The bearing capacity of open-ended piles is affected by the degree of soil plugging, which is quantified by the incremental filling ratio ~IFR!. There is not at present a design criterion for open-ended piles that explicitly considers the effect of IFR on pile load capacity. In order to investigate this effect, model pile load tests were conducted on instrumented open-ended piles using a calibration chamber. The results of these tests show that the IFR increases with increasing relative density and increasing horizontal stress. It can also be seen that the IFR increases linearly with the plug length ratio ~PLR! and can be estimated from the PLR. The unit base and shaft resistances increase with decreasing IFR. Based on the results of the model pile tests, new empirical relations for plug load capacity, annulus load capacity, and shaft load capacity of open-ended piles are proposed. The proposed relations are applied to a full-scale pile load test performed by the authors. In this load test, the pile was fully instrumented, and the IFR was continuously measured during pile driving. A comparison between predicted and measured load capacities shows that the recommended relations produce satisfactory predictions.


Border Deaths: Causes, Dynamics and Consequences of Migration-related Mortality, a volume edited by Paolo Cuttitta and Tamara Last, compiles articles dealing with migration-related mortality from a variety of perspectives. It is an outcome of a conference Border deaths and migration policies: state and non-state approaches, organized as part of the research project Border Policies and Sovereignty. Human rights and the right to life of irregular migrants at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. The book includes eight chapters in addition to an introduction and afterword. Many of the authors have a legal background, and the chapters mainly focus on unveiling the phenomenon of deaths at the borders. The emphasis lays on the southern border of the European Union (EU), but examples from the US-Mexico border are also drawn. Altogether, the volume provides a concise glimpse to the phenomenon, illustrating why this important topic should be researched further.


Consider a linear model, yk=x'kθ+ek, k=1,2,..., in which the current design variable xk may be a function of the previous responses y1,..., yk-1 and auxiliary randomization. Here the x's and θ are p-dimensional, denotes transpose, and the errors ek are taken to be i.i.d standard normal variables. The goal is to construct confidence sets for θ which are asymptotically valid to a high order. This is accomplished by obtaining very weak asymptotic expansions for the distributions of an appropriate pivotal quantity. The accuracy of the approximation is assessed by simulation experiments for two sequential tests proposed by Siegmund (1980, 1993).


Educational and labour migration is rather common among young people in Kazakhstan. However, there are some critical issues that warrant regularisation of youth migration for education. The systematic expansion of educational contacts of the Republic of Kazakhstan with other countries and the advantages of foreign education are explored in this research. The findings of the study could be useful in developing and revising government strategies, particularly relevant to the Youth Development Strategy in the Republic of Kazakhstan for the period until 2025-2030.


This study contributes to the literature on work performance of civil servants by examining the relationship between self-efficacy, work innovative behaviour and its impact on work performance. Social Cognitive Theory was used to as the underpinning theory and a set of hypotheses was formed to test the relationship between self-efficacy and work performance, with work innovative behaviour as a mediator. Research articles, reports and dissertations related to self-efficacy, innovative work behaviour, work performance were reviewed to develop the conceptual model. This study is important in presenting a better insight into how human factors affect work performance as only handful studies have examined the mediating role of innovative work behaviour on the relationship between self-efficacy and work performance within civil servant context.


The applications of "researching-discussion" teaching mode on the genetic experiments were elaborated with the example of soybean root tip cell chromosome flaking in the paper.Three of reformative experimental skills which will contribute to the implements of the new teaching mode were introduced.The skills included inserting-blade chromosome flaking,dyeing under observation by microscope,multiple dissociation with concentrated hydrochloric acid.In addition,the constructive suggestions that teachers adapt to role transformation and enhance professional qualities under the new teaching mode were presented.


For many years the differing rates of HIV morbidity in various parts of Africa were attributed mainly to different timing of the introduction of the virus into the general population--as if the level of HIV should inevitably as a sort of natural evolution reach prevalences of about 30%. This is particularly true in sub-Saharan Africa where HIV spreads heterosexually in adults and shows little or no sign of decline. However a multicenter study published in this special UN Joint Progam on AIDS (UNAIDS) supplement was carried out in four African cities specifically to help understand why HIV spreads at different rates and reached different prevalences in these cities. Variations in vulnerability leading to increased HIV sexual exposure and greater efficiency of transmission [related to different patterns of sexual networking and differing prevalences of sexually transmitted diseases for example] were believed to be major epidemiological factors explaining more generalized HIV epidemics in some regions. Targeting children before they initiate sexual activity circumcising males and combating genital herpes are all suggested interventions.


The item discrimination, difficulty and information function peak of the item response theory are used to revise the friendship quality questionnaire produced by Parker & Asher (1993), the purpose is that this questionnaire revised is more accurate to survey the status of friendship quality of chinese youth. SPSS15.0 software is used to manage data, using MULTILOG 7.03 software to analysis parameter. Structural equation, facet theory and the minimum space method are used to confirm the questionnaire revision. Results are as follows: 1) The friendship quality questionnaire is one-dimensional which can be revised by item response theory. 2) The item discrimination a, difficulty b of new questionnaire are with reasonable scopes. 3) The test information function peak of the new questionnaire is smaller. 4) The factors of old and the new questionnaire have significantly high positive correlation. 5) The results confirmed are that: The structure of four factors with 26 items is clear. Four factors are: affirmation and care, help and guidance, revealed intimately and exchange and conflict solution and accompany. Compared with the original questionnaire, the new one has not conflict and betrayal factor. The questionnaire revised has higher reliability and validity, consistency reliability is 0.875 and variance explained is 44.380%. After measuring officially, the questionnaire revised can survey the status of friendship quality of Chinese youth effectively.


Abstract It is a fact simple to establish that the mixing time of the simple random walk on a d-regular graph
$G_n$
 with n vertices is asymptotically bounded from below by
$\frac {d }{d-2 } \frac {\log n}{\log (d-1)}$
 . Such a bound is obtained by comparing the walk on
$G_n$
 to the walk on d-regular tree
$\mathcal{T}_d$
 . If one can map another transitive graph
$\mathcal{G} $
 onto
$G_n$
 , then we can improve the strategy by using a comparison with the random walk on
$\mathcal{G} $
 (instead of that of
$\mathcal{T} _d$
 ), and we obtain a lower bound of the form
$\frac {1}{\mathfrak{h} }\log n$
 , where
$\mathfrak{h} $
 is the entropy rate associated with
$\mathcal{G} $
 . We call this the entropic lower bound. It was recently proved that in the case
$\mathcal{G} =\mathcal{T} _d$
 , this entropic lower bound (in that case
$\frac {d }{d-2 } \frac {\log n}{\log (d-1)}$
 ) is sharp when graphs have minimal spectral radius and thus that in that case the random walk exhibits cutoff at the entropic time. In this article, we provide a generalisation of the result by providing a sufficient condition on the spectra of the random walks on
$G_n$
 under which the random walk exhibits cutoff at the entropic time. It applies notably to anisotropic random walks on random d-regular graphs and to random walks on random n-lifts of a base graph (including nonreversible walks).


Machine learning has been proven to have the potential to bridge the gap between the accuracy of ab initio methods and the efficiency of empirical force fields. Neural networks are one of the most frequently used approaches to construct high-dimensional potential energy surfaces. Unfortunately, they lack an inherent uncertainty estimation which is necessary for efficient and automated sampling through the chemical and conformational space to find extrapolative configurations. The identification of the latter is needed for the construction of transferable and uniformly accurate potential energy surfaces. In this paper, we propose an active learning approach that uses the estimated model's output variance derived in the framework of the optimal experimental design. This method has several advantages compared to the established active learning approaches, e.g. Query-by-Committee, Monte Carlo dropout, feature and latent distances, in terms of the predictive power and computational efficiency. We have shown that the application of the proposed active learning scheme leads to transferable and uniformly accurate potential energy surfaces constructed using only a small fraction of data points. Additionally, it is possible to define a natural threshold value for the proposed uncertainty metric which offers the possibility to generate highly informative training data on-the-fly.


This paper presents a new tuning method for frational PIλ controllers. The main contribution is based on Hermite-Biehler theorem for time delay systems. A solution to the problem of stabilizing a given first order time delay plant is offered. The set of admissible (kp, ki) gain values is determined for the various values of λ and plotted in (kp, ki, λ) plane. The viability of the method is verified using two examples where λ ∈ [0.1 : 0.1 : 1] and λ ∈ ]1 : 0.1 : 2[. The comparison results show the effect of the fractional order integral.


Large format roll-to-roll (R2R) embossing is a continuous process suitable for manufacturing large area functional films at low cost and high throughput. R2R ultraviolet (UV) embossing has several advantages over R2R hot embossing as it offers lower processing temperature, lower embossing pressure and higher process speed. Hence, it is a promising approach for forming micro structures on flexible films. Some critical challenges in R2R UV embossing include fabrication of large area template and its durability, ensuring even coating across web, realization of low pressure & high fidelity micro structuring via UV curing, etc. A R2R UV embossing system has been developed, which can handle substrate film as wide as 500 mm. Both templates made of polymer-based sheets and those made of metal shims are employed as the molds for R2R UV embossing. Liquid UV curable resin is deposited on plastic films via a slot die coater, filled into template cavity by means of applied web tension and then cured via UV exposure. The functional films with embossed micro structures have been obtained after the embossed films are separated from the embossing roller. Micro pillars of 100 µm and ridges of 25 µm in width are formed on polymer films; micro prismatic structures and micro lenticular lens arrays are also formed for optical applications.


