This paper focuses on the democratisation process in the three selected African countries, namely, Kenya, Nigeria and Ghana. It examines the fundamental criteria of democracy under global agenda. The paper is of the view that lack of democracy in the developing nations has made rapid development difficult. Furthermore, the clamour for democracy is not in the interest of developing countries, but more so in the interest of Western nations who have capital investment in these countries. Democracy has come to stay in Ghana because the society strives for it and the election process is less corrupt. When compared to Nigerian elections of 2007, Kenyan elections were plagued by corruption and votes were manipulated in favour of President Mwai Kibaki. The last election in Kenya witnessed destruction of lives and properties. In all, though Nigeria and Kenya appreciate the importance of democracy, elite interest makes democracy a mirage. Globalisation agenda has compelled African states to toe the line of Western liberal democracies, because they have no choice. Moreover, it has been observed that political and socioeconomic instability is also a threat to Western massive investment in sub-Saharan Africa. Therefore, democracy is a warranty against this threat. Finally, the aim of global democracy is not to make African states politically stable but to exploit the states. The entrenched global democracy is skewed in favour of the Western overlord.


S. L. 1976. "Metabolic and other non-tumerous disorders of bone," in Pathology. Edited by W. A. D. Anderson and J. M. Kissane. St. Louis: C. V. Mosby. TEITELBAUM, S. L., E. ROSENBERG, C. A. RICHARDSON, and L. V. AVIOLI. 1976. Histological studies of bone from normocalcemic postmenopausal osteoporotic patients with increased circulating parathyroid hormone. Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism 42:537-43. UBELAKER, D. H. 1977. Problems of the microscopic determination of age at death. Paper presented to the American Academy of Forensic Sciences, San Diego, Calif., Feb. 15-19. Wu, K., K. E. SCHUBECK, H. M. FROST, and A. VILLANUEVA. 1970. Haversian bone formation rates determined by a new method in a mastodon and in human diabetes mellitus and osteoporosis. Cakified Tissue Research 6:204-19. WYCKOFF, R. W. G., and A. R. DOBERNZ. 1965. The electron microscopy of Rancho La Brea bone. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 53:230-33.


Are crowdfunders investors like any other? One may wonder whether governance mechanisms designed to protect the interests of shareholders will be attractive to crowdfunders. We developed an original database integrating all French equity crowdfunding platforms to propose a typology of platforms based on their governance mechanisms. We identify four categories of governance systems, going beyond the usual dichotomy. Finally, we examine platforms' popularity and show that the crowd is attentive to the disciplinary mechanisms designed to force the manager to act in the shareholders' interests.


Sociologists agree that the sociological imagination fosters students' critical thinking skills. The challenge lies in motivating students to develop their sociological imaginations. Convincing them of its importance and practical value takes creativity beyond requiring readings, class discussions, and papers describing its theoretical importance. Students need to see the relevancy of C. Wright Mills's work applied to everyday living. In this paper I outline an interactive technique using garbage to teach the relevancy of Mills's sociological imagination.


ABSTRACT With the publication of DSM-5, clinical assessment of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) has begun to follow a new dimensional framework which includes new severity specifiers. Little research has explored these severity ratings in comparison to other previously established severity indicators (e.g. ADOS-2 calibrated severity score). The current study compared parent and teacher ratings using the BASC-2 for 43 children and adolescents diagnosed with DSM-5 ASD, to contribute novel information to the BASC literature and to explore the new DSM-5 severity ratings. Linear regression analyses were conducted to determine the extent to which the DSM-5 Social Communication and Restrictive/Repetitive Behavior Severity Ratings (clinician-rated) predicted autism severity based on ADOS-2 calibrated severity scores. Furthermore, linear regressions were conducted to explore whether teacher ratings on the BASC-2 enhance parent ratings. Implications of these preliminary results for the assessment of children and adolescents with ASD are suggested.


The Agnes Water Beach Club is a development by B.V. McKenzie Building Pty Ltd. The company's ideal is to reduce the ecological footprint of urban development and, in doing so, set new standards in sustainable use of energy and water resources while minimising environmental impacts. This case study outlines how B.V. McKenzie has set about meeting this challenge. In partnership with the Queensland Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and through negotiations with the local authority, Miriam Vale Shire Council, significant steps have been taken to overcome legislative and cost impediments, and support the integration of sustainable forms of water, sewerage and energy infrastructure. The project investors retained Michael Mobbs to obtain approvals and design sustainable systems to meet these goals: - No sewage to leave the site; - No stormwater to leave the site; - To be self sufficient for water from rainwater on the roof; - To generate solar electricity. This case study reviews the approach to obtaining the approvals, and describes the sustainable systems. It concludes that sustainability can be achieved in these types of developments through a collaborative approach with government, and greater education of industry professionals. The Agnes Water Beach Club will become a practical demonstration of some of the technologies and methods available to create more sustainable forms of urban development - and will show this is not only possible, but makes sound business sense.


The subject of this paper was the study of the morphological status of top elite women volleyball players, Rio 2016 Olympic medal winners, with the aim of obtaining reliable quantitative data, used to determine the morphological model and to c ontrol the morphological status of top elite women volleyball players. This study tested 12 top elite women volleyball players who par ticipated in the 2016 Rio Olympic Games and won the silver medal. Measurements of body composition were conducted one day before departin g for the Rio Olympic Games, on 25th June, 2016, using electrical bioimpendance analysis (BIA), with the InBody 720 Tetrapolar 8Point Tactile Electrode System analyzer. The study included 29 variables: 17 original variables, four voluminosity-dependent variable s, six longitudinality-dependent variables, and two combined index variables. The results showed that average height of the women play ers was 188.93 ±6.49 cm, the overall mean BM value for the Serbian team was 75.56 ±6.97, the overall mean BMI value for the team was 21.08±1.30 kg•m, while the mean values for percent skeletal muscles and body mass were 48.95 ±1.7 % and 13.43 ±2.70 %, respectively. Upon a thorough analysis of the results of the study, it can be argued that in all measured anthropomorphological characteristi s the op elite women volleyball players from the tested sample had a body type of remarkable basic longitudinality, i.e., BH, and a body composition mainly characterized by very high muscle mass but such a low amount of body fat that it bordered on the biological minimum for women.


Like King Arthur in Europe, the Persian hero Amir Hamzah has fought and connived his way through eight centuries of adventure throughout the Islamic world. Here is a new translation of a version of his tale, told in Urdu in India, and set down and first published in 1871. Includes a glossary with pronunciation. No index. Annotation copyright Book N


The aim of this study is to examine the phenomenon of framing as a cause of making wrong decisions while investing in Islamic stocks. Framing refers to the bias of people that describes the way they respond to a specific option as per its offer. After collecting primary data through interviews, including open-ended questions from the Pakistani stock market under the subjective or constructivist research paradigm, NVivo it is applied to get word cloud for appropriate analysis. The study finds that there are so many complexities and impurities that blindfold brokers and investors to differentiate between Shariah-compliant versus conventional stocks. This research can be further extended by differentiating between long-term and short-term investment horizons.


In search of the basic defect and cell type responsible for the massive treatment‐resistant proteinuria of congenital nephrotic syndrome of the Finnish type (CNF), we examined tissue samples of CNF kidneys using established antibody and lectin markers of various glomerular cell types. Markers of vascular endothelium (antibodies to factor VIII and a human homologue of podocalyxin (anti‐PHM5) and UEA I lectin) showed no qualitative changes in the endothelial cells of glomeruli or peritubular areas in CNF as compared with controls. Markers of glomerular mesangial cells (antibodies to desmin, smooth muscle actin, RCA I lectin) revealed a secondary increase in mesangial reactivity reflecting the sclerosis and expansion of the mesangial areas in CNF. Markers of visceral epithelial cells (antibodies to a human homologue of podocalyxin, C3b receptor, vimentin, common lymphocytic leukemia antigen, gp44, and the WGA, LFA and, after neuraminidase treatment, PNA lectin) failed to show appreciable qualitative changes in CNF kidney samples. Interestingly, the α2β1 integrins appeared greatly reduced in all CNF samples studied, possibly explaining the mechanisms of CNF‐associated proteinuria.


Abstract The article explores ways to build trust in a very specific area of internal and external communication: recruitment. At first it explores the links that communication and vulnerability have with the sciences that study the human dimension of organizations. Second, it addresses the functional and personal dimension of processes in relation to the forces of order or dispersion that press every organization on a personal or structural level (centripetal and centrifugal force). Trust presents itself as the ring that unites and harmonizes the creative or destructive power of those forces. It is an essential element that makes it possible to manage the vulnerability of organizations and their limitations on an organizational or human level. The hypothesis being made is that recruitment is an essential element of internal and external communication and has a strategic importance for the future of the organization because the mobility of the labor market, contractual conditions, and reduced turnover times require creating an environment of trust and transparency in a short time. This begins with the selection process and develops throughout the future professional projection of workers within the company.


The electronic structures and absorption spectra for the perfect BaMgF4 crystal have been calculated using density functional theory code CASTEP with the lattice structure optimized.The calculated spectra of the BaMgF4 crystal exhibit two absorption bands located at 14.2-14.475 eV and 21.48-21.767 eV.The minimal absorption edge is 10.337 eV,which is so close to the intrinsic absorption edge 10.333 eV(125 nm).


CO2/H2O partition coefficients ( ) of 18 compounds have been measured at t = 300 K and P = 80 bar, which is equivalent to a carbon dioxide fluid density of 0.76 g cm-3. This expands the range of compounds for which such data are available to include aldehydes, ketones, esters, and halides. With this contribution, data for 49 compounds are now available. Three correlation methods were tested to estimate partition coefficients based on molecular structure and/or physicochemical properties:  (1) comparison to water solubility; (2) comparison to solvent/water partition coefficients; and (3) linear solvation energy relationship (LSER) estimation. Correlations (to within ±0.30 log units) between and either water solubility or octanol/water partition coefficients were found using the first two methods provided that hydrogen-bond donors were excluded from the regression. A correlation (±0.30 log units) was found between and carbon disulfide/water partitioning, with benzyl alcohol as the lone exception. The LSER a...


