Prior to the recombination epoch, matter and radiation were tightly coupled in the post big-bang  plasma. Given the large ratio of photons to baryons, matter felt significant pressure from  Thompson scattering, and would have been distributed evenly throughout the cosmos. Only  non-interacting particles of dark matter were unsusceptible to this scattering and could form  slight overdensities, which amassed to one part in 100,000 by redshift (z) of about 1100 (around  400,000 years after the big bang). The background radiation emitted at recombination remains  the only observable signature of these early epochs, after which the universe was plunged into  the dark ages, an epoch about which we have almost no empirical information.


In recent years,the number of fatal accidents involving motorcycles accounts for 25-28% of the total fatal traffic accidents in China.In the areas where the motorcycles are more popular,the number of traffic accidents involving motorcycles accounts for 70-80% of the total road crashes in those areas,and the proportion of the resulting casualties is more than 50% of the total casualties,or even higher.It was found that,by analyzing the specific injured parts of the bodies of the involved motorcyclists,the death ratio caused by the head injury was very high,accounts for more than 75% of the total fatality number of this kind of accidents,greatly higher than the injuries in the other parts of the body.The main causes of the fatal head injuries to the riders and pillion passengers were the low wearing rate and the poor quality of the safety helmet,thus the head was not properly protected.This showed the problems in relevant technical aspects such as the helmet standards,et al.,and at the meantime,it also showed the industry supervision and other problems at the policy level.Finally,some revisions to the helmet standards were suggested to make some basic preparation for standardizing the safety helmet industry.


As UK Permanent Representative to NATO and to WEU, Sir John Western here reviews the major developments and objectives of the Alliance over the past year, including completing the military transformation in line with new strategic priorities, helping the emerging democracies of Eastern Europe, involvement in peacekeeping and benign intervention and working with the European Community on closer security cooperation. He looks ahead to a reshaped Atlantic Alliance as the basic element of a Common Defence Policy for a European Union, working towards consolidating the Atlantic Community envisaged in the Washington Treaty, a real 'Euro‐Atlantic Alliance'.


Traditional traffic accident prediction uses long-term traffic data such as annual average daily traffic and hourly volume. In contrast to traditional traffic accident prediction, real-time traffic accident prediction uses real-time traffic data, obtained from inductive loop detectors and usually collected every 20 or 30 seconds, to identify hazardous traffic conditions to potentially prevent the traffic accident occurrence. We aim at identifying traffic patterns leading to traffic accidents and not leading to traffic accidents in this study. Support vector machines (SVM) are used to classify traffic conditions into those two patterns with real-time traffic data. Traffic accident data and its corresponding real-time traffic data are collected from the traffic simulation software TSIS, which is a microscopic traffic simulation software. This is the first time the SVM method is applied for real-time traffic accident prediction. The experimental results show that it is promising for real-time traffic accident prediction by using the support vector machine method.


A continuous variable valve timing control apparatus is disclosed. The apparatus includes: an engine control unit for outputting an actual phase angle of an intake valve or an exhaust valve and a target phase angle of the intake valve or the exhaust valve; and an intelligent motor controller for receiving the actual phase angle and the desired phase angle from the engine control unit using digital communication in a vehicle, and generating a drive current for adjusting an output torque of an engine using the phase deviation between the received actual phase angle and the received one target phase angle.


Ignition experiments of micron size Al/KClO 4 (ALCLO) thermite composition was carried out at high heating rate (40°C/min.) using DTA (differential thermal analysis), and it was observed that no ignition took place up to 700°C. Similarly in case of STA (simultaneous thermal analyzer) experiments, no ignition peaks were found up to 1100°C at 20/min. ALCLO when ignited in a bomb calorimeter for heat of combustion output measurement it produced a large amount of heat of combustion (2100 cal/g). To study the ignition aspect, DSC (Differential Scanning Calorimetry) experiments were carried out for ingredients and compositions at different heating rates, i.e., 10, 20, 25, 28, and 30°C/min. Nano-Al was used as additive to understand the ignition behavior below 700°C and experiment was successful. It was observed that a sharp ignition peak is obtained below 700°C. The ignition temperature was found below 600°C in DTA for nano-added ALCLO. Ignition mechanism is reported for the compositions by using XRD (X-ray Diffractometer). Effect of heating rate and additives on ignition temperature has also been reported in this study. Again, with increasing nano-Al weight ratio, ignition took place at lower heating rate (25°C/min).


In the palaeoclimatic reconstruction research, the characteristics of proxy data are limited in number, which has a great deal to do with the influence of research. The optimal regional averaging method is a far more effective approach to slove this problem. The optimal regional averaging method is a method that can obtain the average temperature of target area by means of optimal weights using limited temperature data in target areas. In the application of this method, first optimal weighting mechanism based on minimum mean squqre error and Lagrange multiplier method are applied to get optimal weight, and then Optimal weights and temperature data are joined together to obtained regional average temperature. This existing optimal regional averaging method has weakness in the regional average temperature calculation of large target area. To overcome the weakness and make this method can calculate the average temperature of the large region, such as the Northern Hemisphere(NH) average temperature, the optimal regional averaging method is improved in this article. 1) Haar wavelet function and matrix operator are used to replace mesh summation method in process of solving covariance pattern. 2) Optimal weights are got through applying all principal component gauss elimination method to solve the linear algebraic equations. The result shows that the covariance pattern solved is more accurate because of the application of Haar wavelet function and matrix operator in the calculation. The temperature data used in the calculation derived from Climatic Research Unit(CRU), which is considered among the most authoritative sources on reconstruction research. After adopting the above mentioned improvement, taking calculation of the Northern Hemisphere(NH) average temperature in 1961-1990 as an example, it is found that the correlation coefficient between the NH temperature series obtained by the improved optimal regional averaging method and the published result from CRU is higher than the result obtained by this method before the above improvement. Thus the improved the optimal regional averaging method provides a reasonable approach for palaeoclimatic reconstruction in case that proxy data are limited and scarce in spatial distribution.


Longest common extension queries (often called longest common prefix queries) constitute a fundamental building block in multiple string algorithms, for example computing runs and approximate pattern matching. We show that a sequence of $q$ LCE queries for a string of size $n$ over a general ordered alphabet can be realized in $O(q \log \log n+n\log^*n)$ time making only $O(q+n)$ symbol comparisons. Consequently, all runs in a string over a general ordered alphabet can be computed in $O(n \log \log n)$ time making $O(n)$ symbol comparisons. Our results improve upon a solution by Kosolobov (Information Processing Letters, 2016), who gave an algorithm with $O(n \log^{2/3} n)$ running time and conjectured that $O(n)$ time is possible. We make a significant progress towards resolving this conjecture. Our techniques extend to the case of general unordered alphabets, when the time increases to $O(q\log n + n\log^*n)$. The main tools are difference covers and the disjoint-sets data structure.


Adult stem cells with the pluripotency of embryonic stem cells (ESCs) would be ideal for organ regeneration strategies. Previous studies in neonatal mice suggest that the germline lineage may retain the ability to generate pluripotent cells. We aimed to evaluate the pluripotency and plasticity of adult spermatogonial stem cells (SSCs), which are responsible for maintaining spermatogenesis throughout life in the male. Using a genetic approach we established the culture condition for isolation of SSCs from adult mouse testis (success rate ϭ 27% of mice). These isolated SSCs respond to the culture conditions and acquire ESC properties. They are able to spontaneously (without co-culture) differentiate into functional cardiomyocytes expressing cardiac-specific genes (isl1, GATA4, Nkx2.5, MEF2C, ␣-MHC, MLC2v, ANF, SERCA2a and NCX) and proteins (sarcomeric MHC, cardiac troponin T and connexin 43). Four major types of action potentials (APs) characteristic for specialized cells of the ventricle, sinus node, Purkinje fibers and atrium are found in these cardiomyocytes. Functional maturity of ventricle-like cells (n ϭ 11 from 3 independent experiments) is shown by AP characteristics: upstroke velocity (dV/dt max) being 55.8Ϯ4.8 V/s, amplitude (APA) being 115.8Ϯ3.3 mV, duration at 90% of repolarisation (APD 90) being 288.9Ϯ55.5 ms and maximum diastolic potential (MDP) being-48.3Ϯ3.0 mV. The amplitudes of calcium transients (fluo4) measured in SSC-derived ventricle-like cardiomyocytes (n ϭ 10) are similar to those measured in ESC-derived cardiomyocytes (n ϭ 6; 464Ϯ77 nM vs. 287Ϯ69 nM , respectively). This is also comparable to adult cardiac myocytes. Besides cardiomyocytes, SSCs give rise to vascular smooth muscle (expressing smooth muscle-␣-actin, vascular smooth muscle MHC) and endothelial cells (expressing PECAM-1, VEGFR2, and vWF). SSCs also differentiate into other somatic cell types in vitro. Furthermore, we show that SSCs are able to differentiate into cardiac cells and most other somatic cells in vivo after blastocyst microinjection. Thus, adult spermatogonal stem cells exhibit pluripotency like embryonic stem cells and may offer new possibilities in cell based cardiac regeneration strategies. Ischemic heart disease is characterized chronically by healed infarct and multiple foci of scarring that together contribute to the impairment of ventricular function. Although cardiac progenitor cells (CPCs) regenerate acutely infarcted myocardium, their effect on chronic infarcts is unknown. Thus, we tested whether CPCs implanted in proximity of healed infarcts one month after coronary occlusion in rats, invade the scar and generate myocytes and coronary vessels improving cardiac performance. As an alternative strategy, resident CPCs were stimulated locally with HGF and …


Type 2 diabetes is characterized by beta-cell apoptosis and impaired insulin secretion. Chronic exposure of islets to high glucose accelerates this process, so-called glucotoxicity. This involves proinflammatory cytokines, specifically interleukin-1β. SOCS (suppressors of cytokine signaling) genes control cytokine action. We hypothesize that SOCS genes protect beta cells from apoptosis. Human islets were transfected with GFP, cis, SOCS-1, SOCS-2, and SOCS-3 adenoviruses. After culture at 5.5 mM (control), 11.1 or 33.3 mM glucose with or without IL-1β, apoptosis was measured by the TUNEL assay, SOCS-3 expression by Western blot analysis, and gene expression by quantitative RT-PCR. Western blot analysis revealed a 20-fold induction of SOCS-3 expression by 2 ng/mL IL-1β and 15-fold by 33.3 mM glucose. In parallel, exposure of islets to 2 ng/mL IL-1β or 33.3 mM glucose induced a 3.3-fold or 2.95-fold increase in beta-cell apoptosis, respectively (p


The political pressure and the code of ethics in feudal society are the root causes of Dou E's tragedy. Dou E lived at the bottom of society. It is this unimportant person's tragedy that strikes readers' sympathetic chord.


