Patient satisfaction is not uniform or consistent following revision total knee arthroplasty. This study evaluates ninety-nine patients with a self-administered patient satisfaction questionnaire at a minimum of two years following the revision procedure (1997–99) to determine differences between satisfied (sixty-six patients) and dissatisfied patients (thirty-three patients). Univariate analysis revealed that patients satisfied with their results were significantly different (p .05) age, comorbidity score, surgical approach, or sepsis as a reason for the revision procedure. Regression analysis demonstrated that gender, post-op WOMAC score, and pre-op arc of motion were significant determinants of satisfaction. The purpose of this study is to evaluate determinants of patient satisfaction following revision total knee arthroplasty. Patient satisfaction with revision knee surgery is most strongly associated with both pre and post-operative descriptors of knee function as well as gender. Understanding the variables associated with satisfaction/dissatisfaction following revision knee arthroplasty may further assist ongoing research efforts to improve the outcomes of this procedure. Univariate analysis revealed that patients satisfied with their results were significantly different (p .05) age, comorbidity score, surgical approach, or presence of sepsis as a reason for the revision procedure. Regression analysis demonstrated that gender, post-op WOMAC score, and pre-op arc of motion were significant determinants of satisfaction (p A self-administered patient satisfaction survey was completed by ninety-nine patients at a minimum of two years following revision total knee arthroplasty. Fifty-nine patients were females and forty were males. Sixty-six patients were satisfied and thirty-three patients were dissatisfied with the outcome of their surgery at two years post-op. Univariate analysis and multivariate regression suggest that pre and post-operative joint function and gender are the most significant determinants of patient satisfaction


Cyberspace may be physically, syntactically, and semantically identified. But cyberwar is more difficult to define, as it seems to adopt rather classical conceptions. Even though a big bang sending us far from the IT age remains a remote possibility, we nonetheless have to work out operational plans making use of cyberspace elements. Cooperation with the private sector is essential to achieve such an aim.


Over 50 years ago, a deadly autoimmune disease known as pernicious anemia, which is characterized by neurological and hematological abnormalities, had no known cure. The isolation of the anti-pernicious anemia factor from liver extracts by Folkers and Smith in 1948 represented a breakthrough in the treatment of this disease (21, 25). Named vitamin B12, this compound could be isolated as pure, red crystals from various animal and microbial sources, and the X-ray crystal structure of this complex molecule, one of the largest nonpolymeric natural compounds, was determined in the 1950s by Dorothy Hodgkin et al. (Fig. 1A) (8). Since that time, thousands of researchers have identified and characterized a variety of enzymes that utilize B12 cofactors, determined the complex pathway for B12 absorption in humans, and elucidated the microbial pathways for B12 biosynthesis. Other forms of vitamin B12 have been found in nature, but their functions are not fully understood. In this issue of the Journal of Bacteriology, Anderson et al. provide evidence that a form of B12 known as "pseudoB12" (Fig. 1B) is a physiologically important form of B12 in Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium (1). Unlike all other vitamins, vitamin B12 is not produced by plants; rather, its biosynthesis is restricted to certain prokaryotes (23). Animals obtain B12 from food or, in some cases, directly from resident B12-producing microbes (28). S. enterica has long been used as a model organism for studying B12 biosynthesis (23). B12 structure and biosynthesis. B12 and B12-like compounds are collectively termed corrinoids. The structural core of corrinoids is the corrin ring in which the central cobalt atom is coordinated by four pyrrole groups (Fig. 1) (30). Two axial ligands also coordinate the cobalt atom. In the cofactor forms, the upper ( ) axial ligand (R) consists of either 5 -deoxyadenosine or a methyl group, which facilitate radical or methyl transfer reactions, respectively (14). The lower ( ) axial ligand is attached to the corrin ring via the nucleotide loop which is characterized by an unusual -glycosidic linkage to C-1 of the ribosyl moiety (30). The B12 cofactors found in animals and many bacteria contain 5,6-dimethylbenzimidazole (DMB) as the -axial ligand (Fig. 1A; B12 with DMB will be abbreviated hereafter as B12[DMB] to distinguish it from pseudo-B12) (26). B12 cofactors with -axial ligands other than DMB have also been observed, with the most common example being pseudoB12 (Fig. 1B), in which N7-linked adenine replaces DMB as the -axial ligand (9). The complete biosynthesis of vitamin B12 requires 30 gene products. The B12 biosynthetic pathway is characterized by two converging branches: the synthesis of the corrin ring and the synthesis and activation of the -axial ligand (23, 30). Two pathways for corrin ring synthesis have been discovered and are hypothesized to be derived from a common ancestor (10). The main difference between these pathways is in the participation of oxygen. The "aerobic" pathway requires oxygen and has been characterized in depth in Pseudomonas denitrificans (7, 30). The "anaerobic" pathway, characterized in the aerotolerant anaerobe Propionibacterium shermanii and the facultative anaerobe S. enterica, is sensitive to oxygen, and thus, the expression of B12 biosynthetic enzymes is restricted to anaerobic or microaerobic conditions (22, 30). Nucleotide loop assembly is similar in both pathways (23, 30). Two independent pathways for DMB synthesis also exist (18). Aerobic DMB synthesis occurs by fragmentation of a flavin cofactor and is catalyzed by the BluB enzyme (6, 19, 27). DMB synthesis in some anaerobes appears to branch from the purine biosynthetic pathway, although enzymes involved in this process have not been isolated (11, 18). Interestingly, S. enterica synthesizes the corrin ring anaerobically and derives DMB aerobically from flavin mononucleotide (FMN), although no ortholog of BluB appears to exist in the genome (1, 12). Probing the origin of the -axial ligand of B12 in S. enterica. The observation that S. enterica produces B12[DMB], but that no DMB biosynthetic enzyme has been identified in S. enterica, has puzzled researchers for many years (23). Anderson et al. explored this issue by selecting for mutants of S. enterica that grow under conditions that normally require exogenous DMB (1). One key observation that made this selection possible is that traditional agar contains traces of DMB, and thus, much of the DMB in the B12[DMB] produced by S. enterica can be attributed to its presence in agar. Using purified agar enabled the authors to study only the endogenously produced corrinoids. Another important difference between this and other studies was that growth was monitored on ethanolamine rather than methionine or propanediol. This alteration was critical because (i) the requirement for B12 during growth on ethanolamine is more stringent than on methionine, and (ii) exogenous DMB is required for growth on ethanolamine but not on propanediol (1). Unexpectedly, rather than uncovering genes involved in synthesizing DMB, the authors identified 25 point mutations that increase the cellular concentration of free adenine, a precursor of pseudo-B12 (1). Thus, all of the characterized mutants pro* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Biology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139. Phone: (617) 253-6716. E-mail: gwalker@mit .edu. Published ahead of print on 14 December 2007.


This invention broadly relates to a process for burn ing carbonaceous materials containing desired metal values, and to an improved process for recovering de sired metal values from the resulting ash. In one of its more specific variants, the invention relates to the ash ing of carbonaceous fuels containing uranium to thereby provide an ash which is amenable to the recovery of uranium values therefrom by leaching. The present invention will be described and illus trated hereinafter with specific reference to uranium bear ing lignite. However, it is understood that carbonaceous fossil materials in general containing desired metal values may be processed in accordance with the present inven tion. Specific examples of such substances include oil shale, bituminous and sub-bituminous coal, tars, natural asphalt, etc. Usually such materials contain sufficient carbonaceous material to support combustion when air is supplied thereto. However, it is understood that the invention is also useful in ashing carbonaceous materials which do not support combustion, and in Such instances a desired substance rich in carbonaceous material may be added in quantities sufficient to result in a mixture that does support combustion. It is well known that many lignite deposits, including those found in the United States in the North and South Dakotas and in other parts of the world, contain signifi cant quantities of valuable minerals such as minerals of uranium, molybdenum, germanium, etc. The deposits are vast and constitute large potential supplies for the contained valuable minerals provided they can be proc essed economically. Unfortunately, in most instances the desired metal values are present in such small quantities as to render the prior art processes for their recovery uneconomic by most commercial standards. The uranium content of lignite ores from the Dakotas may be solubilized in a number of ways, such as by mineral acid or alkaline (preferably carbonate) leach ing of the raw lignite, or leaching of ash derived from burning of the lignite. Processing of the raw lignite by acid or carbonate leaching is subject to many operational difficulties, particularly in the separation of leach liquor from the gangue constituents, and it is not generally commercially attractive. The moderately low molecu lar weight carbonaceous constituents of the lignite seem to be peptized and solubilized under the leach conditions, and contaminate the leach liquor and prevent settling or filtration of the pulps. Also, uneconomic quantities of reagents are consumed by the reactive organic Sub stances and even at high reagent dosages extraction of the desired mineral constituents such as uranium is very


This paper analyzed the terrain method and formulas to calculate reservoir storage,and offered the application range of the various formulas,which provided the basis for choosing the suitable formula to calculate reservoir storage.


Abstract Parallel programming is orders of magnitudes more complex than writing sequential programs. This is particularly true for programming distributed memory multiprocessor architectures based on message passing programming models. Apart from understanding the sequential parts of the parallel program, new degrees of freedom lead to additional problems. Understanding the synchronization and communication behavior of parallel programs is the most critical issue in programming distributed memory multiprocessors. The paper describes methods and tools for visualization and animation of the dynamic execution of parallel programs. Based on an evaluation and classification of existing visualization environments, the visualization and animation tool VISTOP (VISualization TOol for Parallel Systems) is presented as part of the integrated tool environment TOPSY S (TOols for Parallel SYStems) for programming distributed memory multiprocessors. VISTOP supports the interactive on-line visualization of message passing programs based on various views; in particular, a process graph based concurrency view for detecting synchronization and communication bugs.


