Jin Ping Mei is a true-to-life account of the late 16th century social life in Ming Dynasty. The sordid feudalists, represented by Xi Mengqing, antagonist of the novel, formed an extremely corruptive and destructive force of the then society. Meanwhile, the flourishing commodity economy brought in its wake rapid tremendous changes in social norms and conventions. These changes were best illustrated by the indulgence in sensual pleasures on the part of corrupt feudalists, as was depicted in the novel. The author's sensitivity to historical traits and insights into social reality add greatly to the historical and cultural connotations of the novel.


This paper focuses on controller design for a closed-loop scanning tunneling microscope to deal with fast variations in sample surface. A linear approximation approach is used to deal with non-linearities. The desired performances are then achieved by a controller design based on pole placement with sensitivity function shaping using second order digital notch filters. The corresponding simulation results show better performances than those obtained with PID control techniques.


An unusual association of uncommon facies including telangiectasia in a butterfly distribution, a similar skin lesion on extensor areas, sparse hair, and membranoproliferative glomerulonephritis is described in a 4 year old boy and his father. The mode of inheritance of these features seems to be autosomal dominant.


he definition of force protection has remained unchanged since 2004, both in the domestic and in the 2019 collection of NATO terms and definitions. In warfare, however, significant changes can be observed as indirect techniques increasingly push traditional or direct procedures into the background. Society of our time is determined by the rapid development of information technology. Changes in society, as in previous eras, have an impact on the warfare of the age. The effectiveness of precision weapons is often surpassed by influencing social consciousness. War is no longer necessarily determined by the successful destruction of the hostile military power, but by the comprehensive strikes on the functions of the state and society as a whole. The novel form of warfare creates an ever-changing, unpredictable operational environment that, in my view, has implications for the protection of forces today.


Two types of power amplifier for measuring speaker impedance curve were analysed.Constant current and constant voltage methods can be used to measure the speaker impedance curve respectively with these two types of amplifiers.The fault that the series resistor has high value can be avoided by using the constant current amplifier,and the fault that the dividing resistor reduces the working voltage of the speaker can be avoided by using the constant voltage amplifier.Test results show that these two types of power amplifiers have better performance and achieve the design aims.


In view of a possible theoretical formulation that the factor which produces the physiological response is not lying or guilt per se but rather something relative to the consequences of being detected, the information, which subjects perceive as to their detectability of deception when confronted with a device and test process, may be expected to play a major role in determining the results of detection.Thus, a motivational set plus continuous or immediate feedback from the activity of the autonomically influenced peripheral effector provides appropriate information concerning the lie detection situation, convincing the subjects that they will not be able to successfully deceive. Since the feedback the autonomic response via visual display was suggested to enable the subjects to modify their responses according to their motivation, it was preliminaly demonstrated that voluntary control of the skin potential response (SPR) with watching a visual display could not effectively prevent detection in the experimental situation where subjects were required to mask all his responses rather than responding voluntarily to wrong items. Then, a total of 30 college students participated in a detection of deception experiment designed to determine the effect of visual feedback from subjects own responses on the rates of detection, together with the feedback effect of psuedoresponses artificially induced. One of five cards was selected by each subject, and the SPR to the selected card was compared with the responses for (nonselected) cards in each of the 3 groups, consisting of 10 subjects. Subjects were motivated to deceive and withhold this response by means of the previous instructions which told the subjects that individuals with a great emotional control and superior intelligence were able to deceive successfully. One experimental (Feedback) group was provided with continuous visual feedback of their own SPR. The other experimental (feedback with psuedoresponse) group also received continuous feedback but was given a psuedo-response artificially induced for the first critical item. A control (Non-feedback) group received no feedback.The SPR used in all three groups were consistently found to discriminate deceptions better than by chance. As predicted, the results obtained from subjects who received feedback with psuedo-response were significantly superior in efficiency in discriminating deception to those of feedback group, and the lowest detection rates were found with non-feedback group. The feedback procedures were also found to yield some evidence to heighten the subject's autonomic reactions, and accordingly, the SPR's under the feedback procedures were free to some degree from an adaptation effect despite the successive presentation of items.In addition, the SPR produced more frequently diphasic wave-forms accompanied with large positive deflections to the critical items as opposed to the noncritical items. The findings conform to the "consequences theory of detection of deception" and suggest that the feedback procedure from the subjects' own record is a useful activation technique with which to drive the detection of deception.Furthermore, the use of the SPR may be recommended as a valuable indicator in detection of deception.


The following is a form analysis of the tradition attributed to the sons and daughter of Sad b. a. Waqqäs according to which their father was forbidden by the Prophet to bequeath more than one-third of his estate. This hadUh became one of the fundamental texts of Islamic laws of succession. The analysis is based on prineiples and presuppositions which have been enunciated in an unpublished doctoral thesis.) The results of this study are in no wise conclusive or satisfying in themselves. They constitute but some of the elements which go into a füll comprehension of the hadtth literature. The limitations of this kind of inquiry point out the need for team work in the field. Legal specialists, historians of religion, isnäd critics, linguists and others should coordinate their efforts and concentrate their insights upon a particular body of texts. One can scarcely speak of the laws of form analysis in the field of oral literature. Too many elements are missing in the evidence at our disposal for definitive Statements to be made. But use can be made of observations made by students of other oral literatures, and above all one can "listen" to the texts, making an effort to appreciate their quality äs orally transmitted material. What we have äs evidence are nineteen versions, each one in a stage of suspended development, suspended from the moment that it became frozen in a written compilation. Because of better attestation and usefulness, some versions were "performed" and passed on far more often than others. This fact is reflected in the higher degree of evolution which they manifest. However, they coexist with less known and less well attested versions which by virtue of their more limited use show a less füll evolution. It will be noted that no eflEbrt is made here to analyze the asänld. This is not because they are considered to be unimportant, but simply


When the distances between branches and leaves are not far away on a wavelength scale, branches and leaves scatter collectively. Collective scattering effects depend on the relative locations of branches and leaves in a tree. The authors used stochastic Lindenmayer systems to generate trees. The tree generated by Lindenmayer systems has the realistic appearance so that the relative locations of branches and leaves are reasonably represented. The wave scattering by branches and leaves is calculated by using coherent addition approximation (CAA). The scattering of rough surface and that of grass are included. The scene images of the Lindenmayer tree are provided for vv, hh, hv polarizations at L-band.


In experimental conditions, an assessment was given on the efficiency of active chlorine effect on the viability of microorganisms having a sanitary-epidemiological significance. It was shown that in conditions of intensive water source contamination of maximum load using treatment facilities with double chlorination (chlorine dose 5 mg/l) after 30 minutes of contact, only E.coli died, at the same time, conditionally pathogenic and pathogenic microorganisms, the infective dose of which was within the same limits (50 000 CFU/l), were inactivated by 99,9 %; with an increase in the applied dose of 10 and 100 times, the degree of inactivation decreased in Salmonella to 99,5 %, in Pseudomonas aeruginosa to 99,2 %, Klebsiella remained at the same level of 99,9 %. This predetermines the possibility of their appearance in drinking water, which can lead to the emergence of acute intestinal infections among the population.


Renato Constantino's article "Veneration Without Understanding" is examined in order to see how the historian used a Marxist framework to ultimately produce his own version of the national hero, Jose Rizal. The article begins with an overview of Marxist historiography to provide an understanding of Constantino's methodology, then deconstructs the framework using structuralism as lens to demonstrate how the historian drew a historically anachronistic account of the national hero. Analysis is focused on Rizal's outlook on the Philippine Revoution of 1896. The study argues that there is need to reconcile the opposing views and interpretation of Rizal, and take into account other sources beyond the hero's controversial December 15 Manifesto, including the hero's key works and correspondences. Constantino's application of a Marxist framework to understand Rizal, this study contends, is inadequate and produces a historically anachronistic version of the national hero. The study per se does not aim to discredit the application of Marxism or the use of a particular theoretical construct but cautions against the rigid application of theoretical lenses in historiography and in the production of historical narratives.


Wireless stimulation (WS) technologies have been developed as powerful strategies to modulate cellular behaviour and biological activity remotely and noninvasively through wireless manipulation of electrical signal. These WS systems are constructed from the electrically stimulus-responsive materials (magnetoelectric, piezoelectric, optoelectronic, and bipolar electroactive materials) that are triggered by the primary driving force, general like magnetic field, ultrasound, light, and electric field. With a deeper understanding of the integral role of electrical stimulation played in biological cells, tissues, and organs, WS has become the promising technique to work on neural cell stimulation, for either functional or repair effects, and other biological activities including drug release, electroporation and cancer treatment. This paper summarises existing WS systems in accordance with the utilised stimulus-responsive materials. Also, future directions of WS in potential biomedical applications are discussed. Along with the development of emerging techniques such as bipolar electrochemistry and 3D printing, more effective WS systems will be allowed to apply in biosystems with a change of paradigm.


The aim of this systematic review was to assess the efficacy of photodynamic therapy (PDT) in the treatment of symptomatic oral lichen planus (OLP).


In the current society of knowledge economy,fostering creative talents in large numbers has been put on the agenda of engineering colleges.Aiming at satisfying this new requirement,this article argues that fostering creative talents should begin with "three adjustments",stand on "three achievements"and be supported by "three abilities".


This paper presents a vehicle model for analyzing the transient shifting characterisitics of a passenger car with automatic transmission. Then the presented vehicle model was linked with the dynamic model of an automatic transmission. In order to identify the parameters of the vehicle model, we installed a test equipment with an accelerometer in a conventional vehicle and performed road tests. With the proposed vehicle model, we simulated the dynamic characteristics during shifting, and benchmarked with experimental results. Moreover, a modal analysis was carried out to investigate the effect of the vehicle model in the frequency domain and to obtain the transfer function of the vehicle model. In addition, we showed the numerical results in the time domain for analyzing the effect of each stiffness element, such as engine mountings and suspensions.


