Mineral ions have essential roles for maintaining osmotic balance, forming parts of primary
enzymes relating to the sperm metabolism and function. This study was conducted to
evaluate the effects of mineral salts as supplement to semen extender on chilled canine sperm
quality during 10 days of storage. The sperm motility was performed by computer assisted
sperm analysis (CASA). The plasma membrane integrity, acrosome membrane integrity, and
mitochondrial membrane potential parameters were determined using a fluorescent staining
combination. The results showed that although the percentage of sperm motility and sperm
plasma membrane integrity in the mineral salts and the control extenders were not markedly
different during the first 6 days of storage (P>0.05), the acrosome membrane integrity,
mitochondrial membrane potential and the healthy sperm parameters in the mineral salts
extender was substantially higher than that in the control extender during this period (P<0.05).
Notably, the sperm quality of sperm in the mineral salts extender decreased rapidly after the
first 6 days and evidently lower than that in the rest extender (P<0.05). In conclusion, the
mineral salts extender can improve sperm quality in chilled canine sperm during 6 days of
storage.


In the near future, mega-long-span structures will be required for creating stable microclimate over large areas, regardless of the natural conditions, for comfortable living of people. Thin-walled shell structures made of carbon materials with high strength properties are best suited for this purpose. The problem with thin-walled shells resides in vibrations caused by the action of external forces, which can lead to structural failure. The paper presents and experimental study of influence of the multilayer nature of reinforcement of open thin-walled cylindrical carbon shells on their natural vibrations. Experimental data have been compared to the theoretical calculations of open thin-walled cylindrical shell vibrations taking into account the frequency spectrum splitting. It has been found that with the increase in the number of carbon fabric reinforcement layers, vibration frequency deviation in open thin-walled cylindrical carbon shells increases at the initial stage as compared to the analytic model.


The digital holographic method is used to characterize the phase modulation depth of phase-only LCOS. Compared with the conventional ways, the digital holographic method could obtain the information around the whole field of view. Besides, the digital holographic method is a non-contact, lossless, high-fidelity way to achieve the phase distribution. In this paper, the lensless Fourier transform digital holography is employed, due to its simple setup and reconstruction process. In LCOS the phase modulation is controlled by displaying the gray level images on its active area. Usually for the phase modulation characterization, the total of all 255 gray level images are displayed in a step change of 10, for each recording. That is why it takes time for the complete calibration. In this method a mask with the entire range of gray-level i.e. from 0-255 is displayed on the LCOS active area and the hologram is recorded, which on reconstruction gives the depth of phase modulation of LCOS for the entire range of gray level. In order to avoid the aberration a double exposure method is used in which two holograms are recorded, one with the 0-255 and other with the zero gray level masks. Also, the sorting by reliability, following a non-continuous path (SNRCP) phase unwrapping algorithm is used for unwrapping the final result. The main advantages of this method are the less number of required recording holograms, the easy and real time calibration. Results are then compared with the conventional method that is young double slit method, which is widely proposed to obtain the phase modulation depth of the LCOS and they are in good agreement with each other. The efficiency of our method is verified by comparison.


A randomized controlled trial conducted in the late 1990s in Kampala Uganda helped to create - at an unprecedented pace - a standard for preventing mother-to-child transmission of HIV in the developing world. (excerpt)


The paper starts with an analysis of the three mam principles of the social order of 'real socialism' etatmnc homogemzatlon. basic dichotomy between the ruling group and all the direct producers as a whole, and politically- defined-from-above income differences among different sectors of employees The structural crisis of this order i, described as gradual under - mining of these principles brought about especially by the growth of the second economy In the last secnon the dilemmas of the recent)\ started system transformation are described in terms of symbohc support hut lack of short-term mterests of the most numerous social groups m the market . reform.


An innovative approach for decreasing the optical shadowing of grid lines of solar cells is to form volume optics in the encapsulating Ethylene-vinyl acetate (EVA) layer by femtosecond (fs-)laser structuring. Recent results on this ongoing research topic are presented. In particular, the chemical changes of the EVA material upon interaction with a fs-laser pulse were investigated by applying confocal Raman microscopy. Moreover, a careful investigation on the optical properties of the EVA volume optics was performed: (i) experimentally on the basis of goniometric measurements of diffractive micro-structures, as well as (ii) theoretically by applying optical modeling and optimization procedures. This resulted in a better understanding of the effectiveness of the optical volume elements in decreasing the shadowing of metal grid lines on the active cell surfaces. Moreover first results of minimodules with incorporated volume optics are presented. Results of optical simulation and Laser Beam Induced Current (LBIC) experiments show that the losses due to grid fingers can be reduced by about 50% by creating microoptics in the volume of the EVA by fs-laser structuring.


This paper deals with the virtue of prudence in the thinking of Thomas Aquinas and Bonaventure. It compares the two different approaches of Dominican and Franciscan High Medieval Scholasticism concerning the virtue of prudence, which is an intellectual virtue but one that is closely related to human acts and consequently to the final end of human life.


Head-first vertical descent is a kind of locomotor behavior occasionally used by clawed arboreal mammals and primates. The Guianan red howler performs such descent in a unique way, which permits it to cross horizontal and vertical gaps leading to isolated treetops. Our study of these means of vertical descent down lianas is based upon photographic and video sequences taken in primary rain forest. In such descents, the animal seems to walk quadrupedally upside-down parallel to the vertical support. The main propulsive force seems to be gravity, countered by reaction forces from the support. Progression is regulated by the grasping tail upon which tensile forces are exerted. Its periodic release is related to an alternating change of the major pivotal points. The sequence of change of pivots cannot be ascribed to a particular gait, but there are at least three grasping points at any time. The forelimbs are subjected mainly to compressive forces, and show frequent pronation, elbow flexion and abduction. The grasp of the hand is zygodactylous. The hindlimbs are more important in stabilization than in propulsion. Only the distal part of the foot participates in the grasping mechanism. In general, a great variability is observed due to some intrinsic and extrinsic factors related to a flexible adaptability of movement.


Apex predators can have considerable impacts on meso-carnivore diets, through competition or facilitation. Facilitation occurs when smaller predators consume carrion created by larger predators, especially large-bodied prey species normally inaccessible to meso-carnivores. In contrast, apex predators can also negatively affect meso-carnivore consumption of important resources through competitive interactions. Thus, predicting meso-carnivore responses to trophic structure changes (i.e. apex predator extirpation or reintroduction) is often difficult. We investigated stable carbon and nitrogen isotope niche breadths of black-backed jackal (Canis mesomelas) in response to the reintroduction of an apex predator, the African lion (Panthera leo), to the Karoo National Park, South Africa. Jackal faecal isotopic niche widths were larger in post-lion than pre-lion samples, indicating a niche expansion to include pure C3- and C4-based food sources when lions were present. Most prey items of this nature in the study area are large-bodied ungulates. Our results agree with results of traditional scat analysis, which showed that prey species >92 kg were consumed more often after the lion reintroduction. Stable isotope data from carnivore faeces are effective for tracking responses of wildlife to changing ecological conditions, providing an alternative source of information about changes in community structure brought about by management interventions.


Background and Aim: Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC) is the most polymorphic system in the genome of different species. In human beings, it named human leukocyte antigen (HLA). The association between genetics, particularly the genes of the MHC and many Infection diseases especially viral infection has been known. The aim of this study is survey of association of HLA-B*51 and -B*52 alleles with HSV, CMV infections by Specific Sequence primer-PCR (SSP-PCR). Materials and Methods: Eighty eight people referred to the Pathobiology Laboratory of Rasht city, Iran who suspected to HSV and CMV infections. The Real-Time PCR was used for detection of HSV and CMV infections. HLA typing was performed by using SSP-PCR as a precise method. Results: In this study, 6 of 88 samples were positive for HSV infection (6.81%) and 9 for CMV infection (10.22%). Although HLA typing indicate the 2.53% (2/79) of healthy individuals expressed the HLA-B*51 and -B*52 alleles. In contrary there is no expression of alleles in patients. (0/6). Conclusions: Results of this research showed that there is no significant relation between the HLA-B*51 and -B*52 alleles and being resistant or catching the HSV or CMV infections (P > 0.05).


Abstract : This monograph discusses the merit of using Cordon and Search as a method to train infantry battalions in preparation for possible deployment to perform OOTW activities. Using one training event to generically prepare infantry units to perform OOTW activities must incorporate many of the tasks that Operations Other Than War require intantry units to perform, but must also reinforce the OOTW principles. This monograph demonstrates how Cordon and Search incorporates the necessary tasks while reinforcing OOTW principles. The introduction briefly relates the background and history of U. S. involvement in OOTW. Referring to FM 100-5: Operations, the monograph cites the Army current OOTW position. A brief OOTW theory discussion relates that the key distinguishing factor for Operations Other Than War is the purpose for which military forces are used. The monograph then identifies gaps in the training literature. It proposes changes in FM 25-101: Battle Focused Training to include OOTW tasks as part of a battalions Mission Essential Task List (METL).


In this paper, a method for the localisation and assessment of damage is presented. The method is based on the use of mode shape sensitivities to changes in mass or stiffness in the test structure. With these sensitivities, differences in the dynamical behaviour of the structure in its undamaged and damaged conditions can be translated into damage information (location and amount of changes in mass or stiffness). Since the sensitivities are calculated on the basis of the experimentally determined mode shapes, there is no need for a prior finite element model of the test structure. The applicability of this technique is discussed on the basis of damage detection experiments performed on a beam-like structure (laboratory conditions) as well as data from the experiments on the I-40 highway bridge in Albuquerque, New Mexico. A comparison is made with a variety of existing damage detection techniques which do not require a finite element model.


International law is the law that adjusts international relation , and defends the order of international social. The function of international law on the international community depends on its effect, i. e. the observing of international law principle , regulation , regulations and system by the main bodies of international legal relation. Therefore, The cognition of the international law effect basis is related to the future and destiny of the international law. However, there exist a lot of defects in the effect basis theories, which are not able to announce the essence of the international law effect. It is necessary to scan them again.


