Objective It is to discuss the clinical curative effect of fleabane injection on acute brain infarction. Methods 60 patients with acute brain infarction were randomly divided into control group and treatment group. The control group was treated with symptomatic treatment. The treatment group was treated with fleabane injection on the base of symptomatic treatment. The curative effect was assessed and the change of hemorheology was detected after 14 days. Results There was significant difference on curative effect after treatment between the two groups (P0.05). There was exceeding significant difference on the change of hemorheology between the two groups (P0.01). Conclusion Fleabane injection can lower blood viscosity, improve minicirculation and increase curative effect in treating acute brain infarction.


The invention relates to a tritium-containing wastewater treatment system and treatment method. The system is formed by cascading multiple stages of water rectifying towers and then being cascaded with a single-stage N-VPCE, tritium-containing wastewater is pretreated with the multi-stage water rectifying tower cascading system and rectified into a low-tritium-content component and multiple high-tritium-content components of which the tritium concentrations are gradually increased; an N-VPCE column steam-phase catalytic exchange is introduced into the high-tritium-content components of which the tritium concentrations are gradually increased from the bottom to top in the state of high-temperature steam according to the tritium concentration sequence from low to high, hydrogen is introduced from the bottom of the N-VPCE column steam-phase catalytic exchange, tritium in the steam is transferred into the hydrogen phase through catalytic exchange, and water flowing out of N-VPCE column steam-phase catalytic exchange is fed back to the last-stage rectifying tower. The tritium-containing wastewater treatment system is simple in structure, reasonable in procedure and low in construction and operation cost; the treatment method is high in practicability and stable and reliable in operation, can be used for solving the technical problem of inland nuclear power tritium environment emission control and is suitable for tritium-poor water production.


Linking trade to labor is the requirement certain trend of international economic and social development.There exist misunderstandings of the purpose of the incorporation of international labor standards with WTO,its influence on comparative advantages,its possibility of misapplication and effect of negative counteraction in developing countries.As a comprehensive right and a specific developing process right,the right to development also cannot provide theoretical foundation for rejecting incorporation of labor standards with WTO.In the future negotiations,it is by suggesting constraint the way scope of labor rights introduced into WTO,constitute a safe harbor provision,apply differential standards,restrict punitive measures and strengthen the cooperation with ILO that the developing countries not only can effectively diminish the negative influence of the incorporation of labor standards on WTO,but also can improve their workers' condition.


Autonomous driving technology has drawn a lot of attention due to its fast development and extremely high commercial values. The recent technological leap of autonomous driving can be primarily attributed to the progress in the environment perception. Good environment perception provides accurate high-level environment information which is essential for autonomous vehicles to make safe and precise driving decisions and strategies. Moreover, such progress in accurate environment perception would not be possible without deep learning models and advanced onboard sensors, such as optical sensors (LiDARs and cameras), radars, GPS. However, the advanced sensors and deep learning models are prone to recently invented attack methods. For example, LiDARs and cameras can be compromised by optical attacks, and deep learning models can be attacked by adversarial examples. The attacks on advanced sensors and deep learning models can largely impact the accuracy of the environment perception, posing great threats to the safety and security of autonomous vehicles. In this thesis, we study the detection methods against the attacks on onboard sensors and the linkage between attacked deep learning models and driving safety for autonomous vehicles. To detect the attacks, redundant data sources can be exploited, since information distortions caused by attacks in victim sensor data result in inconsistency with the information from other redundant sources. To study the linkage between attacked deep learning models and driving safety...


The purpose of this survey is to see how girls are portrayed in children's literature from a gender perspective. The analysis is based on different specific features with the characters such as loo ...


Some studies indicate that certain drug and food interactions can affect the cytochrome P450 CYP3A enzyme system and may alter the metabolism of


M EETING the unexpected situation successfully depends entirely on preparation. Effective preparation demands vision or foresight. Therefore, in the nursing technics of emergency departments we may expect to find a high degree of preparation. It is no wonder that procedures are expected to be carried out effectively and more rapidly than in the other hospital services. There can be little foresight or preparation without classification of the possible types of emergencies nor can there be good nursing care without the planned procedure. Every possible situation which has been considered step by step will lead to the formation of a system of written and practiced technics which will facilitate meeting the actual emergency. The emergency can also be met better if, beside the classroom preparation, some thought is given to the physical set-up of the department, that is, the arrangement of rooms, supplies, equipment. A third means of preparation is proper staffing. We have a well-prepared emergency department in that it has the above mentioned qualities. It stands in readiness because it is prepared by a formulation of technics, a good physical set-up, sufficient supplies, good equipment, and a well-trained active staff.


The purpose of the research is to investigate the phenotypic performances as qualitative assessment characters of three potato clones resulted from protoplasm fusion (A5) and two clones from botany seeds (PAS3063 and PAS3064) which had been identified to be resistant from bacterial wilt disease (Ralstonia solanacearum). The commercial potato varieties (Granola and Atlantic) were used as a comparison varieties. All five varieties were produced from mini graft. The result of qualitative performance that more prominent were on A5 clone with the characters that the branch was red, tuber skin was purple/violet and its ability produce flowers. Meanwhile, the branch of another clone was green, tuber skin was yellow/brown, and it does not produce much flowers. The color of tuber flesh were white except on Granola which was yellow. The result of cluster analysis that based on the morphologic character from each plant showed that PAS3063 was closed to Atlantic variety characteristic, PAS3064 was closed to Granola variety, and A5 different from both commercial varieties.There fore, it is proposed that PAS3063 and PAS3064 can be used as substitutes for commercial cultivars, while further consideration should be made for A5 since it is signifoutly different with the familiar cultivars.


Most localization approaches do not take into account the possibility of controlling the robot to improve the perception, instead, the robot is just commanded with a predefined path. Active sensing strategies may lead to more efficient exploration and mapping approaches. The robot can adapt its trajectory, avoiding for instance non-observable motions or following those paths which are most informative. In the case of Range-only Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (RO-SLAM), this means selecting the path which is likely to produce the highest reduction in the uncertainty on the landmarks' positions. This paper proposes an active sensing approach able to command the UAV to more informative areas from the RO-SLAM point of view, allowing a faster filter convergence and better mapping accuracy.


This research shows a classification of portunhol as a language, interlanguage, dialect, or other variant, according to its context of use, based on studies related to the theme. We started with a bibliographic search looking for concepts and definitions about language, interlanguage, dialect and portuguese. Subsequently, specific studies on the classification of portunhol were sought, in which it was found that this variant can be classified according to the following contexts: border portunhol, portunhol in the context of teaching/ learning and literary portunhol. Because of the greater concentration of related studies, border portunhol was limited to the Brazil - Uruguay border. As for the results, it was found that border portuguese, despite most studies classifying it as a dialect or variety of portuguese, can be designated as a language. Portunhol in the teaching/learning context, although it is preferable to be considered an interlanguage, can be considered a translanguage. Finally, based on the researched studies, it is clear that literary portuguese is a language.
KEYWORDS: Portunhol. Interlanguage. Border.


In this note, we show that for the two-part-type, one-machine continuous flow model, a static-priority policy cannot be optimal when the hedging point of the part of highest priority is positive. This result was previously conjectured by Veatch and Caramanis.


The embodiment of the invention provides a fuel-saving gear shifting algorithm, which is suitable for automobiles with manual speed changing boxes. The fuel-saving gear shifting algorithm comprises the following steps of: acquiring the speed of an automobile and the opening of an accelerator; obtaining a preset gear ascending speed threshold value and a preset gear descending speed threshold value according to the opening of the accelerator, comparing the acquired speed of the automobile with the preset gear ascending speed threshold value and the preset gear descending speed threshold value, and determining the current gear shifting condition of the automobile according to a comparison result; and comparing the acquired speed of the automobile and the opening of the accelerator and preset gear shifting law data to obtain gear shifting gears, wherein the gear shifting gears correspond to the rotate speed of a target engine of the automobile, and the speed of the automobile and the rotate speed of an engine can be switched mutually. According to the fuel-saving gear shifting algorithm, the optimum gear shifting gears are obtained by the acquired opening of the accelerator and the speed of the automobile to promote drivers to shift the gears, so that the rotate speed of the engine of the automobile is kept around the rotate speed of the target engine to realize the fuel economy of the automobiles with the manual speed changing boxes.


Near point of convergence (NPC) is considered as one of the important diagnostic findings in the assessment of convergence insufficiency. Some studies on the Caucasian and Asian population have shown that test targets employed in the measurement of near point of convergence (NPC) can influence its break and recovery values but no previous studies have been done on Nigerian population. The purpose of this study was to help determine the most appropriate test target to use for the assessment of Near point of convergence and to compare the effect of test targets on NPC values in non presbyopes within the age range of 18-35 years and presbyopes of age 38 years and above in a Nigerian population. A total of 60 subjects were divided equally into two groups (non presbyopes and presbyopes). The near point of convergence was measured using four targets in subjects with visual acuity of 6/6 in each eye or better with and without their best correction, N5 at 40 cm and subjects without strabismus and any ocular pathology. Presbyopes were defined by a reading addition of +1.00DS or more in their near correction at 40 cm. The targets used were: a tip of pen, examiner's index fingertip (accommodative targets) and a penlight and a penlight with red and green lenses (non- accommodative targets). The data collected was analyzed using the SPSS 22.0 and Microsoft excel spread sheet. Comparisons of data were done using paired two-sample Wilcoxon signed rank test and Mann- Whitney U. Spearman's correlation was used to determine the correlations. The results showed that accommodative targets gave less receded NPC values and non- accommodative targets gave more receded NPC values in both presbyopes and non presbyopes groups. Also there was no significant difference in the NPC values between the two groups when compared. It is therefore concluded that accommodative targets are the best targets to use for measurement of near point of convergence


International publicity translation is a key approach to realize the information dissemination of tourism culture, which conforms to the language and cultural practice of target language users from the perspective of Skopos theory. This paper analyses the similarities and differences in terms of language option, information structure, and linguistic features between the two tourism websites. The comparative results reveal that international publicity translation of tourism culture corresponds to the principles of Skopos theory in terms of information expression styles and linguistic features. This paper argues that the intended purposes of target readers should be satisfied to eliminate language and culture barriers for the function realization of information exchange in the practice of international publicity translation of tourism culture in Central China.


