The current article speculates about the interrelations between space and language from the perspective of the neglect syndrome. Various conflicting findings are reviewed and the effect of cultural factors is strongly emphasised. Current scientific literature describes relationships between space and language; however, the available data render it difficult to conclude whether it is the primacy of spatial representations or the complex two-way interaction between linguistic and spatial representations that determines the nature of cognitive processing. It is hoped that studying the neglect syndrome will provide a solution to this problem. Finally, directions for future research are provided that requires bridging the gap between cognitive theorising and neuroscientific approaches.


We demonstrate all-optical switching of 20 wavelength channels simultaneously in a silicon broadband comb switch, and perform single-channel BER measurements through both ports. A statistical characterization of the insertion loss and extinction ratio is included.


Objective: to understand the absence of funeral rituals in the process of living the grief process of Brazilian families who lost loved ones by COVID-19. Method: this is a qualitative documental research carried out in three newspapers available online. Sixty-seven reports were analyzed, divided into two categories; the first deals with psychological suffering derived from social isolation, such as anxiety, depression, loneliness and fear; and the second deals with the different manifestations of grief and the psychological effect of losses amidst the pandemic. Result: the ritualization of death is inseparable from the process of elaboration of the losses. The absence of funeral rituals combined with social dictatorship can have a challenging impact on society and mental healthcare professionals. Non-presential strategies for showing affection and elaborating the loss can ease the isolation imposed by the pandemic. Conclusions and implications for practice: the human living process is full of rites of passage and death-dying rituals prove to be necessary for the experience of farewell, of the certainty of the distance between loved ones and family. It implies resolving modes of emotional, mental and even physical recording of the public expression of griever's suffering and not forgetting the Being's to death. It impacts care practice for reception, guidance and elaboration of losses for the maintenance of a healthy life for grievers, which proposes theoretical-reflective arguments in mental healthcare and in the shelter of grievers resulting from the pandemic.


Aim: to study dynamics of the 0,1Hz-component of the heart rate variability (HRV) spectrum in patients with arterial hypertension taking fosinopril and atenolol. 49 patients with hypertension were enrolled (age 46±7 years). Fosinopril and atenolol were administered consequently. The power of 0,1Hz-component of the HRV spectrum was assessed during a passive orthostatic test. Results: In patients taking fosinopril and atenolol comparable decrease of blood pressure was observed. Atenolol caused reliable decrease of a heart rate during orthostatic test. The power dynamics of 0,1Hzcomponent was comparable in patients taking fosinopril and atenolol. Conclusion: fosinopril and atenolol influenced similar on 0,1-Hz mechanisms of vegetative heart control system.


Abstract Cypermethrin and alphamethrin ([1R, cis, αS]- and [1S, cis, αR]-cypermethrin) are pyrethroid insecticides used in agriculture, forestry, and public health hygiene. After forestry applications of cypermethrin against bark beetles diastereo- and enantioselective analyses of pyrethroid residues are performed by gas chromatography (GC) with electron capture (ECD) and mass spectrometric (MS) detection, or by achiral and chiral high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The major soil metabolites of cypermethrin, i.e. 2,2-dimethyl-3-(1,1-dichlorovinyl)-cyclopropylic acid and 3-phenoxybenzoic acid, are analyzed as methyl esters by GC-MS with electron-impact (EI) ionization. On spruce bark cypermethrin persists several months as surface films of 1 μg/cm2. In soil it is detected as long as seven months after treatment at levels of 0.15–0.7 μg/g. Sunlight-induced cis, trans isomerization on bark and leaves results in an excess of trans-cypermethrin isomers. In soil cis-cypermethrin isomers are more per...


Manufacturing industries have responded to the demand for goods manufacturing growths in today's worlds. There are various new and sometimes drastic ways of producing parts. Starting from Computer Aided Manufacturing and Computer Numerical Control to current advanced manufacturing concepts like Flexible Manufacturing System (FMS), Statistical Process Control (SPC) and Just-in-Time (JIT), the manufacturing phase has undergone many revolutionary and advanced changes.
These revolutions desire for more cost-effective and efficient work holding devices and method like jig and fixture. There are two most fundamental jig and fixture design principle that commonly stressed out which is simplicity and economy.
This project is collaboration between a textile manufacturing company in Malaysia and Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka. In conjunction of this Company-University Collaboration (CUC), student will be assigned to a task to improve the operation cycle time in their dedicated process called dipping process which requires operator to eject a batch of pins that attached to a base mold and eject it at the fastest time possible.


The essay analyzes Argentina's current situation through a comparison with the Mexican situation, trying to unravel the government's expression "return to the world. In order to do so, it proposes a brief history and takes as dimensions of analysis the economic policies, the neoliberalism of war and the entrepreneurial educational proposals.


The article presents an analysis of academic literature in an attempt to identify the importance of the implementation of green logistics in road transportation. Areas of concern as well as solution and implementation opportunities are presented. A research of transportation companies was conducted in an attempt to understand the real situation regarding the implementation of green logistics measures. The research results are presented in the article. Solutions are provided in the form of a conceptual model for the implementation of green logistics measures in transportation organisations. Nowadays the interest in ecology, minimization of fossil fuel usage, and mitigation of harmful road transportation consequences is rapidly increasing. Eco-friendly vehicles, effective transportation system, application of advanced technologies and innovations should become the main factors in promoting the implementation of green logistics in the transportation sector to mitigate negative effects on the environment. In order to maintain their competitive advantage and customer satisfaction, transportation organisations should begin implementing the concept of green logistics in their businesses. The significance of the concept of green logistics can be observed on global, regional, and national levels. Business is still seen as the leader, responsible for initiation and implementation of ecological logistics principles. The implementation of green logistics is critically important; however, lack of funding and collaboration between the public and the private sectors prevent companies from adopting green logistics measures. Economic driving classes, employee education, electric and hybrid cargo-handling vehicles are some of the possible green logistics measures.


A 47-year-old man was referred to a pulmonary clinic with a 4-year history of dyspnea, productive cough, weight loss, low-grade fevers, night sweats, and occasional hemoptysis. During those 4 years, the patient had undergone multiple serologic, sputum microbiological, and radiographic studies, as well as a bronchoscopy examination; 4 months prior to referral, due to worsening in symptoms, videoassisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) for right lung biopsy was performed, Due to the patient's clinical symptoms and abnormal radiographic findings, he had received multiple courses of antibiotics, including 2 months of RIPE therapy (ie, therapy with isoniazid, rifampin, ethambutol, and pyrazinamide) for undocumented tuberculosis, without any significant response. His medical history was positive for COPD, chronic sinusitis, recurrent pneumonias, gastroesophageal reflux disease, hepatitis C, and alcohol abuse. He did not have any history of uveitis, cervicalllumbosacral stiffness, or musculoskeletal pain. His family history was not contributory. His surgical history was remarkable for a VATS proce-


Crystals of the title compound, C13H15NO6, were obtained from the modified Knoevenagel condensation reaction of 3,4-dihydroxybenzaldehyde and mono-2-methyl-2-nitropropyl malonate. The molecule is the E isomer with the usual bond lengths and angles. The crystal packing is stabilized by intermolecular O—H⋯O and C—H⋯O hydrogen bonds.


Songhua Lake is one of the important water sources in Jilin Province,but the quality of water in Songhua Lake deteriorates with the economic development.It can protect the water resources of Songhua Lake effectively to discuss the water requirement for self purification of Huifa River,because it is one of the main pollution sources to Songhua Lake.The paper has computed the water requirements for self purification of the stream-channel in the middle and lower reaches of Huifa River according to the point pollution sources,the result shows that the degree of water requirement shortage for the self purification is severe and most of which appears in non-flood season,but the water requirement for the self purification varies little with annual stream flow.


We establish the interface equation and prove the C1 regular- ity of the interface for the porous medium equation whose solution is radial symmetry.


The main objective of this paper is to find the order and its exponent, the general form of all conjugacy classes, Artin characters table and Artin exponent for the group of lower unitriangular matrices L(3,? p ), where  p  is prime number.


This paper describes a stochastic wireless channel model that captures the behavior of the packet-level Bit Error Rate (BER) and the Link Quality Indication (LQI) processes. The model is based on a discrete-time Hidden Markov Model (HMM) whose hidden states correspond to different BERs, and whose observable states correspond to different LQI values. We use the Baum-Welch algorithm to train the HMM. The data required as input to the training phase is captured experimentally using IEEE 802.15.4 compliant Crossbow MICAz motes. We demonstrate the HMM-based Channel Model's (HCM) utility and versatility by three applications. In the first we use it to synthesize traces whose properties closely resemble those of the training data. This application simultaneously demonstrates the HCM's correctness as well. In the second application we demonstrate the HCM's ability to estimate a received packet's BER based on the LQI with which it was received. In the third application we demonstrate the HCM's ability to predict the BER to which future packets will be subjected. For evaluation purpose we restrict our prediction to the next packet.


Recently experiments have shown very significant spin activity in biological molecules such as DNA, proteins, oligopeptides and aminoacids. Such molecules have in common their chiral structure, time reversal symmetry and the absence of magnetic exchange interactions. The spin activity is then assumed to be due to either the pure Spin-orbit (SO) interaction or SO coupled to the presence of strong local sources of electric fields. Here we derive an analytical tight-binding Hamiltonian model for Oligopeptides that contemplates both intrinsic SO and Rashba interaction induced by hydrogen bond. We use a lowest order perturbation theory band folding scheme and derive the reciprocal space intrinsic and Rashba type Hamiltonian terms to evaluate the spin activity of the oligopeptide and its dependence of molecule uniaxial deformations. SO strengths in the tens of meV are found and explicit spin active deformation potentials. We find a rich interplay between responses to deformations both to enhance and diminish SO strength that allow for experimental testing of the orbital model. Qualitative consistency with recent experiments shows the role of hydrogen bonding in spin activity.