The celebrated Cheeger's Inequality (Alon and Milman 1985; Alon 1986) establishes a bound on the edge expansion of a graph via its spectrum. This inequality is central to a rich spectral theory of graphs, based on studying the eigenvalues and eigenvectors of the adjacency matrix (and other related matrices) of graphs. It has remained open to define a suitable spectral model for hypergraphs whose spectra can be used to estimate various combinatorial properties of the hypergraph. In this article, we introduce a new hypergraph Laplacian operator generalizing the Laplacian matrix of graphs. In particular, the operator is induced by a diffusion process on the hypergraph, such that within each hyperedge, measure flows from vertices having maximum weighted measure to those having minimum. Since the operator is nonlinear, we have to exploit other properties of the diffusion process to recover the Cheeger's Inequality that relates hyperedge expansion with the "second eigenvalue" of the resulting Laplacian. However, we show that higher-order spectral properties cannot hold in general using the current framework. Since higher-order spectral properties do not hold for the Laplacian operator, we instead use the concept of procedural minimizers to consider higher-order Cheeger-like inequalities. For any k ∈ N, we give a polynomial-time algorithm to compute an O(log r)-approximation to the kth procedural minimizer, where r is the maximum cardinality of a hyperedge. We show that this approximation factor is optimal under the SSE hypothesis (introduced by Raghavendra and Steurer (2010)) for constant values of k. Moreover, using the factor-preserving reduction from vertex expansion in graphs to hypergraph expansion, we show that all our results for hypergraphs extend to vertex expansion in graphs.


Objective The kinematic responses of a cervical sub-axial functional spinal unit (FSU) will be reproduced by modelling vertebrae after healthy males of 30-45 years of age, modelling intervertebral discs (IVD) and ligaments to replicate impacts of a sleeping individual and ensuring the surrogate can withstand repeatable injurious impacts (ie. is durable). Methods Cervical vertebrae were 3D-printed and CNC milled in order to be used in the construction of FSU surrogates (FSU-1, comprised of C3-C5 and FSU-2, comprised of C3-C4) and dimensional accuracy of the vertebral design and fabrication processes were assessed. Once the assessment was complete, ligaments and discs were attached and adhered, respectively, to the vertebrae in order to create FSUs. The surrogates were tested in axial rotation and flexion-extension, and the kinematic results were captured and compared to cadaver data from published studies. Results The maximum percent error of vertebrae dimensions was 14.29% and the greatest error was 1.52 mm which is small enough to suggest human error in measurement. The kinematic results of FSU1 in axial rotation exhibited a sigmoidal curve that was in line with cadaver data, however, it took only 0.1 Nm for the surrogate to reach 10° of rotation and thus it was much less stiff than the published cadaver data. FSU-2 kinematic trends also had a sigmoidal shape in axial rotation and in flexion-extension, although the range of motion in axial rotation, neutral zone in flexionextension (range in which the spine rotates with minimal or no applied torque) and maximum degrees of extension at specified torques were still outside of the cadaveric range. The neutral zone in axial rotation and range of motion in flexion were in line with published cadaveric data which is promising. Conclusions The results are trending in the right direction and with further FSU component refinement, reproducing the kinematic responses of sub-axial functional spinal units is achievable and will aid in the construction of a surrogate biofidelic omnidirectional neck. The ultimate goal is to use the surrogate neck to improve safety equipment meant to protect the head and neck in transportation, occupational and sports settings.


The obesity/food insecurity paradox has been present in the scientific literature for the past two decades 1, based mostly on evidence from the U.S. population. The potential mediators of such a paradox were recently reviewed. Overall, the review confirmed that food insecurity and obesity continue to be positively associated in women; new mediators were revealed (such as marital status, stressors, and participation in food aid programs) that may alter the association 2. However, until now, publications on obesity among the population exposed to food insecurity in Brazil were scarce. Kac et al. provide such evidence in a series of papers adopting a life course approach to analyze obesity among Brazilian women and children affected by different degrees of food insecurity 3,4,5.


With the popularity of the Internet and the development of the Information technology, fundamental changes have taken place in the traditional medicine. And thus network medical treatment emerges as the times require. Zhenjiang Maternal and child health hospital as a municipal public hospital, has taken the lead to start the online medical service, relying on local portals. Running for three months, a total of 492 health theme, with maternal and child health knowledge of the most popular among them.This new platform not only provides a new way for residents' health treatment, but also helps to create hospital brand and expand its publicity.


Estrogen binds to the typical estrogen receptor (ER) ERα or ERβ and is translocated to the nucleus, where it binds directly to the estrogen response element of the target gene to induce transcription and regulate gene expression, and the whole process is completed in several hours to several days. The G protein-coupled estrogen receptor (GPER), a type that is structurally distinct from typical ERα and ERβ, rapidly induces most non-genomic effects within seconds to minutes. GPER regulates cell growth, migration, and programmed cell death in a variety of tissues and has been associated with the progression of estrogen-associated cancers. Here, the characteristics, cell signal transduction, and the latest research progress of GPER in estrogen-associated tumors and retinal diseases are reviewed.


Stream channel incision and deposition are common after wildfire, and after these geomorphic changes occur, they may impact runoff mechanisms and the composition of pre‐event and event water in runoff. To investigate this, we monitored discharge and electrical conductivity at six nested sites within a 15.5 km2 watershed in the northern Colorado Front Range that had burned several years prior, and then experienced large flooding and well‐documented and significant channel erosion and deposition in the following years. Over the study period, which occurs 3 years after the fire, and 2 years after the beginning of significant geomorphic changes, the watershed experienced seven precipitation events. For each hydrograph, we separate baseflow from runoff using a new method to characterize and account for the strong diurnal signal in the baseflow. Electrical conductivity is used as a tracer in a two‐component end‐member mixing analysis to separate the event hydrographs into event and pre‐event water. Correlation coefficients were computed between key variables of the hydrologic response (such as runoff ratio, volumes of event and pre‐event water) to storm and basin characteristics (including stream channel erosion/deposition, fraction of high/moderate burn severity, precipitation intensity and antecedent precipitation). The strength and significance of correlations was found to vary seasonally. In the early season, event and pre‐event volumes did not vary significantly with basin or storm characteristics. In the late season, antecedent precipitation correlated with a decrease in event runoff (R2 = 0.34) and total runoff (R2 = 0.40), increased precipitation intensity correlated with an increase in event runoff (R2 = 0.48) and local erosion correlated with an increase in pre‐event runoff (R2 = 0.60) and total runoff (R2 = 0.53). We hypothesize that the difference in correlations between early season and late season is due seasonal variations in the groundwater table gradient. These findings indicate that seasonality and postfire stream channel erosion influence the makeup of runoff response.


'At a time in history, when the earth was thought to be flat, a complete solution of geography was clearly not possible. Someone might have said: "For each continent that is discovered there are ten continents beyond". It turned out, however, that the earth is round, and by the time the explorers reached Australia on their way around the globe, it was evident that geography was, in principle, solved.... It follows that, similar to geography, biology is finite, and ... in principle solved .... I predict that immunology will be completely solved within 50 years from now' (Jerne, 1969).


The authors present the concept of an intelligent thermal actuator designed by using thermally sensitive magnetic materials. The use of the magnetic transition of FeRh alloy is very effective in increasing the actuator functions. These functions are freedom of direction, tuning temperature, and increasing both sensitivity and power. Two new types of actuator, a remote controlled optical driven thermo-magnetic motor and a temperature sensitive spring-less valve, are proposed and experimental results are shown.


New tools for pediatric glaucoma surgery are becoming available that improve the ability to examine pediatric patients, perform surgeries more easily, and enhance treatment of difficult cases.


The aim of this study was to investigate clinical risk factors on survival among infected children born to HIV‐positive mothers in the southern region of Thailand.


Integrated Power System(IPS)can pride instantaneous high-energy for pulsed power loads,which have considerable effect on power quality.The impact of pulsed power loads on IPS is examined in this paper.The pulsed power load takes the form of a capacitor charging circuit.Two configurations are considered:a controlled rectifier based charger and an uncontrolled rectifier-dc/dc converter based charger.The results show that the system utilizing an uncontrolled rectifier in conjunction with a dc/dc converter has significantly less system impact than the system which utilizes a line commutated converter.It is also shown that the propulsion coordination can be used to further reduce the impact of pulsed power load on IPS.


SUMMARY Patients attending neurological clinics withheadaches thatproved nottobedueto clearly defined structural disease were interviewed before andafter theconsultation andapproximately one yearlater. Their expectations oftheconsultation were ill-formed. Abouttwo-thirds of thepatients hadfears aboutorganic disease although fewhadpsychiatric morbidity. Thesefears weregenerally dispelled bytheconsultation. Aboutone-third ofthepatients were dissatisfied bythe consultation, nearly allbywhattheneurologist said rather thanbywhattechnical procedures hedid ordidnotundertake. Womenwith alonghistory ofmigraine, withsignificant psychiatric morbiditv, andwhohadinitiated thereferral themselves were particularly likely tobedissatisfied. Although mostpatients were still having headaches one year later, visits tothegeneral practitioner forthis symptomhadgreatly declined. Headache isoneofthecommonest ailments suffered byMan inthedeveloped countries. Mostepisodes, ofcourse, areeither ignored orself treated with simple analgesics. Wadsworth1 andBankseta12 found, intheir surveys ofsymptomsinthecommunity, thatheadache wasthesymptommostoften dealt withbylaymedication. However, somefind their headaches sofrequent, orsosevere, atleast by their owntermsofreference, thattheyseekmedical advice. Fromthesecond national study onmorbidityingeneral practice,3 itcanbecalculated thatthe patient consulting rateforalltypes ofheadache was 16perthousand peryear.4 As a comparison, the patient consulting rateforepilepsy, another commonneurological disturbance, wasonly 29per


The performance and stability of a control system can be directly affected by a time-delay located either in its input, output, or both. In the case of a mobile robot, an input time-delay may become critical in different situations, such as when vision is used as the localization technique and a high frame per second rate is demanded, or when centralized control of multiple agents is desired, or even if very accurate regulation or tracking performance is required. It turns out that the control laws derived from the mathematical models that include an input time-delay are of a noncausal nature, thus requiring some sort of state prediction or estimation in order to implement them.


