Bottom horizontal velocity asymmetry and the resultant bottom sediment motion on the leeside of a submerged breakwater are examined. The laboratory tests are conducted with regular and irregular waves. In general the net bottom transport for the tested conditions is directed towards the shore behind the submerged breakwater. The sediment transport here is found to depend on the types of waves, whether they are regular or irregular, their height and the water level variation over the submerged breakwater. The use of irregular waves, which are closer to the real sea conditions, is recommended in similar investigations, as the information obtained from irregular and regular waves are different. The conditional total impulses method suggested by Longinov is found to be an effective tool in assessing the direction and intensity of net bottom water particle motion and the sediment transport. I {, I I 'f Offshore breakwaters are increasingly used for the protection of natural and artificial beaches 102. Submerged offshore breakwaters are proved to have some definite advantages over the subaerial ones2• The function of these breakwaters in the rebuilding of the beach depends on the wave kinematics in the leeside of the structure. The process of beach-building is directly related to the sediment dynamics, which depends mainly on the maximum horizontal velocities generated by waves in the bottom boundary layer of the nearshore zone. In relatively deep water the shoreward and seaward components of the bottom velocities 'are equal. But in finite depth the waves become asymmetrical3, the crests of the wave profile becoming shorter and higher than the troughs. For the corresponding horizontal velocities, those under the crests are higher than under the troughs and the duration of crests are shorter than that of troughs. Asymmetry of waves and their bottom velocities on open beaches are studied in the field by Longinov3 and in the laboratory by Volkov4, Adeyem05, etc. All these works are intended to determine the bottom horizontal velocities and their asymmetry up to the breaking point. But by the construction of a submerged breakwater the waves are subjected to immature breaking on it, causing considerable changes in the wave and bottom velocity field behind the structure. Hence the theories put forward for the prediction of bottom velocities for open beaches are not applicable in this case. The kinematic structure of waves behind submerged structures especially at the bottom boundary layer has received very little attention4,6. Wave action is always irregular in the field and for majority of the coasts the water level fluctuates due to tides. Studies on the influence of irregular waves and tidal water level variations on the bottom velocities behind a submerged breakwater are totally missing in literature. Hence the present study looks into these 2 aspects for the assessment of beach building ability of a submerged breakwater.


Author to whom correspondence should be addressed: email@example.com ABSTRACT Rutherford scattering formula plays an important role in plasma classical transport. It is urgent to need a magnetized Rutherford scattering formula since the magnetic field increases significantly in different fusion areas (e.g. tokamak magnetic field, self-generated magnetic field, and compressed magnetic field). The electron-ion Coulomb collisions perpendicular to the external magnetic field are studied in this paper. The scattering angle is defined according to the electron trajectory and asymptotic line (without magnetic field). A magnetized Rutherford scattering formula is obtained analytically under the weak magnetic field approximation. It is found that the scattering angle decreases as external magnetic field increases. It is easy to find the scattering angle decreasing significantly as incident distance, and incident velocity increasing. It is shown that the theoretical results agree well with numerical calculation by checking the dependence of scattering angle on external magnetic field.


Pressure maintenance by waterflooding in some reservoirs may be considered essential for satisfactory oil recovery. The main objective of waterflooding is to place water into a rock formation at both the desired rate and pressure with minimal expense and trouble. This objective, however, cannot be achieved unless this water has certain characteristics. The water, therefore, should be treated and conditioned before injection. This study addresses the treatment phases adopted to improve seawater quality before injection, and to control problems associated with untreated seawater. Also discussed are GUPCO'S (Gulf of Suez Petroleum Co.) experience in seawaterfloods, problems encountered, and corrective actions taken to overcome these problems. The chemical treatment programs adopted are presented along with final conclusions and recommendations that can be applied to similar floods in Egypt with (Gulf of Suez) GOS. 47 refs.


The purpose of this study were to (1) Measuring the effectiveness of promotional products Molto Ultra Sekali Bilas conducted by Unilever in terms of water saving campaign based on the model of innovation adoption, (2) Analyzing the factors that play a role in product innovation adoption process Molto Ultra Sekali Bilas, and (3) Analyzing the categories of product innovation adopters Molto Ultra Sekali Bilas.
Design on this research is descriptive method through a survey approach and in-depth interviews using a questionnaire. Data and information obtained from the research are described by objective research. The sampling method that is used in this study based on multistage random sampling method. Total 120 respondents participated ini this survey. This survey is based on AIDA model and Adoption Innovation Model. Descriptive analysis and Partial Least Square (PLS) were used to analyze the data.
The results of this research showed that the promotion Molto Ultra Sekali Bilas of water-saving behavior is effective. This is showed in adoption dimension, 51,6% of respondents answer E29 indicator (after I use the product Molto Ultra Sekali Bilas, I reduced the quantity of water (3 bucket into 1 bucket)), and 72,5% answer E30 indicator (After using the product Molto Ultra Sekali Bilas I got used to save water in daily life) with 3 to 5 Likert scale ranges.
The attitude of the respondents when they saw the promotion of water savings Molto Ultra Sekali Bilas are divided into several sections. In the amount of 48.33% of respondents classified as early majority that are having the attitude to have some consideration, then buy the product Molto Ultra Sekali Bilas.


targeting of MLK3* Yan Du, Barbara C. Böck, Karen A. Schachter, Mary Chao, Kathleen A. Gallo¶ From the Departments of Physiology, of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, and the Cell and Molecular Biology Program, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan 48824 Running Title: Cdc42-induced phosphorylation and membrane targeting of MLK3 # Present address: German Cacner Research Center, Molecular Neuro-Oncology, Heidelberg, Germany ¶ Address correspondence to: Kathleen A. Gallo, Dept. of Physiology, 4180 Biomedical and Physical Sciences Building, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824. Tel.: 517-3556475 x1159; Fax: 517-355-5125, E-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com


We show that, for each 0 < α < ω1, in the αth class in the Baire classification of Borel measurable real functions defined on some uncountable Polish space there is a function which cannot be expressed as a countable union of functions which are (on their domains) in the αth class in Sierpinski's classification. This, in particular, solves positively a problem of Kempisty who asked whether for 1 < α < ω1 the αth Baire and Sierpinski classes are different. We also show that, for every α, in the αth class of Sierpinski's classification there is a function which cannot be expressed as a countable union of functions each of which is on its domain in one of the two αth classes of Young's classification (we refer here to the classical numbering of Baire's, Young's and Sierpinski's classes and not to the one used in the paper).


Abstract : Prior to 11 September 2001, the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) posed a serious threat to Central Asian stability. The IMU, a militant fundamentalist Islamic group, declared that its goal was to overthrow the Central Asian governments and establish an Islamic state. By 2001, the IMU, supported by Al Qaeda and the Taliban, was capable of destabilizing Central Asia. Following the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001 on the United States (US), the US fought against the Taliban and Al Qaeda in Afghanistan. In order to prosecute the conflict, the US gained the support of and deployed forces to some of the Central Asian states. This thesis question explores the effect that the post 11 September 2001 US involvement in Central Asia had on the IMU. The thesis concludes that the IMU was devastated by the US intervention while the Central Asian states were substantially strengthened. This created a window of opportunity for the Central Asian governments to resolve Islamic fundamentalist unrest in Central Asia. Should these governments support religious freedoms and political and economic reform, this would undercut the IMU popular support. If there is no change in government policies, the IMU will likely transform into an Al Qaeda-like organization and resume its efforts to destabilize Central Asia.


Dissolution rate of AlPO4 powder with different modifications in aqueous suspension containing H-R , strongly acidic Hformed ion exchange resin, was investigated as a function of suspension concentration, temperature and stirring speed. Dis solution of BaSO4 powder was carried out under the similar experimental conditions, for comparison. Fractional dissolution was calculated from the analytical result of liberated amounts of PO43and SO42brought about by the cation exchange reac tion. The results obtained were summarized as follows: (1) Well-crystallized quartz-type AlPO4 (b-AlPO4) did not dissolve appreciably, whereas cristobalite-type AlPO4 (cAlPO4), heat-treated sample of b-AlPO4, dissolved considerably for its metastability. (2) Dissolution of AlPO4 did not so accelerated by suspension concentration as compared with BaSO4. (3) Dissolution tendency of both AlPO4 and BaSO4 increased with increasing temperature. (4) Stirring increased the collision frequency between sample powder and H-R particle to enhance the dissolution rate, in general, as shown in BaSO4. However, the increase in stirring speed hinders the dissolution tendency of AlPO4 because of slow exchange reaction at the collision interface. [Received September 6, 1988; Accepted October 21, 1988]


Managing closet has long been a problem especially in today's world where people are always in hurry and most of the time, end up choosing to wear the same dressing styles or the same piece of clothes. In addition, we also notice that people tend to stick with one or two dressing style and buy new clothes that are very similar to the ones they already have. This usually results in a huge waste of time and money. Our team sees such the problems and proposes to develop the Smart Closet Application to help people efficiently manage their closet, easily keep track the clothes in the closet, and effectively utilize their closet inventories. Smart Closet Application allows you to store your closet directly in your smart phone. User can add his/her own clothes and accessories into the Smart Closet system. By using this application, user can mix and match his/her personal clothes, and accessories from head to toes. The unique feature of the Smart closet application is that it can keep statistics of clothes and accessories that are frequently used and suggest the dressing style based on what is learned from the past statistics. Furthermore, this application can give suggestion on appropriate dressing styles for current weather condition and special occasions.


Organisations and their activities are largely controlled by different types of rules. Rules can have particular importance for organisational collaborations, for example in healthcare, in which negative effects of rules at different levels are identified. Rules have interdependencies with other rules, forming rule networks, which may be examined using systems and organisation theory. Rules can also be modelled through enterprise modelling. However, present models seem to have limited support for representing rule networks and understanding the emergence of unforeseen and undesired effects on the boundaries of the action space of collaborating organisational units. This gap will be addressed through the design of a modelling language with an accompanying method and tools, using Design Science Research.


