The invention discloses a synthesizing method of an indacaterol amino fragment 5,6-diethyl-2,3-dihydro-1H-inden-2-amine hydrochloride. According to the invention, ethylbenzene I is adopted as a raw material, and a Friedel-Crafts reaction is carried out, such that a compound II is obtained; the compound II is subjected to cyclization, such that ethylindene III is obtained; ethylindene III is subjected to alpha-site oximation reaction, such that a compound IV is obtained; the compound IV is subjected to RaneyNi reduction, such that a compound V is obtained; the compound V is processed with a Tf-protection and sodium borohydride reduction one-pot method, such that a compound VI is obtained; the compound VI is subjected to a Friedel-Crafts reaction, such that a compound VII is obtained; the compound VII is reduced, such that a compound VIII is obtained; and the compound VIII is subjected to protection removing and hydrochloride salt formation, such that a final product compound IX is obtained, and the 5,6-diethyl-2,3-dihydro-1H-inden-2-amine hydrochloride is obtained. The method provided by the invention is simple and convenient, and has low cost. The content of the product is higher than 99%. The method also has the advantages of low environmental pollution and suitability for industrialized production.


EXPOLIS was a large-scale population-based study of urban adult exposures to multiple pollutants, and was conducted between 1996 and 2000 in six European cities. Measurements made using standardised protocols in Athens (Greece), Basel (Switzerland), Helsinki (Finland), Milan (Italy), Oxford (UK), and Prague (Czech Republic), allow similarities and differences between contrasting European regions, climates and populations to be identified. Two consecutive days of home indoor and home outdoor measurements of fine particulate matter (PM2.5), black smoke (BS), and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) were carried out at the homes of adult participants on different dates and seasons during the sampling period. Regression models with interactions searched by all-possible subset method were used to assess the city effects and the determinants of home indoor PM2.5 (adj R 2 1⁄4 0:60, n 1⁄4 413), BS (adj R 1⁄4 0:79, n 1⁄4 382) and NO2 (adj R 1⁄4 0:67, n 1⁄4 302) levels. Both bi-directional (positive and negative signs of associations) and unidirectional (consistently either positive or negative sign of associations) city effects on different determinants in each indoor model were shown. Smoking, gas-stove usage, outdoor temperature, and wind speed were the common determinants in all three indoor models. Other determinants, including the presence of wooden material, heating, and being located in suburb area, were also identified. They were likely linked to cultural and socio-economic factors. r 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.


Purpose Through researching on the pulling biomechanical natures of 10 upper got from fresh fetal corpse to supply biomechanics parameter for clinic.Methods 20 ACL and MCL from normal countrymen fresh cadaver were taken to do pulling test in one dimension.By using the destructive load,intensity limit,maximum strain and modulus of elastic.proceed fitting with experimental data we got the stress-strained curve and stress-strain expression.Results The intensity limit and modulus of elastic of ACL are more than those of MCL.


I. House WF, Leutje CM, eds. Acoustic tumors. Baltimore: University Park Press, 1985. 2. Prass RL, Kinney SE, Hardy RW Jr, Hahn JF, Luders H. Acoustic (loudspeaker) facial EMG monitoring: II. Use of evoked EMG activity during acoustic neuroma resection. (}rOLARYNGOL HEAD NECK SURG 1987;97:541-51. designed to maximize the cutting surface yet minimize its width. The cutting surface is confined to the inner portion of the tip, while the outer surface is rounded to minimize injury to the facial nerve. The tip is necessarily quite delicate and requires careful handling and cleaning. We have used the neural dissector primarily for the removal of acoustic neuromas; however, Dr. Mansfield. F.W. Smith, of San Jose, California, has found it also useful for retrosigmoid vestibular neurectomies. The application of microsurgical techniques for acoustic neuroma removal, pioneered by William F. House in 1961, I has resulted in a steady decrease in the surgical mortality and morbidity associated with these tumors. The surgical mortality rate associated with acoustic neuroma removal at Duke University Medical Center is currently less than one percent. Presently the most frequent morbidity in our experience is the unilateral sensorineural hearing loss and facial palsy. Although the possibility of preserving useful hearing in patients with larger tumors remains controversial, the surgeon should be able to preserve the integrity of the facial nerve in 80% to 90% of the cases. Improvements in intraoperative facial nerve monitoring have allowed us to refine the techniques of tumor removal. 2 It is now apparent that medial traction on the facial nerve is particularly harmful. Excessive traction may be indirectly transferred to the facial nerve by adhesions between the nerve and the adjacent acoustic neuroma. Access to the adhesions with various surgical instruments may not be possible because of the difficult angle or limited space. Consequently, in 1986, Dr. Hitselberger and I designed the neural dissector. This instrument allows the surgeon to delicately separate the facial nerve from the schwannoma and sharply section any adhesions between them, thus minimizing undue traction on the facial nerve. The neural dissector ( Fig. 1) is constructed of stainless steel and measures 160 mm in length. The angled tip is 2.25 mm in length and 1 mm in width, and is


Abstract —There has been considerable interest in identifying communities within large collections of social networking data. Existing algorithms will classify an actor (node) into a single group, ignoring the fact that in real-world situations people tend to belong concurrently to multiple (overlapping) groups. Our work focuses on the ability to find overlapping communities. We use egonets to form friendship-groups. A friendship-group is a localized community as seen from an individual's perspective that allows an actor to belong to multiple communities. Our algorithm finds overlapping communities and identifies key members that bind communities together. Additionally, we will highlight the parallel feature of the algorithm as a means of improving runtime performance, and the ability of the algorithm to run within a database and not be constrained by system memory. Keywords-component; Network clustering, community detection, social networks, egonets, complex networks


A novel maximum-likelihood hard- and 8-level soft-decision scarce-state-transition (SST) type syndrome-former error-trellis decoding system of (n,n-l) convolutional codes with coherent BPSK signals for additive white Gaussian noise channels is proposed. The proposed system retains the same number of binary comparisons as the syndrome-former trellis decoding method of Yamada et al. (1983). Like the original SST-type register-exchange Viterbi decoding system, the proposed system also has the same advantage of drawing less power when implemented on CMOS LSI chips. A combination of the two techniques results in a less complex and low power consumption decoding system.


The moisture modifies the characteristics of heat transfer in building envelopes. Multiple factors, including the distinct hygric properties of various material, gravity, etc., affect the moisture content, resulting in a non-uniform distribution of water vapour in different parts of the envelope (e.g. column, beam, the main part of exterior walls). Usually, the more water vapour in a material, the higher the thermal conductivity, resulting in more heat transfers here. Moreover, condensation easily occurs where there is wet, marking such parts have risks both on structural safety and mould growth. The wall-to-floor thermal bridge (WFTB) occupies the largest area among all kinds of thermal bridges that formed by frame structures. In this study, we aimed to quantify the influence on heat loss through WFTB when the moisture transfer in envelopes is considered. The average apparent thermal resistance of WFTB (R TB, ave) was defined to access the insulation performance of WFTB in practical application. The results of transient numerical simulation indicated that when the moisture transfer is considered, the insulation performance of building envelopes decreases significantly, while the adverse effect of WFTB on heat insulation becomes less pronounced. The results indicated that the measures of insulation for WFTB should be reconsidered when the moisture transfer is considered.


Scrutiny of lithium-ion battery failure has seen heavy regulations and restrictions with well-reported headlines of catastrophic thermal runaway of commercial electronic devices and electric vehicles. Thermal runaway occurs at a critical temperature when the rate of heat generation exceeds that of dissipation, highly exothermic decomposition reactions occur and temperatures in excess of 600 ᵒC can be measured 1. These concerns continue to grow with applications of greater energy density and capacity, such as the proliferation of electric vehicles.
 Isolation of electronically conductive components within the electrode assembly to prevent short circuit has shown promise to prevent the onset of thermal runaway within lithium-ion cells. Here 2, the authors present a metal-coated polymer current collector (PCC) and thermally stable separator (TSS) to prevent and mitigate thermal runaway. 2.10 Ah capacity 18650-geometry cells were subject to thermal, internal short circuit and nail penetration abuse techniques with these materials and their commercial counterparts for individual comparison of the PCCs and TSS. Reductions in cell mass were observed on the order of 5%, due to the majority of the PCC consisting of the polymer substrate rather than pure aluminium and copper in commercial current collectors. High speed synchrotron facilities provided insights into the function of the polymer current collectors with post- mortem X-ray computed tomography. During mitigation testing, cells were taken to failure with thermal and with an internal short circuit device (ISCD) within a Fraction Thermal Runaway Calorimeter (FTRC) to measure the reduction in calorific output. This highlighted the difficulty that exists with detecting gas-induced and internal structural degradation within lithium-ion batteries, especially outside specialized diagnostic laboratories to characterize these rapid changes with elapse within seconds. Attenuation and wave velocity determined by the propagative properties of ultrasound through different phases, prominently highlights structural, temperature and formation of different phases which occur during thermal runaway. Such analysis provided by acoustic spectroscopy are characterised by variations in the attenuation and signal peak shifts. Further information which can be derived from spatial mapping using acoustic spectroscopy 3,4 include: state of charge, state of health, electrochemical performance.
 Cells made with the aluminium-coated PCC demonstrated 100% success in prevention of thermal runaway during nail penetration, retaining a voltage above 4.00 V. Cells manufactured with the PCC, both PCC and TSS, exhibited a reduction in total energy output on average of 19.4% and 41.3% respectively during thermal abuse. ISCD triggered thermal runaways also observed reductions of 24.6% and 30.3% with these respective cell material configurations. Prevention of thermal runaway is a transformative advancement in improving lithium-ion battery safety, especially in the cylindrical 18650-format cell. Additionally, significant reductions in the calorific output during failure were measured. These safety innovations provides efficacy of these materials independent of cell chemistry (provided they are stable in the operating environment) while also increasing the energy density and be assimilated into existing manufacturing technology.
 Furthermore, the authors demonstrate correlative high-speed acoustic spectroscopy during routine cycling of a commercial 210 mAh lithium-ion pouch cell and during thermal abuse 5. Mechanical deformation such as gas-induced delaminations, which have been linked to degradation in electrochemical performance, capacity retention, cell state of health and impending thermal runaway, were detected. This degradation was observed with characteristic acoustic spectroscopy signal peaks changes during cycling due to cell manufacturing defects and during induced thermal abuse, were corroborated with high speed synchrotron X-ray imaging. This analysis can be observed immediately after application of the acoustic probe which emphasises the rapid diagnostics insights provided by acoustic spectroscopy as a robust field deployable technique. Thus, integration into battery management systems, second-life evaluation/recycling or as in-line cell metrology during manufacturing would provide real time direct insight into these metrics.

