The personal, social, and health impacts of caregiving have been well documented in recent years (Ory, Hoffman, Yee, Tennstedt, & Schulz, 1999; Schulz & Beach, 1999; Schulz, 2000; Schulz, O'Brien, Bookwala, & Fleissner, 1995). These findings in turn have generated intervention studies aimed at addressing the burden, distress, and health-related morbidity associated with caregiving. The majority of intervention studies have focused on caregivers of persons with progressively dementing illnesses such as Alzheimer's disease (AD). Using a wide variety of intervention approaches, researchers have been able to achieve small to moderate decreases in burden and depression and, in a few cases, impressive clinically meaningful outcomes (Schulz, 2000; Schulz et al., under review). Similar results have been reported for the intervention literature overall. A recent meta-analysis of the caregiver intervention literature reports that interventions produced significant improvement of .14 to .41 standard deviation units, on average, for caregiver burden, depression, and subjective well-being (Sorensen, Pinquart, & Duberstein, in press). However, these conclusions need to be qualified by a host of methodological problems that still characterize much of this literature. First, sample sizes are often too small to detect even large effects (Cooke et al., 2001), and minority populations are not well represented in intervention trials. Second, randomized controlled trial methods have been used infrequently and are often implemented incompletely. Third, interventions are not well described, and treatment implementation data are infrequently collected or reported (Burgio et al., 2001). Finally, the proportion of studies reporting clinically significant outcomes for important public health indicators is relatively small (Schulz et al., under review). REACH I addressed several of these shortcomings by implementing six different randomized clinical trials at six different sites using identical measurement intervals and common outcome measures. Studies included relatively large sample sizes (N =1222 total) with significant numbers of African American and Hispanic caregivers. Interventions were carefully described and implemented. Meta-analysis was used to examine pooled parameter estimates of 9 active compared to 6 control group conditions of REACH at 6-months on burden and depressive symptoms in family caregivers (Gitlin et al., submitted). Associations of caregiver relationship, gender, education, racial/ethnic identity and treatment outcomes were examined. For burden, active interventions were superior to control conditions. Also, active interventions were superior to control conditions for women but not for men, and for caregivers with < high school education but not for those with higher education. For depressive symptoms, a statistically significant association of group assignment was found for Miami's combined family therapy and computer technology intervention. Also, active interventions were superior to control conditions for caregivers who were Hispanic, non-spouses or of lower education. Analyses based on a conceptual framework developed by REACH investigators showed that interventions using hands-on training modalities such as role play, modeling, demonstration and practice were most effective in reducing depressive symptomatology (Czaja et al., submitted; Belle et al., submitted). Finally, the data suggest that caregivers are receptive to and benefit from new technology (the CTIS system) that facilitates communication and information access. Overall, these findings suggest that interventions need to be responsive to important variations in need among caregivers and should therefore have some degree of tailoring to the individual, and that there are specific components and delivery methods likely to enhance the effectiveness of an intervention.


ABSTRACT This study aims to understand the relationships between authenticity and the constructs of theory of planned behaviour (TPB), namely, attitude, subjective norms, perceived behavioural control and behavioural intention, of pilgrims who participated in the Camino de Santiago walk in Spain. A survey involving 400 respondents was conducted and structural equation modelling was employed in analysing the data. Results revealed positive relationships between authenticity and attitude, subjective norms and perceived behavioural control. Attitude and subjective norms had a positive and significant relationship with behavioural intention, whereas perceived behavioural control showed an insignificant relationship with behavioural intention. Authenticity mediated by the TPB constructs positively influenced the behavioural intention of pilgrims. Findings of this study provide an improved understanding of how authenticity interacts with attitude, subjective norms and perceived behavioural control, thereby influencing the behavioural intention to walk the St. James Way. Thus, this study contributes to an improved insight into the impact of authenticity on pilgrims' behavioural intention.


A spectrofluorometric method for the simultaneous determination of sodium dodecyl benzene sulfonate(SDBS) and phenol was developed.The procedure was based on their intrinsic fluorescence in pH 6.0 solution.The broad-band overlapping conventional spectra of both compounds were resolved by means of derivative synchronous fluorescence spectroscopy.The main parameters affecting the analytical performance were studied and the optimum conditions were obtained in pH 6.0 NaH2PO4-Na2HPO4 buffer by using wavelength difference of 60 nm and scan speed of 1 200 nm/min at determination wavelengths of 224 nm for SDBS and 258 nm for phenol.Under the optimized conditions,the fluorescence intensities were linear over the concentration range of 0.05-8.00 mg/L for SDBS with a correlation coefficient of 0.995 5 and 0.10-5.50 mg/L for phenol with a correlation coefficient of 0.999 7.The limits of detection(LODs) for SDBS and phenol were 8.4 μg/L and 5.3 μg/L,respectively,and the average recoveries were 95%-100% and 98%-102%,respectively.The relative standard deviations of 2.0 mg/L SDBS and 0.5 mg/L phenol were 3.8% and 1.9 %,respectively.The proposed method was simple,rapid and sensitive,and was applied in the analysis of SDBS and phenol in water samples with satisfactory results.


Key words: Ostracoda; Neocyprideis lusitanicus; Late Cretaceous; Aveiro; Portugal.

Guernet & Lauverjat (1986) described a new species, Neocyprideis lusitanicus, from sediments deposited near Aveiro, Portugal. For these authors, some associated fossils (Molluscs, planktonic Foraminifera) indicated a Pliocene age. That seemingly was the first record of Neocyprideis in post-Miocene sediments in Europe.
A recent study of Upper Cretaceous material from the same region showed an abundant Neocyprideis fauna, associated with Charophyta. These Neocyprideis could be assigned without any doubt to N. lusitanicus. Therefore, N. lusitanicus appears as an Upper Cretaceous species, reworked in much later sediments, not Pliocene but Quaternary, as indicated by the planktonic Foraminifera assemblage. This interpretation is supported by:
I - the incompatibility of the Neocyprideis (restricted to lacustrine-lagoonal environments) with abundant planktic Foraminifera;
2 - the occurrence of N. lusitanicus with Charophytes and non marine, cretaceous vertebrates but without the same Foraminifera.
Neocyprideis lusitanicus is a valid species, clearly different from the other late Cretaceous species (N. coudouxensis and N. murciensis) as well as the Early Miocene described species (N. aquitanica, N. janoscheki).


It is very crucial to determine human blood groups in an emergency situation. But according to current system, the detection procedure is very slow. At present, human blood groups are determined manually through plate test procedure. It consists of blood collection and mixing with specific reagents in order to determine the blood agglutination. Blood typing is system which basically used to detect specific blood group of human. Investigation of appropriate blood type within short interval of time plays vital role in blood transfusion, donation, accident and other emergency situations. Currently, blood typing tests are performed by technicians in laboratories. But it is monotonous to do with large number of blood samples, require more time to diagnosis and, as these tests carried out manually, it may introduce human error which will be harmful. Hemoglobin (Hb), a very significant parameter for the human body and deficiency of it causes anemia. During pregnancy, menstruation and ICU deficiency of it can be very risky and even caused death. So, it is important to diagnose it continuously. Usually, physicians examine it by conducting a blood test to confirm it is painful, time-consuming and costly. The major concept of this study is to screen Hb levels within a short period of time. This paper focused on recent advances in detection of blood group with hemoglobin, which can classify different blood group within short period of time with great accuracy and calculate its hemoglobin level.


We consider the problem of how to manipulate the entanglement properties of a general two-particle pure state, shared between Alice and Bob, by using only local operations at each end and classical communication between Alice and Bob. A method is developed in which this type of problem is found to be equivalent to a problem involving the cutting and pasting of certain shapes along with certain colouring problems. We consider two problems. Firstly, we find the most general way of manipulating the state to obtain maximally entangled states. After such a manipulation the entangled states |11〉 + |22〉 + . . .+ |mm〉 are obtained with probability pm. Some results of Lo and Popescu pertaining to this problem are given simple geometric proofs. Secondly, we consider how to manipulate one two-particle entangled state |ψ〉 to another |ψ′〉 with certainty. We derive Nielsen's theorem (which states a necessary and sufficient condition for this to be possible) using the method of areas.


This paper presents a finite element model of the spine lumbar segment equipped with a dynamic implant. The aim of this study is to develop a numerical tool that allows engineers to test different design solutions and to understand the behavior of the implant and its influence on the spine, in particular the implanted and the adjacent segments. The first simulations allowed the visualization of strains and stresses in the implant and the characterization of the intra-vertebral pressure in two segments.