Insurers and health plans have seen business grow in recent years, benefiting from changes in Medicare and efforts to expand health coverage. With health policy in the center of the 2008 U.S. political debate, healthcare costs, benefits and access will be in the spotlight, along with a host of issues for managed care executives to deal with.


This document provides definitions and metrics of building geometry for use in building energy evaluation. Building geometry is an important input in the analysis process, yet there are no agreed-upon standard definitions of these terms for use in energy analysis. The metrics can be used for characterizing building geometry, for calculating energy performance metrics, and for conducting energy simulations.


CEMENT MORTARS AND CONCRETES CONTAINING SURFACE ACTIVE AGENTS WHICH ARE AN INTERMEDIATE PRODUCT FROM THE FABRICATION OF CELLULOSE OUT OF STRAW HAVE BEEN TESTED. THE EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS FROM THE INVESTIGATION OF THREE TYPES OF CEMENT HAVE BEEN REPRESENTED. THE FOLLOWING QUALITIES HAVE BEEN STUDIED: COMPRESSIVE STRENGTH, TENSILE-STRENGTH, BENDING STRENGTH, SHRINKAGE, ELASTIC MODULUS, WATER- TIGHTNESS AND RESISTANCE TO FROST. IT HAS BEEN PROVED THAT THE SURFACE ACTIVE AGENT OFFERS ECONOMIES OF CEMENT AND IMPROVES THE WORKABILITY AND THE RESISTANCE TO FROST, WITHOUT WORSENING THE OTHER PHYSICAL AND MECHANICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE MORTARS AND CONCRETES. /CRIC/FESR/ LCPC/RRL/A/


The 6-311G(d,p) and SDD basis sets have been used to calculate the vibration frequencies, and the DFT/B3LYP approach was used to optimize the structure. The energy gap of the molecule has been calculated using the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) with the highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO). The stability and charge delocalization of the Title molecule have been investigated using natural bond orbital (NBO) analysis. The dipole moment, polarizability, and first-order hyperpolarizability, as well as the molecular electrostatic potentially (MEP) and thermodynamic features, have been used to compute the nonlinear optical (NLO) behavior of the title molecule. The Schrödinger program was used to conduct molecular docking works to determine information about the interactions between the AChE and BChE enzymes and the chemical. In addition, a molecular docking study was analyzed for compounds PEP with AChE and BChE synthase binding protenins (PDB:4M0E) and (PDB:6SAM) using the Discovery Studio 2021 Client program. Compound AChE showed -7.105 kcal/mol while compounds BChE showed a inding score of -7.784 kcal/mol.


The evolution of the ICT beyond contributing of the costs reduction in the organizations, also have promoted a group of facilities to share information and knowledge. For some authors the internet has a second generation, Web 2.0. On the other hand, the resources of this new generation can contribute to improve the organization processes of creation and share knowledge. In this scenario, it was investigated how the Brazilian organizations are exploring new resources as blog, wiki, social network, multimedia sharing and others to support the knowledge management. This investigation was developed based on a survey in eighty-four Brazilians companies of different economic sectors and sizes. An extensive analysis of the results demonstrates the main used resources and the purposes of use and the evaluation about the importance degree of the resources to improve the knowledge management. Finally, it was noted that the organizations already are using Web 2.0 to encourage the KM.


By Bm N S. Bin L AND IRvIN N. KUHN A FORM OF HEMOLYTIC ANEMIA characterized by thrombocytopenia and the presence of fragmented red cells in the peripheral blood has been called microangiopathic hemolytic anemia by Brain, Dacie and Hourihane.' These workers showed that in this disease the amount of hemoglobinemia and the degree of erythrocyte fragmentation correlated closely with the severity of microangiopathy. This microangiopathy, most prominent in the kidneys, was characterized by fibrinoid necrosis of the arterioles, necrotizing arteritis, and the presence of intraluminal hyalin thrombi. When intravascular coagulation is precipitated in animals under appropriate experimental conditions, fragmented erythrocytes and a microangiopathy are produced.24 The tissue from these experiments provides strong evidence that erythrocyte fragments or schistocytes result when rapidly moving red cells encounter fine fibrin strands. Acute defibrination in animals initially causes the formation of large numbers of microclots composed of very fine fibrin strands. Subsequently a microangiopathy results, with similar histology to that found in postmortem kidney sections of patients who, during life, exhibited the classical symptoms of microangiopathic hemolytic anemia. Despite this considerable body of evidence incriminating fine fibrin strands as the major etiologic factor in schistocyte production, these strands are rarely observed postmortem in humans. Bull and Brain in a study of experimental models of microangiopathic hemolytic anemia suggested that the fine fibrin strands, being the most delicate of the clot components, would be the first to undergo lysis at death.5 The patient herein described suffered from severe microangiopathic hemolytic anemia during life and at death his vasculature contained large numbers of microclots composed of fine fibrin strands. This case is presented in some detail because it documents the essential identity of the pathogenesis of microangiopathic hemolytic anemia in man with the hemolytic anemia that accompanies induced intravascular coagulation in animals.


Robotic manipulators navigating cluttered shelves or cabinets may find it challenging to avoid contact with obstacles. Indeed, rearranging obstacles may be necessary to access a target. Rather than planning explicit motions that place obstacles into a desired pose, we suggest allowing incidental contacts to rearrange obstacles while monitoring contacts for safety. Bypassing object identification, we present a method for categorizing object motions from tactile data collected from incidental contacts with a capacitive tactile skin on an Allegro Hand. We formalize tactile cues associated with categories of object motion, demonstrating that they can determine with > 90% accuracy whether an object is movable and whether a contact is causing the object to slide stably (safe contact) or tip (unsafe).


Short bowel syndrome (SBS) is primarily characterized by malabsorption and malnutrition, resulting from loss of intestinal absorptive area following massive small bowel resection (SBR). Bile acids and the gut microbiota are functionally linked within the gut‐liver axis; however, SBS‐associated disturbances within the gut‐liver axis remain largely unexplored. The aim of this study was to characterize the evolution of bile acid alterations within the gut‐liver axis at both short‐term and long‐term time points and to relate these changes to alterations in colonic bacterial composition.


Cinefluorography and videofluorography were used to record and analyze functional swallowing deficits of 12 dogs with spontaneously occurring oropharyngeal dysphagias and six experimental dogs with selected neurectomies. Ten of the 12 dogs had dysphagias affecting the cricopharyngeal stage of the oropharyngeal phase of swallowing. Two dogs had mixed oropharyngeal dysphagias. Clinical signs of cricopharyngeal dysphagia could not be differentiated from those of dysphagias due to pharyngeal or mixed oropharyngeal deficits. Signs of cricopharyngeal dysphagia consisted of: 1) repeated attempts to swallow; 2) excessive head movement; 3) dropping food from the mouth after unsuccessful swallowing attempts; 4) reingestion of dropped food. Nine of these dogs had cinefluorographic evidence of asynchrony between the normal pharyngeal contraction and relaxation, and subsequent cricopharyngeal relaxation and contraction. Only one dog demonstrated a consistent cricopharyngeal non-opening (achalasia). Seven of the dogs responded dramatically to cricopharyngeal myotomy. Two dogs with mixed oropharyngeal dysphagias had poor contractility of the pharyngeal muscles in addition to cricopharyngeal dysphagia. Clinical and cinefluorographic evaluation following cricopharyngeal myotomy of one dog verified exacerbation of functional deficits due to the iatrogenic cricopharyngeal chalasia. Esophagopharyngeal reflux accentuated the contrast medium retention in the pharynx and laryngotracheal aspiration. The need was stressed for careful differentiation between cricopharyngeal dysphagia and dysphagias involving the pharyngeal stage. Four experimental dogs with selective bilateral neurectomies of branches of the glossopharyngeal (IX) and vagus (X) nerves were evaluated clinically and cinefluorographically in an attempt to identify the pathogenesis of cricopharyngeal dysphagia. The variable results in the four dogs and the observed recovery in two dogs suggested that peripheral motor nerve deficits are not a major cause of cricopharyngeal dysphagia. Glossopharyngeal neurectomy in two dogs induced a profound functional disorder involving the pharyngeal and cricopharyngeal stages and the esophageal phase of swallowing. This would support a new hypothesis that the glossopharyngeal nerve is sensory to the esophagus as well as the pharynx, and may play a major role in disorders of the pharynx, upper esophageal sphincter, and esophagus, including congenital or acquired megaesophagus.


