The aim of this paper is to assess the use of RADARSAT data for rice field mapping and monitoring. Ground data have been collected over one of the most important irrigated flood plain of Indonesia and analyzed along with RADARSAT data. The radar backscatter coefficient /spl sigma//spl deg/ of rice fields appears to have a significant temporal variation. However, the dynamic is found lower than that of the ERS data due to a higher backscatter at HH than at VV polarization at early stages. At higher incidence angle (43/spl deg/ vs. 23/spl deg/), the /spl sigma//spl deg/ of the fine resolution F3 mode reaches a saturation level earlier compared to the standard resolution mode, which thus appears to be more appropriate for rice field mapping. The mapping result, based on the /spl sigma//spl deg/ temporal change, has been found to have an accuracy of 87% compared to the existing map. In order to follow the growing cycles and improve the management of irrigated perimeters, a methodology for Golongan mapping has also been developed. Despite a lower dynamic of RADARSAT data vs rice growth compare to ERS, the results appear promising and rice mapping operations using RADARSAT data can be foreseen.


A process for coating substrates by means of vacuum vapor deposition, characterized in that during the coating at least one electron beam (7) in a heating zone (21) is directed at the deposited film material and the heating zone (21) at least partially sweeps through appropriate beam deflection so that the layer material is selectively heated, wherein the heating zone (21) within the coating zone (19), ie that area of the substrate (13), in which the vaporous material is reflected, and / or an immediately subsequent neighboring zone (within a process opening 17).


This paper presents a novel, non-intrusive, non-contact object boundary mapping sensor using a Digital Micromirror Device (DMD) and real-time pixel processing. The presented sensor is ideal for use in environments where brightly illuminated or radiating objects are in a hazardous environment such as in environments with radiation, heat, cold, harmful machine parts, etc. Experimental results demonstrate the boundary mapping sensor for a rectangular target and a multi-square target illuminated by visible wavelengths.


A pull-based parallel video server system and method of implementation useful in an on-demand video system includes a plurality of slave admission schedulers operating in parallel with a master admission scheduler to back up the master admission scheduler that controls access to an array of pull-based video servers according to a protocol that accounts for jitter and loss of packets, as well as network delays. A transport protocol is provided that improves video data throughput under such conditions. To determine the architecture and functional requirements of the redundant admission schedulers, an analytical tool in the form of a performance model has been developed that incorporates network delays, delay jitters and packet losses on the communication links between the clients, schedulers and servers.


Sixty inmates at a detention centre near Toronto, Canada, have gone on hunger strike in protest at the Ontario provincial government's plans to ban smoking in …


Mutations of DNMT3A are one the most frequently observed alterations in AML patients. The DNMT3A R882 mutation appears to confer a dominant-negative loss-of function effect and changes the DNA binding preference according to recent studies. DNMT3A R882 mutations are also found at increasing frequency with age in healthy elderly populations and are one of the earliest pre-malignant alterations in the clonal evolution progression to leukemia. Studies have shown that DNMT3A mutations decrease overall DNA methylation and through less clear mechanisms, also impact the epigenetic landscape by effecting changes in histone acetylation. Here we investigated potential mechanisms by which loss of DNMT3A activity changes histone acetylation.
 DNMT3A binds with many proteins that regulate chromatin biology and gene transcription. Among those interacting proteins, we focused on the DNMT3A-HDAC interaction and their regulation of target gene suppression. To investigate whether there are differences in binding of wild-type vs. mutant DNMT3A to HDACs, we performed immunoprecipitation and Western blotting assays using Myc- tagged wild-type and R882 mutated DNMT3A. We found that DNMT3A R882 mutants showed reduced interaction with HDAC1 and 2. In addition, upon treatment with HDAC inhibitors (HDACi), DNMT3A mutant protein was more easily dissociated from HDAC1/2 than was wild-type DNMT3A. Intriguingly, covalent modification of DNMT3A R882 by SUMO1 protein was significantly enhanced relative to wild type DNMT3A. Together, we suggest that the weak complex formation between mutant DNMT3A and HDACs results from augmented SUMOylation of the R882 mutant.
 Because the DNMT3A R882 mutation reduces its methyl transferase activity, we investigated which genes would be upregulated from the DNMT3A repressor complex. To do this, we established isogenic TF-1 cell lines that harbor haploid DNMT3A knockout (DNMT3A+/-) using the Cripsr-Cas9 system. We also treated cells with HDACi and 5-azacytidine (5-aza) which inhibit HDAC and DNMT, respectively. Interestingly, we discovered that PD-L1 expression is induced by HDACi and 5-aza treatment. Chemical inhibition by 5-aza or genetic inhibition by knockout reduces DNMT3A activity and synergized with HDACi to increase PD-L1 expression. Flow cytometry analysis also demonstrated increased membrane PD-L1 expression in response to HDACi. We also found out that DNMT3A+/- resulted in higher Histone H3K27 acetylation, which is known as a gene activation mark. Higher H3K27 acetylation in DNMT3A+/- cell confirms the findings by other groups but the mechanisms by which this occurs are unknown. We suggest that haploinsufficiency of DNMT3A results in a reduced DNMT3A-HDAC interaction leading to higher H3K27 acetylation and increased PD-L1 expression.
 Our results also revealed that HDACi treatment induced cell cycle arrest, DNA damage and apoptosis at increasing levels in DNMT3A+/- cell. Even though the DNMT3A+/- TF-1 showed increased sensitivity to HDACi treatment, we observed a correlation of higher phosphor- ERK1/2 and PD-L1 levels in the surviving cells. The enhanced expression of PD-L1 and activation of ERK1/2 may explain in part how mutated DNMT3A contributes to drug resistance and immune checkpoint avoidance. Many oncology clinical trials are underway utilizing HDACi. However, the questions of which mutational backgrounds might be most sensitive to these agents and how to best combine them with other agents remain to be answered. To test whether reduced DNMT3A activity increases PD-L1 expression in vivo, we crossed floxed DNMT3A mice with Mx1-Cre mice. After 4 weeks of induction of Cre recombinase by injecting pIpC in the progeny carrying both genetically engineered changes, lineage depleted mouse BM cells were analyzed for PD-L1 expression using quantitative RT-PCR. BM cells derived from DNMT3A knockout mice showed increased expression of PD-L1 compared to wild-type mice. Treatment of these BM cells with an HDACi and/or 5-aza resulted in a synergistic induction of PD-L1 expression for the combination.
 Taken together, we suggest that mutant DNMT3A induces higher H3K27 acetylation along with PD-L1 expression due to a looser complex between HDAC1 and mutant DNMT3A. Therefore, we suggest that combined treatment with an HDACi and an immune checkpoint inhibitor targeting the PD-L1/PD-1 axis might be a promising strategy for treating DNMT3A mutant AML patients.

 Small: InSilico Medicine: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Pharos I, B & T: Consultancy, Research Funding.


We take a detailed look at the current InsurTech landscape from the angle of the academic management literature. Our main goals are to establish a common understanding of key concepts, to facilitate the navigation of this rapidly evolving sector, and to provide an intuitive toolkit for an assessment of the entrants' disruptive potential as well as the selection of adequate response strategies by incumbents. Based on a threedimensional taxonomy, we screen the existing InsurTech startup range. Two aspects stand out in this regard. First, although the vast majority of activities still focuses on the distribution part of the industry ecosystem, full-stack InsurTech risk carriers are starting to become more commonplace.

Second, we hardly observe any real game-changing business model innovations yet, as many existing startups are essentially pepping up classical industry approaches with the patterns "e-commerce" or "digitization". Consistent with this observation, most entrants are not on a disruptive trajectory. Instead, they can be assigned to the category "enablers", suggesting "cooperation" as the incumbents' reaction of choice for the majority of currently prevailing scenarios. These findings are confirmed by a comprehensive survey among startups and incumbents. Several directions for the future evolution of the sector are plausible. We identify a number of powerful business model recombinations that are either already launching or clearly visible on the horizon. The largest threats are likely to arise from out-of-the box approaches. One example are digital insurers that add significant value for the customer through personalized coverage based on a comprehensive individual risk assessment. Similarly, genuine peer-to-peer concepts, which enable risk transfer directly to the capital markets, could call the primordial relevance of insurance companies into question and therefore lead to outright disintermediation. Consequently, the still relatively comfortable situation for incumbents that currently prevails may not last for long.


The physicochemical complexity of micropollutants such as pesticides requires the use of advanced technologies of drinking water treatment. The main objective of this study was to evaluate the removal of carbofuran using commercial nanofiltration (NF90 - DowFilmtec(r)) and reverse osmosis (HR - Koch Membrane Systems(r)) membranes in a bench-scale system (batch operation). The effect of feed matrix quality (ultrapure water, raw water and pretreated water) with carbofuran (50 µgL-1) and the applied pressure (8 and 15 bar for NF90 and 15 and 30 bar for HR) were studied. For NF90, with ultrapure water matrix, the removal efficiencies were lower (89.4%), but the permeate flow was higher (132.1 Lm-2h-1) than those obtained with the raw water (98.4% - 94.7 Lm-2h-1) and pretreated water (95.2% - 95.3 Lm-2h-1) to 15 bar of pressure. For HR membrane relatively higher removals were observed for 30 bar of pressure for the three matrices, with a better behavior for raw water (99.7% - 49.7 Lm-2h-1). In accordance to the methodology adopted (low separation time in batch with recirculation), it can be concluded, therefore, that the pretreatment of raw water did not caused significant difference in carbofuran removal and did not influenced the permeate flux.