Several studies indicate that virtual reality (VR) systems in general and the computer-assisted virtual environment (CAVE) in particular are useful for end-user participation in an environmental design process. This study describes the use of group discussions in a computer-assisted virtual environment (CAVE) in evaluating end-user participation in a planning and design process. The study discusses an extension (Y building) to the South Ostrobothnia Central Hospital, the environmental features that were possible to evaluate in the CAVE, and the utilization of a virtual environment in a hospital planning process. The CAVE used in the planning process of the new extension of the hospital is a room comprising 3 walls, a ceiling, and a floor, on a scale of 1:1. Images generated using computer graphics cards are projected onto these surfaces, which, when viewed through stereoscopic glasses, are transformed into a three-dimensional full-scale environment. The main aim of the project was to study the use of CAVE as a common platform and language for architects, other planners, and multiprofessional end-user groups participating in the planning and design process of a hospital building. We collected qualitative end-user opinion data in the CAVE on the modelled study rooms. An examination room and a patient room were selected because hospitals regularly have multiple identical examination rooms and patient rooms. The third unit, the emergency centre, is a new unit in the South Ostrobothnia Central Hospital, and its design involved several functional issues. The end users visited the CAVE environment in small focus groups. The total number of visitors in the CAVE was over 280. Approximately 90% of the visitors strongly agreed or somewhat agreed on the ease of commenting on the environment in the CAVE. The most important property of a CAVE-type virtual environment is its scale, i.e. the ability of visitors to perceive the environment as almost real. Most issues identified by the end-users in the modelled facilities were utilized by the architect in the detailed design of the facilities for South Ostrobothnia Central Hospital. The potential use of virtual environments at different stages of the design process offers exciting possibilities. Technological development can also enable more extensive use of virtual environments in the future.


Our post-modern time is famous for having no absolutes. The law is no longer needed, and people prefer to do as they wish to, almost as it was in the days of the Judges when "all the people did what was right in their own eyes" (Jdg 21:25). On the endless list of modern lawless deeds are adultery and a variety of sexual perversions, such as incest, rape, bestiality, and homosexuality. These sins spread fast and even sneak into the Adventist church. The purpose of this paper is to show the biblical position on the topic of sexual immorality. Before the presentation of the negative part of sexual human behavior, the original plan of marital purity will be discussed, followed by Jesus' teachings on this subject. A brief discussion of the biblical view of homosexuality will constitute the major part of this paper. The last segment will discuss the tragic consequences that function as the strongest warning to those who choose to follow after the passion of their fleshly desires and not according to the biblical teachings.


Abstract. A five year field experiment was conducted to assess the influence of crop rotation and field pea residue incorporation into the soil on maize yield. The data indicated a 30% increase in maize yield grown in rotation with field pea compared to when it was grown after wheat and a further increase of 35% when field pea residues were incorporated into the soil. The effect of field pea and residue incorporation was greater in the presence of fertilizer nitrogen indicating the enhanced capacity of the crop to utilize N from the residue. Legume residue management in sub‐tropical regions of the world, having coarse textured soils low in organic matter, could help to increase the yield of cereals besides saving some of the expensive fertilizer input.


Once again, on behalf of all of our authors and readers, we want to express our gratitude to AJP's reviewers. During the calendar year 1994, the 592 reviewers listed below contributed one or more (in some cases, many more) referee reports on manuscripts submitted to this Journal. We all owe an enormous debt to their expertise and dedication. Don S. Lemons, Assistant Editor Robert H. Romer, Editor


Highlighting the demographic, social, and political character of the Evangelical movement in the 1980s and 1990s, Bowen pays particular attention to conversion processes, commitment mechanisms, schisms, and distinctive beliefs. He also considers the controversial issues of religious persecution and American missionary influence. Bowen reveals that Evangelicalism's appeal is so pervasive in Mexico that if Evangelical converts all remained faithful it could become Mexico's dominant religion by 2006. This projection, however, is improbable due to high drop-out rates. Bowen argues that Evangelical apostasy is rooted in the most basic beliefs and practices of its followers.


News about right-wing extremism pertains to the media's information and watchdog functions in democratic societies. Since audience orientation is important to the journalistic profession, it is important to know what different news audiences expect of journalists regarding their professional role and their reporting practices when it comes to media coverage of right-wing extremism. To bridge this research gap, by employing a quota sample representative of the general German population (n = 1314) and an independent sample of Muslims living in Germany (n = 248), we demonstrated that Muslims expect a more active role from journalists and even accept controversial reporting practices to combat right-wing extremism. More left-leaning individuals were found to expect more controversial reporting unless they were afraid of right-wing extremism. Among these more left individuals, fear of terrorism seems to activate the argument that a democratic society should not give up its core principles, including the professional autonomy of its journalists and ethical reporting practices.


Saab takes great measures to ensure that the cockpit is a great working environment for the pilot. This paper aims to expand the knowledge of thermal comfort by assembling Saab's atmosphere-, cabin ...


Reading about the seemingly miraculous, if controversial, technology of cochlear implantation, I came across the word motherese. It is not to be found in my Stedman's or Dorland's medical dictionaries, nor in the Oxford nor the Webster, but it seems to be in common use among audiologists and otologists.

Motherese is the language spoken, all over the world, by mothers to their babies, before and after birth, and it is the earliest language a baby hears. The instinct of a mother to talk and sing to her baby is fundamental—as fundamental as the instinct a native woman in the jungle has to pluck a flower and put it in her hair. A baby deprived of motherese through deafness, or, to a lesser degree, through separation from the parents, is indeed handicapped. Perhaps a baby who does not hear a mother's lullabies is later in life the one who is tone deaf, who has a "tin ear."

Thinking about motherese, I realised that I have been using it in the examination of babies and infants for many years. In examining such patients the trickiest part is the examination of the throat and ears. I find that if my approach with the otoscope is accompanied by a whispered patter of words a baby, even at a few weeks of age, will stop and listen—stop for long enough to permit a quick look at the tympanic membranes. Using this technique may bring questioning looks from the mother, but usually she recognises that motherese is being spoken.

Older children of prerationalising age (up to 5 or 6) also respond to a whispered or spoken patter, which includes familiar maternal phrases such as "keep still now" and "don't move an inch." Including the words "please," or "let me see, please," often helps: the children recognise them from the training in good manners they have been receiving from their mother.

By the time they graduate, medical students have usually had little experience in hands on contact with small babies. Coming usually from middle class backgrounds, they have probably never changed a nappy or been able to familiarise themselves with the natural movements and reactions of these active, small patients. In the wards the nurses fiercely protect their charges from the too close attention of novices. I feel that the use of motherese might well be taught to students as part of their paediatric training.

The quietly persevering specialists and parents who are trying to help the child born deaf to be able to enjoy the gifts of hearing and speech deserve our fullest support. One small electronic device is unlikely to be able to replicate all the functions of a sensitive organ that has evolved over aeons of time, but a little success in improving the quality of a life may always grow into greater successes. We must enter motherese into the dictionaries.


On June 2nd, a Senate subcommittee of four Democrats and three Republicans unanimously approved a resolution calling for a full investigation of "the entire government security program" by a special commission to consist of six private citizens, two Senators, two Representatives, and two officials of the Executive branch of the government. Attorney General Brownell, presumably speaking for the administration, opposed the resolution, but Washington commentators seemed to think that Congress would probably authorize the investigation anyway.This article can also be found at the Monthly Review website, where most recent articles are published in full.Click here to purchase a PDF version of this article at the Monthly Review website.


Nanosized nickel zinc ferrite(Ni0.5Zn0.5Fe2O4)powder was synthesized by the hydrothermal synthesis method at 200℃ and 220 ℃for 5h,respectively.An X-ray diffraction(XRD)was adopted for the characterization of Ni0.5Zn0.5Fe2O4 powder.It is concluded that the Ni0.5Zn0.5Fe2O4 powder containedγ-Fe2O3 when it is synthesized at 200 ℃for 5h,and pure Ni0.5Zn0.5Fe2O4 powder were prepared by the hydrothermal synthesis at 220 ℃for 5h.The pure powder was characterized by a transmission electron micro-scope(TEM),Mssbauer spectrum(MS),Fourier transform spectroscopy(FTIR),and magnometry using a vibrating sample magne-tometer(VSM).The TEM results show that Ni0.5Zn0.5Fe2O4 nanoparticles are round,and are about 20 nm in diameter.The MS results reveal that most of the Ni0.5Zn0.5Fe2O4 nanoparticles show ferromagnetism and a small quantity of Ni0.5Zn0.5Fe2O4 exhibit superpara-magnetic relaxation.The FTIR results show that the bands at 577 cm-1 and 420 cm-1 are the characteristic bands of NiZn ferrite.The saturated magnetization,remanence and coercivity of Ni0.5Zn0.5Fe2O4 powder are 38.14 A·m2/kg,17.32 A·m2/kg and 29 275.29 A/m,respectively.The powder exhibits good magnetic properties.


How far family support for the rural elderly can go depends on social need and the operational environment. Rural family eldercare will have no reason to continue, of course, if there is no social need for it. If there is such a need, however, rural family eldercare will still be difficult to realize where the operational environment does not exist. Generally speaking, the situation in China where aging occurs before attaining prosperity determines the objective need for continuing to practice family eldercare in rural areas, and the principal issue at present is whether we can maintain or set up the operational environment necessary for such eldercare.


Highlights of major accomplishments and applications made during the past year illustrate the broad range of research and technology activities at the Langley Research Center. Advances are reported in the following areas: systems engineering and operation; aeronautics; electronics; space applications; aircraft and spacecraft structures; composite structures; laminar flow control; subsonic transport aircraft; and supersonic fighter concepts. Technology utilization efforts described cover a hyperthermia monitor, a lightweight composite wheelchair; and a vehicle ride quality meter.


