Neutrophils (also known as polymorphonuclear leukocytes or PMN), the first line of defense against intruding microorganisms, are produced in the bone marrow from stem cells that in turn proliferate and differentiate into mature neutrophils. They play an important role in host defense and contribute to inflammation-related tissue injuries. During inflammation, neutrophils extravasate across the endothelium that lines the blood vessel wall through a multistep process [1, 2], which includes rolling on and subsequent firm adhesion to endothelial cells.


In the article presents the results of investigations of the influence of microwave radiation on an alumina to explore the possibility of applying the microwave for preparation of catalyst of dehydrogenation of light hydrocarbons impreg nation method. Phase and texture changes an alumina under microwave radiation detected. Microwaves cause the significant temperature overheating in the volume of alumina.


Directionally solidified (DS) nickel-based superalloys are widely used in manufacturing turbine blades, which may fail due to wear and/or material loss during service. Laser metal deposition (LMD) has been considered to be a promising technology in repairing the damaged components thanks to the high temperature gradient formed, which is conducive to the growth of directional microstructure. Intergranular liquation cracking in the heat-affected zone (HAZ) has been one of the major problems in LMD of the DS superalloys. In this paper, the influences of two cooling conditions (conventional cooling and forced cooling) on the microstructure development and liquation cracks were studied for the laser deposition of a DS superalloy IC10. The experimental results showed that, as compared to the conventional cooling, both number and length of the liquation cracks in HAZ were notably reduced under the forced cooling condition. The effects of cooling conditions on temperature and stress fields were analyzed through a thermo-elastoplastic finite element analysis. It was revealed that the maximum tensile stress and high tensile stress region in the substrate were effectively minimized while using the forced cooling measure. The forced cooling on the substrates is a promising method for mitigating the liquation cracking in LMD of DS superalloys.


This document discloses a solution for method providing a service in a Bluetooth device. A method according to the solution comprises: initiating, in a first Bluetooth device connection establishment with a second Bluetooth device; carrying out a service discovery procedure with the second Bluetooth device, during which at least one unique service identifier associated with a personal training data service is exchanged between the first Bluetooth device and the second Bluetooth device, wherein the personal training data service comprises at least one personal training data item processed by the first Bluetooth device and/or the second Bluetooth device during a physical exercise; after the service discovery procedure, transferring at least one frame with the second Bluetooth device, wherein the frame comprises an information element specifying personal training data and a command information element specifying how to process the personal training data.


Using the degeneration technique, one studies the behavior of Welschinger invariants under the blow-up, and obtains some blow-up formulae of Welschinger invariants. One also analyses the variation of Welschinger invariants when replacing a pair of real points in the real configuration by a pair of conjugated points, and reproves Welschinger's wall crossing formula.


The overarching aim of this study is to investigate how newly qualified Rwandan teachers can contribute to the creation of theoretical and practical knowledge for professional development with information and communication technology (ICT). Questionnaires, focus groups and interviews were used for data collection. The findings show that novice teachers are motivated to acquire ICT and that they succeed in situations where school administrators grant easy access to computers. The novice teachers expressed a strong desire to be trusted and be allowed time to use computers and related skills in their learning and teaching. These views are discussed in terms of learning conditions created in schools so that participants become active, responsible and committed practitioners. We assume that such attitudes can be a model for their future roles in fostering change in social practice. For example, this study shows that gender equity becomes an aspect of change in an ICT-learning environment, which creates new opportunities for continuous education. To achieve this, as revealed by the findings, there is a need to develop school-based curricula, appropriate pedagogy and teacher professional development in the area of ICT literacy, which allows the teachers to develop a critical mind to the new tools.


Abstract Although bereavement from suicide shares a common core of experience with other bereavement, there are unique features as well. These include stigma, feelings of blame and personal responsibility, other unusually strong emotional reactions, an exacerbated search for meaning, and deception about the cause of death. Bereaved persons also are misunderstood, and they face inappropriate comforting, which includes being asked intrusive questions, receiving sympathy from those who feel uncomfortable, and being offered diminished social support. Research on suicidal bereavement is often limited by its retrospective nature, biased respondents, noncomparable control groups, idiosyncratic dependent measures, and failure to examine family factors. These shortcomings are only now beginning to be addressed. Therapists for suicidally bereaved individuals should assess for suicide and refrain from overly ambitious goals and should consider referral to self-help groups that comprise individuals who have had simil...


The invention discloses a flow calculating method, a flow calculating device and a flow calculating system based on a private network VPN. On the basis of private VPN information, the flow is calculated and analyzed on a device of a service provider of an MPLS LSVPN network, so the invention solves the original problem of relying on administrator to manually deduct and calculate the flow, and enables the flow analysis to automatically complete by matching a flow analyzing server with the device, thereby enhancing the efficiency of the flow calculation, and lowering the labor cost.


1. the art that the invention defined in the claims The present invention will on the pitch search method for reducing the amount of computation of the cross-coder. 2. The invention attempts to solve the technical challenges The invention The method and the pitch search method for the calculation amount decreases, the cross-encoder for improving the sound quality by using the characteristic of the speech encoder of the transmitter / receiver to search the pitch search for the receiving end to a limited extent in order to reduce the amount of calculation to provide a computer readable recording medium recording a program for realizing that purpose. 3. Resolution of the subject matter of the invention, The present invention, classification method comprising: dividing a frame to each other in the pitch search method for reducing the amount of computation that is applied to an encoder having a different cross-frame and the sub-frame, to each other by mutual conversion between the frames considering the different speech frame sizes; Pitch for setting the voice pitch in the sub-frame of the frame setting step; Estimation range determining method comprising: taking into consideration the nature of the speech coder of the transceiver only using the set pitch determines the pitch estimation range; Pitch estimation step of estimating the open-loop pitch with a maximum value within the estimated range; And a search step of searching for the closed-loop pitch by using the estimated open-loop pitch. 4. An important use of the invention, The invention yiyongdoem like cross encoder. Mutual the encoder, the pitch, the subframe, the operation amount, sound, AMR, G.723.1, sound


The VA Electronic Health Record with reminders effectively manages hypertension and stores data longitudinally. Vital signs from the entire VA were analyzed between 2000 and 2011. Of 7,361,848 patients with 274,162,609 BP measurements; 4,055,558 had elevations >140 systolic or >90 diastolic on three separate days. Analysis was made for age, race, treatment and BMI. Control for Blacks improved from 49.8 in 2000 to 72.5 in 2011, and Whites from 50.6 to 77.0 respectively (Fig. 1). Black/White difference was small when both groups were poorly controlled (2000 - 2001), but as treatment improved, Blacks consistently were less well controlled than Whites. BMI for hypertensive Blacks and Whites remained steady at 29.5 until 2006, then increasing for both, reaching 30.1 in 2011. This increase may explain why controlling hypertension becoming more difficult in 2006. Normotensive Blacks had a BMI of 25.5 in 2000 rising to 27.7 in 2011, while Whites increased from 26.6 to 27.9 respectively (Fig. 2). Drug data became available starting in 2004. Both Blacks and Whites received the same number of anti-hypertensive medicine classes (2.7 ± 1.4, p=0.21). Medicine coverage, where the number of daily doses were compared with frequency of refills, showed no racial difference (81.0% + 16%, p=0.64). Conclusion: Blacks and Whites both improved hypertensive control over 11 years with Blacks consistently 5% less well controlled than Whites. The reason for this disparity cannot be explained by differences in BMI, number of medicine classes or less coverage. More intensive treatment, with improved weight control, may be required if Blacks are to achieve BP control equal to Whites.


Smokers say that tobacco is one of their favorite food and think it unfair to regulate for them to smoke. But non-smokers argue that tobacco is like a toxic drug and it causes serious harms in terms of public health law. Therefore, around tobacco lawsuit in recent years I will look into the meaning of the tobacco litigation and examine the significance of the tobacco litigation in Korea. In U.S.A. in the early 1950s, the cigarette was a cultural icon. The first tobacco lawsuit was filed in 1954. The first wave of cases was filed principally under theories of negligence, breach of warranty, and misrepresentation. By the time of the second wave of litigation from 1983 to 1992, cigarette smoking was beginning to become a hallmark not of elegance, but of weak character and lower social class. And the third wave did not begin quietly. The tobacco industry faces litigation from individual smokers in the third wave. The most important effect of tobacco litigation was to transform public and political perceptions about risk and responsibility in smoking, making clear what manufacturers knew, how they concealed this knowledge, and how they manipulated consumers. In the end I conclude as follows: State should conserve human rights of her people. Constitution makes clear this point. Tobacco litigations have a much impact on public health law. Manufacturers that produced harmful products in public health might be imposed on product liability or strict liability in tort law.


The invention concerns a non-thrombogenic semipermeable membrane comprising a support semipermeable membrane and an anticoagulant suitable for treating blood and plasma by extracorpreal circulation. The invention is characterised in that: the support membrane is made essentially of a polyacrylinitrile, bearing anionic groups or groups capable of being anionic; the surface of the support semipermeable membrane designed to be in contact with blood or plasma is coated successively with a cationic polymer and an anticoagulant. The invention also concerns an exchanger for treating blood or plasma by extracorporeal circulation comprising two sections separated by a non-thrombogenic semipermeable membrane and a method for making the exchanger.


An algorithm is presented for a manipulating robot (MR) control in an unknown static environment. A theorem is proved stating that following the algorithm the MR in a finite number of steps will either reach a target configuration or come to the proved conclusion that the target configuration may not be reached. Given sequences from the theorem facilitating the MR functioning in the unknown environment.