OKTAVIAN I was built at Osaka University and has been operated since 1981 as an intense deuterium-tritium (D-T) neutron source at 1.5-ns pulses of 103 D-T neutron/pulse or as a continuous neutron s...


It is not always possible that a curved surface in the Euclid space of three dimensions is developed on the Euclid plane of two dimensions. Therefore, we use many approximate methods for the development of undevelopable curved surfaces which are shell plates, because the amount of expansion and contraction of parts of shell plates are not much in practice.Then the author analysed these methods by differential geometry for the purpose of investigating the accuracy. Namely two geodesic lines being at right angles on the shell surface and being competent for making the correct developed plane, are found out by the calculus of variations, and the position of base points or base line of each method being relaitive to the geodesic line on the curved shell surface, are compared with the correct position of them on the developed plane, then the accuracy of each method is known.And the author analysed the question of back-sets and the roll line of the shell plate by differential geometry.After all, it was verified that the geodesic line method had the best accuracy in practice.


Reconstructive spectroscopy in the mid-infrared (MIR) range is a prospective technology making the rich information in the MIR range more accessible, while distinct wavelength-responsivity characteristics are required. We report a room-temperature operating plasmonic MIR detector that shows sharply wavelength-dependent responsivity by itself, spanning a wide magnitude range. A grating with narrow, continuously aluminum-covered trenches not only showed a sharp responsivity peak with a half-width half-maximum of 43–57 nm but also suppressed the minimum responsivity to below 20% of the maximum. With a clear grating parameter-responsivity relationship observed, the structure will commit to improving the miniaturized MIR reconstructive spectroscopy.


The proposed new approach to division of railway sections into the optimization objects allows to use nonadditive criteria, depending on the task set up.


The method of forming capacitor of semiconductor device comprises the steps of : forming a field oxide film(2), a gate oxide film(3), a gate electrode(4), a word line(4') and a MOSFET with active regions(6,6') of LDD structure using a spacer oxide film(5); forming a doped charge storage electrode polysilicone film(11) after forming a polysilicone spacer(10) and a contact hole on the active region(6) of the MOSFET; forming more than one sacrificial spacer oxide film(13,15) on the charge storage electrode polysilicone film(11); etching the charge storage electrode polysilicone film(11) partially; full etching of the charge storage electrode polysilicone film(11); and forming a plate electrode(17) after wet etching of the sacrificial spacer oxide films(13,15) and forming a dielectric film(16).


Civil aviation activities are important elements of economic and social development. Financial indicators assert that airline industry has a quite fragile structure. In this research, financial performances of an airline company (ABC), listed in Istanbul Stock Exchange (BIST) and airline company (XYZ), listed in Frankfurt Stock Exchange have been compared. For that reason, financial data, abstracted from 2012 financial statements and performance tables have been used. Both airline companies have different advantages against each other based on different performance indicators. However, in order to make a comprehensive comparison, TOPSIS approach, whish is one of the multi criteria decision making methods, has been used. TOPSIS approach includes all ciriteria (performance indicators) into the solution, in order to provide a single result. Performance indicators and their weights has been used to investigate the financial performances of two airline companies using TOPSIS method. The results of the research indicate that the performance of ABC company is better than the performance of XYZ company


Acoustical fields excited on a concave rigid wall by a source located on the wall are represented by a combination of either a whispering gallery (WG) mode and continuous spectrum or geometric acoustical ray and lowest order WG mode. The role of the WG mode and acoustical ray is clarified and the relation between the WG modes in the normal mode theory and the acoustical rays in the ray theory is investigated based on numerical calculations from an analytically derived formula. The pressure fields appreciably far from the source in the azimuthal direction can be obtained by super-posing specific WG modes only in the high frequency limit.


Today, we know that it is hard to define architectural theories as one concept. In addition, they continually enlarge the areas of thought through the synthesis of other fields. In this way, this study explores the connection between modern movies and modern architecture. Especially, this understands three kinds of the time-images in the cinema 2 such as a purely optical situation, a crystals-image, and the powers of the false through each cinematic example. First of all, in order to understand the purely optical situation, this paper analyzes the "Pierrot goes wild" of Jean-Luc Godard and then verifies the time-image by the projects of the deconstruction. The case of this purely optical-image is the Kunsthal Museum of Rem Koolhaas. To be sure, the indoor spaces consist of a variety of the wandering paths by connecting inclined plates. It follows that this Museum make the purely optical-image since the architecture creates ambiguous, loosed and unexpected spaces. Moreover, this study also expounds a crystal-image in the "8,1/2" of Federico Fellini and then confirms the theory with architectural work. The best example of the crystal-image is the Jewish Museum of Daniel Libeskind. The interior forms the various factors that communicate the painful memory from the past with a sense of space from the present through the rough concrete, the cold air and the metallic sculptures in the floor. This shows that the places have the characteristic of the crystal-images in the designed indoor spaces. Finally, for the power of the false, it investigates "Mysterious Object at noon" of Apichatpong Weerasethakul. What' s more, this paper elucidates Wexner Ceneter for the arts with this time-image. The site was recovered to create the powers of false by old vestiges such as the previous bases and facades.


In this study we carry out a provenance study of the rocks used to build up the Puigseslloses megalithic tomb (Folgueroles, Barcelona province, Spain). Throughout a comparative petrologic and sedimentologic analysis of the materials used in this monument and those similar ones cropping out in the nearby areas, we deduce that the supplying area is the Paleogene Folguroles Sandstones Formation.


PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain a carbonyl compound useful as an intermediate of organic synthesis without using an expensive oxidizing agent at a low temperature in a high conversion, high selectivity and safely by subjecting olefins to catalytic oxidation in a microemulsion as a reaction medium and a catalyst supporter. SOLUTION: This compound of formula II is obtained by subjecting (A) a compound of formula I [R 1 to R 3 are each H, a halogen, CN, OH, a COO-{1-4C alkyl}, SO 2 -O-{1-2C alkyl}, a 1-8C (1- or 2-substituted) phenyl (branched) alkyl, a halogen, OH, nitro, CN, a 1-4C alkyl or the like, or a (1- or 2-substituted) phenyl or naphtyl or the like] to a catalytic oxidation in the presence of (B) a catalytic system containing (B 1 ) a Pd compound and (B 2 ) a subgroup of metal compound other than the component B 1 as a re-oxidizing agent or a quinone compound in (C) an emulsion as a reaction medium and a catalyst supporter with (D) oxygen or oxygen-containing gas at 0-200°C, especially 15-40°C under a pressure of 0.2-200 bar, especially 1-10 bar. COPYRIGHT: (C)1996,JPO


BACKGROUND
To remove toluene (a representative volatile organic compound (VOC)) from a waste gas stream, catalytic oxidation was utilized over Cu/Clinoptilolite–CeO2 nanocatalyst. The nanocatalyst with different loadings of Cu (5, 10, 15 wt%) was sonochemically synthesized and its performance in catalytic oxidation of toluene was studied. Characterization by XRD, FESEM, BET, EDX and FTIR were applied.

RESULTS
XRD results indicated well-dispersed small copper particles even at high loadings of copper. Non-sonicated Cu/Clinoptilolite–CeO2 catalyst showed agglomerated, non-uniform morphology, while small particles with uniform shape and size with different degrees of agglomeration were observed in sonicated Cu/Clinoptilolite–CeO2 catalyst. A narrow particle size distribution with average size 21 nm was observed in the sonicated sample. BET analysis demonstrated considerable effects of HCl treatment in increasing the specific surface area of clinoptilolite. It also showed the strong influence of CeO2 addition as a promoter that sharply enhanced the surface area to 71.7 m2 g−1.

CONCLUSION
Catalytic performance tests revealed that Cu(15%)/Clinoptilolite–CeO2 synthesized with ultrasound had the best performance of about 98% toluene abatement even at high concentrations of toluene (3000 ppm). A stability test of the synthesized nanocatalyst confirmed its constant activity for 1440 min, making it a promising catalyst for removal of VOCs. © 2014 Society of Chemical Industry


Lygus lineolaris (Palisot de Beauvois) was the dominant species of phytophagous mirids on the ground vegetation in and around an apple orchard. The overwintered adults oviposited on weeds, and first-generation nymphs developed inside the orchard. The first-generation adults migrated to weeds outside the orchard, and the subsequent generations stayed there until summer's end. Lygocoris communis (Knight) was scarce on ground vegetation, and adults migrated toward sumac trees to feed on the inflorescences; no oviposition occurred on sumac. Lygidea mendax Reuter, Campylomma verbasci (Meyer), and Heterocordylus malinus Reuter did not colonize the weeds in and around the orchard or the trees around the orchard.


