Investment management is generally defined as the discretionary management of investors' assets, as opposed to investment advisory services where there is no discretion on the part of the manager to take investment decisions on behalf of the fund. Investment advisory services tend to be less labour-intensive given that the adviser merely gives recommendations to someone else who actually takes and implements the investment decisions.


Schmallenberg virus (SBV) belongs to the genus Orthobunyavirus in the family Bunyaviridae. This new virus was discovered in 2011 in Northwestern Europe in domestic ruminants. Infection by SBV is associated with mild clinical signs in adult and congenital malformations in the progeny. In the scope of the European research program on SBV in the pathogenesis and epidemiology areas, the works included in this thesis provide new data about SBV infection in livestock and wild and exotic ruminants. The kinetics of viremia and seroconversion after experimental SBV infection are described in sheep and goats. This manuscript includes evidence of SBV infection via vaginal route in goats. Experimental SBV infection in pregnant goats between 28 and 42 days of gestation can lead to death or central nervous system lesions in fetuses. Evidence of susceptibility to SBV in several species of wild and exotic ruminants kept in zoos is described for the first time.


Objective: To describe a case of reversible cerebral vasoconstriction syndrome (RCVS)/posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome (PRES) in a patient with chronic migraine while being treated with ketamine infusion and dihydroergotamine (DHE). Background: DHE and ketamine are both known to be safe and effective abortive treatments for migraine pain. While DHE exhibits strong vasoconstrictive effect, ketamine increases sympathetic activity by inhibiting the neuronal reuptake of catecholamines. It is possible that ketamine and DHE together elicit a synergistic effect increasing the possibility of vasospasm causing RCVS/PRES. Design/Methods: Case report. Results: We present a 63 year-old woman with a history of remote, small, cortical non-traumatic, non-aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage, chronic migraine and medication overuse headache who used amitriptyline, duloxetine, and erenumab as migraine preventives along with oral morphine and ketamine nasal spray as home migraine abortives. In previous migraine inpatient treatments she received lidocaine infusion, intravenous DHE, neuroleptics, valproate, and steroid with no adverse effect. During this third admission, she received five days of subanesthetic ketamine infusion (up to 45 mg/hr) with adjunctive intravenous DHE, promethazine, methylpredinisone, and valproate. Following her 4th dose of intravenous DHE (0.25mg) and first dose of valproate (500mg), she developed acute bilateral decreased visual acuity, optic ataxia, and unsteady gait. BP was 130/70mmHg. Brain MRI showed confluent bilateral T2 hyperintensities with punctate restricted diffusion in the occipital lobes consistent with PRES. Brain MRA showed multi-segmental narrowing involving anterior, middle, posterior cerebral, and basilar arteries consistent with RCVS. Verapamil was given and all ergots, neuroleptics, and serotonergic agents were stopped. Though she continued to have constant, non-thunderclap migrainous headache, her visual symptoms otherwise resolved in 24 hours and her exam returned to normal. Conclusions: Concomitant use of ketamine infusion and DHE may result in RCVS/PRES especially in the setting of polypharmacy with medications that cause enzyme inhibition and protein binding displacement. Disclosure: Dr. Yuan has received personal compensation for consulting, serving on a scientific advisory board, speaking, or other activities with Supernus. Dr. Nahas has received personal compensation for consulting, serving on a scientific advisory board, speaking, or other activities with Eli Lilly, Amgen, electroCore, Allergan, Supernus, and Teva. Dr. Berk has nothing to disclose.


Benagiano G. Carrara S. Filippi V. Safety, efficacy and patient Satisfaction with continuous daily administration of levonorgestrel? ethinylestradiol oral contraceptives. Patient Preference and Adher ence. 2009:3:131-43. Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. Application No. 21-241. Ortho Tri-Cyclen Lo(R) NDA Medical review; accessed at http:// www.accessdata.fda.gov/drugsatfda docs/nda/2002/021241 S000 ORTHO-TRI-CYCLENE MEDR.pdf (reference on file). Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. Application No. 21-544. Seasonale R NDA Medical review; accessed at http://www.ac cessdata.fda.gov/drugsatfda docs/nda/2003/21-544 SEASONALE Medr P1.pdf (reference on file). Dando TM and Curran MP. Low dose ethinylestradiol and levonorgestrel. Drugs 2005; 65 (16): 2299-2306. Grimes DA. et al. Triphasic versus monophasic oral contraceptives for contraception. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2006, Issue 3. Art. No CD003553. Heger-Mahn D. et al. Combined ethinylestradiol gestodene contra ceptive patch: two-center, open-label study of ovulation inhibition, acceptability and safety over two cycles in female volunteers. European Journal of Contraception and Reproductive Health Care, 9:173-181, 2004. International search report and written opinion of the corresponding PCT Application, PCT/US 12/68235, Feb. 15, 2013. Lalley J.J. Oral contraceptives overview. UMHS Jul. 2002 online). Accessed athttp://www.med.umich.edu/obgyn/resdir/contraception/ OralContLalley.html (reference on file). Pierson RA, et al. Ortho Evra Evra versus oral contraceptives: follicular developmentand ovulation in normal cycles and after an intentional dosing error. Fertil Steril 2003; 80:34-42. Van Vliet H. et al. Biphasic versus triphasic oral contraceptives for contraception: a Cochrane review. Human Reproduction (2002) 17 (4): 870-873.


Recently,the growing demand for fuel-efficient vehicles to reduce energy consumption and air pollution is a challenge for the automobile industry.The characteristic properties of aluminium,high strength stiffness to weight ratio,good formability,good corrosion resistance,and recycling potential make it the ideal candidate to replace heavier materials in the car to respond to the weight reduction demand of the automobile industry.In this paper,the recent research progress of aluminium alloy for automobile body sheets aresummarized,and the general trend of research and development is presented.


Reading teaching should consider the following three aspects: word understanding,the text content,the form of expression( writing style,rhetoric,thinking). Three issues should be paid attention to in reading teaching: first,reading goals should not be too rigid,and the content of some behavioral objectives should be reduced and dimmed; second,teachers should be able to accept students' wrong or incomplete understanding to the text,and encourage students to reconstruct self meaning actively; third,teachers should treat reading teaching from the angle of curriculum design,and regard reading teaching as an extended activity. Teachers should take an attitude of appreciation to students' reading according to reading assessment in stead of evaluating the real results of students' reading with the pre-set goal of reading.


This monograph aims at a presentation of the offer of commercial financial institutions, particularly banks, investment funds and rating agencies pertaining to a varied range of products connected with broadly perceived environmental protection. Through their careful product offer, financial institutions can considerably support the process of environmental protection as an important element of sustainable development. Without financial institutions engaged in the solution of ecological problems of contemporary economies it will not be possible to control the ecological crisis in the global, regional and local dimensions.


Main Recommendations ESGE suggests flexible endoscopic treatment over open surgical treatment as first-line therapy for patients with a symptomatic Zenker's diverticulum of any size. Weak recommendation, low quality of evidence, level of agreement 100 %. ESGE recommends that emerging treatments for Zenker's diverticulum, such as Zenker's peroral endoscopic myotomy (Z-POEM) and tunneling, be considered as experimental; these treatments should be offered in a research setting only. Strong recommendation, low quality of evidence, level of agreement 100 %. ESGE recommends against the widespread clinical use of transoral incisionless fundoplication (TIF) as an alternative to proton pump inhibitor (PPI) therapy or antireflux surgery in the treatment of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), because of the lack of data on the long-term outcomes, the inferiority of TIF to fundoplication, and its modest efficacy in only highly selected patients. TIF may have a role for patients with mild GERD who are not willing to take PPIs or undergo antireflux surgery. Strong recommendation, moderate quality of evidence, level of agreement 92.8 %. ESGE recommends against the use of the Medigus ultrasonic surgical endostapler (MUSE) in clinical practice because of insufficient data showing its effectiveness and safety in patients with GERD. MUSE should be used in clinical trials only. Strong recommendation, low quality evidence, level of agreement 100 %. ESGE recommends against the use of antireflux mucosectomy (ARMS) in routine clinical practice in the treatment of GERD because of the lack of data and its potential complications. Strong recommendation, low quality evidence, level of agreement 100 %. ESGE recommends endoscopic cecostomy only after conservative management with medical therapies or retrograde lavage has failed. Strong recommendation, low quality evidence, level of agreement 93.3 %. ESGE recommends fixing the cecum to the abdominal wall at three points (using T-anchors, a double-needle suturing device, or laparoscopic fixation) to prevent leaks and infectious adverse events, whatever percutaneous endoscopic cecostomy method is used. Strong recommendation, very low quality evidence, level of agreement 86.7 %. ESGE recommends considering endoscopic decompression of the colon in patients with Ogilvie's syndrome that is not improving with conservative treatment. Strong recommendation, low quality evidence, level of agreement 93.8 %. ESGE recommends prompt endoscopic decompression if the cecal diameter is > 12 cm and if the Ogilvie's syndrome exists for a duration of longer than 4 – 6 days. Strong recommendation, low quality evidence, level of agreement 87.5 %.


For the past three years, Covid-19 has been the dominant topic in international media. It has been the central topic of various researches and studies. Accordingly, this study aims at presenting the theoretical background of pragmatics, media discourse, and the relation between the two. In addition, it aims at identifying and uncovering the speech acts used in selected Covid-19 English and Arabic news articles following Searle (1979) taxonomy. The selected articles are published by different local and international digital newspapers, including USA Today, The Guardian, Daily Mail, Almada Newspaper, BAGHDADTODAY.NEWS, and Asharq Al-Awsat Newspaper. The findings of the study prove that speech acts are used more in the English reports than in the Arabic reports. Also, the most frequently used category is assertive speech acts in the two types of data.


