Soft microrobotics have recently been an active field that advances microrobotics with new robot design, locomotion, and applications. In this paper, we study the ferrofluid robot (FR), which has soft nature and exhibits paramagnetism. Currently, the FR locomotion is usually realized by magnetic force. To enable the FR with more locomotion modes for environment and task adaptability, we program three dynamic field forms and realize three corresponding torque-actuated locomotion modes: Rolling, Wobbling, and Oscillating. The torque actuation of the FR is formulated, and the three locomotion modes are characterized. With the implementation of automated tracking and control algorithms, the controllability of these modes is testified. We then fabricate different environments to validate the adaptability of the FR that can switch its locomotion mode accordingly. Finally, utilizing the oscillating mode and wobbling mode, we demonstrate the transport of lipophilic and hydrophilic cargoes, respectively, showing the task adaptability.


"The Age ofDiscovery" opened in Seville in late April and ran through mid-October. Classed as a category "A" Universal Exposition by the Bureau International des Expositions (B.I.E.) in Paris, it is only the fourth such Expo (after Brussels '58, Montréal '67, and Osaka '70) and the last one until the year 2000. World Fairs have traditionally been the place to show off culture and technology, particularly large-scale media technology. The Paris Exposition of 1900, just five years after the birth ofprojected cinema, hosted not only a giant rectangular screen film 53 by 70 feet produced by the Lumière brothers, but also a ten-screen 330-foot circumference cylindrical movie by Raoul Grimoin-Sanson. The first large scale dome projection premiered at the 1962 Seattle World Fair. At the 1964 New York World Fair, filmmaker Francis Thompson and Buckmin-


The problem of fully developed, laminar, steady, forced convection heat transfer in an electrically conducting fluid flowing in an electrically insulated, horizontal, circular pipe (whose wall is subjected to a uniform heat flux) in a vertical uniform transverse magnetic field has been considered numerically. The central difference scheme is employed in the analysis. For high Hartmann numbers (100 ~ M ~ 500), the refinement of the mesh in the radial direction is necessary in order to handle the effect of the Hartmann boundary layer. To have 'a convergent solution, under-relaxation is needed for high M. A considerable number of results for MFM forced convection are obtained. All the results (i.e. velocity and temperature distributions and heat transfer), in general, are in a good agreement with the previous work.


Skin cancer is becoming more common every year, and this trend is seen in various nations. As a result of lifestyle modifications and sun-seeking behavior, skin cancer cases are increasing. Melanoma can be successfully treated when skin cancer is discovered early; as a result, curing and surviving melanoma directly depend on eliminating it when it is in its early stages. Unfortunately, traditional procedures for detecting skin cancer can be imprecise and frequently result in more testing. In this work, artificial intelligence (AI) techniques are used to create a special deep learning model that combines deep belief networks and grey wolf optimization. By integrating the advantages of two reliable methods, this network achieves maximum accuracy. The suggested method's performance is evaluated against current state-of-the-art methods and a DBN. The effectiveness of the proposed technique is evaluated using the Human Against Machine (HAM10000) dataset. The proposed technology's accuracy and effectiveness allow for the early clinical detection of skin cancer by doctors and dermatologists.


The experiment studied the relationship of bran rice between the shear ratings and apparent uiscosity under the different temperatures and concentration conditions.The rheological equation was established;the consistency and rheological index was calculated.The results showed that broun rice starch viscosity increased with temperature,and the viscosity of the fermentation broun rice starch was greater than the scope of non-fermented starch;the viscosity of the bran rice starch increased with the concentration,and the viscosity of the bran rice starch was not less than changes in the scope of the fermented starch.


Objectives To assess the level of awareness among primary health care physicians toward musculoskeletal complications among type 2 diabetic patients in Gharbia Governorate, Egypt. Background Diabetes mellitus is a major public health problem worldwide. Most diabetic patients will develop functional disabilities owing to multiple factors, including musculoskeletal manifestations. Musculoskeletal complications related to diabetes are common and can lead to severe morbidity. Patients and methods A cross-sectional study was conducted on 175 primary health care physicians. All participants were interviewed using a predesigned questionnaire regarding personal data; socio-economic level; and knowledge, practices, and attitude toward musculoskeletal complications among type 2 diabetic patients. Results Approximately 61% of the physicians had satisfactory knowledge about musculoskeletal complications among type 2 diabetic patients. There is a significant relation between level of knowledge and number of patients attended per day (P = 0.005). Regarding the practices of physicians, 84% of physicians had nonsatisfactory practice level. Nearly two-thirds of the physicians had a positive attitude toward musculoskeletal complications of type 2 diabetes. Conclusion This study explored several aspects about musculoskeletal complications of type 2 diabetes related to knowledge, attitude, and practice among general practitioners and family physicians and revealed improved knowledge, positive attitude, but unsatisfactory practice.


We present theresults ofourrecent research on3D metallic lattices operating atmicrowave frequencies, with applications toadvanced accelerating structures, radiation sources based ontheSmith-Purcell (SP)effect, andSP- basedmicrobunch diagnostics. Electromagnetic wavesin a simple 3D cubiclattice formedbymetalwiresare investigated using HFSS.Thebulkmodesinthelattice aredetermined using single cell calculations, withphase advances inall three directions. TheBrillouin diagram for thebulkmodesofthecubic wirelattice iscalculated. The recently predicted "plasmon" and"photon" modesare identified inthesimulations. Surface modesatthe vacuum/wire lattice interface areidentified, andtheir dispersion relation (the frequency vs.thewavenumber along theinterface) isstudied. Thesurface modeprofiles clearly demonstrate that thewirelattice actsasanegative dielectric constant material.


A motor is introduced, which is characterized by not only providing torque but also electric power to the rotor system for any possible rotating application. The independent control of rotor torque and rotor electric power is system inherent.


Lateral occipital cortical areas are involved in the perception of objects, but it is not clear how these areas interact with first tier visual areas.Usingsyntheticimagesportrayingasimpletexture-definedfigureandanelectrophysiologicalparadigmthatallowsustomonitor cortical responses to figure and background regions separately, we found distinct neuronal networks responsible for the processing of eachregion.Thefigureregionofourdisplayswastaggedwithonetemporalfrequency(3.0Hz)andthebackgroundregionwithanother (3.6 Hz). Spectral analysis was used to separate the responses to the two regions during their simultaneous presentation. Distributed sourcereconstructionsweremadebyusingtheminimumnormmethod,andcorticalcurrentdensitywasmeasuredinasetofvisualareas defined on retinotopic and functional criteria with the use of functional magnetic resonance imaging. The results of the main experiments,combinedwithasetofcontrolexperiments,indicatethatthefigureregion,butnotthebackground,wasroutedpreferentiallyto lateralcortex.Aseparatenetworkextendingfromfirsttierthroughmoredorsalareasrespondedpreferentiallytothebackgroundregion. Thefigure-relatedresponsesweremostlyinvariantwithrespecttothetexturetypesusedtodefinethefigure,didnotdependonitsspatial location or size, and mostly were unaffected by attentional instructions. Because of the emergent nature of a segmented figure in our displays, feedback from higher cortical areas is a likely candidate for the selection mechanism by which the figure region is routed to lateraloccipitalcortex.


The concentration of people in urban areas represents an enormous opportunity to create an environment that can promote healthy behavior and attendant population health. One of those opportunities is the provision of food to urban populations. While it is possible and in many respects feasible to optimize food in urban environments, in many urban areas this is far from the case. For example, urban food deserts are characterized by a paucity of healthy foods, encouraging unhealthy eating and attendant poor health. Commercial forces are often—but not necessarily—at odds with the goals of providing healthy foods in cities, further complicating the picture. This chapter discusses the opportunities inherent in providing healthy food to urban populations and the challenges inherent in such efforts.


Ouabain is a cardiotonic steroid with a history of medical uses. It acts as a ligand to the ubiquitous ion pump Na+,K+‐ATPase which it inhibits at high concentrations. At lower concentrations it triggers calcium oscillations and activation of MAP kinases, stimulates cell proliferation as well as adhesion and acts anti‐apoptotic. In light of this, it has been proposed that the pump may have a dual function as a signaling transducer. To investigate this, we have analyzed the phosphoproteome of COS‐7 kidney cells after treatment with sub‐saturating levels (100 nM) of ouabain, which were high enough to induce Ca2+ oscillations but below those needed to modulate the ion pumping function of Na+,K+‐ATPase. Gene ontology analysis was performed to find distinct cellular processes regulated by ouabain after 10 and 20 min of treatment in the phopshoproteomic analysis. The analysis revealed 2580 ouabain‐regulated phosphorylation sites, many of which were associated with cell adhesion and proliferation. Two of the regulated phospho‐proteins were the inositol triphosphoate receptor (InsP3) and stromal interaction molecule (STIM), both of which are essential for ouabain‐induced calcium oscillations. We used siRNA and Western blotting for target confirmation. One confirmed target, calcium/calmodulin‐dependent protein kinase II gamma (CAMK2γ), were shown to be involved in the anti‐apoptotic effect of ouabain; siRNA silencing of CaMK2γ in primary renal cells eliminates the protective effect of ouabain against apoptosis induced by either serum starvation or glucose. In conclusion, our findings support a role for Na+,K+‐ATPase as a signal transducer that serves to protect cell and tissue integrity.


Since people frequently access websites with a wide variety of devices (e.g., mobile phones, laptops, and desktops), developers need frameworks and tools for creating layouts that are useful at many viewport widths. While responsive web design (RWD) principles and frameworks facilitate the development of such sites, there is a lack of tools supporting the detection of failures in their layout. Since the quality assurance process for responsively designed websites is often manual, time-consuming, and error-prone, this paper presents ReDeCheck, an automated layout checking tool that alerts developers to both potential unintended regressions in responsive layout and common types of layout failure. In addition to summarizing ReDeCheck's benefits, this paper explores two different usage scenarios for this tool that is publicly available on GitHub.


