Abstract—Recently, we demonstrated that the heptapeptide angiotensin-(1–7) (Ang-[1–7]) exhibits a favorable kinetic of nitric oxide (NO) release accompanied by extremely low superoxide (O2−) production. In this report we describe AVE 0991, a novel nonpeptide compound that evoked effects similar to Ang-(1–7) on the endothelium. AVE 0991 and unlabeled Ang-(1–7) competed for high-affinity binding of [125I]-Ang-(1–7) to bovine aortic endothelial cell membranes with IC50 values of 21±35 and 220±280 nmol/L, respectively. Stimulated NO and O2− release from bovine aortic endothelial cells was directly and simultaneously measured on the cell surface by selective electrochemical nanosensors. Peak concentrations of NO and O2− release by AVE 0991 and Ang-(1–7) (both 10 &mgr;mol/L) were not significantly different (NO: 295±20 and 270±25 nmol/L; O2−: 18±2 and 20±4 nmol/L). However, the released amount of bioactive NO was ≈5 times higher for AVE 0991 in comparison to Ang-(1–7). The selective Ang-(1–7) antagonist [D-Ala7]-Ang-(1–7) inhibited the AVE 0991–induced NO and O2− production by ≈50%. A similar inhibition level was observed for the Ang II AT1 receptor antagonist EXP 3174. In contrast, the Ang II AT2 receptor antagonist PD 123,177 inhibited the AVE 0991–stimulated NO production by ≈90% but without any inhibitory effect on O2− production. Both NO and O2− production were inhibited by NO synthase inhibition (≈70%) and by bradykinin B2 receptor blockade (≈80%). AVE 0991 efficiently mimics the effects of Ang-(1–7) on the endothelium, most probably through stimulation of a specific, endothelial Ang-(1–7)-sensitive binding site causing kinin-mediated activation of endothelial NO synthase.


A human anti‐RhD immunoglobulin G1 monoclonal antibody (mAb), R297, was tested in a phase I study to assess its ability to induce the clearance of antibody‐coated autologous RhD+ red blood cells (RBCs) in healthy male volunteers. The clearance potency of R297 was compared with that of a marketed human polyclonal anti‐D product (Rhophylac®). This mAb has been selected for its ability to strongly engage Fc‐gamma receptor IIIA and to mediate a potent antibody‐dependent cell cytotoxicity (ADCC) against RhD+ RBCs. Autologous RhD+ RBCs were sensitized with either Rhophylac® or R297 at three different coating percentages (25, 12·5 and 6·25%), before re‐infusion. This phase I study showed that the human R297 mAb promoted rapid and complete clearance of RBCs, and showed activity that was at least as potent as the human polyclonal anti‐D antibody preparation. Clearance of RBCs could still be observed when the percentage of R297 used to coat the RBCs was reduced to 6·25%. Finally, none of the adverse events was severe or considered to be related to R297. Thus, R297 is a promising candidate for the prevention of allo‐immunization and represents a new generation of Fc‐modified monoclonal antibodies with increased FcγRIII binding and increased ADCC.


This article argues that the L'vov Offensive carried out by the 1st Ukrainian Front and a significant element of the 1st Belorussian Front in July 1944 should be regarded as the key offensive carried out by the Red Army between June and August 1944. This becomes particularly apparent if Soviet Deep Operations Theory is applied to this period and is further reinforced by an examination of how military assets were assigned in advance of the summer operations undertaken by the Red Army. This reinterpretation would suggest that the 'Deep Battle' conundrum concerning the successful delivery of key operational shocks in the summer of 1944 was how to facilitate the movement of German mobile forces away from the areas where these shocks would subsequently be delivered. Thus, while the Belorussian Operation delivered a decisive operational shock to Army Group Centre it also became the means by which German mobile formations were drawn away from the very area where the Red Army intended to deliver its key operational shock in what became known as the L'vov-Sandomierz Operation (originally designated as the L'vov-Peremyshl' Operation). 1 The political and strategic advantages subsequently gained by the success of the L'vov-Sandomierz Operation, combined with the application of deep operations theory and the deployment of key military assets prior to this operation, suggest that this success was neither accidental nor opportunistic but part of a process of deliberate planning.


An analysis of ten-year mean precipitation data from 1990 – 1999 is presented, that examines precipitation trends for the western Pacific region, bounded by 155˚E – 135˚W, 15˚N – 30˚S. Wind fields derived from the NCEP/NCAR reanalysis data are presented for the same period of study to examine the nature of the airflow for study region. To investigate the possible impacts of convergence and divergence on precipitation distribution, surface and 200 hPa divergence fields are derived using the wind fields and
correlated with the precipitation data. Correlation between mean monthly Southern Oscillation Index (SOI) and precipitation is also carried out.

The precipitation patterns reveal several features that are prominent during the monthly and seasonal time scales. There is a rise in precipitation during highly negative surface divergences and a fall during positive surface divergences on the spatial map. It has been shown that summer shows the highest negative correlation between precipitation and surface divergence while autumn shows the least at the 5% level of significance. Correlation between SOI and precipitation indicates that highly positive correlation between the two variables exists along the zone of the South Pacific Convergence Zone (SPCZ).


Mass customization is a new management model which can reduce the enterprises' cost,also meet the needs of personalized users.It provides a strategic advantage and economic value.Hotels must achieve competitive advantage,holds their own share of customers,improve customer satisfaction and maximize meet customer demand.


The objective of this study was to analyze the association of fiber consumption with nutritional status and blood lipid profile in dyslipidemic adults. The design study was cross sectional survey involving 79 subjects. The results showed that there were significant correlations between energy intake with High Density Lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol and total cholesterol, fat intake with BMI (Body Mass Index), and BMI with Low Density Lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol and total cholesterol (p 0.05). In conclusion, most of the dyslipidemia subjects were obese. Dyslipidemia subjects should keep their intake of energy and fat in recommended ranges in order not to be obese and keep the BMI in normal range to avoid abnormalities of blood lipid profile.


Depression is a complex disease affecting a considerable percentage of the world population (17-20%). Although none of the specific brain circuits has been identified yet, research including neuroimaging, post mortem studies and animal models has pointed out important regions for the physiopathology of the disease. At the same time, some neuronal processes including the stress response, the immune response, the synaptic transmission and neuronal plasticity involved in the physiopatology of depression have been identified. So, several neurohormonal, neuronal and neurotrophic processes have been intensely studied in order to understand the onset and progression of depression. Among these, the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, the monoaminergic transmission, the neurotrophic mechanisms, neurogenesis and cytokines have been studied as important factors in depression. Recent research suggests that environment exerts a determining effect on the function of these processes. Adverse events during early development stages are able to modify gene expression through epigenetic mechanisms, becoming important factors of susceptibility. On the other hand, enriched environments also modify several neurological processes, acquiring an important role in the development of the disease.