national air quality policies have afforded the state the opportunity to develop stricter state-specific policies, most recently undertaken in the California Clean Air Act of 1988, a primary feature of which is mandating the manufacture and sale of ultra low and zero-emission vehicles in California. Other national and state laws, especially those focused on transportation, also sought to improve air quality. California thus provides an excellent location within which to analyze the variety of policy approaches to improving air quality. One strength of Professor Grant's volume is its ambitious breadth. Policies intended to improve air quality interact with other policies, are very expensive, can depress or stimulate state and regional economies, test capacity to overcome the political and agency fragmentation characteristic of our nation, and seek to change living, working, and travel behaviors of great importance to individuals and firms. Any simple understanding of the dynamics involved is very likely to be wrong, and any single, simple policy initiative is likely to fail to be implemented and to be thwarted. This volume should find use in classes on policymaking, planning, urban politics, public administration, and environmental studies as a "reality test case" against which theories, policy instruments, and analysis tools could be tested. Professor Grant relies primarily on a "policy communities" approach to analysis. Its strengths are organizing multiple interests and agendas involved in air quality policies into categories whose membership and goals persist over time. To overcome possible static biases in this approach, he also discusses both the advocacy coalition approach of Sabatier and Jenkins-Smith's (1993) Policy Change and Learning: An Advocacy Coalition Approach and the streams approach of Kingdon's (1984) Agendas, Alternatives and Public Policies. However, these approaches are not fully employed even though they could have proven useful, especially in analysis of the impact of events external to air quality policy and of efforts by interests to shift policy choice to favored arenas. For example, the recession in California in the early 1990s encouraged curbing of the powers of the South Coast Air Quality Management District, and automobile manufacturers, electric utilities, and environmentalists all seek to control arenas of policy choice. Finally, this analysis serves to crystallize two major challenges to democracy embedded in environmental policy choices. The first is how to integrate or make trade-offs among different policy goals. The second is how to avoid having critical policies made by technical elites with limited political accountability whose actions can erode citizens' accessibility to democratic participation in shaping their lives. Professor Grant laments the absence of attention to global warming among the California policymakers he interviewed, observing that EU directives on air quality are forcing this issue in Europe (although compliance by member states varies, with Britain resisting policies that are not cost-effective or that are too constraining of its economy). He also finds the existence of direct democracy via the initiative in California to be troubling. Why would we want to design policymaking institutions that make trade-offs among different goals difficult and that routinely reduce political accountability and reduce opportunities for citizenship? Yet these are exactly the dynamics underlying most policymaking regarding environmental and species protection polices. Even achieving environmental goals is threatened by current approaches, as has effectively been argued in the recent analysis of the EPA by the National Academy of Public Administration's (1995) Setting Priorities, Getting Results: A New Direction of EPA. Yankelovich's (1991) Coming to Public Judgement advances a convincing argument for the centrality of citizens in effective democracy. This volume is very useful for understanding air quality policymaking; it is much less useful in suggesting how the current system of such policymaking could be improved.


In the creative legacy left by the founders of Marxism-Leninism, there are a number of specific works and highly significant statements about the War of 1812—what caused it, its purpose, the major events and personages, its results, consequences, and importance. There are, in particular, special works like Barclay de Tolly by K. Marx and F. Engels and Borodino by Engels. Also extremely important are methodological assessments of the War of 1812 in Marx's cycle of articles entitled Revolutionary Spain [Revoliutsionnaia Ispaniia] (the second article being of particular interest to us), Engels's work The Foreign Policy of Russian Tsarism [Vneshniaia politika russkogo tsarizma], and in three works by V.I. Lenin, "On Iunius's Pamphlet" [O broshiure Iuniusa], "Impending Disaster and How To Deal With It" [Groziashchaia katastrofa i kak s nei borot'sia], and "Unhappy Peace" [Neschastnyi mir].


【Task】 A Vascular site of a human or animal patient (e.g., an aneurysm) and assembly for closing and a vaso-occlusive member, a distal end, a separable joint located at the proximal side of the distal end It comprises a pusher member, and a rotatable coupling for connecting the pushing member to the closure member having. By cutting the separable joint, since separating the vaso-occlusive member from the extrusion member, it takes proximally in the axial direction force by vascular occlusion member, bending the rotatable coupling, axial force is displaced laterally. Wherein said axial displacement in the transverse direction of the force generated by bending of the rotatable coupling, the delivery catheter, the force of the axial direction, preventing the offset from the aneurysm neck. .FIELD 1


In view of the bilingual teaching of the course of Synopsis of Water Engineering,this paper introduces the establishment of the bilingual teaching system of the course,and discusses the bilingual teaching methods of the course.The results of the teaching practice show that the bilingual teaching of the course of Synopsis of Water Engineering is feasible.It achieves the teaching goals of the basic specialized course,improves the students' level and ability of using professional English and enhances their interdisciplinary ability with a specialized knowledge of engineering technology.


The Pearl River Delta region in south China has experienced dramatic economic development, industrialization and urbanization since the late 1970s. Foreign investment, especially the capital from Hong Kong, has been one of the major driving forces underlying the process. The spatial concentration/diffusion of foreign investment in a region also has important bearing on the balanced/unbalanced urban and regional development. This issue remains unexamined and critical analysis is needed to unveil the spatial impacts of foreign direct investment (FDI) activities in China. This paper will focus on the Pearl River Delta region to examine the spatial diffusion and the determinants of foreign investment. The diffusion of foreign investment from the provincial capital, Guangzhou and two special economic zones near Hong Kong to surrounding areas is clearly identified. The diffusion is the result of the widespread implementation of open-door policy in the region and significant improvement in infrastructure. Four models of foreign investment are developed to explain the spatial incidence of foreign investment in the region. The findings of this paper can shed light on the regional development process in China and other developing countries under the influence of foreign capital.


Silvestri, Stefano Ph.D., Purdue University, August 2019. The Dynamics of Semigroups of Contraction Similarities on the Plane. Major Professor: Rodrigo A. Pérez. Consider two objects associated to the Iterated Function System (IFS) {λz + 1, λz − 1}: the locus M of parameters λ ∈ D \ {0} for which the corresponding attractor is connected; and the locusM0 of parameters for which the related attractor contains 0. The setM can also be characterized as the locus of parameters for which the attractor of the IFS {λz + 1, λz, λz − 1} contains 1/λ. Exploiting the asymptotic similarity ofM andM0 with the respective associated attractors, we give sufficient conditions on λ ∈ ∂M or ∂M0 to guarantee it is accessible (not buried). Moreover, for a specific parameter λ ∈ ∂M∩∂M0 we describe a method to show it is accessible from the connected component of D \M containing the origin.


The number of bilateral nuclear cooperation agreements surged during the "nuclear renaissance" of the past decade. This proliferation is only partially explained by the prevailing approaches that focus on strategic imperatives. To supplement these explanations, this study draws on neoliberal models of economic competition to posit that bilateral agreement negotiations also exhibit conditions of "uncoordinated interdependence" and maneuvering to gain market share. Case evidence suggests the contours of supplier state bids for civilian assistance are determined at least as much by considerations about economic competition as they are by positive strategic goals. In addition, this study identifies several cases of cooperation where there appears to be little or no strategic motive for export agreements. The study concludes that patterns of economic competition and the influence of peers in defined competitive spaces alter material payoffs and impact policies. It also identifies a surprising role for principled restraint in dampening strategic and economic competition in some dyads.


Abstract: Genetically modified organisms (GMOs) are controversial. The presence of GMOs or derived products in food is regulated and foods, feeds and seeds are routinely tested for the presence of GMOs to reveal non-compliance with authorization and labeling regulations. The number and diversity of GMOs developed and commercialized is rapidly increasing. Foods are also often composed of ingredients from several species. These are just two of the factors responsible for the complexity of possible scenarios involving GMOs that analysts and other stakeholders in the food supply chain are facing, as the case studies in this chapter show.


One quorum sensing strain was isolated from spoiled turbot. The species was determined by 16S rRNA gene analysis and classical tests, named Aeromonas sobria AS7. Quorum-sensing (QS) signals (N-acyl homoserine lactones (AHLs)) were detected by report strains and their structures were further determined by GC-MS. The activity changes of AHLs on strain growth stage as well as the influence of different culture conditions on secretion activity of AHLs were studied by the punch method. The result indicated that strain AS7 could induce report strains to produce typical phenotypic response. N-butanoyl-dl-homoserine lactone (C4–HSL), N-hexanoyl-dl-homoserine lactone (C6–HSL), N-octanoyl-dl-homoserine lactone (C8–HSL), N-decanoyl-dl-homoserine lactone (C10–HSL), N-dodecanoyl-dl-homoserine lactone (C12–HSL) could be detected. The activities of AHLs were density-dependent and the max secretion level was at pH 8, sucrose culture, 1% NaCl and 32 h, respectively. The production of siderophore in strain AS7 was regulated by exogenous C8–HSL, rather than C6–HSL. Exogenous C4–HSL and C8–HSL accelerated the growth rate and population density of AS7 in turbot samples under refrigerated storage. However, according to the total viable counts and total volatile basic nitrogen (TVB-N) values of the fish samples, exogenous C6–HSL did not cause spoilage of the turbot fillets. In conclusion, our results suggested that QS was involved in the spoilage of refrigerated turbot.


P2P software is widely used in networks.It is a very important issue that how to identify P2P data flows fast and effectively.The traditional P2P identification methods are not suitable to widely applied dynamic port and the content encryption.Combining with data mining classification,this paper proposes a new decision algorithm based on distance decision function according to the dynamic characteristics of P2P flows,including IP packets numbers,percent of UDP and link-numbers.The experiment results show that P2P data flows can be identified and predicated quickly and effectively using this algorithm,therefore P2P flows can be monitored.


.................................................................................................................................. iii OPSOMMING ................................................................................................................................ v STATEMENT REGARDING BURSARIES AND JOURNAL PUBLICATION ...................... viii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ........................................................................................................... ix TABLE OF CONTENTS ............................................................................................................... xi LIST OF FIGURES .................................................................................................................... xvii LIST OF TABLES ..................................................................................................................... xviii LIST OF ABBREVIATION ......................................................................................................... xx CHAPTER 1: General introduction and methodology ................................................................... 1 1.


When reporting after-tax non-GAAP earnings, firms need to adjust for the tax effects of non-GAAP exclusions. Since 2010, the SEC has issued two Compliance and Disclosure Interpretations (hereafter, C&DIs) which specifically require the tax effects of exclusions to be separately disclosed. In this study, we assemble a detailed hand-collected dataset of S&P 1500 firms to provide the first large-sample evidence on the reporting of the tax effects. We document three findings. First, echoing the SEC's concern, a significant proportion of non-GAAP reporting firms do not follow the C&DIs' guidelines (i.e., the tax effects of exclusions are not separately disclosed). Second, among firms that disclose the tax effects of exclusions, we find that managers opportunistically use the tax rate applied to non-GAAP exclusions (hereafter, TREx) to achieve after-tax earnings targets. Third, firm-reported non-GAAP earnings calculated using TREx are less persistent for future operating earnings and cash flows, as compared to non-GAAP earnings calculated using various benchmark tax rates. This finding suggests that the opportunistic use of TREx pollutes reported non-GAAP earnings and reduces its usefulness for predicting future earnings. Overall, our study sheds light on a specific channel through which firms use non-GAAP reporting to meet or beat earnings expectations.


