This paper presents the design of an encoder using booth multiplier for high security purpose. The speed of multiplier operation is of fastidious importance within the general purpose processors. The essential multiplication principle is a twofold i.e., evaluation of the partial products and accumulation of the shifted partial products with the motivation to Booth's algorithm. In this paper, an efficient design of modified Booth Encoder and Decoder scheme for high performance of multiplier has been proposed. The proposed Booth encoder and Decoder logic are competitive with the present schemes and shows enhancements in delay. The proposed system generates B, A and interconnected blocks by extending bit of the operands and generating an additional product for an encoder and similar inverse operation for the decoder. Multiplication operation is performed to operate b-encoder and decoder, which is efficient with the less area and it reduces delay i.e., speed is increased.


Interaction modalities with document technologies have, until recently, been quite limited. Current advances have led to the emergance of a host of new techniques for navigation, marking and annotation, and these are allowing users of documents to get to grips with documents more effectively than before. This paper illustrates how sociological investigations can provide insights into what these new interaction modalities might be. © John Benjamins Publishing Company.


Kitchen gardening plays a vital role in the life of rural community to meet dietary requirements. The present study was conducted with the objective to study the constraints in adoption of kitchen gardening techniques under Mokokchung district of Nagaland. Accordingly 25 families from the four villages of the district who were already practicing kitchen gardening were selected for the study. The constraints as perceived by the respondents were scored on the basis of magnitude of the problems. Constraints were related to inputs, socio-culture, post-harvest technology etc. The general constraints were the most serious constraints followed by input, socio-cultural, post-harvest and technical constraints in adoption of kitchen gardening. While analyzing overall constraints as perceived by the farmers the study highlighted that unavailability of quality planting material of fruits and seeds of HYVs of vegetables, lesser availability of bio-pesticides and bio-fertilizers,  lack of knowledge about seed treatment, lack of knowledge regarding major pests and diseases identification and their management, continuous adoption of traditional practices for growing vegetables, lack of interest among rural youth, difficulty in selling small amount of surplus of produce, lack of knowledge regarding preservation and processing of surplus produce, frequent inundation of kitchen gardens during rainy season due to high water table, acidic soil and high EC were reported major bottlenecks in successful adoption of kitchen gardening.


The objective of this study is to explore the influence of grinding stone granularity on the grinding force and rail material removal behaviors using a rail grinding friction machine. The results indicate that with the increase in granularity, the grinding force, and friction coefficient in the grinding interface obviously increase, which brings about a rise in the hardness and grinding temperature-rise of rail specimens. The increase in the grinding stone granularity causes a fall in the grinding volume and surface roughness of rail materials and brings about stronger vibration in the grinding interface owing to different material removal mechanisms. In view of the experimental results, the optimization of grinding stone granularity is significant for improving the rail grinding efficiency and surface quality.


The Distributed Hydrology-Soil-Vegetation Model (DHSVM) was enhanced to represent the interception and redirection of surface and subsurface flow by road cuts and stream channels. Two channel networks are imposed in vector form on the DHSVM grid: one representing roads, the other representing streams. Impacts of the road network on channel flows are modeled explicitly; road location and geometry, along with soil moisture, determine the timing and volume of intercepted water, while road drainage characteristics and culvert placement determine the flow path and travel time to the channel system. The active road drainage/channel network may expand and contract as grid cell water tables rise and fall below their channel beds. The model was applied to a 10-km2 experimental watershed to study the influence of road network design on streamflow characteristics. It was demonstrated that even where the road network produces minor changes in streamflow at the basin outlet, subsurface flow interception by roads could alter significantly streamflow in tributary channels. The impact of the road network on channel flows was shown to vary during a storm based on the road design, storm characteristics, topography, local geology, and soil moisture conditions. The impact occurs earlier in a storm when the road networkmore » diverts flow into the drainage rather than out of it. When flows are redirected into a channel, the road contributing area quickly increases the current total contributing area for the channel, causing a proportional increase in discharge. If the road design allows some water to pass under the road, there may be only minor impacts early in the storm with increasing impact as watertables rise and subsurface flow begins to be intercepted. When flows are redirected out of the natural drainage the impact is not felt until the channel contributing area extends upslope to the road system.« less


The low-density lipoprotein (LDL) receptor-related protein-1 (LRP-1) is a type I integral membrane receptor that mediates endocytosis of a wide array of ligands. LRP-1-dependent endocytosis emerges as a main mechanism controlling the extracellular amounts of various matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) family members. The LRP-1-mediated internalization of MMP-2 was identified as a pivotal mechanism for controlling the extracellular activity of this proteinase. In particular, we have documented that LRP-1 mediates the endocytic clearance of proMMP-2 complexed to tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases-2 (TIMP-2) in human fibrosarcoma HT1080 cells. However, the endocytic function of LRP-1 in the direct regulation of the extracellular matrix (ECM) remodeling remains hypothetical. Moreover, the mechanistic regulation of LRP-1 is still unclear. Membrane-type MMPs (MT-MMPs) degrade LRP-1 into low-molecular weight fragments, but the intact LRP-1 ectodomain can be selectively shed from the cell surface upon cleavage by a variety of proteolytic enzymes. The general aim of the study was to analyze the relevance of LRP-1-mediated clearance in the regulation of ECM remodeling, and to identify the mechanism by which this process was regulated. We turned to human endometrium, which offers a unique physiological example of efficient regulation of tissue breakdown and reconstruction around the menstrual phase. We further elucidated the mechanism by which LRP-1 is itself regulated in HT1080 cells. First, we addressed the role of LRP-1 in the endocytic clearance of endometrial gelatinases, the expression of which is poorly regulated during the menstrual cycle. LRP-1 mRNA and protein were studied using RT-PCR, Western blotting and immunolabeling. Post-translational control of LRP-1 was analyzed in explant culture. The receptor-associated protein (RAP), used as LRP antagonist, strongly increased accumulation of (pro)gelatinases in medium conditioned by endometrial explants, suggesting a role for LRP-1 in their clearance. Although LRP-1 mRNA remained constant throughout the cycle, the protein ectodomain vanished at menses. LRP-1 immunolabeling selectively disappeared in areas of ECM breakdown in menstrual samples. It also disappeared from explants cultured without estrogen and progesterone (EP) due to ectodomain shedding. The shedding was inhibited by metalloproteinase inhibitors, including a disintegrin and metalloproteinase (ADAM) inhibitor, and by TIMP-3 and -2, but barely by TIMP-1, pointing to ADAM-12 as the putative sheddase. In good agreement, ADAM-12 mRNA expression was repressed by EP. In conclusion, the efficient LRP-1-mediated clearance of gelatinase activity in non-bleeding endometrium is abrogated upon EP withdrawal, due to shedding of LRP-1 ectodomain by a metalloproteinase, presumably ADAM-12, itself regulated by EP. In the second part of the study, we identified two membrane-associated metalloproteinases, ADAM-12 and MT1-MMP that shed LRP-1 from human fibrosarcoma HT1080 cells. We compared the shedding potential of classical fibroblastoid HT1080 cells with a variant featuring an epithelioid phenotype. Although both fibroblastoid and epithelioid HT1080 cells expressed similar levels of ADAM-12 and MT1-MMP and of their specific inhibitor, TIMP-2, epithelioid cells shed 4-fold less LRP-1 ectodomain. Epithelioid HT1080 cells contained twice more cholesterol than fibroblastoid cells. We demonstrate that cholesterol depletion from epithelioid cells increased LRP-1 ectodomain shedding and conversely, that cholesterol enrichment of fibroblastoid cells impaired their shedding capacity. These results establish cholesterol as a regulator of LRP-1 levels at the plasma membrane.


The study of the genesis of alcoholism seeks, as a rule, such landmarks in the personality development as may indicate the problem which the individual attempts to solve by means of intoxication. There may or may not be a further attempt to understand why the alcoholic man or woman chooses this particular solution instead of some other means. Supplementarily there is usually a search for environmental elements which presumptively foster such artificial adjustments as habitual inebriety.Thus etiological research on what is commonly called alcohol addiction but less pretentiously may be designated as habitual inebriety† concerns itself primarily with psychodynamics leading up to—and social factors which may precipitate—gross inebriety. The weight is nearly all on the prealcoholic phase of alcoholism. The drinking career receives little attention in such studies. Phases of inebriety, forms of drinking, changes in the drinking pattern and even changes other than drinking habits occurring in the course of ineb...


Place management is a category of outcome management that has been tested in several experiments in NSW. Those assessed to date are examples of ad hoc place management positions grafted onto traditional government silos designed to produce specialised inputs or outputs. In these circumstances, as suggested by Walsh, the role of an outcomes officer will be limited to areas of special concern and for limited periods. This article discusses place management in the context of a substantial change directed at putting outcome management at the centre of government. The limitations on place management identified by Walsh do not apply in these circumstances.


Aircraft performance optimization is a field of increasing interest, especially with the prevalent use of flight management systems (FMS) on commercial aircraft, as well as the growing field of autonomous aircraft. This thesis addresses the maximum endurance performance mode. Maximizing the endurance of an aircraft has several applications in data collection, surveillance, and commercial flights. Each of these applications may be best suited for different aircraft such as fixed-wing or quad-rotor vehicles, with power plants being either fuel-burning or electric.

The objectives of this thesis are to solve the maximum endurance problem using an optimal control framework for fixed-wing aircraft while developing a unified model of energy-depletion which encompasses both fuel-burning and all-electric aircraft. The unified energy-depletion model allows the results to be applied to turbojet, turbofan, turboprop, and all-electric aircraft. The problem of maximum endurance in cruise will be solved for a three-phase model of flight including climb, cruise, and descent. This problem is solved using a hybrid optimal control framework using a unified energy-depletion model.