BACKGROUND
Endothelium damage has been described in antiphospholipid antibodies (aPL) positive patients. However, it is uncertain whether circulating endothelial cells (CECs) - which are released when endothelial injury occurs - can identify patients at high risk for thrombosis.

METHODS
Ninety-seven patients with aPL and/or Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) were included. CECs were determined by an automated CellSearch® system. We also assayed plasma levels of tissue factor-bearing extracellular vesicles (TF+/EVs) and soluble triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells 1 (sTREM-1) as markers of endothelial dysfunction/damage.

RESULTS
Patients mean age was 46.1±13.9 years, 77 were women. Thirty-seven had SLE and 75 patients were suffering from antiphospholipid syndrome. Thirty-seven percent of patients presented a medical history of arterial thrombosis and 46% a history of venous thromboembolism (VTE). Thirteen patients had increased levels of CECs (>20/mL), with a mean CEC level of 48.3±21.3 per mL. In univariate analysis, patients with obesity or medical history of myocardial infarction (MI), VTE or nephropathy had a significant increased CECs level. In multivariate analysis, obesity (OR=6.07 [95% CI; 1.42-25.94]), VTE (OR=7.59 [95% CI; 1.38-41.66]), and MI (OR=5.5 [95% CI;1.1-26.6)] were independently and significantly associated with elevated CECs. We also identified significant correlations between CECs and other markers of endothelial dysfunction: sTREM-1 and TF+/EVs.

CONCLUSIONS
This study demonstrated that endothelial injury assessed by the levels of CECs was associated with thromboembolic events in patients with aPL and/or autoimmune diseases.


PURPOSE: An uplink power control method of a terminal, an uplink communication method of a transmission and reception unit, and a terminal thereof are provided to determine optimal transmission power by determining necessary power in uplink transmission. CONSTITUTION: A terminal RF(Radio Frequency) unit(805) receives information about reference signals of transmission and reception points from one of the transmission and reception points. A terminal processor(810) measures the reception power of the reference signals. The terminal processor determines the uplink transmission power in order to match the uplink transmission power with the maximum value of uplink DM-RS transmission power. The uplink transmission power considers the received information of the transmission power of the reference signal and path loss acquired from the measured reception power. [Reference numerals] (805) Terminal RF unit; (810) Terminal processor; (812) Power control unit; (814,862) CoMP set determining unit; (855) Transceiving point RF unit; (860) Transceiving point processor; (864) Reference signal generating unit; (866) Information generating unit; (AA) Reference signal; (BB) System/control information; (CC) Data transmission


We are gathered here in a continuing venture to realize mankind's hopes for a more prosperous, humane, just, and cooperative world. As members of this Organization, we are pledged not only to free the world from the scourge of war, but to free mankind from the fear of hunger, poverty, and disease. The quest for justice and dignity-which finds expression in the economic and social articles of the United Nations Charter-has global meaning in an age of instantaneous communication. Improving the quality of human life has become a universal political demand, a technical possibility, and a moral imperative. We meet here at a moment when the world economy is under severe stress. The energy crisis first dramatized its fragility. But the issues transcend that particular crisis. Each of the problems we face-of combating inflation and stimulating growth, of feeding the hungry and lifting the impoverished, of the scarcity of physical resources and the surplus of despair-is part of an interrelated global problem. Let us begin by discarding outdated generalities and sterile slogans we have-all of us-lived with for so long. The great issues of development can no longer realistically be perceived in terms of confrontation between the haves and have nots or as a struggle over the distribution of static wealth. Whatever


A conceptual framework and a system model for an intelligent assistant for requirement definition, KB/RMS, is presented. The requirement definition process is characterised by the requirements context model. Informal and formal methods for requirement definition are considered in light of this model, which serves as the logical schema for the KB/RMS database. Conventional and knowledge-based system support for requirement definition is summarized. The use of natural language processing, a semantic model of the problem and solution spaces, domain and technology models, and inference-driven augmentation, validation, and verification of the semantic model is discussed. Production of design representations from the augmented semantic model is covered.<<ETX>>


While ovarian cancer is a disease that predominately affects postmenopausal women, up to 13% of affected patients are indeed less than 45 years of age. The diagnosis is often delayed because of the non‐specific nature of symptoms and a lack of specific and accurate diagnostic tests, that is, CA125 and ultrasound. In premenopausal women these issues are compounded, further reducing the likelihood of an accurate and early diagnosis. It is important for gynaecologists to have a high index of suspicion and appropriately investigate symptomatic patients and interpret test results critically. Not all ovarian cysts in young women are benign, and a low threshold for surgical evaluation is warranted.


This literature review first identifies the challenges facing prospective first-generation college students (PFGCS) including a lack of academic preparation in high school, financial barriers created by lower socioeconomic status (SES), and a lack of family support due to unfamiliarity with higher education (Majer, 2009; Olive, 2008; Weiser & Riggio, 2010). Second, this literature review examines the positive correlation between increased academic self-efficacy (ASE) and academic achievement (Elias & Loomis, 2002; Robbins et al., 2004; Zajacova, Lynch, & Espenshade, 2005). Third, this literature review provides a conceptual framework for PFGCS intervention program development based on four strategies found to influence ASE: enactive experiences, vicarious experiences, verbal persuasion, and physiological and affective states (Gandara & Bail, 2001; Habel, 2009; Robbins et al., 2004; Zimmerman, 2000). Fourth, the literature review provides implications including the proposed use of an ASE framework for existing intervention program assessment, a recommendation for the use of an ASE framework to guide high school educator and program administrator activities, and the proposed use of an ASE framework for school counselor planning activities serving the PFGCS population.


Subject-verb concord is guided by the three principles.But there are some special problems which are difficult for our students to solve.As a result,students speak English incorrectly.This article approaches further the special problems related to subject-verb concord by comparing and analyzing examples concerned.


Examples of the present invention is directed to a semiconductor die package. One embodiment of the invention, (a) a semiconductor die including a first surface and a second surface, (b) includes a protruding region having a major surface, a source coupled to the first surface and lead structure, (c) and the gate lead structure coupled to the first surface, (d) a source lead structure and a molding material around the semiconductor die, the second surface molding material of the semiconductor die and it is directed to a semiconductor die package to expose the major surface of the source lead structure.


Musical eras are often defined by their dominant modes of production—analog, electronic, digital—each bringing about new styles and ways of listening. This era is marked by the release of the first AI-human collaborated album, Hello World, by the music collaborative Skygge. Skygge, led by composer and producer Benoît Carré and musician and tech researcher François Pachet, translates to "shadow" in Danish and was inspired by the Hans Christian Andersen story of the same name.


In this paper we present a fast and robust method to separate reflection components in color images. Thus the method is also suitable for various industrial and scientific applications. The technique operates with a twodimensional color representation. Furthermore, we show that our approach improves the experimental results of a fast three-dimensional surface reconstruction scheme.


Abiotic stress and heavy competition each limit the assemblages of plant communities, defining their composition as well as their boundaries. One plant community governed by stress and another by competition may abut one another, forming a biotic gradient called an ecotone. In California's White Mountains, this gradient occurs across the meeting point between a calcareous (dolomite) and non-calcareous (quartzite) soil types. In this study, we tested the effects of this gradient on plant community compositions and diversity, surveying plant communities across an edaphic gradient from quartzitic to dolomitic substrates. We found that the higher presence of sagebrush within quartzite decreased diversity while increased rockiness in dolomite decreased plant cover. Diversity was highest in the ecotone between the two habitats, potentially due to heavy competition from sagebrush on one side and the increase in edaphically stressful dolomite rock on the other. In addition, the ecotone plant community was unique from those on either soil type. These findings provide insight into edge effects on subalpine plant communities, and the nuances by which edaphic conditions produce these effects.


—The data confirming non(cid:2)toxicity of polysaccharide from Heliantnus tuberosus L. were gained in experimental studies on acute toxicity, the mass and cellularity of the immune system and cell viability of the lymphoid organs. The assumption of the absence of allergenicity was confirmed in the experiment of delayed(cid:2) type hypersensitivity reaction. Dose reduction factor was specified in the experiment of absolute survival rates. The effectiveness of the substance as a radioprotector was confirmed. NMR spectrum was established, with the use of it a presumptive structure of a matter is restored.


The profession's negotiating committee sent the following memorandum on the case for an adjustment of the betterment factor for general medical practitioners and all grades of hospital medical staff in the National Health Service to the Minister of Health and the Secretary of State for Scotland last month. The Minister's reply to a Parliamentary question on the claim and Sir John Hawton's letter to the Secretary of the negotiating committee in answer to the claim were published in last week's Supplement (p. 71).


The Korean government pronounced "war against crime and violence" in 1990 and has made every efforts to eradicate organized crime since then. But recently the problem of organized crime attracts an enormous attention of the public again. In order to succeed in controlling organized crime, the government has to develope diverse countermeasures such as increased penalty, rigid enforcement of regulations and so on. The act of constituting or joining an association that aims to commit a crime shall be punished with the same penalty as an aimed crime(Criminal Act §114①). But it is very difficult to get an information about criminal organization without testimony of inner members of such a group. When a member of criminal organization assists in the investigation or prosecution of organized crime, he/she deserves a discretionary mitigation or impunity in sentencing on the ground of voluntary surrender(Criminal Act §52) and/or crime reporting(Protection of Witness of Serious Crimes Act §16). But the Supreme Court disregards the legal duty of court to state grounds of sentencing clearly(Criminal Procedure Act §323②) and an adequate system which guide and regulate sentencing discretion of the judge has not been established yet. In the criminal justice practice, the prosecutor may provide informal immunity through an agreement whereby the witness agrees to testify in exchange for a promise of non-prosecution(Criminal Procedure Act §247①). But the validity of promise between the prosecutor and the witness could not be admitted by the court. It is suggested in this article to enact an immunity statute that grants the witness protection only against the admission of his/her immunized testimony and its derivatives in evidence in a subsequent prosecution. The fidelity to the government based on statutory immunity and foreseeability of sentencing might be a great temptation for a member of organized crime to step into law-abiding citizen's way.