{gamma}-ray excitation functions have been measured for the interaction of fast neutrons with {sup 48}Ti (neutron energy from 1 MeV to 250 MeV). The Los Alamos National Laboratory spallation neutron source, at the LANSCE/WNR facility, provided a ''white'' neutron beam which is produced by bombarding a natural W target with a pulsed proton beam. The prompt-reaction {gamma} rays were measured with the large-scale Compton-suppressed Ge spectrometer, GEANIE. Neutron energies were determined by the time-of-flight technique. Excitation functions were converted to partial {gamma}-ray cross sections, taking into account the dead-time correction, the target thickness, the detector efficiency, and neutron flux (monitored with an in-line fission chamber). The data analysis is presented here for neutron energies between 1 to 20 MeV. Partial {gamma}-ray cross sections for transitions in {sup 47,48}Ti, {sup 48}Sc, and {sup 45}Ca have been determined. These results are compared to Hauser-Feshbach predictions calculated using the STAPRE code, which includes compound nuclear and pre-equilibrium emission. The partial cross sections for {gamma} rays, whose discrete {gamma}-ray cascade path leads to the ground state in {sup 48}Ti, {sup 47}Ti, {sup 48}Sc, and {sup 45}Ca have been summed to obtain estimates of the lower limits for reaction cross sections. Partial cross sections formore » unobserved {gamma}-rays are predicted from the STAPRE code. These lower limits are combined with Hauser-Feshbach calculations to deduce {sup 48}Ti(n,n'){sup 48}Ti, {sup 48}Ti(n,2n){sup 47}Ti, {sup 48}Ti(n,p){sup 48}Sc, and {sup 48}Ti(n,{alpha}){sup 45}Ca reaction channel cross sections.« less


The carbene anions [Cp'(CO)2MnC(OEt)CHR]- ([1]-, Cp' = η5-MeC5H4; R = H, Me) react at −78 °C with the α,β-unsaturated ketones R1(H)CC(H)C{O}Me (2, R1 = H, Me, Ph) to give the Michael adducts Cp'(CO)2MnC(OEt)CH(R)CH(R1)CH2C{O}Me (3) upon acidic hydrolysis at low temperature. By contrast, quenching the reaction after warming up to room temperature allows isolation of the cyclohexenone complexes from which the corresponding substituted 2-cyclohexenones (9) can be readily released by reaction with triphenylphosphine or carbon monoxide.


The present work aims to deal with a common phenomenon of these days: the calling of the state punitive system for the guardianship of new collective interests, illness of the technological development. On the same path, pervading all the dogmatic and criminal-political problems that face the so called criminal law of risk with the patterns of legitimacy of the modern Criminal Law (guarantor and minimalist), the text concentrate itself on the discussion about the concept of the criminal-legal good. The purpose is, by means of the criminal political doctrine of the material concept of crime, to achieve a concept of subject matter that legitimates and restrains the intervention of penal law both on the level of the constituted law as well as de lege ferenda, considering the expansionist movement in which the current penal system goes through which has, as an example, the Environmental Criminal Law.
Keywords: Secondary Penal Law – Environmental Crimes – Risky Society – Criminal Politic – Control Patterns – Subject Matter – Decriminalization


We present a scheme to realize the arbitrary control of the time evolution of an atom-cavity system via atomic feedback for the generation of an arbitrary quantum state. The scheme does not need to detect the atomic state, thus the uncontrollable measurement can be avoided.


The paper presents the analysis consumption of energy carriers carried out in 193 rural communes of the Lublin Province. Annual consumption of energy carriers in rural areas of the province was estimated on the basis of models describing final energy consumption in all rural objects. To meet the work requirements the communal objects were grouped in three sectors: housing, utilities and agricultural-production. Annual demand for energy carriers reached about 1,54 mln tpu. Housing sector is the greatest energy consumer using about 1,3 mln tpu of energy carriers, which constitutes 85% of total energy consumption in communes.


How do neural networks extract patterns from pixels? Feature visualizations attempt to answer this important question by visualizing highly activating patterns through optimization. Today, visualization methods form the foundation of our knowledge about the internal workings of neural networks, as a type of mechanistic interpretability. Here we ask: How reliable are feature visualizations? We start our investigation by developing network circuits that trick feature visualizations into showing arbitrary patterns that are completely disconnected from normal network behavior on natural input. We then provide evidence for a similar phenomenon occurring in standard, unmanipulated networks: feature visualizations are processed very differently from standard input, casting doubt on their ability to"explain"how neural networks process natural images. This can be used as a sanity check for feature visualizations. We underpin our empirical findings by theory proving that the set of functions that can be reliably understood by feature visualization is extremely small and does not include general black-box neural networks. Therefore, a promising way forward could be the development of networks that enforce certain structures in order to ensure more reliable feature visualizations.


1. Division of Applied Research and Technology, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Cincinnati, OH, 45226, USA 2. Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37996, USA 3. Advanced Microscopy and Imaging Center, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37996, USA 4. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, 37996, USA


A number of potentially ultra-hard materials are examined using ab-initio methods. Compound phases of varying lattice stoichiometry in the B-C-N-O quaternary system, in the forms, C8−xBx (x= 1, 2, 3, 4), C7−xBNx (x= 1, 2, 3) and C6−xBNOx (x= 1, 2) are proposed as possible ultra-hard materials with useful applications. Cell structures and elastic properties are studied, systematic trends are established. It was determined that C7B and C6BN were mechanically and dynamically stable compounds with potential ultra-hard characteristics, C6BN being the harder of the two. Since diamond is experimentally well understood as an ultra-hard material, we use it as a standard for comparing our results.


Natural disasters provide an acute image of how man-made technologies are a cause of conflict when it comes to nature. It is man versus wild in its true means. The nature lets us grow and increase our settlements. We encroach on other animals' territories and it is only when the environment's patience runs out that it retaliates in forms of natural disasters. These disasters affect numerous lives and kill a lot of humans. This is the main reason why we require more stable structures and preventive measures to battle the wrath of the nature. Rescue and search operations are conducted by many different government and private agencies including NGOs. These operations aim at providing the required relief and supplies after the disaster. Injured people need to be treated. People in dangerous zones need to be evacuated. Help is needed in many forms. Out of the many natural disasters, this paper will focus on the occurrence of earthquakes. Severe earthquakes destroy buildings and structures like roads, bridges etc. and wreak havoc in the community. Earthquakes largely damage all human constructions, including houses. This is the reason why a reconstruction program for dwellings and housings is of utmost importance. A home is only secondary to basic needs such as food and water. A well-planned strategy is important when it comes to launching a post-earthquake reconstruction program. The strategy should be reasonable and should consider the best interests of everyone affected; self-help and imported fabrication should play no part in the decision-making procedures. Creating awareness, physically demonstrating options and delivering are the three steps for the success of reconstruction programs. The extent of affected area and the magnitude of earthquakes are variable in nature and it is on these two aspects that the reconstruction strategy is devised. Technical aspects are focused towards the development of the affected areas and conceptual design of surrounding neighborhoods. It also aims at identifying seminars and programs based on easy financing for a new home. Along with these, review processes are conducted for the analysis of new residential needs based on optimizing the use of available land for planning and development. The paper discusses the construction of housing and resettlements as prioritized activities that must be undertaken post an earthquake. Earthquakes physically only destroy structures and buildings but for the people affected, they destroy lives, jobs, companies, sources of food and the sense of safety and traumatize the ones who come out alive.


I was disappointed by letters (July 7) criticising the fact that nursing students can get halfway through their training without working on a ward.


Another challenge for information professionals is to conduct research on a company's competitor with global interests. Sylvia James explains how to conduct this research in a definitive way.


The SONACO experiment is a facility for investigation of natural convection phenomena within a heated sodium-cooled bundle of rods. Chaotic fluid behaviour was observed when the bundle was heated with maximum power of 5 kW. The probability density functions were determined and the non-integter dimension of a strange attractor of temperature fluctuations was derived from measurements with thermocouples. The results show that the observed chaotic fluid behaviour in such a narrow bundle of rods is very complicated and that the numerical value of the dimension of the corresponding strange attractor is far from being understood theoretically


China's economic development has entered a new cricial stage.The structural relation in economic development is in urgent need of adjustment,among which three relationships are the most important which have affected the change of economic development mode.Of the factor of dependence on approach,the resource oriented economic growth should be changed to innovation oriented economic growth,concerning the structural change,the mode in which manufacture industry is the leading force should be changed to one in which manufacture and service industry are combined to assume the leading force,and in the area of welfare improvement,the principle of efficiency as priority of income distribution should be changed to the principle that considers the combination of efficicncy and fairness as the priority of income distribution.


Human gait has been acquired and studied through modalities such as video cameras, inertial sensors and floor sensors etc. Due to many environmental constraints such as illumination, noise, drifts over extended periods or restricted environment, the classification f-score of gait classifications is highly dependent on the usage scenario. This is addressed in this work by proposing sensor fusion of data obtained from 1) ambulatory inertial sensors (AIS) and 2) plastic optical fiber-based floor sensors (FS). Four gait activities are executed by 11 subjects on FS whilst wearing AIS. The proposed sensor fusion method achieves classification f-scores of 88% using artificial neural network (ANN) and 91% using convolutional neural network (CNN) by learning the best data representations from both modalities.


This article analyzes the development of Chile's fruit-growing sector in the first decades of the twentieth century, and explains why it did not become the competitive export sector that Chilean growers and agrarian experts envisioned as a «South American California». The article uses newly-found sources, including reports on individual orchards in agricultural journals, market studies by trade experts, and theses from the Instituto Agronomico. First, the article provides an overview of the grower community and sketches out the large and diverse Chilean fruit belt, also tracing the expansion of fruit production until 1935. It then examines farming practices, illustrating to what extent growers had advanced -or failed- in creating a modern fruit industry. Finally, the paper discusses critical issues that Chilean growers faced as newcomers in the domestic and international fruit markets. The article concludes that Chilean growers —who for the most part were not large landowners— operated in a «peripheral» Mediterranean agriculture, both geographically and in terms of economic development. Far away from the large international markets, they needed a complex infrastructure to grow and export high-quality fruits. Yet, lack of capital prevented growers from developing specialized orchards, while the country's general low level of economic development meant that the fruit sector had limited availability of scientific horticultural knowledge, appropriate packing methods, and transportation for fresh fruit.