This paper presents the application of cesium-source-type liquidometer in realizing automatic steel level control and expounds the working principle of the device.Automatic steel level control can stabilize steel level and withdrawing speed,improve the quality of strands and cut down the use of protecting slag.


The main goal of this paper is to generalize several results concerning cardinal invariants to the statements about the associated families of sets. We also discuss the relationship between the additive properties of sets and their Borel images. Finally, we present estimates for the size of the smallest set which is not strongly meager.


In work the methodology of drawing up the rating of the best universities in the world from Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) is analyzed. Comparison of leading higher education institutions with Russian universities and Russian higher education institutions among themselves is carried out. Indicators of MSU rating are provided and analyzed.


I describe the advantage of using singular value decomposition as a diagnostic tool for exploring the potential and limitations of seismic data. Using stellar models coupled with the expected errors in seismic and complementary data we can predict the precision in the stellar parameters. This in turn allows us to quantify if and to what extent we can distinguish between various descriptions of the interior physical processes. This method can be applied to a wide range of astrophysical problems, and here I present one such example which shows that the convective core overshoot parameter can be constrained with one identified mode if the pulsating component is in an eclipsing binary system.


The utility model discloses a PM2.5 intelligent monitor comprising a PM2.5 sensor, a humidity sensor, a temperature sensor, a methane sensor, a formaldehyde sensor, a microprocessor, an LCD display unit, a Bluetooth module, an alarm module, and a power module for supplying power to the above modules. The PM2.5 sensor, the humidity sensor, the temperature sensor, the methane sensor, and the formaldehyde sensor are connected with the microprocessor. The microprocessor is connected with the Bluetooth module, the LCD display unit, and the alarm module. The PM2.5 intelligent monitor integrates multiple functions. When monitored data exceeds set values, the alarm module gives an alarm signal in order to prompt a user to take protection measures. Further, the low-power-consumption Bluetooth module is connected and communicated with a mobile terminal or household gateway such that remote monitoring is achieved and wireless software upgrade of the monitor is achieved by the mobile terminal. The utility model also provides an environment monitoring system.


Introduction: Electromagnetic radiation has irreparable biological effects on various tissues including testis. The use of antioxidants can greatly reduce the effects of this radiation and has anti-oxidant properties but their mechanism is not clear. Therefore, in the present study, protective effects of herbal extract of polygonum aviculare which are rich


Nowadays, non-linier loads show declining effect for power quality in electric power system that be concerned by engineering and scientist community. In order to prohibit harmonic from deflate the power quality in power system caused by non linear loads, detecting harmonic for harmonic mitigations becomes critical issue. This paper presents an effective procedure based on levenberg marquardt backpropagation neural network is offered to find harmonic of the measured signal that is an input harmonics content sampling signal. The result from neural network harmonic detection method are compare to Fast Fourier Transform algorithm. To validate the proposed algorithm compared under varying neurons in hidden layer. The result show that the proposed algorithm has good accuracy for harmonic detection on the first harmonic signal with 5 neurons has average 0,00083 percent and 10 neurons has average 0,00033 percent and in the second harmonic signal with 5 neurons has average 0,00005 percent and 10 neurons has average 0 percent.


This paper presents a game based learning content for learning principles of finding prime numbers which called 'PrimeMiner'. PrimeMiner is a new type learning content that combines characteristics of a puzzle game and principles of the prime numbers. Learners can improve interest and elevated concentrations on learning through playing the game. While learners play this game they can learn the principles of prime numbers. In this paper, we introduce to the game principle and the internal algorithms of PrimeMiner, and describe how to learner can learn about prime numbers through PrimeMiner.


Abstract Carbon nanofibers (CNFs) were modified via plasma polymerization using methyl methacrylate (MMA) as monomer and used as reinforcements for polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA). Conditions of the MMA plasma process in a specially designed reactor and plasma-polymerized methyl methacrylate (PPMMA) films were studied. The study involved varying the process time at a constant plasma power of 100 W and a constant MMA flow rate (0.15 cm3 per min). Nanocomposites of PPMMA-coated CNFs and PMMA were prepared with 0.5, 1.0, 2.0, 4.0 and 8.0 %wt of treated CNFs. The effect of the MMA plasma on the CNFs was analyzed. Dispersion of the modified CNFs was evaluated in several solvents. The results confirmed a change in hydrophobicity of the treated CNFs. The inclusion of treated CNFs exhibited substantial impact on the properties of the PMMA/CNF nanocomposites. The thermal and mechanical properties of the PMMA/CNF composites were examined. It was found that the thermal stability increased by about 8% and the Young´s modulus significantly enhanced by as much as 178% when compared to PMMA with no CNFs.


DNA quantification is a routine yet important procedure that determines the efficacy of long-term sample storage and further manipulations with the sample. There are a few well-established methods for measuring DNA concentrations. However, it still not fully clear how concordant their results are. The aim of this work was to measure DNA concentrations in a set of samples using different quantification methods and to compare the obtained values. In 2 independent experiments, a total of 100 genomic DNA samples were analyzed using 3 different DNA quantification methods, including spectrophotometry (NanoDrop), fluorometry (Qubit) and real-time PCR (Quantifiler). The obtained relative concentrations demonstrated an excellent correlation (the correlation coefficients were as high as 0.98 to 0.99). However, the absolute concentrations showed a considerable variation and even a twofold difference. Spectrophotometry yielded the highest concentrations, whereas fluorometry yielded the lowest. The real-time PCR results were intermediate. The differences were more pronounced for the samples with low DNA concentrations. We recommend that such differences should be accounted for when estimating DNA concentrations using an arsenal of different quantification methods.


Reaction Kinetics of Hydroxyl Radical with Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon Precursors JuddhaThapa The incomplete combustion of fuels inside of an internal combustion engines generates unwanted byproducts such as soot. Because of health and environmental concerns, soot formation has been a very active area of research in combustion chemistry. However, the mechanism of formation of soot is still not well understood. It has been proposed that the soot formation is initiated by the reaction of small free radicals with abundant hydrocarbon fuel molecules producing aromatic ring structures at high temperatures. These aromatic ring structures further react to form polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) that are stable at the high temperatures of combustion environments. These PAHs collide and stick with each other forming dimers, trimers, tetramers, etc. Eventually such stable PAHs-stabilomers condense and transform into solid particles (soot). To minimize pollutants and increase the efficiency of engines, it is very important to understand the chemistry of the elementary reactions at the molecular level. The reactions of hydroxyl free radicals with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon precursor molecules are studied experimentally in a quasi-static gas cell using laser pump-probe spectroscopy. Hydroxyl free radicals are generated by pulsed laser photolysis (PLP) using the third (355 nm) or fourth (266 nm) harmonic of Nd:YAG laser and their concentration is monitored as a function of laser delay-time using a frequency-doubled tunable dye laser perpendicular to the photolysis laser. The off-resonance fluorescence from the hydroxyl free radicals at 310 nm is collected by a photomultiplier tube (PMT) placing it orthogonal to the photolysis and probe laser beams. The reactions of hydroxyl radicals (OH) with phenylacetylene and fulvenallene have been investigated from 298 K to 450 K. The concentrations of the hydrocarbon reactants are measured using FTIR spectroscopy and UV absorption. The room temperature reaction rate of the OH + phenylacetylene reaction is measured to be 8.75(±0.73)×10 cms. The reaction rate coefficient is pressure and temperature independent over the 1-7.5 Torr and 298-423 K pressure and temperature ranges. The rate coefficient is larger than that expected based solely on association with the aromatic ring, which suggests reaction with the triple bond. For the OH + fulvenallene reaction, the room temperature rate coefficient is found to be 8.8(±1.7)×10 cms with the negative temperature dependence. The comparison of the experimental rate coefficients with the calculated abstraction rate coefficients suggests that over the experimental range, association of hydroxyl radical (OH) to fulvenallene plays the significant role toward the formation of PAH precursors.


Early applications of speech searches have been in the areas of surveillance, and military command and control. In these applications, the search algorithms are executed in real time. Other approaches include a preprocessing step and produce results only after the preprocessing is completed. Several different methods have commonly been applied to the speech retrieval problem. One approach is to employ a Large Vocabulary Continuous Speech Recognizer (LVCSR, also known as "speech-to-text"). Speech is converted to text that can be searched very quickly for occurrences of a specified keyword or keywords. However, there are significant problems with this method. Since the outputted transcripts are a concatenation of words in the recognizer's dictionary, words outside that lexicon will not be detected. This results in a closed vocabulary. The addition of new vocabulary requires reprocessing, which is difficult to accomplish faster than real time and therefore incurs significant overheads for large archives. Also, word error rates are unacceptably high (often above 40%).


Abstract A theoretical investigation is carried out to analyze the oscillatory flow of second-grade fluid under the periodic pressure gradient in a long tube of isosceles right triangular cross section in the present study. The analytical expressions for the velocity profile and phase difference are obtained. The numerical solutions are calculated by using the finite difference method with Crank–Nicolson (C–N) scheme. In comparison with the Newtonian fluid (λ = 0), the effects of retardation time, Deborah number and Womersley number on the velocity profile and phase difference are discussed numerically and graphically. For smaller Womersley number, the behavior of second-grade fluid is dominated by viscosity. For larger Womersley number α = 20, the flow becomes more difficult to be generated under periodic pressure gradient with increasing retardation time. Furthermore, the analytical expressions of the mean velocity amplitude and phase difference are given explicitly for discussing.


