This paper describes the development and optimization of chiral, non-polar media with large second-order nonlinear optical responses. We employ molecular engineering, quantum- mechanical sum-over-states theory, and measurements of molecular hyperpolarizability by means of Kleinman-disallowed hyper-Rayleigh scattering in order to understand molecular properties. Then we analyze the appropriate arrangement of the chromophores that produce an optimum axial nonlinear optical medium. Chromophores with large Kleinman disallowed traceless symmetric second rank tensor hyper-polarizabilities (beta) can be aligned so as to result in large susceptibilities, (chi) (2), in structures that lack polar order. We found that (Lambda) -shaped chromophores with C2v or similar symmetry are good candidates for these materials as they can exhibit large second-rank components of the hyperpolarizability tensor. A wide variety of techniques can be used to fabricate bulk materials belonging to the chiral non-polar symmetry groups, D(infinity ) and D2. The microscopic chromophore alignment schemes that optimize the NLO response in such materials are deduced from general symmetry consideration for both molecules and bulk.


A novel and computationally efficient approach to an adaptive mammographic image feature enhancement using wavelet-based multiresolution analysis is presented. On wavelet de- composition applied to a given mammographic image, we integrate the information of the tree-structured zero crossings of wavelet co- efficients and the information of the low-pass-filtered subimage to enhance the desired image features. A discrete wavelet transform with pyramidal structure is employed to speedup the computation for wavelet decomposition and reconstruction. The spatiofrequency lo- calization property of the wavelet transform is exploited based on the spatial coherence of image and the principle of human psycho- visual mechanism. Preliminary results show that the proposed ap- proach is able to adaptively enhance local edge features, suppress noise, and improve global visualization of mammographic image features. This wavelet-based multiresolution analysis is therefore promising for computerized mass screening of mammograms. © 1997 SPIE and IS&T. (S1017-9909(97)00704-6)


[Abstract] Objective To evaluate the privilege of X-ray phase contrast imaging on the microstructure of mouse kidneys, and explore the imaging differences on kidney images obtained by DEI and in-line outline X-ray imaging (IOXI) with synchrotron radiation (SR) facility. Materials and Methods The SD mouse kidneys are taken as samples. DEI images were brought out at 4W1A beam line of BSRF and the in-line outline images were recorded at BL13W beam line of SSRF. Contrast of soft tissue and spatial resolution were selected mainly to evaluate the image quality. Results The kidney microstructures, which are usually hard to be visualized by conventional radiography, were recorded clearly with both of the imaging modalities. The kidney vessels of about 10μm in diameter were revealed, however more minute structures such as the renal glomeruli, were resolvable only in images taken with IOXI. Conclusion The phase contrast imaging has great potential to reveal the structures inside soft tissues which could achieve images of high quality for the tiny vessels without any administration of contrast media, and more microstructures of the mouse kidneys were demonstrated on IOXI. Due to the sample setup and fine images , the IOXI maybe well better manner in biological tissue imaging study.


1 Complete leuco‐agglutinin was found in 14% of a group of 883 pregnant women comprising 109 primigravidae and 774 multigravidae. Leuco‐agglutinin was found in 2% of the primigravidae and in 16% of the multigravidae. No significant increase in the incidence of complete leuco‐agglutinin after the second pregnancy was demonstrated. 2 The incidence of leuco‐agglutinin in the serum was found to be significantly higher (36%) among women with erythrocyte antibody in their serums than among women who did not have it. 3 Incomplete leucocyte antibody was found to be considerably more infrequent than the complete variety in the serums of pregnant women, contrary to what is the case in transfusion immunization. 4 Incomplete leucocyte antibody was found to be group‐specific, and in cases where it occurred together with complete leuco‐agglutinin, the group‐specificity was found to be the same for the incomplete and the complete antibody. 5 No connexion was shown to exist between complete leuco‐agglutinin in serum and the abortion frequency in the past history. 6 The incidence of premature deliveries in respect of the current one was found to be significantly higher among women having complete leuco‐agglutinin in their serums than among women who did not have it. 7 No connexion was demonstrated between stillbirths or the mortality among the babies in the first days of their lives and the presence of complete leuco‐agglutinin in the maternal serum. 8 No connexion was proved to exist between the occurrence of malformations of the children and complete leuco‐agglutinin in the maternal serum.


How important are leaders' actions in facilitating coordination? In this paper, we investigate their signaling role in a global games framework. A perfectly informed leader and a team of followers face a coordination problem. Despite the endogenous information generated by the leader's action, we provide a necessary and sufficient condition that makes the monotone equilibrium strategy profile uniquely $\Delta$-rationalizable and hence guarantees equilibrium uniqueness. Moreover, the unique equilibrium is fully efficient. This result remains valid when the leader observes a noisy signal about the true state except full efficiency may not be obtained. We discuss the implications of our results for a broad class of phenomena such as adoption of green technology, currency attacks and revolutions.


Accident Precursor Analysis (APA) serves as the bridge between existing risk modeling activities, which are often based on historical or generic failure statistics, and system anomalies, which provide crucial information about the failure mechanisms that are actually operative in the system. APA docs more than simply track experience: it systematically evaluates experience, looking for under-appreciated risks that may warrant changes to design or operational practice. This paper presents the pilot application of the NASA APA process to Space Shuttle Orbiter systems. In this effort, the working sessions conducted at Johnson Space Center (JSC) piloted the APA process developed by Information Systems Laboratories (ISL) over the last two years under the auspices of NASA's Office of Safety & Mission Assurance, with the assistance of the Safety & Mission Assurance (S&MA) Shuttle & Exploration Analysis Branch. This process is built around facilitated working sessions involving diverse system experts. One important aspect of this particular APA process is its focus on understanding the physical mechanism responsible for an operational anomaly, followed by evaluation of the risk significance of the observed anomaly as well as consideration of generalizations of the underlying mechanism to other contexts. Model completeness will probably always be an issue, but this process tries to leverage operating experience to the extent possible in order to address completeness issues before a catastrophe occurs.


We follow Quark–gluon transport theory and analyse singularities of the ultra– relativistic and spherical expanding quark–gluon plasma. Within the linearized QCD oscillations and instabilities of the ultra–relativistic and spherical symmetric expanding quark–gluon plasma near global thermodynamical equilibrium are investigated in dependence on a chemical potential µ(T) of non–strange light quarks and antiquarks, a strange quark mass ms, a temperature T and a hydrodynamical velocity u. We calculate the chromoelectric permeability tensor for the quark–gluon plasma at rest and ultra–relativistic moving. We show that the contribution of chemical potential of light quarks and antiquarks can be neglected to the chromoelectric permeability. We show that the account for the non–zero mass of strange quarks and antiquarks diminishes the value of the plasma frequency. We show that the plasma frequency of the ultra–relativistic and spherical symmetric expanding quark–gluon plasma is enhanced by a Lorentz factor compared with the plasma frequency of the quark–gluon plasma at rest. We find that the ultra–relativistic and spherical symmetric expanding quark–gluon plasma behaves like a collisionless thermalized plasma.


We extend the classical spectral estimation problem to the
infinite-dimensional case and propose a new approach to this
problem using the Boundary Control (BC) method. Several
applications to inverse problems for partial differential
equations are provided.


Significance Exosomes are biological nanocarriers that offer several advantages over existing drug delivery vehicles because of their specialized abilities in intercellular communication. Attempts are being made to mimic and harness exosomes for exogenous drug delivery. However, exosomes have several inherent limitations that hinder their application as universal drug carriers. In this work, exosome polymer hybrids were prepared by precisely engineering the exosome surface with different synthetic polymers. These polymers can be easily tuned and modified to enhance the physicochemical profile of exosomes and overcome the existing limitations associated with ex vivo and in vivo stability and activity. Exosomes are emerging as ideal drug delivery vehicles due to their biological origin and ability to transfer cargo between cells. However, rapid clearance of exogenous exosomes from the circulation as well as aggregation of exosomes and shedding of surface proteins during storage limit their clinical translation. Here, we demonstrate highly controlled and reversible functionalization of exosome surfaces with well-defined polymers that modulate the exosome's physiochemical and pharmacokinetic properties. Using cholesterol-modified DNA tethers and complementary DNA block copolymers, exosome surfaces were engineered with different biocompatible polymers. Additionally, polymers were directly grafted from the exosome surface using biocompatible photo-mediated atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP). These exosome polymer hybrids (EPHs) exhibited enhanced stability under various storage conditions and in the presence of proteolytic enzymes. Tuning of the polymer length and surface loading allowed precise control over exosome surface interactions, cellular uptake, and preserved bioactivity. EPHs show fourfold higher blood circulation time without altering tissue distribution profiles. Our results highlight the potential of precise nanoengineering of exosomes toward developing advanced drug and therapeutic delivery systems using modern ATRP methods.


The effects of moisture content on the acoustic surface impedance of outdoor soil has received recent attention [A. J. Cramond and C. G. Don, J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 82, 293–301 (1987)]. This work indicated dramatic effects of moisture content. A measurement apparatus for measuring the moisture content in a synthetic soil (100‐μm spherical glass beads) and the acoustic surface impedance is being constructed. The apparatus consists of a cylindrical soil column that attaches to the sample end of an impedance tube. The moisture content in the soil column can be varied by applying a suction to one end of the column where a porous plate is positioned. Water is caused to flow in and out of the soil column through the porous plate. The acoustic surface impedance is measured using a phase gradient technique. [Work supported by DOA.]