In an effort to minimize the cost and maximize the effectiveness of highway noise barriers, the Federal Highway Administration and a National Pooled Fund Panel (made up of 14 States) funded a field study program on an experimental highway noise barrier. A test barrier was constructed in 1984 at a site at Dulles International Airport in Chantilly, Virginia. The study, conducted from May 1989 to August 1989 by the U.S. Department of Transportation, Research and Special Programs Administration, Transportation Systems Center, focused on the use of absorptive treatment and tilting as a means of improving the insertion loss (specifically, single event moving point source insertion loss) of two parallel highway noise barriers. Measurements were conducted with both controlled moving point sources (trucks) and an artificial fixed-point source (speaker system). Results show: (1) the addition of absorptive treatment to the roadside face of two vertical, parallel, highway noise barriers eliminated multiple reflections and was found to improve the insertion loss (2 dB to 6 dB); (2) tilting proved to be an effective alternative to absorptive treatment in eliminating the multiple reflections and subsequent degradation in performance of two vertical reflective barriers; (3) additional verification needs to be performed with an artificial fixed-point source before it can be recommended as a viable alternative to actual highway traffic in measuring barrier effectiveness; and (4) although the "BARRIER 2.1" computer program cannot model the Dulles test situation exactly, and actual ground impedance data were not available, the trends in the predicted insertion loss data were in good agreement with the predicted results although lower in absolute level.


In a brief review of a short book peppered with direct quotations, it may seem to the author that the full flavor of his argument was not adequately presented, but I deny that I distorted the major thrust of the book either in my summary of its theme or in the quotations I made from it, and I note that in his letter Professor Russett does not claim that I misstated what I called the repellent central proposition of his book, that the United States should have stayed out of World War II, indeed that it was an unnecessary war, because there was "no clear and present danger" to us.


We present a simple mathematical model for the transition to a sustainable economy in order to explore the long-run evolution of an economy that achieves environment protection, full recycling of material resources and limitation of greenhouse gas emissions. The main concern is to investigate how balanced economic paths are modified under public policies for transition to sustainability. We consider a world economy with two subregions that are endowed with greenhouse gas emissions and ecological footprint of OECD and non-OECD countries respectively. Then, for the OECD subregion, three different options are investigated : a green growth option that focuses on accelerating the green technological change, a low growth option that focuses on shifting the structure of the economy towards low carbon and low capital intensive activities and a combined green-low growth option that focuses on the limitation of material resources and the abatement of the ecological footprint.


PREMISE OF THE STUDY
Aboveground biomass (AGB) of herbaceous vegetation is a primary source of fuel in frequent surface fires that maintain grasslands, savannas, and woodlands. Methods for nondestructively estimating AGB are required to understand the mechanisms by which fuels affect fire behavior and the effects of time since the last burn. We developed allometric equations to estimate AGB in wiregrass (Aristida beyrichiana/A. stricta), a dominant bunchgrass in Pinus palustris ecosystems and a key species for ecological restoration.

METHODS
We collected wiregrass from North Carolina to Florida, across a range of time-since-last burn and site types. We tested 32 mixed effect models to see which predictors were best at predicting live, dead, and total AGB. We also examined how time since burn (TSB) affected the live-to-dead ratio (LDR) using regression.

KEY RESULTS
Wiregrass AGB was found to increase with increasing latitude (relative to tussock volume), possibly due to an increase in precipitation, and was greater on more fertile clay soils and flatwoods than on sandy soils. The LDR decreased as a power function with TSB, resulting in rapid accumulation of dead, highly flammable, biomass in the fire-free period.

CONCLUSIONS
Greater biomass will support fires of higher intensity. Our models can be useful in the parameterization of future physics-based models to predict fire behavior. Understanding the environmental variables that influence the allometry of wiregrass should help increase the precision of AGB estimates and the subsequent effects on fire behavior and effects on neighboring vegetation.


The idea for Presence began on the beach in Santa Barbara. Nat Durlach and I thought it would be fun to get some of the key programmers and engineers already doing VR and graphics software for computer gaming, film, and TV together with engineers from NASA, the military, and the aviation industry who had long been developing flight simulators and now were concerned about remote control and telepresence. We saw a close relation between VR and teleoperation, as depicted by Figure 1. To the extent that the computer-generated reality and the telepresence feedback from an actual teleoperator are both of sufficiently high quality, from the human operator's viewpoint the mental model of the task and the interactions at the computer interface should be the same. In 1991 this sameness was clearly a stretch for many reasons, but it was clear that there was much we could gain from sharing ideas, and to the best of our knowledge there had been minimal interaction to date between those two communities. We knew that the free-thinking, long-haired, tee-shirt and sandal-wearing community of VR software, such as Jaron Lanier, would provide a wonderful and provocative contrast to suit-wearing, brief-case-carrying engineers and government officials, and figured this mix of people would be great fun for everyone. So we pitched the idea to NASA, as best I recall, and they said yes and came up with support for such a meeting. A hotel on the beach at Santa Barbara, California seemed like an ideal venue. There was also the feeling that the technology of both displays and software were bound to increase at a rapid rate, and that no journal was then available for researchers to publish scientific findings regarding the psychological and physiological aspects of VR—beyond the hardware and software technology. The meeting was a great success, in our opinion, and we all went away enlightened. So then we suggested to MIT Press that this might be a topic for a journal. They liked the idea, and so it began. The first issue of Presence: Teleoperators and Virtual Environments was published as ''Winter 1992.'' Thomas Furness and I were listed as Co-Editors-in-Chief and Nathaniel Durlach as Managing Editor. Presence has fulfilled its mission and then some. The emphasis has been heavier on VR than on teleoperation.


Counterfeiting is an exhaustive problem smashing extensively, virtually as well as in reality, on each sector all around the world. In order to identify and classify fake and genuine banknote various techniques and models have been proposed and developed. This paper proposes an effective predictive model based on machine learning technique for authentication of banknotes, which can predicts with good accuracy that whether the given banknote is fake or genuine. The decision tree model is built using IBM SPSS tool. The performance measure of the model is done using gain charts and index charts and it is found that proposed decision tree model is good enough for prediction of banknote classification as fake or genuine.


The Pre-Chamber spark plug, already in its most simple configuration, allows a cycle
fuel consumption reduction of 2-3% (WLTC) by enabling a significant compression ratio
increase due to its huge knock mitigation effect. This benefit can be strongly extended
in the homogeneous lean burn operation mode with very low nitrogen oxide
emissions by a novel approach of injecting a well prepared fuel-air-mixture inside the
Pre-Chamber. An increase of the engine compression ratio allows further the development
of a new combustion process referred as the Pre-Chamber supported self-ignition
process, which enable an increased thermodynamic efficiency at part load operating
points of a gasoline engine.
The development of a suitable Pre-Chamber ignition system requires the technical understanding
of the Pre-Chamber geometry parameters on the combustion process.
The impact of the overflow channel design on the flame propagation and ignition of the
fuel-air mixture inside the main chamber must be understood in greater detail. This in
turn requires a high-fidelity combustion model which is capable of predicting the impact
of the overflow channel geometry on e.g. flame extinction, radical recombination on
the walls of the Pre-Chamber orifice and finally the behavior of main chamber inflammation
regardless of the Pre-Chamber ignition regime.
Focus of this work is to discuss the impact of the Pre-Chamber geometry onto the
inflammation and early flame propagation inside the main combustion chamber by
means of experiments in an optical high pressure vessel under simplified boundary
conditions. As a basis, the simultaneous high speed measurement of Schlieren and
OH* chemiluminescence serve as a fundamental means to analyze ignition performance
and early flame propagation in order to develop and validate an accurate combustion
model.
Initially, the general impact of the chamber pressure will be discussed emphasizing
specifically on the differences between certain Pre-Chamber layouts and the conventional
ignition system onto flame speed and ignition probability. Furthermore, variations
of e.g. the number of overflow holes, the orifice diameter and the volume of the Pre-
Chamber aids to identify the most relevant parameters responsible for flame extinction
and combustion performance inside the main chamber.


The stress concentration during the loading and unloading processes of transient creep is investigated for a strip with semi circular notches by means of the photo-viscoplasticity, using specimens of celluloid at 65dC. The relations between the stress concentration factor, the geometries of strips, and time during the loading and unloading processes are derived from the time dependent variations of isochromatic fringe orders. Such trends cannot be analysed by the ordinary photoplasticity in which the time effect is not taken into account.