To evaluate clinically effect of Valium and Sodium pentobarbital as premedicating agent, both drugs and a placebo were compared in 45 patients (2 to 11 yrs). The results were as follows. 1. Both Sodium pentobarbital and Valium were superior to placebo for control of crying, cooperation and apprehension, but the statistically differences were not significant. 2. Both Valium and Sodium pentobarbital were superior to placebo for control of behavior in tense cooperative child; the differences were significant statistically. 3. The difference between Pentobarbital and Valium were-more pronounced at the initial level than at the subsequent readings, and Sodium pentobarbital was for superior at the initial level to the other drugs. 4. Paradoxical excitement occured in 2 cases on the Sodium pentobarbital group, and other apparent side effect did not occur, excluding mild drowsiness. 5. Neither Valium nor Sodium pentobarbital, as used in this study, resulted in consistantly better behavior in all patients.


Chironomids are a globally-distributed family of insects that can serve as biological indicators of environmental pollution.Pollution due to pesticide usage is of particular importance due to the heavy application of these chemicals.Three routinely-applied insecticides,omethoate,chlorpyrifos,and cyhalothrin,were selected for our study to investigate their toxicity against Propsilocerus akamusi and to determine their effects on carboxylesterase activity of 4th-instar larvae.After 12 h of exposure,the LC50 values of omethoate,chlorpyrifos and cyhalothrin were 12.508,2.478,and 0.046 μg/L,respectively,indicating cyhalothrin has the highest level of toxicity to P.akamusi.The omethoate induced carboxylesterase activity at 3 and 12 h post-application when P.akamusi was challenged with 0.05 μg/L.When challenged with the higher rates,0.05,0.125,0.25,0.5,1,2 and 4 μg/L of omethoate,carboxylesterase activity was found to increase after 48 h.In addition,carboxylesterase activity was inhibited at 24 h and 48 h for the 0.05 μg/L of omethoate while enzyme inhibition was observed for the earlier time points of 3,12 and 24 h for all doses tested.The inhibition carboxylesterase activity ranged from 5.149%-50.587% and 3.225%-36.403% under treatments with 0.125,0.25,0.5,1,2,4,and 8 μg/L at 3 and 12 h,respectively.Overall,at 24 h,the inhibition of carboxylesterase activity by omethoate ranged from 20.441%-48.523%.In comparison,when chlorpyrifos was applied with the concentration of 0.125,0.25,1,2 and 4 μg/L,the level of carboxylesterse was inhibited dramatically after 3 h treatment.This trend was also found at 12 h with the exception of the lower concentrations of 0.125 and 0.25 μg/L.Overall,the inhibition of carboxylesterase was found by the treatment of chlorpyrifos with the concentration of 0.125,0.25,1,2 and 4 μg/L ranged from 14.145%-51.254% at 24 h and 9.772%-39.659% at 48 h.For the cyhalothrin test,carboxylesterase activity was inhibited by 0.00625,0.0125,0.05,0.25,and 1μg/L of cyhalothrin treatments at 3,12,24,and 48 h.The magnitude of the inhibition caused by cyhalothrin was found to be decreased following the cyhalothrin concentrations and treatment time.The differences in the carboxylesterase activities caused by omethoate,chlorpyrifos,and cyhalothrin indicated different responses of P.akamusi to different dose and time of these insecticides.The poisoning symptoms also indicated differences between the three insecticides tested.The symptoms of P.akamusi to omethoate and chlorpyrifos poisons in P.akamusi were overall excitation followed by a loss of consciousness and ultimately death.The poisoning symptoms of P.akamusi to cyhalothrin,however,showed an initial increase in activity followed by a period of inactivity,apparent recovery and finally death.These results suggest that the carboxylesterase activity of chironomids can be used as a biochemical marker to monitor pesticide pollution.


To compare the effect and safety of glucagon‐like peptide‐1 receptor agonists (GLP‐1 RA) with insulin therapy on type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients inadequately controlled with metformin and/or sulfonylurea. A systematic literature search on MEDLINE, Embase and Cochrane for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) was conducted using specific search terms 'GLP‐1 insulin type 2 diabetes clinical trials' and eight eligible studies were retrieved. Data on mean change in haemoglobin A1c (HbA1C), weight loss, fasting plasma glucose (FPG), incidence of hypoglycaemia and gastrointestinal adverse events were extracted from each study and pooled in meta‐analysis. Data on postprandial plasma glucose (PPG) and adverse events were also described or tabulated. Data from eight RCTs enrolling 2782 patients were pooled using a random‐effects model. The mean net change [95% confidence interval (CIs)] for HbA1c, weight loss and FPG for patients treated with GLP‐1 RA as compared with insulin was −0.14% (−2 mmol/mol) [95% CI; (−0.27, −0.02)%; p = 0.03]; −4.40 kg [95% CI; (−5.23, −3.56) kg; p < 0.01] and 1.18 mmol/l [95% CI; (0.43, 1.93) mmol/l; p < 0.01], respectively, with negative values favouring GLP‐1 and positive values favouring insulin. The GLP‐1 group was associated with a greater reduction in PPG than the insulin group. Overall, hypoglycaemia was reported less in the GLP‐1 group [Mantel–Haenszel odds ratio (M‐H OR) 0.45 (0.27, 0.76); p < 0.01], while there was no significant difference in occurrence of severe hypoglycaemia [M‐H OR 0.65 (0.29,1.45); p = 0.29]. A significantly higher number of gastrointestinal adverse events were reported with GLP‐1 group [M‐H OR 15.00 (5.44,41.35) p < 0.01]. GLP‐1 RA are promising new agents compared with insulin. Further prospective clinical trials are expected to fully evaluate the long‐term effectiveness and safety of these therapies within the T2DM treatment paradigm.


Nitrogen (N2) dissolved in long bone fatty marrow can lead to bubble formation in tissue when exposed to sudden decompression. During a disabled submarine escape (DISSUB) hastened decompression is often necessary, and formation of bubbles is likely. If recompression is not administered in a timely manner, bubbles may lead to ischemia and necrosis of marrow and bone, a condition called Dysbaric Osteonecrosis (DON). Oxygen (O2) pre‐breathe has been proposed as a way to reduce N2 in tissue, thus decreasing risk of DON. Previous research has shown that O2 pre‐breathe of 2‐hours resulted in a reduction in DON; however, effects of shorter O2 pre‐breathe are uncertain. This study's aim is to understand the effect of shorter durations of O2 pre‐breathe on DON formation.


The present paper suggests the idea of development and introduction of a textbook in the Chinese language for future teachers of Chinese in the system of higher education in Russia. The authors analyze a number of reasons for the absence of such textbook in our education system. They consider both formal and content criteria of the existing textbooks for teaching practical Chinese language at the initial stage, which are most frequently used at our educational institutions. Special attention is paid to their advantages and disadvantages as well as to compiling new textbooks and teaching aids. The authors conclude that on the whole the existing textbooks are aimed at the formation of language knowledge and development of speaking skills, but their drawback is that they are not sufficiently aimed at the formation of professional skills and development of personal competencies essential for the future teacher.


Background Mitochondria‐mediated cell death plays a critical role in myocardial ischemia‐reperfusion (IR) injury. We hypothesized that nanoparticle‐mediated drug delivery of mitochondrial division inhibitor 1 (Mdivi1) protects hearts from IR injury through inhibition of mitochondria outer membrane permeabilization (MOMP), which causes mitochondrial‐mediated cell death. Methods and Results We formulated poly (lactic‐co‐glycolic acid) nanoparticles containing Mdivi1 (Mdivi1‐NP). We recently demonstrated that these nanoparticles could be successfully delivered to the cytosol and mitochondria of cardiomyocytes under H2O2‐induced oxidative stress that mimicked IR injury. Pretreatment with Mdivi1‐NP ameliorated H2O2‐induced cell death in rat neonatal cardiomyocytes more potently than Mdivi1 alone, as indicated by a lower estimated half‐maximal effective concentration and greater maximal effect on cell survival. Mdivi1‐NP treatment of Langendorff‐perfused mouse hearts through the coronary arteries at the time of reperfusion reduced infarct size after IR injury more effectively than Mdivi1 alone. Mdivi1‐NP treatment also inhibited Drp1‐mediated Bax translocation to the mitochondria and subsequent cytochrome c leakage into the cytosol, namely, MOMP, in mouse IR hearts. MOMP inhibition was also observed in cyclophilin D knockout (CypD‐KO) mice, which lack the mitochondrial permeability transition pore (MPTP) opening. Intravenous Mdivi1‐NP treatment in vivo at the time of reperfusion reduced IR injury in wild‐type and CypD‐KO mice, but not Bax‐KO mice. Conclusions Mdivi1‐NP treatment reduced IR injury through inhibition of MOMP, even in the absence of a CypD/MPTP opening. Thus, nanoparticle‐mediated drug delivery of Mdivi1 may be a novel treatment strategy for IR injury.


A of foreign exchange has constituted a major constraint on the pace of economic development in India during the last 15 years. In the last two years, however, there has been a substantial narrowing of the trade deficit, thanks largely to a sharp decline in imports-principally of food but also of some items of machinery and metals. There was also a substantial increase in exports in 1968-69 though the rate of expansion slowed down considerably in 1969-70.


One of the first physics results to come out of ATLAS will be an analysis of J/psi and Upsilon production at 14 TeV. I give an overview of the motivation for looking at the theoretical model underlying quarkonium production, ATLAS expected performance and rates for quarkonium reconstruction and ability to separate out various proposed production models with a view to improving our understanding of QCD.


With the very rapid development of computer science technology, traditional network architecture has been unable to meet the practical application requirements for flexible network management and control in cloud computing, data centers and other fields. Software-defined network (SDN) architecture has been regarded as one of the effective solutions, and has become a research hotspots in recent years. SDN divides the data layer and the control layer. Although it provides a way of the network management simplification, it also faces more diverse security challenges, especially at the management layer, control layer and data layer, as well as other open interfaces. In this paper, based on detailed literature research and analysis, we present a all-rounded inteoduction of the research work on SDN security protection. Specifically, we first introduce the architecture model of SDN, and then discuss the two possible ways to overcome the security problems, mainly including solutions to security threats on various layers/interfaces of SDN. Finally, we provide a prediction on future research trends about SDN security.