Prof. Jiguang Han, School of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Jiangsu Normal University, China Prof. Liang Zhang, School of Mechatronic Engineering, Jiangsu Normal University, China Prof. Yan Zhao, College of Mechanical and Vehicle Engineering, Hunan University, China Prof. Lei Mao, Department of Precision Machinery and Precision Instrumentation, University of Science and Technology of China, China Prof. Ngo, University of Applied Sciences Berlin and Fraunhofer Institute for Reliability and Microintegration, Germany Dr. Sanam Shahla Rizvi, Raptor Interactive (Pty) Ltd, South Africa Assoc. Prof. Guangyi Ma, School of Mechanical Engineering, Dalian University of Technology, China Dr. Zhongchen Cao, School of Mechanical Engineering, Tianjin University, China Prof. Jianmin Gao, School of Mechanical Engineering, Xi'an Jiaotong University, China Assoc. Prof. Lei Chen, School of Electrical Engineering and Automation, Wuhan University, China Prof. Chaojun Yang, School of Mechanical Engineering, Jiangsu University, China Assoc. Prof. Xinrui Ding, School of Mechanical and Automotive Engineering, South China University of Technology, China Prof. Jianqiang Yi, Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China Prof. Mileshko Leonid Petrovich, Southern Federal University, Russia Prof. Xingsen Li, Research Institute of Extenics and Innovation Methods, Guangdong University of Technology, China Prof. Yongcheng Lin, School of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Central South University, China Prof. Xuan Wu, School of Mechanical Engineering, Jiangsu University, China Prof. Wei Li, School of Computer Science and Technology, Fudan University, China Prof. Jiangping Xu, School of Mechanical Engineering, Jiangsu University, China Prof. Xiaohuo Li, Liaoning Technical University/College of Mechanical Engineering, China Dr. Gang Qin, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, China Prof. Bekir Sami Yilbas, Mechanical Engineering Dept. /King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, Saudi Arabia Prof. Bingqing Wei, University of Delaware/Department of Mechanical Engineering, USA Prof. Yanqiong Fei, School of Mechanical Engineering, Shanghai Jiaotong University, China Prof. Yong-Lin Kuo, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, Taiwan Dr. Guiyuan Jiang, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore Prof. Dapeng Zhang, Mianyang Teachers College/School of Mechanical and Electronic Engineering, China Prof. Yaobao Yin, School of mechanical and power engineering, Tongji University, China Prof. Minghe Chen, College of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, China


The invention relates to the communication field, and discloses a PUCCH (physical uplink control channel) resource mapping method and an apparatus thereof used for effectively reducing a quantity of reserved PUCCH resources in a system. The method comprises the following steps: setting resource configuration information which is used for indicating a PUCCH resource which is corresponding to each E-PDCCH cluster which is configured by the system, according to the resource configuration information, UE and a base station respectively determine at least one E-PDCCH resource corresponding to each E-PDCCH cluster which is configured by the system, and transmit UCI on an E-PDCCH resource which exists PDCCH transmission and is corresponding to the E-PDCCH cluster. In this way, flexible PUCCH resource configuration can be provided for an Enhanced PDCCH, simultaneously the quantity of the reserved PUCCH resources in the system can be effectively reduced, and an uplink resource utilization rate is raised.


This paper aims to present a smart high speed battery charger, powered by a photovoltaic module array, for a LiFePO4 battery as a solar energy storage device. With a battery charging strategy, the presented battery charger involves a Buck converter as the core equipped with a simple maximum power point (MPP) tracker. Considering complexity reduction and easy hardware implementation, a constant voltage MPP tracking approach is adopted such that the maximum amount of output power can be delivered to the load in response to an arbitrary change in the solar radiation. A smart two-stage charging strategy, with a constant current mode followed by a constant voltage mode, is employed in such a way that the battery charge process can be accelerated largely, while the damage caused by overcharging can be prevented. In the end, the performance of this proposal is validated experimentally.


The lid pour technique is desribed as an easy and cheap alternative to a cultivation of Clostridium (C.) perfringens under strict anaerobic conditions. Compared to the poured plate technique a slightly, but seen from a practical angle, not relevant decrease of the recovery could be noticed by the lid pour technique investigating aqueous suspensions of definded C. perfringens-strains. Investigating 741 samples of minced meat C. perfringens could be isolated altogether in 171 cases (23,1 %). Also in this connection a higher rate of cultivation was found using the poured plate technique. Comparable results using the two methods of cultivation were found in samples with a content of more than 200 colony forming units/g minced meat.


The reported rates of Primary Fistula Failure (fistula fail to mature) varies from 8% to 53%. Immature fistulae will lead to prolonged dependence on dialysis catheters. This phenomenon is well known to be associated with the risk of infective complications, central venous thrombosis or stenosis and patients' inconvenience. Numerous studies have reported the predictors of successful fistulae, but are varied in their design, definitions, end points and clinical factors considered 2,3 Preoperative imaging also has been proposed, but their widespread use is generally limited in most of the centres. Knowing the risk factors for failure will help the surgeon to take the necessary precautions and preventive measures more effectively. The information may help to stratify the patients into various risk groups based on their likelihood to develop fistula failure. Thus, the main objective of this study was to identify clinical risk factors that are related to Failure to Mature (FTM) of autogenous AVF.


Terrestrial water storage (TWS) plays a key role in the global water cycle and is highly influenced by climate variability and human activities. In this study, monthly TWS, rainfall and Ganga-Brahmaputra river discharge (GBRD) are analysed over India for the period of 2003-12 using remote sensing satellite data. The spatial pattern of mean TWS shows a decrease over a large and populous region of Northern India comprising the foothills of the Himalayas, the Indo-Gangetic Plains and North East India. Over this region, the mean monthly TWS exhibits a pronounced seasonal cycle and a large interannual variability, highly correlated with rainfall and GBRD variations (r > 0.8) with a lag time of 2 months and 1 month respectively. The time series of monthly TWS shows a consistent and statistically significant decrease of about 1 cm year(-1) over Northern India, which is not associated with changes in rainfall and GBRD. This recent change in TWS suggests a possible impact of rapid industrialization, urbanization and increase in population on land water resources. Our analysis highlights the potential of the Earth-observation satellite data for hydrological applications.


Use the memristor emulator with the same behavior by configuring the memristor bridge circuit to check for normal operation in the floating state.


POSITION OVERVIEW The United States District Court and Probation Office for the Southern District of Iowa is accepting applications for a position of Applications Developer. We are looking for a candidate to join us in accomplishing our mission of providing courteous, efficient and quality service to the court, the bar and the public. The scope of duties will be both locally created programming projects, customization of nationally supported technology systems, and commercial off the shelf software applications that meet the business needs of the Court.


The SONATAL-pedagogy celebrated in 2012 its thirtieth anniversary (1983-2012) as a system of activities targeted at education of healthy child before and after birth. The optimal organizational solution concerning the implementation of this system at the level of medical institution is to organize the offices of perinatal education under pediatrics polyclinic. From the position of preventive and social pediatrics, the development of prenatal prevention system at the municipal level can be considered as the most strategically advantageous model.


An assessment center is a place and process where individuals are evaluated for managerial capabilities in order to select, promote, or facilitate the development of an individualized training program in an organization (Thornton & Byham, 1982). Assessment center personnel conduct a job analysis to describe the attitudes, knowledge, and skills required for management positions. The attitudes, knowledge, and skills derived from the job analysis are then used to design assessment center activities. Assessment center participants are involved in selected activities while their managerial capabilities are being determined by trained evaluators. Assessment centers attempt to measure managerial capabilities for the purpose of assessment, selection, promotion, and training (Thornton & Byham, 1982).


Thirteen groups of students have started Start Up journey conceiving an idea to address specific problems of farmers. The main ideas include improved seed drills, weed management devices, harvesters, livestock feed, value addition to agri products, apps on labour management, etc. University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad has conducted ideation workshops under Institutional Development Plan of National Agricultural Higher Education Project. In order to encourage students to generate idea and develop a product/innovation to address the problems of farming community and other stake holders, ideathon workshop were conducted in all constituent colleges of UAS, Dharwad. The students were oriented about the process and design thinking concepts. Out of 70 student groups who have presented the idea for a specific problem of students, 35 groups have been short listed and 10 groups were successfully developed the prototypes. Among them, four groups have are at the stage of commercial production and registered as a private limited company. The impact assessment result revealed that the ideation workshops were useful in terms of building Entrepreneurship Skills, Self-Confidence and created opportunity to find solutions to the problems. The experience of students in product development revealed that 24.79 per cent students have learnt to design prototypes and 47.01 per cent expressed that they learnt to modify prototypes and make suitable changes. The overall benefit was expressed as high in building solutions by 52.14 percent of students, 49.57 percent gained confidence to startup and over 50 percent gained confidence to manage a startup. The major support expected by students includes financial assistance , moral support , laboratory and other techinical support. The overall benefit realize by students inicludes exposure to the idea development 26.50 percent understanding pros and cons of idea 32.48 percent and confidence building 64.96 percent. It is clear from the study that students can generate effective ideas for the problems of the farmers and other stake holders. There is need for facilitating and guiding the students in the startup journey. Ideation workshops serve as a first step in promotion of startups among the students


Summary:Today many clinic-laboratory indicators are not enough efficient for early diagnostics of borderline situations which subsequently transform in newborn syndromes. It is especially problematic to predict development of bisyndromes when one characteristic syndrome associates with others. A hypoxia plays the key role in the pathochemistry of any newborn syndrome causing the development of an oxidizing stress. Unfortunately, features of an oxidizing stress and an antioxidant system aren´t studied at bisyndromes. The Fe+2/ascorbate induced peroxide lipid oxidation level allows to estimate the lipophylic antioxidant system state integrally and to predict the development of this or that newborn syndrome. Thus, the newborn syndromes such as hyperactivity, belching, pain, asphyxia and its combination associate with lipid oxidation decrease that come to izopropanol-soluble dien conjugates reduction in reply to an Fе +2/ascorbate system induction.


Abstract The Arctic Ocean freshwater balance over the period 1948–2001 is examined using results from a hindcast simulation with an ocean–sea ice model of the Atlantic and Arctic Oceans. Atmospheric forcing is taken from the NCEP–NCAR reanalysis and different terrestrial freshwater sources as well as the Bering Strait throughflow are specified as constant seasonal cycles. The long-term variability of the Arctic Ocean liquid freshwater content is determined by the variability of lateral exchanges with the subpolar seas. Surface freshwater flux variability is dominated by the thermodynamic growth of sea ice. This component of the freshwater balance has larger variability at interannual frequencies. The Arctic Ocean liquid freshwater content was at a maximum in the middle of the 1960s. Extremely low liquid freshwater export through Fram Strait caused this maximum in the freshwater content. The low export rate was related to weak volume transports in the East Greenland Current. Low volume transports were forc...