 Finegan DP, Darcy E, Keyser M, et al. Identifying the Cause of Rupture of Li-Ion Batteries during Thermal Runaway. Adv Sci. 2018. doi:10.1002/advs.201700369

 Pham MTM, Darst JJ, Walker WQ, et al. Prevention of lithium-ion battery thermal runaway using polymer-substrate current collectors. Cell Reports Phys Sci. 2021. doi:10.1016/j.xcrp.2021.100360

 Robinson JB, Pham M, Kok MDR, Heenan TMM, Brett DJL, Shearing PR. Examining the Cycling Behaviour of Li-Ion Batteries Using Ultrasonic Time-of-Flight Measurements. J Power Sources. 2019;444.

 Robinson JB, Maier M, Compton T, Alster G, Brett DJL, Shearing PR. Spatially resolved ultrasound diagnostics of Li-ion battery electrodes. Phys Chem Chem Phys. 2018. doi:10.1039/c8cp07098a

 Pham MTM, Darst JJ, Finegan DP, et al. Correlative acoustic time-of-flight spectroscopy and X-ray imaging to investigate gas-induced delamination in lithium-ion pouch cells during thermal runaway. J Power Sources. 2020;470:228039. doi:10.1016/j.jpowsour.2020.228039


Compares the approach of Scottish and English law to property claims by cohabitants. Comments on the House of Lords ruling in Stack v Dowden on a claim by an ex cohabitant in relation to the wealth generated during the relationship, in particular how the presumption of either sole or equal ownership could be overturned, and considers the application of Sots law to similar cases. Discusses the impact of the Family Law (Scotland) Act 2006.


The present thesis is to introduce the local custom resources in Hunan province,to discuss how to make use of the local custom resources to optimize the content of the modern fine art education and enrich the forms of fine art education in the hope of constructing a fine art education mode that fits the current of our time.


THE PROPORTION of specialists engaged in the practice of medicine has increased dramatically in this century. For example, among doctors of medicine in the United States, the ratio of full-time specialists to all physicians grew from 11 percent in 1923 to 41 percent in 1957. Among physicians in private practice, general practitioners comprised 64 percent of the total in 1949 and 52 percent in 1957, a decline of 12 percentage points in 8 years (I). This trend in the medical profession to specialization is given a sharper focus when the type of practice of physicians is examined at comparable points in their careers. Weiskotten and Altenderfer (2) reported that 41 percent of the 1915 U.S. medical school graduates were engaged in specialty practice, while 74 percent of the 1954 class were full-time specialists after an equal number of years of practice. The trend to increasing specialization in medicine is the result of a complex set of factors which are difficult to deal with empirically. One way to categorize sets of these factors so as to provide a broad analytical framework is to identify the expanding technological base of medical practice as one set of factors in specialization and to consider broad economic cycles and social events (such as the Great Depression and World War II) as a second set. This level of treatment, of course, can only serve as a crude first approximation of


With the rapid economic development, the urban construction in China has made great progress. The traffic network has expanded in all directions. Kinds of car navigators are competing to meet consumers' needs.As an important assistant of car navigator, route directions and the voice prompt are getting much of the drivers' attention and has become an indispensable helper to driving. The voice prompt are being widely used nowadays. The thesis intends to discuss some issues about voice prompt and bring about some suggestions.


: Abstract The manufacture of prayer carpet differs in its nature, whether in terms of design or production, from the rest of the other types of carpets. This difference is due to factors related to the nature of these types. The decorative threads are one of the main factors that the designer relies on to obtain different aesthetic and functional properties, so the aim of the research was to reach To the most appropriate type of weft raw material, as well as a weaving composition that helps to show the aesthetic and functional values of the final product of the prayer rug, where the method of the ordinary engraving was used with different simple structures that make up it


Radiocarbon measurements are one of the best tools available for determining the rates of carbon and turnover of in soil organic matter. AMS measurements of radiocarbon are essential they allow measurement of {sup 14}C in archived soils with very low carbon content, in physically or chemically fractionated soil organic matter, in dissolved organic carbon leached from soils, as well as in CO{sub 2} and CH{sub 4} produced during decomposition. We report recent results demonstrating the importance of applying AMS soil radiocarbon measurements to questions of soil C dynamics. We used the increase in {open_quote}bomb{close_quote} {sup 14}C between archived an modem soil profiles sampled along an elevation transect in the Sierra Nevada mountains, California, to determine the role of temperature in determining the rate of turnover of fast-cycling soil organic matter. To study the role of soil mineralogy in determining how carbon is stabilized in {open_quote}passive{close_quote} soil organic matter pools, we compare soil mineralogy and C and {sup 14}C storage in soils along a chronosequence in the Hawaiian islands. Implications for the global C cycle will be discussed.


The aim of this project was to evaluate the possibility to use D-alanine as a selective marker instead of commonly used antibiotics and herbicides in transformation of apple rootstock M26.

The transformation was carried out using Agrobacterium tumefaciens strain C58C1(pGV3101) containing the vector pPCV70:dao1. The vector contained the dao1 gene resistant to D-amino acids and the nptII gene resistant to antibiotic, kanamycin. The dao1 encodes for the enzyme D-amino-acid oxidase (DAAO). The enzyme detoxifies D-amino acids, such as, D-alanine, which are harmful to plants.
The transformed explants were grown on medium containing increased concentrations of D-alanine, with a starting concentration of 1.2 mM. Eight putative transgenic clones were obtained from the selection medium. However, further molecular analyses have to be carried out to confirm the result.

A second experiment was performed to transform the GA20 oxidase gene into A. tumefaciens to get a ready-to-use transformation vector. The vector containing the GA20 oxidase gene was transformed into the A. tumefaciens strain C58C1(pGV3850). DNA from the strain was isolated and digested. The result was visualized on an agarose gel under UV light. The conclusion of the experiment is that the vector containing GA20 oxidase gene has been transformed into the strain C58C1.


The hypersonic flow field around a bluff body with a power law shape at the leading edge is simulated by solving N-S equation.The optimization of the leading edge bluntness is carried out in consideration of drag reduction of the body and minimizing the heat flux at the stagnation point at the leading edge and an optimization shape is determined.Further study on drag reduction with this optimization shape is conducted by applying a jet from the front edge opposing the hypersonic coming stream.It is found that the heat flux obviously decreases and the drag reduction can reach as high as 48.6%.


Soil aggregates and organic matter are considered to be important indicators of soil quality. The objective of this study was to determine land-use effects on the distribution of soil organic carbon (SOC) associated with aggregate-size fractions. Bulk soil samples were collected from incremental soil depths (0–10, 10–20 20–40, 40–70, and 70–100 cm) under three land-use types: fruit tree orchards established in 1987, cropland, and forage field. Soil samples collected from these plots were analyzed for aggregate stability after wet sieving into four aggregate-size classes (>2000, 250–2000, 53–250, and <53 μm), and the concentration of SOC was determined in each size fraction. Cropland and forage field soils were significantly more alkaline than the fruit tree soil. Bulk densities were greater in cropland and forage field (1.40–1.52 g cm−3) than in fruit tree orchards (1.33–1.37 g cm−3). The total weight of soil aggregates varied in the order of forage field > cropland > fruit tree orchard. Aggregate stability was greater in cropland and forage field than under fruit tree orchards. Soil organic C decreased with increasing soil depth but was greater under fruit tree orchards than others and was mainly concentrated in the topsoil layer (0–20 cm). Sieved fraction (<53 μm) had a greater SOC concentration, regardless of soil depth or land use. Our data supported the hypothesis that perennial vegetation (fruit tree orchard) and the proportion of aggregates with diameter <53 μm are suitable indicators of SOC accumulation and may therefore have a greater potential for SOC sequestration than the cropland.


This research is aimed to obtained 1) finding empirical evidences that budget participation has a direct influence on management performances 2) finding empirical evidences that budget participation has a direct influence on management performances through commitment of budget purposes and Job Relevant Information as intervening variables. It is a kind of causative research. The populations are 40 manufacture companies in Pekanbaru and the units of analysis in this research are marketing managers, production managers and research and development managers. So the total numbers of the respondents are 120. The samples of research are managers and head of departments who led functional departments. This research uses technique of taking samples called purposive sampling. The data used are primacy data. The data are collected by using questioners. The results of the research show that 1) budget participation does not give a significant influence to the commitment of budget purposes by showing probability score 0.216 > α 0.05 and coefficient regression 0.110 that means H 0 is rejected and Ha is accepted. 2) Budget participation does not influence significantly to Job Relevant Information by showing probability score 0.629 > α 0.05 and coefficient regression 0.043  which means H 0 is rejected and Ha is accepted. 3) Budget participation does not influence significantly to management performances by showing probability score 0.023 α 0.05 and coefficient regression 0.174 which means H 0 is accepted and Ha is rejected. Key Words: Budget Participation. Management Performances, Commitment of Budget Purposes, Job Relevant Information


We examined the spatial structural composition of territorial communities as a sphere of application of a new type of governance, as public, formed on the evolutionary path of transformation of public administration and local self-government and modernization of government, as well as elemental. The necessity of further development of the institute of public administration of territorial communities and the search for effective managerial models is proved. It is noted that, at the initial level, there is a need to intensify further research on the possibilities, methods and management mechanisms. The proposed model of the territorial community, namely: the necessary resources, the purpose of their use (list of products and services), the dynamics of their changes and building up the main processes of the territorial communities as an open research object of public administration in local self-government, which illustrates the conditions for the construction of processes vital activity of territorial communities. In addition, the model emphasizes the need to ensure the competitiveness of the territorial community and focus on improving the quality of life and increasing the resource potential, reflecting the numerous influences on the management of social, economic and other types of development of territorial communities by the sources of their appearance. The territorial community, as a subject of management, is presented in the form of a structural model of the components of the public administration system among the territorial communities. The model is presented in four blocks and allows you to get an idea of the public administration system of territorial communities, to determine the composition, consistency and methodological support of the management activities of participants in public administration processes, analyze the relationships between the results of the activities of managed systems, find the existing reserves and develop strategies for their improvement and development. In the public administration system, the interconnections of territorial communities of creating institutional mediation of democratization of management at a basic level are given. The proposed models create the conditions for legal, social, economic direct and feedback links for the implementation of public goals and interests of the residents of the territories, which are necessary for determining and building managerial ties in the public administration system of territorial communities.


