L, p=0.03) (Figure 1), whereas there was no statistically significant difference between patients with AAA and the control group (33.43±8.08 pmol/L vs 48.61±29.47 pmol/L, p=0.34).

 These findings suggest that osteoprotegerin may participate in the pathophysiology of aortic dissection but not in mechanisms of aortic dilatation. Therefore, detection of elevated osteoprotegerin levels in patients with diagnosed ascending aortic aneurysms might suggest an increased probability of dissection and, therefore, aid the decision-making process.
 Figure 1

 Type of funding source: None


A large body of empirical studies shows that religion often serves as a factor promoting positive, healthy outcomes in the lives of American adolescents. Yet existing theoretical explanations for these religious effects remain largely disjointed and fragmented. This article attempts to formulate a more systematic, integrated, and coherent account of religion's constructive influence in the lives of American youth, suggesting nine key factors (moral directives, spiritual experiences, role models, community and leadership skills, coping skills, cultural capital, social capital, network closure, and extra-community links) that cluster around three key dimensions of influence (moral order, learned competencies, and social and organizational ties). Several decades of social scientific studies have shown that religion is often a factor in the lives of American adolescents, influencing their attitudes and behaviors in ways that are commonly viewed as positive and constructive. Across a number of areas of concern, various measures of religiosity are typically associated with a variety of healthy, desirable outcomes. This article is an attempt to theorize systematically why religion might have such an influence in the lives of American adolescents. Within the relevant bodies of literature, individual publications normally suggest causal mechanisms explaining their particular findings. Altogether, these many studies are very helpful, but as a whole they present the contemporary researcher with a disjointed and fragmented account for religious influences in the lives of American teenagers. In the following pages, I attempt to synthesize some of what we know from these and other informative studies into a more coherent, systematic account of how and why religion exerts significant positive effects on American youth.


Due to the development of Internet and photographic technology the numbers of digital images have been increasing rapidly. In this scenario, maintaining the database of images and retrieval of correct image from online database is a challenging task. To perform this task Content Based Image Retrieval (CBIR) is used which is the process of retrieving the most closely matched images automatically by extracting different features. Single feature-based system cannot retrieve image accurately and efficiently. Highdimensional feature reduced the query efficiency and less-dimensional feature reduced query accuracy. So it may be a better solution using multi features for image retrieval. The proposed system is based on CBIR, in which the colour feature extraction is accomplished through constructing a one dimension feature vector. The texture feature extraction is acquired by using gray-level co-occurrence matrix (GLCM) or colour co-occurrence matrix (CCM). The GLCM and CCM are separately combined into a colour feature with the use of quantization of HSV (Hue, Saturation, and Value) colour space. The purpose of this paper is to provide a better and efficient way for image retrieval by using integrated features. Performance is computed separately for three feature extraction mode and got better result using multi-feature extraction retrieval system.


The detection of silver in nano-plastic food packaging by microwave digestion coupled with either inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES) or inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) was investigated. Microwave digestion was optimised by trialling different acid mixtures. Both ICP-AES and ICP-MS showed good reproducibility, repeatability and recovery. For ICP-AES the limit of detection of the method (LODm) was 25.0 µg g−1, the limit of detection of the instrument (LODi) was 30.0 ng ml−1, the linear range was 0.10−10.0 µg ml−1. The average recoveries for blank samples spiked with silver at 100, 250 and 500 µg g−1 ranged from 82.53% to 87.60%, and the relative standard deviations (RSDs) were from 1.79% to 8.30%. For ICP-MS analysis the LODm was 0.75 µg g−1, the LODi was 0.04 ng ml−1, the linear range was 0.20–500.0 ng ml−1, the RSDs were 2.26–4.79%, and the recoveries were 78.09–92.72% (spiked concentrations of 2.5, 5.0 and 10.0 µg g−1). These results indicate that the proposed method could be employed to analyse silver in nano-plastic food packaging.


Difficulty in understanding emotions is one of the core characteristics in individuals with individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). This study adopted the features of mobile learning system to develop 3D complex facial expression recognition system (3CFER), which was based on a client-server solution. The system contained a 3D humanoid character with animated emotions and various social events. The participants in the system could learn a social event caused an emotion. The study used a pretest & posttest method in 18 participants for examining learning effects for each participant. Thus, the main question was to explore how children with ASD performed realizing facial expression using the 3CFER system, and find out the impacts of using a mobile learning system. The primary results of this study indicated that the 3CFER system was beneficial for children with ASD to learn emotions, and they performed outstanding well (e.g., shared with other people) when using this system. The advantage of using this mobile-emotion learning system was to promote realizing emotions, and at least, provided the opportunity of engaging other people for individual of ASD.


BACKGROUND: Currently, many researchers attach great importance in psoriasis pathogenesis to hyperproduction of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and endothelin-1, which leads to increased angiogenesis in dermis and mediates processes of immune inflammation. At the same time, possibility of using these angiogenesis biomarkers as additional indicators of immune inflammation activity and disease activity has been poorly studied.
AIMS: the purpose of the study was to assess the relationship between serum concentrations of VEGF and endothelin-1, structural changes in the capillary bed according to videodermatoscopy, and severity and prevalence of skin lesions in patients with psoriasis, duration of disease, presence of nail lesions, synovitis, enthesitis and spondylitis, as well as concomitant diseases of the cardiovascular system.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: The work is based on examination data analysis of 132 patients with moderate and severe psoriasis vulgaris for the period 20202022. Patients were determined the levels of VEGF and endothelin-1 in blood plasma and underwent digital dermatoscopy to study the characteristics of angiogenesis vascular loci (vascular glomeruli) in the papillary dermis. All psoriasis patients with symptoms of musculoskeletal system lesions were examined by a rheumatologist, which was supplemented by ultrasonography of the joints.
RESULTS: According to the results of enzyme immunoassay, it was found that the examined patients had an increased concentration of VEGF and endothelin-1 in blood plasma compared to the control group (respectively 19.5 [4.7; 48.1] pg/ml and 274.5 [146; 439] pg/ml versus 5.2 [0.5; 9.8] pg/ml and 96.5 [32; 188] pg/ml, p=0.004 and p=0.002). It was found that an increase in plasma concentrations of VEGF and endothelin-1 correlates with an increase in density of vascular glomeruli (respectively r=0.65 and r=0.74) and the average diameter of the glomerulus (respectively r=0.58 and r=0.56). A more pronounced increase in plasma concentrations of VEGF and endothelin-1 in patients with psoriasis was noted in patients with psoriatic arthritis and in the presence of synovitis. VEGF levels were higher in patients with severe psoriasis and in patients with nail lesions. Correlation analysis showed the strongest relationship between VEGF concentration and DAS28, DLQI, PASI and NAPSI values, as well as endothelin-1 concentration and PASI, BSA and DLQI values.
CONCLUSIONS: The work showed that the plasma concentration of VEGF and endothelin-1 characterizes the degree of angiogenesis expression in the psoriasis pathogenesis, reflects morphology changes in capillaries of the affected skin, and can also be used as a marker of severe psoriasis and an increased risk of developing damage to the nails and synovial membranes of the joints.