This research note engages the current research on measuring media bias. I present a reanalysis of the results found in Groseclose and Milyo (2005) and show that the original parameter estimates of the ideological positions of media outlets are not stable over time. Using the same data but analyzed over different periods of time, I find a different conclusion than the previous article. I examine four-year rolling time periods and find that the data produce different parameter estimates in the earlyto mid-1990s as compared to after 2000, with all analyzed outlets appearing more moderate or conservative in later time periods. My results indicate that the estimated positions are sensitive observations in the data and the time period of observation of the outlet. The question of media bias can elicit strong and diverse opinions. While there seems to be no consensus if there is a liberal or conservative bias, the American Society of Newspaper Editors reports that 78% of the public believe there is a bias in news reporting (ASNE 1999). While crucial to understanding the "Fourth Estate," there have been relatively few replicable large-n empirical studies of the ideology of media outlets. Much of the scholarly work uses content analysis to study this topic. There is certainly a large value added to these studies, but their replication costs make them less desirable. Nonetheless, understanding the political positions of media is key. If media outlets are a primary mechanism for voters to learn about policy options, then there is a serious concern that the information might be tainted by the ideological views of an outlet. ∗I would like to thank Fred Boehmke, Tim Groseclose, Jeff Milyo, Kevin Quinn, Jesse Shapiro and two anonymous referees for their helpful comments and feedback †Visiting Assistant Professor of Political Science, Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar, 5032 Forbes Ave # 1070, Pittsburgh, PA, 15289. http://www.andrew.cmu.edu/∼gasper, (862) 438-5841, email@example.com


Background: Osteoporosis is a skeletal disorder characterized by low bone mineral density that increases fracture risk. The prevalence of osteoporosis is expected to increase even further due to the reported increase of life expectancy worldwide and the costs of osteoporotic fracture–related morbidity and mortality are going to burden the healthcare system. Optimization of bone health throughout life can help prevent osteoporosis and its consequences. Many studies have been published in order to examine osteoporosis management strategies and their efficacy. Objective: A lot of literature have been done in order to provide a better outcomes for patients presented with postmenopausal osteoporosis, in our review we aim to discuss the recent literature that discussed the recent updates regarding its management. Method: PubMed database were used for articles selection. All relevant articles related to our review were chosen to cover the following topics: Osteoporosis, Post-menopausal, Management and Diagnosis. We excluded other articles, which are not related to our objectives. The data have been extracted according to specific form treatment of postmenopausal estrogen for bone bone remodeling osteoblasts osteoclasts. used anti-resorptive agents in the for the treatment of osteoporosis and are in use for three decades. The most known anabolic therapy is PTH. Regarding prevention, exercise be a safe and effective way to avert bone loss in postmenopausal


Over the past few decades, anaerobic-aerobic wastewater treatment systems have been widely used in industrial and municipal wastewater treatment. This study was conducted to examine the effects of combined anaerobic-aerobic bioreactors in the removal of chemical oxygen demands (COD) while reducing phosphate concentrations in synthetic wastewater. In this project, a bioreactor with the dimensions of 10 cm × 10 cm × 80 cm with respective Kaldnes packing ratios of 90 and 30% for the anaerobic and aerobic sections was designed. A combined anaerobic-aerobic reactor's structure made changing hydraulic retention times only possible by adjusting the volume of its aerobic and anaerobic sections. In the first case, the anaerobic and aerobic sections of the reactor occupied 30 and 50 cm of its height, respectively. The height of the anaerobic section decreases to 12.5 cm in the second case. In aerobic and anaerobic sections, pH was within a neutral range, temperature was 37°C. MLSS (mixed liquor suspended solids) was 1220 and 1030 mg/L, and attached growth was 743 and1190 mg/L respectively. In order to evaluate COD in the wastewater, three different initial phosphorus concentrations were tested: 12.8, 32.0 and 44.8 mg/L, as well as four COD: 500, 1000, 1200 and 1400 mg/L. Considering the results, COD removal is greater than 80% when the valve 2 is in the anaerobic section outlet regardless of the concentration of phosphate. In this case, the best result is for inlet COD of 500, where the reactor can eliminate more than 90%. When the COD concentration reaches 1000 to 1400 ppm, the reactor's COD removal efficiency declines to 60%.


As a subgroup of the precious metals,the platinum-group metals have a wide range of application.According to their physical and chemical properties,these metals can find their applications in automobile manufacture,electronics,pharmaceutics,petrochemical engineering,fuel cells,and other industries.The development trends of these metals are described as well.


Dimensions of Western Foreign Direct Investment in Turkey, by Ekrem Tatolu and Keith W. Glaister. London and Westport, CT: Quorum Books, 2000. xvi + 181 pages. Append. to p. 186. Bibl. to p. 205. Index to p. 211. $67.50. Reviewed by Mine Eder Couched strictly in international business literature, the authors claim that the main aim of this volume "is to undertake an empirical examination of the major facets of Western Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in Turkey. The intention was not to develop new theoretical perspectives relating to this activity, but to work within the context of prevailing theoretical views" (p. 6). This narrow aim is both an asset and liability of the book under review. It is an asset since it allows the authors to formulate and test series of "manageable" hypothesis and offer a multi-dimensional map of the Western foreign direct investment (FDI) in Turkey. It is also a liability, since it does not offer a coherent theoretical framework. The chapters, most of which were published earlier, appear rather eclectic and do not provide anything theoretically new or counter-intuitive. Nevertheless, by offering a detailed map of Turkey's Western FDI and placing often-under-- studied Turkey squarely within the rich FDI literature, the authors achieve their stated goals. The analysis is based on the responses to questionnaires mailed to foreign parent companies of wholly owned subsidiaries (WOS), foreign partners of joint ventures (JV) in Turkey, and Turkish partners of joint ventures. The authors provide a systematic testing of specific influences and motives of Western FDI in Turkey across a number of sample characteristics such as ownership pattern, country of origin, industry, and the size of FDI. By analyzing both the WOS and LVs, by including the Turkish partners in their JV sample, and by selecting across both manufacturing and service sectors, the authors improve on the existing empirical research on FDI in Turkey. The reader learns in chapter two and three, for instance, that "market size" and "repatriability of profits" top the list of location-specific factors in Turkey, and that the motives of Western FDI change significantly with the size and industry of the foreign-equity venture (FEV) but not necessarily with the ownership pattern (i.e., whether the FDI is WOS or JV). In chapter four, the authors link ownership, location, and internationalization motives of Western FDI to the characteristics of their sample, and find that relative importance of these factors changes most with the industry of FEW In chapter six, the authors analyze the nature of management control in Western FEW Here, the main finding, among others, is that wholly owned subsidiaries exercise more control over subsidiaries than the JVs, particularly in areas of finance, strategy, and human development. …


Taking the open-pit mine as a pilot area, this paper makes full use of rich details provided by two high-resolution remote sensing images and current land use in this area to divide the mining area into seven kind of types including the open-pit area,the side slope of pit,the peeling area,the dump,the side slope of dump,the industry square and the road, and based on the function zoning,divides all ground features into an entity unit, and extracts the surface change information by using the GIS spatial analysis function.


Our paper deals with the update of component-based software architectures, i.e. all the modifications which can be performed on the architecture's elements to satisfy various requirements. Current researches on the component-based software engineering propose various mechanisms to adapt, evolve, customize, or reconfigure such architectures. We are convince that these mechanisms, even powerful, still require the architects' expertises. Moreover, it is noticed that these expertises conform to a style, i.e. a way of update which privileges certain concerns rather than others. It is what explains why a solution is selected instead of another, for the same main update issue. Our goal is to define updating styles, to represent and reuse update expertises. We wish to use this work to build an environment based on an updating style library in order to assist architects in modifying their component-based architectures.


There has been a great deal of research on kinship in translation and linguistics. Linguoculturologically, etymologically, it has been studied in relation to the words of reference. This article is also about words related to kinship and their translations into Urdu. It describes the methods used by the Pakistani translator in translating these words, and the advantages and disadvantages of the translation. In this article, the words kinship is studied more as a unit of reference.


ABSTRACT In the entrepreneurial university, epistemic governance is exerted through external pressures of market competition, funding, university rankings and research assessment and internal processes of organisational restructuring and mechanisms of corporate governance to re/produce epistemic injustices. Data from a study of three Australian universities illustrate the implications of these for the Humanities and Social Sciences, numerically feminised fields of research and practice and how, in the Australian context, political conservatism aligns with a particular Anglophone sensibility regarding science and society. Excluding the social and critical knowledge practices of the humanities and social sciences is dangerous to both the academy and democracies, particularly in post-truth times.


Direct energy costs for sucker-rod pumping can be optimized by selecting the right pump size, stroke length, and pumping speed for the required liquid production rate. Calculation procedures for a computer program are developed for optimizing the design of conventional pumping units.


It is certainly no compliment nowadays to call a man a "speculative theologian." It was even less so in the early centuries of the Christian era. For "speculative theology" is that kind of religious thought which is relatively indifferent to the realm of history and human events and which proposes postulates and principles which are regarded as a priori, having no necessary connection with history. This viewpoint, reflected in Marcion and the Gnostics, was one of the primary issues which led to their condemnation by the early church. Yet it is by no means an exceptional view which regards Origen primarily as a "speculative theologian," as one who scorned the simple faith of the Christians around him, and who mingled theology and philosophy together in such fashion that the truth and simplicity of the primitive Gospel were distorted and obscured. The redress of such an exaggeration would involve us deeply in the pivotal question of the relation, in Origen's thought, between theology and philosophy. Despite prolonged debate, this problem can hardly be regarded as settled. Nor does this paper propose to attempt such a settlement. Rather it will confine itself to a much less ambitious but nevertheless prior question: how do the doctrinal norms in Origen's thought compare or contrast with what we know of similar basic beliefs in the Christian thought of his own and immediately preceding periods? An answer to this ought to afford preliminary data for the determination of the broader issue noted above and might, in itself, throw some light on the sense, if any, in which Origen may justly be called a "speculative theologian."