Cultured murine hepatic tumor (HT) cells respond to the polar solvent dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO) with specific alterations in morphology, proliferative kinetics, and biochemical properties. These include entrance into a quiescent "Qi" substate (characterized by accumulation of cells in GI phase and lowered cellular RNA content), enhanced production of liver‐specific proteins, and decreased expression of growth traits characteristic of the transformed phenotype. Entrance of HT cells into Qi was associated with increased monolayer compaction and a shift from an elaborate surface fibronectin (FN) network to a sparse and restricted distribution of FN fibers. This marked decrease in the extent and complexity of the cellular FN network, as a consequence of DMSO exposure, was reflected in a 90% decline in the amount of FN secreted into the culture medium. These data complement previous studies indicating that the accumulation and composition of liver cell matrix substances reflect altered patterns of hepatocyte‐specific gene expression. In the HT cell system, DMSO appears to act in a bifunctional manner, increasing the production of certain tissue‐specific proteins (e. g., albumin and alphafetoprotein) while decreasing the secretion and deposition of other cellular components (FN). DMSO may directly regulate expression of these proteins in HT cells or alter the pattern of cellular response to specific autocrine growth factors.


Hematopoietic stem cells (HSC) commit to the T-lineage by gradually losing developmental plasticity and gaining T cell identity. A recently discovered transcription factor Bcl11b is expected to be a key regulator in this process. It is known Bcl11b is crucial for alpha/beta T cell development and for survival of double positive cells specifically. However, little is known about how Bcl11b works in the very early stages of T cell development. We have cloned cDNA of four transcripts of Bcl11b, and over-expressed these Bcl11b isoforms in fetal liver HSCs. Our data so far has shown that certain Bcl11b isoforms positively regulate T-lineage specification. While full-length Bcl11b and Bcl11b 1-2-4 are growth inhibitory, full-length Bcl11b stimulates emerging of Thy1+ cells from HSCs under a condition that does not normaly favor T cell development. In another experiment, fetal liver HSCs transduced with Bcl11b 1-3-4 and 1-4 were co-cultured with OP9-DL1 cells or OP9 control cells. The data showed that after 4 days of co-culturing HSCs with OP9 control cells, empty vector infected HSCs showed no developmental progression: almost all cells were c-kit+ CD25-; however, some Bcl11b transfected cells became c-kit+, Thy1+ and CD25+ DN2-like cells, normally seen only on OP9-DL1 cells. Our data revealed that certain isoforms of Bcl11b may stimulate T cell development and may even have a novel relationship to Notch signaling.


Segregation from solutions and melts is compared theoretically. It is shown from thermodynamic arguments that equilibrium solution segregation is more effective. Segregation coefficients k0 are calculated for aqueous alkali halide systems, based upon theoretical heat of dissolution values (solid solution) and solubility data (liquid solution). Good agreement with experimental values is obtained over a range of 1 > k0 > 10−4. A critical discussion of the available experimental data and limitation of the thermodynamic theory in terms of off‐equilibrium phenomena is given.


The present investigation was carried out during the Kharif season, 2017-18 at Student's Instructional Farm, N.D. University of Agriculture and Technology, Kumarganj, Faizabad (U.P) to study the efficacy of bio-insecticides and botanicals against brinjal shoot and fruit borer (Leucinodes orbonalis Guenee). The bio-insecticides and botanicals tested were: Emamectin benzoate 5 SG @ 75 g a.i/ha, Spinosad 45 SL @ 18 g a.i/ha, NSKE 5%, Karanj seed extract 5%, Onion extract 5%, Garlic extract 5%, Tobacco extract 5%, Cannabis (bhang) leaf extract 5%, Wood ash 10 g/ plant and compared with control. Results showed that Emamectin benzoate 5 SG (75 g a.i/ha) treated plots showed lowest infestation and gave higher fruit yield (313.85 q/ha) followed by Spinosad 45 SL (18 g a.i/ha) and NSKE (5%) which gave 300.58 and 284.33 q/ha fruit yield respectively. The least effective treatment was Wood ash (10 g/plant) and yielded only 225.14 q/ha healthy fruits. The maximum cost-benefit ratio was obtained from Emamectin benzoate 5 SG 75 g a.i/ha (1:21.23) treated plots. Tobacco leaf extract 5% treated plots though ecofriendly but gave least cost-benefit ratio (1:1.27). This study recommends the use of bio-insecticides and botanicals as they are significantly efficient in managing the brinjal shoot and fruit borer infestation.


We have developed a unique comprehensive mouse radiation hybrid (RH) map of nearly 23,000 markers integrating data from three international genome centers and over 400 independent laboratories. We have cross-referenced this map to the 0.5-cM resolution recombination-based Jackson Laboratory (TJL) backcross panel map, building a complete set of RH framework chromosome maps based on a high density of known-ordered anchor markers. We have systematically typed markers to improve coverage and resolve discrepancies, and have reanalyzed data sets as needed. The cross-linking of the RH and recombination maps has resulted in a highly accurate genome-wide map with consistent marker order. We have compared these linked framework maps to the Ensemble mouse genome sequence assembly, and show that they are a useful medium resolution tool for both validating sequence assembly and elucidating chromosome biology.


BiFeO3 film were prepared by sol-gel process. X-ray diffraction pattern indicates that the sample is random oriented. Scanning electron microscopy confirms that the film has a polycrystalline structure and there is no diffusion between the film and bottom electrode. Ferroelectric measurement shows that the remnant polarization of the film is 2.0μ C/cm2, which is comparable to the single crystal at low temperature. A diffused dielectric transition is identified which is attributed to the presence of Bi46Fe2O72 phase.


Quadrangle, with a long-lasting development course in China, contains abundant cultural connotations. As indicated by China's existing data, early in two thousand years ago, China's Quadrangle emerged and was used as the residence of the wealthy and the imperial aristocracy. Its interior decorations and structures are very graceful. As the economic society advances, many folks have gradually been living in Quadrangles, which became a significant residential place. Exorbitant though the price of the Quadrangle is and only some rich people can afford it, its cultural value and artistic characteristics substantially advance the development of Chinese cultural architecture. Further investigating the Quadrangle can positively support the inheritance and innovation of Chinese architectural art and culture. This paper falls into three parts, namely, the architectural features of Quadrangle, the cultural presentation of Beijing Quadrangle, and the development direction of China's traditional Quadrangle. These three parts fully display the features and value of the Quadrangle itself, allowing people to know about the Quadrangle's profound connotation, so that it can promote people to advance the development and inheritance of Chinese architectural art and culture.


This invention provides a method for thin film formation, which can prevent the deposition of carbon atoms on a substrate to form a high-quality thin film. The method for thin film formation comprises an adsorption step of dissolving a predetermined atom-containing starting compound in a solvent to give a starting material solution, gasifying the starting material solution in a vaporizer (4) to give a starting gas, supplying the starting gas into a reaction chamber (2), and adsorbing the above starting compound to a heated thin-film forming material (12), and a layer forming step of supplying an oxidizing gas to the reaction chamber (2), and oxidizing the starting compound adsorbed on the surface of the thin-film forming material (12) to form an oxide layer containing the atoms. A thin-film formation cycle from the adsorption step to the layer forming step is repeated to form a thin film on the thin-film forming material (12). The method is characterized in that the thermal decomposition temperature of the solvent is above the temperature of the thin-film forming material (12).


Inverse classification is the process of manipulating an instance such that it is more likely to conform to a specific class. Past methods that address such a problem have shortcomings. Greedy methods make changes that are overly radical, often relying on data that is strictly discrete. Other methods rely on certain data points, the presence of which cannot be guaranteed. In this paper we propose a general framework and method that overcomes these and other limitations. The formulation of our method can use any differentiable classification function. We demonstrate the method by using logistic regression and Gaussian kernel SVMs. We constrain the inverse classification to occur on features that can actually be changed, each of which incurs an individual cost. We further subject such changes to fall within a certain level of cumulative change (budget). Our framework can also accommodate the estimation of (indirectly changeable) features whose values change as a consequence of actions taken. Furthermore, we propose two methods for specifying feature-value ranges that result in different algorithmic behavior. We apply our method, and a proposed sensitivity analysis-based benchmark method, to two freely available datasets: Student Performance from the UCI Machine Learning Repository and a real-world cardiovascular disease dataset. The results obtained demonstrate the validity and benefits of our framework and method.


The community of the saints. The article argues that it is important to contemplate the dogma of the 'community of the saints' because some people stress the fact that the church is a community of believers whilst others understand the church as the symbol of an ideal society. The expression 'the community of the saints' explains a large variety of dimensions of Christian faith and ecclesiology. This confession underlines the necessity of ecumenical contact. It offers comfort to mourners. It learns us to honour our predecessors. It teaches us that the church is not an alternative society, nor the crown of society. It stresses the necessity for active deaconship and the importance of the Holy Communion.


It is shown that the description as a "frog" of John von Neumann in a recent item by the Princeton celebrity physicist Freeman Dyson does among others miss completely on the immesnely important revolution of the so called "von Neumann architecture" of our modern electronic digital computers.


Atomic layer epitaxy continues to emerge as a promising epitaxial technique when atomic layer thickness control is required in semiconductors device structures. However, ALE still faces several problems such as low growth rate, relatively high carbon background and difficulties in growing high bandgap ternary alloys. This paper will outline recent progress in these areas illustrated by the state-of-art devices recently grown by the ALE technique.


The present study tried to observe the impact of advertisement expenses on net sales for the selected manufacturing companies over a period from 1997-98 to 2011-12. Additionally it seeks to analyze the usefulness of advertisement expenses on sales of selected companies working in India at aggregate and disaggregate levels. The learning is based on secondary data which is collected in panel form for advertisement expenditure and sales revenue of 60 randomly selected sample companies working in India, which are auxiliary classified on the basis of sum of sales revenue as well as on the basis of type of product produced. The empirical analysis of the study concluded that advertisement expenditure plays a vital role for the increase in net sale of companies but there should be focus on the other vital indicators also so as to make operations profitable over the period of time.


This handbook was developed in order to help departments in Student Affairs continue to improve their services and programs through the implementation of intentional, meaningful, and sustainable assessment programs.


