The continuous development of highway construction projects has prompted the function of service areas to be improved day by day. A traditional service area gradually transforms from a single traffic service mode to a complex traffic service mode. The continuous enrichment and perfection of the service area's function makes the surrounding highway network more attractive, which leads to a sudden increase in highway traffic volume in a short period of time. In order to better improve the service level of a tourist service area by predicting the short-term traffic volume of the toll station around the tourist service area, this paper proposes a model combining a convolutional neural network and a gated recurrent unit (CNN plus GRU) to solve the problem of short-term traffic volume prediction. The data from 17 toll stations of the Yu'an Expressway in Guizhou Province were selected for the experiment to test the prediction effect of the CNN plus GRU-based model. The experimental results show that the prediction accuracy, the MAE and RMSE, are 1.8101 and 2.7021, respectively, for the toll stations with lower traffic volumes, and 3.820 and 5.172, respectively, for the toll stations with higher traffic volumes. Compared with a single model, the model's prediction accuracy is improved, to different degrees. Therefore, the use of a convolutional neural network operation is better when the total traffic volume is low, considering the algorithm's time and error. When using the combined convolutional neural network and gated recurrent unit model and when the total traffic volume is high, the algorithm error is significantly reduced and the prediction results are better.


Groundwater is one of the most valuable sources of fresh water in many places worldwide, especially in regions with low pluviometric indices such as northern Chile. Thus, it is mandatory to monitor this precious resource in space and time domains. Currently, groundwater in Chile is monitored using sparse stations of water table observations. Although other indirect alternatives such as space-borne observations can contribute to regional understanding of groundwater variations, they have been poorly studied in Chile. In this study, groundwater monitoring is carried out based on 104 monthly solutions of the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) mission between 2004 and 2013. The extraction of the groundwater storage (GWS) signal obtained from GRACE was recovered once the effects of soil moisture and snow storage, retrieved from the Global Land Data Assimilation System (GLDAS), were removed. Analysis of the data was performed point-wise (six stations) and at regional scale (Northern Chile). Overall, the results are correlated with wells observations obtained by the General Directorate of Water Resources (DGA) of the Ministry of Public Works of Chile. Point-wise comparison shows root mean square error (RMSE) large than 30.0 mm while regional scale validation shows RMSE of 21.5 mm. Furthermore, regional groundwater variations obtained from GRACE/GLDAS are highly consistent in terms of trend with results obtained from well observations in the DGA network. The Empirical Orthogonal Function (EOF) analysis revealed higher annual groundwater variability in the metropolitan region and a higher inter-annual variability in the north. The methodology used may contribute to the regional study of spatial-temporal variations of groundwater in regions with sparse hydrometric network.


The University of Alabama in Huntsville Mechanical and Aeropace Engineering Department's senior design course developed several concepts for a Lunar Exploration Transportation System (LETS) for the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center in the 2008 spring and summer semesters. The LETS project is to develop a lunar lander mission for NASA that provides the flexibility to conduct different scientific investigations and technology validation tasks at different areas on the moon's surface. For this study only one lander is envisioned. The mobility of the lander system is subject to trade. For the purposes of this project, the mission begins with terminal descent. The project goal is to design the transportation system to accomplish the scientific and technology objectives, not the science and technology itself. This paper outlines the senior design course used for this project as well as the project results itself.


Let Sa and Sl be random variables distributed independently as σ2X2(no)and σ2Xz(n,,λ), respectively, where xz(na)denotes the central chi-square distribution with na as degree of freedom(d.f,)and X2(n1,λ)denotes the noncentral chi-square distribution with nl as d.f. and noncentrality parameterλ. A confidence interval forσ2 is usually constructed hased only on So and its form is[So/c2, Sa/cl]with c, and c2 some nonzero constants. A confidence interval based on both So and S, as an improvement to this existing procedure is proposed. It is linked with the Stein's estimator for σ2 which dominates the best equivariant estimator. The improvement of the interval estimation for the ratio of two variances has also been discussed in this paper.


Giardia lamblia samples were taken from patients at Salah al-Din General Hospital /Tikrit, suffering from Giardiasis from October 2018 until March 2019. cysts of G. lamblia was isolated and infected in laboratory mices Balb/c and then therapeutic attempt was made with water extract of Plantago lanceolata in three different concentrations .and some biochemical parameters have been studied through rate of changes in Cholesterol, Triglycerids, Total protein and some of liver enzymes (AST) Alanine transaminase, (ALT) Aspartate transaminase, and response of infected mice for treatment with water extracts. A significant decrease was observed in concentration of lipids in general. The decrease was significant in concentration of Cholesterol and Triglycerides and total protein in laboratory mice. The lowest concentration was achieved when using extract with 0.5 ml, 121, 31, and 4.311 mg/dl Respectively, The highst concentration when using extract was with 2 ml, 180, 36, and 5.220 mg/dl Respectively, compared to control group 184, 37 and 5.040 mg/dl Respectively, Significant changes were also observed. As for concentration of both AST/ ALT, the results showed significant changes in their concentration in infected mice. level of decrease was significant in their concentration. The lowest concentration of AST was at 0.5 mL, 18 IU/L, and ALT 15 IU/L at 0.5 mL of extract, The highest concentration of AST was at 2 mL, 30 IU/L, and ALT 29 IU/L at 2 mL of extract compared to control group of 28 IU/L. Significant changes were observed in concentration of AST and ALT after treatment with therapeutic extract Above. The microscopic examination of tissue sections of infected mice showed presence of a detachment of some lining cells of colon. presence of leukocyte infiltration at base of mucous glands was also observed. This infiltration was extended to smooth muscle layer forming colon wall. colon cavity consisted of large masses of mucus. In liver, there was an enlargement of hepatic cells and presence of degeneration of nuclei of these cells, and found small concentrations of inflammatory cells between hepatocytes, some central veins in liver, and observed lymphocytic infiltration.


Using the Hubble parameter as a new ``inverse time'' coordinate (H formalism), a new method of reconstructing the inflaton potential is developed also using older results which, in principle, is applicable to any order of the slow-roll approximation. In first and second order, we need three observational data as inputs: the scalar spectral index ${\mathit{n}}_{\mathit{s}}$ and the amplitudes of the scalar and the tensor spectrum. We find constraints between the values of ${\mathit{n}}_{\mathit{s}}$ and the corresponding values for the wavlength \ensuremath{\lambda}. By imposing a dependence \ensuremath{\lambda}(${\mathit{n}}_{\mathit{s}}$) we are able to reconstruct and visualize inflationary potentials which are compatible with recent COBE and other astrophysical observations. From the reconstructed potentials it becomes clear that one cannot find only one special value of the scalar spectral index ${\mathit{n}}_{\mathit{s}}$.


Allocation of land for the disposal and treatment of toxic waste is difficult in many developed nations; this more than often leads to dumping of the said waste into either the ocean or into developing nations. The latter option being the easier and more cost-effective of the two, due to the lack or lax of related regulations, the ethical aspect of this is often neglected. The questions to be asked then: Is it important to sustain life in the oceans at the cost of the survival of fellow human beings? Should there be such a term as legally-dumped hazardous waste? At what points can the engineer(s) intervene? This paper seeks to re-emphasize the ethical issues of hazardous waste management, specifically the dumping of toxic waste in developing nations, by offering practical answers to the above questions as well as many others. The paper aims to reach out to the individuals, i.e. the engineers, whom are capable of intervention, be it by prevention, and/or innovation of invention. Engineers have the obligation of finding more sustainable, practical solutions in terms of cost & environmental impact. Engineers also have the responsibility of exercising their right of whistle blowing, when necessary. The economic aspect, as well, cannot be neglected if a solution that satisfies all is sought; this means that developing nations should be provided with an alternative to the state of always being in debt and, consequently, dependent on Developed Nations; which is often the argument from their side on why they'd accept such an unethical proposal as to allow dumping of toxic waste in their lands, and as a result the emergence of many strange diseases, destruction of the environment, pollution of aquatic life, and climatic changes worldwide will be the payback.


1. Knowing Global Public Health 2. Emerging Infectious Diseases: An Active Concept 3. Early Warning Outbreak Detection and Alert: A Technique 4. From Infectious Disease to Public Health Emergency 5. A World on Alert: Emergency Vigilance in Global Biopolitics 6. Concluding


Lichens have been used in studies of environmental pollution monitoring of various air pollutants, especially heavy metals. This paper aims to study the possibility of using this specimen for the assessment of radionuclides deposition in the vicinity of a nuclear research institute, Instituto de Pesquisas Energeticas e Nucleares (IPEN) located in Sao Paulo, Brazil. This Institute has as major activity to perform research in the field of the nuclear fuel cycle, and therefore deals with considerable amounts of natural radionuclides of the U and Th series. The activity of the naturally occurring radionuclides U‐238, Ra‐226, Ra‐226 and Pb‐210 was determined in samples of lichen (Canoparmelia texana) and soil collected at IPEN campus. The concentrations of Ra‐228, Ra‐226 and Pb‐210 were determined by measuring alpha and beta gross counting in a gas flow proportional detector; U and Th were determined by neutron activation analysis. The values obtained varied from 164 Bq/kg to 864 Bq/kg, 13 Bq/kg to 50 Bq/kg, a...


Despite the recovery of the stock market since the financial crisis, many retirees have seen significant reductions in their wealth relative to pre crisis expectations and substantial declines in investment income due to very low short-term interest rates. What really matters, though, is the impact of the crisis on retirement consumption. This brief updates a recent study which found that the crisis had little effect on the consumption of retirees with either very small or very large amounts of financial assets. In contrast, the broad middle class did suffer a drop in consumption. Some of these households invest mostly in short-term deposits while others invest in a broader range of assets. Some attempt to live off the interest and dividends, while others follow the life-cycle model and draw down their wealth during retirement. The discussion proceeds as follows. The first section describes the impact of the crisis on financial assets. The second section analyzes its impact on retirees' wealth and income. The third section explains how the crisis affected the consumption of two illustrative types of middle-class retirees. The final section concludes that although life-cycle investors in balanced portfolios experienced relatively modest declines in consumption, the reductions for those attempting to live off the interest on short-term deposits were much greater. The results of the analysis for these specific behaviors, though, represent extremes – most people lie somewhere in between.


