Three cultivars (early, midseason, late), two ground covers (clean cultivation followed by temporary cover vs. permanent sod strips), and trickle vs. no irrigation were studied in a high-density (633 trees/ha) experimental peach orchard established in 1980 on Fox sand. Growth rate in the first 5 years was similar for all three cultivars. It was retarded up to 12% by permanent sod relative to temporary cover and enhanced up to 30% by trickle irrigation vs. no irrigation. Total marketable yields and that of large-sized fruit (>6.3 cm) were significantly influenced by cultivars in the first and second, but not the third year of production. Ground cover treatments did not influence total marketable yields, but did affect the yield of large fruit in one year. Irrigation increased total marketable yields each year and also increased the yield of large fruit. Yields were up to 30.7% higher in trickle vs. non-irrigated plots. Cold hardiness of flower buds and shoot xylem in 1982 was significantly influenced by cultivar and irrigation treatments, but not by ground cover treatments; In 1984, each of these factors affected cold hardiness. Foliation in 1984 was affected by ground cover and irrigation treatments but not by cultivars. The best treatment combination across cultivars for management of the orchard floor consisted of permanent sod strips of creeping red fescue (Festuca rubra L.) in the row middles combined with trickle irrigation in the tree row.


The invention relates to a steel face type composite wind pipe and a manufacturing method thereof, which relates to a wind pipe, in particular to a steel face type composite wind pipe used for building ventilation and an air-conditioning system, and the manufacturing method thereof. The invention provides the steel face type composite wind pipe and the manufacturing method thereof that combine the advantages of the traditional galvanized iron sheet wind pipe and the composite wind pipe, not only have an anti-collision external surface layer, but also have an internal heat insulating layer with good heat preservation effect. The composite wind pipe is provided with a steel face type surface layer, an intermediate foam heat insulating layer and an internal protecting layer which are all bonded by glue. The manufacturing method comprises the following steps: first, a steel face type composite wind pipe plate is prepared, treated with pipe section division and cutting according to the requirements of the size specification, then bonded for molding after pipe section division and cutting, and connected, sealed and blocked.


A considerable portion of this discussion was devoted to whether symptoms such as depression, agitation, and psychosis are different in patients with dementia compared with those without dementia, and whether such symptoms warrant approval as new drug indications. Dr. Schneider noted that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recognizes depressive syndrome, psychosis, and mania within dementia, and will consider applications to add such indications to existing drug labeling. Dr. Whitehouse agreed that the FDA has been responsive to how the scientific community conceptualizes symptoms in dementia. The FDA has endorsed the notion of behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD) as an umbrella term, and also recognizes more specific target behavioral symptoms. Dr. McKeith believes that the target symptom approach would be accepted in Europe, although he was concerned about an excessive need for defining each symptom, which would unnecessarily prolong the review and approval process.


The old model of individual homeowners and neighborhoods depending solely on government provided fire fighting resources is gone. Recent wildland fires have demonstrated that community firefighting resources are easily outpaced when multiple structures are burning simultaneously. The cure is to move most structure protection responsibility to the homeowner and community. Effort can be made, and maintained, today to reduce future risk. One such effort is defensible space or risk reduction activities. Complimentary to risk reduction activities is the Firewise effort. Where risk reduction activities provide modification of risk (fire ignition management), and hazard (fuel bed modification), firewise provides the social structure necessary for communities to organize and accomplish their defensible space needs. Community advisors are an appropriate means to assist communities achieve some level of firewise success, by matching community questions to authoritative answers. Advisors are present in community groups to provide information, or find an authority to provide information, to a community making Firewise decisions. The advisor may be an expert in his or her own rite, as well. It is expected that the community has, or will soon have, a formal citizen-based Firewise committee and that the advisor will not be a member of that committee or make decisions for the community. The advisor is merely there to assist the community arrive at a decision based upon sound science and logic about ecosystem, economic, and social considerations. citizen hands for practical application. This approach encourages development of unique solutions for each community, and its corresponding ecosystem, using interdisciplinary resources to find fire risk reduction solutions, and applying community collaboration.


The article analyses the role of the elegy as a fundamental gender of composition in the book of poems Maria of Jose Craveirinha. The longing and the pain lead to transmute the poetic subject in the "other" and feminize the evoked themes.


Based on the synthesis electrical method drilling of mineralizing belt in Huolulingjiao-Pengwu,supply synthesis analysis of the applies resistivity and resistivity chargeability characteristics of abnormal body can be obtained so as to plot out it is high resistivity and chargeability extent.Integrated with geological background,include drilling and pit shooting information,so plot out mineralization body is inside in the contract takes which is disseminated lead,for the attitude of the mineralization body is not correspondence with that of attitude and contract takes,it is changer from ease to west,so it is concluded that the mineralization body is not only controlled by the contract takes alteration which the date is used but also by mainly fault structures.


Mass transfer coefficient data were computed from measured limiting current values obtained at point electrodes fixed flush with the inner wall of an outer cylinder of an electrochemical cell. Angled discs arranged on a central rod with different pitches placed coaxially in the test section was used as turbulent promoter. The mass transfer coefficient data were found to increase with increase in disc diameter. An increase in disc angle caused a decrease in mass transfer coefficient value. No significant effect on mass transfer coefficient has been observed with rod diameter and pitch. A correlation in the jD-Re format has been obtained for mass transfer data by regression analysis. Pressure drop data were also obtained simultaneously. The friction factor has been obtained from the pressure drop data and were analyzed against Reynolds number. The friction factor was found increase with increase in disc diameter. An increase in pitch and disc angle resulted in decreased friction factor values. The effect of rod diameter on friction factor was found to be negligible. The friction factor data were correlated in terms of Reynolds number and the geometrical parameters of the system.


This chapter studies state law within the United States legal system(s), showing that law is not fully unified and hierarchically organized, a condition that also exists within highly developed national legal systems across Europe. It looks at pluralism internal to national legal systems before considering constitutional pluralism in the European Union, as well as global legal pluralism. Flowing through preceding chapters is the movement from decentralized community law to the consolidation of law within the territorial state—with regime law absorbing or trying to suppress or recognizing or accommodating or turning a blind eye to resilient forms of lived community law. The chapter leaves aside community law to center on the state legal system itself, and thereafter on manifestations of cross-polity laws. As with previous chapters, the focus is on legal pluralism while questioning the image of the monist law state. Unlike previous chapters, which have been largely descriptive, the last part of the chapter is more analytical and critical in discussing global legal pluralism.


In the article presented results of experimental study of fracture toughness for the SEN(B) specimens without and with the modelled delamination crack. On the basis of the determined stress distributions in front of the crack, for the standard specimens and with delamination crack, computed triaxiality stress state parameters in front of the main crack. The computations were carried out for the standard specimen and for the specimens with three lengths of delamination cracking. It showed that the growth of delamination cracking length decreases the average stress level in front of the crack, and the triaxilaity stress state parameters 3R i Tz, leading to the increase of fracture toughness.


Summary By consultation preoperatively, the prosthodontist and the reconstructive surgeon propose a treatment plan for maximal rehabilitation of the patient with cancer of the head and neck. Many specific examples are outlined. Through this combined approach, progress in the optimal treatment of these patients can be made.


We review recent results on the behaviour of the dielectric function of cylindrical nano‐organic materials at very low frequencies in a magnetic field. For cylindrical structures — such as carbon nanotubes — the polarisability is shown to be a discontinuous function of a longitudinal magnetic field where plateau‐like regions are separated by sudden jumps or peaks. A relation is pointed out between each discontinuity in the polarisability and the cross‐over between ground and first excited states induced by the magnetic field. This one to one correspondence suggests to use measurements of the dielectric function in an applied magnetic field in order to obtain informations about the electronic structures of cylindrical nanostructures. In addition, it is shown, by studying finite graphene layers, that the measurement of the polarisability in a magnetic field could be a powerful way for detecting possible edge‐states in amorphous carbon materials such as activated carbon fibres. Finally, the importance of the electron‐electron interaction is emphasised by discussing examples of strongly interacting electrons on rings or cylinders, in the limit of infinite interaction.


Aim To explore the relationship between serumγ-glutamyl transferase( GGT) levels and coronary complexity,severity and extent. The interaction of serum GGT with the traditional risk factors of acute coronary syndrome( ACS) was evaluated. Methods 413 consecutive patients with ACS who underwent coronary angiography were enrolled. Baseline serum GGT levels were measured and Gensini score was calculated from the study population. All patients underwent test of GGT,clinical characteristics,blood lipid,brain natriuretic peptide( BNP),blood urea nitrogen,serum creatinine,uric acid,and measuring risk factors. Results Serum GGT levels demonstrated an increase from low Gensini tertile to high tertile. In multivariate analysis,a significant positive correlation was found between logGGT levels and the different number of diseased coronary vessels,diabetes mellitus,total cholesterol( TC),triglyceride( TG),low density lipoprotein cholesterol( LDLC) and high sensitive C-reactive protein( hs-CRP)( P 0. 05). TC was the strongest influence on logGGT. Further studying the relations between coronary stenosis severity( Gensini score) and serum GGT as well as the traditional risk factors of ACS,the results showed logGensini had a significant positive correlation with serum GGT,age, ALT,smoking,the different number of diseased coronary vessels( P 0. 05). Conclusion Serum GGT involved the development of coronary plaque,serum GGT tested has important clinical values in assessing the severity of coronary artery disease.


Huffman Coding is used widely in communication and multimedia technology. Discuss Huffman Coding arithmetic programming is necessary with STL. This paper implements Huffman Coding program with vector or heap technology of STL, and compares their performances, indicates some notes while using STL resource.