I read the September 1984 issue (Vol. 18, No. 3) of the TESOL Quarterly with special interest. I was attracted by Richard A. Spears's "Comments on Mary Temperley's 'The Articulatory Target for Final -s Clusters' " and Temperley's response. Especially interesting are the comments regarding native speakers as performance models for learners of English. As both writers have pointed out in various ways, there is no question that teaching has to be adapted to the individual needs of learners, taking into consideration personal, social, and sociolinguistic factors. After 20-odd years of designing dictionaries for native speakers and speakers of other languages in Canada and the United States, I also do not hesitate to agree with Temperley that "pronunciation texts and dictionaries are often unrealistic." I would even go a step further and point out that they are sometimes so academic in their orientation that using them is like forcing artificial feeding formulas on Third World infants when natural milk is readily available, which is not quite so farfetched a comparison if you look at the question dispassionately. The use of IPA, for instance. In the 1960s, when I was using it in Canadian dictionaries, my consultants and I were so taken up with vowel qualities and quantities (we used to debate topics like the insertion of a parenthetic t in -nce words and how native speakers pronounce a word such as tasks) that we decided, in one particular case, after some study involving the use of spectrograms and data supplied by naive and non-naive informants, that "the middle, open vowel of 'various' was relatively short [i] for native speakers of Canadian English in British Columbia but 'long' [i] in the speech of Saskatchewan and Ontario informants" (The Winston Dictionary of Canadian English-Elementary Edition 1975:v). We did not quite solve every problem, but we ended up indicating pronunciations in two styles for each entry word, using diacritics for the benefit of so-called native speakers and IPA for francophones and such "learners." We might as well have compiled separate dictionaries in


Reaction of Cd(NCS)2 or Zn(NCS)2 with 3-aminomethylpyridine (3-AMPy) leads to the formation of five compounds with the compositions [Cd(NCS)2(3-AMPy)2·(3-AMPy)]n (1-Cd), [M(NCS)2(3-AMPy)2]n [M = Cd (2-Cd), Zn (2-Zn)] [Cd(NCS)2(3-AMPy)]n (3-Cd), and [Zn(NCS)2(3-AMPy)]2 (3-Zn). In 1-Cd the Cd cations are linked by the 3-AMPy ligands into layers that consist of rings, built up of four Cd cations and four 3-AMPy ligands. These layers are stacked to form channels, in which the 3-AMPy solvate molecules are located. In the isotypic compounds 2-Cd and 2-Zn the metal cations are also linked into layers by the 3-AMPy ligands with an identical layer topology as that in 1-Cd, but a completely different conformation of the 3-AMPy ligand. In the most 3-AMPy deficient compound 3-Cd, the Cd cations are linked by μ-1,3-bridging thiocyanate anions and 3-AMPy ligands into chains, that are further connected into layers by additional anionic ligands. In 3-Zn two Zn cations are linked by pairs of 3-AMPy ligands into discrete dimers. Thermoanalysis and X-ray powder diffraction (XRPD) investigations show that upon heating 1-Cd transforms into 2-Cd and 2-Zn into 3-Zn. The compounds 2-Cd, 3-Cd, 2-Zn, and 3-Zn present ligand-based luminescence in the blue-green spectral range with maxima between 21276 and 21795 cm–1.


THE EFFECT OF VARIATION IN THE DIMENSIONS OF BEVELED LEADING EDGES ON THE DISCHARGE CAPACITY OF BOX CULVERT INLETS OF RECTANGULAR CROSS SECTION IS INVESTIGATED. IT IS DEMONSTRATED THAT THE EFFECTIVE CONTROL SURFACE OF A BEVELED EDGE MAY BE EITHER THE FACE OF THE HEADWALL OR THE BEVELED SURFACE OF THE EDGE GEOMETRY, DEPENDING ON THE RELATIVE DIMENSIONS OF THE BEVELED EDGE. THE BEVEL DIMENSIONS REQUIRED TO ENSURE BEVEL SURFACE CONTROL ARE DETERMINED. THE DEPENDENCE OF THE DISCHARGE COEFFICIENT ON THE DIMENSIONS OF THE BEVELED LEADING EDGE AND ON THE CROSS-SECTIONAL SHAPE OF THE BARREL IS DEMONSTRATED. METHODS FOR ESTIMATING THE CAPACITY IN SUBMERGED ENTRANCE FLOW OF BOX CULVERT INLETS OPERATING IN ENTRANCE CONTROL ARE DEVELOPED FOR VARIOUS BEVELED LEADING EDGE GEOMETRIES. /ASCE/


NPM1 is a novel modulator of the BER pathway. NPM1 depletion results in BER protein up-regulation; NPM1 has a stimulatory effect on BER capacity and promotes accumulation of BER proteins within nucleoli. Cisplatin leads to redistribution of NPM1 and BER proteins from nucleoli.


Abstract:  Transient receptor potential vanilloid type 1 (TRPV1) is activated by various stimuli including capsaicin, heat and acid. While TRPV1 has been localized in the epidermis, little is known about the physiological role of TRPV1 in the skin, especially in skin ageing. In this study, we investigated the effect of acute UV irradiation on TRPV1 expression in human skin and the changes in TRPV1 mRNA and protein in intrinsic ageing and photoageing using human sun‐protected (upper inner arm) and sun‐exposed (forearm) skin of young and elderly subjects.


Modern identification technologies such as radio-frequency identification, or RFID, have become increasingly important for streamlining production and logistics operations in almost every industry. In steel industrial enterprise, there is many logistic information which is still collected manually. It brings out many disadvantages such as inaccurate logistics information, irregular logistics, be lasted feedback and so on. In this paper, presents the feasibility of deploying RFID for the steel industry as a tool to reduce the production costs. Steel industry that is applicable to RFID-based tracking management system is proposed. And basically small and medium-sized steel industries, reflecting the characteristics of the building systems and by allowing for faster application time, while minimizing the capital investment.


Abstract In this paper, we introduce the monotone Caristi inward mappings. As an example, we show that monotone inward contraction mappings are monotone Caristi inward mappings. A general fixed point theorem for such mappings is given. A mutlivalued version of these results is also introduced.


Foliage industry is currently growing in Sri Lanka, supplying rooted plants, stem cuttings and cut leaves for both foreign and local markets. The commercial nurseries for this purpose are mainly established in the Western, Central, Wayamba and Sabaragamuwa provinces. In 2005, the net foreign exchange earnings has been Rs.1.06bn and cut flowers and foliage sector possessed an export share of 0.17% in 2008. However, rejection of products due to pests and diseases is one of the biggest problems associated with this industry. Therefore it is important that these disease problems are studied and control measures developed. In order to study the disease problems, export oriented foliage nurseries; Lucky growers, Bandara growers and Tropiflora International in the Central province and Aswin Foliage and GreenSac Foliage in Wayamba province were surveyed during October 2008 to April 2009. Dracena sanderana varieties, Dracaena marginata, Dracaena thalodius, Dracaena conjena, Dracaena "purple queen", Cordyline sp., Chrysalidocarpus (cane palm), Livistonia rotundifolia, Calathea insignis, Calathea zebrina, Calathea roseapecta, Codiaeum sp., Schefflera sp., Miscanthus sp. (Chinese grass), Dieffenbachia sp., Pothos sp. were identified as the commonly grown foliage varieties. Diseases prevalent in these varieties were studied in the survey. Leaf spots (74%), tip burns (13%), anthracnose (4%) and stem rots (9%) were observed as the major symptoms in the plant species studied. For the isolation of pathogenic fungi, 1cm 2 samples from diseased leaves were surface sterilized with 0.1% mercuric chloride (HgCl2) and these were cultured on Potato Dextrose Agar (PDA) aseptically and incubated under room temperature (28 0 C). Pure cultures were prepared and isolated fungal pathogens were identified based on colony morphology and reproductive structures using identification keys. Fungal genera isolated and identified from diseased plants collected from the Central province included: Fusarium spp. causing symptoms as large necrotic Proceedings of the Annual Research Symposium 2009-Faculty of Graduate Studies, University of Kelaniya 139 leaf spots with irregular margins in D. sanderana (Gold), localized necrotic spots with smooth margin and yellowish outline in D. sanderana (purple compacta), localized small necrotic spots with smooth margin in D. sanderana (victory), scattered necrotic spots with irregular margins and yellowish outline and localized necrotic spot in Cordyline (red edge) , Cylindrocarpon sp. causing localized and scattered necrotic area with irregular margins in D.sanderana (white), Cladosporium sp causing localized necrotic area with irregular margin in D.sanderana (victory) , Cylindrocladium sp. causing small localized necrotic spots in Chrysallidocarpus (cane palm), Acremonium sp. causing scattered necrotic spots in Miscanthus (Chinese grass) and two sterile species. Fungal genera isolated and identified from diseased plants collected from the Wayamba province included: Fusarium sp. causing tip burn symptom in Cordyline (green) , Fusarium moniliforme causing localized necrotic spots in D. sanderana (white) and Curvularia sp. causing leaf spots in Cordyline (green).