Operation and maintenance (O&M) and monitoring strategies are important for safeguarding optimum photovoltaic (PV) performance while also minimizing downtimes due to faults. An O&M decision support system (DSS) was developed in this work for providing recommendations of actionable decisions to resolve fault and performance loss events. The proposed DSS operates entirely on raw field measurements and incorporates technical asset and financial management features. Historical measurements from a large-scale PV system installed in Greece were used for the benchmarking procedure. The results demonstrated the financial benefits of performing mitigation actions in case of near zero power production incidents. Stochastic simulations that consider component malfunctions and failures exhibited a net economic gain of approximately 4.17 €/kW/year when performing O&M actions. For an electricity price of 59.98 €/MWh, a minimum of 8.4% energy loss per year is required for offsetting the annualized O&M cost value of 7.45 €/kW/year calculated by the SunSpec/National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) PV O&M Cost Model.


the Problems,such as ecology,fashion,antiterrorism and universe have been the modern route of the expansion of western countries' ideology nowadays. In order to cope with these problems,we should adopt some strategies,such as to analyze the causes of the problems in the perspectives of the development of globalization,the weakening of mainstream consciousness,the development and spreading of new media,and to Strengthen the propaganda and instruction of the ideology of the Marx ideology,meanwhile to improve the initiative and influence of Marxism and to promote the development of society and the construction for people.


Based upon the introduction of the concept of water saving,it puts forward the measures to achieve the goal of saving water,such as using water saving life water utensil,completing hot water supply circular system,controlling over-pressure flow,set and use water meter properly,improving pipe,accessories and construction quality,and controlling leak in attain economize on water abject.


Obstetric violence is characterized by any act performed by health professionals in the
reproductive process of women exposed in an inhumane care, resulting in loss of
autonomy, and negatively impacting the quality of life of women. This article aims to
analyze the occurrence of obstetric violence in hospital delivery units in Recife in 2015.
A quantitative, cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted on the occurrence of
obstetric violence in public hospital care units in the city of Recife. It was verified that
there was unpreparedness and negligence of the team involved in the care with the
women from the attendance at the reception until the delivery of the evaluated units.


This study emerged from naturalistic observations of children's self-initiated musical play on the playgrounds of 14 Canadian schools, part of a three-year project anchored by the broad research question: What is the nature of children's spontaneous musical expressions during selfdirected play? Seven of the dozens of play start-up procedures documented during these observations are analyzed, using ritual theories from a variety of scholarly orientations to establish that these start-up games are genuine ritual acts. While some theorists identify ritual in every aspect of quotidian life, the author proposes that children's start-up procedures are ceremonial rituals, examples of what Dissanayake termed as artifying. They are characterized by an extended and reverent focus on the performance of a series of formalized rhythmic, kinesthetic actions, sustained by a shared belief that the process is meaningful. Some of the possible benefits that these startup rituals provide are considered, recognizing that, as with all play scenarios, there are issues of inclusion and exclusion. The author suggests that respectful examinations of children's musical play culture contribute to the project of revisioning music education practice by offering insights into the richness and sophistication of children's musicking proclivities and abilities. The author proposes specific pedagogical applications.


Using gas chromatography, it was demonstrated that elevated levels of endogenous ethylene were associated with the diageotropic behaviour and reduced extension growth exhibited by Taraxacum peduncles after flowering. The Taraxacum peduncle appears to be an excellent experimental model to elucidate the role of ethylene in regulating both geotropism and cell elongation.


The purpose of this study is to evaluate factors affecting farmers' willingness to pay (WTP) for sustainable water usage in terms of efficient irrigation training in the Harran Plain-Turkey and determine the coefficients, and affecting factors that contribute to it. The data used in this study come from a sample of 22,167 farmers in the Harran Plain, 675 of them were chosen via simple random sampling method and interviewed face to face by given questionnaires. Sampling was conducted in all water user associations' areas in 2014. The logistic regression and probit model were used for analysis. The results indicate that the average WTP was $170.6 and yearly amount was $3,781,690 for irrigation training in Harran plain. Farmers believe in the necessity of irrigation training for sustainable usage and accept for payment by 59% and WTP of the farmers' may further increase with good practices. Explanatory affecting factors, such as age, education level, land amount, ownership type, modern irrigation method and offered amount for training were significantly explained WTP and coefficients were determined. So, the probability of payment acceptance for irrigation training could be written for any farmers in Harran plain. This study is first of its type in GAP Region-Turkey.


Project Portfolio Management (PPM) is a growing issue in both professional and academic circles. The typology of Cooper et al. (1998) has pictured the variety of PPM formalized approaches into four types (financial, strategic, scoring and "bubble diagram"). While the use of formalized methods by top performers is clearly attested, the choice of a specific approach and the precise benefits and limits of different instruments are still in debate. The present paper formalizes more precise contingency hypotheses between PPM practices and organizational variables such as R&D strategy, the structure and history of a firm's development, partnership policy and learning track in the project domain. Where managerial implications are concerned, the paper puts forward an analytical framework for the adjustment of portfolio instruments to fit specific situations and develops the conclusions of that framework for an international pharmaceutical group, Merck Lipha. The research underlying this paper adopts an interactive and experimental case-based methodology which has been on-going since 1997.


A finite element parametric study is reported of elastic distortional lateral buckling in laterally unstiffened fixed-ended composite girders with web depth/thickness ratios ranging from 39 to 100. The work is relevant to the design of highway viaducts with spans up to about 30M. It shows that there is much room for improvement in existing design methods, that further study is needed of the interaction between lateral buckling and inelastic local buckling, and that the latter is more likely to govern design. (Author/TRRL)


BAS British Antarctic Survey CIRES Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences CMG/IUGS Commission on Marine Geology of the International Union of Geological Sciences CRREL Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory DPP Department of Polar Programs GAP Glaciology of the Antarctic Peninsula GARP Global Atmospheric Research Programme IAMAP International Association of Meteorology and Atmospheric Physics IASPEI International Association of Seismology and Physics of the Earth's Interior ICPM International Commission on Polar Meteorology ICSI International Commission on Snow and Ice ICSU International Council of Scientific Unions IGS International Glaciological Society IHO International Hydrographic Organization IOC Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission IUGG International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics NASA National Aeronautical Space Administration NSF National Science Foundation (of the USA) PICO Polar Ice Coring Office POLEX Polar Experiment SCAR Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research SCOR Scientific Committee on Oceanic Research SPRI Scott Polar Research Institute TUD Technical University of Denmark WISP West Antarctic Ice Sheet Project WMO World Meteorological Organization


As an emerging country, the construction industry is one of the factors to the development growth of the national economy. In Malaysia, there are various types of construction projects such as office buildings, housing, houses of worship, public and private institutions as well as the construction of infrastructure such as roads, drainage, landscaping and so on. The development is considered as an asset that must be protected in order to maintain the function of the development. Moreover, to emphasis on good asset management can reduce high operating costs and has helped many companies to improve efficiently in the face of recession. In addition, maintenance costs can be improved by taking into account, the condition of the building and report on the performance of building maintenance costs before a decision is made. Development of a wide range of defects is not a new scenario in Malaysia. Whether new or old, each is exposed to different types of defects. This paper is to discuss the common maintenance problems and building defects on civil and structural elements at the floating mosques buildings across Malaysia due to various factors. It will also provide opportunities to improve understanding of the building surveying profession in our country, namely to understand the scope and work as a building surveyor.


In situ and laboratory observation, geophysical measurement and digital imaging analysis of oriented borehole core samples are performed to determine slip surfaces in two large fracture zone landslides in Shikoku, Japan. The following data are obtained from each oriented borehole: (1) a depth distribution of rock quality designation, magnetic susceptibilities, the Equotip hardness values and wet unit weight of core samples, (2) geometric orientation of geologic discontinuities (cracks, joints, faults, etc.), and (3) a depth distribution of numerical color values from digital imaging of borehole core samples. As a result, the rock quality designation, the Equotip hardness value and unit weight, and the orientation of cracks and joints showed a clear change near the slip surfaces respectively, but the digital color values clearly varied only in one of the landslides and no change of magnetic susceptibility of core samples was found at both sites. The results demonstrate that it is capable of locating the slip surface in a fracture zone landslide by using the above-mentioned data in combination.


In the emerging field of magnonics, spin waves are utilized as a medium for high-speed transmission and processing of electrical signals on the nanometer scale. The implementation of high-performance magnonic devices requires efficient nano-scaled sources of spin waves. Here, we demonstrate experimentally that this goal can be accomplished by utilizing a modified design of spin-torque devices, in which the internal dipolar field is compensated in the active device area by a built-in micromagnet. We show experimentally that the proposed device geometry enables efficient emission of spin waves with a large propagation length for practical implementation of integrated magnonic circuits.


SUMMARY High salinity levels in feedlot manure may impact on the environment. Development of waste minimisation programmes requires current knowledge of existing saline inputs into feedlots (via ration and drinking water) and the subsequent effects on manure values. A survey of 11 commercial feedlots in southern Queensland has provided baseline information on salinity parameters and shown significant (P c 0.01) positive correlations between drinking water and faecal EC (r = 0.594), drinking water and faecal Na (r = 0.743), ration and faecal Na (r = 0.667) and faecal and pen manure Na (r = 0.768). Source used for stock drinking water is a significant factor in water quality, with bore water samples having significantly higher (P c 0.05) levels of salinity and Na compared to surface water and bore/surface water mixtures. The implications of these results with regard to waste minimisation are discussed.