Radioembolization is increasingly used as a bridge to resection (i.e. radiation lobectomy). It combines ipsilateral tumor control with the induction of contralateral hypertrophy to facilitate lobar resection. The aim of this pilot study was to investigate the complementary value of hepatobiliary scintigraphy (HBS) before and after radioembolization in the assessment of the future remnant liver. Consecutive patients with liver tumors who underwent HBS before and after yttrium-90 ( 90 Y) radioembolization were included. Regional (treated/non-treated) and whole liver function and volume were determined on HBS and CT. Changes in regional liver function and volume were correlated with the functional liver absorbed doses, determined on 90 Y PET/CT. In addition, the correlation between liver volume and function change was evaluated. Limits of agreement between function and volume changes were wide, showing large individual differences. This implicates that HBS may have a complementary role in the management of patients for radiation lobectomy. function that are accurately detected by HBS. Limits of agreement between function and volume changes after lobar radioembolization were wide, showing large individual differences. This implicates that HBS may have a complementary role in the management of patients for radiation lobectomy.


ObjectiveTo explore the feasibility of endoscopic ultrasonography (EUS) of gallbladder in the diag- nosis and treatment of gallbladder polyps. MethodsThe endoscopic ultrasonography of gallbladder, which was constituted by our self-developed three-channel compact cholecystoscope and miniature ultrasonic probes, was used to implement gallbladder polyps-removing operations in 16 cases. The treatment was decided according to the ori- gin and nature of the polyps under EUS of gallbladder and, gallbladder was retained when polyps were benign while removed when they were malignant. Specimens were sent for pathological examination. ResultsOperations on all the 16 cases were successful and smooth without any complications. During the operation, 6 of them were found to be single polyp, and 10 were multiple polyps; 5 of them only had polyps and 11 of them had polyps with stones. One case was adenoma, 15 cases were not tumor, all the 16 cases had benign lesions, and the consistent rate between pathology and EUS was 100%. ConclusionsEUS of gallbladder is a new technique, it is of importance in making clear the morphology, structure and nature of gallbladder polyps as well as the changes of gallbladder wall at all lev- els and providing new platform for the diagnosis and treatment for polyps. It is a safe, effective and feasible new method for the treatment of gallbladder polyps


PURPOSEThe purpose of this study was to determine the maximum tolerated dose, pharmacokinetic profile, and evidence of antitumor activity of CI-994 used in combination with gemcitabine. METHODSThis was a dose escalation trial in which gemcitabine (1000 mg/m2) was given as a 30-minute infusion on days 1, 8, and 15 of a 28-day cycle. CI-994 was taken orally on consecutive days 1–21 at escalating doses of 2, 4, 6, and 8 mg/m2 per cohort (three patients/cohort). Plasma samples were collected on days 1 and 15 of course 1 and analyzed for CI-994 pharmacokinetic assessment. RESULTSTwenty patients with advanced cancer received a total of 76 courses of treatment. Dose-limiting toxicity occurred atthe8-mg/m2 dose. Four of seven patients experienced thrombocytopenia during the first cycle. Grade 4 thrombocytopenia was observed in three of 10 (30%) courses at 8 mg/m2. In contrast, only two of 28 (7%) courses at 6 mg/m2 were associated with grade 4 thrombocytopenia. Pharmacokinetic analysis indicated that absorption of CI-994 was rapid, with peak plasma concentrations occurring at the first sample 2 hours after dosing. Two patients achieved a minor response, 12 had stable disease (median duration, 105 days), four had progressive disease, and two were not evaluable. CONCLUSIONSThe 6-mg/m2 dose of CI-994 (p.o. × 21 days) was defined as the maximum tolerated dose that could safely be administered in combination with gemcitabine (1000 mg/m2 i.v. on days 1, 8, and 15) during a 28-day cycle.


When a unit card has become easy to reproduce, and each entry has an equal value for users in a multiple-entry catalog, the main-entry principle is no longer useful. The historical development of the no-main-entry principle in Japan is examined. It is generally considered that a title entry is the Oriental tradition. However, Japanese catalogers had used codes based upon the main entry principle under the influence of both AACR and the Paris Principles until 1977, when a new code of Nippon Cataloging Rules (NCR) was compiled. The "Description Unit-Card System of NCR1977, which adopted the no-main-entry principle, seems to be the one which is needed in the age of the computer catalog.


Why do some employees burn out or get bored by their work, whereas others are so enthusiastic about their work that time seems to fly? The question of what causes job stress and what motivates people has received a lot of research attention during the past five decades. Job design theory has played an important role in this respect. "Job design" was originally defined as the set of opportunities and constraints structured into assigned tasks and responsibilities that affect how an employee accomplishes and experiences work (Hackman & Oldham, 1980). Thus, job design scholars tried to unravel which job characteristics make people feel satisfied with their job, and motivated to reach organizational goals. Nowadays, job design is defined more broadly as "encapsulating the processes and outcomes of how work is structured, organized, experienced, and enacted" (Grant, Fried, & Juillerat, 2010, p. 418). According to Grant and his colleagues, this broader definition opens the door for dynamic, emergent roles as opposed to merely emphasizing static job descriptions composed of fixed tasks assigned by management (see also, Parker, Wall, & Cordery, 2001).


The main approaches to manufacturing process management in mining industry in contexts of realization of project on capacity extension of operating enterprises are analyzed. The infraction of a number of manufacturing process management principles, in particular regarding commensurability and effectiveness, in consequence of inefficient consideration of modern concepts of operating are shown. The results of the researches can be used for the purposes of investment budget preparation, technical and economic justification of the technical projects development and enterprises modernization in mining industry.


Of all Hitchcock's major films, it is Vertigo that has proven to be his most enigmatic. Ostensibly the dramatization of a man's infatuation with a woman he supposes dead, Vertigo has been analyzed extensively by critics like Robin Wood because of the haunting sense of its strange visual power, a power somehow incompatible with the simple reading of the film as a study in necrophilia causally related to Scottie's acrophobia. Since the film is a very carefully crafted work, a closer examination of significant particulars, characters, events and visual metaphors may bring us closer to the subtler and more profound thematic focus of the film. If nothing else, this type of detailed analysis should suffice to demonstrate the source of the film's visual power and to offset the reactions of some critics who may have too casually misinterpreted its underlying suggestiveness. Since its premier in 1958, it has become increasingly evident that necrophilia and acrophobia are not the thematic centers of the film. What that controlling center may be will reveal more about the expressive power of the film than the conventional designation of Scottie as a man suffering from sickness of the mind and soul. Perhaps the key to the film is the revelation in Judy's letter to Scottie of the deception, a letter she then tears up. Her initial decision to confess to Scottie is immediately followed by her refusal to send him the letter. Why? Why is she terrified of admitting to him that she is, in fact, the woman who played Madeleine? Because she is not really Madeleine, and revealing the plot to Scottie would result in his rejecting her, hating her, and she would, thus, lose him? The following sequence of scenes makes it clear that Judy resists being Madeleine. Step by step she insists on remaining Judy, though, at each critical moment, she allows Scottie to remake her in the image of Madeleine. Repeatedly she urges him to accept her as she is, to accept, in other words, Judy, and in doing so to reject the "false" Madeleine. She wants him to love her, Judy, not Madeleine, so she can retain her identity as Judy. But it is precisely Scottie's determination to have Madeleine that forms the symbolic center of the film. For some critics, this is proof that Scottie is mentally deranged, addicted to necrophilia, adamantly rejecting reality in favor of his morbid ideal. But the very opposite interpretation is not only possible, but almost inevitable: namely, that Scottie knows Judy can become Madeleine, that what is most beautiful in her can only be realized if she has the courage to accept the potential Madeleine in her. If we consider, for the moment, this possibility and set aside the typical view of Scottie as deranged, divorced from the real world, then his badgering of Judy becomes not the symptom of a morbid obsession, but a natural hunger for what Judy can be. We remember that Midge was the one who broke her engagement to Scottie, that Robin Wood and other critics are certainly correct when they see Midge as the typical young liberated rationalist, a successful professional whose insensitivity to Scottie and what woman can be is dramatically expressed in her incredible awareness of how her portrait of herself in Carlotta Valdes's clothes will affect Scottie. Midge is a woman playing with life, denying intimacy and her own womanhood, a sardonic hedonist whose casual response to Scottie's remark about brassieres reveals a deep-seated and cruel debasing of feminine values. When Midge sees Madeleine leaving Scottie's apartment, her cynical comment to herself is yet another sign of her shallow realism. Confronted by Scottie's total withdrawal into himself later in the film, his unresponsiveness to Mozart, his silence, Midge perhaps attains a fleeting moment of awareness when she tells the doctor that Mozart won't help Scottie. Her walk down the corridor is an abandonment of both Scottie and anything she may have momentarily sensed in his withdrawal. …


The purpose of this study is to analyze the trends and characteristics of the educational objectives and contents related to robotics in the curricula for elementary, middle, and high school students in Korea. Based on the revised national curriculum, this study analyzed the trends and characteristics of educational objectives (or achievement criteria) and their contents. The results of this study are as follows. First, the word "robot" was found among the "Practical Arts" subject taught in elementary schools, within that of "Technology and Home Economics" in middle schools, and within "Technology and Home Economics" and "Engineering technology" in high schools. In the recently revised curriculum, Informatics included robotics-related terms such as "microcontroller" and "in/output device" for the first time. After the word "robot" was first used in the 2007 revised national curriculum for "Engineering technology", which is an elective subject in high schools, the number of robotics-related terms gradually expanded in the stated educational objectives and contents characterizing the curricula for elementary, middle, and high schools. Second, elementary and middle schools have focused on both lower and higher order thinking skills in robotics-related educational objectives, while high schools have focused only on lower order thinking skills. In addition, the types of knowledge covered by the educational objectives were mostly classified as conceptual and procedural. Third, the robotics-related educational contents in elementary schools increased independent of electronics technology, and a greater emphasis was placed on software education. In middle schools, robotics-related educational contents were included in those related to manufacturing technology, but not in the recently revised curriculum. Mechanical Engineering was the first elective subject in high schools to include "robot" in the automation section of the curriculum, but such contents were not included in the recently revised curriculum. Conversely, in high schools, the subject area of "Technology and Home Economics" included more contents on advanced technology in the future technology section. The curriculum for Informatics, the first subject to include robotics-related contents, comprised physical computing. As described above, robotics-related educational objectives and contents were updated to keep pace with changes in society, but lacked consistency in their continuity and sequentiality. Since robotics technology is considered essential for the future, the related curricula in elementary, middle, and high schools must be improved to ensure continuity and sequentiality.