The review article analyzes the peculiarities of the national identity of Oksana Petrivna Rudnytska, a specialist in music pedagogy. The logic of the scientific content of the terms related to the topic of the submitted article (identity, national identity; professional and artistic competence; scientific school) is revealed. The article considers national identity as a sphere of ideas, values, and meanings of culture, perceived and articulated by the majority of the country's citizens. It has its own principles in the individual's construction of his identity, belonging to a definite nation and state. Certain issues regarding the effectiveness of the scientific schools of Ivan Zyazyun Institute of Pedagogical and Adult Education of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, in particular the Ukrainian scientist, Doctor of Pedagogical Sciences, Professor O. P. Rudnytska, are highlighted. A conclusion is made regarding the results of the scientist's activity in relation to her national identity as a specialist in music pedagogy, which is based on the values of pedagogical mentoring, intellectual leadership, empathy, and national ethical and aesthetic worldview guidelines.
Based on the vast experience of a teacher-artist, we can help increase the level of formation of the professional competence of music teachers and guarantee quality training of future music teachers for pedagogical and artistic activities.


Atrial flutter is a macroreentrant atrial arrhythmia characterized by a regular rate, a uniform p wave morphology with a characteristic saw-toothed ECG appearance, and a rate between 240 and 350 beats/min. The first successful catheter ablation of atrial flutter using DC shock energy was reported in the late 1980s. Subsequently, DC shock energy was abandoned in favor of radiofrequency (RF) energy for catheter ablation of atrial flutter.1-3 Since that time, many studies have reported the results of RF ablation of atrial flutter.3-20 Some of the most important developments in perfecting the technique of catheter ablation of atrial flutter included improved understanding of the electrophysiology of the atrial flutter circuit; recognition of the importance of bidirectional conduction block through the cavotricuspid isthmus as an endpoint for the procedure; recognition that antiarrhythmic therapy can transform atrial fibrillation into ablatable isthmus-dependent atrial flutter; and development of ablative energy technologies that allow creation of deeper lesions to improve the efficiency and acute efficacy of the procedure.5,10-14,17,20,21 As a result of these studies, traditional 4-mm-tip ablation catheters have largely been replaced by either "large-tip" ablation catheters or "cooled-tip" ablation catheters. But which of these ablation technologies is superior? In the issue of the Journal, Ventura et al.22 report the results of a prospective randomized study comparing the acute and long-term outcomes of catheter ablation of atrial flutter performed using either a "large-tip" or a "cooled-tip" ablation catheter. The study involved 130 patients with isthmusdependent atrial flutter. The ablation catheters used in this trial were the Medtronic RF Conductr (8-mm tip, 70 W, 65◦C target temp, 60 s) and the Biosense Webster Celsius ThermoCool (17 mL/min flow, 50 W, 65◦C, 60 s). In both patient groups, RF energy was delivered in a "point-by-point" fashion. The procedural endpoint was the presence of double potentials during coronary sinus pacing along the ablation line with an isoelectric interval >90 ms, combined with the results of differential pacing. Patient cross-over to the alternate ablation system was allowed for cases of repeated transient isthmus block. Patients were followed for a minimum of 12 months with phone calls every 6 months and followup visits with their local physician every 3 months. There


Schema mappings are high-level specifications that describe the relationship between two database schemas. They are considered to be the essential building blocks in data exchange and data integration, and have been the focus of extensive research investigations. Since in real-life applications schema mappings can be quite complex, it is important to develop methods and tools for illustrating, explaining, and deriving schema mappings. A promising approach to this effect is to use "good" data examples that illustrate the schema mapping at hand.
 In this talk, we present an overview of recent work on characterizing schema mappings via a finite set of data examples. We show that every LAV schema mapping (i.e., a schema mapping specified by a finite set of local-as-view tuple-generating dependencies) is uniquely characterized by a finite set of universal data examples with respect to the class of all LAV schema mappings. We also show that this type of result does not hold for arbitrary GAV schema mappings (i.e., schema mappings specified by a finite set of global-as-view tuple-generating dependencies). After this, we give a necessary and sufficient condition for a GAV schema mapping to be uniquely characterizable by a finite set of universal examples with respect to the class of all GAV schema mappings. Along the way, we establish tight connections between unique characterizability of schema mappings, Armstrong databases, and homomorphism dualities.


This article presents an analysis tool for picking operations developed by DHL in Brazil and Simulate Tecnologia de Simulação, also in Brazil, using discrete-event simulation. The analysis tool provides information to the distribution center managers (the decision makers) that reduces the problems caused by variations in the volume of demand at DHL. The analysis tool predicts potential bottlenecks in the day-today operations of the shipping facility. This tool is in intensive use and is strongly endorsed by the firm.


In this report we study some watermarking methods and the comparison result of their combination, the first one is based on the CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) in frequency domain DWT(Discrete Wavelet Transform) noted CDMA-DWT ,CDMA in DCT(Discrete Cosine Transform ) noted CDMA-DCT and CDMA in spatial domain noted CDMASD and its aim is to verify the image authenticity whereas the second one is the reversible watermarking (the least significant bits LSB and cryptography tools) noted RW and the reversible contrast mapping RCM its objective is to check the integrity of the image and to keep the confidentiality of the patient data. A new scheme of watermarking is the combination of the reversible watermarking and the CDMA method on the field of spatial domain noted RW/CDMA-SD and second combination in frequency domain (DWT and DCT ) domain noted respectively RW/CDMA-DWT and RW/CDMA-DCT to verify the three security properties Integrity, Authenticity and Confidentiality of medical data and patient information. In the end ,we made a comparison between these methods within the parameters of quality of medical images. Initially, an in-depth study on the characteristics of medical images would contribute to improve these methods to measurements have been done on the watermarked image to verify that this technique does not lead to a wrong diagnostic. The robustness of the watermarked images against attacks has been verified on the parameters of PSNR (Peak Signal to Noise Ratio), MSE (Mean Square Error), MAE (Mean Absolute Error) and SNR (Signal to Noise Ratio) which show that the resulting quality of combination watermarking method is good in DCT than in DWT and spatial domain.


Whenever a patient who has undergone endovascular repair of an abdominal aortic aneurysm (EVAR) presents with sudden onset abdominal pains or signs of shock, the hypothesis of endoleak with aneurysm expansion and rupture should be considered. We present the case of an EVAR patient in whom a tumor of the duodenum mimicked an endoleak during the postoperative period.


Abstract Objective This study investigated the effectiveness of an interactive sexual and reproductive health education program in aspects of knowledge, attitudes, and self‐efficacy among adolescents. Design Quasi‐experimental study underpinned by social cognitive theory. Sample A stratified cluster sample of 469 students from the two‐branch middle school in a city in eastern China who were assigned to the experimental (n = 233) and control (n = 236) groups. Measurements Students' sexual knowledge, attitudes, and refusal self‐efficacy were assessed before (T0), immediately after (T1), and 1 month after the intervention (T2), respectively. Intervention Students in the experimental group received two 40‐min sessions of the educational program while the control group received the usual mode of sexual and reproductive health education. Results Compared with the control group, students in the experimental group acquired more sexual knowledge (p < .01), and developed more positive sexual attitudes (p < .05) and stronger sexual self‐efficacy (p < .05) across the study period. Conclusions The proposed sexual and reproductive health education program incorporating various interactive activities was effective and could be used for school‐based implementation led by nurses and other health care workers.