One of the main pillars of the academic sphere is publication of articles, the scientific purity of which should be as higher as possible. Allegedly, scientists may prefer to cite journal editors more frequently than they would do when those personae are not in editors′ position, and quite a few of the formers in quite a few instances do not seem to refuse to go along with. The viability of this sort of assertion is supported by an exploratory examination through a cross-disciplinary scanning of long-term empirical evidence from leading journals in 11 research fields. This analysis covered a total of 337 journal editors from 35 top disciplinary journals spanning 40 years. The findings seem to support the alleged trend called "editor citation". Three psychology journals appear less susceptible to such desirability. Possible accounts are suggested with a special reference to the hypothesis of moral/social modularity. [1]


FOR the last six or eigbt months the patient, a man, aged 36, has had difficulty in swallowing, togethier with the sensation of a lump in the throat and tightness, all referred to the post-cricoid level. In swallowing solids, the efforts made resemble those present in post-cricoid obstruction. There is, however, no cough or spluttering with liquids; and food has never been regurgitated. It is noteworthy that salivation was profuse at one period of the history, particularly at night. On laryngoscopy, some salivary accumulation was noticeable behind the left arytanoid, but the direct tube was passed down the cesophagus without any difficulty, and no change in the mucosa was discovered. Since first coming under our observation the patient has also been examined at the Royal Free Hospital and elsewhere, and the conclusion arrived at is that he is suffering from hypercblorhydria and perhaps also from duodenal ulcer.


This research is to know and analyze about Work Discipline, and communication to job satisfaction and its implication to performance of field of Higher Education and High Education Office of West Java Province. The method used in this research is qualitative analysis. Methods of data collection is done by interview and questionnaire, while data processing used SPSS software version 23.00. Based on the results of research, it is found that work discipline, communication, job satisfaction and performance of employees at good level. In general, the independent variable working on job satisfaction is 0.479 or 47.90%, and communication variables to job satisfaction of 0.293 or 29.30%, and variable earnings on performance is equal to 0.783 or 78.30%. From the results of research conducted, then all the broad variables will have a significant effect on the performance of employees of Higher Education and Higher Education Department of West Java Province.


Recently, many state-of-the-art results for remote sensing image scene classification have been achieved by convolutional neural networks (CNNs) due to their large learning capability. However, in the forward process of CNNs, the high-frequency/texture features are gradually blurred with hierarchical downsampling and convolution operations. High-frequency features are important to capture the diversity within a class and the similarity between classes. For example, the line features are crucial to distinguish a tennis court from a basketball court. For tennis court in different scenes, the highlight of line features can effectively avoid the influence of diverse backgrounds. As a consequence, we propose a Laplacian high-frequency convolutional block (LHCB) based on CNN to extract useful high-frequency features by trainable Laplacian operator. To propagate high-frequency features, we embed LHCB into the existing CNN structures and obtain LHNet. In LHNet, there are two pathways. The original CNN architecture can be taken as the low-frequency pathway, and we propose a high-frequency pathway (HFP) based on LHCB that propagates the residual high-frequency features blurred in each low-frequency layer. Considering that the high-frequency features usually show large variance between images of the same class, we propose a new objective for HFP to enhance the intraclass similarity of high-frequency features. The final objective function is obtained by combining the new objective and the baseline classification objective. Numerous experiments on three public available remote sensing image scene classification datasets, the Northwestern Polytechnical University-Remote Sensing Image Scene Classification (NWPU-RESISC45), Aerial Image Dataset (AID), and the University of California at Merced (UC Merced), demonstrate the superior performance of the proposed method.


Objective To investigate the effect of Glycyrrhiza uralensis flavonoids and salvianolic acid(GS) on the apoptosis of HSC-T6 cells.Methods HSC-T6 were incubated with ferric nitrilotriacetic acid(Fe-NTA),SOD activity and MDA content in HSC-T6 were detected.MTT colorimetric method and trypan blue staining were used to measure the cell proliferentiation and survival rate.Production of reactive oxygen species(ROS) of drug-treated cells were monitored by a fluorescent probe 2',7'-dichlorodihydrofluorescin fluorescence(DCFH-DA).Morphological changes associated with apoptosis were examined by staining with Hoechst33258.Moreover,changes in mitochondrial transmembrane potential were determinde by the dual-emission potential-sensitive probe 5,5',6,6'-tetra-chloro-1,1',3,3'-tetraethyl-imidacarbocyanine iodide(JC-1).Result Oxidative stress decreased the activity of SOD in HSCs,increased the content of MDA in HSC-T6.GS inhibited the cells proliferation and decreased the iROS levels in a dose dependent manner,After 24 hours treatment with GS,the typical apoptic morphology was found in HSCs,including the decrease of karyoplasmic ratio and the increase of kidney-shape nuclear cells.Furthermore,GS induced a concentration decrease in ROS production and in mitochondrial membrane potential.Conclusion GS play an important role in oxidative stress HSC-T6 apoptosis which may be corrected with mitochondria apoptosis pathway.


A recent large survey showed that an increasing number of Norwegian university and college students report symptoms of psychological distress, indicating the need for effective interventions. Self-compassion interventions may be one possible way to deal with the problem at hand. As defined by Neff, self-compassion entails: 1) being kind and understanding toward oneself, 2) perceiving one's own suffering as a part of being human, and 3) being mindful of painful feelings and thoughts. The aim of this master's thesis was to review the effects of self-compassion interventions on the well-being and mental health of university students. We undertook systematic searches of electronic databases to identify studies of the effectiveness of self-compassion interventions for University students. Nineteen studies were identified (seven experiments, nine Randomized Controlled Trials (RCT) and three pre-post studies). Self-compassion interventions seemed useful for university-level students, in particular for reducing shame and negative affect as well as improving self-efficacy. We conclude that self-compassion interventions seem to be associated with reduced psychological distress and improved well-being among students. More stringent research is needed, as there was a large heterogeneity in outcome measures, length and type of intervention used in the studies.


The poly(acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene)(ABS) resins were synthesized via bulk polymerization method using nickel catalyzed high-cis polybutadiene rubber(Ni-9004),lithium catalyzed low-cis polybutadiene rubber(Li-700A) and their composite rubbers as modifiers.The influences of reaction time and content of composite rubber on the polymerization reaction,grafting parameters and microstructures of ABS were investigated.And the morphologies and mechanical properties of resins under different incorporation ratio of composite rubbers were also researched.It is shown that the grafting degree of Ni-9004 gradually increases and its grafting efficiency and volume fraction of rubber phase gradually decrease with the reaction time.Besides,an obvious phase inversion occurs in the polymerization process and the final ABS resin presents a typical ″core-shell″ structure.And its morphology can be distinctly improved when combined with Li-700A.Furthermore,the lower amount of composite rubber is beneficial to grafting and occlusion,which shows a positive reinforcement value;an augmented particle size and a negative value are obtained while composite rubber amount increases.Performance measurements show that the toughening effect of Li-700A can be significantly enhanced by incorporating Ni-9004.When its incorporation content reaches 75%,the notched Izod impact strength of ABS resin is improved by at least 150%,while there is no loss of the tensile strength.


In this article we address the localization and tracking of multiple targets coincident in the same area. We propose a distributed method that enables us to simplify the signal processing and make the system more robust. Also we address a cluster of sensors, which are led by one of them (leader node). It is responsible to estimate the target¿s location. To control the coincidence of multiple objectives in the same area, we propose an algorithm that disconnect the sensing mode and predict the target position. It permits to avoid wrong measures of the sensors and we continue with a correctly tracking. We also suggest a classification method based in the speed of the target, and it permits to reduce the uncertainty of the estimation. Simulations results show the tracking of different targets and demonstrate the reliability of these strategies.


In San Francisco Bay (SFB), light availability is largely determined by the concentration of suspended particulate matter (SPM) in the water column. SPM exhibits substantial variation with time, depth, and location. To study how SPM influences light and phytoplankton growth, we coupled a sediment transport model with a hydrodynamic model and a biogeochemical model. The coupled models were used to simulate conditions for the year of 2011 with a focus on northern SFB. For comparison, two simulations were conducted with ecosystem processes driven by SPM concentrations supplied by the sediment transport model and by applying a constant SPM concentration of 20 mg l–1. The sediment transport model successfully reproduced the general pattern of SPM variation in northern SFB, which improved the chlorophyll-a simulation resulting from the biogeochemical model, with vertically integrated primary productivity varying greatly, from 40 g[C] m–2 year–1 over shoals to 160 g[C] m–2 year–1 in the deep channel. Primary productivity in northern SFB is influenced by euphotic zone depth (Ze). Our results show that Ze in shallow water regions (<2 m) is mainly determined by water depth, while Ze in deep water regions is controlled by SPM concentration. As a result, Ze has low (high) values in shallow (deep) water regions. Large (small) differences in primary productivity exist between the two simulations in deep (shallow) water regions. Furthermore, we defined a new parameter Flight for "averaged light limitation" in the euphotic zone. The averaged chlorophyll-a concentration in the euphotic zone and Flight share a similar distribution such that both have high (low) values in shallow (deep) water regions. Our study demonstrates that light is a critical factor in regulating the phytoplankton growth in northern SFB, and a sediment transport model improves simulation of light availability in the water column.


Background: Chronic hip, knee, and ankle injuries are very common issues in the whole world. increasing athlete's performance. This research is quasi-experimental with: quantitative approach. The sample of this study was 15 patients with chronic hips, knee and ankle injuries, taken by purposive sampling technique. The data were collected using measurement and treatment with combine massage and physiotherapeutic exercise. Data were analyzed using the descriptive statistics, independent sample t-test, paired sample t-test, and correlation among items using SPSS Amos.23. The result showed that there is a significant difference between pre-test-posttest strength measurement with P value (0.003<0.05). A significant difference between pre and posttest of all kinds of movement flexibilities is with the P value < 0.05. There is a strong correlation between combine massage and physiotherapeutic to the chronic knee, knee, and ankle with r >0.5. In conclusion , massage and physiotherapeutic exercise were found to be a vital part to improve human body health and it can be used by everybody.


