Abstract Leghorn-type hens (40 weeks of age) were used to study the effect of: 1) increasing the morning photoperiod and total photoperiod, and 2) shifting artificial lights from morning to evening while maintaining a constant photoperiod length. Time of lay, egg size, egg production, and feed consumption were evaluated. By increasing morning photoperiod, egg weights were inreased during the first 4 weeks. After the 3rd week, ambient temperature decreased, and egg weights gradually equalized for the two treatment groups. Number of eggs laid before 1000 hr by birds exposed to morning light was increased, which indicated a shift in time of oviposition. Egg production for the birds with increased morning light was 4% higher for the first 4 weeks and 1% higher for the second 4 weeks than control birds. Birds subjected to increased morning light consumed 2.5 g more feed/bird/day than the control birds for the first 5 weeks, after which time feed intake was equal. When artificial morning lights were shifted from morning to evening, egg weights were reduced, and the laying cycle shifted toward the afternoon. Egg production and feed consumption were not significantly affected by evening light treatment.


The physics‐based parameter: load/unload response ratio (LURR) was proposed to measure the proximity of a strong earthquake, which achieved good results in earthquake prediction. As LURR can be used to describe the damage degree of the focal media qualitatively, there must be a relationship between LURR and damage variable (D) which describes damaged materials quantitatively in damage mechanics. Hence, based on damage mechanics and LURR theory, taking Weibull distribution as the probability distribution function, the relationship between LURR and D is set up and analyzed. This relationship directs LURR applied in damage analysis of materials quantitatively from being qualitative earlier, which not only provides the LURR method with a more solid basis in physics, but may also give a new approach to the damage evaluation of big scale structures and prediction of engineering catastrophic failure. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


Background: Bowel endometriosis affects about 3.8–37% of women with endometriosis diagnosis. Most of the time endometriosis involves the recto-sigmoid. Right colon involvement is not common in endometriosis and also a few studies have reported obstructive endometriosis of bowel. Here, a case of endometriosis was reported with the ileocolic intussusception and cecal mass. Case Presentation: A 32y old woman was referred to Yas hospital due to severe low abdominal pain and vomiting. Ultrasonographic examination of her pelvis revealed bilateral ovarian cysts. Abdominal erect X-ray showed dilatation of small bowel segments. Diagnostic colonoscopy showed one small ulcer with the pressure effect of mass like lesion at cecum. The patient was taken to the operating room for excision of the mass; as a result the ileocolic intussusception was seen. After reduction, a firm mass was recognized at cecum so the ileocecal resection was performed. In pathologic examination of mass, endometriosis was reported. The postoperative period was uneventful. Conclusion: The diagnosis of bowel endometriosis is sometimes difficult. The case of bowel obstructive endometriosis is rare. Surgical excision of bowel endometriosis is necessary for symptomatic patients with bowel obstruction. Bowel endometriotic nodules are excised by nodulectomy or segmental resection.


In this note we present a broad comparison between trigonometric interpolation and a specific version of extended Floater–Hormann interpolants which is accurate and stable for the interpolation of periodic functions at equally spaced nodes. The conclusion is that both techniques are equivalent in practice.


This paper presents a novel technique to improve the reliability of observability for the power system by placing Phasor Measurement Units (PMU) in multi-phasing manner. Initially, a method is discussed which utilizes the availability/reliability of power system components for selecting the optimal locations for PMU placement. The PMU placement problem gives multiple solutions with same number of PMUs for complete observability. Against every solution a bus index called reliability index is evaluated for each bus. Next, overall system index (OSI) is obtained by averaging the reliability index for each optimal solution. The optimal solution having maximum OSI has been selected for PMU placement. This index determines the overall insight of observability for wide area monitoring system. Finally, an index called as Reliability Observability Criteria (ROC) is proposed and evaluated for each PMU installed bus using reliability index. ROC shows the contribution of PMU installed bus in enhancing the observability of the network. The proposed technique has been demonstrated on Eastern Region Indian Power Grid (ERIPG 90 bus system).


Barsukov S.V. Duodenum lymphoma case. The article is devoted to clinical description of one of the most rare duodenum lymphoma cases that developed after chemical burn of a stomach and caused mechanical jaundice at a concrete patient.


The mechanism by which an effective macroscopic description of quantum measurement in terms of discrete, probabilistic collapse events emerges from the reversible microscopic dynamics remains an enduring open question. Emerging quantum computers offer a promising platform to explore how measurement processes evolve across a range of system sizes while retaining coherence. Here, we report the experimental observation of evidence for an observable-sharpening measurement-induced phase transition in a chain of trapped ions in Quantinuum H1-1 system model quantum processor. This transition manifests as a sharp, concomitant change in both the quantum uncertainty of an observable and the amount of information an observer can (in principle) learn from the measurement record, upon increasing the strength of measurements. We leverage insights from statistical mechanical models and machine learning to design efficiently-computable algorithms to observe this transition (without non-scalable post-selection on measurement outcomes) and to mitigate the effects on errors in noisy hardware.


FRIED and Sabo,1 while attempting to synthesize compound F from 11-epi-17-alpha-hydroxycorticosterone by way of a halogenated intermediate, found that the 9-alpha-chloro and fluoro derivatives of hydrocortisone were highly active in the assay of rat-liver glycogen for 11-oxygenated corticosteroids. Further studies in the rat by Borman, Singer and Numerof2 have shown these compounds to have potent sodium-retaining activity as well. The structural formulas of these compounds are as follows: The present communication is concerned with the metabolic and therapeutic effects of chlorohydrocortisone acetate and fluorohydrocortisone acetate in man. Preliminary studies indicate that whereas the actions of chlorohydrocortisone and fluorohydrocortisone are qualitatively . . .


To compare the efficacy of patients undergoing esophagectomy for cancer in video‐assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) versus traditional open surgery (TOS) in the perioperative period, along with the advantages and disadvantages of each.


Abstract Laboratory observations were made of the formation of Aitken nuclei and large particles in systems of air containing trace quantities of H2O, S02, NH3 and O3, in varying proportions and under varying conditions of radiation with ultraviolet light. These studies yielded information concerning the photooxidation of SO2, the mechanism of formation of stratospheric aerosols, and the possible role of trace organic gases in atmospheric nucleation processes. Specific results were: The quantum yield for the homogeneous oxidation of SO2, with irradiation in the first excited band is less than 1.0×10−9. The addition compounds of NH3 and SO2, if they form, are not precursors to the formation of ammonium sulfate in the atmosphere. Aitken nuclei are formed by oxidation of SO2, by O atoms with traces of water vapor present. The addition of NH3 to the system of SO2 with O atoms gives very rapid production of high concentrations of Aitken nuclei and large particles, probably of ammonium sulfate. Irradiation of a...


At Professor Wei Xiong's laboratory at the University of California, San Diego, researchers are using a Coherent Astrella ultrafast amplifier in a novel setup to perform Heterodyne Two Dimensional Sum Frequency Generation Spectroscopy (HD 2D SFG) studies of a CO2 reduction catalyst, Re(diCN-bpy)(CO)3Cl, as a monolayer on a gold surface. These experiments reveal unique information about the structure, surface alignment and dynamics of the immobilized molecules. Each data set may require as long as 48 hours measurement time so the long-term stability of the ultrafast laser amplifier is quintessential to obtain repeatable data with an excellent signal-to-noise ratio.


Piezoelectric cantilever is a structure that can translate maximum mechanical vibration energy into an electrical signal used as both sensor and generator or vice versa. At a frequency near to the resonant of the piezoelectric cantilever, larger deviation angle can be achieved which lead to potentially higher electrical power can be generated; therefore piezoelectric cantilever is mostly functioned as a micro-power generator at resonance region. While at a non-resonant frequency, the voltage output generated is rather linear and proportional to the acceleration level of the vibration; therefore in this non-resonance region, piezoelectric cantilever often functions as an accelerometer. This paper shows the potential of the ready-made piezoelectric cantilever to be altered in order to perform as a self-powered accelerometer which is independent to the influence of the frequency. The output response of the piezoelectric cantilever is characterized by modifying the length of the cantilever. The cantilever length is reduced in order to shift the resonant frequency region of the piezoelectric cantilevers to higher frequency region to make sure that the output is independent toward the vibrating frequency. The resonant frequency of cantilever at its original condition is 290H. After length reduction of 0.7cm, the resonant frequency increased to 320Hz. The resonant frequency of the cantilever continues shifted to 400Hz after length reduction of 1.0cm, 500Hz for length reduction of 1.2cm, and lastly 780Hz for length reduction of 1.5cm. After the resonant frequency of the cantilever is shifted to 780Hz, the linearity of the piezoelectric cantilever improved from 90% deviation at a frequency range of 100Hz to 250Hz, to 15% deviation at a frequency range of 100Hz to 300 Hz. These results show a major improvement in the linearity of the output of the piezoelectric cantilever when the resonant frequency is a shift away from the operating frequency.


This paper will use case histories to describe the ability of a hydraulically actuated Intelligent Well System™ to improve the Net Present Value in a variety of completion scenarios. These case histories will include both onshore and offshore producer and injector type wellbores that have been installed throughout the world. The authors of the paper will summarize this type of technology with regard to the operational and economical challenges within each of the applications while explaining how the Intelligent Well Technology was eventually applied to address these challenges. For each installation, the paper will: • Describe unique completion solutions with the ability for remote control of the wellbore • Quantify improved times for first production (in the case of producers) • Quantify savings in time, costs, and/or lost production compared to other completion alternatives • Highlight reservoir and production knowledge gained by the use of an Intelligent Well System.