The general prognosis of luxational tooth injury and recommendations for treatment are described based on the guideline for management of acute dental trauma which was established by the Japan Association for Dental Traumatology in 2012. The most important points for dentists when starting to consider prosthodontic treatment for a tooth affected by luxational injury are healing of damaged periodontal tissues and prevention and/or treatment of external root resorption. It is not difficult to optimize healing of periodontal tissues. However, the condition and timing at which to start considering prosthodontic treatment for the affected tooth with luxational injury such as intrusion or avulsion are not clear because the pathogenesis of external root resorption has not been elucidated yet. Therefore, prosthodontic treatment can be considered based on informed choice of the patient after he/she is informed of the risk to the outer root resorption of the tooth affected by luxational injury.


Owing to the specific two-dimensional (2D) confinement of electron motion and the absence of interlayer perturbation, 2D semiconductors possess unique optoelectronic properties and has become a research hot-spot in recent years. Whereas the electronic and luminescent properties of 2D transition metal dichalcogenide (TMDC) nanosheets, say, MoS2, MoSe2, WS2, etc., have been generating much research interest, the ultrafast nonlinear optical (NLO) properties remain largely unexplored. Realized that the sizable and thickness-dependent bandgap offers TMDCs a huge potential in the development of photonic devices with high performance and unique functions, we studied extensively the ultrafast NLO property of a range of TMDC nanosheets. 2D TMDC nanosheets with high-quality layered nanosheets were prepared using liquid-phase exfoliation technique. Ultrafast saturable absorption, two-photon absorption, ultrafast nonlinear photoluminescence were observed from the 2D nanostructures. The exciting results open up the door to 2D photonic nano-devices, such as optical switches, pulse shaping devices, mode-lockers, optical limiters, etc., capable of ultrafast response and broadband tunability.


Abstract : A simplified methodology for accurately calculating building heating loads, termed the 'Modified Bin Method' is developed and validated. The method is reliable and accurate and combines the simplicity of hand calculations with the accuracy of computer simulations to provide a substantial improvement over the conventional simple degree day and bin methods and the high cost of sophisticated hourly simulations. The Modified Bin Method uses standard steady-state equations for envelope heat loss and heat gain is developed using multiple regression techniques based upon a statistical analysis of fifty-one computer simulations of test buildings. Example calculations using this method estimate annual building heating loads to within 1.5% of the results of an accurate computer simulation at a small fraction of the time and expense. (Author)


Operation of an X-ray spectrometer based on a spherical variable-line-spacing grating is analyzed using dedicated ray-tracing software allowing fast optimization of the grating parameters and spectrometer geometry.


Treaty on the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons. London, 1 July 1968, Moscow, 1 July 1968 and Washington, 1 July 1968 [United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 729, I-10485.]


Being an important part of the world economy,the minority economy hasthe common characteristics such as being behindhand,enormous developmental gapcompared with the dominating nation,slow development,low-lying degree of socialization,single economic construction and strong economic relation with the government.Only if we know sufficiently these economic characteristics,constitute strategies to accelerate minority development,break feudal consciousness andbehindhand ideas,adjust and optimize the economic construction,the minority economy can be pushed forward continuously.


January 2007 AFTER THE FALL: EAST ASIAN EXCHANGE RATES SINCE THE CRISIS Benjamin J. Cohen Department of Political Science University of California at Santa Barbara Santa Barbara, CA 93106-9420 tel: (805) 893-8763 fax: (805) 568-3720 email: email@example.com (home page: http://www.polsci.ucsb.edu/faculty/cohen) Prepared for a project on "East Asia: A Decade After the Crisis." Helpful comments have been received from participants in the project and from Randall Henning. The research assistance of Heather Arnold is also gratefully acknowledged.


A Lotus 1-2-3 spreadsheet program has been developed to calculate machinery costs on a whole farm level. The Whole Farm Machinery Cost Program estimates machinery costs for multiple enterprises or crops, allows flexibility in field operation parameters to accurately reflect machinery field requirements under various conditions, and summarizes results for a whole farm analysis. The program is designed to provide machinery costs on a per-hour and per-acre basis. Field operations are summarized by crop enterprise to obtain cumulative ownership, repair, labor, and fuel costs per acre. Results from the program may be transferred to other decision aid or budgeting applications. This program has been useful for: (i) teaching fundamentals of machinery cost analysis to producers and within the traditional classroom; and (ii) applied multidisciplinary research projects.


An excessive desire for certainty about COVID-19 is leading to counter-productive responses. We must make decisions based upon the limited information we have, and then execute those decisions with conviction. But let us have the humility to admit when we are wrong.


This paper presents the research & development of spaceborne GPS receiver at Tsinghua Space Center (TSC). Based on the commercial-off-the-shelf components released by Zarlink Semiconductor, TSC has completed the development of spaceborne GPS receiver for the nanosatellite project. The GPS receiver features high dynamics at low power, mass and cost, which makes it suitable to provide positioning, time and velocity for micro/nanosatellites. TSC is ongoing into the R&D of another miniature spaceborne GPS receiver. The new design will be more compact in the power, mass and size while keeping the original features. This GPS receiver is intended for the differential measurement in microsatellite formation flying.


This history and analysis of availability of substitution treatment in Austria is important on two levels. First, for the future policy making in Austria itself, and equally, it offers a useful case study to be considered in international discussions on drug policy and availability of substitution treatment. As governments consider austerity measures, understanding the value of competent drug user treatment is crucial to national discussions. In the international context, Austria, on the doorstep of the postcommunist bloc, sits in unsettling proximity to serious HIV epidemics driven by injecting drug use. Much of this case study offers useful lessons learned in the region. Russia, with well over a million HIV infections, most of which are attributable to injecting drug use, continues to ban opioid substitution treatment claiming it to be a Western invention with no value within its borders (Mydans, 2011). Almost two decades after the first patient was treated with methadone in Poland, the country still has a coverage rate of 15% (Sieros lawski, 2012) and it offers one substitution product-–methadone. The experience of Austria, including that of diversification and expansion of availability of services serve as an inspiring lesson to the postcommunist states. The political differences and tensions described in this article have clearly played a role in favoring one modality of treatment over another, a way treatment is administered, or in diversification of substitution products. The author also points out that fragmentation has not occurred at a policy level and that political rivalries have not overshadowed what is most important-–the need to provide competent treatment to people who are dependent on opiates. It is impressive to note that with the end of the 1970s, pregnant women were offered methadone at the Medical Faculty of the University of Vienna, and that early on, multiple pharmaceutical products were used as opioid substitution treatments, including codeine and morphine, and that prison authorities embraced substitution treatment. Since 1987 when the decree of the Federal Minister considered substitution as a "necessary comple-


How do multinational firms affect both the demand for and supply of skills in host-country labor markets? On the demand side, inward can FDI stimulate demand for more-skilled workers in host countries through several channels. To date, most empirical evidence indicates that these channels work mainly within multinationals themselves, rather than through knowledge spillovers to domestic firms. On the supply side, the question of how inward FDI influences the development of human capital is much less clear, with possible links at both the micro- and macro-levels. This paper offers some new empirical evidence on the links between inward FDI and within-industry skill upgrading for a country-industry-year panel spanning both developed and developing countries. The main empirical finding is a robustly positive correlation between skill upgrading and the presence of affiliates of U.S. multinationals, with this correlation even stronger among the sub-sample of developing countries. This correlation is consistent with inward FDI stimulating skill upgrading in these developing countries.


Let α be a real number with convergents pm/qm from the continued fraction expansion of α. In this paper we investigate the functions E(α) := ∑ m≥0 |αqm − pm| and E∗(α) := ∑ m≥0(αqm−pm) depending only on α and prove that their values are dense in [0, (1+ √ 5)/2] and [0, 1], respectively. For any sequence (αμ)μ≥1, which is uniformly distributed modulo 1, we show that both sequences (E(αμ))μ≥1 and (E(αμ))μ≥1 are not uniformly distributed. Among other things the proofs rely on an inequality for the function E(α), which improves a former result of the first named author.


The illustrations on page 763 accompanying Marcia Barinaga's Research News article "Death gives birth to the nervous system. But how?" (5 Feb., p. 762) should have been credited to Michael Hengartner and Robert Horvitz.


The formation of shear bands during hot deformation of a two-phase (α_2 + γ) titanium aluminide and its consequences on dynamics softening has been investigated. The starting material consists of a colony of lamellar grains along with the segregated vanadium and niobium which was subjected to hot deformation in the temperature range 1000–1175 °C at the strain rate 10 s^−1. Microstructures of the deformed samples indicate that, with increase in the deformation temperature, the orientation of shear bands changes. Moreover, the extent of dynamic recrystallization also increases with deformation temperature. The softening behaviour and crystallographic orientation change within lamellae during hot deformation have been explored. The nucleation of newly recrystallized grains has been observed at twin–parent grain boundary and within the twined γ phase. Lamellae of the γ and α_2 phase have been also observed to be twisted and tilted, leading to the band formations under the load, whose mechanisms have also been explored in the present study.


Silalahi M, Nisyawati. 2015. Ethnobotany of pasak bumi (Eurycoma longifolia) on Batak ethnic, North Sumatra. Pros Sem Nas Masy Biodiv Indon 1: 743-746. The study was conducted to obtain new information about the ethnobotanical knowledge of pasak bumi (Eurycoma longifolia Jack.) by Batak ethnic, North Sumatra, therefore, can complement or revise the existing data. The research of ethnobotany of pasak bumi on Batak ethnic was conducted by using an ethnobotanical approach. The research was conducted in five villages which were the center region of Batak sub-ethnic. Eurycoma longifolia has the different local names on fifth sub-ethnic of Batak, those were bulung besan by Karo, tongkat ali by Phakpak, horis kotala by Simalungun, tengku ali by Toba and ampahan gunjo by Angkola-Mandailaing. Pasak bumi had been used by Batak ethnic to cure stomachache, fever, malaria, stamina enhancer and to make a concoction. The field survey result showed that pasak bumi could be found in agroforestry of rubber (Hevea brasiliensis) and the primary forest in the villages of Tanjung Julu and Simbou Baru. In the village of Peadundung, pasak bumi was found in the home garden, agroforestry, and primary forest.