Following the successful 1967 Symposium on Circumpolar Health-Related Problems held at the University of Alaska under the joint auspices of the Arctic Institute and the University ..., plans were initiated for staging a second conference, and this was soon given strong support by the Scandinavian-North European group. Their initiative led to the organization of the Nordic Council for Arctic Medical Research, with representation from Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden. ... The Symposium was held from 21 to 24 June 1971 in the new, modern University of Oulu Medical School, the northernmost medical school on earth. The participants came from thirteen countries and included three representatives from the World Health Organization. The 276 registered active participants were accompanied by 79 non-participants, for a total of 355. The conference was thus nearly three times the size of the 1967 Alaska symposium of slightly above 100 participants. The most numerous national groups were from the U.S.A. (82), Finland (69), Sweden (67), Canada (44), and Denmark (38). Other countries represented were Australia, France, Iceland, Japan, Norway, U.S.S.R., the U.K., and West Germany. ... The four-day program at Oulu was followed by a post-conference session at Rovaniemi. The total program presented 95 main speakers, plus 88 "free" or contributed papers, for a grand total of 183 presentations. ... considerable attention was given to environmental problems and influences on health and morbidity in the polar regions. ... One of the major intervening developments which had produced new research and thrown new light on arctic health problems, physical and psychological, was the work done under the five-year International Biological Program (IBP). ... The range of subject matter discussed by the 96 main speakers and in the 88 contributed papers may be shown by a grouping under the following ten headings: 1. The arctic environment, including geographic, social, and economic problems which affect health, with emphasis on the effects of permafrost; 2. Community planning and development, with attention to housing, water supply, sewage disposal, pollution, and communications; 3. Human adaptability to arctic conditions, including reports on current research, particularly IBP studies, and genetic aspects of the native populations; 4. The effects of cold, including findings on cold physiology, physical capacity in cold, cold injuries, clothing, and other protective measures; 5. Infections in the Arctic, with special attention to bacterial diseases, viral diseases, and to parasites and zoonoses; 6. Odontology, including variations in dental morphologic traits, effects of diet, dental diseases, and other special dental problems among native arctic peoples; 7. Ophthalmology, discussed in several contributed papers from Scandinavia and Canada; 8. Nutrition, including reports on dietary surveys, on physiological and pathological effects of nutritional changes, as well as theoretical approaches to the evaluation of nutritional status through the use of multiple radioactive tracer techniques; 9. Public health in the Arctic, including reports of studies, experimentation, and research on relevant facets such as disease prevalence, psychological-psychiatric problems, the organization of health care, education of medical personnel, delivery of medical care under arctic conditions, and preventive health programs; 10. Lastly, consideration of medical problems in a changing arctic society, including such factors as changing settlement patterns, progress in immunization among remote populations, new aspects of mental health problems, and new strategies of medical treatment and health care. ...


In a recent issue of this Journal, both Casey [1980] and Zimmer [1980] reported the results of almost identical studies. In extending Libby's [1975] study on bankers' ability to predict corporate failure (loan default), both gave participating bankers a three-year series of financial ratios of real (but disguised) companies, half of which had failed, half of which had not. In contrast, Libby's subjects used ratios of a single year. The results of the studies of Casey and Zimmer were inconsistent (see table 1) in that Zimmer's Australian bankers achieved a mean prediction accuracy of 77.1%, whereas Casey's U.S. bankers achieved only 56.7%. This difference occurred even though it does not appear that the diagnostic power of the data for the sets of companies used by the two researchers was markedly different. According to Libby [1981, p. 126] the most likely reason for these inconsistent results is the fact that since the actual ratio of failed to nonfailed companies (50/50) used in the experiment was much higher than what the participants were used to (e.g., 1/99) the specification of that ratio to participants as part of the background information (as in the Zimmer study) should have resulted in significantly more accurate predictions than if no mention was made of the ratio (as in Casey's


Figure \(7.2\): Parallel circuits through the basal ganglia for different regions of the frontal cortex -each region of frontal cortex has a corresponding basal ganglia circuit, for controlling action selection/initiation in that frontal area. Motor loop: SMA = supplementary motor area -the associated striatum (putamen) also receives from premotor cortex (PM), and primary motor (M1) and somatosensory (S1) areas -everything needed to properly contextualize motor actions. Oculomotor loop: FEF = frontal eye fields, also receives from dorsolateral PFC (DLPFC), and posterior parietal cortex (PPC) -appropriate context for programming eye movements. Prefrontal loop: DLPFC also controlled by posterior parietal cortex, and premotor cortex. Orbitofrontal loop: OFC = orbitofrontal cortex, also receives from inferotemporal cortex (IT), and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC). Cingulate loop: ACC also modulated by hippocampus (HIP), entorhinal cortex (EC), and IT.


A conformal array antenna composed of 8 low-profile Eshaped patches mounted on an irregular shaped surface is designed for 360° coverage in the horizontal plane. Unequal thickness substrate is used in the conformal low-profile E-shaped patch design to maintain the wide-band characteristic of the conformal E-shaped patch antenna. Fitness distance ratio (FDR) based particle swarm optimization (PSO) is used to synthesize the patterns of the conformal array. Good agreement is observed between numerical and experimental results of the conformal array antenna.


For five years I was programme director for Volvo Car Corporation's (VCC) Global Professional Manager's Programme (GPM), one of the leadership programmes developed by MiL and VCC in the mid 1990s. The role of the in-company programme director is what one makes of it. I had little experience of leadership training and during the first programme in 1996, I simply adopted the concept that Anita Beijer and Anders Lindberg had developed in VCC's programme for senior managers.


We study the flow of plasma from a magnetized helicon plasma source region into a weakly magnetized, large cylindrical expansion chamber of 0.4 m. We have obtained potential measurements by means of a retarding field energy analyzer (RFEA) with an aperture which could be rotated with respect to the flow. From 3D PIC simulations, we have found that the difference between the plasma potentials (Vp) in the upstream and in the perpendicular directions with respect to the flow provides good agreement with the given flow parameters. From analysis of simulated data, we have found that the flow speed increases with increased downstream magnetic field. The findings are compared with recent LIF measurements of the downstream ion flow.


The effects of the radiation fields in proton accelerators with energies of 1--3000 GeV is studied. The radiation loading of the vacuum chamber, the magnet elements, and the shielding, are calculated for various proton losses. Radiative heating is studied in certain high-intensity accelerators. The effect of radiation on superconducting magnet systems is studied in detail. The permissible proton loss in an accelerator with superconducting magnets is determined.


Lee Stafford is in his seventh summer as a counselor at Camp Arrowdance. While Lee enjoys his status as one of the most popular staff members at camp, he begins to wonder if he's in danger of going "Full-Fledged Indian", a term used to describe those who never break free from the idyllic, yet stagnant, lifestyle that Arrowdance offers. Rory Strasser, his camp girlfriend, grows frustrated with Lee's inability to see their relationship as something that is real, not just a "camp thing." Just when Lee realizes the truth in Rory's beliefs, he must deal with a possible camper uprising and the threat of a townie invasion.


The temperature, injection speed, injection pressure, and holding pressure of the injection molding process were controlled to achieve high quality. The function of the assembling of the injection molding screw head is very important for pressure control during molding operations. Research on the injection molding screw head was undertaken to improve forming mold accuracy with minimal cost. In this research, the Taguchi method was used in designing a typical injection molding ring-style, non-return valve. The possible geometric parameters that could influence valve performance and part accuracy are discussed. Based on empirical studies using the Taguchi experimental method, the optimal variables that should provide the best performance were determined. The experimental results reveal that the optimal design for the ring-style, non-return valve has superior performance over the conventional design.


Abstract A one-pot synthesis of new 3-benzylphthalide derivatives was developed by using a strategy based on tetrakis(dimethylamino)ethylene (TDAE). The reactions in the presence of TDAE of substituted benzyl chlorides with methyl 2-formylbenzoate or of substituted methyl-2-formylbenzoates with 4-nitrobenzyl chloride furnished the corresponding isobenzofuran-1(3H)-one products in moderate to good yields.


The essence of special relativity is hiding in the equal existence of particle and antiparticle, which can be expressed by two discrete symmetries within one inertial frame --- the invariance under the (newly defined) space-time inversion (${\bf x}\to -{\bf x},t\to -t$), or equivalently, the invariance under a mass inversion ($m\to -m$). The problems discussed are: the evolution of the $CPT$ invariance into a basic postulate, an unique solution to the original puzzle in Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen paradox, the reduced Dirac equation for hydrogenlike atoms, and the negative mass paradox leading to the prediction of antigravity between matter and antimatter. {\bf Keywords}: Special relativity, Reduced Dirac Equation, Antiparticle, Antigravity


What are the asymptotic moments of coefficients obtained when expanding prod_{m=1}^infty (1-q^m)^k in series? A few examples are given, as well as a new multiplicative representation for coefficients when k=10 and k=14.


The law of armed conflict suffers from an internal ambiguity. The Declaration of St Petersburg (1868) made the ambiguity explicit when it stated that 'the necessities of war ought to yield to the requirements of humanity'. The Lieber Code (1863) was less explicit, though it suffered from the same ambiguity. The Code received a lengthy critique from the Confederate Secretary of War who stated bluntly: 'A military commander under this code may pursue a line of conduct in accordance with the principles of justice, faith and honour, or he may justify conduct correspondent with warfare of the barbarous hordes who overran the Roman Empire, or who, in the Middle Ages, devastated the continent of and menaced the civilisation of Europe'. Which of the two considerations, the Confederate Secretary demanded to know, should prevail: humanity or necessity?


Perovskites of general formula MTiO3 (M = Ca or Sr) have attracted considerable attention as an important class of mixed oxides and as potential candidates for optoelectronic devices due to many applications related to their physical properties (Marí, B. et al. 2013). Particularly, calcium titanate ceramics are good candidates for use as dielectric resonators in the wireless communication system due to their high dielectric constant, high quality factor and low insertion loss (Mazzo, T.M. et al, 2010). The main goal of this work is to synthesize and to characterize a perovskite ceramic-based CaTiO3 (CTO) co-doped with the rare earths elements Er and Yb. The starting materials used in this sense to synthesize CTO were Ca(OH)2 and TiO2, while the ones used for the doping were Er2O3 and Yb2O3. Such oxides were thoroughly mixed by mechanical milling in a high-energy ball mill and afterwards submitted to a common solid-state reaction. 200 400 600 800 In te n si ty ( a .u .) Wavelength (nm) CTOEr1.00Yb1.00 CTOEr1.00Yb1.25 CTOEr1.00Yb1.50 CTOEr1.00Yb1.75 CTOEr1.00Yb2.00 Fig. 1 Luminescence spectra co-doped CaTiO3 Simpósio-27: TICE-Tecnologias da Informática, Comunicações e Electrónica -1122The powders were characterized by X-ray diffraction, Raman scattering and photoluminescence spectroscopy. The unit cell parameters presented by pure CaTiO3 were a = 5.378 Å, b = 5.441 Å and c = 7.640 Å and α = β = γ = 90°, and the diffraction pattern was assigned to the space group Pbnm (#62 or D2h 16 ), with four formulas per unit cell (Z=4). The factor group analysis in orthorhombic CaTiO3 permitted to foresee 24 Raman modes, besides to 25 infrared modes and 8 silent ones. The luminescence spectra of CTO co-doped samples showed typical bands of green and red light, which correspond to the transitions 4 H11/2 → 4 I15/2 and 4 F9/2 → 4 I15/2 (figure 1). Finally, the results obtained for the ceramic systems were satisfactory regarding the synthesis method (solid-state reaction), since it presents low cost as compared with another common processes in the literature.