This article investigates the construction of the grammatical frame in codeswitching in terms of the roles played by the two languages in contact, referred to here as the Matrix Language(ML) and Embedded Language(EL). In "classic" codeswitching, the ML sets the grammatical frame; in addition, however, we claim that the ML frame may be synchronically variable and may converge toward the EL with increased duration of bilingualism. This process has been called an ML turnover, and these data show the roots of this development. We present data from German-English codeswitching on grammatical gender assignment and article use in noun phrases. These features have been chosen for analysis because they are aspects of the noun phrase in which English and German exhibit structural differences, and it is important to study how bilinguals deal with the lack of congruence in codeswitching structures. For grammatical gender assignment, the ML(in this case, German) determines the codeswitching structure, yet this does not result in a homogenous patterning of gender marking. While there is a strong tendency toward the use of the cognate strategy, there is also much variation due to conflicting strategies and the lack of one strategy which applies in all contexts. In article use, we find that speakers with longer exposure to bilingualism will use English-influenced patterns in noun phrases containing English nouns. Thus, we claim that both synchronic and diachronic variation are to be expected in codeswitching structures.


Platoon system is a set of vehicles that move together without any material connection while keeping a predefined configuration. This paper focuses on column platoon configurations, where vehicles are placed one behind the other. There are two main goals for this paper. The first goal of the paper is to propose a local approach of platooning where each vehicle is considered an independent and autonomous entity able to compute its references (speed and orientation) based only on its perceptions. A platoon vehicle computes its references in a local frame. The second goal of this paper is to show the effect of the inertial force produced by the local frame. To assess the importance of this inertial force, a comparison is made between the behaviour of the vehicle when the inertial force is taken into account and when it is not.


Objectives: The objective was to analyze the application of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in the diagnosis of early type 2 diabetic nephropathy (DN). Methods: Thirty-eight patients with type 2 DN diagnosed and treated from March 2016 to August 2017 were selected as the study group and another 38 healthy controls were selected as the control group. The two groups were examined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Two groups of VEGF, serum creatinine, and glycosylated hemoglobin were observed and recorded. Results: Compared with the control group, the VEGF was higher in the observation group, and there was statistically significant difference between the two groups (P < 0.05). Compared with the control group, the specificity of serum creatinine and glycosylated hemoglobin was more significant in the observation group, and there was statistically significant difference between the two groups (P < 0.05). Conclusions: The application of urinary VEGF in the early diagnosis of type 2 DN has some clinical diagnostic value.


In 1966, for the first time, the value of motors and small generators surpassed $1 billion. In 1964, only two years earlier, the comparative figure was approximately $731 million.


Acrocephalosyndactaly is a disease of dysplasia. It can be classified into five types. Type I is Apert's syndrome. Most patients of Apert's syndrome are autosomal-dominently inherited. Apert's syndrome consists of abnormalities of skull, hands and feet. Radiological findings include premature fusion of skull sutures, abnormal vault shape and soft tissue or bony fusion of hands or feet. The goal of treatment is mainly to relieve the abnormal outlookings. Craniotomy with frontal advancement to correct the acrocephaly and surgical correction of the syndactly are currently used.


The structure of a laminar rich premixed 1,3-C4H6/CH4/O2/Ar flame have been investigated. 1,3Butadiene, methane, oxygen and argon mole fractions are 0.033; 0.2073; 0.3315, and 0.4280, respectively, for an equivalent ratio of 1.80. The flame has been stabilized on a burner at a pressure of 6.7 kPa (50 Torr). The concentration profiles of stable species were measured by gas chromatography after sampling with a quartz probe. Quantified species included carbon monoxide and dioxide, methane, oxygen, hydrogen, ethane, ethylene, acetylene, propyne, allene, propene, cyclopropane, 1,3-butadiene, butenes, 1-butyne, vinylacetylene, diacetylene, C5 compounds, benzene, and toluene. The temperature was measured thanks to a thermocouple in PtRh (6%)-PtRh (30%) settled inside the enclosure and ranged from 900 K close to the burner up to 2100 K. Introduction Soots and polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) present in the exhaust gas of engines and combustion devices represent a high part of urban pollution. Their formation in combustion involves small unsaturated hydrocarbons for which the chemistry is still very uncertain. Different ways are proposed for the formation and the oxidation of the first aromatic compounds, involving the reactions of C2 (acetylene), C3 or C4 unsaturated species [1-5]. Allene and propyne flames have been previously investigated [6] to study the determinant role of the propargyl radicals in benzene formation. Among the other unsaturated soot precursors implied in the aromatic ring formation, 1,3-butadiene is of primary importance as a primary product in hydrocarbon oxidation and because of its structure involving two conjugated unsaturated bonds. Furthermore, 1,3-butadiene is an interesting molecule in studying the formation of benzene, due to the possibility of branching between C2, C3, and C4 chains. The oxidation of butadiene has been already studied in some oxidation conditions: shock tube [7], flow reactor [8], and premixed flat flame [1]. The previous work in flame involved a mixture oxygen/1,3-butadiene/argon 67.5/29.5/3.0 corresponding to an equivalence ratio of 2.4 under a pressure of 2.67 kPa (20 Torr), in near-sooting conditions. The purpose of the present work is to experimentally investigate the structure of a premixed flat 1,3-C4H6/CH4/O2/Ar flame. These results will be use in a further extend to improve the mechanism previously developed in our laboratory for the reactions of C3-C4 unsaturated hydrocarbons (propyne, allene, 1-butyne, 2-butyne, 1,3-butadiene) [7,9]. Experimental procedure The experiments were performed using an apparatus newly developed in our laboratory to study temperature and stable species profiles in a laminar premixed flat flame at low pressure. The body of the flat flame matrix burner, provided by McKenna Products, was made of stainless steel, with an outer diameter of 120 mm and a height of 60 mm (without gas/water connectors). The burner, used in this investigation, was built with a bronze disk (95% copper, 5% tin). The porous plate (60 mm diameter) for flame stabilization was water cooled (water temperature: 60°C) with a cooling coil sintered into the plate. The burner could be operated with an annular co-flow of argon to favor the stabilization of the flame. This burner was housed in a water-cooled vacuum chamber evacuated by two primary pumps and maintained at 50 Torr (6.7 kPa) by a regulation valve. This chamber was equipped of four quartz windows for an optical access, a probe for samples taking and a thermocouple for


Let U=(U, ) be a T2 associative inner product space over the field C of complex numbers with completion H, and assume that U comes with an antilinear involution xi|->xi^* and a bijective linear mapping xi|->xi^ ^ with inverse xi|->xi^ v . U is said to be a quasi-Hilbert algebra if the following axioms are satisfied: 1. = for all x,y in U. 2. = for all x,y,z in U. 3. For each x in U, the map y|->xy is...


Aim: It was to record the level of professional burnout in health professionals working in hospitals of Athens and provincial towns, targeting to track differences between work sector , as well as between Athens and province areas. Material and Methods: 448 nurses of Athens' and provincial hospitals, working in internal medicine department, surgery and emergency department were included in the study. Descriptive statistics was performed, while T-test was used for within groups' comparison. Statistical significance level was set at p=0.05. SPSS 16.0 was used. Results: 34% exhibited high emotional exhaustion, 44% high depersonalization and 60% low personal achievement. Nurses in province areas exhibited higher depersonalization. Workers in the surgery department exhibited statistically lower mean values in the subscales of emotional exhaustion and depersonalization compared to those working in the two other sectors. Conclusion: Nurses working in province areas and in medical/ emergency departments were the most vulnerable to professional burnout syndrome.


Abstract : Workload is multidimensional and the reactions of individual pilots to increased task demands vary widely. While it has been found useful for various purposes in the aircraft design and development cycle to measure selected aspects of workload, to obtain an estimate of total pilot work and the potential for task overloading it has been necessary to rely primarily on broad measures supplied by pilots themselves. Thus, the final proof of crew capability continues to be obtained in actual test flight. An analysis of the total accident experience of U.S. certificated air-route carriers reveals that there is no evidence that a flight-deck crew of two in an appropriately designed aircraft is less safe than a crew of three pilots. A review of the procedures followed in the airworthiness certification of recent U.S. air-carrier aircraft indicates that manufacturers have demonstrated pilot workload in a fully modern and competent fashion, under the cognizance of FAA, and that actual crew complement approval has been based on both the results of the workload demonstrations and the experience gained in a significant fligh test program. (Author)


VIREO / Day3 / Flight3. TEST: Testing control law, injecting chirps. RESULT: System ID results probably good for analysis, but not good enough to update parameters.


The current study was conducted to evaluate the effects of grape seed extract(GSE) on performance and yolk cholesterol content in laying hens.A total of 450 'Lohmann-White'laying hens aged 40 weeks were assigned to 6 groups in a completely randomized design.Each group consisted of five replicates with fifteen layers per replicate.The experimental diets were a blank control diet containing no GSE,a positive control diet containing copper sulfate(125 mg/kg Cu) and the diets containing 100,200,400 or 800 mg/kg GSE.The preliminary test lasted for 7 days and the experiment lasted for 42 days.The results showed as follows: 1) adding 800 mg/kg GSE significantly decreased average daily feed intake(P 0.05),but did not affect average egg weight(P 0.05),and adding 100 mg/kg GSE significantly improved laying rate(P 0.01) and reduced feed/egg ratio(P 0.05),while adding 125 mg/kg Cu significantly decreased laying rate and improved feed/egg ratio(P 0.05).2) Adding 400 and 800 mg/kg GSE significantly increased eggshell thickness(P 0.05),and adding 800 mg/kg GSE significantly increased albumen height,but did not affect eggshell height,Haugh unit and yolk color(P 0.05).3) Yolk cholesterol content in all GSE groups and 125 mg/kg Cu group was significantly lower than that in the blank control group(P 0.01),but there was no significant difference among 125 mg/kg Cu group,100 mg/kg GSE group and 200 mg/kg GSE group(P 0.05).Based on the results of the experiment,it is concluded that adding GSE in the diet for laying henrs at 100 mg/kg level is better than 125 mg/kg Cu for significantly reducing yolk cholesterol content and significantly improving laying rate.