Potential for developing malignancies with Tumor necrosis alpha blockers (Anti-TNFα) in romatologic diseases is an important question in our minds, contrary to the proved efficacy of them. To our knowledge, yet no case report has been established about papillary thyroid carcinoma during etanercept therapy for psoriatic arthritis. Here we reported a patient who was diagnosed as papillary thyroid carcinoma while she was using etanercept for psoriatic arthritis. She had medical history for familial trait of carcinoma. Radioactive iodine therapy was administered after the surgery. We preferred to stop etanercept therapy and there was no increase in clinical and laboratory disease activity.


The fine‐structure analyses of highly resolved low‐temperature absorption spectra of four different isotopes of the NO molecule in the vacuum ultraviolet by Miescher and co‐workers have revealed a wealth of detailed information, among other results, on the 2Π states of the npπ Rydberg series leading to the first ionization limit and on their interactions with the vibrational progressions of the excited valence states B 2Π and L 2Π. However, measured spectral lines remain unassigned and spectroscopic results on the higher members of the B and L progressions and on their interactions with the npπ Rydberg series are incomplete. The present work attempts a quantitative representation of the observations in terms of five electronic states with mutual electronic coupling, i.e., a so‐called diabatic basis. The electronic states: two valence states B and L, and the lowest three Rydberg states of the npπ series C, K, and Q are defined by RKR potential curves, by spin‐orbit coupling constants, by electronic absorpt...


This paper reports on the fabrication of a SOI nano flash memory device based on the differential oxidation rate of silicon resulting from gradients in the arsenic doping concentration. The key process involved are the formation of the desired arsenic doping profile, electron beam lithography and wet oxidation. The resulting device is a triangular-channel MOSFET with a nanocrystal floating gate embedded in the gate oxide. The length, width and height of the nanocrystal are 10nm, 10nm and 20nm, respectively. As long as the control gate voltage does nor exceed 2V, the device behaves like a thin and narrow P-channel MOSFET. When a voltage of 5 or +5 volts is applied to the control gate at room temperature, holes are injected into the floating gate or removed from it, respectively. This effect includes a persistent shift of the threshold voltage of the device, which acts as a miniature EEPROM.


Design of circular polarization (CP) antennas requires accounting for several and normally conflicting objectives that include ensuring sufficient impedance bandwidth and low level of axial ratio (AR). For an increasing number of modern applications, reduction of the antenna size becomes of importance. Design closure of CP antennas is often carried out having in mind electrical and field properties, whereas miniaturization is a byproduct of introduced topological modifications. In this paper, we apply multi-objective optimization as a tool for generating the best possible design trade-offs for a compact CP antenna with respect to its reflection response, axial ratio and the size. A particular example of a planar microstrip structure with elliptical ground plane slots and dual feed line stubs is considered. Surrogate-assisted optimization framework allows for finding a set of Pareto optimal designs at a low computational cost, giving the designer an insight into the capabilities of the antenna, particularly in terms of relationships between achievable miniaturization ratio as well as the axial ratio and reflection bandwidths. For the considered example, it is possible to reduce the antenna size by over 11 percent while maintaining required AR bandwidth, or reduce maximum in-band AR to 1.3 dB while ensuring required impedance bandwidth.


The finding of ANOVA analysis with no significant difference in length distribution will permit the spinners to classify the bales into the same categories during HVI fiber selection and laydowns arrangements. Classification of cotton bales with similar length distribution will minimize the undesirable laydown variability in critical properties such as short fibers contents which are the main sources of yarn unevenness. In this study the HVI tenacity for the studied three commercial varieties fall within the range of 26.94-28.28. According to USDA system of cotton classification this range is categorized in the descriptive designation "average" strength group. FAVIGRAPH elongation in percent fall within the range 6.41-7.01. For the studied samples Acala SJ-2 variety has a relatively better elongation property. This can be used as information for the spinners to increase the proportion by weight of Acala SJ-2 during the preparation of a cotton mix desired for relatively better yarn and greige fabric elongation. In this research work a modified fiber quality index (MFQI) is formulated to instrumentally characterize the studied commercial Ethiopian cotton varieties. The results obtained show that the combination of HVI and FAVIGRAPH data allows us to predict quite accurately fiber properties for commercial bales.


The article deals with the systematization of health-educational technologies in higher education system in accordance with different approaches to the concept of "School health educational technology"


It is difficult for conventional transient stability assessment method to reflect the stochastic property of power system faults. The probabilistic method for transient stability assessment is an important supplement to conventional method, but its calculation burden is too heavy. By means of analyzing the statistical property of the fault clearing time and the order of severity of different types of faults, a probabilistic assessment strategy of transient stability based on normalized transient energy function (NEF) is proposed in which the transient stability calculation of only a fraction of severe faults have to be conducted, so that the efficiency of transient stability probabilistic analysis can be improved remarkably. The results of calculation example of typical New England 10- machine 39- bus system show that the proposed assessment strategy is effective and practical.


This paper describes the transesterification of castor oil with the use of coconut oil as coreactant and MgO/SiO 2 as heterogeneous base catalyst. The catalyst was prepared from rice husk silica and magnesium nitrate by sol-gel method, with MgO load of 20% relative to silica, and then subjected to sintering treatment at 600 oC for 6 hours. A series of experiments was carried out, indicating that the use of coconut oil as co-reactant significantly promoted the conversion of castor oil into biodiesel.


S O ACCUSTOMED are we to thinking of Victorian writers as being cabined, cribbed, and confined within the limits of Victorian prudery that there seems to be little point in singling out any one writer's plight for consideration. Particularly is this true of Robert Louis Stevenson, whose genius seemed so blithely to flower in ways congenial to his public, which in return whole-heartedly idolized him. Yet the truth of the matter is that Stevenson felt the pinch of Victorian repression as much as any of his contemporaries. Only recently, since the publication of George S. Hellman's article in the Century in I922, and of his book in I925, has the official and popular image of the martyred champion of optimism and morality, the somewhat saintly prophet of cheerfulness and resignation, been replaced by the image of a full-blooded man, who in his eagerness for life had experienced and approved much that would have horrified and scandalized the far-flung thousands of his idolators. But, as we have said, the disclosure that even the popular "R. L. S." had been irked by Mrs. Grundy would not in itself seem so amazing. The reason for our singling him out from his fellow-sufferers is the peculiar modus vivendi he worked out for himself, the special and self-conscious compromise he arrived at between his own nature and his need of a wide reading public that would also be a generous patron. An understanding of Stevenson's case may, moreover, throw some light upon the problem of the relation between writer and public today. Stevenson began to write at a time when for a half-century the English reading public had been increasing in numbers at an extraordinary rate. The spread of literacy and the increase in the solid middle classes had since early in the century made the


Data selection is an integral part of information visualization. It almost universally incorporates Boolean logic in some way, despite the known difficulties of Boolean concepts for users. As a result many different visual interfaces have been proposed for specifying or displaying Boolean queries. In general they are tested experimentally, and though the results are usually promising, they normally show only that one interface is better or worse than another, but not why this is so.
 This paper describes a new experimental methodology for evaluating query interfaces, which uses stimulus onset asynchrony to separate different aspects of query comprehension. We used it to evaluate a new visual query interface based on Karnaugh maps and discovered that there are two qualitatively different approaches to comprehension, deductive and inductive. The Karnaugh map representation scales extremely well with query complexity, and the experiments show that its good scaling properties occur because it strongly facilitates inductive comprehension.


Silica from rice husk ash was immobilized with sulfamic acid to form strong solid acid catalyst labeled as RHANS (RH = Rice Husk). The spectroscopic evidence confirms that the sulfamic acid was heterogenized onto silica. The XPS with the elemental analysis shows the presence of C, N, S, O, and Si onto RHANS. The FT-IR spectra supported both XPS and elemental analysis via showing the presence of NH2, SO2, CH2, and Si-O-Si functional groups which include the elements showing by XPS and elemental analysis. The RHANS had 139 m2 g−1 as a specific surface area with thermal stability reached to 252°C according to the TGA. The AFM, TEM and SEM showed that the RHANS had nano shape. The RHANS was efficient catalyst for cellulose hydrolysis to glucose. Approximately 96% of glucose was formed with in 2 h at 140°C over RHANS. The repeatable catalyst was stable during the cellulose hydrolysis without a significant loss of its catalytic activity.


We read with great interest the article by Paavo et al. entitled ''Intraretinal correlates of reticular pseudodrusen revealed by autofluorescence and en face OCT.'' We congratulate the authors for the excellent multimodal imaging description of reticular pseudodrusen (RPD) and the correlation between each imaging technique. We agree that RPD could be the result of a degenerative process of the RPE and photoreceptor layer. The authors supported this theory with the reduced melanin signal observed on near-infrared fundus autofluorescence (NIRAF), the reduced reflectivity detected on en face optical coherence tomography (OCT) images, and reduced autofluorescence on short wavelength autofluorescence (SW-AF) corresponding to the sites of RPD. On the other hand, the authors reported that bright spots were detectable within some darkened foci of NIR-AF, SW-AF, and near-infrared reflectance (IR-R) images, resulting in the ''target lesion'' aspect. Querques et al. first described the ''target aspect'' of RPD at IR-R and SW-AF matching on spectral domain OCT a well-defined round or triangular hyperreflective lesion localized between RPE and the external limiting membrane or outer plexiform layer Querques G, et al. IOVS 2010;51:ARVO E-Abstract 2265). According to the description of Querques et al., looking at the original images by Paavo et al., indeed these bright spots seem to be present in most RPD cases as isoautofluorescent or hyperautofluorescent spots inside hypoautofluorescent foci, rather than in ''some'' cases as the authors reported (Fig.). Querques et al. suggested that RPE deposits may be constituted at least in part by extracellular lipofuscin-like material, which accumulates either primarily or secondarily to a dysfunctional RPE. However, besides the prevalence of these bright spots in RPD, the authors failed to discuss this important imaging characteristic and did not explain how their theory about RPE and photoreceptor layer degeneration could support this finding.