Renewable thermal energy is a highly sought-after resource in many parts of the world, as a measure to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels and electric power as energy sources for space heating of buildings. Shallow geothermal energy is one of the preferred environmentally friendly thermal energy resources in Norway, where heat stored underground is utilized in conventional heat pump systems via 200-300 m deep boreholes. However, the underground space in our urban areas are under continuous development and puts increasing demand on both surface and sub-surface city planning. The public need for infrastructure tunnels, road or railway tunnels, is most often prioritized rather than development of geothermal systems. Tunnels can thus be a hurdle for the planning and further development of geothermal utilization in cities. In many European countries' tunnels are now increasingly considered as a source of thermal energy in their self. Large volumes of rock mass and groundwater are made available in tunnels and the tunnel can be "activated" for harnessing the heat energy within, so called Energy tunnels. The potential for utilizing geothermal energy from Norwegian tunnels via heat pump systems is now being investigated. The tunnels can be activated in several manners, where both passive closed loop systems or active open loop groundwater systems are the two main potential solutions. The applicability of incorporating these systems are here assessed for the Norwegian tunnel design and an initial view on the potential for utilizing our tunnel infrastructure is given. The potential thermal energy available in existing road and railway tunnels alone range in the several TWh scale if all tunnels are activated. The many thousands of kilometers of tunnels in Norway might thus become a future energy resource and a potential pathway to reach our climate goals and to increase the rate of energy transition to renewable energy sources.


Escherichia coli is one of the most commonly used hosts for recombinant protein production.Extracellular protein expression in E. coli,which is favored by its improved correct folding of target protein,reduced formation of inclusion bodies and simplified purification process,is attracting increasing attention.Among all the secretion systems of E. coli,the type Ⅰ secretion system has become one of the most popular secretion pathways due to its fast secretion speed,high expression ability and harmlessness to cell physiology.The components and mechanism of type Ⅰ pathway of E. coli and efficient strategies for enhancing secretion efficiency of recombinant protein are summarized, which provides the theoretical basis for production of recombinant protein.


In this work, we revisit the previously demonstrated experiment called the quantum delayed-choice experiment [Phys. Rev. Lett.107, 230406 (2011)PRLTAO0031-900710.1103/PhysRevLett.107.230406], which shows that it is possible to reveal the wave and particle nature of photons simultaneously. After discussing the main points of this paper concerning the fundamental aspect of wave-particle duality, we demonstrate theoretically that the same observation can be achieved by operating on the polarization state of a photon. For this purpose, we apply the same operators, except that they transform the polarization states, whereas mode operation was performed in the previous work.


Author(s): Estrada Bascunana, Carolina | Abstract: This paper presents the outcomes of a three-year doctoral investigation, in which the author examines stylistic and aesthetic trends in the performances of Granados, with the aim of producing a detailed and painstaking examination of the pianistic tradition inherited by the Spanish composer. The differing and equally convincing pianistic styles of Granados' followers call into question the validity of only one possible "authoritative" interpretation when approaching this particular performance tradition. The thorough analysis of Valses poeticos op.43 written by Granados allowed a closer look at performance practices of Granados and the musical tastes of his time. This early work is especially relevant due to the significant number of its original sources. This investigation has unearthed a treasure trove of new and detailed information about this wonderful pianistic legacy left by Granados, and the Catalan School of Piano Players. Furthermore, it raises questions about current performance practices and the stylistic validity that pianists might be able to give in their performances of Granados' works through a combined study of his manuscripts, pedagogical methods, recordings and performance tradition.


A fully coupled variational formulation has been presented for calculating the electric dipole hyperpolarizability (γ) of open and closed-shell atomic systems. For the Li sequence the open-shell formalism of Roothaan has been adopted. The sign of γ for ions of the Li sequence agree well with earlier results although the magnitude for Li atom is somewhat smaller. The value of γ for the Be atom has been found to agree fairly well with other results, both in the order of magnitude and sign, while for B+ and C++ the sign is found to be negative.


On the example of rivers on Altai-Sayansk highland by means of system and analytical modeling influence of arable lands agriculture on suspended substances drain is analysed. Quantitative dependences of drain on arable lands area in water collecting basins of rivers during the different periods of year are established. In winter low water the additive to a drain is proportional to this area, and in the rest time of year to the linear scale of arable lands. The universal imitating model of suspended substances drain, describing its seasonal and long-term dynamics on the basis of data on landscape structure and orography of river pools, the arable lands, average monthly air temperatures and monthly precipitation is developed. The model uses only cartographical and hydrometeorological information and is applicable for any river basins of the highland even in the absence of hydrochemical observation.


In recent years, worldwide there is a clear tendency of increasing the number of hepatobiliary diseases (DHBS). According to the data of research of the local pharmaceutical market for the treatment of liver and gallbladder diseases it was revealed that Ukrainian producers represent 34 % of the analyzed medicines. The most group represented consists of mono- and combined phytopreparations – 47 %. Among the plants that exhibit hepatoprotective, choleretic activity, the most common are artichoke (Cynara), Silybum marianum, Helichrysum arenarium. The ranking of the foreign countries which supply medicines of analyzed group to Ukrainian pharmaceutical market has revealed that the leaders in regards with medicines represented are the following: India (15 %), Germany (13 %) and Russian Federation (8 %). Among pharmaceutical forms the most represented are capsules (28 %), tablets (25%) and injection solutions (13 %). Such dosage form as a syrup is represented by the only drug that indicates the relevance of developing original medicine with combined effect.


Taking the factor devices, volumes, a pair of ink ribbon which is drawn from the first feed roller and second feed roller, a first feed roller and second feed roller for feeding an ink ribbon of a pair of passing an argument position the the first take-up roller and the second take-up roller, the first take-up roller and the second with a roller driving unit for rotating the take-up roller, and the roller drive section, and the axis of rotation is a single rotation driving device is rotatable in forward and reverse directions, a first take-up and the first transmission mechanism to transfer only forward rotation of the rotating shaft with respect to the roller, a second and a second transmission mechanism to deliver only the reverse rotation of the rotary shaft with respect to the take-up roller.


Anti-HMGCR+ IMNM is characterized by IgG antibodies against HMGCR and a strong association with HLA-DRB1* 11:01. Although this implicates HMGCR-specific CD4+ T cells in disease pathogenesis, no such cells have been identified thus far.
 Monocyte derived dendritic cells from 6 anti-HMGCR+ IMNM patients were incubated with HMGCR protein and presented peptides were identified using a natural antigen processing assay (NAPA). Briefly, HLA-DR/peptide complexes were isolated by immunoprecipitation and bound peptides were sequenced by mass spectrometry. HMGCR peptides corresponding to putative T cell epitopes were synthesized and used to stimulate peripheral blood mononuclear cells from: 10 anti-HMGCR+ IMNM patients, 10 dermatomyositis patients (DM), 5 HLA-DRB1* 11:01+ healthy controls (HC). HMGCR-reactive CD4+ T cells were identified by flow cytometry based on CD154 upregulation.
 A total of 7 different naturally processed HMGCR peptides were identified. The number of distinct peptides presented per patient ranged from 1 to 5, with 5 being presented by at least 2 patients. All HMGCR peptides elicited robust CD4+ T cell responses in 9/10 anti-HMGCR+ IMNM patients, compared to 4/10 DM patients (p=0.017), 1/5 of HC (p=0.0119). The anti-HMGCR+ IMNM patients responded to more epitopes (p=0.0163) and had higher total number of positive CD4+ T cell cells (p= 0.0001).
 Our findings represent the first report of antigen-specific CD4+ T cells in anti-HMGCR+ IMNM. Leveraging NAPA, we defined a core set of naturally presented HMGCR peptides defining precise immunologically relevant CD4+ T cell epitopes. Definition of these epitopes is key in understanding disease pathogenesis and will aid in the development of antigen-specific therapeutic tools.
 Supported by grants from Rheumatology Research Foundation and the Buck Foundation.


A dental filling resin composition comprising a reaction product between an aluminosilicate glass powder containing at least one element selected from Ca, Sr, and Ra and an organic acid containing one or more carboxyl groups in one molecule thereof, a methanol-insoluble polymer, a monomer containing at least one unsaturated double bond and having no acidic group, and a polymerization initiator, and optionally a filler. The dental filling resin composition of the invention has not only superior mechanical characteristics and esthetics but also an ability to release a fluorine ion and therefore, can be suitably used for a wide variety of clinical applications such as filling restoration of tooth, core construction, or sealing of pit and fissure.


Four groups of Passer montanus were domesticated under different temperature (5 ℃ and 25 ℃) and photoperiod (16L∶8D and 8L∶16D) for four weeks,and their digestive tract morphology with body mass as the covariate was analyzed by the covariance with two-factors temperature and photoperiod and with single factor within groups,and by the Tukey's HSD multicomparison. The decrease of temperature or the shortening of photoperiod made the length of digestive tract increased significantly,and vice versa. Temperature had significant effects on the dry mass of digestive tract,and its interaction with photoperiod affected the net fresh mass of digestive tract and the dry mass of digestive organs significantly. The total length of digestive tract and the length of digestive organs except large intestine,as well as the total mass of digestive tract and the mass of digestive organs,had significant differences among the groups. All the results suggested that different temperature and photoperiod induced the changes in the structure and function of digestive tract,which was closely related to the energy demand of the individuals,and their responses to the environmental stresses.