Acetylene monomer was polymerized with vanadium based catalyst to form free standing film of polyacetylene (PA). The effect of polymerization conditions including catalyst concentration, aging time of catalyst, polymerization solvent and temperature on morphology, catalytic activity and cis content has been investigated. It is shown that the catalytic activity of catalyst system containing VO (acac)2 is higher than that of V (acac)3. The suitable conditions for preparing PA film: molar ratio Al/V of 4-6; concentration of vanadium compounds 0.4 mole/1. When tetrahydrofuran and n-butyl ether were used as polymerization solvent, PA power was formed. The cis content of PA film depends upon the polymerization temperature, but is not higher than 70%.The room temperature conductivity of the PA film doped with I, is in the range of 10-102Ω-1·cm-1, similar to that prepared with Ti(OBu)4-AlR3. The conductivity of PA film obtained with catalyst system composed of V4+ was higher than that of V3+ catalyst. The observation by a scanning electron microscope showed that the film is composed of an accumlation of fibrils with diameter of 1000 A. The bulk density is about 0.8g/cm3.


The work performed an assessment of the quality of strategic planning in 26 municipalities of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), including an analysis of the structure and content of existing socio-economic development strategies; rationing of growth rates of economic and social sphere. As a result, the types of strategic planning of the socio-economic development of the region's municipalities with an emphasis on differences in their territorial attractiveness (the presence of «growth points» and the prospects for the development of settlements) are identified, which, from the point of view of the author, must be considered in strategic planning at the regional level


Trends of 15 extreme and non‐extreme daily rainfall indices for Mexico and the southern United States are analyzed for the extended boreal winter (November–March) and summer (June–October) during 1981–2010. The analysis includes gridded observations (CHIRPS and Livneh), reanalyses (ERA5, ERA‐Interim, MERRA2, and CFSR), the regional climate model RegCM4.7 (forced by ERA‐Interim), and four general circulation models (GCMs) from the CMIP5 (HadGEM2‐ES, CNRM‐CM5, MPI‐ESM‐MR, and GFDL‐ESM2M). The domain is divided into 13 regions with similar seasonal rainfall patterns according to the k‐means algorithm applied to CHIRPS monthly precipitation, as a reference. Gridded observations and reanalyses (O&R) show similar regional annual cycles and metrics of precipitation. The two observational data sets show the largest differences in the magnitude of some indices in the wettest region (southeastern Mexico) and in the monsoon. During summer, O&R show positive significant trends in extreme rainfall indices in regions commonly affected by tropical cyclones (southern Baja California Peninsula, northeastern Mexico, and the southeastern United States), while negative significant trends of seasonal accumulation of rainfall are seen in the Mediterranean Californias and the Sonoran Desert region. There is an agreement among most data sets that the frequency and intensity of extreme winter precipitation indices have declined in northwest Mexico and the southwestern United States, but trends are not statistically significant, while southeastern Mexico shows significant increases in 5‐days accumulation (rx5d). ERA5 followed by MERRA2 show the best performance. RegCM4.7 reproduces the annual cycle of precipitation in most of the regions and captures the main trend signals especially in winter, but it has difficulties in reproducing the summer interannual variability of few indices. The GCMs tend to overestimate (underestimate) the annual cycle of precipitation and the median values of extreme indices in the driest (wettest) regions. They are not able to capture the regional trends of the indices.


the June, 1983 election, but already Labour's decline was quite evident: from 48% of the votes and 41% of the electorate in 1951 to just 37% of the votes and 28% of the electorate in 1979. (The respective figures for 1983 are 28% and 20%.) The most telling analysis of Labour's decline is that by Crewe in The Politics of the Labour Party in which he identifies a dual process of demographic contraction and declining levels of Labour identification within the party's "natural" working-class constituency such that, in the 1980s, the party "faces a working-class electorate with only a minimal sense of class interest" (p. 23). If, at the same time, we accept Crouch's argument that "there is no social cleavage within the society to support a major degree of party competition other than that which is represented by the conflict between organised labour and capital" (p. 173), then the imputed decline of class politics is likely to create an essentially "destructured" electorate which, in turn, is seen to favor the Liberal party and the SPD. Curtice points out in Liberal Party Politics that Liberal support is not now organized on class lines, while attempts to explain Liberal voting in terms of other social cleavages have proved either "indeterminate" or "fruitless": "Liberal support has a socially 'rootless' character" (p. 102). In such circumstances, the potential freeing of British politics from its traditional social bases could assist the growth of the Liberal party. In a similar vein, both Bogdanor and Wallace refer to Jo Grimond s original strategy for the Liberals in the early 1960s, which emphasized the need for a realignment of British politics into an opposition of the progressive or radical elements in all parties against conservatism, with possibly a small leftleaning Labour party on the fringes of the system. The emergence of the SDP and the growth in electoral support for the Liberal-SDP Alliance would now seem to have revived the chances for such a realignment. But Bogdanor sounds a warning note when he suggests (pp. 8-9) that the weakening of the ties that bind class to party may not lead to a realignment of British politics as such, but rather to a process of dealignment which may be of long-term benefit to none of the parties. In the last analysis, none of the contributors to either collection is really willing to forecast future trends in British politics; all are more or less content to account for the present state of play and, indeed, both collections are very useful in this sense. Referring in The Politics of the Labour Party to the "glacially slow rate at which a major party in Britain is finally abandoned by the electorate," Crewe cautions that "prophecies of doom are clearly premature" (p. 17). Notwithstanding the June, 1983 election results, even the most ardent Liberal-SDP supporter must surely agree that all other prophecies in British politics are also clearly premature.


Vascular cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease are the two major causes of cognitive impairment. Previous studies have focused on the relationship between arterial‐derived diseases and/or small cerebrovascular disease and cognitive impairment, but the cognitive impairment caused by intracranial venous system lesions has received less attention. Intracranial venous system lesions include venous sinus thrombosis, deep vein thrombosis, cortical venous thrombosis, chronic subdural hematoma, dural arteriovenous fistula, venous collagen disease, etc. The pathogenesis and clinical characteristics of cognitive impairment caused by different lesions are different.


The important status of separating fine coal in the cleaner coal technology as well as the application and the current situation in theoretical research of fluid solid fluidized bed separator are expounded.It is pointed out that liquid-solid fluidized bed separating fine coal is economical,suitable separation technology.It is suggested that fundamental research of the separation of liquid-solid fluidized bed should be strengthened,especially in the aspect of dynamic characteristics of the separation of liquid-solid fluidized bed as well as affection on separation result by structural parameter.


Significance is an essential reference in the judgments of the economic environment. It talks about significant influence, meaningful, significant risk, significant accounting policies, and the like. In accounting and auditing is used the term "materiality" when the submit financial information, to evaluate the risk or partial information or investigating events using statistical sampling technique. Starting from the premise that the conceptual and practical approach of the threshold of significance during the mission financial audit can serve as reference for other categories of investigation in the economic environment in general, to bring focus to a summary of this approach, based on the latest relevant standardization. Thus, after a review of the problem of meaning is the new category "performance materiality", with practical examples. Last but not least, we propose a procedure for the application of the materiality during a mission.


The article defines the administrative and procedural protection of the rights and legitimate interests of public servants who may be violated in cases related to the passage of public service in Ukraine. The following rights and legitimate interests of public servants have been established, which are defended in matters related to the passage of public service in Ukraine: 1) the right to provide a public servant with housing; 2) the right to accrue and make payments for the service; 3) the legitimate interests of the public servant in the application of disciplinary sanction to him; 4) the legitimate interests of the public servant in the decision of the certification commission on the results of the certification; 5) the legitimate interests of the public servant in the results of the annual assessment of the performance by the public servants of their duties and tasks. It is emphasized that the proceedings concerning the protection of the legitimate interests of a public official regarding the decision of the certification commission based on the results of the certification can be successfully analyzed on the basis of the judicial practice of appealing the decisions of the certification commissions of bodies (institutions, institutions) of the National Police of Ukraine on dismissal of police officers due to their failure to pass. It has been determined that the object of disciplinary misconduct is specific values (benefits), which are protected by the current civil service legislation, and which are or may be harmed. The subject of disciplinary misconduct is usually the individual who committed it and is subject to disciplinary action. In the event of a disciplinary offense by a civil servant, the concept of a special entity may be used. It is concluded that the legitimate interests of a public official in the decision of the certification commission on the results of certification and the results of the annual assessment of the performance of public servants assigned to them duties and tasks can be protected in the procedure of administrative proceedings in case of violation of administrative procedures of certification (evaluation) effective appraisal (evaluation) and making by competent bodies unreasonable decisions regarding the public official on the results of appraisal (evaluation


Poster: "ECR 2011 / C-1030 / MRI characterization of white matter myelination in the developing brain until two years of age: the role of T1 IR MR Images" by: "A. Ferreira1, A. F. Oliveira2, M. M. C. P. Ribeiro2; 1Lisboa/PT, 2Lisbon/PT"


Management structure affects income distribution within the firm. We construct a model in which the managerial wage bill is determined by the number of direct reports to each manager (the "span of control") and the increase in pay between levels in the managerial hierarchy. The model explains, in a natural way, one of the best-documented observations in firm compensation: that CEO pay increases with the size of the firm. It also shows that rising span of control will normally lead to a decline in the ratio of the managerial wage bill to that of production workers. As span of control has been rising in recent decades, this appears to be inconsistent with the widely-documented rise in income inequality. The discrepancy is explained by the rapid expansion of equity-based compensation.


The invention relates to a high-specific area cerium zirconium oxide solid compound and relative production, wherein said compound is Ce1-xZrxNazOw or Cex'Zrx'MyNazOw, while the natron sodium oxide content is 5ppm-1000ppm. And the production comprises (1), preparing the solution as A; (2), dissolving the alkali material into water to obtain B; (3), adding A into B, to obtain deposition suspension; (4), adding additive, as surface activator, polymer, etc, mixing and heating, and crystallizing at high pressure; (5), filtering, and washing the deposit; (6), washing and filtering, drying, baking to obtain the solid. The invention has high crystallization degree, small grain and uniform distribution.


