Columnar crystaldendriteequiaxial dendritescolumnar crystalNanosized powder was synthesized by direct-reactive precipitation process using a stoichiometrical mixture of TiCl4, BaCl2 as the reactants while NaOH as precipitant. Under the ratio of Ba to Ti is 1.02, PH=13, three reaction temperature of 70°C, 80°C and 90°C were conducted respectively. Morphology and phase structure of powder were investigated, and the influence of reaction temperature on powder morphology was discussed. The result indicates that synthesized powder is single cubic BaTiO3 and contains no impurities. BaTiO3 powders generally show spherical, and average particle size decreases with increasing reaction temperature. When reaction temperature is 80°C, BaTiO3 powder has best uniformity and dispersivity with the diameter of 80-100nm. The influence of reaction temperature on powder particle size can be attributed to the corporate contribution of nucleation and growth rate. Polyglycol as surface active agent has a significant effect in restraining agglomeration.


The Award of the Arbitral Tribunal in the Philippines v China case was a resounding victory for the Philippines as well as a bold and potentially landmark decision.The key issue for the Philippines was whether China could lawfully claim historic rights to resources within the nine-dash line on Chinese maps, if such areas are within the exclusive economic zone or on the continental shelf of the Philippines under UNCLOS. In deciding this issue the Tribunal had to address the fact the exact legal basis for China's claim to historic rights in the South China Sea, and the nature and scope of such claims, was ambiguous. The Tribunal addressed the issue of ambiguity in its award on jurisdiction, and ruled that it could draw inferences from China's conduct in determining the nature of its claim to historic rights.In its Award on the Merits the Tribunal ruled that UNCLOS allocated rights and jurisdiction to the natural resource in the oceans, and that under UNCLOS, coastal States have sovereign rights to explore and exploit the natural resources in their exclusive economic zone and continental shelf. Consequently, whatever historic rights China claimed to resources in the South China Sea, those rights were extinguished when UNCLOS entered into force insofar as they were a claim to resources that are now in the maritime zone of other States.


This essay demonstrates that a speech of accusation motivates a response in a speech of defense and that both should be treated as a rhetorical speech set. The author uses Fisher's motives of affirmation and purification, Bitzer's conception of the rhetorical situation, and the Classical schema of stasis to explicate the speech set. He offers Pope Leo X vs. Martin Luther as an illustrative example.


Cassava starch is mainly composed of amylose and amylopectin which can be hydrolysed to glucose, fructose, maltose or others derivative valuable things. Ultrasound treatment is a non-conventional method of starch degradation. This method generates micro jet effect with high local temperature and pressure which can produce radical ion to degrade the starch. Ultrasound energy transferred to liquid is proportional with ultrasound amplitude. Therefore, this study was focused on the effects of ultrasound amplitude of cassava starch to enhance the production of reducing sugars. Concentration of (1/20 (w/v)) cassava starch suspension was prepared by adding starch in aquadest. Direct ultrasonic probe was immersed in suspension and operated at a temperature of 35°C in 10 minutes and 60 minutes for various amplitude (30% - 70%). The product was analysed by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), X-ray Diffraction (XRD) and DNS method. From the experiment result, ultrasound treatment of cassava starch has a significant effect on structural disorganization in morphological characteristics and decrease the degrees of crystallinity of processed starch. The production of reducing sugar is directly proportional to the amplitude of ultrasound treatment. The highest reducing sugar concentration of 0.114 mg/mL were obtained for cassava starch with ultrasound treatment at 40% of amplitude for 60 minutes.


Autonomous navigation of micro aerial vehicles in unknown environments not only requires exploring their time-varying surroundings, but also ensuring the complete safety of flights at all times. The current research addresses estimation of the potential exploration value neglect of safety issues, especially in situations with a cluttered environment and no prior knowledge. To address this issue, we propose a vision object-oriented autonomous navigation method for environment exploration, which develops a B-spline function-based local trajectory re-planning algorithm by extracting spatial-structure information and selecting temporary target points. The proposed method is evaluated in a variety of cluttered environments, such as forests, building areas, and mines. The experimental results show that the proposed autonomous navigation system can effectively complete the global trajectory, during which an appropriate safe distance could always be maintained from multiple obstacles in the environment.


It is suggested that prescribing crown fires in mature coniferous stands adjacent to escape terrain during the winter may be a cheap and effective way of maintaining or establishing winter range for Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep. The proposed strategy relies on surface fuels being frozen, high upslope winds, steep slopes, uniform and continuous tree cover, and a helitorch ignition system that uses some type of gel-gas mixture.


Ensuring food security has become an issue of key importance to countries with different degrees of economic development, while the agricultural sector plays a strategic role in improving food availability. The aim of this paper is to identify relationships between the undernourishment scale and selected characteristics describing the agricultural sector within identified clusters of developing countries. Typological groups of countries were separated using Ward's method. It results from the analyses that the greatest problems with maintaining food security are observed in the developing countries with a high share of agriculture in their Gross Domestic Product (GDP), adverse conditions hindering agricultural production and deficient infrastructure. Based on research results desirable and tailored strategies for food security improvement in individual clusters were developed. Promoting investments in agricultural infrastructure and extension services along with adopting measures aimed at increasing the households' purchasing power, especially those in rural areas, appear to be key drivers for improving both food availability and food access. The paper focuses not only on identifying the reasons of undernourishment, but also contributes to recognition of the most effective ways to solve the hunger problem under a country's unique conditions. It offers a comprehensive perspective for the policy formulation in various areas world-wide, which may be of interest to scholars and policy makers.


In order to solve the forming difficulty problem in silt soil subgrade construction,the test roads were paved on the silt soil areas in Nen River Valley,Heilongjiang Province.Author studied and selected the vibratory roller and compaction thickness suitable for silt soil subgrade construction,and analyzed the seal coat effect by testing.The results showed that small tonnage vibratory roller is difficult to meet the requirement of compaction quality,so the vibratory roller in excess of 18 tons should be used;the 30cm compaction thickness is most reasonable for YZ18 large tonnage vibratory roller in silt soil subgrade construction.The clay of inorganic binder is paved for seal coat treatment within 40cm on top surface of silt soil subgrade can satisfy the requirement of quality inspection.


Infrastructure owners often face the dilemma that while point faults can cause expensive delays to railroad operations, short headways barely allow adequate intervals between trains for maintenance. A new diagnostic system for points, Sidis W, achieves an early warning of potential problems that is a clear aid to better maintenance. Developed by Siemens Transportation Systems, Sidis W is capable of indicating the current operating state and any changes in the status of the points, thus indicating possible defects before a failure occurs. The article provides an overview of Sidis W system.


The process of acquiring the author's style, its semantic distinctive features, and the creation of the author's identity is a fundamental problem for artists. The paper is devoted to the analysis of the artist's native culture code influence on the creative concept and artistic language. Artistic inversion is important ‒ the inverse representation of the cultural code in the artist's work. We consider artistic, pictorial inversion as a form of the artistic conceptualization. It contributes to the successful understanding of the connotations and intentions of the artist's work by his audience. An analysis of Namdakov's work allowed us to conceptualize the representation problem of the cultural code in Far East peoples' contemporary art and describe artistic strategies that represent the influence of such semantic aspects of the cultural code as the influence of the artistic worldview, the strategies elevation of original interpretation and transformation of the animal style, the influence of the academic background. We define the artistic paradigm of the style as a style-forming factor in contemporary creative industries of artists who emerged from traditional crafts communities. The phenomenon of ethnic artistic tradition has been widely studied in the art history literature (T. M. Stepanskaya, A. V. Edokova, L. I. Nekhlyadovich). We believe, however, that attention should be focused on the content of "cultural code of artistic paradigm", because ethnic artists consciously transform national artistic images and techniques through integration of their heritage into contemporary artistic language, culture and art background. This is particularly relevant for artists who institutionalize their style into a recognizable contemporary art language strategy. The main research question addressed in this paper is the representation peculiarities of the Namdakov's artistic strategy semantic forms. He creates innovative ways of shaping, applies illogical, provocative and asymmetrical compositional solutions, creates fresh artistic metaphors, overcomes visual and figurative traditions and transforms ethnic artistic traditions into the leading artistic world-class trends of contemporary art. It has been proved that the animalistic style acquired a new modern dimension with the development of the creative industry in the regions of South-East Asia: the north of modern China and the art workshops of D. Namdakov and Zhigzhit Bayaskhalanov in the Russian Federation. It was the original interpretation of the animalistic style that became a powerful source for the development of traditional folk craft culture and brought the Far East peoples' modern art to a new level of development, contributed to the evolution of the artist's creative potential and gave many artists hope for creative expression.