The goal of this article is to investigate the effect of frequency-dependent soil models on the performance of grounding electrodes subjected to lightning strikes. Several soil models are examined while accounting for the variation of soil resistivity and permittivity as a function of the lightning current frequency spectrum. The analysis is performed for a homogeneous soil and a two-layer horizontally stratified soil. The impact of the frequency-dependent soil parameters on the ground potential rise (GPR) of simple grounding electrodes subjected to lightning is analyzed and discussed. The analysis is performed in the frequency domain and in the time domain. A wind turbine and its grounding system are also considered in this article. Special attention is given to the case of indirect lightning, rarely mentioned in the literature. The GPR of the grounding electrodes is examined when the frequency dependence of the soil is taken into account and the lightning channel is located at close distances to the electrodes. Indeed, the level of induced electromagnetic fields caused by a nearby lightning channel can still be too high and potentially dangerous. The computations are performed using an efficient Method of Moments (MoM) numerical tool based on surface-wire integral equations for a stratified medium in the frequency range from dc to several MHz. Numerical results demonstrate that the frequency dependency of the soil parameters results in a decrease of the potential rise of the grounding electrodes, with respect to the case where the parameters are assumed constant.


Background This study aimed to identify the phytochemical content and evaluate the antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and antiproliferative capacities of various solvent extracts of Ephedra campylopoda stems. Material/Methods Fresh stems were suspended in 3 different solvent systems, including distilled water, ethanol, and methanol. The chemical composition was determined using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), and the content of essential oil of this plant species was determined by gas chromatography (GC) coupled with mass spectrometry (MS). Antioxidant activity was determined using DPPH radical scavenging and Fe2+-chelating activity assays. Anti-inflammatory capacity was estimated by both evaluating RAW 264.7 murine macrophage cells-mediated secretion of PGE2 using ELISA technique, and quantifying the mRNA level of the pro-inflammatory cytokines (IL-α, IL-β and IL-6), chemokines (CCL3 and CCL4), and inflammation-inducible COX-2 and iNOS enzymes using quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR). The antiproliferative potential was determined using the XTT viability assay. Results Our results showed that the alcoholic extracts were better than the aqueous one in terms of their chemical composition. In parallel, the alcoholic extracts showed more potent antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and antiproliferative capacities than aqueous extract. Conclusions Our observations suggest that Ephedra campylopoda plant could be a promising resource of natural products with antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and antiproliferative capacities.


The advanced treatment effect of mature landfill leachate by Fenton oxidation/BAF process was introduced in a case.The Fenton oxidation could reduce the COD concentration of landfill leachate and improve the biodegradability,which made it possible that the COD concentration of effluent from BAF was lower than 100 mg/L.The carbon oxidation,partial nitrification and pre-denitrification were used in the BAF,which reduced the COD,ammonia nitrogen and total nitrogen concentrations,without concentrated liquid generated and with low operating cost.


Dr Hassanein Ali [Hassanein Ali (2020) COVID-19 AND CIVIL WARS IN THE ARAB WORLD: THE CASES OF SYRIA, LIBYA AND YEMEN, Asian Affairs, 51:4, 838-855, DOI: 10.1080/ 03068374.2020.1837540] is to be congratulated for reviewing three major internal conflicts in Arab states and identifying common factors. He makes valid points about the historic failure of post-colonial national elites to create nation states; the resulting fragility of the countries involved leaving them prone to fragmentation and external interference when authoritarian regimes collapse; the way in which internal divisions provide fertile conditions for external intervention and the exposure to proxy conflicts; the development of war economies creating domestic power brokers with an interest in the continuation of conflict and the perpetuation of weak central authority; and the inability of a divided (and in some cases, implicated) international community to exercise sufficient influence and authority to overturn these fissiparous factors.


SKARIN, KURT. Cognitive and Contextual Determinants of Stranger Fear in Sixand ElevenMonth-Old Infants. CHILD DEVELOPMENT, 1977, 48, 537-544. Familiarity of the setting, the mother's presence, sex of the stranger, and the distance separating the infant and the stranger were varied to examine the expression of stranger fear in 5-7and 10-12-month-old male and female infants. A total of 32 infants participated. Each infant was approached by a male and a female stranger in each of the 4 contextual arrangements: home-mother present; home-mother absent; lab-mother present; and lab-mother absent. There were 2 dependent measures: behavior ratings of facial expression and heart rate change scores. The behavioral and heart rate measures showed similar effects for the main contextual variables and for each age group, which indicated that they were measuring different aspects of the same response system. The older infants responded to the stranger more negatively than did the younger subjects. Negative responses to the stranger were reliably affected by the contextual variables of setting, condition, and sex of stranger. The additive effects of these contextual factors was demonstrated for both the behavioral and the heart rate measures. These results were interpreted as reflecting the cognitive developmental changes that take place within the 7-9-month age period.


In order to make the routing of mobile agents no longer depend on the network structure too much, a routing algorithm, called Stateless Weight Routing for Mobile Agent (SWR-MA), for mobile Agents in Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN) was presented. In SWR-MA, a weight metric was introduced which was related to the position of the nodes. By comparing the weights values, mobile Agents can determine their own routes automatically. SWR-MA can be applied when topological information of WSN changes such as in a network with mobile Sinks. The energy consumptions and the delays of the network can be reduced and the reliability of WSN can be improved by this protocol. Finally, a simulation evaluation was made to validate the performance of SWR-MA.


The emergence of exascale computers will represent a milestone in high-performance computing (HPC). Optoelectronic interconnections and configurable switches will change the traditional supercomputer architecture. However, new hardware is not easily adapted to dynamic running conditions. Based on scheduling optimization of optical links, we propose a new optoelectronic hybrid network, the software-defined network accelerator (sDNA), for an exascale computer. Our scheduling optimization contains an optical interconnection method and an adaptive routing method. The main contribution of our work is an extended edge forwarding index (E-EFI) optical interconnection method based on slow-switching optical devices. The optical link connections are established by evaluating the traffic offloading revenue for each optical link candidate. To support optical interconnection, sDNA selects a suitable routing strategy according to the job-schedule information and prior HPC application knowledge. We tested sDNA in a network simulator and a prototype exascale computer system using both the US Department of Energy (DOE) application and real-world communication benchmarks. The verification results for traffic offloading reveal that our optical interconnection method not only offloads traffic from electrical links to optical links but also avoids the congestion inherent to electrical links. sDNA maintains a throughput of more than 80 percent bandwidth and reduces the communication delay by 10 percent in our real prototype system and simulator. Thus, sDNA is an ideal candidate for accelerating the communication performance of exascale computers.


Objective To discuss the treatment after orthotopic heart transplantation and the experiences in deal- ing with ins complications.Methods To summarize the postoperative monitoring and management of 9 cases of patients af- ter heart transplantation.Results All 9 cases got out of hospital after recovery with better postoperative cardiac function and life quality.Among of them acute rejection appeared in 1 case earlier and 2 cases later after operation.1 case died later and 1 case had acute renal failure earlier after operation.Conclusion The effective monitoring for immunity and the scientific use of immunosuppressive agents after orthotopie heart transplantation,the active prevention and treannent of complications and its consanguineous follow-up are key factors for improving the survival rate.


Fabric is represented as a particle system undergoing various internal and external mechanical constraints such as structural integrity, bending and shearing forces, etc. A collision algorithm in terms of the classical theory of rigid body colliding is employed to simulate the dynamic draping behavior of fabric. Approaches of accomplishing numerical integration in solving the differential equations are discussed. Acceptable visual results are produced on PC in 3 to 10 minutes.


This article deploys a Bourdieusian framework to analyse the process of how children are located in, and attached to, families. The focus is on children whose placement is problematic for some reason (such as adoption, egg and semen donation, surrogacy and so on). Through a detailed examination of four case studies in which the placement of children is disputed, I show how notions of embodied spaces (such as the womb) are part of the repertoire of arguments used for establishing claims as to the appropriate placing of such children. However, I also show how the significance of such spaces is relative to the importance attached to other spaces (e.g. geographical, domestic, metaphorical). The analysis demonstrates the usefulness of Bourdieu's central concepts but also shows how those concepts might be both supplemented and challenged.


The nucleon decay catalyzed by magnetic monopoles is investigated in the case of finite temperature. The analytic form of various temperature Green functions in the presence of a magnetic monopole is studied in detail. It is shown that the fermion condensate around a magnetic monopole would evaporate if the temperature goes up. This fact indicates that the rate of the catalysis is rendered less rapid due to the temperature effect. It is argued that this effect becomes important if the temperature is as high as 10 oK. The correlation function of fermionic bilinear operators is also derived, and its temperature dependence is discussed.