The primary purpose of this study was to explore how food dealers develop methods that facilitate transaction efficiency and how they select the optimal food channels. This study establishes a model according to the impact of transaction cost factors on consumers' decision-making regarding purchase of fresh snack foods. Using fresh snack foods in Taiwan as an example, this study employed a fuzzy analytic network process to solve decision-making problems with multiple criteria by comparing the interaction between each transaction cost factor to obtain the factor weightings as well as the weightings of the transaction costs at each decision stage. This study found that food safety assurance and providing sufficient nutrition information were the most essential topics; thus, the optimal choice for snack food producers is to develop retail outlets. This study construction process proposed is innovative and operational, and the results may provide a reference for snack food dealers or microfood enterprises to assist them in developing their food channels.


Carolyn Miller's "A Humanistic Rationale for Technical Writing" serves as an example of text that has influenced the knowledge-making activities within technical communication. The 68 references, or intertextual connections, to "Humanistic Rationale" between 1979 and 1995 demonstrate its influence and show the evolution of technical communication and the issues important to technical communication professionals. The authors respond to questions of the purpose of technical communication, the influence of the canons of rhetoric, the importance of audience, and the impact of social constructionism on technical communication. This analysis of the academic prose surrounding "Humanistic Rationale" reveals part of the discipline's discussions and the "communal rationality" (617) that shapes the activities of its members.


On Christmas day 1951, Harry Tyson Moore, executive secretary of the Florida NAACP branches, and his wife Harriette held a family reunion to celebrate Christmas and the Moores' wedding anniversary in Mires, Florida. Their twenty-three-year-old daughter Annie, Moore's mother, Rosa, and his wife's brother, Master Sgt. George Simms, who had just returned from Korea, sat down with them to a ham and turkey dinner. Because Annie's sister, Evangeline, had been delayed in arriving from Washington, D.C., where she has a government job, the Moores decided to leave their gifts unopened until Evangeline arrived. It had been a long and happy day and the Moores had also decided to turn in early for bed. Annie flicked off her bedroom light at 10:10 p.m. on Christmas night. Her parents followed at 10:15 p.m. At 10:20 p.m., a bomb went off with a deafening explosion. Master Sgt. George Simms heard the explosion. He found Moore lying on his mattress motionless, which with him had been blown into the cottage yard. He saw Moore bleeding from the mouth, and "He didn't feel like there was an unbroken bone in his body." Moore's wife Rose was wounded, dazed and screaming. Simms had to drive Moore and his wife thirty miles to the nearest hospital in Sanford. Moore died shortly after they arrived at the hospital. His wife, however, lingered on for four days and died on January 3, 1952.(1) Time magazine recounts Moore's mother's remarks: "I tried to get him to quit the NAACP, thinking something might happen to him some day," Moore's mother told investigators. "But he told me: 'I'm trying to do what I can to elevate the Negro race. Every advancement comes by the way of sacrifice. If I sacrifice my life or health, I still think it is my duty for my race.'"(2) Harry Tyson Moore was born in Houston, Florida (Suwannee County), a small town near Live Oak, on November 18, 1905, almost a decade after the Plessy v. Ferguson decision, which solidified the legalization of "separate but equal." His parents, Stephen John and Rosalea Alberta Moore, lacked formal education. But they encouraged their son to get an education: "Fight as hard as you can in this world for your rights and get the best education you can. And always, no matter what else happens, respect the rights of other people." Moore attended high school in several cities, including Houston, Daytona Beach, and Jacksonville, and graduated from Florida Memorial College in Live Oak in 1925. He majored in education and later taught in Houston, Titusville, Cocoa Beach, and Mims, Florida. He received his bachelor's degree in the summer of 1951 from Bethune-Cookman College. Moore, a shy and quiet man, was guided by a determination to make a better life for himself and for all African Americans. He came to Mims, a small town in Brevard County, located between Daytona Beach and Titusville, in 1925. The population in Mims, about 1500, was equally divided between blacks and whites. Most of the town's population worked in surrounding citrus groves, and Mims also served as a truck stop along U.S. Route 1.(3) Moore taught 5th and 6th graders and was the principal at the black elementary school in Mims. He later became superintendent of the Brevard County Negro High School. During his career as an educator in the Brevard County School System, Moore observed and experienced the severe inequities in the public education of African Americans. The striking contrast between black and white teachers' salaries, often as great at 50 percent, underscored this disparity. Moore became interested in the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) during the 1930s; perhaps due to the organization's legal campaign against these educational inequities. By 1934 Moore had organized the Brevard County Branch of the NAACP and became its first president.(4) At the same time Moore petitioned the national office to establish a state conference of branches which would provide a statewide network for black activists. …


We consider tautological bundles and their exterior and symmetric powers on the Quot scheme over the projective line. We prove and conjecture several statements regarding the vanishing of their higher cohomology, and we describe their spaces of global sections via tautological constructions. To this end, we make use of the embedding of the Quot scheme as an explicit local complete intersection in the product of two Grassmannians, studied by Str{\o}mme. This allows us to construct resolutions with vanishing cohomology for the tautological bundles and their exterior and symmetric powers.


The effects of integrity‐promoting care in a nursing home with demented patients were studied. In one ward the staff were given special training. The results showed that the treatment induced a reduction of distractability, confusion, anxiety and depressed mood, and improvement in motor performance. At the same time the cerebrospinal fluid concentrations of somatostatin increased.


Psychrotrophic bacteria is the primary putrefying bacteria in low-temperature storage raw milk,Psychrotrophic bacteria and the thermostable enzymes they made have enormous implications on raw milk,in this article,the perniciousness Psychrotrophic bacteria and the thermostable enzymes they made to milk and dairy products are introduced,by analyze the mechanism how Psychrotrophic bacteria can live in low temperature and the factors that influence the enzymes' activities,investigate the methods to control Psychrotrophic bacteria and the enzymes they produce to guarantee the quality of raw milk.


Background: HIV and AIDS is a global public health problem. Until the end of 2016, there were more than 36.7 million people living with HIV. HIV & AIDS counseling is a confidential communication between clients and counselors aimed at increasing the ability to deal with stress and make decisions regarding HIV & AIDS. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of the ability to pay and the environmental factor on consultation health service utilization at Budi Kemuliaan hospital, Batam. Subjects and Method: This was a cross sectional study was conducted at Budi Kemuliaan Hospital, Batam, from May 8 to June 18, 2018. A sample of 76 HIV patients was selected by systematic random sampling. The dependent variable was the use of consulting service. The independent variables were risk of illness and environment. The data were collected using questionnaires and analyzed by a multiple logistic regression. Results: The use of consultation health service was influenced by the risk of illness (OR = 6.82; p = 0.011) and supportive environment (OR= 4.59; p= 0.028). Conclusions: The use of consultation services is influenced by risk factors for illness and the environment.


Using the mathematical field analysis of a companion paper in this issue, solutions are found for the wave interactions occurring in several different configurations of drifting electron beams in a longitudinal magnetic field. First, wave interactions are found for both single and double beams of infinite extent. Next, single and double beams completely filling a cylindrical waveguide are analyzed. Finally, examination is made of single and double beams which only partially fill the waveguide. The resulting wave interactions are described with ω-β (dispersion) diagrams. Since only the small-signal approximation is made, space-charge waves, cyclotron waves, and waveguide waves are all present in this analysis.


The relevance of the article lies in the need to teach teenagers to understand and interpret radio plays. A radio drama is considered as one of the objects of the virtual acoustic environment in which school students' auditory culture is formed. The paper aims to identify the range of skills a pupil needs to adequately understand and interpret a radio play. Another goal is to offer standard assignments aimed at developing these skills. The study employed analysis, generalisation, extrapolation, and modelling. The teaching materials by A. D. Deikina et al (ed. by A. D. Shmelev) were compared with the teaching materials developed by L. M. Rybchenkova et al according to several parameters. These include the number of exercises based on dramatic texts and the source plays of quotations used in the textbooks, as well as the correlation between the quotations and the literature syllabus. The other three parameters are the relation of the used dramatic material to the lesson topic, the volume of the cited dramatic text, and assignment types oriented towards quotations from plays. The analysis of the dramatic material use in various teaching packages has revealed that the specific features of drama are hardly considered. Work is frequently built on a single sentence. The article lists the conditions for achieving the formation of students' skills necessary to adequately understand and interpret radio dramas. Using the radio play genre addresses the issue of teaching schoolchildren to understand and interpret sounding dramatic text, forms their value-based attitude to radio theatre. Moreover, it enriches their vocabulary and enhances their ability to communicate with classmates. In the light of this evidence, I conclude that using the radio play genre in Russian language lessons develops auditory culture (and, in particular, the culture of 'slow' listening). The research indicates that mastering the skill to understand the logic of dialogues lays the groundwork for completing assignment 27 of the Unified State Examination in the Russian language successfully. It holds true with respect to establishing and analysing the semantic connection between illustrative examples when commenting on an issue.


To evaluate the utility of a vessel‐selective four‐dimensional (4D) magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) technique for the evaluation of intracranial arteriovenous malformations (AVMs).


Since 2005, government incentives have driven massive growth in the corn ethanol industry, increasing demand for corn for ethanol by 200%. Corn prices have risen to reflect increased demand, and farmers have responded by planting more acres of corn. The amount of corn planted in the United States grew by 12 million acres from 2005 to 2008. New acres for corn have come from crop switching, loss of conservation program land, and native prairie conversion, all of which affect habitat quantity and quality. This study used GIS software to map " hotspots " of corn plantings and habitat loss in the Prairie Pothole Region of four Midwestern states: Iowa, Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota. These maps informed a statistical analysis that quantifies grassland bird population changes in areas experiencing high increases in corn plantings. A review of current legislation and market data revealed that government incentives are the main driver of corn ethanol expansion. We interviewed over 30 conservation practitioners to assess the potential of federal and state conservation policies and programs to mitigate the adverse effects of increased corn plantings on habitat and wildlife. Our results show that dramatic loss of habitat is occurring in the ecologically unique Prairie Pothole Region, and that populations of sensitive bird species are declining significantly in hotspots in this area. Principal among our recommendations is that government incentives for corn ethanol production be reduced; in particular, we recommend a reduction in blending requirements, which drive demand for corn ethanol. Unless changes are made, corn plantings for ethanol production will continue to expand until at least 2015, resulting in further declines of sensitive wildlife populations in one of the nation's most ecologically important regions. iii Acknowledgements


This paper provides a summary of recommendations from discussions held in Paris, France from April 26–29, 1992 on regulatory requirements for chiral drugs.