ABSTRACT Suitability of Pangasius as a source for salt fermentation and its physicochemical and microbiological changes during fermentation were evaluated for a period of 150 days. Biochemical and microbiological parameters such as proximate composition, pH, non-protein nitrogen, total volatile base nitrogen, free α-amino nitrogen, free fatty acid, peroxide value, thiobarbutric acid reactive substances, salt content, total titratable acidity, total viable count, and Escherichia coli were analyzed during the fermentation. Peroxide value and thiobarbutric acid reactive substances indicated that maturation started on the 90th day of fermentation. The highest non-protein nitrogen (NPN)/total nitrogen (TN) ratio was observed on the 120th day and the highest sensory scores were observed on the 150th day of fermentation. NPN/TN ratio and sensory scores showed that salt fermentation accelerate from the 90th day and attains maturation on the 120th day. The study revealed that Pangasius can be an ideal fish for salt fermentation, and this technique can be adopted by small-scale farmers.


With the openness, flexibility and features that Android offers, it has been widely adopted in applications beyond just SmartPhones. This paper presents the design and implementation of a low cost yet compact and secure Android smart phone based home automation system. This design is based on the popular open sourced Arduino prototyping board where the sensors and electrical appliances are connected to the input/output ports of the board. In order to enhance the system responsiveness and to make it more dynamic, we've integrated a popular and open source RTOS, the scmRTOS, which has a very small footprint on the microcontroller. The controlling application which has been developed for Android devices can also be easily developed on other popular SmartPhone operating systems like Apple's iOS, Microsoft's WP7/8 and BlackBerry OS. Pattern based password protection is implemented to allow only authorized users to control the appliances. Another add-on included is the integration of Google's voice recognition feature that recognizes users' voice commands to control appliances.


T   has been lucky in at least one respect: it began to attract the attention of bilingual lexicographers while still a toddler. George Hadley's Grammatical remarks on the practical and vulgar dialect of the Indostan language commonly called Moors, with a vocabulary, English and Moors ([London: T.Cadell] ) was followed by a large number of bilingual dictionaries, of which the Qaumi English-Urdu Dictionary (henceforward, QD), produced by the Muqtadira Qaumµ Zub≥n or the (Pakistan) National Language Authority, Islamabad, is the latest. One had high hopes for this work; one, because it had the backing and resources of the Government of Pakistan and, two, it was announced that Dr. Jameel Jalibi, a noted scholar of Urdu and translator of T.S. Eliot's critical essays, would be its Chief Editor. However, one is constrained to point out that the end product falls far short of one's expectations. In what follows I shall attempt to illustrate just how, and why. I shall first make a few general observations and then take up a few specific points. The word " qaumµ " (national) in the title would presuppose that the work's organizing principle derives in some inexorable way from national interest and need. But does it? Hardly! The QD is entirely based on an American dictionary, Webster's. To me at least, such a choice is patently misguided. American dictionaries are essential tools to understand the intricacies of American English no doubt, but to select one of them as the basis for a lexicon intended primarily for the people of Pakistan must be based on some incontrovertible logic. In his Preface Dr. Jalibi defends his choice by underscoring the fact that it is the American variety of English which is spreading in the world today, and that it is also largely the variety which is being used in " modern standard books on sciences, economics and finance, and in computer programs " (p. ). These reasons, apparently compelling and weighty, are in fact facile,


For a variety of reasons, some Mennonites choose not to vote or to engage in the political process. Others believe this is an important part of our faith witness. This essay assumes that some form of witness to governing authorities is appropriate, and seeks to articulate what a distinctive Anabaptist-Christian witness might look like. Based on more than a decade of public policy advocacy in Mennonite Central Committee's Washington Office, I would suggest four criteria to guide the public witness of Mennonite Church USA. Specifically, we do well for our Anabaptist witness to be: 1. Rooted in our faith practice. Our primary witness is simply to be the church--a visible alternative community that receives God's grace and follows the teachings of Jesus. The Confession of Faith in a Mennonite Perspective states: "The church is the spiritual, social, and political body that gives its allegiance to God alone" and is "made up of people from every tribe and nation" (article 23). We love enemies, seek justice and care for persons who are vulnerable. Our witness to governing authorities has the greatest credibility and power when it grows out of our daily lived experiences. If the church fails to first model a Christ-like way of being and acting in a broken world, its witness to governing authorities will seem hypocritical or tepid at best. How can we expect governing authorities to act justly, sacrificially and courageously if the church is not willing to do so? On the other hand, when we put our lives on the line to build peace in places like Iraq, we have moral integrity to call upon governing authorities to pursue diplomatic means rather than war. The United States severed diplomatic ties with Iran in 1979. For the past seven years, M.C.C. has had a student exchange program in conjunction with an educational institution in Iran. As a result, trust and mutual respect have grown between American and Iranian participants. M.C.C. has pointed to this model in urging U.S. government officials to consider the benefits of restoring diplomatic relationships with Iran. 2. Offered in a spirit of humility. We do well to avoid the harsh rhetoric and strident positions often associated with the political process. Our Confession of Faith states: "As Christians, we are to respect those in authority and to pray for all people, including those in government ..." (article 23). Our advocacy must grow out of personal concern for public officials and a proper understanding of the legitimate role of government. Policymakers work with complex issues and must make hard choices. Governments will never fully live up to the teachings of Jesus. But even the church falls short of this high ideal. So there is ample room for humility in addressing the shortcomings of governing authorities. Self-righteous judgments are never helpful. 3. Principled, not partisan. Our Confession of Faith says we witness to governing authorities by being ambassadors for Christ, calling them to "move toward justice, peace, and compassion for all people" (article 23). In developing principled positions, we do well to draw the best ideas from both conservative and progressive values rather than taking a straight party line. Jesus, not the Democratic or Republican party, is our standard bearer. Some years ago, one U.S. Senator introduced a bill that required Congress to analyze every new piece of new legislation by asking, "How will this bill impact children? …


The genetic origin, breeding progress, horiticultural activities, and storage and processing of 'Kuerle Xiangli (sweet pear)' are summarized, and the direction of technical study in the future, including cultivar molecular identification, fruit growth regularity and maturity mechanism, and deep processing, is put forward.


This chapter discusses the challenging situation of gaining a PhD whilst working in a full-time Design academic position within a university. There was a clear majority preference for doing a text-based PhD thesis by publication rather than monograph, as it provides quality benchmarks and feedback through external peer review and publication, satisfies the requirement to publish regularly, and provides a series of deadlines to progress the work. Most of our participants had significant professional practice experience prior to taking on an academic role; something we did not find discussed in the reviewed handbooks for regular Australian PhDs. Only one of our participants actively engaged with a regular PhD peer support group, reporting it as an extremely valuable source of support. We recommend the setting up of specific peer support groups amongst Design staff PhDs, to focus on research progress and related work–life challenges. Completing a PhD can be a stressful experience provoking strong emotions.


Decarbonylation at 60–80 °C! Readily available linear/branched aliphatic aldehydes were decarbonylated into 1°, 2° and 3° alkyl radicals at low temperature for cascade radical insertion and radical–radical coupling to construct C(sp3)–C(sp3) and C(sp3)–O bonds.


These conditions often co-exist and can have complex interactions. The progression of kidney disease increases the risk of major adverse cardiovascular events.


Introduction 1. Disequilibrium and stability 2. Welfare economics and consumer theory 3. Applications of microeconomic theory 4. Industrial organization, economics and the law 5. Public policy applications Epilogue.


Objective. The association of non-MHC genes with AS has been recently suggested. We aimed to investigate the association of the ERAP1, IL23R and TNFSF15 regions and the susceptibility to and protection from AS in HLA-B27-positive individuals. Methods. A total of 200 unrelated AS patients and 559 healthy unrelated subjects, all HLA-B27 positive, were tested. Twenty single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were investigated in and near IL23R (nine SNPs), in ERAP1 (five SNPs) and in TNFSF15 (six SNPs). Results. ERAP1 rs30187 [odds ratio (OR) = 1.5, P = 4.7 10 ] had the strongest association with AS susceptibility. A protective effect was found in three of the ERAP1 SNPs: rs17482078 (OR = 0.7, P = 2.8 10 ), rs10050860 (OR = 0.7, P = 2.3 10 ), rs2287987 (OR = 0.6, P = 1.3 10 ). The ERAP1 haplotype rs17482078/rs10050860/rs30187/rs2287987-CCTT showed an association with AS susceptibility (P = 6.8 10 ) and a protective effect was identified in rs17482078/rs10050860/rs30187/rs2287987TTCC (P = 3.1 10 ). Significant association with AS susceptibility was found in one IL23R marker (rs1004819, P = 4.3 10 , OR = 1.3). No associations were observed in the TNFSF15 region. Conclusion. The identification of a new protection haplotype in ERAP1 and the lack of association of the TNFSF15 region can provide new insights into the understanding of the mechanisms underlying the susceptibility to and protection from AS.


The invention discloses an economizer for improving denitrification capacity of an SCR system during low-load operation. A bypass pipeline is arranged on a water supply pipeline connected with an inlet header of the economizer and is divided into two branch pipelines, one is led out to be connected with a middle header of the economizer, and the other is connected with a lead-out pipe of an outlet header of the economizer. A one-way valve, a stop valve and a flow regulating valve are sequentially arranged in each branch pipeline in the fluid flowing direction. The flow rate of media flowing in the bypass pipeline is regulated by regulating the opening degree of the valves in the two branch pipelines, the temperature of smoke in an outlet of the economizer is controlled by reducing the heat exchange amount of the economizer system, and therefore the original low-load working condition which can not meet the requirement for conditions of SCR operation can meet the requirement of SCR operation for the temperature, and continuous running time of an SCR denitrification system in a power plant is effectively prolonged; the temperature of smoke in the SCR system under the low-low working condition is increased, and therefore the activity of SCR catalysts is improved, the denitrification capacity of the SCR system is enhanced, and the economizer assists the power plant in better reaching the environmental index within the wider time range.