Milk Consumption Around the World • The first quantitative global estimates of the consumption of milk and other non-alcoholic beverages have been calculated. • Unsurprisingly, milk drinking—and calcium consumption—correlates closely with national per capita income. • The global average calcium consumption is far below the level recommended for adults by the US National Institutes of Health. • Perhaps more concerning, young adults appear to be drinking relatively little milk and far larger volumes of sugary drinks, which may bode ill for their bone health later in life.


The utility model relates to an infrared inducing light digital photographing controller which is used for video frequency monitoring and can spring the light and digital photographing through infrared induction. A light used for lighting is arranged on a mounting bracket and is connected with a power wire; the mounting bracket is fixed with an infrared inductor which is internally provided with a central processing module; the data end of the central processing module is connected with an infrared transducer which is arranged on an infrared inductor; the light induction part of the infrared transducer is exposed at the outer side of the infrared inductor; the infrared inductor is provided with an imaging lens corresponding to which an image transducer is arranged; the output end of the image transducer is connected with the data end of a central control unit; the data output of the central processing module is connected with an electric control switch; the light used for lighting is connected with the power wire through the electric control switch; the infrared inductor is internally provided with a power supply for supplying power to the components in the infrared inductor.


After earning his MArch at Yale, Brian Healy worked in the offices of Cesar Pelli and Richard Meier before establishing his own firm Brian Healy Architects in 1986. This award-winning firm has completed a number of residential, commercial, and multi-use projects. The firm's work includes the Children's Chapel for the Korean Church of Boston, the Mill Center for the Arts (Hendersonville, NC), and Chicago's Initiative to Redefine Public Housing. Healy served as the BSA 2004 President and as a member of the Design Advisory Panel for the Rose Kennedy Greenway in Boston. In addition to his practice Healy has taught at Harvard's GSD, Yale, Penn and MIT among other schools of architecture. He is a Distinguished Visiting Professor at CCNY's Spitzer School of Architecture, a position he also held at Roger Williams University. In 2011 he became the Design Director at Perkins+Will in Boston. .


On  March  16th,  2015  was  enacted  Law  13,105.  Known  for  having  the  intention  to democratize the process, the new Civil Procedure Code innovated in many ways, and one of those that highlights is the introduction on the legal text of the Procedure Constitutional Principles, already provide in the Constitution. The legislator's attitude positivate in the Ordinary   legislation   the   constitutional   principles   only   embodies   the   wave   of constitutionalization of rights. And the Civil Procedure could not be averse to this trend. Thus, this article aims to analyze the basic rules of civil procedure.


Based on the per capita GDP dataset at the county level in Jiangsu province from1978 to 2000, this paper attempts to apply spatial Markov chains to investigate the spatial andtemporal characteristics of regional convergence in Jiangsu. Firstly, all the per capita GDPdata in Jiangsu are classified into 4 different classes by annual provincial average. Due to thechanges in the regional development strategies over time, the whole period is then dividedinto two sub-periods (1978-1990 and 1990-2000), and two Markov transition probabilitymatrices for these two periods are estimated respectively for comparison. Secondly, two kindsof maps are accordingly made in order to visualize spatial patterns of class transitions, one forregion, and the other for region and its neighbors. Finally, conditioning on each region'sspatial lag at the beginning of each year, spatial Markov matrices for the two different periodsare constructed. The conclusions are drawn as follows: (1) The process of regionalconvergence in Jiangsu has been globally characterized by "convergence clubs" since 1978,but this trend in the 1990s is sharpened and statistically different from that of the period from1978 to 1990. (2) Those regions and their neighbors that both experience upward mobility arelocated in southern Jiangsu, while the regions or their neighbors that move downwardly aremostly found in northern Jiangsu. (3) Regional per capita GDP class transitions in Jiangsu arehighly constrained by their geographical neighbors. If a poor region is surrounded by poorregions, the probabilities of moving upward for the periods from 1978 to 1990 and 1990 to2000 decrease to 0.148 and 0.025 respectively, while they average 0.2 and 0.042 in traditionalMarkov matrices. It suggests that poor regions are negatively affected when surrounded byother poor regions. Conversely, if a rich region is surrounded by rich neighbors, theprobabilities of moving upward for those two sub-periods increase to 1 and 0.991, while theyare 0.987 and 0.984 on average in traditional Markov matrices. It suggests rich regions arepositively influenced by other rich regions being surrounded. These empirical analyses providea spatial explanation to "convergence clubs" detected in traditional Markov method.


If interest lies in reporting absolute measures of risk from time-to-event data then obtaining an appropriate approximation to the shape of the underlying hazard function is vital. It has previously been shown that restricted cubic splines can be used to approximate complex hazard functions in the context of time-to-event data. The degree of complexity for the spline functions is dictated by the number of knots that are defined. We highlight through the use of a motivating example that complex hazard function shapes are often required when analysing time-to-event data. Through the use of simulation, we show that provided a sufficient number of knots are used, the approximated hazard functions given by restricted cubic splines fit closely to the true function for a range of complex hazard shapes. The simulation results also highlight the insensitivity of the estimated relative effects (hazard ratios) to the correct specification of the baseline hazard.


Completely updated and extensively referenced, the new edition of this practical hands-on resource demonstrates the effective use of any ambulatory setting in medical education. The authors investigate the tools needed from a theoretical framework for teaching, in addition to essential teaching skills, dealing with difficult trainees, setting up a private practice as a setting for teaching, and more. The text provides pragmatic examples of real situations with specific strategies for addressing each.


New solid basic catalysts immobilised onto supported ionic liquid-like phases have been prepared, having suitable mechanical stability for their use for the continuous-flow Henry reaction.


Rate constants for tritium exchange in methanolic sodium methoxide are reported for phenalene, 1, 7-H-benzo(de)anthracene (benzanthrene), 2, 6-H-benzo(cd)pyrene (benzpyrene), 3, and 1,3- diphenylpropene, 4, and compared with the corresponding relative ion pair pK values in THF. 4 is a vinylogous polyarylmethane and fits the previously established Bronsted correlation for polyarylmethanes. 2 and 3 are also part of this Bronsted family. The parent compound, phenalene is found to deviate from this correlation as well as a different Bronsted correlation found for hydrocarbons containing a cyclopentadienyl moiety. Phenalene is a unique member of still another Bronsted family.


A thesis submitted to Department of Marketing and Corporate Strategy
Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, School of Business
in partial fulfilment of the requirements
for the degree of Master of Business Administration (Strategic Management), 2016


OBJECTIVE
To examine and compare the risk of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) between persons living with HIV (PLWH) with and without nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD).

DESIGN
Population-based, multicenter, retrospective cohort study.

METHODS
Data on PLWH between January 1, 2008, and December 31, 2020 were extracted from the TriNetX database. Primary outcomes were defined as the first incidence of myocardial infarction (MI), MACE, new-onset heart failure (HF), and a composite of cerebrovascular disease. Cox models were used to obtain hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI).

RESULTS
A total of 151,868 patients were identified as having HIV. After exclusions, 4969 patients were identified as having NAFLD. Of them, 4463 (90%) were propensity matched to a non-NAFLD control. Patients with NAFLD were older(42.9 vs. 40.8 years). Among the NAFLD cohort, most participants were male and had a smoking history (12.3% vs. 9.8%) than non-NAFLD. The mean follow-up was 4.8 ± 1.1 years for the NAFLD group and 5.3 ± 1.2 years for the non-NAFLD group. The risk of all outcomes was statistically significantly higher in NAFLD patients compared to those without NAFLD: MI (HR, 1.49, 95% CI, 1.11-2.01) MACE (HR, 1.49, 95% CI, 1.25-1.79), HF (HR, 1.73, 95% CI 1.37 - 2.19) and, cerebrovascular diseases (HR, 1.25, 95% CI, 1.05-1.48) and sensitivity analysis showed similar magnitude to the one generated in the primary analysis.

CONCLUSIONS
Patients with NAFLD have an elevated risk of cardiovascular events. The results indicate the need for targeted efforts to improve awareness of CVEs risk in PLWH with NAFLD.


Since aquifer parameters may have statistical dependence structures that are present across a huge range of scales, the concepts of fractional Brownian motion (fBm) have been used in both analytic and numerical stochastic settings. Most previous models have used isotropic scaling characterized by a single scalar Hurst coefficient. Any real‐world anisotropy has been handled by an elliptical stretching random K field. We define a d‐dimensional extension of fBm in which the fractional‐order integration may take on different orders in the d primary (possibly nonorthogonal) scaling directions, and the degree of connectivity and long‐range dependence is freely assigned via a probability measure on the unit sphere. This approach accounts for the different scaling found in the vertical versus horizontal directions in sedimentary aquifers and allows very general degrees of continuity of K in certain directions. It also allows for the representation of fracture networks in a continuum setting: The eigenvectors of the scaling matrix describe the primary fracture scaling directions, and discrete weights of fractional integration represent fracture continuity that may be limited to a small number of directions. In a numerical experiment, the motion of solutes through 2‐D "operator‐fractional" Gaussian fields depends very much on transverse Hurst coefficients. Transverse scaling in the range of fractional Gaussian noise engenders greater plume mixing and a transition to a Fickian regime. Higher orders of integration, in the range of fractional Brownian motion, are associated with thicker layering of aquifer sediments and more preferential, unmixed transport. Therefore direct representation of the unique directional scaling properties of an aquifer is important for realistic simulation of transport.