Abstract We present the intracavity generation of beams with radial polarization at an average output power of 750 W and an optical efficiency of 43% from a continuous wave thin-disk laser. Circular grating waveguide output couplers (GWOC) were used to select the radial polarization. The sensitivity of the polarizing function of the GWOC with regards to the fabrication tolerances is also analysed in details with a particular emphasis on the effect of the duty cycle and the geometrical profile of the gratings. Furthermore, we present the conversion of femtosecond laser pulses from linear to azimuthal polarization using a nanograting-based polarization converter. Azimuthally polarized beams with an average power of up to 850 W, a pulse duration of 400 fs and a pulse repetition rate of 1 MHz were generated in this way with a conversion efficiency of >90%.


We consider a decentralized graph coloring model where each vertex only knows its own color and whether some neighbor has the same color as it. The networking community has studied this model extensively due to its applications to channel selection, rate adaptation, etc. Here, we analyze variants of a simple algorithm of Bhartia et al. [Proc., ACM MOBIHOC, 2016]. In particular, we introduce a variant which requires only $O(n\log\Delta)$ expected recolorings that generalizes the coupon collector problem. Finally, we show that the $O(n\Delta)$ bound Bhartia et al. achieve for their algorithm still holds and is tight in adversarial scenarios.


The article deals with the most important features of the forms of implementation of the functions of the state at the present stage of development. Attention is drawn to the debatable nature of the issue due to the presence of different points of view on
the list of forms and their content. Topicality of this issue as the appropriate set of functions and forms determines the degree of effectiveness of the entire state. The author analyses the main approaches to the problem of allocation of forms that have
developed in Russian science. It is noted that interdependence of various forms of state functions and conditionality of their differentiation into legal and non-legal (or organisational). Attention is drawn to the fact that forms are closely connected
not only with the essence, but also with the activities of the modern state. They are dynamic and transform with changes in the spheres of life of society and the state. It is concluded that only through a combination of forms that contribute to the full
implementation of functions, the most stable and successful development is possible.


Preface Introduction The Middle East Babylonia The Enuma elish Egypt Osiris, Iris, and Horus Hittite Telepinu Sumer/Babylonia Gilgamesh Persia Esfandyar, the Prince Who Would Be King Greece and Rome Greece The Creation of the Titans and the Gods The Ages of Man Demeter and Persephone The Labors and Death of Heracles The Iliad Jason and the Golden Fleece Medea Rome Pyramus and Thisbe The Aeneid The Far East and the Pacific Islands India The Creation, Death, and Rebirth of the Universe The Ramayana China The Creation of the Universe and Human Beings Chi Li Slays the Serpent Japan Amaterasu Kotan Utunnai (Ainu) New Zealand The Creation Cycle (Polynesia/Maori) Hawaii The Taming of the Sun (Polynesia/Hawaii) The British Isles Ireland/Scotland The Ages of the World Dagda the Good England/Scandinavia Beowulf England/France King Arthur Northern Europe The Creation, Death, and Rebirth of the Universe The Death of Balder The Theft of Thor's Hammer Sigurd the Volsung Africa Nigeria The Creation o the Universe and Ife (Yoruba) Zaire The Origin of Life and Fire (Boshongo/Bakuba) Benin The Quarrel Between Sagbata and Sogbo (Fon) Ghana Gassire's Lute (Soninke) Mali Bakaridjan Kone (Segu) The Americas Bolivia The Creation (Tiahuanaco/Aymara) Peru The Children of the Sun (Inca) Venezuela Wanadi the Creator (Yekuhana) Guatemala The Creation (Maya) Mexico The Creation Cycle (Toltec/Aztec) Quetzalcoatl (Toltec/Aztec) United States The Emergence (Navajo) Lodge-Boy and Thrown-Away (Crow) United States/Canada The Woman Who Fell from the Sky (Iroquois/Huron) Raven and the Sources of Light (Haida/Tsimshian/Tlingit) Sedna (Inuit) Canada Caught by a Hair-String (Micmac) Notes Selected Bibliography Index of Characters with Pronunciation Guide


ABSTRACT: Field experiments were conducted in the 2010 and 2011 cropping seasons at the Teaching and Research Farm of Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, Bauchi, northern guinea savanna zone of Nigeria, to investigate the effects of rates of Fertiplus (0, 5 and 10 tha-1), Compost plus (0, 5 and 10 tha-1) and NPK 20:10:10 (0, 100 and 200 kg ha-1) on soil chemical properties, growth and yield of pop corn (Zea mays everta). The experiment was a 3 x 3 factorial combination of three fertilizer types (Fertiplus, Compost plus and NPK 20:10:10), applied at three rates: Fertiplus (0, 5 and 10 tha-1), Compost plus (0, 5 and 10 tha-1), NPK 20:10:10 (0, 100 and 200kg ha-1) and laid out in a randomized complete block design with three replications. Soil samples were collected before, during and after the experiment and analysed for chemical properties. Soil of the experimental site was sandy clay loam, moderately acidic, low in organic matter, P, Ca, Mg and CEC. The results showed that the combination of high levels of fertiplus, compost plus and NPK 20:10:10 was more effective than their sole application in both years. The combined application significantly (P less than 0.05) increased soil organic matter, N, P, K, Ca, Mg, CEC, plant height, number of leaves, grain yield and stover yield. The residual effect of the application of 10 tha-1 fertiplus, 10 tha-1 compost plus and 200 kgha-1 NPK 20:10:10 gave highest values of organic carbon (22.72 g/kg), N (2.90 g/kg), P (21.22 mg/kg), Ca (5.68mol(+)/kg), grain (4.68 tha-1) and stover (6.40 tha-1) yields. Integrated application of fertiplus, compost plus and NPK fertilizers for improved soil properties and pop corn production is recommended.

Keywords: Organic, mineral, fertilizers, soil chemical properties, pop corn, savanna.


A review of the book 'Place, Taste and Tradition: A Study of Australian Art since 1788' written by Bernard Smith is presented. Review(s) of: Place, Taste and Tradition: A Study of Australian Art since 1788, by Bernard Smith (Ure Smith Pty. Ltd., Sydney), pp.287. 218.


Pain resulting from endometriosis is experienced as both a chronic, ongoing condition and an acute episode at time of menstruation, often occurring in association with diarrhea, vomiting, nausea, heavy bleeding, and other reactions. Women expect pain with menstruation, however, and even if they experience major disruptions as a result, they find it difficult to distinguish normal from pathological discomfort. Drawing on qualitative research conducted from 2004 to 2006, we describe the "circuit breakers" that lead Australian women to seek medical advice. These include outside intercession, major disruptions to everyday life, changes in embodied experience, and difficulties in conception and pregnancy. Women's ideas of menstrual pain as "normal" are shared by doctors, resulting in further delays before a definitive diagnosis of endometriosis is made. During this time, women move between doctors and in and out of medical care, which they described through particular narrative styles to highlight the complexity of help seeking. We explore the ways in which ideas of gender, informed by women's embodiment but also the quality of their reporting of symptoms, influence their interactions with health professionals.


Background: While novel agents have improved the outcome for multiple myeloma (MM), the disease remains incurable. Our preclinical work has shown that MM cells from relapsed/refractory patients are very sensitive to the combination of Reolysin (a proprietary formulation of an oncolytic reovirus) and bortezomib (BZ), resulting in synergistic levels of endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress. A pilot phase 1 study showed that Reolysin was well tolerated in relapsed/refractory MM patients and was associated with prolonged stable disease. Methods: Relapsed/refractory MM patients including patients refractory to BZ were included. This is a phase 1b study of 3 escalating doses of Reolysin (cohort 1; 3 x1010 TCID50, cohort 2; 4.5 x1010 TCID50, and cohort 3; 9 x1010 TCID50). Reolysin is given on days 1, 2, 8, 9, 15, and 16. Patients receive 40 mg dexamethasone and 1.5 mg/m2bortezomib on days 1, 8, and 15. Cycles are repeated every 28 days in the absence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. Results: Eight patients have been enrolled, seven were male and the median age was 55 (range, 33 - 66). The median number of prior therapies was 4 (range 1 to 6). All patients were previously exposed to BZ, and 6 patients were previously exposed to both an immunomodulatory agent and carfilzomib. Most patients had ISS stage I disease at study entry (n=5), 2 had stage II and 1 had stage III. The combination was well tolerated and most treatment-related toxicities were transient and easily managed with supportive care. The most common treatment-related toxicities were grade 1 diarrhea (n=4), grade 1 fatigue (n=4), grade 1 flu-like symptoms (n=5) and grade 1 headache (n=4). No dose limiting toxicities occurred in cohort 1 or 2. Three patients completed 1 cycle of treatment only, 2 completed 3 cycles, and 1 patient completed 4 cycles. One patient remains on treatment. Reasons for treatment discontinuation included disease progression (n=4), clinical deterioration (n=1) and patient withdrawal (n=2). Six patients were evaluable for response, 3 patients had stable disease lasting at least 3 cycles whereas 3 patients had progressive disease at the end of cycle 1. Ex vivo treatment of primary MM cells and MM cell lines (U266 and RPMI-8226) with Reolysin revealed a dramatic induction of PD-L1 expression as measured by qRT-PCR and flow cytometry. Furthermore, ex vivo treatment of MM patient mononuclear cells with Reolysin resulted in NK and T cell activation. These results suggest that the addition of an anti-PD-1 or anti-PD-L1 agent may augment the anti-MM activity of Reolysin. Conclusions: The combination of Reolysin, BZ and dexamethasone is well tolerated in a heavily pretreated MM patient population. Cohort 3 is currently enrolling at the 9 x1010 TCID50 dose level of Reolysin. The potential anti-MM effects of immune activation following Reolysin infusion may be mitigated by MM expression of PD-L1. Additional cohorts exploring the tolerability, efficacy and pharmacodynamics of the combination of Reolysin, BZ or carfilzomib, dexamethasone and an immune checkpoint inhibitor will be added following completion of cohort 3. Disclosures Kelly:Pharmacyclics: Consultancy, Speakers Bureau; Novartis: Consultancy, Speakers Bureau; Amgen: Consultancy, Membership on an entity9s Board of Directors or advisory committees. Coffey:Oncolytics Biotech: Employment. Gill:Oncolytics Biotech: Employment.