The invention discloses healthcare food with functions of immunity improvement and hypoxia tolerance. The healthcare food consists of the following components in percentage by weight: 5-45% of gingko nut, 5-30% of salvia miltiorrhiza, 10-50% of sea buckthorn, 5-20% of rhodiola root and 5-20% of panax notoginseng. Meanwhile, the invention further discloses a preparation method of the healthcare food. According to the healthcare food and the preparation method of the healthcare food, natural traditional Chinese medicines are adopted as raw materials, and side effects can not be caused while the immunity improvement and the hypoxia tolerance are achieved, thereby being suitable for people of all ages; and meanwhile, the preparation method of the healthcare food is simple, and the change on the natures of all raw materials can not be caused, so that the healthcare food can be stored for a long time.


†Protosyngnathus sumatrensis is known from six specimens from Eocene lacustrine deposits of the Sangkarawang Formation of Sumatra, Indonesia. The fish was named almost 150 years ago, but has never been well described or figured. Probably because of this, it has not been included in phylogenies of extant pipefishes and seahorses (Syngnathiformes). A detailed description is provided, along with a new phylogenetic analysis of morphological characters that allows the Eocene fish to be confidently placed with the extant families Syngnathidae (pipefishes and seahorses) and Solenostomidae (ghost seahorses) along with the Paleocene marine fossil †Eekaulostomus cuevasae from Mexico. The vast majority of these fishes are marine inhabitants, with a few syngnathids entering brackish or freshwater habitats. †Protosyngnathus documents the occurrence of syngnathiform fishes in a lacustrine environment, indicating that this lineage invaded and became adapted to the freshwater environment early in the evolution of this group.


Anticlines from ejective structure in southeast Sichuan distribute sinstral in horizontal plane and the vertical section showed as overlapping-structures beared in upper Mesozoic and lower Paleozoic.Based on the analysis of regional geology background, structural feature and exploration data, a viewpoint is advanced in this paper that the structural framework in southeast Sichuan was formed successively under the background of transition of regional stress field from tension to compresso-shear.The structural environment,the characteristic of basement and the deep-fault are control factors in their forming process. The evolutionary history could be divided into three stages as pre-folding tension,primary folding and final forming. Most of the anticlines we see today could be regarded as superimposed bodies of two-level flower-structure,and the folding mechanism contained three factors of bend folding,buck folding and shear folding.


The severe storm surge was occurred at the eastern part (Atsumi Bay) of Mikawa Bay due to Typhoon 0918. The high water level region was simultaneously induced in the western part (Chita Bay) of the bay. The formative mechanism of the region was investigated in this study. The high water level condition around Chita Bay occurred prior to the storm surge in Atsumi Bay by easterly winds of typhoon approaching. Strong currents, which are a part of counter-clockwise circulation in Mikawa Bay, were generated at the mouth of Chita Bay during the surge. It is inferred the currents pushed sea water into Chita Bay and weakened that the water flows out of the bay. Consequently, the high water level condition in the bay persisted during the surge in Mikawa Bay.


The massive stars are formed in clusters then numerical models of wind-blown bubble should evolve bubble created by several stars. Aims. We develop a two-dimensional (2D) model of the circumstellar bubble created by two massive stars, a 40 Modot star and a 25 Modot star, and follow its evolution with MPI-AMRVAC hydrodynamics code until the end of the stellar evolution and he supernova explosion of each star. The stars are separated by approximately 16 pc and surrounded by a cold medium with a density of 20 particles per cm3. The simulations showed that the evolution of a wind-blown bubble created by two stars deviates from that of the bubbles around single stars. In particular, once one of the stars has exploded, the bubble is too large for the wind of the remaining star to maintain and the outer shell starts to disintegrate. The lack of thermal pressure inside the bubble also changes the behavior of circumstellar features close to the remaining star. The supernovae are contained inside the bubble, which reflects part of the energy back into the circumstellar medium.


The way people classify the same thing differently in different languages often has cultural explanations. This paper considers the semantic values of the possessive marking system in Raga, spoken on the northern part of Pentecost Island in Vanuatu. In this system the possessive classifier bila- is used for referents of cultural and economic value, as is also the case with cognate forms in several closely related neighbouring languages in northern Vanuatu. It will be shown in this paper that the possessive classifier bila- in Raga extends beyond this to include atatu 'people' and vwavwa a kin term that covers the females in the father's clan, particularly 'father's sister', 'father's sister's daughter' and 'father's sister's daughter's daughter', etc. Vwavwa is the only referential kin term in Raga that deviates from the normal direct possessive construction associated with kin terms in many Oceanic languages. This paper explores both the cultural reasons underpinning this deviation from the normal direct possessive construction to the use of the possessive classifier bila- as well as the circumstances underlying the usage of bila- to refer to 'people'.


Study Design: Prospective cohort study. Objective: To study the relationship between scoliosis and Chiari I malformation, with reference to the possible role of cranio-vertebral decompression in preventing the need for scoliosis correction. Methods : Prospective data collection on all Chiari I patients referred to a single paediatric neurosurgeon with an interest in Chiari malformation. Subjects: From a total of 35 patients with symptomatic Chiari I who underwent primary cranio-vertebral decompression, 13 had clinically detected scoliosis. Of these 13, 10 (7 males) had no other structural spine abnormality, which could influence the natural history of scoliosis and were included in this study. Mean age at diagnosis was 11.5 years (range 8.8– 15.9 years). Results: Of the 10 patients, 8 had left-sided curves and two had right sided curves. Six patients did not require corrective scoliosis surgery following cranio-vertebral decompression. The mean Cobb angle for those not requiring scoliosis correction was 29 degrees compared to 76 degrees for those requiring correction (p=0.001, one way ANOVA). The mean age of patients requiring corrective surgery was 12.75 years versus 10.33 years for those not requiring correction (p=0.084, one way ANOVA). These findings were confirmed by multivariate analysis, which also confirmed that symptom duration, syrinx length and site were not significant in predicting the need for corrective surgery following cranio-vertebral decompression. Conclusion: Cranio-vertebral decompression for Chiari I may prevent the need for corrective scoliosis surgery when performed before the age of ten and below a Cobb angle of 30 degrees.


In the present article, the analytical solution of MHD dissipative and free convective boundary layer flow past a porous vertical surface under the influence of uniform magnetic field in the presence of thermal radiation, heat absorption chemical reaction and thermal diffusion is studied. The said study has been carried out in two cases of boundary conditions;1) when the plate is subjected to suction with constant velocity and 2) when the permeable plate has a moving velocity in the direction of fluid flow. The governing equations are solved by using a perturbation technique by making some simplifying assumptions. The solutions for temperature, concentration and velocity are obtained and presented in graphs. Also, the exact solutions for the temperature, concentration and velocity fields in the form of heat and mass transfer rates, shear stress are obtained and presented in tables. The effects of various flow parameters on concentration, temperature, velocity are analyzed and illustrated graphically and the effects of their gradients are shown through tables. The present study has a wide range of applications in Science and Technology. The problem under consideration can further be studied for different positions of the plate with variable suction.


Background: The prevalence of primary and secondary glomerular diseases presenting as nephrotic syndrome (NS) varies according to the demography, renal biopsy practice and geographic location. To determine the morphological patterns of glomerular lesions in renal biopsies from patients manifesting with NS, in our local (South Indian) population. Methods: The study was conducted in a tertiary care hospital in South India between 2008 and 2014 on adults and children presenting with NS. Renal biopsies were performed in all patients and subjected to light microscopic and immunofluorescence studies. Results: A total of 264 cases of NS were identified of which 80.7% were adults and 19.3% were children. The mean age for the adults was 42.2 years with a male: female ratio of 1.6:1 and the mean age for children was 12.1 with a male: female ratio of 1.8:1. The most common cause of NS in adults was minimal change disease (MCD) (42.7%) followed by membranous nephropathy (MN) (24.4%) and focal segmental glomerulo-sclerosis (FSGS) (17.8%). In children MCD (88%) was the single most common cause of NS followed by FSGS (5.9%) and MN (3.9%). Compared to MCD and MN, a higher incidence of microscopic haematuria and renal insufficiency was present in FSGS. Conclusion: A wide range of primary and secondary glomerular disorders can present as NS, the prevalence of which varies according to the geographic area and demography. Though the frequencies of MCD, MN, and FSGS in our study were different from other studies conducted in India and other countries, these three glomerular disorders are the three major causes of NS in many geographic areas across the world.


This report outlines findings from an empirical study examining the contribution of ASM to poverty reduction in Tanzania based on an analysis of gold and diamond mining in Mwanza Region.


This is a comment to the Letter to the Editor by Saxon made on our manuscript published in Headache 8 years ago. The question at hand pertains to the lab values of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) levels that were utilized as normal in our study of new daily persistent headache (NDPH) patients. ARUP Laboratories (Salt Lake City) was used to run the CSF samples, and they were the ones to set the normal values for serum and CSF. The comment of the writer contends that ARUP had no norms for CSF TNF-α levels, and thus our results are not accurate. It is correct that ARUP created their serum normal values from control subjects, and after re-speaking with ARUP they did not run control specimens for CSF (this information was not provided correctly to the authors 8 years ago when we spoke to the lab), but they continue to run lab values for CSF TNF-α levels currently as they did 8 years ago, suggesting they feel the test is adequate enough to provide results and they provide the same values as a normal for CSF and serum.Also, after speaking with the head of the immunology lab at ARUP (Buck Lozier – senior technologist), the levels of TNF-α in the CSF in normal individuals (without inflammatory conditions) should be about the same as in serum, thus their stated lab value numbers. This is verified in other studies, such as in normal male controls where CSF TNF-α values are actually the same or lower than serum TNF-α values. In addition, other studies that were stated in our original paper looking at neurological populations with non-headache sufferers have shown undetectable CSF TNF-α production with levels of serum TNF-α being higher than CSF. Thus, the elevated CSF levels we presented in our NDPH patients with normal serum levels would seem to be significant values. So in conclusion we do agree with Dr. Saxon that further CSF studies for TNF-α levels in headache patients are needed, especially for NDPH, to verify past results. However, the results of our study we feel should not be questioned as the lab values we utilized to analyze our data were set forth by a national laboratory that continues to evaluate CSF samples for TNF-α and have provided normal values. If anything, serum TNF-α and CSF TNF-α levels should be about the same, and the published data even suggest that normal serum levels are higher than CSF levels; thus, our results showing elevated CSF TNF-α in NDPH patients with normal serum levels would suggest significance.