For precision applications, where ruggedness is required, it is necessary to mount AT-cut resonators at four points. This note considers mounts consisting of pairs of diametric edge attachments. A locus is found for the angles of attachment to circular plates such that radially directed edge forces are compensated. One locus point is found to be particularly frequency insensitive to mounting errors and defines the optimal setting for the four-point mount.


A quantitative structural model, based on x-ray diffraction, is provided to analyze quadruple-period atomic ordering along [110] in a GaAs0.87Sb0.13 alloy grown on a (001) GaAs substrate by molecular beam epitaxy. To minimize the local strain energy derived by a valence force field (VFF) model for the alloy, atomic displacements were deduced and incorporated in our model. Calculation of the scattering pattern based on the model agrees well with experiment. We propose that this ordering originates from a (2X4) surface reconstruction and the difference in properties of the atomic species.


Despite the government"s efforts to diffuse long-life housing, few cases apply various technologies required in Long-life Housing Certification System. The negative attitude of construction companies in adopting long-life housing is mainly caused by their concerns of cost increase and low profit. In this study, the long-life housing technologies with high flexibility and repair-easiness such as lightweight wall and ceiling system, wall-mount plumbing in bathroom are employed, and the construction costs are estimated accordingly. Then, the realistic level of costs of long-life housing is evaluated by comparing them with the costs of similar apartment with normal plan and construction methods. The results of this study to review the marketability of long-life housing from the aspect of cost are expected to be utilized as useful material in supporting decision-making of technology application and developing institutional supplementation.


Background. The aim of the study was to assess and prove that Tai Chi, as a form of physical activity, is an effective form of Physioprophylaxis in the aspect of physical and mental health.
Material and methods. A total of 64 people were examined. The study group was composed of 32 persons training Tai Chi Chuan for at least 5 years, aged 35- 70 years (the mean age of the participants was 49.9 years). The control group included 32 people who did not train Tai Chi, aged 27-70 years, occupationally active and physically fit (the mean age = 51.59 years). The tests applied included the General Self-Efficiency Scale (GSES) and the Unipedal Stance Test (UPST) performed with closed and open eyes. The tests were conducted in the group of participants training Tai Chi Chuan and the reference group of participants who did not train Tai Chi Chuan. Statistical analysis of the obtained results included calculation of Pearson correlation coefficient and student's T-test.
Results. The results indicate that Tai Chi significantly improve body balance, p<0,01. Besides, it helps maintaining balance at a constant level or even improving body balance, especially in older population. The results obtained by the vast majority of participants from both groups indicate high levels of generalized self-efficacy related to pro-health behaviors.
Conclusions. The results let us conclude that Tai Chi Chuan is an effective form of Physio-prophylaxis. Improves the balance of the body at any age and it strengthens psychophysical health.


Traffic flow modelling is the most significant component undertaken by the static and dynamic network loading models in the traffic assignment. In particular, dynamic network loading models represent the fundamental element in estimating the dynamic interaction between demand and supply in oversaturation conditions. In this context, when traffic conditions get worse, queue spillback evaluation is necessary to prevent gridlocks and excessive delays. To this aim, this paper proposes a novel dynamic spillback model based on a mesoscopic network loading model using the Greenshields speed-density relationship. We introduce a link-based model where the dynamic spillback of the queue is explicitly simulated. The proposed model is applied to a simple network for easily assessing the spillback impact. Moreover, a comparison with a commercial traffic simulator is provided to highlight the effectiveness of the proposed model in oversaturation conditions.


The process of urbanization irreversibly changes the flow regime of urban streams in the semi-arid Denver, Colorado area. With an annual average precipitation of 35.6 centimeters (14 inches) many streams that were ephemeral develop a base flow and a decreased time to peak flow after urbanization. A common result is for those streams with a longitudinal slope greater than 0.5 percent to develop a narrow trickle channel to carry the base flow and small runoff events. Over the long term, such trickle channels incur the cumulative erosion impacts from the runoff in the urbanized basin. The subsequent trickle channel entrenchment and erosion leave an unattractive and unsafe channel cross-section. These eroded urban channels must be rehabilitated or they will continue to degrade and potentially meander outside the confines of their narrow metropolitan corridors. This paper will present techniques used in recent stream restoration projects that reclaimed eroded urban channels and provided corridor and aquatic enhancements for the community.


This paper reports on a common practice in Monte Carlo radiation transport codes which is to start each random walk a specified number of steps up the random number sequence from the previous one. This is called the stride in the random number sequence between source particles. It is used for correlated sampling or to provide tree-structured random numbers. A new random number generator algorithm for the major Monte Carlo code MCNP has been written to allow adjustment of the random number stride. This random number generator is machine portable. The effects of varying the stride for several sample problems are examined.


The aim of our study is to determine the histo-topographic and morphometric features of the structural components of the mucous membrane of the human frontal sinus on different walls. Materials and methods: to achieve the goal, we used a set of methods for morphological studies including the method of serial semi-thin sections, histochemical studies, and the morphometric method. The thickest mucous membrane on the lower wall has an average epithelium thickness of 51.45±1.59 μm on the left and 50.78±1.64 μm on the right. On the left, the lamina propria thickness is 42.49±5.34 μm, and on the right, it is 43.03±2.22 μm. The submucosal base has a thickness of 423.67±21.33 μm on the left and 426.45±16.77 μm on the right, which is four times higher than the average thickness of the back wall and septum (p<0.05). The average diameter of the lumen of the resistive and capacitive links of the hemomicrocirculatory channel is the largest in the mucous membrane of the front wall of the human frontal sinus (respectively, 11.16±0.37 μm on the left and 11.34±0.31 μm on the right (p<0.05); 7, 63±0.08 μm on the left and 7.57±0.09 μm on the right), the smallest is in the mucous membrane of the back wall (respectively, 6.96±0.19 μm on the left and 6.56±0.35 μm on the right; 8.82±0.16 μm on the left and 9.02±0.43 μm on the right (p<0.05)). Exchangeable hemomicrovessels with the smallest diameter had a measurement of 3.89±0.08 μm on the left and 4.19±0.02 μm on the right (р<0.05) within the specified area. The study revealed the largest capillaries in the mucosal lining of the lower wall, which measured 4.88±0.07 μm on the left and 4.73±0.12 μm on the right (p<0.05). Furthermore, complex alveolar-tubular glands were evident in the submucosal base of the mucosal lining in all walls of the designated sinus. It has been found that the glands on the lower wall have the largest diameter of the terminal sections, whereas those on the septum have the smallest. On the left, the glands on the lower wall have a diameter of 30.42±2.36 μm, while those on the septum have a diameter of 25.42±1.68 μm. On the right, the corresponding measurements are 31.01±1.34 μm and 25.89±1.38 μm (p<0.05). In conclusion, this study highlights the distinct differences in gland diameter and type among different sections of the organ. The glands on the front and back comprised a mixture of protein and mucous types, while two types were identified on the lower wall and septum. The statistical processing of the obtained histo-topographic, histological, histochemical, and morphometric data significantly enhances the comprehension of the microscopic structure of the mucous membrane in the frontal sinus. These findings can be important in modern morphology and otorhinolaryngology.


In this paper, on the basis of end-to-end principle, we propose a mobility management scheme to solve the NAT issue. Furthermore, since different communication technologies own different characteristics, during a vertical handoff, a well-behaved mobility management system should adapt an ongoing connection to different communication systems. In this paper, we also propose a handoff-aware TCP adaptation scheme, called CWND-restore. To verify the feasibility of our approach, we implement a prototype system on Linux. The experimental results show that our mobility management scheme can work under various mobility cases. Furthermore, our proposed CWND-restore scheme can offer higher TCP throughput during a vertical handoff. For example, the TCP throughput by proposed adaptation scheme is at most 2.3 times the original TCP


Abstract In this study, we first sequenced and described the complete mitochondrial genome and phylogeny of Psittacula alexandri. The whole genome of P. alexandri was 16,883 bp in length, and contained 14 protein-coding genes, 22 transfer RNA genes, 2 ribosome RNA genes, and 1 non-coding control regions. The overall base composition of the mitochondrial DNA was 30.87% for A, 22.36% for T, 32.82% for C, and 13.95% for G, with a GC content of 46.77%. A phylogenetic tree strongly supported that P. alexandri closely related with Eclectus roratus by highly probability.


By analytic hierarchy process(AHP),we established the mathematics model for division of adaptability for GWHP in ShiHezi,obtained a distribution map of adaptability for GWHP,with the result that one block of forbidden subarea,two blocks of suitable subarea and one block of tolerable subarea,evaluated adaptability for the distributions.This evaluating result provides references for the related designer and administration in planning the range of GWHP use in this city.


The Internet of Vehicles (IoV) is undoubtedly at the core of the future of intelligent transportation. It will prevail over the road ecosystem, and it will have a huge impact on our lives throughout the provision of seamless connectivity among diverse transportation means. For the network to operate efficiently, the data needs to be quickly spread throughout the network, which requires low computational and bandwidth overheads. However, the dynamics of vehicular environments due to frequent node mobility poses many challenges to realize efficient data dissemination. This work addresses this type of problem by proposing a novel clustering algorithm at the edge of the network and an efficient message routing approach, which is known as Group'n Route (GnR). Both mechanisms resort to machine learning and graph metrics that reflect the social relationships between the nodes. Our performance evaluation reveals that the clustering algorithm yields stable results with varying road scenarios, which are becoming an advisable approach in the presence of mobile IoV nodes. Also, the designed routing protocol achieves two orders of magnitude smaller overhead and almost double the delivery rate when it is compared to traditional routing protocols, which thereby justify that the combination of our two proposed clustering and routing methods are a plausible alternative to support IoV communications in real-world setups.