Abstract COVID-19 is a disease caused by the new coronavirus, which has been spreading rapidly all over the world. There is no exact drug yet for the treatment of COVID-19 disease, and its treatment is tried to be provided with existing drugs. However, new drug research is being carried out to treat this disease. Topological indices are numerical descriptors based on the molecular graph of the molecular structure. Topological indices are used in modeling to predict the physicochemical properties and biological activities of molecules in the quantitative structure-property relationship (QSPR), quantitative structure-activity relationship (QSAR) studies. In this study, remdesivir, chloroquine, hydroxychloroquine, theaflavin, thalidomide, arbidol, lopinavir, ritonavir drugs used in the treatment of COVID-19 patients are studied. The QSPR model is designed using some degree-based indices, Mostar-type indices, and distance-based topological indices to predict the various physicochemical properties of these drugs. The relationship analyses between the physicochemical properties and the topological indices in the QSPR model are done by using the curvilinear regression method.


danian monarchy in 1957, it was contributing to the ouster of a pro-Nasser prime minister and vitiating the principle of self-determination, but its action may also have prevented Israeli intervention to preserve a buffer on a hostile frontier. This case is illustrative of many such problems faced by American policy makers that might have been treated as tough dilemmas rather than "lost opportunities." Even so, the author's key point, set forth on the book s dustjacket, remains sound: that "America's inability to come to terms with Arab nationalism . . . still casts a shadow over the more promising I?] contemporary efforts to establish peace in the Middle East." Although Meyer does not say it, this study provides a sound basis for regarding the continuing Camp David "peace process" as little more than shoveling sand in the eye of a hurricane.


The dentigerous cyst represents 33% of all odontogenic cysts. It is generally associated with impacted tooth and develops after the complete formation of the crown. A dentigerous cyst encloses the crown of an unerupted tooth, attaching to the neck of the tooth and grows by expansion of its follicles. The World Health Organization classifies it as a developmental cyst. It develops in response to an accumulation of fluids either between the reduced enamel epithelium and enamel or between the layers of the enamel organ. The mechanism of development of dentigerous cyst has until now remained unclear. It has been recently been reported that the inflammation progressing from the root apex of the deciduous teeth brings development of the cyst around the unerupted permanent teeth. This hypothesis suggests that deciduous teeth treated with root canal therapy or with severe caries may potentially become involved in development of dentigerous cysts. Key words ; Follicular cyst, Developmental cyst


is prose texts except in the case of Paz, and so it may be unfair to point out this gap, but it exists nevertheless. Surely the great literary users of the theme of memory, T.S. Eliot, Ezra Pound, and even Sylvia Plath, ought to figure in a study of the phenomenon in 20thcentury literature? Smoothly argued and convincingly illustrated with passages from texts, Memory in Literature is a useful, erudite and compelling study of one of the oldest themes in literary writing.


In various countries, many fatal health problems have been reported due to high intake of caffeine‐rich energy drinks, tablets, and powders. In patients with acute caffeine poisoning, determination of blood caffeine concentration is an important yet difficult task. We aimed to assess whether the presence of glucose and ketone bodies in urine reflected the blood caffeine concentration in patients with acute caffeine poisoning.


Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are leading causes of morbidity and mortality for diabetic patients. Endothelial cell dysfunction is a hallmark of CVD. Intracellular Ca2+ concentration ([Ca2+]i) may regulate endothelial cell function. Here, we investigated the effects of hyperglycemia on [Ca2+]i and a role for protein kinase C (PKC) in regulating [Ca2+]i in the human endothelial cell line, EA.hy926. Cells were cultured in normal (5.5 mM, NG) or high (25 mM, HG) glucose media then treated with either a) vehicle (0.1% DMSO), b) LY341684 (selective PKCβ inhibitor, 100 nM, 24h), or c) phorbol 12‐myristate 13‐acetate (PMA, PKC activator, 200 nM, 4h). Using a spectrofluorometer, [Ca2+]i in cells loaded with Fura 2‐AM was monitored in the absence of extracellular Ca2+. Thapsigargin (SERCA inhibitor, 1 μM,) induced a transient increase in [Ca2+]i which was similar among the experimental groups of cells. However, when 1.5 mM Ca2+ was added, Ca2+ entry was significantly increased in cells cultured in HG compared to NG. This elevated Ca2+ entry in HG‐treated cells was attenuated by treatment with LY341684. Cells treated with PMA in NG showed an increased Ca2+ entry similar to cells cultured in HG. Our results suggest that hyperglycemia enhanced Ca2+ entry in endothelial cells is PKCβ dependent. Thus, PKCβ inhibitors may restore normal endothelial cell function under hyperglycemic conditions. Supported by NIH/NIDCR.


Semiconductor industry has explored various novel device structures to extend CMOS scaling. Circular geometry devices have been recently proposed to improve immunity to short channel effects without compromising planarity. In this work, one such circular geometry device called RingFET is considered and its performance enhancement through Lightly Doped Drain (LDD) implantation is sought using 3D TCAD simulations. RingFET has a circular gate geometry, which has better short channel immunity compared to conventional MOSFET structure mainly because of the elimination of side interface regions, that gives rise to trap induced leakages. This reduces the OFF current consequently, making RingFET better in the short channel regime. RingFET structure has a planar geometry but differs only lithographically with respect to MOSFET. This makes RingFET an interesting device to explore. The impact of LDD and its variants are studied with respect to DC and AC analysis using 3D TCAD simulations. The parameters under consideration are ON current, OFF current, Ion/Ioff ratio, sub-threshold swing (SS), transconductance (gm) and unity gain frequency (fT).


Medicinal plants are small natural factories that produced valuable secondary metabolites which can be used for the treatment of various ailments. The present study was carried out to investigate the Ethnobotanical uses of medici- nal plants by the locals of Madyan valley, District Swat. During the studies 100 plants of the area were found to be di u- retic, tonic, astringent and carminative, purgative, laxative, stimulant, narcotic, expectorant, anthel mintic, emetic, demul- cent, antipyretic, antiseptic, sedative, aphrodisiac, diaphoretic, emollient, anticancer, antispasmodic, aromatic. Some plants are specially used for respiratory diseases, stomach diseases, fever, skin diseases, diarrhea, dysentery, he art diseas- es, jaundice, toothache, kidney diseases, hypertension, rheumatism and epilepsy .


Using a relativistic quark model approach that successfully described flavored meson systems, electromagnetic form factors and structure functions are calculated for the low mass baryons. The observed proton, neutron and lambda moments, rms radii and form factors are all reproduced and predictions are made for other baryon observables which will be measured at CEBAF. Most significantly, by properly including the quark potential energy the long standing neutron to proton structure function ratio anomaly for x∼1 has been resolved.


Objective To evaluate the effects of action research as an intervention approach to reducing nurse's job burnout.Methods According of the steps of Lewin's action research,the cycle of action research including diagnosing,action planning,action taking,evaluating,specifying learning was applied to reduce nurses' job burnout.The other key feature of the activity was the partnership collaborative element.Results One year later,the nurses' job burnout and perception to job stressors decreased significantly,but low personal accomplishment was still popular among nurses in the interview.Conclusion Action research is suitable as a paradigm for the intervention of nurses' job burnout,particularly because it is a more holistic ap-proach that can be tailored to fit the needs of specific hospital.


2059 Background: Identification of circulating markers that predict tumor response or reflect progression is of crucial importance when using antiangiogenic agents. However, to date, no such parameters have been identified particularly for bevacizumab, for which, recently, increasing data have supported a role in patient with recurrent malignant glioma.

METHODS
Serial serum levels of VEGF, VEGFR2, FGF, SDFα, urokinase plasminogen activator (uPA), plasminogen activator inhibitor type I (PAI-1), and metalloprotesase type 9 (MMP9) were determined in a cohort of 32 patients treated with bevacizumab and irinotecan for recurrent malignant glioma. Samples were collected at the start of treatment and then at 4 weeks intervals until progression. Serum levels were measured using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Progression was defined by MacDonald's criteria, modified by integrating increase of infiltration as measured on MRI by Flair sequence. All subjects were followed for PFS and OS. Cox model analysis is used for correlation between markers and clinical outcome.

RESULTS
This preliminary analysis is restricted to pre-treatment (D0; n = 32), day 30 (D30; n = 27), and at progression time (DP; n = 15). None of the pretreatment serum level (n = 32) significantly affect PFS or OS although uPA and MMP9 tend to influence OS. Decrease of median level of all serum markers except PAI1 and VEGFR2 is observed from D0 to D30 under bevacizumab therapy, but only uPA and FGF variations tend to impact clinical outcome. From D30 to DP, increase of uPA is correlated to PFS (p = 0.028) while the observed increased of FGF and SDFα fail to reach significant correlation to PFS and OS.

CONCLUSIONS
Increase of uPA serum level appear to be correlated to disease progression for patients with recurrent malignant glioma treated with bevacizumab and may reflect the invasive phenotype of glioma progression. Serum uPA may help in assessing treatment response under bevacizumab and warrant further studies. No significant financial relationships to disclose.


This symposium examines the emerging trend in performance management practices to do away with formal numerical or letter performance ratings. Performance management appears to be at the beginning ...