The doctrine of performance management has been promoted as an alternative to rule-based governance. Analyzing performance management as a system of rules, this article examines how performance management is adopted through rules. The question is examined based on a systematic counting and content coding of national rules within the domain of primary education in Denmark from 1989 to 2010. Contrary to the prescriptions of the performance management doctrine, the analysis shows a clear increase in the number of rules. This reflects the creation of many new rules about performance measurement without a proportionate repeal of production rules constraining the autonomy of public service providers and their managers. The result is congruent with the expectations derived from the literature on rule dynamics, which emphasizes rules as the carriers of learning and interests. The article thereby demonstrates the utility of analyzing performance management as a system of rules.


Establishment submodule is an essential component of the parameterization of population dynamics in ecological dynamic models that describe the full cycle of regeneration by neglecting many of the involved processes, such as flowering, fertilization, and germination. Observations and models show that these processes critically affect ecosystem communities and succession. However, the current parameterizations of establishment are quite different, and have many uncertainties. To develop a more reasonable parameterization of establishment, the factors affecting seed production and spread, seed pools, as well as seed germination in nature are summarized. Then, the parameterizations in forest gap models as well as DGVMs are commented. In addition, the uncertainties introduced by the establishment scheme, and the possible ways to improving it, are also discussed.


ABSTRACT This study probes the relationship between perceived external employability (i.e., the individual's perception of available jobs on the external labour market) and affective commitment and performance within the framework of social exchange. An innovative feature is that we advance perceived external employability as a commodity of interdependent forward-looking exchange: employees who perceive themselves as externally employable anticipate successful exchange, which drives further responses, both relational (i.e., affective organizational commitment) and behavioural (i.e., performance). Strong features of this study are that we include (a) both the organization and the workgroup as foci of affective commitment, and (b) task, helping, and counterproductive behaviour as indicators of performance. Results from cross-lagged, structural equation modelling (SEM) analyses on two-wave survey data (N = 458 Belgian employees) largely align with our idea: perceived external employability has a positive cross-lagged effect on affective organizational and workgroup commitment. The two foci of commitment in turn have a cross-lagged effect on performance, positive in the case of helping behaviour and negative in the case of counterproductive behaviour. No significant cross-lagged effects were found in relation to task behaviour. We discuss these results in the light of Social Exchange Theory and potential routes for future research.


A razor cartridge is provided comprising a housing having a base which is connectable to a handle, two or more blades, whose tips are aligned in a cutting plane to cut in a cutting direction, and a moisturizing block disposed before and/or after the blades in the cutting direction, the moisturizing block having a skin-contacting surface, wherein: (a) the moisturizing block comprises at least 50% lipophilic materials by weight of the moisturizing block; (b) the skin-contacting surface slopes away from the blades towards the base.


The fourteen dish white cliffs solar power station area is remote and subject to extreme environmental conditions, solution of the associated problems required careful and thoughtful attention and the application of resources. Notwithstanding the wide range and harshness of conditions, the difficulties caused by remoteness and the lack of a technological base and the need for relatively rapid demonstration of success, the project has had a very positive outcome. Qualitative and quantitative information and lessons are now available to enable considerable simplifications to be made for a new system, reducing both hardware and operation and maintenance costs. Experience and lessons are presented, particularly in relation to: system performance in various environmental conditions; design philosophies for collectors, the array, control systems, engine and plant; operation and maintenance strategies and cost reducing possibilities. Experience so far gives encouragement for the future of such paraboloidal dish systems in appropriate areas.


Data analytics is central to modern online services, particularly those data-driven. Often this entails the processing of large-scale datasets which may contain private, personal and sensitive information relating to individuals and organisations. Particular challenges arise where cloud is used to store and process the sensitive data. In such settings, security and privacy concerns become paramount, as the cloud provider is trusted to guarantee the security of the services they offer, including data confidentiality. Therefore, the issue this work tackles is "How to securely perform data analytics in a public cloud?" To assist this question, we design and implement SGX-PySpark- a secure distributed data analytics system which relies on a trusted execution environment (TEE) such as Intel SGX to provide strong security guarantees. To build SGX-PySpark, we integrate PySpark - a widely used framework for data analytics in industry to support a wide range of queries, with SCONE - a shielded execution framework using Intel SGX.


THE HEALTH Education Service of Leeds Area Health Authority (Teaching) presented a 'Look After Yourself!' exhibition in September 1978. This consisted of a variety of activities and physical measurements, together with advice and the distribution of fact sheets. A postal survey of the effectiveness of active participation in this exhibition in increasing knowledge and changing or modifying behaviour was carried out one month later. Three hundred and ninety- nine questionnaires were returned (75 per cent response) from ap proximately a one-in-nine sample of the 3,500 people who attended the exhibition. Although the exhibition was aimed at both sexes between the age of 16 and 60, the survey found that women, the elderly, housewives and those not in full-time employment were over-represented. The exhibition overall was en joyed by 98 per cent of the respondents, and the majority found the various tests helpful. The fact sheets were generally understood and found to be useful. Twenty-six per cent of respondents discovered they were not as fit as they thought. As a result of participation in the exhibition, 57 per cent in creased their exercise, and 58 per cent changed their eating habits. Of those who smoked, eight per cent gave up the habit, and 32 per cent reduced their intake. The vast majority of participants recommended the exhibition to relatives, friends and associates. There was wide coverage of the activities by newspapers, radio and television. On both the descriptive level, and in terms of behavioural change and information gained, the exhibition proved to be enormously successful and was enjoyed by staff and participants.


IMPATT diodes can produce high power RF oscillation between a wide range of frequencies and excel some other solid state devices. The device technology for fabrication of silicon SDR diode is now very much advanced. The device efficiency and RF power output register sharp fall when the frequency of operation is enhanced to high values. Introduction of charge bump near the junction leading to formation of low- high-low profile by using ion implantation technique can be used to restore high efficiency and high power. The purpose of this paper is to study the ion implantation profiles of a low-high-low structure SDR and to suggest the optimized ion implantation parameters by using a computer simulation method developed by us. The method gives the best ion- implantation parameters of the charge bump suitable for use in fabrication of IMPATT diodes. The method is a generalized one and can be used to design high efficiency and high power silicon SDR for any frequency band. This can add to microelectronic manufacturing technologies.


As a continuation of the policy in relation to professional development, in this case with a broader spectrum, our center maintains and maintain the applicat...


We prove that the algebraic precision of a(N+1)-point interpolatory quadraure formula can take any integer value from Nto 2 N+1by the roots property of Legendre polynomials.We give a complete answer to the relationship between algebraic precision and positions of nodes when N=1.As a by-product,we present a simple proof of the condition when the degree of precision of a quadrature formula is 3discussed in[1].


We provide a general framework to construct finite-dimensional approximations of the space of convex functions, which also applies to the space of $c$-convex functions and to the space of support functions of convex bodies. We give precise estimates of the distance between the approximation space and the admissible set. This framework applies to the approximation of convex functions by piecewise-linear functions on a mesh of the domain and by other finite-dimensional spaces such as tensor-product splines. We show how these discretizations are well suited for the numerical solution of problems of calculus of variations under convexity constraints. Our implementation relies on proximal algorithms and can be easily parallelized, thus making it applicable to large-scale problems in dimension two and three. We illustrate the versatility and the efficiency of our approach on the numerical solution of three problems in calculus of variation: three-dimensional denoising, the principal agent problem, and optimizat...


Web-services-based systems present challenges for service-level enforcement. Contrary to typical enterprise architectures where we are in control of all services and can easily specify and monitor service levels, here we need self-adapting approaches. This article proposes an approach for the assurance of service levels. The steps of the approach are: the formalisation of requirements using a Service Level Objective (SLO), the formalisation of web service properties in a service-level capability statement and adaptive actions based on the translucent replication of services. The evaluation is based on a reference process model in Business Processing Modelling Notation (BPMN) and subsequent mapping at the infrastructure level. This mapping includes the definition, implementation and deployment of web services that cover the functional requirements, orchestration and coordination of these services using Business Process Execution Language (BPEL), as well as the the runtime monitoring and assurance of Nonfunctional Properties (NFPs) within a business process management framework.


Objective To report the clinical results of soft tissue coverage of the hand using free superficial epigastric perforator fascio-cutaneous flap transfer. Methods Ten patients with soft tissue defects of the hand were treated with free superficial epigastric perforator fascio-cutaneous flap. The siaes of the flaps ranged from 8cm×6cm to 16cm×9cm. Results All flaps survived. Postoperative vascular crisis occurred in one case and the flap was salvaged after surgical exploration. After 4 to 12 months follow-up, both the texture and appearance of the flaps were excellent, and the function of hand recovered satisfactorily. The wound of donor area in all cases healed primarily. The appearance was satisfactory. Conclusion Free superficial epigastric perforator fascio-cutaneous flap can be transferred to repair soft tissue defect of the hand in one stage. Donor site morbidity is minor. It is an ideal method for soft tissue coverage of the hand.

Key words:
Hand injuries;  Surgical flaps;  Treatment outcome;  Arteria epigastrica superficialis


Solution crystal growth and doping conditions of Si-Ge alloys used for high-temperature thermoelectric generation are determined here. Liquid-phase epitaxy (LPE) has been successfully employed recently to obtain single-crystalline homogeneous layers of Si-Ge solid solutions from a liquid metal solvent. Knowledge of Si-Ge-metallic solvent ternary phase diagrams is essential for further single-crystal growth development. Consequently, a thermodynamic equilibrium model was used to calculate the phase diagrams of the Si-Ge-M systems, including solid solubilities, where M is Al, Ga, In, Sn, Pb, Sb, or Bi. Good agreement between calculated liquidus and solidus data and experimental DTA and microprobe results was obtained. The results are used to compare the suitability of the different systems for crystal growth (by LPE-type process).