The present invention provides a partial plating apparatus, the partial plating apparatus using a drum jig continuously fed metal member elongated, point-plating, wherein there is a problem: the pin by the positioning distance and the drum jig guide hole of the metallic member the difference in pitch resulting in deterioration of adhesiveness of the metallic member and the drum jig, the plating thickness distribution vary. The partial plating apparatus comprising: a gripper drum (1), an outer peripheral portion with a plurality of positioning pins (6), the metal member (11) engages with the positioning pin (6) is transported along the outer circumferential portion; rotational shaft (2), which (1) rotatably supporting the drum jig; jet unit (8) for supplying the plating metal member (11) plating solution; and a brake unit (15), mounted on the rotary shaft (2), the peripheral speed of the drum for the jig (1) deceleration. Further, the present invention provides a plating apparatus, partial plating method, wherein right metal member (11) plating process in the first area carrying side of the drum clamp (1), of the second area carry-out side metal member (11) is plated.


General population surveys show that social position, profession and level of education model relationships to psychoactive products. In adults, gender also plays a major role; in adolescents, confidence in the future and the importance attached to academic success may influence addiction just as much as socio-demographic variables. Social representations of addiction are strongly marked by images linked to social insecurity. The link between social inequalities and addiction is complex and must be reintegrated in a broader social and political context in order to grasp all of the meanings.


Objective To investigate the self-cognition in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease(COPD).Methods A questionnaire survey was carried out to investigate the patients understanding of goals and methods of treatment between Jan.2008and Aug.2010.The questionnaire included the patients self-cognition of the severity and the influence to daily life.Results 402patients older than 60year with COPD were interviewed in the study.The most patients(84.0%)had a lower education lever,53.0%patients suffer from severity degree of CODP.73.0%patients had ever smoking. Although 86.1% patients knew the data of lung function,but very few of them(18.4%)to monitor it. 19.9% patients utilized pharmacotherapy only when acute attack.77.6% patients apply antibiotics when they had "common cold".Less patients(12.7%)insisted the long-term oxygen therapy,and only 28.6% patients injected the flu vaccine every year.55.8% patients had abnormal social activities for bad health and emotion.Education lever was the most important influence factor for the self-cognition to the patients with COPD(β=-0.421,P =0.000).Conclusions The elder patients had different attitudes and actions on COPD treatment.Patient education should be strengthened to realize treatment goals for COPD.


Large numbers of Thy-I-positive cells were observed in cultures of bone marrow cells that had been depleted of T cells and grown for 3 to 4 days in the presence of medium conditioned by concanavalin A-activated spleen cells. Cells bearing levels of Thy-i comparable with those on the bulk of thymocytes were isolated by using the fluorescence-activated cell sorter. Although many were large blasts, the Thy-i-positive cells failed to grow in response to T-cell growth factor and concanavalin A; about one-third, however, proliferated in the presence of factors stimulating hemopoietic progenitor cells. Furthermore, the ThyI-positive population included cells capable of forming large colonies of macrophages and granulocytes in agar and cells forming splenic colonies in lethally irradiated mice. The appearance of the Thy-i-positive cells did not correlate with the presence of either T-cell growth factor or T-cell-derived granulocyte/macrophage colony-stimulating factor. These findings indicate that Thy-i can occur on various murine hemopoietic stem and progenitor cells and myeloid cells; Thy-i can no longer be regarded as an unambiguous marker of commitment to the T-cell lineage. The Thy-i antigen was first described in the mouse, where it was shown to exist in two allelic forms, Thy-i. 1 and Thy-1.2, and to be present on neural and lymphoid tissues (1). Further studies showed that, in mice, Thy-i served as a marker for T lymphocytes (2). In the past decade, immunologists studying the mouse have regarded the presence of the Thy-i antigen as an unambiguous marker for distinguishing lymphoid cells ofthe T-cell lineage from B lymphocytes and other cells of the hemopoietic system. Here, however, we show that Thy-I antigen can be detected on a relatively large proportion ofmouse bone marrow cells after a short period of tissue culture in the presence ofmedium conditioned by activated T cells or a myelomonocytic line, WEHI3B. The Thy-l-positive cells included obvious myeloid cells together with hemopoietic stem and progenitor cells; these observations place important qualifications on the validity of Thy1 as a marker for T cells in the mouse. MATERIALS AND METHODS Mice. CBA/H Wehi and AKR mice were bred under specific pathogen-free conditions at the Hall Institute. Antibodies. Monoclonal anti-Thy 1.2, 30-H12, a rat antibody (3), and monoclonal anti-Thy 1.1, HO-22-1, a mouse antibody (4), were prepared from culture supernatants. The antibodies were directly conjugated with fluorescein isothiocyanate or were used in conjunction with fluorescein-conjugated rabbit anti-mouse immunoglobulin (Fl-anti-Ig). Staining of Cells. Antibodies were centrifuged in a Beckman Airfuge prior to use to remove aggregates. Fresh thymocytes were stained in parallel as standards. Staining was carried out at 40C, and cells were washed through an underlayer of fetal calf serum. Tissue Culture-Generation of Thy-i Positive Cells. One million viable nucleated bone marrow cells were cultured in 12well Linbro plates in 1 ml of Dulbecco's modified Eagle's medium supplemented with 50 ,uM 2-mercaptoethanol, 2.8 mM glutamine, 0.1 mM asparagine, 10% fetal calf serum, and conditioned medium as indicated. Assays of Cultured Cells. In attempts to recover T cells from cultured bone marrow cells, cells were cultured at various densities (102-106/ml) in the presence of concanavalin A (Con A; 2.5 ,g/ml) and T-cell growth factor (TCGF) (5) that had been partially purified from medium conditioned by Con A-stimulated spleen cells by sequential ammonium sulfate precipitation and hydrophobic chromatography (6). Colony-forming cells were assayed in cultures containing 0.3% agar (7) supplemented with medium conditioned by the myelomonocytic tumor WEHI-3B (8). The morphology of cells in colonies was analyzed by plucking offsequential colonies and staining with acetic acid/orcein and by pooling cells from multiple colonies, disrupting the agar by vigorous pipetting, making a cytocentrifuge smear, and staining with May-GrfinwaldGiemsa. Cells were also cultured at limiting dilution (2.5-1,000 per well) in Terasaki plates in 10 ,ul of medium supplemented as indicated with conditioned medium and Con A. Plates were examined by using an inverted microscope. In limiting dilution analyses, one Terasaki plate (60 wells) was set up for each dilution of cells. Multipotential hemopoietic stem cells were assayed by using the splenic colony-forming unit (cfu-s) assay of Till and McCulloch (9) and scoring colonies on day 9. Use of the Fluorescence-Activated Cell Sorter (FACS). Analysis and sorting was performed on a modified FACS II (Becton-Dickinson) using a single-laser two-color system and computerized data handling. For analysis, 25,000-50,000 cells were run; dead cells were excluded on the basis of light scattering and uptake of propidium iodide (1 ,ug/ml in the final suspension). Autofluorescence (seen in red and green channels) was assessed in control preparations by cross-correlating red and green fluorescence and was allowed for when necessary. Conditioned Medium. Medium conditioned by Con A-stimulated spleen cells (CAS) was prepared as described (6). Medium conditioned by the Con A-stimulated T-cell hybridomas Abbreviations: Con A, concanavalin A; CAS, Con A-stimulated spleen cell supernatant; FACS, fluorescence-activated cell sorter; Fl-anti-Ig, fluorescein-conjugated anti-Ig; Fl-anti-Thy-1.2, fluorescein-conjugated monoclonal anti-Thy-1.2 antibody; TCGF, T-cell growth factor; GM-CSF, granulocyte/macrophage colony-stimulating factor; P cell, persisting cell; PSF, P-cell stimulating factor; cfu-s, splenic colonyforming unit. 4161 The publication costs of this article were defrayed in part by page charge payment. This article must therefore be hereby marked "advertisement" in accordance with 18 U. S. C. §1734 solely to indicate this fact. 4162 Immunology: Schrader et aL


The goal of this report is to summarize the results of a Detonation shock dynamics (DSD) calibration for the explosive LX-17. Considering that LX-17 is very similar to PBX 9502 (LX-17 is 92.5% TATB with 7.5% Kel-F 800 binder, while PBX 9502 is 95% TATB with 5% Kel-F 800 binder), we proceed with the analysis assuming many of the DSD constants are the same. We only change the parameters D{sub CJ}, B and {bar C}{sub 6} ({bar C}{sub 6} controls the how D{sub CJ} changes with pressing density). The parameters D{sub CJ} and {bar C}{sub 6} were given by Josh Coe and Sam Shaw's EOS. So, only B was optimized in fitting all the calibration data. This report first discusses some general DSD background, followed by a presentation of the available dataset to perform the calibration, and finally gives the results of the calibration and draws some conclusions. A DSD calibration of LX-17 has been conducted using the existing diameter effect data and shock shape records. The new DSD fit is based off the current PBX 9502 calibration and takes into account the effect of pressing density. Utilizing the PBX 9502 calibration, the effects of initial temperature can also bemore » taken into account.« less


Various aspects of solar prominences and the solar corona are discussed. The formation of prominences, prominence diagnostics and structure, prominence dissappearance, large scale coronal structure, coronal diagnostics, small scale coronal structure, and non-equilibrium/coronal heating are among the topics covered.


Aiming at the fault of the boiler furnace flame fading away leading to the boiler main fuel trip(MFT),through checking the power source module of the flame detection cabinet and analyzing the cause of the fault,draws the conclusion: the switching time of power source module was prolonged owing to long time operation,results in the power supply of flame detection amplifier breaking transiently and the flame signal sending to DCS disappearing,and triggers the boiler MFT protector acting,so puts forward the relevant solutions to ensure the units safe operation.