A detailed analysis was conducted for a random sample of 150 fatal crashes which occurred on a two-lane rural road. A site visit was made to each crash location with data obtained and analyzed. Recommendations were made for countermeasures to reduce the number and severity of crashes on this type of roadway. The countermeasures were divided into the general categories of roadway and non-roadway with the non-roadway divided into the areas of legislation, enforcement, and education/training. The roadway countermeasures did not include those involving roadway reconstruction. A recommendation was made that several of the countermeasures could be combined as part of a typical resurfacing project. The potential effectiveness of these countermeasures in preventing the crashes or reducing their severity was evaluated.


Mr Christhu Raj M.R , Mr Edwin Prem Kumar G , Mr Kartheek Kusampudi #3 # PG Scholar Dept. of Information Technology, Karunya University Karunya Nagar, Coimbatore, India 1 email@example.com 3 email@example.com * Assistant Professor, Dept. of Information Technology, Karunya University Karunya Nagar, Coimbatore, India 2 email@example.com Abstract— Wireless sensor networks applications are numerous in today's trend. Sensing data, aggregating and forwarding data are prime functions in a sensor network. Sensor nodes have serious constrain like energy, memory, battery, Computational power. One of the main issues in sensor network is that nodes get compromised or selfish which results in performing various attacks and malfunctioning of network. Trust is one of the main security mechanisms to provide security. To calculate trust of a node and identify nodes as malicious takes quite amount of time and parallel sensed data may be dropped or altered. To overcome this issue, we propose a drill based trust calculation-using concept called DTS Commands (Drill Test Sending) integrating with double cluster head. Our System gives efficient security mechanism using trust and simulation results system reduces time taken to detect nodes as selfish nodes and consumes less energy. KEYWORDS— CLUSTER HEAD, INTIMACY, HONESTY, DRILL TEST SYSTEM COMMANDS, VICE CLUSTER HEAD


Grain refinement of commercial purity aluminum with Al-Fe master alloy was investigated.Macrography observation indicates that Al-Fe master alloy as grain refiner can refine the structure of commercial purity aluminum effectively during solidification.With the addition of Al-Fe master alloy into commercial purity aluminum,which content between 0.2wt%~1.2wt%,the equiaxed grain can be obtained.Within the scope of experimental addition of Al-Fe master alloy,the more the addition is,the finer the equiaxed grains are.The EDAX result shows that the laminar morphology observed on grain boundary is Al-Fe intermetallics which are from eutectic solidification processing.It can be concluded that the grain refinement of commercial purity aluminum attributes to the constitutional supercooling caused by Fe concentration and the FeAl3 phase restraining further growth of primary α-Al by pinning effect on grain boundaries.


The forming process of the front shell of an LCD TV sound box was analyzed and an injection mould was developed in which CAE technology was applied to the flow simulation analysis and the design of mould structure and gating system.The use of gap between inserts as air channel solves the air exhaust problem around the trumpet-like cavity.


Applications of micropropagation of Eucalyptus in clonal silviculture in Brazil. Presently, in Brazil, among several other in vitro propagation techniques, micropropagation has increased in scientific and economic interest for forestry . Actually, is the most used technique, due its proven practical applications. The first studies were carried out in the 50´s; tissue culture laboratories were established during 1970-1980. This article is a review and a synthesis of information on micropropagation applications in Eucalyptus clonal silviculture in Brazil.


Phototherapy with low intensity lasers has been used in dentistry in several oral pathologies for pain and healing control. The aim of this study was to compare the effect of phototherapy on human dental pulp fibroblasts growth using irradiations with whole energy delivered at once or fractioned. After the determination of the methodology, the FP5 cell line (1x 103 cells per well) was grown in 96 wells-microtritation plates (one for each experimental group) in nutritional deficit (medium supplemented with 5% fetal bovine serum-fbs). Laser irradiation was carried out with an InGaAlP diode laser (λ-685nm, 40 mW, spot size 0.028 cm2) using the punctual technique, at continuous mode and in contact. The whole energies were delivered in single irradiations of 0.12J (G1), 0.24J (G2), 0.36J (G3). These whole energies were fractioned in multiple irradiations of 0.12J done with 6h-intervals: two for G4 and three for G5. Non-irradiated groups of cell cultured in nutritional deficit (5% fbs; G6) and in nutritional regular condition (10 % fbs; G7) were used as negative and positive controls, respectively. The number of cells was indirectly assessed by measuring the cell mitochondrial activity 24 hours after the first irradiation. The data from four replicates were compared by the ANOVA complemented by the Tukey's test (p ≤ 0.05). There were significant differences amongst the groups. The positive control (G7) presented significantly higher number of cells when compared to the negative control (G6). This number was similar to those of multiple irradiation groups (G4 and G5). The single irradiated groups (G1 to G3) presented cell numbers significantly smaller than those of positive control and multiple irradiated groups. Under the conditions of this study it was concluded that multiple irradiations of fractioned energies improve the biostimulatory effect of the phototherapy with low intensity laser on the growth of dental pulp fibroblasts.


This report describes a case of a 66-year-old male patient with accidental diagnosis of chronic contained rupture of an aortic aneurysm. Surgery was performed through a median laparotomy. A thick periaortic tissue with fibrosis and lymphnodes covered the AAA. Immunohistochemical examination of the aneurismatic aortic wall revealed intense positivity for inflammatory markers and a large number of immunoglobulin G4 (IgG4) positive cells. The postoperative course was uneventful and patient was discharged in the fifth postoperative day. Patient was then followed periodically at the outpatient rheumatologic clinic. No adverse events occurred during 3 and 6 months follow up. Conclusion: Identification of IgG4-inflammatory aneurysms as an expression of the IgG4-related systemic disease is essential both for clinical follow up and surgical and pharmacological treatment considering the possibility of aneurysm rupture and the involvement of other organs.


Minutes of the 9th Semi-Annual Meeting of the US-German PA ATR that took place in Munich on September 24, 2019.


We investigated characteristics of resists consisting of well- known resist polymers by the F2 excimer laser exposure. Negative-resist behavior due to crosslinking or decarboxylation was observed for poly(p-hydroxystyrene) based resists, polysilsesquioxane based resists and polynorbornenecarboxylate based resists. On the other hand, polymethacrylate based resists indicated a clear positive- resist behavior with high contrast without crosslinking. Therefore we studied further details of the characteristics of resists consisting of photodecomposable polymers such as methacrylate polymers and found methacrylate polymers bearing alicyclic groups to be resist with high dissolution contrast and little outgassing. The 200 nm L/S pattern with vertical profile at 1000 angstrom thickness was obtained by F2 excimer laser contact exposure in spite of poor transmittance of 30% per 1000 angstrom thickness. It was showed that the resolution by a 157 nm scanner with the lens of NA0.7/(sigma) 0.7 was 70 nm L/S and 40 nm iso-line at 1000 angstrom thickness by PROLITH/3D lithography simulator using experimental parameters.


A description is offered of how colleagues in a variety of mental health disciplines were helped to implement a structured professional judgment (SPJ) risk assessment guide, the HCR-20 (Webster, Douglas, Eaves, & Hart, 1997), in a maximum secure forensic psychiatric institution in Ontario, Canada. It is argued, in this descriptive study, that the implementation process in an institution can go awry in a variety of different ways at a number of important junctures. Yet it is possible, given encouraging consultation and support at the outset and continued technical assistance, to weave such a SPJ scheme into the fabric of routine clinical work and decision making. The point is made that such implementation efforts pay off by liberating creativity in the construction of post-release plans. In addition, they assist in ensuring reports prepared for formal boards are thorough, on point, and take full advantage of the information available from all team members. We identify and discuss eight factors that appeared to facilitate implementation.


Cape Natural Tea Products was a young herbal products company based in South Africa. Rooibos tea was the strongest component of their product portfolio. In South Africa, rooibos was a commodity product and a direct competitor of coffee and tea. Antioxidants and other nutrients made rooibos a functional food. The American market developed interest in functional foods; however, the diverse opinions and knowledge of American consumers of functional foods made marketing difficult. Could the company benefit from the American market? With strong competition at home and marketing challenges abroad, what would be the best path of success for the company?


The business world today is characterised by a high degree of globalisation and internationalisation - a phenomena which affect all firms irrespective of size. After a summary of current learning theories, and the representation of an SME as a 'potentially unique problem type', the paper offers a critique of previous studies on internationalisation. A research methodology of 'bootstrapping' is utilised to develop a framework for explaining how SMEs in Malaysia identify, then tackle, opportunities and threats in the international arena. A broad analytical framework is developed, combining partial frameworks of insight from the literature in a range of academic disciplines (SMEs, strategic management, internationalisation and learning theory) with insights from key informants in current empirical work. The value chain is an essential component of the overall framework, underpinned by an organisational learning perspective. Our initial findings are only tentative. We do not present a 'model' of good business practice, rather a conceptual framework to examine how SMEs learn to develop in an international sense. This framework is helpful in explaining the development of firms encountered in our empirical research.


A new symmetric bidentate Schiff base N,N′-bis [(E)-3-(2-nitrophenyl)allylidene)]benzene-1,2-diamine (L) and its complexes with general formula ZnLX2 (X = chloride, bromide, iodide, thiocyanate and azide) are described. The authenticity of the ligand and complexes have been established by microanalysis, electronic, MS, FT-IR, 1H and 13C NMR spectra, and by molar conductivity measurements. All compounds are non-electrolytes in DMF. The analytical data confirmed that the metal to ligand ratio in the complexes is 1 : 1. The complexes have pseudotetrahedral geometry with C2V point group.