In July of 2002, the Enrollment Services Division at The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG) held its annual leadership retreat. The purpose of this particular retreat was to explore how the Division might be a leader in achieving the University's 2008 Profile, an ambitious vision that included, among other things, 23 percent enrollment growth, improved student retention, and exemplary student services. Each director, the manager for internal and external marketing, the manager of organizational learning, and the project manager for the Virtual Information Station were asked to depict how their respective area would look in 2008. Imbedded in each presentation were one or more critical alliances. Throughout the two-day experience, it became clear that we would be increasingly reliant upon others to create our future. Without partnerships with Information Technology, Institutional Advancement, Student Affairs, the academic units, and many others, what we could do for the University was limited. To be successful, building partnerships would have to become a strategic direction in which we invest time and in some cases, financial resources. This is not an entirely new paradigm for us. For years, we have engaged in outreach to other divisions. We have hosted a speaker series of nationally-known experts, sponsored a cross-divisional retreat, built a student services intranet, created a student services listserv, shared relevant articles and book chapters, and provided a host of training opportunities ranging from Banner navigation to our Master Advisor program. Enrollment Services also convenes or sponsors a number of campus-wide groups (e.g., Student Academic Support Group, First-Year Experience Committee, Student Retention Committee, Cancellation and Reinstatement Committee, Commencement Committee, Scheduling Committee, Advising Council, Banner Project Team, Faculty Enrollment Management Committee, and Student Advocates). Furthermore, we are actively planning a UNCG Conference, presented entirely by staff, and once a semester we host a UNCG Student for a Day experience. The latter gives faculty and staff an opportunity to spend a day in the life of a student. Participants are given one of twenty student scenarios and then are asked to apply for admission, take a campus tour, apply for financial aid, seek advising, register for classes, pay the bill, apply for graduation, and eat in the cafeteria. At the end of the day, participants engage in a debriefing session. There are three objectives to the activity: i) to see the enrollment experience through the eyes of the student, 2) to provide recommendations on improving enrollment processes, and 3) to learn, firsthand, about enrollment processes that exist outside the individual's functional area. While these activities have established a common lexicon and improved student services dramatically, organizational silos still exist. We are not fused together-thinking and planning collaboratively about the future. Alliances arc best described as loosely coupled and at times, contentious. The corporate realization that our destinies are inescapably intertwined seems allusive. We are not a unified body that understands that the brain, the heart, and the lungs arc all equally important organs, and that while each cell is unique and important in its own right, all are part of a larger organism and thus are interdependent. …


Improving the exhibition activity efficiency is a rather complex and multi-purpose task that requires taking into account many factors and using various methods and tools. To achieve success in this field, it is necessary to apply an integrated approach, considering the relationship between the economic and social effectiveness of exhibition activity, as well as to use innovative technologies and the latest research methods. The article presents the methodology developed by the authors for the quantitative assessment of social efficiency, which is complex and also includes the calculation of the selected elements' sensitivity of social efficiency to different changes. The indicators' calculation of the exhibition social significance the makes it possible to assess its impact on society and determine how much it contributes to the development of culture, coverage of topical issues and familiarization of the general population with cultural and scientific achievements. The quantitative assessment methodology of the exhibition activity effectiveness based on the calculation of the social efficiency integral indicator can be supplemented with methods of organizational support of the exhibition process, meta-planning and risk assessment.


In the era of globalization that developed at this time, each company is required to be able to compete in the business world through the use of market and obtain maximum profit and minimum cost. This study aims to determine the inventory control of raw materials for leather bag products at PT. ELCO (Endies Leather Company) which will be compared with the supply of raw materials by using EOQ (Economic Order Quantity). From calculations that have been done, the method of EOQ (Economic Order Quantity) generating efficiencies total inventory costs by 7% compared to the total cost of raw material inventory amounted Rp.28.500.000 company policy, - the frequency of purchase of raw materials as much as 30 times. while the total cost of inventories of raw materials according to the method of EOQ (Economic Order Quantity) Rp 26,495,282.06, - the frequency of purchase of 20 times a year and the company can minimize inventory cost is Rp. 2,004,717.04, - then the company can provide the observer or safety stock inventory is at 2284 meters and do a reorder point or reorder point is at 2644 meters. This study was conducted using descriptive analysis and case studies. This study was only done on one company and the data were analyzed and compared with existing theories. Data were compared to the total cost of inventory is the company with the total cost of inventory using the economic order quantity so that the visible difference in the cost of the data.


Concurrent revisions is a concurrency control model developed by Microsoft Research [1]. It has many interesting properties that distinguish it from other well-known models such as transactional memory. One of these properties is determinacy : programs written within the model always produce the same outcome, independent of scheduling activity. The concurrent revisions model has an operational semantics, with an informal proof of determinacy [2]. This document contains an Isabelle/HOL formalization of this semantics and the proof of determinacy. It is part of my master's thesis [3], which describes it in more detail.


Three-dimensional, computer-generated bathymetric views and high-resolution sparker profiles are presented to illustrate the geologic framework of the Strait of Gibraltar. 'The Ridge,' an apparent structural feature, divides the Strait into a deeper, more narrow eastern portion and a shallower, wider and more irregular western portion. Sparker profiles show the Moroccan and Spanish shelves to be underlain by rocks whose deformation correlates with the structural deformation of the Betic and Rif Mountains. However, a portion of the center portion of the Strait is floored with approximately 700 m of horizontal sediments despite the adjacent structural deformation and the presence of strong bottom currents. The alternating sequence of well-layered and chaotic-layered sediments suggests periods of large-scale subaqueous landslides that post-date the structural deformation of the Strait. In other areas, the Strait appears to be free of unconsolidated sediments. Large bedrock horsts modify the topography of the floor and side walls.


ABSTRACT The Tuareg uprising in northern Mali in 2012 culminated in the establishment of the Islamic Emirate of Azawad, a proto-state run jointly by Tuareg Islamists in Ansar Dine and foreign jihadists with connections to al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM). Ruling over a vast territory where jihadist ideology had little traction, the jihadists had to navigate a complex field of tribal politics to stay in power. This article explores jihadist tribal engagement strategies in Azawad during the occupation of northern Mali (2012–2013) and discusses how the relationships with tribal chiefs and traditional authorities impinged on the state-building efforts. Based on novel primary sources and local media reports, this article shows that the jihadists sought above all to avoid a tribal uprising and, therefore, pursued a relatively lenient policy towards the tribal chiefs. The comparatively weak position of the jihadists gave the chiefs some bargaining power in the new political settlement. However, collaboration with the jihadist rebels increased over time as their territorial control became more consolidated.


This report describes the unusual association between the interruption of the aortic arch type B and aortopulmonary window type II in a neonate. When the patient was 20 days old, a one-stage surgical repair was done through left side thoracotomy without circulatory by-pass, making a left carotid artery to descending aorta anastomosis, closing the window with a hemaclip, respectively. A routine 2-D Doppler color echocardiography performed in the immediate postoperative period showed the absence of blood flow in the right pulmonary artery. The patient required a new intervention, changing the position of the clip in order to restore the normal pulmonary blood flow. Eight months after surgery, the "neoaortic arch" grows in harmony with the body surface area, without signs of cerebral circulatory deficiency or significant gradient at any level.


In searching for a maximum power point (MPP) using a DC boost converter for photovoltaic (PV) energy conversion systems, we realised that the fast and accurate way to find the suitable duty ratio  value is the core problem to enhance the energy conversion efficiency of the PV system. Under uniform irradiation, the panels will generate the same values, so they have only one peak on the P-V curve; conventional MPP tracking methods easily obtain this MPP. However, under partial shading conditions, many peaks are created, traditional MPP tracking methods can fall into the local MPP, and this issue will cause energy loss and reduce PV energy conversion efficiency. To avoid this disadvantage, this paper proposes a hybrid method (HM) by combining the improved chicken swarm optimisation (CSO) method and the incremental conductance (InC) algorithm for a DC standalone PV energy conversion system. In this hybrid method, the improved CSO modified approach is used to search the global region, and the InC algorithm is responsible for capturing the top of this global region. MATLAB simulation and experimental results were performed to demonstrate that the proposed method has achieved the global MPP under uniform solar irradiance and partial shadow effects.


Solar Cells
Tandem solar cells can boost solar cell efficiency by using two active layers to absorb the solar spectrum more completely, provided that the two cells are current-matched. Inorganic-organic perovskites tuned to the appropriate wide band gap (∼1.7 electron volts) as top cells that contained iodine and bromine or bromine and chlorine have short carrier diffusion lengths and undergo photo-induced phase segregation. Xu et al. now report a method for incorporating chloride that allows for fabrication of stable triple-halide perovskites with a band gap of 1.67 electron volts. Two-terminal tandem silicon solar cells made with this material had a power conversion efficiency of 27%.

Science , this issue p. [1097][1]

 [1]: /lookup/doi/10.1126/science.aaz5074


An experimental apparatus designed for the synthesis, via pulsed laser deposition, and analysis of metallic nanoparticles and thin films of plutonium and other actinides was tested on depleted uranium samples. Five nanosecond pulses from a Nd:YAG laser produced films of {approx}1600 {angstrom} thickness that were deposited showing an angular distribution typical thermal ablation. The films remained contiguous for many months in vacuum but blistered due to induced tensile stresses several days after exposure to air. The films were allowed to oxidize from the residual water vapor within the chamber (2 x 10{sup -10} Torr base pressure). The oxidation was monitored by in-situ analysis techniques including x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy (UPS), and scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and followed Langmuir kinetics.


ABSTRACT This article describes how value is defined, mobilized, and assessed in green circular economy startups. Drawing on recent debates about value and valuation in economic life and the empirical evidence collected from 30 interviews with green entrepreneurs, we focus on unpacking the value narratives developed in circular economy business settings. More specifically, we show how value is organized around the "win-win formula" a narrative plot in which economic and environmental gains reinforce each other. We highlight several key elements that organize this win-win plot: First, business opportunity and business models work as critical discursive elements. Second, we describe how clients and investors are the main conferrers of value. Third, we show how economic survival works as the ultimate evaluative framework of a company's worth. We conclude by asserting that circular economy narratives of value are underpinned by a mostly economic mode of valuing that prevail over environmental considerations.


Aging has been associated with changes in the mechanisms of brain plasticity, specifically with the reduction of motor cortex excitability and decreased effectiveness of mechanisms of cortical inhibition (Pascual‐Leone et al., 2011; Lissemore et al., 2018). Emerging evidence suggests that regular practice of physical activity, which can increase cardiorespiratory fitness (Sobol et al., 2016), may prevent age‐related decline in the mechanisms of brain plasticity (Gomes‐Osman et al., 2017). We therefore hypothesized that those who engage in more physical activity would have greater corticospinal excitability and more efficient cortical inhibition.