Abstract An efficient multicomponent domino process that works under mild conditions was used for the synthesis of systematically modified neomycin–sugar conjugates. The final aminoglycoside derivatives were tested against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella, and E. coli strains, and show activity comparable to the parent antibiotics. Such a strategy can impact multicomponent combinatorial syntheses of diverse biologically active conjugates.


Steam-assisted gravity drainage (SAGD) is the preferred method to extract bitumen from Athabasca oil-sand reservoirs in western Canada. Bitumen at reservoir conditions is immobile because of high viscosity, and its saturation is typically large, which limits the injectivity of steam at in-situ conditions. In current industry practice, steam is circulated within injection and production wells. In theory, wells should be converted to SAGD production mode after a period when bitumen is mobile and communication is established between the injector and the producer. Operators use temperature-falloff data to predict successful conversion time. But temperature-falloff data are evaluated qualitatively, and there is not an analytical/numerical framework in which one can use such data. Although the bitumen heating sounds simple, approach wells are failing after steam injection because of steam breakthrough or sand production. Most of these wells are periodically returned to circulation/bullheading to ramp up production rates and heal the hot spots. Most of such failures are associated with early conversion to full SAGD, which shows the need to formulate an analytical/numerical framework to predict the right timing for conversion to full SAGD. In this presentation, the time of flight (ToF) is effectively used to convert spatial variations of temperature into time response of temperature variation at the well sandface. ToF defines the time an oil droplet needs to travel through a medium—more specifically, from its current location to the well sandface. By solving the heat transfer and Darcy's law simultaneously, the ToF is converted to a relationship of the temperature vs. time profile at the producer. This approach has been applied to SAGD well pairs with different geology, and the temperature-falloff trends are presented.


This paper describes the application of Simatic Profibus system on the tube-bar straightening roll,introduces the net construction and the application software of the control system;a model being made achieves the synchronization control of the straightening roll by using Profibus technology.The practice proves that the system is stable with higher synchronization precision and faster celerity;it contributes even better modularization and digitalization.


The issue of whether the increase in nutrients is supplied by increasing runoff or by enhancing upwelling in coastal marine ecosystems after a typhoon is considered controversial. This is because it is relatively difficult to quantify water mixing using traditional methods. Dual water isotopes in the northwestern South China Sea during Typhoon Wipha (July–August 2019) were investigated to address this issue. Weak mixing among different water masses was observed before the typhoon because of strong thermal stratification. After the typhoon, temperature and salinity dropped in the water column, particularly in the upper layer (<20 m), due to strengthened mixing. Mixing in the upper layer predominantly originated from coastal diluted water (36%) in the nearshore, whereas it changed to upwelling (51%) offshore. Upwelling was stronger on the right of the typhoon path (50%) than on the left (36%). Nutrients predominantly originated from the coastal diluted water input (50%) in the upper nearshore layer, while upwelling occurred (53%) offshore. The nutrient supply from upwelling on the right of the typhoon path (43%) was also more considerable than that on the left (25%). This study suggests that typhoon‐induced nutrient supply to the coastal upper water layers from the upwelling water (38%) was more substantial than that from the runoff input (30%), providing new insight into the biogeochemical and ecological responses of coastal marine systems to typhoons.


Ratios of cross sections for elastic scattering of 30.3 MeV protons from /sup 40,44,48/Ca have been measured using a method which should be free of most systematic uncertainties. Protons scattered from a mixed metallic target with a thickness of 100 ..mu..g/cm/sup 2/ were detected by a position-sensitive proportional counter in the focal plane of an Enge split-pole spectrograph. Resolution of 8--10 keV (full width at half maximum) permitted identification of the scatterer by the kinematic shift for angles as small as 30/sup 0/. A standard optical model successfully reproduces the data.


Based on "The Design Standard of Intelligent Building"(GB/T 50314 2000), several key points which shall be cleared and mastered in the design standard of communication network system(CNS) and building automation system(BAS), including the function, control and interface were expounded.


Development of Intellectual Property rights (IPR) regime has given innovation and creativity a newly protected and secure world. IPR generally stands of patents, trademarks, copyrights, industrial design etc. However this paper is focussed upon the patent rights by studying the case of Viagra Patents in Canada. The Supreme Court of Canada has shocked the pharmaceutical industry by voiding Pfizer's patent in Canada for Viagra. The unanimous decision provides a strong reaffirmation of the policy behind patent law, namely that patents represent a quid pro quo bargain of public disclosure of inventions in return for a time limited monopoly in the invention. The inventor is granted exclusive rights in a new and useful invention for a limited period in exchange for disclosure of the invention so that society can benefit from this knowledge. This is the basic policy rationale underlying the Act. In this case, the Supreme Court finds that Pfizer failed to provide sufficient disclosure and by voiding the patent on Viagra the court has reaffirmed the fundamentals of the patent policy for the broader benefit of the society. A comparison shall be made between the Canadian and Indian Laws pertaining to Patent Laws. This paper aims at drawing the strength of the Indian IPR knowledge through this case study.


Abstract This essay uses a small-scale set of data derived from university students whom I can contact during this period. The variables were particularly pertinent to their family life amidst the COVID-19 virus, including, but not limited to, learning experience with online courses, evaluation on the Government measures against the COVID-19 virus spread, perception of the influence of the pestilence on their own thoughts and behaviors. A simple calculation of frequency was adopted to present the situation related. Results showed a unique experience of the students in the situation of the COVID-19 virus, and reflection on those results was available.


Gaussian mixtures are a common density representation in nonlinear, non-Gaussian Bayesian state estimation. Selecting an appropriate number of Gaussian components, however, is difficult as one has to trade of computational complexity against estimation accuracy. In this paper, an adaptive Gaussian mixture filter based on statistical linearization is proposed. Depending on the nonlinearity of the considered estimation problem, this filter dynamically increases the number of components via splitting. For this purpose, a measure is introduced that allows for quantifying the locally induced linearization error at each Gaussian mixture component. The deviation between the nonlinear and the linearized state space model is evaluated for determining the splitting direction. The proposed approach is not restricted to a specific statistical linearization method. Simulations show the superior estimation performance compared to related approaches and common filtering algorithms.


Propylene copolymer composition (P) comprising (a) a propylene copolymer (A) having a comonomer content of at least 1.0 wt.-%, the comomers are C5 to C12 a-olefins, and (b) a propylene copolymer (B) having a comonomer content of 4.0 to 20.0 wt.-%, the comomers are C5 to C12 a-olefins, wherein further (i) the comonomer content in the propylene copolymer (A) is lower compared to the comonomer content in the propylene copolymer (B), (ii) the propylene copolymer composition (P) has a comonomer content of 2.0 to 10.0 wt.-%, the comomers are C5 to C12 a-olefins, (iii) the weight ratio of the propylene copolymer (A) to the propylene copolymer (B) is the range of 30/70 to 80/20.


We construct a simple and natural supersymmetric model where the dominant Higgs decay is h{yields}aa followed by a{yields}gg. In this case m{sub h}<m{sub Z} is compatible with all experimental searches, completely eliminating the fine-tuning otherwise required to satisfy Higgs search limits. The model extends the minimal supersymmetric standard model with singlet Higgs fields as well as vectorlike colored particles that mediate the decay a{yields}gg. The a is a pseudo-Nambu-Goldstone boson of a new global U(1) symmetry, and can naturally have any mass from a few GeV to m{sub h}/2. All interactions can be perturbative up to the GUT scale, and gauge coupling unification is preserved if the colored mediators come in complete GUT representations. In this case a{yields}{gamma}{gamma} has a {approx}1% branching ratio, so h{yields}gg{gamma}{gamma} may be observable. The colored particles that mediate the a{yields}gg decay must be below the TeV scale, and can therefore be produced at the LHC. If these particles are stable on collider time scales, they will appear as R-hadrons, a signal visible in early LHC running. A smoking-gun signal that the stable colored particles are mediators of h{yields}4j is R-hadron production in association with an a. We show that this signal with a{yields}{gamma}{gamma} is observablemore » at the LHC with as little as 10 fb{sup -1} of integrated luminosity. Observation of R-hadrons plus missing energy would show that the superpartner of the R-hadron is R-parity odd, and therefore not an ordinary quark or gluon.« less


Depositional sequences composed of Neogene nonmarine strata are imaged on seismic reflection data from the Iglesia piggyback basin, Argentina. The strata accumulated in an internally drained basin located between the Frontal Cordillera (the High Andes) and the Precordillera thrust belt. Two reflection geometries, onlap and truncation, are observed along four unconformities within the Neogene section. Onlap of reflections onto unconformities defines five distinct intervals of basin growth; local truncation of reflections beneath unconformities defines four intervening intervals of nondeposition or erosion. Along-strike variation in the amount of truncation suggests that erosion was limited to zones through which major streams entered the basin. Postdepositional thrusting o the east side of the basin produced field exposures of the five sequences and allowed examination of the nature of the sequence boundaries. The Iglesia depositional sequences are interpreted to result from Neogene crustal shortening within the Central Andes. The Iglesia basin has been passively transported above a horizontal decollement that links mid-crustal deformation beneath the Frontal Cordillera with surface thrusting in the Precordillera. Deposition, resulting generally from simultaneous uplift of the Frontal Cordillera and the Precordillera, can be explained by two scenarios: thrust-controlled accumulation where space for deposition was created only during faulting, or drainage-controlled accumulation where deposition occurred only when thrusting cut off through-going drainages linking the Iglesia basin with the foreland.


Background: This epidemiological study was conducted over two years in one of the main governmental abattoir in Jeddah Province in West Region of Saudi Arabia to evaluate the condition of hydatidosis caused by Echinococcus granulosus in imported slaughtered animals. Methods: We examined a total of (132858) imported internationally animals including camels, cattle, sheep and goats for infection rate, organs affected, size and fertility of cysts. Results: The infection rate of hydatidosis in imported internationally animals was 0.42%. We also find that the highest prevalence of infection was in cattle representing 0.60%. Summer revealed the highest prevalence in sheep and goats, while cattle showed higher prevalence in autumn. The most affected organs were found to be the liver, and secondly the lung. The cysts of small size had the highest percentage in sheep and goats (25.76% and 20.20%) respectively. Sheep show the highest percentage of fertile cysts (42.26%), followed by cattle (31.58%). Conclusions: Our study offers insights into hydatidosis hosts infection, the need for intensive controlling programs and effective treatments.