The present invention discloses a compound calcium acetate Bowman Acinetobacter quantitative PCR kit and method OXA-23 gene mutation. The newly selected Bowman calcium acetate composite of the present invention, Acinetobacter within Class D β- lactam sequence specific oligonucleotide was designed primers and probes OXA-23 mutant enzyme resistance genes. The present invention is quantitative PCR kits can be used to detect calcium acetate composite Bowman Acinetobacter.


This memo is a preliminary evaluation of RFC 5322 "Internet Message
Format" for advancement from Draft to Full Standard. It has been
prepared by the The Yet Another Mail Working Group. THIS INTERNET
DRAFT IS NOT MEANT TO BE PUBLISHED AS AN RFC, BUT IS WRITTEN TO
FACILITATE PROCESSING WITHIN THE IESG.


—Antenna diversity is a well-known technique to increase data rate and coverage in fading environments, and it can be applied both at the transmitter or at the receiver side of a transmission link. New broadband wireless systems, such as Mobile WiMAX (IEEE 802.16e-2005 standard), rely on several antenna diversity approaches like Maximum Ratio Combining (MRC), Interference Rejection Combining (IRC) and Space-Time-Code (STC) in order to improve the quality and efficiency of the radio access. However, inclusion of multiple antennas in a system must take into account the higher hardware investment, complexity and its impact on network optimization. In this context, this paper aims at a comparative performance evaluation of MRC, IRC and STC diversity schemes employed in mobile WiMAX systems. We focus on a simulator-based system-level analysis in order to assess the network capacity gains achievable with antenna diversity.


1. Left atrial and papillary muscle isolated from rat heart were suspended in a Magnus' apparatus and influenced by thiamine tetrahydrofurfuryldisulfide (TTFD) added to the medium at concentra tions of from 5×10-6 to 1.6×10-4g/ml. 2. Contractile tension of left atrial and papillary muscle driven by electrical stimulation was respectively increased by 27.2 and 55.0% of each control under the most effective conditions at 60 min after addition. Most of the drug effect remained even after the drug removal from medium. 3. The refractory period of these muscles estimated using the modified method of Govier was increased by the drug: the maximum increase in atrial muscle was 106.3% while that in papillary muscle was 38.3% of each control. Most of the drug effect on papillary muscle remained after the drug removal from medium while the effect on left atrial muscle reduced to the similar degree to that seen in the papillary muscle. 4. Maximum driving frequency of left atrial muscle estimated using the modified method of Tanz was decreased by the drug concentrations higher than 4×10-5g/ml and the drug effect remained after the drug removal from medium, while the drug effect on papillary muscle was slight at any drug concentration. 5. The drug thiamine used in place of TTFD little influenced the refractory period and the maximum driving frequency of these muscles at the drug concentrations of 10-6 and 2×10g/ml. 6. From the results, the effect of TTFD as an antiarrhythmic was discussed.


Clymene Gray, 1864:237. Type species Delphinus euphrosyne. Subgenus of Delphinus Linnaeus . Not Clymene Lamarck, 1818 or Clymene Savigny, 1822, both polychaetes. Stenella Gray, 1866b:213. Type species, Steno attenuatus. Subgenus of Steno Gray. Euphrosyne Gray, 1866b:214. Type species, Clymene euphrosyne . Subgenus of Clymene Gray. Not Euphrosyne Miegen, 1800, a dipteran. Clymenia Gray, 1868a:6. Type species Delphinus longirostris. Not Clymenia Savi, 1818, a genus of Vermes (worms); or Munster, 1834, a mollusk; or Orsted, 1844, a worm. Micropia Gray, 1868a:6. Type species Clymen ia stenorhyncha (= Delphinus microps Gray). Prodelphinus Gervais, 1880:604. A substitution for Clymenia Gray. Fretidelphis Iredale and Troughton, 1934:65. Type species Delph inus roseiventris Wagner (= Delphinus long irostris Gray).


A GIS-aided MIKE SHE model,distributed hydroloyic model,is used to simulate the stream flow in an ungauged Kaidu River Basin(19?012?km2) with arid climate,which is one of the most important sources of Tarim River.Based on the GIS technique,the DEM of the study basin is successfully used to delineate the stream network and to extract the information of catchments characteristics.Landsat TM data from 1995 to 2001 are utilized for various scale depended maps of the land use and vegetation,and leaf area index(LAI) from MODIS data is used as input data for the distributed hydrological modeling.Further,the root depths of the annual vegetation are related to the temporal and spatial variation of LAI.The observed discharge at Dashankou station is used for the calibration and validation.It is shown that a well-calibrated MIKE SHE model with five "free" parameters can produce the consistent results with the model efficiency coefficients greater than 0.7,the water balance error lower than 3%,and the simulated discharge is highly correlated to the observed discharge.


Grinding of the hard tissues of the teeth with diamond points and airotor led to bullet-like flying off of part of the instrument. The causes were investigated: Unsatisfactory fixation in the turbine head, deficient material in the rotating instrument, unnecessary notches in the shaft resulting in reduction of diameter, and finally the so far uncorrected radial vibration of the rotating instrument. All of these causes may result in plastic deformation or breakage of the points.


The report is in three volumes that document the travel demand models developed in the Travel Model Development Project (TMDP). Volume 1: Summary Report is an overview of the entire system of disaggregate travel demand models. It includes a presentation of the conceptual basis for its structure, the interrelationships of the component models, the three general mathematical forms of these models, and a summary of the two computer program packages developed to implement the models. Finally, the volume provides a brief description of the function, form and coefficients of each model.


Cold rolling (CR) was conducted on coarse grained (CG) and ultrafine-grained (UFG) coppers, obtained by 1 and 8 passes in the equal channel angel pressing (ECAP), to investigate the effect of grain size on rolling texture. The microstructure was refined to UFG (~420 nm) with the ECAP pass increased to 8, while only band-like CG microstructure was observed in the 1 pass processed copper. The influence of the texture before CR could be excluded as the crystallographic texture kept similar for different ECAP pass. Pole figures (PFs) showed that the shear texture introduced by ECAP was replaced by rolling texture after CR. Furthermore, the rolling texture was a kind of classical copper-type for the CG copper, while a brass-type rolling texture was observed in the UFG copper. TEM results confirmed that the deformation nanotwins were only observed in the UFG copper, while the microstructure of CG copper was further compressed and subdivided. It indicated that the observed differences in rolling texture component and density might be contributed to the grain size effect which resulted in different deformation mechanism and grain subdivision behavior.


Liver is an essential organ and performs a number of vital activities such as metabolism, synthesis and storage. This research aimed to describe macroscopically and microscopically the liver of zebrafish and the liver temporal changes in thirteen weeks. We used forty six (46) fishes Danio rerio, adults, twenty seven (27) females and nineteen (19) males. Seven fishes were euthanized for macroscopic analyses and three fishes were euthanized weekly for thirteen weeks for microscopic analyses. It was conducted routine histological technique and the slides were stained with Hematoxylin/Eosin and periodic acid-Schiff (PAS). Weekly, it was determined volumetric (Vv(h)) and numerical (Nv(h)) densities of hepatocytes and intensity of vacuolization. The liver was located in the coelomic cavity ventrally to swim bladder, showed slightly brownish and was divided into three hepatic lobes. Microscopically, the liver consisted of hepatocytes arranged as a double cell layer around sinusoids. The staining of the cytoplasm of hepatocytes in males was more eosinophilic and basophilic than in females. Formation of portal triads and phagocytic cells were not found. The gallbladder had transitional epithelium and biliary ducts were composed by simple cubic epithelium. The volume and numerical density of hepatocytes during thirteen weeks showed no statistical difference, but the correlation between these parameters was positive. The vacuolization was due glycogen. The zebrafish liver has macro and microstructural features and quantitatively has great ability to adapt in volume and number of hepatocytes in response to the physiological needs.


The FDA granted 2 Fast Track designations for ALX148 for the first-line treatment of patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, and for the second-line treatment of patients with HER2-positive gastric or gastroesophageal junction carcinoma.


The aims of the present study were to investigate whether twins and siblings close in age (1) present a normative pattern in the achievement of residential, working, and economic autonomy (the older sibling assumes a more adult role earlier than the younger, or twins assume an adult role at the same time); (2) differ in sibling relationship quality; and whether the normativity is linked (3) to the quality of sibling relationship and (4) to life satisfaction. A cross-sectional study on 145 emerging adults was conducted. Twins present a normative development pattern more frequently and a warmer sibling relationship than non-twin siblings. A normative development pattern is related to sibling relationships but not to the level of life satisfaction. In particular, normativity in residential conditions is linked with warmer sibling relationships, while nonnormativity in economic conditions is linked to more rivalrous relationships. These data support the assumption that during emerging adulthood a normative development pattern is linked to a more positive sibling relationship.


The article describes the principle of accountability of local self-government bodies in the conditions of decentralization of power in Ukraine.Decentralization as one of the reforms of the public power system is aimed at building a truly democratic and effective governance in Ukraine, in accordance with international and European standards and approaches. An essential feature of such governance is its transparency and accountability.It is proved that the reform of decentralization of power affected the content and purpose of the principle of accountability of local self-government bodies. The modern interpretation of the principle of accountability of local self-government is broader, between the duty of local self-government bodies and their officials to report on their activities.The law establishes minimum requirements for the implementation of the principle of accountability of local self-government bodies in the form of periodic reporting, while broad discretionary powers allow them to form their own communication strategies and plans, to choose various forms of communication and feedback with the community. The principle of accountability of local self-government bodies is closely related to the involvement of the public in decision-making at the local level and the development of public control. It creates the basis for the application of facilitation and mediation practices in the community.Implementation of the principle of accountability is mandatory and requires active and voluntary actions of local self-government bodies and officials. This distinguishes the principle of accountability from the principle of openness. The imperative requirement of accountability is a means of restraining local governments in their autonomy, which has been significantly expanded and deepened as a result of the decentralization of power.The key goal of the reform is the ability, efficiency, independence, self-sufficiency and independence of local self-government from the state. This, in turn, causes a number of risks and threats to the rule of law, anti-corruption security, interests of the community at the local level, etc. Therefore, a properly constructed system of checks and balances in local self-government is perhaps the most effective guarantee of ensuring the rule of law. In this system, the principle of accountability has a leading role, therefore it deserves systematic scientific attention.