The generation of significant amounts of precipitation divides into the two process types 'convection' and 'advection'. The weather situations for convection on the north, within and on the south of the Alps are identical,independent from the mountains. The basic characteristics for precipitation of a convection cell are high amounts within short duration on a limited area. The Alps become apparent as climate barrier between the moderate cool north and the Mediterranean subtropical south through clearly different precipitation amounts. Advective heavy precipitation, however, occur with different weather situations. On the south and in the Alps, they are restricted to patterns with strong connection between the circulation and the mountain range. On the north, particularly the conditions within the atmosphere generates heavy precipitation. Accordingly, the circulation patterns are varied. Precipitation systems in a region cause varying temporal and spatial courses. Therefore, identical precipitation amounts for a specific time interval may represent different return periods. Runoff assessments only restricted to precipitation amounts of specific return periods are insufficient.


Tractography is an important way to get insight into white matter of brain. Many techniques like the promising UKF tractography have been developed for this purpose. In this paper, four measure metrics including spatial metric, tangent metric, curve metric, and Hausdorff distance, are used to evaluate and compare the accuracy of UKF tractography with different tensor models. And a synthetic diffusion-weighted imaging dataset and a real brain dataset are used to test the tractography methods. Quantitative and qualitative test results indicate that UKF tractography based on two-tensor model needs to be further improved in accuracy though it has advantages in processing cross fibers. This is a helpful hint for future study of UKF tractography.


The Westinghouse AP600 nuclear generating plant uses a passive containment cooling system to remove energy released to the containment building following a loss-of-coolant accident or main steam line break. This system uses natural draft air cooling and the evaporation of a water film from the outside of the steel containment shell to transfer heat from the containment vessel to the environment. Tests, performed at the Boundary Layer Wind Tunnel Laboratory at the University of Western Ontario, were designed to test the aerodynamic response of air flow past the AP600 containment under a variety of conditions. It is seen that the model-to-full-scale aerodynamic response is insensitive to model size in the range tested. The effect of the wind-induced, oscillating inlet-minus-chimney pressures (with a near zero mean) is to slightly increase heat removal rates from the containment atmosphere and, hence, slightly decrease the calculated containment pressures for the LOCA.


Mike Hatch Associate Editor for Environmental geophysics firstname.lastname@example.com Welcome readers to this issue's column on geophysics applied to the environment. We are now on Scene 4 of the reminiscences by Niels Christensen on his career at Aarhus University and that group's progress into and through electrical geophysics starting in the 1970s through to the 1990s and beyond. There are no "geophysical war stories" in this one, just an interesting recounting of the challenges of the times. Over to Niels...


We read with interest the recently published paper by Truini and colleagues (1) describing the peculiar in vitro activity of afatinib on non–small cell lung cancer cell lines harboring the EGFR L747-A750>P mutation. We reviewed our patient database and found 6 cases out of 265 with this specific EGFRmutation (2.2%), similar to the prevalence reported in the paper by Truini and colleagues. Here we report two of those cases, one treated in first-line with afatinib and the other with erlotinib followed by osimertinib at progression. A 68-year-old lady, never smoker, was diagnosed with stage IV lung adenocarcinoma in 2015. We started first-line treatment with afatinib with partial response (PR; only a small residual lesion in the site of primary right lower lobe tumor, complete response on the other sites;Fig. 1)with a progressionfree survival (PFS) of 48 months. Treatment is still ongoing. A 52-year-old never smoker woman was diagnosed with metastatic lung adenocarcinoma in October 2017. First-line treatment with


An analytic representation of finite quantum systems with positions and momenta in is considered. Quantum states are represented by analytic functions on a torus, which have exactly d zeros. The d paths ζn(t) of the zeros on the torus, as the system evolves in time, define the quantum system. Special cases where of the zeros follow the same path are also studied. The general ideas are demonstrated with several examples.


A new immobilization technique suitable for coupled enzymes requiring cofactors was established. This is a droplet gel‐entrapping method in which many small droplets including the enzymes are fixed in the gel. The first emulsion was prepared by mixing of a solution containing thermostable malate dehydrogenase (MDH) and formate dehydrogenase (FDH) with benzene containing a surfactant. The first emulsion was added to a solution containing polyethyleneglycol(#4000)diacrylate and N,N′‐methylenebisacrylamide to prepare the second emulsion (w/o/w). After the second emulsion was gelled by addition of potassium persulfate and 3‐dimethylaminopropionitrile, the benzene was removed. The expressed MDH and FDH activities of the MDH–FDH immobilized gel were 7.1 and 13.9% of the initial activities, respectively. The Km values of the gel were 0.60mM for formate and 1.5μM for NAD, respectively. The Km for formate and NAD were found to be extremely low. By using the column packed with 30 g gel having the MDH activity of 41.7 units and the FDH activity of 11.1 units, 13.8mM oxalacetate was completely converted to malate at 30°C. The malate production rate was not affected by the concentration of more than 50mM formate, more than 2mM oxalacetate, and more than 0.1 mM NAD, respectively. Long‐term malate production was demonstrated at 30°C by passing the substrate solution containing the two substrates and NAD through the column. The maximum conversion ratio (7.8%) was obtained at the fifth day, and 83% of maximum productivity was maintained even after 3 weeks. The expressed FDH activity at the fifth day was calculated to be 20.5% of the initial activity.


Istituto Chimica dei Materiali CNR, C.P. IO, 00016 Monterotondo Stazione, Roma, Italy b Fondazione Ugo Bordoni, via B. Castiglione 59, Roma 00142, Italy Received 21 January 1993; accepted for publication 11 May 1993 The width of the interfaces between adjacent sublayers in an In,Ga,_,As/GaAs superlattice grown by MBE was studied by means of small-area XPS combined with Ar+ ion sputtering. An experimental depth resolution of about 4 nm has been achieved in the profiles of the peaks of X-ray-excited photoelectrons and Auger electrons. A growth asymmetry of In,Ga,_,As/GaAs and GaAs/In,Ga, _,As interfaces has been detected in the obtained depth profiles. Only a negligible broadening of the heterointer- faces was observed up to the profiling depth of about 200 nm. The influence of casual effects of the ion sputtering on the experimental interface width is discussed briefly.


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Gene therapy for the β-globin disorders β-thalassemia (β-thal) and sickle cell disease (SCD) is now a fast-moving field. The momentum was generated in 2000 when May et al demonstrated that in contrast to oncoretroviral vectors, lentivirus vectors containing human globin genes


Abstract Mental health services have been given a low priority within the health care budget. In particular, mental health and psychiatric services for children have been a largely neglected area. Primary mental health care services in Gauteng are virtually non-existent. Secondary services are limited and existing tertiary services are under-resourced. In order to develop child mental health and psychiatric services we need to expand and develop the service at all three levels. In addition to the need to create more posts in child mental health and psychiatry, there is an even greater need for training in these areas. This paper presents a brief overview of existing services in Gauteng. It contains proposals for developing these services together with a description of the development of a training programme for nurses working in child psychiatry and child mental health. It is hoped that this programme will expand into an ongoing, recognised course to train those people who are coordinating child mental he...


Location-based services have received increasing attention in recent years. In location-based services, wireless broadcast is an efficient method to support the large number of users. In wireless broadcast environments, existing research proposed to support range search and k-nearest neighbor search, may tune into unnecessary indexes or data objects. In this paper, we propose a novel spatial query processing using histogram that supports location-based services in wireless broadcast environments. Spatial query processing using histogram summarizes the map information of spatial data in divided space. Therefore we reduce the energy consumption and access latency using spatial indexes that based on the Hilbert Curve. This paper also presents search algorithms for two common spatial queries, window queries and k-nearest neighbor queries. The simulation results show that our methods outperform the existing algorithm based on the Hilbert curve on the air.


We report on the detection of a new low-mass stellar companion of HD 75289, a GOV star that harbors one known radial-velocity planet (Udry et al. 2000, A&A, 356, 590). Comparing an image from 2MASS with an image we obtained with Soil at the ESO 3.58 m NTT three years later, we detected a co-moving companion located 21.465 ± 0.023 arcsec (621 ± 10 AU at 29 pc) east of HD 75289. A second SofI image taken 10 months later confirmed the common proper motion of HD 75289 B with its host star. The infrared spectrum and colors of the companion are consistent with an M 2 to M 5 main-sequence star at the distance of HD 75289. No further (sub)stellar companion down to H = 19 mag could be detected. With the SofI detection limit we can rule out additional stellar companions beyond 140 AU and substellar companions with masses m > 0.050 M ○. from 400 AU up to 2000 AU.


Political, historical and literary significance of Aristophanes' Frogs in the new modern performance acted in the Greek theatre of Siracuse during the theatrical season INDA 2017.


Our paper contributes new facets to the discussion on the equivalence problem for E-pattern languages (also referred to as extended or erasing pattern languages). This fundamental open question asks for the existence of a computable function which, given any pair of patterns, decides whether or not they generate the same language. Our main result disproves Ohlebusch and Ukkonen's Conjecture (Theoretical Computer Science 186, 1997) on the equivalence problem; the respective argumentation - that largely deals with the nondeterminism of pattern languages and, thus, yields new insights into combinatories on morphisms in free monoids - is restricted to terminal alphabets with at most four distinct letters. Additionally and with regard to larger alphabets, we examine the standard proof technique which in previous works has successfully been applied to restricted variants of the equivalence problem, and we show that it has to be adapted in an unexpected manner if the full class of E-pattern languages is considered. This necessity of modifying the analysed method is caused by a strongly counter-intuitive phenomenon concerning the expressive power of injective morphisms.