It has been asserted that temporal subband coding (TSB) is inferior to predictive coding for regionally motion compensated (e.g. block-based MC) temporally scalable compressed video. There are two major disadvantages of TSB coding: temporal filtering distortions, and 'open-loop' predictive coding of covered and uncovered regions. The 'open-loop' structure of TSB coding, however, affords two major advantages not enjoyed by MCP coding: simple optimal bit-allocation, non-existence of quantization error feedback. A new adaptive temporal subband (TSB) motion compensated predictive (MCP) coder is proposed. Hierarchical variable-sized block-matched regions with low predictive error are TSB coded, while poorly predicted regions are 'open-loop' MCP coded. Simulation results demonstrate that the adaptive coder substantially improves the temporal scalability of TSB coding, retains an advantageous 'open-loop' structure and provides comparable or superior PSNR to both MCP and TSB coding at MPEG-1 quality bitrates.


This is a study of the first means of visitor lodging (common traveler) and their referential role in the physical-spatial equipment and formation, resulting from the hospitality in the hinterlands of Portuguese America. In this exploratory research paper we seek to present conceptual values of early forms of hospitality in the South American continent. Thus, a bibliographic survey about how the bandeirista residence, the trip, the visitation and the lodgings are treated in the 16th and 17th century. The research extends to other possibilities of proto-commercial lodging available to the visitor, directing a look at the confrontation with the formation of urban centers established in the Captaincies of São Vicente and Santo Amaro (initial area of the modern-day state of São Paulo). However, the reference of these possibilities scarcely contributes to the proposed questions. In this way, in contrast to the bibliographic database, the spatial division schemes of buildings are used to perform a specific study based on references to the History of Brazilian Architecture. Therefore, part of the bandeirante's house is recognized as an independent lodging space. Thus, the goal is to punctuate this possibility of lodging in the early colonial period, still hardly mentioned in the Brazilian literature. Moreover, there is a panorama regarding the topic.


This section focuses on activities that promote and help strengthen sexually abused youth's belief in their right to lead a positive, independent and safe future.


This research studies on VUV/O<inf>3</inf>-treated aromatic polyurea film from near-edge X-ray absorption fine structure (NEXAFS) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) spectra. These spectra indicate that the benzene ring was cleaved after the treatment, and carboxyl and hydroxyl groups were formed at the cleaved sites. The VUV/O<inf>3</inf>-treated polyurea was applied to polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) microchip for microchip electrophoresis (MCE) of bovine serum albumin (BSA). Fast electroosmotic mobility of 4.6×10−4 cm2V−1s−1 was realized as well as reduction of the BSA adhesion. This functional surface is useful for high speed MCE analysis.


The ABC approach to the estimation of thermodynamic and physical properties of organic compounds is based on the contributions of Atoms and Bonds in the properties of Conjugate forms of a molecular structure. The method has successfully been applied to the estimation of properties of acyclic hydrocarbons. The approach is extended to the estimation of thermodynamic and physical properties of acyclic organic compounds which may contain nitrogen, oxygen, or sulfur. The estimated properties are standard enthalpy of formation, normal boiling point, standard enthalpy of vaporization, critical pressure, critical temperature, and critical volume. The ABC technique is more accurate than a typical group-contribution approach


The restoration, the protection, or the creation of earthen buildings require improving the mechanical strength of the material. The first way to do that is to use inorganic additives, but these additives change the structural properties of earth and have a high carbon footprint. In contrast, the other way to consolidate is the use of organic additives such as vegetal derivatives that rearrange the minerals in the earth, with the lowest carbon footprint as they are from waste management. After preliminary tests with ten different organic additives from traditional recipes, we found that wheat starch improves the earth strength up to 50 %. In this study, we related the mechanical strengthening to the physicochemical interactions between clays and starch. We focus on three clays that represent the three main groups of clays: kaolinite, illite and montmorillonite. For this study, we mainly focused on compressive test and rheological tests. We showed that the improvement of the mechanical strength with starch is depending on clay nature and their chemistry. Then, we can recommend formulations based on the earth nature for new sustainable buildings. Furthermore, we can understand why it was an interesting way to use starch as a strengthening agent in traditional recipes and how it could be used to repair and protect buildings made of earthen material.


Journal of Industrial Ecology 3 In the growing adoption and success of design for environment (DfE), at least as it has been applied to consumer products, some of the ambiguities so evident in the everyday use of the term "design" are exacerbated. Most of the productfocused strategies for eco-design are essentially technical or about the organization of materials (e.g., reduce material use; reduce the range of materials, reduce energy, water, or resource consumption, etc.). This reinforces the idea that "design" is principally concerned with technical and material functions. As the system boundaries for DfE have expanded to address the entire chain of production, consumption, and end-of-life, it seems that design is even more focused on technical and logistic issues. The reduction in environmental load that can be achieved by eco-design or systems engineering is limited by the technical efficiency that can be achieved by altering production, products, system logistics, and material or component reuse. It is also limited by market growth due to economic development and population expansion, as well as by rebound effects. As a result, the focus of DfE and of industrial ecology needs to move toward defining and creating alternative systems of production and consumption that have significantly lower environmental impacts. Can this process of "defining and creating" new systems benefit from being approached from a design perspective? When one reviews recent research on a potentially important approach to the transformation of current systems of production and consumption—the awkwardly named product service systems (PSS) approach—the value of taking a design perspective is really apparent. So is the importance of understanding that there is more to design than technology, function, and logistics. In trying to identify scenarios for future sustainable production and consumption, particularly as a basis for guiding research and policy development, interest has shifted to the consumption side of the equation. A joint report commissioned by the Ministry of the Environment and the Ministry of Economic Affairs in the Netherlands in 1999— Product Service Systems; Ecological and Economic Basics (PSSEEB)—states the following in its rationale (Goedkoop 1999):


Based on the simulation calculation and theory analysis, a new solar rotary solid adsorption refrigeration system has been designed to obtain high performance, which adopted activated carbon fibre and ethanol as its adsorption pair. The principle of the refrigeration cycle, different components of the machine, the selection of working pair and the theoretical feasibility analysis of the refrigeration system are discussed in detail. It shows that the new refrigerator has many great advantages including the simple structure, fast refrigeration, higher coefficient of performance (COP), friendly to the atmospheric environment, etc. This paper aims to present the constant refrigerating process, which has a promising potential and is superior to the intermittent cycle reported before. Through increasing the utilization efficiency of the low-temperature heat resource such as solar heat and waste heat, the refrigeration cycle has been advanced to improve the heat and mass transfer performance of the refrigerant in the adsorbent bed. The rotary ripple board adsorbent bed, which is made of activated carbon fibre, is the key part of this rotary solid adsorption refrigerator driven by solar energy. Based on the design of the heat and mass transfer intensifying, the mass transfer process during the course of adsorption and desorption is improved due to an increase in the adsorption rate. The implications of the process are discussed in detail.


Absract: Research on spatial propagation rules of sudden congestion is a significant foundation of traffic management, control and route guidance. In this paper, traffic data in field is used as study object. After the recognition of long term trend and current event, an improved SDM (Spatial Durbin Model) of current event is proposed, on the base of which a traffic congestion propagation analysis method is also derived. Effectiveness verification of the proposed method is embodied in the case studies of the road network of Beijing. The case studies imply that, after removing the influence of long term trend, the proposed SDM of current event can reflect the space propagation structure of traffic event more accurately. While the spatial influence of traffic event reach the maximum in road networks with the average density of 22 pcu/km(14:00). Therefore, closer supervision and control against the key nodes and critical-density status of road network is needed.


BACKGROUND: To assess the p53 expression in squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of the lip. METHODS: Immunohystochemical study for samples fixed in formaline and paraphin in bloc stained with anti-p53 antibodies through Streptavidina-Biotina-Peroxidase. For statistical analysis the Fisher Test was employed for group differences (p<0.10). RESULTS: The p53 expression were positive in 87.50% of well differentiated SCC, 60.0% of moderately differentiated tumors, 91.67% of poorly differentiated; for surgical margins, 94.23% were negative and 5.77% positive, with an association between differentiation degree and p53 expression (p=0.05). CONCLUSION: The p53 expression was significant in SCC of the lip and negative for surgical margins, but it is not determinant of changing in surgical paradigm.


Today, many people in the West believe they see in migration an external threat to their cultures and societies no less significant than the Islamic invasions that were stopped at the gates of Vienna in 1529 and 1683. The British have sought to protelct themselves from the contemporary challenge by legislating an enld to the "open house" ideal of their imperial heyday; with its concentration of alien dress, smells, language, and norms of behavior, an area like South-all has become a symbol of danger to national tradition. In France, the presence of a Muslim North African minority has stimulated a more extreme than usual defense of a presumably endangered French civilization, reflected in increasing votes for right-wing candidates wielding racist rhetoric. The easy inclusion of Algeria, Indochina, and Tunisia into "un terre Français" is the distant memory of an idealistic and apparently naive past. In Germany, the euphoria over unification has been succeeded by fears of population movements from the east that might create an intolerable economic, social, and cultural burden.


This paper applies the concepts of information processing [S. Sinanovic et al., Jun. 2002] to the study of binary detectors and block decoders in a single user digital communication system. We quantify performance in terms of the information transfer ratio /spl gamma/ which measures how well systems preserve discrimination information between two stochastic signals. We investigate hard decision detectors and minimum distance decoders in various additive noise environments. We show that likelihood ratio digital demodulators maximize /spl gamma/.