An algorithm for the approximate solution (in the asymptotic sense) of the linear problem of terminal control of a singularly perturbed system containing parameters of different orders of smallness in the derivatives is proposed.


The paper is concerned with the problems of biological diversity maintenance in the state nature reservations of Russia, such as: «Orenburgskiy», «Daurskiy» and «Rostovskiy». It is pointed out that the problem of development new forms of steppe nature reservations is rather urgent today due to the fact that the existing system of reservation areas does not ensure the maintenance of biological diversity of steppe lands.


The purpose of this study is to implement a new approximate method for solving system of nonlinear Volterra integral equations. The technique is based on, first, differentiating both sides of integral equations n times and then substituting the Taylor series the unknown functions in the resulting equation and later, transforming to a matrix equation. By merging these results, a new system which corresponds to a system of linear algebraic equations is obtained. The solution of this system yields the Taylor coefficients of the solution function. Some numerical results are also given to illustrate the efficiency of the method.


Abstract : Through the use of integrated sensing and signal processing for damage detection, structural health monitoring (SHM) technologies are expected to improve system life cycle management. In particular, guided waves have been successfully utilized for damage identification in pipes and other structures. However, the design of guided wave applications becomes significantly more challenging as the geometric complexity of the structure increases. Structural components for aircraft wings, container tanks, and other applications often have one or more substructures that consist of plates with stiffeners. The application of both higher frequency Rayleigh waves and lower frequency Lamb waves were considered for the inspection of a plate-stiffener configuration for fatigue cracks, with each providing advantages and challenges for practical application. The finite element method was used to better understand both mode conversion and scattering characteristics associated with the crack relative to the rib joint geometry. The multi-objective optimization scheme coupled with a parametric numerical model is lastly discussed for SHM design optimization in terms of maximizing the sensitivity of signal processing measures to crack length while minimizing the significance of secondary signals due to the part geometry and a varying material state.


The characteristic of sulphur releasing is influnced by a lot of factors such as: sulphur composition,external combustion conditions and so on.This paper set up the dynamical model of sulphur releasing though analyzing its releasing law and studied sulphur releasing model of two kind of coal samples in different reaction order.The research results of mapping and calculating through origin software show that the first-order reaction is most suitable for the dynamical model of sulphur releasing.The foundation of the dynamics equation offered reference basis for controlling effectively gas sulphur releasing during coal combustion.


Pulsed amperometry has been used to detect and discriminate between different base-pair oligonucleotides using flow injection analysis with polypyrrole modified electrodes. Oligonucleotides with 20-repeat units were immobilized as the sole counter anion during polymerisation of pyrrole onto a glassy carbon (GC) electrode. The modified electrode was then used in a flow injection analysis (FIA) set-up to selectively detect complementary oligonucleotides. Results showed that complementary oligo(dG)(20) and non-complementary oligonucleotides can be distinguished by using the oligo(dC)(20) modified electrode.


The present invention is useful in particular for the prevention and treatment of HIV infection 5,11- dihydro -6H- Diffie Lido [3,2-b: 2 ', 3'-e] [1,4] diazepine compound for the production of to be used as an intermediate to a method for producing a 3-amino-2-chloro-4-alkyl pyridine of the formula (I). Wherein, R is a C 1 -C 3 alkyl.


This study presents an aerodynamic design and an experimental performance test of a turbo air compressor consisted of mixed-flow impeller and curved diffuser for the PEM fuel cell vehicle application. Many studies compare the efficiency, cost or noise level of high-pressure and low-pressure operation of PEM fuel cell systems. Pressure ratio 2.2:1 is considered as design target The goal of compressor design is to enlarge the flow margin of compressor from surge to choke mass flow rate to cover the operational envelope of FCV. Large-scale rig test is performed to evaluate the compressor performance and to compare the effects of compressor exit pipe volume to stall or surge characteristics. The results show that the mixed-flow compressor designed has large flow margin, and the flow margin of compressor configuration with small exit volume is larger than that with large exit volume.


With the density functional method, the authors of [17, 18] calculated N…0†hI 2 i i for a number of systems, including aluminum. The calculation results for diamond and MgB2 are shown in Figs 3 and 4 borrowed from [18]. As is seen in Fig. 3, the Z…E † function in doped diamond can reach rather high values if the chemical potential of the system is placed 6 eV below or 6 eV above that in pure diamond. The corresponding values of Tc can be rather high. For example, T c 290 K in the case of hole doping and T c 420 K in the case of electron doping. Unfortunately, it is still unclear whether it is possible to produce diamond with such a high level of doping. As regards high Tc, the situation in MgB2 is much less optimistic (see Fig. 4). In Al, N…0†hI 2 i i very weakly depends on energy, and its absolute value is well below that for systems with covalent bonds. Unfortunately, we cannot now unambiguously answer the question formulated in the title of this report. This is thought to be a dream rather than a myth. In 1976, Ginzburg published a note titled ``High-Temperature Superconductivity: A Myth or Reality?'' in Physics ±Uspekhi [19]. Within almost a decade, this dream concerning high-temperature superconductors was achieved. We hope that the same will be true of room-temperature superconductivity.


In this brief article we indicate a connection between Jordan normal form of a square matrix and the stroboscopic approach to quantum tomography. We show that the index of cyclicy of a generator of evolution, which receives much attention in the stroboscopic tomography, can be defined and computed by referring to the Jordan decomposition of a square matrix. The result presented in this work shows a relation between terminology from quantum tomography and linear algebra.


Abstract : In early 1996 Milstar became the first geosynchronous satellite system to employ crosslinks for synchronization and syntonization. At that time, the crystal oscillator onboard DFS-1, the first Milstar satellite, had its time and frequency tied (i.e., slaved) to the rubidium (Rb) atomic clock carried onboard DFS-2, the second Milstar satellite. The slaving of DFS-1 to DFS-2 was accomplished without ground intervention. All timing information required by the slaving algorithm was obtained through the DFS-1 to DFS-2 satellite crosslink. In this paper we discuss the drift and Allan variance of the two satellite clocks when operating independently, and show that both clocks are performing well. Additionally, we present ground station measurements of DFS-1 and DFS-2 time offsets that demonstrate satellite synchronization to better than 150 ns without ground intervention.


The present invention I to a polyamide, a metal phosphine compound and a nitrogen-Eight basic relates to a flame retardant polyamide composition containing a linkage, and a filler.


risk assessment and negligible risk method? ologies used to protect public health and the environment during the current epi? demic of environmentally induced diseases serve as the imperative for moving ahead with a program to phase out hazardous pesticides and to implement alternatives. With the release of the National Academy of Sciences June 1993 report, Pesticides in the Diets of Infants and Children, the pub? lic once again is reminded of the failure of the U.S. government to adequately protect the population from potentially harmful pesticides. Methods of generating exposure data and testing for pesticide toxicity are found to provide inadequate protection for those who fall outside the averages, includ? ing children. The analysis supports the retention and expansion of the preventionoriented Delaney Clause of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act as an approach that removes pesticides shown to cause serious adverse effects and promotes alternatives. With the release of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) June 1993 report, Pesticides in the Diets of Infants and Children, the public once again is reminded of the failure of the U.S. govern? ment to adequately protect the population from potentially harmful exposure to pesti? cides. While the report focuses on inade? quate protection of children from pesticides, the central conclusion is applicable across the general population?current methods of generating exposure data and testing for pes? ticide toxicity do not adequately protect


A probabilistic interpretation of the exact solution of a certain inhomogeneous Fredholm integral equation of the second kind is given. Then, this interpretation is used to obtain an approximate solution of a generalization of the integral equation. The approximate solutions are compared with the corresponding Neumann series solutions in various particular cases. AMS Subject Classification: Primary 45B05; Secondary 62M10, 93E20.


We constrain the Chameleon \textit{screening} mechanism in galaxy clusters, essentially obtaining limits on the coupling strength $\beta$ and the asymptotic value of the field $\phi_{\infty}$. For this purpose, we utilized a collection of the 9 relaxed galaxy clusters within the X-COP compilation in the redshift range of $z \le 0.1$. We implement the formalism assuming an NFW mass profile for the dark matter density and study the degeneracy present between the mass $\M$ and the chameleon coupling with a high degree of improvement in the constraints for excluded parameter space. We recast our constrain to an upper limit on the scalaron field in \fofr sub-class of models of $|f_{R0}|\le 9.2\times 10^{-6}$, using all the nine clusters and $|f_{R0}|\le 1.2\times 10^{-5}$ using only 5 clusters with WL priors taken into account, at a $95\%$ confidence level. These bounds are consistent with existing limits in the literature and tighter than the constraints obtained with the same method by previous studies.