In this paper, we investigate a robust beamforming design in a millimeter wave (mmWave) communication network with consideration of the random blockages. The network with multiple remote radio units (RRUs) is taken into account, where the joint transmission coordinated multi-point (JT-CoMP) scheme is adopted to improve the spectrum efficiency. To further enhance the communication performance and maintain the reliability of the network, an active intelligent reflecting surface (IRS) panel is deployed. We formulate the robust beamforming design of the mmWave communication network as an optimization problem aiming at minimizing the total transmit power at the RRUs subject to the average signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) constraints and power constraint over the active IRS. To deal with the challenge caused by the variables coupling, an algorithm based on the alternating optimization (AO) and semidefinite programming (SDP) is proposed. Numerical results illustrate that: i) the transmit power of the network can be reduced by deploying both the passive and active IRSs; ii) the integration of the active IRS and CoMP scheme can obtain a significant performance gain compared to that of the conventional passive IRS and CoMP.


Goals of the workshop and background. The workshop considered applications of Stein's method, in both statistics and probability, with a special focus on its use in highdimensional statistical procedures. Since its inception nearly five decades ago, Stein's method has proven to be a valuable tool for distributional approximation, allowing for the handling of dependence and yielding finite sample bounds for approximating complicated distributions using their simpler limiting behavior. Such results are valuable in statistics in assessing the sample size required to achieve performance guarantees and for producing robust hypothesis tests and confidence regions. In addition, Stein identities have lead to the introduction of a number of novel statistical procedures, such as shrinkage techniques, ways to unbiasedly estimate the risk of certain estimators, methods for relaxing the Gaussian assumptions that are currently necessary in many commonly used procedures, and for assessing the quality of samples generated to approximate a target distribution by, say, Markov chain Monte Carlo. All of the tools mentioned are of ever increasing value in today's 'big data' environment. The goals of the workshop were to expand the intersection of Stein's method and Steinrelated methods in statistics and probability – to use advances on the probabilistic side to analyze existing, or suggest new, statistical procedures, and also to use modern statistical problems as inspiration for new directions on the probability side. In particular, our main aims were to make progress in the following broad areas:


Nanometer-scale holes and words were reproducibly create don a typical organic charge transfer compound, Triethylammonium Bis-7,7,8,8-tetracyanoquinodimethanide (TEA(TCNQ(2) single crystal, using scanning tunneling microscope in ambient conditions by applying a pulse voltage across the tunneling gap. The decomposition products of TEA(TCNQ)2 single crystal were investigated with mass spectroscopy by applying a pulse to the crystal in a vacuum tube. TEA was the sole product being detected. A micro-Raman Spectroscopy was used to fabricate and characterize the sample using a He-Ne laser. A dots array was written by a focused beam and in situ Raman spectra showed the same was decomposited. The most possible mechanism of holes formation appears to be TEA(TCNQ)2 decomposition and TEA evaporation by heating effect of STM current. Comparing data storage in TEA(TCNQ)2 single crystal with a market-sell CD-R disk, the writing threshold value of TEA(TCNQ)2 is much smaller than that of the CD-R disk. This kind of organic conductor may be a promising material for the STM-based high density storage and popular optical storage techniques.


Image segmentation is a key technology in image processing which partition an image into its constituent regions. Watershed and k means segmentation techniques are practical approaches for color image segmentation. This paper discusses quantitative evaluation measures for color image segmentation based on these techniques. Color image segmentation can be viewed as an extension of gray level image segmentation. Quantitative measures like discrete entropy, root mean square error, visible color difference are proposed for color images.


Primiparous women 35 years of age or older (n = 36) and primiparous women age 31 or less (n = 31) were tested at 6 months and 1 year post partum. The subjects had been followed from 3 months of pregnancy. In the postpartum period the 2 groups continued to demonstrate significantly different role orientation with the older group being less traditional with a more autonomous personality style. Significantly more of the older group had returned to full-time work by 1 year post partum. Both groups indicated a significant decrease in marital intimacy, but an increase in marital satisfaction. Both groups reported a marked decrease post partum in symptoms as measured on the Symptom Checklist. The older women tended to show good adjustment during pregnancy and throughout the first year of motherhood.


Abstract The bioclimatic conditions, profile morphology and physico-chemical properties of five different soils under the Warm-temperate deciduous broad-leaved forest climate, Warm-temperate lucidophyllous forest climate, and Cool-temperate deciduous broad-leaved forest climate in the northern part of the Nyu mountains in Fukui Pref., Central Japan were examined. The outline of the results is as follows: 1) The Dark red soil, Kunimidake series, derived from pyroxene andesite may have been formed by the hydrothermal action of volcanism. 2) The Dry brown forest soil, Takasu-1 series, showed a brighter colour in the Bw horizon and a sudden decrease in the humus content below the AB horizon, suggesting that this soil was similar to Yellow-Brown Forest soils rather than to Brown Forest soils. 3) The Dry brown forest soil (reddish), Tega series, is likely to be a Yellow-Brown Forest soil derived from the loess which covered the underlying paleo-red soil. 4) The Red soil, Oshibayama series, was a paleo-red soil in which the upper part had been lost by erosion. 5) The Yellow soil, Yada series, on the Takasu coastal terrace was also considered to be a Yellow-Brown Forest soil affected by the seawater components from the neighboring coast. 6) It was suggested that zonal soils formed under the Warm-temperate deciduous broad-leaved forest climate in the northern part of the Nyu mountains, in the northwestern region of Fukui Pref. were Yellow-Brown Forest soils like those under the Warm-temperate lucidophyllous forest climate.


Enterprises typically achieve competitive advantage by implementing marketing strategies such as increasing quality, lowering price, innovating and providing excellent service. However, these strategies are easily imitated. Knowledge, however, is a critical invisible capital that enterprises utilize to avoid competitor imitation. Additionally, knowledge management is a variety of business process re-engineering. Therefore, constructing an effective knowledge management procedure is important in competitive environments. This study presents a novel dynamic knowledge management procedure based on fuzzy clustering. The procedural goal is to decompose an equivalence class, in which activities with similar information loading. This study also utilizes a tearing method to construct a reasonable executive ordering of activities. Decision-makers revised analytical results based on actual status and experience. An empirical case is utilized to validate the proposed approach.


Keyword Bisphenol A (BPA) is a component of polycarbonate and other plastics including resins that line food and beverage containers. BPA is known to leach from these products into containerized foods and drinks, and is therefore thought to be routinely ingested. In this present study the possible effec t of BPA on blood lipid metabolism were investigated in rats. Female albino Wistar rats were administrated o ral doses of 50, 100, 150, 200, and 250 μg BPA/kgbw/day once to determine effect of acute exposu re and repeatedly for seven days in another set of test animals to determine the effects of sub-chronic exposure. Following the treatment, serum levels of lipid parameters were examined using the Chemwell Chemical Analyser. All data were expressed as means ± SD. The result of the study revealed that BPA increased blood triglycerides and LDL of exposed rats at both acute and sub-chronic phases . : Acute administration, sub-chronic administration, bisphenol A (BPA), blood lipid status.


The tunable single electron effect and Coulomb oscillations were observed in Si nanowire transistors. By measuring the channel current as function of applied back-gate and side-gate voltage, the tunable single electron effect and Coulomb oscillations are investigated. From the differential conductance characteristics, the Coulomb diamonds are clearly observed due to the gate voltage-induced quantum dots formation in the Si nanowire.


The use of risk management as a response to 'strategic' organizational uncertainties is investigated. The deconstruction of uncertainties to rationalized probabilities is argued to be symptomatic of a specific conceptualization of problems as 'tame', a narrow epistemology that fails to account fully for organizational experience. By introducing 'messes' and 'wicked problems', a new mode of rhetorical, allegorical risk management is argued for. Insights from Machiavelli and psychoanalysis provide frameworks by which this can be achieved.


Rate constants of change transfer reactions kCT, involving C3C9 alkanes and cycloalkanes, have been determined in an ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometer. The rate constants are significantly lower than the corresponding rate constants for collision when the reaction is less than about 0.5 eV exothermic for linear alkane ions, or less than about 0.2 eV exothermic for cycloalkane ions. In this region of low reaction efficiency, the efficiency of reaction with linear or branched alkanes seems to depend primarily on reaction exothermicity. (The efficiencies of reaction of a given ion with cyclic alkanes also depend on ΔHrn, but are higher than for reactions with other compounds). Although the lowered reaction efficiencies probably result, at least in part, from unfavorable Franck–Condon factors in the energy range near the ionization onset, quantitative correlations between reaction efficiency and estimated relative Franck–Condon factors were not observed. When the enthalpy of reaction is small (less than about −0.15 eV), it is seen that the reverse charge transfer can also occur, and equilibrium is established under the conditions of these experiments. From the observed equilibrium constants, values for the standard free energy change are derived, and assuming that ΔS is small for electron transfer equilibria, values of ΔHrn are estimated. In the case of the equilibria involving cyclohexane ion, these values of ΔHrn lead to estimates of the ionization potentials of methylcyclopentane, 3-methylpentane, n-octane, 2,2-dimethylbutane, and 2,3-dimethylbutane, which are lower than the ionization potentials of cyclohexane, that is, <9.88 eV, although all these compounds had previously been reported to have ionization potentials above 10.03 eV. That the ionization potentials are indeed lower than 10.03 eV is confirmed by determining the quantum yields of ionization with 10.03-eV photons.

It is pointed out that the conclusions reached here apparently also apply to the charge transfer reactions of alkane ions in the liquid phase.


We investigated theoretically the entanglement creation through tunneling rate and fields in a four-level triple quantum dot molecule based on InAs/GaAs/AlGaAs heterostructure in both steady state and transient state. We demonstrate that the entanglement entropy among the QDM and its spontaneous emission fields can be controlled by coherent and incoherent pumping field and tunnel-coupled electronics levels. The results may provide some new possibilities for technological applications in solid-state quantum information science, quantum computing, teleportation, encryption, compression codec, and optoelectronics.