Cervical cancer is one of the leading causes of mortality amongst women in developing countries and therapy resistance is the main reason for its treatment failure. Recent advances suggest that cancer stem cells (CSCs) are critically involved in regulating the chemo resistant behavior of cervical cancer cells. In our study the CSC phenotype cells were isolated and the expression of stem cell marker and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) associated gene was confirmed by various assays. However, these CSC phenotype cells cannot be cultured for further cytotoxicity studies. So, we tried to establish a CSC model in cervical cancer cells. We performed the siRNA-mediated knockdown of E-cadherin (E-cad) in these cells and studied EMT associated stem cell-like properties in them. We also performed dose dependent cell viability assay using clinically relevant drugs such as cisplatin, cyclopamine and GANT58 to analyze the drug resistant behavior of these cancer cells. We found that E-cad knockdown induces EMT in cervical cancer cells imparting stem-cell like characteristics along with enhanced tumorsphere formation, migration, invasion ability and drug resistance. This is the first study to establish a CSC model in cervical cancer cells by knockdown of E-cad which can be utilized for development of anti-cancer therapies.


(Z)-2-Aryl-1-(2-cyanoethyl)ethenylphosphonates were synthesized by the hexamethylphosphoramide-promoted sequential transformation of tetra-alkyl methanediphosphonates, by the action of potassium tert-butoxide, and then by acrylonitrile and aldehydes. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Heteroatom Chem 13:116–119, 2002; Published online in Wiley Interscience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/hc.10004


During the early decision-making stage of BOT highway project,concession period is one of the most important variables for the government and the project company.A decision-making model of the concession period using System Dynamics method is developed based on the analyses of the project influencing factors.On this basis,a simulation of highway BOT highway project case using software Vensim PLE is given,and the sensitivity analysis to investigate the effect of risk factors on concession period is put forward,including annual traffic,construction cost and operating cost, which provides a reference for determining the concession period of BOT highway projects for both the government and the project company.


Evaluation of posterior chamber intraocular lenses (IOLs) implanted in diabetics, with and without retinopathy, was undertaken as part of a survey of IOLs in Singapore.

Of the 63 eyes, 48 (76%) achieved a visual acuity of 6/12 or better at the latest follow-up. Excluding eyes with diabetic maculopathy or other pre-existing disease, 48 out of 51 (94 %) obtained a visual acuity of 6/12 or better.

The only specific problem relating to diabetes was pigment fallout from the posterior layer of the iris. It was not possible in this series to determine the influence of an IOL on the progression of the diabetic retinopathy.

Laser therapy was performed in five patients postoperatively, with no problems.

Recommendations are presented regarding the indications for IOL insertion in diabetics.


By using combination ARMA model,this paper forecast the GDP of Inner Mongolia form 2006 to 2010.The forecasting results display Inner Mongolia GDP development trend,it assistances policy-maker to grasp the GDP development trend during ″the 11th five-year″ period,and to seek the best way of revising ″the 11th five-year″.


A new polarization independent (</spl plusmn/10.25 dB) non-interferometric switch using the Kerr effect is demonstrated. The scheme has the advantage of using standard dispersion shifted fiber and is insensitive to acoustical disturbances. A new polarization independent switch using the optical Kerr-effect in standard dispersion shifted fiber is demonstrated. The polarization dependence was measured to be less than 0.25 dB and the switch showed error-free operation when demultiplexing data from 40 Gbit/s to 10 Gbit/s.


Functional metrics (especially IFPUG Function Point and Mark II Function Point) are gaining dominance over "technological" type metrics (Lines of Code). Although this takes place quite rapidly from the "cultural" standpoint, on a practical level the process is much slower due to the large quantity of code measurements already present in any company, and given the scepticism with which functional metrics are received in some technical environments. The advantages of the first approach over the second one are, by now, well known. There are, indeed, some problems regarding functional metrics that need to be addressed by the technical community. This paper aims to highlight the major drawbacks of IFPUG Function Point metrics and discuss some possible solutions.


The first question Capital & Class's editors asked themselves when it reached  years old is, 'Why are we still here?' Capital & Class was a child of , of a radical age that no longer exists. Yet, unlike so many other products of that time it has succumbed to neither respectability, nor age, nor lack of interest. It remains an enfant terrible, the journal of choice for some important questions that cannot be asked anywhere else. It has rejuvenated itself; the Editorial Board was hard pressed to find two members who could even remember enough about the old days to co-write this introduction. The journal is alive, young and kicking with a healthy worldwide circulation of -plus and still rising and a backlog of articles to publish. Whatever  and the journal survived on, it was not academic approval, although not a few research projects now commonplace in social science or liberal arts programmes can trace their roots to Capital & Class's pages. Capital & Class was a child of struggle and as Fred Lee's article testifies, it is still thumbing its nose at the academic establishment.  held a year  conference on globalisation and sponsored the thriving Association of Heterodox Economists. The publication of the French students' petition against the stifling dogmatism and irrelevance of modern economics teaching, and its series of special issues—on globalisation, Capital & Class Past and Present: Some reflections on our first 25 years


To regulate the internal electrochemical environment of the body, the respiratory control system, including the brain, must detect ionic alterations in the intracellular and extracellular environment. At birth, most neonatal animals are capable of detecting changes in breathing‐related stimuli. However, the early development of this respiratory‐related chemosensitivity, as well as its role in maintaining developmental rhythms, is still unclear. Thus, we aim to describe the early embryonic development and maturation of pH chemosensitivity in the developing medulla oblongata of the altricial zebra finch. The zebra finch model allows breathing related rhythmic spontaneous neural activity (rSNA) to be recorded continuously from embryonic day 4 (E4), when it is undifferentiated, through hatching on E14, when air breathing has been established. The objective of this study is to test whether breathing related rhythms, observed during the embryonic period (E4–E10), and functional breathing rhythms, observed during the perinatal period (E11–E14), are responsive to alterations in extracellular pH (pHe). We hypothesized that changes in pHe will alter rSNA and breathing‐related frequency in an age‐dependent manner. To test our hypotheses, we employed electrophysiological recordings from the isolated medulla. We specifically targeted cranial nerve XI (accessory nerve), which innervates muscles in the neck, and is thought to expand and stiffen the airway during inspiration movements in birds. After baseline recordings were collected, the medullary tissue was exposed to low or high pHe via the bath superfusate. Following the low or high pHe treatment periods, we cleared the pHe solution with control aCSF to restore baseline conditions. We hypothesize that low pHe exposure will decrease respiratory‐related rhythmogenesis in animals younger than E11 and increase rhythmic activity in embryos older than E11. We also anticipate that high pHe exposure will have the opposite effect on the excitability of rhythmic activity. Interestingly, past studies have shown that neural circuits seem to transition at E11 and several breathing‐related phenotypes emerge at this age. Specifically, this transitional period is coincident with continuous air breathing in the developing zebra finch. Results show that young embryos (E4–E7) were unresponsive to low pHe exposure, while animals between E8 – E10 exhibited a decrease in rhythmic activity after exposure to low pHe. In contrast, animals older than E11 increased rhythmic activity in response to low pHe. When exposed to high pHe, all embryos between E4–10 exhibited an increase in rhythmic activity and older animals (E12–E14) responded by decreasing rhythmic activity. These data are consistent with our hypotheses and suggests that specific, specialized aspects of central breathing control gradually evolve over the incubation period. Future studies will address the mechanisms behind the observed changes in pHe chemosensitivity.


The characteristics of an insulated-gate field-effect transistor made from amorphous silicon (a-Si) deposited in a glow discharge are discussed. It is suggested that the a-Si device could be applied with advantage in an addressable matrix of a liquid-crystal display panel.


The opinion leaders play an important role in the process of network public opinion spreading. In order to quickly and efficiently discover the opinion leaders, this paper analyzes the characteristics of complex networks in social networks and proposes density-based spatial clustering of applications with noise algorithm based on local community detection method. With Sina micro-blog user as the research object, the feature vectors of opinion leaders are extracted as the training set, then the characteristic means of the subclass are obtained, from which the user groups with the community opinion leader characteristics can been identified. Finally, DBSCAN algorithm is compared with the K-means algorithm and the average path length difference algorithm by using the same data set. The experiment results show that DBSCAN algorithm can be more accurate and more effective to find community opinion leaders.


The results of numerical calculations are presented for the reflection coefficient of the shear horizontal (SH) plane waves incident on an elastic solid–viscoelastic liquid interface. The linear viscoelastic Maxwell liquid with one relaxation time is considered. The modulus and phase of the reflection coefficient as a function of incidence angle and frequency are determined numerically for typical parameters of the considered media. The validity of an approximate expression for the reflection coefficient is analyzed. Some new properties of the reflected SH wave are considered and discussed.


Email is the communication application most widely used in organizations. Yet, email is associated with a number of negative aspects, most prominently 'email overload' - a phenomenon that is theoretically interesting but vexing in practice because it has proved intractable to manage. We problematize the current understanding of email overload as being due to lack of understanding of its technology fit-related antecedents and job-related outcomes, and then investigate how email overload is influenced by a lack of fit between the communication applications that the organization provides to individuals and those that (1) they want, and that (2) are suitable for their tasks. We hypothesize that such lack of fit leads to email by default, defined as the perception of email being used improperly, when other communication applications would be better suited. Email by default is then hypothesized to lead to email overload. We further investigate job-related outcomes of email overload. The hypothesized relationships are supported by our findings, based on data from a two-stage, multi-method empirical study in a large manufacturing organization. The paper theoretically broadens the scholarly discourse on email overload to include novel antecedents and outcomes in the ongoing quest to establish a more complete understanding of this phenomenon.


Estimate of velocity in the traffic accident is always estimate difficulty in the traffic accident.Estimate of velocity requires very high level of theory and abundant practice experience.Vehicle speed estimates loaded down with trivial details and lots of the calculated work by the tradition method,it is no use in dealing with the traffic accident in practice work.Not only is vehicle speed estimated very easily and few of the calculated work by the analytical method based on slow variable,but also logical outcome is obtained.