Laser Brazing was suggested to automotive manufacturers for its outstanding performance and cost reduction, only a few leading competitive car builders successfully set this technology in mass production up until now. In this study, backlogs and pitfalls are revealed for roof-side panel joining application. A comprehensive research, including basic knowledge for microscopic analysis of laser brazing section, will focus on practical issues such as parts accuracy, jig-fixture repeatability and process optimization.


Find out how we're marking Volunteers' week this year, and how to make use of the new corporate Zoom licence.


The Cordial labeling of graph G is an injection f : V (G) → {0, 1} such that each edge uv in G is assigned the label |f(u)− f(v)| with the property that |vf (0)− vf (1)| ≤ 1 and |ef (0) − ef (1)| ≤ 1, where vf (i) for i = 0, 1 denote the number of vertices with label i. The graph which admits cordial labeling is called the Cordial graph. In this paper, we prove that the Mongolian Tent is cordial. AMS Subject Classification: 05C78


PUPPOSE
To investigate Candida albicans and Streptococcus mutans adhesion to 3 polyurethane composites [pure polyurethane (PU), 1% polyphosphazene-containing polyurethane (PZS-1%) and 5% polyphosphazene-containing polyurethane (PZS-5%)].

METHODS
Two kinds of microorganism suspension were incubated with the specimens under certain culture conditions and the roughness of 3 materials were determined before adhesion tests. Microorganism attached to the specimen were then observed under optical microscope, and viable micro-organisms adhered to the specimen were then counted and removed. The data was analyzed with SAS 8.02 softwaree package.

RESULTS
PU has the roughest surface followed by PZS-1% and PZS-5%. Most amounts of cell adhesion were observed in PU followed by PZS-1% and least amounts were found in PZS-5%.

CONCLLUSIONS
The increase of polyphosphazene nanotubes in polyurethane composites may have an effect on cell adhesion. Surface roughness of the materials may be one of the factors.


Tripterygium has been widely used in anti-inflammation,analgesia,anti-tumor and immune regulation.In recent years,new pharmacological effects are continuously found in application of active ingredients from Tripterygium,but more toxic reactions are also proved,which limit the application of Tripterygium in clinical treatment.For clinical application,this paper reviews the Tripterygium's pharmacological action,clinical application,adverse reactions and its solutions.


Burning area calculation is difficult for the dual thrust grain with metal wires with traditional methods.Based on Pro/E software,the grain of SRM can be constructed easily,and regression burning area can be simulated.So geometry and mass parameter for different time can be calculated,which can provide reliable and original data for accurate interior ballistic calculation.


Introduced the process and theory of straw gasification.Described the technology,history and present to use situation of the straw gasification.Then described the problems of straw gasification technology and its solutions.


We present a computer model of the polarization-sensitive interference diagnostics of the bi-refringent biological media, with a particular example of the lamella of eye cornea. The diagnostic procedure employs the modified Mach–Zehnder interferometer with controllable phase retardation of the reference wave, separate observation of the orthogonal linearly-polarized interference signals, and evaluation of the phases and amplitudes of their variable (AC) components. The data obtained permit to determine the mean refractive index as well as the difference between the extraordinary and ordinary refractive indices, which, in turn, indicates the optical axis and the collagen fibers' orientation in the lamella. The modelled procedure enables the sample structure diagnostics with the longitudinal and lateral resolution ∼100 nm and ∼1.8 μm, correspondingly. In particular, it permits a reliable detection and quantitative characterization of a thin (<100 nm) near-surface layer where the mean refractive index differs by less than 1% from that in the main volume (due to the different orientation of the collagen fibers). The diagnostic approach, developed in the paper, can be useful in various problems of structure characterization of optically-anisotropic biological tissues.


Introduction : in recent years, there has been a worldwide increase in the diagnosis of gestational diabetes (GD) in pregnant women, with the estimated prevalence of GD being 14% globally and 10,36% in Argentina according to the Latin American Diabetes Association (LADA) diagnostic criteria. An adequate dietary plan in association with a healthy lifestyle change and glucose self-monitoring, are the cornerstones to achieve the glycemic goal in two thirds of GD cases. Despite its importance and being broadly advised in clinical practice, there is limited scientific information regarding the optimal dietary prescription to improve results for both mother and child. Objectives : to analyze the nutritional aspects of the treatment of GD and to investigate what the recommendations would be to achieve the aforesaid outcomes, through the analysis of current scientific evidence. Although there is heterogenous evidence from randomized controlled trials, it comes out from these studies that early intervention with diet, exercise and advice on healthy lifestyle during the first trimester or early in the second trimester, may decrease the risk of GD. Nutritional treatment in GD is based on the control of the quantity and distribution of carbohydrates to attain optimal glycemic control without hypoglycemia or ketosis. Caloric intake is as well important for proper weight gain.


Biomass residues, such as rice straw, are available abundantly in most Asian countries, where rice is replaceable. In order to better utilize the wastes as fuels, they are pyrolyzed prior to its briquetting in order to improve the Heating Value and carbon content. The pyrolysis process is carried out at 400°C for 30 minutes. The heat required for pyrolysis is supplied by electric resistance nickel wires coiled around the cylindrical reactor. The obtained char is crushed, mixed with natural binding material and then briquetted in form of a bar with rectangular cross sections 16 × 16 mm and height between 28 – 35 mm. The briquettes weigh around 5 gram, consists of 4 gram char and 1 gram binder. Subsequently the briquettes undergo combustion process in the same reactor but the wall temperature is kept constant at 350 °C, while the initial temperature of the combustion process is varied 125 °C, 150 °C, 175 °C, 200 °C, and 225 °C. The observed combustion processes (represented by reaction rates, combustion periods and maximum temperatures) reveal their strong dependence on briquette temperatures, as shown in the Arrhenius formula. The acquired thermogravimetry data (temperatures and masses) are stored and analyzed in order to determine the Activation Energy and Pre-exponential Coefficient of the combustion kinetics. The activation energy varies between 87 and 370 kJ/mol, while the Pre-exponential Coefficient changes even more terribly between 195,000 and 8.54 × 1035 m/s. Theoretically, these values should be closely similar, because they should be specific to carbon, regardless of the source material, the process, and the initial temperature. Nevertheless, since combustion of solids is highly unstable, the acquired fluctuated data lead to these varying results.


The architecture for distributed information environments. Prepositional architecture of automated control system, which is the fundamental difference is the presence of control subsystem processing of service requests. The main purpose of this subsystem is to provide differentiated quality of service to users in case of a prolonged overload in the information environment. Subsystem operates at the level of user queries, the main criterion for the quality of service is the length of stay request in the system, and the priority is determined by the degree of importance of the timeliness of information delivery.


