— In today's age, the advancement of technology has automated every aspect of a human's life, making it simpler and more efficient. However, no matter how smart or expensive one's car is, the bolt system used in wheels requires the task of changing wheels to be cumbersome and time-consuming. This paper presents a simpler yet equally efficient method for changing wheels that uses the power of hydraulics with the capacity of electronics to trigger the process with the push of a button.


In lieu of the growing relevance videogames have in how we spend our time off, those of us who seek de-constructing gender stereotypes in the direction of recognizing equal rights and opportunities for all, ask ourselves: which gender roles and representations are video games modeling? This paper aims to assess the Costarican reality related to the gender representations in the most popular videogames in Costa Rica. It develops an analysis of the content of the four most popular role-playing video games used through the mobile systems which have the largest penetration in the country: Android and Apple.


Silicon carbide powders were synthesized by SHS method with boron added in various quantities as either amorphous elemental or boric acid additive. The powder samples were then heat treated at a selected temperature (up to 2,200 C). Crystallographic structure of the powders were analyzed by means of X-ray powder diffraction technique. It was found that boron added in the form of H{sub 3}BO{sub 3} tends to precipitate in the form of small clusters and does not dissolve evenly in the SiC lattice. Upon annealing the boron clusters dissociate. The boron atoms diffusing across the SiC lattice generate a large number of stacking faults with simultaneous transformation of hexagonal polytype 6H ({alpha}-phase) present in as-synthesized powders into the cubic 3C ({beta}-phase) modification.


Details and Variations on Empirical Orthogonal Functions Uncertainty and EOFs: How Many Modes Can We Use? Assigning uncertainties to EOFs can be a little tricky. There's no simple formula for the error bar on your EOFs, and the calculations for EOFs don't lend themselves to simple error propagation. One of the biggest questions one faces with EOFs involves deciding how many modes we actually believe. Here are two rules of thumb for selecting EOF modes:


Background: Type I x-ray bursts are the most frequently observed thermonuclear explosions in the galaxy, resulting from thermonuclear runaway on the surface of an accreting neutron star. The $^{30}\mathrm{S}(\ensuremath{\alpha},p)$ reaction plays a critical role in burst models, yet insufficient experimental information is available to calculate a reliable, precise rate for this reaction.


Japanese music education is composed of "Appreciation", "Common knowledge" and "Representation". In this last one, the fields of singing, instruments, and creation are included. However, current education programs are built around singing and instrumental activities, and there has been a lack of improving the creative field. In this study, an interactive art installation was developed in order to offer an opportunity for children to enjoy playing with sounds. In addition, considerations about how to connect this kind of activities to the school curriculum are made. The ultimate goal of this study is to engage children in sound and music, and to make an approximation on how to enhance the creative field in the current education program.


Objective:To explore the extent of psychological counselors' job burnout. Methods:171 psychological counselors were tested by MBI-HSS.Results:(1) In the aspects of demographic variables, male experienced higher cynicism(t=2.233,P0.05)and greater personal accomplishment(t=1.976,P0.05); Younger counselor experienced higher emotional exhaustion(F=3.366,P0.05); Counselors whose job experience no more than one year experienced higher cynicism(t=2.072,P0.05)and lower accomplishment(t=-2.939,P0.05); Marital status and education had no effect on the job burnout significantly. (2) As their hours of counseling per week increased, they scored higher in cynicism(t=-1.970,P0.05). (3) Counselors working in the hospital reported greater cynicism than the counselors in the school(F=3.255,P0.05).Conclusion:There were difference in the extent of job burnout in different psychological counselors with different gender, age, the years of job experience, the hours of counseling per week and the working places.


A framework to perform hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) simulations in the designflow of digital controllers, based on Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) technology, is presented. The framework allows the interaction of digital controllers, implemented on our rapid prototyping system RAPTOR2000 with a Matlab/Simulink simulation running on a host computer. The underlying hardware and software designs supporting the interaction of the digital control and the simulation are presented. The designflow of FPGA-based digital controllers when using HIL is described and examples are given. Results from HIL simulations are presented, showing that the acceleration of the simulation increases with the complexity of the design when the number of I/Os stays constant.


Aim. To present the principles and applications ofintrathecal bac/o/en treatmentfor spasticity of various origin. Review. Intrathecal bac/o/en (ITB) introduced for thefirst time in 1984, is widely used in the treatment 0/ severe spasticity ofvarious origin. Bac/ofen is delivered via an intrathecal catheterji'om an implantable pump that allows to control the dosage over many years. Numerous reports have evidenced beneficial efJects ofthe treatment in patients with spasticity o/spinal, cerebral, 01' mixed origin. Signijicantly positive treatment mttcomes were noted also in patients s~(fJering f1'Om conditions other than the c/assical recommendations, i.e. sc/erosis multipiex, spinal cord injury, cerebral trauma, cerebral palsy, or dystonia. Neurogenic dys(unction ofthe urinmy bladdel; locomotion and mobility should be assessed both in the testing stage and over a long period oftime. Undesirable side-er(ects are seldom reported.


In May 2010, Presidents Obama and Calderon committed to reaching an agreement to jointly develop reservoirs that were determined to be transboundary. Since that time, representatives from the U.S. Department of State, the U.S. Department of the Interior, and Mexico's Foreign Ministry and Ministry of Energy worked to negotiate an agreement that can be implemented while respecting each nation's legal framework.


This article chronicles a collaborative effort between entrepreneurial farmers in Southern California's Imperial Valley and University of California researchers to introduce cane sugar into the Valley.


The phytoflagellate Euglena gracilis produces a large amount of paramylon (PM), a conglomerate of liner β‐1,3‐glucan chains, as a storage polysaccharide. PM is synthesized from uridine diphosphate‐glucose, but its mechanism of formation is largely unknown. Two enzymes, glucan synthase‐like (EgGSL) 1 and EgGSL2 were previously identified as candidates for PM synthesis in a Euglena transcriptome analysis. Here, we performed a reverse genetic analysis on these enzymes. Knockdown of EgGSL2, but not EgGSL1, significantly inhibits PM accumulation in Euglena cells. Additionally, β‐1,3‐glucan synthesis is detected in a PM‐associated membrane fraction extracted from Euglena cells. Our findings indicate that EgGSL2 is the predominant enzyme for PM biosynthesis.


Timetabling at large covers different types of problems which have their own unique
characteristics. In education, the three most common academic timetabling problems are
lecture timetable, lab or tutorial timetable and exam timetable. Exam timetable is essential
but difficult to be done manually due to the complexity of the problem such as dual academic
calendar, increasing student enrolments and limitations of resources. Thus, the main objective
of this project is to implement a system with a graph coloring technique. The target user for
the system is the registrar of the faculty. The programming languages used to develop the
system are Visual Basic programming language and MySQL database. The results show that
the system has generated better quality of timetable compared to the existing method


Abstract: Through conversations with nine artists about seven performance projects from across Canada, this article discusses complex challenges of staging the speed and finesse of hockey. The artists engage with ideas of Canadian national identity, gender, embodiment, story, and the hockey knowledgeable body.


Growth of CdTe nanoparticles in glass is studied through the analysis of optical absorption spectroscopy with the help of a quantized state effective mass model. Glass includes nanoparticles with an initial size of ∼1.6 nm on cooling to room temperature from the melt at ∼1000 °C. Particles form by heterogeneous nucleation followed by diffusion‐limited growth. The narrowest particle size dispersion of 15% is obtained for an average radius of ∼2.28 nm at the end of heat treatment at 600 °C for 4.5 h. The magnitude of the absorption related to the number of particles is low due to the oxidation of Te. A combinative use of Arrhenius plots and the model yields an activation energy for diffusion of ∼170 kJ mol–1.


Abstract   In humans, glucagon‐like peptide‐1 (GLP‐1) delays gastric emptying by inhibiting vagal activity and also increases gastric volumes, by unclear mechanisms. Because GLP‐1 inhibits intestinal motility by stimulating the sympathetic nervous system in rats, we assessed the effects of a GLP‐1 agonist and yohimbine, an α2‐adrenergic antagonist, on gastric volumes in humans. In this double‐blind study, 32 healthy volunteers were randomized to placebo, a GLP‐1 agonist, yohimbine or GLP‐1 and yohimbine. Gastric volumes (fasting predrug and postdrug, and postprandial postdrug) were measured by 99mTc single photon emission computed tomography imaging. Plasma catecholamines and haemodynamic parameters were assessed. Compared with placebo, GLP‐1 increased (P = 0.03) but yohimbine did not affect fasting gastric volume. However, GLP‐1 plus yohimbine increased (P < 0.001) postprandial gastric accommodation vs placebo and vs GLP‐1 alone [postprandial volume change = 542 ± 29 mL (mean ± SEM, placebo), 605 ± 31 mL (GLP‐1), 652 ± 54 mL (yohimbine) and 810 ± 37 mL (GLP‐1 and yohimbine)]. Plasma noradrenaline and dihydroxyphenylglycol concentrations were higher for yohimbine vs placebo and for GLP‐1 and yohimbine vs GLP‐1. Yohimbine stimulates central sympathetic activity and in combination with GLP‐1, augments postprandial accommodation in humans.


This book covers the proceedings of the 3rd National Meeting on High Temperature Superconductivity Topics includes: Crystal growth of superconductors; thermodynamic stability of superconducting materials; spectroscopy of High Tc Superconductors; synchrotron radiation investigation of superconductors; density state determination; measurements of current density; preparation and characterization of superconductors.


Most of the recent literature dealing with the modeling of financial assets assumes that the underlying dynamics of equity prices follow a jump process or a Levy process. This is done to incorporate rare or extreme events not captured by Gaussian models. Of those financial models proposed, the most interesting include the CGMY, KoBoL and FMLS. All of these capture some of the most important characteristics of the dynamics of stock prices. In this article we show that for these particular Levy processes, the prices of financial derivatives, such as European-style options, satisfy a fractional partial differential equation (FPDE). As an application, we use numerical techniques to price exotic options, in particular barrier options, by solving the corresponding FPDEs derived.


Review(s) of: Civil Rights: How Indigenous Australians Won Formal Equality, by John Chesterman, xiii + 357 pp, University of Queensland Press, St Lucia, 2005, $24.95.