THE scope of probation was extended in the new Polish penallegislation-enacted on April 29th, 1969, and put in force on January 1st, 1970-utilizing Polish and foreign experiences.' Conditional suspension of criminal proceedings is an interesting and modern solution. In essence it is a probation measure. It may be applied in the case of 90 offences (i.e. to 35 per cent of those listed in the Polish Penal Code), either by the tribunal in the course of the judiciary process or by the public prosecutor in the phase of inquiry, provided, that: (a) the social damage of the offence committed is not too serious; (b) its circumstances have been clearly established; (c) the personality and social values of the offender make a


This paper introduces a workflow to compute the fluid saturation in a reservoir using 4D (time lapse) seismic data. In this approach, the decomposition of the impedance into velocities and density is the key to derive the quantitative reservoir properties using the currently available rock-physics applications. However, the decomposition is a challenging task due to the severe influence of noise on the analysis especially when the seismic data has a maximum-offset angle less than 30°. The proposed method of impedance decomposition simultaneously solves three elastic impedance data derived from the seismic inversion of angle stacks, where the most important reason that makes the decomposition difficult is the effect of noise. Theoretical investigation revealed that the offset-consistent component of noise mostly affects the determination of density but the noise effect is not severe to determine velocities. On the other hand, the effect of the random component of noise appears equally in the determination of velocities and density. Based on this result, the author developed a method of decomposition incorporating rock-physics bounds as the constraints for the analysis. Afterwards, a sequence of rock-physics theories is applied to transform the resultant properties into the bulk modulus and density of the in-situ fluid. Eventually, solving three simultaneous equations for the bulk modulus, density and the total saturation of three possible fluids; we can compute the saturation of water, oil and gas. As a case study, the workflow successfully visualized the change in fluid saturation based on an actual 4D seismic dataset of the Snorre oil field in the North Sea.


This research focuses on the principle of statistics covering the analysis and interpretation of
experimental data. The experimental design used was factorial experiment in which analysis
of variance (ANOVA) were performed at 5% level of significance to know if the rate at
which the causes of road traffic crashes related or occured equally. Since the data is
concerned with two-factor interactions having six factors each at two levels, the analysis was
based on quarter replicate of 26 experiment.
Based on the analysis on road traffic crashes in Ogun state for 2010 .The result of the analysis
from the ANOVA table shows that the P- values for all the factor interactions are greater than
5% level of significance, therefore the analysis supports the null hypothesis which talks about
equality between the factors that causes accident. It was concluded that the rate at which
factors occur are significant at 0 level.
Hence we do not reject Ho and conclude that the result of road crashes in Ogun state for 2010
is just a matter of chance and it is therefore significant according to the ANOVA table in
appendix fig 3.


The aim of this paper has been to determine the importance of the strip-till method for the content of carbon and the quality of organic matter as compared with plough and ploughless tillage. The question to answer has been to what extent strip-till can contribute to carbon sequestration and thus be part of the strategy of counteracting climate change. The research involved soil where conventional tillage (CT), strip-till (ST), and reduced tillage (RT) were applied. These systems differ completely in the way they affect the post-harvest residue, i.e., "plant residue management". For air-dry soil samples, the following analyses were made: the content of total organic carbon (TOC) and total nitrogen (Nt), content of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and dissolved nitrogen (DNt), and the fractional composition of humus. In the surface layer the content of TOC ranged from 11.96 (CT) to 13.88 g kg−1 (RT) and DOC ranged from 209.9 (CT) to 230.5 mg kg−1 (ST). The share of the fraction of fluvic acids (0–15 cm layer) changed from 15.51% (RT) to 18.81% (ST), the share of the fraction of humic acids was 9.36% (ST) to 11.60%, and humins were 68.90% (CT) to 72.6% (RT). These results demonstrated that the tillage system determines the properties of the organic matter of soil. In the surface layer (0–15 cm) and in the 30–50 cm layer the properties of the soil organic matter under strip-till had a greater similarity to the soil under ploughless tillage than under conventional tillage. Ploughless tillage and strip-till considerably limited the leaching of carbon and nitrogen from the surface layer to the 30–50 cm layer. Strip-till, similarly to ploughless tillage, is the tillage method which can be crucial for the process of carbon sequestration.


Abstract.The precise and economical production of high-strength die is demanded. Mirror surface processing is essential for such a precision product. An ultra-precision diamond cutting technique is widely applied to mirror surface finishing of soft-metal materials such as copper and aluminum, while the diamond cutting is not completely available to ferrous materials like carbon steel.This study was performed to examine the effect of the CO2 gas blow atmosphere and the cutting conditions on the reduction of tool wear and the improvement of surface finish in the ultra-precision diamond cutting of the carbon steel. The experiments of the precision cutting of S25C and S55C were carried out under cutting speed of 47,94 and 188 m/min and the effect of the machining atmosphere on the tool wear and the surface roughness were discussed. As a result, especially under cutting speed of 188 m/min the tool wear was reduced and the surface roughness was improved by cutting of both S25C and S55C in CO2 gas blow atmosphere.


In information networks which, for example, employ satellites or LANs with broadcast or multi-cast capability, data flow is often simplex. Various quality of service improvements are possible by using redundant network capacity, which is intended for "fail-over", to carry duplicate message streams instead. This paper examines a strategy for synchronising message streams delivered via diverse but unreliable routes, and illustrates it with a Pascal procedure called Y.


Since frostberg first called attention to the inverted "3" sign as diagnostic of duodenal intrusion by pancreatic enlargement, many authors have described the indirect gastro-intestinal changes in disease of the pancreas. The following radiographic changes are considered suggestive of a pancreatic lesion, most of them representing distorted configurations of the duodenum produced by the enlarged pancreatic head: (1) inability to fill a segment of the descending duodenum with barium; (2) narrowing of a segment of the descending duodenum; (3) dilatation of a segment of the duodenum, with flattening, narrowing, or non-filling distally; (4) coarsening of duodenal folds, or complete effacement of folds on the pancreatic side, due to edema, hyperemia, or neoplastic invasion; (5) flattening of the valvulae conniventes by the enlarged pancreas; (6) deformity of the duodenal bulb or the antrum of the stomach on the posterior and greater curvature side; (7) widening of the duodenal the sweep, or straightening of th...


Stochastic resonance (SR) is a phenomenon in which dynamic noise is effectively used to drive a system with subthreshold input signals. In the classical model of SR induced in a network, each constituting unit must be delivered noise from independent external sources. Recently, a new model of SR has been proposed, where internal noise is exploited as the solution to avoid the burden of generating independent external noise for each unit. In this study, we employ a network of FitzHugh-Nagumo neurons as a candidate of the new model of SR system using internal noise. The network is formed as a circular system where all connections between neurons strictly consist of self-connections or connections propagating into a unique direction. Hence, each neuron receives stimuli from its four predecessors within the circular arrangement, from its own output, as well as from a unique input node. An input signal of an amplitude that is smaller than the threshold of individual neurons is provided to the network. Owing to a process of SR that occurs within the network and that is sustained by internally generated noise, the subthreshold signal is detected and amplified and delivered to the network output node. The frequency characteristics of the network in terms of its operational bandwidth is established.


M ODERN studies of Greece in the fifth century have been largely absorbed in an investigation of the foreign policies of Athens and Sparta, and in the relations of other states with these two great powers. Thus, it comes as no surprise that interest in Aegina's foreign policy has emphasized the question of whether this island belonged to the Peloponnesian or Delian Leagues in the fifth century. The nearly unanimous opinion, usually taken for granted rather than specifically argued, is that Aegina had become a member of the Peloponnesian League by, at the latest, the first decade of the fifth century.' The reasons for this determination are often unstated and so can only be subject to speculation. In part, this interpretation may spring from an approach to Greek foreign affairs that focuses on the racial or ethnic character of the states involved. As Sparta, the greatest of the Dorian states, offered an ideological counterpart to Ionian Athens, the Aeginetan Dorians, or as has been suggested, Dorian Vorkaimpfer of the Athenians, must have thrown in their lot with Sparta.2 For example, G. E. M. de Ste. Croix emphasizes that Aegina was Dorian, and an aristocratic oligarchy, and thus had every reason to align herself with Dorian and oligarchic Sparta against Athens.3 Despite speaking the Dorian dialect, the Aeginetans put greater emphasis on the Achaean Aeacids as their forebears, if Pindar's Aeginetan odes are any indication.4 Given the probable gross social dissimilarities between the two states, to say Aegina and Sparta were both oligarchies is to say nothing more than that they were not Athenian-style democracies. We are left with the question of why hostility to Athens should draw Aegina closer to Sparta in a period when Sparta was hardly Athens' consistent opponent.


This article compares the evidence from two related movements: the contemporary Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, and the cluster of organisations that have been closely associated with Hasan al-Turabi in Sudan, in order to query the extent to which Islamism is compatible with liberal democratic politics. The answers suggested are, in the Egyptian case, hopeful, but for Sudan decidedly pessimistic. However, there are complexities within both stories. The comparison indicates ways in which the outcomes are related to the framing circumstances, but also points out the limitations of the information currently available in the academic literature.


We have proposed the first demonstration of hybrid thermodynamic approach between multiple junction solar cells and the intermediate band solar cells. Because of increasing number of transitions inside each multiple junction from intermediate band, reduced number of stacks in this hybrid solar cell can be possible to increase efficiency compared to more than four stacks of conventional multijunction solar cells. The maximum efficiency of two stacks hybrid solar cells has been enhanced and its value is larger than over 4 stacks of multijunction solar cells. We have also found optimum bandgap of each stack and studied optimum transition of each stack both from valence band to intermediate band and intermediate band to conduction band.


Amino acid antagonists with proven or potential inhibitory activities on aminoacyl‐tRNA synthetases were tested for their antiproliferative effect against the murine leukemic cell line P388D1. Micromolar concentrations of the compounds S‐tritylcysteine (18), fenitropan and ß‐chloroalanine gave strong growth inhibition. In the mouse only 18 was effective against leukemia P388 (T/C=211%). The inhibitory effect on aminoacyl‐tRNA synthetases and the antiproliferative action on P388D1 or P388 could not be correlated.