Owing to the vocational and higher characteristics of higher vocational education,influencing by uncertainty and academic level of subject status of vocational and technical education,the orientation of relative curriculum theory of higher vocational education was at a relative grey zone.Therefore,the specialty curriculum theory should be taken as the subject orientation of curriculum theory of higher vocational education,and the following problems relative to "specialty curriculum theory" should be given attention:definition scope,research identification,basic principles,system structure and practice.


Red optical and near-infrared spectroscopy are presented for SDSS J125637.13–022452.4, one of only four L subdwarfs reported to date. These data confirm the low-temperature, metal-poor nature of this source, as indicated by prominent metal-hydride bands, alkali lines, and collision-induced H2 absorption. The optical and near-infrared spectra of SDSS J1256–0224 are similar to those of the sdL4 2MASS J16262034+3925190, and we derive a classification of sdL3.5 based on the preliminary scheme of Burgasser, Cruz, and Kirkpatrick. The kinematics of SDSS J1256–0224 are consistent with membership in the Galactic inner halo, with estimated UVW space velocities indicating a slightly prograde, eccentric, and inclined Galactic orbit (3.5 ≲ R ≲ 11 kpc; ∣Zmax∣ = 7.5 kpc). Comparison to synthetic spectra computed with the Phoenix code, including the recent implementation of kinetic condensate formation (Drift-Phoenix), indicates Teff ≈ 2100–2500 K and [M/H] ≈ −1.5 to −1.0 for log g ≈ 5.0–5.5 (cgs), although there are clear discrepancies between model and observed spectra particularly in the red optical region. As such, any conclusions on the role of metallicity in condensate grain and cloud formation are probably premature. Indeed, a shift in the temperature scale of L subdwarfs relative to L dwarfs may obviate the need for modified condensate and grain chemistry in low metallicity atmospheres.


Various standards for evaluating ride comfort of railway vehicles have been developed and used in many countries. In order to construct the mapping relationships of several ride comfort standards, prediction of ride comfort values had been studied. Firstly, track irregularities were generated by track spectrum, and were imported to ADAMS/Rail to obtain vibration accelerations of carbody. Secondly, ride comfort values were calculated according to the algorithm of ride comfort standards in MATLAB. Finally, prediction model based on back propagation (BP) artificial neural network (ANN) was constructed, and genetic algorithm (GA) was adopted to optimize the connecting weights and thresholds of BP ANN. Then, the prediction model based on traditional BP ANN and GA-BP ANN were respectively conducted as a case study to validate the feasibility and reliability of the method proposed in this paper. The results show that GA-BP prediction model has higher prediction accuracy and stronger generalization ability than traditional BP prediction model in prediction of ride comfort values.


In this study, the predictive validity of the Assessment of Stroke and other Brain Damage (ASB) was evaluated. Eighty-six consecutive stroke patients were assessed in an early phase, and followed up over a period of one year. The ASB comprises six subtests assessing the cognitive functions of communication, praxis, visuospatial and visuoconstructive ability. It is a method developed for use by occupational therapists and is applicable at the bedside. The predictive value of each subtest was analysed separately. Survival and place of residence after one year served as outcome variables, in addition to three functional outcome measures: the Barthel ADL Index, the Frenchay Activities Index (FAI), and an Instrumental ADL (IADL) scale. Statistical analyses were performed by means of bivariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses with exact methodology. The visuospatial-constructive subtest showed high predictive power in relation to all outcome variables except survival, whereas the communication vari...


With fast development of electric information, traditional management concept and technology change greatly. Many brand new management concepts lead to radical change in traditional procurement and manufacturing system such as Just In Time procurement and manufacturing system, Zero Inventory, Cell Production, Total Quality Management and so on. ABC (Activity-Based Costing) emerges on this background and takes the place of traditional cost management method. Effect of ABC on agricultural machinery enterprises management is illustrated with CCNJ agricultural machinery company on the base of ABC theory. The suggestion of popularizing ABC in agricultural machinery industry is advanced to reduce production cost, to improve the level of decision-making and to contribute to agricultural economy of China.


Reactive power optimization is an effective method for improving the electricity quality and reducing the power loss in power system.Considering the advantages and shorts of genetic algorithm,immune algorithm,and according to the characteristics of reactive power optimization,a novel algorithm,improved immune genetic algorithm(IGA) is proposed.Using the presented algorithm the reactive power optimization calculation for IEEE30-bus system is conducted,the results show that it can improve the speed of convergence,and avoid premature convergence.


Objective To study the clinical efficacy of the treatment of chronic anal fissure by improved longitudinal section transverse suture.Methods 166 patients with chronic anal fissure were randomly divided into the observation group and control group with 83 cases in each group.The control group was treated by traditional excision of anal fissure and the observation group was for improved longitudinal section transverse suture.The clinical efficacy and degree of edema pain were observed in two groups.Results The diameter of anal tube in the observation group was significantly higher than that in the control group and the incidence rate of edema in severe pain(3.61%) and hospitalization time were significantly lower than those in the control group(P 0.05).Conclusions The way of the treatment of chronic anal fissure by improved longitudinal section transverse suture can effectively expand the anal canal diameter,reduce the postoperative incision edema pain,shorten the wound healing time and had more advantages compared with the traditional excision of anal fissure.


With the number of stroke patients increasing every year, it is important that new ways of approaching rehabilitation are explored. This paper introduces a novel design for a bilateral exoskeleton that aims to allow patients more flexibility in how and where they are able to carry out their rehabilitation. The Bilateral Exoskeleton for Arm Stroke Treatment (BEAST), has been designed for patients to use independently in their own home. The focus of BEAST is to allow therapists to oversee the remote rehabilitation of more patients, effectively reducing waiting times and enabling patients more independence in their recovery process. This paper discusses the design of BEAST, including the kinematics, workspace and torque calculations. It also briefly touches on how the needs of patients can be included in the design and optimisation stages of BEAST.


The use of Ductile Iron for light weight automotive components has been limited in the past by the capability of the foundries to produce as-cast, carbide free, thin wall (2-3 mm) parts. For almost a decade, the Ductile Iron industry has invested significant amounts of money and time to develop a technology that would allow the manufacture of such castings. A key parameter for the production of thin-wall casting is to control the nodule count in a range of 500-700 for which the mechanical properties and the microstructure are optimum. This is obtained by controlling the cooling rate of the parts and by optimizing the inoculation process. This paper presents the results of a study carried out in an experimental foundry in which the following parameters were studied: I) optimization of the addition of an insulating material to the mould to control the heat exchange at the mould/metal interface and then, the undercooling level to avoid carbide formation; ii) selection of the appropriate inoculation practice to control the nodule count in the selected range; iii) to determine a minimum silicon content required to optimize properties and cost.


Born in 1937, Roger Hull grew up in a household where scientific work on sugar beet viruses was being conducted by this father, Raymond. The laboratory was one room in the house and the experimental glasshouse was in the garden. He studied botany at Cambridge University and gained his PhD for investigating the epidemiology of sweet pea viruses as a demonstrator in the Agricultural Botany Department of Wye College. From Wye he was seconded for 6 months to teach agricultural botany in the Department of Agriculture at Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda, which was a rigorous introduction to tropical agriculture. There he made a study on the epidemiology of groundnut rosette disease, leading to the suggestion that the vector aphids were attracted to the differences between the plants and surrounding soil, in turn leading to the idea of the 'edge effect' in virus epidemiology. On return to the UK, Roger took up a research post under Roy Markham at the Virus Research Unit in Cambridge where he worked on the biological and physical properties of a range of viruses. Using plant and vector aphid material brought back from Uganda, he showed that rosette disease was caused by a combination of two viruses, one giving most of the symptoms and the other the transmission of the complex; it was only later with the advent of cloning and sequencing techniques that it was realized that the complex also contained a satellite virus. He also analysed the structure of Alfalfa mosaic virus, characterized the first virus to be recognized in ferns and showed that the causal agent of sandal spike disease was a mycoplasma-like organism (a phytoplasma) – this was only the second plant disease shown to have phytoplasma aetiology. In 1968 Roy Markham was appointed director of the John Innes Institute (JI) (now the John Innes Centre) and took most of the staff from his unit at Cambridge to set up a virus research department in Norwich. Roger continued his work on fundamental studies on a range of viruses including Cucumber mosaic virus, Pea enation mosaic virus and Sugar beet yellows virus. The 'tool bag' of techniques for studying viruses was increasing from ones such as ultracentrifugation and electron microscopy to include others such as protoplasts, in vitro protein translation and gel electrophoresis (in tubes). In 1974 Roger spent a very profitable sabbatical year with Bob Shepherd at the University of California, Davis working on the then-enigmatic only plant virus that encapsidated DNA, Cauliflower mosaic virus (CaMV). He developed new techniques for increasing the previously limiting low yield of purified virus and characterized the viral DNA and proteins by gel electrophoresis (again in tubes!). Hearing rumours about restriction endonucleases that could be used to characterize DNA by cutting it at specific sites, he took some CaMV DNA to Herb Boyer's laboratory in San Francisco and was introduced to the new world of EcoRI, SalI and BamHI (the only three enzymes then available), flat-bed electrophoresis and ethidium bromide; in retrospect, the restriction enzyme patterns made there on CaMV DNA were probably the first cuts on any plant-related DNA. This visit to San Francisco proved to be a turning point in Roger's research. On return to JI, Roger introduced the new DNA techniques, having to set up restriction enzyme purification, and continued his work on CaMV, characterizing the intermediates of replication and doing some preliminary sequencing on the genome. Understanding the replication of CaMV was particularly frustrating as it did not fit with the standard replication of a DNA virus. In one of those moments that makes research really rewarding, Roger recognized that all the data fitted the model of replication by reverse transcription – the first plant virus known to do this. He coined the term 'pararetrovirus' to contrast viruses using this form of replication from the animal retroviruses that encapsidate RNA genomes. At this time, Roger was finding funding from the core research council grant somewhat limiting and so obtained a grant from the first European Union biotechnology funding initiative (under Framework Programme 1); subsequently, he had funding from Framework Programmes 2–5. Interest in the newly emerging plant biotechnology resulted in a number of companies and organizations visiting JI to explore the possibilities of funding research. One visitor was Gary Toenniessen of the Rockefeller Foundation Rice Biotechnology Program who, after considering the virus problems in rice, funded more than 10 years of research on rice tungro disease, caused by combined infection by Rice tungro bacilliform