Arabidopsis RNA Isolation Plants often present a challenge to researchers wanting to isolate nucleic acids for subsequent analyses as a result of the high amounts of polysaccharides and other contaminating metabolites present in plant tissues. Suzuki et al. (p. 542) describe an isolation method that produces RNA free of contamination by protein or polysaccharides or degradation, suitable for reverse transcription PCR (RT-PCR). The authors extracted RNA from Arabidopsis siliques, seeds, flower buds, leaves, roots, and stems with no decrease in the quality or quantity of RNA. Their method was both time- and cost-effective over more conventional methods and is simple enough to be routinely applied to other species.


The problem of designing Spread Spectrum (SS) radar detection filters that minimise sidelobe (SL) levels in both Doppler and range co-ordinates is considered and a new algorithm for the Doppler optimised mismatched filter is presented. The Iterative Reweighted Least Square (IRLS) procedure for minimax filter coefficients calculation is applied. A special attention has been paid to the analysis of Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) SS communication systems. The computer simulation results obtained show that SL levels rejection using a new algorithm is very high, both for aperiodical and periodical sequences.


The phase behavior of PPO (sn-1,2-dipalmitoyl-sn-3-oleoylglycerol) and POP (sn-1,3-dipalmitoyl-sn-2-oleoylglycerol) binary mixture was examined using differential scanning calorimetry, conventional and synchrotron radiation X-ray diffraction (XRD), and highly pure samples. A molecular compound, βC, was formed at the 1:1 concentration ratio of PPO and POP, giving rise to two monotectic phases of PPO/compound and compound/POP in a juxtapositional way. βC has a long spacing value of 4.1 nm of double chain length structure. In the PPO/compound region, the DSC melting peak increased with increasing PPO concentration, whereas the DSC melting peak increased with increasing POP concentration in the compound/POP region. The melting point of βC was lowest at 31.2 °C. Time-resolved XRD study unveiled the formation of molecular compounds in metastable forms, αC and β'C, having the same PPO/POP concentration ratio as βC. αC and β'C exhibited monotectic phases with corresponding metastable forms of the pure components....


Alternatives to Deforestation explores some of the possible sustainable uses of the world's largest rain forest, the Amazon. The collection by scientists, policy makers, and foundations presents innovative approaches and technologies that will permit simultaneous use and conservation of the rain forest, and will benefit the population of Amazonia as a whole, rather than just a small rural minority. By presenting sustainable land-use alternatives that are both economically viable and ecologically sound, this book represents a valuable contribution in the effort to end the tragic consequences of tropical deforestation.


A large body of scholarship finds that there is a relationship between economic dependence on oil or minerals and authoritarianism. This finding is based, however, on pooled, time-series crosssectional regressions without country fixed effects run on datasets that are longitudinally truncated. This is not an effective strategy to uncover causal associations. We therefore develop unique historical datasets, and employ time-series centric techniques, that allow us test for long-run relationships between resource reliance and regime type within countries over time. Our results indicate that increases in resource dependence are not associated with the undermining of democracy or less complete transitions from authoritarianism to democracy. We suggest that when the theory in question is not about static, cross-sectional differences between countries, but about changes that take place within countries over time, assembling and properly using historical datasets that operationalize explicitly specified counterfactuals provides a better fit between theory and evidence.


Combustion of acetone solutions of AgI and various chemical solubilizers and additives is used to generate ice nucleus aerosols for weather modification research, development and field use. Nucleus chemical compositions have varied from AgI itself to 2AgI-NaI, and 2AgI-KI, to Ag(Cl)I and to Ag(Cl)I-x NaCI (where x has varied from 0.125 to 5), over time. Combustion of pyrotechnics to produce nucleus aerosols containing AgI is also widely used. Silver iodide and silver chloroiodide "contact" nuclei have been the most often employed. More recent developments have led to the generation of Ag(Cl)I nucleants containing soluble salts, which function by rapid condensation-freezing mechanisms, rather than the cloud droplet "contact" mechanism. These research and development efforts over a 50 years period have led to a better understanding of the relationships between ice nucleus compositions, activities, and the rates and mechanisms of ice crystal formation. Ice nucleus aerosols of optimum utility for field applications are now possible of generation.


The paper presents a model that combines a Building Energy and Moisture performance Model (WAVO) with a model of a HVAC installation in the Matlab/SimuLink environment. The model consists of a continuous part with a variable timestep and a discrete part with a time step of one hour. For the HVAC installation and the room response on climatic variations a continuous model is developed while for the external climate and the retarded and damped heat flows a discrete model is used. The main advantages of this numeric hybrid approach are: a) the dynamics of the building systems of time scales less than an hour are accurately simulated, b) the model becomes very time efficient as the discrete model uses 1 hour time steps. A yearly based simulation takes 5 minutes on a Pentium III, 500 MHz computer, c) the HVAC systems can be modeled with SimuLink with its powerful capabilities of studying various controls.


【UBLCP1 is composed of Ubiquitin Like domain and RNA Polymerase II Phosphatase I domain. Phosphatase domain (25.9KDa) has been cloned into the E.coli using pET32a vector with TEV protease cleavage site and successfully purified as a monomer using affinity chromatography and histidine tag was cleaved with TEV protease for structural studies. Our results indicated that the Phosphatase domain showed well-defined folded structure based on data from one-dimensional and two-dimensional NMR spectroscopy. Data form circular dichroism also suggested that Phosphatase domain consisted of both ${\alpha}$ -helix and ${\beta}$ -sheet. This information will be used for detailed structural study of UBLCP1.】


Halogen-free retardant PP was prepared by MPP and PEPA as flame retardants and Cr2O3 as synergistic agent.The effects of Cr2O3 contents on flame retardancy and synergistic effect were studied.It was found that a little quantity of Cr2O3 could improve the flame retardance of PP remarkably.When the mass fraction of MPP,PEPA and Cr2O3 were 12 %,8 % and 2 % respectively,the LOI of flame retardant PP was 31.5 %.TGA and FTIR and apparent activation energy by Flynn-Wall method results showed that Cr2O3 could catalyze esterification of MPP/PEPA and increase the char residue and activation energy of flame retardant PP.


Objective To evaluate the value of low voltage CTCA in low body mass and low body mass index patients with low contrast media dose and radiation dose. Methods 31 patients(BM65kg and body mass index 26kg/m2) were enrolled. All of patients with tube voltage and tube current tailored to BMI(BMI≤22Kg/m2:tube voltage 80 k V, tube current 400 m A.22Kg/m2BMI26Kg/m2: tube voltage 80 k V, tube current 400 m A), the flow rate and volume of contrast madia tailored to BM(BM≤55K:2.5ml/s and 25 ml, 55KgBM60Kg: 3.0ml/s and 30 ml, BM≥60Kg: 3.5ml/s and 35ml). Patients were evaluated by image quality(each coronary artery scale,attenuation,noise,SNR and CNR),contrast madia dose and radiation dose. P value below 0.05 was considered to be statistically significant. Results All patients successfully underwent low dose CTCA.The mean image quality score was 2.62±0.81. The percentage of assessable coronary artery segments was 98.21%.The mean attenuation was 411.26±72.25 HU. The mean noise was 40.19±9.77 HU. The mean SNR was 10.58±2.21. The mean CNR was 13.52±2.79 HU.The mean effective dose was 1.28±0.39 m Sv.The mean contrast madia dose was 32.26±3.83 ml. CCoonncclluussiioonnss Low dose CTCA may decrease the contrast media dose and radiation dose and keep image quality in patients with low body mass and body mass index.


The National Football League (NFL) schedules regular season games so that some matchups are based on the previous year's results. Since team composition changes from year to year, this scheduling policy creates variation in teams' strength of schedules and sometimes benefits teams unfairly, allowing some an easier path to the playoffs than others. This paper proposes methods to produce an NFL schedule that combine some of its traditional elements with dynamically scheduled games aimed at optimizing different objectives, such as reducing the variability of teams' strength of schedule or minimizing the number of pairwise comparisons needed to differentiate team quality so as to make each teams' regular season schedule as fair as possible.


THE field of urology has been so well covered by this Section during the past six years that I have found it difficult to select a subject for my address. However, as this Section aims at a closer intercommunication between the physician and the surgeon, I have decided to try to unravel certain mysteries of urological interest dependent upon the anatomical relationships within the neighbourhood of the urinary passages. Urinary infections have been already fully discussed; but mainly as regards the effects of the infective bacteria on the normal urinary passages, to the exclusion of those adventitious causes of infection which are commonly described as playing so obvious a part as to be hardly worthy of investigation. This attitude presumes that there are cases in which no pre-existing abnormality of the urinary tract is to be found prior to the onset of the infective process. The question I wish to raise is whether infections ever persist in a normal urinary tract, and whether we are correct in assuming, in the absence of obvious lesions of the tract, that some external cause is not present. Investigators of this subject tell us that in certain acute, generalized, infective processes bacteria are found in the urine; examples quoted are the presence of streptococci in acute endocarditis, of typhoid bacilli in enteric fever, and of tubercle bacilli in acute miliary tuberculosis. The presumption is that these bacteria filter through the kidney without giving rise to clinical lesions; indeed, such are seldom demonstrable, and the bacteria usually disappear from the urine on the recovery of the patient. No doubt other bacteria, such as the Bacillus coli communis, in infective processes of the alimentary tract, reach the urinary passages. Sometimes the infection persists with the production of characteristic lesions. I will record a case of this kind associated with typhoid fever.


The objective of the study are to investigate the EFL teachers' beliefs of English Teaching method, whether there are some discrepancies between EFL teachers' beliefs and their practices in teaching, factors contribute to these discrepancies, and factors contribute to shape the EFL teachers' beliefs on the method of teaching English at SMK Negeri 4 Surakarta.Technique data collecting in this research is done with open-ended questionnaire, observation, in-depth interview, and documents. The data are analyzed used Miles and Huberman's model. Result of this research shows that: 1) the EFL teachers' beliefs on teaching methodology in the 2013 curriculum and their application in the language teaching, 2) There were also found that there were some discrepancies found between EFL teachers' beliefs and their practices in classroom teaching. They were in the component of learning objective, and classroom management, 3) There are some factors contribute to these discrepancies, are; the teachers' internal factors, teachers' external factor, 4) There are some factors contribute to shape the EFL teachers' beliefs on the method of teaching English at SMK Negeri 4 Surakarta, are; teachers' experience as language learners, experience from teaching, expectation from the school, parents, the government and the local society, and training.