Abstract — In this paper, we present symbolic recognition models to extract knowledge characterized by document structures. Focussing on the extraction and the meticulous exploitation of the semantic structure of documents, we obtain a meaningful contextual tagging corresponding to different unit types (title, chapter, section, enumeration, etc.). Keywords — Information retrieval, document structures, symbolic grammars. I. I NTRODUCTION OCUMENT management (classification, indexation, storage) is practised for a long time, in particular in libraries. In recent years, due to technological progress and the transition from paper to numerical form, the amount of the textual resources has become gigantic [1], making it difficult to exploit manually. In order to make a better use of this large resource, information retrieval (henceforth IR) systems were created, aiming at improving the quality and efficiency of knowledge extraction. Our project objective is to produce the prototype of a system that would extract business rules from corporate texts and translate them into a visual software engineering model. Within this perspective, it is not only a question of extracting knowledge, but also to be able to visualize correctly extracted relevant information. The upstream of this project, object of this paper, is to extract knowledge characterized by document structure and contents. We will focus here on the extraction and exploitation of the semantic structure of documents in order to obtain a meaningful contextual tagging corresponding to different unit types (title, chapter, section, enumeration, etc.). This paper is organized as follow. First, we will underline previous researches in information retrieval that have taken into account document structure to improve results. Then, we will describe the models we propose for the detection of some


Data theft and data attack is very common with internet users and web log files. Web log file is the proof of authentication of any user over any website. Many unauthorized users change them according to their requirement. Attacks like sql injection, brute force attack, IP spoofing might cause severe damage to the database system In this encryption techniques and optimization technique have been applied in order to check the unexpected arrival of messages or queries and the system parameter.


The overall approach to the management of Hodgkin lymphoma has undergone a rapid revolution. The Ann Arbor staging, proposed more than half a century ago, is still valid to guide treatment intensity, but all the invasive methods originally proposed have been replaced by a single high-performing tool of functional imaging: the Positron Emission Tomography coupled with Computed-Tomography (PET/CT). Apart from improving the overall accuracy of the Ann Arbor staging, new PET-derived metrics to measure the tumor burden such as metabolic tumor volume, total lesion glycolysis and tumor spread such as the Tumor Distance (Dmax), are ready to take over the classical four-level lymphoma staging. PET/CT has also downsized the role of radiation in the classic "combined modality treatment" for HL. PET/CT performed early during treatment (interim PET) for advanced-stage HL remains the standard of care in Europe to escalate treatment in patients starting with ABVD or to de-escalate treatment for patients starting with BEACOPP escalated. Finally, the therapeutic offer for patients failing first-line chemotherapy has been completely renewed by the advent of new non-chemotherapy agents such as Brentuximab Vedotin and Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors (CPI) which are now the standard of care along with autologous stem cell transplant (ASCT).


Great breakthrough had taken place in the field of shale gas exploration of Wufeng-Lonmgaxi shale in Zheng'an Area, North Guizhou. In this paper, we reconstruct the one-dimensional geological model of Well Anye-1 by using PetroMod software. The burial history shows that the Wufeng-Longmaxi shale of Well Anye-1 mainly experienced four erosion movements. It reached the maximum burial depth (5331 m) at the late Cretaceous and the current burial depth is 2331 m. The thermal history shows that the shale started to generated oil (Ro>0.55 %) at the middle Devonian, entered into the wet gas stage (Ro=1.30-2.00%) at middle Jurassic and the dry gas stage (Ro>2.00 %) at the end of early Cretaceous, and now the thermal maturity is around 2.07 %Ro.


This paper derives sharp estimates of the error arising from explicit and implicit approximations of the constant-coefficient 1D convection‐diffusion equation with Dirac initial data. The error analysis is based on Fourier analysis and asymptotic approximation of the integrals resulting from the inverse Fourier transform. This research is motivated by applications in computational finance and the desire to prove convergence of approximations to adjoint partial differential equations.


The unexpected collapse of land surface due to subsidence is one of the most significant geohazards that threatens human life and infrastructure. Kabudrahang and Famenin are two Iranian plains experiencing several sinkholes due to the characteristics of the underground soil layers and extreme groundwater depletion. In this study, space-based Synthetic Aperture Radar images are used to investigate the ground displacement behavior to examine the feasibility of Sentinel-1 data in detecting precursory deformation proceeding before the sinkhole formation. The selected sinkhole occurred in August 2018 in the vicinity of Kerdabad village in Hamedan province with a 40 m diameter and depth of ~40 m. Time series of the European constellation Sentinel-1 data, spanning from January 2015 to August 2018, is analyzed, and the results revealed a 3 cm annual subsidence (–3 cm/year) along with the line-of-sight direction. Time-series analysis demonstrated that the driving mechanism of the sinkhole formation had a gradual process. Displacement of persistent scatterers (PSs) near the cave area had an acceleration by approaching the sinkhole formation date. In contrast, other areas that are far from the cave area show linear subsidence behavior over time. Additionally, the one-kilometer deformation profile over the cave area indicates a high subsidence rate precisely at the location where the sinkhole was formed later on 20 August 2018.


Nitrogen can mitigate damages caused by leaf area reduction due to its influence on cell division. This work was carried out aiming to evaluate the efficiency of side-dressing different rates of nitrogen as a management strategy to maize stem defoliation at different growth stages. The experiment was set in Lages, during the 2008/2009 and 2009/2010 growing seasons. The experimental design was a randomized block with split plots. Three defoliation times were tested in the main plot: eight expanded leaves (V8), fifteen expanded leaves (V15) and tasseling (VT), plus a control without defoliation. Four nitrogen rates were assessed in the split-plots: 0, 50, 100 and 200 kg ha-1 of N. Nitrogen was side-dressed at the defoliation day of each growth stage and at V8 in the control. Defoliations performed at V8 did not reduce grain yield, in comparison to the control, regardless of N rate. Side-dressing N rates at V15 increased grain yield, mitigating damages caused by defoliation. Defoliation carried out at VT promoted great grain yield reduction that could not be alleviated with subsequent nitrogen fertilization. The success of nitrogen side-dress as a strategy to minimize maize grain yield losses caused by defoliation depends on the growth stage leaf area reduction occurs.


The teaching reform of higher vocational education develops from macroscopic level to medium and microscopic level.Meanwhile,economic development needs for talents change and have new requirements for talents' quality.It is highly urgent for higher vocational English education reform to construct a new teaching mode to satisfy the needs of enterprises and markets.


In using sociological perspectives to examine other animals in society Animals and Sociology aims to challenge traditional assumptions about the very nature of sociology. Kay Peggs seeks to explore the significant contribution that sociology can make to our understanding of human relations with other animals and the important contribution that the study of other animals in society can make to sociology. Alasdair Cochrane believes the book can be thought of as a manifesto for future sociological work on animals.


Objective: To investigate the objectivity of syndrome classification of Alcoholic Liver Fibrosis( ALF).Methods: The relationship between syndrome patterns of 326 confirmed ALF patients and four indicators of hepatic fibrosis,radiology( hepatomegaly,splenomegaly,portal vein enlargement) and pathological stage was analyzed. Results: The physical and chemical indexes were all correlated with syndrome patterns( P < 0. 05),radiology was more closely with Qi stagnation and blood stasis. Accumulation of dampness and heat,Qi stagnation and blood stasis lasted the whole process of pathological changes. Each of Four indicators of hepatic fibrosis was closely related with syndrome patterns. Conclusion:There was a clear correlation between syndrome patterns and four indicators of hepatic fibrosis,radiology and pathological stage.


Objective
To investigate the clinical value of patient-controlled epidural analgesia (PCEA) versus patient-controlled intravenous analgesia (PCIA) for postoperative analgesia in pregnant women with heart disease.

Methods
The clinical data of pregnant 86 patients with heart disease were retrospectively analyzed. The patients were randomly divided into an observation group (PCEA) and a control group (PCIA), 43 cases for each group. The analgesic effects of the two groups were recorded. Immediately and 12, 24, and 72 h after the operation, the hemodynamic indexes [mean arterial pressure (MAP) and heart rate (HR)] and inflammatory factors [interferon gamma (IFN-gamma), interleukin-4 (IL-4), interleukin-8 (IL-8), and interleukin-10 (IL-10)] were analyzed. The incidence of adverse reactions during analgesia was recorded.

Results
There were no statistical differences in the VAS scores between these two groups 12, 24, and 72 h after the operation (all P>0.05). There were no statistical differences in the MAP and HR in the observation group between before and after the operation (all P>0.05). The MAP and HR were higher 12 and 24 h after than before the operation in the contol group. 12 and 24 h after the operation, the MAP were (87.34 ± 3.17) mmHg and (87.39 ± 3.25) mmHg and the HR were (75.35 ± 8.90) times /min and (75.10 ± 7.95) times /min in the observation group, which were lower than those in the control group (all P<0.05) . The levels of TNF-α and IL-8 were higher and the levels of IL-4 and IL-10 were lower 12, 24, and 72 h than immediately after the operation in both groups (all P<0.05). 12, 24, and 72 h after the operation, the levels of TNF-αwere (6.42 ± 1.39) pg/ml, (6.75 ± 1.43) pg/ml, and (6.20 ± 1.12) pg/ml and the levels of IL-8 (8.10 ± 1.35) pg/ml, (8.34 ± 1.42) pg/ml, and (7.95 ± 1.45) pg/ml in the observation group, which were lower than the control group (all P<0.05). 12, 24, and 72 h, the levels of IL-4 were (11.79 ± 1.62) pg/ml, (11.85 ± 1.64) pg/ml, and (11.64 ± 1.82) pg/ml and the levels of IL-10 were (30.46 ± 3.69) pg/ml, (29.10 ± 3.42) pg/ml, and (29.05 ± 3.54) pg/ml in the observation group, which were higher than those in the control group (all P<0.05). The incidence of adverse reactions was 16.28% in observation group and 39.53% in the control group (χ2=5.780, P=0.016).