In the present research work, the application of Corporate Social Responsibility is analyzed, which is considered as a primordial tool, the basis of the organizations, through these can be formulated a manual that regulates a responsible management of the organizations in order that these comply with laws and ethical standards established in society, ensuring the integrity of all stakeholders, in addition, Social Responsibility becomes the continued commitment of businesses, companies, corporations or economic entities in general, to manage a ethically and mainly to contribute to the economic development of the developing sectors and at the same time help to create conditions that improve the quality of life of its employees, businessmen and the community that surround the environment of the economic entity, that is, that this commitment must take us all to sustainable development.
This problem was proposed mainly with the interest to shine if the companies or businesses that belong to the sector under study at the time of implementing what is the Corporate Social Responsibility have a business growth in the economic, productive and corporate image to the market, allowing at the same time to inquire about the interest groups, for which, it was applied diverse methodologies of the investigation, where we can detail the exploratory, descriptive and mainly field, through which we can study why the companies could not improve their business growth, why they ignore social responsibility actions and why they do not promote the conservation of the environment.


Fundamental to the question of where and how anesthetics act at the cellular level and what their effects may be on cell membranes is the question of whether anesthetics alter the permeability of cell membranes to glucose. The present study was designed to investigate the effect, if any, of inhalation anesthetics on the passage of glucose across a particular type of human cell membrane, the red cell membrane. Human erythrocytes were employed not only because of their ready availability, but also because although they do consume glucose, the rate at which they do is so low' compared to the rate at which glucose penetrates erythrocytes, that it becomes possible to study the effects of anesthetics on the rate of transfer of glucose cell membranes independently of any concurrent effects of the anesthetics on glucose consumption by cells. Experiments were also designed to determine whether glucose permeability of red cells was oxygen dependent and whether carbon dioxide concentrations influenced glucose permeability.


AIM:To study the microanatomy of A1 segment of anterior cerebral artery(ACA) and its perforating arteries and to provide anatomical data for neurosurgeons.METHODS:Microsurgical anatomy and measurement about ACA and its perforating arteries in 14 cadaveric heads were observed under microscope.RESULTS:Many anatomical variations were found in A1 segment of ACA.Hypoplasia was common in the right A1 segment and the diameter of the left A1 was larger than that of the right A1.Most perforating arteries arose from superior and medial-superior A1 segments and coursed postero-superiorly.A1 segment sent 2-15(mean 8)branches and supplied the anterior perforated substance,basal nuclei,optic chiasm,frontal lobe and hypothalamus.All Heubner recurrent arteries arose from the anterior cerebral artery,usually near the anterior communicating artery.In case of dysplasia at the side of A1 segment,Heubner recurrent arteries could be mixed with the ipsilateral A1 segment.CONCLUSION:Good knowledge of the microsurgical anatomy of the perforating branches of the ACA and good protection of the branches are crucial to prevention of serious operative complications.


The fully optimized geometries and electronic structures of seven nitramino derivatives of tetrazole are calculated by ab initio method at HF/6 - 31G* level. The results show that the tetrazole ring is approximately planar. The aromaticity for neutral 2H - tetrazoles is higher than that for the corresponding 1H - isomers. The nitramino group in 5 - nitramino - 1H - tetrazole is co - planar to the ring due to the hydrogen bonding between 0(10) and H(11) , whereas in others the nitramino groups are perpendicular to the ring planes. The calculated energy results at different theoretical levels show that electron correlation effects in the title compounds are greater. The total energies of the neutral 1H -tetrazoles are higher than those of the 2H - isomers. Among three anions 5 - nitraminotetrazole anion is the most stable. The protonation sites and coordination modes of the title compounds are elucidated based on the charge distribution. The IR spectra, thermodynamic properties, i,e. standard molar enthalpy, standard molar heat capacity and standard molar entropy of the title compounds are calculated. Finally, temperature - dependent functions for heat capacities in the form( a + bT + cT2) in the 300K ~ 1000K range are obtained. Comparison shows that the tide compounds have similar thermodynamic properties and as the temperature rises, the difference between the thermodynamic functions of the neutral species and the corresponding anions increases.


The volume grew out of a conference on Classics in Post-Colonial Worlds held at the Open University in the West Midlands Centre in Harborne, Birmingham in May 2004.
The volume is divided into three distinct parts titled: Part 1: Case Studies, Part 2: Encounter and new traditions and Part 3: Challenging theory: Framing further questions. The bibliography is comprehensive and the index very useful.


Various human gene products produced by genetically engineered microorganisms, such as insulin, growth hormone, interferons and regulatory peptides, are being used therapeutically in humans. Nowadays, neuroparalytic toxin of Clostridium botulinum has become an unlikely addition to the range of therapeutic microbial products. Botulinum toxin (BT) has been shown to be useful for the treatment of many clinical conditions. It is a combination of proteins, one of which is a botulinum neurotoxin and rest is auxiliary proteins [hemagglutinins (HA) and a nontoxin, nonhemagglutinin (NTNH)]. When BT is injected into a target tissue, the heavy chain of the botulinum neurotoxin selectively binds to glycoprotein structures, specifically found on cholinergic nerve terminals. In cytosol, the light chain binds with high specificity to the SNARE protein complex. The toxin is injected through a monopolar hollow-bore, Teflon-coated electromyographic needle connected to an EMG amplifier. Purpose of this article is to present an overview of BT and its clinical implications.


Nanoscale photolithography requires accurate formation of very small resist images using high energy photons and a high sensitivity resist. Historically it has been presumed that the primary technical challenges for design of a photoresist that will image with high accuracy under these conditions are shot noise effects, i.e., statistical variation of overall photon intensity from place to place on the wafer, and line-edge roughness. While these issues have been examined to various degrees, other aspects of the resist response have not received comparable attention. These include the effect of the statistics of the chemical reactions during post-expose bake and dissolution on resist images, and the effect of the fluctuations of the spatial distribution of photons within a printed feature. In order to examine the impact of all of these we have carried out a series of simulations of resist image formation as a function of dose for arrays of 50 and 80 nm contact holes printed with EUV (13.4 nm) radiation usin...


oftware development consists of more than writing programming code. Developers also participate in discussions, meetings, phone calls, and activities undertaken to share knowledge and experience such as consulting on previously released products, explaining technical details, and reviewing documents. Surprisingly, software engineering research hardly addresses this issue, instead emphasizing software development methods and techniques. If we assume that software developers spend more than half their time communicating, we can legitimately question whether software engineering research has the right focus. Norman Fenton and Shari Pfleeger support this focus on human factors when they state that "For many years, sociologists have studied personnel attributes, both as individuals and teams, and their effect on productivity and products. These characteristics include age, level and type of education, intelligence, gender, marital status, type of remuneration, and more. Although we do not yet measure these aspects of software developers and their work habits, it is clear that when researchers find them relevant to other professions, they are likely to be relevant to ours."1 Rini van Solingen, Schlumberger Retail Petroleum Systems Egon Berghout, Delft University of Technology Frank van Latum, Dräger Medical Technology Interrupts: Just a Minute Never Is