Fig. 5: Measured data for ROI corresponding to θ1 of approximately 70°(black line) compared to calculated absolute signal difference D between both excitations with θ1 / θ2 (blue line). Error bars represent standard deviation within ROI. Both measured and calculated data were normalized to 1. Fig. 4: Artifact in phantom measurements for θ2 = θ1 (left) and θ2 = 75% of θ1 (right), which showed the lowest overall artifact signal. Both images are windowed identically. Fig. 3: Calculated optimal flip angle θ2 for artifact correction defined by the minimum of the absolute signal difference D for TR1 = 7.01 ms and TR2 = 4.2 ms. 2191 Non-Enhanced MR Angiography of the Lower Extremity Arteries at 7T: Correction of Saturation Pulse Artifacts Sören Johst, Stephan Orzada, Mark E. Ladd, and Stefan Maderwald Erwin L. Hahn Institute for MRI, University Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany, Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology and Neuroradiology, University Hospital Essen, University Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany, Medical Physics in Radiology, German Cancer Research Center (dkfz), Heidelberg, Germany


To resolve the dynamic modeling problem of the gear mesh,this paper introduces the method and steps for three-dimensional parameterization entity model and accurate meshing model of gears in Pro/E software.It is easy to modify the models by this way,and the model has the high precision.The model can transmit other engineering soft wares(e.g.ANSYS,MSC.MARC) to do more analysis.


Objective To evaluate the findings of magnetic resonance mammography in cases with suspicious nipple discharge,based on breast imaging reporting and data system(BI-RADS) magnetic resonance imaging(MRI) descriptors,and by establishing the correlationship with the histopathologic diagnosis.Methods Thirty-five patients with suspicious nipple discharge underwent MRI using a 3.0T system.Images were evaluated for abnormal enhancement according to the BI-RADS MRI descriptors.And the characteristic signs of MRI mammography were compared with the histopathologic diagnosis.Results The overall diagnostic accuracy rate of MRI in cases with suspicious nipple discharge was 87.8%.The most common finding in patients with malignant lesions was non-mass like enhancements.The most frequent findings in the malignant lesions were tumoral development along the ducts(60.0%),heterogeneous enhansements(60.0%),and plateau pattern formation(60.0%).Conclusions Magnetic resonance imaging helps provide useful clinically information in patients with suspicious nipple discharge and increases the diagnostic sensitivity.


We developed the Side Looking Confocal Microscope(SLCM) of which illmination axis and sensing axis are tilted from a perpendicular plane of an object. The standard confocal microscope has also an illmination source and a sensor which are situated on the same optical axis from an object. Its enterance angle is zero degrees. So in that case we can''t see 3-dimensional images -which are only bright field image- by means of standard confocal microscope method. SLCM which we developed is able to see 3-dimensional easily like a SEM image because of its angular illumination method.


A thrombocytopenic patient with pulmonary hemangiolymphangiectasia proven by biopsy, was studied for platelet sequestration with ln-111-labeled autologous platelets. The 24-hour scan showed diffuse increased uptake throughout both lung fields, indicating platelet sequestration by the diffuse pulmonary hemangiolymphangiectasia.


One of the important problems in reducing of pollutant emission from DI and IDI diesel engines is trade-off  between soot and NOx. Split injection is one of the most powerful tools that makes the chance to shift the trade-off curve closer to origin.  At the present work, the effect of split injection on the combustion process and emissions of a cylinder IDI diesel engine under the specifications of 5.9 kW maximum engine power and engine speed of 730 rpm has been investigated. The studies of injection timing and split injection parameters, including the delay dwell and the fuel quantity injected between injection pulses are carried out. Three different split injection schemes, in which 10, 20 and 25% of total fuel injected in the second pulse, have been considered. The numerical results show that 25% of total fuel injected in the second pulse which is accompanied with the 20oCA delay dwell between injections, reduces the total soot and NOx emissions effectively in IDI diesel engines. The predicted values of combustion process and emissions by the model at baseline engine show a good agreement with the corresponding experimental data. This agreement makes the model a reliable tool that can use for exploring new engine concepts.


Infiuence of oxide thickness on hotcarrier investigation criterion are investigated for drain voltages down to 0.85V. In particular we have investigated the dependence of (a) gate bias condition for peak substrate current (b) bias conditions that permit the continued use of lucky electron model for life time prediction and (c) the worst case degradation condition, on the gate oxide thickness. The worst case degradation condition was found to change from V =V /2 to peak substrate current as the oxide thickness was reduced from 5nm to 3nm and also the 3nm oxide showed higher degradation. This change is attributed to the enhanced transverse electric field and the consequent change in the type of the hot-carrier that cause the interface damage from electron to hole.


The nature of a civil aviation occurrence may be defined in three different categories while considering its severity. General categories include civil aviation accidents, serious incidents and incidents. The present article analyses the civil aviation occurrences in Slovakia which happened in the period from 2000 to 2019. In this period, there was a significant increase in the number of civil aviation occurrences, and incidents, in particular, represented the highest percentage. A Pareto analysis was applied to identify the key incident categories (wildlife strike, technical failures of the aviation technology and unauthorised penetration of airspace). A multiple regression analysis and the Poisson regression were used to create two models of correlations between the number of civil aviation occurrences and the selected input variables. Both models are statistically significant, and, based on the AIC (Akaike Information Criterion), the Poisson regression model appeared to be of higher quality. The model showed, for example, that an increase in variables (the number of commercial aircrafts aged over 14 years and the number of total aircraft movements) resulted in a slight increase in the expected number of civil aviation occurrences.


Quasi-homogeneous catalytic hydrogenation benefits from the absence of intraparticle diffusion in the catalyst with the gas–liquid–solid system. However, it still suffers from the gas–liquid mass-t...


In recent decades, in several parts of the world and under extreme weather conditions, we have witnessed the occurrence of numerous large-scale wildfires. This reality has also occurred in Portugal, burning thousands of hectares of forest, destroying infrastructures, and causing the regrettable loss of human lives. In view of this worsening panorama, we proceeded to the cartography of lLarge Forest Fires (LFF) in northwestern Portugal (larger than 100 hectares), in the period from 2001 to 2020, from the analysis of Landsat images and using Machine Learning tools and the Random Forest algorithm, in Google Earth Engine work environment. Based on the results obtained, an attempt is made to understand the LFF context in northwestern Portugal, as well as to analyse its spatial distribution and temporal evolution in the period under analysis. The conclusion is that about 158.741 ha burnt at least once and 40.9% of this area was affected by LFF a second time. The year of 2005 recorded the highest value of burnt area (73,025.1 ha). And the maximum recurrence observed, in the study area, was 7 occurrences, with a maximum recurrence of 6 times. The brush is the type of vegetation, in NUTS Ave, Alto Minho and Tâmega and Sousa, which presents more burnt area in LFF, while in Cávado, it is the forests that present the most extensive area covered by LFF. Thus, in 15 years for the study area, the most significant proportion of burnt vegetation corresponds to brush, being only in 5 years, forests were the class of the larger burnt area. In the current context of global changes and with large forest fires increasing in frequency, extent and intensity, its study and its temporal and spatial understanding are crucial, both at the regional and national scales.


In this paper, two compact antipodal Vivaldi antennas (AVA) with improved Radiation Characteristics are presented. U-typed tapered slot edge (U-TSE) AVA and comb-shaped AVA with U-TSE are simulated and optimized. The -10-dB reflection coefficient bandwidth of comb-shaped AVA spans from 2.3 GHz to 18 GHz (7.83~1) and covers 15.7 GHz, while the bandwidth of conventional AVA which has the same dimensions spans from 3.3 GHz to 18 GHz (5.45~1) and covers 14.7 GHz. The U-TSE structure has the capacity to extend the low-end bandwidth limitation and improve the radiation characteristics in the lower frequencies. Compared with the conventional AVA, this modification can miniaturize the electrical size of the AVA antenna about 30%. The results regarding return loss, far field pattern, antenna gain and axial ratio are illustrated.


............................................................................................................................. i Dedication .......................................................................................................................... iii Acknowledgments.............................................................................................................. iv List of Tables .......................................................................................................................x List of Figures .................................................................................................................... xi CHAPTER 1: Introduction ..................................................................................................1 1.1 Research Motivation ............................................................................................... 1 1.2 Research Significance ............................................................................................. 2 1.3 Research Objectives ................................................................................................ 3 1.4 Research Methodology ........................................................................................... 4 1.5 Dissertation Outline ................................................................................................ 4 CHAPTER 2: Review of Literature .....................................................................................6 2.1 SGICF Walls under Monotonic Loading ................................................................ 6 2.1.1 Portland Cement Association Experimental Investigation ............................... 6 2.1.2 National Association of Home Builders Study ................................................. 7 2.2 SGICF Walls under Cyclic Loading ....................................................................... 8 2.2.1 Portland State University Studies ..................................................................... 9 184.108.40.206 Dusicka and Kay ......................................................................................... 9 184.108.40.206 Dusicka and Werner .................................................................................. 10


Abstract The purpose of this study was to analyze the effect of service quality, product quality, price and location towards customer loyalty through customer satisfaction as intervening variabel. This research used quantitative methods by collecting the data through questionnaires. The populations in this study were Kedai Singgah coffee shop customers which located at Bendungan Sutami Road, Sumbersari, Lowokwaru, Malang. The sampling technique used accidental sampling. The sample were 93 respondents with a questionnaire collection technique. The data analysis technique in this study used descriptive analysis techniques, tracking analysis and hypothesis testing. The results of this study indicate that the first hypothesis tested service quality; product quality, price and location which directly affect customers' satisfaction based on the results of the tests that have been carried out that service quality, product quality, price and location affect customers' satisfaction. The second hypothesis examines the relationship of service quality, product quality, price and location directly affect customers' loyalty. The third hypothesis examines the relationship of customer satisfaction directly affecting customers' loyalty. The fourth hypothesis examines the relationship of service quality, product quality, price and location indirectly affect customers' loyalty through customer satisfaction as the intervening variable. Keywords: Service Quality, Product Quality, Price, Location, Customer Satisfaction, Customer Loyalty


Iron is one of the most important strategic materials in national production, and the demand for iron ore is huge in the world. High quality iron ore reserves have been almost exhausted, and it is necessary to develop a technology that utilizes low-grade iron ore. Limonite is a representative low-grade iron ore due to its complex mineral and elemental composition. In this paper, the union process was employed to separate the iron elements in low-grade limonite. Firstly, a rough iron concentrate was obtained under 1.0 T of magnetic field intensity and −0.074 mm > 94.84% of grinding fineness; then, the rough iron concentrate was magnetization roasted under a temperature of 700 °C, 60 min of retention time, 3 wt% of biochar consumption, and 0.15 T of magnetic field intensity. The grade of iron concentrate was 59.57% and the recovery of iron was 90.72%. Finally, the red iron pigment was produced via a high temperature hydrothermal method in order to increase the additional value of this ultra-low-grade limonite. The optimal parameters were 10.0 g/L of solution acidity, a 200 °C reaction temperature, 5 h of reaction time, and a 6:1 solid-to-liquid ratio. The reaction mechanism was also discussed.