Geographic information system is a computer based system that used to collecting, saving, combine,organized, transform, manipulate and analyze geographical datas. Problem that studied in this research is the unavailability of an information system that can help the Department of Tourism in the Gianyar regency managing tourism objects that exist and provide tourist information for travelers. The increase rate in tourist arrivals increasing in line with the needs of the information, it is necessary to develop a geographic information system that can help the Department of Tourism in the Gianyar regency to manage tourism information and assist travelers in finding the information of a tourist attraction. This system will be made in two versions, web and mobile android that developed by phonegap framework, making it easier for travelers to get information from anywhere. The developing method  of geographic information systems using the systems development life cycle (SDLC).


1. The Social Setting of Social Research. Examples of Studies. Is it Research? Who Does Social Research and Why? Social Factors in Research. Ethical Concerns in Social Science Research. Schematic Outline of Research Methods. SECTION 1. THE BASIC PLAN. 2. Conceptualization: What to Measure and Why? Forming Research Questions. Facts and Hypotheses. Theory and Its Value for Research. The Relationship Between Basic and Applied Research Objectives. 3. Finding and Developing Measures. Principles of Measuring. Measurement Techniques. Measurement Issues. 4. Study Design: Basic Contrasts and Plans. The Basic Logic of Valid Comparison. The Role of Time in Research Design. Design Options: Decision Patterns and Tradeoffs. Issues in the Choice of Research Design. 5. Sampling and Inference. Terminology. Why Sample? The Logic of Inference. Random Selection. Other Sampling Considerations. Other Types of Random Samples. Nonrandom Samples. Sample Size. SECTION II. THE PRINCIPAL RESEARCH METHODS. 6. Experimental Research. Principles. Techniques and Examples. Issues in Experimental Research. 7. Survey Research. Principles. Techniques of Survey Research. Issues in Survey Research. 8. Case Study Research. Principles. Techniques. Issues in Case Study Research. 9. Secondary Data Research. Principles of Secondary Data Research. Using Quantitative Data. Using Qualitative Data. Content Analysis. SECTION III. PROCESSING DATA. 10. Approaches to Data Analysis. Steps in Data Analysis. Statistical Analysis. Levels of Statistical Analysis. 11. Reporting the Results. Reporting Options. Writing the Research Report. Other Issues Related to Reporting. 12. The Organization of Research. The Research Tasks. Individual versus Team Research. Research as a Social Activity. Factors Favoring Team Research. Problems of Team Research. Task-Team Interdependence. The Education Factor. 13. Resource Considerations. Projecting Costs. Sources of Funding. Grants versus Contracts. The Research Proposal. Problems of Constraints. Other Issues. 14. Developments and Prospects. Themes. Uses of Research. The Point of it All. The Process of Knowing. Scientific Contributions. Developing the Process of Inquiry. Social Process of Inquiry. Appendix 1. Outline of Student Materials. Appendix 2. How to Create Random Numbers for Research. Appendix 3. Glossary. Appendix 4. Additional Research References.


Fire suppression associated with decades of cattle grazing can result in bush encroachment in savannas. Textural analyses of historical, high resolution images was used to characterize bush densities across a South African study landscape. A control site, where vegetation was assumed to have changed minimally for the duration of the image record (1955-1996), was used to standardize textural values between multidate images. Standardized textural values were then converted to estimates of percent woody canopy cover using a simple linear regression model. Results indicate a 30% relative increase in percent woody cover between 1955 and 1996.


Objective
To explore the expression and clinical significance of heat shock protein(HSP) 27, HSP 65 and copeptin in the serum of young patients with ischemic stroke.

Methods
Enzyme linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA)was used to detect the expression of HSP27, HSP65 and copeptin in the serum of young patients with ischemic stroke.

Results
The occurrence of young patients with ischemic stroke was not associated with age, height, weight and body mass index (BMI) of patients (F=26.38, P>0.05). Compared with control, the expression of HSP27, HSP65 and copeptin in the serum was largely increased in young patients with ischemic stroke (F=55.71, P<0.05). Compared with male stroke patients, HSP27 and copeptin were largely increased in the serum of female stroke patients, while HSP65 showed lower expression (F=62.65, P<0.05).

Conclusion
HSP27, HSP65 and copeptin might be risk factors for young patients with ischemic stroke.

Key words:
Ischemic stroke; Heat shock protein; Copeptin; Risk factors


"O Oedipus. O Christ. You use me ill," are the concluding lines of Sylvia Plath's "The Ravaged Face" (116).1 In this poem, Plath uses a major trope of modern writers, the wholesale rejection of the past, represented here by two symbolic figures from the Greek and Judeo-Christian traditions. The historical discontinuity of the modern age with the past is familiar in many modernist writers, as in Yeats's prediction of a violent conclusion to the 2000-year cycle of Christianity and Eliot's less violent but still destructive "dissociation of sensibility." But the closest we can come to Plath's sense of this discontinuity is probably Ted Hughes's statement about contemporary writers who have gone beyond the modernist "state of belonging spiritually to the last phase of Christian civilization." The world of these contemporary writers is "a continuation or a re-emergence of the pre-Christian world ... it is the world of the little pagan religions and cults, the primitive religions from which of course Christianity itself grew."2 Plath shares with Hughes an attempt to find a new ground for writers beyond the traditions represented by Oedipus and Christ. Hughes sees such an attempt, for example, in East European writers like Vasko Popa who "have in a way cut their losses and cut the hopelessness of that civilization off...." At its most profound, such an attitude is "a shifting


INTRODUCTION PART I. THE LIFE AND HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF PAEZ PEASANTS I. TIERRADENTRO IN THE PAST AND PRESENT 23 2. THE DOMESTIC UNIT 47 3. THE COST OF BRINGING UP A FAMILY 71 PART II. THE PAEZ PEASANT AND HIS LAND 4. LAND TENURE 85 5. INHERITANCE OF LAND AND OTHER PROPERTY 109 PART III. THE ALLOCATION OF RESOURCES 6. AGRICULTURE: TECHNIQUES AND COSTS 135 7. AVAILABILITY AND COST OF LABOUR 154 8. THE PAEZ FARMERS: SOCIO-ECONOMIC CONSTRAINTS AND PRODUCTIVITY 175 9. DISTRIBUTION AND MARKETING OF FARM PRODUCTS 214 10. DECISIONS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE ALLOCATION OF RESOURCES 240 11. CONCLUSION 270 APPENDICES 282 I. Population Growth of San Andres Reservation, 282 2. Prices of Food, Goods and Animals in San Andres, 285 LIST OF WORKS CITED 287 INDEX 291


OBJECTIVE
The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of allergic rhinitis on the success of the operation in chronic otitis surgery by using score for allergic rhinitis (SFAR).

MATERIALS AND METHODS
In the present study; 121 patients, who underwent type 1 tympanoplasty were examined retrospectively. SFAR of all patients were recorded. The graft success rates of 26 patients with allergic rhinitis (AR) and 95 patients with no allergic rhinitis group (NAR) were compared.

RESULTS
While the graft success rate in NAR group was 89.5%, this rate was 80.8% in the AR group. However, the difference between groups was not statistically significant (p = 0.311).

CONCLUSION
These findings suggest that allergic rhinitis decreases the graft success rate of the pathologies occurring in eustachian tube, middle ear and mastoid although statistically significant difference wasn't found. Prospective studies with larger patient groups are required in order to evaluate this pathology.


A data warehouse (DW) system stores data from multiple data sources in integrated form and provides capabilities for monitoring business operations to ensure compliance to strategic goals. As such, DWs constitute a fundamental building block for Business Intelligence (BI) operations. In this paper, we introduce the notion of Awareness Requirements (AwReqs) in the requirements analysis and elicitation phase for DWs. In this context, AwReqs provide analysts with the means for eliciting and modeling requirements over performance measures (indicators) to appraise the success or failure of strategic goals. To demonstrate the benefit of our approach, we present a typical business example throughout the paper and show how we can establish in the early stages of DW design the adequacy of the design for BI operations.


Brugada syndrome (BrS) is a disorder characterized by cardiac conduction system dysfunctions, which increases the risk of sudden cardiac death, without heart structural alterations. The diagnosis is based on the ECG tracing analysis: BrS patients have common anomalies. The typical ECG pattern, however, can remain latent and patients can be asymptomatic: the first symptom often coincides with death. Recently, a new mutation associated with BrS has been identified and characterized by HEK 293 cells. This study aims to analyse, through numerical simulation of the O 'Hara-Rudy (ORd) model, the mutation effects on the ventricular action potential (AP). Under normal conditions, the simulation results do not show significant alterations in the mutant AP. For this reason, we hypothesized that the pathological BrS phenotype could be triggered by other factors.