The centrality of family relationships to Shakespeare plays is well known. "Shakespeare's art," wrote C. L. Barber, "is distinguished by the intensity of its investment in the human family, and especially in the continuity of the family across generations" (188). Stephen Orgel argues that "families in Shakespeare tend not to consist of husbands and wives and their offspring but of a parent and a child, usually in a chiastic relationship – father and daughter, mother and son" (56). Lynda Boose, a prominent feminist critic who focuses on the politics of the family in Shakespeare's plays, insists that "Shakespeare's dramas consistently explore affective family dynamics with such an intensity that justifies the growing inference among Shakespeare scholars that the plays may be primarily 'about' family relations and only secondarily about the macrocosm of the body politic" (325). She adds that "While father and son appear slightly more often in the canon, figuring in twenty-three plays, father and daughter appear in twenty-one dramas and in one narrative poem" (325). Lawrence Stone points out that parent-child relations were remote and formal, singularly lacking in affective bonds and governed solely by a paternal authoritarianism through which the "husband and father lorded it over his wife and children with the quasi-authority of a despot" (The Crisis of the Aristocracy 371). As we will see, King Lear (1605) functions as a commentary on the patriarchal ideology of absolute authority manifested in the fatherly domination over their children, a domination that is expressed through Lear's and Gloucester's disowning of their allegedly disobedient and rebellious children. Stone once observed that Elizabethan "familial emotive ties were so weak that they did not generate the passions which lead to intra-familial murder and mayhem" (The family, sex and marriage 95). However, in King Lear, the family is a site of affection and emotional strength and distress that give way to familial instability manifested in the discourse of disowning that paternal figures – King Lear and Gloucester – employ to severe their relations with the allegedly disobedient offspring. While King Lear highlights the view that familial relations are a matter of linguistic expression rather than bloodline, the anger that initiates the discourse of disowning on the parts of the father figures foregrounds an emotional intensity that is manifested in the reconciliation scenes between children and their parents. Furthermore, I contend that the sufferings experienced by Lear and Gloucester result from the disowning of their offspring and, hence, their violation of family bonds. The main plot is based on the father-daughter relationship manifested in the conflict between Lear and his daughters, Regan, Goneril, and Cordelia. The tragedy opens with Lear's demand for the expression of love from his daughters, revealing his absolute authority and the conflation of family and politics. Lear asks: "[t]ell me, my daughters/[. . ..] Which of you shall we say doth love us most" (1.1.47, 50, my emphasis). Hamamra notes that "[t]he irony of Lear's demand of familial kindness is that he swaps from the pronouns 'me', 'my', appropriate to a father speaking to his daughters, to the formal pronouns 'we', 'us', which show that familial relations operate in the service of property and hierarchical authority that Cordelia's silence opposes" (32). Cordelia's resolution to "Love, and be silent" (1.1.61) undermines Lear's authority and game of speech.In response to Cordelia's challenge to her father's ceremony of words, Lear disowns her, stripping her of her identity as his daughter and kin


This chapter contains some preliminary findings and lessons learned from the OECD Innovation Microdata project, the first large-scale attempt to exploit harmonised firm-level data from innovation surveys for economic analysis. It uses both microdatabased indicators and more sophisticated techniques, such as explorative data analysis and econometrics, to analyse innovation performance and innovative activities. LinkToContentAt: http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/sti_outlook-2008-42-en Knowledge Type: Thematic report [1] Other Tag: process innovation [2] productivity [3] trademarks [4] manufacturing sector [5] intellectual property rights [6] innovation survey [7] type of innovation [8] organisational innovation [9] marketing innovation [10] benchmarking [11] product innovation [12] domestic markets [13] worker productivity [14] innovation expenditure [15] Parent URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/sti_outlook-2008-en [16]


To model the way that cameras project the three-dimensional world into a two-dimensional image we need to know the camera's image center. First-order models of lens behavior, such as the pinhole-camera model and the thin-lens model, suggest that the image center is a single, fixed, and intrinsic parameter of the lens. On closer inspection, however, we find that there are many possible definitions for image center. Most image centers do not have the same coordinates and, moreover, move as lens parameters are changed. We present a taxonomy that includes 15 techniques for measuring image center. Several techniques are applied to a precision automated zoom lens, and experimental results are shown.


The following work deals with the electrically driven instability of a viscous leaky dielectric layer on a spherical surface subjected to an initially spherically symmetric electric field. It is shown that, at a certain critical voltage value, the layer becomes unstable since surface tension can no longer sustain the static equilibrium situation. As a result, radial protrusions are formed at the leaky dielectric surface, which can be beneficial in needleless electrospinning, where the formation of multiple jets originating from a single surface is desirable.


The tread compound of TBR tire was optimized.The results showed that,by adjusting the ratio of nature rubber to synthesized rubber,the base properties were changed little,the high-speed performance and endurance of the finished tire were good,and the cost was reduced 4.2 million yuan every year.


A one-dimensional chemistry model is applied to study the stable hydrogen (D) and stable oxygen isotope ( 17 O, 18 O) composition of water vapour in stratosphere and mesosphere. In the troposphere, this isotope composition is determined by "physical'' fractionation effects, that are phase changes (e.g. during cloud formation), diffusion processes (e.g. during evaporation from the ocean), and mixing of air masses. Due to these processes water vapour entering the stratosphere first shows isotope depletions in D/H relative to ocean water, which are ~5 times of those in 18 O/ 16 O, and secondly is mass-dependently fractionated (MDF), i.e. changes in the isotope ratio 17 O/ 16 O are ~0.52 times of those of 18 O/ 16 O. In contrast, in the stratosphere and mesosphere "chemical'' fractionation mechanisms, that are the production of H O due to the oxidation of methane, re-cycling of H 2 O via the HO x family, and isotope exchange reactions considerably enhance the isotope ratios in the water vapour imported from the troposphere. The model reasonably predicts overall enhancements of the stable isotope ratios in H 2 O by up to ~25% for D/H, ~8.5% for 17 O/ 16 O, and ~14% for 18 O/ 16 O in the mesosphere relative to the tropopause values. The 17 O/ 16 O and 18 O/ 16 O ratios in H 2 O are shown to be a measure of the relative fractions of HO x that receive the O atom either from the reservoirs O 2 or O 3 . Throughout the middle atmosphere, MDF O 2 is the major donator of oxygen atoms incorporated in OH and HO 2 and thus in H 2 O. In the stratosphere the known mass-independent fractionation (MIF) signal in O 3 is in a first step transferred to the NO x family and only in a second step to HO x and H 2 O. In contrast to CO 2 , O( 1 D) only plays a minor role in this MIF transfer. The major uncertainty in our calculation arises from poorly quantified isotope exchange reaction rate coefficients and kinetic isotope fractionation factors.


A method for the determination of metronidazole,clotrimazole and chlorhexidine acetate in compound ointment of Shuangzuotai was established.The RP-HPLC was conducted on a C 18 ODS column with(methanol,water,triethylamine volume ratio 70:30:0.3,consisted of 10 mmol/L sodium sulfonate of heptane,adjusted to pH 4.0 by phosphoric acid) as the mobile phase,detect wavelength at 260 nm.The peak areas and concentrations of metronidazole,clotrimazole and chlorhexidine acetate respectively showed good correlation in the following ranges:3.92~39.2μg/mL(r = 0.9999),3.32~33.2 (r=0.9994),1.64~16.4μg/mL(r=0.999 1).The average recoveries were 99.95%,101.14%and 99.47%(n=9)respectively.The method was simple,sensitive,accurate and suitable for simultaneous determination of three constituents in the compound ointment.


Using ensemble Monte Carlo device simulations, this paper studies the impact of interface roughness and soft-optical phonon scattering on the performance of sub-100nm Si and strained Si MOSFETs with different high-k gate stacks. Devices with gate lengths down to 25nm have been investigated.


In order to assess the role of bromocriptine in management of peripartum cardiomyopathy (PPCM), we conducted a randomized study from April 1, 2010 to June 30, 2012. Patients randomized for standard heart failure therapy (Br-) received heart failure conventional therapy and those randomized for bromocriptine (Br+) received standard heart failure therapy plus bromocriptine 2.5 mg twice daily for 4 weeks. Clinical assessment, electrocardiogram, and echocardiography were performed at baseline, 2 weeks, 1, 3, 6 and 12 months. Endpoints criteria were mortality, changes in dyspnea and evolution of echocardiographic parameters: End diastole Left Ventricular Diameter, End Systole Left Ventricular Diameter, Left Ventricular Ejection Fraction and Tricuspid Annular Plan Systolic Excursion (TAPSE). Results: Ninety six (96) women were included for the study. There were no significant differences in baseline characteristics. The mean value of EDLVD was 58.7 mm in Br+ and 57.6 mm in Br(p = 0.091) while the ESLVD was 48.4 mm in Br+ and 48.8 mm in Br(p = 0.074). The mean LVEF was 37.2% in Br+ and 37.5% in Br(p = 0.129) and the mean TAPSE was 19.9 mm in Br+ and 18.9 mm in Br(p = 0.718). At Six months, cumulative death were stayed 8 (16.6%) in Br+ but 14 (29.1 %) in Br(p = 0.0001). Echocardiographic findings demonstrated better improvement in ventricles function in Br+. Mean EDLVD was 53.4 mm in Br+ and 55.1 mm in Br(p = 0.002). The mean LVEF was 49.9% in Br+ and 40.9% in Br(p = 0.001) and the mean TAPSE was 22.0 mm in Br+ and 20.7 mm in Br(p = 0.001). At 12 months, mean LVEF was 53.9 % in Br+ and 45.9 % in Br(p = 0.001) and mean TAPSE was 22.7 mm in Br+ and 20.9 mm in Br(p = 0.001). LVEF increased from 37.2% on admission to 49.9% at six months and to 53.9% at 12 months in Br+ while it increased from 37.5% on admission to 40.9% at six months and to 45.9% at 12 months in Br-.


The objective of the present study was to examine the work ability and early signs of exhaustion among psychiatric health‐care workers in Sweden. Furthermore, the study examined covariation between work ability and degree of exhaustion and also whether factors such as workplace and occupational title was correlated with incipient exhaustion. A survey of demographic variables, the Lund University Checklist for Incipient Exhaustion (LUCIE) and the Work Ability Index (WAI) were distributed to workers in about 20 psychiatric units. The survey was answered by 236 people with an average age of 48 years (SD = 11.68). The participants had in average worked for 15.2 years (SD = 12.5) in the psychiatric health care.
The results showed that the prevalence of early signs of exhaustion measured with LUCIE was 32.8 percent. Of these, 16.2 percent had mild symptoms, 13.1 percent mild to moderate symptoms and 3.5 percent severe symptoms. Measured with WAI, 16.2 percent of the respondents evaluated their work ability as excellent, 52.1 percent as good, 25.2 percent as moderate and 6.4 percent as poor. Work ability had a significant covariance with incipient exhaustion, 17 percent of the variance in LUCIE was explained by work ability. The study is probably the first to demonstrate a link between work ability measured with WAI and early signs of exhaustion measured with LUCIE.
Factors such as workplace, gender, occupational title, psychotherapist education and working hours had no significant covariance with incipient exhaustion. Overall, the study showed that a majority of the participants experienced a good work ability and were not in a high risk of developing exhaustion disorder. The work ability and early signs of exhaustion in this sample was consistent with prevalence rates from the normal population.