Although recommendations for gender mainstreaming and the prevention of sexual exploitation and abuse in United Nations peace support operations have increased in recent years, a comparative analysis of different approaches towards these policy objectives remains wanting. As a result, the effectiveness of the UN guidelines for gender mainstreaming as expressed in Security Council Resolution 1325 has not yet been evaluated and debated academically. By comparing UN missions in Sierra Leone and Liberia, this article provides a summary of the current literature on UN policies on gender mainstreaming and sexual misconduct. Relying on interviews with mission staff, the article argues that although the effects of 1325 look promising, efforts to integrate gender perspectives and prevent sexual exploitation still suffer from staff, funding and enforcement deficiencies. More importantly, it reveals how urgently further field research and an active scholarly debate on UN policies on gender awareness and sexual misconduct are needed.


The differentiation on language and meaning" is an important philosophical proposition in the ancient Chinese metaphysics. Not only does it concern in epistemology of philosophy, but is connected with language limits such as "meaning can not be shown in language", "language can not show meaning", "meaning can not be shown the signified" as well. This paper intends, from the appearance of the theory of "language can not show meaning", its progress and its influences on the later discussions, to get to know the defects in what is shown in human language performance.


Graduation field work is an important link of teaching in higher medical education.It's a process for students to apply the fundamental theory,elementary knowledge and basic skills to practice,and thus deepen and sublimate their knowledge.At present,China's higher medical education is at the point of scale enlarging and mode changing,and the teaching quality of medical students' graduation field work,which is influenced by many factors such as college,hospital and society,and is faced with manifold impact and challenge,has attracted the attention of society,medical and health departments and lots of medical educators.The paper lay stress on covering the status of the teaching quality of medical students' graduation field work and put forth countermeasures and suggestions as to how to improve the practice quality.


Hypocrellin A(HA) is easy to dissolve in organic solvent,but difficult to dissolve in water,which has been a bottleneck problem on the application of HA.Thus a new water-soluble fungicide HATX-100 micro-emulsion(ME) was developed by embedding HA in Triton X-100.The light thermal stability and the antimicrobial activities of HA-TX-100 ME were investigated under laboratory conditions.The results showed that HA-TX-100 ME had good stability when the temperature was 0-54 ℃ and the light intensity was below 3 600 lx.Moreover,when the light intensity was 7 200 lx,50 mg/L HA-TX-100 ME showed high antimicrobial activity against Botrytis cinerea,Lecanosticta acicola,Sclerotinia sclerotiorum and Fusarium graminearum,and the inhibition rates were all over 50%.The fungicide had the best inhibitory effect on S.sclerotiorum with inhibition rate reached 77.60%.The protective and therapeutic inhibition rates of 1 000 mg/L HA-TX-100 ME against B.cinerea were 72.05% and 64.73%respectively,which were significantly higher than that of carbendazim wetable powder under the same condition.The results of present study showed that HA had the potential to be developed as photoactive pesticide.


Objective To explore the application of case-teaching method in clinical teaching of geriatrics. Methods Reffering to SOAP(Subjective data,Objective data,Assessment,Plan)pattern,medical records on geriatrics were compiled.The clinical teaching was conducted in three steps as learning before class,classroom case discussion,and lesson summary.The teaching effect was assessed based on score. Results The scores of the students who received case-teaching method were higher than those received traditional teaching model. Conclusion Medical record-based teaching is better than traditional model of instruction in training students.


In order to learn the relation between the players and normal human being of bloodtype and fingerprint,284 Ist-grade players are investigated.The result shows that bloodtype and fingerprint are related a litter with sport items.However,it could be used to consult in selecting player in a primary stage,and could not be used as a basis for selecting sport items.


Exercise history: Patient is physically capable of exercise. During spring, summer, and fall, he normally is active outside. For the past 20 years, he has gone to Florida in winter and walks daily when in Florida. LINE SPACE Dietary history: Patients follows a typical American diet with plenty of meat, potatoes, salt, and sugar, although he says he has had prime rib only twice since 1994 when he had his heart surgery. Enjoys fishing, typically deep-frying the bluegills he catches. His appetite is good. He often eats only 2 meals per day. Labs from 1 month before visit: total cholesterol 155, HDL cholesterol 36, LDL cholesterol 89, triglycerides 151. Has gained back approximately 20 pounds of the weight he had lost at onset of the disease. LINE SPACE Environmental exposures: Wife is a heavy smoker. LINE SPACE Life patterns: The patient is a retired general contractor. He describes a good relationship with mother and siblings. His parents divorced, and his father left home when he was 12 years old. His immediate family—wife, children, and grandchildren—are the most important people in his life. He is the third child out of the 4 children in the family. Patient reports good relationships with people in general and with his family and in-laws. Activities for relaxation include exercise, reading, and traveling. Patient does not have much stress. In response to stress, he usually keeps his feelings to himself and maintains a calm appearance to those around him. Keeps positive attitude about cancer. Enjoys being outdoors. No religious preference specified. LINE SPACE Sleep patterns: Patients typically sleep 8 hours per night. Sleep habits are routine. He wakes at 6 AM to 7 AM every morning without alarm. He is most alert during the day. LINE SPACE Recent stressful life events: Death of close family member, personal injury or illness, retirement, and change in living conditions. LINE SPACE Life priority in order of importance: Security, relationships, longevity, vitality and performance, recognition for work.


A modification of the serologic mycoplasma growth inhibition test is described. It is based on application of a drop of antiserum directly onto the centre of an inoculated agar plate provided with a slightly concave agar surface. The special apparatus devised for the preparation of these plates is described. This modified serum-drop method is more sensitive than other growth inhibition tests used today and is equally specific.


Abstract The study used Google search query data on real estate interest for several countries in the Baltic area. The dynamics of public interest in housing have been compared to the dynamics of the COVID-19 infections in Lithuania, Latvia, Poland, and Sweden. This study uses the Vector autoregressive (VAR) model to forecast such time series. VAR is a multivariate linear time series model in which the endogenous variables in the system are lagged functions of the values of all endogenous variables. The increase in COVID-19 infections negatively affected society's interest in housing. The study used Google Trends and R software.


The biocatalytic transformation of acrolein into (S)-2-hydroxybut-3-enenitrile using the (S)-hydroxynitrile lyase from Hevea brasiliensis followed by Grignard C-elongation, asymmetric epoxidation and nucleophilic ring-opening afforded 1-deoxy-D-xylulose (1) in 47% overall yield.


This article is about the tensions faced in facilitating the relationship between teachers and community members while working toward a community garden project. The authors adopt an ecological model for effective classroom-community collaboration and discuss how this process unfolded in the current setting. Two classroom projects serve as exemplars of culturally relevant classroom-community collaboration. The garden project is evaluated through classroom-community collaboration models. This evaluation includes a discussion of common and disparate goals of teachers and community members and how differences are navigated in the current milieu.


The oxidation behavior of reaction bonded silicon carbide (RB SiC), and the effects of process parameters on the oxidation, were studied. The results show that the mass of RB SiC samples can be increased when they are oxidized at 900?℃, except that the mass of sample with large addition content of petrol coke can be decreased in initial stage of oxidation. The relationship between the mass gain of RB SiC and holding time follows the parabolic rule. The oxidation resistance of RB SiC at 900?℃ can be increased by the addition of Ni and Al elements. But the oxidation of RB SiC does't affect largely on its electric conduction. The oxidation mechanism of RB SiC and the affecting factor on it are analyzed and discussed.


The study deals with the use of flotation to obtain metals from the polymetallic ore from Zlate Hory, the Czech Republic. X-ray diffraction was performed, on the basis of which the mineralogical composition was determined in the sample. The most abundant was quartz with 87.03%. From ore minerals were detected pyrite 2.30%, sphalerite 3.64% and chalcopyrite 1.59%. Due to the high quartz content in the sample, heavy medium separation was selected to reduce its content. The treated polymetallic ore sample was subjected to flotation. In the flotation, the reagents xanthate was used as a collector, and pine oil as a frother. Different flotation conditions were observed, based on which the most suitable conditions for the flotation of metals were determined.


Lately, a changed relation to vaccination and the big migrating currents all over the world are warn-ing us about the importance of maintaining a high vaccination rate in our society. The recent out-bursts of some apparently suppressed infectious diseases, such as measels and the vaccine-associated poliomyelitis in Ukraine this year, are pointing out the renewed threats of such diseases. Based on the historical example of the poliomyelitis epidemic among Slovenes in the fifth decade of the previ-ous century, where around 400 people were affected and one tenth of them died, and on the consequences of poliomyelitis and its longlasting rehabilitation, we showed how infectious diseases can harm a society that rejects vaccines. For this purpose, we took in consideration the consequences of poliomyelitis in the survived population. An example of a local rehabilitation facility is the hospital of Stara Gora, where 200 children, who suffered from poliomyelitis, recieved rehabilitation manage-100 ment in the years 1952–1962. The credible data of the poliomyelitis epidemics among Slovenes point out the severity of this disease. The high number of 400 affected people, one tenth of which died, indicate that vaccinating and maintaining a high vaccination rate are reliable ways of preventing poliomyelitis and other infectious diseases. The data of the rehabilitation center in Stara Gora discussed in this article prove that precisely poliomyelitis, compared to hip displacement and similar diseases, entails most long-lasting consequences of the disease and requires a very complex conservative or operative treatment. Such considerations lead us to the conclusion that the position of many vaccination opponents should be considered wrong and harmful for any society that managed to control the spreading of such infectious diseases as poliomyelitis in the past. Finally, the importance of vaccines for preventing infectious diseases has also been stressed by some important Slovenian scientist and doctors, who treated poliomyelitis and some of them even themselves suffered from the disease.


In this study, the effects of hygrothermal aging of composite patches and adhesives on the plasticity ahead of repaired crack with bonded composite patch were analyzed. The finite element method was used to compute the size and the shape of the plastic zone for cracks repaired with bonded hygrothermal aged composite patches and adhesives. The obtained results show that moisture absorption has a negative effect on the repair performance. Indeed, the size of plastic zone increases with an increase in the rate of water absorption whether in composite patches or in adhesives. The reduction of the composite patches and adhesive strength by the water absorption leads to a reduction of the repair performances.