Background: NOV-002 (a formulation of disodium glutathione disulfide) modulates signaling pathways involved in tumor cell proliferation and metastasis and enhances anti-tumor immune responsiveness in tumor models. The addition of NOV-002 to a range of cytotoxic chemotherapeutic regimens has been shown to increase their anti-tumor efficacy in several early phase oncology trials and in animal models. Pathological complete response (pCR) has been demonstrated to be associated with favorable overall survival in primary breast cancer, and neoadjuvant treatment of early breast cancer aims at achieving high rates of pCR. In patients with HER-2 (-) breast cancer pCR rates with anthracycline and taxane combinations have been reported to be approximately 10-20% depending on hormone receptor status. We conducted a clinical trial in HER-2 negative patients (pts) combining daily N0V-002 with AC→T. Methods: Women with newly diagnosed stages II-III HER-2 (-) breast cancer received AC x 4 [60/600 mg/m 2 ] followed by T [100 mg/m 2 ] x 4 every 3 weeks in conjunction with daily N0V-002 [60mg IV day 1 and subcutaneously days 2-21 of each cycle]. The primary endpoint is pCR, defined as: (i) ypN0, and (ii) ypT0 or presence of invasive tumor Sample size (n=46 total patients) was calculated using a Simon 2-stage optimal design assuming a doubling of the historical pCR rate with the addition of NOV-002 to AC→T from a p0 of 0.16 to a p1 of 0.32. If a total of 12 or more patients experience a pCR by the end of the trial, then the treatment regimen will be declared active. The calculation assumes an alpha of 0.05 and 80% power. Results: A total of 39 pts have been enrolled to date across three study sites, with 31 patients having completed chemotherapy and undergone surgery. One patient dropped out during cycle 1 and was not assessable for response; 5 are currently receiving chemotherapy; and 2 patients have completed all chemotherapy, but have not yet undergone surgery. A total of 292 chemotherapy cycles have been administered, with 92% of all patients being able to complete all 8 cycles of planned chemotherapy. Of the 31 evaluable patients, 12 achieved a pCR (39%), meeting the primary endpoint of the trial. In patients with residual invasive primary breast tumor Citation Information: Cancer Res 2010;70(24 Suppl):Abstract nr P1-11-05.


Factor Xa is responsible for both extrinsic and intrinsic generation of active thrombin. The recent structure determination of human factor Xa provides a basis for structure based drug design. Until very recently, however, it .has not been possible to analyse factor Xa - ligand interactions directly. A semi-conservative modelling approach, in which the interaction of factor Xa inhibitors with related serine proteinases is investigated, has yielded valuable information on the structural determinants for factor Xa inhibition. The interactions of factor Xa with DX9065a, tissue factor pathway inhibitor (TFPI), variants of basic pancre tic trypsin inhibitor (BPTI) and tick anticoagulant peptide (TAP) are discussed.


[Objective] To study on the impact of e-waste dismantling on the level of 8-hydroxy-2′-deoxyguanosine and the related index in female. [Methods] We investigated the processing of e-waste recycling villages with a long-history e-waste dismantling in Taizhou of Zhejiang, a total of 280 females including occupational exposure group ( 209) and control group (71) were surveyed on their medical behaviors. The level of 8-hydroxy-2′-deoxyguanosine of urine were measured, and the relativity between 8-OH-DG concentration and heavy metals (Cu、Fe、et al.) in blood-samples were analyzed by using a multiple regression method. [Results] The level of 8-OH-DG in exposed people working on acid-bath process in E-waste recycling were found higher than that of control group, and it showed positive correlation with Fe concentration in blood samples, age and acid-bath process. At the same time, it was found negative correlated with concentration of Cu, K and Zn in serum, manual operating and incineration process. [Conclusion] E-waste dismantling activity had a great impact on the level of 8-hydroxy-2′-deoxyguanosine and the related index in female, and the level of their urine 8-OH-DG increased.


The Rwanda Development Board has been responsible for the digitization of public institutions for the last 5 years, getting mixed responses from public servants. Users are not against digitization in itself but rather report that current tools are unwieldy. This research is about introducing a user centered model, based on analysis of user surveys in addition to machine generated data from the systems. We use algorithms to predict the effect of design modifications, leading to products which are more appealing to users.


The promise of smart cities offers the potential to change the way we live, and refers to the integration of IoT systems for people-centred applications, together with the collection and processing of data, and associated decision making. Central to the realization of this are wearable and autonomous computing systems. There are considerable challenges that exist in this space that require research across different areas of electronics and computer science; it is this multidisciplinary consideration that is novel to this paper. We consider these challenges from different perspectives, involving research in devices, infrastructure and software. Specifically, the challenges considered are related to IoT systems and networking, autonomous computing, wearable sensors and electronics, and the coordination of collectives comprising human and software agents.


This book grew out of two sessions at the 44th International Congress of Americanists which met in Manchester, England, in 1982. As such, it joins several others in this genre owing their origins to that most eclectic of gatherings of Americanists which meets once every three years, alternating between Europe and the Americas. The thirteen chapters represent a potpourri of the newest research on mining and miners in the western hemisphere by historians, political scientists, sociologists, anthropologists, and geographers.


The synthesis and the electrochemical studies of 1,3-bis(2-cyano-2-R-thienylethenyl)benzene (1), 1,4-bis(2-cyano-2-R-thienylethenyl)benzene (2), and 2,7-bis(2-cyano-2-R-thienylethenyl)biphenylene (3) are reported herein. While compound 2 could be reversibly reduced to form the corresponding dianion, compounds 1 and 3 show irreversible or quasireversible reductions in their cyclic voltammetric studies. We tentatively attribute the high reactivity of the dianions of 1 and 3 to their diradicaloid behavior. This explanation is further supported by PM3/RHF-PM3/UHF calculations. Compounds 1-3 could be irreversibly oxidized at the potential more positive than +1.3 V. Among these compounds, 3 shows the highest reactivity toward oxidative electropolymerization. The resulting polymer film is relatively stable and electroactive. Although polymeric films of compounds 1 and 2 could be formed at higher monomer concentrations, the films are unstable toward electrochemical oxidation. UV-vis analyses of the polymeric films reveal that electropolymerization of 2 is quenched at the early stage of the polymerization, resulting in significant amounts of oligomers in the matrix. However, biphenylene containing monomer 3 could be smoothly converted to highly conjugated polymers under electrochemical oxidation.


We report a 30 years old diabetic male presented with left sided chest pain and breathlessness in which a diagnosis of pleural effusion was made. Chest X-ray showed left sided pleural effusion with subdiaphragmatic collection. S.typhi was isolated from subdiaphragmatic and pleural effusion taps cultures. After the treatment with antibiotic ceftriaxone for 15 days along with intercostal drainage, repeat X-ray was taken which showed loculated pleural effusion. Again diagnostic tap was done and sent for the culture. S.typhi was isolated again from that. So treatment with antibiotic was continued further for 15 days. After the course of four weeks treatment repeat x-ray was done which was normal and patient was discharged. Empyema due to salmonella is rare and often had underlying risk factors. Our case report emphasizes on rarity, risk factors for salmonella empyema and need for prolonged treatment for its eradication. Introduction:Salmonellae are motile, gram negative, non-spore forming members of the family Enterobacteriacae.[1] Human beings become infected with Salmonella typhi (S. typhi) through ingestion of fecal contaminated food, milk or water. Symptoms are characterized by fever (30-100%), headachae(43-90%), gastrointestinal symptoms (8-79%), relative bradycardia(17-50%), splenomegaly (23-65%) and leucopenia.[2] Extraintestinal infectious complications occur less commonly with S. typhi and pleural effusion or empyema infected with salmonella is extremely rare.[3,4] Empyema accounts for less than 1% of all cases of salmonellosis.[5] We report a case of salmonella empyema in a diabetic patient. Case History:A thirty year old male was admitted to the hospital with left sided chest pain and breathlessness. He was chronic alcoholic since twenty years and a known case of type 2 diabetes mellitus from two years. He was receiving oral hypoglycemic agents for diabetes. On examination patient was afebrile and there was tenderness at the left costal region. He had signs of left pleural effusion. The pulse rate was 80/min and blood pressure was 130/85 mmHg. Chest x-ray showed left sided pleural effusion with subdiaphragmatic collection. An ultrasonographic examination also revealed same findings with hepatosplenomegaly. Initial investigations showed that hemoglobin level of 11 g/ dL, total leucocyte count 11,500 /mm3 (78% neutrophils, 28% lymphocytes, 1% eosinophils & monocytes each). Random blood glucose level was 243 mg/dL. Total bilirubin was 4.3 mg/dL. Serum urea, creatinine and electrolytes were normal. HIV ELISA was negative. Ultrasound guided percutaneous aspiration from subdiaphragmatic collection was done and the fluid was sent for the culture. Intercostal drain was put & 800 ml of turbid pleural fluid was obtained and treatment with intravenous ceftriaxone 1g/12 hourly was started. Examination of pleural fluid showed total neucleated cells 32/mm3 (62% neutrophils, 38% lymphocytes), proteins 0.78 g/dL, and glucose 4 mg/dL. Pleural fluid was also sent for culture. Both subdiaphragmatic collection and pleural fluid grew S.typhi which was sensitive to Ampicillin, chloramphenicol and ceftriaxone while resistant to nalidixic acid and ciprofloxacin. The patient had no fever or clinical features of infection. Also there was no history of diarrhea and cultures of faeces, urine and blood were repeatedly negative. Insulin was added to oral hypoglycemic drugs to control blood glucose level. After two weeks intercostal drain was removed and repeat x-ray was done. X-ray showed little haziness in the left lower lobe. Diagnostic tapping was done and sent for the culture from which again S.typhi was grown. So treatment with ceftriaxone was continued for next two weeks and repeat x-ray was done which was normal. Patient was discharged after day 32 of hospitalization. Discussion:Salmonella typhi can be isolated from blood but stool cultures are often negative. Localized suppurative infections develop in about 10 % of the patients and become apparent days, months or even years after initial bacteremia.[3] Localisd infection has been reported in the thyroid, meninges, bone, heart, lungs, adrenals, pancreas, spleen liver, testes, pericardium, soft tissues, areas of necrosis or infarction, benign or malignant tumours and cysts. Pleural empyema is a rare complication of salmonella infection, accounting for less than 1% of all cases of salmonellosis.[5] Patients with pulmonary manifestations of typhoid fever often have underlying lung abnormalities, a previous history of lung infection, sickle cell anemia, alcohol abuse, diabetes or immunosuppresion with HIV/ AIDS.[6] Diabetes mellitus and chronic alcoholism were the predisposing risk factors for the localized infection in our case. The recommended therapy for pulmonary manifestations caused by S.typhi is ceftriaxone and fluoroquinolones for 1421 days.[7] Gill et al reported a case of malignant pleural effusion infected with S.enteritidis which was eradicated by four weeks of ciprofloxacin treatment. Nandan D et al [8] have also reported the requirement of prolonged course of antibiotics (ceftriaxone & ofloxacin) in their case. In cases of empyema, surgical drainage is also required in addition to antimicrobial therapy. In summary, our case report emphasizes on rarity, risk factors for salmonella empyema and need for prolonged treatment for its eradication.