The adult Silurus meridionalis were employed with body weight 1000-4000 g and body length 42-73 cm. Under light microscope, the pancreas is covered by a layer of obvious membrane, thickness 5-22 #mu#m. Abundant connective tissue fibers extend to the pancreas, making the pancreatic alveoli much notable; the cells of Langerhans^ island are divided into three types, which are types I, II and IV with the nucleus diameters of 4.2, 5.0 and 5.3 #mu#m, respectively, and colors of red, orange and light blue. Under electron microscope, the cell of Langerhans^ island shows awl-shaped and the cell has a big and significant nucleous with extraordinarily developed rough endo-plasmic reticulum (RER), mitochondria and ribosome and has plentiful zymogen granules. The cells of the Langerhans^ island connect each other densely, but the dividing lines between the cells are obvious, and the junctional complex, centroacinar cells and fibroblast are much clear.


the many ways in which Persian culture has influenced Persia's neighbours, and become a legacy to the whole world '. Some of the contributors have, broadly speaking, confined themselves within these limits, others, partly no doubt because of their subjectmatter, have attempted rather to describe certain aspects of Persian culture without special reference to its effect on the outside world. The result is a somewhat incomplete picture, lacking in cohesion. The individual essays are, however, on the whole readable and informative, and although the work is presumably designed in the first instance for the general reader, it will nevertheless be of interest to the specialist also. The difference in the nature of the legacy of pre-Islamic Persia and Islamic Persia clearly emerges from these essays, as also the difficulty which faced the writers concerned with the medieval Islamic period, namely the difficulty of distinguishing between those elements which are Persian and those which are more broadly speaking Islamic. Prof. Talbot Rice shows that in spite of frequent military campaigns the cultural exchanges between Sasanian Persia and the Byzantine Empire were considerable. The historical development of Islamic Persian art and the techniques of the potters, metalworkers, painters, textile workers, and carpet weavers are described in various chapters, as also is the Persian influence on Indian art and architecture. Prof. Arberry, in a chapter on Persian literature, notes the importance of the Persian language and literature as the vehicle for the transmission of the Persian nationalist tradition and seeks to analyse the spirit which is expressed in her poetry. The chapter entitled ' The Royame of Perse ' describes the popular English conception of Persia and shows how ' an enchanted Orient moved gradually into the Englishman's vision about the 13th century', gradually to be filled out and modified by the reports of travellersand -the work of scholars. In the table, of dates at the end of the book the statement is made that Persia became a republic in 1924. No such step was, in fact, taken, although there had been some preliminary canvassing for the establishment of a republic.


The Sunn pest, E. intergriceps, the bird cherry-oat aphid, Rhopalosiphum padi, and wheat thrips, H. tritici are the major pests of wheat and other cereals in a wide area of the world. All these three insect species could produce damage to the wheat, to some extent. So the aim of the current study was to determine the α and β-Galactosidase of the three mentioned insect pests. Thus, these insects were collected from the wheat farm and their guts (the Sunn pest and the aphid) were removed. However, regarding the thrips, because of the small body, whole body used in order to extract the enzymes. The enzymes, including α and β-galactosidase activity were measured by the hydrolysis of p-nitrophenylα-D-galactopyranoside (pNPαGal) and p-nitrophenyl-β-D-galactopyranoside (pNPβGal), respectively using phosphate citrate buffer (pH5.0). Galactosidases were active in all three insect species tested. However, there were significant differences in activities of the two enzymes tested. The greatest activities of the two enzymes, αand βgalactosidases, were found in the Sunn pest, Eurygaster integriceps, and the least activities of the two tested enzymes, αand βgalactosidases, were found in the aphid, Rhopalosiphum padi. Activities of the enzyme were modest in the thrips, Haplothrips tritici. The greatest amount of αand βgalactosidases in the Sunn pest makes sense since the Sunn pest is the main pest in the wheat farm that can feed on wheat grains. In the wheat grains, the highest amount of glycoproteins and glycolipids are present. Thus, it has been known that these enzymes (αand βgalactosidases) are active on digestion of glycoproteins and glycolipids.


This report presents the results of a study to test a new method for developing descriptions of hard-to-price products. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) is responsible for collecting data to estimate price indices such as the Consumers Price Index (BLS) is responsible for collecting data to estimate price indices such as the Consumers Price Index (CPI). BLS accomplishes this task by sending field staff to places of business to price actual products. The field staff are given product checklists to help them determine whether products found today are comparable to products priced the previous month. Prices for non-comparable products are not included in the current month's price index calculations. A serious problem facing BLS is developing product checklists for dynamic product areas, new industries, and the service sector. It is difficult to keep checklists up-to-date and quite often simply to develop checklists for service industry products. Some people estimates that upwards of 50 % of US economic activity is not accounted for in the CPI


— In this paper, two phase sampling exponential type estimators for ratio and product of two population means in the presence of non-response have been proposed and the expressions for the mean suare error of the proposed estimators for ratio and product of two population means in case of fixed sample sizes and also in case of fixed cost, are obtained. The expressions for optimum values of sample sizes are obtained in case of fixed cost and also in case of specified variance. The proposed estimators have been found to be more efficient than the relevant estimators for the fixed values of sample sizes, under the specified conditions. The proposed estimators are also more efficient than the relevant estimators in case of the fixed cost and have less total cost in comparison to the cost incurred in case of relevant estimators for the specified variance. Empirical studies have been given in support of the problem under investigation.


Fault-based testing is a technique where testers anticipate errors in a system under test in order to assess or generate test cases. The idea is to have enough test cases capable of detecting these anticipated errors. This work presents a method of fault-based test case generation for preand postcondition specifications. Here, errors are anticipated on the specification level by mutating the preand postconditions. We present the underlying theory by giving test cases a formal semantics and translate this general testing theory to a constraint satisfaction problem. A prototype test case generator serves to demonstrate the automatization of the method. It works on OCL specifications. Percy A. Pari Salas is a Fellow at UNU/IIST on leave from San Pablo Catholic University, Arequipa Peru, where he is a lecturer in Informatics Engineering. His current research interests include software testing, specially mutation analysis, formal development methods and formal specification languages. His email address is firstname.lastname@example.com. Bernhard K. Aichernig is a Research Fellow at UNU/IIST. He is also an assistant professor at the Institute for Software Technology at the Graz University of Technology in Austria. His research interests include the synergies of testing and formal development methods, techniques of refinement, and requirements engineering supported by formal specification languages. His email address is firstname.lastname@example.com. Copyright c © 2005 by UNU-IIST, Percy Antonio Pari Salas and Bernhard K. Aichernig


Epidemiological surveillance is essential for the process of development and evaluation of immunization programs. Priority ranking of elements of an immunization program is aided by knowledge of what diseases seriously affect population health. Examples are given of how certain vaccines including polio measles tetanus and others were deployed according to patterns established after epidemiologic studies. Disease surveillance is also effective in the assessment of the effectiveness of immunization programs. Objectives of sentinel surveillance should consist of monitoring program impact supplementing a routine system and collecting information on factors such as vaccination and socioeconomic status and the outcome of disease. Criteria for sentinel site selection may include a vaccination program area or for a country survey a selection of sites with accurate estimates of catchment populations. Field evaluation of vaccines through disease surveillance is possible: vaccine efficacy may be calculated mathematically from attack rates in immunized and unimmunized populations. Program effectiveness may also be judged using hospital admissions or discharge data as demonstrated in a Jakarta Indonesia study in which declines in incidence in 2 diseases demonstrated a starting program impact. An incidence of tetanus neonatorum higher than that of childhood tetanus reflects that immunization of pregnant women began only recently. The effects of immunization programs for children of specified age groups appear when <5 year and 5-15 year age groups are separated out showing parallel declines for diphtheria but a lagging decline in the 5-15 group for tetanus. Cases in the <5 group show rates of 50%-60% of total cases for diphtheria and 30%-40% for childhood tetanus. Measles data show a peak every other year. Tuberculosis incidence has not changed greatly but childhood diseases are in decline showing the impact of immunization.


Introduction: Relapse remains the main cause of failure of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) in acute leukemia. NK cells have the property of killing leukemia cells without GVHD aggravation theoretically. Moreover, in some cases, leukemia cells may lost HLA-I and/HLA-II antigens which would result in poor response to the immunotherapy except NK-based adoptive effectors. Objective: In present study, the safety and efficacy of donor-derived ex-vivo activated NK cells in management of relapse after allogeneic HSCT in high-risk acute leukemia were examined. Patients and methods: Between July 2012 and July 2014, 29 patients with acute leukemia who received NK cell infusion after HSCT were analyzed retrospectively. Some cases failed to chemotherapy combined with donor lymphocyte infusion (DLI) before NK cell therapy. The diagnosis were ALL (10 cases), AML (18 cases) and mixed acute leukemia (1 case). All patients were high-risk leukemia. The disease status before transplant was CR1 in 8 cases, CR2 in 7, CR3 in 1 and non-remission in 13. The types of donor included identical sibling (5 cases), haploientical family member (21 cases) and unrelated donor (3 cases). The conditioning and GVHD prophylactic regimens were reported previously (Lu DP et al., Blood 2006; 107:3065). Minimal residual disease (MRD) was detected by either quantitative RT-PCR for fusion genes or flow cytometry or both. The expression of HLA-I and HLA-II antigens in leukemia cells was evaluated by flow cytometry. Donor-derived either peripheral blood stem cells or lymphocytes were cultured for 6 days using original culture system (AIM-V medium with IL-2, IL-12, IL-15 and IL-21) or modified culture system (SCGM medium with IL-2, IL-12, IL-15, IL-18 and IL-21). Escalated dosage of NK cells were infused starting with 1×10 5 cells/kg (recipient's body weight) with or without IL-2 injection. Nine patients were in prevention group and 20 cases were in treatment group. The patients with hematologic relapse received NK cells 3 days later after chemotherapy. Results: Compared with our original culture system, the modified culture system enhanced approximately 10% to 20% of the purity and 4 to 8 fold in number of NK cells by day 6. Furthermore, our modified culture system elevated the expression of function phenotype including TRAIL, NKG2D and CD62L on NK cells in approximately 8 to 10 folds at day 6 and simultaneously stimulated higher level of IFN-γ. One to 4 NK cell infusions were given in each case with two week interval. Two of 29 cases developed mild skin GVHD. No transfusion-related side effects were noted. In prevention group, four of 9 cases remain complete remission, and the other 5 patients became MRD positive or relapse. In treatment group, seven of 20 cases have response to NK cell therapy, and two out of 7 cases who response to NK cells had failed to chemotherapy plus DLI before. Among 11 patients who had response to NK cells, eight of them are AML, and the remaining 3 patients are ALL. Higher response rate (10/23 cases) was seen with NK cell therapy by our modified culture system compared with the one (1/6 cases) by our original culture system. Conclusions: Our preliminary results have demonstrated that donor-derived ex-vivo activated NK cells are safe and effective modality in the management of relapse after allogeneic HSCT in high-risk acute leukemia even failed to chemotherapy combined with DLI. Optimal culture system has improved not only NK cell's purity, number and function phenotype but also clinical efficacy. Disclosures No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.