The dissipation of chloridazon in a silty clay loam soil under laboratory and field conditions was similar to that of metamitron, and they were both affected by temperature and soil moisture. The t 1/2 of chloridazon, at 22% soil moisture, decreased from 76 to 14 days with temperature increase from 10 to 30 o C; the t 1/2 of metamitron, in the same conditions, decreased from 40 to 7.5 days. At 10 o C the effects of an increase in soil moisture from 15 to 29% were larger on chloridazon degradation, with t 1/2 decreasing from 134 to 41 days; the t 1/2 of metamitron decreased from 46 to 21 days. DT 50 values measured in the topsoil (0-5 cm) were slightly different, 68 and 51 days, for chloridazon and metamitron, respectively, and no residues were detected in soil/water solutions at 20 cm depth 3 months after application. These results show that in Italian conditions during the first 80 days after herbicide application and in the absence of rainfall the soil persistence of the herbicides is high and the mobility in soil is low


Exploring the quality of life and free time from the perspective of self is a difficult theoretical and experiential task for teachers. This study integrates important categories for explaining how teachers experience self in their daily interaction and how they perceive their quality of life and use of free time. The comparison took place in the schools of psychology, architecture, and computer science at Universidad Autonoma de Sinaloa, where six professors were interviewed: one male and one female from each school. The compiled information was interpreted through an analysis of discursive content, in teacher-determined conceptual categories. Within the vast experiential world of teachers, much research is lacking to progress from a photographic session of teacher behavior to a computerized tomography that reveals more information in this respect.


In this work we present statistics data about number, nature and cause of underground fiber-optic communications lines damage, implemented on non-armored and armored cables of transport telecommunications primary network, for example, Donetsk, Lviv and Odessa regions in terms from 2001 to 2010 years.


ABSTRACT This article investigates different types of rituals that constitute the Daoist repertoire of Yangyuan Village in Hunan (PRC). I first show that the 'indigenous' Meishan rituals represent an older – possibly non–Han – stratum of the Yangyuan repertoire. Revolving around mountains, grottoes and other landmarks of the local sacred geography, it nonetheless bears the traces of inter-regional exchange between Hunan, Jiangxi, and Fujian – an exchange that can be situated in a historical context. Secondly, I show that the local liturgies of Yangyuan are permeated with references to the codifying authority of the regional Daoist institution called Yuxu Gong, and that its rituals were synthesized under the judicial aegis of this temple's main divinity, the Dark Emperor. It is this exorcist god to whom the divine offices of the law enforcers of Tianxin report. Finally, I make a case for reconsidering the role commonly attributed to Ming dynasty 'vernacular fiction.' Instead of serving solely as a source of narrative entertainment, it provided knowledge about ritual traditions and the authoritative institutions associated with them, such as the Yuxu Gong.


The subject of this thesis is the study of artificial kagome spin ices which are frustrated networks of nanomagnets. These arrays are made using thin film deposition, electron beam lithography and ion beam etching. The typical sizes of each nanomagnet are a length of 500nm, a width of 100nm and a thickness of 10nm with a separation between nanomagnets of 50nm. The interest of these frustrated networks relies on the possibility to measure the magnetic configurations by imagery and extract the macrospin configurations. In this work we have especially compared different demagnetization procedures (field and thermal) that allowed us to highlight their impact on the configurations and we have shown for the first time an emergent polycristal of charges. To have a better understanding of our system, we have also conducted a numerical study using finite difference methods. We have shown that nanomagnets do not behave like Ising spin. Indeed, the magnetic configuration is shown to be homogeneous with domains at extremities. In the array, the domains close the flux at a vertex and the effects of those domains on the magnetization reversal of our networks have been studied. We have also shown experimentally that the reversal can be anisotropic. The origin of this anisotropy has been studied. Finally, we have numerically shown that, when a forbidden configuration is stabilized, the closure of the flux at the vertex leads to chiralities of the forbidden state. These chiralities possess different annihilation fields when the fields are applied out of the nanostructure axis. From an experimental point of view, we tried to show the existence of this monopole chirality using adapted field histories


EduScrum and Lean Teaching and Learning (LTL) are two student-centred learning approaches where the greatest responsibility for learning is transferred from the teacher to the student. This paper aims to analyse these two approaches, eduScrum and Lean Teaching and Learning (LTL), and propose a set of LTL features that could be adopted by eduScrum and vice-versa to enhance better teaching and learning in higher education. A deep review of the background, description and step-by-step implementation of each of the approaches is explored in the paper. Based on a critical analysis of best practices from each approach, the authors present a set of guidelines for improvements in each approach based on the best practices of the other approach, discussing specific features, activities or artefacts which can be introduced to significantly improve the other model and lead to greater quality in the teaching and learning process.


We investigated numerically the evolution of the director field in the homeotropic-planar transition of cholesteric liquid crystals bounded by parallel substrates. The simulation reproduces the observed relaxation from the homeotropic state to the long pitch transient planar state. The simulation agrees with the suggestion that the transient planar-planar transition occurs via a three-dimensional Helfrich-type deformation without the introduction of defect cores. On the basis of this understanding, we suggest improvements for increasing the speed of these transitions.


We have utilized Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) Precipitation Radar (PR; 2A-25 algorithm) and Lightning Imaging Sensor (LIS) data to conduct statistical studies of the vertical structure of convection and precipitation processes over a wide variety of rainfall regimes in the global topics (boxes of 5-10° on a side over seasonal time-scales). By combining analyses of TRMM LIS and PR reflectivity statistics over these rainfall regimes, inferences can be made regarding the microphysical and kinematic structures of the convective ensembles observed. The objective of this research is to relate variability in the mean vertical structure of tropical precipitation to associated latent heating characteristics.


This is paper is a hermeneutical approach to Peter Middelkoop's Bible translation in West Timor, East Nusa Tenggara. By way of Gadamer's hermeneutical thought, the author deduced that evangelism is always impacting either the mission activities or the site of mission. Since any achievement of evangelism, which implicated the local languages is not a sole accomplishment of mission institutions, such as Netherland Zending Genotschaf (NZG), but an outcome of the engagement between the missionaries and the existing culture.


Nitrogen (N) losses and ammonia emissions from livestock operations represent a significant water and air pollutant. It has been repeatedly demonstrated that reduction in dietary protein input results in improved N utilization efficiency and reduced N losses with manure in dairy cows. Reducing dietary protein can also benefit the producer by reducing feed cost. These interventions, however, have to be balanced with the risk of decreased productivity. If animal requirements for metabolizable protein (MP) are not met, productivity cannot be sustained. Supplementation with rumen-protected (RP) amino acids (AA) limiting milk production and milk protein synthesis may compensate for the lack of MP in dairy cow diets. Long-term experiments at Penn State University demonstrated reduced urinary N losses, blood urea, milk urea N, and ammonia emissions from manure with MP-deficient v. MP-adequate diets. In some trials, however, milk production and milk protein yield were decreased with the MP-deficient diets. Supplementation of these diets with RPAA (Lys, Met and His) increased dry matter intake and milk yield of the cows to levels comparable with MP-adequate diets and can be a successful strategy for reducing N losses and maintaining productivity in lactating dairy cows fed low-protein diets.


Abstract Size-exclusion chromatography (SEC) provides a rapid method for determining molar mass distributions of macromolecules. In this article, we demonstrate the method of SEC coupled with an on-line Fourier-transform infrared (FT-IR) detector and an on-line differential viscometer developed for copolymer characterization. Using a chemometric technique to analyze the FT-IR spectra allows for determining copolymer concentration and composition. The combination of the FT-IR concentration detector and the viscometer allows the universal calibration method to be used for measuring copolymer molar mass. Molar mass distribution and compositional distribution are described and the method's application demonstrated using several types of styrene copolymers.


I The purpose of the United States Marine Corps is once again being questioned. Recent studies have resurrected the premise that amphibious assault operations are a ponderous relic of World War 11. Critics would have us believe that for the past three decades the Marine Corps has been structuring and equipping itself for an eventuality that will never happen and that the Marine Corps had better find a new mission before it is relegated to the scrap heap of history. In examining this premise, we can break it down into three basic issues: -In the light of present world political conditions, is an amphibious assault -In the light of present weapon technology, is an amphibious assault still -Is the Marine Corps overspecialized in the amphibious mission to the detricapability still useful?


The fact that many cracks appear on the bottom plate of the pretensioned prestressing concrete hollow beam after it was constructed was studied.The reasons of cracking were simulation analyzed by using finite element software ANSYS.And the solutions were put forward.


Commentary on: CleggAJLovemanEGospodarevskayaE. The safety and effectiveness of different methods of earwax removal: a systematic review and economic evaluation. Health Technol Assess 2010;14:1–192.


The relevance of image schemas in metaphoric extension has been long highlighted in Cognitive Linguistics literature. The image-schematic makeup of a metaphoric source is preserved in the target, in a way consistent with the structure of the latter (Lakoff, 1993). More recently, Sullivan (2013) has raised a similar case for semantic frames, in a constructional framework. Metaphoric mappings are licensed only if the semantic frame of the source is compatible with the conceptual metaphor profiled by the target. The present work integrates Sullivan and Lakoff's approach to invariance, on the basis of the following hypothesis: the compatibility between a semantic frame evoked by a lexical construction and a conceptual metaphor is susceptible to an imageschematic blueprint, already present in the etymologically prior meaning of the construction. Thus, invariance is hypothesised to hold across categorisation levels of different schematicity, but also across time. The case study re-takes the analysis of the adjectival terms brilliant, sunny and bright, under the generalised invariance hypothesis. The metaphorical potential of a term is shown to be at the same time constrained as well as motivated by this strong version of invariance.


Ketamine infusion anaesthesia was studied in rats breathing oxygen/helium under hyperbaric conditions from 1 to 90 ATA. No pressure reversal of the analgesic effect was found. Premedication with diazepam failed to improve the analgesic action of ketamine, but influenced the respiratory pattern. Blood‐gas analyses showed a marked relationship between arterial pH and the ketamine dose requirement for stable anaesthesia.


The existence of rural Sufism strengthens the dimensions of spirituality and the values of Pancasila. This paper analyzes the contribution of the Qadiriyah-Naqsabandiyah congregation in Kebonagung Village, Babat, Lamongan, for strengthening Pancasila values. From field observations, interviews, and activity analysis, this research found that the strengthening of Pancasila values in Kebonagung village resulted from the moral awareness of the Qadiriyah-Naqsabandiyah congregation. The values of Pancasila are the value of divinity with the spirit of religiosity in worship and religious activities, human values by maintaining Islamic brotherhood, the value of unity by creating strong social cohesion in society, populist values with deliberation in solving problems, the value of justice with the spirit of sharing with others or alms. Strengthening the values of Pancasila makes rural Sufism fulfill the requirements of being a good citizen. This study suggests that the rural Sufism movement is an essential part of supporting the existence of Pancasila from below.