Rural mobility research has been left aside in favor of urban transporta
 tion. Rural areas? low demand, the distance among settlements, and an older
 pop ulation on average make conventional public transportation inefficient
 and costly. This paper assesses the contribution that on-demand mobility has
 the potential to make to rural areas. First, demand-responsive
 transportation is described, and the related literature is reviewed to
 gather existing system configurations. Next, we de scribe and implement a
 proposal and test it on a simulation basis. The results show a clear
 potential of the demand-responsive mobility paradigm to serve rural demand
 at an acceptable quality of service. Finally, the results are discussed, and
 the issues of adoption rate and input data scarcity are addressed.


Different muscle groups function in synchrony and coordination to perform a given task, wherein the activity of one muscle group closely affects that of another [1,3]. Osteoarthritis (OA), a chronic joint disease, is the most common musculoskeletal complaint worldwide characterized by pain, disability and progressive loss of function. It is associated with significant health and welfare costs [2,7]. The knee is the most frequently affected lower limb joint and prevalence of knee OA increases with age [6]. Several studies have shown that muscle recruitment patterns and neuromuscular efficiency are different for patients with OA compared to normal controls during simple closed chain activities [4,5]. However, no studies have investigated frontal plane control or the modulation of control due to, for example, a change in time or distance in OA [5,6]. This paper reports the results of a pilot study with healthy subjects to determine muscle activation patterns (electromyogram, EMG), and modulation of these patterns, in a frontal plane step initiation task.


Background: District of Ciamis is one of the disaster-prone areas in Indonesia with a high level of vulnerability to natural disasters, landslides, fl oods, hurricanes, and earthquakes. Disaster management requires the involvement of a wide range of institutions. This study aims to describe the health care system during disaster response with a case study in the district of Ciamis, West Java province. Method: The study is a qualitative research, conducted in 2011. Collecting data by in- depth interviews, focus group discussions, and secondary data study. Informants as key person come from health care units (Primary Health Care, hospitals) and agencies at district of Ciamis such as BPBD, Polres, Kodim, Dinsos, PMI, Dinkes. Results: The result shows that the major weakness of the current health care system in the District of Ciamis emergency response is in the budget, resources and logistics. There is a good coordination among health sector, but other sectors are still lacking. Recommandations: It is recommended that health sector improve coordination with relevant institution in disaster management, advocacy to executives, improving human health and socialization skills and disaster preparedness training to the community in disaster-prone areas.


Abstract The third instar larvae of transgenic Drosophila were allowed to feed on the diet having 10 µM of MMS alone and along with 10, 20 and 40 µM of Luteolin for 24 hrs. After the completion of 24 hrs, the larvae were subjected to ONPG assay, X-gal staining, trypan blue exclusion test, oxidative stress markers, apoptosis and comet assays. A dose-dependent increase in GSH content and decrease in the β-galactosidase activity, tissue damage, GST activity, LPO, PCC, Caspase-9/3 activities, apoptotic index, and DNA damage was observed in the larvae exposed to 10, 20 and 40 µM of Luteolin along with 10 µM of MMS.


The dominant view of many linguists and educators has been that Hong Kong English is a variety of the language that is derived from, and dependent on, the metropolitan norm of British English.


The Government's speedy response to the two Bacon Reports has had a significant effect on slowing the pace of price increases. Without such proactive intervention, the situation could well have spiralled out of control. That said, however, it is clear that an appropriate equilibrium has not yet been struck between supply and demand. There is agreement on all sides that achieving a resolution is a complex undertaking. Many factors come into play - planning process, services provision, transport implications, balanced regional development, the availability of land, the wider use of public private partnerships, and so on.


It is well-known that a Hilbert-style deduction system for first-order classical logic is sound and complete for a model theory built using all Boolean algebras as truth-value algebras if and only if it is sound and complete for a model theory utilizing only irreducible Boolean algebras (which are all isomorphic to the two-element Boolean algebra). In this paper, we prove an analogous result for any first-order logic with an algebraic semantics satisfying certain minimal assumptions, and we then apply our result to first-order quantum logic.


In order to solve the problem that IC circuits cease to be effective at high temperature,by the theory of zero temperature coefficient gate bias voltage points and leakage current compensation method,we have designed a high-temperature precision bandgap reference circuit that can work under 3.5-5.5V supply voltage range,and its accuracy is up to 1.5×10-6 V/℃from room temperature to 190 ℃.This design method of bandgap reference in this paper is unique.It is different from the conventional methods which abtain a low temperature bandgap reference by precisely matching the resistance and higher order feedback.This high-temperature bandgap also has a wide voltage operating range,low temperature drift,process corners stable performance,and the ability to work under high temperature conditions.This design method has finally solved the problem of 150 ℃-limit that the vast majority of precision bandgap designs are unable to exceed.


....................................................................................................................................... xiv Acknowledgements ....................................................................................................................... xv Chapter 1 ......................................................................................................................................... 1 Reading Achievement and Family Literacy Behaviors .................................................................. 1 Literacy Behaviors Impacting Reading Achievement................................................................. 4 National Initiatives and Political Influences that Support Reading Achievement ...................... 6 Purpose of the Study ................................................................................................................... 7 Research Questions ..................................................................................................................... 8 Research Hypothesis ................................................................................................................... 8 Variables ...................................................................................................................................... 8 Definition of Terms ..................................................................................................................... 9 Significance of the Study .............................................................................................................. 13 Limitations ................................................................................................................................ 15 Summary ................................................................................................................................... 16 Chapter 2 ....................................................................................................................................... 17 Theoretical Framework ............................................................................................................. 17 Impact of Family ....................................................................................................................... 19 Parent Involvement ................................................................................................................... 21 Influence of Parent Education: Beliefs and Practices .............................................................. 25 Parent Involvement for Reading-Black Boys ............................................................................ 26 Black Parents' Responsibilities for Their Children ................................................................... 28 Black Boys and Reading ........................................................................................................... 29 Culturally Responsive Teaching ............................................................................................... 36 Reading Comprehension ........................................................................................................... 38 Ethnic-Racial Socialization Practices ........................................................................................ 41 Summary ................................................................................................................................... 44 Chapter 3 ....................................................................................................................................... 47 Research Design and Methodology .............................................................................................. 47 Justification for Research Design .............................................................................................. 47 READING ACHIEVEMENT ix Research Questions ....................................................................................................................... 50 Research Hypothesis ..................................................................................................................... 51 Methods of Study .......................................................................................................................... 51 Study Site .................................................................................................................................. 51 Research Variables .................................................................................................................... 51 Sampling .................................................................................................................................... 52 Research Instruments ................................................................................................................ 52 Parent Questionnaire ................................................................................................................. 53 The Missouri Assessment Performance .................................................................................... 54 The Standardized Test of Assessment of Reading .................................................................... 56 Data Collection Methods ........................................................................................................... 58 Institutional Review Board ........................................................................................................ 59 Data Analysis ............................................................................................................................ 60 Qualitative Data Analysis .......................................................................................................... 62 Summary ....................................................................................................................................... 63 Chapter 4 ....................................................................................................................................... 65 Results of the Data Analysis for Research Question 1: Home Literacy Practices .................... 66 Findings for Home Literacy Practices ....................................................................................... 70 Results of the Data Analysis for Research Question 1: Reading Activities at Home ............... 70 Findings for Reading Activities at Home .................................................................................. 77 Results of the Data Analysis for Research Question 1: Parent/Child Experiences ................... 78 Findings for Parent/Child Experiences ..................................................................................... 87 Results of the Data Analysis for Research Question 2: Correlation between Home Literacy Practices and Reading Performance of Elementary Black Boys ............................................... 89 Findings ................................................................................................................................. 91 Results of the Data Analysis for Research Question 2: Correlation between Home Literacy Practices and Reading Performance of Elementary Black Boys ............................................... 92 Findings ................................................................................................................................. 95 Results of the Data Analysis for Research Question 2: Correlation between Home Literacy Practices and Reading Performance of Elementary Black Boys ............................................... 96 Findings ................................................................................................................................. 97 READING ACHIEVEMENT x Qualitative Data Analysis .......................................................................................................... 98 Summary ..................................................................................................................................... 106 Chapter 5 ..................................................................................................................................... 107 Discussion ............................................................................................................................... 108 Home literacy practices of 3 rd grade parents ........................................................................... 110 Home literacy practices of 4 th grade parents ........................................................................... 110 Home literacy practices of 5 th grade parents ........................................................................... 111 Results of the Data Analysis for Research Question 2: Correlation between Home Literacy Practices and Reading Performance of Elementary Black Boys in 3 rd grade ......................... 112 Findings ............................................................................................................................... 113 Results of the Data Analysis for Research Question 2: Correlation between Home Literacy Practices and Reading Performance of Elementary Black Boys in the 4 th grade .................... 114 Findings ............................................................................................................................... 114 Results of the Data Analysis for Research Question 2: Correlation between Home Literacy Practices and Reading Performance of Elementary Black Boys in the 5 th grade .................... 115 Findings ............................................................................................................................... 115 Interpretation ....................................................................................................................... 115 The results of qualitative data analysis and


The present paper approaches the tribological aspects of the oral cavity, emphasizing stress state in dental biocontacts. Stress state influences the biomechanical fatigue microcrack propagation mechanism, which is finally manifested over a very small area on tooth interface. The cracks can be nucleated on the surface, on the subsurface, or both, depending on the quality of dental materials, restoration accuracy, physiological or pathological conditions, as well as on the initial and interface stresses. The groups of stresses that act upon a nucleate crack on the dental biocontact surface are contact, interface, and initial stresses. While tribological processes in natural biocontacts take place in conventional conditions that are controlled by the biosystem in which they are integrated, things are not the same in biocontacts between a natural and an artificial material, which constitutes the subject of this paper.Copyright © 2005 by ASME


It is well known that the music-theoretical ideas of Jean-Philippe Rameau (1683–1764) were disseminated throughout much of Europe in large part by the summary editions issued by the mathematician and philosopher Jean Le Rond d'Alembert (1717–83) and certain German, English, and Italian translations that followed. Little is known, however, about how Rameau's revolutionary and controversial theories appeared in Spain, and even less about how they were received and interpreted. In response, we offer a contextual analysis of the effects that these ideas had on both forward-looking intellectuals as well as on conservative professional musicians grounded in music of the past.