Asymptotic solutions to the problem of the flow of a conducting liquid heat a point source of electric currents are given. (AIP)


Our research focuses on the development of two algorithms based on the mathematical programming and local search procedures for resolution the Multi-Item Capacitated Lot Sizing Problem and Vehicle Routing Problem (MICLSP-VRP). It concerns so a particularly important and difficult problem in the strong sense for solving. In particular, our study is motivated by a real case study in a butcher's shop firm whose meat processing. Several production lines are considered of (turkey and chicken) items and a fleet of vehicles that is used to deliver. In this study, an effective approach based on the local search and accurate mixed integer programming model is presented to solve multi-item capacitated lot sizing problem and vehicle routing problem with delivery time windows. This consists of determining the production quantities at each site by minimizing the cost of transport and solving the sub problem. By considering an integrated approach, the computational results of a case study show a 25.33% percent decrease in the total cost production.


The so-called "short-term flow" protocol is widely applied in experimental flow-induced crystallization studies on polymers in order to separate the nucleation and subsequent growth processes [Liedauer et al. Int. Polym. Proc. 1993, 8, 236–244]. The basis of this protocol is the assumption that structure development during flow can be minimized and the rheological behavior, i.e., the viscosity, does not change noticeably. In this work we explore the validity of this assumption for short but strong flows and reveal the structure formation during the early stages of crystallization. Viscosity and structure evolution of an isotactic polypropylene (iPP, Mw ≈ 365 kg/mol and Mw/Mn = 5.4) melt at 145 °C are measured during the short-flow period (0.2–0.25 s) using the combination of a slit rheometer and fast X-ray scattering measurements. For high enough (apparent) shear rates (≥240 s–1) a viscosity rise during flow is observed; i.e., the condition for "short-term flow" is not satisfied. With a time delay with re...


A variable pole-pitch double-sided permanent magnet (PM) linear eddy current brake (LECB) is proposed for a small scaled electromagnetic launch model. A two-dimensional (2D) analytical steady state model is presented for the double-sided PM-LECB, and the expression for the braking force is derived. Based on the analytical model, the material and eddy current skin effect of the conducting plate are analyzed. Moreover, a variable pole-pitch double-sided PM-LECB is proposed for the effective braking of the moving plate. In addition, the braking force is predicted by finite element (FE) analysis, and the simulated results are in good agreement with the analytical model. Finally, a prototype is presented to test the braking profile for validation of the proposed design.


From the characteristics of programming language teaching,this paper studies the characteristics of Java Program Language based on the language that have been studied.On the while,it summers up the java language for teaching ideas and new Methods through many a practices.


Background: A relationship among vitamin D and pulmonary tuberculosis. Objective: To conclude the occurrence of Vitamin D insufficiency in subjects suffering from pulmonary TB. Design: This was a cross sectional study. Setting: Current study was performed at department of medicine, Peoples Medical College Hospital Nawabshah starting from January 2017 to December 2017. Samples: 385 AFB positive subjects of pulmonary tuberculosis after achieving the criteria of selection were recruited. Material and Methods: After a brief discussion, the patients were characterized for variable evaluation such as age, gender, sputum AFB and duration of disease and presence of low vitamin D levels. Sputum AFB criterion was used for Data collection. Fasting blood samples were collected for analysis of vitamin D levels in all subjects of AFB positive pulmonary tuberculosis. Results: In 385 diagnosed patients with smear positive PTB, 273 (70.9%) males and 112 (29.1%) were female. Vitamin D levels were within normal or sufficient range in 134 (34.8%), below normal range in 251 (65.2%) cases (insufficient in 09.56% (24/251) and deficient in 90.43% (227/251) cases). Conclusion: Decreased levels of vitamin D were common in subjects with AFB smear Positive PTB cases.


In this paper, pass through a few typical example, a number of some mistaken has been point out it taken place in process of solution, and correct method of solve a problem has been given.


Thank you so much for this very kind invitation. Thank you for your kind introduction. And I'm very challenged to share with you some of the thinking of the very difficult challenge of translating nursing research to practice. There are five parts to this presentation that I would like to share with you this morning. These include: definitions-and there are different definitions-of translational research; a very brief discussion of knowledge and evidence and the issues of evidence-based practice; the structure and structures of knowledge; changing nurse behavior; and strategies towards a preferred future.


Often, when you mention diabetes control people think about keeping glycemics levels close to normal, neglecting other variables of cardiovascular risks. Objectives: It was to assess glycemic control as measured by hemoglobin glycosylated A1c and to determinate the presence of hypertension, obesity and altered lipid profile, to learn how they interrelate, and observed its evaluative limitations when taken apart in defining the extent of integral metabolic control achieved. Materials and methods: There were carried out a populational cross-sectional study in 131 diabetic patients older than 30 years, users of an Healthcare Program, in Cartagena de Indias, Colombia, during the year 2006, in which, previous informed assent, anthropometrics measurements were taken in body, arterial pressure and a sample of blood for biochemical analysis. Results: The 58% of the patients showed adequate glycemic control and 18% inappropriate. The average serum levels were: glucose, 150 mg/dL; LDL-cholesterol, 133 mg/dL and triglycerides, 151 mg/dL. The cardiovascular risk factors with greater presence were obesity, LDL-cholesterol and hypertension (78%, 73% and 47%) and they are also present in patients with normal glycated hemoglobin levels. Conclusions: The study concludes that the measure of HbA1c alone is inadequate as an evaluator of the comprehensive metabolic state of a patient who is diabetic, and that there is a necessity to strengthen strategies to reduce cardiovascular risks in this population.


The Center of Materials and Sterilization (CMS) is based on the cost related to the processes developed for its management and the activities-based costing (ABC) can be an adequate tool to help the manager in management decisions and practice. The aim of the study was to evaluate the application of ABC for an evidence-based management practice and its support for process of decision making. This is a case study, performed in a CMS of a teaching hospital, using documental analysis to apply the ABC. The individual cost to sterilize goods was R$ 6,05 (US$ 3,23)  and to disinfect was R$ 3,03 (US$ 1,61). The ABC is applicable and highlights evidence supporting decision making in management practice, guaranteeing the analysis of the productivity process and the decisive and impacting interventions in the management of costs.


Context. NGC 1232 is a face-on spiral galaxy that serves as an excellent laboratory for the study of star formation due to its proximity. Recent studies have revealed interesting features about this galaxy: X-ray observations suggest that it recently collided with a dwarf galaxy, however, no apparent remnant is observed.
Aims. In this study, we search for evidence of this possible collision.
Methods. We used long-slit optical spectra of the galaxy in two different positions obtained with the Goodman spectrograph at the SOAR telescope.
Results. We detected 18 HII regions in the north-south direction and 22 HII regions in the east-west direction and a background galaxy, NGC 1232B, for which we present the first redshift measurement and spectral analysis. We used the stellar population fitting technique to study the underlying stellar population of NGC 1232 and NGC 1232B and to subtract it from the spectra to measure the emission lines. The emission lines were used to determine the extinction, electron density, chemical abundance, and the star-formation rate gradient of NGC 1232.
Conclusions. As is common in spiral galaxies, we found a stellar population gradient with older populations at the central regions and younger ones towards the outskirts, along with a negative oxygen abundance gradient of −0.16 dex/re. Due to the difficulty of measuring important emission lines, the number of objects for the abundance gradient is small, but there is a hint that this galaxy has a broken gradient profile, with a drop towards the center. Some authors have explained this effect as the result of a satellite collision, but observations of a large sample of spiral galaxies shows evidence that goes against such a mechanism. If the collision caused any disturbance in the galaxy, we believe it would be small and hard to detect with a limited number of objects. From all the other measurements, we found no deviations from a typical spiral galaxy and no significant difference between different directions in the galaxy. The stellar population and emission line analysis of NGC 1232B suggest that it is a starburst galaxy.


Spin-exchange collisions in hot vapours are generally regarded as a decoherence mechanism. In contrast, we show that linear and non-linear spin-exchange coupling can lead to the generation of atomic coherence in a Bell-Bloom magnetometer. In particular, we theoretically and experimentally demonstrate that non-linear spin exchange coupling, acting in an analogous way to a wave-mixing mechanism, can create new modes of coherent excitation which inherit the magnetic properties of
the natural Larmor coherence. The generated coherences further couple via linear spin-exchange interaction, leading to an increase of the natural coherence lifetime of the system. Notably, the measurements are performed in a low-density caesium vapour and for non-zero magnetic �eld, outside the standard conditions for collisional coherence transfer. The strategies discussed are important for development of spin-exchange coupling into a resource for an improved measurement platform based on room-temperature alkali-metal vapours.


(57) ABSTRACT A method is described for use in a process for the conversion of an alcohol, the method including the step of contacting a composition comprising a first alcohol with a catalyst com position. Catalyst composition described comprises: i) a Source of a Group VIII transition metal; ii) a phosphine ligand of formula PRRR, wherein R, R and Rare the same or different; and iii) a base. In examples described, the alcohol which is converted comprises ethanol and the product com prises butanol.