Neutron activation analysis of celestite that is present in the Findlay Arch district of northwestern Ohio, southeastern Michigan and southwestern ontario, has provided new geochemical data with important genetic implications. Celestite occurs chiefly as vug fillings in rocks of Middle Silurian to Middle Devonian age. Two generations of celestite (I-early, II-late), both with wide distributions, were recognized in the paragenetic sequence of the district. Minor and trace element contents were determined for 21 specimens of various color and habit from several rock units at 16 sites. Color (blue, colorless, white) and habit (tabular, prismatic) are independent of generation. Ranges of minor and trace elements that were detected (ppm) are as follows: Ba, 140--83,400; Co, < .005--.59; Fe, 4.0--55; La, < .01--1.1; Na, < 2--30; Sc, < .001--.01; and Zn, < .14--1.8. Variations of Ba content in celestite correlate closely with its paragenetic position, reinforcing their view that celestite I and II originated in different environments. Trends are not readily apparent in the data for Co, Fe, Na, Sc, and Zn. No correlation exists between color and concentrations of the elements detected.


Since entering the 21st century,China's colleges and universities have undergone a period of rapid development.In order to achieve that,the universities should get enough funds but they are unable to meet this demand by themselves.So universities have to loan enough money to support the development.China's colleges and universities' loan risk may lead to the failure of higher education.The thesis analyzes the creation and conduction of loan risks.In order to prevent and control the loan risks,we should rely on the government,universities,and banks all together.


A tunneling plasmon in quantum-dot arrays is predicted to exhibit unusual properties. In a two-dimensional (2D) array with 1D tunneling, the tunneling plasmon displays very anisotropic wave-vector dispersion, and in the long-wavelength limit, it behaves similarly to a 2D plasmon. Contrary to plasmons in homogeneous electron gases, the tunneling plasmon in a quantum-dot array can have an energy which has an oscillatory dependence on electron density. These predictions can be verified by inelastic light-scattering experiments. The results shed some light on the controversy over the importance of interdot Coulomb coupling


Most important crop productivity traits, such as yield under normal and environmental stress conditions, are determined by a large number of genes, each with a small phenotypic effect. Genetic improvement of these traits through breeding or genetic engineering has been frustrating researchers in academia and industry. The reasons for this include the complexity of the traits, the difficulty of precise phenotyping and the lack of validated candidate genes. Different approaches to the discovery of the genetic architecture of such traits, such as Genetic Association Mapping and Genomic Selection and their engineering, are expected to yield benefits for farmers and consumers.


In this study, we evaluate power law inflation (PLI) with a monomial potential and obtain a novel exact solution. It is well known that the conventional PLI with an exponential potential is inconsistent with the Planck data. Unlike the standard PLI, the present model does not encounter the graceful exit problem, and the results agree fairly well with recent observations. In our analysis, we calculate the spectral index and the tensor-to-scalar ratio, both of which agree very well with recent observational data and are comparable with those of other modified inflationary models. The employed technique reveals that the large cosmological constant decreases with the expansion of the universe in the case of the PLI. The coupling of the inflaton with gravitation is the primary factor in this technique. The basic assumption here is that the two metric tensors in the gravitational and inflaton parts correspond to different conformal frames, which contradicts with the conventional PLI, where the inflaton is directly coupled with the background metric tensor. This fact has direct applications to different dark energy models and the assisted quintessence theory.


Abstract Tidal analysis was applied on 1 hour gravity data acquired by a subnet of 12 superconducting gravimeters situated in western and central parts of Europe. Tidal parameters for O1 and M2 were adjusted. Most of the gravity time series were provided by the Global geodynamics project. Filter effects of the decimation process were carefully studied and taken into account where necessary. The ocean loading effect included in observed tidal parameters was removed using 8 ocean models with different spatial resolutions. Two different comparisons of corrected tidal parameters were performed. As a result, the accuracy of ocean loading correction and global calibration error were evaluated. For O1, amplitude factors are in good agreement with the hydrostatic/elastic model DDW/He while the non-hydrostatic/inelastic model DDW/NHi better describes the M2 amplitude factors. The analysis of residual vectors allowed assessing the efficiency of the used ocean loading models which is about 81% (O1) and 97% (M2).


Nowadays more and more slender concrete footbridges are designed. Footbridges are designed thinner to increase esthetic value, as well as incorporate sustainability and to reduce building costs, with a consequence that the eigenfrequency of the bridge can drop so low that it may fall into a range of frequencies that is susceptible to vibrations caused by human beings who move along the bridge. When the eigenfrequency of the bridge is nearly the same as the stepfrequency of a person who moves along the deck this may lead to large displacements of the bridge. In this report the consideration of comfort of short-length concrete footbridges is investigated and checked whether this forms a decisive criteria for the determination of the slenderness of the bridge. Requirements of strength and usage are not taken into account. In order to prevent discomfort of users there are demands for comfort compiled for footbridges. The guidelines being compared in this report are: • Expired standard since April 2012: 'NEN 6723: Guidelines Concrete – Bridges – Constructive Demands and Designmethods' • National Attachment Eurocode The Netherlands: 'EUR 23984 EN – Design of Lightweight Footbridges for Human Induced Vibrations' o Single Degree of Freedom Method (SDOFM) o Response Spectra Method (RSM) • National Attachment Eurocode France: 'SETRA Guide – Footbridges – Assessment of Vibrational Behaviour of Footbridges Under Pedestrian Loading' • United States Guideline: 'AASHTO – LRFD Guide Specifications for the Design of Pedestrian Bridges' In this comparison it is found that the design calculations according to NEN 6723 and AASHTO are based upon the relation between the eigenfrequency- and a minimum prescribed weight of the bridge, in which the NEN 6723 is based on the concrete material while the AASHTO is independent of the material being used. The requirement for comfort in standard NEN 6723 must be used when the eigenfrequency of the footbridge is below 5 Hz. Besides the rule mentioned, there must also be a load taken into consideration of 1.5 kN, which is not allowed to cause a deformation of 0.25 mm of the deck. Contrary to the AASHTO which additionally requires that the eigenfrequency of the system is at least 3 Hz. The Eurocode proposes to check comfort when the eigenfrequency of the system is below 5 Hz. Where allowable bridge deck acceleration limits are the basis for design criteria, and the calculation method is independent of the material being used. In this report only the vertical direction is considered, because the other directions do not lead to low frequencies that may cause discomfort. The National Attachment of The Netherlands recommends EUR 23984 EN guideline that determines the occurring bridge deck acceleration based upon the amount of pedestrians and also so-called joggers (running persons) present on the deck. The design calculations in EUR 23984 EN are the SDOFM and the RSM, where the SDOFM takes both pedestrians and joggers into account, while the RSM only takes pedestrians into account. The SDOFM is based upon the usage of a mass-spring system and states comfort has to be checked when one of the eigenfrequencies falls into the critical range, which is between 1.25 Hz and 4.6 Hz. In contrary, the RSM calculates the occurring acceleration with an empirical formula in case one of the eigenfrequencies is below 5 Hz (as prescribed in the Eurocode). The guideline SETRA was released earlier than the EUR 23984 EN and also uses the SDOFM. Comfort has to be checked when one of the eigenfrequencies falls in between 1 Hz and 5 Hz, in which case only pedestrians are being taken into account. No joggers are considered because of the assumption that joggers will be present on the bridge for only a short amount of time, which does not lead to discomfort of other users, and the crossing time of a jogger is less than the time required to resonate the bridge. The guidelines mentioned above are applied to the case study Hoevebrug which is an existing bridge. The Hoevebrug is a clamped slab bridge constructed in concrete class B65. The results are summarized in the table below. *A table has to be made from the text below* Guideline Slenderness [-] Percentage [%] NEN 6723 1 op 44.2 100 EUR 23984 EN – SDOFM – Pedestrians 1 op 90.3 204.3 EUR 23984 EN – SDOFM – Pedestrians and Joggers 1 op 61.4 138.9 EUR 23984 EN – RSM 1 op 42.1 95.2 SETRA 1 op 84.2 190.5 AASHTO 1 op 70.2 158.8 Subsequently a separate study of parameters is conducted for short footbridges with the aid of the SDOFM of guideline EUR 23984 EN. The lengths considered vary between 10- and 30 meters. The influence and response of the bridge are considered with parameters of density, Young's modulus, length, imposition, and height, where the quantity of pedestrians present on the deck is taken to be 0.5 persons/m2 as the Eurocode prescribes. It is found that the second harmonic of pedestrians (the EUR 23984 EN describes this as the stepfrequency between 2.3 Hz and 4.6 Hz) does not lead to discomfort because of the small load being excited by the pedestrian. So it can be stated the second harmonic of pedestrians is not a criteria for the determination of the height of the deck. Joggers however lead in all cases to extremely high values of acceleration of the deck, because the joggers may be assumed to be placed on the deck where the displacement is expected to be the largest. To check whether the response due to joggers can be reduced, a more detailed calculation is considered. The jogger is modeled as a moving harmonic load in time on a deck that is hinged on both sides. Next the differential equation of the continuous system is established and solved. Hereby creating a relation between stepfrequency, velocity, and load of the jogger. Allowing for a more accurate estimation of bridge response, multiple situations of joggers moving along the bridge as a group are then considered and in many cases show the response of the deck is not very similar to the result obtained from SDOFM. In the case of the calculation method of the moving harmonic, the response of the deck will only be significant when the stepfrequency almost equals the eigenfrequency of the system. The conclusion requires that joggers satisfy the condition that every jogger must run with the same frequency across the deck, as well as the interval between the joggers (if present) is equal to the period of the stepfrequency. Besides this the process of an occurring acceleration in vertical direction in case of a person moving along the bridge is 'self-limiting'. This means that a person is not able to move along the bridge when the occurring acceleration in vertical direction is too large. Because the person stops moving there will no longer be a dynamic load excited any more so that the construction will damp out.