Objective: To study the mechanism of miR-142-5p's promotion of the function and mineralization of osteoblasts by down-regulating the expression of WWP1 gene. Methods:a fracture model of wild-type SPF mice was established, and the expression of miR-142-5p in callus tissues of mice was detected by real-time quantitative PCR. The osteoblastic cell line SV40 was cultured in vitro. The SV40 cells were treated with agonistmiR142-5p, agonist control, antagonist-miR-142-5p and antagonist control reagents. miR-142-5pacquired and miR-142-5p-deficientSV40 cell modelswere constructed, and a blank control group was established. miR-142-5p was transfected respectively, and its effects on ALP mRNA, OC mRNA, matrix mineralization and mRNA and protein of the target gene WWP1 were analyzed. Result:The levels of miR-142-5p in callus tissues on 7, 14, 21 and 28d were detected after modeling by quantitative PCR in real time and the results showed that miR-142-5p expression was significantly enabled during fracture healing, peaked at 21d after modeling, and marginally decreased at 28d. In the agonist miR-142-5p group, the levels of ALP mRNA, OC mRNA, and alizarin red S (ARS) were meaningfully higher than in the agonist control group, and The levels in the antagonist-miR-142-5p group for ALP mRNA, OC mRNA and ARS quantification were substantially lower than those in the antagonist control group. There was no substantial difference in WWP1 mRNA expression among four groups, the expression of WWP1 protein in the agonist miR-142-5p group was significantly lower than in the agonist control group; the expression of WWP1 protein in the antagonist-miR-142-5p group was meaningfully higher than in the antagonist control group. Conclusion: the activation of the expression of miR-142-5p in callus tissues during fracture healing is closely related to the activity of osteoblasts, and supports the function and mineralization of osteoblasts. The mechanism may be related to miR-142-5p's downregulation of EEP1 gene at the post-transcriptional level.l


This paper describes an efficient method for multi-robot simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM), which establishes a joint model of multi-robot pose graphs based on several special inner and outer loop points called conjunction points. An optimization algorithm based on the fusion of pose graphs is proposed. The rapid fusion of multiple local sub graphs is realized by using the robot encounter information, thus solving the problem of indeterminate positional relationship of the robot and realizing the optimization of the global map.


locating the uniquely British rôle within it, the volume as a whole serves the international fellowship of Cretan scholarship well, not least in Rachel and Sinclair Hood's tribute to artists and craftsmen; in a number of cases, however, the answer to Peatμeld's μrst question proves rather more elusive. It is a book for all who have an a¶ection for, and an interest in, Crete: the former will μnd reward in the familiarity of the μrst section, the latter will μnd constant stimulation in the second section's account of the current state of investigation. It is content to highlight the controversies, such as the rôle of the Thera volcano in the Minoan destructions and the debate over the higher and lower dating of the Thera event, but does not seek to resolve them: 'one can but present both opinions and let the reader decide' (p. 125). Inevitably there is at times overlap between the two sections of the book; but, as a whole, it is a splendid celebration of a quite extraordinary century of achievement, and of a quite extraordinary group of scholars, many of whom peer out from the often grainy black-and-white photographs which so richly enhance it.


Abstract Taiwan's average annual rainfall is high compared to other countries around the world; however, it is considered a country with great demand for water resources. Rainfall along with alternate wetting and drying irrigation is proposed to minimize water demand and maximize water productivity for lowland paddy rice cultivation in southern Taiwan. A field experiment was conducted to determine the most suitable ponded water depth for enhancing water saving in paddy rice irrigation. Different ponded water depths treatments (T2 cm, T3 cm, T4 cm and T5 cm) were applied weekly from transplanting to early heading using a complete randomized block design with four replications. The highest rainwater productivity (2.07 kg/m3) was achieved in T5 cm and the lowest in T2 cm (1.62 kg/m3). The highest total water productivity, (0.75 kg/m3) and irrigation water productivity (1.40 kg/m3) was achieved in T2 cm. The total amount of water saved in T4 cm, T3 cm and T2 cm was 20, 40, and 60%, respectively. Weekly application of T4 cm ponded water depth from transplanting to heading produced the lowest yield reduction (1.57%) and grain production loss (0.06 kg) having no significant impact on yield loss compared to T5 cm. Thus, we assert that the weekly application of T4 cm along with rainfall produced the best results for reducing lowland paddy rice irrigation water use and matching the required crop water.


Embryonic stem cell (ES) based therapies have gained significant interest due to their limitless self-renewal capabilities and potential formation of all tissue types. There is specific interest in our laboratory to produce endothelial cells (EC) from ES cells. Differentiation parameters that have been adapted have focused on the role of the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). Recent studies and work done in our laboratory indicate that mouse ES cells, when grown on a collagen matrix, differentiate into EC progenitors as indicated by production of Flkl/sup +/ (VEGF-receptor) cells. We have a novel technique for culturing stable early primitive ectoderm like (EPL) cells, which are obligatory intermediates in differentiation pathways, and derived from ES cells. Mouse EPL cells were grown on a collagen matrix and Flkl expression was monitored over an 8-day time period. An early and increased production of Flkl/sup +/ cells when mouse ES cells are converted to EPL cells, was observed. When EPL cells were also exposes. to VEGF, endothelial tube structures started to form and networks of tubes were present after 4 days of VEGF in the culture medium. These results suggest that conversion of mouse ES cells to EPL cells could constitute an important step in the directed differentiation strategy towards EC's.


Disaster of cotton leaf curl virus disease (CLCuVD) is the severe restriction to cotton production wherever it appears, and this dilemma is under discussion by scientist since few decades and still no satisfactory control is obtained. Cotton leaf curl Virus (CLCuV) is a begomovirus belongs to family geminiviridae and transmitted by insect-vector Whitefly complex (Bemisia tabaci Gennadius and Bemisia argentifolii Bellows & Perring). In Pakistan, disease was first reported by scientist on stray plants in 1967 near Multan, Punjab. In 1992-93 disease epidemic cause yield decline from 9.05 million bales to 8.04 million bales cause severe losses to cotton production in Pakistan. During 1996-97 resistant cotton verities against CLCuV were introduced but since 2001 new strain Cotton Leaf Curl Burewala Virus (CLCuBuV) cause another epidemic by breaking resistance in all available verities. Excessive use of pesticides to control vector is the serious environmental threat, caused vector resistance, and are carcinogenic and neurotoxic to humans. This review is to cover the history, spread, major losses, Management, Molecular study of relation between host-pathogen and virus resistance strategies to reduce the use of pesticide.


Perhaps the most successful application of electrical resistivity techniques for delineating geothermal systems has been in the early exploration of the Taupo Volcanic Zone of New Zealand. Systematic mapping using the Schlumberger resistivity arrays with fixed spacings has identified 23 individual geothermal systems with welldefined boundaries. The remarkable success of the method in the Taupo Volcanic Zone is linked to the very thick (500+ metres) cover of young ( 1 Ma) which have undergone low-temperature diagenetic alteration to form highly conductive, connected clay paths within the rock matrix. The older, conductive ignimbrites are extensive and continuous around the edges of the TVZ where they are underlain by resistive basement rocks. Within the TVZ, structural investigations using magnetotelluric show these conductors to be present at depth beneath much of the area. We outline here both the history and the lessons of the past, in the hope that they will provide guidance for future geothermal explorations.


Based on a survey of 897 farming households in Shaanxi and Gansu provinces, our results show that while farming households had high demands for capital, 47.7% have experienced having their application for a Rural Credit Cooperative (RCC) loan denied because of their low income. Agricultural production and income are significantly influenced by weather risks, and agricultural income accounts for the majority of farming households' annual income, especially poorer households. Furthermore, in Gansu province, fluctuations in traditional crop yields and income caused by weather risks were higher than fluctuations in Shaanxi province. To improve the confidence of formal financial institutions to loan to farming households and to stabilize agricultural production and income, this research combined both formal financing and weather insurance to produce a new product, and analyzed the level of farming households' interest in this new product and its influence factors, 51.1% of the farming households were interested in this product. Overall, agricultural acreage and debt showed a negative influence on farming households' interest. Farming households in Gansu were more concerned with the distance between their village and the RCC office, while farming households in Shaanxi province stated that too long a RCC loan approval period reduced their interest in the product.