During recent years the leather industry has been devoting attention to the development of a sole leather by combining two distinct, wellknown processes of tanning—namely, chrome tanning and vegetable tanning. The product is referred to as combination tanned, chromeretanned, or simply as retan leather. Though the process may vary in many minor respects, it consists essentially in tanning the hides first with chromium salts and then with vegetable materials. The reverse order of tanning has been followed also. The object is to make a leather resembling vegetabletanned sole leather in such properties as color, firmness, and substance but having the greater durabihty of chrome-tanned sole leather.^ Forest depletion by man and i disease is steadily decreasing the supply of vegetable-tanning raw materials. Chrome tanning, moreover, is a much shorter process than vegetable tanning. Because of these conditions and other factory future developments in the leather industry may depend on óhrome tanning. With this possibility in mind, the following experiments were made to obtain fundamental data on the wearing quality and other properties of chrome-retanned sole leather as compared to the long-established, well-known vegetable-tanned sole leather.


The invention relates to an anti-rotation device (3) for preventing rotational movement of a first component (1) about an axis of rotation (4) relative to a second component (2), wherein both components (1, 2) rotatably connected to the rotation (3) and the anti-rotation device (3) at least partially surrounds the first component (1) and is arranged at least partially between the first component (1) and the second component (2). In this case, the anti-rotation device (3) is displaceable both relative to the first component (1) along a first spatial direction (5) running orthogonally to the axis of rotation (4), and also opposite the second component (2) along a likewise orthogonal to the axis of rotation (4), but not coaxial with the first spatial direction (5) extending second spatial direction (6) slidably. In this way, it can be achieved that the first component (1) is rotationally fixed relative to the second component (2) and is freely displaceable on a plane spanned by the two spatial directions (5, 6), whereby errors in the alignment and shaping of the two components ( 1, 2) can be compensated without thereby a transverse force on the rotation (3) or the first or second component (1, 2) acts.


aCenter for Fuel Cell Research, Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Delaware, Newark, Delaware 19716-3140, USA bDepartment of Materials Science and Engineering, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois 60208, USA cDepartment of Polymer Science and Engineering, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon 440-746, Korea dDepartment of Energy Science, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon 440-746, Korea


Joint interaction forces and moments play a significant role within multilink cable-driven manipulators (MCDMs). In this paper, the consideration of joint interaction forces and moments in the objective function and constraints specific to the inverse dynamics of MCDMs are considered for the first time. By formulating the relationship between the joint interactions and cable forces, it is shown that the minimization of the joint interactions results in a convex quadratic program. Furthermore, the inclusion of constraints to maintain the stability of unilateral spherical joints results in a quadratically constrained quadratic program. Simulation results of the proposed formulations on two-link eight-cable and eight-link 76-cable manipulators are compared with the traditional two-norm cable force minimization. Results show that the formulations are able to take advantage of the actuation redundancy in considering the joint interactions within the inverse dynamics of MCDMs.


A17-year-old woman had paroxysmal hypertension. Very high levels of urinary catecholamines suggested a diagnosis of pheochromocytoma (urinary norepinephrine 27 600 nmol/24 hours, normal <485 nmol/24 hours; urinary normetanephrine 37 607 nmol/24 hours, normal <2000 nmol/24 hours), but no adrenal tumor was found on the abdominal CT scan. Metaiodobenzylguanidine (MIBG) whole-body scintigraphy was performed, and no abnormal uptake was observed. To locate the tumor, 111In-labeled pentetreotide somatostatin-receptor scintigraphy was performed. An intense …


&NA; A review of numerous experiments dealing with the mating behavior of males of various vertebrate species has suggested a tentative interpretation of the physiological basis of sexual excitement and copulatory reactions. The interpretation is not offered as a completely satisfactory explanatory theory,‐‐but has been formulated with the thought that it may indicate profitable lines of experimental approach to the important problems with which it deals. Sexual arousal leading to mating is regarded as a product of two independent variables. Males differ innately in their susceptibility to sexual arousal. Various stimulus objects differ in their capacity to elicit sexual excitement. The perfectly receptive female constitutes the maximally exciting stimulus object; but a highly excitable male may attempt to mate with less stimulating incentives. The appearance of copulatory reactions is thus seen as a joint function of the male's responsiveness and the incentive's excitatory value. In vertebrate species below the primates the motor patterns of copulation appear to be innately organized. Monkeys and apes give evidence of the inheritance of incompletely organized patterns which must be supplemented by experience. In many species the copulatory pattern is fully organized before puberty, and may be activated by prepubertal administration of hormones. In at least the majority of species the male's copulatory response constitutes a recombination of previously existing motor acts into a new sequence, with the addition of one novel element, ‐‐the ejaculatory reaction. The discrete acts comprising the pattern appear to depend upon the activity of centers in the brain stem and spinal cord. The sequential integration of the pattern is mediated by circuits lying below the cerebral cortex, probably in the midbrain; and these executive circuits are subject to afferent impulses from several sensory systems. Excitation of the neuromotor circuits by application of the proper combination of stimuli sometimes raises nervous activity to the threshold level, with the resultant activation of the copulatory response. In all mammals, and to some extent in submammalian vertebrates, the sexual arousal of the inexperienced male depends upon specific patterns of multisensory stimulation. There is no convincing indication that activation of any single sensory system is essential to the occurrence of mating. Conversely, it appears that several kinds of sensory data contribute to the critical pattern which evokes sexual excitement. Experimental evidence shows that the male's susceptibility to sexual arousal is in part a function of forebrain activity. The ease and rapidity with which copulatory reactions may be evoked are greatly reduced by removal of the cerebral cortex. Such findings suggest that the circuits for organization of the motor acts may be subject to facilitative impulses from higher brain centers. It has been proposed that the forebrain contains a Central Excitatory Mechanism contributing to the male's sexual responsiveness. This c.e.m. receives sensory impulses from several receptor systems; and is congenitally predisposed to react maximally to afferent stimulation conforming to a definite pattern (involving the sensory qualities of the receptive female). A centrally maintained tonus in the c.e.m. is augmented by such peripheral stimulation; and when activity within the mechanism reaches the threshold value efferent discharge is conveyed to the neuromotor circuits wherein the copulatory act is organized. Impulses from from the c.e.m. exert a facilitative effect upon the executive circuits, lowering the threshold of the latter to more direct stimulation from the peripheral receptors. The importance of such facilitation is so critical that if it is absent or markedly reduced (consequent to cortical injury) males of some species will not mate. The c.e.m. is thought to increase the "conditionability" of sexual responsiveness. The initial arousal of sexual excitement resulting in mating appears to depend upon the specific stimulus pattern comprising certain sensory qualities of the receptive female. Marked individual differences in sexual excitability may be detected in males of every species; and the inherited level of excitability may be extensively modified by experience. Repeated contact with nonreceptive animals, prolonged segregation, and various other types of experience tend to lower the male's responsiveness to the receptive female. In contrast, secondary stimuli which are originally nonsexual in nature tend to acquire a sexually exciting character when encountered in conjunction with other stimuli to which the male is innately responsive. Subsequently the secondary stimuli may be sufficiently exciting to elicit mating in the absence of many of the originally essential elements of the stimulus pattern. Testicular hormones are assumed to increase the excitability of the c.e.m., and to lower the thresholds of the integrative circuits wherein the masculine copulatory reactions are organized. In the absence of such hormones sexual responsiveness is low, but sluggish copulatory reactions may occasionally occur in response to intense stimulation. Normal amounts of androgen maintain excitability at average levels, permitting the appearance of mating behavior when the receptive female is encountered. If the androgen level is raised far above normal, sexual excitability is markedly increased with the result that the male executes copulatory attempts in response to stimuli normally inadequate to elicit sexual arousal. In addition to mechanisms responsible for organizing the masculine copulatory reactions, the male is endowed with a neuromotor system capable of mediating the mating pattern of the female of his species. These neuromotor circuits receive impulses from certain peripheral receptors, and are simultaneously subject to facilitation from the c.e.m. In the genetic male the threshold of the executive centers mediating feminine copulatory behavior is much higher than the threshold in circuits producing the masculine pattern. Furthermore the male is infrequently subjected to the stimulus pattern adequate to elicit feminine copulatory behavior. Accordingly the appearance of feminine reactions in the male occurs rarely in most species. The incidence of feminine behavior in the male may be increased by either of two methods. If estrogen is administered to the male two effects are produced. The excitability of the c.e.m. is increased (since this mechanism responds to either masculine or feminine hormones), and the threshold of the circuits mediating feminine behavior is lowered. Accordingly the application of the appropriate stimulus pattern may evoke feminine mating reactions. At the same time, because of heightened excitability in the c.e.m., there occurs an increase in the ease with which the masculine response may be elicited. The second method of increasing the feminine reactions in the male rests upon the fact that the central excitatory mechanism is connected with both effector circuits, ‐‐one of which produces masculine, and one feminine behavior. Intense activity can be built up within the c.e.m. if the androgen level is very high and maximally exciting stimuli are applied. If, under such conditions, execution of the masculine copulatory reaction is prevented, and if the stimuli which normally evoke the feminine response are brought to bear, the feminine response is elicited. Executive centers for masculine behavior cannot carry out their function because of limitations in the stimulus situation. Efferent discharge from the central mechanism is accordingly diverted into circuits producing feminine behavior, and excitation is so intense that the high threshold in these circuits is overcome. It is suggested that the current but Cartesian differentiation between the sexual behavior of lower animals and that of humans is based upon misconceptions as to the role of the so‐called psychic factors in the reactions of the two groups. In actuality the difference is much less marked than is generally supposed, and derives from a purely quantitative variation in the relative importance of extraneous and originally nonsexual factors which are involved in the reproductive reactions of males of all vertebrate species. Future experimentation involving careful analysis of the importance of environmental and experiential factors in the sexual behavior of lower mammals will undoubtedly increase the applicability of results obtained with such subjects to the interpretation of human problems.