Cluster computing for applications scientists is changing dramatically with the advent of commodity high performance processors, low-latency/high-bandwidth networks, and software infrastructure and development tools to facilitate the use of the cluster. The performance of an individual processor used in a high-end personal workstation rivals that of a processor in a high-end supercomputer, such as an SGI Origin, and the performance of the commodity processors is improving rapidly. For example, MIMD Lattice Computation (MILC) (Bernard et al.) executes at


This report presents an update on pregnancies among adolescents. The report covers trends during the last 10 years and variations across geographic cultural and economic settings as well as interventions available to minimize pregnancy among adolescents. The report lists evidence for these programmatic approaches and challenges that nations will have to deal with in the next 20 years given current population momentum.


Comments Correspondence: John Withington, Department of Urology, Guy's Hospital, Great Maze Pond, London SE1 9RT, UK. e-mail: email@example.com Abbreviations: HES, Hospital Episode Statistics; PCNL, percutaneous nephrolithotomy; SCTS, Society of Cardiothoracic Surgeons. Proton Therapy Websites: Information Anarchy Creates Confusion Marnique Basto, Matthew R. Cooperberg* and Declan G. Murphy Division of Cancer Surgery, University of Melbourne, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia; and *Department of Urology, University of California San Francisco Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, San Francisco, CA, USA Introduction Proton beam therapy (PBT) is a form of external beam radiotherapy (RT) that has been in therapeutic use for almost half a century. The advantage over the more commonly used photon-based RT lies in its ability to deliver maximum tumour doses at the end of the beam range with minimal exit dose, thus reducing dose to adjacent healthy tissue [1]. Evidence is emerging for the superiority of PBT for certain paediatric cancers and those of the eye, spine and skull [2], but no evidence currently exists showing any clinical superiority for PBT over brachytherapy or intensity modulated RT (IMRT) for the treatment of localised prostate cancer. In response to recent public concern the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) released recommendations against the use of PBT 'outside of a prospective clinical trial or registry', stating 'there is no clear evidence that proton beam therapy offers any clinical advantage' [3]. The other consideration with respect to PBT clinical development is the extraordinary outlay for the facilities, each of which costs $150–200 million (American dollars) to build. Despite this dearth of evidence and expenditure, many internet-based resources aimed at both patients and professionals claim the superiority of PBT over photon-based RT and other interventions. In the USA, the number of PBT facilities expanded from three to 13 between 2001 and 2013. The number of Medicare beneficiaries receiving PBT nearly doubled between 2006 and 2009 due to a 68% increase in use for 'conditions of possible benefit' mostly accounted for by prostate cancer [4]. Given the relatively rare incidence of paediatric, eye, skull and spinal cancers, PBT centres have come under scrutiny for possibly seeking a more 'common cancer' as a means of recouping the massive capital and running costs. USA Medicare reimbursements for PBT peaked at $28 million in 2007, of which prostate cancer treatment accounted for 83.3% of this ($23.3 million), a mean total cost of $34 954 per patient [4]. It is noteworthy that due to lack of evidence of superiority, a few major insurance companies in California recently announced they will no longer cover the costs of PBT for prostate cancer [5]. Patients considering prostate cancer treatment increasingly rely on web-based resources, in 2010 the number of internet users in the USA who searched online for health information increased from 25% to 80% over the prior decade [6]. Additionally, a recent study of men aged <50 years with Gleason 6 prostate cancer, revealed the internet was the second most frequent information source, after their doctor, in dictating treatment decision-making [7]. However, the anarchic nature of the internet means consumers could be making healthcare decisions based on low quality or inaccurate claims. Shah et al. [6] analysed 37 websites with information pertaining to PBT and found 38% had commercial affiliations with shortcomings in quality and accuracy of consumer-oriented health information. This potential for misleading web-based material has been previously highlighted for robotic surgery where sites have purportedly overestimated benefits, neglected risks and were strongly influenced by the manufacturer [8]. We thus sought to evaluate PBT websites with respect to characteristics of website information and claims made. We identified websites using snowball-purposive sampling to emulate a consumer searching the internet. This methodology has been used in previous studies [6] and captures additional © 2014 The Authors BJU International © 2014 BJU International


A case study of potential inundation of Saska Kepa in Warsaw is presented. The flood is a result of a hypothetical breach of a segment of the Vistula river embankment. The inundation's evolution is simulated numerically using a model of shallow water hydrodynamics. The finite volume method is used to solve the mathematical model of the flow. Digital models of the floodplain's relief and land cover, as well as a visualization of the simulation results, are prepared using the Geographical Information System. The computations may be useful in estimations of Warsaw's flood risk zones.


Examples of numerical simulation of some aerobatic maneouvres are presented. The program flights are modelled using some constraints imposed on an aircraft trajectory, a aircraft angular orientation in the space and a speed history. Histories of the state parameter variations and the demanded control are obtained. An emphasis is laid on the trajectory path description by means of a succesion-of-points. A spline function smoothing is applied for interpolation and approximation formulas.


Musculoskeletal symptoms are widely recognized manifestations among hypothyroid patients. They are usually mild and insidious, consisting of weakness, cramps, pain, slowness, or stiffness. Although the serum muscle enzymes are increased in most patients with hypothyroidism, true myopathy develops in very few patients. Rarely, a hypothyroid patient with typical proximal muscle weakness and elevated muscle enzymes may be thought to have polymyositis. We report a 48-year-old male with hypothyroidism presenting with hyperlipidemia, hypertension and proximal muscle weakness with elevated muscle enzymes. The initial diagnosis was polymyositis. However, his symptoms and laboratory data improved significantly after treatment with levothyroxine. He had totally recovered by 3 months later. This case illustrates the importance of testing thyroid function in patients with unexplained myopathy or elevated muscle enzymes. If the myopathy is secondary to hypothyroidism, it can be completely reversed with adequate thyroid replacement.


Objective To explore the relationship between Bronchopulmonary dysplasia and Cystatin C relationship.Methods Collected 30 cases of patients from January 2006.1 to 2009.1, who diagnosed as neonatology bronchopulmonary dysplasia by our hospital.The control group composed by 30 cases of patients,the age and sex are matched,in the same period,in the neonatal diagnosis and treatment.To draw whole blood 3 ml from Bronchopulmonary dysplasia and the control group in, separated serum,after the complete specimens collected,used PETIA determinate the cystatin C.Data analysis using t test.Results 30 cases of Bronchopulmonary dysplasia, Cystatin C average of 1.69 mg / L, 30 cases of control group, Cystatin C average of 1.98 mg/L, comparing the two groups P0.01.Conclusion In the Bronchopulmonary dysplasia, Cystatin C plays a protective role, Cysteine protease and its inhibitor CysC are not in the balance, eventually cause apoptosis in lung epithelial cells,and lead to alveolar dysplasia.


A recent article by Wagner and Bowman indicated that the inclusion of tunneling in the calculation of the low-pressure limit of the thermal addition of H + CO produced rate constants that were inconsistent with available experimental measurements. A recent note by Pritchard points out that the conventional calculation of tunneling in the low-pressure limit can be sensitive to small variations of the potential energy surface. He argues that, without further investigation of potential sensitivity, it may be premature to argue that conventional tunneling is inconsistent with experiment. The result suggest that variation in potential parameters, even though they change tunneling probabilities by many orders of magnitude, do not change the qualitative dependence of the local low-pressure limit on pressure. Only if tunneling is significantly reduced for all states, is the onset pressure for the step in the low-pressure limit from the highest energy tunneling state partially shifted out of the experimental range.


Human platelets, exposed to hematoporphyrin and light, were depleted of potassium and acid phosphatase. A linear relationship was demonstrated between the per cent depletion of potassium from irradiated platelets and the log dose of hematoporphyrin. The initial release of potassium and acid phosphatase from irradiated platelets was first order. Rate constants demonstrated that potassium was released five times faster than acid phosphatase. At 4°C, release of both potassium and acid phosphatase was the same as at 37°C. These results are compared to previous data on the release of serotonin from irradiated platelets.


Helical structures are ubiquitous in nature and engineering, ranging from DNA molecules to plant tendrils, from sea snail shells to nanoribbons. While the helical shapes in natural and engineered systems often exhibit nearly uniform radius and pitch, helical shell structures with changing radius and pitch, such as seashells and some plant tendrils, add to the variety of this family of aesthetic beauty. Here we develop a comprehensive theoretical framework for tunable helical morphologies, and report the first biomimetic seashell-like structure resulting from mechanics of geometric frustration. In previous studies, the total potential energy is everywhere minimized when the system achieves equilibrium. In this work, however, the local energy minimization cannot be realized because of the geometric incompatibility, and hence the whole system deforms into a shape with a global energy minimum whereby the energy in each segment may not necessarily be locally optimized. This novel approach can be applied to develop materials and devices of tunable geometries with a range of applications in nano/biotechnology.


