During the past few years a vast amount of research has been done to increase the understanding of the complex ecosystem of the Baltic Sea. Modelling and simulations are important tools to increase knowledge of the system. A suitable model must be simple to use and the parameters and variables needed in the model must be easy to access. In this paper a dynamical mass-balance model, CoastMab, which is validated for smaller coastal areas, has been used to predict concentrations and transports of phosphorus in three large coastal areas - the Gulf of Finland, the Gulf of Gdansk and the Gulf of Riga. CoastMab uses ordinary differential equations to regulate inflow, outflow and internal flows. To reflect seasonal variations in temperature and different types of flows the model has a temporal resolution of a month. The main purposes of this paper have been to evaluate CoastMab, predict the concentrations and the transports of phosphorus in each coastal area and to analyse how much and why the results differ from empirical data. The performed simulations show the importance of a correct calculation of the wave base. This is due to its influence on the division between surface and deep water as well as the division of areas of accumulation and areas of erosion and transport. The retention times of surface and deep water calculated by the model also is of great importance because of their direct influence on the flow of water between the study area and the sea outside the area. This together with the concentration of phosphorus determines the flow of phosphorus in and out of the study area. The dynamical mass-balance model is considered to work well in the three studied areas even though the areas are outside the model domain in several respects. Even if the predictions of the phosphorus concentration in the gulf of Riga was less accurate than in the other study areas, the prediction was inside the interval of standard deviation that has been calculated from empirical data. The major flow of phosphorus in the model was in the cross section between the Baltic proper and the modelled coastal area. Since the model is easy to use and requires only a small number of obligatory input variables it would be appealing to continue development of the model to handle coastal areas of the same size and larger than the study areas in this paper.


The spectra of 58 bursts observed by the BATSE Spectroscopy Detectors were fit satisfactorily from less than 30 keV to more than an MeV by a 4 parameter model consisting of two power laws with a smooth transition. We find that a distribution of spectral indices is required instead of the low energy E−1 dependence found in previous work. The break energy ranges from less than 100 keV to more than an MeV, peaking below 200 keV; this suggests that the break is not tied directly to pair processes in all bursts. We did not find any conclusive correlations among the spectral parameters; our sample is probably inappropriate for the correlations predicted by the cosmological models.


Human resources development is the primary condition for tourist hotel s gain advantages in competition. But problems arising from the current system p ose the major obstacle against the hotel tourism industry in China. Therefore, w e need to have a clear understanding human resources and hotel system arrangemen t before we are able to make a selection for a more rational system is unavoidable.


.......................................................................................................................... vi TABLE OF CONTENTS ..................................................................................................... viii LIST OF FIGURES ................................................................................................................ xi LIST OF TABLES ................................................................................................................ xiii ABBREVIATIONS .............................................................................................................. xiv Chapter I: Introduction ....................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Human and mouse prostate ................................................................................. 2 1.2 Histology of the normal prostate ........................................................................ 5 1.3 Prostate stem cells ............................................................................................... 5 1.4 PCa development and treatment ......................................................................... 8 1.5 Cancer cell heterogeneity ................................................................................. 11 1.6 Evidence and identification of CSCs ................................................................ 13 1.7 Promoters used in genetically engineered mouse models of prostate cancer ... 14 1.8 Commonly utilized GEM models of prostate cancer ........................................ 17 Chapter II: Phage Display Technique ............................................................................... 21


The surface species on a commercial VPO catalysts for n \|butane selective oxidation to maleic anhydride have been investigated using diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier\|transform spectroscopy. The catalyst was exposed to the reaction mixture flow of 50 mL/min with 1.5% n \|butane in air at temperature from 100~400 ℃. Adsorbed n \|butane was not found, but adsorbed maleic anhydride, and carbon oxide species were observed on the catalyst surfaces. In addition, adsorbed maleic acid and highly reactive olefinic species could be detected.


The Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) has been applied to all aspects of social livelihood and military applications and has become an important part of national infrastructure construction. However, due to the vulnerability of GNSS, satellite navigation jamming technology can pose a serious threat to GNSS security applications, and this has become a research hotspot in the field of navigation countermeasures. In this paper, satellite navigation jamming technologies are divided into suppression jamming and deception jamming, and the research status of satellite navigation suppression jamming and deception jamming technologies are sorted by three aspects: jamming technology classification, jamming efficiency evaluation, and jamming source deployment. Finally, the future development trend of satellite navigation jamming technology is summarized.


Abstract : This report describes the physical characterization of cobalt nanoparticles formed using (1) polysiloxane copolymer micelles and (2) poly(styrene-b-4-vinylphenoxyphtalonitrile) copolymer solutions. Formation of silica coatings around the cobalt nanoparticles is shown to protect the cobalt from oxidation in aerobic environments. Native particles have a narrow particle size distribution while pyrolyzed particles appear to comprise a bimodal or broader distribution of sizes. Pyrolysis of the native sample increases the cobalt specific saturation magnetization. Native cobalt nanoparticles formed in poly(styrene-b-4-vinylphenoxyphthalonitrile) copolymer solutions are weakly crystalline while their pyrolyzed counterparts have a high degree of crystallinity. Pyrolysis increases the cobalt specific saturation magnetization from approximately 80 emu/g Co to values close to that observed for bulk cobalt (160 emu/g Co). The formation of a graphitic coating around the cobalt nanoparticles upon pyrolysis appears to prevent oxidation of the cobalt in air.


In this paper, a new linear Vernier permanent-magnet machine is proposed. By using high-temperature superconducting (HTS) winding to provide an additional field excitation, a hybrid excitation machine is achieved. The HTS field winding is accommodated in the stator and PMs are mounted on the mover surface. By regulating the dc current flowing in the HTS field winding, the air-gap flux can be flexibly controlled. First, the proposed machine and the cooling system for the HTS field winding are presented. Second, the operating principle of the proposed machine is discussed. Third, by using the 3-D finite element method, the performance of the proposed machine is evaluated. Finally, a conclusion is drawn.


ObjectiveThere has been limited research on accurate staging of the menopausal transition in sub-Saharan African women. Our aim was to assess the usefulness of the Stages of Reproductive Aging Workshop + 10 (STRAW + 10) criteria in staging ovarian aging in black South African women, examining whether obesity has any effect on the menopausal transition. MethodsThe study enrolled 702 women aged 40 to 60 years. STRAW + 10 criteria were used to categorize the stages of reproductive aging. The Menopause Rating Scale was used to measure the prevalence of vasomotor symptoms. Follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and estradiol levels were used as supportive criteria for staging. Human immunodeficiency virus status was assessed using a point-of-care method. ResultsReported age at final menstrual period (FMP) was higher in women interviewed within 4 years of FMP (mean [SD], 49.0 [3.80] y) than in women interviewed 10 years or more after FMP (mean [SD], 42.0 [4.06] y; P < 0.0005). In women within 4 years of FMP, lower body mass index was associated with earlier age at FMP. FSH levels increased and estradiol levels decreased (P < 0.0005 for both trends) across seven staging groups. Human immunodeficiency virus status had no effect on menopause symptoms. Obesity (body mass index ≥35.0 kg/m2) was associated with severe vasomotor symptoms. ConclusionsReporting of age at FMP is unreliable in women interviewed 4 years or more after the event. STRAW + 10 seems accurate in staging reproductive aging, as confirmed by the strong association of FSH and estradiol levels with the menopausal transition stage. STRAW + 10 may be appropriate for use in resource-limited settings in the absence of biomarkers. Biocultural methods may be useful in assessing the menopausal transition in culturally diverse women.


Objective To approach the clinical effects of indolence Gastroscopy.Methods Prepare examination the same with convention gastroscopy preoperatively.1-2mg/kg Fentanyl was intravenous injected during 15-20 s and one min later 1.5-2mg/kg Propofol was bolus during 30s-40s when the lash reflex was slown or even vanished,and spontaneously breathing became normal,gastroscopy could be undertaken.If the patients showed restlessness during the operation,0.5 mg/kg Propofol should be added to.Results None of the patients showed serious adverse reaction or concurrent diseases.All of them came to their conscious during 15 min after the examination and no suffering recall left.Conclusion The indolence gastroscop is safety,easy and feasible method for the exiamination of pastric diseases with less pain.


The prosecution's surveillance on the execution of civil judgments,being more transparent,more effective and more able to win people's heart than the internal supervision of the judiciary,conduces not only to the impartiality of the execution but also to the check or even rooting-out of "abuse of execution," which is of considerable value in practice.The supervisory power of the prosecution per se is founded on law,China's unique constitutional system and the consideration of distribution of judicial powers.Based on the practice of the execution of civil judgments in China,people should go further to resort to enactment to reinforce such a power.


In this paper, we present the investigation of the evolutionary status of three open clusters: Berkeley 27, Berkeley 34 and Berkeley 36, all located in the Galactic anticentre direction. All of them were observed with SUperb Seeing Imager 2 at the New Technology Telescope using the Bessel B, V and I filters. The cluster parameters have been obtained using the synthetic colour–magnitude diagram (CMD) method, i.e. the direct comparison of the observational CMDs with a library of synthetic CMDs generated with different evolutionary sets (Padova, FRANEC and FST). This analysis shows that Berkeley 27 has an age between 1.5 and 1.7 Gyr, a reddening E(B−V) in the range 0.40–0.50 and a distance modulus (m−M)0 between 13.1 and 13.3; Berkeley 34 is older with an age in the range 2.1–2.5 Gyr, E(B−V) between 0.57 and 0.64 and (m−M)0 between 14.1 and 14.3; Berkeley 36, with an age between 7.0 and 7.5 Gyr, has a reddening of E(B−V) ∼ 0.50 and a distance modulus (m−M)0 between 13.1 and 13.2. For all the clusters, our analysis suggests a subsolar metallicity in accord with their position in the outer Galactic disc.