The coronavirus pandemic constitutes a challenge to democracy because of the constraints it sets, but also because it reveals its strengths and weaknesses, detailed in this survey.


Reinforced concrete piles are used when structures are constructed on soft ground, because it is necessary to transfer the loads into deeper strata with a sufficient bearing capacity. Usually, static and dynamic pile tests are carried out in order to determine the pile's behaviour and possible damages. The dynamic measurements can show the bearing behaviour and the structural integrity by using the theory of one-dimensional wave propagation. Commonly, the sensors are installed on the top of the pile head or embedded near the pile head. With the purpose of receiving more precise information about the pile features, now, a string of sensors is embedded at different levels of the pile. A fibre optic strain wave sensor has already been developed by Schallert [1]. The sensor is based on the principle of the extrinsic Fabry-Perot interferometer and was already tested in laboratory and full-scale field tests with precast driven piles. It was possible to detect the introduced deformation caused by the static loading and the dilatational wave during dynamic low-strain as well as high-strain loading. Although the full-scale tests were successful, the high demands on the economy of the sensor required the optimisation of the sensor design. After laboratory tests with the optimised sensor, a cast-in-situ bored pile has been built at the BAM Test Site Technical Safety in Horstwalde, South of Berlin. In order to enable the comparison of the signals, additional fibre Bragg grating sensors, temperature sensors and resistance strain gauge sensors are embedded into the pile. In this paper, the optimised sensor and the setup of the cast-in-situ bored pile along with results of the conducted pile tests are shown together with an outlook on further field-tests in progress.


The present application relates to a regenerative or hybrid drive system for an aircraft. The drive system includes the use of a power augmentation device to selectively engage the drive system of an aircraft to store power. The power in the power augmentation device being configured to release a power burst to systems within the aircraft to perform critical flight maneuvers.


Standard treatments of the impact of interest rate changes on bond prices include duration and convexity. These concepts derive from the first and second derivatives of a Taylor series expansion of an option-free bond price as a function of interest rates. Does the third derivative matter? This paper derives the formula for the third derivative- based term, which we call tilt, and explores its properties. Tilt tells how quickly the convexity changes. Similar to the properties of duration, a higher yield reduces tilt, a longer maturity increases tilt, and a higher coupon reduces tilt, ceteris paribus. Tilt adds little to the accuracy of the impact of small interest rate changes for default-free option-free bonds. Tilt becomes interesting for bonds with embedded options such as callable bonds and mortgage-backed securities. Such bonds can experience rapidly changing convexity and price under certain interest rate regimes.


In the course of developing an alternative test condition to explore torso response, the NHTSA's THOR Mod Kit Dummy was evaluated in two simulated frontal impact conditions. The recently proposed condition, which is less severe, produced less shoulder belt tension resulting in lower chest deflection. It also produced differences in the pattern of anterior ribcage deflection. The results of this study suggest that this less severe frontal impact test condition will produce sufficiently different PMHS response relative to that recorded in previous PMHS tests, including fewer rib fractures as well as an altered pattern of anterior ribcage loading.


Influence Maximization (IM) is a famous topic in mobile networks and social computing, which aims at finding a small subset of users to maximize the influence spread through online information cascade. Recently, some careful researchers paid attention to diversity of information dissemination, especially community-aware diversity, and formulated the diversified IM problem. The diversity is ubiquitous in a lot of real-world applications, but they are all based on a given community structure. In social networks, we can form heterogeneous community structures for the same group of users according to different metrics. Therefore, how to quantify the diversity based on multiple community structures is an interesting question. In this paper, we propose the Composite Community-Aware Diversified IM (CC-DIM) problem, which aims at selecting a seed set to maximize the influence spread and the composite diversity over all possible community structures under consideration. To address the NP-hardness of CC-DIM problem, we adopt the technique of reverse influence sampling and design a random Generalized Reverse Reachable (G-RR) set to estimate the objective function. The composition of a random G-RR set is much more complex than the RR set used for the IM problem, which will lead to inefficiency of traditional sampling-based approximation algorithms. Because of this, we further propose a two-stage algorithm, Generalized HIST (G-HIST). It can not only return a $(1-1/e-\varepsilon)$ approximate solution with at least $(1-\delta)$ probability, but also improve the efficiency of sampling and ease the difficulty of searching by significantly reducing the average size of G-RR sets. Finally, we evaluate our G-HIST on real datasets against existing algorithms. The experimental results show the effectiveness of our proposed algorithm and its superiority over other baseline algorithms.


Governance in the EU. Edited by GARY MARKS, FRITZ W.SCHARPF, PHILIPPE C. SCHMITTER and WOLFGANG STREECK. London: Sage, 1996. Pp.192, biblio, index. £37.50 (cloth); £12.95 (paper). ISBN 0–7619–5134–2 and ‐5135–0. Elitism, Populism, and European Politics, Edited by JACK HAYWARD. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1996. Pp.265, index. £35 (cloth). ISBN 0–19–828035–1. Adjusting to Europe. The Impact of the EU on National Institutions and Policies. Edited by Y. MENY, PIERRE MULLER and JEAN‐LOUIS QUERMONNE. London and NY: Routledge, 1996. Pp.181, index. £40 (cloth); £13.99 (paper). ISBN 0–415–14410–8 and ‐14409–4. Cohesion Policy and European Integration: Building Multi‐Level Governance. Edited by LIESBET HOOGHE. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996. Pp.458, biblio., index. £40 (cloth). ISBN 0–19–828064–5. The European Union and Members States. Towards Institutional Fusion? Edited by DIETRICH ROMETSCH and WOLFGANG WESSELS. Manchester and NY: Manchester University Press, 1996. Pp.382, index. £45 (cloth). ISBN 0–7190–4809...


Biotransformation of natural, synthetic, and semi-synthetic compounds has emerged as a frontier branch of chemical sciences that is progressively being applied in numerous fields. In the present review, we have summarized our biotransformation studies on bioactive compounds from 1997 to 2022. Various microbial and plant cell cultures were used for biocatalytic structural transformations. We present here an overview of biotransformation of 53 compounds belonging to various classes of natural, synthetic, and semi-synthetic compounds, published in several leading journals. The structures of the resulting metabolites have been elucidated by detailed spectroscopic studies. Oxidation, reduction, dehydrogenation, chlorination, aromatization, methylation, demethylation, rearrangements, etc. were the main reactions that occurred during the biotransformation processes. Many of the biotransformed products exhibited interesting biological activities. Structural transformations in some cases have also led to improved pharmacokinetic profiles. This review is aimed to provide a focused account of extensive work carried out in our laboratories in this field, as well as the immense potential of biocatalytic transformations in organic chemistry.


Abstract : The U.S. Army Research Laboratory (ARL) has developed a "red-amber-green" mission planning aid for Army commanders to advise them when and where the environmental conditions currently exceed (or are forecast to exceed) levels of "marginal" or "severe" impact to their systems, operations, or personnel. This Integrated Weather Effects Decision Aid (IWEDA) is successfully deployed today with U.S. Army combat weather teams around the world for Command and Control (C2) Battle Command and Command, Control, Communication, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (C4ISR) mission planning applications. IWEDA will be extended to enable key government decision makers and planners to more directly and automatically anticipate and understand the critical impacts and deleterious effects caused by major storms, severe/adverse weather, and hurricanes that affect resources, infrastructure, transportation, property, safety, and lives. This extension will produce a "Impact Planning Aids for Major Storms" (IPAMS), resulting in a national concept of "America... Staying Ahead of the Storm."


Brain arteriovenous malformation is a clinical common vascular disease,good hair in young people.It often has headache,bleeding,epilepsy primarily in clinical.At present,there are CTA,MRA/MRI and DSA with respective characteristics in the clinical,used for diagnosis of brain arteriovenous fistula imaging.In this paper,the 16 layer spiral CT imaging of arterial blood vessels of the static deformity diagnosis are summarized.


The invention belongs to the technical field of measuring devices, in particular to an automatic sample clamping mechanism for a glow discharge spectrometer. The automatic sample clamping mechanism comprises a base and a press plate, wherein a lifting device and a swinging rod are arranged on the base; the lifting device is used for moving vertically; one end of the swinging rod is connected to the lifting device, and the other end of the swinging rod is connected to the press plate, thus the press plate is enabled to move horizontally along with the vertical moving of the lifting device; a bolt, a nut and an elastic part are also arranged between the base and the press plate; the bolt penetrates through a first through hole of the press plate, and then is in bolt connection with a second through hole of the base; the first through hole is greater than the second through hole. The invention also provides a sample clamping method of the automatic sample clamping mechanism for the glow discharge spectrometer. One end of the press plate goes up and the other end of the press plate goes down under the effects of a piston rod and the swinging rod connected with the piston rod by controlling the piston rod, the press plate moves horizontally simultaneously, thus one end, clamping a sample, of the press plate presses the sample according to the preset track, samples with different shapes and specifications can be adapted to, and the operation is simple.


PURPOSE:To provide a high wave delay rate and a high characteristic impedance on a circuit and to miniaturize the circuit by connecting each of 1st transmission lines and each of 2nd transmission lines alternately in the extending connection direction of the 1st and 2nd transmission lines in cascade. CONSTITUTION:Each of plural 1st transmission lines 100 is constituted of a tri-plate microstrip line having a comparatively low capacitive characteristic impedance ZL and having a 1st longitudinal cross section that the width Wst of a center conductor 6 is wider than the width Ws of a strip conductor 6a by providing two projection conductors 6b protruded from the strip conductor 6a to the conductor 6. Each of plural 2nd transmission lines 200 is constituted of an elevated coplaner line having a comparatively high inductive characteristic impedance ZH and having a 2nd longitudinal cross section. Then each of the 1st transmission lines 100 and each of the 2nd transmission lines 200 are connected alternately and in the extending connection direction of each of the transmission lines 100, 200 being a direction in parallel with the longitudinal direction of the center conductor 6 in cascade.