This research aims to determine the effect of service quality on patient satisfaction in outpatient health centers in the district Banyuasin, either jointly or partially. The study population was Outpatient At PHC In Musi Banyuasin which amounted to 92 people. The sampling technique that I use is the Random sampling, where some members of the population sampled. Data collection techniques used were questionnaires and documentation. The answers given by the respondents were analyzed quantitatively using SPSS for Windows version 16. Data quality was tested with validity and reliability. In this research, testing the basic assumptions of multiple regression that includes test data normality, linearity test, multicollinearity and heteroscedasticity test. The results of this study indicate that jointly a significant difference between the quality of service to the satisfaction Outpatient At PHC In Musi Banyuasin. While the partial results of this study showed no significant difference between the quality of service to the satisfaction Outpatient At PHC In Musi Banyuasin. This study provides the latest evidence of the dimensions of service quality on patient satisfaction and confirm the extent of the influence of the dimensions of service quality to the satisfaction of outpatients in health centers in the district Banyuasin. Evidence indicates that the variable reliability dominates in improving patient satisfaction in health centers in the district Banyuasin, which is where it is because over the influence of variable reliability compared with other variables.


Christie G. Enke and Richard A. Yost didn't set out to make a mass spectrometer. Their goal was to completely computerize an analytical instrument. It was 1975, still the early days of teaming up manually operated instruments with computers. Enke and Yost's report of the triple quadrupole mass spectrometer in the Journal of the American Chemical Society on March 29, 1978 (DOI: 10.1021/ja00475a072), is often credited as the birth of the instrument. But as is so often the case, the truth is more complicated. With its sensitivity and its ability, in two stages, to select ions from a sample and then select fragments of those ions for evaluation, the triple quadrupole helped turn mass spectrometry into an analytical chemistry method. Before then, mass spectrometry had been primarily used by physical and organic chemists, not for quantifying molecules in samples but for identifying them. Over the ensuing 40 years, the triple


It is shown how user interface design information can be presented to designers as part of a user interface toolkit, through an example of guidelines for widget use in the NeXT interface builder. This is part of larger framework for recording and reusing user interface design knowledge with scenario-oriented design rationales. The research reported combines generic guidelines with specific design rationales. Emphasis is placed on the design tradeoffs involved with choosing user interface widgets to implement required user operations. The representation used for design rationales, and its adaptation for more general guidelines is presented, together with an outline of how this representation was integrated with the NeXT interface builder.<<ETX>>


Despite challenges associated with acquiring proprietary sales data, there exists a wealth of literature using different types of data (e.g., spending, demographic, geographic) to understand or represent different drivers of retail store sales. We contribute to the spatial analysis of drivers of retail store sales by analyzing the relative influence of road networks, demographic, and suitability variables on retail store sales within the home-improvement sector. Results demonstrate that the inclusion of variables describing the road network pattern is more influential in predicting store sales than demographic and suitability variables with linear models (e.g., ordinary- and partial-least squares regression) as well as with a non-linear mathematical model derived using artificial intelligence. The analysis builds on previous research estimating consumer spending and a big-data suitability analysis for site selection that incorporates spatial interaction models, location quotient, and other unique criteria that are typically used in isolation. The overarching contribution of our results is the demonstration that network patterns can play a critical role in retail store sales, especially when regressions, analogs, and other simple methods for site selection are used.


Necessity on development of Poyang Lake Eco-economic Region,the fundamental principles,development orientation,function sub area and strategic missions were discussed in this paper.The recommendations on policies and measures were put forward to achieve development goals of the region.


In this study, we report a one-step process for the preparation of NbSe2 nanosheets, nanorods and nanoparticles from pristine materials under the effects of shear and friction forces. Nevertheless, simple and facile methods for the large-scale syntheses of well-defined NbSe2 nanostructures in high yield have yet to be realized and that will have a great impact in a wide range of applications. For example, developing platinum (Pt)-free and highly efficient counter electrodes is meaningful and necessary for the cost reduction of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). By integrating this approach with a simple method of thin film preparation (spray coating) allowed us to prepare large-area, conductive, semitransparent flexible thin films of NbSe2. We have used microscopic and macroscopic methods to examine the morphologies, compositions, crystallinity, and electrical and optical properties of the converted NbSe2 nanostructures. DSSCs with NbSe2 nanosheet counter electrodes (CEs) achieved a conversion efficiency of 7.73%, superior to an efficiency of 7.01% for Pt-based CEs. Our NbSe2 nanostructure provides a cost-effective CE alternative to the noble metal Pt in DSSCs.


Abstract As a result of the increased competition between self-service chains, retail managers to an increasing degree try to strengthen store identity and customer loyalty. Based on a broad range of consumer choice and environmental psychology theories, this article discusses a number of reasons why the fruit and vegetable department can be one of the keys to differentiating retail chains and creating positive store image. The article describes the results of two empirical studies (a focus group and a survey) which explore customer-perceived quality dimensions of the fruit and vegetable department and the extent to which these dimensions influence customer attitudes towards the fruit and vegetable department and store image in general.


A practical design and performance of 2 watts, 800 MHz 1-dB bandwidth, GaAs FET and Silicon IMPATT diode integrated amplifier via MIC technique are presented.


In the backdrop of increase in reporting of HIV positive cases in chest and tuberculosis hospital at Jammu a study was carried out to assess the prevalence of HIV infection among cases of pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) attending this hospital. The study was carried out in the chest diseases hospital of Government Medical College Jammu which is the only referral centre for cases of PTB in province. It included all such cases attending this centre during the study period w.e.f. 1 April 2003 to 30 June 2004 and involved analysis in respect of the demographic variables i.e. age sex marital status occupation and religion. A structured schedule was employed to interview the patients. Diagnosis was based on clinical examination by the chest disease specialist for TB or TB with HIV/AIDS followed by appropriate investigations i.e. sputum for AFB and/or sputum for culture of AFB and/or radiological (X-ray chest PA view). Tuberculin test ELISA for HIV infection (repeated with different kits in case ofpositivity). A total of 5387 patients were diagnosed who were suffering from PTB; 84 were dually infected with PTB and HIV. Seroprevalence of HIV among PTB patients was 1.6%. (excerpt)


The article presents the results of studying the global and Russian advertising market dynamics, in particular, the outdoor advertising market in a pandemic. The crisis triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic has affected almost all advertising markets. The most stable markets were considered in the USA and China. The media segments of the advertising market in Russia in the period of 2010 - 2020 have been analyzed; advertising on the Internet is recognized as a leading segment, in second and third places are television advertising and UN advertising, respectively. Global ad spend across all media is 4.2% lower in 2020. Outdoor, TV, radio and print advertising revenues amounted to $ 233 billion. The outdoor advertising market was among the first to be negatively affected by the pandemic: the decrease in car and pedestrian traffic led to changes in marketing budgets, a less number of advertisers and high cost of outdoor advertising. Starting from the second half of 2020, the market began to recover, which in the near future will entail an increase in brand spending on outdoor advertising. The relevance of programmatic sales in modern conditions has been proved. The costs of programmatic purchases of digital inventory in outdoor advertising in the USA are illustrated, the slow introduction of programmatic purchases in the UN-company of Russia is noted. The results of a neuromarketing study conducted in 2020 among residents of Belgorod, confirming the problem of low visibility of outdoor advertising, are presented. The main directions of further development of the outdoor advertising market are outlined: short-term planning, reduction of terms and volumes of advertising placement; digitalization of inventory; consolidation of outdoor advertising operators; development of programmatic sales in the regions, etc.


Many ponds in northern Maine have a low abundance of aquatic vegetation. Five exclosures were built in 2 ponds with high moose use but little vegetation. All exclosures sustained ice damage each winter. One was damaged beyond repair after 3 years, 3 were lost during the fifth winter, and 1 lasted for 6 years. The number of plants rooted along a 20 m transect were counted in mid-August in the first, second, fourth, and fifth years of the study. All vegetation rooted in 24 1 m plots (3 inside and 3 outside of each of the remaining exclosures) was pulled, dried, and weighed after the third growing season. Ten plots (5 inside and 5 outside) from the 1 remaining exclosure were clipped and weighed after 6 growing seasons. Plant biomass was greater in 3 of 4 protected than in unprotected areas after 3 years (P < 0.05) and in the 1 remaining exclosure after 6 years (P < 0.05). Biomass increased within the exclosures from the third to the sixth year (P < 0.05) but there was no change in the unprotected area. ALCES VOL. 38: 213-218 (2002)


Here the subscript remark af\p n indicates that the mark afg is to run over the p marks of the Galois field GF[p"], and for the case g = 0 the final ]L/=o, g-i does not enter. For this theorem, which for (A, n) = (1, 1) is one form of Fermat's theorem, I have given three proofs, couched as is the statement of the theorem in the abstract Galois field phrasing introduced by me in the paper " A doubly-infinite system of simple groups" presented to the Chicago Congress of 1893.


The PECL have been drawn up by an independent body of experts from
each member state of the european union under a project supported by the
european...