Abstract Background The Actiwatch is increasingly being used to investigate sleep. The aim of this study was to investigate which sensitivity setting of the Actiwatch is most suitable to detect sleep disturbance in older adults with intellectual disability (ID). Method Two Actiwatch types were compared to polysomnography (PSG) in 10 older adults with mild ID, using a 1-min epoch-to-epoch comparison. Outcome measures were sleep detection percentage, wake detection percentage, and overall accuracy of both Actiwatches, and several sleep parameters. Results The high sensitivity setting of the Actiwatch appeared most suitable to detect sleep disturbance in older adults with ID (wake detection percentage = 54.6%, sleep detection percentage = 89.7%). Sleep parameters calculated using the high sensitivity setting corresponded well to PSG outcomes. Outcomes were similar for both Actiwatches. Conclusions We recommend using the high sensitivity setting of the Actiwatch for clinical evaluation of sleep, and for epidemiological research in older adults with ID.


Southern armyworm is the principal early-season pest of fall tomatoes in southwest Florida, capable of destroying a crop if left uncontrolled. This trial examined a wide range of insecticide types alone and in combination or rotation to provide growers additional options for controlling these pests. Greenhouse-raised seedlings were planted 11 Sep at 18-inch spacing on 6 raised beds 490 ft long on 6-ft centers, each covered with whiteface polyethylene film. Plants were irrigated and fertilized using Netafim drip tape with 12-inch spacing between emitters. The center bed of each set of three beds was left untreated to serve as a source of pest inoculum. The treated beds were divided into plots 35 ft long to which 14 treatments were assigned in a completely randomized block design with four replications. A precount 19 Oct showed 9 % of 160 plants sampled across the trial had worms present. Treatments were applied in six weekly applications initiated 22 Oct using a high clearance sprayer with two vertical booms operating at 200 psi. Each boom was fitted with three ceramic yellow Albuz hollow cone nozzles for the first four treatments to deliver 66 gpa. An additional nozzle added to each boom for the last two applications raising the output to 88 gpa. The Avaunt and DiPel treatment was a weekly rotation starting with Avaunt. The adjuvant Kinetic was tank mixed with the Proclaim treatments at 0.25% v/v. Number of larvae and damage on four plants per plot were monitored weekly five times starting 26 Oct. Damage was rated as 0 = no damage, 1 = 1% leaflets with damage, 2 = 2 to 5%, 3 = 6-15%, 4 = 16-30% and 5 implies >30%. Vacuum samples to evaluate spiders and parasitic wasps were taken on 26 Oct, 9 and 27 Nov and 10 Dec from Avaunt at 0.65 lb/AI, Lannate and the untreated plots using a modified Homelite leaf blower. All fruit of marketable size from 16 plants per plot was harvested on 3 and 17 Dec. Fruit was classified as marketable or not and sized on a commercial grading table.


From an initial survey on prescription privileges of a national sample of social workers, of the 176 respondents, 52% were opposed and 19% were in favor of prescription privileges.


In this talk, I give a short general introduction to Loop Quantum Gravity (LQG), beginning with some motivations for quantizing General Relativity, listing various attempts and then focusing on the case of LQG. (© 2014 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)


The census in China of July 1990 found that 1.13 billion people inhabit the country. In order to stem the growth of population in the best interest of Chinas socioeconomic development the government implemented a one-child policy in 1979. The policy provided for the government-sponsored use of contraceptives abortion sterilization and economic incentives to avoid over-quota births. International declarations and conventions on human rights assign to governments the responsibility of ensuring the social and economic advancement of their peoples yet the same international instruments provide the basic human right of every couple to freely decide the number and spacing of their children. Chinas one-child family policy however directly pits these 2 positions against one another. This paper considers the economic rewards and sanctions relating to Chinas population policy with the goal of determining whether these sanctions violate international human rights or fall within legal parameters. It is argued theoretically that the economic incentives of policy do not violate international human rights laws on humans procreative rights. Reproductive rights are not totally unrestricted and are constrained by the duty to act responsibly for the benefit of ones family and community. The author however does not specifically address the issue of policy implementation.


This dataset contains time series of all available monthly river flow rates observed at the farthest downstream station for the world's largest 925 rivers, plus long-term mean river flow rates and continental discharge into the individual and global oceans, produced originally by Dai and Trenberth (2002, JHM) and Dai et al. (2009, Journal of Climate), and updated by Dai (2016, AGU Monograph 221).


In the law of international sale of goods,"risk" refers to the risk of the goods delivered by sellers incurring losses caused by natural disasters,unexpected accidents,or other reasons other than the parties of the sale contract.The legal system of passing of risk shows the exact time and place for the risks passing from a seller to a buyer under a particular transaction condition,which makes us be able to decide which party shall assume the responsibility for the risk losses by establishing the reason and nature of the goods losses.The basic principle of the covenant concerning passing of risk is that the parties can prescribe the limit of passing the risk in the contract of sale by citing the trade terms in Incoterms.Five supplementary models of passing risk have been raised in the covenant.Under the covenant,the seller still had to assume the responsibility for the property losses caused by the accident of risk even when the seller breach the contract.


This study exams whether consultant's capabilities is linked to customer satisfaction and customer loyalty, and the competence of an improved consultant's capabilities affects the customer. The results are as follows.
First, the higher the professionalism of the financial consultant, the more positive (+) the impact on the insurer, and the higher the reliability and productivity of the financial consultant, the more positive (+) the relationship. Second, the hypothesis that the higher consultant's capabilities, the higher the customer satisfaction level was rejected. However, hypotheses 2-2 and 2-3 were adopted that the higher the reliability and productivity of financial consultant, the higher the customer satisfaction. Third, the better the insurance company, the higher the customer satisfaction. Fourth, the higher the customer satisfaction, the higher the customer loyalty.
Through this study, insurance companies are expected to make more efforts to improve the professionalism, reliability, and productivity of insurance solicitors. In addition, good insurance companies are expected to achieve customer satisfaction management and continuous growth with the high competency of insurance agents.


Calibration of pressure gages is accomplished by use of fluid chamber in conjunction with conventional single chamber hydraulic deadweight tester. System eliminates cleaning of gages with liquid oxygen after tests and is simple to construct and operate.


Silicon-silicon carbide (Si-SiC) composite powders were synthesized by in-situ self- propagating high-temperature synthesis using rice husk ash (RHA)/carbon/Mg as precursors in argon atmosphere. The as-SHS powders were leached by two leaching steps. The microstructure and chemical composition of the obtained Si-SiC composite powders were examined using scanning electron microscope (SEM) and x-ray diffractometer (XRD), respectively.