Conclusions
PCEA and PCIA are better for postoperative analgesia in pregnant women with heart disease. But the former can better maintain the hemodynamic stability and reduce the levels of inflammatory factors. It has fewer adverse reactions, higher safety, and better clinical value.

Key words:
Epidural analgesia; Intravenous analgesia; Pregnancy associated with heart disease; Postoperative analgesia


The objective of this study was to adapt the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) in patients with breast cancer. The participants were 57 patients between 18 and 65 years, with the diagnosis of breast cancer.
The HAD Scale developed by Zigmond and Snaith (1983) was applied, which is a simple and practical test for the diagnosis and evaluation of the signs of severity of the disorder in cancer patients. The results obtained show evidence of a good level of content validity, as well as construct validity, evaluated through the confirmatory factor analysis of its main components, observing that all the items show values greater than .30, conserving the 14 items of the total scale.
Likewise, it presents internal consistency, estimated by the reliability indices. The RITC results found are between .387 and .680, meaning they are higher than .20 in the total scale, keeping all the items.
Institutional use scales are presented under the conversion of direct scores to scores converted by enneatypes


This paper addresses the problem of collision avoidance in human-robot interaction. To this end, we introduce the concept of kinetostatic safety field, a novel safety assessment about the risk in the vicinity of a rigid body (including a robot link or a human body part). The safety field depends on the position and velocity of the body but it is also influenced by its real shape and size. Since all the computation can be performed in closed form, the safety field is suitable for real-time applications. Moreover, we present a safety-oriented control strategy for redundant manipulators, based on safety field and developed entirely on the kinematic level, where the kinematic redundancy is exploited for simultaneous task performance and collision avoidance, such as self-collision avoidance and human-robot coexistence. The proposed control strategy is validated through experiments performed on ABB's FRIDA dual arm robot.


Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to review the existing literature on sponsorship‐linked marketing and to present a set of research propositions.Design/methodology/approach – The approach to the research propositions was to explore the existing literature to discover areas where opportunities for further research exist.Findings – The authors propose that not only does sponsorship‐linked marketing influence attitudes towards the sponsor, but that the relationship is that of an S‐shaped curve where the incremental impact of sponsorship is slight for brands with very little or very strong attitudes established towards the brand. The most dramatic influence that sponsorship‐linked marketing will have is for those sponsors with a moderate amount of established brand attitude. The authors also present an argument that extreme congruity or extreme incongruity will drive brand awareness more dramatically than an expected level of sponsor‐property congruity, thus suggesting a U‐shaped relationship between aw...


This study firstly developed a tool for evaluating performance requirements of automatic vehicle identification (AVI) techniques. A microscopic traffic simulator, Paramics, was employed to investigate the effects of AVI performances on the accuracy of estimating section travel times. Mote Carlo simulation approach was incorporated into Paramics to conduct systematic evaluations of identifying required AVI performances. The proposed method in this study can serve as a logical and necessary precursor to field implementation of a variety of AVI techniques toward achieving more reliable traffic information.


Religion is a major cultural variable that can affect the purchase behavior of consumers. This non-empirical paper examines how the Muslim concept of Halal influences consumers in the Middle East and Muslims all over the world. The paper reviews brief history of the marketing concept and consumer behavior. It then explains the role that cultural generally plays in the consumer decision making and marketing concept. The paper explains the basic concepts behind Halal culture. The paper makes recommendations to marketers for how to reach consumers who seek products that are Halal certified and Shariah-compliant. It also discusses how to compete with these marketers. He has authored or co-authored over seventy peer reviewed articles that have appeared in conference proceedings and journals, including the Journal of Marketing in Higher Education and the International Journal of Sports Marketing & Sponsorship . He co-authored a textbook, Practical Statistics for Business. His research interests include entrepreneurship, international business, ethics, sales and sales management, education marketing, sports marketing, and leadership.


Analysis of kinship from facial images or videos is an important problem. Prior machine learning and computer vision studies approach kinship analysis as a verification or recognition task. In this paper, first time in the literature, we propose a kinship synthesis framework, which generates smile videos of (probable) children from the smile videos of parents. While the appearance of a child's smile is learned using a convolutional encoder-decoder network, another neural network models the dynamics of the corresponding smile. The smile video of the estimated child is synthesized by the combined use of appearance and dynamics models. In order to validate our results, we perform kinship verification experiments using videos of real parents and estimated children generated by our framework. The results show that generated videos of children achieve higher correct verification rates than those of real children. Our results also indicate that the use of generated videos together with the real ones in the training of kinship verification models, increases the accuracy, suggesting that such videos can be used as a synthetic dataset.


Purpose: Description of hospitalization, mortality rates and cost of heart valve surgery performed by Brazilian Public Health System from 2008 to 2013. Methods: A cross-sectional, observational descriptive study about the procedures of valve surgeries performed in Brazil, from January 2008 to December 2013, by region and federative unit. The study was conducted using the electronic database of Health System Information (Datasus). Results: In the period of study, the total authorizations for hospital admissions for heart valve surgery in Brazil was 65,138 with an average of 10,586 per year. The Southeast region had the highest number of admission and the North the least. The Southeast region concentrated about 45% of valve surgeries in the last six years, while the North was responsible for only 3.80%. The number of heart valve surgeries in Brazil was 5.8/100,000 inhabitants. The national mortality rate during this procedure was 8.8%. The average cost in dollars applied for each valve surgery in 2012 was U$5,947 per 100,000 inhabitants and about $65,757,845 were spent in hospitalization in 2013. Conclusions: The study showed that Brazil spends a high investment in the surgical treatment of valvular heart disease. It is necessary to reinforce the institution of public health programs aimed to rheumatic heart disease in our country to change that reality.


Early warning satellite system is at the front edge of ballistic missile defense system,and plays an important role in leading other early warning systems and interceptor systems.Aiming at estimate of impact point,the process of early warning satellite system is analyzed.Based on space two body mechanis theory and burnout parametes,ballistic model in unpowered-flight phase and estimate model of impact point considering earth rotation are established.the simulation results showed that the models are effective and accurate.


The high-density effect on the angular distribution of penetrating cluster atoms due to cluster impacts on solid surfaces has been studied by molecular dynamics simulations. MD simulations are performed for (Cu)/sub 201//spl rarr/Pt[111] and (Pt)/sub 201//spl rarr/Cu[111] where the cluster energies are changed from 5 eV to 50 keV per atom. It is found that the high-density formation is strongly dependent on the cluster energy and the mass ratio between a cluster atom and target atom and that the angular distributions of cluster atom are enhanced near /spl theta/=90/spl deg/ for 5 eV/atom Cu cluster.


For the vessels used in aeronautical engineering and automobile industry the high level of liner fatigue failure is required. In addition the manufacture of composite vessel is labour-intensive. Therefore the problem of development of the structure and technology of vessel production by force of selection of unconventional materials of liner and power cover is suggested for study. The calculation of the pressure vessel consists in evaluation of the maximum inner stress in a shell enduring uniform inner pressure. The wall thickness of the shell has been chosen considering that designed stress in the vessel would be equal to the strength limit of material with safety factor of 2. As a result it was chosen polyvinylchloride (PVC) for manufacture of liner and basalt plastic for shell. On the basis of fulfilled calculations it was confirmed the possibility and reasonability of pressure vessel manufacture out of mineral fiber combined with binder at a relatively low cost and high processability using traditional methods.


The mechanical properties of prestressed concrete boxsection beam during construction are discussed in ANSYS for a real project.Some problems in the analysis are discussed and some advice and ideas are given,and then the calculation values in the ANSYS are compared with the test values.The result indicates that the precision of model is high,which provides a method and approach to simulate the mechanical capability of reinforced concrete structure and practical value.


1.( Introduction Over the course of the 21st century, the nature has undergone significant changes linked to climate change, which will become more acute according to the season and the geographical environment [1]. Changes in the distribution of rainfall could increase the intensity and frequency of certain phenomena such as floods and flooding in some regions of the world. Given the unpredictable nature of their occurrence, these phenomena pose a threat to the neighbouring populations. The implementation of protective measures against these phenomena remains a major concern for contemporary hydrologists who are developing models to prevent floods and inundation risks [2-5]. In Côte d'Ivoire, no study has ever covered this topic, yet it is very important in the policy of settlement [6]. As a result, the mechanisms of propagation of flood waves along the main Ivorian rivers are unknown and there is no monitoring of the evolution of floods which consequences are often disastrous. Thus, this article entitled "Propagation of flood waves along a river: the case of the N'zi river" is a first of its kind in the process of understanding floods in Côte d'Ivoire. The main objective of this work is to follow the evolution of flood waves along the N'zi River. Specifically, it will first of all explain the functioning of the N'zi watershed during floods, then to determine parameters related to the propagation of flood waves and to explain the influence of the hydraulic characteristics of the sections on the process of flood wave propagation. This study aims at contributing to the understanding of flood phenomena and the dynamics of flood waves on the N'zi River. Although not a model, this study was based on methods of hydrographs analysis at different hydrometric stations.


The reform of College English Tests(CET) of Band Four and Band Six is facing many tough problems such as contradictions between unified tests and individualized syllabus,feasibility of large scaled tests with subjective test items,annually higher requirements of test items,and the drop of students'overall level of English.Separation of testing from teaching must be carried out to make the reform of CET of Band Four and Band Six successful.