One of the advantages of using an optimal control framework is the possibility to develop analytical solutions. The results of this thesis include a general solution for maximizing the endurance of fixed-wing aircraft, as well as specific analytical solutions for each aircraft configuration wherever possible. Some benefits of analytical solutions are that they require the least amount of computation time and provide insight into the problem including sensitivities and physical dependencies. Simulations are provided to validate the results in the case of specific aircraft configurations (turbojet, turbofan, turboprop, and all-electric).


. The comparison of spectral properties of op- erators with κ ∈ L 1 ( R ), which was initiated in [ 3 ], is extended here in several directions. In [ 3 ], the operators were defined on the space of bounded continuous functions on the half-line. Now they are studied on L 2 ( R + ). The spectra are unchanged. Particular attention is paid to the self-adjoint case. There is a very close relationship between spectral properties of K and K β as β → ∞ . Under further restrictions, σ ( K β ) is asymptotically dense in σ ( K ) as β → ∞ . The proofs are based directly on properties of the operators. This enables us to avoid extraneous hypotheses which Fourier transform methods often require.


A dataset on the use of transparency notices by Danish contracting authorities is analysed. Focus is on reliance on technical reasons to justify the use of the negotiated procedure without prior publication of a contract notice. It is found that technical reasons are for the major part used to procure medical equipment primarily for hospitals, and that the technical reasons relied on in the majority of cases may be categorised as product characteristics and compatibility/interoperability grounds. There are also certain indications of a market characterised by selective distributions agreements, a pattern which may explain that most of the contracts are awarded to companies established in Denmark. It is concluded that, even if the CJEU would acknowledge product characteristics and compatibility/interoperability as technical grounds, it is questionable whether it would accept that on these grounds the contract could only be fulfilled by one particular economic operator. The hypothesis that transparency notices and the sanctuary from ineffectiveness would imply that direct contract awards are fitted into the justifications provided for in the Public Procurement Directives cannot be conclusively supported or rejected on the basis of the examined dataset.


Let $G = (V, E)$ be a digraph where each vertex is unlabeled, each edge is labeled by a character in some alphabet $\Omega$, and any two edges with both the same head and the same tail have different labels. The powerset construction gives a transform of $G$ into a weakly connected digraph $G' = (V', E')$ that enables solving the decision problem of whether there is a walk in $G$ matching an arbitrarily long query string $q$ in time linear in $|q|$ and independent of $|E|$ and $|V|$. We show $G$ is uniquely determined by $G'$ when for every $v_\ell \in V$, there is some distinct string $s_\ell$ on $\Omega$ such that $v_\ell$ is the origin of a closed walk in $G$ matching $s_\ell$, and no other walk in $G$ matches $s_\ell$ unless it starts and ends at $v_\ell$. We then exploit this invertibility condition to strategically alter any $G$ so its transform $G'$ enables retrieval of all $t$ terminal vertices of walks in the unaltered $G$ matching $q$ in $O(|q| + t \log |V|)$ time. We conclude by proposing two defining properties of a class of transforms that includes the Burrows-Wheeler transform and the transform presented here.


The article describes problems of determining the type and automatic sorting of household waste using mobile computing devices. All of the required hardware and partially software, required for implementation of this service, are already present in modern smartphones. iOS and Apple products were selected as the base for the service, due to such advantages over competitors: dual or triple depth camera (TDCS), powerful GPU, Neural Engine coprocessor, high autonomy (2750mAh battery size), sensors that allow for user positioning and navigation in space (GPS, Glonass, Gyroscope) and most important feature is possibility of cross-platform designing, suitable for iOS and macOS (Project Catalina). The recognition process consists of several phases, including capturing of graphic image and detecting the object shape, shape analysis, computing the results, and saving new associations to the database. The analysis itself is implemented using a neural network that is able to learn during its operation. Initially, the algorithm is driven by the selection of photographs with a certain type for the base set of associations, each subsequent scan improves accuracy. Cross-platforming plays a very important role it allows us to develop a single software service that is initially run on a macOS-based computer for faster learning and then can be easily used on an iOS mobile device. After identifying a particular type of garbage, the route to the nearest recycling point of such type of garbage will be proposed for user or user's clarification will be requested. User can also manually browse categories and related items, manually search by name of item, and view locations for sorting and recycling in appropriate city. When a completely unknown object arrives, it is possible to refine the information in order to help further learning of the network.


Theoretical and experimental results are presented for op-amp compensation using split-length transistors. By using split-length devices the right-half plane zero which plagues op-amp performance can be eliminated. Experimental results indicate substantial enhancements in speed while reducing power consumption and layout area. Further, these techniques can be used to compensate op-amps when using small supply voltage (VDD).


Regression analysis that incorporates measurement errors in input variables is important in various applications. In this study, we consider this problem within a framework of Gaussian process regression. The proposed method can also be regarded as a generalization of kernel regression to include errors in regressors. A Markov chain Monte Carlo method is introduced, where the infinite-dimensionality of Gaussian process is dealt with a trick to exchange the order of sampling of the latent variable and the function. The proposed method is tested with artificial data.


In order to study the sequence features and depositional evolution of Luofu middle Devonion Formation in Guizhong depression by the theories of outcrops,drill core,sequence stratigraphy and sedimentology,midlle Devonian outcrops and well drilling data are analyzed carefully.Two third-order sequences are identified and named as SQ1 and SQ2.The methods of identificating sequence boundary are analyzed.Sequence boundary in seismic profile is found to be onlap and truncation in the transiton zone of stacking pattern.By analysis of cadre cut plane,assisting cut plane and chief well drilling datas,sedimentary facies in study area are well known.Dipositional system maps in middle Devonian Donggangling stage(SQ1 and SQ2)are established.


I f today Giovanni Pascoli were to set foot in his native San Mauro, he would certainly be in for a big surprise. He might feel relatively at ease in the old family home and in its well-conserved kitchen. But what would he make of the hectic tarred roads, of tractors parked in fields, of modern factories, ofthe recent1y constructed villas that dapple the arable landscape? A trip to the nearby beach wouldn't help matters much either. How would a bemused "fanciullino" react to the string of newly built hotels, restaurants, pizzerias? Of course, if the author of Myricae were to trot off to Villa Torlonia-La Torre, the elegant manor house once administered by his father, if he were to climb up the staircase and look across the fields in the opposite direction to the sea, he would find some comfort. The old church is stilI there and the grey mountainous silhouette is the same; San Marino stilI towers on the horizon, and on the other side ofthe Apennines, invisible, lies the Garfagnana and C astelvecchio di Barga, long since rebaptized Castelvecchio Pascoli. But then San Mauro has changed its name too: no longer San Mauro di Romagna but San Mauro Pascoli, in honor of a writer who even while stilI alive represented a national institution, a "vate" comparable to Carducci or D'Annunzio. Think, on the seventieth anniversary ofhis birth, in 1925, with the powerful backing ofHis Majesty the King, D'Annunzio and Mussolini, a "Pellegrinaggio nazionale alla tomba del Poeta" was organized, favored by generous travel discounts for those heading for Barga and Castelvecchio! Later, there arrived the centenary of Pascoli's birth and further important events, amongst which featured prominently what must be the most influential and widely discussed lecture ever given on the poet, Gianfranco Contini's "Il linguaggio di Pascoli." Another half century has gone by since then and the time was ripe for a new conference, Pascoli e la cultura del Novecento, impeccably organized by the local authorities and by the Accademia Pascoliana, the guiding force behind a fine annual journal, Rivista Pascoliana, and the "Edizione nazionale" ofPascoli's works (to date only one volume has come out, Canti di Castelvecchio, but Pensieri e Discorsi and a first collection of letters would appear to be in the pipeline). Pascoli e la cultura del Novecento took pIace in the aforementioned Villa Torlonia-La Torre, in a Sala degli archi


Language and communication are about the exchange of meaning. A key feature of understanding and producing language is the construction of complex meaning from more elementary semantic building blocks. The functional characteristics of this semantic unification process are revealed by studies using event related brain potentials. These studies have found that word meaning is assembled into compound meaning in not more than 500 ms. World knowledge, information about the speaker, co‐occurring visual input and discourse all have an immediate impact on semantic unification, and trigger similar electrophysiological responses as sentence‐internal semantic information. Neuroimaging studies show that a network of brain areas, including the left inferior frontal gyrus, the left superior/middle temporal cortex, the left inferior parietal cortex and, to a lesser extent, their right hemisphere homologues are recruited to perform semantic unification.


Information retrieval is crucial issue for many areas, like industry, national security, disease control, etc. and how to organize massive information into understandable, readable automatically is a key step to understand data or information. Text Classification is a key issue for automatically text understanding, this paper provides a text classification method based on the SOM neural network model and delivers a reasonable performance.