Introducing organisms: between unificationism and exceptionalism Part I. The Eclipse of The Organism: 1. Mechanism, reduction and emergence: of molecules and method 2. Ensemble thinking: struggle and abstraction 3. The fractionation of evolution: struggling or replicating? Part II. Beyond Replicator Biology: 4. Inheritance: transmission or resemblance? 5. Units of phenotypic control: parity or privilege? 6. Fit and diversity: from competition to complementarity 7. Integrating development: three grades of ontogenetic commitment Part III. Situated Darwinism: 8. Adaptation: environments and affordances 9. Natural purposes: mechanism and teleology 10. Object and agent: enacting evolution 11. Two neo-Darwinisms: fractionated or situated? References Index.


This experiment mainly studied the effect of tolylene diisocyanate on eosinophils, nitic oxide and NOS in lung of mice. The results showed that TDI indused the eosinophilia,contributing to the level of nitic oxide and i-NOS.


The Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment (CCME) requested in October 1988 the development of a management plan for the control of nitrogen oxides (NOx) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs). That plan was finalized and submitted to the CCME in November 1990. The purpose of the plan is to (1) solve Canada's domestic NOx and VOC related environmental problems; and (2) meet Canada's international obligations. The paper provides an overview of the plan.


Background and Aim: Present retrospective study was performed to evaluate and investigate the relationship between the roots of the maxillary first molar and the maxillary sinus using cone beam computed tomography (CBCT), to measure the distances between the roots of the maxillary molars and the sinus floor as well as the thickness of the bone between the root and the alveolar cortical plate and to determine the correlation of these variability with different age groups and gender. Materials and Methods: The study included 40 subjects aged between 14 and 77 years who were further divided into the following 2 group's i.e. <40 years, >40 years. Out of 40 subjects 20 were male and 20 were females. CBCT was performed using a standard exposure and patient positioning protocol. The data of the CBCT images were sliced in three dimensions. Image planes on the three axis axial, coronal and sagittal were sequentially analyze and the correlation of age and gender with all the variables was evaluated. Results: The present retrospective study showed both gender wise and age wise significant differences in the distance of root of first molar and cortical bone thickness in coronal section. The mean value gender wise for mesiobuccal root of maxillary first molar with floor of maxillary sinus, for females was 3.080mm (±2.4107) and for males was 1.449mm(±2.6452) which showed significant result(p value 0.049). Distobuccal root of maxillary first molar with floor of maxillary sinus in AGE GROUP 1 was 0.784mm(±1.9326) and for GROUP 2, 3.042mm(±2.3215) respectively which showed significant result (p value 0.003). Bone thickness of buccal cortical plate for females was 1.295mm(±0.5053) and for male 2.532mm(±1.2083) which showed highly significant result( p value 0.000). When compared age group (<40yrs & > 40yrs) with gender then thickness of buccal cortical plate below 40yrs i.e. group 1 showed highly significant result having p value 0.000. Conclusion: The present retrospective study highlights the importance of anatomy and morphology of maxillary first molar with maxillary sinus and cortical bone thickness to determine the age and gender of the individual.


This study measures the effects of involving beginning management students in a management simulation, The Looking Glass. A control and experimental group of students were compared in a pre and posttest situation. They responded to the question, what does a manager in a mid to large organization do on a daily basis? Executives of mid to large organizations and professors evaluated the student data. Data analysis indicated significant gains in student knowledge between the two groups.


In this letter, we report a simple and rapid (~60 s) method to fabricate a new organic-inorganic hybrid film based on poly (di phenyl amine-co-4 amino thiophenol) (designated as PDPAAT) and gold nanoflowers (Au NFs). The fabrication involves a fast facile and pulse potentiostatic approach for the electrodeposition of Au NFs onto PDPAAT. The electrochemical, interfacial, and optical properties of the PDPAAT/Au NF hybrid film electrode are investigated. The superior electroactivity, electrochemical, and interfacial characteristics of the PDPAAT/Au NF electrode suggests its suitability for sensor, electrocatalysis, and diode applications.


Prognostics and Health Management is a hot research in the field of reliability, its main idea is implementation of the system transition from condition monitoring to management in order to pay attention to system fault and degeneration. PHM is the key auxiliary system of a new generation of advanced military aircraft, it can improve the combat capability of military aircraft, the capability of independent repair and the ability of the logistics support and so on. Therefore, the paper has a very important theoretical and practical significance. On this basis, with a new generation of advanced military aircraft as the object of study, we design system structure of PHM and establish the PHM system of airborne.


PROFESSOR DOTSON is Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology, University of Connecticut. In Central Africa the European has been-and still is for the moment-the dominant ethnic group. To the European mind, Indians and Coloureds in the area constitute a natural unit, enough alike to be suitably lumped together for many social and administrative purposes. There are 'Asian and Coloured' hospitals and schools They are admitted to or excluded from other public facilities, such


In the present work, the kinetics of low-temperature annealing (400 °C) of 4H-SiC JBS diodes irradiated by electrons with an energy of 0.9 MeV and with a dose of 1E16 cm-2 was studied. The dynamics of changes in I-V, C-V characteristics, as well as DLTS spectra are shown. In the course of the work, a thermal cycling effect was discovered, i.e., effect of multiple rapid cooling to the temperature of liquid nitrogen and heating of the samples. As a result of thermal cycling, the barrier capacity increases and the on-resistance (Rs) decreases. In the DLTS spectrum, a level of - 0.38 eV appears, absent in the as-irradiated diodes.


Transcatheter aortic-valve implantation is an alternative to open surgery in high-risk patients with severe aortic stenosis during which the role of the anesthesiologists. is pivotal to the success of the operation. In this review, we summarize recent advances in monitoring and management during anesthesia for transcatheter aortic-valve implantation, and present current information on anesthesia for clinical anesthesiologists. We introduce the latest developments in preoperative assessment techniques and methods of anesthesia, intraoperative monitoring, and intra- and postoperative management, and review innovations in anesthesia for transcatheter aortic-valve implantation. Studies on anesthesia for transcatheter aortic-valve implantation are scarce, but concur that safety and effective monitoring by anesthesiologists are key to a successful operation.


The study was designed to investigate level of teachers' awareness of their roles in counselling secondary schools for skill acquisition in rivers state. The study adopted a descriptive survey design. The population of the study consist of 8196 (4436 males and 3760) females. A samples size of 450 teachers which was 5% of the population was selected being 222 males and 190 females, using the stratified random sampling technique. The instrument for data collection included a self constructed questionnaire', which was based on a four point likert type scale of very high extent (4points), high extent (3 points) low extent (2 points) and very low extent. (1point).The mean and standard deviation were used to answer the research questions. Findings showed among others that the extent of teachers' awareness of their roles in counselling secondary school students for skill acquisition in school is poor and this implies that the students are not exposed to adequate knowledge of the need for skill acquisition which will still lead to laziness and idleness of our graduates. The study therefore recommended among others that ; adequate training should be given to teachers of their roles as counsellors in secondary schools and enough time should be created for guidance and counselling programme in the school time table so that teachers can comfortably handle their clients


Ascent base convective heating environments were determined for the nominal ascent trajectory for the STS-1 Cycle 3 March/April launch period. Both first and second stage environments are defined for all base heating DFI locations and design body points of interest. An identical format to the STS-1 dispersed trajectory environment was followed throughout. As expected, STS-1 nominal environments are generally less severe than those determined for the high loft and low loft dispersed trajectory conditions. The reduction in cold wall heating with the nominal trajectory varies for each base location analyzed, but, in general, was approximately twenty percent.


This research was conducted in the Bom Bom Fersatex manufacturing company dedicated to the production and distribution activity wholesale and retail underwear nationwide, is located in the city of Quito at Av Polit Lasso N27 -80 and Selva Alegre Sector las Casas, Pichincha Province . For the realization of this work was created the auditing firm called: BAYAS & ASSOCIATES .

Applying cash count procedures and bank reconciliations, we determined that if you are presenting the information in a reasonable manner in accordance with the IFRS for SMEs. Using confirmation procedures, we developed a separate subcedula indicating that the values recorded in the books match the Audited Company . Policies with which this company operates is within 30-60 days for customers to cover their debts ; Performing the Assistant Portfolio Antiquity , we have taken a population of 10 clients , using the Random Sampling ; Once the identification card has been applied Audit process customer consultation , the same as the balance is to confirm that the company , with the balance having the third. At a 5 day response was received from 10 clients finding these two findings that are considered relevant for the company.

Inventories of finished goods and goods stored . The changes described in this card , show considerable growth with 8.89 % which are considered relevant in the presentation of the audit. Balance sheet accounts belonging to the liabilities of the present decree , show no change in their games , as growth, which is why they are considered subject to evidence in its totality . Providers . The obligations are recorded in current liabilities . In this card show variations in growth of 2.56 % , which is why they are considered subject to evidence in its totality . It is in line with the IFRS for SMEs , Section 11.5 .