Healthcare industry is quite emission intensive due to its energy needs to ensure safe and reliable operation and care delivery. Healthcare buildings, such as hospitals and aged care communities, tend to be 24–7 in operation. This paper reveals the correlation between the occupancy and energy use for aged care communities in the state of Queensland Australia. Results show quite low correlations between occupancy and monthly energy use for those communities across different climate zones. However, temperature is found highly correlated with all communities' energy use. In hindsight, it makes more sense to design energy efficient buildings from an early stage and to consider the climate conditions of the site, since the variability of occupancy levels may not play a significant role after those healthcare buildings are commissioned.


PERSONALITY DIMENSIONS AND COGNITIVE FUNCTIONING OF RELATIVES OF PERSONS DIAGNOSED WITH SCHIZOPHRENIA AND BIPOLAR I DISORDER: A COMPARATIVE AND PREDICTIVE STUDY


This paper presents the definition of Publication-related competitive intelligence,classifies competitive intelligence according to its contents,and analyses where competitive intelligence comes from with some examples,and expounds the functions of competitive intelligence on publishing industry.


 Abstract — The purpose of this study is to evaluate the incorporation of hemp fibers (HF) in concrete. Hemp fiber reinforced concrete (HFRC) is becoming more popular as an alternative for regular mix designs. This study was done to evaluate the compressive strength of HFRC regarding mix procedure. HF were obtained from the manufacturer and hand processed to ensure uniformity in width and length. The fibers were added to concrete as both wet and dry mix to investigate and optimize the mix design process. Results indicated that the dry mix had a compressive strength of 1157 psi compared to the wet mix of 985 psi. This dry mix compressive strength was within range of the standard mix compressive strength of 1533 psi. The statistical analysis revealed that the mix design process needs further optimization and uniformity concerning the addition of HF. Regression analysis revealed that the standard mix design had a coefficient of 0.9 as compared to the dry mix of 0.375 indicating a variation in the mixing process. While completing the dry mix, the addition of plain HF caused them to intertwine creating lumps and inconsistency. However, during the wet mixing process, combining water and HF before incorporation allows the fibers to uniformly disperse within the mix hence the regression analysis indicated a better coefficient of 0.55. This study concludes that HRFC is a viable alternative to regular mixes however more research surrounding its characteristics needs to be conducted.


The reaction of L (MAD) with Cu2+ and Co2+ chlorides affords new metal complexes. The isolated solid complexes were synthesized by two different techniques i.e., chemical and tribochemical methods. Four new complexes were synthesized by direct chemical reactions of MCl2 (M = Co2+ and Cu2+) with MAD in absolute EtOH. The isolated solid complexes were used as starting compounds to synthesize another four new complexes using tribochemical technique by grinding the previous complexes in the solid state with excess KI in agate mortar. The results of the isolated complexes indicate the substitution of the chloride by iodide ions during grinding and extraction of the complexes by a mixture of solvents (EtOH + MeOH). Also, the results suggest that no reduction of Cu2+ or oxidation of Co2+ complexes is observed. The IR spectra of the complexes suggest that L acts in a bidentate manner. Moreover, the results of electronic spectra and magnetic measurements for the chloride and iodide complexes suggest distorted-octahedral and/or tetrahedral for Cu2+ and high-spin octahedral and/or tetrahedral structures around the Co2+ ion, respectively.


Objective
To investigate the effect of ultrasound elastography combined with serum carbohydrate antigen 15-3 (CA15-3 C), C keratin 19 fragment antigen 21-1 (CYFRA21-1) and prostate specific antigen (PSA) levels detection on the sensitivity and accuracy of breast cancer diagnosis.

Methods
Sixty cases of breast cancer from December 2015 to January 2017 were selected as study group, and all cases were diagnosed as breast cancer by pathological examination. They were divided into groups according to the TNM classification criteria of breast cancer, stage Ⅰ22 cases, stageⅡ17 cases, stage Ⅲ 14 cases, stage Ⅳ7 cases. Fifty-three cases of benign breast diseases were selected as control group. The levels of serum CA15-3, CYFRA21-1 and PSA were compared among two groups and the study group at different stages. The correlations between serums CA15-3, CYFRA21-1 and PSA expression level and breast cancer staging were analyzed. The results of pathological examination were regarded as "gold standard". Serum CA15-3, CYFRA21-1, PSA levels, single detection of ultrasound elastography and combined detection of breast cancer results were compared.

Results
The levels of serum CA15-3, CYFRA21-1 and PSA in study group were higher than those in control group: (37.98 ± 4.71) kU/L vs. (8.58 ± 3.04) kU/L, (5.41 ± 3.24) μg/L vs. (1.42 ± 0.47) μg/L, (0.39 ± 0.11) μg/L vs. (0.16 ± 0.04) μg/L, and there were significant differences (P<0.01). The levels of serum CA15-3, CYFRA21-1 and PSA in patients with stage Ⅲ and Ⅳof breast cancer were higher than those of patients with stageⅠandⅡof breast cancer, and there were significant difference (P<0.01). Spearman correlation analysis showed that serum CA15-3, CYFRA21-1 expression levels and breast cancer staging was positively correlated (P < 0.05). There was a negative correlation between serum PSA expression and breast cancer staging (P < 0.05). The sensitivity 98.33%(59/60), specificity 96.23%(51/53) and accuracy rate 97.35%(110/113) of breast cancer detected by serum CA15-3, CYFRA21-1, PSA levels and ultrasonic elastography was higher than that of single dectction, and the difference was statistically significant (P < 0.05).

Conclusions
The levels of serum CA15-3, CYFRA21-1 and PSA are closely related to the occurrence and progression of breast cancer. The combination of serum CA15-3, CYFRA21-1 and PSA levels with ultrasonic elastography can improve the specificity, sensitivity and accuracy of diagnosis of breast cancer.

Key words:
Breast neoplasm; Ultrasound elastography; Mucin-1; C keratin 19 fragment antigen 21-1; Prostate specific antigen


The scientific forecasting of urban water consumption is the basis of the rational exploitation,utilization and management of water resources.Equal dimensional and new information grey forecasting model was established based on the traditional grey forecasting model,and Markov chain forecasting model was taken to predict the fluctuation range of the forecasting results,to form the equal dimensional and new information grey Markov forecasting model.Then,the urban water consumption in Dalian from 1998 to 2007 was taken as original data to establish forecasting model predicting the urban water consumption from 2008 to 2012.The results show that the forecasting accuracy of the equal dimensional and new information grey Markov forecasting model has fewer errors and better forecasting precision.


Chorioangioma belongs to benign nontrophoblastic primary vascular neoplasms of placenta, originating from primitive chorionic mesenchyme and has a cited prevalence of around 0.6% to 1% of all pregnancies. Though majority of them are asymptomatic, clinical course depends mainly on the size of the neoplasm. Giant chorioangiomas (> 4-5 centimetres in diameter) with an approximate prevalence of around one in 9000 to one in 50,000 pregnancies, have been associated with many adverse maternal and fetal complications. We report a case of 21-year-old primigravida lady, who presented to us at 37weeks 4 days period of gestation with backache and with clinically evident increased liquor. On evaluating the cause of her polyhydramnios, ultrasonography revealed a well-defined echogenic vascular mass measuring ~ 8х8 centimetres in the placenta, suggestive of chorioangioma. Though the condition is infrequent, through this case report, we emphasize that even placental factors need to be ruled out in evaluating causes of polyhydramnios. Despite large size of chorioangioma and associated hydramnios, our patient exceptionally didn't have any fetal complications. With proper antenatal surveillance, optimal feto-maternal outcome can be expected as seen in our case.


We show that various aqueous suspensions of single-walled and multi-walled carbon nanotubes, dispersed using either common surfactants or DNA, can be separated into components using agarose gel electrophoresis. In a DC electric field, carbon nanotubes and nanotube–DNA complexes migrate in the gel in the direction of positive potential to form well-defined bands. Raman spectroscopy as a function of band position shows that nanotubes having different spectroscopic properties have distinct electrophoretic mobilities. The results suggest that the separation of nanotubes according to structure can be achieved by this procedure. We discuss the factors affecting the mobility of the nanotube complexes and propose analytical applications of this technique.


Rogers describes his work with juvenile delinquents, family counseling and the mentally ill, and talks about how this work experience led him in 1968 to his job as executive director of Asheville-Buncombe Community Christian Ministries (ABCCM). He discusses the crisis created in the care of the mentally ill when programs and institutions were cut under the Regan and Bush administrations. He describes the connections between several important organizations that help the poor, including ABCCM, the Salvation Army, the United Way, and the participation of various religious centers, including the Christian, Jewish, Bah'ai and Quaker communities. He discusses homeless shelters and half-way houses, and describes three different levels of homelessness. He discusses many other needs of the poor, including medical care, and how they are addressed in the city. He talks about the importance of volunteers, as well as special events which raise funds and focus on community needs. He discusses the detrimental effect of drugs on families and communities.


In order to probe the essence of enterprise development and exploration of the sustainable core-competence factor of the enterprise, the paper put forward the structures corresponding to knowledge increasing mathematic model by System Dynamic Analysis based on the knowledge Chain model. From the point view of enterprise life cycle theory, the three key factors of knowledge management affect enterprise development were point out. Furthermore, according to three key factors as coordinate, along the enterprise life cycle interval, the enterprise knowledge growth model was built, which help the enterprise to gain sustainable core-competence, transmits from the overripe period to spallation period for sustainable development quickly.


Considered issues of electricity consumption in Ukraine. The dynamics of energy consumption and the proposed guidelines gait efficient use of electricity. Researched and projected scenarios projected electricity consumption in general throughout Ukraine.