Abstract: Background: There are a few well documented reports about epidemiologic features of brain tumors (BTs) in Iran. The present study was aimed to epidemiologically review the prevalence and trends of brain tumors, treated in a neurosurgical center in Zahedan over five years. Methods: We analyzed the data compiled from 112 patients with brain tumors operated on in Khatam-ol-Anbia Hospital (Zahedan, Iran) during 1992 to 1996. Data related to the age, gender, tumor site, tumor pathology, symptoms, signs, and first clinical manifestation were collected and analyzed. The prevalence of different histological types of brain tumors was analyzed from the data of operative biopsies/ surgeries/ resections. Results: The male to female occurrence ratio was 1.07 (51.8% males, 48.2% females). Brain tumors were most commonly diagnosed in the 31-40 year age group (23.2%) followed by the 11-20 year (17.9%) and 51-60 year (15.2%) age groups. And finally, the 41-50 year age group showed the lowest percent (3.6%) of BTs. The five most common histological types of BTs were astrocytoma (25.9%) followed by meningioma (17.9%), pituitary adenoma (8.9%), oligodendroglioma (8.9%), and ependymoma (7.1%). 6.3% of tumors were of metastasis stage. We found that 26% of brain tumors were located in cerebellum, 26% in the parietal lobe, 13% in frontal lobe, and 10% in the temporal lobe. The most common primary symptoms were headache (40%), vomiting (13%), and seizure (10%). The most common overall signs/symptoms were headache (98%), vomiting (40%), hemiparesis (37%), papilledema (22%), and visual loss (20%). Conclusions: Findings of our study present an epidemiological basis for understanding the brain tumor burden in Iran. Moe comprehensice epidemiological studies of a prospective nature are further required in this respect. Keywords: Central Nervous System Tumors, Epidemiology, Brain tumors


We present SPICE, a new suite of RHD cosmological simulations targeting the epoch of reionisation. The goal of these simulations is to systematically probe a variety of stellar feedback models, including"bursty"and"smooth"forms of supernova energy injection, as well as poorly-explored scenarios such as hypernova explosions and radiation pressure. Subtle differences in the behaviour of supernova feedback drive profound differences in reionisation histories, with burstier forms of feedback causing earlier reionisation. We also find that some global galaxy properties, such as the dust-attenuated luminosity functions and star formation main sequence, remain degenerate between models. Stellar feedback and its strength determine the morphological mix of galaxies emerging by z = 5 and that the reionisation history is inextricably connected to intrinsic properties such as galaxy kinematics and morphology. While star-forming, massive disks are prevalent if supernova feedback is"smooth","bursty"feedback preferentially generates dispersion-dominated systems. Different modes of feedback produce different strengths of outflows, altering the ISM/CGM in different ways, and in turn strongly affecting the escape of LyC photons. We establish a correlation between galaxy morphology and LyC escape fraction, revealing that dispersion-dominated systems have escape fractions 10-50 times higher than their rotation-dominated counterparts at all redshifts. Dispersion-dominated systems should thus preferentially generate large HII regions as compared to their rotation-dominated counterparts. Since dispersion-dominated systems are more prevalent if stellar feedback is more explosive, reionisation occurs earlier in our simulation with burstier feedback. Statistical samples of post-reionisation galaxy morphologies probed with JWST, ALMA and MUSE can constrain stellar feedback and models of cosmic reionisation.


In view of the interactive relationship among handysize,panamax and capsize dry bulk shipping markets,the dry bulk freight indexes of different vessel types issued by the Baltic Shipping Exchange were employed and the volatiUty spillover effect among three dry bulk shipping markets of different vessel types was studied by BEKK variance model of multivariate GARCH.It is pointed that capesize dry bulk shipping market has volatiUty spillover effect on handysize dry bulk shipping market and panamax dry bulk shipping market while handysize dry bulk shipping market and panamax dry bulk shipping market have no volatility spillover effect on capesize dry bulk shipping market,and there is a two-way volatility spillover effect between handysize dry bulk shipping market and panamax dry bulk shipping market.Wald test verified the correctness of above inference.The results can provide references for dry bulk shipping operators to avoid risk of market volatility.


Purpose: This review related to the level of health-related quality of life (HRQOL) and post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms (PTSD) for patients after cardiac surgery, and associated risk factors. Also the HRQOL, PTSD measures and the related factor. Methods: The search strategy was guided by the review aims. The following databases were searched to retrieve related literature: the Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL) via EBSCO, MEDLINE via PubMed, Ovid, Science Direct, Google Scholar, in addition to the Jordanian Database for Nursing Research. Studies presented in English for the period between 2012 and 2019 were included. Literature was reviewed by using the following strategy: The key word "post-operative HRQOL", "post-operative PTSD", "prevalence", "incidence", "risk factors", and "cardiac surgery", with using of Boolean operators "AND", "OR", and "NOT" to conduct the search in databases, Then the titles and abstracts were reviewed for their relevancy and irrelevant and duplicated studies were discarded. EBSCO resulted in 180 articles, Ovid 5 articles, and SCIENCE DIRECT 200 articles, articles with the same ideas were sorted, and full text was included in the review. The overall number after sorting was 25 articles that were included in the review. Results: Literature has aggregated the most common risk factors as age, gender, marital status, social support, medical comorbidities, smoking, alcohol use, ICU environment, surgery techniques and physiological indicators, and the most important is preoperative HRQOL level. Also, the researcher highlighted several important points related to PTSD after cardiac surgery. Firstly, PTSD appears to be present in approximately 10% of the post-cardiac surgical population, with some estimates reaching as high as 38%. ICU care, fright at the time of the event, perceived threat to life, high levels of sedation and social isolation may all contribute to this developing PTSD. Patients with PTSD are susceptible to poor outcomes following surgery including greater physical complication, psychological problems, increased morbidity and mortality, affecting the quality of life and well-being. For the purpose of this study, specified risk factors related to PTSD development after cardiac surgery will be studied concerning demographics, social, medical, psychological, and environmental. Conclusion and Recommendation: HRQOL and PTSD is an important indicator to measure the outcome of cardiac surgery on a short and long term. Researchers should be aware of the effect of various related factors that could affect the improvement of this outcome.


Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the third leading cause of cancer deaths worldwide. Sorafenib is the only first‐line pharmaceutical approved for the treatment of HCC, and has limited efficacy. In order to identify new therapeutic options for HCC, we sought to elucidate novel druggable targets that may work in combination with sorafenib. We previously performed a genetic screen of 44 candidate genes known to contribute to hepatic regeneration or tumorigenesis. We used a mouse model of hereditary tyrosinemia as a clinically‐relevant model of liver injury and repopulation in order to sensitize mice to develop HCC. After hydrodynamic injection of 44 unique transposon plasmids, we observed HCC development with plasmid enrichment for MYC, TGFa, FOXA3, and Liver X Receptor (LXR). When mice were treated with sorafenib, tumor burden was unsurprisingly decreased. Upon analysis of sorafenib‐treated tumors, we observed all tumors contained MYC plasmids, and a majority had TGFα plasmids. However, none of the sorafenib‐resistant tumors contained LXR‐expressing plasmids, suggesting that expression of this gene may block tumorigenesis in the context of sorafenib treatment. Indeed, addition of an LXR agonist and sorafenib to various HCC cell lines decreased cell proliferation in vitro, and transcriptomic analyses identified several genes differentially expressed by combination treatment. Ongoing in vivo studies are confirming the efficacy of combinatorial therapy for potential future clinical use. Overall, our innovative paradigm allows for prospective testing of genetic combinations to determine interactions of oncogenes and tumor suppressors during carcinogenesis. We successfully employed this approach to identify LXR agonism and sorafenib as a novel combination therapy for HCC


An experimental technique to measure creep properties in compression of thin polymeric film is developed. An analysis is derived to calculate creep compliance and elastic and creep strains in compression of the thin films. Measurements were made on five typical magnetic inks and the poly (ethylene terephthalate) substrate used in magnetic tapes. Modulus of inks as measured by the developed technique is an order of magnitude lower than the bulk modulus measured by other techniques. This indicates that the ink-film surface is mechanically different from that of the bulk of the film. No significant changes in mechanical properties between film surface and bulk were seen in the case of PET films. Calendered magnetic inks showed slightly lower creep compliance than uncalendered films. Recovery experiments showed that the ink surface goes through some permanent deformation which would affect tape friction. Magnetic tapes under compression against a smooth surface, such as found at the hub of conventional tape r...


An improved linewidth-tolerant two-stage feed-forward carrier phase recovery algorithm is proposed for high-order coherent modulation formats. Experimentally we show that the proposed new algorithm can reduce the required compute power by more than a factor of two for square 36QAM.


The relationship of the detailed structural change of KOH activated carbon and hydrogen storage ability was investigated in activated carbon materials fabricated from waste coffee beans. The specific surface area of porous carbon materials calculated from N2 adsorption isotherms stood at 2070 m2/g when the weight ratio of KOH to carbon materials was 5:1, and pore size was in the range of approximately 0.6 to 1.1 nm as micropores. In the structural analysis, X-ray diffraction analysis and Raman spectroscopy indicated structural change in these carbon materials through KOH activation. The order of the graphite structure changed to a smaller scale with this activation. It is theorized that specific surface area increased using micropores provided by carbon materials developed from the descent of the graphite structure. Hydrogen storage ability improved with these structural changes, and reached 0.6 wt % at 2070 m2/g. These results suggest that hydrogen storage ability is conferred by the chemical effect on graphite of carbon materials.


Load balancing and partitioning are critical when it comes to parallel computations. Popular partitioning strategies based on space filling curves focus on equally dividing work. The partitions produced are independent of the architecture or the application. Given the ever-increasing relative cost of data movement and increasing heterogeneity of our architectures, it is no longer sufficient to only consider an equal partitioning of work. Minimizing communication costs are equally if not more important. Our hypothesis is that an unequal partitioning that minimizes communication costs significantly can scale and perform better than conventional equal-work partitioning schemes. This tradeoff is dependent on the architecture as well as the application. We validate our hypothesis in the context of a finite-element computation utilizing adaptive mesh-refinement. Our central contribution is a new partitioning scheme that minimizes the overall runtime of subsequent computations by performing architecture and application-aware non-uniform work assignment in order to decrease time to solution, primarily by minimizing data-movement. We evaluate our algorithm by comparing it against standard space-filling curve based partitioning algorithms and observing time-to-solution as well as energy-to-solution for solving Finite Element computations on adaptively refined meshes. We demonstrate excellent scalability of our new partition algorithm up to $262,144$ cores on ORNL's Titan and demonstrate that the proposed partitioning scheme reduces overall energy as well as time-to-solution for application codes by up to 22.0%


Abstract In this paper we present the results of a study of the effects of dynamical fractality on vibrational dynamics and electron-vibration coupling in AgI-doped borate glasses, namely the compounds (AgI)x(Ag2O-nB2O3)l-x, with n=1 and x = 0.4, 055 and 0.65. The samples were studied by time-of-flight inelastic neutron scattering and by Raman scattering at several temperatures. Particular care was given to obtain a precise and reliable spectral density with both techniques in the low-frequency range, namely about 1 to about 8O cm−1. In this range, clear indications of fractality were obtained from the anomalous behaviour of the vibrational density g N(ω) of states obtained by neutron scattering. In the same region we also observed a scaling behaviour of the electron-vibration coupling function, obtained from the ratio of the Raman spectral density g R(ω) to the neutron spectral density. g N(ω) was found to be essentially independent of temperature, whereas g N(ω) featured significant changes in the regio...