Article history: Received 6 March 2009 Received in revised form 7 June 2009 Accepted 22 July 2009 Available online 28 July 2009


SUMMARY Acceleration can decrease the stability of a tractor and result in a tractor rollover on a moderate slope. This report examines an example of an agricultural tractor rollover on a moderate slope and determines a stability index. Based on stability data and the kinematic analysis of a tractor turning on a slop, the paper modifies the index of static stability based on the steady-state operation of a tractor by introducing a dynamic factor. A tractor rollover was recorded on a video and stability parameters (pitch and roll angles and their rate, as well as yaw rate) were measured by stability sensors. The analysis of the video and stability data in real time showed that the index of tractor stability on a slope is significantly affected by its dynamics (e.g., angle rates and vehicle acceleration). The strong cornering of a tractor wheel and high yaw rate increase the possibility of rollover.


A convenient and simple energy saving method on high speed displacement ship is to install stern flap which is a shot board fixed backwared on the ship stern slong the hull. The main subject of this paper is to study the mechanism of energy saving by installing stern flap. Through the analysis of large numbers of model test results and the computation of a ship with or without stern flap,it is found that the installation of stern flap changes the pressure distribution of the afterbody of the ship hull,this is the main mechanism of energy saving by installing stern flap on high speed displacement ship,which is different as compared with the fast craft.


Two species of tartricid larvae, which were easily separated by appearance and by host, were reared by the author during the summer of 1951. Identification of adults showed that two species of Sparganothis had previously been associated with the name Sparganothis pettitana (Robinson). The true S. pettitana was identified by comparison of a series of male adults of both species with the illustration accompanying the original description (Robinson, 1869, Pl. IV) and with Type No. 7417 in the Brakenridge Clemens Memorial Collection at the Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, Pa.


In this paper, a channel preemption and time-threshold based channel allocation scheme is presented. The main idea of the new scheme is based on the priority of the call and the channel preemption. Depending on whether it is a new call and the elapsed time of the ongoing call, the call is divided into different types. When a high-priority call proposed channel preemption request, other calls of low priority which meet preemption conditions may be forced to vertical handoff or dropped. The network performance in terms of the blocking and dropping probability of the call, the Grade of Service cost function of the system and the channel utilization of the system are calculated, The results indicates that our scheme can effectively reduce the dropping probability of high-priority calls and the value of Grade of Service cost function.


The invention provides a device for measuring a suspended deflection angle and direction of a lifting hook of a lifting device. The device comprises a suspended deflection angle measuring mechanism, a direction measuring mechanism, a central processing mechanism (9) and a display (8), wherein the suspended deflection angle measuring mechanism is used for measuring the suspended deflection angle of the lifting hook (5); the direction measuring mechanism is used for measuring a rotating angle of the lifting hook (5) on a horizontal plane; the central processing mechanism (9) receives data transmitted from the suspended deflection angle measuring mechanism and the direction measuring mechanism and works out information from the suspended deflection angle and direction data of the lifting hook (5); and the display (8) is connected with the central processing mechanism (9) and is used for displaying the information from the suspended deflection angle and direction data.


To calibrate power and power quality measurement instruments such as flicker meters or harmonic measurement devices, several alternative techniques are generally used or proposed: • Using a reference device to make measurements which can be compared against those made by the UUT. • Applying variable loads to a static, impedance loaded power line to induce required conditions. • Generating the required signals with a precision signal source. This paper discusses the third option. There are a number of benefits to this approach, as well as a number of difficulties to overcome and decisions to be made to implement it effectively.


Lifetime modeling and predicting for power semiconductor devices has become important due to higher demands on reliability and economy, i.e. to save time and money. Understanding the degradation mechanisms of such devices in a complex interplay of thermal, mechanical, and electrical loading in often harsh environment is a very challenging task, involving the competences of electronic engineers, simulation experts, materials scientists, physicists and mathematicians – with the final goal to permit accurate prediction of failure probabilities in the ppm-range as a function of time. In this review paper, I've discussed previously published literature on degradation mechanisms, experimental results obtained in several studies, lifetime prediction procedure, lifetime model and some preventive measures that can be taken against permanent damage.


This research investigates the relationship between differences (ethnocentrism, country of origin image, religiosity and animosity) which may affect intentions to purchase. In doing so, it measures the effect of country of origin image, religiosity, animosity and ethnocentrism and their relationships with intentions to purchase Chinese fashion products in Egypt, through attitude toward purchase. Both of positivism and quantitative approach represent an organized method of research that combine the deductive logic and the empirical observations of individual behavior together in order to be able to note a group of causal laws that can be used for general prediction patterns of human activity. This study collects the data of the required variable by making a questionnaire. This questionnaire targeted a population that is represented in customers who purchase Chinese fashion products in Egypt. The analysis conducted is applied using SPSS 22.0 (Statistical Package for Social Sciences) and AMOS 24. Due to the infinite number of the targeted population, the sample of the study consisted of 384questionnaires gathered from Egyptian customers. The results of the analysis indicate that ethnocentrism and country of origin image have a positive impact on intentions to purchase and attitude toward purchase. While, religiosity and animosity have a negative impact on intentions to purchase and attitude toward purchase. Moreover, the results partially support the Mediation role of Attitude toward purchase in the relationship between (Ethnocentrism, Country of origin image, religiosity and Animosity) and Intentions to Purchase Chinese Fashion Products.


Summary Tbe buge megalitbic complex near tbe Oeean in New Hampshire (US) ca lied " America's Stooebeoge" bas beeo sbown to possess astronomie alignments. 10 tbis article we show tbat it has a geograpbie groundplan, and in fac4 is a walk-in map of the Ada ntic Ocean. T bis is possible because tbe builden encoded latitudes in the angles of the site construction. Tbe site sbows us tbat it was built in two pbases, tbe second pbase beiog built after tbe diseovery of Bermuda. Ex- teosive exploration of tbe aretie to t be north of tbe site is c1early sbown. Tbe article includes a number of groundplans, drawings, and photographs. T his article is exeerpted with permission and redueed in size for publication io Migratio n and Diffusion from tbe copy-righted text "How the SUsGod Reaebed Ameriea e.2 500 Be, A Goide to Megalithie Sites, 2002" (www.geocities.comlhowtbesungodl). Omitted here are maoy pbotographs, aod the sailing angles and many of tbe distaoces encoded in the monument. Tbe article concludes witb tbe de J onge Rules of Deei- pherment, which summarize wbat we bave learned aboot decoding megalitbic monuments.


The Film Boiling technique is a particular Chemical Vapor Infiltration process for the densification of carbon matrix and also ceramic matrices, such as SiC, BN and SiO2. Its particularities resides in the very high thermal gradient and high chemical precursor concentration which lead to a densification zone moving quite quickly through the piece to densify. The influence of main parameters (temperature, pressure, composition of the precursor, control of the vapor flux) on both the microstructure of the material and the working of the process (densification rate, material yield, energy efficiency) are described. High densification rates (several mm/h), good materials characteristics (mechanical, micro-structural) and reproducibility are the main advantages of this process. For carbon precursors, graphitizable carbon matrices are almost deposited, whatever are the conditions, which is quite difficult to get with CVI. For SiC precursor, modification of the temperature process can lead to the deposition of micrometric size alternated layers of carbon and silicon carbide.


This article aims to analyze the security policies in interventions that leads to the production of deth thru the police action. In order to do that, we use episodes related to the lethality of the police reported at sites with nationwide to discuss how in the midle of the State's duty to promote the safety of the population the legitimacy of the production of death as practice within the public security actions became possible. Based on Foucauldian notions of biopower and biopolitics, we show how the discourses that define who can live and who must die in police


The hydroporphinoid nickel complex coenzyme F430 ist the prosthetic group of methyl-coenzyme M reductase, the enzyme catalyzing the last step of biological methane formation. Although the enzyme mechanism is still unknown, it has been shown that the isolated cofactor can be reduced to the NiI-form at surprisingly positive potentials. Recent in vivo EPR studies indicate that the NiI form of F430 is indeed formed in whole cells and in highly active enzyme preparations. A comparative study of the redox chemistry of partially synthetic derivatives of F430 helped to identify the structural elements that allow coenzyme F430 to be reduced at the metal rather than at the ligand and at a physiologically accessible potential.