The properties,uses,market and process progress of chlorinated polyethylene are introduced in detail.The capacity of domestic chlorinated polyethylene has been overexpanded,and its consumption relies on the market of impact modifier for plastics too much at present.Although government's urgently popularizing the use of plastic building materials is creating more opportunities for doveloping impact modifiers,the growing rate of sale volume of chlorinated polyethylene will not be large,or even its sale volume will decline gradually,because its application in impact modifier will be challenged by more advanced impact modifiers,such as ACR,day by day.Chlorinated polyethylene must be developed with great care.The following suggestions are put forward:the present production technology can be improved to produce other kinds of chlorinated polyethylene and their uses should be expanded in some fields,such as wire,cable,anticorrosive coating for ships,and so on;in order to increase the kinds of products and produce serial,special products,production enterprises of chlorinated polyethylene should cooperate with production enterprises of polyethylene to develope special polyethylene raw materials for chlorinated polyethylene.


The forming law of sinking column in Huabei type coal field,especially at the Fengfeng coal mine is analyzed and the mechanism of groundwater inner cycle in sinking columns is put forth.The igneous intrusion and Mohorovicic discontinuity lift are considered as the main causes to generate abnormal geothermal to energize groundwater circulation and karst development in limestone.The CaCO3 dissolution accelerated by geothermal abnormality,by sub-critical and supercritical water is discussed.High content of CO2 generated by CaCO3 decomposition and relieving when the skarn minerals form is considered to raise CO2 partial pressure and consequently enhance the dissolution of carbonate rocks.Chimney effect during hot water convection in the limestone aquifers was proposed.The paper assumes that the flame shaped cave in intensive convection areas developed into chimney that were favorable to convection.The overburden of the chimney collapsed and became sinking column.According to this,the causes that some sinking columns have permeable edge are explained.It is deduced that the above factors result in karst development with sinking column formation.


Fuzzy functions are used for the modelling and analysis of systems with variable parametric uncertainty. The approach consists of interpreting a fuzzy number as a family of intervals bounding the parameter space, parameterized by the degree of confidence (reliability) in the model. The uncertainty associated with a fuzzy function with non-fuzzy arguments lies in its parameters, which are fuzzy numbers. Interpreting the membership level, a. of these fuzzy numbers as a confidence level in the nominal function (the resulting crisp function for α = 1), an extended function can be viewed as a set of interval functions, each of them with an associated confidence. So, this kind of function allows us to model parametric uncertain systems with variable uncertainty, when the degree of confidence about having the parameter value within a given interval can be estimated. A stability analysis for systems modelled in this way is given1.


At the Farmer Action Committee (FAC) meeting of 12 October, the meeting decided that an umbrella body will be established as either a cooperation or as a company. Mike Black, chairman of the MPO KZN and member of the FAC, says the umbrella body will further coordinate the activities of member groups such as Midlands Milk and Creighton Dairies.


Based on DEA method,the paper finds that overall level of the efficiency of China's local tourism industry is low,with bigger spatial differences.The efficiency of tourism industry in eastern region is significantly better than that of central and western regions.Based on Tobit model for panel data with random effects,the empirical results show that macroscopic factors such as fiscal decentralization and environment under the rule of law are important factors to determine the efficiency of local tourism industry and there exists distinct U-shape relationship between economic development level and the efficiency of local tourism industry while infrastructure and human capital do not exert significant impact on the efficiency of local tourism industry.


In order to solve the problem of low manganese yield rate by adding manganese ore in the converter,the technology of converter tapping process with manganese ore direct alloying was studied. The results showed that the technology of converter tapping process with manganese ore direct alloying was feasible by the analysis of thermodynamics and dynamics.The plant practice of 100 t converter tapping process with manganese ore direct alloying showed that the manganese yield was more than 80 % and the maximum was 95 %,the comprehensive cost was reduced by more than 3. 43 yuan / t. Meanwhile,the molten steel was rarely polluted and the content of sulphur,phosphorus was rarely increased.


Objective To discuss effect of Chinese medicinal and insulin on refractory ulcer of diabetic foot and nursing.Methods 75 patients of diabetic foot were divided into two groups randomly. Patients in control group(n=35) were given conventional treatment while the treatment group(n=40) were given Chinese medicinal and insulin. Then the effect were compared between them. Results The Total effective rate was 95.00%. The two groups in clinical curative effect had significant difference. The epithelialization time and healing time in treatment group were significant lower than control group(P 0.05). Conclusion Chinese medicinal and insulin can improve the clinical curative effect and nursing satisfaction,shorten the healing time,improve the quality of life.


Symbolic execution is a powerful program analysis technique which allows executing programs with symbolic inputs. Modern symbolic execution tools use a concrete modeling of object sizes, that does not allow symbolic-size allocations. This leads to concretizations and enforces the user to set the size of the input ahead of time, thus potentially leading to loss of coverage during the analysis. We present a bounded symbolic-size model in which the size of an object can have a range of values limited by a user-specified bound. Unfortunately, this model amplifies the problem of path explosion, due to additional symbolic expressions representing sizes. To cope with this problem, we propose an approach based on state merging that reduces the forking by applying special treatment to symbolic-size dependent loops. In our evaluation on real-world benchmarks, we show that our approach can lead in many cases to substantial gains in terms of performance and coverage, and find previously unknown bugs.


Meaning of industry design was analyzed,some misunderstandings of industry design and its root was discussed.This paper emphasizes that model design is not industry design,and it is of great importance to generally and correctly recongnize and study industry design.


Peak production of electricity during summer, along with an easing of energy costs, give single controlled-extraction/condensing unit the cost advantage over other types of turbines in new coal-fired plants. As an illustration of the economic advantages of the single controlled-extraction/condensing turbine for cogenerating electricity, three alternative system - steam only, backpressure cogeneration, and extraction/condensing - in a typical coal-fired facility in the Northeast are compared.


This study seeks to measure the effect of Macroeconomic factors which are GDP, FDI, Level of industrialization, Domestic Credit, Quality of infrastructure, Governance Indicators, along with property protection , and Innovations on the value of GVCs participation. By employing OLS model with panel fixed effects covering 15 MENA countries, over the period 2007–2018 for each country.
            Consistent with our predictions, the empirical results indicate a positive relationship with GDP and FDI, while negative relationship with the level of industrialization, and find no association with Domestic credit. Concerning the impact of Infrastructure quality, we find a positive impact for use of mobile and Internet, and insignificant for quality port and quality roads. Concerning the impact of Governance Indicators, we find a positive impact for regulation quality and a negative impact for political stability, and control corruption and insignificant for rule of law. Our analysis also shows a positive impact for innovation and a negative impact for property protection.
            This requires Attracting more foreign investment and directing it towards manufacturing industries, increasing the value added of manufacturing in the GDP, establish policies that encourage education, technical training, and development Human capital to the needs of the specific value chain segments, specialized skills are a needed for participation in high value added stages of the chain, encouraging innovation, increasing the efforts to reforms Trade and investment policy, as well as improvements of infrastructure, logistics, institutions quality, protecting intellectual property rights, and Improvement the role of banks to promoting investments.
            This study adds value for how macroeconomic factors and corporate governance work as a motivator or constrained for GVCs participation in different markets.


Post cholecystectomy syndrome is defined as the occurence or recurrence of clinical symptoms,which usually takes the form of abdominal pain,dyspepsia,abdominal distension,diarrhea,biliary infections,jaundice or biliary etc,similar to those experienced before the cholecystectomy.The etiology of PCS comprise biliary and non-biliary reasons,which could be diagnosed by ultrasonic,endoscope,gastrointestinal imaging,CT,ERCP,MRCP,et al in Clinic.Patients can achieve satisfying results with the medical conservative treatment,endoscopic therapy or surgery.A comprehensive diagnosis before cholecystectomy and pay more attention to surgical techniques can partly prevent the occurrence of PCS.


SYNOPSIS. Tetrahymena pyriformis syngen 1, mating type II, (optimal growth temperature ∼ 37 C) ordinarily dies out in 5-14 days at 0-5 C. Dying cells were lumpy, suggesting membrane damage. By supplying crude soy lecithin, survival at 0-5 C was prolonged (after growth in peptone-yeast-dextrin) to at least 22 weeks. Crude soy sterols or sitosterol or stigmasterol, and antioxidant, e.g., Ionox 330 or ascorbylpalmitate, permitted survival of cells in suspension or in growth media for at least 16-22 weeks. These sterols are known to protect against triparanol toxicity, which suggested that triparanol, which blocks cholesterol synthesis in higher animals, might enhance cold-induced injury. Triparanol was more toxic at 0–5 than at 28 C for cell suspensions and cells in growth medium; this toxicity was annulled by crude soy lecithin or β-sitosterol, the only phytosterol tested. The synthetic medium intended as a control on the crude media became toxic at 0–5 C. Protection against cold damage is discussed as a means of elucidating the role of sterols—especially phytosterols—and other lipids in maintaining the integrity of the ciliate cell membrane.


In this thesis I deal with multidisciplinary overview of IT companies development in stage of startup, micro and small business. In the introduction I analyze business operations in each development stage. I verify gained knowledge in practice on real company, which operates on Czech market. I identify its biggest problems and try to eliminate them by application of systematic changes. At the end I evaluate contribution of individual steps and I design another ones, which should be, based on my findings, the most important for future company development.


We first present a machine that decides parity. The machine scans the input from left to right. After looking at each bit, the machine remembers whether the number of 1's seen so far is odd or even. Initially, the number is 0 and therefore even. The machine then toggles between even and odd for each 1 seen in the input, and does nothing for each 0. This even/odd toggle can be incorporated into the internal states of the machine or it can be stored explicitly in its memory. In either case, the machine uses a constant amount of space and parity is in DSPACE(1).