New 4-alkoxynitrochalcones have been synthesized and shown to be organogelators; dodecyloxy/benzyl alcohol gels have been studied by freeze-fracture electron microscopy, DSC and FTIR. We show that the nitro group is involved in the formation of the gel and that the gelator co-assembles with solvent molecules.


This paper explains some of the basic terms and features associated with a static excitation system (SES) to enable non-specialists to specify it according to their requirements. A simple description of a SES is followed by explanation of various terms used in specifying it, e.g. redundancy, reactive droop compensation, negative excitation, etc. Required capabilities, ratings and protection considerations, including author's recommendations, are also discussed. The technical data associated with a typical SES of a conventional hydrogenerator is detailed for reference purpose.


The current landscape of Moroccan higher education between the strengthening of governance and the integration of ICT in its missions and processes requires it to use the tools of technology in order to modernize the management of its components and to face the new challenges. Scientific research in Morocco has undergone several changes over the years in terms of its structuring and management; As it is a determining factor in the development and promotion of higher education. Good governance of the activities of scientific research through the use of technological instruments will certainly make it possible to strengthen governance in the Moroccan university by ensuring its autonomy, its transparency, the involvement of all the stakeholders and above all the reliability of the information.


This research investigates Indonesian EFL students writing four types of English sentences in their paragraph writing assignments that were posted online in Writing 1 course of English Education at STKIP PGRI Sumatera Barat. The analysed types of sentences are Simple Sentence (code: S.S.), Compound Sentence (code: C.S.1), Complex Sentence (code: C.S.2), and Compound-Complex Sentence (code: C.C.S). The percentage of each type of sentences that appears in the students' writings within each five genres represents the students' syntactical composition. Moreover, this research focuses on quantitatively analysing the above five types of sentences that appeared in students' assignments in each type of following genres: argumentative, descriptive, process, cause-effect, and comparison-contrast. Data are taken from 10% samples of all population. The finding shows that writing Simple Sentence in paragraphs is a common type of sentence that is used by the students. It indicates that the guiding process to teaching students about writing paragraphs with varied sentence types is important for further development of teaching process of writing.


In the last two decades, the social sciences have seen a burst of research on immigration. So much so, that a few years ago I found it useful, perhaps even necessary, to give that vast literature an order by drawing a "conceptual map" (Pedraza-Bailey 1990). Recently, when the Social Problems editor, Merry Morash, invited me to be the Guest Editor of this special issue on immigration, race, and ethnicity in America, we advertised the Call for Papers widely and received the rather large response of 48 submissions. From these 48 submissions, working first with Merry Morash, at Michigan State University, and then, when Social Problems itself underwent a migration, with Robert Perrucci, at Purdue University, we distilled the nine articles that constitute this special issue. Certainly the articles we chose to include in this issue show a remarkable array of sociological themes chosen for research-poverty, family life, household structure, occupations, work, fertility, culture, and identity. They are also remarkably varied in the methodology chosen for research-qualitative and quantitative, ecological, participant observation, focus groups, and survey research. And the immigrant, racial, and ethnic groups researched themselves constitute a fine sampler of those that typify the American experience-African Americans, Cambodians, Mexicans, Vietnamese, Chinese, Central Americans, Native Americans. Because of this diversity of approaches, themes, research styles, and groups, I have chosen to draw on the map I sketched, conceptually, a few years ago, to reflect on the ways in which these papers exemplify or depart from the themes I identified then as well as to reflect on what is absent still, providing guidelines for future research. Basic to my perspective on American immigration is that the most commonplace statement is also the truest: with the exception of the Native American, everyone else is an immigrant to American soil. Hence, one way of organizing the research on American immigration consists of the historical time line of the four major waves of immigration to the United States, and the changes that have taken place in the economic foundation of the nation over the course of American history. As Muller and Espenshade (1985) point out, immigration to America can be broadly understood as consisting of four major waves: the first, that which consisted of Northwest Europeans who immigrated up to the mid-19th century; the second, that which consisted of Southern and Eastern Europeans at the end of the 19th century and beginning of the 20th; the third, the movement from the South to the North of black Americans, Mexicans, and Puerto Ricans precipitated by two World Wars; and the fourth, from 1965 to the present, of immigrants mostly from Latin America and Asia. Nearly all of the articles in this special issue concentrate on contemporary immigrants of the last wave-Latin Americans and Asians. Exceptions include the piece by Aida Hurtado, Pat Gurin, and Timothy Peng, which contrasts native-born Americans and immigrants: Mexican Americans, the result of the only migration flow to the United States that has, from its start in the 19th century, never ceased, and Mexican immigrants, newly arrived to this soil. The articles by Max Pfeffer and Robin Jarrett also focus on black Americans that became concentrated in northern cities as the result of the internal migration of blacks from the


Objective: To study the different effect of various online push modes in terms of online mental health education, Methods: The undergraduate students enrolled in 2020 by School of Computer Science Wuhan Donghu University were randomly divided into 2 groups. They were given online mental health education for one month through refined network push mode and extensive network push mode respectively. Then the status data before and after were compared with SCL-90. Results: there were 8 factors significantly decreased before and after the refined push mode (P < 0.05), while there was no significant decrease before and after the extensive push mode (P > 0.05). Conclusion: There are obvious differences in the effectiveness of the two push modes, and the refined push mode is the effective one.


Background: Assessment of the relative diagnostic accuracy of investigation strategies for patients with suspected acute coronary syndromes (ACS). Methods: A prospective observational study followed two groups of patients over a 3-month period in a UK district general hospital. Group one: all admissions with suspected ACS (n = 576); group two: non-cardiac in-patients who were suspected of developing ACS (n = 87). Both were investigated by full clinical history, examination and serial electrocardiographs (ECGs). Conventional World Health Organization (WHO) criteria for myocardial damage were compared with diagnosis based on cardiac troponin T (cTnT). Clinical discharge diagnosis based on conventional WHO criteria was compared with the review diagnosis based on measurement of cTnT. Results: Diagnosis based on WHO criteria missed 58 patients (8·7%) admitted with suspected ACS who had high risk unstable angina. Thirty-three patients (5% of all admissions) who were diagnosed as non-Q wave acute myocardial infarction (AMI) were found to have normal troponin values and to have been incorrectly classified as AMI. Conclusions: Diagnostic strategies based on WHO criteria are inaccurate. The measurement of cTnT in all patients with suspected ACS would have increased the number of those with a diagnosis of AMI by 58 (8·7%), while avoiding inaccurate diagnosis in 33 (5%), therefore producing an absolute increase of 25/663 (3·8%) but a relative increase of 58/138 (42%). In patients with a primary diagnosis of suspected ACS, the overall increase in patients with a diagnosis of AMI will be 55 (9·5%), a relative increase of 55/118 (46·6%) but an absolute increase of 36/576 (6·3%).


We demonstrate an in-line polarization-insensitive fiber optic parametric amplifier (PI-FOPA) to simultaneously amplify burst and non-burst signals transmitted in opposite directions in C and L bands. The PI-FOPA provides >16 dB polarization insensitive net gain for signals which are 53 nm apart and counter-propagating in an extended reach link: an upstream bursty signal at 1533 nm and a downstream non-burst signal at 1586 nm. The PI-FOPA potential application as an in-line dual-band amplifier in transient-sensitive communication links is demonstrated by its employment in an extended reach access network with a symmetric 10 Gbps capacity.


Inline holography is approached from a computational perspective by incorporating a nonlinear forward model based on the iterative Born approximation (IBA). Sampling and its effects on multiple scattering computations are discussed.


The applications and commercial availability of micro-computer software relevant to speech-language pathology, in the areas of administration, assessment and treatment are reviewed. Specific software examples are included. A framework for the evaluation of software is presented and issues related to the use of micro-computers in speech pathology clinics addressed.


Colonoscopy is a common and relatively safe diagnostic and therapeutic procedure. Iatrogenic injuries have been reported in the medical literature, but the overall risk of serious complications such as perforations and visceral lacerations is low [1–4]. Database studies have shown the total complication rate to be in the range of 2.8 per 1000 colonoscopies, with a mortality rate of 0.007% [5]. A 73-year-oldmale presented toour Emergency Department 4 days after undergoing a routine diagnostic colonoscopy. The patient complained of increasingly severe right upper quadrant abdominal pain radiating to the ipsilateral lumbar region, and associated with diffuse abdominal tenderness on palpation, but he was hemodynamically stable. An urgent abdominal computed tomography (CT) scan was obtained, which showed a subcapsular hepatic hematoma and a right hepatic lobe laceration aswell as a largehemoperitoneum, with no other hepatic parenchymal lesions (●" Fig.1). The consultant surgeon performed laparoscopic evaluation and drainage of approximately 1100mL of blood without complications. The patient was discharged in a satisfactory condition. A follow-up CT scan 2 months later demonstrated increasing resolution of the hepatic hematoma (●" Fig.2). An abdominal magnetic resonance scan almost a year later showed only a small residual hematoma and confirmed the absence of associated parenchymal lesions. Hepatic injury after colonoscopy is an extremely rare complication, previously described only by Levine andWetzel in 1987 [6]. Nevertheless, it is feasible and may occur more frequently than suspected.


S OF RECENT DECISIONS. " 1. 1 am of opinion that the title of the act, ' to compromise and settle the bonded indebtedness of the state of Tennessee,' sufficiently expresses the subject thereof; that it contains 'but one subject, the several sections of tht act being pertinent to the object expressed in the title, and, therefore, it is not void, as being repugnant to sect. 17, of art. 2, of the Constitution of Tennessee. "2. I am further of opinion that the courts of the state have no power to review or reverse the legislative action of the General Assembly, except for the reason that such action is a violation of the Constitution ; and that such action, if within their constitutional power, cannot be questioned by the courts of the state upon allegations of fraud and


Since the quantity of cottonseed is more and more large,the cottonseed has been become one of the stapl oilseed.Especially in xinjiang,the capacity of soapstock of cottonseed oil are very large,it is urgent to settle.The characteristic of soapstock were described,its application in producing phosphatide,biodiesel fuel,fatty acid and so on were also discussed.The result shows that developing soapstock's synthesis utilization does a great deal of good.