304SS heat exchanger tubes,which have been used for only two years,suffered from leakage due to corrosion.After examining the failed heat exchanger macroscopically,it was found that corrosion occurred in the crevices between sheet of 16 Mn steel and tubes of 304SS.In this paper polarization behavior of 304SS and 16 Mn was studied by electrochemical method in hot potassium carbonate solution both inside and outside the crevice. Analyses by EDS as well as pH value test were made on the surface of corroded area and uncorroded area.It is concluded that lack of V 5+ in the solution inside crevice between sheet and tubes made the 16 Mn sheet change from passive state to active state, so active passive cells were produced between 16 Mn in passivation and 16Mn in activation. Occluded cells generated inside crevice speeded up solution rate of 16 Mn inside crevice, enabled the medium to be acidated and negative ions such as Cl - to be concentrated.With the decrease of pH value and increase of Cl -,piting corrosion of 304SS occurred. With the decrease of pH value uniform corrosion of 304SS occurred. It is put forward to delay the corrosion that pre passivation of 16Mn and welding should be used in connection of sheet and tubes.


The effect of PCB ' s , DDT, phosphorus and zooplankton density on the photosynthetic parameters Alpha and PBm was investigated . If these parameters prove reliable as functional indicators , their use may s"'implify the process of monitoring aquatic ecosystems. cultures were used in experiments which involved the radioactive carbon labeling and an artificial light incubator . Unialgal use of Alpha and PBm increased in response to the addition of phosphorus in Anabaena flos-aquae cultures deficient in this nutrient and to increasing densities of Daphnia ~ in cultures of Chlorella yul~aris . DDT had a stimulatory effect on Alpha but not on PBm in Anabaena flos-aquae while PCB's had no effect on either parameter . Chlorophyll concentration in the incubator bottle negatively affected Alpha probably through self shading .


We examine the capabilities of these resources and look at where their strengths and weaknesses lie. We identify some of the steps that are needed to improve interoperability between the initiatives and consider how they could be brought together to form a Collaborative Research Environment for Heliophysics (CREH). The Coordination Action for the integration of Solar System Infrastructure and Science (CASSIS) has the objective of exploring ways to improve interoperability for all aspects of Solar System Science. CASSIS is funded under Capacities specific programme of the European Commission's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7) and grew out of the HELIO, Europlanet RI and SOTERIA projects; it also includes other key partners such as NASA, ESA, and NOAA. We welcome participation by other interested organisations


Abstract Integrated sensing and communication (ISAC) unifies sensing and communication, and improves the efficiency of the spectrum, energy, and hardware. In this work, we investigate the ISAC beamforming design to maximize the mutual information between the target response matrix of a point radar target and the echo signals, while ensuring the data rate requirements of the communication users. In order to study the impact of the echo interference caused by communication users on sensing performance, we study two scenarios: a single communication user and multiple communication users. For the case of a single communication user, we consider three types of echo interference, no interference, a point interference, and an extended interference. For the case of multiple communication users, the interference is also an extended one, and furthermore, each user's communication rate requirement needs to be satisfied. To find the optimal beamforming design in these problems, we provide a closed-form solution with low complexiy, a semidefinite relaxation (SDR) method, a low-complexity algorithm based on the Majorization-Minimization (MM) method and the successive convex approximation (SCA) method, and an algorithm based on MM method and SCA method, respectively. Numerical results demonstrate that, compared to the ISAC beamforming schemes based on the Cramér-Rao bound (CRB) metric and the beampattern metric, the proposed mutual information metric can bring better beampattern and root mean square error (RMSE) of angle estimation. Furthermore, our proposed schemes designed based on the mutual information metric can suppress the echo interference from the communication users effectively.


[Objective] This study was to reveal the correlation between leaf area and drought resistance in different varieties of alfalfa.[Method] Using various alfalfa varieties as experimental materials,the drought resistance of leaves of drought-stressed alfalfa plants was assessed by measuring the content of free proline for analyzing its correlation with leaf area.[Result] Under drought condition,the drought resistance of alfalfa is directly related to leaf area in a positive correlation.[Conclusion] Leaf area could be used as an institutional assistant index to reflect the resistance of different alfalfa varieties.


We present the results of a series of eight experimental hypervelocity impacts of soda lime glass projectiles into porous sintered aggregate glass targets with varying strengths and densities. Increased target porosity leads to deeper crater penetration, lower spall velocities, and greater localization of the impact damage. Rear surface spallation is also greatly reduced in porous targets. Estimates of the specific energy required to destroy targets of varying porosity indicates that this threshold is proportional to (1-porosity)-3.6, much greater than the dependence on unconfined compressive strength, and implying that the lifetimes of porous meteoroids and interplanetary dust particles against collisional disruption are longer than previously predicted. These experiments also produced melt-lined agglutinate crater pits, often well preserved despite total disruption of the target.


In recent years, the use of natural herbal remedies in disease treatment in Vietnam has been significantly considered. Research on the chemical composition, microscopic characteristics, and extraction of active components from herbal materials play an important role in medicinal applications. This study aims to describe the microscopic features of fresh Bishopwood leaves using a dual staining method, examine leaf powder under a microscope, determine the components using chemical reactions, and investigate the influence of factors such as ethanol concentration, time, temperature, and the ratio of raw materials to solvents on the process of extracting flavonoids from Bishopwood leaves. Through unique chemical reactions, the components of Bishopwood leaves were identified to include flavonoids, phenolics, tannins, steroids, proteins, carbohydrates, and anthranoids. Microscopic examination of fresh Bishopwood leaves and leaf powder under a microscope revealed characteristic structural components including epidermis, stomata, parenchyma, sclerenchyma, fiber bundles, and vascular bundles. The appropriate conditions for extracting flavonoids from Bishopwood leaves were using 50% ethanol as the extraction solvent, a 3-hour extraction time, a temperature of 60 °C, and a raw material-to-solvent ratio of 1 : 30 (g/mL). The research findings serve as valuable information contributing to the identification, standardization, and development of new drugs from local medicinal materials.


On the basis of studying related concepts and results form changsha,the paper investigated the status of community sports of modern city,mainly discussed the shortage of social sports and, last offer the developing strategy of China community sports,which matched the demand of industrialization, making city and market and characterized China.The aim is to speed up the development of community sports.


ABSTRACT The susceptibility to irradiation-assisted stress corrosion cracking (IASCC) at relatively low dose is dominated by conventional mechanisms such as radiation-induced segregation, hardening, creep/relaxation and radiolysis. Large amount of helium (He) can be accumulated in reactor internal components made of nickel containing steels of pressurised water reactors after long-term operation. The increase of He content has been correlated to IASCC susceptibility in reactor internals subjected to neutron irradiation. However, the question whether He increases or even dominates the IASCC susceptibility at high doses is still open. In this work, He was homogeneously implanted at 300°C to 300 and 1000 appm. Slow strain rate tests were performed in as-implanted solution annealed and cold-worked samples and in post-implantation annealed samples. The results show that homogenised implanted He up to 1000 appm alone (without significant displacement damage) does not produce intergranular cracking and IASCC in high-temperature air and in hydrogenated high-temperature water, respectively.


Most community detection algorithms are trying to obtain the global information of the network. But increasingly large scale of the current network makes accessing to global information very difficult. In the meanwhile, the network shows power-law distribution and sparse features. And local community mining algorithms which use these features have more advantages over global mining methods. In this paper, we proposed a local community detection algorithm based on the core members named LLCDA (Leader based Local Community Detecting Algorithm) which uses local structural information in the network to optimize a local objective function. A local community can be detected through continuous optimization of the function by expanding from an initial core member computed by a modified PageRank sorting algorithm. The proposed LLCDA algorithm has been tested on both synthetic and real world networks, and it has been compared with other community detecting algorithms. The experimental results validated our proposed LLCDA and showed that significant improvements have been achieved by this technique.


THE INVENTION CONCERNS A CATALYST FOR REFORMING AUTOTHERMAL STEAM AND REFORMING PROCESS OR IS USED AS CATALYST. CATALYST INVENTION CONSISTS OF APPROXIMATELY 0.01 APPROXIMATELY 6 RHODIUM ON SUBSTRATE iMPREGNATED ALUMINA BY ABOUT 10 TO ABOUT 35 OF CALCIUM OXIDE. THE PROCESS OF REFORMING THE STEAM IS USED AS CATALYST. The Invention IS, FOR EXAMPLE, FOR USE IN ANY SYSTEM OR THE FORMATION OF CARBON IS A PROBLEM FOR EXAMPLE, IN THE REACTIONS Oxidation, gASIFICATION FUEL HEAVY, cracking OF STEAM AS IN PRODUCING ETHYLENE.


Study design, materials and methods Among the subjects who visited the health promotion center for general health checkup from March 2009 to June 2010, a total of 968 male subjects aged 30 to 49 years were enrolled. Prostate volume in transretal ultrasonography (TRUS), PSA, digital rectal examination (DRE), urinalysis and MS-related parameters were investigated. We excluded the subjects with pyuria, abnormal PSA and DRE findings. The presence of the MS was determined according to the American Heart Association/National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (AHA/NHLBI) 2005. We evaluated the relationship of prostate volume with metabolic syndrome and MS-related parameters


We report a microfluidic platform for the systematic investigation of gas solubility and gas-liquid mass transfer in a segmented flow format. Our approach is enabled by an image-based feedback control strategy that allows for screening of a wide range of flow conditions while keeping the initial bubble size and slug length, that would otherwise dynamically adjust, constant and thereby allowing for a systematic reduction of mass transfer limitations by increasing the bubble velocity. The proposed approach is applied to explore the dissolution and mass transfer for carbon dioxide bubbles flowing in ethanol and the fluorocarbon FC40.