A total of eight 8.6 Inch diameter, 15 foot long model piles socketed in pennsylvanian age sandstone and shale were tested under lateral load. The lateral load was applied by a manually operated 50 ton hydraulic jack set between two steel load transfer saddles. The applied load was measured with an electronic load cell. Pile deflection under load was measured with coaxially mounted inclinometers for subsurface measurement and dial gauges for above ground movement. Each pile was subjected to a series of 3 ton cyclic and up to 20 ton static lateral loads. The non dimensional method for analysis of laterally loaded piles was used to develop a set of p-y curves for each pile. The resulting p- y curves were used with computer program com624 to check the validity of the experimental curves. The experimental curves were used to develop a "typical" p- y curve for sandstone and sandy shale. The tests also demonstrated the applicability of the stiff clay above the water table p- y curves for the prediction of lateral deflections of piles in low and moderate strength clay shales. The uninstrumented pile lateral load test described in this report has proven to be a very useful method of obtaining p- y curve data at minimum cost. Most highway agencies possess the necessary tools to implement this method of field testing. This method could be used routinely to add to the information already available on the behavior of piles under lateral load (a).


In this work, we compare the category of G-bornological group G and G-topological group to consider the different between them. Moreover, the category of G-bornological set whose morphisms are called equivarient-bounded maps are described. As well as, the main results that are a bornological group acts on a bornological set by a bornologicalisomorphism.


In a recent paper, Yang et al. presented the class of extended irregular repeat-accumulate (eIRA) codes which are efficiently encodable LDPC codes possessing very low error-rate floors and are appropriate for code rates 1/2 or greater. While efficiently encodable, the left-most (n-k)-by-k submatrix of an eIRA code parity-check matrix is random in nature, making efficient decoder implementation problematic. In the present paper, we present structured eIRA codes. We first present some ensemble results for the general class of eIRA codes, after which the subclass of structured eIRA (SeIRA) codes is defined. Software- and hardware-based performance results for SeIRA code designs (rates 0.5 to 0.9) are then presented


Protein accumulation is the hallmark of various neuronal, muscular, and other human disorders. It is also often seen in the liver as a major protein‐secretory organ. For example, aggregation of mutated alpha1‐antitrypsin (AAT), referred to as PiZ, is a characteristic feature of AAT deficiency, whereas retention of hepatitis B surface protein (HBs) is found in chronic hepatitis B (CHB) infection. We investigated the interaction of both proteotoxic stresses in humans and mice. Animals overexpressing both PiZ and HBs (HBs‐PiZ mice) had greater liver injury, steatosis, and fibrosis. Later they exhibited higher hepatocellular carcinoma load and a more aggressive tumor subtype. Although PiZ and HBs displayed differing solubility properties and distinct distribution patterns, HBs‐PiZ animals manifested retention of AAT/HBs in the degradatory pathway and a marked accumulation of the autophagy adaptor p62. Isolation of p62‐containing particles revealed retained HBs/AAT and the lipophagy adapter perilipin‐2. p62 build‐up led to activation of the p62–Nrf2 axis and emergence of reactive oxygen species. Our results demonstrate that the simultaneous presence of two prevalent proteotoxic stresses promotes the development of liver injury due to protein retention and activation of the p62–Nrf2 axis. In humans, the PiZ variant was over‐represented in CHB patients with advanced liver fibrosis (unadjusted odds ratio = 9.92 [1.15–85.39]). Current siRNA approaches targeting HBs/AAT should be considered for these individuals. © 2021 The Authors. The Journal of Pathology published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. on behalf of The Pathological Society of Great Britain and Ireland.


Introduction: Obesity, a serious health problem that should be prevented because it causes many health problems, also negatively affects the quality of life and body image of individuals. This study was aimed at determining the relationship between and determinants of the perceived body image, patient satisfaction and quality of life of individuals who preferred Turkey to undergo bariatric surgery within the scope of medical tourism. Methodology: The population of the study consisted of 329 medical tourists who underwent bariatric surgery between 2015 and 2022 in private hospitals having health tourism authorization certificate in Samsun. Data were collected between September 01, 2021 and November 31, 2022 using the Personal Information Form, Body Image Scale, Quality Of Life Scale and Patient Satisfaction Scale. Descriptive statistics and the student t test, ANOVA test, correlation and multiple regression statistical analysis methods were used in the analysis of the data. Results: Of the participants, 37.4% were men and 62.6% were women. Their mean age was 39.74�10.063 years. According to the results obtained from the present study, patient satisfaction was affected by the variables such as age, education level, family type, monthly income, income status, exercise status, chronic disease status and perceived body image (p<0.05). On the other hand, the quality of life was affected by the variables such as perceived body image, marital status, education status, employment status, family type, income status, alcohol use, and exercise status (p<0.05). Patient satisfaction and quality of life were positively correlated with perceived body image of the participants who underwent bariatric surgery.Conclusion: According to the results of the study, patient satisfaction and quality of life were affected by socioeconomic characteristics and perceived body image of the participants, and perceived body image, patient satisfaction and quality of life were positively affected in the participants who underwent bariatric surgery.


[Abstract] Boeing performed lunar lander design trade studies during 2008 to support the NASA Altair concept definition effort. The goal of these trade studies was to optimize configuration layouts and figures of merit (FOMs) for the Ascent Module (AM), Descent Module (DM), structural concept, and the integrated vehicle. Multiple AM concepts were developed. Four alternate lander DM configuration concepts were developed, each having different basic structural concepts and propellant tank configurations. These trade studies, presented at the AIAA Space 2008 conference, produced a wealth of useful design data and provided significant support to NASA's Altair lunar lander concept definition effort. They also pointed out the desirability of performing additional design optimization to enhance the ability of lander DM structure and systems to be scavenged on the lunar surface and reused by future crews, as potential sources of spare parts and hardware for construction of lunar outposts. Reusability of lander DM structure and systems has significant potential to reduce the amount of mass that must be transported from earth for this purpose. Additional work was performed during 2009 to optimize two of the alternate Altair DM configurations that have potential for reuse of a significant portion of structure and systems: The DM with a single LH2 tank and four LO2 tanks, the DM with single LH2 and LO2 tanks separated by a common bulkhead. A third DM design, having single, concentric toroidal LH2 and LO2 tanks, was identified as having the potential for significant parts reuse due to its geometry and placement of subsystems. The purpose of this paper is to present these three lander designs, with design assumptions, requirements, and configuration drawings, and compare their relative Figures of Merit (FOMs) for reusability of DM structure and systems with the Boeing Reference Space Truss configuration. It is anticipated that these results will provide significant support to NASA's ongoing Altair lunar lander concept definition effort.


The structural geometries, formation enthalpies, and dissociation energies of all diatomic and triatomic molecules consisting of the four basic elements C, H, N, and/or O are calculated using the projector augmented wave density functional theory (DFT) method with the Perdew–Burke–Ernzerhof and optB88-vdW exchange-correlation functionals. The calculations are also extended to two larger molecules NO3 and HNO3, which consist of four and five atoms, respectively. In total, 82 molecules or isomers are considered in the calculations. The geometric parameters including 42 bond lengths and 15 bond angles of these molecules calculated using the planewave DFT method are highly satisfactory, relative to the available experimental data. The error analysis is also performed for 49 formation enthalpies and 138 dissociation energies (including 51 atomization energies as well as the corresponding bond dissociation energies). The results are also compared with the previous data from various atomic-orbital-based methods for molecules and from similar or different planewave DFT methods for various solids and other molecules. This provides an informative and instructive evaluation especially for calculating the large-size material systems containing these small molecules as well as for developing the DFT methods further.


The utility model discloses a double-piston rotor internal combustion engine. According to the double-piston rotor internal combustion engine, a first rotor comprises a rotating shaft disk, one end of the rotating shaft disk is provided with two first piston bodies, the other end of the rotating shaft disk is provided with a first rotating shaft, and a first oval-shaped gear is installed on the first rotating shaft; the bottom face of a cover plate is connected with the end faces of the first piston bodies; a second rotor comprises a second rotating shaft, one end of the second rotating shaft is provided with two second piston bodies, and the other end of the second rotating shaft is provided with a second oval-shaped gear; the second rotating shaft penetrates through a shaft hole of the first rotating shaft, and the first rotating shaft and the second rotating shaft together penetrate through a shaft hole of an disk-shaped piece; the upper end disk and the lower end disk of the disk-shaped piece are connected with flange plates of a combustor shell and a gear box respectively through bolts; a power output gear shaft is installed in a shaft hole in the bottom of the gear box; upper oval-shaped gears of two oval-shaped gear shafts are meshed with the first oval-shaped gear and the second oval-shaped gear respectively, and lower oval-shaped gears are meshed with the two oval-shaped gears on the power output gear shaft respectively. The double-piston rotor internal combustion engine is low in oil consumption, high in power to weight ratio, larger in output torque, slight in vibration, simple and compact in structure and good in manufacturability.


4 pages of work in Taschen book which records 100 best designs from around the world which are sourced from recipients of the Restaurant and Bar Design awards. The feature showcases 'Bangalore Express' an Indian restaurant in Waterloo, London, which was published in various magazines internationally.