Summary

Effects of the free and the pre-encapsulated calcium ions on the physical properties of the whey protein isolate film were studied for improving calcium content in the edible films. At pH 8, the film-forming process was hindered by serious protein aggregation and gelation caused by 0.5% (w/w) free calcium ions added in an 8% whey protein isolate solution. If the calcium ions were pre-encapsulated in the protein microparticles (contained 17% Ca2+) using spray drying method, and then added in the film-forming solution prepared using the same protein, the calcium content could be doubled (1%, w/w) without significant effects on the physical properties of the film. The calcium release ability (55% at pH 1.2, 32% at pH 7.4 and more than 75% with the enzymes) of the film was also investigated.


The utility model discloses an attendance checking system which comprises a server end and an attendance checking terminal, wherein the server end comprises a processor, and a memory, an input-output device and a remote wireless communication module connected with the processor; and the attendance checking terminal comprises a processor, and a GPS (global positioning system) positioning module, a camera and a remote wireless communication module connected with the processor. The attendance checking system also comprises a direct current power supply for supplying electric power to the attendance checking terminal. The attendance checking system having the above structure can realize remote attendance checking and avoid the attendance cheating phenomenon. Besides, the attendance checking system can also, at any time, monitor whether one is traveling according to a preset route on time.


The Galactic black hole candidate XTE J1752−223 was observed during the decay of its 2009 outburst with the Suzaku and XMM–Newton observatories. The observed spectra are consistent with the source being in the 'intermediate' and 'low-hard' states, respectively. The presence of a strong, relativistic iron emission line is clearly detected in both observations and the line profiles are found to be remarkably consistent and robust to a variety of continuum models. This strongly points to the compact object in XTE J1752−223 being a stellar mass black hole accretor and not a neutron star. Physically motivated and self-consistent reflection models for the Fe Kα emission-line profile and disc reflection spectrum rule out either a non-rotating, Schwarzschild black hole or a maximally rotating, Kerr black hole at greater than 3σ level of confidence. Using a fully relativistic line function in which the black hole spin parameter is a variable, we have formally constrained the spin parameter to be 0.52 ± 0.11(1σ ). Furthermore, we show that the source in the low-hard state still requires an optically thick disc component having a luminosity which is consistent with the L ∝ T 4 relation expected for a thin disc extending down to the innermost stable circular orbit. Our result is in contrast to the prevailing paradigm that the disc is truncated in the low-hard state.


Henan Province is the first two provinces(Henan province and Tianjin) that have launched qualification identifying for social sports instructors(State Occupational Standard) in China and has accumulated much experience after two years' operation.This survey shows that the construction and living circumstances of social sports instructors who have had their qualification identified have been improved.The main factors restricting the development of social sports instructors(State Occupational Standard) are that there are no established special positions for social sports instructors,the administration is overlapped and the propaganda is inefficient.The paper then puts forward some suggestions for reference.


We found that the nasal respiratory resistance in patients with nasal polyps began increasing at a certain threshold level of methacholine concentration (sensitivity) and it showed a curvilinear slope (reactivity). Thus, we were able to estimate hypersensitivity of the nasal and lower airway by the dose-response curve of nasal respiratory resistance by the continuous nasal inhalation of methacholine in stepwise incremental concentrations.There have been two current theories on pathogenesis of nasal polyps: allergic and non-allergic. However, there are little data which elucidate the mechanism of polyp formation.In this study, patients were classified into two groups according to clinical findings: an atopy group, and a non-atopy group. We studied the difference between these two groups concerning of the reaction site of methacholine inhalation.The nasal airway responded in all patients. However the effect of methacholine on the lower airways in the non-atopy group was not remarkable.This objective measurement seems to be useful in the estimation of severity of the nasal and/or lower airway hypersensitivity in the patients with nasal polyps.


This study has been carried out to sinter silicon nitride with proper additives and to show the effect of surface finishments on its strength and Weibull modulus, which are two most important factors for its applications into structural ceramics. Silicon nitride was sintered with the additions of Al₂O₃ and Y₂O₃ under pressureless condition. The optimum properties were obtained by sintering at 1,750℃ for 3 hrs under N₂ atmosphere and the strength showed 6,500㎏/㎠ at room temperature and 3,300㎏/㎠ at 1200℃. The effects of surface treatment on the strength of sintered Si₃N₄ were studied and the results showed that fine surface treatment increased the strenth by up to 50%, The Weibull analysis showed that its modulus was increased with increasing fineness of surface finishments. It was concluded that the mechanical properties of sintered silicon nitride could be improved by fine surface grinding, which implied the brittle-fracture nature of sintered silicon nitride.


The author argues that opportunities to upgrade the skills of the working population in India should be increased to enable people to adapt to a knowledge- and technology-intensive economy. The lack of such opportunities has been adversely affecting economic growth and well-being. Investments in high-quality and relevant educational programmes at all levels should be increased, with an emphasis on self-sustaining means of funding which are possible in the liberalized fiscal and financial regimes. To the extent that higher education activities are economic in nature and reward the beneficiaries, the costs of services should accordingly be recovered. The implementation of self-financing measures would, however, require the creation of a conducive policy environment through consensus building among the stakeholders to improve the responsiveness of educational systems to the manpower requirements of the emerging Indian economy, and thus to make it efficient and competitive and able to exploit new opportunities to its advantage.


This paper presents an efficient hardware architecture for real-time implementation of adaptive deblocking filter algorithm used in H.264 video coding standard. This hardware is designed to be used as part of a complete H.264 video coding system for portable applications. We use a novel edge filter ordering in a macroblock to prevent the deblocking filter hardware from unnecessarily waiting for the pixels that will be filtered become available. The proposed architecture is implemented in VerilogHDL. The Verilog RTL code is verified to work at 72 MHz in a Xilinx Virtex II FPGA. The FPGA implementation can code 30 GIF frames (352 times 288) per second


Abstract Glenda Watson Hyatt, Web accessibility consultant, blogger, and user of AAC, shares her perspective on new mobile AAC technologies. A history of Glenda's use of AAC is chronicled from her early low-tech strategies to her recent embracing of new mobile AAC technologies. She recounts purchasing an iPad and her early experiences attempting to use it as an AAC system in a variety of contexts. Strengths, weaknesses, and projections for the future are highlighted in this personal sharing of a user perspective.


Teaching facilities when effectively utilized by competent teachers in the classrooms and workshops have positive results of enhancing skills acquisition and overall academic achievements among students. This paper focused on enhancing the use of instructional facilities in technical colleges for qualitative skill acquisition in Nigeria. The effective implementation of technical college curriculum can be realized through effective provision and utilization of teaching facilities such as tools, equipment, videos, television that could be utilized in teaching various technical trades on the technical colleges. The paper recommended among others that the teachers should be given intermittent  workshop training to enable them update their knowledge in effective utilization and improvisation of teaching facilities to enable them serve the students better in imparting saleable skills that would make them employable. Keywords: Enhancing, instructional, facilities, technical colleges, skill acquisition


Abstract Number-and operator-valued energy differences in von Neumann algebras are discussed by means of the Tomita-Takesaki theory. Small energy differences can be evaluated by the anti-commutator of a sort of relative entropy operator and the energy operator. The New-Tamm-Dancoff procedure is studied in terms of the standard form.


This study reports research into the development of perception of special mora categories by Korean learners of Japanese as a second language. First, a test which measured boundary width and the boundary point of distinction between singletons and special mora was used to establish participants' categorical perception across four levels of proficiency. Then a two year longitudinal study followed the development of 14 learners, during which time the same test was administered three times. The results demonstrated: 1) that the special mora perceptual categories of second language learners developed in some areas, but not in others and 2) that there was a categorization of the special mora over time.


Objective:To compare the abdomen uterus myoma eliminating technique(TAM) and laparoscopic uterine strip(LM) clinical effect and characteristics.Method:The clinical data of 98 patients were retrospective analysed from January 2012 to May 2014 in our hospital or laparoscopic uterine fibroids eliminate abdominal surgery,according to the operation forms they were divided into TAM and LM group,TAM group of 67 cases,31 cases in LM group.Two groups of patients of operation time,intraoperative blood loss,hospital dates,and postoperative recovery were compared.Result:TAM group operation time averaged was(82.2±25.1)min,average time was shorter than LM group(86.3±37.5)min,there was no statistically significant difference in the two groups(P0.05).TAM group intraoperative blood loss was average(152.7±81.6)ml,average blood loss was more than LM group(114.2±60.8)ml,differences between the two groups was statistically significant(P0.05),TAM median postoperative hospital stay was(6.3±2.2)d,it was longer than LM group(4.6±1.2)d,differences between the two groups was statistically significant(P0.05).Postoperative exhaust time averaged TAM group was(26.7±4.9)h,iy was longer than LM group(17.1±2.2)h,differences between the two groups was statistically significant(P0.05).Conclusion:TAM is wider indications,without being limited by the fibroids location and size.LM is less bleeding,quick recovery,small trauma surgery,in the concrete operation,surgical methods on the basis of the condition of the patients.


Consumers are conscious of increasing online purchases and demand sustainable consumption friendly actions. Although there is increasing interest in this topic, the research status, development, and structure of consumer behavior and sustainability in e-commerce research is scarce. This study aims to analyze the intellectual, conceptual, and social knowledge of consumer behavior and sustainability in e-commerce research to generate new understandings. Data from 104 articles were collected from the Scopus database, and a bibliometric analysis was conducted. Results revealed a close relationship between the topic and city logistics, big data analysis, customer engagement, circular economy, online services, and omnichannel retail, showing the different research approaches and the transversal themes related to the topic. This study contributes to the sustainability academic research by identifying trends and suggesting future research topics.