As one of problems that occur when multiple autonomous robots act in a common environment, task assignment is discussed in this paper. There are two patterns in terms of action of multiple-robots. Namely, one is parallel, individual action, and another is cooperative action. Object pushing problem is taken as a typical task, where both of patterns of action are necessary. At first, a method of decentralized management of situation of tasks and robots using communication is proposed. Then, algorithm for robots to process tasks related to the situation based on the managed information is developed. Finally, a simulation system for object pushing tasks and a wireless communication system between the simulators are developed. As a result of experiments using the simulation system, the tasks are processed by robots cooperatively, and the proposed method is verified. In addition, the efficiency by parallel action and the executability of high-level tasks by cooperative action are proved.


Zakat and Waqf institutions have played a significant role in the socio-economic development of Muslims throughout Islamic civilization. This role had declined during the colonial period but is now being revived by several contemporary Muslim countries. This research was conducted to study the current practice and propose means to harness the potential of these two institutions and direct them to enhance the socio-economic development of the Ummah via assisting in developing SMEs.


21 Appl. No.: 203,172 57 ABSTRACT 22 Filed: Feb. 28, 1994 The present invention relates to thermoformed plastic articles such as frozen food trays which exhibit unex 6 s Ogi; pectedly high impact strength at low temperatures. The eaw8 was so as as ess as a was s as a a sw5.25/iii. 525/444, 524/539 articles are obtained from polyester blends containing 58 Field of Search ............... 52.5/177,444,173, ii. 88 to 99 weight percent of a poly(ethylene terephthal 524/539 ate) resin and 1 to 12 weight percent of a poly(1,4cyclohexylenedimethylene terephthalate) resin which 56 References Cited contains at least 30 mole percent of 1,4-cyclohex U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS anedimethanol.


The interpretation of north Norwegian Stone Age lithic assemblage variability requires consideration of both functional and socioideological concerns. Functionally, lithic procurement may be structured by mobility patterns and least‐effort/optimizing procurement logics. But lithics may also be viewed as resources employed in social strategies. The lithic materials available in West Finnmark are outlined and archaeological data relevant to the organization of lithic technology during the Late Stone Age and Early Metal Periods are presented. The implications of these data for a 'political‐semiotic' model of Late Stone Age coast‐interior social relations are discussed.


In a ruling dated 15 June 2010, the French Commercial Supreme Court validated the passing-on defence in a damages action. The Court stated that, in a damages case, the judge must assess whether…


Older people with multifaceted care needs often require treatment and complex care across different settings. However, transitional care is often inadequately managed, and older people and their informal caregivers are not always sufficiently heard and/or supported in transitional care decision‐making.


The European labour markets are characterized by the existence of trade unions with extensive coverage whereas wage contracts are typically determined through decentralized firm-union bargaining. On the other hand, as it particularly refers to migrant and ethnic minority groups, equally-skilled workers often face lower reservation wages. We argue that these facts may lead unions to opt for discriminatory wage contracts across groups of employees. At the same time firms may nonetheless opt for non-discrimination in wages insofar as they would profitably "advertise" it as an exertion of corporate social responsibility (csr). We show that, if the consumers' valuation of non-discrimination is sufficiently high, the latter strategies would as well be compatible with the unions' best interest in the equilibrium. Otherwise, we propose that to efficiently combat wage discrimination policy makers should instead of firms undertake csradvertisement in the event of non-discrimination. Yet, such an antidiscrimination policy would always entail a net loss in social welfare.


The G protein-coupled estrogen receptor 1 (GPER) has been demonstrated to participate in many cellular functions, but its regulatory inputs are not clearly understood. Here we describe a new approach that identifies GPER as a calmodulin-binding protein, locates interaction sites, and characterizes their binding properties. GPER coimmunoprecipitates with calmodulin in primary vascular smooth muscle cells under resting conditions, which is enhanced upon acute treatment with either specific ligands or a Ca2+-elevating agent. To confirm direct interaction and locate the calmodulin-binding domain(s), we designed a series of FRET biosensors that consist of enhanced cyan and yellow fluorescent proteins flanking each of GPER's submembrane domains (SMDs). Responses of these biosensors showed that all four submembrane domains directly bind calmodulin. Modifications of biosensor linker identified domains that display the strongest calmodulin-binding affinities and largest biosensor dynamics, including a.a. 83–93, 150–175, 242–259, 330–351, corresponding respectively to SMDs 1, 2, 3, and the juxta-membranous section of SMD4. These biosensors bind calmodulin in a strictly Ca2+-dependent fashion and with disparate affinities in the order SMD2>SMD4>SMD3>SMD1, apparent Kd values being 0.44±0.03, 1.40±0.16, 8.01±0.29, and 136.62±6.56 µM, respectively. Interestingly, simultaneous determinations of biosensor responses and suitable Ca2+ indicators identified separate Ca2+ sensitivities for their interactions with calmodulin. SMD1-CaM complexes display a biphasic Ca2+ response, representing two distinct species (SMD1 sp1 and SMD1 sp2) with drastically different Ca2+ sensitivities. The Ca2+ sensitivities of CaM-SMDs interactions follow the order SMD1sp1>SMD4>SMD2>SMD1sp2>SMD3, EC50(Ca2+) values being 0.13±0.02, 0.75±0.05, 2.38±0.13, 3.71±0.13, and 5.15±0.25 µM, respectively. These data indicate that calmodulin may regulate GPER-dependent signaling at the receptor level through multiple interaction sites. FRET biosensors represent a simple method to identify unknown calmodulin-binding domains in G protein-coupled receptors and to quantitatively assess binding properties.


SUMMARY This research details the concerns and requirements of investment managers considering international timberland investments. It also summarizes investor questions with respect to considering timberland investments in an emerging timberland market, in this case Colombia. Twenty (20) senior managers and investors across thirteen (13) firms and institutions involved in executing timberland investment strategies were interviewed. Respondents differ somewhat in how they identify and evaluate international investment risks. In part, these differences reflect alternate client objectives and differences in the experience and strategies of the TIMOs themselves. In addition to the need for available timberlands for investment purposes, key requirements for international investments highlighted across interviewees included country economic and political stability; available and growing markets for wood; and respect for and enforceability of contracts and property rights.


Abstract Lateral flow immunoassay (LFIA) is the most widely used platform of the point-of-care (POC) detection. Since the most important factor in deciding the results of this technique is the visual quality of the test, it should be at its optimum. To address this issue, the present study examines optimising critical parameters to improve the quality of LFIA performance. In this regard the penicillin-binding protein 2a (PBP2a) in methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) was selected as a bacterial model. The targeted parameters included a) size of gold nanoparticles (AuNP), b) antibody conjugation conditions with AuNP, c) antibody concentrations in the capturing zones, d) the effects of blocking substances and different chemical buffers for pre-treatment of the strips. Visual quality of different manufactured strips revealed that the diameter of 14 ± 2, PH = 9.5 was the optimum for improvement of MRSA detection quality. The optimum concentration of labelling antibody in conjugate pad and concentration of the capturing antibody in the test band were 40 µg/ml and 1.1 µg/μl in PBS buffer (pH 7.4) respectively. In conclusion by finding the critical factors affecting the detection limit of lateral flow and optimising them, the visual quality of LFIA results can be increased.


Studies of HRQoL after kidney transplant have yielded conflicting results. We sought to assess the impact of kidney transplant on HRQoL.


Introduction: Nowadays aggression is one of the major problems that have been seen in several levels and dimensions around the world. The present study investigated the effect of group choice theory and reality therapy training on the reduction of aggression among female high school students. Methods: The study employed a quasi-experimental method and a pretestposttest with control group design. The sample population included all female high school students in academic year 2015-2016. 34 participants who achieve scored higher on BPAQ were randomly selected and assigned into one experimental and one control group, 17 in each group. Experimental group received eight sessions of 90 minutes training and control group received no intervention. Data were analyzed through ANCOVA test. Results: Findings showed that group reality therapy training, significantly decreased aggression scores in experimental group (p<0.05). Conclusion:This study confirmed the effect of group choice theory and reality therapy on the reduction of aggression among high school aggressive female students. Declaration of Interest: None.


GoRMAN, J. G., and KIDSON, C. (1962), "Distribution Pattern of an Inherited Trait, Red Cell Enzyme Deficiency In New Guinea and New Britain", Amer. J. ph1/8. Anthrop., 20: 347. SBMPLIII N. M., SIMMONS, R. T., GRAYDON, J. J., RANDMAE, G., and JAMIIISON, D. (1956), "Blood Group Frequencies In Natives of the Central Highlands of New Guinea and In the Balnlngs of New Britain", MBD. J. AuST., 2: 365. SIMMONS, R. T., BAIltIIII, A. G., and GARSON, O. M. (1965), "Atypical Duffy Blood Group Inheritance and Chromosome Abnormalities", Natv.re (Lond.) , 207: 1418. SIMMONS R. T., and GRAYDON, J. J. (1945), "Blood Groups, SubgTOUPS, M, N Types and Rh Subtypes In Filipinos", MIlD. J. AUST., 2: 325. SIMMONS, R. T., GRAYDON, J. J., CHAMPNB88, L. T., and GAJDUSBlt, D. C. (1964), "Blood Group Gene Frequencies In Natives of Cape Gloucester, Western New Britain, and the Gazelle Peninsula, Eastern New Britain", Amer. J. phJ/8. Ant1r,.rop., 22 : 5. SIMMONS, R. T., GAJDUSBlt, D. C., GORMAN, J. G., KmBoN, C., and HORNABROOlt, R. W. (1966), "The Presence of the Duffy Blood Group Gene Fyb Demonstrated In Melanesians", Nature (Lond.) In the press.