According to the properties of selfish nodes,this paper proposes a game model of node cooperation,analyzes and compares Nash equilibrium of achieving node cooperation for single-stage game and repeated game that adopts Tit-For-Tat(TFT) ,Grim Strategy(GS) and One-step Trigger(OT) . The results show that the Nash equilibrium of selfish node in single-stage game is similar to Prisoner's Dilemma,and threshold value in repeated game using Tit-For-Tat is minimum,which is easier to achieve cooperation than other strategies.


Although the investigation of the electrokinetic properties of purified proteins in solution and at surfaces has produced considerable information concerning the effects of adsorption, and the net charges and shapes of the molecules, as discussed in Papers I to V of this series (l-5) and elsewhere (6-S), little is known about film formation on surfaces when particles are placed in solutions of mixed proteins. It is this complication, however, which is frequently encountered in biological systems. For instance, it was found by Moyer (9) that latex particles from Euphorbiu and Asclepias possess specific surfaces dependent on the species. Their electric mobility-pH curves fell into definite families of characteristic shapes, permitting a classification of species on the basis of the electrophoretic behavior of their latex particles in buffer solutions. This classification agreed closely with the arrangement already determined by taxonomists. Although certain of these species yielded curves whose shape and position indicated latex particles naturally coated with a single protein, the majority were of a complex form, suggesting that the surfaces in these cases had been formed by the adsorption of one protein with others or with other substances, such as sterols (10). Selective adsorption of an active substance on particles placed in biological mixtures, such as extracts of allergenic pollens, enzymes, or hormones, and the electrokinetic behavior of these films are problems needing considerable clarification. Abramson, Sookne, and Moyer (11) have shown that quartz particles placed in dialyzed ragweed pollen extracts adsorb a protein-like con-


Taking Wugang industrial region as an example,starting from three aesthetic function elements including tree species abundance,seasonal aspect change and tree species allocation,the aesthetic function suitability of greenland landscape was evaluated by using clustering analysis method,which provided theoretical basis for the planning and scientific management of grassland.The results showed that suitable grassland patches occupied 20% in 100 investigated grassland patches.The proportion of basically-suitable grassland patches and unsuitable grassland patches were 22% and 58% respectively.The unsuitable grassland patches were more,which indicated that the tree species abundance,the selection of ornamental tree species and the tree species allocation in Wugang industrial region should be perfected based on the aesthetic function analysis of grassland landscape.


Thermoformed appliance, which has been recently introduced for dental usage, is an appliance made of thermoformed sheets and formed with positive or negative pressure under heat. Thermoplastic material is a kind of plastics and can be repeatedly softened by heat. It is classified into hard elastic foil, hard/soft compound foil and soft elastic foil, including BIOPLAST, BIOCRYL, IMPRELON, etc. It has been developed in 1969 and is available in various thickness, shape and color. There are two types of Vacuum former for thermoplastic materials; the pressure type and suction type. The former is much better than the latter for fabrication of various appliances due to its higher pressure. The authors have applied these appliances to some cases - chin cap, active retainer, individual Fluoride tray, mouth protector, bracket transfer mask, bruxism splint(night guard), Essix appliance - by pressure type Vacuum former(). The thermoplastic appliances have numerous advantages such as simple procedure, short working time, clean and transparent product, less objectionable taste. But its outstanding advantage would be its excellent biocompatibility bacause it has no monomer and hence no tissue irritation. Although there is some limitations in its usage, it can be used widely for various purposes especaily for pediatric dentistry.


The new Webster's international encyclopedia :the new illustrated reference guide , The new Webster's international encyclopedia :the new illustrated reference guide , مرکز فناوری اطلاعات و اطلاع رسانی کشاورزی


Precipitous hypotension has been observed following administration of diazepam, 2–5 mg, im, in four patients after open–heart surgery. However, diazepam is widely used as an adjuntive agent during in cardiac patients. Intravenous administration of diazepam typically results in a modest decrease in systolic kblood pressure, a transient decrease in left ventricular end–diastolic pressure, and a decrease in left ventricular stroke work. 3-6 systemic vascular resistance has been reported to increase, decrease or remain unchanged. 3-8 we observed profound hypotension due to peripheral vasodilation when diazepam was used with nitrous oxide for induction of anestheisa.


This work proposes a smart crop growth monitoring system that contains an adaptive cryptography engine to ensure the security of sensor data and an edge artificial intelligence (AI) based estimator to classify the pest and disease severity (PDS) of target crops. Based on the smart system management mechanism, cryptographic functions can be adapted to varying and real-time requirements, while the actuators can be controlled to interact with the physical world to ensure the healthy growth of crops. Experiments show when all the four cryptographic hardware modules, including RTEA32, RTEA64, XTEA32 and XTEA64, are supported, using the adaptive cryptography engine, 72.4% of slice LUTs and 68.4% of slice registers in terms of the Xilinx Zynq-7000 XC7Z020 chip can be saved. Through the smart system management mechanism, a power consumption of 0.009 watts can be reduced. Furthermore, using the binarized neural network (BNN) hardware module of the PDS estimator, the recognition accuracy of target crops i.e. dragon fruits can achieve 76.57%. Compared to the microprocessor-based design and the GPU accelerated one, the same BNN architecture on the FPGA can accelerate the frames per second by a factor of 4,919.29 and a factor of 1.08, respectively.


T oday, when ethnic identity and nation-build ing have assumed a hegemonic place in the programs of A A ASS conventions, at the recent World Congress in Tampere, and in specialist organizations such as the Association for the Study of Nationalities, it is difficult for the current generation of social science and humanities scholars to realize that these issues were decidedly at the margins of earlier Sovietological agendas. But that same generation—my generation to a large degree—that today lovingly cites Benedict Ander son, Anthony Smith, Ernest Gellner, and Rogers Brubaker—to name only a few of the late-20thcentury social science "revisionists" of national identity—looks back far less often at the work of those who have labored patiently and quietly for several decades within our own Sovietological vineyards. Roman Szporluk, the Mykhailo Hrushevskyi Professor of History and Director of the Ukrainian Research Institute at Harvard University, is the author of several books devoted to twentiethcentury East and Central European intellectual history, including: The Political 'Thought of Thomas G. Masaryk (Boulder, 1981), a study of the "father" of modern Czechoslovakia; Communism andLLationalism: Karl Marx versus Friedrich Last (Oxford, 1988); and an annotated, translated edition of Russia in World History (Ann Arbor, 1970) by Mikhail Pokrovsky, the dean of the "new" Soviet historians of the 1920s who, for his efforts to write a global history based on historical materialism and internationalism, suffered disgrace under Stalin. The volume under review, Russia, Ukraine, and the Breakup of the Soviet Union, brings together a selection of Szporluk's essays spanning twenty-five years between 1972 and 1997. Their greatest contribution is to the rethinking of the postwar period of Ukrainian, Russian, and Soviet history, including post-Soviet developments. The essays also illustrate how broadly informed, good old-fashioned Kremlinology can help us better understand Soviet politics and post-Soviet develop ments through the prism of "the nationality ques tion" in Russian and Soviet history. Because most of the essays were written before the relevant archives were opened in Ukraine and Russia, Szporluk posed interesting questions to a wide range of available published sources: Soviet ethnographers' studies and demographic statistics, urban geography, education, press, and language policy, ideological pronouncements, even fictional literature. But he was also constantly scouring the latest social science literature on nationalism for additional insights and comparative perspectives, including such partly forgotten classics as the works of Plans Kohn, John Armstrong, Frederick Barghoorn, and Karl Deutsch. The essays give us a preview of some of the major outlines and themes of Szporluk's forthcom ing history of modern Ukraine. The histories of both Ukraine and Russia, or more accurately their historiographies, after a half-century of Cold War divisions and struggles, and with archives opened wide, are ripe for reconceptualization. Perhaps because Szporluk's work has been so focused on ideas, particularly geopolitical and historiographical ones, his own reflections on modern Ukrainian and Russian history are very suggestive of such new avenues of conceptualization? It is on those larger themes and conceptualizations that I want to focus in this essay.2


Evaluation of the properties for quasi-monoenergetic neutron calibration fields of high energies more than 20 MeV at TIARA is proceeding for development of the field. Among the properties needed for the development as the standard calibration field, we report on measurement of the neutron beam profile using an imaging plate with a polyethylene converter and on estimation of the contribution of scattered neutrons into the irradiation field based on pulse height distribution at various off-beam positions measured using an organic liquid scintillation detector.


This data was recorded during a calcareous algae stress experiment.
Images were taken every week for 9 weeks. Details of the experiment are described in Figueiredo, et al. "The effect of sediment mimicking drill cuttings on deep water rhodoliths in a flow-through system: Experimental work and modeling." Marine pollution bulletin (2015).(http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2015.04.040)

Contact information:

Frederico Tapajos de Souza Tâmega

 , Instituto Biodiversidade Marinha, 22.793-000, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil and Instituto de Estudos do Mar Almirante Paulo Moreira, 28.930-000, Arraial do Cabo, RJ, Brazil

Marcia Abreu de Oliveira Figueiredo , Instituto de Pesquisa Jardim Botanico do Rio de Janeiro, CEP 22.460-030, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil and Instituto Biodiversidade Marinha, 22.793-000, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil


Despite good performance for medical image segmentation, deep convolutional neural networks (CNNs) have not been widely accepted in clinical practice as they are complex and tend to fail silently. Additionally, uncertainty in their predictions are not well understood, making them obscure and challenging to interpret. Automatically detecting possible failures in network predictions is important, as we can refer such cases for manual inspection or correction by human observers. In this paper, we analyse the uncertainty for deep CNN-based lung lobe segmentation in computed tomography (CT) scans by proposing a test-time augmentation-based aleatoric uncertainty measure. Through this analysis, we produce spatial uncertainty maps, from which a clinician can observe where and why a system thinks it is failing, and quantify the image-level prediction of failure. Our results show that such an uncertainty measure is highly correlated to segmentation accuracy and therefore presents an inherent measure of segmentation quality.