According to the Koppen classification, the climate on the greater part of Croatian coast and islands is the moderate warm and rainy with the mean temperature of the warmest month above 22oC and with dry period in the warm seasons. This climate type is known as "olive climate" because olive-tree accommodate very well to such climatic conditions. Considering that plants are sensitive to weather and climatic changes, it is expected that the changes in the ecological system should be the first to influence on the development of the plants. This is why the linear trends of development (phenological) stages of olive-trees along the Adriatic coast of Croatia were researched. The analysis is based on the phenological data of Rab, Hvar and Dubrovnik stations during the period 1956-1995. Considered stations cover the northern, middle and southern Croatian coast. The most important phenological stages of olive-trees are the commencement of blooming and ripening. During the last 40 years the trend analysis of these phenological stages has shown that the linear trend significant at the 0.05 level exists in the time series of Dubrovnik. Considering that, decrease of annual amount of precipitation in this location in the period 1956-1995 is observed, which could cause late blooming and ripening of olive-trees. The linear trend of ripening is faster than that of blooming. While the tendencies of earlier occurrence of blooming in Hvar and later ripening in Rab have been also observed significant trends of annual mean temperature and amount of precipitation have not been ocurred.


In order to explore the cause of cracking of the main steam pipe of an ultra-supercritical unit, A series of corresponding physical and chemical tests for crack failure pipelines. Including chemical composition analysis, room temperature tensile test, high temperature tensile test, impact test, bending test of HAZ(Heat Affected Zone)and base metal, it's also including metallographic observation and section scanning electron microscopy analysis of crack tip, overall force analysis of pipeline, etc. The results show: Failure crack has obvious characteristics of crack type IV. for example, a large number of creep holes appear in the fine-grained region of the HAZ, Creep holes accumulate, grow up, and form microcracks. In addition, the stress analysis shows that the outer arc side of the pipe is subjected to large tensile stress. In conclusion, the pipe cracking failure is caused by the combination of tensile stress and type IV crack.


We study the A-discriminant of toric varieties. We reduce its computation to the case of irreducible configurations and describe its behavior under specialization of some of the variables to zero. We classify dual-defect toric varieties of codimension at most four.


We have used molecular dynamics simulations to investigate the early processes in the nucleation of hydroxyapatite at a collagen template, by immersing a triple-helical collagen molecule in a stoichiometric solution of Ca2+, PO43–, and OH– ions, where we have observed the formation of calcium phosphate clusters at the collagen template. Electrostatic attractions were prevalent between calcium ions and oxygen atoms of the glycine and hydroxyproline residues, which were the starting point for the formation of the calcium phosphate clusters. Some phosphate ions form hydrogen-bonds with the hydroxy groups of hydroxyproline residues, whereas most of the hydroxy ions stay in solution, although some become attached to calcium phosphate clusters. The observed nucleation and clustering is too early in the hydroxyapatite formation process to show differentiation between distinct hydroxyapatite surfaces. However, calculations of the interaction of a collagen peptide with the (0001) and (0110) surfaces of hydroxyapa...


Abstract : More than 300 people who had been infected with Japanese encephalitis were studied. The clinical symptoms of the reconvalescence period and residual phenomena, that is, those conditions which appear in the organism of a person after the acute period of illness, are analyzed.


Remotely sensed hyperspectral imaging is a very active research area, with numerous contributions in the recent scientific literature. To carry out these investigations, it is necessary to collect large amounts of information that will be processed on satellite or airborne platforms using parallel processing techniques on multi core systems or Graphics Processing Units, trying to avoid excessive energy consumption. Due to the high dimensionality of the data, algorithms analyzing hyperspectral images have a high computational cost. This cost is a significant disadvantage in applications that require real-time response, such as fire tracing, prevention and monitoring of natural disasters, chemical spills and other environmental pollution, etc. To solve these problems, one of the solutions most used is the dimensional reduction, which removes noise and redundant information of images. Therefore, it is possible to reduce significantly the size of the images, and improve the complexity of the algorithms and data storage. Moreover, Field-Programmable Gate Arrays are specially recommended in remotely sensed applications that require real-time response due to their features such as reconfiguration, low consumption, compact size and high computing power on board. In this work, we propose the implementation in reconfigurable hardware of the principal component analysis (PCA) algorithm to carry out the dimensional reduction of hyperspectral images. Experimental results demonstrate that our hardware version of the PCA algorithm exhibits real-time performance.


Objective
To understand whether independent relationships exist between elevated hepatic enzymes and insulin resistance, insulin secretion and type 2 diabetes in Chinese adult population.

Methods
Subjects in this study were participants in China National Diabetes and Metabolic Disorders Study, involving 16 035 residents aged ≥20 years (6 611 males and 9 424 females) from June 2007 to May 2008. All participants were measured for weight, height, waist circumference, oral glucose tolerance test, lipid profiles, and serum activities of alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), and gamma-glutamyltransferase (GGT). Indices for insulin resistance and insulin secretion were calculated. SUDAAN software was used to perform all weighted statistical analyses, with P<0.05 considered statistically significant.

Results
The prevalence of pre-diabetes and diabetes increased with hepatic enzymes levels increasing (except diabetes not increasing with AST). The prevalence of diabetes from the lowest tertile to the highest tertile for ALT was 5.1%, 6.9% and 12.7%, respectively (P<0.001). With increasing of serum level of ALT and GGT from the lowest tertile to the highest tertile, the insulin resistance index tended to increase (1.3, 1.4 and 1.7,P<0.001) and the insulin sensitivity index tended to decrease (8.8, 7.9 and 6.7, all P trend<0.001). Hepatic enzymes were not related to indices for the insulin secretion. In separate logistic regression models adjusting for age, sex, alcohol consumption, BMI, and waist circumference, participants in the highest tertiles of ALT and GGT, but not AST, showed significantly higher odds ratio (OR) of pre-diabetes (1.69 (95%CI 1.27-2.26), 3.33 (2.00-5.53) for ALT and GGT, respectively) and diabetes (2.70 (1.87-3.90), 1.99 (1.05-3.77) for ALT and GGT, respectively) compared with those in the lowest tertiles.

Conclusion
Our findings indicate that markers of liver dysfunction, i.e ALT and GGT are independently associated with insulin resistance and presence of diabetes mellitus in Chinese population.

Key words:
Liver dysfunction; Diabetes mellitus; Insulin resistance


The report presented below is to appear in ''Electrochemistry at the Nanoscale'', Patrik Schmuki, Ed. Springer-Verlag, (ca. 2005). The history of the LIGA process, used for fabricating dimensional precise structures for microsystem applications, is briefly reviewed, as are the basic elements of the technology. The principal focus however, is on the unique aspects of the electrochemistry of LIGA through-mask metal deposition and the generation of the fine and uniform microstructures necessary to ensure proper functionality of LIGA components. We draw from both previously published work by external researchers in the field as well as from published and unpublished studies from within Sandia.


The purposes of this study were to assess the knowledge, perceptions and practices about food safety among clinical dietitians and out-patient with human immunodeficiency virus to planning educational strategies to prevent foodborne diseases. The framework PRECEDE-PROCEED was used to identify the behavioral and nonbehavioral factors related with the health problem. The study was conduced in 14 public health centers located in Rio de Janeiro. Validate questionnaires around five areas (cross-contamination; personal and environmental hygiene; control temperatures and control unsafe foods) were applied to 26 dietitians and 444 out-patient HIV-positive for educational diagnostic. The analysis of predisposing factors showed for dietitians and patients: lack of the specific knowledge about food safety (< 50.0% correct responses); low prevalence of counseling about food safety education (< 42.0%) and high prevalence of unsafe food handling among HIV-positives patients such as: only 16.2% wash raw vegetables with hypochlorite washing solution; 77.0% never boiled drinking water; 64.0% defrosted meat at room temperature, and 30.0% eating unsafe foods during the previous 6 months. The enabling factors revealed lack of motivation, low risk perception and low self-efficacy about food safety and HIV/AIDS. The reinforcing factors showed that 71.0% of patients never received advice about food safety in clinical setting. The results suggest a need for implementation of educational strategies, such as: the continuing education of health professionals about food safety and the skill development for motivate food safety education of immune-compromised people.


Pectinesterase (PE) heat inactivation at various Brix did not obey first order reaction kinetics. Inactivation of PE at 10 - 35° Brix did follow straight line semilogarithm plots of enzyme activity versus time. However, at 40° Brix and above the semi-log graph between PE activity versus time was unclear. At high Brix levels a protective effect seemed to occur because the rate of enzyme inactivation declined. Increasing enzyme concentration in the 40° Brix sample showed that the curve was S-shaped or sigmoidal. Increasing pH from 4 to 7 decreased the "Thermal Death Time" from 18 set to 4 sec.


In this study, Zinc oxide microstructures with high porosity and surface area to volume ratio in order to the light localization has been selected and synthesized. Characterization measurements; such as SEM, XRD and EDAX has been carried out on the structures. Random laser emission with coherence feedback from rhodamine6G solution embedded ZnO microstructures and effect of the pump energy on spectrum emission variation have been investigated.