Background. Treatment of the fractures in patients with COVID-19, given the novelty of this problem, is one of the most difficult tasks of modern traumatology and orthopedics. The purpose of this study was to determine the peculiarities of the course of the traumatic process in victims with fractures of the upper limbs against the background of COVID-19. Materials and methods. To carry out our research, we retrospectively analyzed the treatment of 136 trauma patients who underwent inpatient treatment in one of the city hospitals of Kyiv from 2019 to 2021. In our study, we used the generally accepted AO/ASIF classification of fractures to determine the clinical and nosological characteristics of injuries in patients with COVID-19. Results. During the COVID-19 epidemic, fractures to the distal part of the forearm (28.8 %), clavicle (17.8%) and proximal part of the shoulder (15.1 %) were most often detected. Among segmental injuries in patients with COVID-19, forearm (in 42.5 % of cases) and shoulder (in 35.6 % of cases) fractures predominated. Also, simple fractures of type A (72.6 %) were more common, and much less fragmentary fractures of type B (21.9 %) and multifragmentary type C fractures (5.5 %) were present. It is worth noting a significant decrease in the number of hand injuries during the COVID-19 pandemic by almost 7 times. In our opinion, this is due to the lockdown introduced by the authorities of Ukraine, which significantly reduced the number of industrial injuries among the research sample. Conclusions. We concluded that the COVID-19 pandemic significantly affected the clinical and nosological structure and characteristics of bone fractures of the upper limb girdle, the analysis of cases proved that such changes in the clinical and nosological structure of fractures of the upper limb girdle are associated with changes in life activities during the pandemic and more typical for domestic trauma.


In the summer of 2006, the multi‐task, interdisciplinary Shallow Water 2006 (SW06) experiment was conducted on the continental shelf and shelfbreak regions off the New Jersey coast. During SW06 the shelfbreak front variability was clearly characterized by combined measurements of conductivity‐temperature‐depth casts, long‐period (5 weeks) and quick sampling oceanographic sensor moorings, and surveys with a Scanfish, a ship‐towed undulating vehicle carrying multiple sensors. This data set indicates that the slope water penetrated onto the shelf via neutrally buoyant intrusions. Due to the higher temperature and salinity, these frontal intrusions, seen as thin layers near the seasonal pycnocline, increased the local sound speed and accounted for variations in acoustic propagation. In this paper, we will use field data and PE numerical acoustic simulations to study the impact of these frontal intrusions. Specific examples on the creation of vertical acoustic double ducting and horizontal ducting formed by th...


T HE questions suggested by the title of this essay were perhaps of less compelling significance for early Christian theologians than they are for contemporary thinkers. By and large, early Christian theology was an attempt to express the insights of Christian faith in terms of Greek science and philosophy-to express the Christian conviction about theos in terms of the Greek understanding of logos-and, for most Greek thinkers, logos implied a structure of meaning and intelligibility common to nature and mind, exemplified in varying degrees in all dimensions of reality. Logos, in other words, was not simply technical reasoning. Indeed, instrumental reasoning was frequently relegated to the realm of "opinion" and deemed to be a matter of secondary importance. The chief aim of reason was to grasp reality as an ordered wholeto provide a vision of the real after the manner of mathematics. Many Greek philosophies were interested, in one way or another, in saving men's souls. The cognitive aim of reason set the goal for aesthetic ordering of nature in the harmonious forms of beauty and for the


COVID19 forced the educational processes to a radical change. The face-to-face classes suddenly went virtual. This coup challenged teachers and their classroom methodologies to new forms of virtual / digital interaction. The jump generated a significant change that we have not yet managed to measure. For this reason, the present study focuses on analyzing and reflecting on how higher education teachers in Ecuador have assumed the educational changes from the face-to-face model to the virtual / digital mode in the current pandemic context, highlighting the level of familiarity with ICT. Methodologically, the study describes and compares, through the teachers' testimony, the difficulties, strategies and opportunities that they experienced with their students in virtual / digital learning environments. The results identify the most important problems and aspects when teaching distance classes in the face of virtual / digital learning environments. In conclusion, it reflects on the shortcomings and weaknesses of our preparation as teachers. It also points out how the current crisis visualizes the precariousness of the national educational system itself.


This work presents a study of the applicability of a massively parallel computing paradigm to Monte Carlo techniques for device simulation. A unique mapping of Monte Carlo to SIMD fine-grained parallelism has been developed, decoupling the problem into separate computational domains. For MOSFET simulation, this novel mapping allows estimated speeds of over 200,000 scatterings processed per second on a 65,536 processor Connection Machine, nearly a factor of six over the fastest known to date.


The first postwar elections to the USSR Supreme Soviet on 10 February 1946 took place in an atmosphere of great voter activity. The Soviet people voted harmoniously for the representatives of the "indissoluble bloc of Communists and nonparty members." The lead article in Pravda the next day was headlined "To the Complete Victory of Communism in our Country Under the Leadership of the Great Stalin!" It spoke of the terrible sufferings of the war years, the difficulties of making the transition to peacetime, and the faith of the Soviet people, rallying closely "around their beloved Leader, father, and teacher, … under his wise leadership," of their faith in the building of a communist society.


Simple Summary Tumor suppressor protein p53 is a master regulator that inhibits the process of oncogenesis by induction of cell senescence/cell cycle arrest/apoptosis during normal and stressed states of cells. It is functionally inactivated in the majority of cancers. Mortalin, a member of the Hsp70 family of proteins, enriched in cancer cells, is known to cause cytoplasmic sequestration and inactivation of the p53's transcriptional activation function. Inhibition of mortalin–p53 interaction and reactivation of p53 functions by natural and synthetic drugs has emerged as a possible cancer therapeutic strategy. We recently reported a novel multimodal small molecule, named MortaparibPlus, that inhibited mortalin–p53 interaction and caused reactivation of p53 function in colorectal cancer cells. Here, we report its effect on breast cancer cells with wildtype (MCF-7) or mutant (T47D) p53 status. Abstract We previously performed a drug screening to identify a potential inhibitor of mortalin–p53 interaction. In four rounds of screenings based on the shift in mortalin immunostaining pattern from perinuclear to pan-cytoplasmic and nuclear enrichment of p53, we had identified MortaparibPlus (4-[(1E)-2-(2-phenylindol-3-yl)-1-azavinyl]-1,2,4-triazole) as a novel synthetic small molecule. In order to validate its activity and mechanism of action, we recruited Luminal-A breast cancer cells, MCF-7 (p53wild type) and T47D (p53L194F) and performed extensive biochemical and immunocytochemical analyses. Molecular analyses revealed that MortaparibPlus is capable of abrogating mortalin–p53 interaction in both MCF-7 and T47D cells. Intriguingly, upregulation of transcriptional activation function of p53 (as marked by upregulation of the p53 effector gene—p21WAF1—responsible for cell cycle arrest and apoptosis) was recorded only in MortaparibPlus-treated MCF-7 cells. On the other hand, MortaparibPlus-treated T47D cells exhibited hyperactivation of PARP1 (accumulation of PAR polymer and decrease in ATP levels) as a possible non-p53 tumor suppression program. However, these cells did not show full signs of either apoptosis or PAR-Thanatos. Molecular analyses attributed such a response to the inability of MortaparibPlus to disrupt the AIF–mortalin complexes; hence, AIF did not translocate to the nucleus to induce chromatinolysis and DNA degradation. These data suggested that the cancer cells possessing enriched levels of such complexes may not respond to MortaparibPlus. Taken together, we report the multimodal anticancer potential of MortaparibPlus that warrants further attention in laboratory and clinical studies.


Due to the decreased total system inertia, the large-scale integration of inverter-based RE sources in a microgrid system raises stability concerns. By imitating virtual inertia, battery energy storage systems (BESS) can significantly improve the system inertia of a microgrid system, especially in islanded mode. The designing of inverter controller to keep the system stable is a challenge for a microgrid system under abnormal grid situations. Droop control technique is widely used for controlling the active and reactive power flow of an inverter for microgrid application. The inverter controller demonstrated in this research uses the droop control technique and is equipped with a synchronization unit that can emulate virtual inertia and give the microgrid system enough inertial support in islanded mode of operation and dynamic grid scenarios. The presented controller has been designed and validated using MATLAB/SIMULINK software to demonstrate its efficacy for improving stability of a PV-BESS integrated microgrid system.


In 2010, I wrote an article for the EYC Journal entitled, 'Where is the PLAY in worksheets, colouring-in, art templates, phonics programs, sight words and early readers?' The intention of that article was to highlight some of the pedagogical practices beginning to emerge in Prep classrooms. At that time, the Australian Curriculum had not been implemented. However, there was already beginning to be a marked change in the way young children were encouraged to learn in these early childhood settings. Early readers, phonics worksheets, structured 'craft' activities and colouring-in were beginning to find their way not only into Prep classrooms, but also into child care centres and other early childhood settings where the curriculum ought to have been 'play-based'.


BACKGROUND: Abuse of prescription drugs is the leading cause of accidental death in the United States. In response, hundreds of federal, state and local interventions have been implemented. We describe trends in the diversion and abuse of prescription opioids using data through 2013. METHODS: We used 5 different programs from the Researched Abuse, Diversion and Addiction Related Surveillance (RADARS) System to describe trends in diversion and abuse of 6 opioid analgesics: oxycodone, hydrocodone, hydromorphone, fentanyl, morphine, and tramadol. The programs include law enforcement agencies, poison centers, substance abuse treatment centers and college students. RESULTS: RADARS System programs reported large increases in opioid diversion and abuse rates from 2002 to 2010, but then rates flattened or decreased 2011 through 2013. Poison Center fatality rates also rose and fell with a similar pattern. CONCLUSIONS: Considered with other data sources, it seems possible that the long period of increasing prescription opioid abuse may be abating. The reasons for this observation are unclear but generate several alternatives that could affect the public policy debate regarding prescription opioid analgesics. Language: en


GAO uncovers more cost overruns and delays at National Ignition Facility GAO uncovers more cost overruns and delays at National Ignition Facility


Because of its importance to society, the science of mind and behavior is an academic field in which ethical and social considerations are vital. When examining these issues, the opinions of life-science researchers must be considered. In this article, the authors elicit and describe the opinions of sixty-one Japanese life-science researchers on the ethical and social issues surrounding the science of mind and behavior. The results reveal significant diversity of opinions, especially when the subject was the genetic "enhancement" and "medical treatment" of human mental abilities. Moreover, there was a lack of consensus regarding the application of mind and behavior research to social policy. The results suggest that a wide range of life-science researchers should be involved in discussions of these controversial but socially important issues.