This study was conducted to suggest an assessment indices to evaluate the ecosystem services of the unique functions of wetlands as well as economic value provided by the village wetlands. The assessment indicators applied in this study were used by the RAM indices.
The results of RAM assessment on the village wetlands in Cheonan city were analyzed by item and critical functions of the village wetland. They were derived by assessment indicators of ecosystem services, and the village wetland ecosystem were presented by Focus Group Interview (FGI). The 20 critical indices were selected from 52 different indices by analyzing the wetland function assessment items. 13 indicators excluding duplicate indexes by function, were selected as ecological service impact indicators. Finally, ecosystem services were evaluated by using AHP analysis to calculate the weight of each assessment indices and apply it to the 9 village wetlands. The results of this study confirmed that the functions of the village wetlands are compliant with the ecosystem services. Based on this assessment of the unique functions of wetlands, it will serve as a methodology for assessing ecosystem services.
The study was also conducted on 49 wetlands in Cheonan. The detailed assessment of wetland ecosystem services based on the wetland ecosystem function proposed by this study, was further developed as a follow-up study. It suggested that the wetland areas should be compared and be used as a general standard. In addition to the assessment of the economic value of ecosystem services provided by the village wetlands, it would be useful to assess the unique features and convert them into value.


Objective:To validate the value of G-banding chromosomal aberration of lymphocyte after radiation.Methods: The blood was irradiated by 4 MV X-ray and was cultured 3 days.The G-banding chromosomal aberration was assayed including dicentrics,deletions,translocations,rings,and fragments chromosomal aberration.Results:There were 100 good karyotypes observed.The total of chromosomal aberration was 428.The dicentric,deletion,translocation,ring,and fragment chromosomal aberration were 86,41,111,9,and 181 respectively.There was no significant difference in chromosomal aberration after radiation in every NO.chromosome.Conclusion:The G-banding chromosomal aberration assay should be paid more attention in radiation biology.


Methodological advice suggests that a ―pathway case‖ nested analysis is appropriate for maximizing external validity when developing a mechanisms-based account of interventions in civil war. Yet only the most general guidelines are given with regard to the specific issues that arise when trying to apply the pathway case design. This paper discusses four such issues—model specification, measurement validity, the indeterminacy of case selection, and the question of generalizability—and proposes strategies to deal with them. If properly addressed, the pathway case remains a fruitful research design. By incorporating a mechanisms-based causal logic in a nested analysis, the pathway case mixes methods in terms of both data and epistemology. As such it is an appropriate response to the large-N research programme on civil war.


The electronic package includes an interface member between the electronic component and the heat radiating member. Interface member, using a particle filler dispersion comprises a combination of substantially spherical particles and substantially platelet-shaped particles in the dispersion range of properties, very in the transmission and / or suppression of electromagnetic radiation of thermal energy it is effective.


MATERIALS Reagents Dithiothreitol (DTT), 1 M DNA IQ System (Promega; includes Resin, Lysis Buffer, 2X Wash Buffer, and Elution Buffer) Ethanol, 95-100% Isopropanol Sample (liquid blood, cotton swab, th CEP swab, 15-50 mm2 S&S paper, 3-30 mm2 FTA paper) Equipment Aerosol-resistant micropipette tips DNA IQ Spin Baskets (Promega) Heating blocks, preset to 65°C and 95oC MagneSphere Technology Magnetic Separation Stand (Promega)


e14055 Background: Ependymomas originate from ependymal cells and account for 6.2% of primary brain tumors in the pediatric population. Adult and pediatric ependymomas are identical in histology, but present in different sites, with intracranial ependymomas seen in children and spinal ependymomas more frequent in adults. The unique presentation of ependymoma in children warrants exploration separate from adults; however, there is currently limited data providing a baseline understanding of pediatric ependymoma and those that it impacts. The National Cancer Database (NCDB) was analyzed to identify common presentations and demographic characteristics of ependymoma in children. Methods: Patients aged 18 and younger with a diagnosis of Ependymoma (ICD 9391-9394) were identified utilizing the National Cancer Database (NCDB) from 2004 – 2020 for a retrospective cohort analysis (N = 2,098). Demographic factors such as age, sex, race, ethnicity, primary site, insurance status, and surgical procedure were analyzed by descriptive statistics. Additionally, identical NCDB data was identified for patients over 18 years old for use as a comparison factor (N = 8,227). Results: A total of 2,098 pediatric patients were identified with an average age of diagnosis of 7.0 years (SD = 5.609, range = ( < 1) - 18 years) with a higher percentage being male (55.9%) than female (44.1%). The vast majority of cases of pediatric ependymoma originate in the brain (91.2%), followed by occurrences on the spinal cord and cranial nerves (8.8%). This differs from ependymoma in adults where only 44.8% of cases occur in the brain and 55.2% occur in the spinal cord. Of the 2,098 pediatric patients identified, they were histologically identified as either Ependymoma, NOS (51.5%), or Anaplastic Ependymoma (47.5%). Comparatively, Anaplastic Ependymoma makes up only 9.7% of ependymomas in adult populations. Additionally, the majority of patients were Non-Hispanic (76.3%) and white (76.9%). Most patients were privately insured (58.0%) followed by those insured by Medicaid (33.1%). Pediatric ependymoma is primarily treated with surgical resection (95.7%). Conclusions: Compared to adult occurrences, pediatric cases of ependymoma are not only unique in the site that they affect but also in histology, with a higher proportion of anaplastic ependymoma. This NCDB analysis is the first to specifically analyze pediatric ependymoma and fills a gap in our understanding of how this cancer presents in children. The majority of ependymoma patients are non-Hispanic and White with a primary site occurring in the brain rather than in the spinal cord, consistent with literature. These findings emphasize the importance of a deeper understanding of the nature of this disorder. Future research should further explore the impact of demographic and socioeconomic factors on the treatments utilized, and overall survival of pediatric patients with ependymoma.


Executive Summary Conservation of genetic diversity is essential to the long-term survival of any species, particularly in light of changing environmental conditions. Reduced genetic diversity may negatively impact the adaptive potential for a species. In addition, low genetic diversity leads to an increased risk of inbreeding effects, through the uncovering of deleterious recessive alleles. Consequently, management of genetic diversity is an important component of recovery strategies for threatened and endangered wildlife. In Canada, the single greatest limiting factor affecting recovery of the threatened wood bison (Bison bison athabascae) is the presence of bovine tuberculosis (Mycobacterium bovis) and brucellosis (Brucella abortus) in and around Wood Buffalo National Park (WBNP). Despite the successful salvage of the founders for the Elk Island National Park (EINPW) and Mackenzie bison populations in the 1960s, and most recently the Hook Lake Wood Bison Recovery Project (HLWBRP), the majority of wood bison genetic diversity exists within the diseased populations of the Greater Wood Buffalo National Park Ecoregion. Genetic diversity in the Mackenzie and EINPW wood bison populations is substantially less than the wild populations from which they were salvaged, likely due to a combination of the founder effect and genetic drift. In addition, disease-free wood bison herds that have been established through national recovery efforts have been generally managed as small and genetically isolated populations, although some herds have received supplemental releases from the wood bison herd at EINPW. Thus, due to a series of founding events and population bottlenecks, genetic diversity is not well distributed among disease-free wood bison herds in Canada. iv In this study, we used a simulation modeling approach to evaluate strategies for management of genetic diversity and maintenance of gene flow among disease-free wood bison herds. Within a metapopulation framework, we evaluated the relative effects of population size, number of populations, movement of animals between populations, and harvesting or culling regimens on genetic diversity. Based on current population genetic status and the influence of these factors on genetic diversity in simulated populations, we arrived at the following conclusions: • Additional genetic salvage should be conducted from diseased bison in and around Wood Buffalo National Park to ensure that genetic diversity of wood bison is well represented and conserved in disease-free populations. Each salvage effort should be based on a large number of founding individuals, similar to the effort undertaken at the HLWBRP. • The most genetically important disease-free populations should be the …


Attempts to improve the reliability and validity of MMPI short forms appear warranted in light of their increasing acceptance among clinicians. Moreland (1983) has recently suggested that the most cost-effective way of improving existing MMPI short forms would be to include the entire K scale along with other abbreviated scales. The rationale for this suggestion includes the obvious improvement in the accuracy of the K scale as well as the expected improvement in those scales (Hs, Pd, Pt, Sc, and Ma) to which K corrections are added prior to scoring. Moreland (1983) compared the MMPI-168 with a version of the MMPI-168 containing the entire K scale (referred to as the MMPI-168E) by extracting both short forms from the MMPI protocols of 1181 psychiatric inpatients and 1258 normals. Utilization of the MMPI-168E increased the correlations between abbreviated and standard scales, especially for the Hs and Pd scales. This smdy is an attempt to determine whether the MMPI-168E is more effective than the MMPI-168 when the MMPI is used to make neurotic/psychotic discriminations using the Taulbee-Sisson (1957) signs. The full MMPls of 30 male and 28 female psychiatric inpatients were scored using the Taulbee-Sisson rules. This resulted in 13 neurotic, 19 psychotic, and 26 indeterminate classifications. The MMPI-168 and MMPI-168E were then extracted from the full MMPI and scored using the Taulbee-Sisson signs. Agreement with the full MMPI occurred in 7 (57%) of the neurotic, 6 (36%) of the Psychotic and 21 (84%) of the indeterminate classifications when the MMPI-168E was used. The corresponding numbers (percentages) for the MMPI-168 were 7 (61%) for the neurotic, 4 (26%) for the psychotic, and 21 (84%) for the indeterminate classifications. Inspection of the percentages indicates that inclusion of the full K scale in the MMPI-168 results in no increase in the accuracy with which the MMPI-168 predicts neurotic/psychotic diagnostic classifications of the full MMPI. Comparison of the two short forms with each other indicated agreement in classification in 53 of the 58 subjects. These data are consistent with the previous results in that they offer little or no reason to believe that one form is superior to the other. It should be noted that the two short forms were extracted from the full MMPI. It is not known if similar results would be found with independent administrations of the


Progress in the field of the so-called new technologies that include microelectronics, information and communication technology, nanotechnology, biotechnology and genetic engineering is of a great importance in development of economy globalisation. Applying new technologies in enterprises brought crucial technical and economic changes described as a paradigm change that consists in the transition from the so-called model of mass production to the model of flexible network-based specialisation and to development of knowledge-based economy1. E-commerce development is the result of progress in the sphere of new technologies and is also manifested in the emergence of new business models. Afuah and Tucci define business model as a method of enhancement and use of resources adopted by the company for the purpose of providing the customers with the offer of products and services the value of which is better than offer of competitors but that ensures profitability for the company at the same time2. Appropriately selected business model in the network is at present one of the most important determinants of the company success. Types of business models applied in the Internet are presented in Table 1.