Crowns and drill bits are tools to promote the disruption and breakdown of rocks or rock formations. The study of these crowns, considering its performance and economy, is one of the fundamental factors in research and mineral prospecting. For the best performance of these tools, it is essential that some parameters have been carefully analyzed, by selecting the most suitable crown for the project (kinds of rock, drill diameter, feed pressure, rotation, etc.).The correct choice of the tool enhances the efficiency of the operation and extends the life of the crown. In most cases, the crown for geological prospecting is made from a composite material (metal / ceramic) impregnated with diamonds. In this study, the wear of the matrix (the principal metal in an alloy, as the iron in steel) have been tested using a suspension of abrasive silica, a suspension of pulp of hematite and a mixture of both (silica and pulp hematite). Samples of matrix crowns have been fabricated and wear tests analyzed. After, thanks to the micrographs of the cap its diameters have been measured in order to evaluate the volume of wear. The Vickers hardness and the roughness measure of the matrix were also performed.


The key priority of this research work is to learn about the tie and dye Craft specialization, its value and diversity, to develop and promote tie and dye items in the fashion business. Tie and dye are type of resist dyeing, which involves tying the cloth and making manipulations before dyeing them. These manipulations are called resists and prevent the applied colour from coloring the fabric. The uniqueness of tie and dye lies in producing rich visual effects of colors on the fabric through "tying" and "dyeing" the fabric. The art of tie and dye has survived the passage of time and is practiced around the globe even today. In this research two different products like wall hanging and pot holders are created using macramé technique. The cords used are tie and dyed. The products were also checked for its marketability using a survey.


Statistical models of word{sense disam-biguation are often based on a small number of contextual features or on a model that is assumed to characterize the interactions among a set of features. Model selection is presented as an alternative to these approaches, where a sequential search of possible models is conducted in order to nd the model that best characterizes the interactions among features. This paper expands existing model selection methodology and presents the rst comparative study of model selection search strategies and evaluation criteria when applied to the problem of building probabilistic classiiers for word{sense disambiguation.


The aim of the present work was to develop sustained release matrix tablets of Lornoxicam using polymers such as carbopol, Eudragit RS100, polyvinylpyrrolidone, ethyl cellulose, pectin as carriers in various concentrations. Matrix tablets were prepared by direct compression method. Prepared formulations were subjected to various evaluation parameters like hardness, friability, thickness, % drug content, weight variation etc. In-vitro dissolution studies were carried out for 12 hrs. The tablets were subjected to in-vitro drug release in 1.2 pH for first 2 hrs then followed by 6.8 pH phosphate buffer for next 10 hrs and the results showed that among the ten formulations F2 and F4 showed good dissolution profile to control the drug release respectively. Combination of polymers shows greater retarding of drug release. The compatibility of the drug and polymer were determined by FT-IR spectroscopy. Results showed that the drug was compatible with all polymers. The release data was fitted to various mathematical models such as Higuchi, Korsmeyer-peppas, Hixson crowell, Zero order and first order to evaluate the kinetics of drug release. The drug release follows mixed order kinetics and mechanism was found to be non-fickian diffusion. The stability studies were carried out according to the ICH guideline which indicates the selected formulation (F2 & F4) was stable. In conclusion, the results suggest that the developed matrix tablets of Lornoxicam shows to improved efficacy and better patient compliance.


We introduce and study an extension of the correlator of unparticle matter operators in a cosmological environment. Starting from FRW spaces we specialize to a de Sitter spacetime and derive its inflationary power spectrum which we find to be almost flat. We finally investigate some consequences of requiring the existence of a unitary boundary conformal field theory in the framework of the dS/CFT correspondence.


In the modern era of health care and medical diagnostics, medical image contents are needed to be transported through the internet, in a safe and secured way, within time. Image compression is a process of reducing the size of an image without affecting the quality. Image compression reduces the size and helps in quick transportation. Digital watermarking is a process of embedding some secret data in an image for copyright protection, authentication, and channel reliability detection, done without affecting its look. In this work, vector quantization based compression technique is used. It follows LBG clustering algorithm. For watermarking, DCT-DWT based embedding and extraction technique is adopted. At first, retina image was compressed and BPP, SNR, MSE, PSNR values were compared, before and after compression. Later, a binary EPR logo image was embedded into compressed and uncompressed images. Correlation values of original watermark and extracted watermark images were computed and compared for further study.


Bovine tuberculosis is an infectious chronic and debilitating disease that can infect humans. A key step for its controls is to determine the prevalence in the herd. The present study aimed to determine the prevalence of bovine tuberculosis at Mossoro, RN. Initially, it was done an evaluation for infection hazard by tuberculosis in bovines at 21 farms. It were tested 150 dairy cows by caudal-fold tuberculin test. Other 120 bovines were also tested by comparative cervical tuberculin test. The results revealed lack of knowledge by owners about the prevention of the disease, as well as negligence when they buy animals. The prevalence was 8.66% at the cervical test and 3.33% at caudal-fold tuberculin test and comparative cervical tuberculin test, respectively. Thus, it was verified a high prevalence of bovine tuberculosis, which is greater than the national mean prevalence.


Abstract: This essay argues that electricity was a significant theme in western literature during the turn of the twentieth century. It specifically focuses on two non-canonical texts by women writers, Mary Hallock Foote's 1896 novella, "The Harshaw Bride," and Honoré Willsie Morrow's 1923 novel, The Exile of the Lariat—two works that engage with this theme in order to draw attention to the roles that women played in modernizing the West. This paper discusses how Foote and Morrow contradicted the electrical industry's depiction of electrical development as a solely masculine endeavor. It also demonstrates that both writers perpetuated stereotypes about native women in their attempts to emphasize the contributions of white women. By recovering these novelizations of electricity in the West, this essay ultimately challenges the prevailing idea that western writers were anti-modern, chronicling instead the complex feelings that men and women had about social and technological changes to their way of life.


Knowledge of the number of nodes in a network is very useful in practical network operations. To date techniques employed to estimate the number of nodes in a network have been based on some aspect of the communications protocol(s) in use. Unfortunately, underwater networks have properties such as long propagation delay, high absorption, and dispersion that limit protocol-based techniques for estimating the number of nodes in a network. This paper investigates the estimation of the number of signal sources (N) in a region of interest through the cross-correlation of the acoustic signals received at two nodes. It is shown that the N can be expressed as a function of the mean and the standard deviation of the cross-correlation function. On the assumption that the signal sources are nodes in an underwater network, this method can be used to estimate the number of network nodes.


Abstract The joining of dissimilar materials is attaining increasing importance as there is a drive to utilise hybrid structures and reduce the weight or cost of products. The present work therefore studied the linear friction welding of commercially pure grades of aluminium to copper (AA 1050 to C101) for potential power transmission applications. Results showed that welds with very good mechanical and electrical properties can be produced. The weld microstructure was analysed using optical microscopy, backscattered scanning electron microscopy, hardness testing and high energy synchrotron X-ray diffraction. These techniques were used in order to identify any cross-weld grain size variations and possible formation of intermetallic phases close to the weld line.


Teen drivers have the highest crash risk when they start driving independently, and improving risk anticipation skills can help reduce this risk. Training can help teens acquire these skills faster and improve their overall safety record. The objective of this study was to evaluate an updated training program (based on RAPT and ACCEL) by introducing a more diverse set of training scenarios and leveraging deployment platforms that were better suited to modern devices. A pilot evaluation study was conducted with six teen drivers with less than six months of licensure to assess the updated training program (Risk-ATTEND). Risk-ATTEND was found to improve hazard anticipation-related gaze behaviors in teen drivers while also reducing workload. The research will aid in improving the training program's usability, and web-based training will make the training program more accessible on modern devices.


The heat capacity from 15 to 300°K, the heat of fusion (ΔH = 1779.9 ± 1.7 cal/mole), the temperature of fusion (184.368 ± 0.010°K), the vapor pressure, and the heat of vaporization at 285°K (ΔH = 6722 ± 10 cal/mole) have been determined experimentally for tetramethylgermane. The resulting entropy of the ideal gas at 285°K and 1 atm is 89.81 ± 0.15 cal/deg·mole. Agreement between calculated and experimental entropies requires that the potential barrier to rotation of the methyl groups be 750 ± 90 cal/mole. This value is surprisingly low considering the trends of the potential barriers in other methyl compounds of the Group IV elements.


Background The syndrome of involuntary craniofacial lingual movements in the setting of acute intensive careacquired quadriplegia (critical illness neuromyopathy) following sepsis-associated encephalopathy has not been previously described. We suggest a localization and treatment for this disabling condition. Methods Three patients (2 female) from our center were quadriplegic from critical illness neuromyopathy when they developed involuntary craniofacial lingual movements following sepsis-associated encephalopathy. Results Extensive investigations failed to identify an etiology for the abnormal movements. Movements were of large amplitude, of moderate speed, and semi-rhythmic in the jaw, tongue, and palate, persistent and extremely bothersome to all patients. Injection with Botulinum toxin type A was very beneficial. Conclusions Involuntary craniofacial lingual movements in the setting of flaccid quadriplegia following sepsisassociated encephalopathy are consistent with focal craniofacial brainstem myoclonus and constitutes a new syndrome. Botulinum toxin type A treatment maybe helpful in treatment.


What did it mean for people of colour to speak or writ white? More specifically, how many and what kinds of meaning could such white writing carry? This work looks at how America has racialized language and aesthetic achievement.