:- AH Plus is one of the most commonly used epoxy resin-based sealers, due to its favorable properties. Trends in endodontics have shifted towards bio-ceramic materials; newer modification of MTA includes its use as a root canal sealer. The objective of present study comparatively evaluated the apical sealing ability of a new MTA based sealer, MTA Fillapex and a most commonly used resin sealer, AH Plus sealer. Statistical analysis of the results demonstrated significantly less dye leakage for AH Plus compared to MTA Fillapex. Mean value for MTA Fillapex group was 1.375 mm and for AH Plus group was 0.755 mm, which was statistically significant. Apical sealing ability of AH Plus was comparatively better than that of MTA Fillapex.


The main objective of this article is to examine the long-term overreaction for all listed shares in the Egyptian Stock Exchange. I find evidence of long-term overreaction which is not due to size effect. Therefore, a contrarian strategy by buying losers and selling winners is likely to be profitable. The findings also suggest that the overreaction phenomenon in the Egyptian stock market is not sensitive to the length of the formation period. Interestingly, I find a link between the regulatory policies and long-term overreaction as I find no evidence of investor overreaction within the strict price limit regime. On the other hand, the overreaction phenomenon is clear during the circuit-breaker regime. The findings also show that the overreaction phenomenon in the Egyptian Stock Exchange cannot be attributed to the seasonality effect.


CO2 emissions in China's 29 provinces are accurately calculated in this article and analyzed comparatively in the four different areas of high-income vs.high emissions,high-income vs.low emissions,low-income vs.high emissions,and low-income vs.low emissions.Meanwhile,in the framework of panel data model,China's KFC of Carbon Dioxide emissions and affecting factors are analyzed.The results indicate that the hypothesis of Environmental Kuznets Curve is established according to the inverted U-shaped relationship lingering between the level of economic development and CO2emissions except for the area of low-income vs.high emissions.Energy intensity,industry structure,urbanization,and the level of foreign trade have proved prominent in affecting China's Carbon Dioxide Emissions.Consequently,relevant suggestions to reduce CO2 emission are put forward,offering a theoretical basis for the effective enforcement of CO2emissions reduction policies in China.


Background: Neoclassical analysis of the human face is based on assumptions that certain fixed ratios exist between parameters of a harmonious face, these relationships of the human face have been called canons. One of the facial canons is nasoaural proportion canon most commonly followed for facial reconstructive surgeries. This study aimed to determine the applicability of nasoaural proportion and inclination canon in the participants and to explore the sexual dimorphism of nasoaural parameters among them. Methodology: This observational study was performed in the department of anatomy from May 2018 to May 2019. The study participants aged from 18 to 25 years of which 50 were male and 50 were female. Nose height and ear height were measured by a digital vernier caliper. Nasofacial angle and ear angle were measured using a goniometer. All the parametric data were analyzed by t-test using MedCalc software. Results: Classical nasoaural facial canon was followed by only one (male) participant while none of the males and females followed the classical nasoaural canon. The average ratio of nose height to ear height was 0.7 in both genders. Nasoaural canon showed that nasal height and ear height were fairly correlated. The inclination canon was followed by 18% males and 8% females only. Conclusion: The ideal neoclassical canons did not seem to apply to our sample when measurements were implemented. Therefore, these cannot prove a useful basis of modus operandi in achieving esthetic goals in the Indian population.


Physical properties of silt crusts

The physical properties of silt crusts of two locations within the eastern part of the Solling mountains in Western Germany were investigated. They were formed downhill on top of sloping grey brown podzolic soils derived from loess during heavy rainfall, which caused aggregate breakdown and erosion. The crusts were several cm in thickness. They consist of 80% coarse silt (20–60μ), of 12% medium silt (6–20μ) and of 5% clay ( 15μ, According to this the unsaturated hydraulic conductivity remains almost constant when tensions are increasing, but it drops immediately, when the 15μ pores drain at 200cm H2O pressure. The saturated conductivity varies with porosity in the range of 10–50 cm/day. But in the Ap-horizon of a grey brown podzolic soil with higher contents in clay and organic C the saturated conductivity varies with porosity in the range of 10–10 000 cm/day. Only during rainstorms with high intensity silt crusts will impede rapid water infiltration into the underlying grey brown podzolic soil.


Nowadays, the requirements for anti-aging super products grow together with the aging population. The aim of innovations in the cosmetic field is not only to improve the appearance of skin but also health, well-being, and to make life easier. In this regard, the discovery of safe, natural and effective compounds with no side effects is like searching for the Holy Grail. Nevertheless, the simplest biomolecules, amino acids and short peptides creating proteins and participating in nearly all biological processes can be a secret of skin anti-aging therapy due to their unique properties and non-toxic "botox-like" non-invasive activity. Amino acids joined into peptide chain, similar to precious colored pearls in the necklace, have nourishing and beautifying relevance. Notabene, pearls, a symbol of natural noble beauty and longevity, containing all essential amino acids, offer a lot of benefits. Amino acids and oligopeptides are a "must-have" among superfoods for skin, used in either anti-aging skincare cosmeceuticals or in the diet. This mini-review summarizes the latest scientific findings concerning the great potential of short peptides in anti-aging strategy. It might contribute to further studies via making it readily available for researchers interested in the innovations in gerocosmetology.


The Forest Service currently sells timber by (a) planning and preparing the sale, (b) offering the sale, usually at an oral auction, and (c) administering the timber harvest. Many of the concerns about the timber program have focused on harvest administration, because purchasers have incentives to minimize their costs and to remove only those logs whose value for products exceeds the price paid to the Forest Service. Some critics suggest that this, together with an alleged "timber bias" and other inappropriate incentives, has contributed to environmental damages (e.g., deteriorating forest health), poor fiscal performance (e.g., below-cost timber sales), and a lack of accountability (e.g., timber theft). Possible legislative changes to the timber sale system are being considered by various interest groups and Members of Congress.


Objective To study the accuracy of SSEPI-DWI derived ADCmap in estimating the intramedullary extent of malignant bone neoplasms.Methods 18 cases of primary malignant bone tumors of the knee wereprospectively enrolled in our study. Each patient had a preoperative MRIincluding a SSEPI-DWI sequence and conventional T1WI and STIR sequencealong the longitudinal plane to serve as a control. The distance between thetumor extent to the knee joint on the ADC map was compared with thatmeasured on T1WI and STIR. Results Signals of edema,necrotic tissue,viabletumor,normal muscles and normal marrow were characterized as iso-,hypo- orsignificantly hypointense on ADC map respectively.The intramedullary extentof malignant bone tumor demonstrated on the ADC map was highly correlatedwith that demonstrated on T1WI(correlation coefficient 0.994,P0.01),andwith that demonstrated on STIR(correlation coefficient 0.991, P0.01).When controversial intensities were met in determining intramedullary extentof malignant bone tumaor,with conventional procedures,the difference amongthe results,deter mined with ADC map,T1WI and STIP became more obvious.Conclusion ADC maps derived from the SSEPI-DWI provide a differentcontrast between viable tumor, peritumoral edema and tumor necrosis,ADC mapare accurate in determining intramedullary extent of malignant bone neoplasm.ADCmap may provide useful information when there are some difficulties indetermining the intra-osseous invasion of the tumor by conventional sequences.[