The Hammett Shale (Lower Cretaceous) represents the offshore marine equivalent of overlying carbonate beach (Cow Creek Limestone) and alluvial (Hensel Sandstone) deposits of Aptian age which prograded shelfward off the southeast margin of the Llano uplift in central Texas. Interbedded and intermixed dolomites and limestones compose most of the upper part of the Hammett Shale and, within this section, dolomites decrease in abundance upward. Dolomites are primarily echinoid-oyster wackestones with clay-rich, medium crystalline dolospar matrix. Limestones are mollusk packstones-wackestones with clay-poor microspar and pseudospar matrix. The dolomites were most likely deposited on a grass or algally stabilized seafloor, whereas the limestones represent units deposited in high r energy environments. Dolomitization probably took place during shallow burial as the beach sequence prograded eastward, and the regional, fresh-groundwater flow system invaded the marine sediments. Carbonate packstones resisted dolomitization because of original differences in mineralogic composition, and because they were semilithified. They were fractured prior to dolomitization, and have sharp contacts with dolomite. Carbonate wackestones underwent dolomitization because they initially contained more magnesium (high-magnesian calcite, mixed-layer illites, and chlorite), and fine detrital dolomite which acted as seed crystals. Dolomites often display flow-aligned bioclasts parallel with their contacts with limestones, indicating that they were somewhat fluid at the time of limestone lithification, thus llowing the dolomitizing waters to pass through more effectively. Although the marine interstitial water, the fresh water draining Llano uplift Paleozoic dolomites, and the hydrodynamics of the zone of water-mixing provided the means of dolomitization, original sedimentologic differences were a key factor as well. End_of_Article - Last_Page 472------------


Middle water reusing technology is one of the important ways in sewage resource. Combining with examples, the article analyzes the advantages of applying the reusing technology in campus construction and offers the possibility of utilizing middle water reusing technology in Wenzhou College City in technique and economics.


Between the spoken word, ritual action, and legal processes, the studies of oath-taking practices have developed a broad literature. This article provides an additional layer of materials and analysis on speech acts and ritual procedures involved in the manners of taking an oath in the Christian societies of Ethiopia, as recorded from the midnineteenth century to the early twentieth century. Some samples of Amharic discourse specific to the manners of oath-taking in the customary legal system of Christian Ethiopia are presented here through extracts from unpublished field notes recorded in the 1840s by the French traveller Arnauld d'Abbadie. This source is then compared to other ethnographic observations of oath-taking statements and rituals in the context of Ethiopian Christian societies. The implications of swearing an oath in Ethiopian customary law lead to the critical re-examination of the history of Ethiopian law in a comparative outlook, particularly with the canonical laws of Eastern and Western Europe.


Background: Invasive sino-naso-orbital aspergilloma is a rare disease with variable clinical features but in an immunocompetent patient it is rarely considered and often resulted in poor prognosis due to its diagnostic and therapeutic challenge. In this article we reported a rare case of invasive sinu-naso-orbital aspergillosis with intracranial extension following dacryocystorhinostomy (DCR). To our knowledge this is the only reported case in last 109 years.
Case Description: A 61 years old normotensive non diabetic male referred to us from an ophthalmologist with the complaints of retro-orbital pain followed by progressive dimness of vision later blindness on right eye after dacryocystorhinostomy.
Diagnosis and Intervention: His MRI reveals an isointense lesion in T1W and T2W image in right maxillary, ethmoidal sinus with orbital and retro-orbital and intracranial extension with heterogeneous contrast enhancement. Radiologist suggested a case of inflammatory pseudotumor and initially he was treated with steroid, due to lack of clinical response later antifungal was given but patient still was nonresponsive. The patient underwent right pterional craniotomy for biopsy and optic nerve decompression. Histopathology revealed aspergillus infection.  Post-operatively he was treated with voriconazole.
Lessons: Invasive sino-orbital aspergillosis is rare in immunocompetent patients. Early diagnosis is critical for successful management. Due to difficulty of diagnosis and higher mortality and morbidity, our recommendation is- 'a patient with nonspecific complaints or retro-orbital pain' should prompt the physician to consider this diagnosis.
Bang. J Neurosurgery 2022; 12(1): 47-52


This paper analyses the artistic role of songs and music in Brecht's political theatre. Brecht's self-referential playtext and gestural theatricality is realized with the help of a set of distancing devices called Verfremdung or V-effects. These formal and thematic techniques account for his shrewd theatrics and tactical strategies to question the prevailing hegemonies. Songs and music make one of these alienating techniques. Dialecticization of situations and episodes, repeated ridicule of gaps in the existing ideologies, political comedy and self-critical acting are the building blocks of songs and music to challenge the dominant sociopolitical structures. Unlike the traditional dramatic theatre where lyrics and music specifically contribute to the tragic effect, songs in Brecht's later plays are the essential part of his socially, politically and ideologically committed theatre to stir the rational faculties of the spectators. Instead of smoothing over the spaces of the current ideology, this V-effect exposes its contradictions. These self-questioning songs work as a diagnostic commentary on the theatrical narrative to enlist the audience. Brecht's mature plays Mother Courage and Her Children, The Good Person of Setzuan, and The Caucasian Chalk Circle make the data for the present research. Brecht's theories on theatre worked as the theoretical frame work for the present study.


ed and transferred to C6 (Figure 4). In bacteria this conversion is catalyzed by ketosteroid isomerase (KSI) (Talalay et al., 1955) while mammalian steroid hormone biosynthesis appears to be more complex, were ∆ 4 –AD is produced directly from dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) by the enzyme 3-β hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (3βHSD) (Miller and Auchus, 2011). Other studies, however, indicate that hGST A3-3 may play a role in mammalian steroidogenesis (Raffalli-Mathieu, 2008). Although the KSI catalyzed conversion of ∆ 5 –AD has been elucidated (Hawkinson et al., 1991), the hGST A3-3 catalyzed reaction remains enigmatic. Figure 3: The biosynthesis of steroid hormones as adapted from Montgomery et al. (1996). The end product in ∆ 5 -AD isomerisation in this schematic is the hormone testosterone belonging to the androgens. A diverse group of other hormones belonging to other classes are produced but have not been shown for clarity. Ketosteroid isomerase (KSI) and hGST A3-3 (shown in square brackets) both catalyse the formation of ∆ 4 –androstene-3,17-dione (∆ 4 -AD ) and ∆ 4 –pregnene3,20-dione .


By building regenerating neural network model for automobile active suspension system,this paper puts forward a neural fuzzy adaptive control algorithm,which employs a set of fuzzy rules to adjust fuzzy neural controller parameters based on multi-layer neural network,establishes neural network model to determine the dynamic parameters of automobile active suspension,and provides learning signals for neural fuzzy adaptive controllers.A minicar,equipped with Magneto-rheological Fluid Shock Absorbers and DSP-based micro-processor fuzzy neural controlling system,is tested at various speeds and on different road conditions.The controlling effects are compared with those of open-loop passive suspension system and the results show that neural control algorithm has excellent performance in reducing minicar's vibration.


The persistence of maladaptive heroin‐associated memory, which is triggered by drug‐related stimuli that remind the individual of the drug's pleasurable and rewarding effects, can impede abstinence efforts. Cyclin‐dependent kinase 5 (Cdk5), a neuronal serine/threonine protein kinase that plays a role in multiple neuronal functions, has been demonstrated to be involved in drug addiction and learning and memory. Here, we aimed to investigate the role of cdk5 activity in the basolateral amygdala (BLA) in relapse to heroin seeking, using a self‐administration rat model. Male rats underwent 10 days of heroin self‐administration training, during which an active nose poke resulted in an intravenous infusion of heroin that was accompanied by a cue. The rats then underwent nose poke extinction for 10 days, followed by subsequent tests of heroin‐seeking behaviour. We found that intra‐BLA infusion of β‐butyrolactone (100 ng/side), a Cdk5 inhibitor, administered 5 min after reactivation, led to a subsequent decrease in heroin‐seeking behaviour. Further experiments demonstrated that the effects of β‐butyrolactone are dependent on reactivated memories, temporal‐specific and long‐lasting on relapse of heroin‐associated memory. Results provide suggestive evidence that the activity of Cdk5 in BLA is critical for heroin‐associated memory and that the specific inhibitor, β‐butyrolactone, may hold potential as a substance for the treatment of heroin abuse.


PURPOSE: A transparent poly(methyl methacrylate)/polycarbonate resin composition is provided to allow a poly(methyl methacrylate)/polycarbonate blend to be obtained by extrusion process only without additional polymerization process irrespective of the kind of polycarbonate. CONSTITUTION: The poly(methyl methacrylate)/polycarbonate resin composition comprises: 100 parts by weight of a resin component comprising 1-99 wt% of a poly(alkyl methacrylate) resin or a poly(alkyl acrylate) resin, and 1-99 wt% of a polycarbonate resin or a polyester carbonate resin; and optionally 0.00001-5 parts by weight of additives for reducing the molecular weight of the resin. Preferably the additives comprise a basic compound containing an alkali metal and alkaline earth metal; an amine compound or ammonium compound; and at least one compound selected from Lewis acids.