In this paper, we consider the uplink in a cloud radio access network, where analog-beamforming and resolution- adaptive ADCs are adopted at each the network remote radio heads (RRH) with large number of antennas. To maximize the minimum uplink signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio over all users, the transmit power at the users, the analog beamforming and the quantization bit allocation at each RRH, and the digital beamforming at the baseband processing unit are jointly optimized. Specifically, we consider a limited fronthaul capacity and per-user power constraint as well as the modulus constraint on the analog beamforming elements. The analog combiner for an RF chain is designed to maximize the effective channel gain of the selected user while reducing the inter-user interference in a distributed manner at each RRH. For a given analog combiner, the user power, quantization bit allocation at each RRH, and the digital beamforming are jointly designed via an alternating optimization technique. Numerical results show the resulting significant performance advantage of the proposed scheme.


High-efficiency video coding (HEVC) is the emerging video coding standard, which provides a coding bit-rate reduction of up to 50% compared to the previous-generation video compression standard, H.264/AVC. A wide variety of video coding applications are applied in mobile devices; they suffer from the limited time-amending transmission bandwidth during data transmission. We present a low-hardware-complexity HEVC ME design that is not only aware of transmission bandwidth changes but capable of acceptable coding performance. In comparison with the HEVC test model (HM-16.6), the introduced HEVC ME scheme with rate-control capability can be realized in VLSI.


Therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) and model-informed precision dosing (MIPD) have become effective methods in determining and adjusting dose regimens of various drugs in clinical practice. With the latest development in technology, particularly in computer science, drug individualization has evolved to be more flexible and precise. However, these methods still have certain drawbacks and have not been applied on a grand scale. This review shall present the most basic concept of TDM and MIPD as well as current issues in their application.


In this paper we present our current efforts with a novel, problem-based learning paradigm for academiclevel education on topics related to Virtual Reality. The paradigm embraces problem-based learning principles and methods, adopts methodologies and technologies pertaining to the Second Life online virtual environment and relies on the use of exclusively free software, namely, the OpenSimulator platform for Second Life-based virtual environments. We have applied the paradigm for the purposes of a BSc-level course module on Virtual Reality and have evaluated its educational impact and appeal to students through a questionnaire-based survey.


In recent years, the country has proposed an educational plan for the construction of the "new engineering", and The National Experimental Teaching Demonstration Center for Materials Science and Engineering (Donghua University) is an important experimental base for training new engineering talents in materials. The "One Support Two Platforms, Four Links, Six Roles" experimental teaching management model has subverted the traditional experimental teaching process, realized the online and offline hybrid experimental teaching process reengineering, more in line with the requirements of engineering education professional certification, and more conducive to the urgent need of the country Training of new engineering talents in materials.


This paper shows that the real exchange rate of the Indonesian rupiah (against the US dollar) during the period January 1979-July 1995 did not follow a random walk process. Both the unit-root and the white-noise properties of the random walk are rejected. These findings are consistent with active sterilization measures by the central bank in ensuring gradual depreciations of nominal rupiah. In turn, the designed weakening of nominal rupiah limited the consequences of faster domestic inflations to rupiah real exchange rate.


We study the thermocapillary migration of two-dimensional droplets of partially wetting liquids on a non-uniform heated substrate. An equation for the thickness profile of the droplet is derived by employing lubrication approximations. The model includes the effect of a non-zero contact angle introduced through a disjoining–conjoining pressure term. Instead of assuming a fixed shape for the droplet, as in previous works, here we allow the droplet to change its profile with time. We identify and describe three different regimes of behaviour. For small contact angles, the droplet spreads into a long film profile with a capillary ridge near the leading edge, a behaviour that resembles the experiments on Marangoni films reported by Ludviksson & Lightfoot (Am. Inst. Chem. Eng. J., vol. 17, 1971, pp. 1166). For large contact angles, the droplet moves as a single entity, weakly distorted from its static shape. This regime is the usual one reported in experiments on thermocapillary migration of droplets. We also show some intriguing morphologies that appear in the transition between these two regimes. The occurrence of these three regimes and their dependence on various parameters is analysed.


Geometric representation of 2-D airfoil is a necessary procedure in the optimization and design of airfoils.The goal of representation is that more airfoils can be obtained by using less parameter.The characters and disadvantages of Hicks-Henne shape function method and PARSEC method are analyzed.A geometric representation of airfoil was proposed,which is deined by applied parameters-relative thickness,relative camber,etc.The method can represent the outline of airfoils;aerodynamic characters can be qualitatively analyzed through thickness,camber,etc.It was concluded by analyzing the least-square regression outcome of ive airfoils in the three geometric methods.The conclusion is that the residuals of applied geometric method distributes averagely and represents airfoils more accurately than the other two methods.


According to current practice of carrying out unpolluted production in the oil field enterprise, and based on the analysis of the technological processes of down-hole operation, this paper pointed out the distribution of different pollution sources. Also, measures and steps of implementing unpolluted production in down-hole operation were put forward.


Introduction Evidence shows that oxygen (O 2 ) can cause decompensated type 2 respiratory failure (T2RF) increasing morbidity and mortality in COPD patients. Aim To review pre-hospital and emergency hospital use of O 2 in COPD patients. Methods All COPD admissions in January 2011 to Worcester Royal Hospital were audited against BTS guidelines. Results Ambulance documentation showed no record of previous NIV or O 2 alert card. There is no box to record FiO2 on the ambulance data form. O 2 dose (51.6%) and mask (48.4%) recordings were suboptimal. 60% of patients were given 28% venturi masks and 13.3% non-rebreathe masks. 45.8% of patients were given O 2 with adequate saturations (sats). 72% of patients given O 2 had sats > 92%. In hospital, 9.5% of clerkings contained a history of prior NIV. 2/3 of patients with adequate sats were given O 2 . 80% of those on O 2 had sats above 92. 36.7% of patients had O 2 prescribed with 45% having correct sats ranges. 15 patients had T2RF; 5 with sats > 92%. 3 patients met the criteria of NIV; all had sats > 92%. Mean length of stay (LOS) was 6 days longer in those who had NIV. 90.5% of discharge letters did not contain an ABG result. Conclusions There is still a major issue with O 2 use and monitoring in COPD patients. Patients are being given too much O 2 , it is not prescribed and not being documented accurately. This causes increased morbidity and cost, evidenced by those with hyperoxia developing T2RF and longer LOS. We recommend the ambulance data form includes an FiO 2 box, O 2 prescription is mandatory, documentation is improved and discharge letters include an ABG. Doctors, nurses and paramedics should all be regularly educated in O 2 therapy.


The high strength concrete shear walls are characterized by its high bearing capacity, high stiffness but a poor deformation capacity. In order to improve the deformation capacity of these members, specimens of high-strength concrete shear wall with steel tube confined boundary elements were designed and the quasi-static tests were conducted. The failure mode, failure mechanism, deformation capacity, hysteretic behavior, stiffness degradation and energy dissipation capacity of specimens were researched. The results indicate that the steel tube boundary elements can provide an effective confinement to the wall pier and the horizontal bearing capacity of specimens dropped slowly. Under a high axial force, the vertical bearing capacity of specimens can be maintained, and the deformation and energy dissipation capacity could be obviously enhanced due to the use of steel tubes in the boundary elements. The ultimate displacement and the energy dissipation of steel tube confined high-strength concrete shear walls were increased by 27 % and 81 % respectively compared to high-strength concrete shear walls with the same axial load ratio. According to the experimental results, the calculation formula is addressed for the cross-section bearing capacity of steel tube confined high-strength concrete shear wall. As a result, it is a good practice that the steel tube confined boundary elements can be utilized at the bottom strengthening zone so as to improve the seismic performance of high-strength concrete shear walls.


Objective : To identify preoperative factors of difficult chol-ecystectomy and factors of conversion to open surgery in Phattha-lung hospital. Design : Retrospective Cohort study. Material and methods : A review of the hospital database of all the patients who underwent Laparoscopic cholecystectomy between January 2009 and July 2016 . Results : A total of 486 laparoscopic choleccystectomies. 24.5%was male and 75.5% was female. Mean of age was 51.4 (range 11-86 ) years , Easy group was 48.8 % and difficult group was 51.2% , conversion to open cholecystectomy was 9.3% and bile duct injury was 1.0% .Factors influence to the difficulty were Diagnosis related of severity of disease (p 0.003) .gall stone with CBD stone was more difficult than symptomatic gall stone (OR =25.13 ,95% CI 1.12-4.91, p 0.002) and DM(OR=2.35, 95% CI 1.12-4.91, p 0.019) and another factor was obesity (BMI>=30 kg/ m2) (OR 1.85 ,95%CI 1-3.42, p 0.046) . Factors influence to conversion were DM (OR=2.9,95%CI 1.15-7.3,p 0.032) and previous treatment with antibiotics (OR=2.7, 95%CI 1.42-5.14,p 0.002) Conclusion : LC is a safety operation in Phatthalung hospital .pre operative diagnosis DM and morbid obesity were factors of difficult LC . DM and Previous treatment with antibiotic were factors of conversion to open cholecystectomy . Keywords : Conversion to open surgery, Difficult laparoscopic cholecystectomy. Gall stone, Laparoscopic cholecystectomy


The paper looks at the reasons why driver training has not been effective. Principal reasons given include: a lack of research effort in developing driver training programmes; many of the skills required to develop effective instruction programmes are lacking in the traffic research field; there is no consensus as how to analyse the driving task for instructional purposes; the methods of task analysis used are largely inappropriate from an instructional view point; and little is known about the psychology of learning to drive and how to teach driving. The incentives for research specialists are largely in the areas of theoretical speculation and evaluation rather than in programme development. An approach to driver training is outlined where an analysis of the structure of driving is given. A functional analysis is conducted, based on the interactions between the driver and his environment. Implications of this for the developmental aspects of the structure of driving are outlined. Approaches to designing instruction are given, together with their application to designing driver training. The number of the covering abstract of the conference is TRIS No. 396810. (Author/TRRL)