The Gayo people are people who live in the highlands of Aceh province. Islamic identity for the Gayo community has existed since the 11th century AD, the Gayo community pays great respect to religious leaders. This can be seen in various aspects, one of which is in government, known as sarak opat. The role of ulama in Gayo is classified in several ways: In the context of the Gayo community, ulama have a role as religious educators, as politicians, as religious officials and as government officials and most ulama in Gayo are classified as free ulama. The public's recognition of the predicate "free ulama" for someone is based on deep knowledge, noble character and high adherence to religious teachings, and is not tied to the government bureaucracy as an official.


The problem of sound attenuation in a rectangular acoustically lined duct containing uniform mean flow is investigated analytically by means of the generalized Wiener-Hopf technique. For lined sections of finite axial extent uniqueness of the solution is enforced by imposing edge conditions at the liner interfaces. Several possible edge conditions are considered, including the Kutta condition. The corresponding solutions differ by eigensolutions and it is demonstrated that solution methods, like the mode matching and singularity method, imply differing edge conditions. The power attenuation as well as the SPL traces appear to be rather insensitive to the imposed edge conditions but striking differences are observed for the reflection coefficient.


Authentic French texts from a variety of sources, both literary and journalistic, are used in this book as a starting point for the illustration and explanation of the principal areas of French grammar. A range of exercises, including many which are text-based, give students the opportunity to practice handling these points. Each text has been chosen to illustrate one key area of grammar, but other important features which appear are listed for teachers' use. In addition, the exercises include some communication and pairwork activities for use in class.


The current advancements of hyphenated techniques, including chromatographic separation with atomic-spectrometric detection and multidimensional chromatography, in environmental analysis are reviewed in this paper.


X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy has been used to measure the valence band offset (VBO) at the GaN/Ge heterostructure interface. The VBO is directly determined to be 1.13 ± 0.19 eV, according to the relationship between the conduction band offset ΔEC and the valence band offset ΔEV: ΔEC = E9Gan – E9Ge – ΔEV, and taking the room-temperature band-gaps as 3.4 and 0.67 eV for GaN and Ge, respectively. The conduction band offset is deduced to be 1.6 ± 0.19 eV, which indicates a type-I band alignment for GaN/Ge. Accurate determination of the valence and conduction band offsets is important for the use of GaN/Ge based devices.


Vibrio parahaemolyticus is the most common species among crustaceans, often causing various diseases and signi icant losses in aquaculture. Acute hepatopancreatic necrosis disease (AHPND) is a newly emerging shrimp disease that has severely damaged the global shrimp industry. This species of bacteria is associated with gastrointestinal illness in humans and has been implicated in foodborne disease. The present study carried out, isolation and characterization of pathogenic bacterial lora isolated from the infected hepatopancreas of vannamei, obtained from various aquafarms in Andhra Pradesh, India, on 11 June 2018. The collected samples were plated on TCBS(Thiosulfate-Citrate-Bile salt-Sucrose) agar medium and Hi -Chrome vibrio, as described in Bergey's manual of systematic bacteriology. Isolated colonies were subjected to the following testsmicroscopic examination, growth at different temperatures, growth at different NaCl concentrations, and biochemical tests. Further purity, maintenance, and propagation of puri ied cultures were done. The microbial culture was identi ied using 16s rRNA molecular technique. Phylogenetic Evolutionary analyses and distance matrixwere conducted inMEGA7.In the present study, different sampleswere screened, a total of three green colonies (V44, V45, V46) were isolated, identi ied by biochemical tests and genetic identi ication as Vibrio parahaemolyticus. A systematicmethodology has been developed to isolate and characterize Vibrio sp. from diseased shrimp and identify them by genetic analysis


Carbon dioxide (CO2) is one of the major greenhouse gases in the Earth's atmosphere. With global warming and climate change being urgent issues, the mapping of CO2 sources and sinks through time is essential, and satellites offer raw measurements of CO2 at various spatial and temporal resolutions. Noël Cressie has provided a very informative overview of the statistical methodology needed for the analysis of data from the Orbiting CarbonObservatory 2 (OCO-2) satellite and discussed the statisticians' role in the study of carbon dioxide molecules in the atmosphere. The strength of the article is its comprehensive review and commentary on satellite remote sensing of CO2. At each level of the remote sensing mission, the author shared real experiences and examples. In the last section of the discussion article (DA), he commented on future directions of statistical science for CO2 including statistical models and decisionmaking under uncertainty. We extend the discussion of two points from a modeling side: non-Gaussian spatial models and nonstationary covariance functions on the sphere.