-- This investigation had like objective to include/understand the existencial condition of the adolescent with leukemia, for which I chose like perspective of approach the heideggeriana ontologia and like methodology, the hermeneutica that of her is derived.
The election of the heideggeriana fenomenologia became in regard to the dimension taken care of in this study, that still goes beyond the strictly quantitative plane and of which in ample sense they include sciences of the life, because it interested to me to further on focus also the moral experience and still, the constituent experience of the world that the patient characterizes, its "situation", what it gives sense to which it occurs to him or it presents/displays his circumstances debilitated like carriers of sense or simply near without sense. We assumed that the exploration of this dimension is fundamental for the suitable support of the patient; therefore, I consider that in terms of the professional exercise of the infirmary it will allow, for example, to form reflection circles that favor to the sensitivity of the personnel who takes care of the adolescent with leukemia on aspects triggered by the disease, in order that that attention more is guessed right, developing a care with felt cash humanistic.
Between the final considerations rebound the importance of the approach to the world of the adolescent with leukemia, from a clear conscience of its condition unique beings (our personal worlds are unique, although the publicity of the daily life makes forget it us) and that, therefore, they require a unique treatment necessarily, accentuated necessity for being in a situation existencialmente limit generated by the aggressiveness of the leukemia, experience that is become serious in a particularly difficult stage - by the unstable thing of its life.


An integrated weed management experiment was conducted consecutively during wet season of 1998, 1999 and 2000 at Agricultural Research Farm. Institute of Agricultural Scicnces, BHU, Varanasi to evolvc suitable weed management technique for direct dry seeded rainfed lowland rice. Pre-emergence application of butachlor+2, 4–0 (1.5+0.5 kg ha−1), thiobencarb+2, 4–0 (1.5HU kg ha−1) and anilofos+2, 4–0 (0.4+0.5 kg ha−1) in combination with one hand wecding (25 DAS) were maximum and equally effectivc in minimizing weed growth during pre-flooding and enhancing coarse rice grain yield as comparcd to these herbicidal combinations of treatments without hand weeding. Weedy check marked a mcan yicld loss of 53.8%, and this loss ranged from 10.1 to 28.8%, under hand weeding (25 and 50 OAS) and herbicidal treatments.


We consider a multi-sender cheap talk model, where the receiver faces uncertainty over whether senders have aligned or state-independent preferences. This uncertainty generates a trade-off between giving sufficient weight to the most informed aligned senders and minimizing the influence of the unaligned. We show that preference uncertainty diminishes the benefits from specialization, i.e., senders receiving signals with more dispersed accuracy. When preference uncertainty becomes large, it negates them entirely, causing qualified majority voting to become the optimal form of communication. Our results demonstrate how political polarization endangers the ability of society to reap the benefits of specialization in knowledge.


The PhD thesis presented by Magda Lewandowska is of general interest for experts in the field of medicine and molecular and evolutionary biology, as ancient DNA (aDNA) studies have the capability to reveal insights into the presence and evolution of infectious diseases and the mechanisms and genetic background of host-pathogen interaction. Despite that there are many studies available on the occurrence of TB in various populations of different time periods and geographic locations, there was only very few work done dealing with susceptibility genes and genetic predisposition to infectious diseases in ancient populations. Therefore, the PhD thesis makes an important contribution to this research field and helps to bridge the gap between the current knowledge on the presence of infectious diseases in the past and the genetic makeup of the human host.


Withdrawal notice of a research paper published in Vol 2, issue 3

Dear readers,

Upon the request of author, we are retracting a paper entitled "Methods to reduce soil erosion and nutrient losses in Kavre district, central Nepal" published in the volume 2, issue 3 of Himalayan Journal of Sciences under the category "research paper." The author writes: "The research was primarily a part of my Bachelor's dissertation work at Kathmandu University. It also contained a part of the work to which I worked as an associate. After publication, as it turned out, there are some fundamental flaws in the reporting of the result, and that makes the discussion and conclusion invalid. With a deep regret, I would like to withdraw my published article and request you to announce this notice to the scientific community as soon as possible. I am very sorry for the misreporting, wasting time and effort of editors and reviewers, and for the misinformation to the readers."

Such errors are bound to occur in any field, and this prompt retraction is a reflection of the scientist's integrity. We look forward to being able to post the author's revisions.

? Editor

 Himalayan Journal of Sciences 2(3): 42-45, 2004


Abstract Non-hormonal methods of contraception cover a range of methods from permanent sterilization, requiring an invasive surgical procedure, to natural family planning, which relies on women's own fertility awareness, and is often taught by non-clinical volunteers. Sterilization and IUDs are the most popular methods worldwide, with 200 million and 100 million users respectively. Sterilization is intended to be permanent, and comprehensive preoperative counselling is essential to ensure appropriate client selection and reduce subsequent regret and reversal requests. IUDs offer long-acting, reversible and highly effective contraception. Post-insertion complications are rare, but infection is increased in the first 3 weeks after insertion. Sexual history-taking before insertion identifies those in whom an STI screen is indicated. Male condoms have regained popularity over the last two decades and can offer reliable contraception when used consistently. Protection against STIs, including HIV, is an obvious advantage. Female barrier methods include the female condom and diaphragm and are used by a small number of women, but offer a female-controlled method, with minimal associated health risks. Natural family planning, when used by motivated couples, can offer acceptable fertility control, and is often attractive to those who may find other methods unacceptable.


Presently,aerogels are the lightest,heat-insulated solid materials which have been studied extensively in the world.They have many unique properties and extensive applied values in the fields of calorifics,mechanics,optics,electrology and so on owing to their special three-dimensional web structure whose pores in the rang of 2~50 nm.The key to study their properties and application is the influencing factors of preparation.In the paper,the influences to the physical and chemical properties of silica aerogels prepared at ambient pressure had been studied,and the factors included water,ethanol,catalysts(ammonia,oxalic acid),pH values,temperature and interval time,and the reasons of influences to the properties of silica aerogels had been discussed,which provided academic base to their selection of optimal prepared conditions.


The authors aim to examine the effect of location-driven logo placement on attention and memory on the web addressing differences between individuals that read unidirectionally (left-to-right [LTR]) versus bidirectionally (both right-to-left and LTR).,Using an eye-tracking approach combined with traditional verbal measures, the authors compared attention and memory measures from a sample composed of bidirectional (Arab/English) readers and unidirectional readers.,The findings reveal that unidirectional and bidirectional readers differ in attention patterns. Compared to bidirectional readers, unidirectional readers pay less attention to the logo on the bottom right corner of the webpage based on verbal measures. The eye-tracking data of the two groups further identify differences based on total hits and duration time. Unidirectional LTR readers demonstrate higher fluency in feature-based attention whereas bidirectional readers show higher fluency in spatial attention.,The authors expand on scarce research on reading direction bias effect on location-driven stimuli placement in online settings. They contribute to the understanding of the differences between unidirectional and bidirectional readers in their cognitive responses (attention and memory) to organization of marketing stimuli.


In dialogue with Roland Barthes, whose S/Z unfolds a multiplicity of "voices" in Balzac's "Sarrasine," this essay focuses on literal voices in the story: those of the castrato and his historical successor, the tenor. It exposes the anachronism whereby a nineteenth-century tenor occupies the place of the baroque castrato hero in the central performance that seduces the title hero, and it analyzes the assumptions that made this anachronism essential to the functioning of the story-and invisible to Balzac, Barthes, and others. By emphasizing the thematics of rivalry and rage in the story and in the political and literary history surrounding it, the essay brings out the oedipal tensions in "Sarrasine" (and, briefly, its companion "L'élixir de longue vie"), tensions that both precipitated the castrato's demise and ensured his survival as a haunting presence in 1830, 1970, and beyond.


Objective:To investigate the relationship between cochlear nerve canal malformation and cochlear nerve dysplasia in children in order to improve diagnosis for this disease and select appropriate candidates for cochlear implantation.Methods:The HRCT and MRI images of 43 children with cochlear nerve dysplasia diagnosed by MRI were reviewed retrospectively.Twenty-nine cases were bilateral and 14 cases unilateral.Cochlear nerve canal caliber was measured for 72 ears with cochlear nerve dysplasia and 14 ears without cochlear nerve dysplasia respectively on HRCT.The MRI images of vestibulocochlear nerve,cochlear nerve and facial nerve were analysed with FIASTA sequence.Results:Of the 72 ears with cochlear nerve dysplasia,there were 3 ears with absence of cochlear nerve canal,32 ears with cochlear nerve canal atresia and 32 ears with cochlear nerve canal stenosis,3 ears with cochlear nerve canal enlargement,2 ears with normal canal.Statistically significant difference was observed for cochlear nerve canal between ears with cochlear nerve dysplasia and ears without cochlear nerve dysplasia.Of the 43 cases,there were 72 ears with cochlear nerve dysplasia,cochlear nerve was not shown in 59 cases and tiny cochlear nerves in 13 cases.There were 28 ears associated with abnormal vestibulocochlear nerve(absent or small in size).Also,there were tiny facial nerve in 3 ears and not seen in 1 ear.In patients with cochlear nerve canal absence,atresia and stenosis,MRI diagnosed cochlear nerve dysplasia with 93.1% sensitivity,100% specificity,100% positive predictive value and 26.9% negative predictive value.Conclusion:When the absence,atresia or stenosis of cochlear nerve canal are shown on HRCT,cochlear nerve dysplasia may by highly suggested.MRI is a reliable modality to show cochlear nerve dysplasia.


Abstract We prove that the analog of the Grushko–Neumann theorem does not hold for profinite free products of profinite groups. To do that we bound the number of generators of a finite group generated by a family of subgroups of pairwise coprime orders.


This article analyses a model in which a local monopolist that produces low-quality goods competes against a foreign competitive industry that produces a higher quality version of the goods. We use the model to analyse the welfare implications of introducing a unit tax on the local producer, relative to an ad valorem tax. We find parameter values for which the unit tax dominates the ad valorem tax, in the sense of increasing welfare while not reducing government revenues. This result contrasts with the mainstream results on the dominance of ad valorem over unit taxes.