A low power fifth-order OTA-C complex filter for a low-IF GPS receiver is implemented in a mainstream 0.18 μm RFCMOS process.The frequency tuning scheme is different from the conventional one based on phased-locked loop.To compensate for process and temperature variations,a self-biased current reference is designed playing the role of frequency tuning.The filter bandwidth is 3 MHz and is centered at 4.092 MHz.Image is attenuated by more than 30 dB,and the stop-band attenuation at 10 MHz is at least 40 dB.The pass-band gain of the filter is 10 dB,and it dissipates 0.8 mA from a 1.8 V supply.The theoretical and experimental results are in good agreement.


A carbonate type rock phosphate ore flotation collectors trans, by mixing it with water of the dry matter; wherein component materials include dry fatty acid content of not less than 50% of higher fatty acid saponified 90- 99%, diethyl phthalate, aliphatic 1-10%; dry matter to water ratio of 1:20 to 70. When compared with the prior art, the collectors of this invention can be as low as 22% in the raw material ore grade, the products can reach qualified CONCENTRATE. The present invention also has a high concentrate recoveries, low MgO content in the concentrate, mineral low cost. The present invention is applicable not only to the production of mineral carbonate phosphate rock ore, and may be applied to various beneficiation of phosphate rock.


A system for providing a perspective for a virtual image includes an intraoperative imaging system (110) having a transducer (146) configured to generate an image data set for a region. A shape sensing enabled device (102) is configured to have at least a portion of the shape sensing enabled device positioned relative to the region. The shape sensing enabled device has a coordinate system registered with a coordinate system of the intraoperative imaging system. An image generation module (148) is configured to render a virtual image (152) of at least a portion of the region using the image data set wherein the virtual image includes a vantage point relative to a position on the shape sensing enabled device.


We studied the current-induced spin–orbit torques in a perpendicularly magnetized Pt (1 nm)/Co (0.8 nm)/Pt (5 nm) heterojunction by harmonic Hall voltage measurements. Owing to similar Pt/Co/Pt interfaces, the spin–orbit torques originated from the Rashba effect are reduced, but the contribution from the spin Hall effect is still retained because of asymmetrical Pt thicknesses. When the temperature increases from 50 to 300 K, two orthogonal components of the effective field, induced by spin–orbit torques, reveal opposite temperature dependencies: the field-like term (transverse effective field) decreases from 2.3 to 2.1 (10−6 Oe (A cm−2)−1), whereas the damping-like term (longitudinal effective field) increases from 3.7 to 4.8 (10−6 Oe (A cm−2)−1). It is noticed that the damping-like term, usually smaller than the field-like term in the similar Pt/Co interfaces, is twice as large as the field-like term. As a result, the damping-like spin–orbit torque reaches an efficiency of 0.15 at 300 K. Such a temperature-dependent damping-like term in a Pt/Co/Pt heterojunction can efficiently reduce the switching current density which is 2.30  ×  106 A cm−2 at 300 K, providing an opportunity to further improve and understand spin–orbit torques induced by spin Hall effect.


In this correspondence, we obtain a general form for the generating matrices of the eight types of discrete sine transforms. These matrix forms can be used to study the performance of the different discrete sine transforms as substitutes of the Karhunen-Loeve transform and will allow us to show in a very straightforward way that the discrete sine transforms, as the discrete cosine transforms, are asymptotically optimal for any finite order Markov process.


The strength of a particle is one of the most crucial characteristics within a comminution process due to the mechanical stresses experienced by each particle. In this study, the K9 glass spheres and ceramic spheres were subjected to a breakage test. The test includes the breakage of up to 240 particles under compression to obtain the distribution of the breakage probability depending on the crushing force and breakage energy. The breakage test was conducted for five particle size fractions from each individual material. Thus obtained 10 crushing force distributions and corresponding 10 breakage energy distributions were fitted with lognormal distribution function. The parameters in the lognormal were analyzed including the effect of the material and particle size. Following this, the relationship between the crushing force and breakage energy was analyzed based on the Hertzian elastic contacts model and Tomas's elastic-plastic contact model, respectively. Additionally, particle strength in terms of crushing force and breakage energy were compared and found to be size dependent. Finally, a simple transformation algorithm of distributions is developed. According to this algorithm the crushing force distribution can be transformed into breakage energy distribution and vice versa. The findings facilitate a better understanding of the particle strength distribution under compression and will help to improve the comminution process design, control and optimization.


Abstract The communitarian conception of person is a widely accepted view in African thought. Kwame Gyekye thinks there is a distinction between what he calls radical communitarianism and his own version of moderate communitarianism. He is of the view that radical communitarianism is faced with insurmountable problems and ought to be jettisoned in favour of his moderate communitarianism. Gyekye's strategy is twofold; he firstly seeks to show the shortcomings of radical communitarianism - particularly by attacking Ifeanyi Menkiti's position. Secondly, he seeks to show the authenticity of his version as well as its serious regard for individual rights as representing a triumph over radical communitarianism. In this paper, I seek to contest both of Gyekye's strategies.


The marked reduction in infiltration rate caused by formation of a soil surface seal is a well known phenomenon but often ignored in infiltration models. The effect sequential water application events have on infiltration rate and soil surface seal formation has rarely been investigated. The objective of this study was to investigate the effect sequential water application events have on the infiltration rate of a Portneuf silt loam soil with and without water droplet impact. The Portneuf silt loam soil developed a soil surface seal that reduced infiltration rate both with and without droplet impact on the bare soil surface. When the soil surface was protected during the first rainfall event, drying the soil did not increase infiltration rate for subsequent rainfall events when the soil surface was protected, but drying did increase infiltration when the soil was unprotected in the first rainfall event. Final infiltration rate was inversely related to specific power of the simulated rainfall. Either with or without water droplet impact, final infiltration rate for the Portneuf silt loam soil decreased to less than 20 mm hr-1 within three rainfall events. Given that the Portneuf silt loam soil is extremely vulnerable to surface seal development with little difference in final infiltration rate, irrigation time must be maximized and peak application rate minimized in order to maximize infiltration depth. These requirements combined with the operating characteristics of center pivot irrigation systems means that sprinklers with maximum wetted diameter need to be selected in order to maximize infiltrated depth.


In the economic development indicators, the sustained economic growth rate reflects the economic vitality of a city and is closely related to the potential demand for talents. Only with continued economic growth can new employment opportunities be continuously increased. The higher the sustained economic growth rate, the more new employment opportunities and the stronger the attractiveness of talents, and the lower the sustained economic growth rate, the fewer new employment opportunities and the worse the attractiveness of talents. Therefore, we try to evaluate talent introduction programs by constructing indicators to provide suggestions for positive internal testing related to talent introduction. First, find relevant data, establish a mathematical model based on relevant literature and corresponding data, and quantify and analyze the Shenzhen talent introduction plan with the plan of "Several Measures to Strengthen the Business Environment Reform" issued by Shenzhen[1]. After that, all the indicators were used as comprehensive indicators using the factor analysis method, that is, six comprehensive indicators such as economic development level, living environment status, social security management, education level, natural environment status, and technological innovation atmosphere. Finally, we integrate the various indicators, and the multiple regression method is used to regress each influencing factor to obtain quantitative results. It is combining relevant measures and policies to provide targeted suggestions for talent introduction programs.


We present results of molecular dynamics simulations of strong, exible polyelectrolyte chains in solution with added salt. The eeect of added salt on the polyelectrolyte chain structure is fully treated for the rst time as a function of polymer density. Systems above and below the Manning condensation limit are studied. The chain structure is intimately tied to the ion density near the chain even for chains in the counterion condensation (CC) regime. The end-to-end distance is demonstrated to be a function of the inverse Debye screening length and the Bjerrum length. The ion density near the polymer chain depends on the amount of added salt, and above the condensation limit the chains signiicantly contract due to added salt. PACS. 61.25.Hq Macromolecular and polymer solutions { 36.20Ey Conformation (statistics and dynamics) { 87.15He Molecular dynamics and conformational changes


With the advent of portable electronics, low power CMOS circuit design has become increasingly important. To effectively design for low power, chip designers need a wide variety of power estimation and power reduction tools. This thesis describes a new CAD tool that reduces the power dissipation of combinational CMOS circuits. This automated CAD tool attempts to reduce power by selectively "turning off" inputs. It searches a gate-level description of a CMOS circuit for inputs or nodes that are often unnecessary to determine the outputs. It will then add logic to dynamically "turn off" these nodes based on the values of other inputs. This reduces switching activity within the circuit thus reducing power consumption. The result is a functionally equivalent CMOS circuit with reduced power, added area, and possibly increased delay. This thesis describes the technique and heuristic algorithms used by this CAD tool to optimize circuits for low power. Experimental results are presented. Thesis Supervisor: Srinivas Devadas Title: Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science


Cyperus compressus L., C. croceus Vahl, C. difformis L., C. engelmannii Steudel, and C. microiria Steudel are documented for the first time from Kentucky. The range of C. brevifolioides Thieret & Delahoussaye is extended from two to 26 counties. The taxonomic characteristics of C. engelmannii are discussed. SPECIES AND DISTRIBUTION Five Cyperus species new to Kentucky and a major range extension were collected in 1993, primarily by the senior author. Documentation of these records was based on an extensive search of herbaria (all of the Kentucky specimens from APSC, BEREA, DHL, EKY, KNK, KUK, MO, NCU, NY, SIU, US, USC, VSC, and WKU) and pertinent literature (Braun 1943, Beal and Thieret 1986, Browne and Athey 1992). Representative voucher specimens of all collections are in the herbaria of Eastern Kentucky University (EKY), Berea College (BEREA), and Valdosta State University (VSC). All taxa except Cyperus engelmannii Steudel were verified by Dr. Richard Carter at Valdosta State University, Valdosta, Georgia. Cyperus brevifolioides Thieret & Delahoussaye Ballard County, La Center, 0.3 mi east of intersection with KY 358 on the south side of U.S. 60, locally abundant in wet roadside ditch; associates were Cyperus flavescens L. and C. tenuifolius (Steudel) Dandy, 15 September 1993, Mears 94-10. Hickman County, Clinton, at southwest corner at intersection of U.S. 53 and Washington Street in muddy, saturated soil, rare; associates were Echinochloa crusgalli L., Eleocharis ovata (Roth) Roemer & Schultes, and Panicum dichotomiflorum Michx., 16 September 1993, Mears 94-12. McCracken County, just north of Shady Grove, 0.1 mi south of 1-24 on east side of U.S. 68 in wet ditch, rare; associates included Cyperus tenuifolius (Steudel) Dandy, C. strigosus L., and Eclipta prostrata (L.) L., 15 September 1993, Mears 94-7. Previously known only from Bell and Whitley Counties, this species has been documented in an additional 24 counties through extensive field work. A list of these counties will be provided upon request from EKY or the authors. The three representative collections cited above are from the Jackson Purchase