Achieving predictable performance for big data analytics running on cloud transient servers (e.g., EC2 spot instances) is challenging, because the transient server can be revoked by the cloud and the spot price is nontrivial to predict. Undoubtedly, choosing the low-price yet unstable cloud resources can severely degrade the job performance. To tackle this issue, this paper proposes iSpot, a cost-efficient spot instance provisioning framework in the cloud, by focusing on Spark as a representative DAG (Directed Acyclic Graph)-style big analytics workload. Specifically, it identifies the availability zones with stable spot instance resources by devising an accurate LSTM (Long Short-Term Memory)-based price prediction method. iSpot further predicts the performance of Spark stages and jobs by designing a fined-grained performance model using the job profiling and the DAG information of stages. Based on the price prediction and Spark performance model, iSpot is able to provision the spot instances with the cost-efficient instance type (i.e., the instance type that achieves the minimum monetary cost), in order to deliver predictable performance for big data analytics. Extensive prototype experiments on Amazon EC2 demonstrate that iSpot can guarantee the performance of big data analytics while reducing the job budget with cloud transient servers.


With globalization, intercultural communication plays an increasingly more important role in various fields, including business, transportation and education. It is the same with intercultural sensitivity (IS), a critical component of intercultural communication. Though much research has been done on IS, little can be found on effects of demographic, linguistic and psychological factors on learners' IS simultaneously in the same context. Little research can be found on IS in learners of languages other than English either. For these reasons, the present study investigated the predicting effects of linguistic, psychological and demographic variables on university international students' intercultural communication sensitivity when immersed in the Chinese culture. One hundred and sixty-seven international students studying in a Chinese university in Beijing answered the Intercultural Sensitivity Scale, the Willingness-to-Communicate in Chinese Scale as well as the Demographic Questionnaire, and self-rated their proficiency in Chinese. Analyses of the data revealed the following main findings: (1) the participants were generally (fairly) sensitive, confident, attentive and enjoyable in intercultural interactions and respected cultural differences when communicating with people from the Chinese culture, (2) interaction engagement, interaction confidence, and overall intercultural communication sensitivity were significantly positively related to the participants' ability to effectively communicate with people from the Chinese culture; interaction engagement was also significantly correlated with the participants' openness to the Chinese culture, and (3) ability to effectively communicate with people from the Chinese culture and use of Chinese were powerful positive predictors for intercultural communication sensitivity. These findings imply that intercultural communication sensitivity is closely related to learners' linguistic, psychological and demographic variables. Based on these findings, some implications were discussed.


Based on twenty years? research, Classic Soil explores one hundred square miles of industrialized south Lancashire during the early nineteenth century through contemporary local writings. Occupying a corner of this area was its market centre: the adjacent townships of Great and Little Bolton, comprising one of the most densely populated districts of the United Kingdom, divided by rival political and religious traditions. Bolton was the centre of deep-rooted traditions of reform, particularly with its ?Jacobin? elements, rooted in centuries of opposition to local landlords and the established church, and was home to numerous articulate working-class groups already in vigorous dialogue with local capitalists. Classic Soil divides between ?Romanticism? and ?Reform?. The latter exemplifies middle-class alliances toward amelioration, informed and challenged in Bolton by voices from the working class. The former represents conflicting individual aspirations toward alternatives to that more pedestrian but ultimately more effective pattern of renewal. Terminal points of the book are the Peterloo Massacre of 1819 and the reform of the corn laws of 1846. A pivotal chapter concerns Boltonian-American landscapist Thomas Cole. Like Engels in south Lancashire, young Cole in North America yearns toward an ideogram of ?classic perfection,? ?Arcadia?. It was Cole, not Engels, who made the transition to a more mature view, dividing his energies, after 1844, between a radical new empiricism and an iconic transcendentalism that, together, implied an abandonment of the pseudo-classic Arcadia of adolescence.


The invention relates to a contact arrangement (1) for a relay (43) for switching high load currents having at least one terminal portion (38) and with at least one opposite the connection area (38) in a switching direction (S) movable switching contact (18, 19), wherein a stranded conductor (4) having a curved shape with the at least one switching contact (18, 19) connects the load current conducting the at least one connection region (28). Further, the invention relates to a relay (43) for switching high load currents with a contact arrangement (1). Finally, the invention relates to a method for mounting a relay (43) for switching high load currents. To the contact arrangement (1) in the relay to be able to be mounted (43) at least partially automatically, without additional holding devices for the strand (4) are needed, the invention provides that the strand (4) is kept dimensionally stable by its form to as self-supporting structure, and the method comprising a method step in which the strand (4) formed into a self-supporting structure with a curved shape.


This project focussed on the environment, in particular the visual and sonic effect of renewables on the southern Indian landscape and how this can be represented through contemporary art. It examines renewable energy and its use in the Indian environment, which are crucial to India's long-term energy strategy. Objectives included documenting the evolving landscapes and developing artwork as a response. It builds on ongoing cross-disciplinary art/science collaborations with Prof KPJ Reddy at the Indian Institute of Science and founder of the ground-breaking Dr H.N.S. Centre. The Centre has various enclaves focussing on areas of science or arts and humanities and brings together national and international researchers with young people from rural communities.

Visits to relevant sites were undertaken such as dams and solar plants and documentation gathered in the form of photographic, sound and video recordings and on-site drawings. These will form the basis of further practice-based research focussing on the changing landscape and the visual impact of energy sources including wind, hydro and solar.

There was considerable press interest in this project including articles in five newspapers and TV coverage in 9News. There were a number of contacts made including being a guest of the Minister for Agriculture and both the President of the District and Head of Education visited the project. Links were also developed with local and Bangalore artists as well as the art school in Bangalore.


Along with H2, HD has been found to play an important role in the cooling of the primordial gas for the formation of the first stars and galaxies. It has also been observed in a variety of cool molecular astrophysical environments. The rate of cooling by HD molecules requires knowledge of collisional rate coefficients with the primary impactors, H, He, and H2. To improve knowledge of the collisional properties of HD, we present rate coefficients for the He–HD collision system over a range of collision energies from 10−5 to 5 × 103 cm−1. Fully quantum mechanical scattering calculations were performed for initial HD rovibrational states of j = 0 and 1 for v = 0–17 which utilized accurate diatom rovibrational wave functions. Rate coefficients of all Δv = 0, −1, and −2 transitions are reported. Significant discrepancies with previous calculations, which adopted a small basis and harmonic HD wave functions for excited vibrational levels, were found for the highest previously considered vibrational state of v = 3. Applications of the He–HD rate coefficients in various astrophysical environments are briefly discussed.


Introduction:
 Poor nutritional status worsens clinical outcomes in multiple disease states. Protein-Energy Malnutrition (PEM) worsens outcomes for patients with systolic heart failure (SysHF). Similarly, Atrial Fibrillation (AF) worsens outcomes of SysHF. The impact of PEM on patients with SysHF & AF is not known. Therefore, our study sought to measure the effect of PEM on clinical outcomes in patients with SysHF & AF.

 Methods:
 We queried the National Inpatient Sample (NIS) between 2016 & 2017. NIS was searched for adult patients hospitalized with SysHF with a history of AF as a principal diagnosis with & without PEM as a secondary diagnosis using ICD-10 codes. The primary outcome was inpatient mortality, while secondary outcomes were the length of stay (LOS), total hospital charge, cardiac arrest, cardiogenic shock, & respiratory failure. A multivariable logistic & linear regression analysis was applied to estimate the odds for the clinical outcome. A p-value <0.05 was considered significant.

 Results:
 There were 270,580 SysHF with history of AF admissions, approximately 5.4% (14,611) had PEM. PEM vs No PEM cohorts include; (Mean Age of 77 vs 75 years], Males [57.8% vs 60.9%], Whites [76.5% vs 76.4%], Black [11.8% vs 13%].

 PEM resulted in increased LOS (10 days vs 5.4 days, Adjusted LOS 3.6 days [3.1-4.3, P = <0.0001], Increase in hospital charge (PEM $117,969 vs No PEM $50,050, Adjusted charge $59,322 [$46,633-$72,012, P = <0.0001].

 Conclusion:
 In conclusion, PEM raised the risk of adverse clinical outcomes & increased hospital expense in patients hospitalized with SysHF & AF. Assessing nutritional status will aid in risk assessment & help guide cardiovascular treatment. Whether treating protein malnutrition will improve cardiovascular outcomes is unknown.


Purpose – To offer a conference report on the Enriching Indigenous Southeast Asian Collections in Libraries Conference held in Makati City, Manila, Philippines, 20‐21 April 2005.Design/methodology/approach – introduction and description of conference overview and specific paper presentations.Findings – Southeast Asian librarianship and information retrieval both within the region and abroad is expanding to include the widespread collection of ephemeral, local indigenous materials, which presents certain challenges that are the focus of the conference.Practical implications – Increasing the reach of a network of highly trained Southeast Asian librarians and information professionals.Originality/value – Librarians, scholars, and students of Southeast Asian studies, equipped with increasingly peripheral materials, will possess the tools necessary for continued research beyond the confines of the traditional center and majority populations. Local librarians are becoming empowered with the knowledge and techni...