In order to maintain platooning, the message from Platoon Leader (PL) has to be received by all Platoon Members (PMs). However, the connectivity of the PL with moving PMs cannot be guaranteed all the time because of signal interference, mobility or limited coverage. Therefore we propose to use Random Linear Network Coding (RLNC) to improve reliability and latency. Sliding window RLNC is one of the methods that was developed for low latency. However, a feedback mechanism was necessary to tune the encoding window. Hence, Caterpillar Random Linear Network Coding (CRLNC) was developed as a practical approach to sliding window RLNC to avoid the feedback. In CRLNC, a fixed encoding window size is used. Delay and packet loss performance of CRLNC have not been evaluated in a multi-hop broadcast scenario. Therefore in this work, we apply CRLNC to the platooning scenario as well as investigate the effect of encoding window size and code rate. In addition, we apply CRLNC joint with the full-vector RLNC recoding in the vehicular platooning scenario. Full-vector RLNC recoding is a method combining all packets in the buffer to generate coded packets. Our simulation results show that when CRLNC coding technique is applied to vehicles, if four PMs broadcast after PL, the mean packet loss is reduced to 4%. On the other hand, when CRLNC jointly used with full-vector RLNC recoding, if three PMs broadcast, the mean packet loss is reduced to 0.2%. We compared our results with the store-and-forward paradigm called NoCode in which packet loss is 20%. Moreover, we observed that with a joint application of CRLNC and full-vector RLNC, the packet in-order delivery delay is almost as low as NoCode case, which shows that we do not compromise latency while increasing the reliability.


The widespread use of ring-type hydrogen seals in 300 to 1200 MW generators make further improvement in such seals vital. The most important requirements for hydrogen seals are gas tightness, provision of bushing and oil heating levels allowable according to operating conditions, and maintenance of hydrogen purity within assigned limits. Results of test stand studies showed significant overheating of the seal bands. Causes of this overheating are analyzed and methods for eliminating such overheating are presented. (LCL)


Abstract– To understand the nature of C asteroid surfaces, which are often related to phyllosilicates and C chondrites, we report near‐infrared spectra for a suite of phyllosilicates, heated to 100–1100 °C in 100 °C intervals, and compare the results for telescope IRTF spectra for 11 C asteroids. As C asteroids have relatively featureless spectra, we focus on "continuum plots" (1.0–1.75 μm slope against 1.8–2.5 μm slope). We compare the continuum plots of the 11 C asteroids and our heated phyllosilicates with literature data for C chondrites. The CI, CR, CK, and CV chondrite meteorites plot in the C asteroid field, whereas CM chondrites plot in a close but discrete field. All are well separated from the large phyllosilicate field. Heating kaolinite and montmorillonite to ≥700 °C moves their continua slopes into the C asteroid field, whereas chlorite and serpentine slopes move into the CM chondrite field. Water losses during heating are generally 10–15 wt% and were associated with a 20–70% albedo drop. Our data are consistent with surfaces of the C asteroids consisting of the dehydration products of montmorillonite whereas the CM chondrites are the dehydration products of serpentine and chlorite. The presence of opaque minerals and evaporites does not provide quantitative explanations for the difference in continua slopes of the phyllosilicates and C asteroids. The CM chondrites can also be linked to the C asteroids by heating. We suggest that the CM chondrites are interior samples, and the presence of a 3 μm feature in C asteroid spectra also indicates the excavation of material.


We acknowledge financial support from the University of Cambridge and the Psi-k network in the production of this report. Psi-k [http://www.psi-k.org/] is a network of the European ab initio research community. This report explores the interactions of the academic Psi-k community with industry. The evidence presented is mainly based on a semi-quantitative survey and interviews of network members, and the analysis stands in the context of a prior report on the economic impact of molecular modelling [1] as well as of a recent study into Science-to-Business (S-2-B) collaborations [2] in general. Pertinent findings of the economic impact report were that the dominant electronic structure method, Density Functional Theory (DFT), is the most widely accepted 'molecular modelling' method and that it has become established in the electronics industry. Also of significance are the more than average growth in the number of patents which include DFT, and the growing interest in the potential of modelling in a wider circle of researchers in industry. The S-2-B study [2] emphasized the key role of the Principal Investigator (PI) in establishing and maintaining a satisfactory relationship, and the importance to industry of 'soft' objectives relative to outcomes with hard metrics. All Psi-k board, working group and advisory group members, a total of about 120 people were invited to take part in the study, and 40 people responded, representing more than 400 scientists from 33 different institutions in 12 European countries. While it is acknowledged that this group will to some extent pre-select those with industry collaborations, the result that 90% of respondents work with industry is still significant. Main industry sectors of the collaborators are materials, electronics, automotive and aerospace and software. Density functional theory is almost always used in industry collaborations but classical and higher level theory also feature strongly. It was noted that the Psi-k network represents some of the most widely used electronic structure codes in the world. In fact, all electronic structure codes available in the leading commercial packages (see Table 2) originate from Europe and are used at a few hundred industrial sites worldwide. Psi-k groups that work with industry collaborate on average with 2-3 companies, typically on a long term basis. It is interesting that small groups are just as likely to collaborate with industry as larger ones, and also with roughly the same number of companies. There is however a correlation between the number of collaborating companies and …


Abstract The thinking behind this paper derives from the experience of the author in being a manager within a structure of awards for teachers based on the principles of credit accumulation and transfer schemes (CATS). It also derives from making use of this experience for curriculum development in a number of other curriculum areas, notably in nursing, in midwifery and in physiotherapy. The thesis borrows substantially from the good practice of one of Britain's leading institutions in the use of CATS (the University of Greenwich) and extrapolates from that experience to propose a model of curriculum management that, it is suggested, might reconcile the tension between the flexibility offered by CATS and the needs of higher education for objective measures of the quality of student learning. The paper proposes a context in which the quality of learning can be judged and goes on to describe the experience of a number of schemes in the University of Greenwich in the application of CATS. It then describes th...


Disclosed is a micro-blower (1) comprising an electric motor (2) with rotary shaft (3) carrying an impeller (4), said electric motor (2) is within a shroud (5) device, said impeller (4) being arranged between a lower volute (6) and an upper volute (7), the lower volute (6) comprising a central passage (8) which surround the peripheral surface (9) of the cowling (5) . The cowling (5) of the engine comprises an upper peripheral rim (10) projecting radially away from the outer peripheral surface (9) of the cowling (5). The central passage (8) of the lower volute (6) is internally bordered by an annular shoulder (11), an annular seal (14) being arranged on said annular shoulder (11). The lower volute (6) further comprises a plurality of internal stops (12) carried by the inner surface (13) of the lower volute (6). The upper peripheral rim (10) of the cowling (5) of the motor being positioned between the annular seal (14) and the internal stops (12) of the lower volute (6), said internal stops (12) from press said upper peripheral rim (10) of the cowling (5) so as to obtain a compression of the annular seal motor (14) between said upper peripheral rim (10) of the cowling (5) and the annular shoulder (11) of the lower volute (6).


Type XIII collagen is a type II transmembrane protein predicted to consist of a short cytosolic domain, a single transmembrane domain, and three collagenous domains flanked by noncollagenous sequences. Previous studies on mRNAs indicate that the structures of the collagenous domain closest to the cell membrane, COL1, the adjacent noncollagenous domain, NC2, and the C-terminal domains COL3 and NC4 are subject to alternative splicing. In order to extend studies of type XIII collagen from cDNAs to the protein level we have produced it in insect cells by means of baculoviruses. Type XIII collagen α chains were found to associate into disulfide-bonded trimers, and hydroxylation of proline residues dramatically enhanced this association. This protein contains altogether eight cysteine residues, and interchain disulfide bonds could be located in the NC1 domain and possibly at the junction of COL1 and NC2, while the two cysteine residues in NC4 are likely to form intrachain bonds. Pepsin and trypsin/chymotrypsin digestions indicated that the type XIII collagen α chains form homotrimers whose three collagenous domains are in triple helical conformation. The thermal stabilities (T m ) of the COL1, COL2, and COL3 domains were 38, 49 and 40 °C, respectively. TheT m of the central collagenous domain is unusually high, which in the light of this domain being invariant in terms of alternative splicing suggests that the central portion of the molecule may have an important role in the stability of the molecule. All in all, most of the type XIII collagen ectodomain appears to be present in triple helical conformation, which is in clear contrast to the short or highly interrupted triple helical domains of the other known collagenous transmembrane proteins.


Based on academic research and international recommendations on tourism quality, this study sought to develop a wide-ranging tourism quality scale adapted for Portuguese contexts. The research included creating and validating a marketing subscale to measure local public stakeholders' perceptions of marketing strategies focused on improving tourism destinations' quality. A self-administered survey was conducted with a sample of Portuguese municipalities including, more specifically, 134 local public stakeholders commonly considered local destination marketing organisations, as well as public policy- and decision-makers. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were performed to measure destination marketing quality, resulting in the identification of two factors: (1) image and promotion and (2) product differentiation. The proposed instrument was shown to have validity and reliability and to be a useful measurement tool. The findings highlight local public stakeholders' responsibility to ensure the quality and competitiveness of tourism destinations' marketing and provide multiple useful practical and theoretical implications and insights to guide future research.


High oxidation power (HOP) materials such as lead(IV) oxide (PbO2), antimony-doped tin(IV) oxide (ATO), Magnéli phase titanium oxides (MPTOs), and boron-doped diamond (BDD) are important for advancing electrochemical technologies for clean water and energy applications. Specifically, these include electrocatalytic materials for electrolyzers for water treatment applications and electrosynthesis applications, supports for electrocatalysts for fuel cells and electrolyzers for hydrogen production and electrosyntheses, and electrically-conductive filler in batteries. However, issues of toxicity (PbO2), stability (ATO, MPTOs), and cost (BDD) must be addressed if HOPs are to be more-broadly used as alternatives to carbon-based materials. The Wilkinson group at the University of British Columbia has recently prepared transition metal doped Ti4O7, a MPTO, which exhibits improved characteristics as an electrode material [1,2]. Specifically, thermogravimetric analysis and electrochemical accelerated life testing (Figs. a & b, respectively), illustrate its superior resistance to oxidation while use of the 4-point probes method reveals greater electrical conductivity relative to pristine Ti4O7. The preparation of these materials and their characterization as well as their eventual incorporation into electrochemical devices for clean water and energy applications will be discussed.