Chapter 1. Analyze the Skill You Are Teaching Chapter 2. Structure Tasks to Promote Success Chapter 3. Design Tasks That Are Fun, Engaging, and Safe Chapter 4. Design Tasks That Stimulate Cognitive Engagement Chapter 5. Accountability: Assess Students' Learning As Part of the Task.


The traditional Indian society places women in a very high regards, the Vedas glorified women as the mother, the creator, one who gives life and worshipped her as a "Devi" or Goddess. The women occupied a vital role and as such her subjugation and mistreatment were looked upon as demeaning to not only the woman but towards the whole society. However, in modern times women are viewed and portrayed as sex objects, she is treated inferior to men in various societal spheres and functions, this has created a huge gender bias between the men and women where even the men think that their wrongdoings towards women cannot be penalized. Cybercrime and internet bullying works in similar manner where the wrong-doers are not afraid of any authority that can penalize. The cyber world in itself has a virtual reality where anyone can hide or even fake his identity, this gift of internet is used by the criminally minded to commit wrongful acts and then hide under the blanket provided by the internet.


Background: Anesthetic procedures are major potent stimulus for the neuroendocrine hormonal axis, which results in release of the stress hormone. It is important to know the influence of specific anesthetic procedures on those host responses. We compared endocrine stress response and anesthesia characteristics for TIVA (total intravenous anesthesia) and VIMA (volatile induction and maintenance of anesthesia). Methods: Forty patients scheduled for elective total abdominal hysterectomy were randomly assigned to TIVA or VIMA group. The patients in TIVA group (n = 20) received target controlled infusion (TCI) of propofol and fentanyl TCI with Stelpump software, and the patients in VIMA group (n = 20) received sevoflurane-nitrous oxide for induction (6%) and maintenance (1.5%) of anesthesia. Blood sampling was done 5 minutes before induction (baseline blood sample, BBS), just after intubation (intubation blood sample, IBS), just after extubation (extubation blood sample, EBS), and at arrival in recovery room (recovery room blood sample, RBS). Plasma concentration of glucose, cortisol, epinephrine, norepinephrine were measured. Bispectal Index (BIS) and systolic, diastolic blood pressure, heart rate, induction and recovery profiles were also measured. Results: In both groups, there was significant increase of the blood cortisol and glucose level in EBS and RBS. But only in VIMA group, there was significant increase of the blood cortisol level in IBS. There was no change of the blood epinephrine and norepinephrine in both groups at EBS and RBS, but only in VIMA group, there was significant increase of epinephrine and norepinephrine at IBS. Blood pressure and heart rate increased significantly at IBS in VIMA group, compared with TIVA group. Conclusions: In VIMA group, there was significant increase of stress response and hemodynamic change only during induction of anesthesia. However, in TIVA group, there was no significant increase of stress response and hemodynamic change during induction, maintenance and recovery of anesthesia.


Ion implantation doping and isolation has played a critical role in the realization of high performance photonic and electronic devices in all mature semiconductor material systems. This is also expected to be the case for the binary 111-V nitrides (InN, GaN, and AN) and their alloys as the epitaxial material quality improves and more advanced device structures are fabricated. With this in mind, we review the status of implant doping and isolation of GaN and the ternary alloys AlGaN, InGaN, and InAlN. In particular, we reported on the successful nand ptype doping of GaN by ion implantation of Mg+P and Si, respectively, and subsequent high temperature rapid thermal anneals in excess of 1000 "C. In the area of implant isolation, N-implantation has been shown to compensate both nand p-type GaN, N and 0-implantation effectively compensates InAlN, and InGaN shows limited compensation with either N or F implantation.


The paper describes the hardware and software architecture of a multicomputer control system of a very fast robot. The control system was designed for research and educational purposes with two goals in mind. First, it had to be flexible and modifiable with respect to control algorithms applied to particular axes. Second, the interfacing of the system to additional devices, such as environmental sensors and other robots, should be possible with only limited effort. The various constraints and considerations imposed by these goals are examined. In addition, the technical problems related to the use of direct drive motors are described, and the impact of the requirement for very fast operation on the system architecture is discussed.


The utility model discloses a wearing type monitor of cardiac electric and respiratory rate based on Zigbee, comprising a portable managing module of power supply and a collecting and conditioning module for physiological signals. The utility model is characterized in that the wearing type monitor also comprises a Zigbee wireless data transceiving module connected with the collecting and conditioning module for physiological signal. The utility model adopts new solving scheme of wireless data communication of low power consumption based on the wearable detecting technology, achieving the monitor with wireless transmission of physiological signal of cardiac electric and respiratory rate and real-time analysis, treatment and display functions, has the advantages of high portability, uninterrupted real-time detection, low power consumption, low cost, high detection accuracy, strong motion anti-interference ability, miniaturization, high comfort, and the like.


Wake fields are a limiting factor due to their collective effects. In colliders and high energy accelerators used in FEL projects short bunches excite high frequency fields which make the computation of near range wake fields difficult due to resolution problems. Additionally, the length of modern accelerating structures limit the various abilities of codes such as TBCI or MAFIA[1] due to limited memory. Both limiting factors, i.e. short bunches and length of accelerating structures – a multi-scale problem, can be dealt with in the following way. Using zero dispersion directions of the leap-frog update scheme on a usual Cartesian grid leads to a decrease of the overall dispersion which usually arises by having discrete field values. Combined with a conformal modeling technique allowing for simulations using the full time step given by the Courant criterion a moving window technique can be applied. Thus, simulations of short bunches in long structures are possible – dispersion and memory problems have been avoided. Results for common structures of accelerator physics – such as collimators, tapers and the TESLA nine cell structure are shown.


This research aims to describe literary communication betwen Indonesian and French literary works.  The literary communications of the romances by Indonesian and French authors, particularly in this study between the romances by Albert Camus and Iwan Simatupang provided all possible significant effects that emerged from earlier work to the next work. The research method applied to analyze data is the semiotic method.  This research resulted in a finding that was related between two literary work of different countries, Indonesia and France, mainly related to the structure of the story, characterizations, settings of time and place. The two works were also produced by two authors who have the same world views and ideology, namely existentialism. The literary communication that flies between the two literary works is based on the structure of work and at the same time the ideology underlying it.


Nurse auxiliary vocational training courses are an important part of the healthcare system. This article aims to describe and analyse Brazil's scientific production on the creation and implementation of such courses. Using Scoping Review, we identified 10 suitable studies. The area of study was approached from diverse points of view including history, education, the creation of a new professional category and the history of these training schools. We analysed the influence of social changes in Brazil and the consolidation of nursing as a discipline in the 1950s. We concluded that social and professional changes, as well as the development of education in Brazil, promoted the creation of training courses and improved nurse auxiliaries professional development.


A simple formula for the leaky-mode loss in realistic depressed-cladding (DC) fibers is presented. It takes the finite dimension of the substrate cladding and the presence of the coating into account. The losses show oscillations versus both the wavelength and the width of the substrate cladding. Additional small humps occurring in the transmission curves of cutoff measurements are well explained.<<ETX>>


Silicon dioxide films grown under dry and wet oxidation environment on beta-SiC films have been studied. The beta-SiC films had been heteroepitaxially grown on both on-axis and 2-deg off-axis (001) Si substrates. Capacitance-voltage and conductance-voltage characteristics of metal-oxide-semiconductor structures were measured in a frequency range of 10 kHz to 1 MHz. From these measurements, the interface trap density and the effective fixed oxide charge density were observed to be generally lower for off-axis samples.


We propose a two-stage replacement for established "clearinghouse" or "captive and shopper" pricing models: second-stage retail prices are constrained by first-stage list prices. In contrast to the mixed-strategy equilibria of single-stage games, a unique profile of distinct prices is supported by the play of pure strategies along the equilibrium path, and so we predict stable price dispersion. We find novel results in applications to models of sales, product prominence, advertising, and consumer search.


Breast cancer (BC) accounts for 24% of female cancers, with approximately one quarter of women likely to have offspring aged less than 25 years. Recent publications demonstrate negative psychosocial well‐being in these offspring. We prospectively assessed for psychological distress and unmet needs in offspring of BC patients.


The new synthetic estrogen, diethylstilbestrol (4:4-dihydroxy-alpha:beta-diethyl stilbene), announced by Dodds and coworkers, 1 has been found capable of producing in animals all the effects previously obtained with naturally occurring estrogens. Early reports indicated that it would be clinically useful when we began studies upon patients in March, 1939. We found in 41 patients (14 complete castrates, 7 partial castrates, 5 patients with primary eunuch-oidism and amenorrhea, and 15 patients with severe symptoms of the spontaneous menopause), that relief of the nervous and vasomotor symptoms, estrous changes in the vaginal smears, proliferative endo-metrial changes and breast growth could be produced by oral or subcutaneous administration of 1 mg to 5 mg daily of diethylstilbestrol dipropionate. An analysis of these studies is to be published elsewhere. To determine whether subcutaneous pellet implantation would be effective, hard pellets of diethylstilbestrol dipropionate weighing approximately 100 mg each were implanted in 6 women who had had both ovaries removed. The sterile pellets were inserted through a small subcutaneous incision in the lumbar region and the wound closed with a stitch. Within 2 days the castrate type vaginal smears showed estrous changes and within 7 to 10 days this response was marked. Endometrial biopsies showed active proliferation within 7 days. The menopausal symptoms, both psychic and vasomotor, were greatly relieved. These changes persisted as long as the pellets remained in place. Symptoms recurred within about 2 weeks in 3 cases when pellets were removed and not replaced. The pellets were extracted and weighed at intervals and the average daily absorption calculated by the weight loss. Pellets have been removed after periods varying from 27 to 53 days. Average daily absorption per pellet has ranged from 0.127 to 0.250 mg, corresponding to a dose of 2,540 to 5,000 international (estrone) units daily.


Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is associated with a host of neurobiological changes, including abnormalities in subcortical and cortical structure and function. The majority of neuroimaging studies have been motivated by a fear-conditioning perspective to examine neural changes associated with PTSD, with several studies finding alterations in the amygdala, hippocampus, and medial prefrontal cortex. However, not all studies have replicated these findings, suggesting that perhaps more nuanced models of PTSD may be needed to account for the pathophysiology of the disorder. We review neuroimaging findings related to the fear model, encouraging researchers to consider additional factors such as trauma type, age of trauma, and affective neurodynamics. Explicit consideration of these factors may facilitate greater coherence among studies going forward and advance our understanding of the neurobiological alterations associated with PTSD. [Psychiatr Ann. 2016;46(9):519-526.] Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), resulting from a traumatic experience (or set of experiences), is a debilitating disorder with a lifetime prevalence in US adults of approximately 7.8%.1 PTSD symptoms include avoidance, re-experiencing of the trauma, hyperarousal and hypervigilance, sleep disturbances, and anhedonia. People suffering from PTSD show signs of hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis dysregulation, alterations to neural circuits involved in emotional and stress regulation, and heightened fearpotentiated startle responses. This article highlights the current state of neuroimaging research in PTSD, with a particular focus on shortcomings of the "status quo" picture of brainimaging alterations and how the field Daniel W. Grupe, PhD, is an Assistant Scientist, Center for Healthy Minds and Waisman Laboratory for Brain Imaging and Behavior. Aaron S. Heller, PhD, is an Assistant Professor, Departments of Psychology and Psychiatry, University of Miami. Address correspondence to Daniel W. Grupe, PhD, Center for Healthy Minds and Waisman Laboratory for Brain Imaging and Behavior, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 902 University Bay Drive, Madison, WI 53705; email: email@example.com. Disclosure: The authors have no relevant financial relationships to disclose. doi: 10.3928/00485713-20160803-01 Daniel W. Grupe, PhD; and Aaron S. Heller, PhD


A magnetic-field-sensing system that consists of a miniature zero-power magnetometer, an integrated micromachined corner-cube reflector (CCR), commercially available diode laser, and a photo-detector array, has been designed, fabricated, assembled, and tested. The sensor node occupies a volume of only 1.5 mm/sup 3/ and can detect a magnetic field between 0 to 6 kA/m. The primary application of this technology is in wireless sensing systems that must operate continuously without providing or maintaining the sensor-node energy (e.g., replacing batteries or scavenging energy) or in extremely harsh environments.


We identified a gene encoding the N-acetylmuramoyl L-alanine amidase (amiB) of Vibrio anguillarum, which catalyzes the degradation of peptidoglycan in bacteria. The entire open reading frame (ORF) of the amiB gene was composed of 1,722 nucleotides and 573 amino acids. The deduced amino acid sequence of AmiB showed a modular structure with two main domains; an N-terminal region exhibiting an Ami domain and three highly conserved, continuously repeating LysM domains in the C-terminal portion. An amiB mutant was constructed by homologous recombination to study the biochemical function of the AmiB protein in V. anguillarum. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) revealed morphological differences, and that the mutant strain formed trimeric and tetrameric unseparated cells, suggesting that this enzyme is involved in the separation of daughter cells after cell division. Furthermore, inactivation of the amiB gene resulted in a marked increase of sensitivity to oxidative stress and organic acids.


The selective catalytic reduction of NOx with hydrocarbons (HC-SCR) on functionalized multiwalled carbon nanotube (fMWCNT)-supported metal catalysts was investigated using a transient technique, together with kinetic and adsorption measurements. Results from the transient studies provide an explanation for the characteristic volcano shape of the NOx conversion curves: below Tmax, the temperature of maximum NOx conversion, the catalyst surface is covered by hydrocarbonaceous species, which results in the suppression of NOx reduction activity. Above Tmax, O2 adsorption becomes prevalent, favoring oxidation of both NO and the hydrocarbon. In an effort to understand the origin of the superior NOx reduction activity shown by 3:1 Pt–Rh/fMWCNTs as compared to Pt/fMWCNTs, Temperature Programmed Desorption (TPD) measurements were undertaken. Results indicate that hydrocarbon and/or hydrocarbon-derived species are more strongly adsorbed on the alloy than on Pt alone, while NO adsorption is weaker on the alloy than ...


Section in book: Ian Horton: Hard Werken: One for All – Graphic Art & Design 1979-1994, co-authored with Tony Credland. Published by Valiz, Amsterdam, Autumn 2017.

See also http://ualresearchonline.arts.ac.uk/10451/


In this paper, fatigue verification of Class 1 nuclear power piping according to ASME Boiler & Pressure Vessel Code, Section III, NB-3600, is addressed. Basic design requirements and relevant verification procedures using Design-By-Analysis are first reviewed in detail. Thereafter, a so-called simplified elastic-plastic discontinuity analysis for further verification when the basic requirements found unsatisfactory is examined and discussed. In addition, necessary computational procedures for evaluating alternating stress intensities and cumulative damage factors are studied in detail. The authors' emphasis is placed on alternative verification procedures, which do not violate the general design principles upon which the code is built, for further verification if unsatisfactory results found in the simplified elastic-plastic analysis. An alternative which employs a non-linear finite element computation and a refined numerical approach for re-evaluating the cumulative damage factors is suggested. Using this alternative, unavoidable plastic strains can be correctly taken into account in a computationally affordable way, and the reliability of the verification will not be affected by uncertainties introduced in the simplified elastic-plastic analysis through the penalty factor K(subscript e) and other simplifications.


This paper deals with the structuring of polycrystalline diamond thin films using the technique of nanosphere lithography. The presented multistep approaches relied on a spin-coated self-assembled monolayer of polystyrene spheres, which served as a lithographic mask for the further custom nanofabrication steps. Various arrays of diamond nanostructures—close-packed and non-close-packed monolayers over substrates with various levels of surface roughness, noble metal films over nanosphere arrays, ordered arrays of holes, and unordered pores—were created using reactive ion etching, chemical vapour deposition, metallization, and/or lift-off processes. The size and shape of the lithographic mask was altered using oxygen plasma etching. The periodicity of the final structure was defined by the initial diameter of the spheres. The surface morphology of the samples was characterized using scanning electron microscopy. The advantages and limitations of the fabrication technique are discussed. Finally, the potential applications (e.g., photonics, plasmonics) of the obtained nanostructures are reviewed.


Requirements for the application of electroanalytical methods to the chemical characterization of environmental samples, mainly bioindicators, are discussed. It is important to consider and to optimize the whole analytical process for such a purpose and not only the electrochemical measurement. Examples are presented of the successful use of stripping voltammetry and potentiometric stripping analysis within a permanent environmental monitoring and specimen banking programme. Present advantages and problems of electroanalytical procedures for environmental analysis are discussed and a concept of efficient environmental observation exploiting also electroanalytical approaches is outlined.


Let $D\in\mathbb{N}$, $q\in[2,\infty)$ and $(\mathbb{R}^D,|\cdot|,dx)$ be the Euclidean space equipped with the $D$-dimensional Lebesgue measure. In this article, via an auxiliary function space $\mathrm{WE}^{1,\,q}(\mathbb R^D)$ defined via wavelet expansions, the authors establish the Riesz transform characterization of Triebel-Lizorkin spaces $\dot{F}^0_{1,\,q}(\mathbb{R}^D)$. As a consequence, the authors obtain the Fefferman-Stein decomposition of Triebel-Lizorkin spaces $\dot{F}^0_{\infty,\,q'}(\mathbb{R}^D)$. Finally, the authors give an explicit example to show that $\dot{F}^0_{1,\,q}(\mathbb{R}^D)$ is strictly contained in $\mathrm{WE}^{1,\,q}(\mathbb{R}^D)$ and, by duality, $\mathrm{WE}^{\infty,\,q'}(\mathbb{R}^D)$ is strictly contained in $\dot{F}^0_{\infty,\,q'}(\mathbb{R}^D)$. Although all results when $D=1$ were obtained by C.-C. Lin et al. [Michigan Math. J. 62 (2013), 691-703], as was pointed out by C.-C. Lin et al., the approach used in the case $D=1$ can not be applied to the case $D\ge2$, which needs some new skills.


The aim of this thesis is to study how librarians at Bibliotek Uppsala perceive the reorganization that was implemented in 2015. The reorganization involved both a change in the organizational stru ...


Distraction osteogenesis is a technique involving the creation of new bone by the gradual distraction of two bony segments after their surgical division. It induces proliferation and finally bony in-fill between the two segments. However, during the consolidation period, the distraction device is used as a fixator for several weeks and hence it may be cumbersome and a psychosocial burden to the patient. In an attempt to stimulate osteogenesis, several technologies were developed to stimulate fracture healing. In this study, a constant direct current electrical stimulation on mandibular distraction osteogenesis of the rabbit model was evaluated. The histopathological findings of this study indicated that the use of direct current stimulation is important in all histological phases of new bone formation particularly in the early phases of fibrous tissue and increased angiogenesis. It was proved to play an important role in the progress of cellular proliferation and osteogenesis.