The invention discloses a skeleton-type helical wind energy blade, which comprises a first support, a second support and a flexible sheet, wherein the first support and the second support form a double-helical structure; and one side of the flexible sheet is connected to the first support, the other side of the flexible sheet is connected to the second support, and a helical wind surface is formed along the trend of the first support and the second support. The helical wind energy blade has a simple structure and light weight, the low-wind starting performance can be remarkably improved, and easiness in transportation, installation and maintenance can be achieved. The invention also discloses a wind energy power generating device providing with the skeleton-type helical wind energy blade.


With the rapid development of China Mobile data business, the data center will continue to build, how to set up a reasonable power supply system, the energy saving, the festival is playing a vital role. In this paper, the application of new technology, a kind of reliable, effi cient and fl exible power supply solution for data center room is put forward.


is not detrimental to child well-being? Is there any evidence to support the assumption that children will turn out better if they do not spend their preschool years with welfare mothers but, rather, spend most of their time in high-quality day care settings? Further, what happens to children who spend their preschool years in nurturing day care settings but then get coughed back into the same low-quality educational settings that serve the neighborhoods where their low-paid mothers (and fathers) can afford to live? Finally, is Bergmann right that poor parents—even middle-class parents—often do not make decisions in the best interest of their children or, at least, that the American taxpayer is not convinced that the poor can make sound decisions? Saving Our Children presents the beginning of a persuasive argument about what to do for poor children and why. Fully specifying and supporting the underlying vision is the book still waiting to be written.


Responding to Light and Heat The protein rhodopsin is sensitive to dim light, but its sensitivity is limited by signals caused by the noise of thermal activation. The basis of this relationship, known as the Barlow correlation, has long been debated. A recent study suggested that thermal activation involves a canonical isomerization reaction. Gozem et al. (p. 1225) confirm that isomerization is the rate-limiting step controlling thermal noise, and they provide a molecular understanding of the Barlow correlation. They use quantum mechanics coupled with molecular mechanics to show that the transition state mediating thermal activation has the same electronic structure as the photochemical excited state. In rhodopsin, the transition state for thermal activation has the same electronic structure as that for photoexcitation. Spontaneous electrical signals in the retina's photoreceptors impose a limit on visual sensitivity. Their origin is attributed to a thermal, rather than photochemical, activation of the transduction cascade. Although the mechanism of such a process is under debate, the observation of a relationship between the maximum absorption wavelength (λmax) and the thermal activation kinetic constant (k) of different visual pigments (the Barlow correlation) indicates that the thermal and photochemical activations are related. Here we show that a quantum chemical model of the bovine rod pigment provides a molecular-level understanding of the Barlow correlation. The transition state mediating thermal activation has the same electronic structure as the photoreceptor excited state, thus creating a direct link between λmax and k. Such a link appears to be the manifestation of intrinsic chromophore features associated with the existence of a conical intersection between its ground and excited states.


The invention discloses a comprehensive recycling method for a limonite containing nickel, which is characterized by including the following steps: pressurizing and leaching are carried out on the ore material particles of the limonite containing nickel by using a mixed liquid of vitriol and nitric acid as a medium so as to prepare a leaching liquid; aluminum hydroxide, nickel hydroxide, cobalt hydroxide and magnesium hydrate are respectively deposited through using CaO or lime hydrate as a neutralizing agent and controlling the different pH values of the leaching liquid. The method realizes the comprehensive utilization of nickel, cobalt, aluminum, magnesium and iron in the limonite containing nickel; a pressurizing and leaching technique is adopted in a vitriol plus nitric acid medium; the leaching temperature and the leaching pressure are low, wherein, the iron is deposited into the slag in a hematite form, thus effectively inhibiting the leaching of the iron; the settlement performance of a soaked ore slurry is good; liquid-solid separation is easy; the CaO or the lime hydrate is adopted for depositing the aluminum, nickel, cobalt and magnesium by steps; and the leaching agent of the nitric acid can be recycled. The method has the advantages of high operating factor of resources, low energy consumption, environment friendliness, and the like.


Abstract Context Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), a highly prevalent endocrine disorder characterized by hyperandrogenism, is the leading cause of anovulatory infertility. Objective This proof-of-concept study evaluated clinical efficacy and safety of the neurokinin 3 (NK3) receptor antagonist fezolinetant in PCOS. Methods This was a phase 2a, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, multicenter study (EudraCT 2014-004409-34). The study was conducted at 5 European clinical centers. Women with PCOS participated in the study. Interventions included fezolinetant 60 or 180 mg/day or placebo for 12 weeks. The primary efficacy end point was change in total testosterone. Gonadotropins, ovarian hormones, safety and tolerability were also assessed. Results Seventy-three women were randomly assigned, and 64 participants completed the study. Adjusted mean (SE) changes in total testosterone from baseline to week 12 for fezolinetant 180 and 60 mg/day were −0.80 (0.13) and −0.39 (0.12) nmol/L vs −0.05 (0.10) nmol/L with placebo (P < .001 and P < .05, respectively). Adjusted mean (SE) changes from baseline in luteinizing hormone (LH) for fezolinetant 180 and 60 mg/d were −10.17 (1.28) and −8.21 (1.18) vs −3.16 (1.04) IU/L with placebo (P < .001 and P = .002); corresponding changes in follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) were −1.46 (0.32) and −0.92 (0.30) vs −0.57 (0.26) IU/L (P = .03 and P = .38), underpinning a dose-dependent decrease in the LH-to-FSH ratio vs placebo (P < .001). Circulating levels of progesterone and estradiol did not change significantly vs placebo (P > .10). Fezolinetant was well tolerated. Conclusion Fezolinetant had a sustained effect to suppress hyperandrogenism and reduce the LH-to-FSH ratio in women with PCOS.


The crisis in transport is largely as a result of the growing concentration of population, rapid urbanization and economic activities of certain part of the world. Attempt to eliminate the traffic functional problem had led to gradual spatial restriction of pedestrian movement. This is a result of lack of consideration for pedestrian facilities in the road design and construction. Hence pedestrians compete for the use of road designed purely for vehicular use consideration and thereby creating conflicts and accidents on roads most especially within the central business district and other commercial areas. In the light of this, the research study examined the problems associated with pedestrian and vehicular traffic in an Urban Metropolitan Area. Questionnaires were used for data collection from respondents, in addition to secondary data extracted from documented information related to the research on causes, effect and solution to pedestrian and vehicular traffic conflict on Nigeria roads. Finding in this research work revealed that pedestrian and vehicular conflicts in the Urban Metropolitan Area led to traffic jam, delay and congestion. The conflict was found to be associated with roadside, road median and footbridge trading, on-street, parking of commercial transport operators, inadequate traffic and parking facilities.


The first part of the chapter introduces a way of formulating the essential traits of a total view which could be of help to all who wish to verbalise their basic attitudes and compare them with others' – especially those who seem to oppose vigorous ecological policies. This portion is methodological, and not limited to my own particular view, Ecosophy T. The second part attacks problems of ontology, 'what there is'. Rather than talking about reality or the world, ecophilosophical thinking proceeds in terms of nature, and humanity's relation to nature. An attempt is made to defend our spontaneous, rich, seemingly contradictory experience of nature as more than subjective impressions. They make up the concrete contents of our world. This point of view, as every other ontology, is deeply problematic – but of great potential value for energetic environmentalism in its opposition to the contemporary near monopoly of the so-called scientific world-view. The terms ecology, ecophilosophy, ecosophy Those who come across these three terms should ask for precise definitions – but in the disorderly terminological situation we are placed in today, both descriptive and prescriptive definitions are somewhat arbitrary. In this work, the three words will have three very distinct meanings adapted to our purpose. Others, however, with other purposes, may disagree somewhat on these precise meanings.


This study proved the presence of lectin in mycelial cultures of Laetiporus sulphureus . Lectin was excreted into the medium and its erythroagglutinating activity was not high. No active lectin was detected in hyphae using both extraction and immunofluorescence method. Comparative studies based on immunological methods indicate~ that the lectin synthesised in vitro differed from the lectin produced in fruit-bodies.


A 28-GHz in-band full-duplex (IBFD) power amplifier (PA) is presented which integrates a PA with an impedance matched hybrid transformer in a 28-nm bulk CMOS process. The hybrid transformer has a 1:2 turn ratio to match from the optimum load impedance of <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$25~\Omega $ </tex-math></inline-formula> for a PA to the antenna and balance ports of <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$100~\Omega $ </tex-math></inline-formula>. Since this allows the additional matching circuits of a PA and an antenna to be obviated, the full-duplex loss is reduced. It shows 28.4-dB isolation between the PA and LNA ports at 28 GHz. For comparisons, a 50-<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\Omega $ </tex-math></inline-formula> matched PA and an IBFD PA are designed. The IBFD PA has core sizes of <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$0.24\times 0.43\,\,{\text {m}}{\text {m}}^{2}$ </tex-math></inline-formula>. Since the impedance matched hybrid transformer has the similar size to the output matching network of the 50-<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\Omega $ </tex-math></inline-formula> matched PA, a full duplexer is integrated into the PA without additional chip area. The IBFD PA has 10.6-dB gain and a drain efficiency of 8.9% at 12.3-dBm P1dB.


The biggest advantages of small courtyard is to imitate the nature. People who live in a small courtyard can temporarily keep away from the noise of the city, and enjoy the private, quiet and tastefully laid out space. For that,the plant landscape in the small courtyard plays an important role. Thus, in the design and construction and arrangement of the plants combination, designers must firstly fully understand the color, appearance, size and the leaf shape of the plant before matching of point- line- face natural ecological combination, so as to achieve the effect of simulation of nature landscape.


The title derivatives are obtained by reaction of aminobenzoic acid with formamide/isothiocyanate or by reaction of 4-substituted aminobenzoic acid derivatives (I) with phenyl isothiocyanate (II), followed by further derivatization.