Three-dimensional (3D) hierarchical Co3O4 microcrystal with radial dendritic morphologies was prepared through hydrothermal reactions followed by subsequent annealing treatment. Structural and morphological characterizations were performed by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. The gas sensing properties of the as-obtained microcrystal were investigated at 110 °C, which revealed that the 3D hierarchical porous Co3O4 microcrystal exhibited high sensitivity to ammonia, as well as a short response time of 10 s. The response characteristic indicates that the sensor has a good stability and reversibility. Detections of toxic and flammable gases, such as ethanol, acetone and benzene were also carried out at a relative low temperature. The results indicate that such hierarchical Co3O4 microcrystal would be a potential material in the field of gas sensing.


As part of the overall strategy of refining and improving the existing transportation and air-quality modeling framework, the current project focuses extensively on acquiring disaggregate and reliable data for analysis. In this report, the authors discuss the data obtained thus far from various state and local agencies for use in the project. The data obtained may be classified into three broad categories: (1) zonal-level data, (2) link-level data, and (3) household-level data. These categories are discussed in the subsequent three sections. In each section, the authors describe the data sets, the agency from which the data were obtained, and the reason for obtaining the data.


Sustainable development and environmental protection, health protection, human rights, aging societies and combating social risks are relevant issues in the European Union. The EU's actions in the sphere of social security became even more important after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Countries around the world faced the specter of an economic crisis associated with lockdowns on the one hand, and a crisis in health care and the need to reorganize the health security of citizens on the other. Mitigating the health crisis and tackling the adverse effects of the economic collapse have become priorities for the European Union, which in its Recovery Plan for Europe and its main component, Next Generation EU, has paid particular attention to green and digital transformation, health security, and rebuilding economic potential, especially the potential of small and medium-sized enterprises


The roles of Dirac and Harish-Chandra in the development of the unitary infinite dimensional irreducible representations of SL(2,C) and SO(3,1) are briefly reviewed


Over the years and as the result of technological developments, the importance of personal computers in our lives has grown significantly. This has resulted in a desire by some to develop malicious applications, whether lone teenagers or nation states, and distribute them across the Internet where they attack a range of computer systems. As a result, the importance of antivirus software has grown significantly and has resulted in an inexorable demand for a dependable antivirus system that can defend against this plethora of malicious viruses. Anti-virus programs are meant to discern computer viruses and protect computers from their actions. In order to guarantee effectiveness and a robust system, antivirus software must be continuously updated and is a perpetual process. This is no small undertaking when taken into consideration the fact that computers connected to the Internet are exposed to viruses from every direction and are delivered using any range of methods: Infected servers and files, USB drives, and more. With today's world filled with information and data, it is very important for us to differentiate which information or data is benign and which is malignant. That is exactly what we aim to develop and implement in the form of our research Adaptive anti-virus using ANFIS architecture. An adaptive anti-virus system that will catch up to the speed at which the viruses update and evolve.


The implementation of The Undergraduate Innovation and Entrepreneurship Training Program project provides a rare opportunity for college students to improve their entrepreneurial quality and ability. In order to meet the needs of modern water conservancy construction, the students majoring inwater conservancy should not only master the basic theoretical knowledge of the major, but also have the ability of innovation, cooperation and combining theory with practice. College of Water Resources and Hydropower actively carries out The Undergraduate Innovation and Entrepreneurship Training Program and adopts the practice mode of "Guide-Guided, Everyone Practices, Focus on Process" has achieved remarkable results and greatly enhanced the innovative consciousness and practical ability of college students.


The Earth's critical zone (ECZ) is the near-surface domain that regulates the availability of most life-sustaining resources. Among all the subdomains of the ECZ, a crucial role is played by the Soil-Plant continuum (SP), as it is a major performer of the exchanges of mass and energy between soil and plants (and then atmosphere). However, despite its importance and its strong interconnection with human activity, the characterization of this subdomain is still in an early stage, mainly because of the lack of spatial and temporal information regarding the occurring processes. To overcome this issue, we present the combination of geophysical measurements and hydrological modeling in the framework of a hydrogeophysical approach, with the aim of characterizing the active root zone, i.e. the portion of the root system involved in the water uptake. In fact, the water uptake is performed by root hair, the microscopic cell outgrowths whose location is difficult (if not impossible) also after the removal of the root system from the soil. Nevertheless, determining its position is fundamental not only for merely scientific purposes, but most of all for practical applications, as it affects the performing of precision irrigation. Therefore, in this work I propose the identification of the active root zone on the basis of its main effect, i.e. the reduction of soil water content over time. This is achieved by means of 3-D small-scale electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) carried out combining superficial and borehole electrodes. We monitored the processes occur-ring in the root zone of three orange trees located in south-eastern Sicily. These trees are drip irrigated according to different deficit irrigation techniques to improve the exploitation of the water resource, while the plants' transpiration is monitored thanks to sap flow and eddy covariance measurements. More in detail, in the first case study ERT measurements before and after the cut of the tree are compared, while in the second case study the ERT monitoring is focused on two orange trees drip irrigated with different treatments (i.e. full irrigation and partial root drying). The datasets thus obtained provide interesting insights into the root system activity, given their abundance of information regarding both atmospheric and underground phenomena (i.e. transpiration and root water uptake, respectively). In particular, the ERT time-lapse approach well highlights the portions subject to a decrease in water content, which can be related to the water uptake put in place by the plants. Nevertheless, the interpretation of the resistivity patterns, although combined with agronomic information, can be rather intricate. A proper hydrological modeling provides a solution to this problem, even if choosing the most suitable approach requires a specific mathematical analysis. To do this, we developed a synthetic case study with two identical hydrological models, one of which describing also the activity of an orange tree. These models resemble the real datasets provided by the ERT measurements, without all the uncertainties introduced by the geophysical acquisition and the model calibration. The location of the active root zone is reconstructed from the combination of these two models by means of Taylor series expansion, with particular reference to the effects of the approximation thus introduced. The final aim is to evaluate the proposed numerical procedure for a future application on one of real case study presented in this work.


Ammonium 9-molybdate nickel heteropoly salt with Waugh structure was synthesized by the reaction of nickel sulfate and ammonium heptamolybdate by oxidation of ammonium peroxydisulfate at acetic acid pH4-6.The title compound was characterized by IR,UV-Vis,TG-DT thermal analysis and CV.The fomula was determined by chemical analysis to be(NH4)6[NiMo9O32].8H2O.It can be seen from IR spectrum that there are characteristic band of Waugh-type heteropolyacidic salt in the range of 1000-400cm-1.From UV spectrum,in Ultraviolet region there is a band at 207nm assigned to electronic transition from double bonds of oxygen to Mo atom and there is a bond at 563.2nm in visible range.We can see from the TG-DTA curves that ammonium 9-molybdate nickel heteropoly salt can be decomposed at 1067.9-1103.5K..It indicated from the cyclic voltammetry(CV) curve there was a good linear relationship between ip and v1/2,suggesting the electrode reaction being controlled by diffusion oxido-reduction process.The voltage of cathodic and anodic peak was becoming progressively more positive with decreasing pH,the variation presumably related to variation in protonation.of the cluster.


We propose a novel scheme to classify the different options for resolution of the black hole loss of information problem that is independent of the details of the underlying theory of quantum gravity. We distinguish first between radical options, which require a quantum theory of gravity which has large deviations from semiclassical physics on macroscopic scales, such as nonlocality or endowing horizons with special properties not seen in the semiclassical approximation, and conservative options, which do not need such help. Among the conservative options, we conclude that restoring unitary evolution relies on elimination of singularities. We argue that this should hold also in the anti-de Sitter/conformal field theories correspondence.