This paper refers the mode how in the Auto-reference and therapeutic style seminary of the Magister in psychology and the family program in the Santo Tomas University, contribute to the therapist education in a systemic paradigm, through a life experience that refers to "self" in its intersubjective dimension. It is made through complex human interchanges contextualized within psico-social-anthropological relational dynamics which give frame to conversational, reflective and metaobservation processes, in the emergency of meanings directly associate to the knowledge in the formation and in the therapy. The final aim is to construct a knowledge that is put to the service of the transformation of the human suffering through therapist as a conscious manager of the change from an ethical position. In this way is insisted on the experiential components required by the psychotherapists to make its transit towards the second order epistemology proposed by Von Foerster through an exercise based on the self-reference. Key words: self-reference, therapeutic style, therapist.


The reasons for the contradictions among England, Russia, Persia and Afghanistan in the Middle East which came out in the struggle for Herat in 1837-1841 are set forth in the article the diplomatic lines of the rivaling countries are analysed.


Abstract : Equilibrium correlation functions for a dense classical fluid are obtained by integrating the equation of motion of a system of 864 particles interacting through a Lennard-Jones potential. The behaviour of the correlation function at large distance, and that of its Fourier transform at large wave number are discussed in detail and shown to be related to the existence of a strong repulsion in the potential. A simple hard sphere model is shown to reproduce very well the Fourier transform of those correlations functions at high density, the only parameter of the model being the diameter a of the hard spheres. (Author)


Damage initiation and progression in long fibre unidirectional continuous polymer composites has been studied at the microscale considering a three dimensional repeating unit cell (3D-RUC) with square packing consisting of a single fibre in a polymer matrix. Three damage modes under static loading have been looked at, viz., matrix damage, fibre failure and fibre-matrix debonding. A progressive damage model for the matrix, fibre breakage model using maximum stress failure criterion and interface debonding using a traction-separation criterion via cohesive zone modelling (CZM) approach has been implemented. Homogenization of the said 3D-RUC has been conducted for various load cases that describes the averaged response of the microstructure under combined progressive damage modes.


Background: Fractures of proximal humerus are very common. Many options are available for its management including non-operative management. Reconstruction of the articular surfaces including restoration of the anatomy and a stable fixation with minimal soft tissue damage is the main principle of this procedure. Percutaneous pinning is the less invasive, less time consuming and reliable procedure and avoids complications such as avascular necrosis, infections and heavy weight bearing implants. Aims and Objectives: 1. To study the clinical profile of adult patients with proximal humeral fractures. 2. To study the functional outcome of closed reduction and percutaneous pinning of proximal humeral fractures. 3. To study the factors affecting functional outcome of proximal humeral fractures. Materials and Methods: This is a prospective study among 32 patients on whom percutaneous pinning was done after closed reduction for the fractures of proximal humerus. This study was conducted from August 2014 to December 2016. Results: According to Neer's functional assessment score the functional outcome was excellent in 18 (56.3%) patients, satisfactory in 6 (18.8%) patients, unsatisfactory in 7 (21.9%) patients and failure in 1 (3.1%) patient. Conclusion: Percutaneous pinning is simple, less invasive, reliable and effective procedure. It reduces risk of heavy implant bearing, infection and avascular necrosis.


Payment reform is expanding the focus of health systems beyond care for individual patients to improving the health outcomes of populations. Improving population health is a daunting new task for health systems, requiring novel approaches and partnerships. Yet many health systems have an opportunity to make early and meaningful improvements in the health of one particular population—their own employees. Health systems employ approximately 10% of the US workforce (http://bit.ly /1CgTfxi). Despite health care being their primary focus, health care workers, at least those in US hospitals, generally have poorer health status and higher costs than those in other industries (http://bit.ly /1Jg1zxG). For the many health systems that are self-insured, organizations are at full risk for their employees' health care expenditures. As employers, health systems are also motivated to improve worker satisfaction and well-being as a means of increasing productivity and retention and reducing sick days. Several features set health systems apart fromother industries in the pursuit of employee health. Health systemsmay providemedical care for a large portion of their workforce, a relationship that facilitates health systems' addressing their workers' health. For example, biometric screening programs, common in many workplaces, may identifyemployeeswithcertain risk factors (such as elevated blood pressure or a high bodymass index). In health systems, however, once a screening program has identified a risk factor, the individual can be directly connected with appropriate follow-up—often with a clinician whom the employee already trusts. Furthermore, employees in a health system are a "captive" patient audience. Health systems can craft healthful environments through more nutritious meal options, exercise programs, and workplace redesign, thereby promoting sustained behavior change that is otherwise difficult to achieve within traditional medical settings and relationships. Across the United States, a number of health systems are leveraging these advantagestodeveloppromisinginnovationsinemployee health. For example, the employee health management program at the UniversityofPittsburghMedicalCenter(UPMC)uses financial incentivessuchasreducedannualdeductiblestoencouragehealthybehaviors.The programtargetsannualcompletionofahealth risk assessment, blood lipid and glucose screening every 5 years, and participation in a comprehensiveprogramthat integrates an incentiveplatform,healthcoaching,andaweb portal for tracking progress and accessing health education tools. An evaluation of the UPMC program found that it improved risk factorprofiles, increasedtheuseofpreventiveandchronicdiseasemanagement services, and reducedabsence from work (http://1.usa.gov/1xz9f8y). The UPMC health plan also experienced reducedgrowthincostsafterthe inceptionof the employee health initiative, although a causal inference cannot be made about this finding (http://bit.ly/1AOwooE).


Abstract This study investigated the impact of adopting artificial cattle insemination technology (ACI) by smallholder farmers on their well-being in the case of Yem special district. Using three-stage sampling techniques, cross-sectional data were collected from 361 household head that include adopter and non-adopter of ACI. The propensity score matching method was used to estimate the impact of adopting ACI on the welfare of households. The method was checked for covariate balancing with a standardized bias, t-ratio, and joint significance-level tests. Moreover, sensitivity analysis of the estimated effect of adoption to unobserved selection bias was checked using Rosenbaum bounds procedure. We employed STATA Version 13 software to run the estimation and diagnostic tests. The results revealed that ACI adoption practices have a positive impact on the wellbeing of households. The results indicate that the adoption of ACI technology on average increases income from milk, livestock, and the total consumption of households by 62.742, 31.215, and 11,325.694 Birrs per year, respectively, compared to non-adopters at a 1% significant level. The sensitivity analysis shows that the estimated impact was insensitive to unobserved selection bias.


Introduction. The problem of pre-start management in sports has always aroused the interest of scientists, coaches and athletes. Everyone who does sports knows how important it is to exercise self-control and self-regulation of emotional state before the competition. It should be recognized that the pre-start condition becomes an integral part of a sports match. In modern sports, the peculiarities of the manifestation of this phenomenon and its impact on the performance of athletes are actively studied. Therefore, the search for new effective tools and methods to increase the effectiveness of competitive activities of athletes through the management of pre-start condition is relevant and timely.

Today, a youth sport is one of the main directions of sports development of the future, which makes it necessary to comprehensively study this area. The most urgent problems facing young taekwondo fighters are considered. It is shown that the formation of the optimal pre-start state is based on the complex manifestation of the athlete's high level of emotional and volitional qualities and mental abilities.

The aim of the study: identify and analyze the psychological characteristics of young taekwondo fighters in the category of cadets, which affect their pre-start condition.

Material and methods: analysis of scientific and methodological literature, method of psychodiagnostics – Rogers-Diamond questionnaire to determine the socio-psychological adaptation, the method of expert assessments, methods of mathematical statistics. The contingent of subjects – 20 taekwondo athletes of the cadet category. 8 highly qualified coaches took part in the expert survey. The survey was conducted in August 2021 during a training camp in the Odessa region (Koblevo) at the sports base "Cypress".

Results: the model characteristics of taekwondo fighters of the cadet category and the key problems faced by young athletes in the process of preparation for competitions and before the start are determined.

Conclusions: Pre-start management is one of the leading problems of preparing young athletes for competitions, which affects the effectiveness of their competitive activities. The obtained indicators of psychological personality traits will allow correcting the pre-start condition of young taekwondo fighters and improving their performance.


The results of the analysis of the sediments of the Mantua district are reported. Fourteen organochlorine pesticides and eight herbicides were investigated. HCB, Heptachlor and Heptachloro-epoxide were the most frequently detected POCs, while the triazines were generally not detectable. The phenomena that determined the present contamination are discussed.


Abstract This paper proposes the initial formulation of an activity-based model framework to model and quantify the effects of household practices on energy demand in the domestic sector. Indeed, this socio-technical research is seeking to understand the effects of two salient aspects of the interaction between energy consumption and household practices in a scenario of imposed retrofitted: 1) take back effect; and 2) demand-side management. A conceptual framework and a detailed case study of 200 social sector households in Newcastle upon Tyne are proposed to bring together both the theory and practice. The paper reviews the UK low carbon agenda to provide an overview of the key policies for carbon reduction in the domestic sector involving retrofit insulation. It, then, briefly examines the take back effect and demand side management concepts to contextualise the emphasis of the proposed study. Further, it looks at practice theory for connecting socio-technical systems and reviews the urban energy modelling to simulate and quantify the interplay between technical and social systems (take back effect and demand side management). Furthermore, practices and modelling challenges at the local level are reviewed. Finally the case study is presented.