We present results on the photoresponse of YBCO narrow-line structures with deliberately broadened resistive transitions. We have explored the photoresponse of these systems as a function of temperature, bias current and power at wavelengths of 0.670, 0.850 and 10.6 /spl mu/m and at frequencies from 3 to 10/sup 5/ Hz at 0.670 /spl mu/m. The response was bolometric in nature in the vicinity of T/sub c/ (R=30 V/W). However, the response below T/sub c/ shows significant enhancement at 0.670 /spl mu/m. The wavelength regime of the enhancement suggests the participation of transient photodoping of the material or related phenomena.


This paper presents a method for path generation synthesis of a four-bar linkage that includes both graphical and analytical synthesis and both cases of with and without prescribed timing. The advantage of the proposed method over available techniques is that it is easier and does not need the complicated process (especially in graphical case). In an analytical solution, this method needs the solution of the linear equations, unlike the previous methods, in that they have required the solution of the nonlinear equations. Moreover, in the current method, one can choose the shape of the coupler, while, in other methods, the shape of the coupler is the result of the solution process. The proposed algorithm can be used for path generation synthesizing of a four-bar linkage for three precision points.


Abstract
From the sixteenth to eighteenth century, China underwent a commercial revolution similar to the one in contemporaneous Europe. The rise of market did foster the rise of a nascent bourgeois and the concomitant rise of a liberal, populist version of Confucianism, which advocated a more decentralized and less authoritarian political system in the last few decades of the Ming dynasty (1368–1644). But after the collapse of the Ming Empire and the establishment of the Qing Empire (1644–1911) by the Manchu conquerors, the new rulers designated the late-Ming liberal ideologies as heretics, and they resurrected the most conservative form of Confucianism as the political orthodoxy. Under the principle of filial piety given by this orthodoxy, the whole empire was imagined as a fictitious family with the emperor as the grand patriarch and the civil bureaucrats and subjects as children or grandchildren. Under the highly centralized administrative and communicative apparatus of the Qing state, this ideology of the fictitious patrimonial state penetrated into the lowest level of the society. The subsequent paternalist, authoritarian, and moralizing politics of the Qing state contributed to China's nontransition to capitalism despite its advanced market economy, and helped explain the peculiar form and trajectory of China's popular contention in the eighteenth century. I also argue that this tradition of fictitious patrimonial politics continued to shape the state-making processes in twentieth-century China and beyond.


Regional development is a long process, but while difficult, is a continuous process of compromise and consensus solutions to identify realistic development potential for each region, which means: transparency, information, communication and cooperation. But to put these principles requires regional partnerships with regional actors. They are designed to identify common interests and issues to act accordingly. We as Europeans must think regionally and full employment of labor resources increase income for each region. Therefore, in this paper we made a short analysis of employment in the regions of Romania.


This study explores how organizational learning in subunits affects outflows of knowledge to other subunits. Three learning processes are explored: Collecting new knowledge, codifying knowledge, an...


LISA (Laser Interferometer Space Antenna) will be the first space-born antenna for Gravitational Waves in the range 10/sup -4/-10/sup -1/ Hz. It is a joint ESA-NASA effort, and it consists of a constellation of three satellites in heliocentric orbit, forming two semi-independent Michelson interferometers. Each spacecraft contains two test masses, nominally in pure geodesic motion, without any mechanical contact with the spacecraft. Distances between test masses on board each couple of spacecrafts (5 million Km apart) are monitored using on board lasers. On-ground tests are required to understand the couplings between the test-mass and environment, and between the various degrees of freedom of the test-mass itself. A two soft DOF system, a double roto-translational pendulum, is being studied as a test bench. Here we present an analysis of the system behavior, and the study of an active control system for the test-mass.


Abstract: KN‐62, an inhibitor of Ca2+/calmodulin‐dependent protein kinase II (CaM kinase II), inhibited significantly catecholamine secretion and tyrosine hydroxylase activity stimulated by acetylcholine in cultured bovine adrenal medullary cells. KN‐62, however, showed an additional inhibitory effect on acetylcholine‐induced 45Ca2+ influx, which is essential for functional responses. Carbachol‐stimulated 22Na+ influx, veratridine‐induced 22Na+ influx, and 56 mM K+‐evoked 45Ca2+ influx were also attenuated by KN‐62. Inhibitions by KN‐62 of these ion influxes were correlated closely with those of catecholamine secretion. KN‐04, which is a structural analogue of KN‐62 but does not inhibit CaM kinase II activity, elicited inhibitory effects on the three kinds of stimulant‐evoked ion influxes with an inhibitory potency similar to KN‐62. These results suggest that KN‐62 inhibits catecholamine secretion and tyrosine hydroxylase activation due to mainly its ion channel blockade on the plasma membrane rather than the inhibition of CaM kinase II activity in the cells.


This study aimed to identify the nutrient composition and antioxidant properties of seeds of Moringa oleifera and pulps of Adansonia digitata and Parkia biglobosa. Crude proteins, carbohydrates, lipids, crude fibers, ashes and mineral elements were determined. Total phenols, flavonoids, proanthocyanidins of seeds and pulps were reported. The seeds of Moringa oleifera are particularly rich in proteins (35.37±0.07g/100g), lipids (43.56±0.03g/100g), and minerals (Mg^(2+) and Zn^(2+)). Pulps of Adansonia digitata and Parkia biglobosa have a relatively high carbohydrates content (67.8±0.05g/100g and 67.66±0.05g/100g, respectively). Glucose, fructose and sucrose were the main carbohydrates of seeds of Moringa oleifera and pulps of Adansonia digitata and Parkia biglobosa. Seeds of Moringa oleifera have the highest proanthocyanidin and flavonoid content whereas pulps of Adansonia digitata and Parkia biglobosa were characterized by the highest total phenol content. Seeds of Moringa oleifera had the strongest MBTH radicals scavenging activity (99.74%) compared to the pulps of Adansonia digitata and Parkia biglobosa 94.98 and 79.40%, respectively. This study indicated that these pulps and seeds have a good potential in macro and micronutrients content and for its valorization they can be effectively used to fortify staple food particularly for children and contribute to eradicate malnutrition due to micronutrients deficiencies.


From 27 to 29 October 2005, 35 experts in higher education for sustainability (HES) representing 17 countries, gathered in Halifax, Nova Scotia. This consultation represents the first gathering of HES researchers in Canada, and brought Canadian and international researchers together to further intellectual understanding of HES research and to explore the development of research priorities for the future. The Delphi Technique was used at this workshop in order to aid in the development of a preliminary research strategy for HES research. The Delphi exercise was the primary focus of the workshop. This report summarises both the workshop information and results.


Power consumption and heat dissipation are the major factors that limit the performance and mobility of battery powered devices. As they become key elements in the design of mobile devices and their applications, different power and thermal management strategies have been proposed and implemented during the last years in order to overcome the mobility limitation due to the battery lifetime. These design strategies are usually implemented at the lower levels of the systems, but one research direction in software development is to implement thermal and power control techniques at the higher levels of the system. The work presented in this paper evaluates the thermal response of the mobile system components related to the running software applications.


The global natural gas markets are undergoing profound changes, with the supply and demand patterns in a historical transformation; the market supply and demand keep loose – both the gas traders and trade volume are increasing, the links between regional gas markets are enhanced, the gas pricing and trading mechanisms are diversified, the LNG trade share keeps growing, and the links between regional LNG markets are also strengthened. Influenced by the supply side reform and the accelerated urbanization, among other factors, gas consumption in China is increasing rapidly. However, the consumption of natural gas changes significantly from region to region, affected by the mismatch in gas production and consumption locations, as well as the gas import patterns. With the continuous energy restructuring in China, the gas consumption in different sectors is growing at very different paces. Analysis of the current situation, future trend and characteristics of China's gas industry indicates that it is in the third stage of fast growth. Natural gas will play an even more important role in the future energy structure. With the continuous growth of gas consumption at home, the existing and expected gas deliverability is still faced with the risk of enlarging shortage in the mid-long term. In consideration of such circumstance, it is suggested that top-level design be strengthened on the national strategic level to seek rational, robust and scale development of the China's gas industry. Internationally, diversified import channels should be sought to dilute supply risks, cooperation with the Asia-Pacific markets should be enhanced, and establishment of an international gas trading centre should be accelerated. Domestically, construction of a national gas interconnection system and a number of gas hubs should be speeded up, to make the gas industry an important component of the national energy network; the gas pricing mechanism should be established and completed as soon as possible to facilitate scientific allocation of profits and costs for gas production, storage and distribution, and to ultimately promote the sustainable and scale development of the whole chain of China's gas industry.


The new tendencies of the superior Cuban education, require of an educational renewing practice after contributing to the integral formation of the graduate future university, by achieving it harmonize the formation of sk ills and attitudes habits knowledges and the construction of a project of professional life sustained in values. In this sense the academic year constitutes the cell of the educational work to this level. Therefore at present it works try to get evaluate the necessary question between the educational labor and the project of professional life of the university student, with emphasis in the |protagonico| role of the social actors of the educational process.


The European Journal of Workplace Innovation has achieved new maturity and sustainability since it was founded in 2015. There is a new agreement with the European Workplace Innovation Network (EUWIN). The journal website at ejwi.eu has been updated. The blind peer review process has been improved. The journal is now supported by two new editorial assistants, based at the University of Agder. Preparations have been made for an ongoing programme of General Issues, complemented by Special Issues, with international guest editors.


The invention discloses an iron-like concentrate and a preparation method thereof. The method comprises the steps of dividing nickel-containing residual ore into magnesia ore and ferrite ore; performing leaching treatment on the ferrite ore by utilizing sulfuric acid at the temperature of 95-100 DEG C to obtain a leaching solution containing ferric sulfate; filtering the leaching solution containing the ferric sulfate to obtain first high-silicon filter residue and first filtrate; performing first neutralization treatment on the first filtrate by utilizing the magnesia ore; filtering the first filtrate after the first neutralization treatment so as to produce second high-silicon filter residue and second filtrate; performing second neutralization treatment on the second filtrate by utilizing an alkaline neutralizing reagent at the temperature of 95-105 DEG C, filtering and washing to obtain a precipitate containing iron compounds; performing alkaline washing on the iron compounds by utilizing an alkaline reagent at the temperature of 85-90 DEG C, and then drying to obtain a hematite-like concentrate and a solution containing nickel and cobalt. Through the method, valuable metals in the nickel-containing residual ore can be effectively recovered.