Systems for postcorrection of OCR-results can be fine tuned and adapted to new recognition tasks in many respects. One issue is the selection and adaption of a suitable background dictionary. Another issue is the choice of a correction model, which includes, among other decisions, the selection of an appropriate distance measure for strings and the choice of a scoring function for ranking distinct correction alternatives. When combining the results obtained from distinct OCR engines, further parameters have to be fixed. Due to all these degrees of freedom, adaption and fine tuning of systems for lexical postcorrection is a difficult process. Here we describe a visual and interactive tool that semi-automates the generation of ground truth data, partially automates adjustment of parameters, yields active support for error analysis and thus helps to find correction strategies that lead to high accuracy with realistic effort.


In screening Drosophila melanogaster for mutations which cause paralysis at 29cC and recovery of mobility at 22cC, 11 temperature-sensitive (ts) mutants were detected among 1.35 × 106 flies screened. These mutations fell into 3 loci, paralytic (parats), shibire (shits) and stoned (stnts). All three loci affect neurological development. The best explanation for parats appears to be an effect on the inhibitory neuronal system. The shi alleles affect an array of developmental events from early embryos to adults. The pattern of heat-induced changes in shits1 electroretinograms (ERG) is consistent with a ts membranal defect. This is supported by a ts resistance of shits flies to tetrodotoxin which specifically blocks the sodium channel of nerves.The final locus, stn, causes sensitivity to the trauma of temperature changes. A jump response observed when a light is turned off is related to a large "offtransient" in ERGs which is correlated with a simultaneous muscle spike. The property of temperature-sensitivity...


Aromatic l‐amino acid decarboxylase (AADC) is necessary for conversion of l‐DOPA to dopamine. Therefore, AADC gene therapy has been proposed to enhance pharmacological or gene therapies delivering l‐DOPA. However, addition of AADC to the grafts of genetically modified cells expressing tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) and GTP cyclohydrolase 1 (GCH1), which produce l‐DOPA in parkinsonian rats, resulted in decreased production of l‐DOPA and dopamine owing to feedback inhibition of TH by dopamine. End‐product feedback inhibition has been shown to be mediated by the regulatory domain of TH, and site‐specific mutation of serine 40 makes TH less susceptible to dopamine inhibition. Therefore, we investigated the efficacy of using TH with serine 40 mutated to leucine (mTH) in an ex vivo gene‐therapy paradigm. Primary fibroblasts (PF) from Fischer 344 rats were transduced with retrovirus to express mTH or wild‐type rat TH cDNA (wtTH). Both cell types were also transduced with GCH1 to provide the obligate TH cofactor, tetrahydrobiopterin. PF transfected with AADC were used as coculture and cografting partners. TH activities and l‐DOPA production in culture were comparable between PFwtTHGC and PFmTHGC cells. In cocultures with PFAADC cells, PFmTHGC cells showed significant reduction in the inhibitory effect of dopamine compared with PFwtTHGC cells. In vivo microdialysis measurement showed that cografting PFAADC cells with PFmTHGC cells resulted in smaller decreases in l‐DOPA and no reduction in dopamine levels compared with cografts of PFAADC cells with PFwtTHGC cells, which decreased both l‐DOPA and dopamine levels. Maintenance of dopamine levels with lower levels of l‐DOPA would result in more focused local delivery of dopamine and less potential side‐effects arising from l‐DOPA diffusion into other structures. These data support the hypothesis that mutation of serine 40 attenuates TH end‐product inhibition in vivo and illustrates the importance of careful consideration of biochemical pathways and interactions between multiple genes in gene therapy.


The kinetics of detritiation of a range of carbon acids activated by different kinds of groups have been investigated in water-hydroxide, methanol-methoxide, and ethanol-ethoxide solutions. The results show that for those acids that can be characterized as normal in the Eigen sense (chloroform, phenylacetylene, and dimethyl sulfone) the rates are up to 10 times faster in water-hydroxide solutions than in methanol-methoxide, not as expected from the basicities of the respective solutions. However, for the acetophenones it is found that k{sup T}{sub OMe{minus}} > k{sup T}{sub OH{minus}} and this is also the case for the cyanocarbon acids. The ratio k{sup T}{sub OEt{minus}}/k{sup T}{sub OMe{minus}} varies within much narrower limits and is always greater than unity. It is suggested that the rate ratio k{sup T}{sub OH{minus}}/k{sup T}{sub OMe{minus}} may be used as an additional probe for the classification of carbon acids.


In this paper, a three-dimensional model for temperature profile in finite laser slabs is presented. Closed-form temperature distributions are derived in general case? by which it is convenient to analyse the dependence of slab temperature profile on pump parameters, laster materials etc. Computerized calculations are performed to Confirm our theoretical predictions.


The purpose of this thesis was to explore the impact of Aboriginal spirituality/culture on federally sentenced Aboriginal males at the Pe'Sakastew Centre . The Centre is a minimum security institution which is operated by the Correctional Service of Canada . The effects of Aboriginal spirituality/culture were explored through interviews with twelve Aboriginal men who were serving part of their sentences at the Centre . The men were asked a range of questions that dealt with childhood experiences, adult lifestyles and attitudes, prison experiences and programming, the Pe'Sakastew Centre, and the perceived effects on attitudes and behaviors by participating in Aboriginal spiritual/cultural programming . This study also addressed several specific issues including : the role of Aboriginal spirituality/culture in the healing/rehabilitation process ; the presence of other contributing factors ; and the difference between the Pe'Sakastew Centre and mainstream prisons . This thesis research identified thematic patterns in the men's life stories . Many interviewees had difficult childhoods and their adult lifestyles reflected similar problems that revolved around chemical dependency, violence,


Based on a 15-year long-term fertilization experiment in the fluvo-aquic soil,the effect of different fertilization treatments on inorganic-P forms and their availabilities in wheat rhizosphere was studied by pot experiment.The results showed that the content of Ca-P was higher than those of other forms in all the fertilized treatments,occupied 73.9% of total inorganic P,the total content of other P forms occupied 26.1%.The wheat biomass and P uptake were very low without P application(CK,N,K),and the total content of inorganic P changed very small in the rhizosphere and bulk soils,and the contents of Ca2-P and Ca8-P were very low in all treatments.The wheat biomass and P uptake of NP and NPK were significantly higher than those of PK,and PK significantly increased the content of inorganic P in the rhizosphere and bulk soils compared with N and NP.While combined application of P fertilizer and organic manure,the biomass and P uptake of wheat were significantly increased,and 1.5(M+NPK) significantly increased the total and all forms of inorganic P,those of S+NPK were not increased clearly.By correlation analysis between OlsenP and inorganic P forms,it was shown that Ca2-P was correlated most significantly with Olsen-P;Ca8-P,Al-P and Fe-P were significant,while O-P and Ca10-P were not significant.


In a circuit arrangement (1) for producing or transmitting control signals (Q) for an inverter (2), the at least one lying at a high potential first switch (S The circuit assembly further includes (1) a capacitor (C


ABSTRACT
 Animal space-use patterns can vary widely with age, sex, and stage of the annual cycle, but the factors that drive pattern shifts are poorly understood. Here, we provide preliminary evidence that mating strategy (i.e., polygamy) influences movements of parents attending recently fledged young. We monitored the space use during the post-fledging period for Vermivora spp. broods led by a male and female with a split brood in 2014 and the same male with 2 fledglings in 2015. We observed contextand sex-specific space-use patterns that seemed to be driven by the male's attention to a secondary polygamous nest in 2014. When attending his secondary nest, the male restricted his primary brood's movements to within the nesting habitat close to his secondary nest until the nest failed. This pattern was distinct from movements of both the 2014 female and the same male in 2015 when he lacked a secondary nest. These observations may explain some reports from other studies that female-led broods disperse farther than male-led broods. Future work should explicitly consider the potential impacts of facultative polygamy on post-fledging space use, especially in species traditionally considered monogamous.


This review is devoted to the chemistry of fluoroalkyl cyanides (RF-nitriles): their synthesis and chemical properties. Syntheses of non-functionalized RF-nitriles (FCH2CN, F2CHCN, CF3CN, C2F5CN, FCH2CH2CN, etc.) and dinitriles (NCCHFCN, NCCF2CN, NCCF2CF2CN, etc.) are considered. The synthesis of functionalized RF-nitriles such as F2NCF2CN, F2NCClFCN, Cl2CFCN, Br2CFCN, (O2N)2CFCN, O2NCF2CH2CH2CN, and dinitriles, such as O(CF2CN)2, NCCF2N=NCF2CN, is also considered. RF-Nitriles are attractive electrophilic, enophilic, and dienophilic building-blocks: they were used in the synthesis of various fluorine-containing heterocyclic compounds, such as RF-bearing pyridines, 1,3,5-triazines, tetrazoles, and others. RF-nitriles were also used in the synthesis of unusual acyclic compounds, such as fluoroalkylated N,N-difluoroamines, F2NCF2CF2N=SF2, RFimino esters, and others.


Stewardship as a concept is increasingly brought forward as a goal to reach sustainability goals of ensuring human wellbeing within the limits of Earth's life support systems. Scholarship on the re ...