In the face of admittedly rather contradictory evidence, publishers have long been said to be suspicious of essays collections, fearful they will not have the impact of a monograph, that sales will be lower. Academics on the Old World side of the pond have certainly had some cause to feel concerned about the edited collection, albeit for rather different reasons, but the times may definitely be a-changing, certainly if the two impressive examples under consideration here are any indication. When it comes to the subject of slavery and the South, of course, scholars and their students alike have a real appreciation of, and possibly a greater need for such compilation volumes, showcasing as they do not just the ''best of '' the most recent research in a burgeoning and sometimes overwhelming field but the fresh and subtle contours of that field that are revealed when a group of scholars cohere around a central theme. In each of the works here, the subject under discussion, approached along rather different albeit converging paths, is the political, national, and sectional ramifications of chattel slavery in the United States.


Chinese films and TV attract global audience in recent years, as is the case of Empresses in the Palace , the subtitle translation of which plays an important role. This paper attempts to make a case study of the TV drama Empresses in the Palace from the perspective of Eco-translatology. By exploring how the three-dimensional transformations are applied in its subtitle translation based on the statistical results, the paper aims to bring more enlightenment to China's film industry by discussing the practical translation methods and techniques. It can be concluded that translators need adapt to the translational environment and make adaptive selections for different dimensions of the subtitle translation.


The guideway switches for the Transrapid consist of a long bending beam supported at 15 m intervals as presented at the conference MAGLEV'2004 [Fichtner&Pichlmeier2004]. The forces from the vehicle's support and guidance cause the bending beam to vibrate. Supported by the German Ministry BMVBS a switch with increased required lifespan for a Transrapid vehicle with increased payload (TR09) is developed. This demands a systematic analysis of the actual stress, taking vibration behavior into account. For this analysis two mechanical models are used. Firstly, analytical considerations and simulations using a Multibody System [Schiehlen1997] consisting of 37 elements are applied for parameter studies. Secondly, the stress situation is analyzed using a 3D-Finite Element model [Zienkiewicz1977] consisting of about 200 000 elements. Both models are verified by comparison with measurement results of the existing switches.


Objective:To study the relation among protein C (PC),protein S (PS) and cerebrovascular disease (CVD) Method:Protein C:Antigen (PC:Ag),total protein S (TPS) and free protein S (FPS) were measured in 94 patients with isehemic eerebrovascular disease (ICVD) and 26 patients with cerebral hemorrhage(CH).Results:A decreased level of PC:Ag,TPS and FPS was found in patients with ICVD,and a decreased level of PC:Ag was found in patients with CH.The difference in the incidence of the decreased PC:Ag (17%),TPS (26.6%) and FPS (23.4%) between ICVD patients and controls (2 % ) was significant (P<0.01).The difference in the incidenceofthedecreased PC:Ag between CH patients (19.2%) and controls (2%) was significant (P<0.05).Conclusion:The deficiency of PC and PS were found in both ICVD patients (17%~26.6%) and CH patients(19.2%),most of them were secondary.A significant amount of patients with CVD had possible secondary PC and PS deficiency.It is important to detect these patients and determine whether the deficiency is primary or secondary for cause finding,treatment and prevention for patients with CVD.


The paper reviews the data available in the literature on procedures for posterior lamellar and fungiform keratoplasties used to treat bullous keratoplasty.


In this article, the activity of the High Speed Networks
Laboratory is presented. This lab is very important for the
Budapest University of Technology and Economics, because it represents one of the strategic relations between
the University and a company. The HSN lab is a rare and favourable example of
keeping R and D inside the
university, while the `industry´ receives what it wants: high quality labour
force. The HSN Lab is also an important tool in keeping education up-to-date.


Brightlands Chemelot Campus reports on February 23, 2022, that the new international research and demonstration project SYSCHEMIQ is receiving a €9.6 million financial boost from the European Union's Horizon Green Deal program. The program is intended to facilitate the systemic transition to a circular economy in the region.


The invention provides a method for preparing hydroxyethyl cellulose, which comprises the following steps of: a) crushing bamboo pulp; b) adding isopropanol and alkali liquor into the crushed bamboo pulp for alkalization in a reaction kettle; c) vacuumizing the reaction kettle, adding ethylene oxide into the reaction kettle for etherification, and filling nitrogen for protection; d) adding an acid into the etherified material for neutralization reaction, and adjusting the pH to be 6.5 to 7.5; e) washing the neutralized material with the aqueous solution of isopropanol; and f) drying the washed material in a way of controlling the water content to be 1 to 5 percent to obtain the hydroxyethyl cellulose product. The hydroxyethyl cellulose prepared from the raw material bamboo pulp has high solubility and moderate viscosity, adopts the readily available raw material bamboo pulp with low cost and stable quality, can alleviate tensions on needs in refined cotton in China and simultaneously drive the development of the bamboo resource processing industry in China, and develops a new approach to the deep processing and high-value added utilization of bamboos.


The structural degradation of polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) upon irradiation with MeV alpha (α) particles is accompanied by the proliferation of hydrogenated and oxygen-functionalized fluorocarbon species. In this article, we explore the origin of monoxide- and dioxide-functionalized fluorocarbon species that emerge upon α particle irradiation of PTFE. Samples of neat PTFE were irradiated to α doses in the range of 107–5×1010rad using 5.5MeV He2+4 ions produced in a tandem accelerator. Static time-of-flight secondary-ion-mass spectrometry (TOF-SIMS), using a 20keV C60+ source, was employed to probe chemical changes as a function of α particle irradiation. Chemical images and high-resolution mass spectra were collected in both the positive and negative polarities. Residual gas analysis, utilized to monitor the liberation of molecular gases during α particle irradiation of the PTFE in vacuum, is discussed in relationship to the TOF-SIMS data.


environmental issues have moved from the political margins to centre stage. Green politics are no longer confined to minority parties: mainstream politicians as diverse as John McCain in the USA and Angela Merkel in Germany have put the environment high on their agendas and in the UK the main parties compete in acquiring green credentials, even if the gulf between rhetoric and reality – riding bicycles and building new airports – remains quite alarming.


DNA computation is considered as one fascinating alternative to silicon-based computers, which has evoked substantial attention and gained rapid advancements. Besides realizing versatile functions, implementing spatiotemporal control of logic operations, especially in cellular level, is also of great significance to the development of DNA computation. However, developing simple and efficient methods to restrict DNA logic gates performing in live cells is still a challenge. In this work, we designed a series of DNA logic gates by taking full advantage of the diversity and programmability of G-quadruplex (G4) structure. More importantly, by further utilizing the high affinity and specific endocytosis of cells to aptamer G4, we have achieved in realizing an INHIBIT logic gate whose operational site is precisely restricted in specific live cells. The design strategy may have great potential in the field of molecular computation and smart bio-applications.


The present disclosure provides a cassette, an electrophoresis system, a method for manufacturing the apparatus, and a method for fractionating a sample using the cassette and the electrophoresis system. [Selection] Figure 37


The frequency shift induced by cross-phase modulation(XPM)in dispersion-shifted fiber(DSF) is experimentally studied,then wavelength conversion is achieved through filtering by fiber grating.The results show that wavelength conversion based on cross-phase modulation of DSF is simple,efficient and universal with wide conversion ranges and high rate.


Objective To investigate the principles of diagnosis and treatment of Bowen's disease.Methods A retrospective analysis was performed in 13 cases of Bowen's disease admitted between October 1978 and August 2005.Results Single lesion in 12 patients and multiple lesions in one patient was found.11 patients was diagnosed by accident after biopsy.7 patients received extended operation,and 3 patients had extended operation and skin grafting,and 1 patient was treated by extended operation and radiotherapy,and 2 patients cured by radiotherapy.Re-operation found that 8 patients had residual carcinoma.Conclusion A five-mm surgical margin is advisable with a depth to subcutaneous fat for removal of a possible underlying carcinoma.For patient with lesion not suitable operation could be treated with other measure,including radiotherapy and topical agents such as 5-fluorouracil.


the Song Dynasty has the most developed private economy in ancient china. The judicial system dealing with complex economic and legal relations came into being. The shaping of judicial leaders and qing guan culture had a profound impact on the legal ideology of traditional Chinese people and formed the legal thinking, legal logic and justice concepts with Chinese characteristics. This paper attempts to take Zheng Bao as the example to analyze the internal relationship between him and the traditional Chinese judicial culture from the perspective of judicial leaders and qing guan culture in the Song Dynasty.


Use 3DMAX to implement three dimensional modeling,while adopt EON Studio and Flash to make simulations of structure under energization.Use VB.net as the platform,and develop an aerial camera virtual maintenance system,so that the ground service training and simulation can be realized.The sensitive and convenient system can meet the training requirements,save costs and can effectively advance the training result.


The study of the excitation functions of the NH2 and CH3 stretching modes of methylamine in the 4–12 eV electron impact energy range shows evidence of a broad shape resonance built on the electronic ground state and centered at 7.5 eV. This resonance is formed by the trapping of the incident electron in the second unoccupied molecular orbital and is of A' symmetry. The elastic and inelastic angular differential cross sections measured in the 10°–90° range suggest a dominant p character. A second shape resonance located at higher energy contributes mainly to the enhancement of the CH3 deformation modes and is very likely of A' symmetry. A comparison is made between the resonances observed in NH3 and CH3NH2. The effect of the methyl substitution is briefly discussed.


Variance analysis was conducted on plant height and diameter at breast height(DBH) of 8-year-old plant of 27 introduced poplar varieties in Yili Kazakh autonomous prefecture;meanwhile,the clustering analysis was undertaken using annual volume increment per hectare as index.The results revealed significant difference in DBH and tree height among poplar varieties,indicating that the adaptability of poplar varieties to local environment differed.Variety I-467 grew the fastest in DBH while the annual height growth of I-262 was the fastest.There was a positive correlation between the growth of plant height and DBH.According to clustering analysis,9 varieties behaved the best;3 performed well;11 just performed commonly;and 4 poor performance.The Dayezhuantianyang showed the strongest adaptability and the fastest growing speed among the varieties.The results could provide basis for poplar breed popularization and plain forestation in Yili Kazakh autonomous prefecture.