A microscopic theoretical description of Coulomb drag can be given based on the Kubo formula, which allows a diagrammatic formulation of the theory . If the interlayer coupling is due to the (screened) Coulomb interaction, or phonon-mediated interactions, the lowest nonvanishing contribution to dc drag is second order in the coupling. In this work we study the first order coupling due to the vector potential. The electromagnetic coupling is known to give rise to small but interesting effects in the bulk electron gas. Our calculations, which are carried out within RPA, show that a first-order correction does exist, even in the dc-limit. We present an approximate analytic evaluation of the photon-exchange contribution to Coulomb drag, and discuss the further steps required in a quantitative calculation. 1. Introduction The double layer configuration of the electron gas allows one to study unusual transport phenomena which are interesting for the theory and are nowadays accessible to experiments. In 1976, Pogrebrinskii [1] advanced the idea that a current driven in an electron gas should give rise to a potential difference in a spatially separated electron system because of Coulomb scattering with a preferred direction of the exchanged momentum. This Coulomb drag was described in terms of coupled transport equations. Later on the effect, which was originally analyzed for bulk electrons, was experimentally observed in double well heterostructures at low temperature, allowing for a quantitative investigation [2]. Transresistance is the ratio of the induced potential difference and the driving current. It was the main subject of several theoretical works based on transport equations or Kubo formula for transconductivity [3]. Qualitatively, transresistance at depends on temperature as , as a sign of dissipation, and decreases as in the distance between the wells. The theory was refined by including phonon exchange [4], and provided a good explanation of observed deviations of the behaviour. A "current drag" effect was also proposed [5], and originates from a Van der Waals attraction between wires or layers where there is a relative current. In a strong magnetic field the physics is very rich and depends on the filling factors; the subject of drag in bilayer Hall systems has already a large literature, for review see [6]. 2. A legitimate question The role of Coulomb interaction in processes of momentum exchange between two layers has been extensively considered. A phonon mediated interaction has been also sometimes introduced to refine already qualitatively correct results. In this work we present our analysis concerning the role of an electromagnetic (i.e. photon exchange ) interaction. At first sight Photon-mediated drag in double-layer electron gas 2 it might appear that the effects are negligible, because we are working with non-relativistic systems. Note however: in electrostatic interaction and in DC limit first non-vanishing contribution comes from ! order interaction: "$#&% ' (*) +-,/. 10 ( 2 24365 . 10 2 87 (1) where +-, 243 is the relative permittivity the 249 : order interaction in electromagnetic interaction is instead: "$#&% '<;>= ? @BA /C6D ? EGFH@ 0JILK 2 8MONQP R K 2 NQP 0 2 TS (2) Thus it follows, in principle, that the two contributions can be comparable. The e.m. interaction in the electron gas is the source of small though interesting effects, as it modifies the low temperature behaviour of specific heat or the Fermi surface [7]. It has been treated in the RPA scheme, and a main feature of the effective interaction is to be unscreened at zero frequency [8]. We shall employ the same approximation for the polarization [7], which directly yields the current-current correlator required in the Kubo formula [9]. 3. Model and framework We study a system of two 2DEG's realized using semiconductor heterostructures [2] and model the system as two infinite parallel layers of electron gas, confined in narrow potential wells centered in U # V and U V with negligible overlap. It is useful to introduce fermion operators that create or remove a particle with spin " and position W in layer XY 2/Z . Relevant operators such as charge or current density are sums of commuting one-layer parts: []\ W ^_ V` a [ a \ W ^ Z [ a \ W ^b dcYNe`/fhg a f \ W ^ig a f \ W ^ j k \ W ^_ l` anm o k a \ W ^qp N EG@ [ a \ W ^sr k \ W ^&t o k a \ W ^_ uwv N E ` f g a f \ W ^-x k g a f \ W ^ec \ x k g a f \ W ^y^sg a f \ W ^ (3) In the limit of thin layers, the layer operators only depend on z{ \ W ZH| ^ . The Hamiltonian is the sum of decoupled terms } a which take into account the kinetic and the Coulomb energy contributions from the electrons in each layer, the free photon Hamiltonian }~€ , the interlayer Coulomb interaction 'w~ 9 , and the e.m. coupling } k : : }ƒ "} # p…} p…}†~ €‡pˆ'‰~ 9 c 2 @YŠ M W j k \ W ^ir k \ W ^ (4) The absence of tunneling ensures charge conservation in each layer, given by the operator identity 2 u v m‹} Z [ a \ W ^&t Œ Ž j a \ W ^ (5) Photon-mediated drag in double-layer electron gas 3 To derive the Kubo formula for conductivity, one perturbes the Hamiltonian with a term  }ƒ 2 @ Š M W'r ~ ' : k \ W Zy" ^ j$k \ W ^ (6) describing the linear coupling of the total current to a weak external electric field. Linear response gives the conductivity tensor " k‹" \ W Z W • Z-– ^_ u v –˜—š™œ›ž k‹" \ W Z W • Z-– ^‰c uŸN E –¡  []\ W ^y¢  k‹"  M \ W c£W • ^ (7) u Z o are space directions, — ™œ›ž k¤" is the retarded current-current correlator. In particular, transconductivity is obtained when U and U • belong to different layers. Because of translational invariance in the \ W Zy| ^ directions, we Fourier transform with a two-dimensional wave-vector ¥ . The real part of conductivity in the static homogeneous limit is: ¦ ̈§ " k¤" \ U Z U©• ^b ac¬«œ ®° ̄2± «œœ 3& ̄ ́± 2 v –¶μ  —$™œ›ž k¤" \ ¥ Z-– ̈Z U Z U©•·^ (8) It is convenient to use a four-component notation, and define j ± \ W ^ ́ @ ̧[]\ W ^ . Since we shall use the Matsubara, or thermal formalism, we employ Euclidean metric. Therefore Wš1 W 1 . The retarded correlator is obtained from the thermal time-ordered correlator — 1!o \ W Zy»1⁄4Z W • » • ^b "c   j 1 \ z Z U Zy» ^ j o \ z • Z U • Zy» • ^y¢ 2 v 1⁄2 ` Š 6 H3⁄4 \ — ^ N kÀ¿ Á¤ÂÄà ÃÆÅÈÇ k ®QÉ ÂÈÊ ÊHÅÀÇ — 1!o \ ¥ Z-– Z U Z U •^ (9) with the analytic continuation u – BË – pÌuÆÍ . The thermal current-current correlator can be related to the polarization tensor of the e.m. field, to be discussed in the next section. 4. The polarization tensor The thermal Green functions for the photon field interacting with matter are [10] Î k¤" \ W Zy» Z W • Zy» •·^b dc 2 v    ̈r k \ W Zy» ^ir " \ W • Zy» • ^-¢ (10) We include the prefactor 2QÏ v to obtain the same dimension as the effective Coulomb interaction Î ±&± . The propagators for free photons and the bare Coulomb interaction are best written in momentum space: Î ± k‹" \ C Z-– ^_ c (  k¤" c C k C " C . Ð — @ –  p @ C Z Î ± ±&± \ C Z u – ^b Ð — C (11) They are the components of a tensor Î ± 1!o , Ñ Z ̧Ò Z 2/Z ZO3 with Î ± ± k Î ± k ± . With interaction included, the dressed photon propagator and the effective Coulomb interaction are components of a tensor Î 1Óo which differs from the bare one by polarization insertions: Î 1!o \ W Z W • Z u – ^ec Î ± 1Óo \ W Z W • Z u – ^b Î ± 1ÕÔ \ W Z W # Z u – ^sÖ Ô f \ W # Z W Z u – ^ Î ± f o \ W Z W • Z u – ^ (12) Photon-mediated drag in double-layer electron gas 4 where summation and integration of repeated variables are understood. The identification of the polarization insertion of the Coulomb interaction ( Ñ× Ò Ø ) with the connected density-density correlator is well known from textbooks [10]: Ö ±&± \ W Z W • Z u – ^_ 2 v @ — ±&± \ W Z W • Z u – ^ (13) A perturbative analysis shows that the polarization insertion of the photon propagator has the following structure: Ö k¤" \ W Z W • Z u – ^b ac N EG@   []\ W ^-¢  k¤"  M \ W c£W • ^qp 2 v @ — k‹" \ W Z W • Z u – ^ (14) and for the other components of the polarization: Ö ± k 2 v @ — ± k Z Ö k ± 2 v @ — k ± (15) The conductivity tensor turns out to be proportional to the retarded photon polarization " k‹" \ W Z W • Z-– ^_ "u @ – Ö k‹" \ W Z W • Z-– pÙuÍ ^ (16) We thus face the problem of evaluating the polarization tensor. We first write a Dyson equation for it. 5. The Dyson equation Since the model is not translation-invariant in the U direction, we put C \ ¥ Z C M ^ in the bare e.m. propagators and Fourier transform to coordinates U cÚU • : Î ± 1Óo \ ¥ Z U¶cnU©• Z u – ^b Š C M — Î ± 1!o \ ¥ Z C M Z u – ^sN k·ÛsÜ-ÂÀÝ Ý Å Ç (17) With the definition of the auxiliary function Þ Î \ ¥ Z UßcÚU • Z u – ^b — @ N _à áQâ Ý Ý Å â ã ®°ä É!å 3&äÆæ ä ç –  pÙ3⁄4 @ (18) we evaluate Î ± ±&± — N 3 â Ý Ý&Å â 3⁄4 Z Î ± èsé ac  è-é Þ Î c 3⁄4 è 3⁄4 é @ –  \ Þ Î c Î ± ±&± ^ Z Î ± M&M 3⁄4 @ –  \ Þ Î c Î ± ±&± ^ (19) Î ± M è Î ± è M — u6êyë/ì \ UßcÚU • ^ 3⁄4 è @ –  ; N _à á â Ý Ý&Å â ã ® ä É å æ ä 3 ä cÚN 3 â Ý ÝiÅ â A (20) The Coulomb gauge is expressed in terms of photon propagator as 3⁄4 è Î ± è k cíuŸx Ý Î ± M k l . If we denote Ö¶1Óosî the polarization insertions that cannot be disconnected by cutting one photon or Coulomb line, we can write a Dyson equation Ö 1Óo \ ¥ Z u – Z U Z U©• ^b ‡Ö 1Óosî \ ¥ Z u – Z U Z U©• ^ p Ö 1Õԟî \ ¥ Z u – Z U Z U # ^ Î ± Ô f \ ¥ Z u – Z U # cÚU ^sÖ f o \ ¥ Z u – Z U Z U • ^ (21) Photon-mediated drag in double-layer electron gas 5 where, as usual, repeated variables are summed and integrated. To proceed further we consider the limit of thin layers at U # and U . The Dyson equations become algebraic, due to the delta function in U coordinate: Ö 1Óo \ X ̧XՕï^wcnÖ 1Óosî \ X ̧XՕï^_ lÖ 1ÕÔ&î \ X ̧X # ^ Î ± Ô f \ X # X ^-Ö f o \ X XՕï^ (22) where repeated indices are summed and we suppressed the variables ¥ , – for brevity. In Eq. (22) Î ± 1Óo \ X ̧X • ^b Î ± 1!o \ ¥ Z U a cÚU a Å Z-– ^ Z Ö 1Óo \ X Z X • ^b Ö 1!o \ ¥ Z-– Z U a Z U a Å ^ (23) are respe


A quantum wavefunction can be written as a Fourier series and it is believed the exp(ikx) components represent actual plane wave solutions with different weights. It has been argued in previous notes, that a bound state is a resonance of these plane waves which carry different weight fk. The system cycles through the different states with a frequency E as described by exp(iEt). It was also argued that P(x intersection p) equals W(x) fp sin(px) where W(x) is the wavefunction and sin(px) is a combination of a forward and backward plane wave. It was argued that sin(px) physically models the motion of a particle with zitterbwegung and is present even in the absence of a potential. It was also noted that W(x) fp sin(px) described the motion of one of these plane waves in space. Summing over the various p values leads to W(x)W(x) or the physical density. In classical physics, a particle has a velocity and potential energy at x1 and different values at x2 in accordance with energy conservation or Newton ́s law. The objective of this note is to examine how Newton ́s law is present in the motion of plane wave W(x) fp sin(px) in a bound quantum state.