73 Introduction 73 Materials and methods 75 Results 80 Discussion 83 Conclusion 89 References 90 Tables and figures 97 Chapter 3 The effect of hormonal contraceptives on the gut phageome over the menstrual cycle; a pilot study 106 Abstract 107 Introduction 107 Materials and methods 111 Results 114 Discussion 118 References 123 Tables and figures 133 Chapter 4 Analysis of single nucleotide polymorphisms in multiple strains of Escherichia coli bacteriophage APCEc01 isolated from different environments 143107 Introduction 107 Materials and methods 111 Results 114 Discussion 118 References 123 Tables and figures 133 Chapter 4 Analysis of single nucleotide polymorphisms in multiple strains of Escherichia coli bacteriophage APCEc01 isolated from different environments 143 Abstract 144 Introduction 144144 Introduction 144 Materials and methods 147 Results 150 Discussion 156 References 165 Tables and figures 172 Chapter 5 Isolation and characterisation of a novel jumbo bacteriophage of Klebsiella aerogenes and its impact on biofilms 188 Abstract 189 Introduction 189 Materials and methods 193 Results 200 Discussion 206 References 212 Tables and figures 224 General discussion 251 Acknowledgements 260189 Introduction 189 Materials and methods 193 Results 200 Discussion 206 References 212 Tables and figures 224 General discussion 251 Acknowledgements 260


The main goal of our current research is the design of a robotic architecture that has the capability of adapting its behavior both to the rate of change of the environment and to changes of its internal states. Inspired by some research on biological clocks, we show a simple model to represent those clocks in terms of Schema Theory, connecting the concept of releasing mechanisms to the concept of variable internal clocks. We evaluated different monitoring strategies, in terms of performances, using real robots with a navigation behavior inspired by a catagliphys ant and enhanced with simple visual capabilities.


Device for crushing and selection of polycrystalline silicon, comprising a power supply for a coarse polysilicon fraction into a crushing system, the crushing system and a sorting for classifying the polysilicon fraction, characterized in that device is provided with a control which enables a variable adjustment of at least one parameter of fragmentation fragmentation plant and at least one selection parameter in the sorting plant.


The rates of thermal cis→trans isomerization of two dimeric nitrosoalkanes are measured in absolute ethanol, and the Arrhenius parameters determined. The results are discussed with reference to direct and indirect isomerization mechanisms. It is probable that both mechanisms operate.


Intelligent reflecting surfaces (IRSs) have emerged as a promising technology to realize energy- and spectrally efficient low-cost wireless communication systems. In this work, we propose a dual IRS-aided communication model for outdoor-to-indoor wireless communication. The scenario comprises an outdoor base station that communicates with the indoor users with the aid of two distinct IRSs. Specifically, we derived the closed-form expressions of the spectral efficiency (SE), energy efficiency (EE), and outage probability (OP) for the dual IRS-aided communication system. The results show that utilizing distributed IRSs, i.e., by dividing the large IRS into two smaller IRSs, significant performance gains in the SE and EE can be achieved over the single IRS scenario. Although the multiplicative pathloss effect impacts performance, it can be mitigated by increasing the number of reflecting elements. Initially, we evaluated the performance of a single-user scenario; later on, we generalized it to the multiuser scenario with nonorthogonal multiple access. Further, the performance is also compared with the baseline direct cellular transmission. The analytical derivations of the SE, EE, and OP are corroborated through simulations.


A combination of Multiple-Input Multiple-Output Spatial Division Multiplexing technology and Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing technique, namely MIMO-OFDM SDM systems, has been well-known as a potential technology to provide high speed data transmission and spectrum e fficiency for modern wireless communications networks. Many technical papers have been evaluated the systems ba sed on theory analyses and/or computer simulation, but just few ones have investigated the systems based on FPGA design, which is an important step before going to manufac ture the integrated circuits. In the paper, we present our own design a nd implementation of three different MIMO-OFDM SDM systems on FPGA-based DSP Development Kit. Based on the design, we evaluate the bit-error rate performance of the systems and also consider the consumption of the FPGA elements in our design. The results have shown our successful des ign and implementation of the systems on FPGA hardware. CONCLUSIONS MIMO-OFDM SDM technology has been considered a candidate for high speed wireless data transmission net works because of its significant increase of channel capa city and use of spectrum efficiently. In the paper, we have investigated the systems based on hardware design and implementation. We have shown our detailed design of three differ ent systems on the FPGA-based DSP Development Kit. Based on the design, we have measured and evaluated BER performance of the systems. The results have shown that our design and implementation are successful. Here, we also considered the consumption of FPGA elements. It has shown the efficiency of our d esign.


The research into eclipsed form often spread from types,grammar functions and grammar meanings,among which there is a big difference for the problem of Adjective Eclipsed Form Definition.The article sums up some representative research results simply,puts forward the principles and methods of adjective eclipsed form definition and attempts to analyse the different opinions.


The present invention relates to a method for sealing protective oxide layers on metal substrates using aqueous compositions containing a copolymer or Copolymerenmischung at least one aliphatic and acyclic alkene with at least one α, β-unsaturated carboxylic acid in the water-dispersed and / or water-dissolved form with an acid number of copolymer or the Copolymerenmischung of at least 20 mg KOH / g but not more than 200 mg KOH / g. In particular, the invention also provides the use of such copolymers, or of such a Copolymerenmischung for sealing protective layers comprises based on oxides and / or hydroxides of the elements Si, Ti and / or Zr on an aluminum substrate, wherein the protective layer has a thickness of at least 2 microns.


Written by a child psychiatrist, a psychologist, and a social worker, this book deals with the extremely complex field of delinquency and, in ten chapters, covers a wide variety of topics. The authors worked closely with the juvenile court in New Haven, Conn. As the authors make clear, delinquency is a legal and not a medical term that refers to those youngsters who behave in an unacceptable way in the society. They primarily saw only those youngsters referred to them by the court, and therefore do not believe they have had as complete a sample of so-called delinquents as they might. Nevertheless, they do believe that they have done a useful task and pointed the way for future investigations. They frankly state that they cannot answer all of the questions they raise about delinquency, since there are so many causes. They do make a point with which most of us


The iufluence of abandonment of agricultural fields on soil carbon and nitrogen dynamics is rarely addressed due to lack of appropriately paired sites. In this study, we identified three sites that have native forest and abandoned rice and crop fields at Mt. Kumdan near Seoul. Currently the vegetation of indigenous forest and the abandoned rice field is deciduous hardwood forest, while that of the abandoned crop field is deciduous shrub. We measured soil evolution and inorganic N availability for the three sites from 25 July 2002 through 24 January 2003. Soil evolution tracked seasonal soil temperature. Mean soil evolution (g //hr) for the study period was 0.42 for the rice field to forest, 0.50 for the crop field to shrub, and 0.41 for the indigenous forest, respectively. Soil evolution and soil temperature were not different among the sites; however, soil water content was significantly different. Soil water content had a very weak influence on soil evolution. Inorganic resin N availability differed among the three sites and seemed to be related to soil moisture.


Research Doctorate - Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)%%%%The key objective of this study was to examine the possible effects of power distance (PD) as a sociolinguistic factor on Saudi university students' English reading proficiency. Most research on the role of PD in education has been done in low PD countries like the USA and Western Europe. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) where the current study was conducted is a fast developing Middle Eastern Islamic country of rich traditional and Islamic culture representing a high PD. In that regard its context provides a valuable opportunity to test various aspects of the theory of PD. In a high PD culture like KSA, in a classroom learning environment, the authority of the teacher is accepted and respected with high reverence. It is a teacher-centered culture which is generally devoid of independence and individualism in learning. Student-teacher relationships are highly formal, and classroom discourse is typically unidirectional from the teacher to the students. Prior to the study reported here there has been no research on how KSA's high PD setting affects teacher-student relationships and to what extent high PD influences learning outcomes. This was the central issue examined in this work. Albaha University (in the city of Albaha, KSA) was chosen as the venue for this research. Albaha is a medium-sized provincial capital which is representative of mainstream Saudi social and cultural values. Using cluster random sampling, 100 university students and four teachers were recruited for the study. Data in relation to PD, the independent variable, were collected via a questionnaire and via classroom observations. The questionnaire included a section on participants' demographic background. A dedicated language test was used to obtain data on the participants' reading proficiency in English as a foreign language (EFL), the dependent variable. The data were subjected to a range of descriptive and inferential statistical analyses. Two principal research questions were addressed: whether the PD variable can predict students' EFL reading proficiency; and whether demographic variables can predict EFL reading proficiency. In relation to the former, the analyses revealed PD to be a statistically significant, albeit weak, predictor of participants' EFL reading proficiency. Among the demographic variables, age and mother's level of education were found to be significant, but also weak, predictors of students' EFL reading proficiency. The regression models deployed for the purposes of the study established that PD and demographics can only account for a relatively small proportion of the variance in the reading proficiency scores, indicating (as expected) that L2 proficiency is sensitive to a broad range of different factors.


Soha E Khalil The contents of mineral ions, protein and amino acids in seeds of (Lepidium sativum L.) were determined in response to water stress (85, 55 and25% depletion of the available soil water), Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi and three phosphate levels (control (without mycorrhiza and phosphorus), zero phosphorus + mycorrhiza (P0), 25% recommended phosphorus + mycorrhiza (P1), 50% recommended phosphorus + mycorrhiza (P2) and 100% recommended phosphorus + mycorrhiza (P3)). Treatments were arranged in a randomized complete blocks design with five replicates. The results revealed significant decrease in protein and mineral ions contents of L. sativum seeds with increasing water stress level. These changes were accompanied with an increment in proline and amino acids contents of L. sativum seeds. AMF inoculation clearly increased protein and mineral ions contents compared with non-AMF plants. Moreover, the composition of amino acids was changed by AMF inoculation, where their contents were mostly decreased specially after phosphate addition. It seems that the AMF symbiosis enhanced drought tolerance mechanisms of L. sativum plants.