e16606 Background: Liver metastases (Mets) from genitourinary cancers are difficult to treat and many of them are resistant to systemic therapy. Local-Regional Therapies (LRT) are becoming popular in treating Liver Mets. In this Meta-analysis, we analyze the outcomes of LRT for Liver Mets from Genitourinary Cancers. Methods: We searched PubMed, Google scholar for case reports, case studies, retrospective studies with patients who underwent LRT like Radiofrequency Ablation (RF), Chemoembolization (CE), Microwave Ablation (MA), Cryoablation for liver metastases for from Genitourinary Cancers including Prostate Cancer (PC), Testicular Cancer (TC) and Renal Cell Cancer (RCC). We also included 3 patients from Dignity Health Cancer Center, Phoenix, AZ. Results: Total number of patients in the study is 54, 3 of them from our Center. 39 are men and 15 are women. Mean and median age of the patients was 62.3, 65 years respectively. Number of patients with RCC, PC, TC are 43, 6, 5 respectively. 28 patients had CE, 23 had RFA and 3 had MA with the total number of procedures being 144, 41 and 5 respectively. Mean survival for all the patients is 62.7 months, mean survival for RCC, TC and PC are 68.9, 45.8 and 24.4 months respectively. Median number of systemic therapies received by the patients prior to getting LRT was 2 (range 1-4). We used RECIST criteria to quantify the benefit from LRT, 23 patients had Complete Response (CR), 6 had Partial Response (PR), 14 had Stable Disease (SD) and 8 had Progressive Disease (PD), there was no data for 2 patients. 43 patients had Clinical Benefit. We present a case of castration resistant metastatic PC from our facility. A 78-year man diagnosed metastatic PC in 2007 who had Prostatectomy, salvage radiation, intermittent androgen deprivation and Combined deprivation therapy. But his PSA continued to rise, flutamide was added. In 2017, he had liver metastasis, had RFA twice for 2 liver lesions and had CR. He continues to be on relugolix with good quality of life. Patients in the study are people with advanced metastatic cancer who underwent various systemic therapies like chemotherapy, radiation, immunotherapy and hormonal therapy prior to getting the LRT. LRT was done as the patients failed or did not tolerate systemic therapies. The mean survival for RCC patients in the study group is greater than the average survival of stage IV RCC, the lower mean survival for PC and TC can be explained by the limited number of this patient population in the study. Conclusions: Combination of LRT with systemic therapy for previously heavily treated Liver Mets from genitourinary cancers is a promising strategy for patients with otherwise poor prognosis. [Table: see text]


Wilpattu Forest complex is the largest protected area in Sri Lanka and it is a designated Ramsar wetland cluster. It contains a range of diverse terrestrial habitats including various forest types and a coastline with large coastal sand dunes. However, this vital ecosystem is under threat of fragmentation and degradation due to increasing human interventions. Habitat fragmentation is a serious threat to the rich biodiversity in this ecosystem. The objective of this study was to assess the loss of forest cover within the region, to examine the spatial pattern of forest cover fragmentation and to predict the potential forest cover change in 2025 using remote sensing and GIS techniques. Two Landsat 5 TM satellite images of 1992 and Landsat 8 OLI-TIRS image of 2018 were classified using unsupervised and supervised techniques to obtain three land use/ land cover classes namely, forest, nonforest and water. Forest cover change during 1992 and 2018 was analysed using classified images. Finally, future changes were modelled to assess possible threat to the forest cover. The analysis revealed that Wilpattu forest complex has lost 19,524 ha of its forest reserves to other land uses within the last 26 years and the highest impact was seen in the upper Wilpattu forest where about 7.48% area has lost from forest to other land uses. Study also proved that the total forest area is becoming more fragmented affecting the balance of the valuable natural eco-system of the area. Lack of availability in proper forest boundaries and classification issues were identified as main limitations in this study. However, it must be emphasized that immediate actions are needed to prevent further degradation of this sensitive ecosystem.


Introduction Circadian rhythm maintains the sleep–wake cycle in biological systems. Various biological activities are regulated and modulated by the circadian rhythm, disruption of which can result in onset of diseases. Robust rhythms of phosphorylation profiles and abundances of PERIOD (PER) proteins are thought to be the master keys that drive circadian clock functions. The role of casein kinase 2 (CK2) in circadian rhythm via its direct interactions with the PER protein has been extensively studied; however, the exact mechanism by which it affects circadian rhythms at the molecular level is not known. Methods Here, we propose an extended circadian rhythm model in Drosophila that incorporates the crosstalk between the PER protein and CK2. We studied the regulatory role of CK2 in the dynamics of PER proteins involved in circadian rhythm using the stochastic simulation algorithm. Results We observed that variations in the concentration of CK2 in the circadian rhythm model modulates the PER protein dynamics at different cellular states, namely, active, weakly active, and rhythmic death. These oscillatory states may correspond to distinct pathological cellular states of the living system. We find molecular noise at the expression level of CK2 to switch normal circadian rhythm to any of the three above-mentioned circadian oscillatory states. Our results suggest that the concentration levels of CK2 in the system has a strong impact on its dynamics, which is reflected in the time evolution of PER protein. Discussion We believe that our findings can contribute towards understanding the molecular mechanisms of circadian dysregulation in pathways driven by the PER mutant genes and their pathological states, including cancer, obesity, diabetes, neurodegenerative disorders, and socio-psychological disease.


In this paper, aperture functions, originally applied to the design of optimum FIR digital filters, are shown to also be successfully used for suppression of side lobes in acoustics. Test hydrophones have been constructed by shading a flexible piezo-rubber sheet in the form of the aperture functions. Experimental results of Hanning, Hamming and Hamming like Kaiser aperture functions have verified the theoretical predictions on suppression of side lobes. In addition, the fact that a curved Hanning-hdrophone functions as a constant beam width hydrophone over a wide frequency range is discussed.


The aim of this dissertation is to critically investigate and problematize how museum exhibitions on Difficult Matters, like war and sexual violence, can be designed in order to contribute to teaching-learning relations between museum and visitor, which may transform existing perceptions of self, others, and the world and evoke a deepened sense of responsibility in the viewers, i.e. an ethical transformation.Based on a hermeneutic phenomenological approach the study takes three paths to shed light on the above. 1) Investigating literature on museum studies on New Museology and Difficult Matters on the basis of which the research maps out current problems of understanding the pedagogical and ethical potentials. 2) From conducting case studies of two specific exhibitions to make an in-depth examination of designing exhibitions on Difficult Matters and how these are related to contextual conditions. 3) Investigating pedagogical theoretical literature inspired by the philosopher Emmanuel Levinas and literature in feminist philosophy on ethics of vulnerability all closely linked to the case studies, the study develops a conceptual basis for understanding the practice of designing exhibitions on Difficult Matters. A main finding is that designing exhibitions on Difficult Matters is related to the condition of vulnerability and this demands a pedagogical perspective sensitive to the ethical implications of exhibition making. This is because evoking ethical transformation is conditioned by a teaching-learning relation, which inspires openness on the part of the visitor to an encounter with the other and her/his life-story as being different from existing perceptions - an openness which is defined by vulnerability. As a result, vulnerability is at the heart of exhibitions on Difficult Matters.The overall conclusion to be drawn from the study is that vulnerability is a key concept in museum pedagogy and that vulnerability is an ambivalent potentiality which must be addressed from a double perspective on vulnerability as being inherent to the human condition and dependent on the particular situation. Consequently, vulnerability calls for pedagogical considerations and ethical attention from museum professionals, when designing exhibitions on Difficult Matters.


With the aim of enhancing productivity and competitiveness of electric utilities, a methodology to conform projects derived from amounts of improving actions for technology management units is presented. A portfolio of projects is configured and then they are prioritized firstly by their impact on the market positioning of the utility and secondly by their performance facing likely scenarios, dynamically conditioned by demand, regulation and technology paths. One software based on system dynamics and genetic algorithms that permits to conform, prioritize and monitor the projects, is presented


In Korea in 1950 all of the commanders of the U.S. Marine Division and its regiments had commanded units in combat during World War II, but 79% of the commanders of U.S. Army divisions and regiments had no such experience. Both Marine and Army personnel in the Chosin Reservoir campaign up through the rank of major had combat experience and performed creditably. The experienced senior Marine commanders extricated all of their men and most of their equipment from Chosin. The Army force had inexperienced commanders at battalion, regiment, and division. It lost all of its equipment and almost half of its men. Army command selection boards in the past decade have sought to emphasize troop experience, but frequently officers with little knowledge of field operations are selected. The rapid deployment concept requires commanders who know what to do on the first day. The Army can no longer afford career equity as a consideration in selecting officers for command.


We develop numerical protocols for estimating the frame potential, the 2-norm distance between a given ensemble and the exact Haar randomness, using the QTensor platform. Our tensor-network-based algorithm has polynomial complexity for shallow circuits and is high performing using CPU and GPU parallelism. We apply the above methods to two problems: the Brown–Susskind conjecture, with local and parallel random circuits in terms of the Haar distance and the approximate k -design properties of the hardware efficient ans¨atze in quantum machine learning, which induce the barren plateau problem. We estimate frame potentials with these ensembles up to 50 qubits and k = 5, examine the Haar distance of the hardware-efficient ans¨atze, and verify the Brown–Susskind conjecture numerically. Our work shows that large-scale tensor network simulations could provide important hints toward open problems in quantum information science.


A simple quasi-static simulation model was developed to allow for a fast energetic analysis of hydraulic systems. The purpose of the analysis is the identification of the major sources of losses and of the most suitable approaches to save energy on a mobile crane. A comparison between a centralized and a decentralized hydraulic circuit was performed. Various load cycles were analyzed and it emerged that energy consumption and installed power can be reduced up to 30% and almost up to 50%, respectively, strongly depending on the load cycle. However, if pump operation is possible only above a certain speed, decentralization can lead to a deterioration of the energetic performance.


A high-throughput liquid-absorption preconcentrator (HTLAP) has been developed for rapid and/or ultrasensitive detection and analysis of trace air contaminants. Its advantages result from (a) a high air- sampling rate ({approximately}1 m{sup 3}/min), (b) an appreciable analyte collection efficiency (30--60%) for both vapors and aerosols, and (c) a small volume of liquid absorbent (collected at a rate of 0. 1--2 mL/min), all of which features combine to reduce the LDL (lower detection limit) of available analytical instrumentation by a factor of >1000 and/or to permit faster sampling and far more rapid on-site air monitoring than were previously practicable. LDLs of {approximately}1:10{sup 13} by volume of alkaloids have been achieved with liquid chromatography and electrochemical detection. The HTLAP is directly adaptable to most liquid-phase analyzers. The small rate of liquid collection is also compatible with available interfaces to mass spectrometers. Moreover, the HTLAP permits detection and quantitation of compounds that cannot be readily analyzed by conventional preconcentration and gas chromatography, e.g., polar or highly reactive analytes, such as primary aromatic amines or hydrazines. High selectivity and/or stabilization of labile of reactive analytes, or entrapment of volatile analytes, may be effected through a proper choice of liquid absorbent. 8 refs.