Objective -To compare the efficacy of 3 different methods of hand drying in hand hygiene. Efficacy is defined as quantitative reduction in bacterial growth following hand drying.Subjects and Methods - 25 Health care personnel comprising of doctors and nurses participated in this Single blinded Randomized Prospective study in a tertiary care newborn unit. After 2 minute hand washing using ordinary soap,personnel were randomly allocated to 3 different methodologies of hand drying( air drying till hands were felt to be dry, air drying for 3 minutes and drying using autoclaved newspaper). After 24 hours incubation bacterial colony counts from wet and dry hands were determined in both Nutrient agar and Mac Conkeys medium.The mean difference between the bacterial colony count on wet hands and after drying were analyzed using a nonparametric analysis.Results- In Mac- Conkeys medium the mean reduction in bacterial colony count in air drying for 3 minutes was more (55.8) , followed by air drying till hands were felt to be dry(30.2) and less in autoclaved newspaper method (9.8).This difference was statistically significant(p0.03) . Conclusion- Air drying for 3 minutes is more efficient in reducing bacterial colony count than the other methodologies used in this study.


iment was conducted twice, with slight differences in zeatin concentration each time (Table 1). The cultures were evaluated for flower development after 8 weeks. Flower development was observed in cultures supplemented with 2, 4, or 6 μM zeatin Fig. 1. Cultures of sourwood incubated under a 24-h photoperiod on WPM supplemented with (left to right) 0, 2, 4, 6, or 8 μM zeatin. Note flower bud development with 2 μM zeatin (arrow, second from left). H O R TSCIENCE 26(11):1425. 1991.


Tourism is one of the most important sectors in the Republic of Croatia.
It plays a significant role in its economic development. This research investigates whether the macro-variables have an impact on the stock returns in the hospitality industry. The focus of the work consists in causality relationship between four macro variables (consumer price index, industrial production, exchange rate and number of tourist arrivals) and a stock index composed of Croatian hospitality companies. After applying Granger-causality tests based on the VAR methodology, results suggest that only consumer price index Granger-cause stock returns in the hospitality industry in the observed period from July 2008 to July 2018. Further analysis through impulse response function indicates that the impulse responses of inflation meet expectations in terms of the direction of impact. In the second month, stock prices react negatively to shock, implying that higher inflation causes negative stock price returns. After applying the variance decomposition method, a very low explanatory power of consumer price index on stock returns in the hospitality industry was revealed. This paper contributes
to the existing literature on the topic of the impact of macro-economic
variables on hospitality stock returns by extending the scope to Croatia and by testing a different set of variables compared to those from previous studies.


We report the first record of the snake Drymobius chloroticus (Cope 1886) from Hidalgo State, Mexico. This new record is based on a single juvenile male specimen collected in the municipality of Tepehuacan of Guerrero, Hidalgo. This report fills a gap between the closest localities airline 490.1 km2 ca. NW in Los Tuxtlas, Veracruz, and airline 42.7 ca. km2 SE in the vicinity Xilitla, San Luis Potosi, Mexico.


The study explores the impact of using Understanding by Design (UbD) Model on 8th-grade student's achievement in science. The population of the study consisted of all the students of 8th grade at the Al Majd Model School for boys and Al Ebdaa Model School for Girls in Dubai. A sample of (60) students was drawn using random sampling technique. They were divided into two groups formed through matching based on their pre-test scores. The main objective of the study is to expose the experimental group in using Understanding by Design (UbD) Model and to compare the effectiveness of this mode of teaching in the teaching of science material. The pre-test-post-test control group experimental design is chosen for this work. The independent variable in the study is UbD model of teaching, while the dependent variable is the academic achievement of students. This study tool depended on academic achievement test in the Sciences material for the 8th grade prepared by the researcher. Also, the validity and reliability of the study tools was verified. The results shows a non-significant differences between the experimental and control groups based on the mean score in the Academic Achievement of Science Test (AAST) for 8th grade before applying UbD Model (pertest scores), a Significant differences between the experimental and control groups based on the mean score in the Academic Achievement of Science Test (AAST) for 8th grade after applying UbD Model (posttest scores), and a non-significant differences between boys and girls based on the mean score in the Academic Achievement of Science Test (AAST) for 8th grade before applying UbD Model.


We report the development of structured illumination microscopy for fast gigapixel imaging of large, fluorescently-stained tissues. We demonstrate surface imaging of thick animal tissues and human prostate biopsies in point-of-care timeframes.


The exon 2 of SLA-DQB gene in Sutai pigs was analyzed by PCR-RFLP method,the results showed that the exon 2 of SLA-DQB gene digested by restriction endonuclease RsaⅠ and HaeⅢ could be divided into four kinds of genotypes and three kinds of genotypes in Sutai pigs respectively.The results of χ2 indicated that the frequencies of patterns digested by RsaⅠand HaeⅢ fit with Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium in Sutai population.Four kinds of combined patterns were observed in Sutai pigs.The correlation between these combined patterns and the reproductive performances of Sutai pigs was analyzed,the results showed that reproductive performances(the total litter,number of viable pigs,litter weight at birth,number of ablactation pigs and litter weight after ablactation in the third litter) of Sutai pigs with BBEE combined pattern were significant higher than those with AADD combined pattern,also higher than the pigs with ABDE combined pattern and ACDE combined pattern,but were no significant difference in reproductive performances between pigs with AADD combined pattern and the pigs with ABDE and ACDE combined patterns.


An imaging technique is developed for the three‐dimensional reconstruction of a desired sound field within a playback environment. Through proper coupling of room design and speaker placement, and deduction of the needed inputs to the system to obtain the desired outputs (for a finite length time window of data), a discrete‐sliding window algorithm is implemented to obtain the necessary time‐domain inputs. As a result of these procedures, the feedback/reverberatory effects of the playback environment are annihilated, leaving any desired sound field, while maintaining the three‐dimensionality of the original field.


We investigate the relative informativeness of earnings and dividends for firms with dual class capital structures. In these firms, two classes of common stock create a separation between cash flow rights and voting rights. Despite the concentrated ownership in the dual class firms, we find significantly lower informativeness of earnings, in the form of a weaker returns-earnings association, than for single class stocks. We attribute this finding to the reduced management accountability resulting from the separation of cash flow and voting rights. While not consistent across all specifications, the results of returnsdividends tests generally show greater dividend informativeness for the dual class stocks, consistent with the view that dividends are particularly salient for non-controlling shareholders when cash flow rights are separated from voting rights.


Numerical methods were used in a study of the structure of fields and of the efficiency of an unstable resonator with a dihedral corner-cube mirror reflector in a gasdynamic laser. A resonator of this kind is known to be capable of ensuring a much more uniform distribution of the laser radiation field in the downstream direction than a telescopic resonator and this can be achieved at the expense of a slight reduction in the efficiency.


The order-disorder transition of kesterite (CZTS, Cu2ZnSnS4) from I-4 to I-42m crystal structures has a marked effect on Seebeck coefficient, which displays a sharp enhancement at the transition te...


This technical note presents a method of checking the number of complex eigenvalues in some interested regions or the multiplicity of some complex eigenvalues for nonproportionally damped system. A Schur-Cohn matrix is constructed from the coeffi- cients of the characteristic polynomial for the damped system, and LDL T factorized using some standard numerical algorithms. By observing signs of the diagonal elements of the above diagonal matrix D, we can determine the number of complex eigenvalues in some interested regions or the multiplicity of some complex eigenvalues, which is very similar to the well-known Sturm sequence property for undamped systems. To verify the applicability of the proposed method, two numerical examples are considered.


This work was supported by a PhD studentship from the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute and the Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnologia (CONACYT) of Mexico.


ABSTRACT This article contextualizes football fandom in Ethiopia during a period of increasing political dissent, drawing on interviews and first-hand observations as well as historical and contemporary media and academic sources. The analysis takes into consideration socio-political realities while presenting the complexity of identity and belonging in contemporary Ethiopia. By engaging with spectator cultures, and the aesthetics of fandom at Ethiopian football stadiums, the article shows that the stadium is a space where Ethiopian fans express their concerns about socio-political injustices, the ethics of the media and police, and about identity and belonging.


in RF receiving coil design. However, modern is proportional to 0 , so that their population imaging techniques often demand very high speed difference is larger at high values of 0 . Since the and spatial resolution, so that the highest possible ratio of the energy difference to thermal energy is SNR is still required to avoid poor image quality. very small, the population difference increases in In this commentary, the physics underlying the direct proportion to 0 , as does the size of the variation of SNR with static field strength will be nuclear magnetic dipole moment. Secondly, the briefly reviewed, practical methods of optimizing Larmor frequency at which the dipole moment SNR will be outlined, including a discussion of the precesses is proportional to 0 so that the rate of principles of quadrature and phased-array RF change of flux linked to the RF coil also increases coils, and methods of measuring SNR for acceptin proportion to 0 . Therefore, by Faraday's law ance testing and quality assurance will be of electromagnetic induction, the signal produced discussed. by a dipole magnetic moment of constant magni-


The southwest passageway to sea refers to the great comprehensive channel of international trade and logistics from Chongqing via Zhaotong,Kunming,Dali and Ruili to Man Farrar,Myanmar,and to the high-speed railway,the express way,and oil and gas pipelines to the Indian Ocean in Yangon.As the shortest one from China to the Indian Ocean,this passageway is the need for Chongqing to break through the bottleneck of the inland development,shorten the space-and-time distance to the international market,and develop the "1144" Strategy.It is a guarantee of China's national economy,energy security and foreign policy.


The Chou-Yang model based on multiple diffraction theory has already been used by us to predict the characteristics of antiproton-proton elastic scattering at very high energies. But the recent precise data on proton elastic form factor obtained at JLab essentially deviates from the dipole approximation. We have parametrized the data for the form factor. The computations have been made by using the new expression for the form factor. The implications of the new form factor on the characteristics of antiproton-proton elastic scattering at very high energy have been studied.


This study proposes that intentional attributions (e.g., beliefs and desires) related to experiencing leisure can explain change in the meanings of experiences. Descriptions of change in leisure obtained from a panel study of 20 young adults were analyzed for evidence of intentions associated with progression along a continuum of multi-dimensional meanings. Results suggest that intentional change (e.g., from believing that one has the right to choose time to purposefully deciding to regain control over time) can predict dimensional change in meanings (e.g., from defining time as "free time" to "making time") and correspond with a different way of experiencing leisure.