Lower Body Negtive Pressure (LBNP) has been reported to induce nystagmus in previous studies. The vestibular system plays an important role in the causation of motion sickness. Nystagmus is the principle sign of any vestibular disturbance. This study analyzes the differences in LBNP induced nystagmus between those with and without history of motion sickness. Electro-oculography was used to record the nystagmus. Nystagmus was induced in only 40% of all subjected to LBNP. The mean LBNP level at which nystagmus developed in those with motion sickness was -47.5 ± 16.39 mm Hg and in controls was -50 ± 7.07 mm Hg. The frequency, slow phase velocity and fast phase velocity of the nystagmus in the test group was 0.80 ± 0.35 Hz, 4.8 ± 1.33/s (24 ± 6.65 mV/s) and 12.6 ± 5.520/s (63.0 ± 27.6 mV/s) respectively and in the control group were 0.60 ± 0.36 Hz, 4.77 ± 1.230/s (23.85 ± 6.15 mV/s) and 17.17 ± 9.970/s (85.85 ± 46.85 mV/s) respectively. Where nystagmus developed, there was no statistical difference (p > 0.05) in its characteristics in those with and without a history of motion sickness, and there was no significant difference in the level of LBNP at which it developed between these two groups. IJASM 2002; 46(2) 23 26


Table of Contents: Value-Added Real Effective Exchange Rates: Testing for Countries with High and Low Vertical Specialization in Trade / by Peter A. Kallis (p. 9) -- China and India in Africa: Implications of New Private Sector Actors on Bribe Paying Incidence / by Sankalp Gowda (p. 41) -- Bayesian Portfolio Analysis: Analyzing the Global Investment Market / by Daniel Roeder (p. 67) -- Multiproduct Pricing and Product Line Decisions with Status Externalities / by Frederick B. Zupanc (p. 86)


We propose a Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) framework to detect the individual mitotic HEp-2 cells against non-mitotic cells, which is important for Computer-Aided Detection (CAD) system for auto-immune disease diagnosis. The significant aspect of detecting mitotic HEp-2 cells is to consider the distinctive appearance differences between the mitotic and non-mitotic classes that are represented through the learned features from pre-trained CNN. We especially focus on gauging the effectiveness of learned features from different CNN layers, combined with traditional Support Vector Machine (SVM) classifier. We also consider the class sample skew between the classes. Importantly, we compare and discuss the performance of learned feature representations, and show that some of these features are indeed very effective in discriminating mitotic and non-mitotic cells. We demonstrate a high classification performance using the proposed framework.


This paper provides an explication of mathematician Georg Cantor's 1883 proof of the nondenumerability of perfect sets of real numbers. A set of real numbers is denumerable if it has the same (infinite) cardinality as the set of natural numbers {1, 2, 3, ...}, and it is perfect if it consists only of so-called limit points (none of its points are isolated from the rest of the set). Directly from this proof, Cantor deduced that every infinite closed set of real numbers has only two choices for cardinality: the cardinality of the set of natural numbers, or the cardinality of the set of real numbers. This result strengthened his belief in his famous continuum hypothesis that every infinite subset of real numbers had one of those two cardinalities and no other. This paper also traces Cantor's realization that understanding perfect sets was key to understanding the structure of the continuum (the set of real numbers) back through some of his results from the 1874–1883 period: his 1874 proof that the set of real numbers is nondenumerable, which confirmed Cantor's intuitive belief in the richness of the continuum compared to discrete subsets (such as the set of natural numbers) and proved that there was more than one "size" of infinite cardinal; his 1878 proof that continuous domains of different dimensions (such as a onedimensional line and a two-dimensional surface) surprisingly have the same cardinality; and his 1883 definition of a continuum as a set that is connected (all of one piece) and perfect. Acknowledgements: I would like to thank my history of mathematics teacher Dr. Richard Delaware for his generous support and guidance throughout the writing of this paper. I would also like to thank Dr. Delaware and my French teacher Tamara Carrell for helping me translate a tricky section of reference [3]. RHIT UNDERGRAD. MATH. J., VOL. 17, NO. 1 PAGE 123


This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Purpose: To compare the effectiveness of percutaneous radiologic gastrostomy (PRG) by using cone beam CT and percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG). Materials and Methods: This study retrospectively reviewed 129 patients who underwent PRG (n = 53) and PEG (n = 76) over a 2-years period. The C-arm cone beam CT images were obtained from all PRG patients before the procedure in order to decide the safest accessing routes. The parameters including technical success rates, complication rates and tube migration rates were all analyzed according to statistical methods. Results: The success rate of tube placement was higher in PRG than in PEG (100% to 93%, p = 0.08). Minor complications occurred in 5 patients of the PRG group (10%; 5/53, 3 wound infection, 2 blood oozing), and occurred in 6 patients of PEG group (7.9%; 6/76, 5 wound infection, 1 esophageal ulcer). Major complications occurred only in 5 patients of PEG group (6.6%; 5/76, 1 panperitonitis, 4 buried bumper syndrome). There were no statistical differences of minor and major complication rates in the two groups (respectively, p = 0.759, p = 0.078). Tube migration rate was lower in PRG than PEG group (7.5% vs. 38.2%, p < 0.005). Conclusion: PRG using cone beam CT is the effective and safe method, the cone beam CT provides the safest accessing route during gastrostomy. Less tube migration occurs in the PRG than in PEG. Index terms Gastrostomy Fluoroscopy Endoscopy Comparison of Percutaneous Radiologic Gastrostomy by Using Cone Beam CT and Endoscopic Gastrostomy Cone Beam CT를 이용한 투시 유도하 피부경유 위창냄술과 내시경하 피부경유 위창냄술의 비교


Biohackers should fall within the scope of research ethics boards, known as the "ethics police," regardless of FBI involvement in reeling them in if they break the law. It may even be argued that the bioethical principles, often discussed in research ethics, may align with the goals of biohackers. Both bioethicists and biohackers argue that equitable access and justice should be pursued, however, the means by which this is achieved differs greatly. Bioethicist and journalist, Alex Pearlman, is leading a project to help biohackers setup their own norms. This paper argues that ethical conduct of biohackers falls within the broad scope of research ethics, with special consideration of practical implications and recommendations. Biohacking refers to any form of optimizing or improving one's body or mind and is part of synthetic biology and the DIY (do-it-yourself) community.


Over the last 20 years, the shape of the global political economy has shifted dramatically, but US science and technology policy is continuing as though nothing has changed since the Cold War. Military research and development are prominent, and policies are still oriented towards large firms in existing industries rather than small, dynamic ones in new industries. US scientists and engineers are still world leaders in Mode 2 learning, as indicated in their active collaborations with industry; but large US markets seem to be keeping the system from putting effort into developing partnerships in the emerging economies. While the capability exists, then, the directional arrow is not pointed towards continued prosperity through innovation in the US economy. Science and technology policies are themselves in need of innovation.


Germ‐free rats excreted considerably smaller amounts of the monoamine oxidase‐inhibiting compound isatin than the substantially larger output by conventional animals of the same strain, although concentrations in brain and other tissues were similar in the two groups. Thus, isatin is likely to be elaborated both endogenously in rat tissues and "exogenously" by flora inhabiting the lumen of the alimentary tract.


Children can be born with an inherited coagulation disorder or can develop an acquired coagulopathy as a consequence of another disease or disorder. The correct diagnosis in either case is essential to the appropriate management in order to reduce morbidity and mortality associated with inaccurate diagnosis or the incorrect treatment. The management of these disorders is often very costly and there are inherent risks to the child associated with many of the products used to treat coagulation disorders which need to be minimized, when possible. For these reasons the child may require referral to a tertiary specialist centre for further investigations and management. In children presenting with bruising or more severe bleeding manifestations it is not uncommon for the first presumed diagnosis to be non-accidental injury and it is essential that a true coagulation defect is excluded in the work-up of such children.


In this work, we generalize the notion of restricted equivalence function for type-2 fuzzy sets, leading to the notion of extended restricted equivalence functions. We also study how under suitable conditions, these new functions recover the standard axioms for restricted equivalence functions in the real setting. Extended restricted equivalence functions allow us to compare any two general type-2 fuzzy sets and to generate a similarity measure for type-2 fuzzy sets. The result of this similarity is a fuzzy set on the same referential set (i.e., domain) as the considered type-2 fuzzy set. The latter is crucial for applications such as explainable AI and decision-making, as it enables an intuitive interpretation of the similarity within the domain-specific context of the fuzzy sets. We show how this measure can be used to compare type-2 fuzzy sets with different membership functions in such a way that the uncertainty linked to type-2 fuzzy sets is not lost. This is achieved by generating a fuzzy set rather than a single numerical value. Furthermore, we also show how to obtain a numerical value for discrete referential sets.


From humanity,culture,traffic,port,and industry aspects,this paper analyses the social and economical foundation of steel,oil and chemical industry in Zhanjiang.Based on the survey of new item of steel of Zhanjiang,oil and chemical industry,considering the environmental crisis led by traditional steel,oil and chemical industry,the author discusses the basic route of circulatory economy,that is: to change the function of steel enterprise,build industrial chains between steel,oil and chemical industry,and create circulatory biological circle.Moreover,the article offers some specific advice for the Persistent development of steel,oil and chemical industry in Zhanjiang.


The concept of metacognition which refers to the knowledge of an individual's control and awareness of their learning processes can be used to build Thai students' higher-thinking skills. This research aimed to describe the metacognitive orientation of the teaching and learning environment in Thai physics classrooms between urban and rural schools. It looks at situations that support the development of metacognition among the students in the classroom. The target group of the research is Grade 10 students in two urban and two rural schools in Khon Kaen Province. This research uses both quantitative and qualitative method. The MOLES-S instrument (Thomas, 2003) for evaluating students' metacognition is used to show how the learning environment in the physics classroom is able to support students' metacognition in the Thai context. This instrument is based on sociocultural view of learning which impact on the process of students' thinking, for instance, the interaction of teachers, students, and the classroom environment have important impact on students' thinking. The MOLES-S survey showed that the students in Thai Physics classrooms lack in metacognition. The implication of this is that students in both the urban and rural schools need to develop metacognition orientation in their physics classrooms to enhance their learning and achievement. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2015.v6n3s1p193


We theoretically demonstrate that the interlayer exchange coupling (IEC) energy can be manipulated by means of an external bias voltage in a four-layer system. It is well known that the IEC energy between two ferromagnetic layers separated by nanometer thick nonmagnetic layer depends on the spin-dependence of reflectivity to the four-layer system, where the reflectivities at the interface in interface also depends on interface due to the multiple reflection of an electron-like optics. Finally, the IEC energy depends on the spin-dependent electron reflectivity not only at the interfaces of , but also at the interface of . Naturally the Schottky barrier is formed at the interface between metallic ferromagnetic layer and semiconductor, the Schottky barrier height and thickness can be tailored by an external bias voltage, which causes the change of the spin-dependent reflectivity at interface. We show that the IEC energy between two ferromagnetic layers can be controlled by an external bias voltage due ti the electron-optics nature using a simple free-electron-like one-dimensional model.