Stephen Edgar, The Red Sea: New and Selected Poems 1987-2011 (Baskerville Publishers, 2013)In the recently-published fourth edition of The Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry & Poetics, Paul Kane describes Stephen Edgar as 'a writer of unsurpassed technical facility' (102). The Red Sea is Edgar's sixth book and, in one hundred pages, this collection of new and selected poems formalises plaudits made by Clive James on the book's dust jacket: 'Here is the poetry of someone who has been granted all the gifts, including a sense of proportion so concentrated that it sings.' Edgar's lyricism acts as a harmonic force, and he follows that mode and tradition of poetry-as-a-supreme-fiction: this book of sonnets, madrigals, villanelles, and idiosyncratic forms is a songbook of ontologically-curious inquiry, a defamiliarizing exploration which extends across vistas both local and cosmic.The Red Sea opens with 'Lost to View', which is not at all about loss but instead about that which we are able to apprehend with our human faculties. The lines step back and forth, iambically, in five stanzas each of five lines -A film of what the day so far had done:A wind that tries to scrapeThe breaking waves up as they runAcross the bayAnd shatter at the foot of Fluted Cape. (1)This bears a slight resemblance to Peter Porter's 'Landscape with Orpheus', which begins 'It was as if the film had stuck, he was always / Back at the point where he moved up the latch/ And stood facing down the street' and, indeed, there is something Orphic at work in Edgar's poems: in 'Lost to View', each quintain is a perfect iteration of the next, as if the syllables (10, 6, 8, 4, 10) represent those natural shapes surrounding the poet - birds undulating across altitudes, waves that trough and crest - which Edgar, awed, stands and records.He positions himself as apprehending shapes of the real but, rather than proffer a unity perceived by the narrator (who remains peripheral), 'Lost to View' proffers a blackbird as 'The one who is required to see.' Edgar is offering a singular way (viz. Wallace Stevens' thirteen ways) of seeing self-in-context which remains intersubjective, sublime, and almost capable of revealing reality (as if that were possible). The poem ends with a segregated final line -The spray will hang its veils and the trees sway. (2)Beyond this, Edgar knows, all is indeed lost to view: just as that inscription carved on the ancient Temple of Isis (viz. 'mother nature') states, 'I am all that is, and that was, and that shall ever be, and no mortal hath raised the veil from my face', so too these carefully woven rimes tell stories of apprehending dimensions extra-human and non-logical. 'Lost to View' founds this New and Selected in wonder, which remains Edgar's speaking position throughout: this is poet-as-Orphic-wanderer, able to both see and sing of shapes which contain and enact him.We might say then that Edgar is a transcendental humanist; indeed, much of The Red Sea scans like the music of a particular kind of wisdom literature. These poems are meditations that take place under water, in air (so often filled with flight), and on terra firma: Edgar carefully connects zones at once real, mythological, perhaps even pataphysical, but the poet is always aware that his poems operate paradoxically, as connective tissue which both reveals and obscures the view, as in 'Chiaroscuro' -I view all this behind a gauze, a scrim,As from behind a delicate waterfallThat makes me want to wipe my eyesOf something caught in them.Pulling it back,I zoom to focus like a lens, or thatFirst moment when,Awake,I put my glasses on. (32)However, rather than making claim to some romantically-conceived destiny complex, Edgar's vantage point persistently verges toward the eco-poetic: alongside privileging the participatory, instinctual blackbird in 'Lost to View', these are poems to defamiliarise the dialectical, infrastructured world: a crow crosses 'the twilight in its silhouette' (10) and elsewhere, the 'absence that is afternoon is filling / The house again, like a substance' (30); a 'breeze fills up the manna gum's huge lung' (71). …


The concentration of argon in sputtered nickel films has been obtained as a function of the film‐growth temperature, the discharge pressure, and of the energy (bias voltage) with which the argon ions bombard the growing film. The concentrations vary from about 10−1 argon atoms/Ni atom to 10−4 argon atoms/Ni atom, depending upon the conditions during film growth. The incorporation of both argon and nitrogen into nickel films is interpreted on the basis of results previously obtained from sorption studies in a more‐idealized system on a pre‐existing nickel surface.


To determine whether or not magnetic field lines inside a tokamak plasma are stochastic we need the Fourier coefficients of any perturbing radial field inside the plasma. Usually what is measured with magnetic pick-up coils is the root mean square poloidal field outside the plasma. Although no unique transformation is available, we present a model which allows an interpretation of the measured (external) root mean square field in terms of the internal Fourier harmonics. The results are applied to particular TEXT discharges, and suggest a link between magnetic stochasticity and an increasing (more positive) radial electric field, as measured with a heavy ion beam probe. >


Objectives:To evaluate the clinical efficacy of teeth bleaching by Beyond cold light whitening kit and the adverse reactions were observed at the same time.Methods:60 patients with discolored teeth were bleached with Beyond cold light whitening Kit.The changes of teeth's color were evaluated by VITA shade guide matching,and the decolorizing effect,the sensitivity of tooth and gum damage were observed during and after the treatment.Teeth color were reviewed 1 month,3 months and 6 months after the bleaching.Results:After treatment,the subjects with yellow tooth exhibited an average increase of 7.64-levels from baseline and the effective rate of the patients was 100%.The subjects with tetracycline stained tooth exhibited an average increase of 5.98-levels from baseline and the effective rate was 66.7%.Tooth sensitivity occurred in subjects during and after bleaching,and lasted about 24 to 72 hrs.About 11.8% of the subjects were accompanied with eroded gum and the symptoms quitted after 24 to 48 hrs.Conclusion:Beyond cold light tooth whitening kit is a quick,effective and safe method in dental bleaching,which is worthy of clinical application.


In today's scenario, the banking sector is one of the fastest growing sectors and a lot of funds are invested in banks. The banking system is becoming more and more complex and therefore there is a strong need to evaluate performance of the banks. There are various models of evaluating the performance of the banks. In this study we have discussed the CAMEL Model to evaluate the performance of the selected banks. This model measures the performance of the banks for the parameters comprising of Capital adequacy, Assets quality, Management, Earnings and Liquidity, We have studied the performance of five banks selected on the basis of market capitalisation (i.e. SBI, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank.). Period under study is from 2007 to 2011. After calculating ratios weightages have been given to each parameter of the CAMEL Model. From the weighted results of each ratio, we have given marks on the basis of performance of each bank. On the basis of best overall performance, we have assigned ranks from 1 to 5 to the banks under study. As per the whole evaluation, results of the study are as follows. 1st Rank: HDFC Bank; 2nd Rank: SBI Bank; 3rd Rank: Kotak Mahindra Bank; 4th Rank: ICICI Bank; 5th Rank: AXIS Bank.


CLIGEN is one stochastic weather generator to produce the daily future weather scenarios for hydrological model and soil erosion model. It had been well tested in many locations across the United States. The long period daily input of history climate files limited it to be widely used in other countries. This study was conducted to calibrate CLIGEN with 30-year monthly precipitation and temperature data of three climate sites in Yellow River basin of China. The reference climate sites were selected based on the annual and monthly distribution of precipitation. The generated data by CLIGEN was compared to observed values. The results indicated that the CLIGEN was successful in modeling the annual and monthly precipitation. The average relative error of annual precipitation for three sites was 2.57%, and the generated and observed monthly precipitation was closely correlated (R~2≥(0.98)). The generated maximum temperature was also well fitting to observed data with a slight average greater of 0.06℃. The generated minimum temperature of Xining and Yinchuan was 0.06℃ lower than observed values. Due to the influence of reference site, the generated minimum temperature of Xi'an was significant difference from observed data. There were some differences in most of standard deviations between generated and observed values. The results also indicated that CLIGEN was capable of generating stochastic weather data based on monthly input files. However, more parameters should be used for reference climate site selection.


Abstract The main aim of this work is to exploit the use of Sparse Matrix Converters in wind energy generation systems using Doubly Fed Induction Generators (DFIG), guaranteeing Maximum Point Power Tracking (MPPT). The wind turbine model and the doubly fed induction generator are presented and the Stator Field Oriented Control (SFOC) technique is used to establish the references to guarantee MPPT. In most DFIG wind energy systems, the induction generator rotor is connected to the grid by an AC-AC converter, with an intermediate DC storage link. However, in this work a new generation of AC/AC converters with nearly no storage devices and minimum number of semiconductors is used. These converters are usually known as Sparse Matrix Converters. The Space Vector Modulation (SVM) of these converters is presented and the system sliding mode controllers are designed to guarantee Maximum Point Power Tracking. The converter as well as the whole system models are obtained and simulated using Simulink. The conclusions of the work are presented.


A bare-ion Larmor frequency in an applied magnetic field is usually washed out by the electron screening effect to result in an elementary excitation, " phonon · Alfvon ", while only in the " ultra...


In this paper, we consider a multiple-input multiple-output OFDM (MIMO-OFDM) system and study the effects of MMSE channel estimation error on the channel capacity and BER performance of MIMO-OFDM systems, in particular, for space-frequency block coded OFDM (SFBC-OFDM). We assume that the channel is imperfectly known at the receiver within some mean-square error. It is shown that channel estimation errors decrease the channel capacity and BER performance of the MIMO-OFDM systems.


The aim of the present study was to investigate the contribution of hot (emotional/motivational) and cool (cognitive) self-regulation in early childhood to lateracademic achievement in kindergarten ...


The purpose of the study is to develop an understanding of the interplay between multinational enterprises (MNEs) and informal institutions on a firm–industry level. "Interplay" here means how responses to institutions develop in a particular context and how this development is interrelated with stakeholders' reactions and activities. To study this interplay between MNEs and informal institutions, the authors draw on literature on institutional complexity, as well as on a co-evolutionary perspective. Two case vignettes are presented on MNEs' post-entry strategies and behaviors in their new host markets, with a view to understanding how and under what conditions informal institutions in the host market may compel MNEs to alter their initial strategies and behaviors in the market and, on the other hand, how and under what conditions MNEs' strategies and behaviors may act as catalysts of change in these informal institutions.