Richard G. Lesure's article both intrigues and fascinates me, and finally I disagree with him. Lesure is right to maintain that, although Hayden White's work has been referred to by archaeologists since the late 1980s, researchers have been primarily focusing on how to write narratives of the past and discussing the danger of the imposition of pre-existing concepts and theoretical perspectives on the archaeological material. I also agree with Lesure that archaeologists, inspired by White, have mainly been preoccupied by the role of the archaeologist as expert and how to incorporate multiple voices and include other narratives of the past in the archaeological discourse. Writing a doctoral dissertation in 1993 (published in Solli 1996), I was inspired by White but did not use his definition of tropes or modes of emplotment actively in composing the text. I adhered to Aristotle's observation that a good narrative has a beginning (in my text the settings), a middle (the investigations) and an end (the narratives). A narrative is the organization of the events, and, according to Paul Ricoeur, Aristotle elevates the operation of emplotment to the rank of the dominant category in the art of composing works that imitate action (Ricoeur 1984, p. 227). As far as multiple voices are concerned, I concluded in my thesis that, although I incorporated other stories in the archaeological site monograph:


We studied the lifetimes of photoexcited carriers in H+ bombarded InP for different damage doses by means of femtosecond luminescence spectroscopy. The lifetime decreases down to 95 fs for a dose of 1×1016 cm−2. To our knowledge this is the shortest decay time for spontaneous light emission ever observed. The luminescence spectrum of the most damaged sample is inverted, indicating nonthermalized carrier distributions.


A procedure is presented for approximating a given probability distribution function or statistical data considering a subset of their moments.This is done by a method of fitting moments of a piecewise linear functionto the moments of the known data. The approach has many advantages over popular approximation approaches. The procedure is demonstrated with commonly used cdfs (Exponential, Gamma, Log-Normal, Normal) andmore difficult problems involving sum and product of random variables,obtaining good agreement between the theoretical/simulation curves and the piecewise linear approximations.


Aim: The study aimed at assessing clinical and nutritional features and socioeconomic characteristics of the first birth‐order children (1–48 months) of adolescent mothers.


In this paper, we propose a sampling algorithm based on state-of-the-art statistical machine learning techniques to obtain conditional nonlinear optimal perturbations (CNOPs), which is different from traditional (deterministic) optimization methods. Specifically, the traditional approach requires numerically computing the gradient (first-order information). However, the sampling approach directly reduces the expensive gradient (first-order information) by the objective value (zeroth-order information), which also avoids using the adjoint technique that requires large amounts of storage and is unusable for many atmosphere and ocean models. We present an intuitive analysis for the sampling algorithm and a rigorous Chernoff-type concentration inequality to probabilistically approximate the exact gradient. The experiments are implemented to obtain the CNOPs for two numerical models, the Burgers equation with small viscosity and the Lorenz-96 model. We demonstrate the CNOPs obtained with their spatial structures, objective values, computation times and nonlinear error growth. Compared with the performance of the three approaches, the CNOPs' spatial structures, objective values, and nonlinear error growth is nearly consistent, while the computation time using the sampling approach with fewer samples is extremely shorter. In other words, the new sampling approach from state-of-the-art statistical machine learning techniques shortens the computation time to the utmost at the cost of losing little accuracy.


contract is underlined by the author who makes frequent and appropriate citations to American case law. Most joint ventures are, de facto, governed by national law, and joint ventures created among enterprises of different nationality, in the case of international bidding, are one of the few examples of a real international joint venture. The main features of the joint venture contract are the sharing of profits and losses, risks, property, the means of production and resources and a common management for the performance of the contract. The author points out that, in some cases, the joint venture can also become an assignee of part of the work while one of the enterprises of the joint venture becomes an assignor and that the minority venturer has no real power in the management and has to follow majority decisions. In conclusion, distortions of the legal characteristics brought about by practice lead to a combination of the three types of contracts examined in the book. The author urges that the legal consequences of subcontracts, consortiums and contractual joint ventures be assessed and reformulated in accordance with the evolution of international practice, and that theoretical discussions about the existence of a lex mercatoria be put aside. There are several Italian publications on international cooperation and lex mercatoria in general, which, however, cover more areas in a more general way. This book's distinction is that the author has studied in depth and from a theoretical point of view international subcontracts, consortiums and contractual joint ventures (although the section dealing with the third category is the least interesting part of the book because of the difficulty of saying something new in a field where so many foreign and Italian works have already been published). Moreover, he has underlined the legal consequences of each of these types of contracts and the results of their performance in international practice. In this work, Draetta demonstrates his expertise (as a teacher and a practitioner) in international contracts. He identifies theoretical problems in day-to-day practice, and for this reason his comments are also useful for practitioners involved in international cooperation contracts.


Based on the multiplier method of constrained minimization, an algorithm is developed to handle the constrained estimation problem in covariance structure analysis. In the context of a general model which has wide applicability in multivariate medical and behavioural researches, computer programs are implemented to produce the weighted least squares estimates and the maximum likelihood estimates. The multiplier method is compared with the penalty function method in terms of computer time, number of iterations and number of unconstrained minimizations. The indication is that the multiplier method is substantially better.


The extensive circulation of American elites between politics and public administration on the one hand, and civil society on the other, is one of the fundamental elements underpinning the thesis of the weak American state. The image of the "revolving door," which encapsulates the idea of professional mobility back and forth from the private to the public sector, implies a fragmented state, open to external pressures from a variety of social groups. This paper, in contrast, focuses on "long timers" in health and national defense policy: political appointees and congressional staffers who occupy senior positions for an extended period of time in Congress and in the executive branch. This focus allows us paint a different picture. We document career and professional trajectories marked by a strong commitment to a given policy area, often predating entry into the public sector, and centered on key power positions in Washington. Circulation, we note, is frequent between these positions in the public sector. While these findings do not in and of themselves allow us to fully assess the influence wielded by these actors, this study identifies the social and political resources and forms of specialization which predispose them to play important roles in shaping public policy.


Laser interferometry is a consolidated technique for materials structuring, enabling single step and large area patterning. Here we report the investigation of the morphological modification encoded on a thin film of a photosensitive material by the light interference pattern obtained from a laser operating in multiline mode. Four lines with equal intensity are retained, with the same p linear polarization. An azopolymer is exploited as medium for the holographic recording. Optical microscopy and profilometer measurements analyze the modification induced in the bulk and on the surface of the irradiated area. We show that the intensity profile of the interference patterns of two laser beams is the one obtained assuming each line of the laser as an independent oscillator of given intensity and wavelength, and how these light structures are faithfully replicated in the material bulk and on the topography of the free surface. Patterns at different length scales are achievable in a single step, that can be traced back to both interference fringes and wave envelopes. The proposed multi-wavelength holographic patterning provides a simple tool to generate complex light structures, able to perform multiscale modifications of photoresponsive materials


A process for the delayed coking using the reforming feedstock, to maximize the volume of diesel oil, the volume of coke produced by feedstock process to minimize has been described. The feedstock, in a first aspect of the present invention, the prior art in the vacuum residue known as the vacuum distillation column (6) residual oil (8), and heavy vacuum obtained in the above-mentioned vacuum distillation including fraction of light oil (7) (7 '). In a second aspect of the present invention, the prior art derived from the atmospheric distillation tower, known as atmospheric residue (2) a bottom resid (5) is used as the feedstock for delayed coking unit (9) .


Adaptive and highly synchronized supply chains can avoid a cascading rise-and-fall inventory dynamic and mitigate ripple effects caused by operational failures. This paper aims to demonstrate how a deep reinforcement learning agent based on the proximal policy optimization algorithm can synchronize inbound and outbound flows and support business continuity operating in the stochastic and nonstationary environment if end-to-end visibility is provided. The deep reinforcement learning agent is built upon the Proximal Policy Optimization algorithm, which does not require hardcoded action space and exhaustive hyperparameter tuning. These features, complimented with a straightforward supply chain environment, give rise to a general and task unspecific approach to adaptive control in multi-echelon supply chains. The proposed approach is compared with the base-stock policy, a well-known method in classic operations research and inventory control theory. The base-stock policy is prevalent in continuous-review inventory systems. The paper concludes with the statement that the proposed solution can perform adaptive control in complex supply chains. The paper also postulates fully fledged supply chain digital twins as a necessary infrastructural condition for scalable real-world applications.


The safety problem of the hydrogen fuel cell vehicles was introduced,including the safety of hydrogen storage,vehicle safety of hydrogen systems,the safety of fuel cell vehicles during collision and the safety of hydrogen leak occurs.From the analysis,the current hydrogen safety issues are pointed out for the fuel cell vehicles in practical application,and suggestions are proposed to address these security issues.


RECEIPTS When filing for reimbursement from the Rockefeller Archive Center you must submit original receipts for any item over $25.00. If a receipt is missing, a note of explanation is necessary. Your expenses should be mailed back to the Rockefeller Archive Center as soon as possible following the conference. You will receive a check directly from The Rockefeller University several weeks after filing your expenses.


Tribal women play the significance role in every society of that particular composition of population. It amount to nearly half of the population and therefore this significant half of its population it is inherently important to ensure their equal presence and participation in the larger process of decision local governance. Panchayati Raj institution as integral, both to democratic self-governance and democratic decentralisation in grass root level in India. Women have always and almost everywhere been on the fringe of political and social power. Women's leadership has to emerge from the grassroots to gain confidence and to make a claim at higher levels. But it is being said that "Women have come into politics as proxy candidates and continue to be manipulated by powerful patriarchal elites. The barriers of gender division of labour, women's low levels of mobility, seclusion, lack of information and negotiation skills, internalised low self image, stereotypes and lack of confidence continue in some degree. Generally Panchayats and the higher level political institutions have the same ideology for women's place there - no women or token women though giving absolute formal equality with one person, one vote and no formal barriers to their entry. For the first time the constitutional amendment mandated one-third minimum reservation for women in the Panchayats. The constitutional amendment has made the composition of Panchayats wider within a broad framework of this amendment, but the social relations of gender are intertwined with local social, economic and political institutions. Decentralisation promotes participation and improves the controlling function held by the lower levels of the political system and hence could be a good policy option for enhancing women's political participation.