This study aims to develop teaching materials which then obtain the validity value of physics teaching materials on unidirectional electricity based on science process skills to improve critical thinking skills of high school / MA students in class XI. This research uses the R&D (Research and Development) method. The research stages include the potential and problem stages, data collection, product design, product validation and design revision. These results can be seen from the assessment of the validators as expert validation in the feasibility of teaching materials based on expert validation, based on the descriptions of the explanations of each chapter and the completion of the development of science process skills-based teaching materials to improve critical thinking skills. The validation results include content feasibility with a percentage of 83.6%, presentation feasibility 86.95%, language aspect 90%, science process skill aspect 91.65%, and critical thinking ability aspect 92.5%. The validation results are included in the very good category, so teaching materials based on science process skills for aspects of critical thinking skills are feasible to use.


ABSTRACT Objective: To investigate exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) intention and associated variables among women in the third trimester of pregnancy. Methods: The data were collected with a questionnaire for the pregnant women (n=653), from December/2018 to November/2019. They answered the Infant Feeding Intentions (IFI) scale, translated and adapted to Brazilian Portuguese, and a questionnaire on sociodemographic, biological, family, pregnancy, breastfeeding, health care, and habits variables. Descriptive statistics and multiple logistic regression analyses were performed with a 5% significance level, following a multilevel hierarchical model that estimated the association between the dependent and independent variables. The outcome EBF intention measured by the IFI score was dichotomized by the median (<16 or =16). Results: Mean±standard deviation score for the IFI scale was 14.4±2.6 (score 0: very strong intention to not breastfeed at all; score 16: very strong EBF intention up to six months). The results from the regression analysis showed that pregnant women who had no intention to bottle feed (OR=4.33; 95%CI 2.79-6.72) or did not know (OR=1.85; 95%CI 1.21–2.82), those who planned the pregnancy (OR=1.52; 95%CI 1.09–2.12), those who believed they would have help to care for the baby (OR=3.60; 95%CI 1.51–8.56) or did not know (OR=3.97; 95%CI 1.26–12.51), and those who reported knowing the World Health Organization recommendations on breastfeeding (OR=1.73; 95%CI 1.13–2.64) were more likely to show a very strong EBF intention. Conclusions: Pregnant women in the third trimester of pregnancy presented a strong EBF intention. The higher EBF intention score was significantly associated with the structural, setting, and individual determinants.


This paper examines how margin requirements in futures markets are set and how they affect prices and liquidity. Margin increases cause both hedgers and speculators to reduce their open positions, and a margin increase for one contract causes funding liquidity spillovers that affect price impact for all contracts. I do not find a significant effect of margin changes on the futures price level. However, realized variance increases by 50% on average on the day of a margin increase and remains high in the following weeks. The findings imply that imposing higher margins adversely affects liquidity and volatility, and that regulation of margins can make trading more costly for all market


A novel Cu-promoted C-N coupling between boron esters and di-tert-butyldiaziridinone is described. A wide variety of aryl ureas can be readily obtained under mild conditions with up to a 92% yield.


Human herpesviruses, particularly the varicella-zoster virus, are notorious for affecting the central nervous system, especially when secondarily reactivated from a latent state. We present one such case of zoster radiculitis with an ensemble of typical dermatological and neurological features diagnosed on imaging and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) studies and encourage the consideration of viral (zoster) neuritis as a differential in patients presenting with radicular pain.


Based on the statistics of mail drilling problems in the middle East region,the controlling of salt creeping and soft-mudstone flowing is the key to solve the drilling accident and complex wellbore problems.Applying the Norton creep model,the analytic solutions of borehole radius change with the time,drilling fluid density,stress in the overlying strata,and temperature were established,and the methods of determining the drilling fluid density under the condition of one creep speed were deduced.Combining the drilling data in middle East region,the chart of determining the drilling fluid density used in salt formation was drawn,it could provide theoretical basis for restraining effectively salt rock creeping.


Chinese medicine was cultivated from the soil of the Chinese traditional culture.There are,in fact,various customs which bring Chinese people the idea of medical-prevention science.We should study the shining part of the folk custom conscientiously,and definitely,carry that custom forward.It's our duty to let the traditional custom be useful to the human-health.


The technology and equipment of the vacuum sputtering coating have the extremely broad application and the development in the future.Because the plating machine with the relay-contact control system has some defects,the plating machine with programmable logic controller is designed,several years practice proves.The efficiency of the plating machine that is innovated improves greatly,and its maintenance probability decreases greatly.It also provides reference for similar system.


In order to carry on the dynamic lifetime testing for microwave power devices,a set of testing systems were built up with computer monitoring on line.Separate microstrip circuit design and the heat isolating techniques were used to heat up the DUT separately.So that the stability problem were solved when the DUT was operating in high temperature and RF state.Meanwhile,a computer was used to monitor the testing procedure,record and keep the key parameters.The monitor software was written independently.


The present invention relates to the oxidation process of thioether precursor compound for digestion tract ulcer treating medicine containing sulfoxide base. In the phase transferring reaction process, it uses OXONE as oxidant, tetrabutyl ammonium as halide phase transferring catalyst and phase transferring solvents, such as dichloromethane/water, chloroform/water, methylbenzene/water, benzene/water, etc. and the reaction temperature is between -10 and 20 deg.c. The present invention has low cost, stable oxidant performance, no need of special equipment, simple operation, and high product yield.


The importance of renewable energy sources is currently attracting widespread attention due to the limited availability of fuels and major environmental impacts. A great deal of effort is put our days on the development of new efficient solar energy collectors either by quantum or thermal conversion. On this communication we will refers just to thermal converters focusing on the roughness and microtopographic inspection of surface thin films and spectrally selective coatings. Physically Vapor Deposited coatings like sputter deposited metal oxide and nitride thin multilayered and graded ones can be used in spectrally selective surfaces for thermal collectors and energy- efficient windows.


Five patients with asymptomatic abdominal masses (abdominal leiomyosarcoma, giant hydronephrosis, renal cell carcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma of the lung metastatic to the adrenal gland, retroperitoneal non-Hodgkin's lymphoma) are reported. Non invasive investigations such as Echography and Computed Tomography, are very advantageous for the quick diagnosis of asymptomatic abdominal masses and for subsequent therapy.


Extensive literature has focused on the media influences on the body images of women. This is a quantitative study that examines the relationship between the impact that media has had on women and their body image as adolescents, as well as their current relationship with the media and their body image. It also examines if women feel that the media accurately portrays women in magazines and TV shows, and if they are influenced by the images in following them and changing their lifestyles to look like them. One hundred and fifty-one women studying at a university were surveyed over the period of one week, and their results were charted and analyzed in this study. The results showed that young women are working towards good health by eating well and exercising. However, media has a definite role in defining the body images of women, and most of them were not satisfied with their body images and preferred to be skinnier. Media not only influences them in determining their body images as adolescents but also continues to influence them in their adulthood. ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank Dr. Kavita Karan for her time spent helping me through this process. In the College of Mass Communications and Media Arts, I would like to thank Prof. Jan Roddy and Ms. Linda Gassel for accepting me into the program and for helping with any questions throughout these past four semesters at SIU. Thank you to my friends and colleagues for always being there when I needed them most. Lastly, I would like to thank my family, especially my mom, Daniell Weinhoffer, for believing in me, for pushing me forward, and most of all for picking me up whenever I fell down. I wouldn't be where I am today without any of you and I appreciate all that you have done for me.


A year and a half ago, an international panel suggested that global warming had arrived. But as negotiators prepare to gather in Bonn in July to discuss a climate treaty that could require nations to adopt expensive policies for limiting emissions of greenhouse gases, many climate experts caution that it is not at all clear yet that human activities have begun to warm the planet--or how bad greenhouse warming will be when it arrives.


Noah Webster (October 16, 1758–May 28, 1843) was a patriot, a prolific writer, and an educational reformer.

Keywords:

dictionaries;
lexicography;
pronunciation;
vocabulary


Within the tridimensional cartography projects for visually impaired supported by the Instituto Panamericano de Geografia e Historia (IPGH), and currently within the Project CIDI/OEA "Design and Production of Cartography for the Visually Impaired in Latin America", it has been studied for years the best way to design a series of symbols related both to physical aspects of the soil as well as a particular theme, so as to later propose that such designs be used in cartography for the blind in all countries of Latin America.


Investigation of single‐wall carbon nanotube (SWNT)–polymer solar cells has been conducted towards developing alternative lightweight, flexible devices for space power applications. Photovoltaic devices were constructed with regioregular poly(3‐octylthiophene)‐(P3OT) and purified, >95% w/w, laser‐generated SWNTs. The P3OT composites were deposited on ITO‐coated polyethylene terapthalate (PET) and I–V characterization was performed under simulated AM0 illumination. Fabricated devices for the 1.0% w/w SWNT–P3OT composites showed a photoresponse with an open‐circuit voltage Voc of 0.98 V and a short‐circuit current density (Isc) of 0.12 mA/cm2. Future optimization of carrier transport and exciton dissociation within these novel photovoltaic systems is proposed to derive from incorporation of nanostructure–SWNT complexes into the polymer. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


In today's globalization and pluralism era with all of its progresses ,moslem and intellectuals are demanded to respond, answer, elaborate the messages in al-Qur'an and Sunnah to solve the problems faced by the society. To do so, it needs an approach to comprehend the Islamic tuitions directing to the invention of substantial and essential values from the Islamic tuitions itself. The approach is the one that emphasizes on syari'ah comprehension especially maslahah dimension.