Abstract Employee termination and retirement probabilities affect the valuation of employee benefit plans and thus are of concern to actuaries. To provide timely experience for the profession, the Society of Actuaries' Non-Mortality Decrement Task Force organized a data collection effort. Thirty-two contributors provided over 1.7 million life years of pension plan turnover data for years 1994–2000. This article summarizes the results of this data collection effort. Traditionally, the most important determinants of termination and retirement are age, a proxy for attachment to the workforce, and service, a measure of attachment to a firm. This article documents the importance of these traditional quantities using current data and provides tables so that actuaries may quantitatively assess their importance when valuing pension plans. For the middle working years, ages 25–55, we find female termination probabilities are higher than males, although the differences are smaller than has been true historically. The differences are insignificant for the younger working years or early service years. Moreover, for ages 55 and older, males have higher retirement probabilities than females. We also document the effect of several plan characteristics: eligibility for postretirement health benefits, benefit formula, hourly/salary and union status, as well as plan size. To assess the effects of plan characteristics while controlling for age, service, and gender, we use multinomial logit analysis, a regression methodology suitable for categorical outcomes. We find that small plans have slightly higher termination probabilities compared to medium and large plans (plan size is our proxy for employer size). Union hourly plans have lower termination probabilities than salaried plans; in turn, salaried plans have lower termination probabilities than nonunion hourly plans. Firms that offer richer benefits enjoy lower turnover. The data for this study were gathered using a traditional industry experience studies approach. To highlight the strengths and weaknesses of this approach, we compare this data set to several government sponsored probability samples on job turnover. In general, these samples are smaller and thus provide less credible estimates yet they allow the analyst to explore the complex interactions of the effects of several variables on turnover.


The present work analyzes the different forms of solidarity practice among women associations in the southern part of the Republic of Benin. These practices are analyzed in terms of endogenous strategies to reduce poverty and to increase empowerment of women. To conduct this research, we follow several approaches, to include that on reciprocity by Polanyi and Mauss, that on solidarity and voluntary phenomenon by Laville, and that on social bonds by Durkheim and Paugam. We analyze the process of empowerment and disempowerment in connection with reduction of poverty. Following a hypothetical-deductive approach, we draw on the literature to highlight issues related to practical solidarity in Africa in general and Benin in particular. This allows us to formulate hypotheses, identify objects to be analyzed, and data to be collected. We use three types of survey: a) case study with six local women associations, b) investigation in a reasoned way for an exclusive interview, c) crossed interviews with some twenty isolated respondents. This research enables us to develop a typology of local women associations based on the leadership of their leaders. Three models emerged: collectivism, interventionism and dependency (or wait and see). Each of these associative models differently impacts the state of poverty and the empowerment of women. Finally, participatory collectivism based on self-financing is the associative model that best meets the individual needs of the groups investigated, and further strengthens their collective capacity. Our recommendations point in this direction. In terms of significance, this research has the merit of: a) providing a new view on the controversial debate on the practice of solidarity in Africa (and Benin in particular), b) showing the shift from solidarity based on family and clan to solidarity based primarily on socially built ties, c) highlighting the conditions of realization of empowerment in the context of poverty and women hardship. Keywords: Poverty, Association, Solidarity and reciprocity, Empowerment and leadership, Solidarity-based economy


The article deals with random vibrations of the space shuttle weather protection systems. The excitation model represents a fit to the measured experimental data. The cross-spectral density is given as a convex combination of three exponential functions. It is shown that for the type of loading considered, the Bernoulli-Euler theory cannot be used as a simplified approach, and the structure will be more properly modeled as a Timoshenko beam. Use of the simple Bernoulli-Euler theory may result in an error of about 50% in determining the mean-square value of the bending moment in the weather protection system.


Policy changes in the last decade have codified the reporting, and expanded the use, of fair value accounting under US GAAP. We build a model of banks' discretionary fair value reporting decisions that involves a tradeoff between the benefit of recognizing high value assets and the cost of higher future volatility. The model predicts a positive correlation between the likelihood of reporting at fair value and a bank's capital ratio, and further, that this correlation should decline with increasing macroeconomic stability. Using quarterly panel data on fair value reporting from the Compustat Bank database from 2008-2012, we find strong support for both of these hypotheses. Our results illustrate and quantify the degree to which banks use discretion inherent in GAAP fair value accounting to mitigate declines in asset values in bad times. This channel explains 37% of the variation in the use of fair value across banks and over time in our sample, attenuating concerns over the contribution of fair value to the crisis.


When you get a positron emission tomography (PET) scan, the medical procedure begins minutes beforehand when a chemist prepares a radioactive imaging agent starting from a simple isotope-labeled compound created in a cyclotron. Radiation given off by the imaging agent, which is typically a sugar, peptide, or other so-called reporter biomolecule, can be tracked as the agent travels through your body, allowing for the assessment of drug distribution, protein expression, and metabolism to diagnose disease and monitor your health. During the past few years, chemists have reported a number of synthetic breakthroughs making 18F-labeled compounds. Fluorine can improve the performance of imaging agents by helping the compounds reach their targets. And 18F has a half-life of about 110 minutes, versus only about 20 minutes for 11C, the other commonly used PET isotope, providing more time to prepare the imaging agent. Two research groups have now devised synthetic strategies that offer


Two fractal image compression algorithms based on possibility theory are originally presented in this paper. Fuzzy sets are used to represent the edge character of each image block, and two kinds of membership function are designed. A fuzzy integrated judgement model is also proposed. The model generates an accurate value for each edge block, which would be a label during the search process. The edge possibility distribution function and the edge necessity level are designed to control the quantity of the blocks to be searched. Meanwhile the pre-restriction is proposed, the average intensity value at different locations is used to be a necessary condition before the MSE computations. It is shown by our experiments that the encoding times of our two algorithms, compared to that of Jacquin's approach, are reduced to 60%–70% and 10%–20%, respectively.


Bclud according to the Oxford English Dictionary, is a combination of qualities, in< cluding grace of form and charm of coloring that delights the sight or other senses. 1(p8) In practice, beauty may be easier to recognize than to define. We may each know it when we see it, hear it, or smell it, but to accurately describe beauty or the features that impart it to a face, song, or scent can be daunting. Aaron Spelling, the Hollywood producer, explains that he can't define it, but [he] know[s] it when it walks into the room. 2(p8) Physiological reactions may be triggered by the sudden apprehension of the beautiful object, as one modeling agent has noted: It's when someone opens the door and you almost can't breathe. 2(p8) In narrow usage, as applied to persons, beauty may be characterized as an individual or societal assessment of attractiveness influenced by cultural standards.


X-ray and electron diffraction studies were made on the two phases of 11-aminoundecanoic acid, C11H21NO2. Phase I: dihydrate, monoclinic, C2/c, z = 8, a = 15.96±0.03, b = 4.71±0.01, c = 35.48±0.08 A, β = 82.1±0.3°. Phase II: anhydrate, orthorhombic, P212121, z = 4, a = 7.526±0.003, b = 4.623±0.003, c = 32.42±0.01 A.


The effect of fading on antijam (AJ) performance is considered when the envelopes of both the desired signal and the jamming signal fade with a Nakagami distribution. Two cases are analysed for conventional systems. In the first case, the fading is assumed to be slow compared with the duration of the message. In the second case, the fading is assumed to be slow compared with the symbol duration but fast compared with the message duration. For both cases numerical results are also included.


A compact accelerator has been built which utilizes tritium targets bombarded by deuterons. A neutron source strength of 108 neutrons per second was achieved. It was possible by using a relatively low accelerating voltage of about 100 kilovolts to arrange the whole assembly so that it could easily be transported from one location to another.


Reticence toward male contraception is common not only among possible users but among most doctors as well. Traditional personal convictions do not make the idea of male contraception acceptable to them; moreover the greatest majority of male contraceptive methods are still experimental and very few doctors are willing to go to the trouble of testing them on their patients. The reticence of possible users depends on the still widespread confusion between masculine potency and the reproductive function; the same false reason is at the basis of many cases of impotence after vasectomy. A good number of women too are against male contraception since they prefer to have complete control over their reproductive function; besides if an unwanted pregnancy to a female contraception user is usually seen as a contraceptive failure an unwanted pregnancy to the wife of a male contraception user may very well be seen as a case of adultery at least in certain cultures.


[Objective] The study aimed to identify Lycium Linn.at molecular level.[Method] The nrDNA ITS sequence of 5 edible Lycium Linn.germplasm resources were investigated.[Result] The nr DNA ITS regions of five edible Lycium Linn.germplasm resources were sequenced.The whole sequences varied from 628 bp to 632 bp,with the average length of 630 bp.Total 79 variation sites were observed in the sequences,which accounts for 12.5%.[Conclusion] Sequence analysis based on nrDNA sequencing provides a new approach to identify edible Lycium Linn.germplasm resources.


Th e  soldier s h a ve bee n generall y accuse d o f th e violenc e ex ecute d agains t t o th e c i vilian s during the recruitments and levies, when this is not completely certain, or if it happened it was in a  testimonial and minority way, something that seeks to demonstrate this study. to  try to discard this myth, we have chosen the study of all the conflicts generated in castile by the recruitment of volunteers during the second half of the 17th century. although the enlistment of troops was a habitual topic of this time —in war or peacetime— the conflicts and violence that we know only affect a minimum part of the companies recruited during the whole period. in this work we will analyze the causes and reasons of all the conflicts and violence, the lodging of the troops in the cities during their period of recruit, and the problems generated by them.


Vermeer never left his city Delft, unlike his fellow men that moved to big cities for prosperous life and bigger art market. He dedicated his life to painting domestic space with its devotees who were mostly women. Painting process, regardless of being intellectual, creative and experimental, for Vermeer it needs commitment, strength and time.