The aim of this project was to construct a laboratory scale fluidized bed reactor that simulates the behavior of full scale municipal solid waste combustors. The design of this reactor is thoroughly described. The size of the laboratory scale fluidized bed reactor is 5 kW, which corresponds to a fuel-feeding rate of approximately 1 kg/h. The reactor system consists of four parts: a bed section, a freeboard section, a convector (postcombustion zone), and an air pollution control (APC) device system. The inside diameter of the reactor is 100 mm at the bed section and it widens to 200 mm in diameter in the freeboard section; the total height of the reactor is 1760 mm. The convector part consists of five identical sections; each section is 2700 mm long and has an inside diameter of 44.3 mm. The reactor is flexible regarding the placement and number of sampling ports. At the beginning of the first convector unit and at the end of each unit there are sampling ports for organic micropollutants (OMP). This makes ...


This paper mainly introduces the overall architecture and workflow of digital pathology system,and analyzes the solutions of key issues in the system.Through digital acquisition of images with this system,pathology resources can be digitized and networked so that the visual data can be stored permanently and the co-browsing processing can break through the limitations of time and place.In addition,the application effect of the integration of this system,PACS and HIS is also good.


Objective:To discuss the arthroscopic treatment of tibial plateau fracture following the surgical technique and efficacy.Methods:A retrospective analyzed of 88 cases of hospital orthopedic arthroscopic treatment of tibial plateau fracture under the medical records of patients.Results:After arthroscopic surgery under the tibial plateau fracture patients were followed up for 1 year after surgery,the fine rate was 87.5%,8 cases of patients were less type Ⅴ,Ⅵ type of injury.5 cases complicated with knee stiffness,and 3 cases arthroscopic loose by the second postoperative course were uneventful.3 cases of patients with poor wound healing and wound skin flap necrosis,by dressing healed after treatment.Conclusion:The arthroscopic treatment of tibial plateau fracture following surgery,it can achieve better efficacy,and is worthy of clinical application.


Ultrasonic fatigue tests were carried out for a low alloy steel, SFVQ1A, under stress ratios R = -1, -0.5 and 0 at a cyclic frequency of 20 kHz in order to investigate the giga-cycle fatigue strength properties. Fatigue limits obtained for the R values well corresponded to Gerber diagram. Comparing with the data in literatures, the ultrasonic fatigue strength depended on the cyclic frequencies. Peened specimens showed interior fracture, however, no reduction in the fatigue strength was found due to the change in the fracture mechanism. The fracture origins were complex type inclusions, which consists of Al2O3, MgO, MnS and CaS with the sizes ranging from 10.7 to 70.3 μm. The effects of inclusions on the S-N curves were discussed in conjunction with the influence of cyclic frequency.


Purpose – To report some successful applications of vision‐controlled robots in picking and packing of foodstuffs.Design/methodology/approach – The design and capabilities of ABB's two picking robots are explained, and the specialist software that integrates vision guidance and product inspection. Then two food‐picking applications are described in detail.Findings – The delta robot design combines low weight with high stiffness, giving very fast picking capability. The Cognex‐based vision system also produces high speed and precision, and is able to guide the robot and perform 100 per cent inspection in real time. Hygienic robot design allows it to handle open food.Practical implications – ABB's FlexPicker robot has moved from being a niche product to a volume product, bringing high‐speed picking capability to a wider market.Originality/value – Showcases the capability and flexibility of a powerful vision‐guided high‐speed robot.


I'm not a fan of opinion pieces. These days most of my writing is devoted to research. This is an odd statement from one whose writings 20 years ago consisted of nature trail signs and pamphlets. Not that I've changed my feeling for the importance of such material, but since I'm in the halls of academia, I might as well do what real interpreters don't have time for—find out what works! But back to my first statement—my motivation for this opinion piece stems from a recent exercise in collecting my materials for promotion at my university. Although an exercise in self adulation, it did give me a chance to look back on my own relationship with the two professions that I have studied, worked, and revered for the past 25 years. In completing this reflective journey, I found there to be three phases of my relationship with interpretation and environmental education (EE) during my past 14 years in higher academics. Initially, much of my time was spent in offering delineations between EE and interpretation. Through this process, I began to enter a more "volatile" period of consternation over the status of EE. Finally, for the past several years, I have settled into a period of evaluation and analysis.


A new Adaptive neural state-feedback controller for the fully nonaffine pure-feedback nonlinear system are presented in this paper. By reformulating the original pure-feedback system to a standard normal form with respect to newly defined state variables, the proposed controller requires no backstepping design procedure. Avoiding backstepping makes the controller structure and stability analysis considerably simple. The proposed controller employs only one neural network to approximate unknown ideal controllers, which highlights the simplicity of the proposed neural controller. Simulation examples demonstrate the efficiency and performance of the proposed approach.


The invention provides a guided wave radar level gauge system with dielectric constant compensation through multi-mode propagation. The guided wave radar level gauge system comprises a transmission line probe configured to support a first propagation mode such that it travels along the transmission line probe with a first propagation velocity exhibiting a first dependence on a dielectric constant of the surrounding medium, and support a second propagation mode such that it travels along the transmission line probe with a second propagation velocity exhibiting a second dependence, different from the first dependence, on the dielectric constant of the surrounding medium. The guided wave radar level gauge system further comprises processing circuitry connected to the transceiver for determining the filling level based on the reflected electromagnetic signal in the first propagation mode and the second propagation mode, and a known relation between the first dependence and the second dependence on the dielectric constant of the surrounding medium. Hereby, a filling level determination that is independent of the dielectric constant of the medium surrounding the transmission line probe can be achieved.


Objective: To evaluate tubal ligation ectopic pregnancy-related factors. Methods: From September 2009 to December 2010 in our hospital, admitted 110 cases of ectopic pregnancy after tubal ligation patients admitted to our hospital by 110 female patients with ectopic pregnancy after tubal ligation of a retrospective analyzed of clinical data, of ectopic pregnancy and tubal ligation relationships and related factors. Results: The postoperative tubal ligation tubal pregnancies were ectopic pregnancy, 30 to 36 years as the peak age of onset. After 4 to 6 years for the high time, tubal ligation method to fold the highest incidence of ligation method, part of the ampullary ectopic pregnancy implantation were most welcome. Conclusion: The strict standardized operating procedures and the overall stability of the appropriate surgical indications and proper sterilization methods for the prevention and reduction of ectopic pregnancy after tubal ligation has very important clinical significance.


The production of socially conscious dance associated with the Lázaro Cárdenas administration suffered a decline when his successor pointed Mexico in a more conservative direction in terms of economic and cultural policy. Ballet temporarily re-emerged as the favored form. Foreign ballet companies figured prominently in the programming decisions of the government's Palacio de Bellas Arte and the Ballet Theatre's production of a Mexican-themed ballet, Léonide Massine's Don Domingo de Don Blas revived Mexican aspirations for increased international exposure through ballet. On a bet, the government even extended its support to the creation of the Ballet de la Ciudad de Mexico, led by Nellie and Gloria Campobello. While initially well-received, the company soon fell into disfavor; the critics could applaud the scenery, created by the likes of the company's spokesman José Clemente Orozco, but not the dance for which it had been designed.


The World Wide Web is nearing omnipresence. The explosively growing number of Web contents including Digitalized manuals, emails pictures, multimedia, and Web services require a distinct and elaborate structural framework that can provide a navigational surrogate for clients as well as for servers. Due to the increasing amount of data Available online, the World Wide Web has becoming one of the most valuable resources for information retrievals and knowledge discoveries. Web mining technologies are the right solutions for knowledge discovery on the Web. The knowledge extracted from the Web can be used to raise the performances for Web information retrievals, question answering, and Web based data warehousing. In this paper, we provide an introduction of Web mining as well as a review of the Web mining categories. Then we focus on one of these categories: the Web structure mining. Within this category, we introduce link mining and review two popular methods applied in Web structure mining: HITS and Page Rank


Much attention is being paid to the services that are accessed via the Internet from mobile phones and PDAs. For such mobile Internet services, the WAP Forum issued the WAP 2.0 standard based on IETF/W3C standards. WAP 2.0 adopted the subset of eXtensible HyperText Markup Language (XHTML) and Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) standardized by World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), as its markup language. The i‐mode service in Japan was launched in February 1999, and has acquired over 40 million users, as of January 2004. The markup language adopted in the i‐mode service is called i‐mode HTML, and was designed around Compact HTML. To ease the migration from i‐mode HTML to the WAP 2.0 markup language, the functional compatibility of the languages should be assured. To this end, we proposed functions unique to i‐mode HTML to the WAP Forum. The WAP Forum accepted all of our proposals. For making the migration more cost‐effective, software tools that support the transformation of i‐mode HTML content to the WAP 2.0 equivalents must be established. There are two approaches to content transformation: software‐based and rule‐based. Since the software‐based approach has some drawbacks such as a lack of extensibility and a lack of accountability, we have taken the rule‐based approach. We focused on eXtensible Stylesheet Language Transformation (XSLT) as the content transformation technique, because XSLT has been standardized by W3C for rule‐based transformation between XML contents. To technically verify the applicability of XSLT for content transformation from i‐mode HTML to the WAP 2.0 markup language, we performed an extensive XSLT transformation experiment using existing i‐mode service contents. In this paper, we describe content transformation using XSLT, overview the content transformation system, and analyze the results of the content transformation experiment. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


The influence of the phase fluctuation of the pump laser on the phase correlation between the signal and idler modes of the output fields from a non-degenerate optical parametric oscillator operating above oscillation threshold was experimentally investigated. The noise spectra of the intensity-difference and the phase-sum of the entangled optical beams were measured with a pair of unbalanced fiber Mach-Zehnder interferometers specifically designed. The experimental results prove the previous theoretical prediction and are in reasonable agreement with the calculation based on semiclassical theory involving the phase fluctuation of pump laser.