SPEED IS A SIGNIFICANT FACTOR IN MANY WET-WEATHER SKIDDING ACCIDENTS. ESTABLISHING WET-WEATHER SPEED LIMITS AT CERTAIN LOCATIONS, THEREFORE, MAY BE ONE WAY TO REDUCE THESE ACCIDENTS. THIS PAPER ASSIMILATES FINDINGS FROM VARIOUS SKID-RESEARCH EFFORTS TO FORM A BASIS FOR EQUATING THE AVAILABLE FRICTION AT A SITE (PAVEMENT SKID RESISTANCE) TO THE EXPECTED FRICTION DEMAND FOR SELECTED MANEUVERS. FRICTION NORMALLY DECREASES AS SPEED INCREASES. BECAUSE THE SPEEDS IN QUESTION ARE USUALLY HIGHER THAN 40 MPH, THE STANDARD SPEED AT WHICH THE SKID NUMBER IS DETERMINED, THE CHANGE IN AVAILABLE FRICTION WITH RESPECT TO SPEED MUST BE CONSIDERED. METHODS TO ACCOMPLISH THIS ARE DISCUSSED. THE PAPER PRESENTS CURVES TO DETERMINE, FOR VARIOUS PAVEMENT FRICTIONS, THE CRITICAL SPEED FOR HYDROPLANING, STOPPING MANEUVERS, CORNERING MANEUVERS, PASSING MANEUVERS, EMERGENCY PATH-CORRECTION MANEUVERS, AND COMBINED MANEUVERS. A DESIGN PROCESS TO ESTABLISH THE WET-WEATHER SPEED LIMIT IS DISCUSSED, AND EXAMPLES ARE PRESENTED TO ILLUSTRATE THE USE OF THE CURVES.


The method of solvent-enhanced dye diffusion for patterning full-color (red, green, and blue) polymer light-emitting diode displays was investigated in detail. After local dry transfer of dye onto a device polymer film, the dye remains on the surface of the polymer layer and must be diffused into the polymer for efficient emission. Exposure of the polymer to solvent vapor at room temperature increases the dye-diffusion coefficient by many orders of magnitude, allowing rapid diffusion of the dye into the film without a long, high-temperature anneal that can degrade the polymer. The increase in diffusion is due to absorption of the solvent vapor into the polymer film, which increases the polymer thickness and decreases its effective glass transition temperature Tg,eff. Measurements of the polymer in solvent vapor indicate that its thickness varies roughly linearly with pressure and inversely with temperature, with thickness increases as large as 15% often observed. A model based on Flory-Huggins theory is u...


ABSTRACT Many meta-ethicists are alethists: they claim that practical considerations can constitute normative reasons for action, but not for belief. But the alethist owes us an account of the relevant difference between action and belief, which thereby explains this normative difference. Here, I argue that two salient strategies for discharging this burden fail. According to the first strategy, the relevant difference between action and belief is that truth is the constitutive standard of correctness for belief, but not for action, while according to the second strategy, it is that practical considerations can constitute motivating reasons for action, but not for belief. But the former claim only shifts the alethist's explanatory burden, and the latter claim is wrong—we can believe for practical reasons. Until the alethist can offer a better account, then, I argue that we should accept that there are practical reasons for belief.


It is demonstrated in terms of heteronuclear coupling systems AX_n (n=1, 2 and 3) that multiple quantum (MQ) transitions of various orders can be displayed in the perturbation of a weakly continuous wave (CW) R. F. field. The effect of CW frequency offset and R. F. field strength on the observed MQ transition is discussed. The one-dimensional (1-D) MQ NMR has some advantages, such as high sensitivity, easy assignment of its spectrum, only requiring 1-D Fourier transform. Therefore it has a broad prospect for application. The Raman effect produced by the CW irradiation is interpreted.


Rhabdomyosarcomeis a commun tumor in children with all its types (pleomorphic, embryonal,alveolarand spindle cell rhabdomyosarcoma). However, it is a very rare tumor in adults, the commun type isthe pleomorphicrhabdomyosarcoma but it is very rare in the head and neck region. The diagnosis of the pleomorphic RMS is made by the histopathologic study, this shows the interest of a biopsy before the surgicalprocedure. The treatment of patients with malignant mesenchymal tumors of the head and neck region is multidisciplinary (radical surgery with postoperative radiotherapy and or chemotherapy) with poor prognosis.


Over the decades, due to the spread of the internet and the accessibility of digital devices such as laptops, tablets and smartphones, online shopping has grown steadily and become accessible among consumers. In today's world, online shopping is relaxation for individuals engaged in a busy life. Recently, there are changes in the way clients shop from traditional to virtual. While customers prefer to purchase goods from a retail store, internet shoppers feel safer buying online. People who are too involved with their everyday operations are unlikely to spend a lot of time shopping in a physical store. A right choice is to indulge in online shopping. It saves vital time and resources. Social media helps increase awareness about Nigeria's online films and spread the word about online shopping services. Online shopping is getting momentum globally, but the penetration rate in Nigeria is low. Thus, this research tries to propose a conceptual framework of social media's mediating effect on the relationship between Reliability, Perceived Usefulness on Online Shopping Behaviour.


Abstract The limiting effects of personal exposure limit, sampler capacity, limit of detection (LOD), limit of quantitation (LOQ), and upper limit of calibration range as they relate to air analysis methods are discussed. Combinations of these parameters are made, resulting in equations for the prediction of minimum and maximum air sample volumes at given concentrations, the range of desorption or recovery spikes, and the range of calibration standards. A working range, in units of concentration in air, is defined for the method. Eller, P.M. Operational limits of air analysis methods.


Although Deng Xiaoping didn't propose"humanities" directly,Deng Xiaoping's rich and deep humanities implication can be learned through the structural dimension of the area from his theoritical angle of view,and it contains a deep and tender devotion to human's existance and development.The article tries to probe the principle origin and the practice basis of the humanities implication of Deng Xiaopingist Theory.