The simple neural network composed of layers of "neurons" which threshold the sum of weighted input values received from the neurons of the immediately preceding layer is directly applicable to many signal detection tasks. Use of the maximum likelihood "ideal observer" formalism allows for a quantitative measurement of neural-network performance for such tasks, in contrast to measures of network convergence such as sum of squares error. For the signal known exactly (SKE) problem, for which a known signal is detected on a noisy background, a single-layered neural network with ideal weights performs at 100% efficiency, since it is isomorphic to the matched-filter ideal observer. Measured efficiencies of less than 100% primarily reflect idiosyncrasies of the training method (e.g., back projection) and incomplete training of the network. For more complicated problems which have terms in the ideal test statistic that are quadratic or higher in the data, more complex neural-network architectures are required. Even then, however, convergence to optimal solutions is not assured. Using the feed-forward processing, back-projection training paradigm leads to far from ideal performance for these higher order tasks, at least when training is carried out on noise-free data or small sets of noisy data.


In order to cope with "the last kilometer to end a transit trip", hence to ease traffic and parking difficulties, and to boost a sustainable green transportation system, this paper focuses on a bike sharing program implemented in Hangzhou, Zhejiang. There are many and many technology problems in the decision of intelligent dispatch. In this paper, we consider a special case of the system, it is to segment the stations into two sections. An improved randomized algorithm is proposed to do it. After analysis on the performance of algorithm, the result is 0.6378 and better that the trivial case of 0.5.


The administration of nerve growth factor (NGF) into the brain of a fornix‐fimbria lesioned rat can rescue many cholinergic, septal‐basal forebrain (SBF) neurons from imminent cell death. Unfortunately, it is nuclear if NGF can stimulate regenerative growth from axotomized, SBF neurons. In the present study, we used an in vitro model system to determine if NGF could affect neurite outgrowth from nonaxotomized and/or axotomized, embryonic SBF neurons. Axotomized neurons were obtained by severing the neuritic fields surrounding embryonic day (E) 15 SBF explants maintained in primary culture. Acetylcholinesterase (AChE) histochemistry was used to assess the effects of NGF on cholinergic neurites. We report that (1) neurite outgrowth on type I collagen from E15 SBF neurons in primary culture (nonaxotomized neurons) was not affected by NGF. (2) NGF enhanced the outgrowth (regeneration) of axotomized, SBF neurons on a collagen substratum; however, neurons had to be treated with NGF both before and after axotomy to stimulate regeneration effectively. Application of NGF either before or after axotomy did not enhance regenerative neurite outgrowth. (3) SBF neurons had to be axotomized for NGF to facilitate neurite outgrowth. This is supported by the observation that SBF explants, initially maintained in NGF‐supplemented medium in suspension culture, did not demonstrate enhanced neurite outgrowth in the presence of NGF when plated onto a substratum. (4) The regenerative growth of AChE‐negative, as well as AChE‐positive, neurites was facilitated by NGF treatment. In addition to data concerning neurite outgrowth, we also found that the NGF receptor, as recognized by the antibody 192‐IgG, expands its distribution as time in culture progresses; i.e., staining, originally confined to cell bodies and proximal processes within the explant, later included neurites that emanated from the explant. Thus, our results demonstrate that NGF can stimulate regenerative growth from axotomized, but not nonaxotomized, embryonic SBF neurons. We hypothesize that, given the appropriate substratum for axon elongation in vivo, NGF can stimulate the regeneration of SBF neurons in the injured adult brain.


raisal and its frequent link to performance related pay is a controversial practice in the mployee performance. This paper examines performance appraisal from the perspective of four s covering diverse occupations and industry sectors. Only one union supports the notion of ted pay. The others find performance appraisal difficult to embrace. Negative experiences and lems lead them to argue that the process is complicated and usually puts workers at a appears that any change in union attitude depends on their role in the performance appraisal and ted pay process. Moreover, the imperfect power balance between management and employees participation must be on a genuine basis. work in progress. Material in the paper cannot be used without permission of the author. THE DASH FOR CASH: PERFORMANCE RELATED PAY AN AUSTRALIAN UNION PERSPECTIVE


The founding of lapis lazuli to give blue colour to glass and glazes is more and more coming out from the most recent studies of pottery and glassware of different epochs and provenances. The recent discovery in the south of Italy (Frederick II, Melfi castle) of enamelled glass pieces including blue enamels questioned the real nature of the blue colour raw materials because the castle is built over and not far from outcrops of two volcanic rocks – hauynophire and phonolite – that contain hauyne, mineral belonging to sodalite group as lazurite, that can be blue or become blue after heating. Raman microscopy and scanning electron microscopy coupled with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy were tested in order to identify the rock used as raw material and to understand if the chromophore-bearing mineral in the artefacts could be other than lazurite. To do this, the two volcanic rocks, lapis lazuli and archaeological glass with blue enamels, were studied. In particular, temperature-dependent Raman measurements and Raman mappings both on single lazurite and hauyne crystals and on the rocks and the enamels were carried out also in order to investigate the colouration mechanism of hauyne. The results obtained allowed to make hypotheses about the transformations occurring in hauyne with heating and about the procedures of distinguishing the raw materials. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


The chapter focuses on recent trends of biomass conversion into valuable energy, chemicals, gaseous and liquid fuels. Biomass is presently the largest source of renewable energy and the primary bioenergy resource in the world. A comprehensive discussion on different types, sources and compositions of biomass is presented. The most abundant biomass on the earth is lignocellulose and it represents a major carbon source for chemical compounds and biofuels. The chapter presents a thorough review of lignocellulosic biomass and the importance of biomass as a renewable source. It then reviews biomass classification and composition. It introduces the analysis of biomass feedstock. Biomass is converted to energy, chemicals and clean fuels using various conversion techniques such as thermochemical, chemical and biochemical. The chapter provides a thorough examination of thermochemical conversion processes that use high temperatures to break down the bonds of organic matter. It briefly introduces combustion and gasification, followed by a comprehensive review of different pyrolysis techniques.


(1) Savage and White: "Organisms Associated with FoodPoisoning and Allied Bacilli", "Manual of Bacteriology", by Robert Muir and the late James Ritchie, Ninth Edition. 1932, page 452. (2) W. G. Savage: "Food Poisoning". "The Oxford Medicine", Volume V, page 258. (S) M. J. Rosenau: "Food Poisoning". "Nelson's Loose Leaf Living Medicine". Volume II, page 613. «) J. P. Kinloch, J. Smith and J. S. Taylor: "The Aberdeen Outbreak of Milk-Borne Gaertner Enteritidis, July, 1925", Journal of Hygiene, Volume XXV, 1926, page 434. (0) A. B. Rosher and G. Selby Wilson: "A Case of Enteric Fever due to the Bacillus enteritidis of Gaertner", The Lancet, January 1, 1921, page 16. (., J. Smith and W. M. Scott: "Continued Fever due to a Gaertner-Like Salmonella of the Type Dublin", Journal of HUfJwne, Volume XXX, 1930, page 32. 1ft Chen-Pien Li and Yin-Yuan Ni: "A Case of Bacillus enteritidis Septicremia.... Journal of Infectious Diseases, Volume XLII, 1928, page 226. (8' F. F. Tang: "A Few Cases of Septicremia", Chinese Medical Journal, Volume XLVII. 1.933, page 666. (0' J. W. McNee: "An Unusual Fatal Case of Infection with BacilZus e'nteritidis of Gaertner", The Lancet, January 29, 1921, page 218. (10) G. Dean: "Suppurative Cholecystitis with Cholelithiasis in a Human 'Carrier' of the Bacillus enteritidis of Gaertner". Journal of Hygiene, Volume XI, 1911. page 259. (11' S. O. Cowen: "A Case of Subacute Proliferative Cholangitis", THE MEDICAL JOURNAL OF AUSTRALIA, August 21, 1920. page 172. (12' J. Smith: "Gaertner Meningitis Complicating Gaertner Enteritis", The Lancet, October 1, 1921, page 705. (lS) F. H. Stevenson and L. K. Wills: "Primary Meningitis due to the Gaertner Bacillus". The Lancet, November 11, 1933, page 1084. nO) P. Rieper: "l!Jitrige Meningitis durch Bacillus enteritidis Gaertner", Archiv fur Pathologische Anatomw und Physiologie, Volume CCLXXXIX. 1933. page 301. (16) W. G. Savage: "Unsolved Problems in Salmonella FoodPoisoning". Proceedings of the Royal Society of Medicine (Section of Comparative Medicine). Volume XXII, January, 1929, page 9. (1.' M. J. Rosenau: "Food Infection", "A Text-Book of Medi.clne", by R. L. Cecil. Second Edition. 1930. page 560. (17) H. M. Perry and H. L. Tidy: Medical Research Committee, 1919, Special Report 24, quoted by W. G. Savage, loco citato -(15). us, O. Salthe and C. Krumwiede: American Journal of Hygiene, Volume IV. 1924, page 23, quoted by W. G. Savage, .loco citato (15). nO'R. D'Aunoy: "An Outbreak of Food Poisoning Caused by Salmonella enteritidis", Journal of Infectious Diseases, Volume XLV. 1929, page 404. (20' Zwick and Weibel: Quoted by M. J. Rosenau, loco citato (3) . (21' Clarenburg and Dornickx: Zeitschrift fur Hygiene, Volume ·CXIV, 1932, page 31, quoted by Miessner and Kos.er (28). (22' J. Hohn and W. Hermann: "Die Typen der Gaertner'bakterien und die Quelle ihrer Infektion in der Twrwe!t", Zentralblatt fur Bakteriologie und Parasitenkunde, Volume CXXXIII, 1934-1935. page 183. (23) FUrth and Klein: Quoted by H. Miessner and A. Koser, loco citato (28). (..) Pallaske: Arch/v fur Tierheilkunde, Volume LXII, page 89. quoted by J. Hohn and W. Hermann, loco citato (22). (2Il) Beller and Reinhardt: Berliner Tierarztliche Wochenschrift, 1934, page 226, quoted by H. Miessner and A. Koser, loco citato (28). (00) Haffke: Inaugural dissertation, Hanover, 1934, quoted by H. Miessner and A. Koser, loco citato (28). om J. C. Hamilton: "Infection with the Bacillus enteritidis Resembling Psittacosis", The British Medical Journal, March 1. 1930, page 388. (28' H. Miessner and A. Koser: "Lebensmittelvergiftungen una Gejlugel", Deutsche Medizinisohe wocneneonrut, Volume LXI, 1935, page 1811. (10' Schaaf: Quoted by H. Miessner and A. Koser, loco citato (28 ).