Surface sizing of paper by anionic starch was carried out to study its concentration effect on physical and strength properties of recycled paper. For this, hand sheets (100 GSM) of mixed recycled pulp containing 1% cationic starch were prepared and treated by the sizing agent on the sheet surface at various concentrations (0, 3-10%). Application and concentration increment of the starch solution resulted in a higher retention on the surface and lesser penetration into the paper structure (Z direction), contributing to a better hydrophobicity of sized paper and a significant reduction in water absorption of the paper; with the highest reduction in the Cobb test up to the solution concentration of 5%. Also, the results revealed that strength properties of bending stiffness, burst and tensile indices increased due to the anionic starch treatment, its consequent absorption and penetration into the paper thickness. The improvement rate was more predominant using up to the 5% concentration. Penetration of a part of sizing agent into the porous structure of paper and resulted improvement in fiber bonding are possible and probable. However, higher concentration and viscosity of the starch solution contributed to the lesser penetration and bonding formation with higher retention on the paper surface which resulted in continuous improvement in paper smoothness. With the sizing solution thickening, tear index decreased due to starch film formation on the paper surface with brittle character. In general, increasing of the anionic starch solution up to the 5% could be reported as an optimum level.


Background Host response diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (HR DLBCL) shares features of histologically defined T-cell/histiocyte-rich B-cell lymphoma, including fewer genetic abnormalities, frequent splenic and bone marrow involvement, and younger age at presentation. HR DLBCL is inherently less responsive to the standard treatment for DLBCL. Moreover, the mechanism of infiltration of HR DLBCL with preexisting abundant T-cells and dendritic cells is unknown, and their associated underlying immune responses incompletely defined. Here, hub genes and pathogenesis associated with HR DLBCL were explored to reveal molecular mechanisms and treatment targets. Methods Differentially expressed genes were identified in three datasets (GSE25638, GSE44337, GSE56315). The expression profile of the genes in the GSE53786 dataset was used to constructed a co-expression network. Protein-protein interactions analysis in the modules of interest identified candidate hub genes. Then screening of real hub genes was carried out by survival analysis within the GSE53786 and GSE10846 datasets. Expression of hub genes was validated in the Gene expression profiling interactive analysis, Oncomine databases and human tissue specimens. Functional enrichment analysis and Gene set enrichment analysis were utilized to investigate the potential mechanisms. Tumor Immune Estimation Resource and The Cancer Genome Atlas were used to mine the association of the hub gene with tumor immunity, potential upstream regulators were predicted using bioinformatics tools. Results A total of 274 common differentially expressed genes were identified. Within the key module, we identified CXCL10 as a real hub gene. The validation of upregulated expression level of CXCL10 was consistent with our study. CXCL10 might have a regulatory effect on tumor immunity. The predicted miRNA (hsa-mir-6849-3p) and transcription factor (IRF9) might regulate gene expression in the hub module.


Summary
This is a report of an outbreak in Liberia of brucellosis, a previously undiagnosed disease in this country. The outbreak had its origin in Guinea and its transport to Liberia was traced. Details are given in regard to signs, symptoms and laboratory findings, and conclusions are drawn in regard to diagnosis and virulence of the disease process.
Cultural identification of the organism and species differentiation were not possible owing to lack of special media in an area where the disease had not previously been noted.


We present quantitative tests of the "smearing" model which relates radio and infrared images of spiral galaxies. We test whether the radio image appears as a smeared version of the infrared image in 24 spirals and one irregular, using 20 cm radio images and 60 μm infrared images processed to the same resolution of ≲1'. Previous work by Bicay & Helou, assuming circularly symmetric, exponentially profiled disks, suggested that the smearing function is best approximated by an exponential radial profile. Our detailed assessment of the shape and size of the smearing function is free of those assumptions. We used two different approaches: (1) parameterized fits to exponential and Gaussian functions, each either circularly symmetric or elongated along the disk's tilt axis, and (2) direct estimation of the form of the kernel by deconvolution of the radio image against the infrared image. We conclude that: 1. The radio images are indeed reproduced to reasonable accuracy by smearing the infrared images with positive-valued kernels with model-error residuals ≤10% of the local radio intensity over an intensity range of almost 2 orders of magnitude. 2. Most estimated smearing scales are smaller than 2 kpc and are typically 50% smaller than those reported by Bicay & Helou. This discrepancy is most likely due to the specific infrared intensity distribution assumed by Bicay & Helou. 3. The discrimination between exponential and Gaussian smearing kernels is marginal in most cases: above the 90% confidence level, only four galaxies are better fit by exponential kernels, and none is better fit by a Gaussian. There is also no improvement in the goodness of fit if we use direct deconvolution rather than parametric Gaussian or exponential fitting. 4. There is no evidence for a change of shape of the smearing kernel from one quadrant of the galaxy disk to another. The smearing is therefore unlikely to be elongated in the radial direction. 5. For some but not all galaxies inclined to the line of sight by 45° or more, the smearing function is significantly elongated parallel to the apparent major axis. The elongation tends to be associated with exponentially shaped smearing kernels and with smearing scale lengths exceeding 1 kpc. This suggests that confinement heights in the disks are on the order of 1 kpc, and smaller scale smearing corresponds to negligible escape of cosmic-ray electrons. 6. The radio-to-infrared ratio is statistically indistinguishable between galaxies with exponential smearing kernels and galaxies with Gaussian kernels. This argues in favor of the Helou & Bicay smearing model.


The primary mission is described, which consists of encounters with Venus and Mercury; (a second encounter with Mercury is also possible). The exptected navigation sequences were simulated with a Monte Carlo computer program for the purpose of determining midcourse correction velocity requirements and delivery accuracies. These simulations provide sensitivity in velocity requirements and delivery accuracies to error sources affecting the navigation process. The orbit determination capability at the final pre-Venus maneuver is shown to be the dominant contributor to the velocity requirements for the primary mission. Similarly, the orbit determination capability at the final pre-Mercury maneuver is shown to be the dominant contributor to the delivery accuracy at Mercury.


Photoplethysmographic imaging (PPGI) systems are relatively new non-contact biophotonic diffuse reflectance systems able to assess arterial pulsations through transient changes in light-tissue interaction. Many PPGI studies have focused on extracting heart rate from the face or hand. Though PPGI systems can be used for widefield imaging of any anatomical area, whole-body investigations are lacking. Here, using a novel PPGI system, coded hemodynamic imaging (CHI), we explored and analyzed the pulsatility at major arterial locations across the whole body, including the neck (carotid artery), arm/wrist (brachial, radial and ulnar arteries), and leg/feet (popliteal and tibial arteries). CHI was positioned 1.5 m from the participant, and diffuse reactance from a broadband tungsten-halogen illumination was filtered using 850{1000 nm bandpass filter for deep tissue penetration. Images were acquired over a highly varying 24-participant sample (11/13 female/male, age 28.7±12.4 years, BMI 25.5±5.2 kg/m2), and a preliminary case study was performed. B-mode ultrasound images were acquired to validate observations through planar arterial characteristics.


The Genome Analysis Toolkit (GATK) presents a method requiring relatively little bioinformatics skills for Single Nucleotide Polymorphism (SNP) discovery in non-model organisms. The recently assembled de novo reference genome of the peach-faced lovebird (an African parrot) was used to identify SNP markers for application in genetic screening tests for lovebird breeders. The parents of the reference individual were resequenced at a sequencing depth of 30x coverage on an Illumina HiSeq platform. The data generated was used to discover SNPs dispersed throughout the genome using the Genome Analysis Toolkit pipeline. Variants were discovered for the mother and father as well as from the combined genotypes of the two parents. For the mother 1 916 289 SNPs were discovered compared to 1 428 869 for the father indicating she was slightly more heterozygous than him. The number of SNPs discovered compared favourably with previously reported results in other avian genomes. These SNPs can be applied to develop genetic screening (such as parentage verification) tests for domesticated lovebirds, or in conservation strategies, for example species identification.


Abstract An in situ study of the absorption spectrum during the electrochemical doping process has been carried out. In the dilute regime, the results are in detailed agreement with charge storage via bipolarons; weakly confined soliton pairs with confinement parameter γ = 0.1-0.2. At the highest doping levels, the data are characteristic of the free carrier absorption expected for a metal.


This paper combines probability theory and fractional calculus to derive a novel integral representation of the three-parameter Mittag-Leffler function or Prabhakar function, where the three parameters are combinations of four base parameters. The fundamental concept is the Riemann-Liouville fractional integral of the one-sided stable density, conditioned on a scale factor. Integrating with respect to a gamma-distributed scale factor induces a mixture of Riemann-Liouville integrals. A particular combination of four base parameters leads to a representation of the Prabhakar function as a weighted mixture of Riemann-Liouville integrals at different scales. The Prabhakar function constructed in this manner is the Laplace transform of a four-parameter distribution. This general approach gives various known results as special cases (notably, the two-parameter generalised Mittag-Leffler distribution).


As the one of the three primary source of pollution,noise pollution has become worldwide problem and aroused earthling attention.With the development of industrial technology,noise pollution caused by body friction has been increasingly serious.For the sake of environmental protection,it is very necessary to measure,research and control the frictional noise.At the same time,with the analysis of this noise,we have a better understanding of mechanism for friction.It is also beneficial to the improvement on rubbing condition and the work condition monitoring.