The first industrial revolution, based on processing and reshaping familiar materials, brought profound changes, benefits, and problems to the world. It caused massive pollution that was often dangerous, usually visible, and easily apparent. This pollution of the environment occurred 150 years before "pollution" and "environment" were words taught in kindergarten. It was ugly, and it was obvious. A new industrial revolution, based on the chemical-process industry, creates totally new chemicals synthesized from simple precursors. These chemicals, ranging from drugs to pesticides to plastics and artificial materials of all kinds, have vastly enriched all our lives. The pollution created by this . . .


The existing seven purpose made finger expansion joints, which have been in operation on the M-2 section of the motorway in Johannesburg since 1970, require rehabilitation/replacement because fatigue stresses eroded their stability. Maintenance procedures are continually required without long term improvement of durability. Four European manufacturers and six International Road Authorities were visited to assess the performance experiences of three principal joint systems, namely, the fixed cantilever type, the moving multi- element type and the moving roller seal type. The design of each joint type is presented briefly, as are characteristics such as minimum road surface interruption, minimum noise generation, waterproofing, durability, and maintenance requirements. Costs are also compared. The applicability of the various joint systems vary widely and for this specific replacement which includes potential movements from undermining, the rolling seal type offers to be the most advantageous. (A) For the covering abstract of the conference see IRRD 858602.


This study aimed to investigate the effects of several fatty acids on CA handling by bovine chromaffin cells. Cells were incubated for 24 h with ethanol (control), butyric acid (BA; 100 μM‐1 mM), capric acid (CAP; 50–100 μM), palmitic acid (PAL; 50–100 μM) or arachidonic acid (AA; 50–100 μM). Afterwards, for studies on CArelease, cells were preincubated for 10 min, and then for 15 min with or without KCl. Under control conditions, the average cellular content was found to be 413 ± 19 and 202 ± 10 nmoL/mg protein for adrenaline (AD) and noradrenaline (NA), respectively. Basal release (expressed as % of the total amine content), during 10 min of preincubation, was 8 ± 0.4 and 9 ± 0.5 for AD and NA, respectively. With the exception of BA, all the fatty acids induced a significant reduction of both AD and NA cellular content, as well as of total CA production. This significantly lower CA cellular content observed after 24 h exposure of cells to AA or CAP was accompanied by a tendency to a higher CA basal release and a lower CA release induced by KCl. In conclusion, fatty acids differentially influence CA handling by adrenal chromaffin cells. Altogether the data are compatible with a reduction of the vesicular CA transporter function due to the long‐term exposure to some of the fatty acids. Supported by FCT (SFRH/BPD/28597).


SpiceJet completed three successful years in the low cost airline industry in India. It has become airline of choice to most of the satisfied customers and frequent fliers. The efforts for continual improvement in reducing the cost in operations were fruitful and it continues to do so. The major current hurdle for the SpiceJet that it needs to manage, through the soaring oil prices, is the working capital resulting in financial crunch.


In recent years, the data-driven based FDD (Fault Detection and Diagnosis) of high-speed train electric traction systems has made rapid progress, as the safe operation of traction system is closely related to the reliability and stability of high-speed trains. The internal complexity and external complexity of the environment mean that fault diagnosis of high-speed train traction system faces great challenges. In this paper, a wavelet transform-based FNR (Fault to Noise Ratio) enhancement is realised to highlight incipient fault information and a Deep PCA (Principal Component Analysis)-based diagnosability analysis framework is proposed. First, a scheme for FNR enhancement-based fault data preprocessing with selection of the intelligent decomposition levels and optimal noise threshold is proposed. Second, fault information enhancement technology based on continuous wavelet transform is proposed from the perspective of energy. Further, a Deep-PCA based incipient fault detectability and isolatability analysis are provided via geometric descriptions. Finally, experiments on the TDCS-FIB (Traction Drive Control System–Fault Injection Benchmark) platform fully demonstrate the effectiveness of the method proposed in this paper.


Four years ago, the Eastern Joint Computer Conference was held in this same city. At the first session of that Conference, Vernon Weihe, representing the Air Transport Association of America, stated that "the need for automatic computation and automatic data handling (in air-traffic control) is immediate and urgent." He challenged the computer industry and the aviation industry to meet this need with sound system design incorporating human engineering and the rapidly advancing technical developments of the day. The paper took note of the fact that a start had already been made with the installation of a magnetic drum-message storage and processing system at the CAA Technical Development Center in Indianapolis, Ind. This present paper is somewhat in the nature of a status report, describing how the Civil Aeronautics Administration is beginning to use electronic computers for air-traffic control operations. In order to understand this application, it will be necessary to consider briefly the manual operations which are to be replaced.


Aims and objective: Elongated styloid process is a diagnosis that should be considered in the evaluation of recurrent neck, throat or facial pain and dysphagia with or without radiation of pain to the ipsilateral ear. Here we study the occurrence of stylalgia in patients presenting with pain in the head and neck region and conservative management options. Materials and Methods: Our study consisted of 50 patients presenting with symptoms of throat pain on swallowing, foreign body sensation in the throat, and ear pain. Diagnosis was made by symptoms and clinical examination which was further confirmed by x-ray OPG view for styloid process. Results: Out of 30 patients, 18 patients became symptom-free while 7 patients experienced relief of symptoms. There was no worsening of symptoms in any of the patients. Conclusion: The incidence of Stylalgia is higher in a female population. High suspicion, thorough clinical and radiological examination will reveal correct diagnosis. Results from the present study indicate that conservative management should be initially considered for Stylalgia rather than uniformly performing surgery.


The purpose of the study is the clarification of the theoretical knowledge about the mechanisms of gasdynamic and geomechanical processes at goafs of coal mines during the intensive mining of formations of gas-bearing layers by means of longwall panels. The study presents the analysis of modern approaches to the evaluation of gasdynamic and geomechanical processes at goafs of coal mines, which are based on the conceptions of the wave nature of the change of methane-richness along the length of an extraction pillar. The analysis of the data from gas control instruments is carried out, and the relationships between gas emission at longwall panels and goafs and daily production in longwall panels are established. New relationships of the frequency of gasand geomechanical processes in rock massif for the conditions of the Kotinskaya mine of JSC "SUEK Kuzbas" are established. The study demonstrated the need for the consideration of the distance to the upper gaseous seam for the prognosis of gas emission into excavations of goafs.


This paper introduces a computer aided manufacturing system for integrated circuit, named XHCAM, sharing such attributions as applying for great yield, completed functions, easy use, and low cost


PURPOSE
Discomfort during rubber dam clamp often occurs in pediatric dentistry. The purpose of this randomized, triple-blind, clinical trial was to evaluate the effect of pain reduction using a new topical liposomal thermo-sensitive gel (TLTG) or a placebo gel during rubber dam clamp isolation for sealants in children.

METHODS
Eighty-one children (eight to 12 years old) had LTSG or the placebo gel with random assignment placed around the gingival tissue of their permanent mandibular first molars. A clamp was placed after two minutes on the teeth, and intensity of pain was registered using a Wong-Baker FACES scale and an 11-point numerical scale. The data were evaluated using McNemar's test and Wilcoxon signed rank test.

RESULTS
The odds ratio for pain (OR equals 0.7; 95 percent confidence interval equals 0.3 to 1.8) was not statistically significant (P=0.52). However, there was a small difference in the pain intensity between liposomal and placebo groups for both scales (P<0.05).

CONCLUSION
The liposomal thermo-sensitive anesthetic gel may reduce, to a small extent, the pain intensity in children submitted to rubber dam isolation before resin sealant placement.


Uplink receiver cooperation of base-stations is investigated and compared to Hybrid ARQ. The cooperation of receivers is performed by a common detection entity which receives the signals of different base-stations. We review an iterative joint detector and define soft-symbols in order to apply this detector for higher order modulations. Its results are used to compare receiver cooperation with conventional Hybrid ARQ. Simulation results show remarkable gains for receiver cooperation compared to non-cooperative receivers with Hybrid ARQ. It turns out that, due to its better performance, receiver cooperation even has a lower resulting additional delay than Hybrid ARQ.


In this paper we first propose a source code comprehension model built as a hierarchy of three abstraction levels from the source code to the purpose (goal) of the program. The elements belonging to each layer have been precisely defined as well as their links to the elements in the adjacent layers. Consequently this model allows to bridge the semantic gap between the purpose of the program defined in business terms and the code that implements it. The model leverages two ontologies: an action ontology, which is specific to our approach, and a domain concept ontology. Next this model has been implemented as a tool under Eclipse and two experiments have been performed to assess the relevance of our approach in the maintenance of a large-scale program. The results of this experiment are very encouraging. The contribution of the paper is the presentation of our program comprehension model built on a novel approach based on an action ontology, the description of the tool we developed to assess the relevance of model and the testing of the latter with two controlled experiments.


This study analyzes the effect of political connection and effectiveness of audit committee on audit fee. This study uses the sample of non-financial companies listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) in 2015-2017. They were take using a purposive sampling method. The total number of companies is 444 companies. The data were analyzed using SPSS 20 and the hypothesis testing was done using linear regression with a significance level of 5%. The F test indicates that the research model is stable and significant. The value of R square is 38.4%, indicating that there are other variables that can affect the model by 61.6%. The results of this study show that political connection has a significant positive effect on audit fee and the effectiveness of audit committee also has a significant positive effect on audit fee because audit committee wants a higher audit quality from the auditor.