ABSTRACT This study examined the moderating role of perceived social support between perceived parenting styles and relational aggression (RA). A sample (N = 400) was selected through stratified sampling from public and private schools and colleges. Adolescents (n = 200 boys and n = 200 girls) completed (a) Demographic Performa, (b) Early Memories of Upbringing for Children to measure perceived parenting styles, (c) Social Support Questionnaire to measure perceived social support, and (d) Diverse Adolescent Relational Aggression Scale to measure RA. Statistical analyses showed that perceived social support moderated the relationship between perceived parenting styles and RA. Findings indicated that perceived social support strengthens the negative relationship between perceived father's Overprotection parenting and RA. Results also showed that perceived social support strengthens positive relationship between perceived father's Anxious Rearing parenting and RA. Moreover, perceived social support strengthens the positive relationship between perceived mother's Rejection parenting and RA. Results help in implementing interventions to promote the consolidation or increment of sources that constitute adolescents with concrete and feasible actions in the cultural, educational, and counseling implications.


Welcome once again to Spotlight, an ongoing feature that highlights some current trends within the computing education community, formed by several Special Interest Groups (SIGs) within ACM. One focuses on computer science education (SIGCSE), another on information technology education (SIGITE), and another on management information systems (SIGMIS). Reports from these three SIGs appear in this spotlight. But before we hear from our SIG reporters...


Introduction The effects of preeclampsia superimposed on chronic hypertension (CHTN-PE) on the structure and function of the human brain are mostly unknown. The purpose of this study was to examine altered gray matter volume (GMV) and its correlation with cognitive function in pregnant healthy women, healthy non-pregnant individuals, and CHTN-PE patients. Methods Twenty-five CHTN-PE patients, thirty-five pregnant healthy controls (PHC) and thirty-five non-pregnant healthy controls (NPHC) were included in this study and underwent cognitive assessment testing. A voxel-based morphometry (VBM) approach was applied to investigate variations in brain GMV among the three groups. Pearson's correlations between mean GMV and the Stroop color-word test (SCWT) scores were calculated. Results Compared with the NPHC group, the PHC and CHTN-PE groups showed significantly decreased GMV in a cluster of the right middle temporal gyrus (MTG), and the GMV decrease was more significant in the CHTN-PE group. There were significant differences in the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) and Stroop word scores among the three groups. Notably, the mean GMV values in the right MTG cluster were not only significantly negatively correlated with Stroop word and Stroop color scores but also significantly distinguished CHTN-PE patients from the NPHC and PHC groups in receiver operating characteristic curve analysis. Discussion Pregnancy may cause a decrease in local GMV in the right MTG, and the GMV decrease is more significant in CHTN-PE patients. The right MTG affects multiple cognitive functions, and combined with the SCWT scores, it may explain the decline in speech motor function and cognitive flexibility in CHTN-PE patients.


ObjectiveTo study on water decoction technology of Semen Persicae and provide reference evidence for it and its preparetion in production.MethodsOptimization of water decoction technology of Semen Persicae was used by orthogonal experiment table L_9(3~4).It was investigated four factors,adding water quantity A,diving timeB,decoction time C and comminution degree D.ResultsThe best water decoction technology was A_3B_1C_1D_1,namely large comminution degree adding 6 time water,diving 0min and decocting 10min.ConclusionThe experimental studies showed that the technology can be used to guide production of Semen Persicae and its preparation.


NDT80, a known transcriptional factor, regulates various targets, including regulation of meiosis, stress responses, filamentous growth, sexual development, biofilm formation, drug resistance, and virulence. But the numbers and roles of Ndt80‐like genes in different fungi are highly variable. This study aims to address the numbers and functions of Ndt80‐like genes in Coniothyrium minitans, a well‐known biocontrol agent against Sclerotinia diseases.


The chamfering of forgings was carried out by physical tests,in the chamfering process with different types of anvil changing its boundary conditions,the deformation of the specimen was observed.The results show that,in the conditions of oil lubricating,when the ladder type of convex anvil contact with the blank,chamfering with the use of ladder type of convex anvil can achieve the best forming quality and mechanical properties.


It is our purpose to analyze the representations of childhood and adolescence in two narrative texts of the Portuguese writer Jose Marmelo e Silva. The theme of childhood and adolescence is very relevant in the context of the Portuguese literature in the XX th century, allowing the reflection on the social and political context, but also on the economic and also the educational, of young people growth. In the short story "Narrativa Barbara" and in the novel Adolescente Agrilhoado the process of growth and of the affirmation of a personal identity is literary recreated in adverse and hostile environments.


A veteran of the fight for equal opportunities for women in science, Meg Urry is now turning her attention to an even bigger problem.


CH implies that every homeomorphism of nowhere dense closed P-sets in pw\w can be extended to an autohomeomorphism of pw\m. CH also implies that every closed P-set of weight at most c of a compact zero-dimensional F-space i s a retract.


An American and a German sample of Ss were required to learn to a criterion of 2 successive trials without error a list of 10 ordinary words and a list of 10 0% association value syllables. Both groups first learned unknown nonsense syllables, then syllables with which they were familiarized, and then syllables which were made meaningful in a "synonym-definition" sense (e.g., TOV means grass). The results indicated that meaning operationally employed in a "synonym-definition" sense was a significant aid when learning syllables in order was not required; performance equalled that with words. In addition, protocols were obtained from all Ss in all phases, and these data made possible a clearer interpretation of the performance data.


"Progress of the World's Women 2005: Women, Work and Poverty" makes the case that strengthening women's economic security is critical to efforts to reduce poverty and promote gender equality, and that decent work is basic to economic security. It provides the latest available data on the size and composition of the informal economy and compares national data on average earnings and poverty risk across different segments of the informal and formal workforces in six developing countries and one developed country to show the links between employment, gender and poverty. It looks at the costs and benefits of informal work and their consequences for women's economic security. Finally, it provides a strategic framework — with good practice examples — for how to promote decent work for women informal workers, and shows why strong organizations of workers in the informal economy are vital to effective policy reforms. The report concludes that unless efforts are made to create decent work for the global informal workforce, the world will not be able to eliminate poverty or achieve gender equality.


This paper introduces computational effective contrast source inversion (CSI) for objects buried in multi-layered background media for microwave ground penetrating radar. To address an ill-posed problem in CSI with a subsurface testing model, a massive reduction of unknowns is introduced by assuming homogeneity of each background layer. A good initial estimate of background media provides more accurate object reconstruction such as air or water. Numerical simulation with finite difference time domain (FDTD) method demonstrates that the effectiveness of the proposed method in comparison with the original CSI scheme.


The discovery and preliminary assessment of stratabound
barium-zinc mineralisation in Dalradian metamorphic rocks
near Aberfeldy (outlined in MRP Report No. 26) resulted
from co-ordinated geological, geochemical, geophysical and
mineralogical studies, full details of which are presented
here. The presence of an extensive zone of mineralisation
in the area was recognised initially by a geochemical
drainage survey and , reconnaissance geological mapping.
Subsequently, more detailed mapping and drainage sampling
were supplemented by VLF-EM geophysical surveys, overburden
and rock sampling, and shallow drilling. The
VLF-EM technique successfully delineated resistive rocks
within the generally conductive graphitic schists and proved
a valuable mapping aid in areas of poor exposure.
The mineralised zone is defined by the presence of
bedded baryte, sulphide concentrations, quartz-celsian rock
and micaceous schists in which the muscovite is barium-rich.
It varies in thickness from about 60 m to 110 m and
extends, at least intermittently, over 7 km of strike and
through a vertical interval of 370 m. Individual baryte bands
are 2.3-l 5.5 m thick and may extend along strike for up to
1.8 km. The greatest sulphide concentration is in carbonate
rock assaying 8.5% Zn and 3.6% Pb over 4.3 m. Other
unusual constituents of the mineralised zone are the barium
silicates hyalophane and cymrite and the chromian muscovite
fuchsite.
It is concluded that the mineralisation is of synsedimentary
origin, involving the introduction of metal-rich
hydrothermal brine into an euxinic basin.