The purpose of the article is to conduct a historical and philosophical study of the methodological foundations of the implementation of the phenomenological method in the philosophy of law of the XX century on the example of the legal concepts of A. Reinakh and N.N. Alekseeva developed within the framework of continental tradition. The author defends the thesis about the methodological potential of the phenomenological method, the need to expand the research tools of legal science.


Fourteenth day embryos retinas from Sprague-Dawley rat were transplanted to the midbrain of newborn recipient rats. The distribution, appearing time and development of neurons exhibiting tyrosine hydroxylase immunoreactivity (TH- IR) in the retina of normal and transplanted rats from 10 to 34th day after transplantation were observed by immunocytochemistry. The results showed that transplanted retina could survive and differentiate continuously. The morphology and the localization of TH - IR neurons were the same of the transplanted and normal retina of the corresponding ages. In the 10th day after transplantation (corresponding of postnatal day 0, P0), the somata of TH-IR neurons in the transplanted retina were located in the neuroblastic layer and then appeared in the ganglion cell layer (GCL) by the P4,from P6 to P8 it was seen in inner neuclear layer (INL) and the GCL. By the postnatal day 12, the numbers of TH - IR cells were in the highest peak, mean value attained to 9-10 cells/mm2. After the peak stage, the number was decreased slightly to the same level as that in the normal rats. TH-IR neurons were of two morphological types: Somata of type ⅠTH-IR cells were larger in size and varied from 11 to 20 μm in diameter, Somata of type Ⅱ cells were smaller and varied from 5 to 10 μm. These cells sent their processes to the inner plexiform layer (IPL) and ramified in the sublayer 1 and 3. These results suggested that TH- IR neurons in the transplanted retina were amacrine cells. The developing procedure of TH-IR neurons in transplanted retina is largely similar to that in normal retina.


Objective To evaluate the value of pulmonary arteriography by16-slice spiral CT in diagnosing large area of acute pulmonary embolism.Methods This retrospective study was based on the clinical information of 37 patients who were given CT pulmonary arteriography and their diagnoses were confirmed as large area of acute pulmonary embolism clinically.Multiplanar Reconstructions(MPR),Maximum Intensity Projection(MIP),Volume Rendering(VR),were done on the basis of initial datum with the layer thickness of 0.625 mm and 1.250 mm,and the sensitivity were compared between different layer thickness and ways of reconstitution.Results 467 pulmonary arteries of each grade were involved.It showed that there was no significant difference in the sensitiveness between pulmonary arteries and embolus.Compared with MIP,MPR has higher sensitiveness in diagnosing embolus of deuto-segment of pulmonary arteries.But there was no significant difference in diagnosing the embolus from the arteries of pulmonary lobes and pulmonary segments.Conclusion Pulmonary arteriography by16-slice spiral CT can be used as the first choice in diagnosing large area of acute pulmonary embolism.


The termination of the process is a mechanism for procedural simplification has been fully regulated by the Criminal Procedure Code of 2004, but that is not new to our legal system and applied it to certain crimes-money launder in gand customs-. His addition to our criminal justice system responds to achieve greater speeding solving criminal cases because of the crisis being experienced by our justice system that results in an excessive increase in the caseload and criminal political guide lines from reforms Latin American process are from the 90'SA trend in the region. The incorporation of early termination should not only beseen from the dogmatic frame work but also from the practical, which is why we must pay attention to the numbers in the districts whereit has been applied and there by contribute to solutions that are not only in the paper.


Mirroring the increasing percentage of women in the professional workforce, the number of females in sales has dramatically risen in recent years. The growth of gender diversity within the world of B-to-B buying and selling requires an examination of potential gender effects associated with interpersonal communications. The latter influences perceptions of authenticity, which in turn, influence sales effectiveness. The current study uses an international sample to review interpersonal communication drivers that are associated with buyer perceptions of salesperson authenticity. Gender differences associated with the processing of body language and the spoken word are particularly examined. Results indicate that, in high-involvement sales situations, female perceptions of salesperson authenticity are highly influenced by salesperson body language. Male perceptions, conversely, are more heavily influenced by the spoken word. Implications for sales training are provided.


Based on the translation of the Greek text, we propose a reading of Pindar's Olympian 2 ‑ epincian song in honor of the tyrant Theron of Acragas for his victory in the chariot during the 76th. Olympiad in 476. B.C. ‑ highlighting the representations of post‑mortem destiny. The ode the oldest literary text which states the belief in the distribution of rewards and punishments after death and alludes to the doctrine of reincarnation, with the promise of bliss in the hereafter for those who avoided the practice of injustice for three consecutive cycles of existence. http://dx.doi.org/10.14195/2183-1718_66_3


Addendum.-Since the preparation of this paper, Oberman (1965) has collected 18 cystosarcomata and 14 pure mesenchymal tumours from the files of the University of Michigan Medical Center. He compared the original clinical and histological features with long-term follow-up and attempted to clarify the histological criteria of malignancy, but was not completely successful. Although one-third of his tumours were small, the majority presented as inordinately large masses. Simple mastectomy with removal of the pectoral muscles was recommended for all but the smallest tumours.


A high performance anion exchange chromatographic method was established for determination of taurine in drug and health food.The sample was directly separated on a Amino PAC PA-10 amino acid-separation column(2×250 mm) and detected by a pulse amperometric detector with Au as working electrode and Ag/AgCl as reference electrode.The calibration curve showed a good linearity for taurine concentration in the range of 1.0-50.0 mg/L with a detection limit of 0.088 mg/L.The intra-day relative standard derivations(RSDs) of retention time and peak area for determination of taurine standards were 0.36% and 4.8%,respectively,and the inter-day RSDs were 0.89% and 5.0%,respectively.Satisfactory results were obtained for analysis of drugs and health foods with the proposed method.Recoveries were 96%-115% and RSD of determination was 6.5%.The analysis procedure could be completely performed in 6 min and without derivation.The results obtained by this method were compared with those by Chinese national standard method(GB5009.169-2003),and there was no significant difference between two methods.Therefore,the method was rapid,sensitive and accurate,and was suitable for the determination of taurine in drugs and health food sample.


A Major task in any scientific investigation is the analysis of data to obtain results. Often there are large amounts of data, possibly from computer simulations or satellite observations of the Earth for example, and a new result can be buried in the columns of numbers like a needle in a haystack. But effective visualization tools are now available for exploring such large data sets and locating regions of interest, often interactively and in real time. Powerful desktop computers coupled with scientific visualization software allow the scientist to analyse his or her data in a powerful and flexible way.


that approximately 20 to 30 NMEs were approved each year from 2000 through 2013. Topical NMEs are developed at a much lower rate (0.9 NMEs per year). These findings are consistent with prior studies5 illustrating the underrepresentation of all drugs developed for primarily dermatological uses. Dermatological illnesses are not often fatal and may be considered lower priority by policymakers. Priority designations are assigned by the US Food and Drug Administration to new drugs that represent significant improvements over existing options and command more resource investment and regulatory attention. Only 5 total topical applications and 1 topical NME were given the priority review designation compared with 45% of all pharmaceutical and biological NMEs from 2000 through 2009.6 Beyond being considered lower priority, traditional metrics of blood and urine drug levels often do not apply to topical therapies. The lack of accepted surrogate end points may explain why the median approval time for topical medications is comparable with oral and intravenous therapies despite representing a lower systemic risk. Given these regulatory challenges, the low number of active companies with the necessary expertise to develop topical therapeutics likely contributes to the continued high cost and low availability of these drugs. Prior studies on medical innovation of devices, small molecules, and biotechnology suggest a multifaceted approach to spur future development.7 Strategies most likely to succeed include continued research funding to study diseases that are likely to be responsive to topical therapeutics and increased collaboration between academic and industry professionals. In the short term, adoption of more surrogate end points reduces the regulatory burden and may encourage companies to invest more resources in this underserved area.


The article is based on data from monitoring studies carried out in Tyumen region in 2003-2008 as part of the project "How are you, Russia?". Around 3,000 people were interviewed during this period. In addition, we have analysed the data obtained in the course of monitoring studies carried out by scientists of the Industrial University of Tyumen on behalf of the Committee for Nationalities Affairs of the Administration of Tyumen Region from 2012 to the present. The aim of the study is to examine the situation in the sphere of socio-political, interethnic and interreligious relations in Tyumen region. This toolkit will allow you to study the specifics of civil society in Tyumen region, make correct and timely management decisions, offer options for solving problems that arise in this area, improve the legislative framework, and promptly correct adopted management decisions.


Using method of the dielectric formalism the calculation of adhesion characteristics of the diamond-like carbon covers on some metal and semiconductor surfaces is carried out. Main characteristics of the diamond-like carbon material are considered on dependence of the temperature and concentration of the diamond phase.


Abstract Introduction Gln‐1062 (MEMOGAIN) is an intranasally administered lipophilic prodrug of galantamine. Based on high brain‐to‐blood concentrations observed in pre‐clinical studies, Gln‐1062 is expected to have superior cognitive efficacy compared to oral galantamine. Methods Forty‐eight healthy elderly subjects were randomized 12:4 to Gln‐1062 (5.5, 11, or 22 mg, b.i.d., for 7 days) or placebo. Safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics, and pharmacodynamics were assessed repeatedly. Pharmacokinetics were compared with 16 mg oral galantamine. Results Gln‐1062 up to 22 mg, b.i.d., was well tolerated. Gln‐1062 plasma concentrations increased immediately following dosing (median Tmax of 0.5 hour [range 0.5‐1.0]). Cmax and AUC0‐last increased in a dose‐linear manner over all three dose levels. Gln‐1062 was rapidly cleaved into galantamine. Gln‐1062 significantly improved adaptive tracking (sustained attention) with 1.95% (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.630‐3.279, P = 0.0055) compared to placebo after correction for individual baseline performance. Discussion Gln‐1062 was considered to be safe and caused fewer gastrointestinal side effects than oral galantamine. Gln‐1062 behaved pharmacokinetically as expected and improved performance on cognitive tests.