Fault-tolerant methods have been recognized for improving the reliability of multi-phase bidirectional DC-DC converters, including current-fed and voltage-fed dual active bridge converters. Fault-tolerant research for voltage-fed dual active bridge converters has caught much attention recently. However, few fault-tolerant methods for current-fed dual active bridge (CF-DAB) converter have been developed because it becomes more challenging due to the asymmetrical structure between primary and secondary sides. In this paper, a new fault-tolerant CF-DAB converter with blocking capacitors is proposed. The operation of the converter when an open-circuit fault occurs in different fault scenarios of the CF-DAB converter is comprehensively analyzed. A frozen phase fault-tolerant method with additional blocking capacitors on both sides of the transformer is proposed. The aim of the use of blocking capacitors is to block the DC current component of the filter inductor from passing through the transformer, which could otherwise result in the saturation of the transformer. Also, the DC blocking capacitors help isolate the faulty phase when the frozen-phase fault-tolerant method is applied.


Let A be an n × n complex matrixc = (γ1, … γn)τ e Cn and Λn the set of all n-tuples of orthonormal vectors in Cn. Let ∂W c(A) denote the boundary of the set In this note certain kinds of nondifferentiable points of ∂W c(A) are investigated.


Objective To investigate the effect of matrine on Fas expression in C6 glima in a tumor-bearing rat model. Methods Cultured cerebral glioma C6 cells wgre injected stereotactically into the lef tcaudate nucleus of the rats.The ratswere randomized into untreated group,bomeol-treated group,low-dose matrine group,high-dose maaine group,low-dose matrine+bomeol group,and high-dose matrine+borneol group.The effect of matrine on the quality of life of the rats and the glioma volume was evaluated according to the survival state of the rats and by gross observation,magnetic resonance imaging(MRJ)and HE smining of the brain tissue.Immunohistochemistry was performed to detect Fas expression in the glioma cells. Results The survival state ofthe rats,gross observation of the brain specimen. and results of MRI and HE staining all showed that matrine significantly improved the quality oflife of the glioma-bearing rats and inhibited the glioma cell proliferation.Fas expression Was significantly higher in low-dose matrine+bomeol group(98.16±11.82) and high-dose matrine+bomeol group(112.80±12.12)than in untreated group(39.09±7.79),bomeol group(46.87±7.43),low-dose matrinc group(42.41±7.83),and high-dose matrine group(44.20±7.47)(P<0.05).Fas expression Was obviously upregulated in the high-dose matrine+bomeol group aS compared with the low-dose matrine+bomeol group(P<0.05).Conclusion Matrine Can significantly upregulate Fas expression in glioma and inhibit glioma cell proliferation in the glioma-bearing rat model.

Key words:
Martrine; Glioma; Fas; Apoptosis


In order to create a comprehensive policy, waqf institutions should determine the view of waqif [someone who takes waqf] related to which sector should be the priority of Indonesian waqf development in the future. This research would determine the preference of waqif related to the Indonesian waqf development in the future. This research used Analytic Network Process (ANP) method which was developed by Thomas L. Saaty to identify priority rank of waqf development. Based on the analysis result, it could be seen that the most prioritize of Indonesian waqf development was on the education sector. Waqif tended to trust waqf institution which have been actively involved in the education sector. It showed that education sector was the most important sector in Indonesia. Beside education, the second important ranked sector was the health sector. Beside waqf development sector, analysis result found that priority of Indonesian development waqf was more to the cash waqf. It showed that the cash waqf was viewed to be more important to be developed in Indonesia because the waqf property was liquid (in cash money).


The relationship between government and state-owned investment company is an important issue which is worth researching in the course of development of state-owned investment company. By analysing the example of JiuShi corp. Shanghai, the development of the relation of "principle-agent" can be divided into three periods. The relationship changes into non-symmetry information from symmetry information and the risk shifts to state-owned investment company from government. The model also proposes relevant suggestions to the relationship of "principle-agent".


Among the books which the early seventeenth century devoted to phenomena disclosed by the telescope, few are today more respected than the Rosa Ursina of CHRISTOPHER SCHEINER (I). There is in fact no work of the period which compares with it in the number and accuracy of the solar observations which it describes. The Rosa Ursina has, however, a second claim for respect, particularly among historians of science, for it presents what is apparently our most complete and exhaustive of seventeenth-century attacks upon the so-called Aristotelian doctrines of solid orbs and the incorruptibility of heavenly bodies. To his attack upon these conceptions SCHEINER devoted fourteen chapters of I50 folio pages (2). Subsequent to the final chapter he added as appendices two letters which Prince CESI and Cardinal


Toughened polymerizable monomer reactants (PMR) poly(amic ester) matrix resins were prepared by the reaction of the diesters of aromatic dianhydrides (3,3′,4,4′-biphenyltetracarboxylic dianhydride (BPDA) and/or 2,3′,3,4′-biphenyltetracarboxylic dianhydride) and aromatic diamines (the mixture of 3,4′-oxydianiline and 1,3-bis(4-aminophenoxy)benzene) in the presence of monoester of 4-phenylethynyl phthalic anhydride as the end-capping agent using ethanol as solvent. The PMR matrix resins owned the characteristic of high resin concentration and low viscosity, suitable for impregnating carbon fibers (Cfs) to give high-quality Cf prepreg. The B-staged imide oligomers prepared by thermal baking of the PMR matrix resins at the temperature of ≤240°C showed good meltability at elevated temperatures. The polyimide (PI) neat resins prepared by thermally curing the B-staged oligoimide resins at 370°C showed good combined thermal and mechanical properties. The Cf/PI composite (T300/PI) showed high impact toughness, with compression strength after impact of as high as 260 MPa. Unidirectional laminates had high mechanical properties at room temperature and high strength retention at 250°C, with 97.4% for flexural modulus, 53.3% for flexural strength, and 48.8% for interlaminar shear strength, demonstrating that the high impact-toughened Cf/PI composite could be long-term served at a temperature as high as 250°C.


Beginning in the 1950s, the Government of Canada employed a variety of means to encourage Inuit settlement in established communities. By 1970, most Inuit had adopted a sedentary lifestyle that, of necessity, involved accommodation to elements of southern Canadian culture. Inuit experienced profound social, cultural and economic changes between 1950 and 1970. As more Inuit participated in the wage economy, and lived in houses or attended federal schools provided by the federal government, their lifestyle shifted from their traditional social and cultural practices (Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit). This paper explores how the Government of Nunavut has used Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit to implement traditional Inuit social and cultural practices as operational policy within the government structure.


FIELD: chemistry. SUBSTANCE: present group of inventions refers to medicine, namely to ophthalmology, and involves therapy of eye diseases caused by nonmalignant neovascularisation, and also a medical product and pharmaceutical compositions containing prodrug combretastatin A4. EFFECT: inventions provide effective therapy ensured with ability of prodrug combretastatin A4 to bind tubulin thereby preventing pathological vessel proliferation. 29 cl, 12 tbl, 5 dwg, 8 ex


The most common optimization method for the optimization of injection mold process parameters is range analysis, but there is often a nonlinear coupling relationship between injection molding process parameters and quality indicators. Therefore, it is difficult to find the optimal process combination in range analysis. In this article, a genetic algorithm optimized extreme learning machine network model (GA-ELM) combined with genetic algorithm (GA) was proposed to optimize the process parameters of the injection mold. Take the injection molding process parameter optimization of an electrical appliance buckle cover shell as an example. In order to find the process parameters corresponding to the minimum warpage deformation, an orthogonal experiment was designed and the results of the orthogonal experiment were analyzed. Then, the corresponding optimal process combination and the degree of influence of process parameters on the warpage deformation were obtained. At the same time, the extreme learning machine network model (GA-ELM) optimized by the genetic algorithm was used to predict the warpage deformation of the plastic part. The trained GA-ELM model can map non-linear coupling relationship between the five process parameters and the warpage deformation well. And the optimal process parameters in the trained GA-ELM network model was searched by the powerful optimization ability of genetic algorithm. Generally speaking, the warpage deformation after optimization by range analysis is reduced by 6.7% compared with the minimum warpage after optimization by orthogonal experiment. But compared to the minimum warpage deformation after orthogonal experiment optimization, the warpage deformation after GAELM-GA optimization is reduced by 22%, which is better than that of the range analysis, thus verifying the feasibility and the optimization of the optimization method. This optimization method provides a certain theoretical reference and technical support for the field involving the optimization of process parameters.


Objective To discuss the causations and countermeasures of the complications after partial splenic embolization(PSE) to hypersplenism in liver cirrhosis.Methods To take PSE with Seldinger technique to operate on 24 patients with hypersplenism in liver cirrhosis,and to observe strictly and give symptomatic treatment after operations.Results 24 patients with hypersplenism all had improvement more or less,and did not occur sever complication,and all the patients leaved hospital after operation on the mend.Conclusion To pay attention to observation and symptomatic treatment of complication after operation could decrease the occurrence of complication and increase effect of embolization.


To the present invention the active energy ray-curing the cured product having a thickness of 60 ㎛ obtain from a composition according to, when using the front end wonder 15 ㎛ a diamond indenter to form a scratch mark to the vertical load of 235 mN, the scratch marks 25 ℃, recovery is a self-healing under a relative humidity of 50%. Therefore, the active energy beam curable composition is useful in coating or paint for products which require scratch resistance. Active energy ray curable composition, coating agent, paint, scratches


This paper describes carrier transport mechanisms in polyethylene terephthalate (PET) films and porous PET-based membranes (PMs) obtained by irradiating pristine PET film with swift heavy ions, with subsequent chemical etching in an alkali (NaOH) solution. The obtained PMs had through nanochannels (pores) with an average diameter of 720-750 nm. We observed that in the temperature range 240-300 K, the current-voltage characteristics I(V) of the initial Cu|PET|Cu structure obeyed the improved Mott--Gurney law, which is based on the Mark--Helfrich model for a space-charge-limited current (SCLC) mechanism for electron transport. It was found for the first time that creation of nanochannels in PMs resulted in a significant increase in the electric current density (by about three orders of magnitude) while maintaining the SCLC mechanism. The enhanced current density is explained by the formation of a highly conductive layer along the inner surface of the walls of the nanochannel that are covered with carboxyl end groups, which are created by alkaline hydrolysis. According to the model, the surface states formed by these groups enable the drift of additional electrons injected from the copper electrodes under the action of the bias voltage. Keywords: polyethylene terephthalate, electron transport, space-charge-limited current mechanism, Mark--Helfrich injection model.