Supercritical fluids are quickly becoming a realistic alternative to conventional organic media used in the extraction of metal ions from aqueous phases. However, supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) is complicated by the inherent low pH (~ 3) associated with CO2 in contact with water. However, we have recently shown that selective extraction of the metal ions can be achieved through the control of the aqueous phase pH and the use of a hydrocarbon surfactant. Furthermore, we demonstrate that pressure-induced pH switches of the aqueous phase can be utilized for the selective separation of metal ions from an aqueous metallic broth. SANS results show that this metal ion extraction occurs through the formation of reverse micelles using the hydrocarbon surfactant Triton X-100 eliminating the use of fluorinated surfactants and the uptake of water. INTRODUCTION Over the last ten years, an increased awareness of the problems associated with metal ions in the environment has resulted in demands for more selective and effective separation processes. Supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) [1, 2] is an increasingly popular alternative to conventional liquid-liquid extraction from contaminated samples. Supercritical carbon dioxide (sc-CO2) is the most utilized supercritical fluid for SFE as it is non-toxic, non-polar, non-flammable, inexpensive, and easily recyclable [3]. SFE from an aqueous phase is made possible through the use of metal chelating agents. Fluorinated chelating agents have been highly successful in the extraction of metal ions from aqueous matrices by SFE [4, 5] due to high solubility in CO2 [2] and can be engineered for the targeted extraction of a specific metal ion [6, 7]. However, fluorinated molecules are often costly and time consuming to synthesise. Additionally, the extraction of a specific metal ion from a broth of metallic ions typically requires the use of multiple chelating agents limiting their usefulness in SFE. Although hydrocarbons are soluble in CO2, [8] their larger cohesive energy densities compared to fluorinated surfactants has made it challenging to form hydrocarbon reversed micelles in CO2. Recently, several researchers have utilised hydrocarbon surfactants in CO2 for stabilising emulsions and microemulsions by minimising the cohesive energy density of the hydrocarbon surfactant [9-12]. The use of hydrocarbon chelating agents in SFE, [13-17] is clearly appealing as they are easier to synthesise and cheaper to produce than their fluorocarbon analogues. Extraction of metal ions from an aqueous phase into CO2 is complicated by the presence of carbonic acid which lowers the pH of the aqueous phase to approximately 3 [18, 19]. While some metals are extracted efficiently at pH ~ 3 [18, 20], other metal ions, cannot be efficiently extracted at such an acidic pH. Under these conditions, a large excess of ligand is often required to achieve complete extraction of the targeted metal limiting the practical application and economic feasibility of large-scale extractions from contaminated soils and wastes. Recently, Holmes et al [21, 22] have demonstrated that the pH of the aqueous phase in a biphasic water–CO2 system can be altered from pH~3 to values approaching 7 expanding the pH region available for the SFE of metal ions. In addition, pH 'switches' of 1-2 pH units can be readily obtained [23] by taking advantage of the fact that modest changes in pressure and temperature result in large changes in the solubility of CO2 in the aqueous phase. In the presence of a buffer, these changes in the solubility of CO2 can then be manipulated to affect the extent of neutralisation of carbonic acid. Here we describe an extraction process for the selective removal of metal ions into supercritical CO2 using reversed micelles. This extraction process overcomes the inherent low pH problem associated with water in contact with CO2 and utilizes a cheap, commercially available hydrocarbon surfactant as a micellar complexing agent with no uptake of water into the micelle core. The aggregation behaviour of these surfactants as well as their metal analogues were investigated by the direct method of small angle neutron scattering. Other indirect spectroscopic methods are also utilized to suggest aggregation into micelles. EXPERIMENTAL Materials and Reagents. The non-ionic surfactants Triton X-100 (n = 9.5), Triton X114 (n = 7), and Triton X-45 (n = 2) are based on a polyethylene oxide (PEO) repeating unit with an average molecular weight of 625, 536, and 426 (g mol), respectively. The metal ion sources used for extraction were obtained from cobalt (II) nitrate, gold (III) chloride (prepared in approx. 0.5 M hydrochloric acid), copper (II) nitrate, chromium (III) nitrate, and nickel (II) nitrate. Sodium hydroxide was used to vary the pH of the aqueous phase. All reagents were used as received. De-ionised water was used in all experiments and carbon dioxide was used as received. All surfactant metal salts were prepared by mixing a known volume of metal salt with 10 mL of Triton X-100 solution. The quantity of salt added was the maximum possible soluble in that quantity of surfactant. pH measurements. All experiments were carried out in a 25 mL stainless steel view cell fitted with two UV-grade sapphire windows. Extraction temperatures were controlled by isopad heating tape (Type ITW//SS-M) and thermostated to ± 0.2 °C using a platinum resistance thermometer and a temperature controller. Pressure was controlled to ± 0.2 bar using an ISCO (Lincoln, NE) syringe pump. An external magnetic stirrer drove a PTFE coated magnetic stirrer bar. For each extraction, an aqueous sample of metal ions was carefully loaded into the cell using a Pasteur pipette (typically 2.5 mM gold (III) chloride, 70 mM copper (II) nitrate, 80 mM cobalt (II) nitrate, 30 mM nickel (II) nitrate, and 30 mM chromium (III) nitrate). A known volume of surfactant was introduced into the cell using a 1 mL syringe. 15 mL of CO2 was then introduced into the cell at ambient temperature. Extractions were carried out at various temperatures between 22 and 60 °C for approx. 2 hr and monitored in-situ using a HP 8453 UV-vis spectrometer. The pH of the aqueous layer was controlled by the addition of NaOH and/or the temperature and pressure. The aqueous layer pH was calculated using a Newton-Raphson method to solve a set of non-linear equations based on a thermodynamic model. This model had been previously used to predict the pH of the aqueous layer in a water–CO2 biphasic system. [23] UV-vis data for the extraction of metals from the aqueous phase was monitored by the disappearance of the characteristic metal ion species peak. Concentrations were related to the peak height using the Beer-Lambert law. Each Triton-metal complex had a characteristic UV-vis peak (due to a ligand metal charge transfer band) different from that of the metal ion species. This characteristic LMCT peak appeared in the CO2 phase and not in the aqueous phase confirming that the surfactant-metal species resides in the CO2 phase and not the aqueous phase. The appearance of the characteristic nitrate peak was witnessed in the CO2 phase for all extracted metals, except gold(III), suggesting that the nitrate ion is also extracted with the metal ion. Control experiments were performed without the presence of Triton X100 to ensure that metal ion species were being extracted and not precipitating from solution. The maximum error attributable to precipitation occurred at basic conditions (pH ~7.8) and was no larger than 5%. Phase Behaviour. Phase behaviour was studied by immersing the view cell in a water bath and controlling the temperature to ± 0.1 °C by a water circulator. Each sample was loaded into the cell using a 1 mL syringe. CO2 was loaded into the cell at ambient temperature using a 260 mL ISCO syringe pump. The mixture was stirred using a PTFE coated magnetic stirrer bar driven by an external stirrer. The pressure was raised to the point where a clear, single phase solution was obtained (after the collapse on an initial unstable emulsion). The phase boundary or cloud point was found by subsequently lowering the pressure until the solution became cloudy. Such transitions, measured at constant temperature (allowed to equilibrate for 10 min) with decreasing pressure, are clearly visible and highly reproducible to within ± 10 bar. The rate of pressure decrease (7 bar per min) could be controlled with the ISCO pump using a gradient program. Small-angle neutron scattering. SANS measurements were performed on the LOQ spectrometer using the ISIS pulsed neutron source of the CLRC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, UK using a stirred high-pressure optical cell (maximum pressure 500 bar, pathlength 12 mm) as described previously. [24] The magnitude of the transfer vector Q is given by Q = 4p/? sin (?/2) where ? is the incident wavelength (2.2-10 Å), determined by time of flight, and ? is the scattering angle. The intensity of the neutrons was recorded on a position sensitive 64 × 64 pixel 2-D detector at a fixed sample to detector position (4.43m) providing an effective Q range from 0.01 to 0.2 Å in a single measurement. The data was corrected for transmission and incoherent background scattering and normalised to absolute scattering probabilities using standard procedures. I(Q) data were analysed using the multi-model FISH program. [24] THEORY For small particles (or micelles) of volume Vp present at a number density np, the normalized SANS intensity I(Q) (cm) may be written as I(Q) = np(ρp-ρm)VpS(Q)P(Q) where ρp and ρm are the mean coherent scattering length densities of the dispersed phase (e.g. particles) and solvent medium, respectively. P(Q) is the single particle form factor describing the angular distribution of the scattering owing to the size and shape of the particle. Expressions for P(Q) representing various particle shapes, such as spheres, rods, disks, ellipsoids, etc., can be used to model S


As a size of static random access memory(SRAM) design increases,the power also increases.This paper presents an SRAM design based on adiabatic circuits with all parts of the SRAM,including the decoder,cell,and sensor,designed with adiabatic circuits.A power model is presented for the SRAM design with various memory sizes simulated for various frequencies using(0.18 μm 1.8 V) CMOS technology.Experimental results show that the power of the adiabatic SRAM is substantially reduced.The power is reduced by more than 80% at 250 MHz.


The purpose of this paper is to analyze the political discussion and the success conditions on the digital democracy and issues for introducing e-party of Korean parties, and to propose alternatives for solving these issues. To accomplish this purpose, this paper review actual conditions of the digi...


Starting from waste liquor of sulfite process and through condensation reaction with formaldehyde firstly,graft copolymerization,metal compl-exation and sulfonation,lignosulfanate graft copolymer was synthesized through grafting two kinds of monomers,such as acrylamide and maleic anhydride,and analysed by means of IR.Based on this and through a series of modification reactions such as metal complexation and sulfonation,a new drilling fluid additive MGBM-1 is prepared under the laboratory conditions.The evaluation tests show that MGBM-1 possesses the properties of viscosity reduction and filtrate reduction and is better than or similar to FCLS in the ability of thinning and filtrate loss controlling, thermal stability and resistence to salt and calcium.


We demonstrate the use of symbolic regression in deriving analytical formulas, which are needed at various stages of a typical experimental analysis in collider phenomenology. As a first application, we consider kinematic variables like the stransverse mass, $M_{T2}$, which are defined algorithmically through an optimization procedure and not in terms of an analytical formula. We then train a symbolic regression and obtain the correct analytical expressions for all known special cases of $M_{T2}$ in the literature. As a second application, we reproduce the correct analytical expression for a next-to-leading order (NLO) kinematic distribution from data, which is simulated with a NLO event generator. Finally, we derive analytical approximations for the NLO kinematic distributions after detector simulation, for which no known analytical formulas currently exist.


Changes in population trends and structure in the USSR during the past 60 years are reviewed, with a focus on the effects of the Socialist system on population growth and socioeconomic development. The impact of industrialization, urbanization, female labor force participation, educational improvements, and the need to encourage population growth in order to meet future labor force requirements is emphasized, and suggestions for demographic policy directions are offered.


This is a tutorial on using type-indexed embedding/projection pairs when writing interpreters in statically-typed functional languages. The method allows (higher-order) values in the interpreting language to be embedded in the interpreted language and values from the interpreted language may be projected back into the interpreting one. This is particularly useful when adding command-line interfaces or scripting languages to applications written in functional languages. We first describe the basic idea and show how it may be extended to languages with recursive types and applied to elementary meta-programming. We then show how the method combines with Filinski's continuation-based monadic reflection operations to define an [lsquor]extensional[rsquor] version of the call-by-value monadic translation and hence to allow values to be mapped bidirectionally between the levels of an interpreter for a functional language parameterized by an arbitrary monad. Finally, we show how SML functions may be embedded into, and projected from, an interpreter for an asynchronous $\pi$-calculus via an 'extensional' variant of a standard translation from $\lambda$ into $\pi$.


Questions about detecting CP-violating decay process of $J/\psi\to K^0\bar{K}^0\to K_SK_S$ are discussed. Possible background and material regeneration effect are analyzed. The discussion can be directly extended to other vector quarkonium decays, like $\Upsilon$, $\psi (2S)$ and $\phi\to K_S K_S$.


Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to describe the development of 21st century skills in learning physics in high schools using creative problem solving models. This writing is motivated by the demands of the 21st century that education should be able to produce human resources capable of mastering 21st century skills including, critical thinking, communicative, creative and collaborative. The development of 21st century skills can be done by all disciplines, one of them is in learning physics. To develop 21st century skills in learning physics, educators can use creative problem solving models. The method used in this paper is to study literature by studying some literature to be analyzed and made conclusions. The results of this paper conclude that the creative problem solving learning model can be a solution in improving 21st century skills and motivating students to be more active and motivated in their learning success. The creative problem solving model is applied to students in high schools with several steps including clarifying the problem, expressing opinions, evaluating and selecting and implementing.


The flow regime is regarded by many aquatic ecologists to be the key driver of river and floodplain wetland ecosystems. We have focused this literature review around four key principles to highlight the important mechanisms that link hydrology and aquatic biodiversity and to illustrate the consequent impacts of altered flow regimes: Firstly, flow is a major determinant of physical habitat in streams, which in turn is a major determinant of biotic composition; Secondly, aquatic species have evolved life history strategies primarily in direct response to the natural flow regimes; Thirdly, maintenance of natural patterns of longitudinal and lateral connectivity is essential to the viability of populations of many riverine species; Finally, the invasion and success of exotic and introduced species in rivers is facilitated by the alteration of flow regimes. The impacts of flow change are manifest across broad taxonomic groups including riverine plants, invertebrates, and fish. Despite growing recognition of these relationships, ecologists still struggle to predict and quantify biotic responses to altered flow regimes. One obvious difficulty is the ability to distinguish the direct effects of modified flow regimes from impacts associated with land-use change that often accompanies water resource development. Currently, evidence about how rivers function in relation to flow regime and the flows that aquatic organisms need exists largely as a series of untested hypotheses. To overcome these problems, aquatic science needs to move quickly into a manipulative or experimental phase, preferably with the aims of restoration and measuring ecosystem response. The alteration of flow regimes is often claimed to be the most serious and continuing threat to ecological sustainability of rivers and their associated floodplain wetlands (Naiman and others 1995, Sparks 1995, Lundqvist 1998, Ward and others 1999). While the obvious and often irreversible impacts of large impoundments are now well recognized, there is also growing awareness of the pivotal role of the flow regime as a key driver of the ecology of rivers and their associated floodplain wetlands (Junk and others 1989, Poff and others 1997, Richter and others 1997, Puckridge and others 1998, Hart and Finelli


Almost anyone who has awaited to depart from a pier and has had the boat slowly start to leave has had the sensation that it is the pier that has moved away. This simple physiological phenomenon has its basis in a generic law of physics, which was first expressed by Galileo and hence is known as Galilean invariance [1]. It is, perhaps, the most stunning and far reaching of all of the laws of physics. It is impossible to over emphasize its importance; it is the basis of our understanding of motion in spacetime. The simplest statement of the law is that there is no experiment which can be implemented to measure a uniform velocity. Since we can only know what can be measured, we can never know how fast we are moving. There is no speedometer on the starship Enterprise.


They say the market is like the wind, you cannot see it but you can feel it. The success or failure of a business often depends largely on unseen market forces. "The market" is a broad term that covers buyers, sellers and sentiment. The MPO believes that the farm gate milk price should be discovered within the market in a transparent and market-related manner.


With the expanding of the grid,the operation modes of the interconnected grid and its stability become complex and changeful,and the current EMS and off-line analysis decision-making method can hardly meet the operational requirements of the modern grid.Therefore,it is urgent of build the dispatch staff oriented intelligent monitoring and control integrated decision-making system for grid operation to provide decision-making support for the staff to deal with complex operational modes and emergency accidents.Based on problems existing in dispatching,the research background and design targets of the intelligent monitoring and accident handling decision-making supporting system for grid dispatch were proposed,as well its architecture.The key technology for system development was also analyzed.Till now,the system has entered its implementation stage in Anhui dispatch center.


A set of mesoscale numerical simulations using the Pennsylvania State University‐National Center for Atmospheric Research model is used to investigate two cases of extreme precipitation over eastern Spain. Both cases (3‐4 November 1987 and 20 October 1982) were characterized by quasi-stationary mesoscale convective systems that developed over the Valencia region and lasted more than 30 and 12 h, respectively. Rainfall totals in 24 h exceeded 800 mm on 3‐4 November and 400 mm on 20 October at some localities of that region. The first event occurred within a weak and very stagnant synoptic pattern under a persistent easterly/northeasterly low-level jet stream impinging on the Valencian orography. In contrast, the second case involved a westwardmoving surface low driven by an upper-level jet streak, which evolved along the northern edge of an upperlevel cutoff low over North Africa. In both cases, the mesoscale model forecast spatial details of the precipitation field reasonably accurately, as well as capturing its long duration, but underestimated the storm total precipitation. Model output fields suggest that the development of a surface mesolow by latent heat release, as well as lee cyclogenesis induced by the Atlas Mountains, could have played an important role in both events by providing low-level convergence and enhanced upslope winds. Thus, a factor separation technique is used to explore this issue. For the event of 3‐4 November 1987, latent heat is decisive for explaining the precipitation maximum over central Valencia, and the Atlas orography induces rainfall enhancement over the same zone. For the event of 20 October 1982, the latent heat release is again shown to be important, whereas the Atlas Mountains orography factor appears to inhibit rainfall. This is the first time that it has been documented that the Atlas-induced modulation of the surface pressure field is not a positive factor for heavy precipitations over eastern Spain. This exceptional case may be due to a negative interaction between the Atlas Mountains and the upper-level dynamics and frontal forcing for this event.


Cloud computing is a virtualized, scalable, ubiquitous, and distributed computing paradigm that provides resources and services dynamically in a subscription based environment. Cloud computing provides services through Cloud Service Providers (CSPs). Cloud computing is mainly used for delivering solutions to a large number of business and scientific applications. Large-scale scientific applications are evaluated through cloud computing in the form of scientific workflows. Scientific workflows are data-intensive applications, and a single scientific workflow may be comprised of thousands of tasks. Deadline constraints, task failures, budget constraints, improper organization and management of tasks can cause inconvenience in executing scientific workflows. Therefore, we proposed a fault-tolerant and data-oriented scientific workflow management and scheduling system (FD-SWMS) in cloud computing. The proposed strategy applies a multi-criteria-based approach to schedule and manage the tasks of scientific workflows. The proposed strategy considers the special characteristics of tasks in scientific workflows, i.e., the scientific workflow tasks are executed simultaneously in parallel, in pipelined, aggregated to form a single task, and distributed to create multiple tasks. The proposed strategy schedules the tasks based on the data-intensiveness, provides a fault tolerant technique through a cluster-based approach, and makes it energy efficient through a load sharing mechanism. In order to find the effectiveness of the proposed strategy, the simulations are carried out on WorkflowSim for Montage and CyberShake workflows. The proposed FD-SWMS strategy performs better as compared with the existing state-of-the-art strategies. The proposed strategy on average reduced execution time by 25%, 17%, 22%, and 16%, minimized the execution cost by 24%, 17%, 21%, and 16%, and decreased the energy consumption by 21%, 17%, 20%, and 16%, as compared with existing QFWMS, EDS-DC, CFD, and BDCWS strategies, respectively for Montage scientific workflow. Similarly, the proposed strategy on average reduced execution time by 48%, 17%, 25%, and 42%, minimized the execution cost by 45%, 11%, 16%, and 38%, and decreased the energy consumption by 27%, 25%, 32%, and 20%, as compared with existing QFWMS, EDS-DC, CFD, and BDCWS strategies, respectively for CyberShake scientific workflow.


A new algorithm is presented for detecting damage in structures subject to ambient or applied excitation. The approach is derived from an attractor-based technique for detecting nonstationarity in time series data and is referred to as recurrence quantification analysis (RQA). Time series data collected from the structure are used to reconstruct the system's dynamical attractor in phase space. The practitioner then quantifies the probabilities that a given trajectory will visit local regions in this phase space. This is accomplished by forming a binary matrix consisting of all points that fall within some predefined radius of each point on the attractor. The resulting recurrence plot reflects correlations in the time series across all available time scales in a probabilistic fashion. Based on the structure found in recurrence plots a variety of metrics are extracted including: percentage of recurrence points, a measure reflecting determinism, and entropy. These "features" are then used to detect and track damage-induced changes to the structure's vibrational response. The approach is demonstrated experimentally in diagnosing the length of a crack in a thin steel plate. Structural response data are recorded from multiple locations on the plate using a novel fiber-based sensing system.


This paper is a new attempt to introduce a "Parallel Multi-cue" Particle Filter tracking method. It combines multiple features distribution and multiple thread programming method to facilitate 2D video tracking from a monocular view. The method's benefits lie in its speed, its robustness. Speed is improved by parallel operation of multiple thread which dispose different cues at one time; robustness is implemented by multiple cues. The proposed method is demonstrated on head tracking with a non-stationary camera in unconstrained environments. Result shows it is speedier and robust again background noise such as cluttered background, occlusion, color distracters and illumination change than conventional single thread PF and


We use results by Kirilin to show that in general relativity the nonleading terms in the energy-momentum tensor of a particle depends on the parameterization of the gravitational field. While the classical metric that is calculated from this source, used to define the leading long-distance corrections to the metric, also has a parameteriztion dependence, it can be removed by a coordinate change. Thus the classical observables are parameterization independent. The quantum effects that emerge within the same calculation of the metric also depend on the parameterization and a full quantum calculation requires the inclusion of further diagrams. However, within a given parameterization the quantum effects calculated by us in a previous paper are well defined. Flaws of Kirilin's proposed alternate metric definition are described and we explain why the diagrams that we calculated are the appropriate ones.