Acetone rinsing tolerance of lichens is a technique that allows workers to remove lichen secondary metabolites (LSM) while preserving the metabolic integrity of the thallus (Solhaug & Gauslaa 2001, 2004). Biological activities of LSMs are insufficiently known and represent an exciting research field in nature and the laboratory (Galloway 1993; Molnár & Farkas 2010; Latkowska et al. 2015; Duong et al. 2017; Gauslaa et al. 2017; Neupane et al. 2017). Most of the LSMs can be extracted by acetone; this is the normal extraction method for chromatographic studies of these substances (Arup et al. 1993; Feige et al. 1993; Huneck & Yoshimura 1996; Orange et al. 2010). Solhaug & Gauslaa (1996, 2001) showed that both mycobiont and photobiont survived acetone rinsing treatment in various lichen species when the lichens were well desiccated. Though acetone rinsing affected membrane permeability in some lichen species, the photosynthetic activity and pigment composition did not necessarily alter after treatment (Candotto Carniel et al. 2017). Solhaug & Gauslaa (2001) showed that, in general, chlorolichens are more tolerant of acetone rinsing than cephaloand cyanolichens, based on measurement of the maximum quantum efficiency of PSII (Fv/Fm). Although previous results have demonstrated that physiological activity is maintained following acetone rinsing, to apply this method routinely, further confirmatory tests are required for generalization across a wider range of species from different ecological settings to ensure reproducibility. The lichen Cladonia foliacea (Huds.) Willd. (Cladoniaceae, lichenized Ascomycota) has not been tested for its tolerance of acetone treatment. Our aim was to measure chlorophyll fluorescence kinetics in acetone-rinsed samples using the methods of Solhaug & Gauslaa (2001) to quantify the tolerance to acetone rinsing in C. foliacea collected in summer and winter. Cladonia foliacea is a relatively frequent, terricolous, squamulose lichen species in Hungary (Fig. 1A), widely distributed across Europe in open, dry and sun-exposed habitats in lowland steppe and mountain grassland communities, and in temperate regions of North America (Smith et al. 2009; Wirth et al. 2013). The different LSM content of the cortex (usnic acid) and the medulla (fumarprotocetraric acid) has been shown using spot tests (Hillmann & Grummann 1957). The thallus has a thick upper cortex containing usnic acid as a solar radiation protective compound (e.g. Cocchietto et al. 2002; Yilmaz et al. 2004). Its photosynthetic layer contains a coccoid green alga photobiont (Asterochloris sp., Trebouxiaceae; cf. Peksa & Škaloud 2008; Škaloud & Peksa 2008; Moya et al. 2015). The yellowish white to white lower surface lacking a lower cortex curls when dry, reflecting the strong solar irradiation near the soil surface. All chemicals were of analytical or higher grade. HPLC acetone (VWR) was applied to extract LSMs from intact lichen samples and for chromatographic analysis (HPTLC =High Performance Thin-Layer Chromatography, see also below). Toluene (CARLO ERBA), acetic acid (LACH-NER) and sulphuric acid (CARLO ERBA) were obtained from Reanal (Budapest, Hungary) for HPTLC investigations. Reagents for spot reactions are Pd = p-Phenylene-diamine (Sigma Aldrich), K = KOH (Reanal), and C = commercial bleach; for KC reaction, K and C are applied sequentially, K followed immediately after by C (for preparation of reagents and further details on spot tests see Orange et al. (2010)). Lichen thalli were collected in the plant association Festucetum vaginatae Rapaics ex Soó 1929 em. Borhidi 1996 (Borhidi et al. 2012) lowland steppe open sandy perennial grassland (Pannonian psammophytic grassland) area Tece of Vácrátót. This area is characterized by a continental climate (mean annual temperature 10.5 °C, mean annual precipitation 552mm; cf. Borhidi 1961). Lichen thalli were collected in summer (16 June 2015) and in winter (13 January 2016), and their chemical content was checked by spot tests and HPTLC. Voucher specimens (VBI-L 6104, 6105) are deposited in the VBI Lichen Herbarium (Vácrátót). The thalli were dried, cleaned and randomized at room temperature (24– 26 °C). For each treatment (exposure duration), 15 entire thalli or parts of thalli (c. 20–40mm long × c. 20–25mm wide × c. 8–12mm thick) from each of the two seasons were placed in 50 ml Falcon tubes (c. 115 mm long, 28 mm diam.) and acetone was added. Altogether 420 thalli were used (2 (seasons) × 15 (replicates) × 14 (durations including a control)). Lichens were air dried in darkness before acetone rinsing. The relative air humidity of the laboratory was 34% in summer and 32% in winter. The durations of acetone soaking were the same as those applied by Solhaug & Gauslaa (2001): 0.5, 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 128, 256, 384, 640 and 1024 h. After the thalli were removed from acetone (Fig. 1B), they were left for 12 h for the acetone to evaporate and Author for correspondence: Edit Farkas. E-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com Cite this article: Farkas E, Biró B, Csintalan Z and Veres K (2020) Acetone rinsing tolerance of the lichen species Cladonia foliacea is considerable. Lichenologist 52, 325–327. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0024282920000237


The neurophysiological mechanisms of anesthetic-induced loss of unconsciousness (LOC) have been extensively investigated at the macro scale. When it comes to the cortical scale, however, it still remains unclear how the cortical network and the information integration mode change during propofol anesthesia. In this study, we employed the phase-pattern complexity (PPC) measure, a synchronization measure of the diversity of temporal patterns in the phase relationships between two time series, to analyze the electrocorticogram (ECoG) changes during propofol anesthesia. Nine epileptic patients who were undergoing intracranial monitoring for surgical treatment were investigated. Network characteristic parameters such as clustering coefficient, average characteristic path length, global efficiency, component efficiency, and betweenness centrality were measured based on the graph theory. Below is a brief summary of our findings. Firstly, the phase-pattern complexity after LOC reduces significantly in the delta-theta (1−8 Hz) and gamma2 ( 48−60 Hz) frequency bands (with a P -value of


While studies of racial residential preferences generally converge on the pattern that blacks prefer neighborhoods with a substantial proportion of African Americans, but whites are uncomfortable with no more than 20% black, the forces underlying these preferences receive comparatively less empirical attention. This paper uses perceptions of community undesirability as a measure of racial residential preferences to address this question. Data come from the Multi-City Study of Urban Inequality, which asked large samples of whites and African Americans in Atlanta, Boston, Detroit, and Los Angeles to rate the desirability of 5–7 local communities. In addition to the closed-ended ratings, this paper draws on a systematic analysis of open-ended survey data asking respondents to explain why they find communities undesirable. Overall, blacks rate most communities as more desirable than whites, and African Americans find desirable many of the communities in which they are the numerical minority. Whites rate mixed race communities as undesirable, in part because of a desire to avoid black neighbors, but also because of what may be an over-inflated perception of crime in those communities. Analyses of African American community ratings highlight the importance of racial climate in shaping perceptions of communities and argue against the assertion that racial composition alone is the key factor in black preferences.


Fetal glucose supply under basal conditions is solely derived from the maternal circulation via placental transport. Placental glucose transport is mediated by facilitative glucose transporters, the predominant isoform being Glut 1. We examined the time-dependent effect of maternal glucose(HYPERglycemic) and insulin (HYPOglycemic) infusions on placental Glut 1 in late gestation chronically catheterized pregnant sheep. HYPER (+80% normal; n=14) was produced by maternal continuous infusions of 50% glucose and HYPO( 48hr-41d) and hypoglycemia (<50%) with consistent fetal hypoinsulinemia, respectively. Placental tissue was analyzed for Glut 1 levels(50-55 kD) at these different time points by quantitative Western blot analysis using a rabbit anti-rat Glut 1 COOH IgG. HYPER caused a transient but minimal increase in Glut 1 protein levels at 2-3 hr (p<0.05) followed by a normalization between the 10 and 20d duration. In contrast, HYPO led to a 50% decline starting at 24-48 hr and lasting through 25 to 41d (p<0.05). We conclude that 1] changes in placental Glut 1 are time-dependent, and 2] HYPER causes a transient but minimal increase while HYPO leads to a persistent decline in placental Glut 1 concentrations. We speculate to the extent that changes in placental glucose transporter characteristics influence the rate of maternal-fetal glucose transport & fetal glucose availability, the HYPO induced decline in placental Glut 1 may mediate the development of fetal hypoglycemia and concomitant intra-uterine growth restriction.


For several decades, a juridification process of the work of the intelligence and secret services has been taking place in all Western democracies . During the mid-1970s, the Federal Republic of Germany, under a social-liberal coalition, began to create the legal basis for these special security authorities, namely to legally determine tasks and powers and to regulate their control . This process is still ongoing . In its more recent jurisdiction the Federal Constitutional Court required the legal regulations and the effectiveness of the control practice to be evaluated on a regular basis (BVerfGE 154, 152) . Despite four comprehensive reforms (1992, 1999, 2009 and 2016) as well as a few minor changes and without first evaluating the efficiency of these reforms, the current coalition of SPD, Greens and FDP intends to further reform the parliamentary control of the activities of the Federal Intelligence Service (BND), the Intelligence Service for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV), and the Federal Office for the Military Counterintelligence Service (MAD) . The article presents and assesses the developments to date, contains an outlook on the forthcoming reform, and names the desiderata .


BACKGROUND
Chronic inflammation is associated with neoplasms and several types of cancer. Therefore, polymorphisms in the inflammation-related genes could modify the cancer susceptibility.

OBJECTIVE
To investigate the associations between IL-1RN VNTR and rs419598 polymorphisms in IL-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1ra) and colorectal cancer (CRC) and gastric cancer (GC) in an Iranian population.