While research on language immersion education has highlighted a multitude of benefits such as cognitive skills, academic achievement and language and literacy development, some studies have also identified challenges to its effective implementation, particularly as they relate to language acquisition. It has been suggested that the less than optimal levels of students' immersion language "persist in part because immersion teachers lack systematic approaches for integrating language into their content instruction" (Tedick, Christian, & Fortune, 2011, p. 7). Students' interlanguage has aspects that are borrowed, transferred and generalised from the mother tongue and differs from both the immersion language and the mother tongue. After a period of sustained development, interlanguage appears to stabilise and certain non-target like features tend to fossilise. Research has long suggested that effective immersion pedagogy needs to counterbalance both form-oriented and meaning-oriented approaches. This paper reviews the literature in relation to the linguistic deficiencies in immersion students' L2 proficiency and form-focused instruction is examined as a viable solution to this pedagogic puzzle. Key instructional elements of form-focused instruction are unpacked and some pedagogical possibilities are considered in an attempt to identify and discuss strategies that will enable immersion learners to refine their grammatical and lexical systems as they proceed.


White sucker (Catostomus commersoni) in three acid lakes (pH 4.90, 5.56, and 5.58) frequently matured at older ages and larger sizes and had shorter reproductive life spans than white sucker in two...


Objective To assess the multi-factors on the utilization of dental services for military personnels with Logistic regression model in China. Methods The survey was conducted with stratified clustering method among Chinese military personnels.A study of multi-factors on the utilization of dental services for military personnels was analyzed by Logistic regression model. Results Data of 1 269 military personnels(army 419,navy 419,air force 413) were collected from 3 sampling spots.The percentage of the personnels who visited the dentist was higher in those with a higher education,higher rank,and older age by simple-factor analysis.And age,to be from,arms,rank,treatment needs,dental carries,and third impacted molars were statistially significant by multi-factors analysis.Conclusion The utilization of dental services of military personnels depends upon multi-factors in China.


Abstract 1821 Lenalidomide is an oral immune-modulating agent that has been shown to have clinical activity in patients with treatment-naive and previously treated chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). In CLL, a disease-specific phenomenon of drug-induced tumor flare is often observed that results in lymph node enlargement, rash, and cytokine release. We and others have attributed both lenalidomide-induced tumor flare and cytokine release in part to CLL cell activation, with concomitant increase in surface co-stimulatory molecules including CD154. The potential consequences of such activation by lenalidomide in CLL are multiple. In symptomatic, previously untreated CLL, activation of tumor cells by lenalidomide likely contributes to reversal of hypogammaglobulinemia in a subset of patients. Additionally, activation of CLL cells increases their capacity for antigen presentation, potentially facilitating a clinically beneficial development of tumor-specific antibodies toward antigens such as ROR1. In patients with previously treated CLL, lenalidomide therapy does not reverse hypogammaglobulinemia. However, treatment has been documented to increase serum b-FGF and VEGF levels, which correlates with lack of response. Previous work demonstrates that CLL cells predominately utilize the PI3K p110δ isoform for activation following CD154 signaling. Given our prior findings of prominent lenalidomide induction of CD40-CD154 signaling in vitro and in vivo, we focused initially on molecular interrogation of isoforms responsible for this in CLL cells. Utilizing primary CLL cells, we demonstrated that inhibition of PI3K-δ signaling by CAL-101, a clinically relevant PI3K-δ isoform-specific inhibitor, abrogated lenalidomide-induced activation of CLL cells by directly reducing PI3K enzymatic activity and also reducing phosphorylation of the downstream PI3K target AKT. Parallel studies with siRNA targeted to the p110δ isoform of PI3K demonstrated antagonism of lenalidomide-induced AKT phosphorylation. Furthermore, we found that inhibition of PI3K-δ by CAL-101 at therapeutically relevant concentrations (1 μM) prevented up-regulation of CD40, CD154, and CD86 by lenalidomide and also antagonized production of IgM by normal B-cells co-cultured with CLL cells. Collectively, these data demonstrate the importance of PI3K-δ signaling in modulating the pharmacological effects of lenalidomide in CLL cell activation including up-regulation of CD40, CD154, CD86 and active CLL cell co-stimulation of normal B-cells. Our findings suggest that clinical evaluation of combination strategies of lenalidomide and CAL-101 in treatment-naive patients with CLL should be performed with careful pharmacodynamic monitoring of immune modulation and signaling to best preserve the clinical benefits of both drugs. This work is supported by the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, D. Warren Brown Foundation, and The OSU Leukemia SPORE grant funded by the NCI. CAL-101 was provided by Calistoga Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Disclosures: Jones: Glaxo Smith-Kline: Consultancy; Abbott: Research Funding. Lannutti: Calistoga Pharmaceutical Inc.: Employment. Byrd: Calistoga Pharmaceutical Inc.: Equity Ownership. Johnson: Calistoga Pharmaceutical Inc.: Research Funding.


Abstract The relationship of oviposition time (OT) to egg weight, specific gravity, and shell weight was examined in two trials. Trial 1 was at 38 and 39 weeks of age, while Trial 2 was conducted at 44 weeks of age. Two commercial strains were utilized. The feeding time (FT) was 0800 hr in Trial 1 and either 0800 or 1300 hr in Trial 2. Egg weight was greatest for eggs laid before 0900 hr OT in Trial 1. Specific gravity was highest for eggs laid between 1500 to 1900 hr and lowest from 0900 to 1300 hr OT. Shell weight was greatest for 1900 to 0700 hr OT and lowest at 0900 to 1300 hr OT. A significant OT × FT interaction occurred for all parameters in Trial 2, which indicated a differential diurnal distribution due to different FT. No overall change in egg weight or specific gravity was observed. Shell weight was increased significantly by the 1300 hr FT when compared to the 0800 hr FT. It was concluded that there is a diurnal variation in egg weight, specific gravity, and shell weight exhibited by limit-fed broiler breeders and this pattern can be modified somewhat by different FT.


The invention discloses a gel ball type rubidium/caesium ion adsorbent, and a preparation method and application thereof. The gel ball type rubidium/caesium ion adsorbent is prepared by the following steps of: preparing sodium alginate hydrosol, mixing potassium tetraphenylborate powder and the sodium alginate hydrosol to form a sol mixing solution, dropping the sol mixing solution into a calcium chloride or strontium chloride solution and performing aging and separation. The preparation method is simple and low in production cost. The obtained rubidium/caesium ion adsorbent is high in adsorption capacity for rubidium/caesium ions and is high in selectivity. The gel ball type rubidium/caesium ion adsorbent can be used for removing the caesium ions from radioactive nuclear waste and is used for extracting the rubidium/caesium ions from an alkali metal competition system.