The purpose of this study was to assess and examine the family burden among male and female nurses with schizophrenia patients. The sample population consisted of 60 male and female caregivers of schizophrenic patients selected using purposive sampling from outside patients and indoor patients, MHI, COE, SCBMCH, Cuttack. Odisha. The Family Expense Interview Schedule is applied to caregivers. The results showed that female caregivers had more family burden in all domains compared to male caregivers of schizophrenic patients. Keywords: Family Burden, Caregivers, Schizophrenia.


In this paper, the factor model is used to explore the importance of the monthly macroeconomic variables and Google Trend index in forecasting the Taipei House Price Index. In particular, We consider different settings of constructing the factors, including the traditional factor model, squared factors, squared principal components, and the three-pass regression filter. Model selection criteria, AIC, is used to select the number of factors that should be included as regressors. To take account of the model uncertainty, We also consider the model average approach, S-AIC (smoothed AIC). The forecast performance in terms of the MSFE shows that the model with the model average technique generally performs better. After adding Google Trend information, the improvements of the short run forecast are apparent, which suggests that the search activities can reflect the housing demand.


A survey of 186 diabetic patients examined their collective experience of life and motor insurance. Some form of life insurance policy had been obtained by 150 patients, with a combined total of 204 policies, 107 of which had been agreed before the diagnosis of diabetes. Most patients had declared diabetes to the insurer but 12 patients had been refused acceptance. Only 15 patients sought alternative quotations. The premium had been loaded by 10–40% for 36 patients because of diabetes, and 48 required a medical report.


Based on gender perspective,this paper gives a systematical analysis of gender system performance in modern woman education,and points out that male basis for gender superior distorting the educational concept,dissimilating the educational purpose and disturbing the teaching practice.Then the paper has the further discussion to the modern woman education.The origin of gender is patriarchal culture hegemony,which according to male ideal and male standard to create female image and advocate women education.Finally,this paper gives three aspects to enlighten today's women education which contents clearing understanding of the women education objective,improving women education content and exploring women education implementing methods.


This article will demonstrate why beauty is an important value for the Christian faith. This is done by investigating how beauty has been developed as a theological concept by Hans Urs von Balthasar and Gerardus van der Leeuw. Beauty is an indispensable value because the holy encompasses the beautiful. Beauty belongs to the joy of shalom, to the joy of  the coming Kingdom of God. The argument for beauty deals further with three questions: the relationship between the secular  and the religious experience of beauty; the place of the ugly as a contrast to the beautiful and the question of whether art is only  a matter of contemplating the beautiful or whether art is primarily an instrument and object of action.


Report issued by the Oak Ridge National Laboratory discussing annual progress made by the Maritime Reactor Program. Progress and studies conducted during 1963 are presented. This report includes tables, illustrations, and photographs.


The success of the teacher of general science, as in fact of all subjects, lies in his ability to adjust the materials of instruction to the individual differences of the pupils. I n very small groups, such adjustment is relatively simple; but in large classes, which are coming to be the standard in our high schools, the problem of individual adjustment becomes discouragingly complicated. Large school systems attempt a practical solution of this problem by sectioning the groups on the basis, usually, of intelligence. Smaller systems, however, cannot attempt ability grouping. Such practice even where it is practicable affords only a partial and far from satisfactory adjnstment, since homogeneous grouping merely limits the range of individual differences within the group and then with respect only to the one trait which has been made the basis for the grouping. Even in a "dull" or a '%right" group there are as many different individuals as there are pupils, each presenting his own instructional problems. I n most classrooms there is probably little attempt upon the part of the teacher to adjust the work specifically to the individual pupils. I n a majority of classes, however, it is common to find the work best adjusted to the sub-average intelligence level within the class. Such individual adjustment as is made is usually in the form of "special help" for the diillest members. The least intelligent pupils most frequently receive this special favor not only because the brighter ones learn the materials without extra help, but also because in the too common opinion both of


Development of new NO{sub x} sensors, which would be sensitive, selective, inexpensive and stable at elevated temperature, will greatly contribute to the reduction of the air pollution. In this paper, synthesis and performance of zeolite film applied for gas sensing are reported. Zeolite thin films (Cu ion-exchanged ZSM-5) were synthesized on the gold electrode at AT-cut quartz platelet by hydrothermal synthesis. In order to probe the target molecule (NO) selectively, Na in as-synthesized ZSM-5 film was ion-exchanged with Cu. The films were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The synthesis condition for orientation to (0 x 0) face, on which the straight pores of ZSM-5 are opening, was optimized. The bulk type quartz oscillator coated with Cu-ZSM-5 thin layer was tested as NO sensor in a flowing stream of He. This sensing system could be operated at high temperature because of the thermal stability of the ZSM-5 film and the gold electrode. As a result, NO was successfully detected at 348 K.


Objective:To observe the efficacy,clinical benefit response,time to no progress and adverse effect of XELOX and OLF for the preoperated patients with advanced gastric cancer.Methods: XELOX group: capecitabine 1000 mg/m2/d,twice a day,po for 14days,oxaliplatin 130 mg/m2,intravenous infusion d1,every three weeks.OLF group: Oxaliplatin 130 mg/m2,intravenous infusion d1,calcium folinate200 mg/m2,intravenous infusion 1-5d,5-fluorouracil 500 mg/m2,intravenous infusion 1-5d,every three weeks.Results: The median time to progress(mTTP) in the XELOX group was 6 months,and mTTP in the OLF group was 5 months,the survival of one year rate was 44.0%(11/25).All the patients were safety.Conclusions: The XELOX and OLF is effective in the treatment of patients with advanced gastric cancer under the same conditions.XELOX programs may be more convenient,and may be more advantage in the re-treated patients.


IN HIS EARLIER PLAYS Yeats was intent on building up illusion, on fortifying the matter of myth against the hostile intrusions of the unbeliever. The Romantic virtues he presented could be regarded ironically only by the enemy, and all the irony within the plays was expended on the characters lacking faith in the supremacy of the imagination and unwilling to commit themselves to some image of desirable perfection. In the later plays he is both surer of his ability to create illusion with authority and more indifferent to the need to do so. Consequently he dares to be ironic about myth and finally (in The Death of Cuchulain) about himself. The Green Helmet (1910) is the last play in which the hero receives unqualified approval. The later plays do not, I think, ever repudiate either myth or romance, but they gain by being read with a sense of humor. They are at once more lyrically intense and more intellectually playful. Yeats trusts his power of incantation more but has less hope that his ideas will be fou...


The author reflects on the commercial enterprise aspect of the scientific publishing industry. Topics include the costs associated with maintaining collections of journals by academic libraries, the presence of an oligopoly within the scientific publishing market, and the use of bibliometric indicators by publishers as a marketing strategy.


To investigate the effect of three different tyoes of snow board boot lace pattern which were traditional(A), dial(B), pulley(C) system, respectively, on the wearing time, the balance abilility, and the in-shoe tibia pressure, various biomechanical tests were performed with ten college recreational snow boarders. Although boot A required longer time to tighten to foot than other boots, that lace type provided better both static and dynamic balance, and tighter fitting between boot and tibia that might be related to greater force transfer from body to snow board. It can be concluded that the original function of lace which provide well-fitting to feet should be more empathized than convenience to design snowboard boot lace system, because snowboard is high injury potential sport.


The article presents the results of applied research, the purpose of which was to study the informational streams of the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation aimed at the formation and promotion of the brand in social media. The cognitive mapping and automated social-media analysis implemented during the study made it possible to identify the features of internal and external branding of the Financial University. The social media brand of the Financial University is mainly aimed at communication and the formation of images of internal audiences, primarily students. To build an external brand, the Financial University uses traditional media and attracts influential actors. The transformation of this approach is due to the entry of the Financial University to the new digital platforms Telegram and TikTok, which allow the use of social media, including the formation of an external social media brand.


Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) is the most common congenital viral infection in humans, occurring in 0.22.2% of all live births. However, only 10% of infected infants have symptoms at birth; in 90% of infants, congenital HCMV infection is silent at birth, yet 517% of these neonates will develop neurological impairment and many will be deaf (1). We report our experience of an infant treated with ganciclovir for congenital HCMV hepatitis. The patient, a female, was born at 35 weeks' gestation to a 25-year-old primigravida by spontaneous vaginal delivery, with birth weight 1870g, length 41 cm and head circumference 29.5cm. The newborn was in no distress but showed intrauterine growth retardation, hepatosplenomegaly and jitteriness. The next day serum bilirubin concentration was 130 pmol/l with a conjugated fraction of 36 pmol/l, alanine aminotransferase (ALT) was 31 U/1 (normal range 7-33 U/l), aspartate aminotransferase (AST) was 79 U/1 (normal range 1 1-39 U/l) and gamma-glutamyltransferase (GGT) was 355 U/1 (normal range 11-53 U/l). Urine and blood samples were collected and examined for the presence of HCMV. Aliquots of 2 x lo5 polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMNL) were used both for early HCMV isolation on human embryonic lung fibroblast (HELF) monolayers (viremia) and determination of antigenemia, i.e. direct detection of HCMV pp65 in nuclei of PMNL according to procedures reported previously (2). Both antigenemia and viremia were quantitated. In parallel, conventional virus isolation and identification were performed. HCMV-specific IgG and IgM were determined as described previously (3). Diagnosis of congenital HCMV infection was performed in the first week of life by virus isolation from urine, positive viremia and antigenemia, and the presence of virus-specific IgM (HCMV-IgM index was 1.56, positive value > 1 .O). Ultrasound examination of the liver was normal, whereas cerebral ultrasound showed multiple calcification. The patient's fundi were normal without signs of chorioretinitis, and brain stem audiograph indicated normal hearing. On day 19 of life the baby developed massive hepatomegaly with acholic stools. Abdominal ultrasound showed hepatomegaly with increased echogenicity of the liver and ascites. Increasing levels of antigenemia in the presence of stable levels of viremia were observed during the first month of life. At 34 days of life, on the basis of virology, laboratory (Table 1) and clinical findings, and after informed consent was obtained from the parents, ganciclovir therapy 5 mg/kg iv twice daily for a total of 21 days was initiated. HCMV viremia was the first parameter to become negative after only 3 days of therapy. By the end of the second week of therapy, antigenemia too was negative, a dramatic decrease in virus load was observed in urine, and biochemical findings improved (Table 1). As the treatment was well tolerated, it was decided to continue it for an additional week. After 3 weeks of ganciclovir therapy, HCMV could not be detected in blood or urine. In addition, stools were normocholic, biochemical investigations showed a steady improvement (Table 1) and abdominal ultrasound showed no evidence of hepatomegaly and ascites. There were no significant side effects during ganciclovir treatment. However, at the first control performed 9 days after cessation of therapy, a resumption of virus replication was detected both in blood and urine (Table 1). Despite this finding, a


Due to their relative robustness and low cost, cyclones are widely used in industries as gas-solid and liquid-solid separators. Their performance is usually measured by two parameters: pressure drop and collection efficiency. While this equipment is simple in concept, studies have shown that the confined vorticial flow inherent to cyclones is in fact quite complex. Because of this, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) has been employed to model flows and solve them numerically, and has shown relative success in dealing with phenomena such as vortex breakdown, reversal flow, and high turbulence intensity. Cyclone simulations are usually expensive in terms of computer processing, mainly due to the fact that an anisotropic turbulence model must be used. Several studies have addressed that issue, and Reynolds Stress Model (RSM) has been considered by many researchers as being the most suitable model. In order to reduce computational times while still acquiring reliable results, other aspects of the simulation must be studied, such as the modeling approach to the particulate phase, which is the subject of this work. While the Eulerian approach is generally applied for the gas, different schemes can be considered for the particulate phase. In this work, two different methods are explored: the classic Eulerian-Eulerian (E-E), where a mean diameter is considered to calculate the entirety of the flow field of the particulate phase; and Eulerian-(Eulerian)n (E-En), where particles with different diameters are included in the same simulation, each as a distinct phase. The fractional collection efficiency curve is obtained for both methods. An analysis is made regarding accuracy and computational costs. The simulations make use of ANSYS CFX, a commercial software package, running in parallel mode in a high performance computing cluster. The fractional and overall collection efficiencies comparison with the experimental data showed that E-En achieved more accurate results.


Literature on peace operations has revealed that since the end of the Cold war, especially since the early 2000s, there has been a rapid increase in the number of peacekeeping missions around the w ...


A set of virtual reality (VR) based learning environment is being produced to investigate the possibilities for technological innovations and to discover where and how VR may best assist architecture instructors. VR has been utilized as an instructional aid in education, challenging the idea of what makes a learning environment more effective. Thanks to HD (high-definition) visuals and comprehensive contents given by head mounted displays (HMD), learners have been able to study complex and difficult subjects in ways that conventional teaching approach cannot. This paper reviews several learning domains that advance architectural education to benefit the scholars and academicians for usage of immersive VR technologies and its application to design studio. Research on learning benefits, intervention and evaluation action related to the usage of Virtual reality has been lacking. This literature review stresses that it is necessary for the VR's potential to be understood as a pedagogical approach by identifying relevant evaluation methods, intervention features and learning objectives.


Abstract This paper describes the use of a simulation to teach new social work students about social injustice, discrimination and oppression. The group exercise "Community Build" contributes to students and faculty expanding their dialogue about oppression and promoting students' sense of responsibility to effect social change. One hundred and ninety-three new graduate students participated in this exercise during the 1998 and 1999 fall orientations. At the end of the fall semester the students who participated in the exercise were compared to students who had not attended the simulation. Quantitative findings showed that students who had participated in this exercise felt more personal responsibility for social issues and more power to create change, while also being more perceptive to the effect of one's community than the students who had not participated in the exercise.


A method of and apparatus for converting a digital signal to sound, the digital signal being encoded in a sequence of code words at a signal encoding frequency, the code words representing the analog sound pressure of an original audio signal, with decoding of the digital signal occurring after electro-acoustic transduction through mechanical rectification and characteristics of a listener's ear, includes utilizing a plurality of substantially identical sound pressure generating elements each having an individual driver associated therewith, and selectively energizing the drivers in a pulsed manner at the signal encoding frequency in combination in response to a respective order of the bits of each code word of a digital signal from a most significant bit to a least significant bit. The sum of the air pressures produced by the sound pressure generating elements in response to each of the successive code words of the digital signal has a magnitude corresponding to the analog value of the respective code word, and the auditory system of the listener has the characteristics of a low pass filter whereby the listener receives the sum of the air pressures as the analog sound pressure of the original audio signal.


L1-1 Charcot-Marie-Tooth Disease Type 1A Presenting as Calf Hypertrophy and Muscle Cramps Daniel E. Krampitz, Richard J. Barohn, Gil L Wolfe, Dallas, TX. Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease type lA (CMT1A) is a relatively common autosomal dominant demyelinating neuropathy characterized by progressive weakness, atrophy, and sensory loss initially in the distal lower extremities and later in the upper extremities. Calf hypertrophy and muscle cramps are additional findings. We recently encountered a 45-year-old woman with CMT1A who presented with a 2-month history of tightness and cramping in the left calf exacerbated by any physical activity. For 2 years she reported nocturnal leg cramps several times a week. Muscle relaxants, quinine, and diazepam had been prescribed with little benefit. She denied weakness or sensory loss. Family history was notable for Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease in several family members including her father. On examination, strength was normal throughout. Sensation of primary modalities was intact, and deep tendon reflexes were normoactive and symmetric. There was no pes cavus or hammer toes, but she had moderate calf hypertrophy bilaterally. Whenever she would walk, her left calf would cramp, and she would develop painful, involuntary flexion of the ankle and toes. Nerve conduction studies demonstrated a hereditary demyelinating sensorimotor polyneuropathy. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the lumbosacral spine was unremarkable. Genetic testing showed a 17pal 1.2 duplication. A trial of gabapentin produced


In order to study the spatial patterns of genetic diversity of a clonal marine angiosperm, the seagrass Cymodocea nodosa, microsatellite markers were obtained by screening a genomic library enriched for the (CT) dinucleotide motif. Of 38 primer pairs defined, 15 amplified polymorphic microsatellites and are described. These loci identified a number of alleles ranging from two to seven, and showed expected heterozygosity ranging from 0.35 to 0.76, when a group of 40 individuals from Cadiz Bay in Spain was analysed. Additionally, we describe here the multiplexing conditions for 12 of these loci.


The mechanism that the operating system calls the screen protection program is analyzed and the method developing the screen protection program with MFC rapidly is presented compared with the traditional development one. Finally an example program is given which can find bitmap files in the predetermined directory and show them in turn.


In this study, characteristics of coastal erosions were analyzed at Haeundae beach using video monitoring technique. Real time photos obtained from a video monitoring system built in 2003 were analyzed to detect the variation of beach width and area. According to the monitoring results, the peak of erosion occurred in the summer of 2004 due to typhoons and high waves. Since then the beach width has been maintains stable conditions. The increasing trend of the area and width of beach is considered to be a result of the lack of typhoon attacks after 2005. Accumulation and erosion of sand in the western part of beach followed cycles according to season, as sand accumulated in winter and eroded in summer, repeatly. The central part of the beach changed slightly, and the eastern part of beach had opposite results compared to the western ones.


A magnetic suspension apparatus is described which supports a ferromagnetic object free from contact with its surroundings and which is capable of maintaining this support for any attitude or orientation in space of the apparatus as a whole. The apparatus and circuits are described and the conditions for stable support given. Features of the system of potential use in instrumentation are described.


Research on the analisys of the role of product development to sales volume  in PT.Panasonic Gobel Indonesia in Batam implemented by developing old products into new products. This research was done because the condition of the ever-changing customer tastes along with the development of technology. By doing research using colleration and regretion analisys is expected to increase sales volume and are able to extend the life cycle of product. The results showed that product development is done through the division of research and development (R & D) provides a strong influence on the increased sales volume. The CRT television absolete and began to anbandoned by the consumer develop a LCD television that has features that is more sophisticated than the CRT TV. With the advent of new products that have better quality, consumer are beginning to switch to another brand of television began to re-purchase the product brand name "Panasonic". Apart form product development through increased sales volume is also influenced by other factors such as pricing, advertising and promotion, quality and service.