Aim:  Inheritance and genetic factors are supposed to influence susceptibility to asthma and allergy. We tested if single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the IL4R gene were associated with susceptibility to such diseases, or if they were related to the phenotypic presentation of asthma and allergic rhinoconjunctivitis (ARC).


The typical synthetic routes to the mono-aryl substituted piperazines are palladium catalyzed C-N coupling of piperazine or protected piperazines with aryl halides. In this work we describe the synthesis of aryl piperazines and aryl diazabicycles utilizing Pd catalyzed coupling reactions using protected and unprotected piperazines and diazobicycles performed both conventionally and by microwave assisted organic synthesis (MAOS).


On the basis of the widespread investigation and study,aiming at the existence examination questions in higher vocational education the practical research on examination theory has deeply conducted and examination systems has been constructed.The systems are constituted by the four parts: the social professional qualifications appraisal test;the school the studies test pattern;the synthesis evaluation system in guiding student quality and the examination quality control system.Through the practice in three colleges and universities,the system obtains a good effect,and attains the first award of Jilin Province Teaching Achievement 2005.


vaccine thus being several times lower than in those who had not been vaccinated. The diagnostic criteria used in the Ontario studies are worthy of note. All cases of paralytic or nonparalytic poliomyelitis and all cases considered to be suspects in either category were classified into one of five diagnostic groups. This classification was based on clinical signs and symptoms, including examination of the cerebrospinal fluid and virological examination of a specimen of faeces taken during the acute stage of the illness. The first diagnostic group was paralytic poliomyelitis, which was a clinical classification not dependent upon virological confirmation. To the second category, non-paralytic poliomyelitis, were assigned, cases with invasion of the central nervous system and signs of meningeal irritation but no paralysis, and with demonstrable poliomyelitis virus in the faeces. The third group, non-poliomyelitic illness, included such conditions as mumps encephalitis, tuberculous meningitis, brain-stem tumour, and neuromuscular dystrophy. Numerically the largest group was that of aseptic meningitis, which was divided into two sub-groups-those with positive virus findings (most commonly of the ECHO type) and those in which no virus was found. The limitation of the non-paralytic poliomyelitis category to those with poliomyelitis virus in the faeces produced a ratio between the numbers of paralytic and non-paralytic cases very different from that usually described. In the three years of the investigation there were 121 paralytic and only 14 non-paralytic cases in the study population. During the same time 317 cases were classified as aseptic meningitis, and from 121 of these no virus was isolated. The age grouping of the cases falling into the different diagnostic categories was also notable. Paralytic and non-paralytic poliomyelitis had a similar age incidence, but this was quite different from that of aseptic meningitis. Thus in the 1956 study, carried out when elementary schoolchildren, but not pre-schoolchildren, had been vaccinated, it was found that the number of paralytic cases in the 5 to 14 years age group was half that in the group of children under 5, and the number of non-paralytic cases at school age a quarter of those at pre-school age. These findings provided confirmation that the vaccine protected against both types of poliomyelitis. At the same time the number of cases of aseptic meningitis in the 5 to 14 years age group was more than twice that found in the pre-school group. It therefore seems possible that the inclusion of some cases of aseptic meningitis in the category of " non-paralytic poliomyelitis " in other vaccine studies has been partly responsible for the finding that the vaccine appeared not to prevent non-paralytic poliomyelitis. RADIOACTIVITY FROM THE ENVIRONMENT


IT has, for so long a period, been an established axiom in obstetrics, to turn in every case of arm-presentation, where turning may be yet practicable, that to propound a different resource for overcoming the difficulty attending that malposition of the child, in any case, will appear little short of hyperbolical extravagance. There was a time, however, whenfoot-version was unknown; and even at the risk of being presumed guilty of flagrant heresy against a universally-received doctrine, I lay before the profession the particulars of a case conducted upon another principle, and with a successful termination.


A new method concerning multi-frequency electrical impedance tomography has been developed and the full information contained in the complex tissue conductivity can be obtained. The results of the algorithm using a current distribution to maximise the structural information are presented. (4 pages)


Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) in Malaysia are commonly associated with oxidation tank and activated sludge treatment processes. However, the removal rate of ammoniacal nitrogen from the wastewater still requires alternative technology as compared with the self-purification method. This provides a platform for further investigation of the degradation of nitrogen. Anaerobic ammonium oxidation (anammox) bacteria have been found to provide a shorter pathway for degradation of nitrogen in wastewater with limited presence of oxygen. The temperature, pH, dissolved oxygen (DO), total nitrogen, ammonia, nitrite and nitrate concentrations were analysed for the samples collected from the local WWTP. Influence of the various Malaysia weather conditions upon the treatment process was also observed. The temperature was found to fluctuate between 29.6°C and 32.0°C throughout the experiments at commemorating pH values of between 5.78 and 7.22 and DO concentration of 0.62–1.53 mg/L. Molecular analyses including genomic DNA (gDNA) extraction, polymerase chain reaction amplification and DNA sequencing were conducted to identify the presence of anammox bacteria. The gDNA of the sludge from anoxic and sequencing batch reactor tanks were successfully extracted with the gDNA amount of 24.40 and 31.67 μg, respectively. Anammox bacteria namely Kuenenia stuttgartiensis was found in the selected wastewater samples from the local WWTP. Thus, the presence of anammox bacteria enhances the removal of nitrogen from wastewater in a relatively quick and short process with further investigation regarding anammox bacterial growth and development.


The current paper makes a primary analysis of the design and evaluation of psychological experiments to explore how the validity of experiments has effects on such issues as experimental design,implementing,explanation,application and evaluation.It offers a useful method to improve the validity of psychological experiments,that is,to make a best design of the experiment according to the research purpose and then to make a best control of the experiment according to the design,and makes an analysis of some examples to show the evaluation standards of the experimental design.


Cystic fibrosis (CF) is caused by mutations in the CFTR gene. It has been postulated that a reduced HCO3- transport in CF through CFTR may lead to a decreased airway surface liquid (ASL) pH. In contrast, others have reported no changes in the extracellular pH (pHe). We have recently reported that in carcinoma Caco-2/pRS26 cells (shRNA for CFTR) or CF lung epithelial IB3-1 cells, the CFTR failure decreased mitochondrial Complex I activity due to an autocrine IL1B loop, and increased lactic acid production. The secreted lactate accounted for the reduced pHe since oxamate fully restored the pHe. These effects were attributed to the IL-1β autocrine loop and the downstream signaling kinases c-Src and JNK. Here we show that the pHe of IB3-1 cells can be restored to normal pHe values (~7.4) by incubation with the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR, HER1, ErbB1) inhibitors AG1478 or PD168393. The inhibitor PD168393, fully restored the pHe values of IB3-1 cells, suggesting that the reduced pHe is mainly due to the increased EGFR activity and lactate. Also, in IB3-1 CF cells, the LDHA mRNA, protein expression, and activity are down-regulated under EGFR inhibition. Thus, a constitutive EGFR activation seems to be responsible for the reduced pHe in IB3-1 CF cells.


Bailliart,1inventor of the so-called mo-ophthalmodynamometer, a practical and important instrument, on examining with Magitot and other collaborators the pressure in the central artery of the retina in different diseases of the eye, ascertained an increase of the pressure in this artery to which no increase in other arteries of the body corresponded. The studies of Professor Espildora-Luque,2of the clinic for ocular diseases, University of Chile, Santiago, refer to the same increase, which he verified in his own patients. The reduction scale of Muller, Bruning and Mohr represents an improvement on that of Bailliart. It serves to reduce the numbers in grams of the dynamometer to millimeters (mercury). The mentioned authors based their scale on observations of the human eye which gave them much smaller intervals than those of Bailliart's scale, who drew his values from the study of the eyes of cats. While Bailliart's apparatus records


This article derives an optimal (i.e., unbiased, minimum variance) estimator for the pseudo-detector strain for a pair of co-located gravitational wave interferometers (such as the pair of LIGO interferometers at its Hanford Observatory), allowing for possible instrumental correlations between the two detectors. The technique is robust and does not involve any assumptions or approximations regarding the relative strength of gravitational wave signals in the detector pair with respect to other sources of correlated instrumental or environmental noise. An expression is given for the effective power spectral density of the combined noise in the pseudo-detector. This can then be introduced into the standard optimal Wiener filter used to cross-correlate detector data streams in order to obtain an optimal estimate of the stochastic gravitational wave background. In addition, a dual to the optimal estimate of strain is derived. This dual is constructed to contain no gravitational wave signature and can thus be used as on "off-source" measurement to test algorithms used in the "on-source" observation.


Bone metastasis is one of the common complications of patients with advanced prostate cancer. The treatment of skeletal-related events (SRE) caused by bone metastasis, such as the pain, is not effective, and the prognosis is poor, which seriously affects the quality of life of patients. Therefore, exploring the bone metastasis of prostate cancer is of great significance. At present, the relevant mechanism of bone metastasis is still unclear, and the vicious cycle formed by the interaction between the host microenvironment and prostate cancer cells, might be an important reason, among which, the research on RANK-RANKL signaling pathway is relatively mature. This article reviews the current research status of prostate cancer bone metastasis-related signaling pathways, and describes the regulatory relationships of the same signaling molecules in different signaling pathways.