In view of the basic chemical behavior of raw materials used in mercury cell, the factors in relationship with explosion is as follows: The self-dissolution of zinc in alkaline solutions; the unstable characteristics of residual mercurous nitrate in the mercuric oxide; and the ratio of positive and negative active materials.Three explosion-factors have been revealed:(a) The undecomposed mercurous nitrate is remained in mercuric oxide.(b) The equivalent quantity of zinc powder is over that of mercuric oxide.(c) The poor amalgamation of zinc powder.The experimental results showing that all the above three factors may resulted in the quick elevation of the pressure in the cell which caused the explosion of the cell.


Null pointer dereference (NPD) is a widespread vulnerability that occurs whenever an executing program attempts to dereference a null pointer. NPD vulnerability can be exploited by hackers to maliciously crash a process to cause a denial of service or execute an arbitrary code under specific conditions. This typical taint-style vulnerability requires an accurate data dependency analysis to trace whether a source is propagated to a sensitive sink without proper sanitization. The primary challenge in data dependency analysis is pointer aliasing, which may significantly affect the vulnerability detection accuracy. Although there have been many studies and open-source tools, they still have limitations when detecting a real-world binary. In this paper, we propose a static binary analysis approach to detect an NPD vulnerability. To improve detection accuracy and practicality, we first identify two challenges that affect the accuracy of binary NPD detection: (i) pointer aliasing, and (ii) untrusted source identification. Then we implement a prototype of the proposed approach, NPDHunter, and evaluate it against 318 test cases provided by Juliet Test Suite v1.3. For the Juliet dataset, NPDHunter is accurate in detecting NPDs and generates 0% false negatives; as compared to bap-toolkit and cwe_checker, which have false-negative rates of 70.89% and 89.81%, respectively. We also evaluate NPDHunter for real-world binaries which recently reported NPD vulnerability. We have analyzed XNU kernel (large-scale), Redis, Bitlbee, libredwg, and libvncserver binaries and NPDHunter can detect all NPD cases, which justifies its usefulness for real-world binaries; compiled for x86_64 architecture.


Background: Mobile technologies have potential to deliver adherence promoting interventions which are cost-effective and scalable. However, existing mobile adherence interventions generally employ automated SMS reminders and have limited long-term efficacy as they focus on the forgetfulness aspect of medication non-adherence, and do not address the cognitive determinants of non-adherent behaviour. This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of a smartphone app that links personal adherence to real-time simulated visual displays of viral activity on adherence to antiretroviral therapy (ART), illness perceptions, and medication beliefs. These features were intended to modify participants' conceptualisations of their HIV infection and ART regimen to be more conducive to optimal adherence.
Methods: 28 people on ART were randomised to use either a standard or augmented version of the smartphone app. The augmented version contained additional components which illustrated to the participant, in real-time, the estimated concentrations of antiretroviral agents in blood plasma as well as personalized immune activity. Adherence to ART was assessed at baseline and three month follow-up using HIV viral load, pharmacy dispensing and self-report. Information was also collected on illness perceptions and medication beliefs.
Results: Participants who received the augmented application displayed a significantly higher level of self-reported adherence to ART at follow-up, compared to individuals who received the standard version (p = .02). Further, there was a significant decrease from baseline to three month follow-up in the proportion of participants classified as non-adherent in the augmented group p = .03). Greater usage of the app was associated with improvements understanding of HIV infection and perceived necessity for ART.
Conclusion: This research suggests that a smartphone app, using personalised health-related imagery and real-time feedback, is effective in facilitating adherence to ART. Study findings indicate that such an intervention may have considerable utility in the clinical care of people with HIV infection. []


We use a computer simulation model to describe water flow in soil columns and water balance in the field in winter. Adsorption coefficients and conversion rates, as measured in the laboratory, were introduced into the model to simulate also the movement and conversion of ethoprophos in soils. The simulated rates of conversion were somewhat lower than the rates measured in soil columns in the field. The movement simulated with the model was somewhat greater than that measured in the soil columns.


Feminist scholars have criticized social movement theory for its male bias in explaining and understanding resistance. This male bias leads theorists to focus on constructs such as organizational structure and networks, thereby ignoring women's methods of resistance and their participation in liberation struggles. As Kuumba (2001, p. 107) noted, "some resistance strategies engaged in by women as an outgrowth of their productive and reproductive labor are the very ones that are submerged and hidden," (see also Taylor, 1995; Foweraker, 1995; Aulette & Mills, 1988; Baver, 1989; Bookman & Morgen, 1988; Beuchler, 1993; Cohen, 1985). Such analyses challenge the false dichotomy between political and personal spheres of resistance, in which the male sphere of resistance is seen as the political structure and women are conceptualized less as activists because their sphere is seen to be the home. Women's resistance, critics have argued, is "masked by traditional categories used to assess political action" (Naples, 1991, p. 478). A feminist analysis of movement theory suggests that the focus on the public sphere, in which men are seen to exert power and efficacy, should be accompanied by complementary analyses of resistance and activism as they take place in the private realm.The family is a major private site in which activism occurs. Although the relationship between the family and activism has not been the subject of extensive research, two distinct literatures deal with the topic. One focuses on the nature of the family as a microcosm of the intersection of race, class, and gender that characterizes the public world; activism is seen to develop in response to this microcosm. Not only is the impact of these systems of oppression experienced at the level of the family but "ideas about the family also operate as a cognitive scaffold used to construct intersecting systems of oppression" (Hill Collins, 2000, p. 48). The family illuminates the convergence of social and gendered hierarchies in its struggle to access prestige, economic, social, and political power and serves as an important place for understanding the development of resistance strategies against intersecting systems of oppression.While some scholars view the family as a microcosm of oppression, others argue that the effects of imperialism and colonialism on the family structure can perpetuate progressive changes in male/female relationships and therefore challenge the assumptions of traditional gender role socialization. Caulfield (1974), for example, explored the non-Western family structure as it is impacted by imperialism. The family, she argued, is the most basic of institutions "involved in the culture of resistance" (p. 73). Through their "creativity and resourcefulness" (p. 69), families develop survival strategies that serve as "the cultural response to imperialism" (p. 69). She posited that families, "generally under the leadership of women, have fought back, defending subsistence production . . . cementing family bonds and building new networks of mutual support . . consolidating and developing cultures of resistance--cultures of resistance which, like the role of women and family life itself, have been devalued under imperialist ideology" (p. 74).Similarly, Baca Zinn (1975), focusing on Chicano families, examined political familism, defined as "the process of cultural and political activism which involves the participation of total family units in the movement for liberation" (p. 16). She argued that the Chicano family is the organizing structure for social justice. In addition to their efforts to end social and political oppression in the external society, Chicano families apply the demands and expectations of their liberation struggle to gender-role expectations internally. As a result, women's involvement in movement activities "transform[s] patterns of male exclusiveness" (p. 20).A second body of literature concerning the family and activism addresses another aspect of the relationship between the family and activism--the functions of roles as resistance. …


RESPECT THE INVENTION FRICTION MATERIAL CONTAINING NO ASBESTOS. COMPOSITION OF THE MATERIAL IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE INVENTION 10 TO 30 IN THE VOLUME OF PHENOLIC RESIN, 15 TO 50 CARBON FIBER 7 TO 20 FIBER STEEL AND EXPENSES 10 15 INORGANIC ORGANIC ETOU. EC ORGANIC MATERIAL IS USED IN PARTICULAR FOR THE BRAKES AND AUTOMOBILES AND FOR CLUTCH BLOCKS BRAKE RAILWAY VEHICLES.


Traditionally, pictures and literary texts have been discussed as "sister arts". Dealing with the reading and interpretation of "iconotexts" - combinations of texts and images - this book attempts to break down the barriers between art and literature. Focusing mainly on graphic art, it analyzes 18th-century prints as a particular variety of palimpsests - that is, of constructs conflating texts and images. One of the points the author makes is that one cannot study engravings without the texts they integrate implicitly or explicitly, and that illustrated books contain two kinds of discourse (visual and verbal) which more often than not are at odds with each other. The various chapters deal with the illustrations and front matter in "Gulliver's Travels", with the discourse of the state apparatuses in Hogarth's graphic art, and with obscene prints published during the French Revolution as a kind of new radical discourse. Peter Wagner's other books include "Erotica of the Enlightenment in England and America" and "Erotica and the Enlightenment".


Smart buildings are becoming a new standard in construction, which allows for many possibilities to introduce ergonomics and energy savings. These contain simple improvements, such as controlling lights and optimizing heating or air conditioning systems in the building, but also more complex ones, such as indoor movement tracking of building users. One of the necessary components is an indoor localization system, especially without any device worn by the person being located. These types of solutions are important in locating people inside smart buildings, managing hospitals of the future and other similar institutions. The article presents a prototype of an innovative energy-efficient device for radio tomography, in which the hardware and software layers of the solution are presented. The presented example consists of 32 radio sensors based on a Bluetooth 5 protocol controlled by a central unit. The preciseness of the system was verified both visually and quantitatively by the image reconstruction as a result of solving the inverse tomographic problem using three neural networks.