Cr2Ge2Te6 (CGT), a layered ferromagnetic insulator, has attracted a great deal of interest recently owing to its potential for integration with Dirac materials to realize the quantum anomalous Hall effect (QAHE) and to develop novel spintronics devices. Here, we study the uniaxial magnetic anisotropy energy of single-crystalline CGT and determine that the magnetic easy axis is directed along the c-axis in its ferromagnetic phase. In addition, CGT is an insulator below the Curie temperature. These properties make CGT a potentially promising candidate substrate for integration with topological insulators for the realization of the high-temperature QAHE.


In this paper, we present the effect of a strong magnetic field in the burning of a neutron star (NS). We have used relativistic magneto-hydrostatic (MHS) conservation equations for studying the PT from nuclear matter (NM) to quark matter (QM). We found that the shock-induced phase transition (PT) is likely if the density of the star core is more than three times nuclear saturation ([Formula: see text]) density. The conversion process from NS to quark star (QS) is found to be an exothermic process beyond such densities. The burning process at the star center most likely starts as a deflagration process. However, there can be a small window at lower densities where the process can be a detonation one. At small enough infalling matter velocities the resultant magnetic field of the QS is lower than that of the NS. However, for a higher value of infalling matter velocities, the magnetic field of QM becomes larger. Therefore, depending on the initial density fluctuation and on whether the PT is a violent one or not the QS could be more magnetic or less magnetic. The PT also have a considerable effect on the tilt of the magnetic axis of the star. For smaller velocities and densities the magnetic angle are not affected much but for higher infalling velocities tilt of the magnetic axis changes suddenly. The magnetic field strength and the change in the tilt axis can have a significant effect on the observational aspect of the magnetars.


In this paper, we evaluate the short term impacts of a Fruit Fly Eradication Program in the coastal areas of Peru. Exploiting arbitrary variation in the program's intervention borders, as well as precise geographic location data of farmer's households, we use a Geographical Regression Discontinuity (GRD) approach to identify the program's effects on farmer-level agricultural outcomes. Our baseline data shows that producer and farmlevel pre-treatment characteristics in treated and control areas are balanced. This confirms that the intervention borders were set only as a function of the program ́s exogenous financial and logistic restrictions and independently of the pest incidence levels and/or other producer and/or farm characteristics. Our follow up results indicate that famers in treated areas improved their knowledge about the pest and are more likely to implement best practices for plague prevention and control. These farmers also significantly increased fruit crops production and sales, likely as a result of higher productivity and improved market access. The robustness of our findings is also confirmed by two placebo tests: first, effects are only observed for fruit crops, i.e. the ones affected by the eradicated pest; second, no similar patterns can be detected in the evaluated outcomes during the pre-treatment period.


Ticket price is the key factor in the competition between intercity railway and bus. The relationship between intercity transit demand is set up according to the ticket prices. Logit model is used to establish the mode split in intercity transit system. Then the profit functions of both companies are presented. Based on the profit functions, a price game model is prop0sed to discuss the competition between intercity railway and bus. The existence and computing method of the Nash equilibrium price solutions are proposed. The conclusions of this research are useful to managers for their operations with intercity public transit system.


SUMMARY The state-of-the-art in analysing a number of ground manoeuvring processes on aircraft is described. The mathematical models are as good as the data supplied to them.


The phenomenon of subpulse drifting may hold the key to understanding the pulsar emission mechanism. Here, we report on new observations of PSR J0034−0721 (B0031−07) carried out with the Murchison Widefield Array at . We observe three distinct drift modes whose "vertical" drift band separations (P3) and relative abundances are consistent with previous studies at similar and higher frequencies. The drift bands, however, are observed to change their slopes over the course of individual drift modes, which can be interpreted as a continuously changing drift rate. The implied acceleration of the intrinsic carousel rotation cannot easily be explained by plasma models based on drift. Furthermore, we find that methods of classifying the drift modes by means of P3 measurements can sometimes produce erroneous identifications in the presence of a changing drift rate. The "horizontal" separation between drift bands (P2) is found to be larger at later rotation phases within the pulse window, which is inconsistent with the established effects of retardation, aberration, and the motion of the visible point. Longer observations spanning at least ∼10,000 pulses are required to determine how the carousel rotation parameters change from one drift sequence to the next.


This article presents an autobiographical account of an older woman's lived experience of self-employment. Little is known about women who experience ongoing self-employment into their 50s and beyond. Shoshanna's personal narrative describes her experiences and the challenges she has faced as she reflects upon her attempts to grow and sustain her business and the implications of ageism and gender inequality in laying a claim to entrepreneurship. The narrative proceeds to reflect on her activist work, as it is constructed through the creation of a social enterprise to support older people. Shoshanna's narrative provides valuable insights into the intersection of age and gender in self-employment moving from discrimination to active support.


The present study was aimed at investigating anti-bacterial effects of Bletilla striata dihydrophenanthrene (DHP) on clinically isolated Escherichia coli (E. coli), including extended spectrum β-lactamases (ESBLs)-carrying E. coli and carbapenem-resistant
 E. coli (CRE). The minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC) of two extracts, DHP and residual substances extracted by ethanol and n-butanol (NBE), were determined by the serial dilution method. The light absorption value of macromolecular substances, total leakage rate, and total protein
 content in the nutrient solution were determined by spectrophotometric analysis. Quantification of protein expression and drug susceptibility verification were determined by mass spectroscopy. In addition, the elimination of drug-resistant plasmids was evaluated. Our data showed that the DHP
 had a more powerful antibacterial effect on E. coli than that of NBE, with MICs of 0.82–1.38 mg/mL and 1.07–1.51 mg/mL, respectively. In addition, DHP enhanced the absorbance value of macromolecular substances, and increased protein expression in E. coli when compared
 with NBE. Moreover, NBE increased the total leakage rate of small molecule substances, total protein content, and reversed drug resistance when compared with DHP. Both NBE and DHP eliminated the banding patterns related to multidrugresistant plasmids, selectively inhibited bacterial growth
 and reversed multidrug resistance by regulating cell membrane permeability and protein expression levels in E. coli. The reversal of drug resistance may be mediated through elimination of drug-resistant plasmids in E. coli. Therefore, DHP and NBE may be promising antibacterial
 drug candidates, and DHP is more likely.


The use of medicinal plants as preventative and curative treatment may be integral when a complete treatment is not yet available. Hence, the purpose of this study was to conduct an evaluation on Polygonum minus extracts over its effect against Herpes Simplex Virus 1 (HSV-1) infection in vitro. Methanol, ethanol and aqueous extracts of P.minus were obtained through evaporation under reduced pressure via rotary evaporator. Cytotoxicity testing of P.minus extracts was conducted on Vero cells using MTT assay. DPPH and Folin-Ciocalteu assay were used to evaluate its radical scavenging activity and phenolic content respectively. To better understand its medicinal properties, an in vitro treatment was carried out by means of time-of-addition tests; simultaneous treatment, pre-treatment and posttreatment. Infection with HSV-1 was performed at MOI of 1 and inoculated with methanol and ethanol extracts at its maximum non-toxic dose concentration of 37.50 µg/ml. In simultaneous and pre-treatment, both extract appeared to exert inadequate effect against HSV-1 infected cells (where cell viability recorded well below 60%). However, in post-treatment test, only aqueous extract showed desirable effect where cell viability is maximally retained. This is despite the fact that aqueous extract displayed the lowest radical scavenging activity (IC50 = 146.58 µg/ml, with maximum inhibition at 8 mg/ml concentration), having the lowest phenolic content (61.68 ± 11.621 mg GAE/l at 8 mg/ml concentration), albeit a higher cytotoxicity (IC50 = 408.03 µg/ml) towards Vero cells compared to methanolic extract. Hence, preliminary finding suggests aqueous P.minus extract has curative potential towards HSV-1 infected cells despite its subpar antioxidant activity. Indeed, further studies are required to make clear the exact curative effect of P.minus towards HSV-1 infection before a more conclusive experimental findings be made.


The Practicum component of the Master's degree in Student Affairs Administration is designed to give students the opportunity to relate and apply theory to practice. Students can gain insight into the nature of the organization, assess applications of student learning and development theory, observe different administrative styles and further enhance their professional philosophy of student affairs and higher education administration. Perhaps most importantly, practicum offers students an opportunity to practice professional behavior in a work setting. The extent to which students become actively involved in the development of specific skills varies by placement. Most Practicum placements include a "hands-on" project; however, in some settings the emphasis is more an observation and analysis than actual service delivery. The goals of the practicum experience are to provide students exposure to a specific functional area/department, administrative processes, and procedures in order gain/enhance their current transferable skills and their ability to integrate theory to practice. The expectation should not be for SAA MA students to serve as research assistants for the semester. Students should be clear about how the level of engagement affects their learning and seek to negotiate a placement with the elements that are essential to them. All practicum placements are centralized through the Coordinator.


Abstract The effects of chlorpyrifos, pyriproxyfen and acetamiprid were examined on life table and detoxifying enzymes of Pulvinaria aurantii Cockerell. The LC50 values were 215.1, 92.8 and 126.7 ppm for tested pesticides, respectively. Low lethal concentration (LC30) of pyriproxyfen had the highest severe effect on life table parameters of P. aurantii. The intrinsic rate of increase was reduced to 0.161 day−1 in pyriproxyfen treatment as compared with 0.180 day−1 in the control. The lowest enzymatic activities were recorded for first instar treated with chlorpyrifos. The combination of lethal and sublethal effects of pyriproxyfen can be incorporated in management of this pest.