Of the variables that affect the bilateral trade flows between the mainland and Hongkong in China the GDP and per capita GDP of every inland province,autonomous region or municipality and the per capita GDP of Hong Kong,the absolute distance and the regional cooperation organization in the Pan-pearl River Delta are the main factors,which also vary in their effect on the bilateral trade flows.The potential of the export from every inland province,autonomous region or municipality to Hong Kong also varies from place to place.So,the mainland provinces and regions and Hong Kong should take pertinent measures to strengthen the communication and cooperation in economic and trade areas in order to bring their respective regional advantage and competitive advantage into full play and realize common prosperity of economy in the two regions.


Abstract To overcome the shortcomings of a non-uniform description of relative position and attitude using traditional methods, this paper proposes an algorithm for binocular vision measurement of a leader–follower rigid body's relative position and attitude based on dual-quaternion. Feature lines on the leader rigid body are selected as reference lines. Then, the coordinate values of the feature lines are obtained in the system of proprio-coordinates of the follower rigid body based on the binocular vision measurement principle, with the feature lines represented by Plücker lines. The relationship of relative position and attitude between the leader rigid body and the follower rigid body is illustrated by optimizing the feature that enables the dual-quaternion to transform the feature lines. A singular value decomposition approach is used to determine the relative position and attitude between the two rigid bodies. The simulation results show that this method overcomes the deficiencies associated with the separate measurement of position and attitude using a traditional algorithm. This method exhibits the ability to handle noise and satisfies the accuracy requirements for a general rigid body.


We propose a novel double-layered disk array and a specially adapted skip search method for video servers using cyclic time slots for read control, and determine the following from a theoretical analysis of worst-case performance: The worst-case time-slot duration when using the latest banded-recording magnetic disk devices can be approximated by two aspects of the disk performance—the maximum access time and the average data transfer rate. The maximum number of read channels obtainable with conventional disk arrays exceeds that of conventional single-disk recording by a factor that has a limiting value of 1 plus the normalized maximum latency, which is approximately 0.7–1.1 times the actual latency in seconds. The new disk array can further improve this to a factor of 1 plus the permitted truncation time at the start of a video sequence, normalized to the maximum latency. In a reliable double-layered disk array, to which parity disks are added, the number of parallel disks per sub-array has an optimum value of several disks if there is no constraint on the truncation time. Furthermore, we investigate the functioning of the proposed array with an experimental video server, which can provide a hundred read channels of 1.5 Mbps video with a quick response time (a maximum latency of 1 second), and a permitted truncation time of 3 seconds. © 1997 Scripta Technica, Inc. Syst Comp Jpn, 28(3): 1–12, 1997


A feasibility study is presented and the achieved key design milestones towards the first application of Chemical Species Tomography by Near-IR Absorption Tomography on a heavy duty, large-bore marine engine to visualise relative mixture strength are described. The engine is equipped with pre-chamber ignition and operates using Liquefied Natural Gas with > 88.9 % methane content. Operation of the engine under maximum-load conditions is a key design requirement, with peak cylinder pressure and mean temperature exceeding 127,510 Torr (170 bar) and 850 K respectively. The near-IR spectroscopic behaviour of methane is examined for suitable absorption and reference regions for the above application. In particular, the spectroscopic absorption around the 2ν3 transition region near 1,666 nm is approximated by simulation using data from the HITRAN database under worst-case conditions. The simulation results are compared with methane spectra experimentally acquired at high temperature and ambient pressure. Interference from other chemical species as well as measurement linearity is also investigated. A 31-laser beam tomographic imaging array is proposed, which has been optimised to achieve higher spatial resolution performance in the vicinity of the pre-chamber's orifices. To enable optical access, a novel, minimally-intrusive method is presented, utilising standard fibreoptics and collimators.


Objective To investigate the primary value of ultrasonic diagnosis of pulmonary hypertension.Methods On 16 cases of primary pulmonary hypertension by echocardiography,record and analyze the test results.Results The 16 patients with Doppler echocardiography have shown that pulmonary artery pressure overload caused by a series of changes:the expansion of pulmonary hypertension and right ventricular free wall thickening,expansion of the right heart,ventricular septal abnormal morphology,pulmonary artery flow spectrum abnormalities,varying degrees of pulmonary valve and tricuspid regurgitation.Conclusion Color Doppler echocardiography diagnosis of primary pulmonary hypertension has clinical significance.


Introduction: In recent years many new methods have been proposed for designing broadside arrays with attractive properties [l, 21, but the elements used in the arrays are all straight-wire dipoles and their lengths are all roughly a half wavelength. These arrays, without reflectors, have two main radiating directions because the radiation pattern in the H-plane of a straight-wire dipole is no different in the front and back directions. However, shaped dipoles can converge most of the radiating energy to one main direction and can provide higher gain than half-wave dipoles. This type of dipole was fnst proposed by F. Landstorfer [3] and has already been used to form Yagi-Uda arrays [4]. High-gain broadside arrays without reflectors can be obtained if we put the shaped dipoles into it. In this Letter this type of array is analysed by the moment method and synthesised by using functional optimisation.


Industrial users of ISO 10303 (STEP) protocols need the ability to exchange design product data that is in conformance with recently updated ISO Geometric Product Specifications (GPS) ISO 1101:2012; with AWS A2.4:2012 Standard Symbols for Welding, Brazing, and Nondestructive Examination; with ISO 2553: 2013 Welding and allied processes — Symbolic representation on drawings — Welded joints; with SAE AS8879D and ISO 3161:1999 Aerospace — UNJ threads — General requirements and limit dimensions; with and ISO 5855-1:1999 —Aerospace — MJ threads — Part 1: General requirements. The LOTAR consortium created a project to extend ISO 10303-242 for these new capabilities. Changes to relevant STEP information models have been proposed to support the additions to ISO 1101, and new information models proposed to support the welding and thread standards.


Underlaying device-to-device (D2D) communications to a cellular network is considered as a key technique to improve spectral efficiency in 5G networks. For such D2D systems, mode selection and resource allocation have been widely utilized for managing interference. However, previous works allowed at most one D2D link to access the same channel, while mode selection and resource allocation are typically separately designed. In this paper, we jointly optimize the mode selection and channel assignment in a cellular network with underlaying D2D communications, where multiple D2D links may share the same channel. Meanwhile, the QoS requirements for both cellular and D2D links are guaranteed, in terms of Signal-to-Interference-plus-Noise Ratio (SINR). We first propose an optimal dynamic programming (DP) algorithm, which provides a much lower computation complexity compared to exhaustive search and serves as the performance bench mark. A bipartite graph based greedy algorithm is then proposed to achieve a polynomial time complexity. Simulation results will demonstrate the advantage of allowing each channel to be accessed by multiple D2D links in dense D2D networks, as well as, the effectiveness of the proposed algorithms.


Abstract Nowadays communication is largely dominated by digital text-based channels which naturally only transfer a small part of the information that is present in face-to-face conversations. In particular, information about the communication partner's emotional state, which is naturally expressed through facial expressions, body language and other non-verbal indicators, can hardly be transferred. Approaches such as emojis address this issue by allowing the sender to show how he (for reasons of readability, the pronoun "he" addresses all genders equally) feels by selecting an appropriate (smiley) face. However, the crucial difference is that this smiley must be deliberately chosen and does not necessarily represent an authentic expression of the sender's emotional state. The present paper discusses typical challenges and misunderstandings of communication in the digital era by the example of chat communication. It reflects its ramifications on the perceived authenticity of the transferred emotions and discusses possible (technology-based) approaches towards a more direct, authentic way of communication.


Abstract Most existing projection models forecast that Indonesia will become a net importer of increasing amounts of basic cereals such as rice, maize and wheat, implicitly providing grounds for the government's continuing pursuit of food self-sufficiency at any cost. A growing urban population, increases in income per capita, trends in planted area and new technologies are determining factors used in these models. The present paper employs a scenario approach based on a combination of time-series models, qualitative assessments and a cross-country analogy with Malaysia to build a picture of likely food cereal production and consumption patterns in 2020. Consequent levels of imports are calculated and estimates of their weight in the Indonesian economy are presented, comparing four periods: 1975, 1990, 2005 and 2020. These estimates are then used in considering policy issues related to food security and self-sufficiency.


In this thesis, I analyze the ways in which various discourses produce knowledge about the burqa. Particularly, since the attacks on the twin towers and the London bombings, Orientalist and neo- Orientalist tropes have been revitalized and propagagated by ideologies of Islamophobia at work to radicalize Islam and Muslims. Of concern in political and policy debates as well as in media and scholarly discourses in Western societies is the framing of Muslims as potentially threatening and dangerous. In the present day, the politicization of Islam has had significant consequences ranging from the implementation of laws that restrict the presence of the burqa, as the symbol par excellence of Islamic fundamentalism in the Western imaginary, to the denial of citizenship for wearers. The burqa more than any other religious symbol has become increasingly stigmatized and criminalized, restricted in countries such as France, Germany, Netherlands, and Belgium. Arguably no other symbol, since France's affaire de foulard (headscarf affair) has warranted more spirited public and political debate. Images of covered Muslim women, especially those in burqas, are framed as threats to the ideals of the secular Western nation state and as a barrier to successful immigrant integration. For these reasons, the politicized representation of burqa-clad women as potentially threatening requires a closer, deeper, and more detailed examination.


Nevertheless, with the enormously increased number of inserted implants, a significant increase of late complications has meanwhile been recorded.1,4,12 These complications typically manifest themselves many years after installation of the superstructure by means of peri-implant bone loss around artificial tooth pillars.17,20,21,25 Often associated with an insufficient or declining oral hygiene of the patient, these peri-implant lesions lead to the loss of the artificial tooth pillar and the corresponding suprastructure in case they are not treated.5,11,13,14 Many authors regard the development of peri-implantitis therapies as one of the current key challenges of implantology.15,18–20,26


The wind tunnel used is equipped with an array of fans, each of which is independently controlled via a personal computer. To establish an efficient driving mode for generating high-Reynolds number isotropic turbulence, a new driving mode ("active grid mode") is attempted where the active and inactive fans are grid-like arranged. The characteristics of turbulence are investigated for two kinds of external fluctuated signals. A flow structure of the turbulence generated by the active grid mode is proposed.