In order to verify if buffaloes are more resistant than cattle to poisoning by Palicourea marcgravii, the plant was given per os simultaneously to buffaloes and cattle. Seven buffaloes and three head of cattle were used. Doses of 0.5, 1.0 and 2.0 g/kg did not cause signs of poisoning in buffaloes; but doses of 3.0, 4.0 and 6.0 g/kg caused death. In cattle 0.25 g/kg did not cause symptoms; but 0.5 and 2.0 g/kg were lethal. The influence of exercise on the onset of symptoms, the time which elapsed from the beginning of the administration of the plant to the appearance of symptoms, and the symptoms themselves, were similar in the two animal species. The clinical course was longer in buffaloes; whilst in cattle the period between the onset of severe symptoms and death lasted 9 to 17 minutes; in buffaloes it varied from 10 minutes to 1 hour 28 minutes. It can be concluded, that buffaloes are about six times more resistant than cattle to the toxic action of P. maracgravii. The lower incidence of deaths in buffaloes by poisonous plants in the Amazon region is, at least in part, due the lower sensibility of buffaloes to poisoning by this plant. Another factor responsible for the smaller number of buffaloes which die due to plant poisoning in the Amazon region, is possibly that buffaloes prefer the lowlands, e.g. temporarily flooded areas, which are the habitat of Arrabidaea bilabiata, the second most important poisonous plant of the Amazon region. This plant is less poisonous than P. marcgravii, and its habitat are the higher not flooded areas. So it would be safer, in order to diminish losses, to breed buffaloes instead of cattle in areas where P. marcgravii occurs. The reason for the greater resistance of buffaloes should be further investigated as a possible prophylactic measure to avoid poisoning by P. marcgravii in cattle. On the other hand, Australian investigators modified genetically the ruminal bacteria Butyrivibrio fibrisolvens by introducing a gene, isolated from a Moraxella sp, which codifies a dehalogenase, capable of hydrolyzing fluoroacetate, the poisonous principle of P. marcgravii. Transferring the genetically modified B. fibrisolvens into the rumen of animals, which consume plants that contain fluoroacetate, would be a viable method to control that poisoning through a ruminal detoxifying process for the toxin. Through preliminary contacts, the director of the consorcium in Australia, responsible for the modification of the bacteria, declared that he is interested to sell the technology to our country, but it would be necessary to know if it is permitted to introduce into Brazil the genetically modified bacteria. If allowed, it would be necessary to perform investigations on the viability and the methodology for using this bacteria to control P. marcgravii poisoning in our country.


The vibration characteristics of structural members are significantly influenced by the axial loads and hence axial deformation of the member. Numerous methods have been developed to quantify the axial loads in individual structural members using their natural frequencies. However, the findings of these methods cannot be applied to individual members in a structural framing system as the natural frequency is a global parameter for the entire framing system. This paper proposes an innovative method which uses the modal flexibility parameter to quantify axial deformations in load bearing elements of structural framing systems. The proposed method is illustrated through examples and results highlight that the method can be used to quantify the axial deformations of Individual elements of structural framing systems.


The stem of Abrus cantoniensi Hance was employed for the study of cell suspension and plant regeneration.Results showed that MS miedium with the supplement of 2.0mg/L 2,4-D and 1.5mg/L 6-BA could efficiently induce the rapid-growing and loose calli.Obtained calli were subsequently cultured in liquid MS medium with 2.0 mg/L 2,4-D,0.1mg/L NAA and 1.5mg/L 6-BA for establishing cell suspension system.After subcultured for 4 times,shoots differentiated from the calli and the rooting plantlets were induced.


Isaac SDK and Sim tools produced by NVIDIA have great potential in assisting, accelerating and even enabling, in some cases, the development of robotic applications that make use of some sort of artificial intelligence technique. This tutorial intends to show to its audience a quick theoretical background, the whole setting up process of such tools, how to integrate it to a powerful embedded system, the Jetson Nano, and a number of examples of current applications together with a good portion of possibilities enabled by those tools.


Effect of stripping solutions on the Duolite GT-73 chelating resin for ten elements, Ag(Ⅰ), Al(Ⅲ), Ca(Ⅱ), Cd(Ⅱ), Cu(Ⅱ), Fe(Ⅱ), Hg(Ⅱ), Mn(Ⅱ), Pb(Ⅱ), and Zn(Ⅱ), was investigated. Relation between affinities of the metal ions and solubility products of metal sulfides was studied. The smaller the solubility product of metal sulfideis, the larger the affinitie with the ionsis. The ions which have the solubility products larger than 10^-(23) could be effectively desorbed with nitric acid. Complexation with chloride ion enhanced the desorption efficiencies of the ions having moderately strong affinity with the resin. The ions which have very strong affinity by the chelating resin can be desorbed by complextion with thiourea and hydrochloric acid.


Background: Functional endoscopic sinus surgery (FESS) has revolutionized surgical care, opening new horizons in the management of chronic rhinosinusitis and other paranasal sinus disorders Messerklinger established and reinterated the importance of the sinus ventilation and pattern of mucociliary clearance. FESS was first described independently by both Messerklinger in German literature and Wigand. Aim: To assess the efficacy, safety, and benefits of FESS in cases of chronic recurrent rhinosinusitis with or without nasal polyposis in terms of morbidity, mortality, and recurrent of disease. Materials and Methods: This study was conducted in the Department of Otorhinolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery, Saraswathi Institute of Medical Sciences, Hapur, Uttar Pradesh from August 2012 to August 2015. A total of 80 patients with clinical evidence of sinonasal diseases were evaluated with nasal endoscopy and computed tomographic (CT) evaluation prior to FESS. Results: Out of 80 patients; 45 were male and 35 were female in the present study. Male:Female ratio = 1.28:1. On CT-scanning, the sinonasal pattern was seen in 36 patients (45%) followed by ostiomeatal unit in 24 patients (30%). Infundibular pattern and unclassified/sporadic pattern was seen in 9 patients (11.25%) and 8 patients (10%), respectively. Septoplasty was done in association with FESS to get wide access for a nasal endoscope. Polypectomy were done in 37 (46.25%) out of which 19 (23.75) patients underwent bilateral polypectomy. Anterior ethmoidectomy were performed in 48 (60%) patients, of which 6 patients (7.5%) underwent unilateral and 19 patients (23.75%) underwent bilateral ethmoidectomy. Conclusion: FESS provides an excellent and safe method for treating sinonasal disease. The success rates are encouraging but because of the nature and chronicity of the disease, longer follow-up may be necessary to truly assess the surgical effectiveness of the procedure.


A comprehensive crack evaluation system is necessary for pavement management. However, low data quality in automated data acquisition and lack of supportive protocols in the past hindered the development of such an index system. Recently, the landscape of crack measurement has changed with the advancement of 3D 1mm pavement data collection and automated analysis system. Meanwhile, new crack protocols are released to aid the fully automated crack detection. In the light of the AASHTO crack protocol PP67-10 and the high quality crack data produced with PaveVision3D Ultra system, this paper develops an index system for overall crack evaluation. The Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) is employed to establish the general framework for the index. In this study, fuzzy set theory is adopted to convert the actual severity and intensity measures into normalized scores. Multiple data combination techniques are applied for data aggregation. The final product of this system, a single number crack index representing the overall crack condition, can be used to rank pavements and prioritize crack-oriented maintenance and rehabilitation projects. Furthermore, crack indices for different zones of the pavement surface can also be derived from the system. A case study containing ten 100m pavement sections is performed to demonstrate the applicability of this proposed evaluation system.


Modifications in optical absorption of polyethylene terephthalate(PET) films induced by 35MeV/u Ar ion irradiation were studied by means of ultraviolet - visible absorption spectroscopy. A strong increase in absorbance in the ultraviolet and visible regions is observed in the irradiated samples, which is attributed to the formation of a conjugated system of carbon bonds. The effect is found to increase with increase of ion fluence and the mean electronic energy loss in the samples,but to decrease with increase in the optical wavelength. According to the measured optical absorption spectra, modifications of optical energy gap and the mean size of carbon clusters of the PET samples under irradiation are also analyzed and discussed.


In the case of large-scale buildings, walls or tall parapets are often attached on the outer periphery of the roofs in order to screen the drainage gradient or accommodate machinery on the rooftop. Previous studies have been conducted on the effect of parapets on the wind pressure and the efficacy of porous parapets in mitigating peak wind pressure. But there are a variety of factors, such as height of parapets, overall scale and shape of buildings and the characteristics of approach flows, whose influences have not previously been well elucidated. In this paper, wind tunnel tests and fluid analyses using rigid models are conducted, and the influence of each factor on wind pressure was analyzed.


Abstract : The authors review German security and defense policy, reflecting on the past, present, and future of this issue. Unification of Germany as an empire and a republic at various times in its history is discussed. The process of diplomatic, strategic, and collective psychological readjustment as it affects Europe, and Germany in particular, is explored. The future of war and peace in Europe and security and defense policy as an expression of Germany's aspirations in the world system of nations is also discussed.


This report describes the results of an experimental study to determine the causes and prevention of anomalous failures of distribution transformers due to lightning. Utility surveys, literature searches, and the contractor's prior research determined the experiments performed to test the validity of probable causes. Scaled impulse tests on winding insulation and full magnitude tests on representative 95 kV BIL rated transformers were performed. The impulse tests simulated non-standard impulse wave shapes, methods of application, and simultaneous transient loading on new and aged transformers. Similar voltage and current surge tests were performed on typical 10 kV rated silicon carbide element distribution arresters and metal oxide varistor arrester elements. A new transient voltage computer program was utilized to predict the performance of 125 kV BIL transformers under the same type tests. The primary causes of anomalous failures were attributed to lightning surges entering shell type transformers with non-interlaced 240/120 volt coils, via the low voltage terminals; high rate of rise lightning surges impinging on transformers protected by separately mounted arresters; and shell type transformers using solid paper pad high-to-low insulation when tested to demonstrate their effectiveness.


In Poland's Act on employment of December 1989, Part 6 of outlines the requirements for employment of Polish citizens by foreign employers and employment of foreigners of Poland. Employment abroad by foreign employers shall be based on: international agreement contracts between citizens and institutions authorized to engage workers on behalf of foreign employers or contracts of employment between citizens and foreign employers. Institutions seeking citizens for work abroad for foreign employers shall obtain permission from the Minister and Labour and Social Policy. Contracts between the institution and the citizen should stipulate: the duration of the employment abroad; the obligations of the worker and employers; reimbursement of costs incurred in connection with the employment, specifically; the cost of departure formalities, insurance against accidents and tropical diseases; and other costs resulting from requests by the person concerned. Work abroad under contract shall count as employment in Poland for the acquisition of workers' rights, based upon the employee's average remuneration while abroad, subject to specified limitations, e.g., documentation of foreign employment and payment of social insurance contributions on the declared income (not lower than the average remuneration) at the rates applicable to workers employed in Poland. Employers may employ foreigners on Polish territory, if so authorized by the voivodship employment service. In granting permission, the service shall take into account the labor market situation, and, when required, shall obtain necessary approval from the applicable professional body. The Scientific Secretary of the Polish Academy of Sciences shall determine the conditions for employment of foreigners by the Academy.