The Michigan Supreme Court proposed an amendment to Michigan Rule of Evidence (MRE) 702 in 2002. This article addresses the proposed amendment and the statute that it incorporates by reference. The author then discusses arguments advanced in support of and in opposition to the proposed amendment and concludes that an amendment to MRE 702 is necessary but that the proposed amendment should not be adopted.


Maize was harvested with a precision chopper and ensiled in five plastic tower silos, 1 500 kg fodder/silo. The silages and the ensiling methods were: 0.5 % urea per fresh weight (A), 1.0 % urea per fresh weight -(Viher-acid 4 1/1 000 kg of silage (B), 0.5 % urea per fresh weight + Viher-acid 4 1/1 000 kg of silage (C). Viheracid 4 1/1 000 kg of silage (D) and silage without urea or preservatives (E). The dry matter content of the whole maize was 21 % and the crude protein content was 10.8 % in DM. The addition of urea increased the crude protein (N x 6.25) content in Aand C-silages to 17.7 percent and in B-silage to 24.9 percent. The quality of the silages was good, and some marks of butyric acid was found only in the silage ensiled without Viher-acid or urea. The addition of Viher-acid lowered the fermentation rate so that the sugar content of the corresponding silages was higher. The sugar content was higher (P < 0.01) and the content of lactic acid lower (P < 0.001) in the silage ensiled only with Viher-acid. Urea increased the content of lactic acid and the content of acetic acid of the silages. In the silages ensiled with urea the use of Viher-acid tended to lower the fermentation rate. The use of urea increased the NH 3-N (P < 0.05) and the soluble N contents (P < 0.001) in the silages. In spite of the low dry matter content of the silages some enrichment of the urea in the lower parts of the silos was only found in the silage ensiled with 1 % of urea (P > 0.05) and Yiher-acid. This was due to the larger effluent amount from the silo. The fermentation losses of dry matter were smallest in the silage D (3.9 %) and highest in the silage E (11.6 %) (P < 0.05). The losses in A-, Band C-silages were 7.6 %, 4.7 % and 9.2 %, respectively. The use of urea decreased the fermentation losses. Introduction Because of the rich content of soluble sugars maize could be ensiled without preservatives. In spite of careful ensiling an intense secondary fermentation was found in sorghum, corn and corn stover silages (Setälä et al. 1979). According to Morvarid et al. (1973) and Woolford et al. (1978) secondary fermentation is caused by the great number of yeasts and moulds, which are


Abstract This article deals with computer analyses of output quantities of a railway vehicle depending on changing of parameters of suspension system. A passenger car was chosen for dynamic analyses. An analysed passenger railway vehicle uses two stage suspension system composed of coil springs and hydraulic dampers. Stiffness of coil springs of primary and secondary suspensions were defined for two states and its influence on output values in terms of quality and quantity was evaluated. As output variables, values of forces in a wheel/rail contact and accelerations in several locations on a wagon body floor were chosen. Values of forces in a wheel/rail contact indicate dynamic response of a railway vehicle running in terms of running safety and values of accelerations serve as important input for evaluation of passenger ride comfort.


The relations between dietary and/or circulating levels of fatty acids and the development of type 2 diabetes is unclear. Protective associations with the marine omega‐3 fatty acids and linoleic acid, and with a marker of fatty acid desaturase activity delta‐5 desaturase (D5D ratio) have been reported, as have adverse relations with saturated fatty acids and D6D ratio.


Small target detection from the infrared remote sensing image is a challenge task. In this article, a novel local adaptive threshold algorithm combined with heterogeneity and compactness filters is proposed to detect the small target from the infrared remote sensing images. First, the infrared image is filtered by a heterogeneity filter to enhance the target saliency. Then, the enhanced image is filtered by a compactness filter to generate a target candidate region map. Finally, for each pixel in the target candidate region, a local adaptive threshold is calculated from the enhanced image to determine whether it is a target pixel or not, and thus, the targets are extracted out. The designed heterogeneity filter and compactness filter can effectively suppress the background clutter, enhance the target, and generate target candidate regions. The proposed adaptive thresholding is a local threshold method, which is calculated in a small local window and can effectively reduce the false alarm and missing alarm. Qualitative and quantitative experiments are conducted on synthetic images and real images. The experiment results show that, with good target enhancement and background suppression, and high detection accuracy, the proposed method outperforms other state-of-the-art methods.


The invention discloses a combined method for silicon methyl silicane synthesis. The high boiling substance, low boiling substance, or high boiling substance and low boiling substance generated in the organosilicon monomer (CH3)2SiCl2 production process are used as main raw material for gasification and reaction together with methyl chloride in a stirring bed and fixed bed combined reactor, and a methyl chlorosilane monomer of the general formula (CH3)mSiCl4-m (m is a positive integer between 1~3) is synthesized. The mass ratio of methyl chloride to the high boiling substance, low boiling substance, or high boiling substance and low boiling substance is 1~10:1. The methyl chlorosilane monomer product can be produced at a lower cost utilizing the inventive method.


Thermal hetero [3 + 2] cycloaddition reaction of a dipolar trimethylenemethane 2 with an N-acyl or N-tosyl imine gives an α-methylene-γ-pyrrolidone acetal 4 in high yield, which upon hydrolysis affords a γ-amino acid derivative.


When humans efficiently infer complex functions from a relatively few but wellchosen examples, something beyond exhaustive search must probably be at work. Different heuristics are often made use of during this learning process in order to efficiently infer target functions. Our current research focuses on different heuristics through which regular grammars can be efficiently inferred from a minimal amount of examples. A brief introduction to the theory of grammatical inference is given, followed by a brief discussion of the current state of the art in automata learning and methods currently under development which we believe can improve automata learning when using sparse data. 1 Grammatical Inference A typical definition for learning would be the act, process, or experience of gaining knowledge. Within the field of machine learning this process of gaining knowledge is achieved by applying a number of techniques, mainly those relying on heuristic search algorithms, rule-based systems, neural networks and genetic algorithms. This short report focuses on the learning of regular grammars (those languages accepted by finite state machines) by making use of heuristic search algorithms to direct the search. The process of learning grammars from a given set of data is referred to as grammatical inference (GI). Automata learning is the process of generalizing from a finite set of labelled examples, the language (FSA) which generated them. Let us say that we've got the +ve example set {10, 20, 30, 80}. Positive since these examples are labelled "accepted" by the target language. We can immediately infer that the target language is that of integers divisible by 10 (or rather strings whose length is divisible by 10). However, by overgeneralizing we can also infer that the language is that of even integers (strings whose length is divisible by 2). Both are correct; however as we'll be outlining in the next section, this example illustrates how vital the training sample is (both +ve and -ve samples), for efficient, correct grammatical inference. The field of grammatical inference finds practical applications within areas such as syntactic pattern recognition, adaptive intelligent agents, computational biology, natural language acquisition and knowledge discovery as illustrated in [6]. In the next section we will be discussing some theoretical background. 2 Preliminaries Automata learning or identification can be formally expressed as a decision problem. 100 Sandro Spina Given an integer n and two disjoint sets of words D+ and D− over a finite alphabet Σ, does there exist a DFA consistent with D+ and D−and having a number of states less than or equal to n The most classical and frequently used paradigm for language learning is that proposed by Gold [3], namely language identification in the limit. There are two main variations of this paradigm. In the first one the learner can make use of as much data as necessary. The learning algorithm is supplied with a growing sequence of examples compatible with the target automata. At each step the learner proposes a hypothesis DFA, representing the guessed solution. The algorithm is said to have the the identification in the limit property if the hypothesis (consistent with all learning data) remains unchanged for a finite number of guesses. In the second case the number of available learning examples is fixed and the learning algorithm must propose one hypothesis from this set of examples. This algorithm is said to have the identification in the limit property if, for any target machine A, it is possible to define a set D A of training examples called the representative sample (characteristic set) of L(A) [4]. Our work currently focuses on this second variation, were we're currently focusing on determining any lower bounds for the sparsity of the training data in order to be able to identify certain classes of regular languages. Gold [3] has proved that this decision problem is NP-complete, however if the sets D+ and D− are somehow representative of the target automaton, there exist a number of algorithms that solve the considered problem in deterministic polynomial time. In the next section we'll be describing two main GI algorithms. 3 Learning Algorithms The first algorithm is due to Trakhtenbrot and Barzdin [5]. A uniformly complete data set is required for their algorithm to find the smallest DFA that recognizes the language. Their algorithm was rediscovered by Gold in 1978 and applied to the grammatical inference problem, however in this case uniformly complete samples are not required. A second algorithm, RPNI (Regular Positive and Negative Inference) was proposed by Oncina and Garcia in 1992. Lang [5] proposed another algorithm that behaves exactly in the same way as RPNI during the same year. The RPNI algorithm is based on merging states in the prefix tree acceptor of the sample. Both algorithms are based on searching for equivalent states. These algorithms had a major impact in the field, since now languages of infinite size became learnable. Lang proved empirically that the average case is tractable. Different control strategies (heuristics) can be adopted to explore the space of DFA constructions. At each step a number of possible merges are possible, thus the merging order of equivalent states determines the correctness of the generated target language hypothesis. To make things clear let us consider the regular expression ab∗a, with D+ = {aba, aa, abbbba} and D− = {b, ab, abbb}. The Augmented Prefix Tree Acceptor (APTA) for these training sets is shown in figure 1. Note that final (accepting) states are labelled 1, non-final (rejecting) states are labelled 0 and unknown states are marked ?. The task of the learning algorithms is to determine the correct labelling for the states marked with a ?. The learning algorithm proceeds by merging states in the APTA, until no more merges are possible. Rodney Price [2] proposed an evidence driven heuristic for merging states. Essentially this algorithm (EDSM) works as follows : 1. Evaluate all possible pairings of nodes within the APTA A Risk Driven State Merging Algorithm for Learning DFAs 101


Establishing the criterion for whether a device under test (DUT) operates correctly or not is a complex issue. For devices used in a military setting, it is essential to know if the equipment will perform accurately under adverse conditions. In this paper, the example of testing resistive temperature sensors demonstrates how to manage the evaluation of errors expressed as uncertainties and tolerances. These sensors' errors are used to address the total standard uncertainty, to determine the effective degree of freedom and to determine the coverage probability for deriving the coverage factor to establish the Student's quantile as the specific criteria relating to the DUT results.