Research into early medieval fisheries in Poland started in the late 1940s and the 1950s together with large-scale archeological excavation connected with the forthcoming 1000 anniversary of the Christianization of Poland and the beginning of the Polish state. Some important discoveries were made during an excavation of a craft and fishing village in Gdansk. Jerzy Kmiecmski's findings regarding the organization of sea fisheries and the existence of a fishing company in Gdansk as early as the 12 and 13 centuries are among the forerunners of this kind of research. The issue of fisheries in medieval Szczecin has also been examined by archaeologists for a long time and most thoroughly discussed in a study by Marian Rulewicz, dealing with the period between the 10 and the first half of the 13 centuries. It has been nearly forty years since the publication of this most recent work, but the validity of many of the previous research results has not been questioned. This is mainly true about descriptions of fishing equipment and fishing techniques, in most cases, reconstructed based on some ethnographical analogues. According to archaeological data, fishing was one of the most important spheres of daily activities of the inhabitants of Szczecin. Undoubtedly, it was a major source of food supply practically


Is Your Genius At Work? Four Key Questions To Ask Before Your Next Career Move, by Dick Richards 2005. Mountain View, CA: Davies-Black Publishing 196 pages, Softcover, $18.95 Intended Audience: A, B, C, D, E, F, H Major Headings from Table of Contents: Answer Four Key Questions; Recognize Your Genius; Notice Yourself; Find the Face of Genius; Harvest Your Experience; Pursue the Blinding Flash; Detect Your Purpose; Tune Your Self How is the book most useful for its intended audience? Guides one to appreciate the various parts of oneself and how special we all are. Puts one in tune and feeling more whole. The concepts are tools for finding the "right fit." The top five things you learned from reading this book: 1) My own initial word list was too general. Selecting the real genius is difficult. 2) To emphasize even more to clients the value of finding meaningful work that feels right and serves inner needs (like harmony, balance, and vision). 3) That there can be two words that together explain one's life and purpose. 4) To identify more with the simple routine parts of life. 5) To continue steering my work toward specializing in spiritual fit, inner peace and being on purpose. Seeing the book on my desk, Jon asked if I was a genius. "I'm no genius, Jon," I said. "There's a reason it's here. I want clients to notice and ask. Genius has an entirely different meaning in the book, one that applies to all of us. Why don't you take a copy of my book review and discover the book's magic! Since you are going through career transition, it's especially appropriate." Author Dick Richards challenges readers to learn what makes them tick, who they really are under the surface, and how this knowledge can add joy and satisfaction to all parts of life. Finding one's genius could explain many years of unanswered questions. Perhaps not the easiest journey, the trek through Is Your Genius At Work is guaranteed to make one dig really deep (even back to childhood). A bit like beginning a treasure hunt, one has to learn to notice what they don't notice. Little clues. Feelings. Likes. Dislikes. Why one does one thing, instead of another, or takes a certain approach at work on the same task someone else does differently. Scary stuff! What really does make each of us tick? We all have a special genius that makes us unique. Discovering what that genius is at the bottom-most layer is the prize. Highly valuable, this genius clarifies our lives. Where we go from this very moment depends on whether that genius is understood and used to its fullest. Each part, or layer, of our lives ties to all the others. I remember being shocked when a client who spoke five languages fluently and worked as a public-school consultant burst into tears. She was miserable and considering a total career change. "But what else can I do?" In the end, we discovered that the problem didn't lie with the skills she used. It was the environment. Mary needed to be working with adults and using her language and teaching skills in other ways. Relief came as we explored local or state politics; working as an advocate for a nonprofit organization; or even landing a job working at the United Nations as a translator. …


Investigations on welded joints of a high strength structural steel were carried out to observe the relaxation of residual stresses and microstructural changes under quasistatic tensile and compressive loading as well as during fatigue loading. The results of residual stress measurements by means of X-rays and diffraction line profile analyses in welded joints after different numbers of load cycles and under different load conditions reveal that tensile residual stresses with high initial magnitudes are reduced in first order due to quasistatic yielding during the first load cycle. Then the relaxation of the residual stresses increases linear with the load stress. Under cyclic loading the relaxation of the residual stresses depends on the magnitude of the upper stress. An additional cyclic yielding leads to equivalent stresses calculated with the load stress and the two-dimensional residual stresses after higher number of load cycles, which are uniformly close to the cyclic yield strength of the base material.


Eleven compounds were isolated from the 70% acetone extract of Lysimachia clethroides Duby.On the basis of spectral analysis,they were identified as 23-hydroxyursolic acid(1),isotachioside(2),p-hydroxybenzoic acid(3),3-methoxy-4-hydroxybenzoic acid(4),3,4-dihydroxybenzoic acid(5),3,5-dihydroxybenzoic acid(6),methyl α-D-fructofuranoside(7),uridine(8),β-sitosterol(9),daucosterol(10),and oleanolic acid(11).This is first report of the presence of compounds 1,2,4,7,and 8 in the genus Lysimachia and 3,5,6,9-11 in this plant.


Stool retention more commonly affects children. It is a clinical finding in which a child resists bowel movements resulting in infrequent defecation, which then becomes larger and more painful. If left unaddressed, it may result in fecal loading or fecal impaction. Fecal impaction is a common gastrointestinal problem and a potential source of morbidity. Prompt identification and treatment therefore minimize the risks of complications. Treatment options include manual disimpaction and proximal or distal washout in the absence of complications. We report 3 cases of children who presented in the past 2 years, with stool retention due to undigested mountain papaya seeds. Key words: Prickly mountain papaya seeds, Stool retention, Fecal impaction, Manual evacuation.


We present and assess extensive statistics regarding poverty rates and depths for Vancouver, B.C., and Canada. We show that not only are single adults in B.C. the most likely to experience poverty, but they also experience the deepest level of poverty. Both single adults and single parents who are younger (i.e., ages 18–24) are more likely to be in poverty and are deeper in poverty than single older persons (i.e., 65+) or those who live as couples. These poverty rates and depths of poverty remain high for single adults and single parents as they get older (i.e., ages 26–65), at which point the depth of poverty decreases. Lastly, poverty tends to be experienced at higher levels by women than by men when conditioning on family type. For these reasons, B.C. government will have to consider these groups in reforms focused on addressing poverty reduction targets.


Was it time? Was it time to buy a foreclosure rental property? Jim already owned one rental property in a college community but investing in a foreclosure property was something new for Jim. The prospect of purchasing a foreclosure property was appealing. Real estate prices were down across the country. An increasing number of foreclosed properties were for sale in the local market. Could Jim pick one up for a great price? And what about risks? The market could continue to decline, and what looked like a value might not be. Any home Jim bought would not be his primary residence. Instead he and his wife would rent the property. The rental market could change and the estimated cash flows might not materialize. Foreclosure presented another obstacle as well; it was a bidding process that required cash funds. Jim had the cash available and his decision ultimately came down to getting the "right" price for a property. Determining the right price for the property involved assessing the appropriate cash flows, estimating a cost of capital and assessing the risks associated with his cash flow estimates. Jim lived in a small university town in Idaho. He owned his primary residence in an area of town known as upper university. The area was up a gentle hill from the main campus of a regional university. All of the houses in this area were within a ten minute walk from campus. The other area close to campus was called lower university and Jim owned a rental here. It too was within a ten minute walk from campus. Jim was a professor on campus and liked having his rental close to his primary residence. It made it easier to keep an eye on the property. It also saved time when he had to stop by to make a repair. Jim's rental property had stable, longer term tenants. Jim had been looking around for another rental but appropriate homes for sales were scarce in the university areas. Jim was very interested when he noticed a foreclosure for sale about a block from his current rental property. The U.S. Housing Market Jim had a great experience so far with his rental but he knew markets and the economy can change. Investing in a second rental was a big step. Jim had moved to Idaho from Las Vegas the year before, in the summer of 2007. Jim's house in Las Vegas sold, but at a price lower than he wanted. Jim quickly realized his sale in the Las Vegas market was actually well-timed because the real estate bubble had already been starting to burst. The housing market seemed stronger in Idaho, and Jim bought his first rental when he moved. Now that he was thinking about buying another rental, Jim realized there were some changes in the U.S. housing market in the summer of 2008 he needed to consider. Jim kept abreast of the news and heard a radio show describe how in the summer of 2008 the national real estate market was beginning to collapse. There was a run on Bear Stearns and the Federal Reserve had lowered interest rates to combat a subprime lending crisis. The news story described how this crisis occurred after several years of relaxed bank lending practices. Investors were interested in high interest, low risk bonds, and historically mortgage backed securities issued in the United States were just that. With high demand for mortgaged backed securities, mortgage companies began making riskier loans to create more securities. In an effort to increase loans, mortgage companies made loans without verifying income. They were called no income verification loans and were popular. In a no income verification loan the borrower needed only to state his or her income. For due diligence, the banks had an "expert" state that it was possible for someone in the profession of the borrower to make the income the borrower claimed. In addition, many loans were made with nothing, or little down. The decline in housing prices in some parts of the country started back in 2006. By 2008 the consensus was that the U.S. real estate bubble had popped. …


The grains would produce more phenolic compounds and free phenolic compounds having more effective antioxidant activity induced by pre-germination,and the antioxidant activity of pre-germinated grains was higher compared to native grains.The research progress on phenolic compounds and phenylalanine ammonialyase in pre-germinated grains was summarized. The formation mechanism of phenolic compounds in pre-germinated grains,relationship between pre-germination and the activity of PAL,relationship between pre-germination and formation of phenolic compounds were introduced.The long-termpotential development was prospected.