 Figure 1


Patient. —N. H., aged 15, white, schoolgirl, was eldest of three children, complained of pain in the left lower abdominal quadrant with nausea and vomiting. Family History. —This was unimportant. The mother menstruated at eleven. Personal History. —Birth was normal. The history was taken after the operation. General health had never been good. During childhood the girl had measles, mumps, whooping-cough, chicken-pox, diphtheria, scarlet fever, chorea and one attack of "slow fever" lasting a week, with severe headache and delirium. She had always been nervous and delicate. Appetite was somewhat inordinate, and she craved unusual and unreasonable foods; digestion was good. There was no nausea or vomiting except during the attacks. Bowels usually moved every day. The urinary condition seemed to have been normal up to present illness, during which she suffered severe dysuria. Following diphtheria and scarlet fever at the ages of 5 and 6, patient had a troublesome


Nam Co is the biggest and highest lake (4718 m a. s. 1. ) in the central Xizang (Tibet) Plateau. The survey of level shows that there are 6 lake terraces and highstand lacustrine sediments from 48 m to 139. 2 m above lake level. Age results of U-series and 14C indicates that the highstand lacustrine sediments, lake terraces of Nos. 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1 were formed in ca. 115. 9~71.8ka BP, 53.7 ka B. P. , 41. 2 ~ 39. 5 ka BP, 36. 1 ~35. 2 ka BP, 32. 3 ka BP, 28. 2~11. 2 ka BP and 11. 2~4. 2 ka BP, respectively. Based on the data of age results, terraces, lacustrine sediments and sporopollen analysis, the paleovegetation, paleoclimate and lake-level fluctuation of Nam Co since approximate 120 ka BP are discussed in this paper. The change of paleovegetation, paleoclimate and lake-level fluctuation of Nam Co since the Last Interglacial Stage can be divided into the five stages: (1) In 116 ~ 78 ka BP, lake-level fluctuated between 140 m and 88 m above lake level. The climate was warm and slightly moist. The vegetation was forest-steppe and steppe with sparse-forest. (2) In 78 ~ 53 ka BP, lake-level strikingly dropped and fluctuated between 48 m and 36 m above lake level. The climate was colder and drier than that earlier. The vegetation was steppe with a few trees. (3) In 53~32 ka BP, lake-level fluctuated between 15 m and 28 m above lake level. The climate was warmer and wetter than that of the present and there were 3 stages of warm climate corresponding to the lake-terraces of Nos. 5, 4 and 3. The vegetation was forest and forest-steppe. Particularly, in the period of 36 ?35 ka BP, coniferous and deciduous broad-leaf mixed forest occurred. It shows, in the period, the climate was the warmest and wettest during the Last Glacial Stage and also was warmer and wetter than that of the present. (4) In 32 ~12 ka BP, lake-level strikingly dropped and fluctuated between 17m and 12m above lake level. The climate was cold and dry. The vegetation was steppe or steppe with sparse trees. The lowest lake-level is 8 m above lake level in the period. (5) In 11. 8~4. 2 ka BP, lake-level fluctuated between 2 m and 9 m above lake level. The climate was warm and wet. The vegetation was forest and steppe with a few trees. Especially, coniferous and deciduous broad-leaf mixed forest occurred during 8. 4 ~ 4. 2 ka BP and the climate is the warmest and wettest during the Holocene. The lowest lake-level is under present lake level in the period. A comparison of the climate change and lake-level fluctuation of Nam Co with the data of oxygen isotopic curve from the Guliya ice core in the West Kunlun Mountains and the ice core of GRIP2 shows the cooling and warming change of climate in the Nam Co area correspond to the climate change of the Tibet Plateau and the northern hemisphere. Especially, the striking lake-level dropping revealed by lake terraces formed is broadly associated with the Henrich events.


This work reports about the structural and magnetic properties of the quaternary Heusler alloy Co2FeAl1−xSix with varying Si concentration. The structure of the Co2FeAl1−xSix solid solution was investigated by means of x-ray diffraction and differential scanning calorimetry. It is found that the alloys exhibit the L21 structure for x⩾0.4. Depending on the Si concentration x, a structural phase transition is found at temperatures between 1000 and 1200K. The transition temperature decreases with increasing Si content x. The magnetic properties were studied using low temperature magnetometry. For x⩾0.4, the magnetization of the compounds is in agreement with a Slater-Pauling-like behavior and with the values obtained from ab initio calculations. For x⩽0.4, enlarged magnetic moments are found due to disorder. The enlarged values are explained by an increase of the Co spin moments and enhanced orbital moments.


The effective diagnosis and prognosis of many diseases depends on the ability to quantitatively measure protein biomarkers from clinical samples at low concentrations. For example, fluctuations in serum concentrations of cytokines, such as platelet-derived growth factor-BB (PDGF-BB), can serve as indicators of tumor angiogenesis, whereas levels of virus-related proteins such as hemagglutinin can indicate progression of an infection. Accurate detection of diagnostic biomarkers in blood is often challenging because of its complex composition comprising thousands of proteins with concentrations ranging over 12 orders of magnitude. 5] Albumin, for example, constitutes approximately half of the total serum protein (30–50 mgmL ), while many important disease-related biomarkers exist at concentrations as low as 1 pg mL . 5] Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) is a standard approach to detect protein biomarkers directly from blood. Unfortunately, this assay can suffer from a lengthy development period for specific antibodies, insufficient sensitivity, limited dynamic range, 8, 9] and long assay times involving multiple washing steps, thereby limiting its usefulness and making it impractical to implement at the point of care. Several groups have developed innovative approaches to improve the sensitivity and dynamic range of ELISAs by combining antibody-based molecular recognition with nucleic acid amplification-based detection, such as proximity ligation, immuno-PCR, and bio-barcode detection. However, because interferents in blood can inhibit many amplification reactions, there is a critical need for universal sample preparation systems that allow amplification-based detection of protein biomarkers from complex samples in a monolithic, disposable, and automated format. Herein, we report the micromagnetic aptamer PCR (MAP) detection system, which integrates high-gradient magnetic field sample preparation in a microfluidic device with aptamer-based real-time PCR readout, to achieve highly sensitive and quantitative detection of protein targets directly from complex samples. As a model, we demonstrate the capability to quantitatively detect the cancer biomarker PDGF-BB over a wide dynamic range (62 fm to 1 nm) in a complex background of serum with clearly discernable and reproducible PCR amplification signals. The detection assay starts with the incubation of a serum sample containing PDGF-BB target protein with magnetic beads coated with capture antibody and anti-PDGF PCR aptamers, which incorporate flanking PCR primer sequences (Figure 1A). As with ELISA, the use of dual-affinity reagents significantly increases the specificity of detection. After the incubation step, the sample was loaded into a micromagnetic separation (MMS) chip, in which magnetically labeled antibody–target–aptamer complexes were trapped by the high local magnetic field gradients generated by microfabricated ferromagnetic structures (MFSs) patterned within the microchannel. Meanwhile, nontarget serum proteins, unused reagents, and PCR contaminants were continuously washed out during separation (Figure 1B). After washing the trapped beads, the external magnetic field was removed, which demagnetized the MFSs thereby allowing magnetic target complexes to be eluted with phosphate-buffered saline containing 0.25 mm MgCl2 (PBSM; Figure 1C). The entire separation and purification process (trapping, washing, and bead release) required about 30 min. One microliter of collected eluent was directly subjected to real-time PCR analysis, which yielded a signal proportional to the concentration of target protein in the serum sample (Figure 1D). Note that real-time PCR calibration curves with and without magnetic beads verified that the presence of 1 10 antibodycoated magnetic beads per PCR reaction volume did not [*] S. S. Oh, Dr. Y. Xiao, Prof. H. T. Soh Materials Department, Department of Mechanical Engineering University of California, Santa Barbara Santa Barbara, CA 93106 (USA) E-mail: email@example.com firstname.lastname@example.com Dr. A. Csordas Institute for Collaborative Biotechnologies University of California, Santa Barbara (USA) Dr. A. E. Gerdon Department of Chemistry, Emmanuel College, Boston (USA)


Intake disposed between the two baenkeu for a V-type engine manifold is the cylinder head of the main body portion and a support angle of the engine (E) forming a connection portion equipped with a structure bonded by sandwiching a mounting stay of the plate-like, integral with the mounting stays the bolt is fixed to a base coupled to the injector. Attachment is possible to firmly support the intake manifold by the stay, and a special holding means is not required hayeoseo number of components is reduced furthermore for fixing the mounting stay to the intake manifold.