The invention discloses a stool applicable to uneven pavements. The stool comprises a stool surface (1) and at least three support bodies (L), wherein each support body comprises an upper stool leg (2), a bolt (3), a lower stool leg (4), and a spring (5). The stool is characterized in that each upper stool leg (2) is connected with each lower stool leg (4) through each spring (5); each spring (5) is placed in each upper stool leg (2) to prevent the upper stool leg from bending, each upper stool leg (2) is connected with each stool surface (1), and each bolt (3) is embedded in each upper stool leg (2) to fix each lower stool leg (4) by a friction force so as to adjust the length of each support body (L). When the stool is used in the uneven pavement, each spring (5) deforms due to elasticity, each lower stool leg (4) forms different heights according to road conditions, and each bolt (3) is fixed, so that the stool is used in the uneven pavement stably.


: In the period April 2017 to March 2018, the amount of coal ash generated in Japan was 12.8 million tons. Of this, 0.8 % (100,000 tons) was used as concrete admixture, which needs to be further utilized to reduce its environmental impact. However, since coal is buried in various places in the world and its output is abundant, it is very important to know how fly ash is affected when the production area is different, or the operating temperature of a thermal power plant changes. In our investigation, the effects of the type of coal and combustion conditions on the quality of fly ash were examined using a burner-type coal simulation combustor produced by Kobe Steel Ltd., that can burn a small amount of coal (about 50kg). It was found that the combustion temperature of coal has a significant influence on the shape of the fly ash. When the combustion temperature is low, the shape of the fly ash may be distorted. We carried out a test which confirmed whose performance of such fly ash as a concrete admixture. As a result, it was found that the fluidity of the distorted fly ash decreased. We also investigated the effects of the type of coal and the combustion temperature on the mineral composition of the fly ash, the glass phase quantity, particle size distribution, and the physical properties of the mortar. The results will be presented in a poster session.


High-resolution and analytical transmission electron microscopy have been used to show that "eastonite" from Easton, Pennsylvania, is a submicrometer lamellar mixture of phlogopite and serpentine. Interfaces between the (001) lamellae of the two sheet silicates are generally sharp, with little fine-scale mixed layering. Electron-microscope and electronmicroprobe analyses yield compositions that are consistent with a phlogopite-serpentine intergrowth, rather than the hypothetical "eastonite" endmember formula of Winchell (1925). It is shown that this ideal endmember composition was, indeed, synthesized by Hewitt and Wones (1975). However, there are no reported natural occurrences of aluminous micas that correspond to Winchell's endmember. The serpentine in "eastonite" is a previously unreported, polysomatic mixture of the lizardite and antigorite structures. Unlike typical antigorite, which has relatively periodic layer offsets, this serpentine can be described as consisting mostly of the lizardite structure, but with occasional paired offsets typical ofantigorite. The antigorite offsets occur in three orientations that are related by the symmetry of lTlizardite.


sections that are 'heavy' with anthropological theory. He indicates which parts are the most onerous and encourages readers who are not interested in that content to skip those sections. Perhaps they are engaging for cultural anthropologists, but they read largely as wordplay for the sake of wordplay. I failed to discern coherent arguments in these relatively short sections and to see why some anthropologists choose to write in such incomprehensible ways. Other problems are relatively minor. There are a number of small errors. Bialecki uses 'secularism' as a catch-all term for secularity, secularisation, nonreligion, irreligion, and all things that are not religion, which is not the way most scholars understand the term. He mistakenly describes the Salt Lake Tabernacle as a former temple site (67) and occasionally uses terms like 'disfellowshipped' erroneously (ibid). Finally, Bialecki suggests that Mormonism and transhumanism are inherently compatible (161). There may be some possible links thanks to Mormon theology, but the author's primary source for determining this compatibility is individuals who have found a way to make them compatible—informants who are Mormon transhumanists. This argument would have been much stronger had the author interviewed or studied other Mormons who do not identify as transhumanists. Overall,Machines for Making Gods is intriguing because the subject matter is unique— Mormons who embrace cryonics, the singularity, technology, and human enhancement. As indicated, the book could be much tighter, closer editing would have strengthened it, and a clearly discernible overarching argument would have helped. The book is strongest when describing the MTA and its members; the subtle errors creep in more commonly when Bialecki discusses the LDS Church more generally. However, for those interested in either Mormonism or transhumanism, this book is worth the read.


The invention discloses a method and device for managing an application account. The method for managing the application account comprises the following steps: during login of a third-party application on a mobile terminal, acquiring a mobile equipment International identity code which is associated with the third-party application in advance and the first biological feature information of a user; and logging into the third-party application according to the mobile equipment International identity code and the first biological feature information. Through adoption of the method and device, the registration management of accounts can be simplified, and the security of the accounts is enhanced.


This quantitative study surveyed 538 adults in isolated rural settings in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil, to examine whether telecenters operated by the non-profit organization Gems of the Earth improve digital literacy and promote social change. Using multivariate logistic regression, the study examined how individuals use information and communication technologies (ICTs) at the telecenter, and tested for predictors of their use. The findings confirm that these rural communities use ICTs for entertainment, to engage in civic participation, and to practice professional skills. The findings suggest that digital inclusion impacts these isolated communities by creating opportunities that may foster human development. This quantitative study surveyed 538 adults in isolated rural settings in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil, in order to examine whether telecenters operated by the non-profit organization Gems of the Earth in the area improve digital literacy and promote social change in those remote mountain communities. Using multivariate logistic regression, the study examined how individuals use information and communication technologies (ICTs) at the telecenter, and tested for predictors of their use. The findings confirm that these rural communities use ICTs for entertainment, to engage in civic participation, and to practice professional skills. Results also indicate greater odds of ICT use among individuals aged 18 to 24 and among those who seek diversion. The findings suggest that digital inclusion impacts these isolated communities by creating opportunities for entertainment, civic engagement, professional development, and education in ways that may positively impact human development.


Circulating levels of mepivacaine have been evaluated subsequent to numerous types of injections including caudal,1'2 epidural,2'34 brachial plexus,25 intercostal,2 sciatic2 and hernia infiltrations.5 The circulating levels of lidocaine after dental injections have been studied6 but reports of blood levels following dental injections with mepivacaine are minimal and incidental. Pratt, Warrington and Grego7 studied three injections in the area of the mandible with mepivacaine in evaluating a gas chromatographic method for determining local anesthetics in the blood. Adult toxicity in conscious patients is noted at a venous blood level of 5 ,4g/ml.8 After intravenous injection, a 5-6 ug/ml arterial plasma concentration of mepivacaine resulted in initiation of toxic symptoms.9 Routine dental injections are not expected to result in a blood level of this magnitude although no specific information is available. Because of the different injection sites and dosage levels used in dentistry as compared to general surgery, it would be speculative to attempt to predict blood levels ofmepivacaine after routine oral injection. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to establish circulating levels ofmepivacaine in venous serum after dental injection.


Conventionally, stippling is an effective technique for representing surfaces in pen‐and‐ink. We present new efficientmethods for stipple drawings by computer. In contrast to already existing techniques, arbitrary shapes canbe used in place of dots. An extension of Lloyd's Method enables us to position small objects on a plane in a visuallypleasing form. This allows us to generate new illustration styles. Similar methods can be used for positioningobjects in other applications.


An organic insulation material polyimide(PI)film as blocking layer is put in place beˉtween upper electrode and MPE The space charge distributions in MPE samples without and with the blocking layer are measured by pulsed electro-acoustic(PEA)method in this paper.It is shown by test results that the blocking layer could effectively suppress the charge injection from elecˉtrodes regardless of its polarity under high electrical stress.Finally,the experimental phenomena are explained by energy band and interface theories.


Abstract The syntheses, structures, and magnetic properties of iron(III) complexes with the chemical formula of [Fe(X)L]Bph4 are reported, where X = monodentate ligand such as pyridine and imidazole derivatives, H2L = bis(N,N′-(3-methoxy-salicylideneaminopropyl)methylamine, and Bph4 − = tetraphenylborate, respectively. The magnetic susceptibilities were measured by a SQUID susceptometer in the temperature range 4-350 K under an external magnetic field of 1 T. On the basis of the magnetic susceptibility data, the complexes are classified into three groups (1)–(3). (1): high-spin complexes; The effective magnetic moments of [Fe(Im)L]Bph4 and [Fe(4-MeIm)L]Bph4 are constant at ca. 5.7 μB over the temperature range measured. (2): spin-equilibrium complexes between S = 5/2 and S =1/2; [Fe(4-NH2py)L]Bph4 showed an ideal spin-equilibriam behavior, as the μeff decreased from 5.5 μB at 300 K to 2.1 μ3 at 60 K. Hysteresis was not observed, indicating that the complex is classified as continuous type. The thermodynamic model of Slichter and Drickamer was applied and the intermolecular interaction parameter Γ, the enthalpy δH, and the entropy δS were estimated to be Γ = 2 kJ/mol, δH = 5.99 kJ/mol, and δS = 49.99 J/ mol K, respectively. (3): [Fe(py)L]Bph4 showed an unusual magnetic behavior. On lowering the temperature, the μeff decreased gradually from 5.69 μB at 300 K and reached to a plateau value of 3.89 μB at 60 K, whose value is too large for low-spin state and rather close to that of S = 3/2.


an end, partly because the preconditions announced by the West for the convening of a conference on security in Europe are being gradually fulfilled. But there is also an inherent logic in the trend towards multilateral negotiations on European security questions. Whereas in the recent phase mutual trust was engendered primarily by the elimination of challenging political claims on both sides, in the next stage this goal could be most effectively promoted through the limitation and re-deploy-


3D point clouds are playing pivotal roles in many safety-critical applications like autonomous driving, where adversarially robust 3D deep learning models are desired. In this study, we conduct the first security analysis of state-of-the-art (SOTA) defenses against 3D adversarial attacks and design adaptive evaluations on them. Our 100% adaptive attack success rates demonstrate that SOTA countermeasures are still fragile. We further present an in-depth study showing how adversarial training (AT) performs in point cloud classification and identify that the required symmetric function (pooling operation) is paramount to 3D models' robustness. Through systematic analysis, we unveil that the default-used fixed pooling ( e.g., MAX pooling) generally weakens AT's effectiveness. Interestingly, we also discover that sorting-based parametric pooling significantly improves the models' robustness. Based on the above insights, we propose DeepSym , a deep symmetric pooling operation, to architecturally advance the robustness of PointNet to 47.0% under AT without sacrificing nominal accuracy, outperforming the original design and a strong baseline by +28.5% ( ∼ 2 . 6 × ) and +6.5% , respectively.