Small and medium enterprises (SME) face various challenges in order to remain competitive in a global market. Industry 4.0 (I4.0) is increasingly presented as the new paradigm for improving productivity, ensuring economic growth, and guaranteeing the sustainability of manufacturing companies. However, SMEs are ill equipped and lack resources to undertake this digital shift. This paper presents the digital shift process of an SME in a personalized mass production context. Our work provides a better understanding of the interaction between Lean and I4.0. It contributes to the development of Lean 4.0 implementation strategies that are better adapted to manufacturing SMEs in a personalized mass production context. We also demonstrate the usefulness of simulation as a decision-making assistance tool when implementing I4.0. A practical case is documented to fill a gap in the scientific literature identified by several researchers.


Introduction In 1998, Linda Darling Hammond argued that "teacher quality is the factor that matters most for student learning." This dictum was reiterated by Geringer (2003) who not only affirmed that a good teacher is a crucial factor in student learning, but stated that teacher quality outweighs the importance of standards, funding, and class size. Professional development is a common and necessary approach to improving teacher quality. However, while teachers are required to participate in professional development activities, it is often the case that they are not involved in selecting and planning those activities, and that professional development may not be closely tied to classroom practice. The Francis P. Collea Teacher Achievement Award Program (CTAAP) is a professional development model grounded in much of the current literature about professional development. The CTAAP was originally funded in 1994-95 under the auspices of the California Postsecondary Education Commission and received funding for six, two-year cycles. The sixth cycle (2004-06) was investigated in the present case. Twelve teams of 2-4 teachers each were selected from a pool of proposals which were submitted and evaluated. The Request for Proposals was sent to every elementary and secondary school in California. There were a total of 37 teacher participants. The funded proposals spanned all grade levels. Subject areas included science, social studies, special education, reading and literacy, and visual and performing arts. Interdisciplinary projects were encouraged. Project teams received $30,000 for two years. Funds could be used for any activities related to teacher professional development in the designated subject area(s), including, but not limited to, travel to professional organization conferences and project-related training programs, enrolling in professional development and university courses, purchasing, developing, implementing and evaluating curriculum materials, purchasing hardware and software, and bringing experts from the field into participants' schools and classrooms. Project teams were monitored by attending annual meetings at which they made presentations on project-related activities that occurred during the previous year. They also submitted annual reports. Project staff visited each site at least once. CTAAP provides teachers with the opportunity to make decisions about their professional growth. This article examines the experiences of those teachers and the potential for their professional development experiences to impact pedagogy and student learning. Theoretical Framework The current research literature about professional development advocates improving pedagogy by providing teachers with opportunities to practice new professional behaviors and establish networks that allow teachers to collegially interact with colleagues (Bonner, 2006; Garet, Porter, Desimone, Birman, & Yoon, 2001; Peckover, Peterson, Christiansen, & Covert, 2006; Sparks, 2004). Prior to the implementation of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) legislation (Public Law 107-110), the field was slowly moving away from the "sit and get" model, which imposes professional development on teachers in a top-down, non-collaborative manner. However, with the implementation of NCLB the field has seen a resurgence of professional development dependent on mandates, scripted teaching, and oversight by school administrators to assure compliance (Peckover et al., 2006; Sparks, 2004). The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), as it relates to professional development, has created a professional development system that does not allow teachers to utilize their professional judgment to determine their own professional development needs or make decisions regarding what professional growth activities are relevant to their classrooms. For example, Sparks (2004) wrote that currently, professional development exists in a two-tiered system. …


In the summer of 1923, the Agricultural Education Association appointed a sub-committee to report on the present position with regard to the mechanical analysis of soils. This committee has now reported to the Association, which has adopted its recommendation that the former Agricultural Education Association method(1) of sedimentation in a beaker shall be replaced by one depending on the depth concentration relationship in a settling suspension. The reasons for this recommendation and the experimental work on which it was based will be of interest and use to soil workers generally. The salient features of the report have therefore been presented in the present paper, and an appendix of methods has been added. The full details of the official method will be published in Agricultural Progress, the journal of the Agricultural Education Association.


We present observations of the 6.7 GHz methanol and 4.8 GHz formaldehyde masers toward the high-mass young stellar object G24.33+0.14 (hereafter G24). Our observations were conducted from 2019 to 2021 using the Shanghai Tianma 65 m Radio Telescope and the Very Large Array in response to the luminosity outburst event traced by these two species masers in 2019. Our results indicate that the provenance of the maser flares is unlikely to be ascribed to the protostar of G24 itself. Through analyzing NEOWISE infrared monitoring data, we identified two light curves of G24 with long-term (3083 days, ∼8.5 yr) and short-term (424 days) periods. Intriguingly, 11 periodic variable sources located in the same bubble as G24 exhibiting periods comparable to the short-term period of G24 were also detected. The analysis of the spectral energy distributions of these periodic variables revealed a possible correlation between their temperature fluctuations and the surrounding radiation field that possibly emanates from the driving source of the bubble. This source could be an individual supergiant protostar of a few hundred solar masses with periodic pulsation potentially accounting for the observed short-term period in the G24 region.


Abstract The preparation and magnetic susceptibility, electronic, infrared, electrical conductivity and thermogravimetric studies of a series of monomethylsubstituted piperidine dithiocarbamates of silver(I), gold(I) and gold(III) are reported. The complexes are formulated as AgRdtc, AuRdtc, Au(Rdtc)3. Au(Rdtc)2X and AuRdtcX2 (X=Cl, Br). The dithioligands exhibit both bidentate behaviour acting as S,S ' -donors and monodentate behaviour acting as S-donors, depending on the type of the complex. The diamagnetic behaviour of the gold(III) derivatives is in accord with the usual low-spin d8 configuration. The metal-sulphur and metal-halide stretches have also been assigned and are in accord with the proposed structures. The molecular weight determinations indicate monomeric structures for the Au(Rdtc)3 and AuRdtcX2 complexes and dimeric structures for the Au(Rdtc)2X derivatives. The results of the spectroscopic studies indicate that in the Au(Rdtc)3 complexes one of the dithiocarbamate groups must act as a bi...


Few studies have examined social work students' reflections on and experiences working with lesbian, gay, bisexual, queer, and questioning persons and addressing the intersection of race/ethnicity and sexuality within practice. This study explored current master's of social work student (n = 11) and recent graduate (n = 7) reflections on conducting an objective structured clinical practice interaction with an African Canadian youth coming out as a lesbian. Narrative thematic analyses of reflective dialogues highlighted a variation of competence in gay affirmative practice across attitudes (managing personal reactions), knowledge (addressing diversity; terminology and information), and skills (readiness; challenging heterosexism). Curriculum development and agency-based training is recommended to address gaps in knowledge and competence regarding gay affirmative approaches.


The relative permittivity and conductivity of the semi-conductive layer and semi-conducting resistance water layer of the high voltage cable were measured by the broadband dielectric spectrometer in the frequency range of 1-100MHz. Based on the measured results, the transmission characteristics of the partial discharge signal of the high voltage XLPE cable were simulated and calculated and finally the theoretical models were obtained. Besides, sinusoidal signal measurement experiment was done on cables of 110kV and 220kV with different lengths and types. It is found that attenuation degree of signal propagation becomes serious with the increase of cable's length and signal frequency, which verifies the effectiveness of high-voltage cable partial discharge propagation model. It is the semi-conducting layer that has serious attenuation characteristic to high frequency signal.


In inertial confinement fusion system, the intermittent scratches on the polished surface of single-sided polished and bottom surface frosted optical components are complex, and it's of great difficulty to extract them completely. In order to solve this problem, established in the light-field surface detection system, this paper brings forward a novel intermittent scratch detection method based on adaptive sector scanning algorithm (ASC) cascading mean variance threshold algorithm (MVTH). In the preprocessing step, dividing the original image into subimages with a number of integer multiple of cpu cores so as to fully compress image processing time utilizing parallel processing, using mean filter to balance background and then obtaining binary subimages utilizing morphology and threshold operations, finally, utilizing Two-pass algorithm to label the connected domains of binary subimages. In the detection step, considering the complexity of the pattern of intermittent scratches, ASC is first used for routine intermittent scratches stitching and then supplemented by MVTH. In the verification step, in order to prove that the detected intermittent scratches satisfy the criteria for scratches in human eyes, the method of support vector machine (SVM) pattern recognition is utilized to compare the detected results with the continuous scratch samples detected by human eyes. This algorithm has high degree of parallelism, high speed and strong robustness. The experimental results illustrate that the complete extraction rate of intermittent scratches is 93.59% , the average processing time of single image is merely 0.029 second and the accuracy rate of detection is up to 98.72% by SVM verification.


This chapter describes a human centric approach for designing and deploying ubiquitous computing applications. These are considered as activity spheres consisting of tasks which must be executed using the resources available in an Ambient Intelligence space. Such resources include objects augmented with embedded ICT components and software modules. An architectural approach and a corresponding middleware are described, which enable the management of activity spheres. Then, the communication requirements are presented and the role of heterogeneous next generation networks in supporting this architecture is discussed. IntroductIon Ubiquitous computing constitutes a novel computational paradigm, which will pervade all aspects of everyday life in the coming decades. From a technology perspective, ubiquitous computing composes distributed systems, miniaturized hardware and wireless networks and builds on the achievements of these and other research and engineering disciplines. At the same time, it is expected to have a strong societal impact, as it will transform the way everyday and emergency human activity is carried out. This is because ubiquitous computing technology is inherently deployable on every object, task or process in people's immediate environment or activity. Moreover, tasks supported by this technology will eventually be easily accessible, safety enhancing and intuitive to use, thus realizing Mark Weiser's vision of calm technology (Weiser, 1991) or ISTAG's vision of Ambient Intelligence (ISTAG).