ABSTRACT Against a backdrop of increasing access to full text and the perceived success of Web search engines, academic disciplines with highly specialized, if not esoteric, nomenclature remain in need of specially crafted metadata. Art history and the study of architecture represent two such disciplines. Historically, field-specific research databases have maintained canons of citations complemented with descriptive abstracting and precise indexing. Surveys of art and architectural historians identify the value of abstracting and indexing to scholarly research. The perceived importance indicates a need to integrate discipline-specific abstracts and vocabularies into the evolving Web-based infrastructure for searching of scholarly literature and to enable the continued production of such metadata.


Edward Stillingfleet is important as the spokesman of late-seventeenth-century Anglicanism. He was one of the most popular Anglican preachers of the Restoration era and the leading theologian of the Latitudinarian ascendancy in the established church of William Ill's day. In describing Stillingfleet as the ideological spokesman of the Church, it is important not to oversimplify the way in which his theological priorities dictated his reaction to contemporary philosophers. Stillingfleet's discussion of Spinoza was part of a wider discussion of philosophy in general. In particular, Stillingfleet reads Spinoza in the context of Cartesianism. For him Spinozism was the prime example of the kind of aberration in religious doctrine to which Cartesianism could lead. Stillingfleet's critique of Cartesianism is the centre-piece of his discussion of the atheistical implications of contemporary philosophy which takes up the second chapter of Origines sacrae (2). Keywords: Cartesianism; Edward Stillingfleet; Origines sacrae (2); Spinoza


Within the hierarchical CDM framework, gas-poor mergers contribute substantially to the building of the most massive galaxies (Faber et al. 2007). We want to test this scenario by studying the fundamental plane (FP) and the stellar populations of the most massive galaxies. We investigate a well-defined sample of massive early-type galaxies at 0.1<z<0.4, identified from the SDSS database. Out of 42,000 possible targets in the SDSS database, we extracted 23 luminous early-type galaxies with bona fide high velocity dispersions of σ>350 km s−1. These systems are located either in high or low-density environments and show a variety of small surface-brightness structure. Using archival HST/ACS images and Gemini/GMOS spectroscopy, we will explore the photometric and spectroscopic properties of these galaxies.


In this manuscript it is proposed a simple and low-cost computer-based simulation regarding to the concept of projectile motion (including also a game mode) on its more general case, that is, on inclined plane; with the aim of easing the learning-teaching process regarding to this physical phenomenon. The novelty of this proposal relies on the use of an external control that changes the projectile shooting angle, the initial velocity and inclination of the plane. This educational resource is coded in Scratch for Arduino (S4A), while its electronic interface is based on Arduino UNO.


A superconducting coil (10) is accommodated in a vacuum chamber (120). A radiation shield (110) is arranged in the vacuum chamber (120) with a prescribed space from the vacuum chamber to surround a periphery of the superconducting coil. A refrigerator cools the superconducting coil (110) and the radiation shield by conduction. A provided member at least partly lies between the vacuum chamber (120) and the radiation shield (110), through which heat is conducted from the vacuum chamber to the radiation shield. A cooling pipe (160) has opposite end portions drawn out of the vacuum chamber and an intermediate portion in contact with the superconducting coil, the radiation shield, and the provided member. The provided member dissipates heat into a coolant flowing through the cooling pipe, to reduce the heat conducted to the radiation shield.


Objective To summarize the experiences and lessons learned and to prepare for future research on cervical carcinoma and breast cancer through the analysis of our institute′s research work on childbearing-age women′s cervical carcinoma and breast cancer in Yongwai area in 2010.Methods To summarize the work flow and results of the research on cervical carcinoma and breast cancer.Results 3357 childbearing-age women took part in the research on cervical carcinoma and 3105 childbearing-age women on breast cancer.There was none diagnosed as cervical carcinoma but 38 were suspected;2 were diagnosed as breast cancer and there were 13 suspected cases.Conclusion The screening of cervical carcinoma and breast cancer is a project proposed by the government and coordinated by several departments with the whole society involvedto prevent women of common ailments,playing a promotion role in women health improvement.Medical institutions have played an important role in this endeavor.


In the present study, numerical simulations of drilling fluids that composed with two media on a mechanical agitator in a mud handling system were carried out to investigate the mixing performance of agitator and the keeping performance of homogeneity using both Eulerian and Lagrangian approaches. For simulation, two commercial softwares, STAR CCM+ based on Eulerian approach and Particleworks based on Lagrangian approach, were adopted. The results of simulation had been compared to those of experiments performed by Nagata et al.(1959).


Fresh vegetables are recommended for the daily diet because of their low caloric content, high amount of vitamins, minerals and fiber. Furthermore, these foods are source of various phytochemical compounds such as polyphenols, flavonoids and sterols exerting antioxidant activity. Some epidemiological and clinical studies clearly showed that a diet rich in fruits and vegetables might reduce the risk of some diseases, including some forms of cancer. Modern consumers pay a great attention to the "convenience foods", foods characterized by ease of consumption. In particular, ready-to-eat products maintain almost all characteristics of fresh harvested products. These products are minimally processed and do not undergo further manipulation before consumption. However, ready to eat vegetables might represent a potential danger for the human health due to the high risk of growth of undesirable microorganisms. Bacteria belonging to the species Escherichia coli, Salmonella spp. and Listeria monocytogenes are the most common food pathogens that contaminate fresh vegetables and ready to eat vegetables. These microorganisms constitute one the most important causes of human infections.


Disclosed is an ignition apparatus for an internal combustion engine adapted to be started by the rotation of a crank shaft upon rotation of a starter. A sensor detects first and second different angular positions of the crank shaft to change the output level at the respective angular positions. In response to the output of the sensor, the ignition coil is energized and then de-energized. When a voltage generated by the starter is detected upon the reverse rotation of the rotary member, the state of the ignition coil is maintained unchanged.


An improved synthesis of a novel class of bidentate (P,N) ligands is presented, the structures of which are characterized by three distinct elements of chirality. The stereoselective installation of the elements of central chirality (at the benzylic carbon and the phosphorus atom) depends on the size of the phosphorus substituent. Thermal inversion of the phosphorus center has been studied experimentally and further correlated by DFT calculations. The potential of these ligands and the role of the phosphorus atom in the asymmetric α-arylation of aldehydes (Pd) and hydrogenation of allylic alcohols (Ir) have also been investigated.


In order to study the effect of different cavities on the vortex shedding frequency at the railing edge of a strut,a series of cavity-based struts used for the integrated afterburner were designed.The wind-tunnel cold tests were carried out for those struts.The spectrum analysis of the speed data obtained from the tests were completed,and compared with the data about the standard struts.The results show that the variation trend of the vortex shedding frequency are altered by various cavities,but the effects of various cavities on the its trailing edge vortex shedding frequency are similar.


In the deliberations of scholars, policy analysts, and policy makers, television has exceptional power and influence. Yet the historical record shows that television has not changed the economics of attention for large populations in the course of their daily lives. By the mid- 1920s, print media alone were highly successful in creating new consumer visions and aspirations, building national brands, and establishing significant brand equity. The advent of radio and television did not change total advertising spending as a share of total economic output, nor did it change significantly total advertising spending per adult media hour. The contrast between communications policy and the reality of media development is not merely a fluke or just ironic. It points to a major impediment to the development of information societies. State- owned-and-controlled media can be an important policy lever for overcoming this opposition and promoting the growth of more diverse media environments and more diverse ways of interacting with media.


Background: Pulmonary veno-occlusive disease (PVOD) is an uncommon form of pulmonary hypertension (PH), defined by pathologic changes of the pulmonary veins and capillaries. Heritable PVOD is associated with bi-allelic mutations in EIF2AK4 gene.

Aims of the Study: To review clinical, functional, hemodynamic characteristics and outcomes of PVOD patients carriers of bi-allelic mutations in EIF2AK4 gene follow-up in the French PAH Network.

Results: We identified 24 PVOD patients carriers of EIF2AK4 mutations (age at diagnosis of 26.4±8.7yrs and sex ratio 1.2). Most of the patients were in NYHA FC III (n=17) or IV (n=5) and 6-minute walk distance was 365±168m. Pulmonary function tests were normal, except a low DLCO of 30±7%. Right heart catheterization revealed severe hemodynamic impairment at diagnosis (mPAP 51±12mmHg, cardiac index 2.53±0.89L/min/m2, pulmonary vascular resistance 11.3±6.2WU with pulmonary capillary wedge pressure 8±4mmHg ).

Specific PH therapy was iniated in 21 patients. No significant clinical, functional or hemodynamic improvement was observed and 3 patients experienced drug-induced pulmonary edema. During follow-up, 4 patients died and 18 were transplanted. No recurrence of PVOD occured after transplantation. Event-free survival (death or transplantation) at 1, 2 and 3 years were 63%, 52% and 30% respectively.

Conclusion: Heritable PVOD due to EIF2AK4 mutations were characterized by a young age at diagnosis and severe clinical, functional and hemodynamic impairment. This condition was associated with an absence of response to specific PH therapy and poor outcomes. Lung transplantation remains the treatment of choice.


In Ethiopian history, agriculture has been the backbone of the economy. This agricultural activity remain undeveloped due to different factors. Most of the activities are done with a lack of modern technology. Currently, seed classification is done based on knowledge of human being. The current seed classification analysis is inefficient and has no validation mechanism. In this research, we have made an effort to present a predictive model to predict seed classes using machine learning algorithms which results in high crop production. For the development, this research machine learning algorithm is used to learn from data which can be used to make predictions, to make real-world simulations, for pattern recognitions and classifications of the input data. An artificial neural network is used for modelling complex relationships between inputs and outputs or to find patterns in data. The objective of this thesis is to understand the machine learning algorithm using neural networks and constructing model which predicts seed classes based on machine learning technique. The developed model is experimented using seed dataset and then seed classes are predicted using the developed model. Finally by using the developed model, determinant factors for classify seeds are identified and ranked. Keyword: Artificial Neural Network, Seed Classification, Machine Learning, Predictive Analysis