A new geoid model for Iran (IRG04) was computed based on the least squares modification of the Stokes formula. IRG04 was derived from the most recent gravity anomaly database, SRTM high resolution Digital Elevation Model (DEM) and GRACE GGM02 global geopotential model. In order to define a new height datum for Iran, we attempted to combine this high resolution gravimetric geoid model with GPS/levelling data using the corrective surface approach. The corrective surface was constructed from 224 GPS/levelling points and then evaluated with 35 independent points. Different interpolation techniques were tested for the creation of the corrective surface; among them the Kriging method was selected as it gave the smallest RMS and 'noise level' at the comparisons with GPS/levelling data. The RMS fit of the new combined geoid model versus the independent GPS/levelling data is 0.09 m, it is near four times better compared to the original gravimetric geoid model. The combined model should be more convenient and useful in definition of the new height reference surface, specifically in engineering and GPS/levelling projects.


The bridges on the whole line of Chengdu-Dujiangyan Passenger Dedicated Railway mainly employ the viaducts.To meet the scientific reconstruction requirements after the earthquake,the deck width of the bridges was reduced through optimization of deck arrangement.The box girders and piers with smooth round appearances were used to protrude landscape effect,the continuous girders with smooth transition appearances were used at their adjacent simply-supported girders to ensure gentle and graceful lines of the bridges and the rubber pot bearings furnished with dampers were used on the main piers of the continuous girders to decrease earthquake action.For the continuous girder bridges laid out with ballastless track switches,the decks of the bridges were designed as the separate ones in the longitudinal direction to reduce transverse expansion amounts.For the frame piers of the bridges spanning highways,the columns of the piers were vertically slotted to improve visual impact and at the tops of the side columns of the fame piers with long capping beams,the bearings were set to reduce temperature effect.The global forces,local stress and dynamic forces of the structures of the bridges were all analyzed to consequently ensure that the bridges could meet the requirements of safety,comfort,economy,rationality,sustainable development and landscape.


dren's stress experiences, the symptoms that suggest a stress response is occurring, and available treatment alternatives. Among the specific chapters that accomplish this task best are those related to psychosomatic responses to stress; stress experienced during preschool, elementary school, and adolescent years; and those dealing with specific sources of stress (i.e., divorce, child abuse, parental depression, childhood illness). Several chapters provide summary points and concrete recommendations for assess-


This paper focuses on one possible influence of the Great Recession on family life, the expected level of support for relocation due to job opportunity. Using unique data from 116 married individuals in the United States, married couples are categorized by expectations for employment prioritization. Couples are categorized as egalitarian (reporting equal willingness to relocate in support of either spouse's employment), traditional (reporting greater willingness to relocate in support of the husband's employment), or non-traditional (reporting greater willingness to relocate in support of the wife's employment). Analyses reveal significant differences in the factors correlated with being categorized as egalitarian, traditional, or nontraditional. Couple history, measured as marital duration and previous career prioritization, and husband's human capital characteristics (education and occupational prestige) are the main factors that distinguish among the couple types. The analysis provides insight into the ways couples renegotiate gender and power vis-à-vis their interaction with structural constraints.


We report the excitation of the non-steady-state photoelectromotive force using a uniformly accelerated motion of the recording light pattern. Such illumination is created by the linear frequency modulation of the interfering light beams. The pulsed response is observed experimentally in a semi-insulating GaAs crystal at a light wavelength of 633 nm. The evolution of the pulse shape vs. sweep rate is demonstrated. We also discuss the possible application of the effect in laser Doppler velocimeters and accelerometers.


Discussions of international and of gender justice both legitimately demand that principles of justice abstract from differences between cases and that judgements of justice respond to differences between them. Abstraction and sensitivity to context are often treated as incompatible: abstraction is taken to endorse idealized models of individual and state; sensitivity to human differences is identified with relativism. Neither identification is convincing: abstract principles do not entail uniform treatment; responsiveness to difference does not hinge on relativism. These points are used to criticize discussions of international and gender justice by liberals, communitarians and feminists. An alternative account of justice is sketched, which combines abstract principles with consideration of human differences in the application of principles. The case of poor women in impoverished economies – a hard case both for gender and for international justice – illustrates how universal, abstract principles of justice may not only permit but mandate differentiated application.


National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division One student-athletes often experience back and shoulder injuries, among other  musculoskeletal injuries, which can be stressful and difficult to recover from. Many injuries are sports specific, e.g., contact vs. non-contact or gender related, but most back and neck injuries can become chronic in nature. Often these injures can lead to less than desirable physical and  emotional well-being. The current study aims to assess the user experience of 47 NCAA Division-One athletes for daily functional active wear technology designed to provide instant posture correction and immediate chest expansion to improve thoracic mobility and physical wellness. Results showed that 100% of the subjects were satisfied with the comfort level of the posture active wear, and 95% felt their posture improved after wear. Furthermore, over 90% of subjects would wear the posture active wear daily as well as recommend it to others. 80% of the subjects would wear the posture active wear for exercise, 92% liked the feel of the fabric, and 90% would like to use it as adjunct to physical therapy. Overall, the results of the current study indicate that competitive athletes find the tested posture active wear comfortable, effective in instantly correcting posture, would use it during exercise, would highly recommend it to others, and would use it as an adjunct to Physical Therapy. Overall this apparel is a promising option for posture correction, injury prevention and physical therapy for student athletes and further supports previous literature on the IFGfit™ posture correcting active wear.


ABSTRACT Field trials were conducted 2010–2012 in soybeans (Glycine max (L.) Merr.) to investigate cultivar choice, suitable seeding dates and row distances for cropping in Sweden. The cultivar trials showed that commercially available varieties of the 000-group can be used for cropping in Sweden. Yield typically amounted to 1500–2500 kg ha−1 of dry marketable seeds. Cultivars introduced to Sweden should be tested in the field before large-scale production as the 000-classification not fully is valid for Swedish conditions. Row distance (12.5; 25 and 50 cm) had no overall statistically significant impact on yield, but 25 or 50 cm are recommended as these distances are suitable for physical weed control such as row cultivation or torsion weeding. Seeding in the period May 15–30th is recommended to secure germination and yield. The outcome of the trials was supported by results from field demonstrations and commercial cultivar trials in 2013–2014.


Exploitation of the I–V hysteresis property in a van der Waals heterostructure is significant to modulate its electronic properties and develop unique applications. In this work, we report a two-te...


A multivariable model based on cross-correlogram is proposed to study the effect of influencing factors on crude oil price.Following the selection of factors and variables,the lead-lag relationship between factors and oil price is firstly analyzed to decide and adjust the lag order of independent variables.Then multivariable regression models are set up to analyze the effect of influencing factors on crude oil price during financial crisis.It proves that not all factors change the oil price in the current period.The relationship between factors and oil price does change after financial crisis to various extent.


The velocity of rise and the drag of a single vapor bubble collapsing in another immiscible liquid were measured experimentally. During the process of collapse, the dispersed-phase vapor bubble was transformed to a two-phase bubble with condensate accumulating at the rear of the two-phase bubble and vapor at its top. Such a configuration of a two-phase bubble is commonly known as a drobble. Experimental data for the six pairs of liquids covered a range of drobble (two-phase bubble) Reynolds numbers from 0.003 to 3,000. Two regimes of drobble movement were encountered. In the first regime (Re < 100), the drobble maintained its sphericity, and the observed drag was less than the solid-sphere drag predicted by the established solid sphere or Hadamard et al. fluid-sphere drag models. In the second regime, the drobble was deformed and oscillated; the observed drag departed suddenly from predictions of spherical models and increased with increasing Reynolds numbers. The critical Reynolds number covered a range from 100 to 1,000. Empirical models for drobble velocity and drag coefficient are derived.


Study and application of wireline pumping rod in China's Oilfields are analyzed, technical performance and characteristics of the wireline rod are introduced. Increasing the pumping efficiency, improving fluid production and saving electric energy with the wireline pumping rod are described in combination with field application. It is considered that there exist some problems to be solved in the study and application of the wireline pumping rod.


The effects of three different types of vegetated riverbank slopes- live fascines, brush mattress, and grass revetment-on surface runoff detention and pollution control were studied based on field simulation experiments in an ecological restoration program of Jinmu River, Shanghai. The result showed that live fascines were able to capture 80.95% of suspended solids ranging from 30.07 μm to 111.05 μm, with 92.58%~97.15% of dissolved nutrients and 75.75%~91.24% of particle-bound nutrients, while surface runoff over the slope was detained for 28.00~33.33 min. Brush mattress was able to remove 88.53%~92.94% of dissolved nutrients with relative low capture capability for sediment particles, while surface runoff detention was 9.70~15.33 min compared to the bare slope control. Grass revetment was able to capture 85.93% of fine particles with granularity from 14.89 μm to 52.63 μm, along with 80.53%~85.33% of particle-bound nutrients, although its capability of surface runoff detention was relatively weak. The factors including vegetation coverage, shear strength and soil moisture of vegetated riverbanks which could affect the treatments are discussed. Some combined designs of vegetated riverbanks are suggested based on the ecological and engineering performance of vegetated riverbank slopes.


Endoplasmic reticulum is an important organelle that has many function such as calcium storage protein synthesis,folding and assembly. A variety of injuries,including hypoxia changes in redox state,may interfere with the function of the endoplasmic reticulum and cause unfolded protein accumulation in the ER which result in endoplasmic reticulum stress(ERS). Although ERS can induce cell survival,if it effects too strong or for a long time,ERS may cause apoptosis,i.e. endoplasmic reticulum stress-induced apoptosis.