The supply chain support one-stop services become the current main management pattern of the logistics industry.It shows that the supply chain and the nodes of the logistics enterprise are in the same value chain basis.Therefore,the cost control system of supply chain will become each node in the need to complete the work.The logistics cost control including: beforehand control,course control,afterwards controls.The logistics business operation depends on each node of the supply chain to support in the cost control from the overall perspective.


Abstract—This article analyzes the fault location, negative-sequence component, and current harmonic content of the first AP1000 third-generation 1250-MVA nuclear half-speed (four-pole) turbo-generator with internal phase faults. To this end, the internal armature winding fault of an AP1000 turbo-generator is systemically explored by using both an experimental method and the field-circuit coupling simulation method. The internal phase short circuit is one of the worst faults that a generator can experience; such a fault may have serious consequences for nuclear power large-capacity turbo-generators because of the severe mechanical and heat damage caused by the high current. To understand these problems, the possible position of the internal short circuit is investigated in detail according to the winding arrangement of the AP1000 turbo-generator, and the internal short-circuit faults of two branches from different phases are calculated. Furthermore, the negative-sequence current can be captured by analyzing each harmonic of the short-circuit current. In addition to the calculations, the steady-state negative-sequence component and degree of asymmetry of the internal phase short-circuit current in different fault locations are also obtained. The results significantly enhance the accuracy assessment of a large-capacity generator imbalance and provide a theoretical reference for the protection of a large-capacity generator system.


absorbing, because it places the evolution of a school subject in skilfully evoked social and political contexts...unfailingly entertaining, because erudition is everywhere complemented by humanity and wit. Times Educational Supplement Geographical magazine Walford"s detailed chronology is both relevant and useful to academics, students and teachers." History of Education Society Bulletin "informative history of geography in schools...thoroughly enjoyable... a valuable addition for an education history frameworks module." Geography "an enjoyable and important book, which is heartily recommended. It will provide its readers with a fascinating view of the past development of our subject in schools as well as the immediate challenges for the future." Times educational Supplement "the book is aborbing, because it places the evolution of a school subject in skillfullyu evoked social and political contexts... unfailingly entertaining, because erudition is everywhere complemented by humanity and wit" Geographical Education Journal "the first book to explore the colourful story of how geography has grown to be a major subject in the education systems of the UK" The Educational Supplement "a unique and much needed reminder of the significance of geography in schools" "written for people training to be geography teachers...however, so fascinating that it is worthy of a wider audience, including those who are interested in the history of education and those who are interested in the development geography" - Area (Royal Geographical Society magazine)


The frescoes of the exonarthex of the church in the monastery of Polovraci, representing a panorama view of Mount Athos with its monasteries is  a unique example in the religious art in the 18th century.  Recent studies have proved that the engravings that circulated widely,  were, in general, instrumental in the process of iconographie transformations  in art it that period.  The frescoes of Polovraci are an example of this influence. The author  tries to trace the engraving which could have been the model for this representation of Mt Athos and taking in consideration the inscriptions placed on the  wall high up in the frescoe comes to the conclusion that it could be none other  than the ones illustrating the Proskynitarion, a sort of travel guide book to  Mount Athos, written in 1701 by Jean Commene, physician, in the court of  the Prince Constantin Brancovan


ABSTRACT Bamboo is an abundant plant in tropical regions, which can be used as a nonconventional structural material; however, there is a high variability in its mechanical properties. This study aimed to evaluate the influence of the moisture content and of the sections (with and without node) on the tensile strength parallel to the culm fibers of three bamboo species (Dendrocalamus asper, Phyllostachys pubescens and Phyllostachys aurea), aiming at their use for structural purposes. For each moisture condition (ambient, saturated in water, oven dried and control), a completely randomized design, following a 3 x 2 factorial scheme, was used. Phyllostachys pubescens exhibited a higher tensile strength parallel to the fibers than the other species. In general, the node affected negatively the tensile strength parallel to the fibers for all analyzed conditions, while the moisture content did not show a significant influence, although the descriptive analysis exhibited its influence on the dimensional variations and water absorption.


Introduction: Necessity of implementation of constant health education programs for teenage girls, and choosing the appropriate educational method is essential in successful training. The aim of this study was to compare two educational methods (lecture – educational package) in promoting the knowledge and attitude of adolescent girls on puberty health. Methods: In an interventional study, 200 teenage – girl students were randomly assigned to two parallel groups. Their knowledge and attitude concerning puberty health was assessed by a questionnaire. After pretest, one group received educational package and the other one participated in a 2-hour lecture. One month later, both groups were assessed by the same questionnaires and the effects were assessed by comparing the student's knowledge, attitude on puberty health. T and Chi-square tests were used for statistical analysis. Results: According to the results, mean of post test, scores of knowledge and attitude were significantly higher in both groups than those before intervention (P<0.001).Difference in the mean of post test scores of knowledge in lectured group were more than the differences in package group (P<0.001), but the mean score of post test for attitude in package group showed no significant increase. In this case the educational package was more effective than lecture method in promoting attitude. Conclusion: The result indicated that both methods were effective in improving girl's knowledge and attitude on puberty health. Lecture method was more effective in promoting knowledge than educational package. In attitude, educational package was more effective than lecture presentation.


As the Asian region becomes strategically important in the international construction market, competition among construction firms has been more intense. While existing literature on the Asian construction market have mainly focused on qualitative approaches to market entry strategies and risk assessment, quantitative research to explain the dynamic competitive structure of the market has been rarely conducted. To address this issue, this study analyzes the structure of contract performance in the Asian region based on the data from 3,996 projects awarded to Korean construction firms from 2009 to 2017. In addition, this study applies a mathematical model using both static (market concentration) and dynamic (market mobility and instability) analyses. Consequently, the static analysis indicates that market concentration led by top-four firms tends to be increased, and on the dynamic aspect, the market position of Korean construction firms is recently weakened and fluctuated in most of the Asian regions and the construction sectors. The methodology and result of this paper would be meaningful not only to understand the underlying structure of industry-level performance but also to provide a useful reference for establishing competitive strategies towards the Asian market.


SUMMARY This exploratory study was designed to evaluate the Websites of Bed & Breakfast(s) (B&B) belonging to the Indiana B&B Association (IBBA). Using the Balanced Scorecard (BSC) approach, four evaluation perspectives were considered: (1) user friendliness, (2) site attractiveness, (3) marketing effectiveness, and (4) technical aspects. A team of trained evaluators rated a random sample of 20 IBBA property Websites. The study found that the major strength of the B&B Websites evaluated was their attractiveness, but improvements were needed in all four categories. The B&B modified BSC instrument used in this research also showed good inter-rater reliability.


Thermal decomposition of methyl azide has been studied computationally by using the complete active space self-consistent field (CASSCF) method and Moller–Plesset theory using the CASSCF wave function as the zeroth-order wave function (CAS/MP2). The calculations have been performed in conjunction with the 6-31G* basis set. The reaction is predicted to occur in two steps via nitrene intermediate: (1) CH3N3→CH3N+N2; (2a) CH3N→H2+HCN, (2b) CH3N→H2CNH. The rate-limiting step is the N2 extrusion (1), being a competitive mechanism between a spin-forbidden path and a spin-allowed one. The calculated energy barrier height for both processes is found to be isoenergetic, ΔE=41 kcal/mol, where ΔE represents the difference between the energy at the minimum on the singlet state surface of methyl azide and the energy at the minimum energy crossing structure (ISC1) or the singlet transition state (TS1) for the spin-forbidden path and the spin-allowed one, respectively. The nitrene intermediate formed in step (1) can und...


This paper presents an optimal method for titration test ferric content: increase the measure sample weight, and the use of "pretreatment method of dissolving and weight" to replace the traditional "first after weighting and dissolving", avoids the previous direct weighing, dissolving, EDTA titration test process big fluctuation and low accuracy. That is conducive to the control of the stability of the product in industrial production, saving the cost of production. This method is simple, accurate and reliable results, and has high practice value and popularization sense.


[Objective]To investigate the clinical effect of complete denture made by The Biofunctional Prosthetics System (BPS).[Method]In 102 cases with edentulous jaws,52 cases was treated with complete dentures made by tradition method and other complete dentures were made by BPS.The clinical effect of tradition method group and BPS group were compared. [Result]The extension of base edge in BPS group was more reasonable and comfortable than that in tradition method group. Compared to tradition method group,maintenance of original maxillomandibhlar relations in BPS group was more precise. [Conclusion]Complete dentures made by BPS are more superior in recovering the shape and function of nature teeth than that made by tradition method.


Beamlet transform is an efficient tool presented by Donoho for multiscale analysis.A fast algorithm for discrete beamlet transform was proposed which reduced the complexity for computing the pixel coordinates on beamlets.This paper improved the complexity-penalized energy based multiscale linear features extraction method.It established the two-scale relationship of the maximal beamlet energy in the dyadic square,and presented a threshold-processed maximal beamlet energy algorithm which could avoid the problem of selecting penalty factor.Experimental results prove the efficiency of the method proposed.