In the article the analysis of the genesis and existence of the term esoterics is given: from antiquity through the Middle Ages and New time to to the present. Variants of its use and terms substitutes (occultism, esotericism) are considered. The basic modern academic concepts of esoterics and research prospects of esotericism as phenomenon within the limits of religious studies are described.


A bowel sound signal is very significant to clinical diagnosis of diseases, but it is a weak, non-stable and aperiodic signal generated under a strong noisy background. How to filter out the background noise effectively and provide real and clear signal for clinical diagnosis? This is one of the concerns in medical engineering field. This study proposes a detection method which is based on dynamic weighing threshold. With this method, the spectral entropy of every noise frame to be determined and the spectral entropy of noise in silent period are weighted to obtain new spectral entropy of noise which is used as the updated threshold. The spectral subtraction is used in the determination to increase signal-to-noise ratio for further decrease in noise interference. The simulation experiment results indicate that, compared to traditional method for spectral entropy endpoint detection, this method is more accurate in detecting the endpoint of bowel sounds in low signal-to-noise ratio condition.


The successive over-relaxation (SOR) algorithm is an important method to solve the linear equations in the numerical marine forecasting model, but it is not appropriate for parallelism. In this paper, the red-black ordering and the method to avoid cost of communication are used to implement the parallelism of the SOR algorithm and improve the performance of it. The experiments show that the performance of the parallel SOR algorithm with the red-black ordering and communication optimization is high, but the errors between the serial SOR algorithm and the parallel SOR algorithm are bigger and bigger with the increase of computing time steps. Based on the characteristics of the numerical marine forecasting model, a four-step parallel SOR algorithm is designed to solve the error problem.


Time-dependent behavior is a basic mechanical property of rocks. Predicting the failure time of rock structures by analyzing the time-dependent characteristic is important and problematic. It is tried to predict the failure time of tunnel, slope & laboratory creep test specimen from measured displacement(or strain) and rate with relationship suggested by Voight(Ω=AΩ α , where Ω is a measurable quantity such as strain & displacement and A & α are constants). A & α are estimated through applying the nonlinear least square method to the single and double integrated Voight's equations and utilized to predict the failure time. Predicted failure time is in accordance with real one except minor error. Linear inverse rate method applied to creep strain and rate yields a poor linear correlation of data and precision of predicted failure time is not better than methods using strain and rate.


 Clogged arteries prevent a healthy supply of blood from flowing to the legs. This means that the tissues in your legs don't get enough nutrients and oxygen.  The lack of nutrients causes cells to die, damaging the tissue.  Damaged tissue that does not get enough blood flow also tends to heal more slowly. Conditions where the skin becomes inflamed and fluid builds up in the legs can also cause ischemic ulcers.


The principal goal of an integrated circuit DFM (design for manufacturing) initiative is to insure arrival at electrical circuit designs and packaged IC components which are inherently producible within the manufacturing environment. In order to achieve this objective the component design must, from early in the product concept phase, incorporate a full range of manufacturing production constraints and considerations. DFM not only implies designing for physical product fabrication but also must include design for testability, design for assembly or packaging, design for reliability and integration, and networking of all these areas. The key to the success of a DFM program lies in increased accuracy in the modeling of the process and product designs, product simulations, and effective manufacturing feedback of key parametric data. Factory fabrication efficiency increases as the design accuracy and tolerances increase. Statistically valid models, extracted from and representative of the controlled process, can be fed back to product designers via advanced CAD/CAM/CAE integrated systems, thus reducing design cycle times by limiting the design space to be explored in order to achieve a predetermined product yield.<<ETX>>


The idea of an era is most often formed after a certain time after its end. This is the case with the Biedermeier era, the significance, and features of which have been appreciated only 50 years after its formal end. The name "man of the Biedermeier era" contains a provocation. The name refers us to the wonderful cultural period – the Renaissance, which formed the idea of "Titan-like personalities" and the greatest achievements. The Biedermeier era is a period of calm and peaceful life after the Napoleonic wars with no particular heroism or scale. The main plot of the works of this period is the search for social balance and personal happiness. However, upon closer examination, one can understand that this modest stage in the history of culture gives rise to a new type of genius who can see "the great in the small" (Adalbert Stifter, 1805-1868). The influence of this concept on the development of German literature can hardly be overestimated. The article deals with the work of the classic Austrian author, artist, and thinker A. Stifter, who is well-known to the German-speaking reader due to the creation of the concept of "the gentle law" ("das sanfte Gesetz"). The Russian reader is less familiar with the classic Austrian writer. This is because some of the codes and hidden meanings of Stifter's texts significantly differ from the ideas accepted in the Russian cultural world. The purpose of the study is to clarify some of them (the concepts of "happiness" and "gentle law"). The objectives of the research are determined by the need to give a brief description of the Biedermeier era in its national Austrian version and, in particular, in connection with A. Stifter's work. A hypothesis is put forward about the polystylistic nature of Biedermeier aesthetics, which influences the formation of the literary process in the German-speaking space. The novelty of the study consists in an attempt to look at the significance of the Austrian classic from a Russian perspective. This determines the theoretical framework of the study, built on the methods of comparative studies and conceptual text analysis.


The stability of the high pressure discharge excited XeCl excimer laser are related to the concentration of halogen donor HC1. In this paper, a theoretical analysis of the equation for continuity of the electrons in the discharge plasma predicate that the duration of the uniform phase should vary as the inverse square root of the HC1 concentration. This prediction is in good agreement with experimental results obtained from a X-ray pre-ionized PFN pumped XeC1 excimer laser.


Three different boundary layer cloud models are incorporated into the ECHAM5 general circulation model (GCM) and compared to CloudSat and CALIPSO satellite observations. The first boundary layer model builds upon the standard Tiedtke (1989) parameterization for shallow convection with an adapted convective trigger; the second is a bulk parameterization of the effects of transient shallow cumulus clouds; and lastly the Dual Mass Flux (DMF) scheme adjusted to better represent shallow convection. The three schemes improved (Sub)Tropical oceanic low‐level cloud cover, however, the fraction of low‐level cloud cover remains underestimated compared to CALIPSO observations. The representation of precipitation was improved by all schemes as they reduced the frequency of light intensity events <0.01 mm d−1, which were found to dominate the radar reflectivity histograms as well as be the greatest source of differences between ECHAM5 and CloudSat radar reflectivity histograms. For both lidar and radar diagnostics, the differences amongst the schemes are smaller than the differences compared to observations. While the DMF approach remains experimental, as its top‐of‐atmosphere radiative balance has not been retuned, it shows the most promise in producing nonprecipitating boundary layer clouds. With its internally consistent boundary layer scheme that uses the same bimodal joint distribution with a diffusive and an updraft component for clouds and turbulent transport, the ECHAM5_DMF produces the most realistic boundary layer depth as indicated by the cloud field. In addition, it reduced the frequency of large‐scale precipitation intensities of <0.01 mm d−1 the greatest.


A major problem in designing sequential detectors for array applications under varied temporally correlated noise distributions is the generalization of Wald's fundamental identity to include dependence. The approach taken is to first obtain a robust sequential detector structure for the array by partitioning the observations into known probability regions obtained from a learning sequency of independent samples from the unknown noise field. Assuming the sampling rate is increased so that the temporal samples are correlated, the data is accumulated in blocks of no samples. The block information is then processed sequentially. Using Wald's fundamental identity the probability of detection and the average sample size is obtained. It is shown that for weak signals the thresholds needed to insure the desired type I and type II errors depend upon the correlation function of the noise. However, once these thresholds are known improved performance in terms of reduced time to detection can be obtained. Data is pr...