Typically, a confl ict situation results from resource shortage and antagonistic feeling. Confl icts may arise between individuals, between groups of individuals and between organizations. Confl ict situations between people are subjective, meaning that although objective reasons may exist, confl ict only breaks out if those reasons are perceived. Confl icts between people may trigger out organizational confl icts for the simple reason that organizations are (still) governed by people. However, organizational confl icts may have other root reasons, for example resource interdependency. A common defi nition of confl ict is a process that begins whenever an individual or a group feels negatively affected by another individual or group. In other words, people are in confl ict anytime one's actions obstruct or by any means, make other's performance, less effi cient. Individual conflicts exist in all human relations and those within the construction activity are no exception. Due to the great diversity of people involved in construction projects and to the enormous variety of situations emerging from the construction process, individual conflicts in this activity deserve particular attention. Groton (1997) found that conflicts between people in construction arise as a result of poor interpersonal skills, inefficient communication, lack of responsiveness and unethical or opportunist behaviour. Conflicts of this nature may remain within the individual sphere of people involved or build up to the organizations they work for if not adequately handled. This may easily develop into organizational conflicts, affecting several organizations participating in a construction project. On the other hand, because organizations act through individuals, then confl ict events emanate from key actors within the organizations, due to their different perceptions on a particular aspect about which they are unable to agree. This applies both to group confl icts within an organization (for example, inter-department confl icts within a contractor's organization) and to confl icts affecting several organizations working together in a construction project (for example, between the owner and the contractor). Beyond people issues mentioned above, Groton (1997) suggested two main identifi able group causes for organization confl icts: project uncertainty and process problems. Examples of the former 17 Managing Stakeholders Confl icts


The aggregation of the mixture of cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) and bovine serum albumin (BSA) in aqueous and aq. ethylene glycol (EG) media has been carried out conductometrically at numerous temperatures. Conductivity values of CTAB have been changed with the concentration of CTAB and the values also experience a change with the presence of BSA, change of BSA concentration, variation of EG contents as well as the experimental temperatures. The critical micelle concentration (CMC) and the extent of micelle dissociation (α) were evaluated graphically plotting the specific conductivity against the CTAB concentration. The CTAB aggregation happens lately in the appearance of BSA. Also, the CMC values of CTAB + BSA experience an upsurge with the rise of BSA contents. The CMC values of the mixture of CTAB and BSA have been obtained to be higher in extents in aq. EG solution in contrast to water medium. In all of the circumstances inspected, the micellisation of the CTAB + BSA mixture is spontaneous (negative ΔG 0 m values). Depending on the ΔH0 m and ΔS0 m values for the CTAB + BSA mixture, the recommended forces between CTAB and BSA are electrostatic interaction (hydrogen bonding and ion-dipole interactions) and hydrophobic interactions. GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT


Vibrating sources in buildings, such as service equ ipment, elevators and electric devices, often cause a lot of noise because of the mechanical excitation of build ing elements (structure-borne sound). De draft sta ndard prEN 12354-5 describes how the normalized sound pre ssu in a room can be calculated based on the inje cted structure-borne sound power of an installation in a nother room. Estimating this power is not simple, b cause both source properties (installation) as receiver p roperties (building element) play a role. The draf t standard prEN 15657-1 delivers a method to do this for sourc es of which the mobility is much larger than the mo bility of the receiving building element, therefore making a measurement of the source mobility unnecessary. In this method, the source is put into operation on a plate that is resiliently connected to the surroundings. The injected power in this so-called "reception plate" is then d etermined out of the structure-borne sound power in the diffuse velocity field of the plate. In this investigation , the injected structure-borne sound power by an op erating fitness vibration plate into three different floors between two acoustical transmission rooms is determined vi a the reception plate method. The power is also calculat ed ccording to the more exact "mobility method", t hat takes the source mobility into account. Finally, the res ults of both methods are compared to each other.


Abstract : Volume 1 of this report describes research, development, construction and testing of thermal signature targets. These targets are designed to produce effective signatures in the 8 to l4um region.


Salinity in the growth medium causes significant reduction in plant growth parameters like leaf area, leaf length, root and shoot dry weight etc. The present study was conducted to assess the effect of salt stress on morphological and biochemical characteristics of sunflower. The hybrid (Samsung-600) seeds were grown under normal and saline conditions. The plants were treated with different doses of sodium chloride. Salt stress significantly reduced plant height, number of leaves, fresh and dry plant weight. Salinity increased the moisture in seeds. The moisture percentage increased with increase in NaCl treatment. Salt stress increased the ash contents in the seeds. Similarly, salinity stress considerably increased the accumulation of proteins contents and fats in the seeds but caused reduction in crude fibers percentage. Carbohydrates also showed a decreased tendency with increase in NaCl concentration.


A healthy pregnancy and childbirth begins from a regular prenatal care and postnatal care. In recent years, several health practices during pregnancy and childbirth are recommended by Department of Health to ensure the welfare of the mother and baby. However, some of these practices are not followed correctly by pregnant mothers resulting to complications or unhealthy newborn. The study was conducted to identify the gaps in prenatal, intrapartal and postnatal health practices among obstetric patients admitted in a provincial hospital. The data were gathered using a questionnaire and in-depth interviews to complement the findings of the survey. Results showed that during prenatal period of the respondents, mostly complied with the recommended number of prenatal check-ups, tetanus toxoid immunization, intake of vitamin A. However, most of the respondents failed to take Iron supplements, proper diet and exercise and have an ultrasound during the time of pregnancy. Moreover, results revealed that a number of respondents still sought help from "hilots" to ensure healthy pregnancy. As to intrapartal period or during the onset of labor, majority of the respondents performed perineal shaving, took a bath and drunk extra glasses of water except with the intake of food. As to the postnatal health practices of the respondents, perineal care, breastfeeding, promotion of adequate rest, drinking of extra fluids, eating of nutritious foods, pain management, and compliance to postnatal visits were apparent. However, performance of perineal exercise has the lowest percentage or frequency. The results of the study highlight the need to conduct information dissemination to increase the compliance of all the recommended prenatal, intrapartal and postnatal health care practices among pregnant mothers.


A four-parent complete dialleld mating-set of three Triticum aestivum L. cultivars 'Edwall', 'Chris' and 'Spillman', and an alloplasmic line of 'Selkirk' in Aegilops variabilis Eig. cytoplasm was used. Genetic components among total variation for callus induction, green plant percentage and green plant yield werr 92%, 80% and 77%, respectively, but lower (36%) for plant regeneration. General combining ability (GCA) variance components and narrow-sense heritabilities estimated for callus induction, green plant pereentnge and green plant yield were 74%, 66%, and 53%, and 0.68, 0.54 and 0.43. respectively. Specific combining ability (SCA) variancw was calculated as 85%) of total genctie variation for plant regeneration. Significant reciprocal effects for callus induction. green plant percentage and green plant yield were observed.


Gina (a general education teacher) and Alyssa (a special education teacher) co-teach In a 3rd-grade Inclusion classroom. They are anxious to make their co-teaching model work, but are In the process of defining their new roles and responsibilities. They want to coordinate their work so they can meet the needs of all students In their classroom. T his article describes a planning tool that can help both special and general educators with 'covering the curriculum." This tool, the Planning Pyramid (Schumm, Vaughn, & Leavell, 1994), is designed to facilitate inclusion and collaboration.


The arbitrary spin field equations are separated in the RobertsonWalker space-time by the Newmam-Penrose formalism and by using a null tetrad frame previously considered. The eigenvalue problem of the corresponding separated angular equations is solved by looking for polynomial solutions. The radial separated equations are solved in the flat space-time case and the asymptotic behaviour of the solutions explicited. The separated time equations are studied in elementary situations and in the linear and exponential expansion of the universe. The dependence of the time solutions on increasing spin is pointed out.


A dosing inhalator which can be used together with a detachable pressurization gasoloid cartridge (or a holder) comprises an indicator which is used to indicate the state of the cartridge for users. The cartridge or the storage device which holds the cartridge on the casing can express the information of dosing which is distributed from the cartridge or the residue dosing in the cartridge. The information can be processed in order to provide and display the information for expressing the state of the cartridge.


Greece is Hellas and Greeks are Hellenes. Azure is cobalt and everything (coloured) azure is (coloured) cobalt. Pre-Fregeans would call all these statements of identity. Frege taught us to distinguish between Conaming [Name] [Name]. Ngh: Greece is Hellas g=h. Nac: Azure is cobalt a=c Copredicating [Predicate] [Predicate]. PGH: Greeks are Hellenes (x)(Gx≡Hx). PAC: Everything azure is cobalt (x)(Ax≡Cx) Singular Predication [Name] [Predicate]. PcA: Como is azure Ac. PaC: Azure is a colour Ca. PaL: Azure is like indigo Lai. PgD: Greece defeated Persia Dgp. With Frege the contrasts became marked but misconceived.


The Olympic Games has been one of the most watched and exciting sports events in the world since its modern revival in 1896. A highlight of each Games is the Opening Ceremony featuring the lighting of the Olympic Flame, performances created by the host country, and the parade of participants. Billions of people watch athletes from different nations dressed in uniforms of diverse colours and styles march in procession. This study began with an examination of the relationship between the parade uniforms of the national teams participating in the Games and nationalism, followed by the various ways in which national identity is visually communicated through this ceremonial sport attire. The meanings and functions of the uniforms were analysed to demonstrate how design elements denote cultural and geographical differences, as well as how they were visually represented in the garments.


This study identifies some opportunities to introduce derivative instruments based on the practical experience of other countries, and provides some estimates of the implementation of derivative market mechanisms, pricing, and trading strategies.