In this paper, we give a Verlinde formula for computing the ranks of the bundles of twisted conformal blocks associated with a simple Lie algebra equipped with an action of a finite group $\Gamma$ and a positive integral level $\ell$ under the assumption that "$\Gamma$ preserves a Borel". As a motivation for this Verlinde formula, we prove a categorical Verlinde formula which computes the fusion coefficients for any $\Gamma$-crossed modular fusion category as defined by Turaev. To relate these two versions of the Verlinde formula, we formulate the notion of a $\Gamma$-crossed modular functor and show that it is very closely related to the notion of a $\Gamma$-crossed modular fusion category. We compute the Atiyah algebra and prove (with same assumptions) that the bundles of $\Gamma$-twisted conformal blocks associated with a twisted affine Lie algebra define a $\Gamma$-crossed modular functor. Along the way, we prove equivalence between a $\Gamma$-crossed modular functor and its topological analogue. We then apply these results to derive the Verlinde formula for twisted conformal blocks. We also explicitly describe the crossed S-matrices that appear in the Verlinde formula for twisted conformal blocks.


This paper proposed a new design method to achieve a 155GHz dual-polarized (DP) antenna. In this paper, a novel lens structure by using only one dielectric substrate in introduced. The lens is realized based on low-temperature co-fired ceramic (LTCC) technology. It functions as a phase shifting surface for the antenna, resulting in a high antenna gain. In order to realize the dual-polarized radiation characteristic, an LTCC-based DP feeding source is designed with wideband and DP radiation characteristics. In order to verify the design principles, a DP LTCC lens antenna operating at D band is designed and fabricated. It consists of the feeding source, the LTCC-based lens and a 3D printed supporter. It yields a horizontal-polarized peak gains of 19dBi and a vertical-polarized peak gain of 18.7dBi. The simulated bandwidth of the two polarizations is around 13%. The simulated results shows that the proposed antenna is a good candidate for sub-millimeter wave application.


Increasing applications of automation in system designs raise issues on how to achieve an ideal balance of automation with human interaction for optimal operator situation awareness and performance. This experiment examined four automation control schemes applied to surveillance tasks performed in a multi-task simulation environment. Participants completed trials with four level of automation (LOA) control schemes: fixed, performance-based adaptive, adaptable (participant controls LOA), and hybrid (adaptive and adaptable). Results showed that task accuracy was better when participants controlled LOA. Participants also preferred adaptable automation.


In this paper we present a new approach to wide-bandwidth digital control for interleaved multi-phase converters. The approach is based on the view of the multi-phase converter as a multi-level power D/A converter where the output voltage is sampled and the command is updated at the rate of Nf s where f s is the per-phase switching frequency and N is the number of phases. In contrast to alternative approaches where the bandwidth is limited to a fraction of f s we show that a bandwidth that scales with Nf s is achievable. A zero-error-bin approach, which is inherent to the digital controller implementation, is proposed to address the effects of phase-mismatches and sub-harmonic ripples on the stability of the wide-bandwidth controller. Simulation and experimental results are shown for a 16-phase synchronous buck converter operating at 1.56 MHz per-phase switching frequency.


Foreword by Professor David Foskett MBE Introduction Section 1: Culture and Cuisine 1. Geography 2. Historical background 3. The health benefits of Japanese food 4. Menu planning Section 2: Tools and Ingredients 5. Basic kitchen tools 6. Techniques 7. Initial preparation 8. Ingredients Section 3: Recipes 9. Getting started: beginners' recipes 10. Sushi 11. Tofu 12. Vegetables 13. Eggs 14. Fish 15. Poultry 16. Meat 17. Rice 18. Noodles 19. Soups 20. Pickles 21. Desserts Useful addresses


career success as an engineer. This paperadvocates for the explicit instruction of metacognition asa mechanism to support self-directed and lifelonglearning. Relevant literature is synthesised with anemphasise on how this teaching might be operationalised.Experience gained through preliminary inclusion ofmetacognition in a core second year course is described.It appears that easy ways exist to integrate instruction ofmetacognition into existing undergraduate engineeringcourses that should potentially yield major benefits tostudents.


Aromatic solvents are involved in manifold areas of industry and craft. Inhaled solvent vapors are a known health hazard to workers. For medical prevention and toxicological assay specific laboratory methods for urinary metabolites are necessary. An economical capillary gas chromatographic procedure is described which is suitable for routine analysis of major metabolites, sensitive for the determination of minor metabolites, and effective for the separation of chiral metabolic intermediates.


Conventional cell culture techniques fail to capture the three-dimensional context of embryonic development. This physical space, as well as providing structural support, consists of a cytokine-rich environment with significantly lower oxygen tensions compared to the atmospheric levels used routinely. Together, chemical and physical cues establish the signalling network governing the hallmarks of stem cells, such as pluripotency and self-renewal. Oxygen levels are also known to affect cell-fate commitment since pluripotent stem cells in early embryogenesis respond to the oxygen-depleted environment by expressing hypoxia inducible factors, such as HIF-1α. In this project, I examined the dual role of oxygen, firstly exploring the link between stemness and the hypoxic stem cell niche, and secondly investigating how oxygen affects differentiation, focusing on HIF-1α activation in a model of neurite development.
Hypoxic culture induced slower proliferation without enhancing pluripotency marker expression in stem cell line TERA2.cl.SP12. Strikingly, HIF-1α activation in an in-house neural differentiation model resulted in a marked increase in neurite outgrowth. When this effect was coupled with inhibition of Rho-associated protein kinase (ROCK), known to promote neuritogenesis, I observed a synergistic effect that enhanced neurite outgrowth further. Collectively, these findings underline the role of oxygen as an active component shaping stem cell activity. Additionally, enabling the crosstalk between the HIF and ROCK pathways by incorporating this key environmental factor to the in vitro study of neurogenesis could be exploited as a novel approach to induce neural regeneration.


A phase modular-combined three-phase single-stage power factor correction (PFC) converter based on improved full-bridge structure is proposed in this paper. To reduce the voltage spike existing across the bridge arms and limit the inrush current through the clamp switch, an improved active- clamp circuit is proposed in single-phase full-bridge PFC module. With the control strategy in this paper, soft-switching characteristics can be achieved for all the power switches. On these basis, a phase modular-combined three-phase single-stage PFC converter is derived from three combined single-phase single-stage full-bridge PFC modules. The topology and the operating mechanism of this converter is explained in detail. A control strategy including a shared voltage loop and three independent current loops is used to realize three phase power automatic balance. Besides, the output voltage ripples are analyzed to verify the dominant ripple at two times line frequency (100Hz) ripple is eliminated. Finally, a 1.8kW prototype is built to validate the theoretical analysis.


TiO2 nanotubes have been used as practical heterogeneous nano‐catalyst for biodiesel production from waste cooking olive oil using solar energy. Several critical parameters namely the reaction time and temperature and volume ratio of methanol to oil were optimized to obtain high‐quality biodiesel fuel. By using an optimum volume ratio of methanol to WCOO of 8.0:1.0 at 60°C within 4 h, the highest conversion of 91.2 ± 0.7% was obtained. Solar energy was applied to heat the reaction vessel by parabolic trough reflectors, and photovoltaic panels were employed to power a small electric motor for the stirring of the reaction mixture. After completion of the reaction, the nanocatalyst was separated by a centrifuge. The catalyst could be reused up to four times with a 3% reduction in yield of the final product. The variation of five pollutant emissions for a blend of biodiesel: diesel (20:80 vol/vol %) showed a net decrease of the total hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide, and carbon dioxide emissions compared to the pure diesel fuel.


Abstract
 Introduced in Cameroon from the 1970s from the USA (Israeli strain), carp production has evolved into a real roller-coaster ride. The control of its breeding began with attempts at reproduction, first natural and then artificial. Apart from the IRAD station in Foumban and the GIC AIO in Batié, artificial reproduction is not implemented anywhere else. Raising of this species is most common in the western highlands region. It is done in polyculture with tilapia and sometimes catfish and this at low density. With a diet based on fertilization of ponds supplemented with a few agro-industrial by-products, the final average weights and yields meet the expectations of producers. Among the barriers to the expansion of this species, we note the unavailability of carpillons throughout the year, the damage caused by this species on the dikes, and finally the characteristics of the flesh which do not seem to be very popular with consumers.


Ipomoea aquatica Forsk., commonly called water spinach ( ' kalmi ' in Bengali) is an underexploited local green leafy vegetable having enormous scope as a cheap antioxidant source. The study explores the ameliorative effect of aqueous  I. aquatica extract (IAE) in acephate and carbofuran treated Wistar male rats. Aqueous IAE (@ 20 mg/kg body wt.), administered to rats treated with organophosphate acephate (@ 30 mg/kg body wt.) and carbamate carbofuran (@ 0.1 mg /kg body wt.), attenuated the cholinesterase activity in brain, liver and cellular blood and reformed the histological perturbations in the brain cortex as well as the kidney anomalies, to a good extent. The IAE also upregulated the NF-E2-related factor-2 (Nrf-2) and MnSOD gene expression against pesticide toxicity. Hence, results of the present study intervenes into a new approach of justifying the deleterious side effects of pesticides that are commonly used, and how green leafy vegetables can help ameliorate those harmful effects.


The article studies the topical issues of reforming the health care system, both at the federal level and at the regional, offers solutions to problems in this area. The paper outlines the main features of the legal framework of the health system in the Russian Federation. The system is to ensure citizens' constitutional right to health and access to care. The article also highlights the fact that Russia can retain the ability to be active in today's international environment and respond adequately to the health needs of population in case certain goals are set for the health care system.


McAdams has developed a very novel, creative approach to thinking about self, identity, and personality, based on narratives. His work brings out how selfknowledge is often created, organized, and stored in narrative terms. If asked to describe a given person, a professional psychologist might well furnish a list of trait terms and presumptive scale scores, but nonpsychologists tend to describe people by telling stories (see Baumeister & Newman, 1994; Shank & Abelson, 1995). It seems likely, therefore, that people understand themselves in a narrative fashion, too. The purpose of this commentary is to propose one possible route for extending McAdams's approach. Specifically, we suggest that one may use the concepts of needs for meaning to elaborate McAdams's suggestion that stories serve to make sense of life. We propose that people interpret the events of their lives along several specific dimensions.