The idea that inclusion or abstinence from certain foods could have benefits for those with seizures has origins that far precede our current era of scientific research. A dietary approach to the treatment of epilepsy can be traced back to the 5th century BC, when Hippocrates described a man whose seizures were cured by abstaining from all food and drink. Guelpa and Marie ( 1911 ) are accredited with writing the first scientific account of the benefits of fasting in epilepsy. In 1921 Geyelin also reported the successful use of fasting, with 20 of 26 fasted patients showing improved seizure control, two remaining seizure-free for over a year. The arbitrary length of fasting was 20 days, although only four had seizures after the tenth day without food (Geyelin, 1921 ). Geyelin was inspired by the work of Conklin, an osteopath who believed that epilepsy was caused by the release of a toxin from the Peyer's patches of the intestine which was taken up by the lymphatic system and periodically released into the blood, triggering seizures. Conklin therefore advocated complete gut rest and starved his patients for up to 25 days. He reported a 90 % success rate in children under the age of 10 years, decreasing to 50 % in those aged 25–40 years; success was more limited in the older adults (Conklin, 1922 ). These observations sparked considerable clinical and research interest, and linked with ongoing studies examining ketoacidosis and the disturbance in glucose metabolism that occurs in diabetes. During starvation, the body passes through various phases of metabolic adaptation to spare muscle protein breakdown and draw on the energy reserves of body fat. Skeletal muscle and other tissues progressively switch energy source from glucose to free fatty acids generated from triglyceride breakdown. There is increased oxidation of fatty acids in the liver, with increased production of the water-soluble ketone bodies acetoacetate and β -hydroxybutyrate. Ketone bodies Introduction to the ketogenic diet and other dietary treatments


A simulation study of two-well injection-withdrawal tracer tests in stratified granular aquifers at two widely separated sites is presented. The first site is located near the Chalk River Nuclear Laboratories in Canada, and the second site is located in Mobile, Alabama. Field data and test conditions at these sites are substantially different in terms of vertical distributions of hydraulic conductivity, well spacings, flow rates, test durations, and tracer travel distances. Furthermore, the test at the Chalk River site was conducted in a recirculating mode, whereas the test at the Mobile site was conducted in a nonrecirculating mode. Simulations of these tests were performed in three dimensions using the curvilinear finite element model developed in the previous paper of this series. The simulations incorporated measured vertical variations in relative hydraulic conductivity and local dispersivity values that are small fractions (between 1/1000 and 1/100) of the spacing between the injection and the withdrawal wells. The local dispersivities are used to account for local hydrodynamic dispersion and are chosen independently so that they are not affected by the scales of the tests. Simulation results obtained from the model are presented. Interpretation of these results is made in conjunction with measured breakthrough curves at the withdrawal well and multilevel observation wells. For the Chalk River site, predicted and measured breakthrough curves at the withdrawal well are in good agreement over the earlier part of the test duration. Deviation of the field data from the model prediction occurs over the second part, where the predicted breakthrough curves show a declining trend but the field data plot does not. For the Mobile site, predicted and measured breakthrough curves at the withdrawal well show similar trends throughout the entire test duration and are in good agreement overall. Model predictions of the effect of hydraulic conductivity stratification on temporal distributions of concentration are generally consistent with data from multilevel observation wells at both sites. The model results also show interesting effects of stratification on spatial distributions of concentration, and on the evolution and spreading pattern of tracer plumes. These effects have not been fully assessed in the field measurement and should be investigated further.


Notion of 'Nation' and 'Nationalism' has been pivotal issue gaining attention of the writers of South Asia in recent decades. Delineating conceptual variability of the terms: 'state' - 'nation' and 'patriotism' – 'nationalism', the ideologues attempt to redefine the idea of Nation and Nationalism contextualizing the said concepts into the local conditions. The hegemonic impact of western literary practices has arguably overshadowed the indigenous literary spirit, however, literary production of the writers from the East has noticeably made its way in the world literature in the twentieth and twenty first century. Consequently, revival of indigenous model of nation and conception of nationalism has become prevalent expression in contemporary literature of South Asia. This paper is an attempt to examine variable perceptions pertinent to the idea of 'nation' and 'nationalism' discoursed in literature of SAARC nations: India and Pakistan. Analyzing two of the critically acclaimed texts with regards to nationalism – The Shadow Lines by Amitav Ghosh and The Broken Verses by Kamila Shamsie, the paper examines scrupulously the conflicting ideologies pertinent to nationalism; for instance, constitutional nationalism that was triggered during anti-colonial era and religious nationalism that accentuates the revival of ancient religio-cultural ideologies in favor of asserting the complete indigenous power.


Aiming at different Oracle database editions, this paper puts forwards several recovery solutions, including the technology of point-in-time recovery, redo logminer, and database flashback.


This essay focuses on loss and trauma as structuring motifs in several individual stories in 'Dear Life'. They represent privileged moments of access to the Real that disturbs and pierces the smooth surface of ordinary life and reality. But read as a whole, the volume also offers a reflection on the process of healing at the heart of story telling and on the reconstructive work of language that allows life to continue.'


AbstractThe urban surface is a largely impervious interface across which nitrogen (N) in runoff is transported and partitions between dissolved and particulate phases. In this study intraevent partitioning and transport are examined across 14 runoff events loading a source area; representative of urban land uses that support motor vehicle activities; specifically parking. N is fractionated as: suspended N for suspended PM (0.45∼25  μm); settleable N for settleable PM; sediment N for sediment PM (greater than 75 μm); and dissolved N as filtered through a 0.45-μm filter. The median total nitrogen (TN) was 4.5  mg/L, much higher than Florida nutrient criteria, and the median of dissolved, suspended, settleable, and sediment N fractions was 2.02, 0.72, 0.29, and 0.78  mg/L. As would be expected for a source area of less complex geometry, transport of TN was generally mass limited (a first flush); however, the suspended and dissolved fractions did exhibit flow-limited transport. Hydrograph unsteadiness also im...


In order to enlarge the applying field of PVC,research on antieletrostatic materlal absorbs much attention of researchers.This article probes into the influence of carbon black content on PVC blending performance,etc.electrical performance,mechanical performanc,processing performanc.


In many countries like India, Child abuse is one of the major social evil leading to poor emotional health of the future citizens. Child abuse and neglect occur in different situations, for a different range of reasons at different places. Children often experience more than one form of abuse at a time. The abuse can take many forms such as physical, emotional, psychological, neglect, domestic violence etc. Recent research by McGill University (2015) showed that emotional abuse of a child may be as harmful as physical abuse and neglect. A child facing abuse in any of the above forms is at risk of being isolated; experience anxiety, depression, and mental trauma; face difficulties in learning and developing social relations. Although there have been many initiatives by NGOs and government and other welfare departments to stop this evil by registering a complaint against the abuser, conducting campaigns, by protesting against abuse and so on. These schemes are only carried out if the crime has already taken place. Thus the abuser can be punished according to the Child Protection and Safety Act but the negative impact it had left on the child remains. This can only be reduced by rehabilitation and this process takes time.


Transport in the edge and scrape-off layer mediated by turbulent fluctuations is often studied using drift fluid models. In this work, we expand previous work on a two-fluid sin...


Here we present a solution for debugging compilers that use abstract-syntax trees as their internal structure. The solution focuses on capturing one specific state of the compilation process, and should not be confused with the more known step-by-step debugging. The goal is to visualize the current state of the abstract-syntax tree and present its data to the user in an intuitive and interactive way. We believe that deeper understanding of an abstract-syntax tree, and bugs in its structure, can be achieved by visualization of the tree. Few such debuggers exist today however, but with this master thesis we aim to fill this gap.

The main feature of the developed tool DrAST is the ability to visualize the abstract-syntax tree. It is also possible to filter the tree, so that only nodes of interest are visualized, while the rest are gathered in what we call clusters. Further, DrAST can display attributes, draw references between nodes, calculate parameterized attributes and is built for further extension.