Quantification of 25-hydroxy vitamin-D-3 (25-OHVD3) is important because its deficiency is related to numerous diseases, including osteoporosis, depression, diabetes, heart disease, certain autoimmune conditions, and even Covid-19. In the present study, noble metal-metal oxide nanohybrid based on L-cysteine functionalized gold decorated zirconia nanoparticles (Cys-Au@ZrO2 NPs) were synthesized with the objective of enhanced electrochemical behavior, stability, availability of functional group to covalently bind with biomolecules, and developing an efficient immunosensor for 25-OHVD3 detection. The formation of Au@ZrO2 NPs and further Cys functionalization was validated by various characterizations. Cys-Au@ZrO2 NPs were electrodeposited onto ITO substrate and further modified with antibodies specific to 25-OHVD3 (ab-25VD(3)) and bovine serum albumin (BSA) to build an immunosensing platform for 25-OHVD3 detection. The fabricated BSA/ab-25VD(3)/Cys-Au@ZrO2/ITO immunosensor demonstrated an improved sensitivity of 2.01 mu A ng(-1) ml cm(-2), LOD of 3.54 ng ml(-1) for the linear detection range of 1-50 ng ml(-1) with regression constant of 0.98. Moreover, the analytical performance of the BSA/ab-25VD(3)/Cys-Au@ZrO2/ITO immunosensor in determining 25-OHVD3 in human serum samples collected from four healthy people yielded satisfactory results that were highly correlated with the conventional enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).


We compare two graphics APIs for programming 3D games in Java on mobile devices: M3G (Mobile 3D Graphics API for Java, JSR-184) and JSR-239 (a Java binding for OpenGL ES 1.x). We have developed a series of casual games (a puzzle game, a simple FPS, a strategy game, and others) using the versions of M3G and JSR-239 available in Sun's Wireless Toolkit 2.5.1, and use them to compare the APIs in three areas: suitability for casual games programming, ease of performance tweaking, and API and Java integration.


In our day-to-day life and experiences, when one doubts or questions unusually, he is branded a skeptic and consequently resisted. Skeptics, over the years, are seen as people whose basic mood is that of doubt; those who deny absolutely that true knowledge is possible. Although this is not completely true of skepticism, the present work demonstrates, though arguably, that skepticism is more of a philosophical method of inquiry; an epistemological attitude towards knowledge but whose goal is indeed certainty, although it selects a serious doubt concerning all knowledge as the starting point of the inquiry into the possibility of true knowledge. It can rightly be said that the work displays the paradox of skepticism. The word 'paradox' originates from a Latin term paradoxum, which has a Greek association paradoxon, or paradoxos, signifying "conflicting with expectation." Thus, the word paradox signifies a tenet or proposition contrary to received opinions. It is a statement or sentiment that is seemingly contradictory or opposed to common sense and yet, perhaps true in fact. The need for this work is necessitated by the fact that in the present age, it has become no longer the case that the best way to certainty is only by accepting entirely all that one is told, especially when such comes from a sage or a tradition. Obviously, we live in a dispensation where almost every human situation challenges the human rational faculty hence the tendency to change facts and hang-on to lies generates serious fever in every thinking mind. The result of this work therefore is that imperatively, the work demands that whoever wants knowledge should proceed through doubt. The method through which this work arrives at this conclusion is the analytic process of discussion and presentation.


The interaction of evolutionary processes to determine quantitative genetic variation has implications for contemporary and future phenotypic evolution, as well as for our ability to detect causal genetic variants. While theoretical studies have provided robust predictions to discriminate among competing models, empirical assessment of these has been limited. In particular, theory highlights the importance of pleiotropy in resolving observations of selection and mutation, but empirical investigations have typically been limited to few traits. Here, we applied high dimensional Bayesian Sparse Factor Genetic modelling to 3,385 gene expression traits from Drosophila melanogaster and from D. serrata to explore how genetic variance is distributed across high-dimensional phenotypic space. Surprisingly, most of the heritable trait covariation was due to few lines (genotypes) with extreme (>3 IQR from the median) values. This observation, in the two independently sampled species, suggests that the House of Cards (HoC) model might apply not only to individual expression traits, but also to emergent co-expression phenotypes. Intriguingly, while genotypes extreme for a multivariate factor also tended to have a higher proportion of individual traits that were extreme, we also observed genotypes that were outliers for multivariate factors but not for any individual traits. We observed other consistent differences between heritable multivariate factors with outlier lines versus those factors that conformed to a Gaussian distribution of genetic effects, including differences in gene functions. We use these observations to identify further data required to advance our understanding of the evolutionary dynamics and nature of standing genetic variation for quantitative traits.


The fact that the current energy production resources have a tendency to be extinguished rapidly, the raw material prices have increased, their negative effects on the environment and human health, some difficulties in their use have increased the studies conducted on new and renewable energy sources in recent years. Among the renewable energy technologies, even though it is somewhat expensive, the easiest technology in terms of design and installation is the photovoltaic technology which is an application of solar energy. But its real superiority arises from the fact that it is a technology that does not pollute the environment, is environmentally friendly and has low maintenance costs. The use of solar energy has increased considerably with the increase in the use of renewable energy sources in the world and in our country in recent years and the roofs have had the largest share in this regard. Considering that more than 50% of the installed facilities in Germany and Italy, which are the starting point of solar energy in Europe, are on the roofs, the roofs have an important place in the increase of solar energy usage. Turkey is in fortunate situation compared to many countries in terms of the solar energy potential due to its geographical location. South Eastern Anatolia Region is the region that receives the most solar energy, this is followed by the Mediterranean Region. The logistics sector has recently been one of the sectors in which the solar energy is widely used in the world and in Turkey. In particular, significant reductions have been achieved in logistics costs with the solar energy systems installed on the roofs of the logistics warehouses, this event have increased the competitiveness of the companies. In addition, it is known that solar energy has been started to be used in the transportation activities and there are R & D studies for increasing road vehicles and cargo ships working with solar energy. In addition, efforts are being made to improve the solar-powered highways which strengthen the transport infrastructure and the logistics processes and these applications are becoming widespread. In study, the solar energy which is one of the mostly interested one among the renewable energy forms and the photovoltaic technology producing electrical energy using it will be discussed in this context, an then the current situation in Turkey and the World will be presented. Finally, the usage of the solar energy in the logistics sector and the applicaton examples in the world and in Turkey will be included.


The features of acousto-optic diffraction of a Bessel light beam (BLB) on a Bessel acoustic beam (BAB) in transversely anisotropic crystals are investigated. The scheme of acousto-optic (AO) interaction is considered when the incident TH-polarized BLB propagating along the optical c axis of an optically uniaxial crystal is excited in the crystal of the TE- po-la rized BLB due to the process of anisotropic TH → TE diffraction. The diffraction problem is solved for transversely isotropic crystals, whose cylindrical symmetry is fully consistent with the symmetry of both BLB and BAB propagating along the optical axis and the AO interaction occurs without distortion of the spatial structure of beams. It is shown that in the process of backward acousto-optic scattering, the use of Bessel light beams with a large cone angle makes it possible to significantly reduce the frequency of the acoustic wave necessary for satisfying the longitudinal synchronism condition (values of less than 1 GHz). It is established that the efficiency of the AO interaction of the BLB and the BAB is determined not only by the intensity of the acoustic field, longitudinal wave detuning and the interaction length, but also by the period of transverse oscillations of Bessel beams. These oscillations determine the value of the overlap integrals and, consequently, the effective AO parameters. When the conditions of longitudinal and transverse synchronisms are realized, it is possible to achieve the high diffraction efficiency close to unity. The angular width of transverse synchronism is equal to about 0.5 mrad and increases with increasing acoustic power. It is shown that when the BLB is diffracted, the order of its phase dislocation changes by a value that is equal to the order of BAB phase dislocation. Because of the narrow angular spectrum of a scattered field, the back ward AO diffraction of Bessel light beams is promising for the development of low-frequency AO filters and spectrum analyzers. The property of self-reconstruction of the transverse profile of an optical field is promising for applications of Bessel light beams in defectroscopy.


Superior vena caval (SVC) syndrome following permanent pacemaker implantation is an uncommon complication and may occur as a consequence of thrombosis, stenosis or both. Accepted modes of treatment include thrombolysis, surgery, and percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA).

A 77 year old man presented 8 years after AAI …


The southward enlargement of the European Community with the full accession of Spain and Portugal in 1986 and the creation of the Single Market in 1993 have opened up new opportunities for exports to the EU and have intensified competition with Spanish-made products in the rest of the EU. This paper hypothesises that local adjustment to European integration is conditioned by the comparative local advantages (or disadvantages) in human resources, nodality and external economies which can shape local capacity for the achievement of economies of scale in production, technological modernisation, the development of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and business services. The capacities for these four dynamic processes are articulated through the interaction between the investment decisions of Spanish and foreign-owned firms and the local comparative advantages, and hence influence the capacity of localities to respond to European integration through trade creation and trade diversion.


A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Science and Agriculture, of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Science in Microbiology in the Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology at the University of Zululand, 2019.


This article offers a panorama of the cultural phenomena of obituary publishing and reading, both on newspapers in English, their original locus, and anthologies. It relates the appearance of this specific genre and its hegemonic lasting in contemporary American and British newspapers to the biographical, instantaneous and literary aspects of its narrative. The reasons for the extemporaneous interest of the reader in a genre that often migrates from the ephemerality of newspapers to long-lasting print anthologies is searched for in its romanesque configuration, itself originated from other genres and formed by discourses of life and death, ultimately legitimized by the truth discourse of the Press. Hence, the obituary would be consumed, esthetically, both as an ethically profound true story and as easy literature.