Key words:
Prostate neoplasms; Bone metastasis; Signaling pathway


A fully explicit, characteristic‐based split (CBS) method for viscoelastic flow past a circular cylinder, placed in a rectangular channel, is presented. The pressure equation in its explicit form is employed via an artificial compressibility parameter. The constitutive equations used here are based on the Oldroyd‐B model. No loss of convergence to steady state was observed in any of the results presented in this paper. Comparison of the present results with other available numerical data shows that the CBS algorithm is in excellent agreement with them at lower Deborah numbers. However, at higher Deborah numbers, the present results differ from other numerical solutions. This is due to the fact that the positive definitiveness of the conformation matrix is lost between a Deborah number of 0.6 and 0.7. However, the positive definitiveness is retained when an artificial diffusion is added to the discrete constitutive equations at higher Deborah numbers. It appears that the fractional solution stages used in the CBS scheme and the higher‐order time step‐based convection stabilization clearly reduce the instability at higher Deborah numbers. The Deborah number limit reached in the present work is three without artificial dissipation and two with artificial dissipation. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


The characteristics of cellulase inducement and hydrolysis by steam exploded corn stover were investigated.Steam explosion could remove hemicellulose from corn stover and the acquired residue was a good inducer for cellulase biosynthesis using Trichoderma reesei NL02.When the concentration of substrate was 10 g/L,the filter paper activity reached 1.90 U/mL after cultivation for seven days.The four produced and the two other enzymes were characterized by various enzyme activity measurements and steam exploded corn stover was hydrolyzed by them.The result showed that the highest sugar yields were obtained with the enzyme induced by steam exploded corn stove after cultivating for five days.When 50 g/L steam exploded residue was treated with the enzyme dosage of 25 U/g,the enzymatic hydrolysis yield was 95.9% for 24 h and the glucose yield was 76.4% for 48 h,and when the substrate concentration was improved to 80 g/L with the dosage of 15 U/g,the hydrolysis yield was 90.1% and the glucose yield was 62.9% for 48 h under the same conditions.


The paper focuses on analysis of experimental data and results of computer simulations on dynamics and relaxation of surface charges deposited on EPDM (ethylene propylene diene monomer) and SIR (silicone rubber) samples by positive impulse corona in air. Mechanisms affecting surface charging and charge decay are discussed.


An exposition of Vassiliev invariants is given in terms of the simplest approach to the functional integral construction of link invariants from Chern-Simons theory. This approach gives the top row evaluations of Vassiliev invariants for the classical Lie algebras, and a neat point of view on the results of Bar-Natan. It also clarifies the relation between Vassiliev invariants and the extension of the bracket invariant to links with transverse double points that appears in the work of Bruegmann, Gambini and Pullin on the loop representation of quantum gravity. We see that the Vassiliev vertex is not just a transversal intersection of Wilson loops, but rather has the structure of Casimir insertion (up to first order of approximation) coming from the difference formula in the functional integral. (Figures are available from the author.)


The logistics industry in the northeast regional is still at an initial stage.Compared with the developed areas,the logistics industry in the Northeast region is backward,such as high operating costs,slow turnaround,large stocks and low efficiency.The main factors that restricting the logistics industry in the Northeast region lie in concepts,systems,talents and environment.Thus encouraging the third-party logistics to merge and reorganize,playing the important role of colleges,research institutions,industry associations in personnel training,logistics technical improvement and so on.Supporting industry-leading companies to expand their business scope,to develop the value-added services,to strengthen the construction of based facilities,to enact the development planning of trade.These are the main measures to promote the development of the logistics industry in the northeast region.


Vapor−liquid equilibrium (VLE) data for 1-butene + methanol, + 1-propanol, + 2-propanol, + 2-butanol, and + 2-methyl-2-propanol were measured at 364.5 K with a static total pressure apparatus. Measured p, T, z data were reduced to liquid and vapor phase compositions using the Barker method. Azeotropic points were found for the 1-butene + methanol system (x1 = 0.877, T = 364.5 K, p = 1606.2 kPa). From measured data, the Wilson, NRTL, and UNIQUAC parameters were calculated. The fitted Legendre polynomial was compared with the predictive UNIFAC and UNIFAC-Dortmund methods, and an error analysis was made.


Universally composition, motives resonate not only at the surface of a work but also at its deepest levels.1 To date, motivic analysis has commonly involved identifying a particular melodic gesture as an integral compositional feature, and then tracing its various literal restatements or transformed repetitions throughout the levels of musical structure. Many analyses have focused exclusively on transposed repetitions, in which the scale-degree relationship between the motive and the tonic is maintained in each of the subsequent keys. In untransposed repetitions, however, the reverse is true: the pitch classes of a motive are retained while their scale degrees are redefined in subsequent tonicized keys. Recurrent pitch classes are frequently diatonic, though non-diatonic pitches may also recur, and, indeed, are often more aurally prominent precisely because of their foreign nature. Recent studies have gone so far as to consider a single recurrent diatonic or chromatic pitch class as motivic, though it may be argued that such views unnaturally isolate the chosen pitch class from its musical context, thus possibly inhibiting, rather than enriching that note's transformational potential.2 While several analysts have acknowledged the important role chromatic pitch-class motives may play in a composition, many consider them anomalies, unique to the composition under investigation.3 The notion of untransposed motives was discussed as early as Schenker's Harmony (1906), in which the author recognizes long-range motivic associations between recurrences of the same pitch class even though in radically dissimilar musical contexts.4 Then in Free Composition (1935) Schenker addresses the issue more directly, writing that repetitions of chromatic pitch classes "have a far-reaching effect in synthesis. They contrast strongly with the repetitions usually taught today, which tend only to restrict the scope of synthesis."5 That Schenker points out repetitions of a single chromatic pitch or dyad demonstrates that he viewed such an association as significant, particularly when the repetition occurs much later in a composition or in an unusual voice-leading context.6 This study focuses on the issue of chromatic pitch class and its interaction with


A low temperature coaxial plasma producing ozone device of the utility model, including a pipe discharge storehouse (1) as an outer electrode, the outside wall of the discharge storehouse is connected with a cooling water casing (2) that has an inlet (3) and an outlet (4), an inner tube (5) is arranged in the discharge storehouse (1), and a gas gap block (6) is arranged in the inner tube. The dielectric layer (7) is coated on the wall of the inner tube (5) as an inner electrode. The gap (10) between the inner tube and the inner wall of discharged storehouse (1) is the air channel that has an inlet and an outlet for ozone that is on the outer wall of the discharge storehouse, which is characterized in that the inlet (7) is arranged on the one end of the inner tube (5) and the outlet (8) is arranged on the same end of the wall of the discharge storehouse (1). The utility model is simple in structure, convenient to assemble and low in cost.


A simulation model that generates the waveform of a high‐frequency acoustic echo from a model fish school has been developed. The echo model generates the waveform by coherent addition of echoes from a collection of model point scatterers that have position, scattering amplitude, and velocity parameters chosen to reproduce some of the observable properties of echoes from real fish schools. Sample echo waveforms, spectra, and split‐beam phase difference will be presented. This model has been used to show the effects of partial ensonification on apparent size and scattering parameters of fish schools. [Work supported by U.S. Navy.]


In most data mining algorithms, the core operation is to mine frequent itemsets. Because of data-intensive operation and large output, most operation time is spent in scanning the database. In this paper, we propose a novel algorithm-LTB algorithm to mine frequent itemsets. Loose bounds are used to remove the candidate itemsets whose support cannot satisfy the preset threshold. Tight bounds determine the frequency of some candidate itemsets without scanning the database. For the remainder itemsets after above two steps, we only can scan the database with traditional a priori algorithm. Experiments show that the amount of the candidate frequent itemsets and the operation time can be decreased dramatically.


Abstract The tribe Anatistini Lacordaire, 1856, is a relatively small group of leaf chafer scarabs with only four genera and fewer than 30 species. The collection at the Natural History Museum, London is one of the largest and most comprehensive Coleoptera collections in the world, and includes important type material for four out of 27 species. However, its collection of Anatistini is very small (one genus, seven species, 36 specimens). Forty-five percent of the material was acquired from two large collections in the early 20th century. In this catalog, we provide an overview of the collection of Anatistini at the Natural History Museum, with historical context and background. Resumen La tribu Anatistini es una tribu relativamente pequeña de escarabajos defoliadores de la hojas, con solo cuatro géneros y menos de 30 especies. La colectección del Museo de Historia Natural de Londres es una de las colecciones de coleópteros más grandes y completas del mundo, e incluye material tipográfico importante para cuatro de las 27 especies. Sin embargo, la colección de Anatistini es muy pequeña (uno género, siete especies, 36 especímenes). El 45% del material se adquirió en dos grandes colectas a principios del siglo XX. En este catálogo, proporcionamos una descripción general de la colección de Anatistini del Museo de Historia Natural, con contexto histórico y sus antecedentes.


Darlington transistor is more convenience in power amplification areas because of its high power gain and high reliability.The fabricating technology and design of a 20 A PNP darlington power transistor is introduced,and the tested results of the device is showed in this paper,too.


Twitter is a free and most popular social networking service that allows registered and authorised user to transfer their opinion called short messages also known as tweets. Twitter users can broadcast their opinion in the form of tweets and track other users' opinion in the form of tweets from multiple platforms and from any devices. There are lots of user tweets and reviews are available on Twitter. Twitter has become one of the best ways of getting customers' opinions like political tweets, movie ratings and making predictions about the results of Products and location. The Sentiment analysis of the general people's opinion is made in the Twitter data, which can recognize the opinion of people in general about the social event that is published on Twitter. This study presents current scenarios such as product reviews, political tweets, film classifications, etc., which are published on Twitter as an example of sentiment analysis. In this paper we will discuss or describe methodology, pre-processing, feature extraction, different types of classification techniques etc. And also compare different techniques with each other.