In situ chemical oxidation (ISCO) of petroleum hydrocarbons (PHCs) within groundwater is considered a proven approach to addressing PHC-impacted groundwater in nonsaline environments. One of the most common oxidants used for oxidation of PHCs in groundwater is hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). Due to its highly reactive nature, H2O2 is often stabilized to aid in increasing its reactivity lifespan. Limited research and application of ISCO has been completed in warm, saline groundwater environments. Furthermore, even fewer studies have been completed in these environments for ISCO using stabilized H2O2. In this research, stabilized H2O2 was examined to determine its effectiveness in the treatment of PHCs and the additive methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE). Three stabilizers (citrate, phytate, silica [SiO2]) were tested to determine if the stabilizers could enhance and extend the treatment life of H2O2 within saline groundwater. To determine the effect of salinity on the three stabilizers, groundwater and aquifer samples were collected from two saline locations that had different salinity (total dissolved solids of about 7,000 mg/L and 18,000 mg/L). Specific target chemicals for treatment were water soluble, mobile components of gasoline including benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, xylenes, (BTEX) and MTBE. Previous studies using unactivated persulfate indicated that the PHCs within the groundwater could be oxidized, however, only limited oxidation of the MTBE could be affected. The results of the laboratory tests indicated that greater than 95 percent of the target hydrocarbons were removed within 7 days of treatment. Microcosms with citrate-stabilized H2O2 demonstrated a significantly faster and greater decline with most hydrocarbon concentrations reaching   400 mg/L to   90 percent) being measured in the citrate-stabilized microcosms. Unfortunately, H2O2 oxidation in the microcosms also resulted in production of up to 40 mg/L TBA or approximately 10 percent of the MTBE oxidized.


The influence of five selective pesticides vrz., dichlorvos 0.01 %, neem seed kernel extract 5%, copper oxychloride 0.20%, dicofol 0.05% and diflubenzuron 200 ppm on the longevity and progeny production of citrus mealybug parasitoid, Leptomastix dactylopii How. (Encyrtidae, Hymenoptera) was stuided at 25 ± 2 °C and 60-75% RH. The results indicated that the mean longevity of both male and female parasitoids was adversely affected with all the pesticidal treatments. Maximum reduction in the longevity was observed with the adults exposed to dicofol and minimum effect was pronounced with copper oxychloride. Progeny production was also adversely affected by all the pesticidal treatments. Diflubenzuron treated adults yielded lower number of progenies, and the reduction in progeny production was minimum with copper oxychloride. It is concluded that these selective chemicals have to be avoided, when L. dactylopii is released in the field, since they affect the longevity and progeny production of the parasitoids.


The present invention relates to a method of preparing graphite paper, in particular a method for preparing ultrathin high toughness graphite paper is applied. Graphite flake treated with acid is processed into a graphite worms, after the desulfurization treatment, some material into the preparation apparatus graphite line 4, in the high pressure pump power effect, the orifice of the continuous ejection graphite line, these graphite lines are injected graphite paper and / or corresponding network in series or diagonal lines arranged on graphite graphite paper and the roll, the thickness of the respective further prepared by grinding graphite rolling roll 7, with the graphite paper and the roll cooperating movement, formed paper. This method of retention and thermal conductivity of the flexible graphite sheet; as graphite and graphite paper line with graphite, having good compatibility and ductility, to protect the integrity of the graphite sheet, the graphite line space surrounded by the mesh structure greatly improve the toughness of the graphite sheet, its thickness can be further reduced.


According to the Constrain Factor Particle Swarm Optimization, the relation of c1, which is the self confidence factor, c2, which is the swarm confidence factor, and w, which is inertia weight factor is obtained. This paper put forward a new algorithm called DCF-PSO, in which the factor c1 and c2 will automatically adjust with the nonlinear inertia weight decreasing of w. The Benchmark function test shows the excellent performance of DCF-PSO.


With the cotton field of Regiment 105, Division 6 of Production and Construction Corps of Xinjiang as the object of study, this paper uses remote sensing, geographic information system technology and statistical analysis software to analyze the correlation between 18 sets of spectral data and cotton plant height, with a view to exploring the characteristics of difference in image spectrum parameters and related indices under different cotton plant height. The results show that the correlation between spectral reflectance and plant height reaches a highly significant level in blue light, green light, red light and near infrared wavebands, and NDVI and LAI vegetation indices established using red light and near infrared wavebands are significantly and positively correlated with plant height.


A new method was proposed for the determination of maltol by differential pulse voltammetry on a GC electrode. In the NH 4 Cl- NH 3 buffer solution, maltol had an oxidative wave at the peak potential of 0.5~0.6 V and the peak current was linear with its concentration in the range of 1×10~ -5 ~6 ×10~ -4 mol/L. The detection limit was 4×10~ -6 mol/L and the relative standard deviation was 0.6%. The samples treated by ultrafilter can be determined directly and the proposed method is simple, easy to operation and has little interference.


The use of synthetic pesticides may present a danger to humans and the environment, to the point that the research of an alternative to these chemicals is necessary. The present study, aimed finding new natural molecules that may replace synthetic chemicals, looked at the effect of the ethanolic extract of B.grandiflora bark on eight seed-borne phytopathogenic fungi. The results of this study showed that C. lunata and C. dematium are the most sensitive to the ethanolic extract. This attests the presence of fungicidal or fungistatic substances in B. grandiflora bark. These results show that the ethanolic extract contains active molecules which, once fractionated, could constitute an alternative in the fight against phytopathogenic fungi. These preliminary results open up the possibility of using the bark of B. grandiflora for the production of a natural fungicide. Bioguided fractionation and phytotoxicity tests will identify the most active and non-toxic fractions which could be use in seed protection.


Violet Huerta, OTR, FAOTA, 101 Whitehorne Drive, Moraga, Calif ornia 94556, is in the private practice of educational consulting, is an instructor at St. Mary's College, Moraga, California, and is on the faculty of the Center for the Study of Sensory Integrative Disorders. THE SCENE can be any classroom, the students in any grade, but more likely in the elementary grades, since the assigned task when we look in is either spelling, handwriting, or creative writing. Around the feet of many of the students are books, notebooks, baseball gloves, and boxes containing special projects. They are strewn around, preventing the children's feet from being placed under them, so that their feet are flat on the floor. In-


Zeolite Y, as a solid acid catalyst with excellent performance, is a landmark in petroleum refining and chemical industry production–especially in catalytic cracking reactions. Improving the SAR of Y zeolite, enriching its pore structure, and modifying it with heteroatoms can realize the multifunctional catalysis of Y zeolite, improve the application value of it, and then meet the demands of petroleum refining. In this review, the synthesis of Y zeolites with high SAR, multistage pores, and heteroatom modification is summarized.


1. Considering adult-child relationships in research 2. The spaces and places of research relationships 3. Child and adults, participants and researchers: What do we make of eacher other? 4. A web of relationships: Encounters between researchers, educators, and children 5. The educator as researcher: Implications for research for relationships 6. Generating data, generating relationships: From observation to sensing practices 7. 'Civilising' children, confronting inequalities: Navigating narratives of the 'good researcher' 8. Building comman cause with children: Reciprocity in the research process


The objective of this research was to evaluate and to quantify the magnitude of the genotype × environment interaction effects on mung bean grain yield and to determine the winning genotype for the test environments. Seven mung bean genotypes were tested at three locations for over two years. The grain yield data for each environment (location year combination) was first subjected to analysis of variance using generalized linear model. Mean grain yields of genotypes for the environments were computed to generate a genotype and environment two-way table data for the GGE biplot analysis. The analysis revealed the presence of significant genotype x environment interactions for grain yield. Location effect explained more than 60% of the total grain yield variation. GGE biplot analysis depicted the adaptation pattern of genotypes at different environments and discrimination ability of testing environments. MH-96-4, shown to have the potential of combining high yield with stable performance, can be recommended for production in mung bean growing ecologies in southern Ethiopia.


In this paper, we investigate the interacting super-Brownian motion depending on population size. This process can be viewed as the high density limit of a sequence of particle systems with branching mechanism depending on their population size. We will construct a limit function-valued dual process.


Urease in wetland was inhibited by the metal Cd,Cr,Pb and As.Both individual metal and combined metals inhibited urease and postponed the time of maximum urease activity.The order of urease inhibition was showed as CrAsCdPb.It was presumed that the inhibition was due to the inhibition of urease activity or urease production.The presence of metals is correlated with urease activity.


Objective: To compare the effects and toxicities of late-course concurrent chemoradiation therapy and sequential chemoradiation'therapy for stage Ⅲ non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Methods: From February 2002 to October 2006, 86 patients with stage Ⅲ NSCLC were divided into two groups. There were 42 patients in the late-course concurrent chemoradiation (LCCR) group who received two cycles of chemotherapy (not including Paclitaxel/Docetaxel in the regimen) and then underwent concurrent chemoradiation therapy (Paclitaxel 90mg/m~2 or Docetaxel 37.5mg/m~2 on d1 and d8, Cisplatin 25mg/m~2 on d2, d3, and d4. One cycle was 21 days, and two cycles were administered). In the sequential chemoradiation (SCR) group the 44 patients received four cycles of chemotherapy (with or without Paclitaxel/Docetaxel), and then underwent radiotherapy. All patients received the circa para-prick shoot and then underwent three-dimensional conformal radiotherapy. Results: The short-term response rate was 83.3% in the LCCR group and 54.5% in the SCR group (P0.05). The median survival time was 19 months and 18 months, respectively (P0.05). The toxicity rate of acute radiation-induced pneumonitis was 11.9% in the LCCR group and 29.5% in the SCR group (P 0.05). The hematologic toxicity in the LCCR group was more serious than that in the SCR group, but all the treatments were finished after administration of rHuG-CSF (Recombinant Human Granulocyte Colony Stimulating Factor). Conclusion: Late-course concurrent chemoradiation therapy can improve short-term response, reduce the rate of acute radiation-induced pneumonitis and improve the future quality of life.