AbstractContinental temperature inversions significantly influence air quality, yet little is known about their variability in frequency and intensity with time or sensitivity to dynamical changes with climate. Inversion statistics for six upper-air stations in the American Southwest are derived for the period 1994–2008 from radiosonde data reported by the Global Telecommunication System (GTS) and National Climatic Data Center (NCDC), which use different significant level standards. GTS data indicate that low-level elevated inversions have increased in frequency at four of six sites, consistent with enhanced regional stagnation projected by models. NCDC data, in contrast, show remarkable declines in weak, near-surface inversions through 2001, indicating local surface conditions may counteract atmospheric dynamics in regulating inversion activity and air quality. To further test the sensitivity of inversion activity to climate, associations between wintertime inversion frequency and large-scale circulation...


This paper focuses on a clock generation scheme for implementation of GALS circuits on commercial FPGAs which are mostly synchronous. Previously overlooked timing problems of existing pausible clock generators are explored and a novel clock generator is introduced. To validate the proposed solution we implemented the clock generator and a simple port controller on FPGA. In addition, general design considerations to successfully implement a GALS circuit on FPGAs are discussed. At the end we present a GALS Reed-Solomon decoder as a practical example. The results show that the GALS approach can improve both power and performance of the system using different partitioning strategies.


Document clustering without any prior knowledge or background information is a challenging problem. In this paper, we propose SS-NMF: a semi-supervised non- negative matrix factorization framework for document clustering. In SS-NMF, users are able to provide supervision for document clustering in terms of pairwise constraints on a few documents specifying whether they "must" or "cannot" be clustered together. Through an iterative algorithm, we perform symmetric tri-factorization of the document- document similarity matrix to infer the document clusters. Theoretically, we show that SS-NMF provides a general framework for semi-supervised clustering and that existing approaches can be considered as special cases of SS-NMF. Through extensive experiments conducted on publicly available data sets, we demonstrate the superior performance of SS-NMF for clustering documents.


This work describes the two-phase flow characterization (air-water) in a small diameter tube (2.6mm) using two non-intrusive optical sensors (LED-LDR; LED IV phototransistor tube sensor) and a high speed video camera. Flow patterns of the mixture for different conditions of water flows and air volumes are identified, as well as the void fraction and bubble velocity. A methodology for processing sensors signals and images is proposed and allows the validation of the technique by comparing bubble areas. The lowest errors were for the plug pattern (0.02 to 4.49%) and the largest errors were the bubble pattern (-10.23 to -4.37%). The sensors were calibrated in relation to the mean void fraction given by the images and a good correlation was found with the sensor voltage. The response of tube sensor was superior to the LDR.


We obtain a complete topological classification of

 $k$

 -folding map-germs on generic surfaces in

 $\mathbb {R}^3$

 , discover new robust features of surfaces and recover, in a unified way, many of the robust features that were obtained previously by considering the contact of a surface with lines, planes or spheres.


Objective
To improve the utilization of operation rooms and to reduce the preoperative preparation time of elective surgery under general anesthesia as well as working efficiency.

Methods
Launched the QCC activity with the theme of "shortening the preoperative preparation time of elective surgery under general anesthesia" and investigated 4 673 surgery cases from May to November 2013. Analyzed the reasons, found out measures and took them into application.

Results
The mean time of preoperative preparation of elective surgery under general anesthesia reduced from 60.29 minutes to 39.10 minutes (P<0.05).

Conclusions
The application of QCC can reduce the preoperative preparation time of elective surgery under general anesthesia and improve the work efficiency, intelligence of members and their teamwork spirit.

Key words:
Operating nursing; Quality control circle; Preoperative preparation; Elective surgery


When our fears have all been serialized, our creativity censured, our ideas 'marketplaced,' our intelligence sloganized, our strength downsized, our privacy auctioned; when the theatricality, the entertainment value, the marketing of life is complete, we will find ourselves living not in a nation but in a consortium of industries, and wholly unintelligible to ourselves except for what we see as through a screen darkly.


Fuzzy logic is a promising way to represent non-traditional policies, like privacy, integrity and availability. Its vagueness and use of continuous data fit better with many non-military enterprise policy requirements. The theoretical foundation needed for development and assurance of computer systems has been worked out in an extensive literature, but more attention needs to be paid to its use in trusted systems. It is appropriate to use fuzzy logic for implementing aspects of the Multipolicy Paradigm.


The recent article by Tovar-Sanchez et al. (2006; hereafter referred to as TS2006), presents a new comprehensive dataset of trace metal concentrations in Trichodesmium sp. populations and aerosol samples from the western tropical (MP01, MP03, and MP08 samples) and eastern subtropical (COCA2 samples) Atlantic Ocean. In TS2006, the authors considered the atmospheric deposition of Saharan dust as probably the main source of trace metals for the surface tropical Atlantic, together with the riverine input of trace metals to the coastal ocean. TS2006 determined the trace metal composition in aerosol samples and Trichodesmium sp. colonies in both the eastern and the western tropical Atlantic, and used additional published data for riverine upstream concentrations of dissolved and particulate trace metals. The riverine and aerosol metal ratios were used to infer the sources of these metals in Trichodesmium sp. colonies in the tropical and subtropical Atlantic Ocean. TS2006 found that trace metal ratios measured in some samples of Trichodesmium sp. colonies (Mn : Al and Fe : Al) were more similar to the dissolved riverine trace metal ratios than to the aerosol metal composition, and concluded that the Amazon and Niger Rivers are seasonally the most important sources of trace metals for Trichodesmium sp. Although the new data presented in TS2006 are relevant for the characterization of metal composition in aerosol and phytoplankton, we present here seven fundamental points explaining why we fundamentally disagree with their conclusions.


Abstract Due to recent work of Archbold and others primal and Glimm ideals in C *-algebras have gained considerable attention. They turned out to be important in representing a C *-algebra as a maximal full algebra of cross sections and in the estimation of norms of inner derivations. In this paper we determine the topological spaces of minimal primal and of Glimm ideals in group C *-algebras for several classes of locally compact groups, including all amenable discrete groups, the classical motion groups, and certain semi-direct products of vector groups with the reals.


Abstract : The results of the present experiments clarify certain training issues regarding the relative contributions of presentation and testing to motor task performance. In doing so, they answer the Army's question of which training methods most effectively promote the highest levels of skill acquisition and retention. First, the results indicate that the goal of training should dictate the training method used. If the goal is a consistent and high level of acquisition, then training should emphasize repeated presentation or alternation of presentation with testing, with the latter method being preferred because of enhanced short- and long-term retention. If effective long-term retention is the goal, then training should emphasize repeated testing. Second, testing should not only be viewed merely as a means of evaluation, but also as a means of improving motor skill performance. And third, the enhanced retention associated with repeated testing can be achieved by merely changing the emphasis of training from presentation to testing. This could be done without the usual negative aspects of additional expenditures in training time, money and personnel.


This paper analyzed the repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic on religious practices of peasant subjects and rural communities in which students of the Degree in Rural Education of the Faculty of Education of the Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (LECampo/FaE UFMG) work and residency. This is an extract from an investigation that is linked to the extension project "The people of the countryside and the COVID-19 pandemic", created in April 2020. The methodological paths of the investigation consisted of the application of questionnaires with closed questions and open, answered by 36 students in the first stage (April/May 2020) and by 46 students in the second stage (July 2020). The data were analyzed by means of categorical content analysis. The results point to repercussions that relate to the following categories: a) socialization/sociability; b) interruption of activities in religious spaces; c) modes of remote participation in religious activities; d) hogar as a privileged place for remote religious practices; e) return from presential activities in collective religious spaces; f) relationship between pandemic, faith, punishment and divine protection.


Numerous audio systems for musicians are expensive and bulky. Therefore, it could be advantageous to model them and to replace them by computer emulation. Their nonlinear behavior requires the use of complex models. Recent progresses made in the nonlinear system identification field have improved the ability to emulate nonlinear audio systems such as tube guitar amplifiers. 1. Goal Typical guitar setups (see Fig. 1) should be replaced by computer emulations (see Fig. 2) to ease their displacements and to reduce their costs. The main challenge is the accuracy of such nonlinear emulations. Figure: A typical guitar setup 2. Approach overview Our method is based on machine learning techniques, a signal x[n] coming from a guitar is sent through the tube amplifier. The resulting signal y[n] is recorded and used to adapt the bias and weights of a Neural-Network such as the signal x[n] passing through the NeuralNetwork model (the prediction signal pred[n]) matches the target signal y[n]. The dataset containing the input/output signals used for this research is available at http:// www.montefiore.ulg.ac.be/services/acous/STSI/downloads.php. The measured accuracy is given by the following Performance Index: PI = √√√√∑Kk=0[yamp[k] − pred[k]]2 ∑K k=0 yamp[k]2 (1) Figure: Replacement of the guitar setup by computer emulation 3. LSTM method Long Short Term Memory (LSTM) cells are used in our network. An input buffer of size N is used to compute the output state of the LSTM Cell. The predicted output sample pred[n] is obtained from this state by adding a Fully Connected (FC) layer of Neurons. This predicted sample is then compared to the target sample y[n] to compute a cost function. The Back Propagation Through Time (BPTT) algorithm computes the weights and bias of the network to minimize this cost. LSTM Cell LSTM Cell FC x[0] x[N-1] ... pred[n] cell_state