The technology of steam injection on the development of heavy oil and low permeability reservoirs has been successfully applied in the worldwide, and one of the key process is the amount of steam injected. The fresh water can be supplied for steam boiler in ground facilities, but it will cause the shortage of fresh water resources. So produced water reuse as the environmental-friendly technology can both make use of waste and avoid the discharge of produced water in the power generation. However, in the development of special oil field, the produced water often contains large amounts of SiO
 2
 in the form of ion or colloid, these Silica compound are easy to form dense and rigid Silica scales at high temperature, which is difficult to clean with conventional methods, the heat transfer efficiency and safe operation of the boilers and other process equipment are affected seriously. Accordingly, the reuse of the produced water replace of the fresh water is restricted. So, the removal agent of Silica with main agent of Magnesium Sulfate is developed in this paper. The reaction mechanism, the pH regulation of water, the adsorption, coagulation and precipitation of Silica are considered respectively. The optimum compositions are as follow: C
 MgSO4:
C
 NaOH
:C
 PAC
:C
 CPAM
=12:24:8:3. The agent is applied in the oil field and the results show that the average Silica content from 248.4 mg/L in incoming water to 47.1 mg/L in effluent water, the removal of Silica efficiency is up to 81%, the treated water achieve the quality goal of boiler feed water. The situation of shortage of fresh water resources can be alleviated effectively. Simultaneity, a variety of potential environmental hazards caused by discharged of high-temperature produced water are eliminated. The study is significantly for save energy and reduce consumption, environment-friendly and sustainable development in crude oil industry.


1. Monkeys are susceptible to yaws. The skin eruption in the monkeys I have experimented with (Semnopithecus priamus and Macacus pileatus) is, as a rule, confined to the seat of inoculation but the infection is general, as is proved by the presence of the Spirochaeta pertenuis in the spleen and lymphatic glands. 2. Material obtained from persons suffering from yaws and apparently containing Spirochaeta pertenuis only is infective to monkeys. 3. When the Spirochaeta pertenuis has been removed from this material by filtration, the latter becomes inert. 4. The inoculation of blood from the general circulation and blood taken from the spleen of yaws patients into monkeys may give positive results. 5. The inoculation of the cerebro-spinal fluid of yaws patients gives negative results. 6. Monkeys successfully inoculated with yaws do not become immune for syphilis. 7. Monkeys successfully inoculated with syphilis do not become immune for yaws. 8. By means of the Bordet-Gengou reaction, it is possible to detect specific yaws antibodies and antigen. 9. Yaws antibodies and antigen are entirely different from syphilitic antibodies and antigen. 10. The presence of the Spirochaeta pertenuis in monkeys experimentally inoculated, as well as in yaws patients, is practically constant in the unbroken eruptive lesions; the Spirochaeta is frequently present in the spleen and lymphatic glands. 11. Yaws is generally conveyed by actual contact, but under certain circumstances it may be conveyed by flies and possibly by other insects.


Abstract Improvements to the theory of the optical properties of real cermets are made by performing multiple scattering corrections to the effective medium dielectric constant. A multiple scattering model that considers correlation effects between metallic grains in a systematic way is discussed. The results using both mean field and multiple scattering theories are compared against experimental data for Au/Al2O3 and Ag/MgO cermets.


The article is devoted to the current internal political situation in Nicaragua. The author analyzes the reasons for the acute socio-political crisis that arose in April 2018, presenting a detailed analysis of a historical background of these events. The author notes that a regime of personal power of President Ortega has been established in the country, relying on bureaucracy and power structures, since it is them playing a key role in preserving Ortega as the country's President. The paper assesses the alignment of political forces and the general political situation in the opposition camp. The author analyzes the reasons for a number of existing contradictions that plague the opposition bloc of Nicaragua. An analysis of political potential and electoral possibilities of the opposition forces is given. The author predicts a possible scenario for the development of events within the framework of internal political situation in connection with the upcoming elections to be held in November 2021. The author comes to conclusion that the regime of Ortega is weakening and losing its positions, but still retains a margin of safety, which allows him to remain in power. As one of the scenarios for the development of events, the author predicts the possibility of a 'compromise figure' coming to power, which, however, does not imply a change in the real balance of power and dominant political figures in state politics.


design a new admissions system, nor even the creation of OFFA, all of which stemmed from pressures within the Blair Government, can yet be said to justify the statement that the right of universities to select their own students is 'little more than a ritualistic reiteration of a faded value given that institutions increasingly have less control over the structure of the selection process itself' (220). Indeed what is striking in the record that Tapper presents and, accepting his main thesis that the restructuring of higher education over the last quarter of a century has almost entirely arisen from pressure from the state, is how effective higher education's rearguard action has been in the fundamentals of how the system is run. Tapper does not present evidence that 'the liberal idea of the university and institutional autonomy' (227) has been overthrown, only that it is under pressure and may be fraying somewhat at the edges. The recent triumph of the argument against a wholesale reliance on metrics in the 2013 RAE represents a case in point. It is too sweeping to describe higher education institutions as 'creatures of the state' (234), although Tapper's general depiction of a transformation from a 'deferential' to a 'regulatory' to a 'prescriptive' state rings true. However, the picture is sometimes more variegated and the optimist might look back at the fragmented policy formation picture that Tapper paints and be reassured that parts at least of the higher education system have an inbuilt capacity for survival which may continue to frustrate the encroachment of the state. This book represents a very stimulating contribution to the debate as to how these institutions can maintain their core values in a changing governance environment.


Abstract Reconsidering the Situationist texts, mainly Guy Debord's Society of the Spectacle, this article attempts to produce distinctions between the spectacle, the speculative and the 'spectile' via a reading of Deleuzian insistence that immanence should be created. Zigzagging between the texts of Sarah Kane and Sevim Burak, we suggest the urgency of 'the spectile' within the Deleuzian concept of 'becoming‐woman' if an immanence, including both arts and art criticism, is not to yield to a transcending transcendental; if criticism is to produce an immanence that is only immanent to itself.


At present,the equipment management system of refinery chemical industry enterprise catholically lacks the advanced equipment management idea,the specialized management is unable to meet the requirements,The flexibility and serviceability are weak,System has not uniform data interface and so on.In view of the above questions,The equipment complex management platform of Fushun petrochemical company closely combined characteristics of the equipment management,strengthened all-staff management,the specialized management,application of informationization technological means,realized "a system,three levels,many modules,the centralized management" overall mentality.


The heart fatty acid-binding protein (HFABP) gene was sequenced in parental animals of a F2 crossing of boars of the Brazilian native Piau breed with commercial sows (Landrace x Large White x Pietrain). Primers used for PCR were designed to amplify four exons of the gene. The PCR products were sequenced and compared with the GenBank sequences. Differences between the generated sequences and the GenBank sequences were observed for both genetic groups. A total of 246 F2 animals were genotyped using the Hinf I restriction enzyme. Two genotypes were identified, 198 being animals HH and 48 Hh. The Hinf I SNP was significantly associated with weights of loin (bone-in) (P<0.05), jowl (P<0.05), sirloin (P<0.10), and kidneys (P<0.01). These results showed the potential of the H–FABP gene in marker-assisted selection programs for carcass traits in pigs.


Blind objective metrics to automatically quantify perceived image quality degradation introduced by blur, is highly beneficial for current digital imaging systems. We present, in this paper, a perceptual no reference blur assessment metric developed in the frequency domain. As blurring affects specially edges and fine image details, that represent high frequency components of an image, the main idea turns on analysing, perceptually, the impact of blur distortion on high frequencies using the Discrete Cosine Transform DCT and the Just noticeable blur concept JNB relying on the Human Visual System. Comprehensive testing demonstrates the proposed Perceptual Blind Blur Quality Metric (PBBQM) good consistency with subjective quality scores as well as satisfactory performance in comparison with both the representative non perceptual and perceptual state-of-the-art blind blur quality measures.


FIELD: optical projection systems. SUBSTANCE: the matrix has an active matrix consisting of a substrate, matrix of transistors and a matrix of lead-outs, and a matrix of exciting structures, each representing a bimorphous structure and having exciting and light-reflecting components. Each exciting component is made of several layers comprising thin-filmed electrodes and electroshiftable elements made of material characterized by the fact that it is crystallographically asymmetric, doesn't display hysteresis, and is formed at a temperature within 200 to 300 C. The method for manufacture of such a matrix consists in successive application of thin-filmed layers of the respective materials, including the temporary layers, for production of the respective profile of each layer and formation of matrix. EFFECT: excluded high-temperature process from manufacture of matrix, thus reduced cost. 14 cl, 20 dwg


The review summarizes the synthesis and study of properties of the bioconjugates of chlorophyll a and bacteriochlorophyll a with carbohydrates, carboranes and other moieties, focusing on the synthetic methods of obtaining conjugates and preliminary biological testing thereof. Boronated chlorins and bacteriochlorins can be used in both photodynamic and boron neutron capture therapy.


Precise lasing wavelength control of VCSELs is attractive for several applications: 3D sensing, atomic clock, laser pumping, and the like. The wavelength of commercially available VCSELs is typically varied for each chip. This is because the thickness of epitaxial layers inevitably varies on a wafer due to the distribution of temperature and gas flow. VCSEL users on the module side have tolerated the problem. Here, we propose the novel strategy for precise wavelength control of VCSELs with simple fabrication by applying multi-wavelength (MW) VCSEL. We proposed two ways to achieve that. One is uniform wavelength method on wafer, and another is wavelength selection method. In both concepts, MW-VCSELs with wavelength-tuning-layer (WTL) inside DBR are suitable. Uniform wavelength method is followed by three steps: 1) A lower DBR, a cavity consisting of active layers, a first top DBR, and a WTL are grown. 2) The dip wavelength of the Fabry-Perot cavity is measured over the wafer. The WTL thickness is processed as to cancel out the wavelength variation in the two-dimensional data, which is performed by photolithography and etching techniques. 3) A remaining second top DBR is formed by regrowth technique to achieve more uniform wavelength than epitaxial growth alone. In our experiment, the reduction of wavelength variation from 6.6 nm (epitaxy only) to 2.0 nm was demonstrated. The concept can provide large scale array with uniform wavelength. Therefore, it is advantageous on high power applications as well as applications in which VCSELs with precise lasing wavelength are required. In wavelength selection method, precise wavelength is obtained by selecting emitters that met wavelength specification from emitters that are formed with different wavelengths by applying MW-VCSEL technology.