METHODS
In this study, 126 cancer cases (91 CRC and 35 GC) and 97 healthy controls were included. Genotyping of IL-1RN VNTR and rs419598 was performed by PCR amplification and PCR-RFLP, respectively. Logistic regression was applied to identify the independent risk factors for colorectal and gastric cancers by computing the odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI). All statistical analyses were performed using the SPSS statistical software.

RESULTS
There were significant differences between cancer groups and control group concerning the frequency of A1/A2 genotypes in IL-1RN VNTR polymorphism. The carrier status of IL-1RN* 2 allele was associated with increased risk of CRC (p = 0.0003; OR = 0.02; 95% CI: 0.491-0.85) and GC (p = 0.0006; OR = 0.106; 95% CI: 0.321-0.035). Also, the homozygous ILRN *2/*2 genotype was associated with increased risk of gastric cancer (p = 0.04; OR = 0.133; 95% CI: 0.020-0.908). There was no association between different alleles of rs419598 and CRC and GC.

CONCLUSION
This study demonstrates an association between the carrier status of IL-1RN* 2 and CRC and GC in an Iranian population.


............................................................................................................................................... 8 Chapter 1: Introduction ...................................................................................................................... 10 1.1 My Diary Extract ........................................................................................................................ 12 1.2 My Concerns ............................................................................................................................. 13 1.3 The Context ............................................................................................................................... 14 1.4 The Research ............................................................................................................................. 18 1.5 The Structure of this Thesis ....................................................................................................... 33 Chapter 2: Complexities of School Mathematics ................................................................................ 36 2.


A summary assessment is made of foreign civil aviation as it relates to the posture of the United States civil aviation industry. Major findings include: (1) Main competitors - European Economic Community (EEC) and Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). (2) Largest commercial market - Transport aircraft. (3) Current market status and projections - U.S. currently dominates the civil aviation market but foreign markets show greater growth trends. (4) Competitive comparisons - Status comparisons are made in technology (aerodynamics, structures and materials, propulsion, avionics, systems, design coordination, and manufacturing); production runs; marketing; and postsales support. The U.S. generally leads except in aerodynamics and propulsion. (5) Multinational ventures - Joint U.S. industry/foreign government development of advanced technology engines is well developed; airframe industry discussions are now underway. (6) Implications - Although the U.S., is currently preeminent in most areas, this may be only a temporary condition. Past U.S. success in aviation has provided many benefits to the nation. These benefits may be lost.


We study the set of connectivity and topological properties achievable by heterogeneous Wireless Ad Hoc Networks (WANETs). Instead of using the well known Random Geometric Graph (RGG) model, which is more suitable for homogeneous WANETs, we use Geographical Threshold Graphs (GTGs) to model WANETs with tunable topology. The GTG model allows nodes to have different capabilities, e.g., power and bandwidth resources available to nodes could be chosen from a distribution, and it naturally incorporates the path-loss function characteristic of wireless transmission. The relationships between the topological properties and the parameters that characterize the resource pool of the nodes are investigated. For example, we show that by varying the parameters of the GTGs, one can obtain networks with different diameters. Similarly, we show that (i) one can design WANETs with different desired degree distributions, by choosing the nodes from a matching resource distribution, and (ii) one can compute the degree distribution, when the resource parameters of the nodes are fixed. As to be expected, networks with extensive connectivity properties, e.g., possessing heavy-tailed degree distributions, are shown to require significant power resources. However, the model provides flexibility to the designer to tune the network properties and estimate the related costs.


To prolong the life of cell is one of the most important issues for MCFC to be brought into actual application. In this respect, investigators have been proposing the addition of tungstate salt such as K2WO4 into MCFC electrolyte, which is supposed effectively to reduce the sintering of anode probably by precipitates formed through the reduction of tungstate with dissolved hydrogen near the anode surface. In this research, such effect upon sintering of anode was quantitatively examined by out-of-cell tests and the validity of above assumption for the mechanism was confirmed. Also other effects of tungstate salt addition into electrolyte, such upon corrosion of separator, solubility of cathode, stability of matrix substrates (LiAlO{sub 2}) were investigated.


The current research examines the effects of individualizing moral foundations (i.e., fairness and care) on consumer boycotts against the U.S. company that is entangled in an alleged sweatshop issue at a supplier's factory in a developing country. On the basis of moral foundations theory, the current study tests six hypotheses that demonstrate the theoretical mechanism by which individualizing moral foundations have an impact on consumer boycott intentions through blame attributions and anger. Using a representative U.S. sample of 1,124 people, a national survey was conducted to test the proposed structural equation model. As predicted, results of mediation analysis showed that individualizing foundations, consisted of the fairness/care values, led to boycott intentions fully mediated by blame attribution and anger.


In their use as spatial verbal particles, the morphemes up, down, in and out correspond relatively closely to Swedish upp, ner/ned, in and ut. However, if all uses of these morphemes are taken into ...


Medical commercial bribery undermines the rules of market competition,damages the patients' interests,imposes great impact on the reform of national medical and health system and medical security system and propagates corruption and economic crime.Medical commercial bribery game model and its advanced analysis indicates that "honesty with high salary" is not always efficient.Implementing medical commercial bribery is irrelevant to bribee's profit.So it is incorrect to focus on the department managers with less post earning and net income from changing jobs after scandals are exposed,so as to confine bribees' career qualification.The sufficiency the commercial bribery happens is positvely correlated to supervision costs and negatively to supervision benefit.Deepening the medical sanitary system reform,it is necessary to rely on "system of anti-corruption",disposing power structure reasonably,inovating managing and supervising pattern,regulating the medical products' system of purchasing and application,improving legislation on anti-commercial bribery,perfecting internal management institution and self-discipline mechanism of medical corperation and organization,enhancing compensating policy to public hospital and certified doctors,emphasizing education and moral restiction.


RdCVFL and RdCVF2L are homologous nucleoredoxin-like proteins essential for vision (1, 2). RdCVFL is expressed in mouse photoreceptors and harbors the CPQC catalytic motif of disulfide reductases. Instead RdCVF2L is expressed in retina and brain and contains the atypical CSPS motif. We are interested in the elucidation of the RdCVFL and RdCVF2L redox functions and we expect diverse enzymatic activity and substrate specificity. We studied the redox state of transfected RdCVFL and RdCVF2L in HEK293 cells challenged with oxidants. By monitoring the CH2Cl-H2DCFDA fluorescence we measured consistent ROS production after oxidant treatment of HEK293. Since the crab Cr-TRP16 and the human TRX form homodimers through intermolecular disulfide bonds in solution (3, 4), we analyzed the oligomerization state of RdCVFL, RdCVF2L and hTRX. After oxidant treatment, RdCVFL oligomerization was observed whereas RdCVF2L and hTRX remain monomeric. RdCVFL oligomerization was abolished by DTT demonstrating that oligomers harbor intermolecular disulfide bonds. RdCVFL was labeled with the alkylating agent MM(PEG)24 to investigate the number of disulfide bonds in RdCVFL homodimer. Our data indicate that RdCVFL dimer is linked by more than one disulfide bond. This suggests that oxidative stress induces RdCVFL oligomerization which could play a direct role in scavenging ROS species in the retina.


In order to meet the demands of "Internet above the clouds," we propose a multiple-antenna aided adaptive coding and modulation (ACM) for aeronautical communications. The proposed ACM scheme switches its coding and modulation mode according to the distance between the communicating aircraft, which is readily available with the aid of the airborne radar or the global positioning system. We derive an asymptotic closed-form expression of the signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) as the number of transmitting antennas tends to infinity, in the presence of realistic co-channel interference and channel estimation errors. The achievable transmission rates and the corresponding mode-switching distance-thresholds are readily obtained based on this closed-form SINR formula. Monte-Carlo simulation results are used to validate our theoretical analysis. For the specific example of 32 transmit antennas and four receive antennas communicating at a 5-GHz carrier frequency and using 6-MHz bandwidth, which are reused by multiple other pairs of communicating aircraft, the proposed distance-based ACM is capable of providing as high as 65.928-Mb/s data rate when the communication distance is less than 25 km.


This study explores the key factors influencing the retention of nurses. By using grey relational analysis and grey clustering analysis, the result showed the seven retention factors could explain why high intention nurses would like to stay in nursing. However, the seven retention factors did not reach to high level but fall in low level. It could be inferred that nurses indeed dissatisfy with the current work environment, even though the high retention nurses.


A new version of the Lagrangian dispersion model MicroSpray was developed to simulate the dispersion of two-phase aerosol clouds. The model extends the algorithms developed to take into account the effects of dense gas dynamics recently developed for the code, allowing the simulation of gas-aerosol jets forming from accidental release of toxic industrial chemicals (TIC) stored in liquid phase in a pressurized vessel or pipe. The mixture of contaminant liquid and vapor is considered as a single material and each particle tracked by the model simulates the contaminant liquid and vapor, water liquid and vapor and dry air taking into account all the possible phase transformations and the related effects on the dynamics of the plume. A system of differential equations is solved to follow at the same time the dynamics and the thermodynamics of the plume to evaluate the liquid and vapor mass fractions after the initial flashing, taking into account the presence of water initially in the mixture or entrained from the wet ambient air. The state of the contaminant at each time step is determined assuming homogeneous thermodynamic equilibrium. The equation of energy conservation is rewritten to include the latent heats of the liquid contaminant and atmospheric water. A sensitivity analysis showing the dependence of the model output on the time-step chosen and the influence of water vapor entrainment in the emission temperature drop has been performed. Further, to evaluate the MicroSpray ability to simulate the dispersion of two-phase releases of heavy gases, the model has been coupled with the diagnostic MicroSwift model, that provides the 3-D wind field in presence of obstacles and orography, and its performances compared in detail to a chlorine railway accident (Macdona). The simulations results, with and without the aerosol module, are presented and the differences are discussed.


With the improvement of living standards, people living concept has changed, from the previous focus on practical, price and other factors, to put forward higher requirements on the natural ecological residential area landscape, environment greening. This paper first analyzes the residential district environmental landscape elements and design concepts, gives some principles of environmental landscape design in residential area, and finally puts forward the residential landscape design starting point.