Osteoporosis is a disease state resulting in decreased bone mineral density (BMD) and increased risk of fracture, specifi: cally of the vertebrae, spine and hip. Risk factors and high ·risk populations for developing osteoporosis include low BMD, long-term glucocorticoid therapy, genetics, diet, postmenopausal women and patients with inflammatory or 1chronic disease states. A variety of signaling pathways involving hormones, cytokines and other signaling molecules are involved in bone formation and are affected by long-term glucocorticoid therapy, leading to the development of gluco.corticoid-induced osteoporosis (GIO). There are a variety of drugs that work efficaciously to prevent and treat GIO. Alendronate is a potent bisphosphonate that has shown efficacy in increasing BMD and decreasing ;bone turnover. Risedronate, another potent bisphosphonate, :has demonstrated similar effects in patients suffering from .GIO and has been observed to decrease fractures. Zoledronic acid is another bisphosphonate option that has proven efficacy and noninferiority to oral bisphosphonates in GIO, but it is .unique in that it is given intravenously once a year. Additionally, teriparatide is a recombinant human parathyroid hormone (PTH) which is a newer therapy for the treatment o~ GIO and is beginning to replace older therapies such as tes-1 tosterone and estrogen. The once daily administration of ter-1 iparatide induces bone formation, which allows for increase! in bone mass thus reducing the risk of vertebral and! nonvertebral fractures. Furthermore, calcium and vitamin DI are usually seen as prophylaxis and adjunctive therapy. Atj the initiation of therapy, pharmacists should recommend bone density tests to evaluate if medication is appropriate for the patient. Subsequent action includes patient education and monitoring of initiated therapy and disease progression. Key Terms Alendronate; Bone Density; Bone Remodeling; Chronic Disease; Osteoblasts; Osteogenesis; Osteoporosis; Parathyroid Hormone; Risedronate Sodium; Risk Factors; Teriparatide;


Background: Significant elevations of traditional biomarkers of liver injury can occur as a result of running an ultramarathon. Hypothesis: Traditional serum biomarker levels of liver injury will significantly increase as the result of participating in this 161-km race at altitude. Study Design: Prospective cross-sectional study. Level of Evidence: Level 3. Methods: A total of 64 (before) and 83 (after) volunteer runners participated in a prospective observational field-based study at the Leadville 100 ultramarathon race. Changes in serum aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), creatine kinase (CK), and bilirubin levels were measured. Results: Of 669 athletes who started the race, 352 successfully completed the race within the 30-hour cutoff (53%). Of 36 runners who had pre- and postrace blood samples taken, the mean ALT, AST, and bilirubin levels were increased from 23 ± 10 U/L, 23 ± 5 U/L, and 0.60 ± 0.29 mg/dL to 117 ± 106 U/L, 485 ± 500 U/L, and 1.60 ± 0.61 mg/dL, respectively (all P < 0.001). There was no change in the mean ALP level (P = 0.11). There were no significant correlations between postrace ALT, AST, ALP, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), and bilirubin levels and athletes' age, sex, body mass index, or finishing time. Significant positive linear correlations between AST, ALT, and LDH with CK were seen. Athletes in this study did not seek medical attention after the race based on an electronic survey (92% response rate). Conclusion: Significant elevations of traditional biomarkers of liver injury occurred as a result of running an ultramarathon at altitude. These correlated with CK, a marker of muscle injury. Clinical Relevance: When reviewing laboratory studies of traditional biomarkers of liver injury in athletes after an ultramarathon, significant elevations may be seen from baseline but are likely to be of no clinical consequence.


Cryopreservation of porcine blastocysts is regarded as a demanding task because of the high chilling sensitivity and low survival rates. Ultrarapid vitrification techniques combined with the previous artificial induction of collapse of the blastocoel have been successfully applied in mouse and human. The purpose of our work was to use the Cryotop (Kitasato Supply Co., Tokyo, Japan) vitrification method combined with induced blastocyst collapse for cryopreservation of porcine blastocysts produced with parthenogenetic activation of in vitro-matured oocytes. A total of 1200 slaughterhouse-derived porcine oocytes were matured for 41–42 h. Zona-intact or zona-free oocytes (after pronase digestion) were activated with a single electric impulse of 63 or 43 V cm–1, respectively, and incubated in 5 μg mL–1 cytochalasin B and 10 μg mL–1 cycloheximide for 4 h (Du et al. 2007 Cryobiology 54, 181–187). Embryo culture was performed in PZM-3 medium (Yoshioka et al. 2002 Biol. Reprod. 66, 112–119) in 5% CO2, 5% O2, and 90% N2 and maximum humidity. On Day 6, collapse was induced manually in approximately half of the blastocysts with the use of a fire-polished holding pipette and injection pipette (Cook Australia, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia). Ten min after the manipulation, collapsed and control (not manipulated) blastocysts were vitrified with the Cryotop, and then warmed and diluted in 1, 0.5, and 0 m sucrose, respectively (Kuwayama et al. 2005, Reprod. BioMed. Online 11, 300–308). Reexpansion of blastocysts was evaluated under a stereomicroscope after 16–18 h of culture under conditions described above. SPSS 11.0 program (SPSS, Inc., Chicago, IL, USA) was used for statistical calculations; values with P < 0.05 were regarded as significant. Reexpansion rates of blastocysts are shown in Table 1. Our results indicate that manually induced collapse of the blastocoel increases reexpansion rates of both zona-intact and zona-free porcine blastocysts after Cryotop vitrification. The combination of these simple techniques may help to improve the efficiency of cryopreservation of pig embryos for both experimental and practical applications. Table 1. Reexpansion rates after vitrification of blastocysts with or without induced blastocoel collapse The authors thank Ruth Kristensen, Anette Pedersen, Janne Adamsen, and ClausWillemoes for their help and excellent technical assistance.


The authors have demonstrated 0.25 /spl mu/m gate-length Al/sub 0.5/Ga/sub 0.5/N/GaN MODFETs on sapphire substrates which exhibit CW output power densities >3 W/mm at 18 GHz, the highest reported to date for microwave FETs in the K band. This confirms the promise of the high Al-content AlGaN/GaN MODFET structure.


The corral trap is a novel tool for the solution-based trapping of single fluorescent molecules and other nanoparticles with great potential for applications in ultrasensitive biomedical analysis at the single molecule level. This article describes a general approach for automated trapping based on particle detection in two regions of interest close to the corral trap: the doormat region, which triggers the "opening" of the corral trap, and the trigger region, which triggers the "closing" of the trap. Three different algorithms for rapid particle detection in these two regions are presented, and their execution time is evaluated for different experimental scenarios.


Polarisation fluctuation in optical-fibre submarine cable under 8000 m deep sea environmental conditions (hydraulic pressure of 80 MPa, tensile force of 50 kN and temperature of 3°C) are presented. It is found that the frequency spectrum of polarisation fluctuation is less than about 2 kHz in dynamic stress conditions.


An analysis is presented of the factors controlling the potential for the long-range transport (LRT) of persistent organic pollutants subject to degrading reactions and reversible transport to other environmental media. The approach adopted generalizes those developed previously by van Pul et al. and Bennett et al. to estimate a characteristic travel distance (CTD) or a half-distance (analogous to a half-life) for a substance present in a mobile medium such as air and subject to reversible transport to other media such as soil and water. For substances discharged to immobile media, such as pesticides to soil, an effective travel distance (ETD) is defined as the distance that, for example, 1% of the discharged chemical may be transported. It is shown that existing multimedia box models can be used to estimate CTD and that a simple relationship exists between CTD and overall environmental persistence, which can be displayed graphically. CTDs in air and water are calculated illustratively for 18 chemicals, and recommendations are made regarding ranking or grouping chemicals according to their potential for LRT.


Atlantic mountain pastures are composed by mosaics of semi-natural grasslands and heathlands. A knowledge of their structure and feeding value is useful to understand their livestock use and improve management of these communities. This study was carried out in the Gorbeia Natural Park in northern Spain. Pasture composition, sward height and nutritive value were measured over four grazing seasons (spring, summer, late summer and autumn) in three plant communities: grassland (GR), open heathland (OH) and dense heathland (DH). The grassland community had lower sward height and better nutritive value. In less favoured grazing periods, when sward height in GR becomes limiting livestock move to OH with higher pasture height and lower sward cover and nutritive value. Even both heathlands have similar height and quality, the selection of OH, and avoiding of the dense one, could be due to its higher sward cover, which could make it easier to look for feed. Moreover, considering the woody component the estimated nutritive value of DH does not cover the minimum required for livestock production.


Abstract : A description of nonlinear one dimensional viscoelastic material behavior is given in terms of models which incorporate a combination of strain hardening and age hardening techniques for generalizing creep laws to viscoelastic constitutive equations. After some discussion of the behavior of these models under various loadings, the problem of wave propagation down a suddenly loaded semi-infinite rod of material described by one of these nonlinear constitutive equations is solved by numerical integration along the characteristics of the problem. A linear instantaneous elastic response is assumed in all cases. (Author)


Methodological-empirical analysis of risk management in Islamic banking is rather scarce. This is due to either a lack of comprehensive understanding in the latest development of empirical modeling or analysts' failure to grasp the underlying assumptions that underpin the model. Such an inability could be detrimental, particularly in the investigation of operational risk exposures in Islamic banking. This study therefore contributes to this field by deliberating upon a proposed delta-gamma sensitivity analysis-extreme value theory (DGSA-EVT) model that focuses on the assessment of risk exposures represented by the value of value-at-risk (VaR) in three incomegenerating channels: one in investment, one in financing and one in services. A data analysis demonstrates that risk variables in this study exhibit nonnormality, which understandably does not fit with the underlying assumption of VaR, namely the normality of the variables under the analysis. Hence, in order to mitigate this, our study employs a parametric approach called the Cornish-Fisher expansion, under which the confidence interval of assigned risk variables is a function of their respective skewness, kurtosis and volatility. Such an approach has proven to be effective in mitigating the likelihood of over- or underestimating then VaR in the income-generation channels analyzed as a result of misaddressing the nonnormality of risk variables.


This paper analyzes the ECG of 56 boxers in the 2000 National Boxing Championship and 185 college students. The results show that the percentage of abnormal ECG( except for sinus bradycardia and left ventricular high voltage) of boxers is lower than that of college students; the occurring rates of sinus bradycardia, left ventricular high voltage, incomplete dextral branch block of boxers are significantly higher than that of college students; the average heart rate of boxers is significantly lower than that of college students and there is no difference in the occurring rate of sinus arrhythmia between boxers and college students. The results indicate the cardiovascular system of boxers have strong adaptive ability .