We demonstrate that the factorization of the tunneling transmission into the product of two surface trans- mission functions and a vacuum decay factor allows one to generalize Julliere's formula and explain the meaning of the ''tunneling density of states'' in some limiting cases. Using this factorization we calculate spin-dependent tunneling from clean and oxidized fcc Co surfaces through vacuum into Al using the principal- layer Green's-function approach. We demonstrate that a monolayer of oxygen on the Co~111! surface creates a spin-filter effect due to the Co-O bonding which produces an additional tunneling barrier in the minority-spin channel. This changes the minority-spin dominated conductance for the clean Co surface into a majority-spin dominated conductance for the oxidized Co surface. In this paper we report the results of first-principles cal- culations of SDT from clean and oxidized Co surfaces through vacuum into Al and demonstrate the crucial role of the bonding between Co and O atoms at the surface. This system was chosen for investigation because the MTJ's based on alumina have predominantly O-terminated Co/Al2O3 interfaces. 10 By replacing alumina by vacuum we can ignore the complexity of the atomic structure of the amorphous alumina and focus on effects of surface oxida- tion. Moreover, this system can be directly studied using spin-polarized STM. 11 We show that a monolayer of oxygen on the Co surface creates a spin-filter effect due to the Co-O bonding by pro- ducing an additional tunneling barrier in the minority-spin channel. This reverses the sign of the SP from negative for the clean Co surface to positive for the oxidized Co surface revealing the decisive role of interface bonding in SDT.


Localization to the ground state of axial motion is demonstrated for a single, trapped atom strongly coupled to the field of a high finesse optical resonator. The axial atomic motion is cooled by way of coherent Raman transitions on the red vibrational sideband. An efficient state detection scheme enabled by strong coupling in cavity QED is used to record the Raman spectrum, from which the state of atomic motion is inferred. We find that the lowest vibrational level of the axial potential with zero-point energy variant Planck's over 2 h omega a/2kB = 13 microK is occupied with probability P0 approximately 0.95.


Objective:Observe the clinical curative effect of Chinese Traditional Medicine Combined with "CiliaoPoin" acupoint catgut embedding therapy Internal-external therapy in treating with intemal rectal prolapse outlet obstruction constipation.Methods: To select 50 cases which conform to the standards as the observation object,grant the Chinese Traditional Medicine combined with "CiliaoPoin" acupoint catgut embedding therapy with a course in 1 month,follow-up of 3 months,then compared clinical efficacy.Results: All the observation index have significantly improved compared with baseline in the two groups at 1 month and 3 months.There were no significant diferenees between 1 month and 3 months.Conclusion:Chinese Traditional Medicine combined with "CiliaoPoin " acupoint catgut embedding therapy Internal-external therapy have good Curative effect in treating with mild-to-moderate fits intemal rectal prolapse outlet obstruction constipation,not only can improve the clinical symptoms,but also can make the rectum intemal rectal prolapse extent lighter or disappeared,and the effect is consolidated;patients were susceptible accepted.


Abstract 3902 Chemoimmunotherapy (CIT) is highly effective treatment and standard of care for patients (pts) with CLL. Response to treatment by NCI-WG/IWCLL criteria correlates with outcome; pts who achieve complete remission (CR) have superior progression-free and overall survival compared to pts who achieve partial remission (PR); and pts who fail therapy have the poorest outcome. Emerging data indicate improved outcomes for pts who achieve minimal residual disease (MRD)-free status in blood or bone marrow (BM) by end of treatment. We are conducting a clinical trial to prospectively evaluate pretreatment pt characteristics and prognostic factors and correlations with NCI-WG response, MRD-free status, and time to event outcomes with standard frontline fludarabine, cyclophosphamide, and rituximab (FCR) CIT. A total of 197 pts have been registered, 160 have completed treatment and are evaluable for response by NCI-WG criteria, and 127 have BM MRD status evaluated by standard 4-color flow cytometry at Course 3 and/or end of treatment. We report on pretreatment characteristics associated with MRD-free status at end of treatment. For the 160 pts evaluable for response by NCI-WG criteria, 63% were male; the median (range) age, β2M, and absolute lymphocyte count (ALC) were 58 yrs (38–84), 3.6 mg/l (1.3–14.1), and 78.7 K/μl (.8–394), respectively. The percent pts with Rai high-risk disease, unmutated IGHV status, ZAP70 + by immunohistochemistry (IHC) and CD38 + (30% cutoff) was 35%, 60%, 63%, and 37%, respectively. According to the hierarchical categorization, FISH demonstrated 17p del in 9%, 11q del in 18%, +12 in 17%, 13q del in 36%, and no abnormality in 20% of pts. The median number of FCR courses given was 6; 57% received all intended 6, 21% received 4–5, and 23% received ≤3. Of the 160 pts, 63% achieved CR, 12% nodular PR (nPR), 23% PR and 3% did not respond. Of 127 pts with BM evaluated by 4-color flow cytometry at end of treatment, 56% were MRD-free. Of 71 MRD-free pts, 27 were negative at end of course 3, 33 converted to negative after course 3, and 11 were negative at end of treatment but did not have a course 3 evaluation. Univariable Chi-square analyses demonstrated pretreatment β2M, IGHV mutation status, 17p del, and +12 correlated with MRD-free status at end of treatment (Table). The following did not correlate: age, Rai stage, WBC, ALC, HGB, PLT, ZAP70, CD38, or number of FCR courses received. Multivariable logistic regression model identified β2M≥4 mg/l (odds ratio=.78; p=.007) and unmutated IGHV (odds ratio=.77; p=.006) as independently associated with lower likelihood to achieve MRD-free status. In conclusion, mutated IGHV and β2M Disclosures: No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.


Abstract In this paper, we present a broad learning control method for a two-link flexible manipulator with prescribed performance (PP) and actuator faults. The trajectory tracking errors are processed through two consecutive error transformations to achieve the constraints in terms of the overshoot, transient error, and steady-state error. And the barrier Lyapunov function is employed to implement constraints on the transition state variable. Then, the improved radial basis function neural networks combined with broad learning theory are constructed to approximate the unknown model dynamics of flexible robotic manipulator. The proposed fault-tolerant PP control cannot only ensure tracking errors converge into a small region near zero within the preset finite time but also address the problem caused by actuator faults. All the closed-loop error signals are uniformly ultimately bounded via the Lyapunov stability theory. Finally, the feasibility of the proposed control is verified by the simulation results.


The utility model discloses an anticollision telescoping floating rail, which comprises a telescoping rail and a base; wherein, the base is cut with guide rail channels and the branch legs of the floating rail extend into the guide rail channels. The rail has the following advantages: the rail has the advantages of the current floating rail and is beautiful, telescopic and anti-dazzle; the branch legs of the rail extend into the guide rail channels of the base, which is connected with the road. In case of collision, the floating rail will not laterally move greatly due to blocking of the guide rail channel. If a stopper is arranged in the guide rail channel, the floating rail will not move laterally in case of collision, the support of the floating rail will be bent and deformed to absorb the hit energy and to stop the car, so as to prevent the car from rushing into the traffic lane and affecting traveling safety on the lane.


It includes a base station and a terminal apparatus and a wireless communication system using a downlink radio interface with a radio frame structure comprising a radio sub-frame that includes an array of reference symbols for channel estimation is described. The base station consists of a predetermined terminal device-specific data to determine through the non-scheduled duration for transmission to the terminal device, and the selective inhibition of this information, at least one reference symbol transmitted to the terminal device. To indicate the different periods of time there is a different reference symbol (s) can be suppressed. The terminal device is configured to identify the monitoring of a reference symbol transmitted by the base station, the reference symbols are suppressed position. Thus, the terminal device, any reference to symbols from that inhibit, the terminal apparatus determines a not expected period to receive data of a predetermined type, and reducing the processing and power resources and enters the active mode, decreases during the period can. The puncturing of the reference symbol in this manner, provides a fast physical layer signaling of the period for the terminal apparatus save the resource by decoding the less transfer than the terminal device may need to be decoded in different ways do.


We need entrepreneurs and leaders with the courage and conviction to take bold action ahead of others. We also need radically new business models that create true value for the environment and society, bring competitive advantage to companies, and have the potential to transform industries globally.


The excess eddy current loss, formerly called the anomalous loss, is, in modern grain-oriented 3% silicon-iron, responsible for about 50% of the total loss for the power frequency range. Hence, it is commercially important for the causes of the excess eddy current loss to be defined. One of the suggested possible causes of the excess eddy current loss is non-sinusoidal, non-uniform and non-repetitive domain wall mobility from the ideal behaviour. In the study reported here, the domain wall positions have been measured in individual grains in commercial polycrystalline 3% grain-oriented silicon-iron for peak flux densities of up to 1.2 T and over a frequency range of 20 to 120 Hz. The flux density of the individual grain is maintained sinusoidal by the feedback technique and by restricting the peak flux density to 1.2 T the observed domain wall motions are completely repetitive. The domain wall motions have been observed using a double-sided stroboscopically illuminated Kerr magneto-optic effect bench which enables the domain structure, spacing and mobility, to be measured on both sides of the sample simultaneously. The position of the domain walls have been measured throughout the magnetization cycle. It is shown that the movement of the walls is not sinusoidal, although the localised flux density is sinusoidal. It is also shown that the wall motions are complex since the amount of domain wall bowing varies throughout the magnetization cycle.


The present invention relates to an electrode structure that can be applied to the electrically rechargeable electrochemical wafer cells in the primary. In the present invention, the substrate was a flat wafer cell comprising a conducting polymer outer layer charged with carbon which acts as the enclosure of the electrode contact and the cell. High-voltage multiple cell battery may be configured to stack each cell. In the present invention, a specially formulated electrodes and processing methods suitable for the wafer cell structure of the nickel-metal hydride battery was described for the system. In addition, the present invention relates to the electroless producing an electrode from the electrochemically active material prepared by using the nickel-coating by coating a non-conductive or low conductivity particles of the metal hydroxide or metal oxide powder with nickel. Cell design and the electrode composition of the present invention is provided for the operation of a cell stack in the array in the individual operations and / or the outer case of the battery to embellish or closed cell low pressure holes.