A novel evolutionary extreme learning machine (ELM) based on improved quantum-behaved particle swarm optimization (IQPSO) for radar target classification is presented in this paper. Quantum-behaved particle swarm optimization (QPSO) has been used in ELM to solve the problem that ELM needs more hidden nodes than conventional tuning-based learning algorithms due to the random set of input weights and hidden biases. But the method for calculating the characteristic length of Delta potential well of QPSO may reduce the global search ability of the algorithm. To solve this issue, a new method to calculate the characteristic length of Delta potential well is proposed in this paper. Experimental results based on the benchmark functions validate the better performance of IQPSO against QPSO in most cases. The novel algorithm is also evaluated by using real-world datasets and radar data; the experimental results indicate that the proposed algorithm is more effective than BP, SVM, ELM, QPSO-ELM, and so on, in terms of real-time performance and accuracy.


What Database has the Article You are Looking For? This Guide Explains How to Check. If the eJournal Locator Doesn't Identify the Journal You Need, Check the Catalog


To the Editor: Mastalgia is a common and enigmatic condition. It may be severe enough to interfere with usual daily activities, and its effect on quality of life is often underestimated (1). Pain can be severe enough to interfere with usual daily activities, but the etiology and optimal treatment remain undefined. Approximately 60–70% of women experience some type of breast pain at some stage of their lives, and in 10–20% of cases, it is severe (2). The two most common concerns of patients presenting with mastalgia are the fear that breast pain is a symptom of breast cancer and the presence of severe pain that affects a woman's quality of life. Different drugs have been used with varied response. The most commonly prescribed nonsteroidal drug is evening primrose oil. Other drugs used at present are danazol, bromocriptine, tamoxifen, and luteinizing hormone releasing hormone analogs. Most of them are steroid-based drugs with significant side effects. Dhar and Srivastava (3) reported 100% regression in mastalgia, nodularity, and tenderness by centchroman. Centchroman is a novel nonsteroidal, selective anti-estrogen oral contraceptive, synthesized by the Central Drug Research Institute, Lucknow, India. It was included in the National Family Welfare Program in 1995. In lactating women, it is excreted in milk in quantities considered unlikely to have any deleterious effect on suckling babies. It is free from side effects like nausea, vomiting, weight gain, and dizziness that are commonly associated with steroidal oral contraceptives. It does not delay return of fertility and maintains normal ovulatory cycles because the dose is low and the low frequency of administration (two to three times a week) minimizes any effect on the hypothalamic-pituitary-ovarian axis. For better and cheaper treatment of mastalgia we have compared centchroman with evening primrose oil and the study has given encouraging results. In our trial, 135 patients were randomized into two study groups: group 1 (67 patients) received centchroman 30 mg on alternate days and on left over days a placebo was given to eliminate bias; group 2 (68 patients) received evening primrose oil 3 g ⁄ day. On follow-up after 6 months, 44 patients (86%) showed complete response in group 1 as compared to only 12 patients (23%) in group 2. This difference is statistically significant (p < 0.05) (Fig. 1). In group 1, patients who showed partial response felt that their pain had lessened to the point that they could do their work without disturbance. The centchroman arm had shown statistically significant difference (p < 0.05) in treating cyclical as well as noncyclical mastalgia. Moreover, the centchroman arm had also shown a statistically significant difference (p < 0.05) in treating severe mastalgia, which is a major limitation of evening primrose oil arm. Nodularity significantly disappeared in group 1 than in group 2 (p < 0.05). There were no recurrences till the end of the study. Only one side effect was noted in the centchroman arm, which was a delay in menstruation of 7–10 days but with good counseling there was no decrease in compliance and continuation rates. In our study, treatment with centchroman proved to be significantly superior to evening primrose oil in providing relief from mastalgia and nodularity with


Overcoming the Barriers of Access, Newsworthiness and Organisational Forms of Academy and Stakeholders : Report from the StakeholderAcademy Deliberations on 19 September, 2013


We have identified a new Lyman limit absorption system towards PKS1937-1009, with logN(H i) = 18.25 ± 0.02 at z = 3.256 that is suitable for measuring D/H. We find a 68.3% confidence range for D/H of 1.6 +0.25 0.30 × 10 5 , and a 95.4% range of 1.6 +0.5 0.4 × 10 5 . The metallicity of the cloud where D/H was measured is low, [Si/H] = 2.0±0.5. At these metallicities we expect that D/H will be close to the primordial value. Our D/H is lower than the D/H value predicted using the b calculated from the cosmic background radiation measured by WMAP, 2.60 +0.19 0.17 × 10 5 . Our result


Objective To investigate the effect of shenqi qiangjing capsule on the sperm quality in ornidazole-induced asthenospermic rats.Methods The rat asthenospermia model was established by intragastric administration of ornidazole at the dose of 400 mg·kg-1·d-1.Animals were administrated with low,middle and high doses(400,800,1 600 mg·kg-1·d-1) of shenqi qiangjing capsules.The sperm motility,viability,and quantity as well as superoxide dismutase(SOD) and malondialdehyde(MDA) levels in epididymis were measured.Results Compared with the normal control,sperm motility was significantly decreased(P0.01),MDA content in epididymis was significantly increased(P0.01),and the SOD activity was significantly reduced(P0.01) in the model control group.In the mid and high dose group,the sperm motility was increased significantly(P0.05 and P0.01,respectively),and the MDA level was decreased significantly(P0.01) in comparison with the model control.The SOD activity was enhanced in all three treatment groups(P0.05 or P0.01).Conclusion Shenqi qiangjing capsule can improve sperm motility of the male rats with ornidazole-induced asthenospermia,which might be related to modulation of the oxidative stress injury.


This research was carried out to examine the role of university brand capital in Spanish private universities. To get the aim, an empirical study is carried out with a quantitative sample of 993 valid responses from different agents involved (343 lecturers, 164 service staff and 486 students). The results obtained show the impact of each of the variables of brand capital at the educational level and, in particular, the importance of building brand image to maximize the perception of brand capital in Spanish private universities. At the same time, there are significant differences in perception among the different university agents involved, being the service staff the highest average in all variables, such as: (1) brand awareness, (2) brand image, (3) perceived quality and (4) brand loyalty.


Resources being at the disposal of a society (natural, labor, financial and others) must form the economic basis for its effective social and economic development. Such development requires a capable management of the natural and economic potential of the country and a proper, economically and socially justified differentiation of property according to the levels of state administration


This study attempts to analyse the current problem that Indian banking system mainly private banks are facing in the context of non-performing assets (NPAs). An attempt is made to examine both the macroeconomic and microeconomic (banking sector specific) factors responsible for the rising NPA levels in the Indian banking sector, mainly in private-sector banks. The analysis is done using the data of HDFC Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank. The data of past 3 years for both the banks is taken for analysis purpose. The study is limited to 4 years data which is taken from two private-sector banks of India. Regression analysis is done for analysing the data. Analysis is on the basis of the data taken from authentic secondary sources.


the biodegradation mechanism of the starch/PVA material was analyzed,and the research progress on thermoplastics and bio-degradation of this material from the aspects of starch pretreatment and PVA pretreatment were introduced respectively.Additionally,the thermoplastic processing methods of the starch/PVA material at home and abroad were reviewed in this article.


Since its beginning, feminism has studied the relationship between men and women which is based on sexual inequality. It indicated that the needs of men to dominate women has led to the present sexual violence. Many studies have shown the increasing role of the media in perpetuating and promoting violence against women through their representation of women and coverage of issues. Of the many influences on how women are viewed, the mass media are the most pervasive and one of the most powerful. All forms of mass media communicate images of the sexes and various types of violence against women. This study analyzed research on violence against women in mass media issues in the 20-year period from 1990 to 2010 in Thailand. The author reviews and synthesizes the key findings of the influence of mass media on violence against women in Thailand. Finally, the implications of these findings for future research are discussed.


The present article aims to verify how the development of new technologies reorganizes the world of work. The objective is to understand if work, restructured by the aforementioned resources, preserves its social character, protecting the dignity of the human person, by the contrast of the promise of inclusion in the world of work with its real reorganization against the absorption of information technologies, considering aspects that do not always integrate the enthusiastic reception of innovations. The study, grounded on the interpretative-deductive method of research in bibliographical and documentary research, addresses the concept of digital literacy and work as a constitutional social right.


AbstractThis work examined the impact of three natural minerals (zeolite, bentonite and perlite), three coagulants [ferric chloride, alum and polymeric aluminium chloride (PACl)] and a cationic polymer (MPE50) on the reduction in membrane fouling in membrane bioreactors (MBRs). The experiments were conducted using an ultrafiltration (UF) membrane module that was submerged in a reactor. Mixed liquor taken from an MBR was spiked with specific additive concentrations and was filtered through the UF membranes. Membrane fouling was assessed by determining the increase in the normalized membrane permeability L60/L0 when the additive was added compared to the L60/L0 obtained when sludge was filtered without any additive (i.e. control experiment). The use of additives resulted in a net increase in membrane permeability compared to the control experiment. Fouling mitigation followed the order MPE50 > PACl > FeCl3 > Al2(SO4)3 > zeolite > bentonite, with perlite increasing fouling. The addition of 400 mg/L MPE50 res...


Neutrino dipole moments mu(nu) would increase the core mass of red giants at the helium flash by delta(Mc) = 0.015 solar mass x mu(nu)/10 to the -12th muB (where muB is the Bohr magneton) because of enhanced neutrino losses. Existing measurements of the bolometric magnitudes of the brightest red giants in 26 globular clusters, number counts of horizontal-branch stars and red giants in 15 globular clusters, and statistical parallax determinations of field RR Lyr luminosities yield delta(Mc) = 0.009 + or - 0.012 solar mass, so that conservatively mu(nu) is less than 3 x 10 to the -12th muB.