The goal of this research was to compare hyporheic activity in recently restored and adjacent un‐restored reaches of the Truckee River downstream from the Reno/Sparks metropolitan area. The installation of rocky riffles and raised channel bed elevations in the restored reaches may have increased the degree of surface–subsurface interaction. A fluctuating chloride concentration signal served as the tracer, induced by the variable influx of higher salinity water several miles upstream from the study reach. The solute transport model, OTIS, was used in conjunction with the hydrodynamic model, DYNHYD5, to estimate transient storage parameters under unsteady flow conditions. The model was calibrated to chloride concentrations measured over a period of three days at six in‐stream locations representing restored and un‐restored reaches. An automated parameter estimation algorithm (SCE‐UA) was used to optimize parameters for multiple reaches simultaneously and generate a distribution of parameter estimates. Results suggest that the transient storage zone cross‐sectional area (As) is larger in the restored reaches than in the unrestored reaches, but the exchange coefficient (α) is smaller, leading to increased hyporheic residence time and hydrologic retention in the vicinity of channel reconstructions. Scenarios were used to simulate the potential effects of increased subsurface residence time on denitrification and in‐stream NO3‐N concentrations. Monte Carlo analysis was performed to assess uncertainty in the simulation results and show the potential for greater nutrient retention in the lower Truckee River as a result of channel restoration. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


Canada's environmental laws--on paper--are strong and farsighted. With proper enforcement and monitoring programs in place, no one should be at risk from contamination, no ecosystem would be threatened, and no health official should need to make such choices. Unfortunately, these laws are not always enforced, and their laudable goals not always met.


Since the invcntion of the microscope, it has been well known that a red cell traversing a terminal capillary adapts its shape very easily to the capillary lumen, thus forming, more or less, an ellipsoid. Because of this extreme dcforinability which cnablcs an 8 p red cell to pass a 4 pm terminal capillary, we may assume that thc mcchanical adaptive property of the red cell is a basic circulatory mechanism. Any increase in red cell stiffness should interfere with the microcirculation. For the clinician, thc rhcological significance of red cell deformability becomes obvious in patients suffering from sickle-cell anaemia. In this discase, thc erythrocytes are known to be mainly biconcave in oxygenated blood but become transformed into sickle-shaped cells if the oxygen tension is lowercd. This shape transformation is caused by an abnormal haemoglobin which forms a more viscous gel whcn oxygcn is removed. Filtration through a 5 ,um Millipore filter is not possible. The abnormal internal rigidity leads in vivo to interfcrence with the microcirculation, by sludging, capillary congestion, and thrombotic phenomena so that infarction of various organs such as the spleen occurs. Although much emphasis has been placed on the increased 'bulk viscosity' of sickled blood in the pathology of haemolysis and vascular occlusion, it appears that this occlusion may be initiated by the obstruction of capillaries by single red cells and that the local pathological process may dcvelop from the increased viscosity of individual cells. Reduced cell deformability is also described in thalassaemia, hcreditary spherocytosis, and elliptocytosis, as well as in acquired anaemias. The interpretation of these findings is more difficult since antibody absorption on the erythrocyte membrane may influence the mechanical properties of the cell. The correlation with clinical diagnosis became more significant if only blood samples with a negativc serological reaction were compared (Nicolau et al, 1964). Besides these molecular abnormalities the mechanical properties of the cell interior may changc if the encrgy supply of the rcd cell is impaired. Erythrocytes incubated in saline containing sodium fluoride become crenatcd after 2 hr and sphered after 6 hr. Thcre is a close correlation between the level of ATP and the degree of shapc-transformation (Nakao et a!, 1960). Obviously the biconcave shape is maintained by an energy-requiring process. The deformability of such energy-depleted cells is lowered as shown by several tests (Braasch, 1971). Onc reason for this phenomenon could be an ATP-calcium solgel transformation of certain cell proteins. It was shown that interccllular calcium increased 400% during a 24 hr incubation. This calcium accumulation is supposed to form a gel located in the interface between the membrane and the cell interior. If thc encrgy-depleted cell is reiiicubatcd with adenosine the ATP level, cell-shape and the mechanical properties of the cell are restored to normal. Since all these experiments arc based on in vitro experiments it is-at present-not possible to assess the clinical significance of ATP-depleted red cells (Weed et al, 1969). In uitro this increased internal cell viscosity is imitated by erythrocytes suspended in hypertonic salt solutions. Since the withdrawal of cell-water concentrates the intracellular haemoglobin the corpuscle becomes less deforinable and its filterability through a Millipore-filter is lost. This


The Panel on Food Additives and Nutrient Sources added to Food provides a scientific opinion evaluating the safety in use of yohimbe bark and its preparations originating from Yohimbe ( Pausinystalia yohimbe (K. Schum.) Pierre ex Beille when used in food, e.g. in food supplements. The bark of the plant contains a number of indole alkaloids of biological relevance and preparations of yohimbe bark have been traditionally used as general tonic, performance enhancer and as an aphrodisiac. Food supplements containing yohimbe bark preparations are available nowadays, especially via internet retail. Yohimbine, the major alkaloid of yohimbe bark and raubasine, another alkaloid occurring in lower concentrations in the bark, are used as active ingredients in a number of medicinal products for which adverse effects are described. The Panel reviewed the available scientific data on a possible association between the intake of yohimbe bark and its preparations and potential harmful effects on health. When those data were not available, priority was given to yohimbine, as the only alkaloid for which occurrence had been shown and quantified in food supplements containing yohimbe bark. The Panel concluded that the chemical and toxicological characterisation of yohimbe bark and its preparations for use in food are not adequate to conclude on their safety as ingredients of food, e.g. in food supplements. Thus the Panel could not provide advice on a daily intake of yohimbe bark and its preparations that do not give rise to concerns about harmful effects to health. An estimation of exposure to yohimbine from food supplements was performed showing that theoretical maximum daily intake may exceed the maximum approved daily dose of yohimbine from use as a medicinal product. diarrhoea, flush, sweating, shivering, allergic reactions, nervousness (uncommon); hypotension, tremor, bronchospasm, dysuria, decreased urge, genital pains, exanthema (very rare). yohimbe genotoxicity profile last one-compartment dose-dependent At two each two-compartment yohimbine, at day 7 of the study no significant increases of AUC, C max , and terminal elimination half-time were recorded. The reported increase in plasma catecholamine levels was significantly correlated to both the average yohimbine AUC and C max , but there were no significant effects on heart rate, blood pressure, or anxiety/mood-inventory scores. The single- and multiple-dose pharmacokinetic profile of yohimbine exhibits a substantial degree of interindividual and intraindividual variability, possibly variability in first-pass and hepatic metabolism. pharmacokinetics of yohimbine and its two metabolites, 10-hydroxyyohimbine and 11-hydroxyyohimbine, were investigated in 12 healthy male subjects after of yohimbine (5 mg, i.v. followed by 8 mg, oral) Corre et al., 1999). Among the subjects treated, one was found to be a slow hydroxylator of yohimbine. The oral bioavailability of yohimbine was found to be low and extremely variable (22.3 ± 21.5 %). The oral absorption was also reported to be low by the authors, possibly due to the formulation used in this study Total plasma clearance of yohimbine following intravenous dosing was 0.728 ± 0.256 ml/min whereas renal clearance was negligible (0.001 +-0.002 ml/min). Based on the steady-state volume of distribution (Vss), yohimbine had a relatively low distribution (Vss 23.2 ± 12.1 l). overall renal excretion of yohimbine, 10-hydroxyyohimbine and The Panel concluded that based on the information on the use of yohimbe bark and its preparations in food supplements, estimated exposure to yohimbine could be similar to or higher than that at which effects were reported from the use of yohimbine in medicinal products.


time tracking is required in many aspects of life like tracking vehicle fleet for optimized use of resources, tracing a stolen object and so on. Unstructured Supplementary Services Data (USSD) is a GSM service that allows high-speed interactive communication between the subscribers and applications across a GSM Network. The primary benefits of USSD are that it is cheaper then existing methods and allows for very fast communication between the user and an application giving the system real-time characteristics. This paper proposes a unique real-time tracking method with its architecture using USSD and GPS system on mobile station which even works in VPLMN and is faster than existing methods. The proposed method has been implemented using GPS, GSM and AJAX technologies.


Abstract The purpose of this paper is to prove some facts about integral means of (d2/dz2)(log[f(z)/z])—or equivalently f″/f, for f in a class of starlike mappings of a "singular" nature. In particular it is noted that the Koebe function is not extremal for the Hardy means Mp(r,f″/f) for functions in this class.


The article is devoted to analysis of the term «Artel» in Russian historiography. The author tries to consider the traditional Russian meaning of the «Artel», give an attempt to distinguish essential features of the term «Artel» and signify the limit of its application


The in vitro activity of 15 antimicrobial agents was tested against 21 clinical isolates of Brucella melitensis from Kuwait. The minimum inhibitory concentration for 90% of strains (MIC 90) was determ


An examination timetable of an educational institution is a mapping , where E is a set of examinations and T is a set of time slots. The Examination Timetabling Problem ETP is the problem of finding an optimal mapping , where is the set of all possible mappings from to , such that, given an cost function ! " $#&% , ' ( ) +*, ' ( ) ./ & 0 . Other formulations also include the assignment of rooms. The cost function is usually related to the number of violations of several types of constraints. Since most real life problems are over-constrained, one possibility to attack this problem is to order the constraints in a hierarchy according to their importance to the institution. In the simplest case, one can distinguish between hard and soft constraints. While the former are required to hold for any feasible solution, the latter express a solution's quality by their degree of violation. A typical hard constraint is to forbid a temporal overlap of a pair of examinations for a same student. Typical examples of a soft constraint is a minimum temporal distance between a pair of examinations for a same student or precedence between examinations (see [2] for an extensive list of possible constraints found in real life problems). These constraint types have to be taken into account when solving the problem by a stochastic search algorithm, and several possibilities have been proposed to accommodate them. One approach is to assign each objective 21 a weight 341 that expresses the importance of the 5 -th objective and then to minimize


In most of the complementary naturopathic treatments of patients suffering of multiple sclerosis the question arises, if still existing dysfunctions after kinesiologic controlled detixification, energetic balancing and psychotherapeutic interventions have to be considered as irreparable. With "neurovisceral osteopathy" a treatment approach is described, which enables a stimulation and support of the self-healing forces in the patients nervous system. This method is described as evolved in the daily practice. Further evaluation and comparison with the classical osteopathic theories are necessary.