Aim: Although there is a vast body of literature on the causes of variation in species composition in ecological communities, less effort has been invested in understanding how interactions between these species vary. Since interactions are crucial to the structure and functioning of ecological communities, we need to develop a better understanding of their spatial distribution. Here, we investigate whether species interactions vary more in response to different climate variables, than individual species do. Location: Eurasia. Time period: 2000s. Major taxa: Animalia. Methods: We used a measure of Local Contribution to Beta-Diversity to evaluate the compositional uniqueness of 51 host–parasite communities of rodents and their ectoparasitic fleas across Eurasia, using publicly available data. We measured uniqueness based on the species composition, and based on potential and realized biotic interactions (here, host-parasite interactions). Results: We show that species interactions vary more, across space, than species do. In particular, we show that species interactions respond to some climatic variables that have no effect on species distributions or dissimilarity. Main conclusions: Species interactions capture some degree of variation which is not apparent when looking at species occurrences only. In this system, this appeared as hosts and parasites interacting in different ways as a reponse to different environments, especially the temperature and dryness. We discuss the implications of this finding for the amount of information that should be considered when measuring community dissimilarity.


We propose a new method for detecting major road netflorks in high resolution satellite data, with possible applications to automated cartography. Detection is formulated as a discrete optimization problem in which the zost functional is constructed from the output of local filters, which are intended to identify likely road pixels. In addition, constraints are enforced based on connectivity and curvature, motivated by available information about French autoroutes. The optimization process utilizes dynamic programming and is performed at a lower resolution, which minimizes detection error at the expense of localization. This results in a low resolution "curve", or zone of pixels, within which the road may then easily be located at pixel resolution. road detection, SPOT satellite data


Abstract Despite the popularity of the organizational culture construct in the organizational psychology´s practice, it is important to scrutinize the theoretical and methodological quality standards of its principles in Brazil. The present study investigated 27 articles targeting at an organization´s culture, in 18 psychology and administration top-ranked journals, issued between 1996 and 2017. The articles were classified by their theoretical and methodological characteristics, such as type of data analysis, culture definitions, among others, to be further quantified and qualitatively reviewed. The trends were discussed in face of organizational culture´s global literature standards, and according to the characteristics of national organizational behavior literature. Special attention was recommended to the alignment between method and epistemology, as well as to a convergence towards global literature´s new developments.


The advantages of an electrophotographic printing process consist in its immediateness and its printing productivity. It is predictable that a color electrophotographic printing system utilizing a single photoreceptor drum or belt will have a limited printing speed. The practical demands of the future can only be met, it seems, by parallel processing of the four colors, yellow, magenta, cyan, and black.


General recognition theory (GRT; Ashby & Townsend, 1986) is a multivariate extension of signal detection theory to cases in which there is more than one perceptual dimension. GRT has traditionally only been concerned with behavioral data, but during the past decade or two, much has been learned about the architecture and functioning of the neural circuits that implement the perceptual and decision processes hypothesized by GRT. This chapter reviews this neuroscience literature, with a focus on three separate questions. First, what does the neuroscience literature say about the validity of GRT? Second, how can we use results from the neuroscience literature to improve GRT applications? Finally, how can GRT analyses be extended to neuroscience data?


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The article aims at analyzing some processes of securitization during the Gulf Wars of 1991 and 2003, in a comparative perspective, seeking to reveal how the influence of some of the most important political actors of the United States' decision-making structure is materialized, through their speeches, in an attempt to present some of the identified threats as socially constructed cognitive elements. To accomplish the task this research applied the conceptual framework provided by the Theory of Speech-Acts (TSA) and by the Theory of Securitization as well considering the current understanding of the so-called jus ad bellum (or right to wage war).


This study aimed to evaluate the mechanical properties of single walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT) reinforced composites using 3-D representative volume element (RVE). Then, RVE was created by finite element method using ABAQUS software. By using the results of atomic modeling, fiber and matrix interface properties were extracted and then a model for predicting the elastic modulus of nanocomposites was presented. Also, the longitudinal elastic module of Polyethylene/ CNT nanocomposite was computed and compared with experimental results. Load transfer conditions between CNTs and matrix were modeled using a separated interfacial region. Numerical examples using FEM were presented. Based on the modeling results, the increase of weight fraction of nanotubes led to the increase of equal elastic modulus of nanocomposite. By increasing the volume fraction of CNTs in the experiments, the dispersion of particles was much more difficult and the empirical results of elastic modulus were lower than those predicted by finite element software.


Abstract : Fatigue and fracture toughness properties were determined for STA 60 precipitation hardening stainless steel used in the structure of the 105-mm Light Gun. Fatigue properties (S-N crack for initiation and da/dN versus crack growth rate) and fracture toughness (JIc) were measured on both parent sheet and welded joints for a range of heat treatments including fully re-heat treated and peak aged (450C), overaged as in production (530C), and as-welded joints not re-heat treated. Keywords: Stainless steels; Precipitation hardening steels; 105-mm Light gun; Fracture toughness; Crack propagation; Fatigue; Gun carriages.


Numerical analyses have been performed using the Finite Element software on a single frame pile group of a Marine berthing structure in sloping ground. A case study from Chennai port trust (India) is taken with the actual soil profile of a marine environment. Diameter of piles at various locations in a sloping ground has been varied to study its influence on the load distribution among the piles and lateral load carrying capacity of the pile group. The results showed that increasing the diameter of piles in the slope crest increases the lateral load carrying capacity of the pile group, whereas increasing the pile diameter on the down slope redistributes the overall load on the frame. It is concluded that increasing the diameter of rear piles decreases the deflection of the structure to a large extent. Increasing the diameter of the front and rear piles distributes the load more evenly among the piles of the berthing structure.


Objectives The present study was carried out to investigate effects of HBPDS on allergic contact dermatitis (ACD) induced by 2,4-Dinitro-1-fluorobenzene (DNFB) in mice. In this experiment, effects of HBPDS on body weights, skin thicknesses, skin weights, histopathological changes, clinical aspects, erythema index, melanin index, production levels of cytokines in ACD mice were investigated. In addition, effects on proliferation rates, release of β -hexosaminidase and histamine were also investigated in vitro. / ㎖ of HBPDS treatment also decreased histamine release in vitro.


Energy Transitions Atomic spectroscopy is the determination of elemental composition by its electromagnetic or mass spectrum. The study of the electromagnetic spectrum of elements is called Optical Atomic Spectroscopy. Electrons exist in energy levels within an atom. These levels have well defined energies and electrons moving between them must absorb or emit energy equal to the difference between them. In optical spectroscopy, the energy absorbed to move an electron to a more energetic level and/or the energy emitted as the electron moves to a less energetic energy level is in the form of a photon. The wavelength of the emitted radiant energy is directly related to the electronic transition which has occurred. Since every element has a unique electronic structure, the wavelength of light emitted is a unique property of each individual element. As the orbital configuration of a large atom may be complex, there are many electronic transitions which can occur, each transition resulting in the emission of a characteristic wavelength of light, as illustrated below.


In this paper, the authors summarize the results of network calculus, describe two fundamental network calculus tools, i.e. arrival curve and service curve. Some results including the bottleneck effect of service curves, the optimal and approximate deterministic end to end delay bounds, and the service curve for a network node offering guaranteed service are obtained in this paper. Finally, the authors compute the deterministic end to end delay bounds in guaranteed service with rate latency and PGPS (packetized generalized processor sharing) service curves.


A novel partially fluorinated and sulfonated poly(arylene sulfone) was successfully synthesized via nucleophilic polycondensation of 2,2-Bis(4-fluorophenyl)hexafluoropropane with 4,4'-Thiobisbenzenethiol (TBBT). In a second step the prepared poly(arylene sulfide) was oxidized to poly(arylene sulfone). The polymer was blended with the polybenzimidazole PBIOO to obtain a mechanically stable membrane. This film was compared with other polymer blends, which were synthesized in our groups in the last years. All membranes were analyzed in terms of water uptake, thermal and oxidative stability. Additional the blend membranes were characterized by gel permeation chromatography (GPC). The novel poly(arylene)sulfone SPSO blend shows a high molecular weight and an excellent TSO3H, onset of 334°C. The proton conductivity is 0,11 S/cm and the water uptake reaches 30%.


The inspection and treatment of an on-line monitor without indication for 110 kV ZnO arrestor (MOA) were introduced.Through live line testing the MOA,inspecting the on-line monitor and testing the insulation of the MOA foundation,several causes of its abnormal indication were pointed out.


This paper analyses the two different structure of the rotary valve structure, and lists the working principle and oil circuit of power steering gear in different tectonic. Through analysis the two kinds of structure proves the more conducive to improve the structure of the rotary valve sensitivity and stability. It can be used for reference in the actual processing.


stele from Muong Fa Daed. Or (p. 154), "Unfortunate attempts were made (in the Bangkok period) to imitate the Khmer styles of sculpture." All styles were copied in that eclectic period, not merely the Khmer. Laos is covered in exactly 554" of text, and none of it is very informative. "There were no stone buildings" (p. 155). Wat Phu in Champassak is a large and important stone temple compound. He also makes the sweeping statement, "Buddhist images are all crude versions of Ayuthia style" (p. 160). Many are, but there are also many handsome images, locally made, of Sukhothai, U'Thong, Chiengsaen style, and examples of Khmer and Dvaravati types. Finally, from the same chapter, p. 159, "And the walls of Korat, with their gates might be in China." They might, indeed. However they are not in Laos, But in Thailand, a very few miles from that northern-southern temple of Phimai. One is glad to find a work for students which contains a large selection (241) of photographs. Some of them are excellent, but the students will not be happy with the dark and muddy quality of a large proportion which makes important details difficult to comprehend. The major criticism is that the text is too thin and too bland; the author seems to underrate the capacity of his audience, either undergraduate or interested general public. Also, the bibliography is inadequate. Many important publications and articles have appeared in the last few years, but only three books, one of them useless, are listed after i960.