The diagnostic algorithms, protocols of treatment and recommendations for the dynamic follow-up of the patients with lymphadenopathies are predented in this article. The work is based on the long-time experience of National Research Center for Hematology, Moscow.


flow and the effect was investigated experimentally. Different periodic perturbations were introduced into the turbulent shear flow. Planar particle image velocimetry (PIV)
was employed to measure the separated flow as well as the reattachment area downstream. The time-averaged and phase-averaged flow fields were obtained and the
Reynolds stresses in clean and controlled cases were compared. It has been shown that in the controlled case the flow separation was suppressed and the reattachment length was reduced by as much as 47.6%. Furthermore, The method of proper orthogonal decomposition (POD) was applied to the flow fields to extract large-scale coherent flow structures. The resulting phase-averaged motions of main POD modes provides more insight into the evolution of the shedding vortices as well as the interaction between the mean and oscillating flow fields.


The development and validation of a capability to perform quantitative, physics-based analysis of alternatives of conceptual unmanned, reusable lunar cargo lander architectures is discussed. The lander is conceptualized as a suite of disciplines that need to be sized, synthesized, and optimized for a mission. As such, models of these disciplines were developed and integrated in a recently-developed multi-disciplinary analysis and optimization framework for space systems. The development of the disciplines, as well as how they are integrated into the framework, is discussed. Additionally, validation studies were performed against the Descent Module of the Altair lunar lander.


Hybrid polymers have been already widely applied in photonic applications to manufacture microlenses or 2D and 3D waveguides. Thus, they are promising candidates to manufacture optical systems down to the chip level. A brief review on hybrid polymers consisting of both inorganic and organic functional units and thus combine superior material properties in just one material class will be given in this report. The material properties, which can be adjusted to the application in wide ranges enable to fabricate micro-optical elements (e.g. microlenses) using replication techniques such as UV-assisted replication or nano-imprint lithography. Aside of their applicability in 2D, emphasis will be in particular on the evaluation of hybrid polymer materials for two-photon absorption lithography, which is employed to directly manufacture sophisticated 3D photonic structures impossible to be generated with conventional 2D techniques.


Adopting case-based teaching method in the teaching of Western Economics is good for cultivating students'critical thinking,communicative and decision-making abilities.The home teaching of Western Economics is hindered by backward skills,poor participation and insufficient equipment.The college is expected to give full play to the teacher's leading role,elevate the student's adaptability,and improve the supporting measures of the university.


We present a CMOS electrochemical capacitance imager designed to overcome Debye-length-screening effects in integrated electrochemical assays and featuring frequency-division-multiplexed (FDM) column readout. Our imager contains eight pixel arrays where each pixel contains a 5-MHz-180-MHz ring-oscillator-based capacitance-to-frequency converter (CFC) to detect interfacial capacitance changes at an in-pixel working electrode. We implement FDM readout, which reduces column-readout time compared to a time-division-multiplexed approach, by operating each CFC in a column at a unique nominal frequency while summing the pixel output currents. We report experimental results from electronic performance characterization of a $3.0\times 2.5-\mathrm{mm}^{2}$ 420-pixel electrochemical capacitance imager, fabricated in a 1.8-V 0.18-$\mu{\mathrm{m}}$ CMOS process.


The paper focuses on the development of a thermal protection and energy requirements in relation to the issue of prefab residential housing buildings and prefab housing estates while emphasizing the need for a conceptual approach and environmental considerations. The development is recapitulated with examples of compositional sets of prefab residential housing on selected sites in the Czech Republic. Based on the comparison of archival documents and results of a long-term observation of the prefab residential housing resources, it outlines the direction of further expected development of prefab housing estates within a social context. The comparison also takes into account the impact of the European Union energy strategy and the implementation of directives into the legal rules and standards of the member states. The aim of the paper is to show the negatives and positives of current political and social strategies in relation to the thermal protection of buildings, the energy management and healthy indoor environment, and that the renovation of prefab residential housing and prefab housing estates is effective with regard to the invested funds.


Sessler DI, Israel D, Pozos RS, et al: Spontaneous postanesthetic tremor does not resemble thermoregulatory shivering. Anesthesiology 1988, in press Sessler DI, Olofsson CI, Rubinstein EH, et al: The thermoregulatory threshold during halothane anesthesia in humans. Anesthesiology 1988, in press Simon E, Pierau FK, Taylor DCM: Central and peripheral thermal control of effectors in homeothermic temperature regulation. Physiol Rev 1986; 66:235-300 (445 ref)


More and more organizations begin to employ information technology capability strategy in the dynamic and complicated environment, but from the information technology capability to innovation performance, it should be some effects of other variables. And also, the focus point of relevant research changes from whether it should be build the information technology capability to the mechanism of how to construct the information technology capability and possible difficulties in this process. Based on previous studies, the study makes all explorative study of the relationship between information technology capability and innovation performance. Then the moderation effect of learning commitment on the relationship is discussed and examined empirically by developing structural equation models using partial least squares method with evidence from Chinese's firms.


1PG Scholar, Dept. of Computer Science and Engineering, SVS College of Engineering Coimbatore, Tamilnadu, India 2Assistant Professor, Dept. of Computer Science and Engineering, SVS College of Engineering Coimbatore, Tamilnadu, India ---------------------------------------------------------------------***---------------------------------------------------------------------Abstract The open air pictures captured in harsh climate are corrupted due to the nearness of fog, mist, rain and so on. Pictures of scenes captured in lousy climate have destitute contrasts and colors. This might also cause problem in spotting the objects within the captured murky images. Due to murkiness there may be trouble to numerous computer vision application because it diminishes the perceivability of the scene. Picture de-hazing is one of the essential imperative inspect variety in picture preparing. Cloudiness is genuinely an Climatic effect.


The collaboration among physicians during episodes of care for hospitalized patients makes a significant contribution to effective health outcomes. Although physician collaborations are frequently analyzed to explore their impact on healthcare outcomes, the impact of the grouping structure of such collaborations is still unknown. The main purpose of this paper is to improve health outcomes by analyzing the attributes of patient-sharing physician collaboration networks. This paper explores the impact of different attributes of patient-sharing physician collaboration networks (PCNs) on hospitalization cost, length of stay and readmission rate. We use an electronic health insurance claim dataset to construct and explore PCNs. A PCN is categorized as either 'low' or 'high' in terms of hospitalization cost, length of stay, and readmission rate. Isomorphic classes of triad census, and clique and clan concepts of subgroup analysis are used to analyze PCNs. The results show that the clique and clan of physician collaborations affect only hospitalization cost and length of stay. Two isomorphism classes of triad census (i.e., closed triad and open triad) impact hospitalization cost, length of stay, and readmission rate. Physician collaborations in larger groups, instead of smaller groups, is related to lower hospitalization cost and shorter length of stay. The findings and insights from this paper can potentially help healthcare stakeholders to formulate better policies, which will eventually improve the quality of care while reducing cost.