Leiomyoma of the round ligament of the liver is a very unusual tumor, and it shows nonspecific manifestations both in symptom and radiographic characterization. Herein, we report the case of leiomyoma which CT post-processing technique can directly exhibit the origin of the lesion. With radiological diagnosis, laparoscopic excision of the leiomyoma is carried out. Histopathology and immunohistochemical staining confirmed the leiomyoma of the round ligament. This case presents information to expand our knowledge focusing on the role of the CT post-processing technique before laparoscopic excision.


The present invention discloses an endoscope having a section elongated tube into a body cavity. End shell is provided at the distal end of the elongated tube. Imaging window region formed in the end shell. The lens barrel is fixed to the end shell and aligned with the imaging window area. The image forming apparatus of the photodetector light from the object lens barrel. A circuit board having an imaging device mounted thereon. Signal cable having a covering material and the covering material is covered by a plurality of filaments and connected to the circuit board. Cable holding means fixedly holding portion cover material. The tip portion is formed at a distal end of said cable holding means. Coupling means holding the tip portion so as to be transversely movable on the end portion of the housing, means to prevent stress applied to the cable retention end shell.


This paper presents an application of an improved Genetic Algorithm for the unit commitment (UC) problem. The optimization is based on three different objective functions which are cost, reliability and an appropriate combination of them. This method is implemented on IEEE-RTS test system. Three different amount of required spinning reserve is used in optimization mode as a constraint. The results show that the proposed GA in C & R mode optimization is an effective method to solve the UC problem and also considering the reliability makes results more practical to use in restructured power system.


Observation activities within the Seti program have started at the Medicina radiote- lescope (near Bologna—Italy-) since March 1998. An ultra high frequency resolution Serendip IV spectrometer module, in a 4 million channels configuration, was used. Observations with the Serendip IV spectrometer connected in piggyback mode have been carried out so far at the 32-mt VLBI dish antenna in the microwaves astronomical bands. In order to increase the de- tection possibilities, a more flexible version of the data post processing procedure (SALVE II) and a quite new KLT (Karhunen Loeve Transform) for data detection have been introduced. The final tests of such a KLT have been carried out with an expandable fast Mercury Altivec multinode CPUs cluster. This is planned to operate in parallel to the already existing Serendip IV high-resolution spectrometer.


Detection of disaster-stricken areas using synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images is important in countries and regions with heavy rain and earthquakes. Although it is important to immediately find disaster-stricken areas when a disaster occurs, it takes time to read SAR images and also needs experience and expertise. Therefore, machine learning, especially deep learning, is expected to be applied to the classification of disaster-stricken areas. Classification using deep learning is often executed on patch images of local areas. However, patch-based classification would miss information on the surrounding areas such as topographic features. In this study, a convolutional neural network (CNN) is applied to the classification of SAR images using the following techniques. When making the images input to a CNN, two multichannel image generation methods, i.e, a zero-padding method and map-concatenation method, are used, where the target areas to be classified and their surrounding areas are combined to form multichannel images. In the experiments, the zero-padding method and map-concatenation method are evaluated by the classification performance of SAR images that cover the northern Kyushu area in Japan, where large-scale landslides due to heavy rain occurred in 2017. Through the experiments, we clarify the appropriate CNN structures with multichannel information for landslide classification.


In previous editorials I have offered some initial ideas about why we might draw upon the sociological literature to help advance our conceptual, empirical and theoretical work in the interprofessional field (Reeves, 2010a; Reeves 2010b). I have argued that this particular social science perspective can offer a number of beneficial ways of illuminating a range of complex political and socio-economic phenomena which we have previously failed to examine in any convincing manner. For example, with colleagues, I argued that the use of sociology in simulated interprofessional learning could generate more realistic scenarios which take into account key factors such as gender and professional power/status imbalances that are often ignored as type of education has traditionally been underpinned (almost exclusively) by psychological and social-psychological thinking (Sharma, Boet, Kitto & Reeves 2011). In this editorial, I extend this discussion by drawing upon the seminal work of C. Wright Mills (1967) who developed the notion of the 'sociological imagination' to provide a way of understanding, more deeply, the influences of different societal phenomena on the lives of individuals. I use this notion to argue why its use has a number of advantages for broadening our knowledge about the interprofessional field. In doing so, I offer an example of the evolution of professions, where the use of sociological thinking has generated some helpful insights into our understanding of how this historical process has shaped the (unequal) relationships that are shared by members of different health and social care professions.


In the Strategic Plan 2008-2013, the University of Nairobi spells out a New Revised
Vision, which reads 'A World-Class University Committed to Scholarly Excellence'. The
University has for the last four or so years engaged in Landscape Design yet connections
between Landscape Design and Vision at the University remains hidden, one does not know
whether or not the two are related. This study points out what it means to be a World-Class
University and outlines the roles of Landscape Design in helping the University achieve its
vision. Essentially, Landscape Design is a part of creating the right infrastructure which
provides th,e necessary affordances for Scholarly pursuit in aWorld-Class environment.
Aesthetic-s; Security, Circulation patterns, Opportunities for interaction, Orientation,
Education and Sustainability are some of the affordances. Ruth Simmons defines Worldclass
University as that university that is rooted in the culture within which it is located. As
such, the study looks into African Art as inspiration for Landscape Design at the University
of Nairobi. Finally this study views the history of Landscape Design around the world as
doing so traces possible influence on Landscape Design at the University of Nairobi.
Princeton University, having been ranked as the best University in the world, is used as a
case study to show how it evolved its Landscape Design along the Vision 'Transforming
Challenges into Opportunities'. The last chapter gives a design audit on the University of
Nairobi Landscape thus far, what can be maintained and what needs to be discarded and a
suggestion of a way forward.


Social solidarity assumes a high level of activity of the members of the society in the presentation of individual and collective social identity, as well as normative and valuable consensus on basic issues for society. This article discusses the barriers of social solidarity at various levels of Russian society. At the societal level, the formation of social solidarity prevents a high level of social economic polarization, degradation and commercialization of social sphere, the absence of value consensus on the key parameters of the development of the country. The main barrier of formation of social solidarity in the Russian society is aborted local communitarian communities. Exactly in those ones, people acquire primary skills of self-organizing and mutual aids. In the organization of collective actions in the community, vertical structures (government, state and municipal institutions) continue playing a significant role. Thus, in the territorial communities the self-organization processes – micro practices of solidarity – are actively developing. They are based on the desire to improve citizens' living environment and to help people who turned out in difficult life situations, and to a lesser extent – on defending their rights.


We have known for a long time that people's risky choices depart systematically from expected utility theory,and also from related models like prospect theory. But it is still common to use expected utility theory orprospect theory to estimate parameters like risk aversion from sets of risky choices. We have also known fora long time that when parameters are estimated, a systematic departure between the model and the datacauses biased parameter estimates. Here we show how the bias in parameter estimation interacts with the setof choices presented to participants. We find that estimates of risk aversion vary greatly between choice setseven though no real differences in risk aversion exist. We find parameters do not generalise at all betweenchoice sets, even when the sets are random draws from a master choice set.


Although differential detection methods having superior fading resistance and, in general are effective in digital land mobile communications systems, phase shifts due to frequency offsets become a major factor that deteriorates the error rate in these differential detection methods. Although various frequency-offset compensating methods have been studied and developed, the maximum amount of frequency offset that can be compensated is limited due to the ambiguity of the phase, which has become a problem in estimating the phase shift due to a frequency offset.

In this paper, a method for compensating frequency offset by double differential encoding of transmission data sequences, which allows a resolution of the forementioned problem even when a large frequency offset occurs, is proposed and the error rate performance in the application of a /4-shift QPSK scheme is evaluated by computer simulation. As a result, it is shown that the proposed method has superior compensating performance on land mobile communications channels.


Objectives: This research aims to examine contemporary trends and methods to improve general education curricula in Saudi Arabia. The study employs a qualitative technique based on recent research, books, journals, and other publications. The findings of this study show that
 the ministry of education in Saudi Arabia must follow current trends and approaches in improving general education curricula that strive to afford educated individuals with a suitable scientific education that prepares them for life in the twenty-first century, which leads them to the acquisition
 and mastery of advanced and usable scientific concepts. There is, also, a greater understanding and mastery of advanced scientific concepts, as well as the ability to apply science skills and processes, which led to an improvement in students' innovative and creative abilities, positive
 scientific attitudes towards science, and the ability to make sound personal and social decisions. It is possible to develop an educational curriculum in a variety of ways, such as by staying abreast of changes in the work environment which also ensures professional and individual growth.
 The changes in the economy, the agricultural sector, culture, education, availability of suitable logistics, and a balance between theoretical themes and practical applications are all components of the general education curricula in Saudi Arabia.


The presence of ultrasound contrast agents (UCAs) in the body is normally determined by the echo intensity displayed on an imaging system. In diagnostic ultrasound, failing to visualize the contrast agent usually means the end of its usefulness. However, the authors show that UCAs, when disrupted by an ultrasound field, still leave an environment rich of nuclei for inertial cavitation. Therefore, fragments of UCAs are still present in the body although invisible to the imaging system. In the present work, the authors developed an experimental arrangement to measure the threshold at which the echo-contrast loses its property as an effective scatterer (P1), and the threshold at which inertial cavitation develops (P2). P1 and P2 were measured as a function of the concentration, pulse repetition frequency (PRF) and number of acoustic cycles. The results measured for Albunex(R) in Isoton II solution, show that P1 was directly proportional to the concentration and inversely proportional to the PRF. P2 was inversely proportional to the concentration and independent of PRF. Both P1 and P2 were relatively independent of the number of acoustic cycles.