Abstract. This paper focuses on the exceptional results of the EU Study (Commission et al., 2022) to map the parameters, formats, standards, benchmarks and methodologies relating to the 3D digitisation of tangible cultural heritage (CH). The overall objective of our paper is to further the quality of the 3D digitisation process by enabling cultural heritage professionals, institutions, content developers, stakeholders and academics to define and produce high-quality digitisation standards and sustainable conservation models for the preservation, documentation, understanding, and accessibility of tangible cultural heritage assets. The aim is to achieve high quality results during the 2D and 3D recording process of CH tangible assets. This work identifies for the first time in this domain, key parameters of the digitisation process, estimated the relative complexity and how it is linked to technology, its impact on quality and its various factors. It also presents standards and formats used for 3D digitisation, including data types, data formats and metadata schemas for 3D structures within a holistic documentation approach. Finally, this work presents and describes all the features and parameters of the complexity and quality that influence the methodology and infrastructure to be used for high quality results regarding digital cultural heritage. These complexity and quality factors are illustrated in the form of radial charts with the corresponding relevant information at the end of the paper.


ONE of the largest industrial expansions in the nation's history took place in chemical manufacture between 1939 and 1947. The Census of Manufactures, a detailed survey of production, sales, labor, materials, and other costs in American industry, shows that between the prewar and the postwar years chemical manufacture in this country more than trebled in point of production and sales, and that some of its branches such as medicinal chemicals increased more than 800%. It will be seen from the accompanying statistical summaries that organic chemicals led all other divisions of the chemical industry with shipments of more than $3 billion, a gain of almost four times over 1939, the last previous census year. For all chemicals and allied products (Table II), the total volume measured in terms of dollar sales or shipments was $12.1 billion, as compared with $3.5 billion during the prewar year, an increase of about 3.5 ...


Through the Images for the Future project the Netherlands Institute for Sound and Vision was given the opportunity to digitise large parts of their collections. The sheer size and numbers of material, combined with the necessity of a European Tender procedure, forced Sound and Vision to rethink work processes and workflows. The photographic department has by now gathered experience in two Tender procedures where the digitisation of more than a million negatives was commissioned. The general conclusion is that time and money spend on preparing your collection and your workflow with the digitisation process in mind will be earned back easily as the supplier will be able to optimise and automate their work process and more precisely calculate their risk, which will result in a lower price. This approach can be applied to smaller digitisation project as well, with the same result: Digitise More, Pay Less.


Abstract : When trying to solve a combinatorial optimization problem, often multiple algorithms and/or multiple runs of the same algorithm are used in order to find multiple local minima. The information gained from previous search runs is commonly discarded when selecting initialization points for future runs. We present a method which uses information from previous runs to determine promising starting points for future searches. Our algorithm, termed COMIT, models inter-parameter dependencies present in the previously found high-evaluation solutions. COMIT incrementally learns optimal dependency trees that model the pairwise dependencies in a set of good solutions found in previous searches. COMIT then samples the probability distributions modeled by these trees to generate new starting points for future searches. This algorithm has been successfully applied to jobshop scheduling, traveling salesman, knapsack, rectangle packing, and bin-packing problems.


Based on butterfly microfluidic gene chip technology, a method for rapid, accurate and efficient detection of 19 common pathogenic microorganisms of nosocomial infection was established, and a butterfly microfluidic gene chip with high-throughput detection was designed and fabricated. Using constant temperature amplification technology, using the polymerase with chain replacement function to react at constant temperature (65?) and combined with microfluidic chip technology, primers were designed according to the target genes of 19 pathogenic microorganisms, and a butterfly microfluidic gene chip which can detect 19 common pathogenic microorganisms of nosocomial infection was made to simplify the inspection operation process and verify the sensitivity of the chip. The butterfly microfluidic gene chip can be used for the rapid and efficient detection of 19 common pathogenic microorganisms of nosocomial infection, and provides a new idea for the detection and auxiliary diagnosis of pathogenic microorganisms of nosocomial infection.


Phytoplasmas are phytopathogenic prokaryotes of great importance because they have been linked to numerous diseases around the world. The aim of these research was to present the general characteristics, the size and composition of the genome and the genes and/or regions used as molecular markers for the identification and characterization of phytoplasmas. Among its main hosts are fruit and wood trees, vegetables, cut flowers and weeds, which generate alterations in the hormonal balance producing symptoms such as philodias and virescence. Because its isolation in vitro has not been possible, the detection and characterization has been carried out, mainly, with molecular techniques. In addition, the use of New Generation Sequencing (NGS) has allowed to know the complete genome of some phytoplasmas, as well as the regions and genes that constitute it. In the present bibliographic review, the information generated from the molecular techniques and NGS sequencing is compiled, as well as the primers reported to identify some groups of phytoplasmas.


This research aimed to analyze the significance effect of financial ratios toward sharia stock return on companies listed in Jakarta Islamic Index (JII) either simultaneously or partially. Sample in this study is 12 (twelve) companies listed in Jakarta Islamic Index (JII) period of 2011-2015. The analysis model in this study using multiple linear regression analysis model and analysis techniques to test the hypothesis using the F test, t test, and R2 test. The results of testing hypothesis and discussion is Return On Asset (ROA), Debt To Equity Ratio (DER), and Earning Per Share (EPS) simultaneously have significant effect toward sharia stock return. Earning Per Share (EPS) partially have positive and no significant effect toward sharia stock return, Return On Asset (ROA) partially have positive and significant effect toward sharia stock return, and Debt To Equity Ratio (DER) partially have negative and significant effect toward sharia stock return.


The Year Book Series is well known to all medical practitioners and 1988 sees the publication of digests in 35 different specialties. Volumes on neurological disease have appeared since 1902, with the continuing aim of gathering and reviewing articles on topics of contemporary interest and controversy over the previous 12 months. The neurosurgical, and larger, part of this book is the work of one editor who succeeds in the challenging task of presenting a panoramic view across the whole subject. The personal flavour to the selection explains why some articles are included and others omitted, but the overall balance is sound and useful. The section on trauma is rather disappointing with little new to report. We are reminded again that severe and diffuse axonal injury can occur without any rise in intracranial pressure, and that about 3% of patients with a head injury initially assessed as minor (CGS 13-15) develop complications requiring neurosurgical intervention. The place of skull X-rays after head injury continues to be debated. Computerized tomography is the imaging technique of choice in acute head trauma while magnetic resonance may be more informative in subacute and chronic injuries. No significant developments are reported on the medical or surgical management of head or spinal injury. The commentaries contain the occasional error of fact, and there are some irritating printing errors; 'neural' for 'mural' and 'annual aneurysms' should not have passed the proof room! But these are small criticisms and as a whole, this book is stimulating and readable. As a review it encourages us to look again at topics previously rather neglected, and further reading is the natural sequel. This Year Book should find its place in the library of every neuroscience unit and many postgraduate centres. For the specialist in accident and emergency medicine, it is perhaps of passing interest.


The 8.4 m Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST) will provide an unprecedented view of the Solar System (Ivezic et al. 2008; LSST Science Collaboration et al. 2009). LSST will detect millions of as ...


The invention discloses a simple household manual noodle maker. The simple household manual noodle maker comprises equipment supports, a noodle box, a conical extrusion end, an extrusion container, an upper end cover, a pressure plate, a threaded rod, a manual disk, an operating end and a container bottom plate. The extrusion container is immobilized to the container bottom plate. The operating end is mounted on the manual disk. The operating end is operated manually to drive the manual disk and threaded rod to rotate, the pressure plate is driven to move downwards to extrude dough, and then noodles are extruded through the conical extrusion end. The simple household manual noodle maker is a semi-automatic noodle maker which is simple and compact in structure, convenient to operate and capable of making the noodles through manual operation.


 STAGE DOI: 10.3408 / jafst.773 ) In order to establish the method for discriminating between oral ingestion ( internal use ) and dermal absorption ( external use ) of diphenhydramine ( DPH ) using biological ‰uids, the excretion proˆles of unchanged DPH and its metabolites in urine as well as time-course changes in blood concentration of DPH have been inves-tigated. Urine and blood specimens were obtained from volunteer users of either the sleep-inducing drug Drewell tablet or the antipruritic drug New Restamin Kowa ointment. Unchanged and its metabolites were identiˆed and quantiˆed using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry with a C 18 semi-micro column. DPH and its three metabolites, diphenhydramine N -oxide, N -desmethyl diphenhydramine and diphenhydramine N -glucuronide, have been detected, for the ˆrst time, in urine after dermal absorption, and the urinary excretion proˆles of DPH and the metabolites were observed along with those after oral ingestion. Maximum concentration times of DPH and its metabolites in urine were between 21 and 73 hours in dermal absorption, and between 4 and 21 hours in oral ingestion. Maximum concentration times of DPH in blood for dermal absorption were also larger than those for oral ingestion. These results suggested that absorption of DPH through the skin occurs more In addition, the maximum concentrations of DPH and its metabolites in urine after oral ingestion were ten to hundred times higher than those after dermal absorption, which suggests that the urinary concentration of DPH and its metabolites could be applicable as the indexes which allow to discriminate between internal and external uses. The ˆndings obtained in this study will be indispensable as the fundamental in-formation for discussing intake situations of DPH in the forensic ˆelds.


Restrictions on the economy stifled by the devastating effects of the COVID-19pandemic have forced private companies to find their economic recovery levers. Survival or even economic growth can also be achieved through government support in the sense of tax cuts, the state bearing part of the wage costs, or by accessing funds that make it possible to reformulate businesses.