The main purpose of this study is to explore the impact of R&D investment on the proxies of income or wealth among ASEAN countries. Gross national income (GNI) per capital will be used as proxy of wealth in this study. This study is of significant because in order to cope with the globalization and transforming into knowledge based economy both the government and industries have beefed up efforts in R & D. Nevertheless, prior research only examined the significance of R&D investment at the firm rather than country level. Some believe that it enhances corporate growth while other found it generates higher income much later. In terms of methodology, multi-factor model will be employed as it is a better alternative comparing to the CAPM and APT in explaining variations in stock returns. Relevant data will be extracted from secondary resources. Furthermore, time series econometrics will be used to analyze and provide results to the objectives proposed in this study. Apart from providing additional information to the practitioners to facilitate better decision making in the future and enriching the existing literature to pave ways for more researchers to the academics, this study also intends to contribute useful input for future policy formulation.


In this paper,the observed meteorological data are used to analyze the climatic change characteristics in the south coastal area of the Laizhou Bay in the last 50 years.It is shown from the analysis results that the air temperature in the area has steadily increased since 1954;the annual mean precipitation in the area fluctuated in the last 50 years,that before 1970 was larger,that during 1970 to 1990 was smaller,and that after 1990 increased again.The variations in air temperature and precipitation and the increasing human activities in the area have resulted in the rapid development of seawater intrusion in the area,the increase in occurrence frequency and strength of typhoon storm surge in the area and the changes in coastal ecosystem.


Significance The root of eukaryote phylogeny formally represents the last eukaryotic common ancestor (LECA), but its position has remained controversial. Using new genome sequences, we revised and expanded two datasets of eukaryotic proteins of bacterial origin, which previously yielded conflicting views on the eukaryotic root. Analyses using state-of-the-art phylogenomic methodology revealed that both expanded datasets now support the same root position. Our results justify a new nomenclature for the two main eukaryotic groups and provide a robust phylogenetic framework to investigate the early evolution of the eukaryotic cell. The large phylogenetic distance separating eukaryotic genes and their archaeal orthologs has prevented identification of the position of the eukaryotic root in phylogenomic studies. Recently, an innovative approach has been proposed to circumvent this issue: the use as phylogenetic markers of proteins that have been transferred from bacterial donor sources to eukaryotes, after their emergence from Archaea. Using this approach, two recent independent studies have built phylogenomic datasets based on bacterial sequences, leading to different predictions of the eukaryotic root. Taking advantage of additional genome sequences from the jakobid Andalucia godoyi and the two known malawimonad species (Malawimonas jakobiformis and Malawimonas californiana), we reanalyzed these two phylogenomic datasets. We show that both datasets pinpoint the same phylogenetic position of the eukaryotic root that is between "Unikonta" and "Bikonta," with malawimonad and collodictyonid lineages on the Unikonta side of the root. Our results firmly indicate that (i) the supergroup Excavata is not monophyletic and (ii) the last common ancestor of eukaryotes was a biflagellate organism. Based on our results, we propose to rename the two major eukaryotic groups Unikonta and Bikonta as Opimoda and Diphoda, respectively.


In the early and middle stage of Northern Wei, the Pseudo Jue system was adopted. As the foundation of Northern Wei, Pseudo Jue and Jue system were established almost at the same time. Pseudo Jue did not have its own title and Jue-level, but shared those of Jue' s. The granting of Pseudo Jue was closely related to the appointment of government officials. The country'a stipulation defined the specific condition for the granting, promotion and exemptions of the Pseudo Jue. Pseudo Jue was closely tied with Jue, and their promotion conditions can be cross-referenced. Pseudo Jue system was abolished as Xiaowen Emperor began to reform Jue system, and implemented Founding and Individual Jue system.


: The open office as an innovative workplace type, became increasingly widespread since 1970s. While open offices have benefits for organizations regarding supervising employees, efficiency and flexibility, there are findings regarding employees to have negative features such as noise, loss of organizational identity and increase in mental workload. This study aims to assess the positive and negative effects of the open office by using qualitative research design. Three themes were named as physical properties, human relations and solution suggestions. In addition, it was concluded that employees generally want to their work spaces in open office environment divided with physical separators.


The evaluation of proton cross section data for aluminum is presented for incident proton energies from 0.1 MeV to 150 MeV. The main objective of this work is to provide a complete representation of nuclear data needed for design of an accelerator-based facility to produce radioisotopes, including analyses of system performance, transport, radioactivity, and shielding requirements. The calculation has been performed with the nuclear reaction model code Talys and validated with available experimental data. The model parameters were taken from the literatures or existing libraries and were adjusted to reproduce the measured data. Our evaluation contains the production cross sections and the double-differential cross sections for all possible residual channels as well as the light particles, such as neutrons, protons, deuterons, tritons, He nuclei and alpha particles. The data in this work are shown to be in good agreements with the available experimental data.


Just as Europe once exported its own state system of international relations to the rest of the world, so too are Asian countries now reshaping the international system. The conditions for international relations are changing to the advantage of large countries with a strong state, and China plays an important role in this process. If the European Union wants to remain an influential player in the international order, it needs to make clear political-strategic choices.


The mutual arrangements of a real algebraic or real pseudoholomorphic plane projective

 M
 M

-sextic and a line up to isotopy are studied. A complete list of pseudoholomorphic arrangements is obtained. Four of them are proved to be algebraically unrealizable. All the others with two exceptions are algebraically realized.


Using the Winnipeg Fringe Theatre Festival in Manitoba, Canada as the context, the purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between personal values and motivations for attending a festival. More specifically the work had two primary research questions. First, what are the dominant tourist values and tourist motivations for visitors to the Winnipeg Fringe Festival? Second, what is the relationship between visitors' values and their motivations for attending the festival? Visitors rated self-respect (M = 6.30), fun and enjoyment in life (M = 6.26), warm relationship with others (M = 6.19), and self-fulfillment (M = 6.15) as the top personal values based on Kahle's (1983) LOV scale. Strongest motivations for attending the festival were: to be entertained (M = 6.45), to learn something new (M = 5.31), to go to the Fringe to be with others who enjoy the same thing (M = 5.19), to spend time with friends (M = 5.03), and to attend a cultural event not normally having an opportunity to go to (M = 4.93). Treating the top five motivation items as separate dependent variables, a series of stepwise regression analyses were conducted. The nine personal value items explained between 8% and 13% of the variance in the five motivation items. Belonging explained the most variance across the five regression analyses. Implications for the festival as well as future research endeavors are highlighted in the closing of the paper.


Microwave-assisted organic synthesis and continuous-flow techniques have been successfully employed for the preparation of conjugated linoleic acids (CLA), compounds with high health beneficial effects. A good production rate of CLA was obtained. A sustainable methodology for the differentiation of both positional and geometrical CLA isomers (diene), based on the analysis by NMR spectroscopy of the resulting Diels–Alder cycloadducts with an appropriate dienophile, was developed.


In the present investigation, silver@titania (Ag@TiO2) plasmonic nanocomposite materials with different Ag content were prepared using a simple one-step chemical reduction method and used as a photoanode in high-performance dye-sensitized solar cells. Transmission electron microscopic images revealed the uniform distribution of ultra-small Ag nanoparticles with a particle size range of 2–4 nm on the TiO2 surface. The incorporation of Ag on the TiO2 surface significantly influenced the optical properties in the region of 400–500 nm because of the surface plasmon resonance effect. The dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) assembled with the Ag@TiO2-modified photoanode demonstrated an enhanced solar-to-electrical energy conversion efficiency (4.86%) compared to that of bare TiO2 (2.57%), due to the plasmonic effect of Ag. In addition, the Ag nanoparticles acted as an electron sink, which retarded the charge recombination. The influence of the Ag content on the overall efficiency was also investigated, and the optimum Ag content with TiO2 was found to be 2.5 wt%. The enhanced solar energy conversion efficiency of the Ag@TiO2 nanocomposite makes it a promising alternative to conventional photoanode-based DSSCs.


In the experiment,we used LiNi_(0.8)Co_(0.2)O_2 as active materials,carbon black as conductive materials,PVDF as binder,to make electrodes by solution casting.The emphasis of this article is to discuss how the composition of binder PVDF in cathode affected the performance of the cathode.The results show that when the composition of PVDF is 4%,the lithium-ion cell has the best cycling performance which first discharge capacity is 190mAh/g and first coulomb efficiency is 91%.When assembled 18650 cell,its discharge capacity maintains 97.8%(1832mAh) after fifty cycles.


Background: Working conditions in Brazil, both material and contextual, are not suitable for the exercise of the educator's profession nor for the well-being of educators, which is being, therefore, strongly affected. In addition, a little more than three quarters of teaching professionals in Brazilian Basic Education are women. Design: The methodology used was qualitative in nature. Participants: seven Basic Education teachers, who participated as collaborators in the study, narrated their experiences as educators, and the research sought to explain the meanings and senses of the phenomena narrated by them. Data collection and analysis : To collect the information, two Conversation Rounds of two hours and thirty minutes each were held, and a structured questionnaire was applied to obtain personal and professional data from the collaborators. Then, to analyze this information, the strategy suggested by Strauss and Corbin (2012) was used. Results : From the teachers' testimonies, it was found that their training experiences were marked by the motivations for choosing to be a teacher, their insertion in the teaching community and the awareness of their role as educators. Conclusions : It was concluded that the process of becoming a teacher is characterized by unique sociocultural experiences, in which relationships with others have been crucial for the constitution of oneself as teaching professionals.