DrAST mainly debugs compilers created in the attribute-grammar-based system JastAdd. By the use of Java reflection and annotations from the JastAdd system, the debugger is able to extract the abstract-syntax tree from a compiler without knowing the specific grammar.

In short, DrAST provides a new solution in compiler debugging which can be of use for both students and professionals.


We present a polynomial time algorithm for the 3-Compatible colouring problem, where we are given a complete graph with each edge assigned one of 3 possible colours and we want to assign one of those 3 colours to each vertex in such a way that no edge has the same colour as both of its endpoints. Consequently we complete the proof of a dichotomy for the k-Compatible Colouring problem.
 The tractability of the 3-Compatible colouring problem has been open for several years and the best known algorithm prior to this paper is due to Feder et al. [SODA'05] --- a quasipolynomial algorithm with a nO(logn/log log n) time complexity.
 Furthermore our result implies a polynomial algorithm for the Stubborn problem which enables us to finish the classification of all List Matrix Partition variants for matrices of size at most four over subsets of {0, 1} started by Cameron et al. [SODA'04].


A thematically arranged anthology of poems, short stories, plays, novellas, and excerpts from longer works by American authors for the eleventh-grade reader.


One of the most daunting challenges in Computer Integrated Manufacturing (CIM) is bridging the gap between Computer Aided Design (CAD) and Computer Aided Process Planning (CAPP). Past research into...


Electromigration data after stressing narrow lines with or without a TiW layer underneath have been analysed. The difference between the failure morphology and the failure time distributions is explained and a new statistical failure model is derived to explain the differences in electromigration observations.


Under the demand of clean and low-carbon power consumption, the construction of energy interconnection poses new challenges to clean energy power access and transmission technologies, which needs to solve key technical problems in complex scenarios such as the access of different clean energies, the interconnection of strong and weak power systems, and the operation control of complex network topology, in order to improve the system reliability and power quality, as well as transmission capacity and operational stability of large-scale AC-DC hybrid power grids. This paper sorts out various power transmission scenarios under Global Energy Interconnection (GEI), summarizes the needs of advanced transmission technologies, and proposes the key technologies including IGCT-based UHV VSC DC transmission, storage-based active DC power transmission, and wide DC grid. Europe is taken as an example to make a DC power grid simulation model research to verify the feasibility and applicability of the above advanced transmission technologies.


Abstract Two-dimensional (2D) layers of transition metal carbides, nitrides, or carbonitrides, collectively referred to as MXenes, are considered as the new family of 2D materials for the development of functional building blocks for optoelectronic and photonic device applications. Their advantages are based on their unique and tunable electronic and optical properties, which depend on the modulation of transition metal elements or surface functional groups. In this paper, we have presented a comprehensive review of MXenes to suggest an insightful perspective on future nanophotonic and optoelectronic device applications based on advanced synthesis processes and theoretically predicted or experimentally verified material properties. Recently developed optoelectronic and photonic devices, such as photodetectors, solar cells, fiber lasers, and light-emitting diodes are summarized in this review. Wide-spectrum photodetection with high photoresponsivity, high-yield solar cells, and effective saturable absorption were achieved by exploiting different MXenes. Further, the great potential of MXenes as an electrode material is predicted with a controllable work function in a wide range (1.6–8 eV) and high conductivity (~104 S/cm), and their potential as active channel material by generating a tunable energy bandgap is likewise shown. MXene can provide new functional building blocks for future generation nanophotonic device applications.


This paper provides a review of three sets of recent expert recommendations on the treatment of childhood and adolescent obesity: 2007 Healthcare Organizations' Four Stage Model; 2009 Seven Step Model; and 2010 US Preventive Task Force Recommendations. A consensus emerged from this analysis. All three groups viewed the evidence as supporting intensive (>25 contact hours) dietary, physical activity and cognitive-behavioral counseling and two of the three groups discouraged reliance on educational interventions alone. A case is made for the advantages of the Seven Steps model and immersion treatments.


A key foundation of empowering organizations is employee self-leadership. This study examines the e€ects of self-leadership skills and self-ecacy perceptions on performance. Structural equations modeling determined whether the in ̄uence of self-leadership on performance is mediated by self-ecacy perceptions. Results for the sample of 151 respondents indicated self-leadership strategies had a signi®cant e€ect on self-ecacy evaluations, and self-ecacy directly a€ected performance. Further, self-ecacy perceptions were found to fully mediate the self-leadership/performance relationship. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed. # 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


The skill to solve a problem is one of the skills that must be mastered by students in the 21st century. The problem of research is that there is no assessment that can measure the problem solving skills of students, especially in the material that is considered difficult by students, namely the ecosystem. Appropriate assessment is useful for developing students' problem solving skills. This study aims to develop a valid and reliable test instrument for students' problem solving skills. The research method used is a modified research and development (R & D) Plomp model. This research is limited to testing the feasibility of the developed instrument. The results of product development show that the average validity test by assessment expert lecturers is 93.75% in the valid category, material experts 89% in the valid category, linguists 81.25% in the valid category, practitioners by 84.5% in the valid category and 14 items were declared valid based on Pearson product moment calculations and had a reliability of 0.896 with a high reliability category. The conclusion of this study is that the problem-solving skills instrument developed by the indicators has met the requirements and is suitable for use as a learning evaluation tool for students at the high school level.


The new upward looking sonar instrument was deployed on the riverbed in November 2005 and 2006. The instrument package contained a 545 KHz sonar transducer, as well as temperature-, 2-axis tiltand pressuresensors as well as onboard heaters to prevent anchor ice formation. The original instrument deployed in October 2004 and November 2005 was a 235 KHz unit. The sonar instruments measure the distance to the water surface or the undersides of drifting or stationary ice. By computing the difference between the acoustically-derived distance to the ice and an independently measured water level, the draft of the floating ice can be determined at one second sampling intervals. The instruments can also record the profile of acoustic backscatter returns through the body of the river water column allowing detection of the presence and depth of suspended frazil ice. The higher frequency of the second generation unit was intended to facilitate detection of smaller particles of frazil ice.


This paper makes use of a novel dataset derived from mortgage contracts granted by the major lending institutions in Malta. This contains information about house prices and a number of important property characteristics. Together with geographic and sociodemographic variables, this information allows the computation of a range of hedonic house price indices for Malta for the period 2010-2017. In general we find that growth in house prices remained relatively muted over the period 2011-2014, ranging between 1.0% and 2.0%. House prices picked-up markedly after 2015, averaging between 4.5% and 7.5%. In particular, house price growth peaked in 2017, at between 10.1% and 11.0%. Although the general evolution of the hedonic house price indices calculated in this study are broadly similar to the indices computed by the contract-based index produced by the National Statistics Office and the advertised-based index produced by the Central Bank of Malta, there are some divergences. These differences can be attributed to changes in property characteristics.


An illustrated reference book which aims to reveal the wide range of English apples and their distinct colour, shape and taste. Included is a brief history of the apple in England and an essay on apple growing techniques. 122 varieties of apple are reproduced in watercolour drawings with a description of each apple, together with line drawings of its cross- section.