Conceptual the Formation of Administration Systems within the Enterprise Management. Review article. The article discloses the conceptual frameworks of creating the evaluation method for the level of administration systems formation within the enterprise management that enables the managerial decision-making for providing the higher level of such systems compliance with the parameters of "as is" and "as it should be". The key directions of implementing the results of evaluating the level of such system formation are presented (the use for regulating the processes within administration systems, the use for these systems reengineering, the use for automating processes within them, and the use for increasing the quality level of managing the administration processes). It is concluded that the key task of diagnosing the actual state of administration systems within the enterprises management, as a prerequisite for assessing the level of their formation, is to identify the situation regarding each of the administration systems on the well-known principle "as is". Abstract A characteristic feature of management processes at enterprises nowadays is a shift in focus on solving local problems related to partial objects (individual business processes, organizational management structure, personnel motivation, marketing and logistics, foreign economic activity, etc.) to integrated diagnostics of the entire production and economic activities of the company and the adoption of such management decisions that will make the achievement of a complex effect possible. Obviously, such a change in priorities leads to a change in the role and importance of the administration systems in organizations. A review and synthesis of literary sources allow us to conclude that today, in theory and practice, effective approaches have been formed both to decision-making in administration systems and to perform all types of work within them. More and more, company executives are realizing the importance and necessity of such systems as an important factor for enhancing competitive advantages in the domestic and international markets.


For Square Kilometer Array (SKA) low-frequency aperture array, differentially-fed log-periodic antenna with all-metal structure is employed. In this paper, the reflection coefficient of differentially-fed log-periodic antennas with an additional metal measuring tool (MMT) is investigated. Specially, the measurement principle of the log-periodic antennas is analyzed by scattering matrix derivation. Based on the SKA log-periodic antenna (SKALA) elements, the structural influences of the MMT on antenna performance are numerically analyzed. Finally, the reliability and accuracy of the proposed measurement method is experimentally validated.


The need to integrate the development of innovative thinking and creative problem-solving skills into computer science curricula has been increasingly recognized. However, two major hurdles face many computer science educators: (1) What exercises can be used to develop creative and innovative thinking in the context of computing? and (2) How, in crowded curricula, can the time be found to engage students in creative problem-solving exercises? This demonstration presents a solution to both questions using video scenarios. These short films, with associated discussion questions, feature fictitious companies facing problems that computing solutions could alleviate. For example: Can an art gallery please a patron who wants paintings categorized by redness? In what innovative ways can a pet shop create customer communities? The problems the characters are facing are not explicitly stated nor do they have a single solution. Instead, the viewer must discern the problems through critical listening and observation, and then develop creative solutions to solve them. Since the videos decouple problem-solving from implementation, they also provide an equal-footing environment that allows students with varying technical abilities to participate productively in the exercises. Participants will be introduced to how video-based creative problem-solving exercises can be used, even in time-restricted situations. The videos and associated discussion questions are available at http://www.youtube.com/virt-university.


Post 9/11 the United States of America concerns the reconstruction of already demonized identities of Arabs and Middle-eastern cultures. Postcolonial works reside in their rendering a tragic or serious image of Middle Easterners to bring the Western (American) audience into sympathizing with the Middle Eastern ethnicities. Could it be the case that a fundamentally humorous (not derogatory) depiction might contribute to easing such cultural tensions? Firoozeh Jazayeri Dumas' works stand out as critically acclaimed and successful works familiarizing the American audience with the more humane, likeable, sweet and funny aspects of the Iranians and Iranian culture, and the hardships of being an Iranian immigrant and becoming a hybrid individual. This article explores the already-hybridized self and psyche of Firoozeh as an Iranian American. She writes about her mother land and her residence country and comparing the way she has written about them can help readers understand how one can make peace between different parts of her identity.


This paper presents an improvement of the calculation of the magnetic field components created by ring permanent magnets. The three-dimensional approach taken is based on the Coulombian Model. Moreover, the magnetic field components are calculated without using the vector potential or the scalar potential. It is noted that all the expressions given in this paper take into account the magnetic pole volume density for ring permanent magnets radially magnetized. We show that this volume density must be taken into account for calculating precisely the magnetic field components in the near-field or the far-field. Then, this paper presents the component switch theorem that can be used between infinite parallelepiped magnets whose cross-section is a square. This theorem implies that the magnetic field components created by an infinite parallelepiped magnet can be deducted from the ones created by the same parallelepiped magnet with a perpendicular magnetization. Then, we discuss the validity of this theorem for axisymmetric problems (ring permanent magnets). Indeed, axisymmetric problems dealing with ring permanent magnets are often treated with a 2D approach. The results presented in this paper clearly show that the two-dimensional studies dealing with the optimization of ring permanent magnet dimensions cannot be treated with the same precisions as 3D studies.


The present invention provides an optical combiner, comprising a first, second, and third color filter layer combination "CCL". CCL said first diffraction grating comprises a first coated with a first filter, said first filter configured to reflect a first color and a second light and a third color light. CCL said second diffraction grating comprises a second coated with a second filter, said second filter is configured to reflect the second color light and the third color light. The third CCL comprises a third diffraction grating is coated with a third filter, the third filter configured to partially reflect visible light. Each of said diffraction grating embedded in a refractive index matching material, and a receiving angle of image light and configured to image the light of the first, second, and third color light to the eye of the user the angle of diffraction orders of the light are reflected tuning diffraction grating.


The architecture of direct3D, one kind of virtual three-dimension technologies, is introduced. Based on direct3D, 3DSSS (Three-Dimension Scene Simulation System) is developed. The functions, features, key techniques and simulating process of 3DSSS are discussed in detail. As a sample of 3DSSS application, three-dimension simulation planning for a guarding place is presented.


ABSTRACT This article explores the phenomenon known as the "Ruta del Bakalao", a hugely popular dance scene that first emerged in nightclubs in Valencia in the 1980s and spread across the whole of Spain in the early 1990s. In particular, the article provides an archaeology of the subculture and its music by considering the distinctive ways in which it appropriated time and space. It focusses on the significance of the accelerated rhythms of the music and the irregular opening hours of nightclubs, as well as the acoustic environments that were created through listening to the music in cars and car parks. In doing so, this article aims to consider the ways in which the phenomenon was in turn shaped by a political economy that was increasingly defined by speed and economic unevenness.


THE CLASSIFICATION of porphyria in the past has depended almost entirely on clinical features. Thus, Gunther divided the disease into acute, chronic, and congenital forms, the acute being characterized by episodes of abdominal and/or nervous manifestations; the chronic, by late appearance of photosensitivity with or without abdominal and nervous symptoms, and the congenital by early photosensitivity.1Waldenstrom substituted the term "cutanea tarda" for the chronic form and subdivided the acute cases into several types, solely on the basis of clinical features.2Micheli's classification was also a clinical one.3There has actually been no other basis for classification, owing to the lack of exact information as to the pathogenesis of porphyria and to the site of origin of the porphyrins in the various forms of the disease. The literature contains altogether too few data on the porphyrins of the various tissues to permit any judgment as to whether


In Australia, emphasis in the debate on industrial democracy has centred largely on the potential benefits of such schemes. Insufficient attention has been given to the question of how these schemes are to fit in to the wider legal environment existing here. The introduction of schemes directed to changing traditional work or decision-making pat terns would require some changes to the law. This problem is made more complex because of the federal nature of Australia's Constitution; its highly-legalistic industrial relations systems; and its reliance on master and servant law to determine the existence of an employment relationship.


The commercial designation was introduced into the civil turnover at the territory of the Russian Federation as a separate legal institution just recently. The application of the new individualization means holds considerable potential and is sure to be of great interest to entrepreneurs. However, now the commercial designation is still uncalled in the business sphere. In addition, the legal regulation of the commercial designation is limited to a scanty number of legal norms. Therefore, the author supposes that the court practice, as a means of controlling the relations forming in the commercial designation application sphere, is becoming the most important.


[2] Image Caption. Shutterstock/Luis Louro. All rights reserved. Great tides of people press against me, hands outstretched, faces questioning. They wait for something a doctor? Anguish ripples through the crowd. Those without the right colour passport are turned away. Countless others shake out their pockets: desperate for pennies; desperate for treatment. Their eyes fill with reproach once they recognize I am a doctor. Their searing gaze brands my guilt. I try to wake up. This must be a nightmare. Or worse I ended up in America?


The invention concerns a tea filter (10) which can be attached instead of a coffee filter to a coffee machine (18) in order to make tea with the coffee machine. The prior art includes a tea filter (10) of this kind fitted with a first valve (36) for shutting off the outlet (44) from the filter (10) while the tea is brewing. A disadvantage of this kind of filter (10) is that, on completion of the brewing time, hot water continues to run out of the machine (18) over the tea leaves, extracting bitter principle from them. In order to avoid this disadvantage, the invention calls for a water conduit (14) through which, on completion of the brewing time, hot water from the machine runs without coming into contact with the tea leaves in the tea holder (16). While the tea is brewing, the water conduit (14) is shut off by a second valve (42) which is preferably operated, together with the first valve (36), by lifting and lowering the tea holder (16) together with the water conduit (14).


The title compound, C21H21ClP+Br−, is the bromide salt of a mixed aryl-alkyl phosphonium cation. C–P–C angles span a range of 107.20 (10)–111.18 (10)°. The non-H atoms of the 3-chloropropyl group adopt a staggered conformation [C–C–C–Cl torsion angle: −72.0 (3)°]. In the crystal, C—H⋯Br contacts connect the entities of the title compound into a double zigzag chain along b. These chains are linked into a supramolecular layer lying parallel to (10-1) by C—H⋯π interactions.


Dr. William Walsh is the originator of the Case Consultation column of The Family Journal, one of the main proponents of integrative family therapy, a professor of counseling psychology, and the director of family therapy studies at the University of Northern Colorado. The interview took place in April 2005 at the university in Greeley, Colorado, in the training facilities for marriage and family therapists. An audience of graduate students observed the interview, and many of the questions were created by some of Dr. Walsh's trainees. I would like to thank Emily Porter, a doctoral student, for all her help in transferring the interview into a coherent essay.