To investigate the impact of cyanidin-3-O-glycoside (C3G) and its two major phenolic acid metabolites, protocatechuic acid (PCA) and ferulic acid (FA), on macrophage (MФ) factor-induced inflammation and mitochondrial dysfunction in 3T3-L1 adipocytes.

 Secretory factors from lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated RAW 274.7 MФ were used to treat adipocytes to simulate the MФ-adipocyte crosstalk in adipose tissue. Alteration of inflammatory responses, including pro-/anti-inflammatory cytokine production and pro-inflammatory signaling pathway activation were evaluated. Mitochondrial respiration, biogenesis and function in MФ factor-induced adipocytes were investigated and the potential role of C3G, PCA and FA was compared. The AMPK-stimulating actions of PCA were explored via determining its impacts on the phosphorylation pattern of key proteins in the AMPK system.

 In LPS-conditioned media (CM)-treated adipocytes, C3G, PCA and FA suppressed pro-inflammatory cytokine production (TNF-α: −29.0 to −66.2%; IL-6: −6.6 to −38.2%) and enhanced anti-inflammatory cytokine secretion (adiponectin: 16.1–173.3%) in a dose-dependent manner (P < 0.05). C3G, PCA, and FA down-regulated the expression levels of phosphorylated IκBα and JNK in LPS-CM-stressed adipocytes by 50.5–54.5% and 40.3–56.7% (P < 0.05), respectively. C3G, PCA, and FA alleviated MФ factor-triggered oxidative stress via down-regulating mitochondrial superoxide and mitochondrial dysfunction by up-regulating mitochondrial respiration, in terms of adenosine triphosphate production, oxygen consumption and citrate synthase activity. Compared with C3G and FA, PCA showed better capacity in modulating inflammation and mitochondrial dysregulation in LPS-CM-treated adipocytes (P < 0.05). Further, treatment with PCA increased the AMPK, LKB1, CAMKII, p53, and Akt phosphorylation status while decreased activations in the ACC, mTOR, p70S6k and HSL.

 Metabolites of C3G, primarily PCA, alleviated adipogenesis-induced inflammation and mitochondrial alteration in adipocytes, thus having potential implications to prevent adipogenesis-associated disorders.

 USDA-NIFA-HATCH 1,017,440.


Introduction Bexarotene, a retinoid X receptor agonist, improves cognition in murine models of Alzheimer's disease (AD). This study evaluated the effects of bexarotene on pathological and electrophysiological changes in very old triple transgenic AD mice (3xTg-AD mice). Methods 24-month-old 3xTg-AD mice were treated with bexarotene (100 mg/kg/day for 30 days). The Morris water maze was used to evaluate spatial memory; immunofluorescence and confocal microscopy were used to evaluate pathological changes; and in vivo electrophysiological recordings were used to evaluate basal transmission and plasticity in the commissural CA3-CA1 pathway. Results In addition to cognitive improvement, bexarotene-treated 3xTg-AD mice were found to have 1) reductions of astrogliosis and reactive microglia both in cortex and hippocampus; 2) increased ApoE expression restricted to CA1; 3) increased number of cells co-labeled with ApoE and NeuN; 4) recovery of NeuN expression, suggesting neuronal protection; and, 5) recovery of basal synaptic transmission and synaptic plasticity. Discussion These results indicate that bexarotene-induced improvement in cognition is due to multiple changes that contribute to recovery of synaptic plasticity.


"It has long been the position of historians of all stripes that prohibition was destined to become a potent factor in Canadian life during the early twentieth century. For their part, historians of Canadian business have been preoccupied with how the nation's brewers overcame the profit-quashing challenges of the prohibition era. The existing historiography is without exception complimentary of the ingenious efforts of Canadian brewers and their ability to survive during this "difficult" period and to "make the most of their opportunities." Contrary to the established position, this paper argues that the unwillingness and inability of the brewing industry to organize itself and lobby against prohibition effectively, as well as its failure to reach out to other anti-prohibitionists in society, were as much factors in the onset and continuation of the prohibition of beer as the actions of prohibitionists."


Lysine derivative consisting of amine-N,N,N-triacetic acid and spacer moiety has been immobilized onto cross-linked polystyrene beads by one-step reaction. The metal ion exchange property and selectivity of the newly prepared resin for some trivalent and divalent metal ions have been studied.


The preparation of nanoparticles ZnFe2O4 by catalytic phase transformation at high temperature is studied.The best conditions of preparing nanoparticles ZnFe2O4 are as following:the initial pH=8.0~10.5,reaction temperature 100~120 ℃,the initial concentration of reactant 0.45~1.2 mol/L,reaction time 2~5 h.The product was characterized by TEM,XRD.Its magnetic property was examined.The results showed that the crystallite produced at high temperature is better than that produced at low temperature.The remanence and coercivity have not been equal to zero yet.


Globalization and Armed Conflict. Edited by Gerald Schneider, Katherine Barbieri, Nils Petter Gleditsch. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield, 2003. 384 pp., $75.00 cloth (ISBN: 0-7425-1831-0), $32.95 paper (ISBN: 0-7425-1832-9).

Over the past two decades, the "democratic peace" hypothesis—namely, that wars do not occur between democracies—has received a great deal of attention; James Ray (1995) and Steve Chan (1997) provide thorough reviews of this literature. Closely related—in fact one of the strongest candidates for an alternative explanation—is the "liberal peace" hypothesis, which posits that economic development and mutual trade are powerful inhibitors of war (see, for example, Keohane and Nye 1977; Russett and Oneal 2001). Both of these hypotheses have distinguished pedigrees in qualitative liberal political theory and can be traced to the beginnings of the nineteenth century. Both hypotheses are sufficiently simple that they have been invoked in public policy debates. New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman, for example, reformulated the liberal peace hypothesis in 1996 in the following terms: "Countries that both have McDonald's restaurants don't fight each other." Both hypotheses have been used to explain the transition from the fratricidal Western Europe of the first half of the twentieth century to Europe's present status as a zone of peace.

The empirical support for the two hypotheses, however, is quite different. Evidence for the democratic peace is so strong that arguments against it require methodologically esoteric appeals to alliance linkages, control variables, and expected conflict frequencies under a null hypothesis. The liberal peace, in contrast, suffers from two very conspicuous and large-scale failures: World War I and World War II. Those empirical challenges continue to the present. Friedman's "McDonald's hypothesis," for example, lasted only three years before the United States began bombing attacks on the Serbian capital of Belgrade, a city with seven McDonald's …


Abstract Thrombus removal has for many years been attractive to investigate. The reasons were to relieve the acute symptoms with painful swelling and even to avoid tissue loss, but also with focus to decrease the incidence of late complications. Surgical procedures in the beginning and systemic thrombolysis years later were practiced in few dedicated centers. The breakthrough came 30 years ago in order to concentrate the lysis procedure directly into the thrombus material. This minimal invasive catheter-directed procedure was soon combined with stenting of the well-known iliac vein compression syndrome. Further development of this modality has taken place with some adjunctive mechanical devices primarily to minimize bleeding, which is the major concern of the methods. Less than ten RCT's have been published over time, but conclusively supporting the rationale of early thrombus removal for iliofemoral DVT with reduction of PTS.


A General Feistal Structure based color image encryption and authentication algorithm is designed in this paper. The plain image is first permuted, then divided into groups of size pixels and encrypted by block encryption algorithm; finally the cipher image is obtained by performing inverse permutation on the image. In which, block encryption function is the kernel part of the encryption algorithm, and is designed with general feistel structure. To provide integrality authentication function, the last cipher block is the cipher of the sum of all plain blocks. It's from experiments and analysis that the algorithm is secure and valid.


The AlTiC master alloy grain refiners are prepared by aluminum-thermal reaction,and the composition,microstructure and morphology of the master alloy are investigated with X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy.The grain refining refinement effect of the prepared AlTiC master alloy on commercial pure aluminum is analyzed and compared by optical microscopy.The xperimental results indicate that the prepared AlTiC grain refiner shows obvious advantages over the domestic AlTiB grain refiner.


Elastomeric and lead-rubber bearings are two commonly used types of seismic isolation devices. During seismic events, some of the bearings in an isolation system will be subjected to large axial compressive loads, caused by gravity plus overturning forces, accompanied by simultaneous large lateral displacements. However, the critical load capacity of elastomeric bearings has been shown to reduce with increasing lateral displacement. The design of isolation systems composed of these types of bearings therefore requires that stability at the maximum displacement be demonstrated. The current procedure to assess the stability uses a ratio of areas, referred to as the overlapping area method, to determine the critical load capacity at a given lateral displacement that must be greater than a combination of axial forces imposed on the bearing. Although the overlapping area method provides a simple means of calculating the critical load at a given lateral displacement, it lacks a rigorous theoretical basis and ha...


This letter discusses experimentation with optically induced phase change in nanoparticle liquid suspensions—commonly termed nanofluids. Four different types of nanofluids at five concentrations were exposed to a ∼120 mW, 532 nm laser beam to determine the minimum laser flux needed to create vapor. Laser irradiance was varied between 0–770 W cm−2. While the experiments were simple, they involved many complex, interrelated physical phenomena, including: subcooled boiling, thermal driven particle/bubble motion, nanoparticle radiative absorption/scattering, and nanoparticle clumping. Such phenomena could enable novel solar collectors in which the working fluid directly absorbs energy and undergoes phase change in a single step.


We present the state-of-art study of a recent emerging research area named as Adversarial Machine Learning, it investigates the vulnerabilities of current learning algorithms from the perspective of an adversary. We show that several state-of-art learning systems are intrinsically vulnerable under carefully designed adversarial attacks. Moreover, we suggest countermeasures against adversarial actions, which inspire discussion of constructing more secure and robust learning algorithms.