The objective of this study is to develop a valid and reliable scaling tool to scale attitudes of university students' towards basketball. Initiating this study, the basic starting point is necessity of examining of the scientific processes which are effective in the formation of attitudes towards basketball is one of today's the most popular sports. Therefore, in consideration with the fact that it is particularly necessary to determine the factors affecting attitudes, a study was carried out to develop and make available 'Basketball Attitude Scale'. In 2005-2006 spring term, 76 female and 45 male, totally 121 university students from different universities in Ankara participated into the study. In the exploratory factor analysis conducted concerning 35 items in the scale in order to check validity of scale; it was determined that the scale is a 2-factor scale and the number of items was reduced to 21. Item load values are between 0,631 and 0,864. In order to test reliability of the scale, Cronbach Alfa reliability and two-halves test correlation (Spearman Brown) coefficients were checked and the said values were found as 0,95 and 0,93 respectively. As a conclusion; it was determined in the outcome of the study of validity and reliability that the scale prepared for scaling attitudes of university students' towards basketball is a practicable scaling tool.


During the second half of the 19 th and then in the 20 th century, sport has become an integral part of the Slovenian national essence and culture. It is true that for a long time the expressions "physical education" and "physical culture" were used as umbrella terms for this social area, while in the organisational sense sport was and remains based on organisation in clubs. In the context of organisation a specific structure had been set up after World War II. At the end of the 1980s the first conceptual and organisational changes were introduced, while with the declaration of the Slovenian independence further changes and entry into the international space were implemented. The following contribution reveals the key moments of pre-independence and the first steps towards the preparation of the independence of sports by means of the Slovenian own Olympic Committee, followed by the declaration of independence in June 1991 and its implications for sport. Then the contribution shortly outlines the dilemmas of sport reorganisation stemming from the political-economic transition and the new relationship between the public and club sport after the independence.


This article discusses the status and challenge to the local library in the cultural information resources sharing project and put forward to measures to ensure that the sharing project is effective operation at the grass-roots level in rural areas by construction of library resources sharing model between the academic library and the local library.


This paper investigates the effects of investment and inspection policies on an integrated production–inventory model involving defective items and upstream advance-cash-credit payment provided by the supplier. In this model, retailers offer customers a downstream credit period. Furthermore, the defective rate of the item can be improved through capital co-investment by the supplier and retailer. The objective of this study was to determine the optimal shipping quantity, order quantity, and investment alternatives for maximizing the supply chain's joint total profit per unit time. An algorithm was developed to obtain the optimal solution for the proposed problem. Several numerical examples are used to demonstrate the proposed model and analyze the effects of parameters changes on the optimal solutions. Finally, management implications for relevant decision makers are obtained from the numerical examples.


The growth‐induced uniaxial magnetic anisotropy constant Kgu and the growth‐induced birefringence Δng of (111) oriented epitaxial iron garnet films of composition R3−xBixFe5−yAlyO12 with R=Y, Gd, Sm have been investigated as a function of supercooling temperature ΔTs. The uniaxial anisotropy constant Kgu increases linearly with increasing ΔTs (0≤ΔTs≤100 K) in agreement with results reported for other bismuth‐substituted rare‐earth iron garnets. Δng turns out to be a linear function of Kgu and ΔTs. Δng is independent of the rare‐earth species R in contrast to Kgu. The optical anisotropy arises primarily from the iron ions on the octahedral and tetrahedral sites as could be shown by the strong influence of diamagnetic dilution of the iron sublattices in the garnet crystal.


The objective of this study was to evaluate the efficiency of dosages of a new acaricide, in comparison to, Azocyclotin, a product commonly used to control russet mite (Aculops lycopersici) in tomato plants. The work was conducted in Goiânia, Goias, Brazil. The Santa Adelia Super cultivar was grown using a stake system, with one plant per hole, each plant with one stem, in double rows, and spacing of 1.0 m between rows. Treatments were: Spirodiclofen (240 SC, in dosages of 0.20, 0.25 and 0.30 L p.c.ha-1); Azocyclotin (500 SC, 0.50 L p.c.ha-1); Azocyclotin (250 PM, 1.00 kg p.c.ha-1) and Control. Doses were applied in one-week intervals, 82, 89 and 96 days after germination. A previous sampling of the number of acarids in the plots was made 79 days after germination. The efficiency of the products and doses was evaluated in four samplings, one, three, seven and ten days after the last acaricide application. Four leaves were collected at random from the two central lines of each plot (sixteen leaves/treatment). From each leaf, five leaves were detached to count the number of russet mites. The being tested products reduced the population of A. lycopersici. The dose of 0.3 liter p.c.ha-1 of Spirodiclofen was the most effective in controlling tomato russet mite, up to three days after the last application. Spirodiclofen can be used to control tomato russet mite as a substitute for Azocyclotin, which is usually recommended. KEY-WORDS: Lycopersicon esculentum; Eriophyidae; chemical control.


The concept of fecundability derives its importance for the study of human fertility from the fact that it is one of the principal determinants of fertility and is a major standard by which the impact of fertility regulation can be assessed; very few attempts have been made in Bangladesh for estimating fecundability. This study attempts to evaluate the levels, patterns, and trends of fecundability and identify the factors affecting fecundability in Bangladesh based on national surveys of Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey (BDHS) 2007-1994. Total 9703 ever married women are included in the bivariate and multivariate analyses which reveal that age at first birth, age at marriage and marital duration play an important role in influencing marriage to first birth interval positively and thus fecundability negatively. Although fecundability in Bangladesh showed an increasing trend, but it is very low compared to developed and developing countries.


Ultrasound assisted extraction technology was applied widely in natural plant flavor extraction in recent years.In this paper,the latest application and research progresses of ultrasound solvent extraction,ultrasound assisted supercritical fluids extraction and ultrasonic-microwave synergistic extraction of natural plant flavor were summarized,the prospect of ultrasound assisted extraction in natural plant flavor was reviewed.


Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) of Mn 2+ ions revealed their distribution on different structural units of 2B 2 O 3 . CdO glass matrix doped with MnO. Distorted octahedral symmetric sites were detected. The progressive clustering of Mn 2+ ions was evidenced when the MnO content increased. Magnetic measurements revealed both Mn 2+ and Mn 3+ valence states as simultaneously present in the vitreous matrix and the transition from isolated ions in samples with x≤3 mol% MnO to those involved in dipole-dipole interactions for samples with x<20 mol% and to antiferromagnetically coupled pairs when x≥20 mol%.


To our knowledge, there have been no published studies validating commonly used psychopathology rating scales in older outpatients with schizophrenia. We studied specific psychopathology rating scales (three subscales of the Brief Psychiatric; Rating Scale: positive symptoms, negative symptoms, and depression subscales; the Scale for the Assessment of Positive Symptoms; the Scale for the Assessment of Negative Symptoms; and the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale) in 101 older (age > 45 years) DSM- III-R-diagnosed schizophrenia outpatients. We found high interrater reliability (intra-class correlation coefficient >.77) on these scales. Using principal components analysis, we demonstrated satisfactory construct validity, suggesting three factors—positive symptoms, negative symptoms, and depressive symptoms.


We introduce a new kind of patterns, called emerging patterns (EPs), for knowledge discovery from databases. EPs are deened as itemsets whose supports increase signiic-antly from one dataset to another. EPs can capture emerging trends in timestamped databases, or useful contrasts between data classes. EPs have been proven useful: we have used them to build very powerful classiiers, which are more accurate than C4.5 and CBA, for many datasets. We believe that EPs with low to medium support, such as 1%{ 20%, can give useful new insights and guidance to experts, in even \well understood" applications. The eecient mining of EPs is a challenging problem, since (i) the Apriori property no longer holds for EPs, and (ii) there are usually too many candidates for high dimensional databases or for small support thresholds such as 0.5%. Naive algorithms are too costly. To solve this problem, (a) we promote the description of large collections of itemsets using their concise borders (the pair of sets of the minimal and of the maximal itemsets in the collections). (b) We design EP mining algorithms which manipulate only borders of collections (using our multi-border-diierential algorithm), and which represent discovered EPs using borders. All EPs satisfying a constraint can be eeciently discovered by our border-based algorithms, which take the borders, derived by Max-Miner, of large itemsets as inputs. In our experiments on large and high dimensional datasets including the US census and Mushroom datasets, many EPs, including some with large cardinality, are found quickly. We also give other algorithms for discovering general or special types of EPs.


Measurements of electroweak gauge-boson pair-production in p s = 7 and 8 TeV pp collisions at the LHC probe self-couplings and interference eects to an accuracy ofO(10%) or better. ATLAS measurements of ZZ and WZ production at both center of mass energies, and of WW , Z and W production at p s = 7 TeV, are presented. Total,


Evaluation of internet and the usage of internet as websites which is for penetrating to gain a specific requirements, like group communication as social networks (such as face book, twitter,etc.,) ,blogs for opinions, online portals (such as iGoogle, MSN) for communication, experience as reviews, suggestions as opinions, combination of reviews and opinions as recommendations, ratings and feedbacks which is identified and elevating in almost all the field now-a-days. The writers of online portal, review, opinion and recommendation in any social media take measures as beneficial factor for the improvement of businesses, organization, governments and mostly individuals. When this content boost up the study of content and the need of data mining, text mining techniques and sentiment analysis is inescapable. Natural language processing and text analysis techniques are used in sentiment analysis to recognize and extract information from the text [1]. This paper provides a result of sentiment analysis with the intellectual tool named Rapid Miner to show the sentiment comments about the contents in the online traders.