By Rebecca Maloy. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010. [viii, 449 p. ISBN 9780195315172. $55.1 Illustrations, appendices, bibliography, indexes, music examples. Forty-five years ago, Ruth Steiner published an article entitled "Some Questions about the Gregorian Offertories and Their Verses" (Journal of the American Musicological Society 19, no. 2 [Summer 1966]: 162-81). She delicately posed pointed questions about claims Willi Apel had made about offertories in his book Gregorian Chant (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1954). Steiner showed how, in using Karl Ott's unreliable edition of offertories, Apel's assessment about unusual notes and melodic characteristics, as well as his dating of the verses, could not be trusted. She wrote primarily "to point out some of the hazards in using ... editions lacking in critical apparatus" (Steiner, p. 181) but also, she emphasized, to stimulate new and more comprehensive inquires. With the publication of Rebecca Maloy's stunning new book, Inside the Offertory: Aspects of Chronology and Transmission, we have both a critical edition and an in-depth study of the genre that will stand as a monument of chant scholarship. In asking the most relevant questions about the offertories, her thoroughness and precision allow her to posit answers that reach beyond offertories to address some of the most fundamental questions about medieval liturgical song in general. Scholars have been fascinated by offertories in particular because of their unique characteristics. The origins of the genre are obscure, but by the time of the earliest notated manuscripts, we have, especially in the verses, some of the most magnificent chants in the whole repertory. Most chants had two or three verses that included very long melismas, extended ranges, as well as unusual melodic progressions. The verses, which were sung by soloists, began to be left out of manuscripts during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. Offertories, along with other categories of chants, have been preserved in distinct regional "dialects" that belie a common origin, but show considerable variation. The majority of surviving manuscripts copied north of the Alps transmit what is commonly called the "Gregorian" repertory, while five manuscripts with notated music from Rome from the eleventh to the thirteenth centuries comprise what has been dubbed the "Old Roman" (or simply "Roman") repertory. Other chant dialects also existed, but the most fundamental questions for chant scholarship in the last sixty years or so revolve around the relationships between the Gregorian and Roman traditions, namely, where did the chant come from, and how was it transmitted to produce two such distinct yet related repertories? The offertories provide a particularly useful lens to examine these larger issues, and Maloy's extensive, painstaking research has provided a clearer picture of the possibilities, including some evocative new hypotheses. In her first chapter, she lays out her methodology, looking first at some key historical and liturgical records (Carolingian chronicles, Ordo Romanus I, etc.). The principal evidence in exploring the early history of the offertories, aside from scattered liturgical references, is found in the texts themselves, the Gregorian and Roman sources with musical notation from roughly the tenth to the thirteenth centuries, and the sources from other dialects, principally Milanese and old-Hispanic. Three core questions she explores in the monograph are: what are the relationships between Gregorian and Roman offertories and which dialect more closely resembles the eighth-century prototype for the two dialects?; what types of musical and textual evidence can shed light on the genre's origin and chronology?; and what can we learn of the origins of solo verses? In chapter 2 Maloy examines the offertory texts to determine origins. Her analysis reveals how complex, multilayered, and nuanced are the matrices of sources, interpretations, and hypotheses. …


This is a case study in Fujian province after tenure reformation,the topics is about how the government,society and market work well so as to provide good and enough forest services for forest farmer.Two results achieved in this survey.First,farmer's need for forest services.Second,farmer's recognition to the three main services suppliers:government,society and market.A new forest service supplying model is constructed in this paper,as well.Finally,this paper gives a proposed framework for forest service providing after the tenure reformation.


In order to study the bearing behavior and soil-squeezing of jacked piles in stiff clay, two groups of pile penetration tests were performed, with a rough pile that can reproduce the quick-shear behavior of the pile–soil interface, i.e., group 1 in stiffer clay, and group 2 in softer clay for comparison. For each group, the adjacent pile was additionally penetrated at different pile spacings to study the soil-squeezing effect on an adjacent pile. The results show that the penetration resistance increased rapidly at the beginning and then increased at a lower rate. This is because the resistance at the pile end increased rapidly at the beginning and then kept stable with fluctuations, whereas the resistance at the pile side continually increased due to the increasing contact area. Therefore, the ratio of the resistance at the pile end to the total penetration resistance exhibited a softening behavior, which first increased to a peak and then gradually decreased. In addition, there was soil-squeezing stress and soil-squeezing displacement in the ground and adjacent piles due to pile penetration. In stiffer clay, the soil-squeezing stress was larger than that in softer clay due to the higher strength, whereas the soil-squeezing displacement was smaller than that in softer clay due to the low compressibility. In addition, the nonlinear equation form y = ae−bx can be employed to describe the effect of pile spacing on the vertical flotation, horizontal deviation, and pile strain of the adjacent pile.


The problem of this study was to plan and articulate an industrial arts program for the elementary school, K-3, To do so, two questions were resolved in the study; to identify a base or rationale for developing the program and to identify the content of such a program. Initially, a rationale for an industrial arts program in the elementary school was developed founded upon the four bases of the curriculum. These included: social forces, the nature of knowledge, the nature of learning and human develop ment. It was found that a study of industrial arts in the elementary school could be substantiated and, furthermore, that the content orientation of such a study must revolve about technology. Throughout the remainder of the study, Sarapin's Formative Evaluation Procedural Model (1977) was utilized to specifiy the content of an industrial arts program in the elementary school. Goals, objectives, and instructional materials for the program were first assembled by a four-member Development Committee and then evaluated by a ten-member Expert Review Committee. The instructional materials were then partially field tested in an elementary school.


including president. Now I want to draw attention to the fact that ACM will be 70 years old in 2017. It is not too early to being thinking about how we might usefully recognize this milestone. We had a remarkable celebration we called ACM 1 in 1997 as we reached the 50 year of our existence and while 70 is not the same as, say, 100, it is a significant moment and worthy of some serious thought. Such moments encourage all of us to think about what we want to achieve in the future, even as we look back on the many years of our existence and accomplishments. One immediate thought is to try to compose a list of, say, 25 problems in computer science that remain unsolved—rather like David Hilbert's 23 problems in mathematics published in 1900. What might be on our list? I am not sure how to formulate this, but one thing on my list is to ask whether we can ever get to the point where we can write bug-free code in a reliable fashion! There are other questions having to do with computability and computer design. Will new machine architectures permit some form of computation that goes beyond the reach of the Turing Machine? Are there limits to quantum computation? Scott Aaronson tackles that question in a 2008 Scientific American article. What do we not know about the fundamentals of computation and pro-


Detection of differentially expressed (DE) genes across conditions within RNA-Seq datasets yields insight into the differences in biological processes at work in these conditions. Most methods available for discovering DE genes use statistical methods that model the data based on counting reads that map to individual genes. However, the distribution of reads across different regions of a gene can be heterogeneous. Summarizing reads at the gene level may provide inaccurate results. If genes are broken down into smaller regions, such as exons or even smaller fragments, and DE analysis is performed on those regions, the significance of the overall region can be determined using combined p-values which may improve the accuracy of detecting DE genes. We therefore conducted analysis to consider the performance of widely-used methods for combining p-values using publicly available RNA-Seq data. The combined p-value methods include: Fisher's, Z-transform, Weighted Z-test, Minimum P-value, Logit, and Weighted-sum methods. On liver and kidney data, the Weighted Z-test performs the best, detecting the highest number of truly DE genes. The effect of weights assigned in the Weighted Z-test enables this approach to outperform Fisher's method. On the MAQC datasets, our analysis indicates these methods perform similarly with a slight edge to the Weighted Z-test and Fisher's method in detecting true DE genes. However, the Weighted-sum clearly performs best in detecting true non-DE genes. Furthermore, these methods appear to have an inverse relationship in their performance in detecting DE genes versus non-DE genes in the MAQC datasets. These results indicate issues in properly combining high and low p-values, which may be due to a lack of independence between tests. Thus, a modified Fisher's method may provide more accurate results in these circumstances.


This paper attempts to bring new women in Manju Kapur's A Married Woman taking into account the hopefulness and frustration in domestic life. With diverse cultures, histories, and distinct forms of ethics and values, the women's question, despite essential solidarity, needs to be tackled about the socio-cultural circumstances. The lives of women who survived and struggled under the suppressive mechanism of a restricted society can be manifested in the novels of Kapur. She has written fiction focusing on the predicament of contemporary women particularly in their struggle for empowerment and independence from the male- chauvinistic social structure. Now "Woman Question" is no longer a problem limited to the condition of women within the family or their rights to equality with men in different facets of social life. It is part of the total, far broader question considering the direction of change that Indian society is making - social, political, economic, and the intellectual viewpoint and examination of that process.


The current research compares two conditions of L2 vocabulary learning, i.e. explicit teaching and incidental learning. Forty-five female participants, majoring in English at Alimam Mohammad Ibn-Saud Islamic University, Saudi Arabia, took part in this research. They were divided into two groups: read plus (RP) and read only (RO). Three levels of vocabulary knowledge (form recall, meaning recall, and meaning recognition) were assessed. The results showed that both conditions cater for vocabulary learning, however the RP group had significantly outperformed their RO counterparts. Moreover, the results showed that vocabulary learning in this study followed the general tendency starting from a receptive level to a productive level. Finally, the results of the current study confirmed what Sonbul and Schmitt (2010) have arrived at. Key words: vocabulary knowledge, vocabulary learning, explicit (direct) teaching, incidental learning, attrition, retention.


Septic arthritis of the shoulder or an infected arthroplasty are rare events, but when they do occur present difficult clinical challenges. Little can be found in the existing literature to provide guidance in managing these problems. Certainly early signs of infection are best treated aggressively with irrigation, debridement and appropriate intravenous antibiotic therapy. Early aggressive management can sometimes prevent formal septic arthritis, when a prosthetic implant is well seated may preclude development of deep infection and need for removal. However, in the face of definitive septic arthritis or sepsis around a prosthetic shoulder implant, aggressive debridement including removal of infected bone, cartilage, and complete removal of prosthetic implants and cement has been shown to be the most reliable means of eradicating infection. Unfortunately, the resultant void leaves the patient with a fairly useless shoulder. Treatment options historically have included resection arthroplasty, late arthrodesis and more recently late attempts at prosthetic reconstruction. Eight patients have been treated with staged exchange prosthetic replacement utilising tobramycin impregnated methacrylate spacers, shaped and fitted to the patient's anatomy at the time of extensive debridement. Intravenous antibiotic therapy followed for a minimum of three months. At the end of six months the patients were evaluated for any clinical or laboratory signs of infection. When none were encountered, exchange prosthetic reconstruction was performed utilising standard implants fixed with antibiotic impregnated methyl methacrylate cement. There were three primary infections, (one following rotator cuff surgery) and five patients with infected total shoulder or hemiarthroplasties. Organisms included staph aureus in six patients and staph epidermatitis in two. No organism was methacillin resistant. Three patients had a revision to a total shoulder arthroplasty while five underwent hemiarthroplasty of the humerus with local capsular flap fascial covering of the glenoid. All eight patients demonstrated substantial pain relief and improvement in function. Motion in all cases was significantly limited with total overhead elevation averaging approximately 70° with only one patient achieving 120°. Staged exchange prosthetic replacement of the shoulder appears to be a satisfactory salvage procedure for managing sepsis both primarily and following shoulder arthroplasty with evidence of good pain relief but with significant limitations in motion and strength.