Although sometimes considered to act only as a means of recognizing debts, acknowledgments give the opportunity for writers to display a self-conscious and reflective representation of self. Following this assumption and to reveal some of the ways this is achieved, a corpus of 80 textbook acknowledgments in the field of Linguistics and Applied Linguistics were analyzed in order to show what "self" does in an other-oriented academic sub-genre. The findings of the study revealed that acknowledgments is composed of a sequence of moves, through which the writer must mainly and primarily acknowledge the others who have a share in the process of the development of an academic enterprise. However, within this manifest presence of others, the readers also find implicit and explicit traces of self which carry the writers' desires for promotion. This study clearly indicates that self-promotion is an inherent and integral quality of all academic discourses and even an "other" oriented academic genre can be seen to carry a self-promotional flavour.


Network coding has recently attracted attention as a substantial improvement to packet retransmission schemes in wireless multicast broadcast services (MBS). Since the problem of finding the optimal network code maximizing the bandwidth effi-ciency is hard to solve and hard to approximate, two main network coding heuristic schemes, namely opportunistic and full network coding, were suggested in the literature to improve the MBS bandwidth efficiency. However, each of these two schemes usually outperforms the other in different receiver, de-mand, and feedback settings. The continuous and rapid change of these settings in wireless networks limits the bandwidth efficiency gains if only one scheme is always employed. In this paper, we pro-pose an adaptive scheme that maintains the highest bandwidth effi-ciency obtainable by both opportunistic and full network coding schemes in wireless MBS. The proposed scheme adaptively selects, between these two schemes, the one that is expected to achieve the better bandwidth efficiency performance.


Objective
To explore the molecular function of microRNA-127 (microRNA, miR-127) in regulating pancreatic cancer development in vitro.

Methods
Real-time quantitative reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) was performed to evaluate endogenous miR-127 expression in in vitro pancreatic cancer cell lines and in vivo clinical samples of pancreatic carcinoma. Lentiviral technology was applied to overexpress miR-127 in capan-1 and PANC-1 cells. Pancreatic cancer proliferation, cell-cycle progression and invasion were assessed in vitro. Dual-luciferase reporter assay and RT-qPCR were performed to assess the downstream target gene of miR-127 in pancreatic cancer, human bcl-2 associated athanogene 5 (BAG5). BAG5 was subsequently upregulated in miR-127-overexpressed capan-1 and PANC-1 cells to evaluate its effect on pancreatic cancer progression.

Results
Compared with normal pancreatic duct cells hTERT-HPNE, the expression of miR-127 in a variety of pancreatic cancer cell lines was increased from (30.0±8.1)% to (72.0±12.3)% (P=0.004) respectively, and that in pancreatic tumors was (48.0±18.2)% (P=0.003) as compared with normal pancreatic tissues around the tumor. miR-127 could inhibit cancer cells proliferation (P=0.003), arrest cell cycle in G1 period, increase the ratio of Canpan-1 cells in G1 period from (49.0±6.2)% to (62.0±4.3)% (P=0.010), increase PANC-1 cells from (56.0±7.1)% to (68.0±4.1)% (P=0.015) and decrease invasion ability (P=0.004). Human BAG5 was confirmed to be the downstream target of miR-127 in pancreatic cancer. Forced overexpression of BAG5 in capan-1 and PANC-1 cells reversed the tumor-suppressing effect of miR-127 on cancer development (P=0.000).

Conclusion
miR-127 is downregulated and acts as a tumor suppressor in pancreatic carcinoma. The functional regulation of miR-127 in pancreatic carcinoma is very likely through the inverse correlation of its downstream target gene of BAG5.

Key words:
Pancreatic carcinoma; MicroRNA-127; Bcl-2 associated athanogene 5; Proliferation; Invasion; Transfer


Geographic routing algorithms conventionally use one-hop greedy forwarding as their primary routing technique, which might lead to routing voids. Secondary routing schemes used to circumnavigate such routing voids are unfortunately not efficient in terms of throughput and energy consumption. Moreover, node residual energy and link quality are not considered during the routing process. This paper presents Two-hop Information based Energy- efficient Geographic Routing (TIEGeR) scheme to achieve effective energy balancing throughout the network, while preventing routing voids by proactively avoiding "local maxima" nodes. Distance to reach destination, node connectivity, link quality, and node residual energy are employed to formulate the routing metric for the TIEGeR. Besides, secondary routing scheme dealing with routing voids is supplemented by the reverse progress mode. Simulations verify the advantages of TIEGeR against conventional geographic routing schemes.


Recommender systems enable companies to generate meaningful recommendations to users for items or products that might interest them. Stochastic Gradient Descent Matrix Factorization (SGD-MF) is one of the most popular model-based recommender systems. Fractional Adaptive Stochastic Gradient Descent matrix factorization (FASGD-MF) is a subset of SGD-MF-based models that apply fractional calculus in an adaptive way. There are some hyperparameters in these models that impact the quality of the recommender system. However, searching the hyperparameter space to find the best configuration using an exhaustive search is often a time-consuming task. This paper employs a genetic algorithm as a search metaheuristic to tackle this problem. The proposed method is designed based on non-uniform mutation and whole arithmetic crossover. The results indicate that optimizing hyperparameters by the proposed method not only adjusts the values of hyperparameters automatically but also can improve the quality of SGD-MF-based models. Implementing the proposed genetic algorithm on two datasets (MovieLens 100K and MovieLens 1M) verifies the assertion about the performance.


Dicusses public key systems including their general nature, their problems and the model within which these systems can be realized. The application to electronic commerce, home banking and the Internet are discussed.


Morphological and molecular information of two marine algae collected from Korea is given. One belonging to a green alga, is characterized by small size up to 4 cm high, much branched thalli on all sides, slender and linear branchlets which is constricted near base, axes without prominent branch scars, chloroplasts with a prominent central pyrenoid. The other, as a brown alga, is distinct from other Korean species in having cylindrical elevated projections at all parts of thallus axis, leaves with slightly serrulate margin together with distinct midrib bearing spines and absence to rarely occurred vesicles. In phylogenetic tree based on rbcL sequences, these two species are nested in the same clade with Bryopsis triploramosa and Sargassum polyporum, respectively. In this study, these two species are newly recorded in the Korean marine algal flora based on the morphological and molecular data.


SIR—Since the introduction of the laryngeal mask airway (LMA) in the 1980's, there have been five case reports of hypoglossal nerve injuries associated with the use of LMA (1–5). We wish to add a case of unilateral hypoglossal nerve injury following the use of an LMA in a 9 month-old boy, with a weight of 9.7 kg, diagnosed with bilateral retinoblastoma, who underwent an eye exam under anesthesia, laser therapy of both eyes and cryotherapy of the left eye. Prior to this procedure, the patient had seven procedures under general anesthesia performed by our anesthesia service, between 7 and 9 months of age, without any complications. The preoperative physical examination of the patient was unremarkable. No premedication was used and anesthesia was induced with fentanyl 10 mcg and propofol 50 mg. A partially inflated LMA size 1.5 lubricated with a water soluble lubricant was inserted at first attempt and the cuff was inflated with the minimum volume to prevent air leak. Anesthesia was maintained with sevoflourane in oxygen and air, with spontaneous ventilation. The patient was in supine position with the head in neutral position during the 45 min of the procedure. At the end of the procedure the LMA was removed inflated, with the patient awake, after minimum oral suction. Two hours after discharge from the recovery room the mother noticed that the baby's tongue was deviated to the right. We examined the patient and confirmed the right deviation of the tongue, with minimal difficulty to tolerate bottle feeds, and no other neurological deficits. Two days later, a neurology consultation confirmed the right hypoglossal nerve injury, and conservative management with regular assessment and speech therapy was recommended. Three weeks after this event the patient was asymptomatic. This is the first report of an infant with unilateral hypoglossal nerve injury following the use of LMA. Of the five case reports of hypoglossal nerve paralysis associated with LMA, four occurred in adults (1,2,4,5) and one in a 15 year-old adolescent (3). In the previously reported cases, several contributory factors were identified: the use of nitrous oxide, which could have increased the pressure in the LMA cuff (1,2,4,5), coexistent rheumatoid arthritis (2), the presence of a hypopharynx hematoma in the context of warfarin use (1), and the head position in extreme rotation (3). No contributory factors were present in our case. Overpressure by the LMA cuff at any level along the hypoglossal nerve distribution could produce a transient neuropraxia, most probably at the level of the greater cornu of the hyoid bone; this overpressure could be explained by the malposition of the LMA cuff or excessive cuff inflation. Undetected malposition of the LMA without ventilation problems is frequent. Using the fiberoptic scope, the ideal LMA position was only achieved in 60% of adults, 49% of children and 44% of infants. Morphologic patient characteristics do not help to predict LMA malposition. Also higher airway seal does not imply adequate positioning of the LMA in pediatric patients. The use of clinical endpoints for the LMA cuff inflation is frequently associated with unintentional hyperinflation. In most institutions including ours the LMA cuff pressures are not routinely monitored. When the maximum recommended cuff filling volumes for pediatric LMAs were used, hyperinflation occurred in almost all cases. The LMA cuff better molds to the variable contours of the hypopharynx when inflated at lower intra cuff pressures (around 40 cmH2O) than a tense, noncompliant, hyperinflated cuff. Even when using the LMAs preinflated per manufacturers, without further inflation or deflation, hyperinflation occurs in children in 20% of cases. Learning points: (i) overpressure by the LMA cuff to the hypoglossal nerve, even for a short time, could be associated with hypoglossal neuropraxia; (ii) monitoring of the intra cuff pressure could prevent this complication; (iii) malposition of the LMA could also contribute to hypoglossal neuropraxia.