This study focus on understanding the relationship between strategic leadership and innovative performance. To test the theoretical model quantitative method was applied. This study was conducted on 345 white collar employees working in the manufacturing sector in Istanbul, Turkey. For the research, data collection method questionnaire application was implemented during May, June, July, and August in 2021. The survey response rate is 77%. As a result of the factor and correlation analysis there is positive and significant relationship between strategic leadership and innovative performance. According to correlation analysis transformational leadership (r = 0.712) and political leadership (r = 0.703) sub-dimensions have a higher correlation with innovative performance, managerial (r = 0.498) and ethical leadership (r = 0.543) have a positive relation with innovative performance as well. According to ANOVA test results, it was also found that there are differences in the perception of strategic leadership based on age level. Followers at 20 30 ages have higher strategic leadership perceptions than others.


Lithium-ion battery (LIB) recycling has received continued interest in recent years due to its benefits, which include reducing the environmental impact of spent LIBs and providing a secondary source of valuable metals, such as Li, Co, and Ni. This paper characterized the Li separation with D2EHPA from citrate media as a function of pH and identified the optimal overall Li separation at a pH of 5.5. The Li separation was optimized at a pH of 5.5, with which it was concluded that 23 vol.% D2EHPA and an O/A ratio of 4 provided the best Li separation, for which 66.1% Li was extracted with 26.9% residual Mn, 6.8% Co, and 7.7% Ni in a single stage. The formation of a reversible hydrophobic third phase was identified during Li extraction at a pH of 5.5 or greater. Investigation of the third phase revealed that more than 99% of the Li, Co, and Ni were extracted to the third phase, while more than 69% of the Mn was extracted to the organic phase. STEM images of the third phase revealed a honeycomb-like structure, which was hypothesized to be a 2D mesoporous film caused by the insolubility of the organometallic complexes in the aqueous and organic phase.


To investigate the possibility of automatic processing on initial position profile alignment between worm grinding-wheel and the workpiece,the meshing point variation of worm grinding-wheel is studied in terms of Z-axis coordinate of machine tool.By applying the spatial geometric transmission relationship,the adjustment calculation equation of initial position profile alignment between worm grinding-wheel and workpiece is established.Accordingly,it is detected from analyses that the tangential displacement of worm grinding-wheel,which is determined by such factors as grinding-wheel structural parameters and initial meshing point rotary angle,is adjusted for effective profile alignment.Due to the initial meshing point rotary angle secures a crucial position,the tangential displacement increases with the increasing rotary angle of initial meshing point.When the initial meshing point rotary angle is the same,the tangential displacement increases with the increasing grinding-wheel modulus.The direction of tangential displacement is determined by the rotary direction of worm grinding-wheel with positive value for left rotation and negative value for right rotation.Therein,the proposed adjustment equation sets a reference to the automatic profile alignment.


Genetic algorithm is used to study test paper generation speed and multi-restraint optimization question.In view of the defect that present numerous test paper generating algorithms cannot enhance the test paper generating quality and speed simultaneously,which causes the low efficiency of test paper generating system,the auto-adapted genetic algorithm based on the restrained weights is proposed.The algorithm searches the genes which are most likely to be the ultimate individuals and adds the retention mechanism of fine individuals.The optimization accuracy and search speed of the algorithm were much better than the other test paper method,with good convergence and practicability.The practice shows that the method can effectively generate intelligent test paper in the multi-constrained optimization and simultaneously improve the speed of test paper.


In this paper, we demonstrate wafer level encapsulation of MEMS using physical vapor deposition of aluminum (Al). A cavity area, which simulates the area of a MEMS device, is fully encapsulated by dual layer of amorphous silicon and Al. The encapsulation process takes place in the PVD chamber, thus the vacuum level in the sealed cavity is assumed to be high. The proposed processes are entirely CMOS compatible and readily deployed into any standard CMOS foundry and semiconductor wafer fabrication.


In this study, the status quo of university engineering education in the US, Germany, and France is presented. The different ways of training mechanical and aeronautical engineers axe compared. Based on this, the strengths and weaknesses of their "products", the outcoming engineers at Bachelor's and Master's level, are analyzed in respect to the needs in industry. After a presentation of new tendencies and concepts in engineering education in the three countries under concern, the authors outline their vision of an engineer's training. Some of these proposals are currently under realization in the Department of Mechanical Engineering of the University of Karlsruhe and at the Grande Ecole ENSAM in Paris that jointly have pursued this broad study.


Photo shows twelve African American children standing in a row by a three-story wooden building. Sign on front: Groceries ... R.L. Hilliard ...


This study aims to reveal the color (hue), dark light color (value) and flatness, and wash resilience. This study was an experimental study. The type of data is primary data sourced from the 15 panelists. The object is dipped silk fabric with extracts of rosella flower petals with alum mordant. Where do the data analysis techniques with engineering analysis of varianceone (one-way ANOVA). From the comparison of the dye solution (vlot) 1:10 produce powder blue color, light and dark colors (Value) is at katerori bright, flatness is in the category average and for washing resistance is at good enough category. Whereas in comparison dyebath (Vlot) 1:20 and 1:40 to produce color light blue, light dark color (Value) is at katerori quite bright, flatness is in the category average, and for washing resistance is at good enough category. Results of hypothesis testing showed the name of the color (F arithmetic (8.933)> F table (3.22) and dark colors (Fhitung (35.467)> F table (3.22) there are significant differences. As for the flatness of color (F count (2.907)> F table (3.22) and wash resistance (F arithmetic (0.214) <F table (3.22) there is no significant difference. Keywords: Comparison of dye liquor (Vlot), results of Immersion, extract rosella flower petals


The study explored the longitudinal effects of all-day kindergarten program on the academic performance of students from diverse racial backgrounds and social class from kindergarten to the end of first grade. The study used three measures of reading and math scores from a nationally representative database of the USA, the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study (ECLS). A series of longitudinal multilevel models with various specifications were estimated. The results indicated that all-day kindergarten students began with significantly higher reading scores compared with half-day kindergarten students but there was no significant difference in the growth pattern. Importantly, students from low SES families and Hispanic background displayed enhanced reading achievement in all-day kindergarten.


Pedro Miguel Gonçalves Almeida v Abstract DIN 34CrNiMo6 alloy is a high strength chrome-nickel-molybdenum steel, widely used for applications where greater stress is required than those that carbon steels are subjected. This material exhibits high ductility, toughness, deep hardenability and strength. Nitriding gives it excellent wear and fatigue resistance and is therefore a material with a wide range of applications that can operate in severe conditions and with complex load such as shafts, axels, gears, bolts, crankshafts, connecting rods, amount many others. Many of these components have geometric continuities, such as holes, notches or even minor manufacturing defects, which results in locally accumulated stresses. These combined characteristics make the material vulnerable to fatigue failure. It is therefore necessary to develop reliable fatigue life predictions models in order to reduce the risk of unexpected failures. The main purpose of current dissertation is to study the fatigue behavior of notched parts, composed of DIN 34CrNiMo6 high strength steel subject to proportional combined bending-torsion loads. For this, tests with circular cross section test specimens with a U-shaped lateral notch containing a central micro hole will be performed, considering different relations between shear stress (τ) and normal stress (σ), namely σ = 2τ and σ = 4τ, and different stress levels. After the tests, numerical models are developed for predicting the crack initiation sites, crack paths at the notch surface and fatigue initiation life for the different load scenarios. To achieve these objectives, linear-elastic numerical models are developed to obtain the local stress-strain at the notch root. The effect of the notch is accounted for by using the Theory of Critical Distances (TCD) and the Equivalent Strain Energy Density (ESED). Life predictions are obtained through the Total Strain Energy Density (TSED) model.


Foot and ankle surgeons say Baby Boomers are more likely than previous generations to seek care when arthritis develops in their toes, feet and ankles.


Child maternal healthcare is one of the major goals of the present administration in Cross River State and Nigeria at large. No country achieves meaningful development without tackling child maternal death, since it is a major concern of all countries especially developing nations. The central argument of this research paper is on the factors militating against the smooth administration of child maternal healthcare and the high death of children, these ranges from poverty, low level of education, inaccessibility of healthcare services, unbooked emergencies, and high patronage of Traditional Birth Attendance (TBA) by natives, hypertensive disorder of pregnancy, obstructed labour, anemia, hemorrhage and infection. The issue of maternal health should be accorded priority through reducing maternal mortality rate by government and other relevant stakeholders. Functionalist approach to healthcare system is used as a theoretical framework to explain how a society can be understood in its totality as an entity unto itself, emphasizing how the system can work in a different and better way to deliver health outcomes when government spend about 70-80% of the country resources available for healthcare at the point of need of them, this will make a huge difference, especially in the issue of maternal mortality rate. The researcher purposive selected fifty (50) health workers and one hundred (100) beneficiaries of the scheme to make the sample size 150. The papers concluded by noting that most maternal death are avoidable, if women have access to antenatal care during pregnancy, has trained (skilled care) at labor and both the baby and the mother are under standard medical care during and after delivery, and continue till the first two weeks after delivery.


Diário da Queda (2011) by Michel Laub has been described as autoficção (autofiction), the Brazilian translation of the concept coined by Serge Doubrovsky to describe the narrative working-through of trauma through fictional autobiography. This article re-examines the definition of 'autofiction' and argues that Laub's narrative process more closely resembles Jean-Luc Nancy's notion of a singular voice 'compearing' experiences in a process of 'sharing' that, when combined with touch and affection can – according to the novel – more successfully help to overcome trauma. At stake are questions regarding the inheritance of Holocaust memory, as well as its politicised deployment in contemporary conflicts.