Background : although azacitidine (AZA) is an established frontline therapy for HR-MDS, approximately 40% of the patients fail to respond and virtually all of the responders will ultimately relapse. We previously reported the poor outcome of patients who failed AZA treatment for whom a median survival of 6 months is expected (Prebet, J Clin Oncol. 2011;29(24):3322). Overexpression of SMO a member of the hedgehog pathways has been observed in HR-MDS. Preclinical data have shown the activity of hedgehog pathway inhibitors and suggested synergism with Hypomethylating agents (HMA) (Zou, PLoSONE 2015; 10(8):e0136843). To harness potential synergism, we designed an add-on trial in which sonidegib (LDE-225), an oral inhibitor, was added to AZA in patients who failed AZA monotherapy.
 Patients and methods:
 Eligible patients should have IPSS Int-2 or HR-MDS or AML, (to have 10% to 30% marrow blasts), have received a minimum of 6 cycles of AZA monotherapy and to have failed to achieve a response to AZA (defined as CR, CRi, PR or HI as per IWG criteria) in the absence of marrow progression or have relapsed after achieving a response. Patients were scheduled to receive sonidegib daily from day 1 to 28 of 28-day cycles while continuing on AZA at the maximum previously tolerated dose (ie 50 to 75 mg/m²/d for 5-7 days). Two sonidegib dose levels were evaluated in the phase 1 part of the trial (400 and 800 mg/d) according to a classical 3+3 scheme.
 Results:
 23 patients, median age 76, were included in the study. One withdrew consent before starting the study treatment and is not included in the analysis. Characteristics of the remaining 22 patients are summarized in the Table. At the 800 mg/d dose level, 3 pts experienced DLT (grade 4 ASAT elevation (1 pt); grade 4 CPK elevation (2 pts)). The recommended dose for the expansion phase was 400 mg/d and no DLT was observed. 19 patients received 400 mg/d. Pts received a median of 3.5 cycles [IQR 2 ; 5], and 5 pts (23 %) received ≥ 6 cycles. All of them were withdrawn from study: 5 (26%) for disease progression (including 1 pt who progressed before starting cycle 1 and did not received treatment), 5 (26%) for death (all due to infection in the context of active disease) and 9 for miscellaneous reasons. 25 SAEs were reported including 23 infections, 1 intra cranial hemorrhage and 1 urinary retention. The most frequent non-hematologic toxicity was infection that occurred in 16/22 (73%) pts. In addition, 243 non hematologic toxicities of any grade were recorded in 20 pts for a total of 83 cycles, all but 3 of grade 1-2, including GI, cutaneous and musculo-skeletal toxicities and fatigue. Hospitalization was required in 45% of the pts. Only 3 responses were observed (1 CR, 1 marrow CR and 1 PR). Response durations were 1, 9 and 15 months .With a median follow-up of 23 months, 13 pts have died and the median overall survival is 6.8 months.
 Conclusion
 Sonidegib at the dose of 400 mg/d can be given in combination with azacitidine with an acceptable toxicity. With a response rate of only 13%, our results indicate that the addition of sonidegib failed to reverse resistance to azacitidine in pts with higher risk MDS. This contrasts with the positive effect of the combination of glasdegib, another hedgehog pathway inhibitor with cytarabine in pts with AML and MDS (Cortes, Blood 2016 128:99). Besides potential differences in drug potency, our results may highlight the difficulty to identify active agents in the difficult-to-treat patient population selected after HMA therapy failure. The recommended dose-schedule of AZA-sonidegib established here could be used for further investigation in previously untreated patients.
 Table. Table.

 No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.


Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are organic compounds generated by the organic matter incomplete combustion and there are sixteen PAHs (16-USEPA-PAHs) considered as priority in environmental studies by the Environmental Protection Agency of the United States. The aims of this work was to determine the major source and spatial variations of the 16-USEPA-PAHs in the sediments of Aura river. North of the Aura river exists a landfill site, currently disabled, which operated in an uncontrolled and irregular manner for about 24 years. PAHs were identified and quantified in sediment from 10 sites inside the river and in its mouth. The samples were analyzed by HPLC/UV-Vis-DAD to assess the degree of contamination. Total PAH concentrations (ΣPAHs) ranged from 3 824.21 to 15 693.91 ng g -1 . In general, a concentration gradient was observed. The sediment samples were classified as highly contaminated (ΣPAHs > 500 ng g -1 ). Compared to other areas, PAH concentrations in Aura river are relatively similar to highly industrialized and polluted places. The ratios of low molecular weight/high molecular weight PAHs (LMW/HMW), indicates a pyrolytic origin, which have shown to be mostly from waste combustion.


AbstractProjects with poor noncompete provision design have caused heavy costs for both public and private organizations, primarily due to the embedded monopoly right of the private sector to colle...


Erythrina lysistemon was found to improve lipid profile in ovariectomized rats. Alpinumisoflavone (AIF) and abyssinone V 4′‐methylether (AME) derived from this plant induced analogous effects on lipid profile and decreased atherogenic risks. To highlight the molecular mechanism of action of these natural products, we evaluated their effects on the expression of some estrogen‐sensitive genes associated with cholesterol synthesis (Esr1 and Apoa1) and cholesterol clearance (Ldlr, Scarb1 and Cyp7a1).


The title of this editorial is taken from a plaque that hangs in the office of one of the site manager's within the health region in which I live. When I saw this quotation I immediately thought how well it suits the group of nurses I have had the opportunity to spend time with over the past several months. While gathering data for a rural research project, I have been given access to one of the most knowledgeable and hard working group of nurses in my health region. Those I have spoken with cover all facets of the rural health care industry i.e. acute care, long-term care, homecare, and public health. I have been made welcome in their work places, at their staff meetings, over lunches, and in their homes. The overwhelming response from these nurses is that they love what they do and they wouldn't want to be anywhere else.


Crystal structure and drug pharmacophore structure-activity data guided a combined mutagenesis and chemical screen to develop ligand-gated ion channels activated by unique chemical agonists. Through genetic engineering, these channels can be used to manipulate neuronal excitability and dissect the neuronal circuitry responsible for complex behaviors. Behavior is the result of complex information processing by interacting networks of excitatory and inhibitory nerve cells in the brain. Neuroscientists have sought to elucidate how the activity of groups of neurons integrate to produce behavioral outputs such as hunger, thirst, sleep and mating. A key limitation has been the inability to activate or silence specific nerve cells or populations of nerve cells to isolate their functions in intact behaving animals and in in vitro preparations. In a recent issue of Science , Sternson and colleagues 1 described the development of a toolbox of genetically engineered ligand-gated ion channels activated by unique exogenous chemicals that are able to penetrate into the brain in waking, behaving animals. Extending this approach to manipulate the excitability of distinct neuron populations in a highly specific manner will greatly facilitate efforts to elucidate the neural circuitry underlying a variety of behaviors. endogenous inhibitory modulation of channel activity by intracellular second-messenger systems 4–6 . In vertebrates, acetylcholine, serotonin, GABA and glycine are the endogenous neurotransmitters that activate distinct families of Cys-loop receptors. There are two types of membrane-spanning domains in Cys-loop receptors: one that is anion selective in GABA and glycine receptors, and one that is cation selective in acetylcholine and serotonin receptors. Activation of Cys-Competing financial interests


Small arms shooting practices and competitions are routine activities in the military domain. The shooting group or bullet group analysis serves as a metric for the precision of a weapon, the shooter's accuracy, and consistency, and as a method for improving or refining one's shooting abilities. This analysis mechanism, however, is either manual or semi-automatic, employing image processing-based algorithms such as template matching, histogram equalization, white balancing, median and gaussian altering, peak detection, and image subtraction in an indoor setting, which is incapable of adapting to environmental conditions such as humidity, temperature, ambient light, wind speed, and rain, among others. Recent advancements in artificial intelligence or deep learning techniques explored ways to facilitate automation in various sectors. In this paper, we have used such deep learning approaches to automize the shooting system in real-time within a military domain and achieved success in resolving the traditional image processing drawbacks. Our proposed methodology has two phases. The first phase uses Mask R-CNN a conceptually simple, flexible, and general framework for object instance segmentation to extract the target region from the environment, and in the second phase, we fed the output segmented target of the first phase to ResNet-50 a convolutional neural network architecture to detect the bullet holes. Several experiments have been conducted on real-time datasets and the results show 0.87 of average precision using mask R-CNN to segment the target and ResNet-50 give 0.80 to detect bullet holes.


Satellite measurements of ocean surface features matured in the late 1970's through the National Aeronautics and Space Administration research satellite program. Two programs in particular, Seasat and Nimbus-7, will be reviewed in this plan with emphasis on the measurement and application of satellite derived ocean-surface windfields, waves, temperature, topography, circulation, and color. The sensors required to make the measurements include: microwave altimeters, scatterometers, and synthetic aperture radars; and radiometers which operate in the microwave, infrared and visible portions of the electromagnetic spectrum. With the successes of satellite oceanic observations of the recent past, application of this technology during the 1980's will be reviewed with specific emphasis on the potential National Oceanic Satellite System, a system to be jointly implemented in a tri-agency program supported by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the Department of Defense, and the Department of Commerce.


This study investigates recent developments in Tanzania's electric power generation to understand how to facilitate investment in the sector. Interviews were conducted with key public and private stakeholders; utility data was analysed and critical secondary source documents were reviewed. All interview data was triangulated to ensure integrity of findings. It was concluded that investment in the sector is suboptimal due to a lack of coherent planning; of processes related to contract negotiation; and of a commitment to contract with independent power projects. Research and analysis is limited to generation, but there are also implications for the distribution sector. The value of the findings extends beyond Tanzania across Africa and to other developing regions, where countries struggle to attract investment into electric power generation.


While tourists have a variety of needs for information to make decisions about their excursions in sightseeing areas, it is very important to identify the causal relationship between their excursion patterns and the information they obtain. The relationship of information usage with excursion behavior was confirmed using the structural equation model: information usage at the scheduling stage has an impact on tourists' individual cognition of the sightseeing area, tourists' individual cognition affects information usage at the excursion stage, and information usage at the excursion stage affects behavior during excursions. Therefore, modeling of the excursion behavior should consider the relationships mentioned above.