Technologies for a dynamic truckload pickup-and-delivery problem in a competitive environment by use of sequential auctions are compared. In this environment, demands arrive randomly over time and are described by pickup-and-delivery locations and hard time windows. On demand arrival, carriers compete for the loads in a second-price auction. Four fleet assignment technologies with different degrees of sophistication are tested with simulations. The technologies differ in how they deal with the combinatorial and stochastic elements of the online problem. A one-step look-ahead dynamic vehicle routing technology that tries to estimate the impacts of current decisions on serving future loads (not yet arrived) is introduced. The performance of each technology is analyzed in relation to different demand characteristics.


The effect of foliar ALA application on the internal ALA concentration in tomato plants grown in soil containing high levels of NaCl  was investigated. Six week old plants were treated with 100, 50, and 25 mmol/L NaCl on a weekly basis and they were simultaneously treated with 5-ALA at a concentration of 5%  by foliar spray. The effect of foliar ALA application on plant growth, chlorophyll contents and internal ALA concentration was studied. The internal ALA shoot concentrations ranged between 27.50±2.12 and 34.35±1.48 µg g-1 dry weight with no significant difference (p<0.05) recorded between plants treated with NaCl alone and those treated with both NaCl and ALA. The concentrations of chlorophyll a and b were elevated only in tomato plants treated with NaCl and ALA, whereas their levels decreased in plants treated with NaCl only. An adverse significant effect (p<0.05) of salinity stress was recorded on plants length, number of leaves, shoot and root fresh and dry weight. However, no significant difference  (p<0.05) was observed in plants treated with  NaCl alone with those treated with  NaCl plus ALA in comparison to the control. The results of the present study suggested that foliar ALA treatment had no effect on the Na and Cl uptake, the internal ALA concentration, and had no role in adverting the effects of salinity on plant growth. The present study has proven that foliar ALA is directly used by the plant for the synthesis of chlorophyll in order to increase the photosynthetic rate and thus to help tomato plants to survive the salinity stress.


1. Assistant Professor. Department of Ophthalmology, Krishnarajendra Hospital, Mysore Medical College and Research Institute, Mysore 2. Associate Professor. Department of Ophthalmology, Krishnarajendra Hospital, Mysore Medical College and Research Institute, Mysore 3. Resident Department of Ophthalmology, Krishnarajendra Hospital, Mysore Medical College and Research Institute, Mysore 4. Resident Department of Ophthalmology, Krishnarajendra Hospital, Mysore Medical College and Research Institute, Mysore 5. Resident Department of Ophthalmology, Krishnarajendra Hospital, Mysore Medical College and Research Institute, Mysore


This paper introduced a online monitoring and controlling system for the sealing of automobile metal halide lamp.Firstly,this system captures the image of tube by CCD,then identifies the assembled poles and measure the distance between the poles,calculates the error margin by comparing the distance with the normal value,lastly convert it into adjusting instructions and send out to AC servo driver via serial port.This method substituted traditional manual measurement and it's in favor of manufacturing of automobile metal halide lamp automatically.


Plant growth and development, resistance to stress, nutrient uptake and yield can be supported by the use of biostimulants. The aim of this study was to determine the influence of the seaweed biostimulant Kelpak and its combined application with the preparation Lithovit on yield components, grain yield and accumulation of macroelements in spring wheat grain. The study was based on field experiments located in Poland, (53°13'N; 17°51'E), conducted in 2010-2011 on a typical Alfisol (USDA). In the one-factorial field experiment with the spring wheat (Triticum aestivum ssp. vulgare) cultivar Katoda, we compared the effects of the application of the biostimulant Kelpak (seaweed extract) (T1) alone at a dose of 2 l ha-1, to a mixture of two preparations, Kelpak 1.5 l ha-1+Lithovit (finely milled limestone) 1.5 kg ha-1 (T2) with the control (without preparations) (T3). The study showed that foliar application of the biostimulant Kelpak at shooting increased spring wheat yield, but there was no additional increase in yield after its combined application with Lithovit. Application of the biostimulant Kelpak increased the number of generative tillers, and the combined application of prepared Kelpak and Lithovit had a favourable effect on the number of grains per ear. Application of biostimulant Kelpak and its mixture with Lithovit caused increased accumulation of N, P and K in grain.


This article urges caution in illuminating and interpretating spontaneous group metaphors. It encourages amplification of the metaphor as a less intrusive means for using this therapeutic tool. Case examples are provided supporting the discussion.


We define a coupling of two baker maps through a p/2 rotation both in position and in momentum. The classical trajectories thus exhibit spiraling, or loxodromic motion, which is only possible for conservative maps of at least two degrees of freedom. This loxodromic baker map is still hyperbolic, that is, fully chaotic. Quantization of this map follows on similar lines to other generalized baker maps. It is found that the eigenvalue spectrum for quantum loxodromic baker map is far removed from those of the canonical random matrix ensembles. An investigation of the symmetries of the loxodromic baker map reveals the cause of this deviation from the Bohigas-Giannoni-Schmit conjecture.


Congress completed its work on the fiscal 2000 federal budget last week, a month after the Oct. 1 fiscal year starting date. But Congress is really not finished yet. President Bill Clinton has signed eight of the 13 appropriations bills needed to keep the federal government up and running. However, of the remaining bills, he has vetoed three of them and threatened to veto two more because of disagreements with Congress over adequate funding for education, local police forces, and several provisions that, he says, could endanger the environment. On top of this, there's more than the usual amount of smoke and mirrors in this budget, and the appropriations bills are again strewn with funds earmarked for specific research-related projects. One of the bills under a veto threat is the one that funds the National Institutes of Health, which fared spectacularly well this year, at least on the surface. Its ...


The vacuum residue from Iranian heavy crude oil was separated into 15 fractions according to the average molecular mass by using the super-critical fluid extraction technology.The dilatational viscoelasticity of oil-water interfacial film formed by six typical fractions was studied.It was concluded that the parameters of dilatational viscoelasticity changed with the increase of molar mass of fractions or dilatational frequency.With the molar mass of fractions increasing,the dilatational modulus,dilatational elasticity,dilatational viscosity increase and the phase angle decreases.With the dilatational frequency increasing,the dilatational modulus,dilatational elasticity increase and dilatational viscosity,phase angle decrease.The interfacial film formed by light fractions shows buffering characteristic with higher compressibility,and the increased extent of parameters of dilatational viscoelasticity is lower gradually with the increase of molar mass of fractions or dilatational frequency.The interfacial film formed by heavy fractions shows rigidity characteristic with little compressibility,and the increased extent of parameters of dilatational viscoelasticity is higher with the increase of molar mass of fractions or dilatational frequency.With the temperature rising,the rigid of the interfacial film is lower,and the dilatational modulus,dilatational elasticity,dilatational viscosity decrease to the lowest at 50 ℃,which is the highest experimental temperature.At the same time,the reaction between the fraction moleculars is much stronger and results in the smaller phase angle and smaller phase angle,correlating to the shorter time for the interfacial film to respond the compressing.


We reviewed the literature on "noncognitive" predictors-specifically, personality as it pertains to graduate education. The review is divided into 3 sections. In the first section, we reviewed measures typically used in studies of graduate school outcomes, such as attrition and time to degree. We also reviewed which student qualities faculty and administrators said they desired and cultivated in graduate programs. We also noted that there are many qualities faculty ranked high in desirability but which could only imperfectly be gleaned from sources such as letters of recommendation and personal statements. In the second section, we reviewed general personality factors (e.g., the "Big Five"), specifically, definitions, measures, correlates, and the validity of those measures. We concluded with a discussion of how personality factors might be used in admissions and guidance applications for graduate education.


The Hanford Site is currently developing guidelines for seismic qualification of safety class 3 and non-safety class 4 commodities. This effort is part of a program undertaken by the Central Engineering Group of Westinghouse Hanford Company to seismically qualify components in existing facilities to the site design-basis requirements. Adequate seismic performance of these categories of commodities will ensure prevention of harmful interaction with safety class 1 and 2 equipment, operator injury, and blockage of access and egress to a facility.


Abstract This paper introduces the Muslim Women's Sports Club (MWSC) in Stuttgart, Germany and analyzes this club's role and contribution in the construction of urban citizenship. Based on ethnographic fieldwork, I illustrate that this club is a vibrant space of civic participation. I argue that associations like this sports club are crucial sites of Muslim civic engagement where individuals configure forms of religiously circumscribed citizenship. The club plays a vital, but largely overlooked, role in the urban civic sphere, as it articulates and strengthens the bonding and civic participation of pious Muslim women and creates cross-ethnic relationships and networks. Some members are initiated into the landscape of civic associations, as they learn about their rights, duties, and potentials, through cooperation with other associations or institutions. I argue that an association such as the MWSC, regardless of its rather invisible activities, is a full-fledged part of the urban public sphere in Germany. Theoretically I engage questions of urban citizenship and civic participation in the context of a faith and/or identity-based association.


In many Central European river catchments changes in long-term sediment dynamics are caused by external driving forces (e.g. human impact, climate change). In addition, the sensitivity of fluvial systems to environmental change is controlled by the catchment's geomorphic connectivity of individual sediment sinks. In this study, we reconstruct the temporal evolution of different types of sediment reservoirs along the sediment cascade in a mesoscale upland catchment to assess its sensitivity to external changes. The chronological evolution of hillslope and floodplain sediments is based on 79 OSL and 83 C 14 ages. Our results show that deposition of hillslope sediments coincides with the first evidence for human-induced soil erosion triggered by the earliest European farmers, but were decoupled from the river network for more than two millennia when the aggradation of overbank fines started and steadily increased. Therefore, the connectivity between the colluvial and alluvial sediment sinks of the catchment is mainly controlled by the landscape geometry and frequency and magnitude of erosion, transport and deposition processes.