Galactose‐1‐phosphate uridyltransferase has been determined, by a manometric method, in the lysed erythrocytes of galactosaemic children and their families and in normal controls. Parents of galactosaemic children have about 64 % of the enzyme activity found in controls, while homozygous individuals have little or none. There is a slight overlap of enzyme levels in the control and heterozygote groups. This renders a definite placing of borderline cases impossible.


Dimensionally to locate a ground target area (ZC) by means of an optical sensor (CO) and a radar sensor (CR) embedded in respective satellites (STO, STR), position (p, p) of the satellites are measured when the sensors are pointed at the target area, an aiming direction (u) of the optical sensor pointing towards the target area is measured, and the distance (d) between the target area and the radar sensor pointing towards the target area is measured . A locating device (DL) determines the distance (δ) between the target area and the optical sensor as a function of satellite positions, the distance between the target area and the radar sensor and the aiming direction of the optical sensor. This method provides with great precision the position of the target area.


the and right-hand as surgical treatment carried out times 2001. and a multi-leaf collimator was used. There were four radiation therapy portals designed to encompass the bone masses at the skull base. The MRI examinations of the head carried out 11 and 15 months after the radiotherapy showed no progression of the disease and no lesion of the brain after the irradiation. After this treatment some of the symptoms (such as headaches and dizziness) disappeared and the patient's state of health became stabilized. The latest clinical examination of the patient took place in July 2003 (20 months after the radiotherapy).


Let R be a Gorenstein ring of finite Krull dimension and t ∈ R a regular element. We show that if the quotient map R → R/Rt has a flat splitting then the transfer morphism of coherent Witt groups Tr(R/Rt)/R : $ \widetilde W^{i} $(R/Rt) → $ \widetilde W^{i+1} $(R) is zero for all i ∈ ℤ. As an application we give another proof of the Gersten conjecture for Witt groups in the case of regular semilocal rings essentially of finite type over a field of characteristic not 2. (© 2005 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)


In recent years, the national government has delivered a series of policies to drive the reform in the health care field. As times goes by, these policies are strongly influencing the stake-holders related to the health care service. Though the reform embarks on the bright road, we still need to pay more attention to the phenomenon. The article is committed to analyze the occurrence of the adverse selection and how the adverse selection influences the normal health care market.


The design and construction contract is the contract that tender design combine with construction,which promotes the design and construction companies,and effectively solves the problem between design and construction group,which can optimize allocation of resources to promote the strategy recombination between design and construction group and effectively control the construction costs.It can offer reference for compilation of tender documents to research the measurement payment and risk division of tender documents compilation combine with the characteristic of design and construction contract.


In modern animal husbandry to reduce the negative effects of transport stress is of great importance is the use of preparations of live microorganisms (probiotics).The purpose of the study is to track and analyze the psycho-emotional state of the sheep after long transportation. The material for the research served the sheep of the breed "Texel" and "Edilbaevskaya" 4-6 months of age, in the amount of 119 goals. Animals were brought from the Vladimir region in КFК "Nick" in Blagoveshchensk district of the Amur region by road. The journey was 11 days. To reduce signs of transport after psycho-emotional stress all animals used probiotic "Intestevit". As a result, the animals have undergone long period of transportation, in the early days there was a disorder of psycho-emotional state. In animals evident signs of excitation, in severe cases, it was noted dilated pupils, and muscle tremors. The signs characterize the first stage of stress (alarm) occurring in two phases: shock and proteosome that the sheep were clearly evident. In the phase of shock has been a violation psycho-emotional state, along with this, fell muscle tone, had muscle tremors, apparent fearfulness and enlarged pupils. Then came the phase of proteosome, when all the external characteristic features of stress gradually began to take place: muscle tone increased, the animals calmed down. To 15 th day of stay in the new conditions of existence arose the second stage of stress adaptation. During this period the animals by external features managed to recover. Thus, the most sudden and severe changes of psycho-emotional state of sheep on the second and seventh day after transportation. This reaction of animals to stress during normal conditions may end in the destruction. Application of probiotic preparation "Intestevit" softens the effect of transport stress, helps the animal more easier to transfer and to recover faster.


The major objective of the study were the following-(1) To examine the differences In performance of disabled and non-disabled readers in cognitive problem solving measures, (2) To assess the differences in performance of reflective and impulsive information processing groups on the cognitive problem solving measures, (3) To find out the grade differences in performance on cognitive problem solving measures. Three hundred children, hundred from each grade 3, 4, and 5 were the subjects. All these children on the basis of performance on reading tasks and performance on MFFT task were categorised as reading disabled impulsive, reading disabled reflective, reading non-disabled impulsive and non-disabled reflectives for each grade (3, 4 and 5). Five cognitive tasks were administered on these four groups of children for each grade. Results revealed that inferior performance showed by low reading achievers attributed to deficiency on memorization process. The inferior performance shown by impulsive children in comparison to reflective may be due to lack of motivation lack of task concern and they trend to mobilize less effort and do not engage in active search behaviour in complex problem solving tasks. Majority of the processing variables showed developmental trend which seem to undergo a qualitative change as a function of age and educational experience.


A numerical method is developed that could predict the pressure distribution of a ducted source from farfield pressure inputs. Using an initial value formulation, the two‐dimensional homogeneous Helmholtz wave equation (no steady flow) is solved using explicit marching techniques. The Von Neumann method is used to develop relationships which describe how sound frequency and grid spacing effect numerical stability. Stability considerations limit the approach to high‐frequency sound. Sample calculations for both hard and soft wall ducts compare favorably to known boundary value solutions. In addition, assuming that reflections in the duct are small, this initial value approach is successfully used to determine the attenuation of a straight soft wall duct. Compared to conventional finite difference or finite element boundary value approaches, the numerical marching technique is orders of magnitude shorter in computation time and required computer storage and can be easily employed in problems involving high‐...


Three cases of Churg-Strauss syndrome with myocardial involvement are reported. Cardiac disease is known to be the major cause of death in Churg-Strauss syndrome. Aggressive therapy (steroids and cyclophosphamide) may cure the myocardial dysfunction associated with the disease.


Research using participant involvement profiles for market segmentation has illustrated the procedure's utility both in terms of its managerial applicability as well as its legitimacy as a research tool for academic inquiry into consumer behavior. This study builds upon previous efforts that have noted how varying levels and types of involvement affect human behavior and attempts to classify participants of a 10K road race into homogenous segments based on their involvement profiles. The three objectives that guided this study were: (1) to construct profiles of participants based on their level and type of involvement; (2) to identify distinct market segments using participants' involvement profiles; and (3) to profile selected market segments based on their socio-demographic characteristics, self-reported behaviors, and participants' perceptions of important service elements as well as evaluations of the organizing agency's performance in providing those service elements. Three distinct segments emerged from the analysis and were profiled using self-reported behavioral measures consisting of past participation in the event, annual participation in similar events, running magazine subscription, perceptions of important service attributes, and evaluations of agency performance in providing service attributes. The results demonstrate the complexity of the involvement construct by highlighting that in addition to varying across leisure activities, the type and level of involvement also varies across segments of participants. Future research examining involvement in this manner will enhance our understanding of the construct in addition to providing agencies with valuable marketing tools. While problems remain concerning the measurement of risk in the context of the leisure experience, these results suggest that distinct and meaningful target markets can still be identified through the use of involvement profiles. Further, target markets can be differentiated on the basis of self-reported behavioral characteristics, service preferences and service evaluations. Implications related to the pricing, promotion, programming, and distribution of the service are discussed. Segmentation using consumer involvement profiles provides managers with insights concerning their clients' underlying motives for participation. Used in conjunction with traditional market categorizations (e.g., socio-demographic variables, psychographic variables, benefits derived from participation), managers of leisure services are then in a better position to improve service delivery and provide greater participant satisfaction.


Objective. Health Self-Empowerment Theory (health motivation, health self-efficacy, health self-praise, and active coping) was examined as a predictor of levels of engagement in four health-promoting behaviors (health responsibility behaviors, regular exercise, healthy eating, and stress management behaviors) among low-income African American adolescents and non-Hispanic White American adolescents living with at least one chronic illness. Methods. Eighty-seven participants completed measures of the Health Self-Empowerment Theory variables and of level of engagement in each of the four health-promoting behaviors. Results. Regression analyses revealed that the combined Health Self-Empowerment Theory variables significantly predicted level of engagement in the four examined health-promoting behaviors. Additionally, active coping, health self-praise, and health motivation each significantly predicted one or more of the examined health-promoting behaviors. Conclusions. Health self-empowerment may be useful for informing interventions designed to foster engagement in health-promoting behaviors among low-income adolescents living with one or more chronic illnesses.


Abstract In this paper, we focus on the common problems of current information analysis and support decision systems in agricultural and forestry economies, such as frequent manual interventions, lack of cooperation among sub‐systems, lack of support from distributed computing and group decision making. This research aims to resolve these problems by rebuilding the system with agent technology, and a prototype of the agricultural and forestry economy decision support system (AFEDSS) based on agent is designed and implemented. The AFEDSS is composed of interface agent, management agent, model agent, forecast agent, assistant decision agent, data management agent. The results show that the new system can simulate and deal with the complex processes of agricultural and forestry economies in reasonably short computational times and with less subjective uncertainty. This paper also discusses the decision processes and internal mechanisms in AFEDSS especially on cooperating with dynamic analysis, evaluation, forecast and optimisation.