We give necessary conditions for a set E to be removable for Holder continuous quasiregular mappings in the plane. We also obtain some removability results for Holder continuous mappings of finite distortion.


Contents List of figures and illustrations vii List of music examples ix List of tables xi Notes on contributors xiii Series editors' preface xix Acknowledgements xxi Introduction 1 Oscar Odena


Droop control techniques of Inverter Based Distributed Generation (IBDG) are generally the most common approach for controlling micro-grids especially in the islanded mode of operation. An improved transient response as well as better load sharing can be achieved using higher droop gains. However, large droop gains drive the system into the unstable region. In this paper, a new control topology is proposed to facilitate the use of higher droop gains. The advantages of the proposed control topology are proven through small-signal stability analysis. The controller gains are optimally determined using Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO), where the main objective is to maximize the droop gain while maintaining micro-grid stability and adequate dynamic performance. The proposed control topology with its optimal parameters is verified through tests on a micro-grid with three IBDG units and validated using real time hardware in loop implementation. The results show that the proposed P-PIDPD controller facilitates the use of much higher droop gain values at higher stability margins compared to the PI-PI-P control topology.


Juan Cobo (1546/47–1592) was a Dominican priest who devoted most of his
 efforts in the Philippines to proselytizing the resident Chinese population
 of Manila and its environs. This map of the Pacific world from China
 to Mexico appears in a translation of an influential piece of Counter-
 Reformation apologetics that Cobo prepared with the help, most likely,
 of unnamed Chinese collaborators, and that he had published in Manila
 in 1593 for the benefit of Chinese prospects for Christian conversion. It is
 the first European-style map created for a Chinese reader. Timothy Brook
 provides an English translation of the map's Chinese inscriptions, while
 Ricardo Padrón analyzes the map's rhetorical position.


Flow of a viscous, incompressible, electrically conducting fluid with varying viscosity through a channel in the presence of a transverse magnetic field is studied in this paper. In the special case investigated here we take viscosity as a function of distance from the mid section of the channel. Exact solutions for velocity is obtained. Solutions in particular cases when viscosity is constant but magnetic field is not zero and when magnetic field is zero but viscosity is not constant are also obtained. Velocity is exhibited graphically for various different cases.


In this paper the missile flight dynamics during the launch phase is studied. The main concept
behind this work was to use a vertical cold launch system and the rapid pitch maneuver
to achieve longer missile range and better firing coverage. A set of a small pulse rocket engines
was used to obtain the desired missile attitude. The physical and mathematical models
of the missile are described. The pulse jets control algorithm is presented. The computer
program of the missile model has been developed in the Simulink environment. The missile
behavior in the low-speed flight envelope has been examined. The results of numerical simulations
in the form of the graphs are presented. It has been obtained that there exist several
benefits of the cold launch method as increased range and higher target kill probability.


Cytochrome P4501A's (CYP1A) constitute a ubiquitous family of proteins associated with the detoxification of organic compounds such as PCB (polychlorinated biphenyl), PAH (polyaromatic hydrocarbons) and dioxin. These compounds are documented to induce the CYP1A gene in a variety of tissues of many fish species. Consequently, changes in CYP1A gene expression have been used as a biomarker for contaminant exposure in fish populations using a variety of techniques. Of all of these methods, quantitative PCR appears to be the most sensitive. It has been used to assess impact of environmental pollution in marine ecosystems using different fish models. Subsequently, for measuring benzo-a-pyrene (BaP) induction of CYP1A mRNA in different organs of tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus), ribosomal protein large P0-like protein (RPLP0-like protein) and -actin genes as internal controls were selected based on previous studies to assess their expression variability. Real-time polymerase chain reaction (real-time PCR) analysis of liver, intestine, gills and kidney revealed a distinct induced expression in liver and intestine (127.1 and 79.3 in liver, 26 and 56.1 in intestine using RPLP0 and -actin genes respectively as internal controls) with no detectable expression in the other organs studied.


The purpose of this study was to identify the relationship between social development and Peer Relationship in sports participation. To do this, students attending middle school located in Gyeonggi Province as of 2009 were selected as population, and 420 students from them were sampled and were asked to complete a survey, and the resulting data from 357 people were used as a final analysis. Questionnaires were used as a measurement instrument in this study. Questionnaires`s validity was confirmed based on exploratory factor analysis. The reliability of the Questionnaires was revealed a calculation of Cronbach`s α, which Social development is Cronbach`s α=.656~.729 and NRI is Cronbach`s α=.603~.666. In order to analyze the data, we used a SPSS 17.0 program. Main statistical models used to analyze data were frequency, t-test, ANOVA, Common factor analysis, Multiple Regression analysis. As a result of this study, the following findings were obtained. First, the characteristics of background variables made a statistically significant differences in peer relationships. Second, peer relationship had a significant influence on between participation to sports. Third, social development had a significant influence on peer relationship.


Objective. To prove a significance of a diagnostic table for effective diagnosis and evaluation of spinal cord injury in children. Material and Methods. Retrospective analysis of 191 case records of children with spinal cord injury without the evidence of hemorrhage or compression was performed. Specific clinical manifestations were analyzed using Wald's statistical sequential analysis with calculation of diagnostic factor informative value in accordance with A. Kulback. Results. Diagnostic value of clinical signs was calculated on the basis of statistically analyzed data of initial examination. The analyzed incidence of clinical signs became the ground for diagnostic table used for differential diagnosis of spinal cord injury in children. Conclusion. Functional outcome of the spinal cord contusion in children can be good; and application of the suggested diagnostic table improves the quality of spinal cord injury diagnosis.


Research on state-level immigration policies and health in the United States is limited. In this article Stephanie Potochnick, Sarah May, and Lisa Flores address the gap in research on state-level immigration policies and health in the US by examining the health implications of in-state resident tuition (IRT) policies and their effects. As one of the largest inclusive state efforts, IRT policies reduce educational barriers for Latina/o undocumented immigrant youth, alleviate familial resource constraints, and promote social inclusion. Consequently, IRT and IRT-related policies are likely to have strong impacts on the health of Latina/o undocumented immigrant youth, their families, and their community. Analyzing nationally representative household data and using Mexican noncitizens to proxy undocumented status, the authors adopted a difference-in-difference strategy to identify the influence of IRT-related policies on general self-rated health. Their findings show that IRT policies are associated with better health for Mexican noncitizen youth and young adults and also provide preliminary evidence for positive spillover effects on the health of family members.


For every nine tons of produced biodiesel, there is another ton of glycerol as a byproduct. Therefore, glycerol prices dropped significantly worldwide in recent years; the more significant biodiesel production is, the more glycerol exists as a byproduct. glycerol prices also impact the biodiesel manufacturing business, as it could be sold according to its refinement grade. The primary objective of this work was to evaluate the economic potential of the production of 1,2-propanediol derived from the biodiesel produced in Colombia. A plant to produce 1,2-propanediol via catalytic hydrogenation of glycerol in a trickle-bed reactor was designed. The plant comprised a reaction scheme where non-converted excess hydrogen was recycled, and the heat generated in the reactor was recovered. The reactor effluent was sent to a separation train where 98% m/m purity 1,2-propanediol was attained. Capital and operational costs were estimated from the process simulation. The net present value (NPV) and the modified internal return rate (MIRR) of the plant were used to assess the viability of the process. Their sensitivity to key input variables was evaluated to find the viability limits of the project. The economic potential of the 1,2-propanediol was calculated in USD 1.2/kg; for the base case, the NPV and the MIRR were USD 54.805 million and 22.56%, respectively, showing that, for moderate variations in products and raw material prices, the process is economically viable.


Background: The coronary no-reflow (NR) phenomenon, which is associated with poor clinical outcomes, is usually referred to as a post-percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) state. NR can occur in different stages of the PCI procedure, not only including the post-stenting stage, but from balloon pre-dilation to pre-stenting. The clinical significance of NR in the different stages of the PCI procedure is unclear. The purpose of the current study was to analyze the clinical and angiographic characteristics, the prognosis for NR patients in the aforementioned two stages and to determine the predictors of NR in the early stage. Methods: Between January 2009 and December 2013, a total of 420 consecutive patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) underwent primary PCI. Sixty-three patients (15%) with NR constituted the study population. The patients were divided into an early NR group and a subsequent NR group. The clinical and angiographic findings were compared between the two groups. Multivariate logistic regression was used to determine the predictors for early NR. The long-term clinical outcomes after PCI were analyzed. Results: Regarding the baseline characteristics, we identified that the early NR group had statistically significant effects on the higher percentage of diabetes mellitus (42.9% vs. 20%), lower admission systolic blood pressure (SBP) (102.2±8.3 mmHg vs. 110.5±7.6 mmHg), higher percentage of Killip classification III (71.4% vs. 45.7%,) and longer reperfusion time (7.1±2.3 h vs. 5.88±2.2 h) compared to the subsequent NR group. There were significant differences between the two groups with respect to the percentage of initial thrombolysis in myocardial infarction (TIMI) flow 0/1 (64.3% vs. 37.1%), target lesion length (31.4±13.6 mm vs. 20.5±17.3 mm) and thrombus score ⩾4 (67.9% vs. 42.9%; p<0.05 for all). Multiple stepwise logistic regression analysis indicated that an admission SBP <100 mmHg (OR=4.580; 95% CI=1.385–15.150; p=0.0130), reperfusion time ⩾6 h (OR=4.978; 95% CI=1.468–16.882; p=0.010) and a thrombus score ⩾4 (OR=2.708; 95% CI=0.833–8.799; p=0.008) were the independent determinants of the early NR. During a 1-year follow-up, the all-cause mortality and overall major adverse cardiac events (MACEs) in the early NR group occurred significantly more often than in the subsequent NR group (28.6% vs. 5.7% and 35.7% vs. 14.3%, respectively, p<0.05). The early NR group had a lower left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) (42.5±4.7 vs. 47.8±3.5, p<0.001) and a larger left ventricular end diastolic diameter (LVEDD) (56.0±4.0 vs. 51.5 ±4.7, p=0.001) at the end of the follow-up. Conclusion: Early NR patients during primary PCI have more severe baseline clinical and angiographic characteristics, as well as a poorer long-term prognosis.