ABSTRACT Multi-Resolution Segmentation (MRS) is known to be a general segmentation algorithm for very-high-resolution (VHR) remote sensing applications. The critical problems of MRS are the optimization of the parameters and the evaluation of segmentation quality. Based on the principle of maximizing the intra-object homogeneity and inter-object heterogeneity, we propose a novel Normalized Segmentation Quality Index (NSQI) and use level filtering to acquire the optimal parameters of the MRS algorithm. Using the geometric and arithmetic discrepancy between the segmented object and the reference object as the evaluation criterion, we then evaluate the quality of the segmented objects. The results of two experiments confirm the effectiveness of our meanNSQI and discrepancy measure approach. Additionally, a sensitivity analysis of the segmentation quality index demonstrates the reliability of the meanNSQI and the discrepancy measure.


Permuted Substring Matching, with Applications to Computational Biology By Houman Alborzi We propose a new inexpensive technique to nd the DNA sequence of genes. The technique is based upon nding the location of a fragment of a genome using the restriction map of the genome and the restriction pattern of the fragment. As there may be more than one location on the genome matching the restriction pattern of the fragment, we investigate the e ectiveness of our technique based on how precisely it can determine the location of the fragment. We show that the size of the restriction pattern of the fragment is the primary parameter that a ects the e ectiveness of our technique. We have also designed and implemented fast algorithms for locating the fragment. Dedicated to the advancement of frontiers.


A new finite element method (FEM) approach is used to evaluate transient electric field based on a surge wave in a dissipative open region. Instead of the solution of the basic equations in the time domain, the Laplace transform inversion is used to model planar and axisymmetrical transient fields. The main advantage of this approach consists in the possibility of modeling unbounded regions. Current‐driven electrodes, including electrodes with floating potential, are taken into consideration.


quantum mechanics' (David Mermin). We can also find in this book clear attempts to vindicate Bohr's thinking from an experimental point of view. It is thus argued that experiments such as the one carried out by Shahriar S. Afshar in 2004, in which particle and wave properties coexist, should not be interpreted as a refutation of the framework of complementarity (Kauark-Leite). Likewise, a technological understanding (in the wider sense, not only experimental) of quantum electrodynamics and quantum field theory in 'the spirit of Copenhagen', whose culmination would be the discovery, in the twenty-first century, of the Higgs boson (Plotnitsky), is also posited. On the other hand, complementarity, understood as a methodological guide and not in metaphysical terms, could help reach a better explanation of the quantum tunnelling phenomenon (Perović). Ultimately, we find ourselves before a highly recommended work, not only for all those who take an interest in fields located at the frontier between theoretical physics and philosophy of physics, but also, and even more so, for those who believe that metaempirical questions, philosophical or however they are named, have no role in the understanding of physics or the natural sciences in general.


Objective The pars flaccida is extremely rich in mast cells. On stimulation the mast cells release preformed and de novo synthesized inflammatory substances. The purpose of this study was to examine how these mast cell substances provoke inflammatory changes in the tympanic membrane.


Colonic epithelial integrity is often compromised during colonic inflammation and Inflammatory Bowel Disease. Aftiphilin (AFTPH) is a downstream target of microRNA-133a and its expression is reduced in colonic tissues of wild type mice from experimental colitis models and colonic biopsies from patients with ulcerative colitis. We have previously shown that AFTPH is involved in regulating intestinal epithelial barrier function and actin organization in human colonic epithelial cells in vitro (DDW 2016). On the other hand, our results suggested that global aftiphilin knock-out is embryonic lethal in mouse models (DDW 2019). Here, we further examined the role of AFTPH in regulating actin organization in vitro and characterize the colonic epithelial cell-specific aftiphilin knock-out mice.

 Human colonic epithelial NCM460 cells were transfected with si-RNA against AFTPH to achieve transient AFTPH gene-silencing. Stable AFTPH knock-down clones were generated by transducing Caco2-BBE cells with recombinant lentivirus carrying sh-AFTPH or control sh-RNA. To create intestinal epithelial cell-specific aftiphilin knock-out mice, Aftph flox/flox mice were cross-bred with B6.Cg-Tg(Vil1-cre)997Gum/J mice, which express Villin-driven Cre recombinase (Vil-Cre), to generate intestinal epithelial cell-specific aftiphilin knock-out mice (Aftph Vil-/Vil-). Protein expression of F- and G-actin and p70S6K were detected using Western blot. Tissues from various organs were collected with Aftph Vil-/Vil- and its wildtype counterparts at 12 weeks.

 Results from western blot analysis showed that F-/G-actin ratio in AFTPH gene-silenced NCM460 cells were 0.6±0.17 fold, when compared to the treatment control. In addition, AFTPH gene-silencing in human colonic epithelial cells activated p70S6K, a kinase that is involved in actin organization, when compared to treatment control (1.2±0.15 vs. 2.0±0.15, p=0.0354). Furthermore, transepithelial electric resistance (TER) of Caco2-BBE cells deficient in AFTPH is significantly lower than that of control cells (0.5±0.07 fold). Lastly, in vivo intestinal epithelial cell-specific Aftph knock-out increased the length of small intestine, when compared to that of wild type mice (30.7±0.33 vs. 34.8±0.97, p=0.02), while the tissue weight of spleen to body weight was reduced (0.30±0.011 vs. 0.26±0.006, p=0.0169).

 Our results indicate that AFTPH directly regulates epithelial barrier function and actin organization through mediating F-/G-actin ratio in human colonic epithelial cells, possibly through p70S6K. Importantly, intestinal epithelial cell-specific knock-out in vivo increased intestinal length and reduced size of the spleen. Our results suggested that AFTPH is crucial in regulating colonic epithelial barrier function in vitro and intestinal homeostasis.


Abstract : Educational development should anticipate global tendency will be happen. Some trends can be identified, namely: (1) the process of investment and reinvestment, (2) the development of industry, communications and information, (3) a shift of back to basic education to forward to the future direction of the basics, which relies on improving the ability of TLC ( How to think, how to learn, and how to create), (4) developing and spreading the idea of democratization that gave rise to the demands of the implementation of school based management and site-specific solution, and (5) requires the way to solve the problem in analysis system, which not only rely on the analysis of cause and effect. The trends mentioned above, requires a different quality of human resources with a quality that is today. So the question arises, can the educational practices we produce graduates with adequate quality. Key Words : Educators, education Disease, and Education Solutions.


If there is any piece of literature that seems to be time-less, allowing each reader from different cultural contexts and time periods to break through it, it is the Psalter. Also, the struggle by the scholars to lay handle on the origins of the individual lament/complaint psalms may prove affirming to those, who on account of their marginal status, could be "barred" from reading the psalms informed by their own marginal status. Psalm 12 seems to defy clear categorization both as an individual or a communal lament. Like others, it is a psalm that critiques the abusive use of the human organs that enable speech that is, the tongue and the lips. Particularly when the preceding organs are used by the powerful (read: the rich) to despoil the poor and needy, YHWH, the God, of and for the oppressed gets roused and acts in their favour! If re-read African-consciously, what kind of reading may Psalm 12 yield?


Cyclic AMP regulates Ca2+‐dependent exocytosis through a classical protein kinase A (PKA)‐dependent and an alternative cAMP–guanine nucleotide exchange factor (GEF)/Epac‐dependent pathway in many secretory cells. Although increased cAMP is believed to double secretory output in isolated pituitary cells, the direct target(s) for cAMP action and a detailed and high‐time resolved analysis of the effect of intracellular cAMP levels on the secretory activity in melanotrophs are still lacking. We investigated the effect of 200 μm cAMP on the kinetics of secretory vesicle depletion in mouse melanotrophs from fresh pituitary tissue slices. The whole‐cell patch‐clamp technique was used to depolarize melanotrophs and increase the cytosolic Ca2+ concentration ([Ca2+]i). Exogenous cAMP elicited an about twofold increase in cumulative membrane capacitance change and ∼34% increase of high‐voltage activated Ca2+ channel amplitude. cAMP‐dependent mechanisms did not affect [Ca2+]i, since the application of forskolin failed to change [Ca2+]i in melanotrophs, a phenomenon readily observed in anterior lobe. Depolarization‐induced secretion resulted in two distinct kinetic components: a linear and a threshold component, both stimulated by cAMP. The linear component (ATP‐independent) probably represented the exocytosis of the release‐ready vesicles, whereas the threshold component was assigned to the exocytosis of secretory vesicles that required ATP‐dependent reaction(s) and > 800 nm[Ca2+]i. The linear component was modulated by 8‐pCPT‐2Me‐cAMP (Epac agonist), while either H‐89 (PKA inhibitor) or Rp‐cAMPS (the competitive antagonist of cAMP binding to PKA) completely prevented the action of cAMP on the threshold component. In line with this, 6‐Phe‐cAMP, (PKA agonist), increased the threshold component. From our study, we suggest that the stimulation of cAMP production by application of oestrogen, as found in pregnant mice, increases the efficacy of the hormonal output through both PKA and cAMP–GEFII/Epac2‐dependent mechanisms.


We propose to extend the framework for relating information and energy via activity [1]. to the design of hardware. Pifer et. al. [2] present an approach to DEVS-based Hardware Design, Synthesis, and Power Optimization that exploits activity concepts. Here we summarize this approach with emphasis on the role of activity. We also provide some results from [2] that show the utility of various mechanisms to reduce power consumption based on DEV Sand/or activity features.


function in guiding practical activity. We have some powerful models of rationality concerning theoretical inquiry. Little attention, however, has been given to what it means to be rational in applied fields. Even the label "applied sciences" is misleading. It suggests that what problemoriented people do is to apply the theory of basic disciplines to problems. This view is not self-evident. I


Robust Stability of a linear, discrete-time, system with parturbations both in the system matrix and the input matrix of its state equation is considered. A robust linear state feedback control law is proposed to maximize the stable region defined in the perturbation space. Some extensions are outlined.


The enthalpy of dissociation of nitric acid to nitronium ion and hydroxide ion is estimated to be +(43 ± 4) kJ mol–1 in 68·3 w/w% sulphuric acid and +(19 ± 5) kJ mol–1 in 79·2 w/w% sulphuric acid. These values are used to show that the high energies of activation observed in the limiting nitrations of reactive compounds in sulphuric acid are consistent with the interpretation that these reactions are controlled by the rate of encounter of the nitronium ion with the aromatic molecule.