Rural environmental protection and governance is an important link for the sustainable development of township economy, the sustainable utilization of resources and the realization of short-term and long-term interests. Many villages in Western China show the characteristics of many points and a wide range. The objects of rural environmental protection and treatment are mainly domestic waste and sewage. In order to save resources and reasonably set the site selection of environmental protection facilities, it is necessary to obtain a large number of rural topographic maps in advance. However, there are many villages in Northwest China, and traditional means can not obtain drawings and data quickly and accurately. UAV aerial survey has high speed, high precision and high operation efficiency, but the cost of industrial UAV is high. Thanks to the development of sensor technology, the non measurement camera pixels carried by consumer UAV basically meet the industry requirements. With the help of phantom 4 Pro UAV platform, this paper has completed the rural topographic map mapping of a certain area in the northwest, which has passed the verification, its accuracy fully meets the design requirements of facility location, and provides technical support for scattered regional aerial survey.


The model chain simulating the radionuclide transport in watersheds, rivers and sea waters, developed in the frame of the EC project POSEIDON, was applied to River Axios watershed and Thermaikos Gulf of Northern Aegean Sea. The model system included coupled deterministic box models for radionuclide transport on watershed (RETRACE-3), complemented by a 3D hydrodynamic model (THREETOX) and a stochastic weather generator. The generic representation of the complex watershed hydrology was used under conditions of important uncertainties in the input data. A Monte-Carlo approach was applied to tune the wash-off model. The simulated results are in reasonable agreement with scarce measurements. The results obtained demonstrate strong seasonal variability of the land-to-sea radionuclide flux and transport in the Thermaikos Gulf. Estimations of the land-to-sea radionuclide flux and the radionuclide concentration in seawater for the next 50 years were obtained using the generated weather parameter's sets. These estimates could be used to assess the radio-ecological doses and risk under worst, average and favourable climatic conditions.


A choline chloride-urea (ChCl-urea) deep eutectic solvent (DES) was used to experimentally investigate the secondary recovery of zinc from zinc-bearing dust sludge via a leaching process. The effects of varying the liquid–solid ratio, leaching temperature, stirring speed, and leaching time on the zinc leaching efficiency were determined, and the optimum values of these parameters were found to be 15:1, 90 °C, 400 rpm, and 600 min, respectively, at which a leaching efficiency of 86.87% was achieved. XRF and EDS analyses confirmed that the zinc content in the sludge decreased noticeably after leaching, while those of other elements did not, indicating the selective and efficient leaching of zinc. A study of the leaching kinetics showed that the reaction conforms to the nuclear shrinkage model without solid product layer formation, and the calculated apparent activation energy is 22.16 kJ/mol.


This is an exposition of the theory of automorphic distributions, mirabolic Eisenstein distributions, and their pairings, which is developed by Stephen Miller andWilfried Schmid in [MS04], [MS06], [MS08], [MS11], [MS12a], [MS12b], [MS12c]. We report on the application of this theory to the study of exterior square automorphic L-functions for GL2n over Q in [MS12a].


Integration of flexible and controllable load resources into power system scheduling and operation will enrich scheduling modes and enhance the system regulating capability,which has become a worldwide research hotspot.This paper is intended to make a review of recent investigations on the adjustable potential,scheduling modes,response behavior modeling and scheduling frameworks of flexible loads considering demand response(DR).Then detailed light is shed on the advantages and problems of these scheduling modes and scheduling frameworks.By proceeding from five aspects including modeling of flexible load's comprehensive response,multi-time scales interactive trading modes,multi-time scales coordinated scheduling,coordination of centralized control and decentralized control,interactive benefit assessment,further research directions for flexible load scheduling are discussed.In addition,in view of China's actual situation,suggestions for and assumptions about developing flexible load scheduling are proposed.


The activity of nigrostriatal dopaminergic neurons increases following administration of dopamine antagonists and decreases following dopamine agonists (Bunney et a1 1973a, b). 3,4-Dihydroxyphenylacetic acid (DOPAC), the major acid metabolite of dopamine, has been used as a biochemical index of dopaminergic nerve activity. For example, the concentration of DOPAC in the striatum increases after the administration of dopamine antagonists and decreases after dopamine agonists (Roth et al 1976). The effects of these drugs on dopaminergic activity led to the concept of a neuronal feedback control for nigrostriatal neurons (Carlsson & Lindqvist 1963). It is currently believed that nigrostriatal neurons exert a tonic inhibition of acetylcholine-containing interneurons within the striaturn. These interneurons, in turn, either directly or indirectly inhibit the activity of GABAergic striatal neurons whose descending axons terminate on dopaminergic cell processes in substantia nigra. Inhibitory action by the transmitter released here completes a negative feedback loop. Increased release of dopamine in the striatum therefore initiates compensatory inhibition of nigrostriatal neurons through the feedback loop. Blockade of any element within this loop causes the release of these neurons from this tonic inhibition and thereby increases their activity. There is biochemical, anatomical and electrophysiological evidence for this hypothesis. Dopamine and dopaminergic agonists inhibit striatal cholinergic neurons, as evidenced by reduced acetylcholine release and turnover, whereas dopamine antagonists have opposite effects (Ladinsky et al 1978: Costa & Cheney 1978). GABA-containing neurons located in the caudate nucleus and putamen project to nigrostriatal neurons in the zona reticulata of substantia nigra (Kim et al 1971), and application of GABA into the nigra inhibits nigrostriatal firing (FeItz 1971). There is, however, evidence that a negative feedback loop is not necessary for regulation of nigrostriatal activity (Groves et al 1975). Lesions of descending striatonigral neurons do not prevent haloperidolinduced increases in striatal DOPAC and homovanillic acid concentrations (Bedard & Larochelle 1973 ; Garcia-Munoz et al 1977). Similar results have been obtained following destruction of striatal cell bodies with the neurotoxin kainic acid (DiChiara et al 1977; Wuerthele et al 1977). The following report confirms these results with additional dopamine antagonists,


Introduction Ferrocene and its derivatives heve been widely used as mediators in the construction of mediated amperometric biosensor. The incorporation of ferrocene-based mediators into polymeric films is always preferred to achieve reagentless devices and also prevent its leaching from the biosensor. Attempt to prohibit leaching has lead to the synthesis of a number of redox polymers where the ferrocene mediator are attached directly onto the polymer backbone (Armada et al., 2003, Hale et al., 1989, Koide & Yokoyama, 1999, Mulchadani et al., 1995, Saito & Watanabe, 1998, Nagasaka et al., 1995). Although these redox polymers have successfully prevented the leaching of the mediator and also demonstrated good redox behaviour, their preparation is generally complicated and did not lead to direct film deposition on a biosensor device. Other simpler approaches for immobilization of ferrocene by physical entrapment in poymers have also been reported (Tkáč et al., 2002, Zhou et al., 1997). However, even the immobilization of the ferrocene mediator was successful in some of these polymeric films but the enzymes used, e.g. glucose oxidase and xanthine oxidase were still required immobilization through the use of cross-linking agents such as glutaraldehyde. In this paper, we report a novel procedure for the preparation of ferrocene-containing photopolymeric films based on poly(2hydroxyethyl methacrylate) (polyHEMA) and poly(methyl methacrylate-co-2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate), polyMH. The novelty of the procedure is that the hydrophilicity of the photocured films produced is low and hence even without covalent attachment, leaching of both ferrocene and enzyme is prohibited. The procedure is also a single-step but rapid method for the immobilization of enzyme, mediator and in situ deposition of the biosensor film. The redox characteristics of these two ferrocene-containing polymers are investigated, and the usefulness of such films for biosensor application is assessed through the construction of glucose biosensors by coimmobilization of the enzyme glucose oxidase into the ferrocene-containing polymers.


In order to investigate the effect of track support failure at tangent track on dynamic response of vehicle,a non-symmetrical vehicle-track coupling dynamic model is established,in which the rails are assumed as Timoshenko beams resting on the discrete sleepers.The failure situation of track components under the rails is simulated by abrupt change of track stiffness along the track.The effect of the discrete sleeper support on the coupling dynamics of the vehicle and track is taken into consideration by the backward moving sleepers.The creepage formulas of wheel/rail rolling contact are deduced,in which the vertical and lateral motions of the track are considered.The normal forces of wheel/rail are calculated by Hertzian contact theory and the creep forces are decided by the nonlinear creep theory of Shen et al.The motion equations of the vehicle/track coupling system are solved with the new explicit integration method.Ride comfort of vehicle is evaluated by the Sperling's ride index.Effects of track supports in failure situation on tangent track dynamic response and ride comfort are evaluated in succession from zero to six supports.The numerical results indicate that track support failure greatly affects the dynamic response of the displacements and accelerations of vehicle.When the failure numbers increase,the wheel/rail normal forces,the displacements and accelerations of vehicle components increase quickly,and Sperling's ride index,including the ride quality and ride comfort,increase linearly but the value is rather small.