FIELD: medicine. SUBSTANCE: method involves cutting a bone segment with an implant, dissecting the bone to an implant surface, attaching ends of this bone segment to a test machine, attaching an increasing load on the bone segment to its disruption with the use of said machine, and determining a limit tensile load of the bone-implant system. The implant position in the cut bone segment is determined with the use of X-ray images. The ends of the bone segment is attached to the test machine by placing them into steel holders with epoxy resin with the holders thereafter placed into a device shaped after the holders to complete resin hardening. The bone is dissected to the implant surface in the direction perpendicular to a long axis of the bone. The increasing load on the bone segment with the implant is directed towards the long axis of the bone. After the limit tensile load of the bone-implant system is determined, a tensile area is derived from electronic microscopic or photographic images of a tensile region to calculate a tensile strength by formula: σ=P/S, wherein: P is the limit tensile load H;S is the tensile area m 2 . EFFECT: higher evaluation accuracy of the tensile strength of the bone-implant system in osteointegration by determining the tensile strength limit. 1 tbl, 3 dwg


SONG Pengsheng,DONG Yaping,LI Wu (1. Key Laboratory of Comprehensive and Highly Efficient Utilization of Salt Lake Resources,Qinghai In stitute of Salt Lakes,Chinese Academy of Sciences,Xining,810008,China;2. Qinghai Engineerning and Technology Research Center of Salt Lake Resources Development,Xining,810008,China;3. Key Labora tory of Salt Lake Resources Chemistry of Qinghai Province,Xining,810008,China)


scientific evidence that these procedures are effective. We hypothesized that proper decontamination of processing instruments might assist in preventing mechanical transmission of bacteria among pigs during processing. Our premise was that efficacious protocols should eliminate or significantly reduce numbers of bacteria on the processing instrument. For the purposes of this study, disinfection was defined as aerobic culture of less than one viable bacterium per cm 2 of instrument cutting surface area. 3 The objective of this study was to determine which of the following protocols was most effective at reducing aerobic bacterial contamination of tail-clipping instruments: dipping instruments in a disinfectant solution; dipping instruments in farm tap water; or wiping instruments with a clean cloth.


Applications for lithium niobate modulators have developed in CATV, telephone and data communications markets. With deployment of devices in these systems comes the need to ensure long term reliability. In this paper we described the design, assembly, and qualification of a hermetically packaged optical modulator. The qualification devices were fabricated using a pilot production facility running at Lucent Technologies-Bell Laboratories. A variety of techniques are used to hermetically seal the Kovar package. The effects of thermal expansion mismatch between the package and the die are managed by careful package design and assembly operations. The package assembly employs a modular design which allows qualification of the subassemblies as well as the entire modulator. This design modularity allows fiber subassemblies and the lithium niobate die to be characterized for optical and mechanical performance before they are incorporated into the packaged modulator.


A description is given of the new Line Concentrator No. 1A, covering its features, the new magnetically latching crossbar switches and relays, the switching networks, and the method of operation. This equipment will serve 50 or 100 lines over ten or 20 trunks, with two control pairs in either case, and can be used in almost any type of central office The working limits, field of use, administration, maintenance, and economics are discussed.


Hancock, Pat. Haunted Canada . Toronto: Scholastic, 2003. Print. Haunted Canada is about ghost stories that happened all over Canada. There is a story for every province in Canada. And there is also many books such as Haunted Canada 1-6. I would suggest this book to anyone who is interested in thrillers and ghost stories. I would rate this book 3 out of five stars. Recommended: 3 out of 5 stars Reviewer: Jordan My name is Jordan I enjoy reading books about history and graphic novels. I also like reading scary books and true stories.


Physicochemical and microbiological analyzes of waters from artesian wells offered to the population of the urban area of Sousa-PB. They were carried out in order to verify the potability and suitability for human consumption, according to parameters established by Ordinance nº 2.914 / 2011 of the Ministry of Health. Due to physical-chemical parameters caused mainly, by the high concentration of total dissolved solids, such as: sodium, bicarbonates and chlorides some samples were considered inadequate. It was observed that these parameters did not change much during the months in which they were monitored, indicating that the alternation between rainy and dry periods does not influence the concentration of these chemical species. In addition, contamination by the presence of total coliforms, thermotolerant and E. coli was also observed in all the wells evaluated, which may be associated with clandestine sewage connections or infiltrations caused by septic tanks. Finally, there is an urgent need for a quality control of the water offered to the population of SousaPB, considering that, the alteration of some parameters can cause damages to human health.


Background:  Non‐cardiac chest pain is a common and expensive condition. Risk factors for non‐cardiac chest pain are poorly understood and lack description in the USA community.


A new relation for the pressure dependence of the Debye temperature is derived on the basis of the nonlinear expression for the pressure dependence of the Gruneisen parameter. The application of the new relation to the cases of NaCI and Csl are presented and compared with that of the relation derived on the basis of the linear expression presented by Kumari and Dass (phys. stat. sol. (b) 133, 101 (1986)) for the pressure dependence of the Gruneisen parameter. The comparison shows that the new relation presented in this paper is better.


No effort goes unnoticed. Or at least, that's what one should always hope for. Just before the elections, I wrote about a possible shift of power and Romania's European Renaissance. The results…


The Outdoor Test Facility (OTF) at NREL is equipped with data acquisition systems that monitor the performance of modules deployed outdoors in real time, including the measurement of current-voltage traces every 15 minutes during all daylight hours. This affords us the ability to analyze performance across many levels of illumination which allows the determination of factors that affect module performance and that serve as indicators of module quality, including average diode quality factors, series resistances values, and reverse-saturation currents of the cells. This study focuses on several polycrystalline thin-film modules, including cadmium telluride. CIS, and polycrystalline silicon. We present these parameters, acquired from outdoor measurements, and compare the results with measurements obtained from more canonical methods.


Just as filial piety being the most basic moral quality,filial piety education is the most basic moral education.Some college students' faint awareness of filial piety caused by the lack of filial piety education is not negligible.We should inherit traditional Chinese filial piety moral critically,reject the dross and assimilate the essence of it,so that the filial piety education to college students can be reinforced.


. . . NOW the address must be to blacks; that shrieking into the steady and organized deafness of the white ear was frivolous—perilously innocent; was 'no count.' There were things to be said to black brothers and sisters and these things—annunciatory, curative, and inspiriting—were to be said forthwith, without frill, and without fear of the white presence. —Gwendolyn Brooks, A Capsule Course in Black Poetry Writing (4)


The article is dedicated to definition of the tendency to change and pattern of formation of the chemical regime of underground waters in the Turyanchay-Girdimanchay interfluve in the Shirvan steppe, Azerbaijan as a result of anthropogenic activity. The subsoil waters studied are spread in the zone between the Turyanchay and Girdimanchay rivers. From 1930 to 2019 based on analysis of the observation of the chemical regime of subsoil waters, the natural regime of the groundwaters in the studied area strongly changed as a result of irrigation and construction works. In 1930 the average mineralization degree of subsoil waters was 26.8 gram/liter in the zone. The level of subsoil waters approaches the surface and is exposed to strong evaporation as a result of irrigation and filtration of waters from irrigation channels. Consequently, the mineralization rate of subsoil waters increased and mass secondary salinization process occurred in the irrigated lands. The average mineralization degree of subsoil waters was 33.6–34.5 gram/liter in the research zone in the 1960s-1970s. Collector-drainage networks were built and basic washing of soils is carried out in order the prevent secondary salinization and regulate the level of subsoil waters. After the 1970s the mineralization rate of subsoil waters began to decrease due to basic washing, intensive irrigation and the activity of the collector-drainage network.The average mineralization degree decreased to 15.1 gram/liter. The mineralization degree of the water in the Main Shirvan Collector which takes subsoil waters formed in the zone with 253,000 hectares and which discaharges them into the Caspian Sea decreased more than 3 times in comparison with 1995. At present the mineralization degree of collector water is 1.8–2.5 gram/liter while its mineralization degree was 8.81 gram/liter in 1995. Formation of the process in a favourable direction enchances the potential of using collector water for irrigation, technical and other purposes and creates a basis for elimination of water deficiency in drought years. The research shows that anthropogenic activity mainly plays an important role in formation of the chemical regime of subsoil waters.


Acknowledgements I am especially grateful to my supervisor, A/P Aslaksen, for his constant support, encouragement and guidance throughout the preparation of this project. He has been most patient with me, despite having always to explain and re-explain certain concepts to me. He earns my gratitude for his tolerance and time. I would also like to express my sincere thanks to all my dear friends, especially Shumei, Yuan Qin, Lay Ling and Lydia for all their supports and encouragements. It was a tough journey to travel. I am grateful that I did not have to travel the journey alone. To my beloved family members, especially my granny, I would like to say thank you very much! 2 SUMMARY The phenomena of the sky aroused people's interest a long time ago. The Cro Magnon people made bone engravings 30,000 years ago, which may depict the phases of the Moon. These calendars are the oldest astronomical documents, 25,000 years older than writing. Agriculture required a good knowledge of the seasons. Religious rituals and prognostication were based on the locations of the celestial bodies. Thus, time reckoning became more important and accurate as people learned to calculate the movements of celestial bodies in advance. During the rapid development of seafaring, when voyages extended farther and farther from homeports, position determination presented a problem for which astronomy offered a practical solution. Solving these problems of navigation were the most important tasks of astronomy in the 17 th and 18 th centuries, when the first precise tables on the movements of the planets and on other celestial phenomena were published. The basis for these developments was the discovery of the laws governing the motions of the Astronomical research has changed man's view of the world from geocentric, anthropocentric conceptions to the modern view of a vast universe where the man and the Earth play an insignificant role. Astronomy has taught us the real scale of the nature surrounding us. Thus, the first chapter of this paper aims to provide an introduction to certain aspects of astronomy. This includes the Greeks' conception of the Universe (the geocentric model), the meridian line, the heliocentric model and the models created by Ptolemy and Kepler to explain the motions of the Sun and the planets. 3 The book entitled: " The Sun in the Church " written by J.L. Heilbron, addresses a basic problem, that is, how is the calendar …