Abstract. Soybean has shown over the years to be a reliable plant protein source to excellently substitute the high cost fishmeal in aquaculture diets. However, antinutritional factors (ANFs) limit its usage in aquaculture feeds. Therefore, the current study was designed to test the efficacy of three substrates containing different microorganisms that are capable of reducing soybean ANFs in a 3-month period at a low pH of 2.8. Full fat soybean (USB) was fermented using Anaerobic waste extract from Recirculating Aquaculture System sludge trap (RASW); Biocentric® Feed probiotic powder (BIOP); Oakland® double cream yoghurt (3x 106 CFU ml¯¹) (OY), Control treatment which had no substrate that contained fermenting microorganism (SRR). Each treatment was conducted in three replicates at 2.8 pH. The untreated soybean granules recorded a numerical protein content of 48.56%. The BIOP fermented soybean recorded significantly higher protein content as compared to the other soybean meal fermented with the other substrates. There was also a significant decrease in the soybean content of the amino acid lysine upon fermentation with the four treatments. Fermentation of the soybean with the four treatments was not significantly different in relation with their soybean lipid content, crude fibre content, methionine + cysteine, dry matter content, urease activity and gross energy content (P > 0.05). There was an overall significant decrease in the ANFs when soybean was fermented with the four treatments, with four out of six analysed ANFs parameters content showing a significant decrease upon fermentation (P < 0.05). Fermentation of the soybean with RASW resulted in a significant decrease of trypsin inhibitor content as compared to the rest of the treatments. The USB recorded a numerical value of 43.80 for trypsin inhibitor, whereas RASW fermented soybean recorded least trypsin inhibitor of 3815 ± 010 mg/g. In conclusion, the current study showed that the fermentation substrates used are capable of reducing soybean ANFs, with a slight decrease in soybean protein content.


The tracking of small particles is an important but challenging task for biological applications such as disease diagnostics and medical research. Current methods are limited to the use of bulky instruments such as flow cytometers and microscopes. Here, a novel technique for the detection and measurement of micron-scale optical scatterers using a few-mode exposed-core microstructured optical fiber is proposed. Through selective mode launching combined with optical frequency domain reflectometry, scatterers located on the fiber core surface can be simultaneously mapped with both longitudinal and transverse information. This technique is demonstrated by detecting the two-dimensional positions of several femtosecond-laser-inscribed micron-scale ablations written at different locations on the fiber core surface. Due to the compact nature of the optical fiber and its local sensitivity to scatterers that are in close proximity to it, this technique has the potential for the measurement and detection of micron-scale particles in difficult to reach biological environments for in vivo applications.


The invention relates to a method of making polyphenylene sulfide filament and its devices, in which the said polyphenylene sulfide filament is prepared by dewatering polyphenylene resin, firing heating, measuring and spinning, coiling and afterprocessing procedure. Among the method of making polyphenylene sulfide filament and its devices, the microtome section and fusion process of the resin is relative balanced and exhaustive, the inside temperature of melting charge is even, and the quality of the produced nascent fibre is stable and balanced, which is good for the successive drafting procedure and the fiber is not easy to fracture.


An Empirical Evaluation of Models of Text Document Similarity Michael D. Lee (email@example.com) Department of Psychology, University of Adelaide South Australia, 5005, AUSTRALIA Brandon Pincombe (email@example.com) Intelligence Surveillance and Reconnaissance Division, Defence Science and Technology Organisation PO Box 1500, Edinburgh SA 5111 AUSTRALIA Matthew Welsh (firstname.lastname@example.com) Australian School of Petroleum Engineering, University of Adelaide South Australia, 5005, AUSTRALIA Abstract Modeling the semantic similarity between text docu- ments presents a significant theoretical challenge for cognitive science, with ready-made applications in in- formation handling and decision support systems deal- ing with text. While a number of candidate models exist, they have generally not been assessed in terms of their ability to emulate human judgments of simi- larity. To address this problem, we conducted an ex- periment that collected repeated similarity measures for each pair of documents in a small corpus of short news documents. An analysis of human performance showed inter-rater correlations of about 0.6. We then considered the ability of existing models—using word- based, n-gram and Latent Semantic Analysis (LSA) approaches—to model these human judgments. The best performed LSA model produced correlations of about 0.6, consistent with human performance, while the best performed word-based and n-gram models achieved correlations closer to 0.5. Many of the re- maining models showed almost no correlation with hu- man performance. Based on our results, we provide some discussion of the key strengths and weaknesses of the models we examined. Introduction Modeling the semantic similarity between text docu- ments is an interesting problem for cognitive science, for both theoretical and practical reasons. Theoret- ically, it involves the study of a basic cognitive pro- cess with richly structured natural stimuli. Practically, search engines, text corpus visualizations, and a vari- ety of other applications for filtering, sorting, retriev- ing, and generally handling text rely fundamentally on similarity measures. For this reason, the ability to as- sess semantic similarity in an accurate, automated, and scalable way is a key determinant of the effectiveness of most information handling and decision support soft- ware that deals with text. A variety of different approaches have been devel- oped for modeling text document similarity. These in- clude simple word-based, keyword-based and n-gram measures (e.g., Salton, 1989; Damashek, 1995), and more complicated approaches such as Latent Seman- tic Analysis (LSA: Deerwester et al., 1990; Landauer and Dumais, 1997). While all of these approaches have achieved some level of practical success, they have gen- erally not been assessed in terms of their ability to model human judgments of text document similarity. The most likely reason for this failure is that no suit- able empirical data exist, and considerable effort is in- volved in collecting pairwise ratings of text document similarity for even a moderate number of documents. This paper reports the collection of data that give ten independent ratings of the similarity of every pair of 50 short text documents, and so represents an attempt to establish a 'psychological ground truth' for evaluating models. Using the new data, we report a first eval- uation of the ability of word-based, n-gram and LSA approaches to model human judgments. Experiment Materials The text corpus evaluated by human judges contained 50 documents selected from the Australian Broadcast- ing Corporation's news mail service, which provides text e-mails of headline stories. The documents varied in length from 51 to 126 words, and covered a number of broad topics. A further 314 documents from the same were collected to act as a larger 'backgrounding' corpus for LSA. Both document sets were assessed against a stan- dard corpus of five English texts using four models of language. These were the log-normal, generalized in- verse Gauss-Poisson (with γ = −0.5), Yule-Simon and Zipfian models (Baayen, 2001). Both document sets were within the normal range of English text for word frequency spectrum and vocabulary growth and were therefore regarded as representative of normal English texts. Subjects The subjects were 83 University of Adelaide students (29 males and 54 females), with a mean age of 19.7 years. They were each paid with a ten (Australian) dollar gift voucher for every 100 document pair ratings made.


In recent years, the requirements for strip steel surface quality have also increased. However, traditional Non-destructive testing detection is not good enough. Deep learning-based algorithms are also unable to meet the requirements of small sample data and real-time performance for strip surface defect detection. The DAG-SVM has the advantage of solving small data, non-linear and high-dimensional pattern recognition. Therefore, this paper selects the Directed Acyclic Graph (DAG) to construct the SVM multi-class classifier. And representative shape features are selected as the feature vectors of the samples. At the same time, the kernel function and parameter search are used to further improve the recognition rate. The final results show that the average recognition rate using this method is 95.5%, which can meet the practical needs. In the comparison with BP neural network, the method of this paper is also better than BP neural network in general.


This paper studies the effect of transmit antenna multipath channel deep fading on the effective received signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), bit error rate (BER), capacity and throughput of 4 × 4 MIMO system for several transmit fading scenarios. The simulated results are obtained in an environment of 4 × 4 MIMO system using MATLAB software where the total transmit power is normalized to one. The purpose of normalizing the transmit power is to make the results independent of transmitted power. The system (SNR) is a given parameter so the power of the white noise is adjusted in accordance with the SNR. All the detections are done using maximum likelihood receiver (ML). Although ML detector has high computational complexity, it is used to get an optimum detection for a fair comparison


The routine use of cholinesterase inhibitors to antagonize residual neuromuscular block may be associated with increased postoperative emesis.Rapid spontaneous recovery from mivacurium may obviate the need for these drugs. In this randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study of 113 healthy children who had received mivacurium as part of a standardized anesthetic regimen, we compared the incidence of postoperative complications after spontaneous recovery and after the use of neostigmine-glycopyrrolate or edrophonium-atropine. The anesthetic regimen consisted of halothane, nitrous oxide, fentanyl, 2 micro gram/kg intravenous (IV), mivacurium in an initial dose of 0.2 mg/kg, followed by an infusion, adjusted to maintain >or=to1 evoked contraction response to a supramaximum train-of-four stimulus. At the end of the procedure, patients received by random assignment one of three drug combinations: 1) neostigmine 70 micro gram/kg + glycopyrrolate 10 micro gram/kg, IV, 2) edrophonium 1 mg/kg + atropine 10 micro gram/kg, IV, and 3) saline. The trachea was extubated when evoked responses to peripheral nerve stimulation and clinical signs of adequate neuromuscular recovery were present. Postoperative pain was treated with morphine and emesis with metoclopramide. There were no significant differences between the three groups with respect to age, surgery, intraoperative fentanyl, and mivacurium use, time from the end of surgery to tracheal extubation, postanesthesia care unit (PACU) arrival and discharge, or in postoperative oxygen saturation values and analgesic requirements. Compared to the placebo group, emesis occurred more often in the PACU in patients receiving the neostigmine-glycopyrrolate combination, but not after edrophonium-atropine. However, after discharge from the PACU, emesis rates were similar in the three study groups. We conclude that spontaneous recovery or reversal with edrophonium from a moderate degree of mivacurium-induced block may offer advantages over the use of neostigmine, without increasing time to PACU arrival. (Anesth Analg 1995;80:713-17)


A 9-year-old male is transferred to your general pediatric service from the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) with a diagnosis of resolving inhalation pneumonitis. Your review of the admission history reveals that he had been admitted 2 days previously when he presented to the Emergency Department (ED) with the following history.