Home economists play a key role in the communications business, helping the housewives and consumers of today and tomorrow to get the best out of meat, the central item in our diet. This involves both sensible choice at the shop counter or display, and clever utilization in the kitchen. This paper provides an opportunity for those concerned with helping the British meat industry to meet the changing needs of consumers, to provide home economists with the latest information on how this huge, increasingly technology-based, industry is adapting to changing circumstances. This paper describes how meat is produced in Britain in the late 1970s and highlights some of the more important changes that have happened in production patterns in recent history.


Based on the behavior analysis of economics, this paper first proposes strict definitions for option writing price, buying price, and fair price in the framework of robust control. Then a closed solution for the value function of the dynamic game is derived by solving the corresponding Bellman equation. Finally explicit expressions for the option price and the hedging strategy are obtained, and comparisons are made between this option pricing method and the traditional stochastic method. The advantages of this option pricing method include: the hedging cost is lower than that of the traditional method, and the hedging strategy doesn't require continuous trading, and the infinite divisibility of stock shares while the traditional method does.


We have studied the magnetization of CeOs${}_{2}$Al${}_{10}$ in high magnetic fields up to 55 T for $H\ensuremath{\parallel}a$ and constructed the magnetic phase diagram for $H\ensuremath{\parallel}a$. The magnetization curve shows a concave $H$ dependence below ${T}_{\mathrm{max}}~40$ K, which is higher than the transition temperature ${T}_{0}~29$ K. The magnetic susceptibility along the $a$ axis, ${\ensuremath{\chi}}_{a}$, shows a smooth and continuous decrease down to $~$20 K below ${T}_{\mathrm{max}}~40$ K without showing an anomaly at ${T}_{0}$. From these two results, a Kondo singlet is formed below ${T}_{\mathrm{max}}$ and coexists with the antiferromagnetic order below ${T}_{0}$. We also propose that the larger suppression of the spin degrees of freedom along the $a$ axis than along the $c$ axis below ${T}_{\mathrm{max}}$ is associated with the origin of the antiferromagnetic component.


During the last few decades, scientific research conceived as the empirical pursuit of truth and objectivity has been put on trial. For many, scientific knowledge has lost its prestige, integrity, and quasi-transcendence, and has come to be variously considered as a set of rival incommensurable theories similar to ideologies and religions, unstable configurations of power and authority prone to irrational changes, or even fictions generated by self-delusion, if not deliberate deception. Landmark works in this critical process include those of Kuhn (1970), Popper (1972), Feyerabend (1975), and Lakatos (1978). Their criticisms have triggered many debates (e.g. Suppe 1977; Serres 1989) and have permeated our 'episteme' in more or less radical forms. Scholars from all fields have subsequently transferred these arguments from the natural to the social sciences (e.g. McCloskey 1986; White 1986), and, more generally, have questioned any intellectual endeavour inspired by the modern scientific ethos or modelled o...


Ochratoxin A (OTA) has been found in Tunisia since 1983 in foodstuffs and human blood pnmanly from rural areas A nephropathy sirmlar to Balkan Endemic Nephropathy (BEN) has been found in Tunisian populations especially in nephropathic patients having CrrA in blood due to chronic exposure by ingestion of contaminated food Some of them have shown several karyomegalic tubular cells in their renal biopsyWe designed investigations to produce in rat experimental nephropathy using OTA. These studies showed karyomegalic cells with alteration of renal tubular tissue combined with megacytosis. These observations suggested that the karyomegaly and megacytosis are induced by OTA in rats and could be also in humans. In addition, abnormal mitosis are observed at the early stage of the pathology (30 days of treatment), suggesting that renal tubular cells can regenerate if exposure to OTA is limited to a short period. After 90 days of treatment the lesions became irreversible. The karyomegaly was worst. Apoptotic cells a...


The class imbalance problem has been said recently to hinder the performance of learning systems. In fact, many of them are designed with the assumption of well-balance datasets. However, it is very common to find higher presence of one of the classes in real classification problems. The aim of this paper is to make a preliminary analysis on the effect of the class imbalance problem in learning classifier systems. Particularly we focus our study on UCS, a supervised version of XCS classifier system. We analyze UCS's behavior on unbalanced datasets and find that UCS is sensitive to high levels of class imbalance. We study strategies for dealing with class imbalances, acting either at the sampling level or at the classifier system's level.


We examined controls on mineralization of carbon to methane (CH4) and carbon dioxide (CO2) in Sphagnum (moss)-dominated peatland ecosystems by transplanting surface (5 cm deep) and subsurface (40 cm deep) peat samples reciprocally among three sites for periods ranging from 4 to 25 months. The sites were Big Run Bog in West Virginia, USA, Bog Lake Bog in Minnesota, USA, and Bog 307 in Ontario, Canada. Immediately upon retrieval, we incubated the peat samples in the laboratory at 12 and 22°C under both anoxic and oxic conditions to estimate rates of carbon mineralization. Transplanting affected surface peat more than subsurface peat. Peat incubated within Bog Lake Bog in Minnesota had the highest rates of CH4 production, regardless of origin, whereas transplanting did not affect rates of CO2 production measured concomitantly. Peat that originated in Big Run Bog in West Virginia generally maintained higher rates of CH4 production and CO2 production than peat from the other two sites after incubation in the field. The temperature dependence (Q 10) of CH4 production and CO2 production varied among transplant sites, but not among peat origins, suggesting physiological adaptations of microbial communities to local environmental conditions. Differences in organic matter quality of the peat, particularly lignin chemistry, helped explain the results: (a) CH4 production correlated with fresher lignin derived from Carex sedges, and (b) CO2 production correlated with woody lignin. We concluded that, although both site conditions (climate, nutrient status, and microbial communities) and organic matter quality influence carbon mineralization in peat, interactive effects occur and may differ depending on peat temperature. Moreover, CH4 production and CO2 production respond differently to environmental regulators.


Introduction: Patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) comprises 5%–10% of all congenital heart diseases, excluding premature infants. It is more common in females than in males. Clinical evidence of PDA appears in 45% of neonates with a birth weight of <1750 g and in about 80% of neonates with a birth weight of <1200 g. Significant PDA occurs in 15% of premature infants with a birth weight of <1750 g and in 40%–50% of those with a birth weight of <1500 g. Materials and Methods: The present study was a retrospective, observational, descriptive, record-based study conducted in the department of neonatology of our medical college from March 2015 to April 2020. All the clinical parameters, echo details, and treatment histories were obtained from the patients' case records and were analyzed. Results: In the present study, a total of 56 cases of hemodynamically significant PDA were evaluated. Thirty-seven of them had primary closure, 17 of them had secondary closure, and 2 of them had no closure. Conclusion: From the present study, we conclude that the larger the size of PDA, the longer is the duration for closure. The presence of complications such as pulmonary hemorrhage and prolonged ventilation were associated with delayed closure.