We designed and fabricated thin single-microcrystals of a photochromic diarylethene, 1,2-bis(2-methoxy-5-phenyl-3-thienyl)perfluorocyclopentene, which exhibits photochromic reactions up to high conversion in high efficiency because the diarylethene molecule has extremely small photocycloreversion quantum yield. The thin microcrystals prepared on glass plates by sublimation underwent photochromism upon alternating irradiation with ultraviolet and visible light. The photocyclization reaction proceeded with more than 90% conversion in the crystalline phase, keeping the crystallinity. In addition to the high-convertible photochromic reaction in the crystalline phase, the crystals were found to exhibit the shape changes, such as contraction, bending, and separation, depending on the thickness of the crystal and the irradiation method with ultraviolet light. The intermolecular interaction between the photogenerated closed-ring isomers plays a significant role in deforming the crystal.


Oscillations around 1/2 order subharmonic resonance are investigated in a rotor system with a radial clearance between the bearing and the casing by numerical simulations and experiments. The following phenomena due to impact in the bearing are found : (1) Combination oscillations of [Pf -Pb=ω] and [3Pf-Pb=2ω] occur in lower speed range of + (1/2 ω resonance. (2) Entrainment phenomena occur in the speed range of + (1/2)ω resonance. (3) Oscillations of ω-Pf occur around the speed range of + (1/2)ω resonance with self-excited oscillation of Pf. Furthermore entrainment phenomena and coupling between self-excited oscillation of Pf and oscillation of ω-Pf are explained theoretically by a similar self-sxcited and forced oscillation model of nonlinear van der Pol's equation.


Based on the risk assessment model for the storm surge flood disaster in Huanghua of Hebei Province,with robust typhoon storm surge numerical model and 100m spatial resolution storm surge overland numerical model,and with the result data about mean sea level rising and land subside,the author calculated all possible routes,landing points,and direction of typhoon,and also considered 4 levels typhoon strength,including P0= 995 hPa,985 hPa,975 hPa and 965 hPa,and finally concluded with the effects of mean sea level on storm surge flooding area.The results show,if sea level rising 50/100cm,the average typhoon storm surge flooding area would increase about 35%/86%.And while P0=985 hPa or 975 Pa,the increasing area would become larger in percentage.The research indicates that the sea level rising will affect severely on the typhoon storm surge inundation in Huanghua.Nowadays,the climate change causing sea level rising will lead to some important attention on these low plain areas such as Huanghua and its adjacent Tianjin Binhai New District.


The vertical motion of a submarine detection system consisting of a surface float, cable, and an array of three neutrally buoyant inflated cylindrical legs is investigated. The variation of the natural frequencies of free vibration with different design parameters is studied. Analysis of the response of the system to surface wave excitations is carried out, the final objective being the reduction in the displacements of the leg tips supporting the hydrophones.


Technological advances in radio telescopes and X-ray instruments over the last 20 years have greatly increased the number of known supernova remnants (SNRs) and have led to a better determination of their properties. In particular, more SNRs now have reasonably determined distances. However, many of these distances were determined kinematically using old rotation curves (based on R☉ = 10 kpc and V☉ = 250 km s-1). A more modern rotation curve (based on R☉ = 8.5 kpc and V☉ = 220 km s-1) is used to verify or recalculate the distances to these remnants. We use a sample of 36 shell SNRs (37 including Cassiopeia A) with known distances to derive a new radio surface brightness-to-diameter (Σ-D) relation. The slopes derived here (β = -2.64 including Cas A, β = -2.38 without Cas A) are significantly flatter than those derived in previous studies. An independent test of the accuracy of the Σ-D relation was performed by using the extragalactic SNRs in the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds. The limitations of the Σ-D relation and the assumptions necessary for its use are discussed. A revised Galactic distribution of SNRs is presented based on the revised distances as well as those calculated from this Σ-D relation. A scaling method is employed to compensate for observational selection effects by computing scale factors based on individual telescope survey sensitivities, angular resolutions, and sky coverage. The radial distribution of the surface density of shell SNRs, corrected for selection effects, is presented and compared with previous works.


SUMMARY: Gun I, Yilmaz M, Şahin H, Inanc N, Aykut M, Gunay O, Ozturk A, Citil R, Cicek B, Ongan D, Tuna S. (Department of Public Health, Erciyes University Faculty of Medicine, Kayseri, Turkey). The breast-feeding status of 0-36–month-old children in Kayseri, Melikgazi education and research area. Cocuk Sagligi ve Hastaliklari Dergisi 2009; 52: 176-182.Our aim was to determine the breast-feeding status of 0-36–month-old children in Kayseri. The selected 3,120 households in the Baseline Study in 2006 were contacted again and 3,038 were included. Data were obtained by a questionnaire. Chi-square and Student's t-tests were performed. Mean age of the children was 16.03±10.4 months. 94.7% of mothers were housewives, 62.8% were primary school graduates and 54.1% were less educated. Of children, 1.6% were never breast-fed, 98.4% were sometimes breast-fed, and 80.5% were breast-fed within the first hour of delivery. After exclusion of "still breast-fed" and "never breast-fed" children, rate of children only breast-fed for six months was 35.7%. 64% of the children younger than six months were still breast-fed only and 36.1% were bottle-fed. Mean breast-feeding duration was 11.0±4.4 months. The rates of sometimes breast-fed children and breast-fed only children younger than six months were higher and the mean breast-feeding duration was 3.9 months shorter than the Turkish Population and Health Research data.


Estimation of aiding typographical rulers is a challenging task especially for everyday handwriting. The method described here performs very well as long as the model assumption of one straight line is satisfied. It is completely based on contour processing. A sophisticated iterated regression analysis processing weighted points is the central algorithm. The method can be used for handwriting as well as machine printed texts without adjusting the parameters.


We consider learning and compressing deep neural networks (DNNs) that consist of low-precision weights and activations for efficient inference of fixed-point operations. In training low-precision DNNs, gradient descent in the backward pass is performed with high-precision weights while quantized low-precision weights and activations are used in the forward pass for computing the loss function. Thus, the gradient descent becomes suboptimal, and accuracy loss follows. In order to reduce the mismatch in the forward and backward passes, we utilize mean squared quantization error (MSQE) regularization. In particular, we propose using a learnable regularization coefficient with the MSQE regularizer to reinforce the convergence of high-precision weights to their quantized values. Furthermore, we investigate how partial L2 regularization can be employed for weight pruning in a similar manner. Finally, combining weight pruning, quantization, and entropy coding, we establish a low-precision DNN compression pipeline. In our experiments, the proposed method produces low-precision MobileNet and ShuffleNet models on ImageNet classification with the state-of-the-art compression ratios. Moreover, we examine our method for image super resolution DNNs to produce low-precision models at negligible performance loss.


A minimum impact management system (MIMS) is proposed. It is based on the minimum viable logging intensity regulated through a cutting cycle which determines the logging frequency and the proportion of stand removed per cycle under reduced impact togging (RIL) techniques. The challenge is to achieve the lowest possible impact with tow management investment but productivity will be low. The assumption is that low productivity is accepted in compensation for a tow impact and costs. (Resume d'auteur)


solutions have been proposed for consider a silo that is full in odd months of a year and it is empty in even months in this , terzaghis bearing capacity theory figure 1 1 shear stresses based on terzaghis soil bearing capacity theory based on terzaghis bearing capacity theory column load p is resisted by shear stresses at edges of three zones under the footing and the overburden pressure q d above the footing ,


Copyright © Address corresponden Sappington, M.D., 7777 70808; E-mail: sappingj@ The authors disclose n DOI: 10.1097/MAO.0 was referred to our tertiary care center The presence of Epstein-Bar virus (EB A 50-year-old man for evaluation of a right external auditory canal lesion. Over 1.5 years the patient noted right-sided otalgia, aural fullness, and bloody otorrhea. He denied vestibular symptoms, a history of otitis media, otitis externa, and otologic procedures. On physical examination he was found to have a polypoid mass in the medial aspect of his external auditory canal lateral to his tympanic membrane. The remainder of his head and neck examination including cranial nerve examination and nasopharngoscopy were unremarkable. Audiologic evaluation demonstrated hearing within normal limits on the right and left sided mild sensorneural hearing loss. An in office biopsy from the outside institution was suspicious for malignancy with the diagnosis of squamous cell carcinoma versus basal carcinoma, but limited tissue available. The decision was made to perform a definitive biopsy under general anesthesia; this biopsy was diagnosed as lymphoepithelioma-like carcinoma (Figs. 1–6). After discussion at multidisciplinary tumor board the patient was taken to the operating room for a lateral temporal bone resection with a pedicle temporalis muscle flap for reconstruction. On final pathology margins were negative though invasion of the bony external auditory canal was noted. Because of this adverse pathologic feature and the paucity literature regarding the treatment of these lesions, it was recommended that the patient undergo radiation therapy. The final pathology demonstrated nests of large pleomorphic tumor cells in the dermis and abutting the epidermis. The tumor cells demonstrated indistinct cellular borders and large vesicular nuclei with small to mediumsized eosinophilic nucleoli. In addition, a prominent inflammatory infiltrate was present in the background consisting predominantly of lymphocytes. The inflammatory infiltrate was so dense in some areas that tumor cells were obscured. Numerous mitotic figures were seen throughout the tumor.


Experiments are described in which the problems encountered in melting and cleaning scrap zirconium were investigated. The ingots made in these experiments were evaluated to determine ll they were within the specification limits of hardness, corrosion resistance, and chemical composition for use in the Mark I core. Data and conclusions are included. (J.R.D.)