ABSTRACT The first purpose of this note is to provide a proof of the usual square function estimate on Lp(Ω). It turns out to follow directly from a generic Mikhlin multiplier theorem obtained by Alexopoulos, and we provide a sketch of its proof in the Appendix for the reader's convenience. We also relate such bounds to a weaker version of the square function estimate which is enough in most instances involving dispersive PDEs and relies on Gaussian bounds on the heat kernel (such bounds are the key to Alexopoulos'result as well). Moreover, we obtain several useful Lp(Ω;H) bounds for (the derivatives of) the heat flow with values in a given Hilbert space H.


On the basis of the two-dimensional numerical simulation the isothermal current instability and filamentation are studied in the grounded gate MOS ESD protection (ggMOS) structures with lightly doped drain (LDD). It is demonstrated that avalanche injection breakdown in the LDD MOS structures results in two stage secondary breakdown and filamentation process. In the first stage a low amplitude filament limited by current saturation in LDD region is formed. In the second stage high amplitude filaments are formed between the source and drain contact n+-regions. The local burnout of the structure is clarified by the resulting high local overheating in the isothermal filament.


Kidney herniation through the lumbar triangle is an uncommon type of hernia which is classically managed surgically. Contrast enhanced computerised tomography revealed lower pole of the right kidney herniating through the lumbar triangle in a 60-year-old woman, 10 years after an open right pyeloplasty. Surgical intervention was advised, however, patient opted for non-surgical management. Patient was successfully treated conservatively in clinic requiring regular analgesics for relief of mild pain.


In our country,it is the feasibility that the system being set up,it does not violate the original intent of legislation.we can prevent the judges from mediating without the proceedings by normalizing the system.We should protect the interests of the private party to the largest extent under the existing power structure,save litigation costs and improve efficiency.


Linear IgA bullous dermatosis is an autoimmune condition, which is not frequent,and involves the presence of sub-epidermal blisters and IgA deposits in a linear design in the dermoepidermal junction. Clinical signs are very variable,and can resemble bullous or cicatricial pemphigoid, or dermatitis herpetiformis.Its cause is unknown, and it has been sometimes associated with medications, particularly non-steroid anti-inflammatory drugs and antibiotics, mostly vancomycin.

Below we present the case of a 56-year-old woman who was admitted to hospital due to severe malnourishment cutaneous sepsis, and with a past history of vascular ulcers in lower limbs. She received empirical antibiotic treatment with vancomycin and piperacillin-tazobactam, days started presenting
cutaneous blister-lesions in her chest.She was diagnosed with Linear IgA Bullous Dermatosis associated vancomycin. The mere discontinuation of vancomycin represented a fast improvement in lesions.

In conclusion, even though the most widely known dermatological disorders caused by vancomycin are Red Man Syndrome among others, the case of linear lgA bullous dermatosis, even though less known, has also been described in the product specifications, with a very rare frequency. Therefore, when faced with a
case of LIBD, its potential cause by vancomycin must be considered,in order to discontinue treatment as soon as possible


Religion has a very important role in human life. In actualizing the teachings of religion, Hindus use three basic teachings called the Tri Tri Framework Basic Hinduism, which consists of: Tattwa (Philosophy), Susila (Ethics), and Events. Water is a purification or cleansing in life so that the body becomes pure and clean. Water is a symbol of amertha (life) and water that keeps the body holy and clean. All ceremonial equipment must be purified with water sprinkling before the ceremony begins. The sprinkling of the holy water to the person or in the ceremony intends to gain health, peace (peace of mind), happiness. Water is thought to have the power to eliminate evil influences. Thus the importance of water in religious life, so that in all religious ceremonies can not be separated from the use of water (tirtha). In this research there are three problem formulation, among others 1) Tirtha Solas Function, 2) Meaning of Tirtha Solas, 3) society view about Tirtha Solas. This research uses three theories namely function theory, symbol theory and religious theory. The function theory is used to dissect the problem of the function of Tirtha solas symbol theory to dissect the problem of Meaning of Titha solas. Religious theory dissects the problems of society's view of tirtha solas. This research uses qualitative descriptive method in advance researcher approach, identify problem, observation, research object, data collection, then analyzed descriptive qualitative to get general result or conclusion. The results of this study can be stated as follows: 1) the function of tirtha in Hindu ritual, the role of tirtha in religious ceremony is very important role 2) The meaning of tirtha solas as cleansing is as a media of self-cleansing and cleansing 3) Tirtha solas is trusted by citizen or society as a treatment medium. With the holy place tirtha solas in order to provide positive energy and purity within.


A number of aspects of carrying out an episteme-didactic research concerning the possibilities of designing of academic programs are discussed. For this purpose the questions of building the splittings of epistemes' sets (knowledge elements in application to studies processes), determination of equivalence relations on epistemes sets, building the factorizations of epistemes, formation of interrelations between the factorizations, accompanied by examples and illustrations are considered. The construction of factorizations and their application in the educational process allows to carry out a comparative analysis both of separate academic disciplines and their parts, and also of academic systems as a whole.


Waveform classification is a popular method in seismic facies analysis. It has been successfully applied to oil and gas reservoir prediction. However, the decision of the number of seismically-determined facies in field applications is not straightforward. Generally the task is performed by trial and error of a subjective user, which consequently increases the workload of the interpreter and the uncertainty of reservoir facies prediction. This problem is addressed here by proposing a self-organizing neural network in which the structure of the output layer is one-dimensional. Using this technique, the number of seismic facies can be semi-automatically determined. This method is applied to a synthetic example and a field example. It is shown that the proposed method is capable of estimating the number of classes effectively and enhancing the discrimination of seismic facies in an efficient way.


Synchrotron X-ray diffraction technique was used to characterize composition, microstructure, and
texture of four source rock samples of Lower Jurassic Toarcian Posidonia shales retrieved from the
Hils Syncline in northern Germany. The samples were obtained from similar depth from boreholes
drilled with a lateral distance of roughly 10-20 km from each other. However, the total organic
content (TOC) of the samples varies in thermal maturity, with vitrinite reflectance varying over a
wide range from 0.68% to 1.45% (Littke et al., 1988). This variation indicates differences in local
temperature history due to either a local igneous intrusion or a complex burial history (e.g.
Leythaeuser et al., 1980; Rullkotter et al., 1988; Petmecky et al., 1999). The porosity of shales from
the four wells is generally low and ranging from 4% to 10%, inferred from the mercury injection
(MICP) (Mann, 1987). Mann (1987) reports pore throat sizes between <2.2 nm (estimate) to 60 nm,
with most pores being in the order of nanometers. The objective of this work is to investigate whether
the thermal history has affected the preferred orientation patterns of Posidonia shales and whether
clay minerals may have been diagenetically altered, with consequent changes in preferred orientation.
Furthermore, synchrotron X-ray microtomography was used to investigate the three-dimensional (3D)
distribution of porosity and constituent phases and to compare the obtained porosity with previous
measurements (Mann et al., 1986; Mann, 1987). Microstructures at the nanoscale were studied by
transmission electron microscopy (TEM).


The purpose of this study is to demonstrate the mosque-education unity in the context of the Koran and the Sunnah. In this context, Hz. Prophet's words and practices are evaluated and verse 18 of Suraat-Taubah is examined according to the interpretation. As the first application of the theory turned into practice in viewed at the Prophet's Mosque and Suffa example. It is a known fact that the mosques, one of the most distinctive symbols of Islam, have used for many different purposes. There are historical evidences showing that they have been used for political, military, educational, administrative and many other temporary purposes besides their main purpose which is, of course, worshiping. These varying functions emerged with the need, and ended naturally when these needs vanish. But the Quran and acts of the Holy Prophet emphasize that being education centers is an inevitable part of the mosques. The unity of worshiping and education was well understood and applied in the past unlike today. The downgrading of mosques to just temples causes waste of facilities and trained human resources. And all these move the mosques away from their missions day by day.


The authors set themselves the task of making experimental studies of heat transfer from CMR heat exchange surfaces with a triangular arrangement of tubes in a wide range of variation in geometrical and operating characteristics for transportation and energy power plants. The experimental data obtained could be used when designing air heaters, steam generators, different types of coolers in large steam turbines, compressors and electrical machines


Isolation and characterisation of Lactic Acid Bacteria (LAB) associated with the fermentation of maize and sorghum for the production of ogi were evaluated for the development of starter cultures. Changes in pH and LAB counts were investigated during the cereal based-product fermentation. A decrease in pH was observed during the natural fermentation from 0hr to 48hrs. The LAB were isolated, characterised and identified using cultural, morphological and physiological methods. The isolates were: Lactobacillus plantarum, Lactococcus lactis, Lactobacillus acidophilus, Lactobacillus cellobiosus, Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus and Lactobacillus casei. The isolates from maize–produced ogi were capable of growing on sterilised maize grains, with Lactobacillus plantarum having the highest potential as a starter culture for ogi production from maize. Also, the isolates from sorghum-produced ogi were capable of growing on sterilised sorghum grains, with Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus having the higher potential as starter culture for ogi production from sorghum. Sterilised maize grains inoculated with pure culture of Lactobacillus plantarum showed the highest counts of 2.1 × 108 at 24 hrs of fermentation than the other Lactic Acid Bacteria. In the same vein, sterilised sorghum grains inoculated with pure culture of Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus showed the higher counts of 1.12 × 108 at 24 hrs of fermentation than the other Lactic Acid Bacterium. There was no significant difference (p ≤ 0.05) in the mean of the pH values obtained during the spontaneous fermentation of maize and sorghum. The results obtained indicated that all the six LAB isolates could be used singly as starter cultures to produce ogi within a shorter fermentation period.