Abstract: The proposed redefinition of several International System (SI) base units is a topic that has been on the metrology agenda for the last decade. Recent progress on several determinations of the fundamental constants means that we now have a good idea of the defined numerical values that will be given in the new system to the Planck constant, h, and the elementary charge, e. This is especially relevant to electrical metrology as new numerical values for the von Klitzing and Josephson constants, given by the relations RK = h/e2 and KJ = 2e/h, will replace the existing 1990 'conventional' values, RK-90 and KJ-90. The implementation of the new system cannot be done without introducing small step changes into sizes of the electrical units that are disseminated using Josephson and quantum Hall intrinsic standards. At the time of writing it looks likely that the relative change from KJ-90 to KJ will be of the order 1 × 10−7, and that from RK-90 to RK will be approximately 2 × 10−8. This paper discusses the practical impact of these changes on electrical metrology and highlights the long term benefits that will come from the updated system. The CCEM (Consultative Committee for Electricity and Magnetism) of the International Committee for Weights and Measures is now taking the first steps to ensure a smooth implementation, most probably in 2018.


Neuroblastoma (NB), a pediatric tumor of the sympathetic nervous system, is characterized by very frequent chromosomal aberrations at the onset of the disease. Identification of further risk factors for relapse, which could lead to increased survival and potentially reduced late effects among survivors, is still urgently needed. Segmental chromosome aberrations (SCA) are associated with poor prognosis, whereas numerical whole‐chromosome aberrations (NCA) are found in patients with a good prognosis; however, a small percentage of the latter patients (10%–15%) subsequently relapse and/or die of disease.


An ASP flooding experiment was conducted on man-made rock model to simulate two-dimension vertical heterogeneous positive rhythm reservoir. The man-made rock model was made up of three single man-made rock samples which were connected parallelly. In the experiment, produced oil and water were measured separately. Base on the experimental results, a synthetic analysis was used to reveal the water cut differences, the produced fluid percent, oil recovery factor and vadose mechanism of the vertical areas before and after the ASP flooding. Using the two-dimension vertical heterogeneous positive rhythm man-made three-layer rock samples, ASP flooding and water flooding comparative experiments were also progressed. After the experiments, cut open the rock samples and took the sectional view into the computer, then use the color image analysis system to get the oil saturation profile data. The increased oil displacement efficiency and the enhanced conformance efficiency by the ASP flooding were synthetically analyzed. Water-oil mobility control and crude oil emulsions of the ASP flooding can reduce the contradictions among the layers and improve the oil recovery by a large extent, and the extent of oil recovery enhanced by the medium permeable layer is highest among three layers. Average oil recovery from the increased oil displacement efficiency is 55.75%.


This work performs a sensitivity analysis of the SWAT model parameters to find an optimal set for which the model proves more robust for the production of flow and sediment in the Machadinho river watershed in Rondônia. Initially, a database was built, including climate information, topography, land use and soil classification retrieved from orbital platforms, what allowed then to simulate the hydrological behavior of the watershed from 1995 to 2000. In the next step, we used the LH-OAT method to rank from the most sensitive parameter to the one with the lowest sensitivity, the 32 parameters that influence the generation of flow and sediment in SWAT. In general, the sensitivity observed forthe model parameters in this research work was similar to the results presented in other studies developed in Brazil, highlighting that the two highest sensitivity values to flow were related to Gwqmn and Sol_Awc, both corresponding to the flow in the vadoze zone and in the saturated zone, while for the sediment component, the SWAT model applied to the 1 *Doutorando em Engenharia Civil pelo Programa de Engenharia Civil, COPPE, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro. firstname.lastname@example.com. 2 Mestre em Engenharia Civil Programa de Engenharia Civil, COPPE, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro. 3 Laboratório de Recursos Hídricos e Meio Ambiente (LABH2O), Programa de Engenharia Civil, Instituto Alberto Luiz Coimbra de Pós-Graduação e Pesquisa em Engenharia – COPPE, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Campus Ilha do Fundão – Cidade Universitária, Caixa Postal 68540, CEP 21.945-970 – Rio de Janeiro RJ, Brasil.


For the current coal mine underground staff functions of a single network location,the bad network capacity and not being located for more than a moving target at the same time,it is the application of extensive research that ZigBee technology-based positioning system underground staff can solve this problem very well.Through ZigBee subnet can receive real-time signal of the underground mobile nodes and then transmit them to the ground control center,so can achieve for personnel to go down real-time location,identification.In this way,on the one hand the ground control center can go down staff attendance;on the other hand,after a coal mine accident can provide a basis for effective relief.


Correspondence to Dr Prashanth Nuggehalli Srinivas; prashanthns@ iphindia. org © Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2021. Reuse permitted under CC BYNC. No commercial reuse. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ. 'Personally, I rather look forward to a computer programme winning the world chess championship. Humanity needs a lesson in humility', said Richard Dawkins, author and biologist, whose witty ripostes delivered with a signature smirk, typically directed at the religious, captivated my rational mind. These were the late 1990s. We were in our medical college hostel's chitchat corner where some of us with wide interests in science gathered every evening. Under the medical college men's hostel banyan tree, our discussions typically focused on the latest sample of writing that dismantled foolish arguments of naive (religious) believers. Dawkins's books and writing provided plenty of such material. Here was an intellectual behemoth often pitted against hobnailed ignorami bringing cheer to us young professionals, looking up to him, as if one from our own team had scored a winning goal. Today, as a doctor and a public health researcher, I look back at this chitchat among the then doctors in the making. The higher knowledge that accrued to people like me, doctors, scientists and academia, gave us access to pedestals from which we could now be the new saints: rational and legitimate preachers unlike the ones we aim to displace, the ones we would like to call out for their boorish, irrational and unscientific foundations. In fact, I realised it was our meritorious ascent that is foundational to our pedestal. But how strong and deserved are our own foundations, I wondered. Should we not, before calling others out, examine our own backyards? So emerges the tale of two merits: science itself as an act of merit and the scientist professional's aspirational society where people rise to the top based on welldeserved fruits of their labour through merit and nothing else. Could a welldesigned meritocracy then help us overcome centuries of social baggage in the form of caste, class, gender and such that the new India would like to leave behind?


Paola Testori Coggi, a long serving Italian official in the European Commission, resigned on 15 October as director general of the health and consumer protection department. She will leave the post she has held for the past four years at the end of October.

The reason, said a commission spokesman, was for "non-compliance with the rules" on tenders. It is understood that she had personally telephoned a non-governmental organisation in 2012 to alert it to a call …


It is widely known that the critical strain to ductile crack initiation depends on the stress triaxiality. And the ductile crack may occur at the strain concentration region in the structural member unless initial crack by large deformation. Such large deformations occurs during ship crash, seismic condition, etc. And then, strain rates are usually high. But, the strain rate effect to the ductile crack initiation is not known.To study the effect on ductile crack initiation condition, the axisymmetrically notched bar tensile tests were conducted under various tensile speed for SM400B, SM490A, SM490B and SN490B steels. And critical strains to initiate ductile crack were evaluated. To estimate the stress - strain states during dynamic tensile test, the thermal mechanically coupled FE-analysis (MARC K7.2) were used. The results showed the strain rate effect on the critical strain to initiate ductile crack is small. And the results also suggested that if the load is controlled by displacement, the higher yield ratio steel is advantageous for the ductile crack initiation.


The first cobaltacarborane sandwich complex [3-Co-4,8'-8,4'( o -C 6 H 4 ) 2 (1,2-C 2 B 9 H 9 ) 2 ] (-) with two o -phenylene bridges between both deltahedral ligands is described. Phenylene rings containing angle of 72 grad bind the Cs counter-ion probably via π-donation. This is why the solubility of Cs salt in water is extremely low. Synthesis, properties and structure of the Cs salt are described.


From 10 to 12 November 2001 the western Mediterranean zone was affected by a hazardous cyclone. In the Balearic Islands the storm was particularly strong: wind gusts exceeded 140 km/h, heavy precipitation up to 400 mm in two days was recorded and sea waves up to 12 m reached the shoreline. Four casualties occurred, more than 100.000 trees were uprooted, many boats and coastal infrastructures were severely damaged and some crop fields were flooded. Surface and upper level weather maps suggest that the cyclone was consequence of an initial baroclinic development over north Africa and a further deepening over the western Mediterranean. Quasigeostrophic diagnosis has been performed to study the baroclinic contribution to the cyclogenesis. A Potential Vorticity (PV) inversion technique has been applied to determine the role of three prominent PV positive anomalies over the region (associated with an upper level trough, a low level warm air intrusion over the Mediterranean from Africa and the latent heat release) to the cyclone intensity.


A musical-instrument support body (10) equipped with a support part (12) for supporting a musical instrument (11) having soundboards (19b, 19c), an exciter (13) for vibrating according to a drive signal, and a pressurizing mechanism (14) for causing the exciter to contact the soundboards at a pre-determined pressure when the support part (12) supports the musical instrument.