Long‐standing colonic Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC) can be complicated by the development of colorectal cancer (CRC), the major contributor to IBD‐associated mortality. IBD‐ associated colorectal neoplasia (CRN) is the culmination of multiple oncogenic molecular events, which occur in the setting of chronic inflammation and manifest microscopically with progressive morphological changes of the colon epithelium, a process indicated by the term "inflammation‐dysplasia‐cancer" sequence. Therefore, factors that either attenuate or enhance the ongoing colonic inflammation could potentially inhibit or increase the risk of CNR. For instance, it has been proposed that early and intensive therapy with biologics can favor mucosal healing, thereby preventing the ultimate development of CNR in high‐risk IBD patients. In this issue of United European Gastroenterology Journal, Wijnands and co‐workers take on the important task to try to elucidate the association between cigarette smoking and the development of CRN in IBD patients, including possible dose effects. This is an interesting topic as smoking is known to positively influence the risk of many malignancies and worsen the course in CD, while it is protective in UC. The authors performed a prospective and multicentre study in 4 academic centers in the Netherlands and enrolled 575 IBD patients, with a balanced distribution between UC and CD, of which 501 were followed up. At the study index evaluation, 48% of patients were current or former smokers. The study outcome was the occurrence of recurrent CRN events, which included indefinite dysplasia, low‐grade dysplasia, high‐grade dysplasia (HGD), or CRC. Patients with prior HGD and CRC were excluded from the analysis. CRN occurred in approximately 20% of patients with 1 case of HGD and 6 cases of CRC. In both the univariable and multivariate analyses, smoking status alone (ever vs. never) did not influence the development of recurrent CRN, whereas an increase in pack‐years was associated with a higher risk of recurrent CRN in patients with IBD. The analysis of pack years is a useful tool that takes into consideration the smoking intensity (dose per day) and the duration of the smoking habit. The formula consists of multiplying the average amount of cigarettes/day by the number of years of active smoking divided by 20 (contents of a pack of cigarettes) and is considered a more reliable measure of the smoker's lifetime tobacco burden. Surprisingly, the dose relationship between smoking and CNR was not significant when the two IBDs were considered separately, probably reflecting the small group of patients with UC and CD enrolled. The association between the pack years and the risk of recurrent CRN in the whole IBD group remained significant even after adjustment for mean endoscopic inflammation scores, which we can assume to be an indirect measure of the global inflammatory burden. However, more than one‐third of the endoscopic procedures were not considered adequate, raising the possibility that some dysplastic lesions have been missed. It is also noteworthy that of 6 patients diagnosed with CRC, 4 had never smoked, indicating that factors other than smoking contribute to the development of advanced CNR. Because only half of the patients had extensive colitis, and no information was given about the location of CRN, it remains conceivable that some neoplastic lesions described in the present study may be, indeed, sporadic and not IBD‐associated, in line with results of previous studies in the general population documenting an association of smoking pack years with sporadic adenoma and CRC. Another issue that remains to be clarified is the impact of smoking on the development of non‐conventional dysplastic lesions in IBD, as these lesions are common in IBD patients and are the most common precursor lesions associated with the development of low‐grade tubuloglandular and mucinous adenocarcinomas. Clinicians suggest CD patients stop their smoking habit, while there are more hesitations in giving the same recommendation to patients with UC, considering the protective role of smoking in UC. Data from the present study indicate that cigarette smoking cessation should be advised in all IBD patients to reduce their risk of CRN. This study provides a solid starting point for further work on this topic that should take into account other factors (e.g. alcohol intake, diet, concomitant therapy with chemo‐preventive drugs), which could influence the risk of IBD‐associated CNR.


This paper presents a high-gain broadband suspended plate antenna for indoor wireless access point applications. This antenna consists of two layers operating at two adjacent bands. The bottom plate is fed by a tapered down strip excited by a probe through an SMA RF connector. The top plate is shorted to a ground plane by a strip electromagnetically coupled with the feed-strip. The design is carried out using a commercial EM software package, and validated experimentally. The measured result shows that the antenna achieves a broad operational bandwidth of 66%, suitable for access points in WiFi (2.4-2.485 GHz) and WiMAX (2.3-2.7 GHz and the 3.4-3.6 GHz) systems (IEEE 802.11b/g and IEEE 802.16-2004/e). The measured antenna gain varies from 7.7-9.5 dBi across the frequency bands of interest. A parametric study of this antenna is also conducted.


The reality is that sexuality plays an important part in young peoples lives. To make sure it is a healthy part of our lives as well it is vital that we have the information education and services we need to make informed decisions about our sexuality and reproduction. In fact it is our human right. As young people we believe that knowing our sexual and reproductive rights and advocating for governments to live up to their obligations to promote and protect them is an important step towards making sure that young people everywhere have access to youth-friendly sexual and reproductive health information education and services. This guide is intended to: Provide an overview of the sexual and reproductive rights that are protected by international and regional human rights treaties and other agreements; Show how these rights apply to adolescents and young people; and Discuss ways that young people can advocate for their sexual and reproductive rights within their countries regions and globally. (excerpt)


AbstractTwo types of approaches are commonly used for estimating the impact of arbitrary subsets of observations on short-range forecast error. The first was developed for variational data assimilation systems and requires the adjoint of the forecast model. Comparable approaches were developed for use with the ensemble Kalman filter and rely on ensembles of forecasts. In this study, a new approach for computing observation impact is proposed for ensemble-variational data assimilation (EnVar). Like standard adjoint approaches, the adjoint of the data assimilation procedure is implemented through the iterative minimization of a modified cost function. However, like ensemble approaches, the adjoint of the forecast step is obtained by using an ensemble of forecasts. Numerical experiments were performed to compare the new approach with the standard adjoint approach in the context of operational deterministic NWP. Generally similar results are obtained with both approaches, especially when the new approach uses...


PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an inspection device of a welded part capable of simply inspecting the welded part of a part, and an inspection method of the welded part. SOLUTION: The inspection device (1) for inspecting the welding failure of the welded part is equipped with a sample stand (25) on which the part containing the welded part is placed, a power supply (30) for applying voltage to the part, a probe (35) for measuring a magnetic field, a drive device (40) for moving the probe (35), the magnetism measuring instrument (70) connected to the probe and a control arithmetic device (50) for controlling the measurement of the magnetic field by the magnetism measuring instrument and processing the data of the magnetic field measured by the magnetism measuring instrument. The probe is moved by the drive device to measure the magnetic field at each position on the part. The control arithmetic device processes the measuring data of the magnetic field on the part to output the processing result to an output device (62). COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT


The increasing and constant urban growth on the hillsides of the city of Medellin face large construction problems due to the presence of subsurface rock fragments. Such a fact motivates geotechnical engineers to characterize the materials present, soil or rock. This paperpresents some mechanical properties of the rocks found on the eastern hillsides of Aburra Valley which were measured on intact cylindrical rock cores and rock outcrops. The studied geological units are the San Diego Stock (KgD) and the Dunite of Medellin (KuM) and the measured rock properties are the uniaxial compressive strength, the static and dynamic module, the compressive shear wave velocity and the dynamic shear stiffness modulus.


In December 1806, as the Ninth Congress of the United States convened in its second session, rumors of a frightful conspiracy in the West circulated about Washington. The reports in the following months implicated Aaron Burr, past vice president of the United States (from 1801 to 1805) but already notorious, in part for killing Alexander Hamilton in a duel, as the leader of the plot. Over the next several weeks, Americans in all regions read with great interest further details of Burr's alleged plans to stir the southwestern states and territories to fight for independence from the United States, aided by a foreign power such as Great Britain or Spain. At the same time, the press and word of mouth brought tidings of Napoleon's invasion of Prussia. In the next few months Americans learned of Napoleon's Berlin Decree, announcing a blockade of Great Britain in retaliation for Britain's Orders in Council that had first proclaimed a blockade around the Continent. Congressmen that winter debated bills of great importance, but their words drew less attention than developments in the West and in Europe. One of those bills would prohibit the importation of slaves into the United States after January 1, 1808. This act, signed into law at the end of the session, had a great impact on American history.1 Yet Americans in 1806 and 1807 paid little attention to these historic debates, distracted as they were by the doings of Burr and Napoleon. Their distraction tells us more about the nature of early sectionalism and the perception of other dangers in the new Republic than does the rhetoric ringing through the halls of Congress.2 William Freehling, in his recent account of the growth of America's sectional crisis, places the end of the African slave trade near the heart of his interpretation. For Freehling, "no other early action so shaped the later slavery controversy" as did the slave trade proscription. The restriction reduced black population growth in the South, he argues, and thus diminished that section's representation in the national government. The ban meant that states such as Kentucky and Missouri would face a permanent shortage of slave labor; that Virginia and Maryland would continue to be "whitened" as they exported excess slaves to the Deep South; and that the Old Northwest never would develop a slave system. As a result the Border South would be less committed to slavery than the Deep South, and the Northwest would not be committed at all. For Freehling, "the closure of the African slave trade was probably the most important slavery legislation Congress ever passed and among the most important American laws on any subject."3 Freehling makes a powerful case for the significance of the effects of the bill, but there is more to it than he recognizes, for the debates leading to its passage themselves reveal the depth of sectional feeling attached to slavery. Yet historians have devoted very little attention to the legislative history of the slave trade ban and even less to responses to the bill outside of Congress. The congressional slave trade disputes of 1806-1807 exposed a dangerous form of American sectionalism and a willingness to tap its rhetoric. There was broad support from all regions for proscribing the slave trade, but the crafting of the measure was riddled with sharp and revealing disputes in which feeling ran high between North and South. What was said in these debates, though not widely scrutinized at the time, foreshadowed the danger of engaging the slavery question. According to the Constitution, Congress could not prohibit the foreign slave trade before the year 1808, although it could impose a duty of up to ten dollars on each slave imported (Article I, Section 9). This controversial clause provoked emotional arguments during the ratification debates, especially in the North. From Massachusetts to Virginia, advocates of the Constitution who opposed the slave trade looked with hope to this provision: after all, the Articles of Confederation set no date at which Congress could legislate in this area. …