Large-scale land acquisitions (LSLAs) have received considerable scholarly attention over the last decade, and progress has been made towards quantifying their direct impacts. There is also a growing recognition of the importance of indirect effects of LSLAs, such as 'spillover' or indirect land-use change (iLUC), and the substantial challenges they pose for attribution and quantification. In fact, the relative contributions of direct and indirect LUC associated with LSLAs are unknown. This study aims to address these knowledge gaps using Economic Land Concessions (ELCs) in Cambodia, now the most targeted country for LSLAs in Southeast Asia. We leverage findings on archetypical pathways of direct and indirect LUC in Cambodia, developed through previous mixed-methods synthesis efforts, to quantify remotely sensed forest loss to specific ELCs. During 2000–2016, Cambodia roughly 1611 kha of forest, or 22% of total forest cover. Although ELCs (as of 2016) contained roughly 16% of Cambodia's forest cover (2000), forest lost within ELC boundaries accounted for nearly 30% (476 kha) of total forest lost by 2016. Furthermore, iLUC contributed an additional 49–174 kha of forest loss (3.0%–10.7% of all forest lost in Cambodia) over the same period. Thus, iLUC contributed to Cambodia's total forest loss at the rate of 11.4%–40.8% of direct LUC caused by ELCs. Such findings suggest that the total amount of LUC caused by LSLAs may well be underestimated globally. This and related synthesis research efforts can be valuable approaches for better targeting remote sensing analyses to specific locations and time periods needed to disentangle and quantify forest loss due to direct and indirect land change processes.


Influence of cooling and mixing rate on the process of schoenite crystallization from saturated salt solutions was investigated in laboratory conditions. It was established that as the system's cooling rate and mixing speed increase, a significant decrease of the induction period of schoenite crystallization is observed. Fivefold increase of the cooling rate increases sizes of schoenite crystals by an average of 2.5–3.0. Mixing rate increase leads to the formation of a fine crystalline precipitate (crystal size 10−20 μ m).


© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2021. No commercial reuse. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ. CASE REPORT A 63yearold woman was referred to the lung cancer clinic after presenting to the emergency department with a 10day history of fever, chest tightness and breathlessness. Chest Xray showed a leftsided retrocardiac mass, and an urgent CT scan was requested. On review, she reported a 2month history of intermittent cough and night sweats. She denied weight loss or haemoptysis. She was an exsmoker. Her medical history included two episodes of pneumonia in the 1980s. There was no history of recurrent childhood infections or exposure to tuberculosis. Performance status was zero and she worked for the NHS as an operating department practitioner. CT scan demonstrated a left lower lobe mass suspicious for malignancy. Preliminary radiological staging was T4N0M0 (figure 1). On positron emission tomography (PET)CT, the mass showed flurodeoxyglucose (FDG)avidity below the mediastinal blood pool. Subsequent review of the previous CT scan revealed direct arterial supply from the aorta with venous return to the azygous vein. These findings were reported as consistent with intralobar pulmonary sequestration (ILS) (figures 2 and 3). She was referred to the local cardiothoracic centre for further management and underwent surgical resection. Histology confirmed ILS. Surgery was uncomplicated, and she is recovering well postoperatively.


A multiple elliptic target detection algorithm based on EM algorithm is proposed in this paper.Because elliptic target coincides with Gaussian distribution on shape,its mean and variance matrix can be calculated by employing statistical method.So the principle component analysis is used to describe their size,position and main axis.For an overlapped multi-target region,a weighted EM iterative algorithm is constructed to calculate the number of targets in it,the statistical and geometric properties of every ellipse.This algorithm is employed to fruits and moving target detection.The result is stable and accurate.


This paper proposes a parallel branch and bound algorithm that efficiently runs on the Grid. The proposed algorithm is parallelized with the hierarchical master-worker paradigm in order to efficiently compute fine-grain tasks on the Grid. The hierarchical algorithm performs master-worker computing in two levels, computing among PC clusters on the Grid and that among computing nodes in each PC cluster, and reduces communication overhead by localizing frequent communication in tightly coupled computing resources, or a PC cluster. On each PC cluster, granularity of tasks dispatched to computing nodes is adaptively adjusted to obtain the best performance. The algorithm is implemented on the Grid testbed by using GridRPC middleware, Ninf-G and Ninf. In the implementation, communication among PC clusters is securely performed via Ninf-G using the Grid Security Infrastructure, and fast communication in each PC cluster is performed via Ninf. The experimental results showed that parallelization with the hierarchical master-worker paradigm using combination of Ninf-G and Ninf effectively utilized computing resources on the Grid in order to run a fine-grain application. The results also showed that the adaptive task granularity control automatically gave the same or better performance compared to performance with manual control.


Tungsten doping is critical for the wear resistance and application of High-Chromium Cast Iron (HCCI). A series of investigations of (Fe, Cr, W)7C3 carbides were performed by first principles calculations and experimental analysis. The calculated results showed that with the increase in tungsten content in M7C3, the equilibrium cell volumes and the density gradually increased, and the formation energy of M7C3 carbides gradually decreased. The TEM results showed that the (Fe, Cr, W)7C3 carbides were (Fe3.27Cr2.99W0.74) C3 with a hexagonal structure after adding 2.13 wt % tungsten into laser cladding coatings of High-Chromium Cast Iron with a composition of Fe-26.8 wt % Cr-3.62 wt % C. These results from calculations and in situ nanoindentation show that tungsten doping could improve the ductility and indentation modulus of (Fe, Cr)7C3 carbides, and the composition of (Fe, Cr, W)7C3 was expected to be a high hardness and softness material. The wear test results showed that the wear resistance of tungsten-bearing HCCI was better than ordinary HCCI.


The Peregrine breather is widely discussed as a model for rogue waves in deep water. We present here a detailed numerical study of perturbations of the Peregrine breather as a solution to the nonlinear Schr\"odinger (NLS) equations. We first address the modulational instability of the constant modulus solution to NLS. Then we study numerically localized and nonlocalized perturbations of the Peregrine breather in the linear and fully nonlinear setting. It is shown that the solution is unstable against all considered perturbations.


A Comparison of the Theories of Barrett, Bebel and Engels : A History of Doctrines Study of the Synthesis between Marxism and Women's Liberation.


Innovation is not copy success, it's from zero to one. In 21th, innovation play an important role from companies to companies. Innovation separate into two part, ideal generation and idea implementation. Idea generation goes first, with idea implementation later. In this research, we will put more on the factors which may influence the idea generation. The stereotype tell us, more and more creative ideas come from young generation; however, others argue that older employees have more creativities because they are good at using their plentiful experience. So we try to know the relationship between age and idea generation. Besides, employees' personality and social ability is important, too. So we tries to exam how proactivity and network ability influence ideal generation. This study use two versions of questionnaires, one for managers and the other for team members. We sent 400 questionnaires and a total of 238 valid questionnaires are returned, and the final response rate is 60%. We use hierarchical regression analysis to verify all hypotheses. Our findings can be summarized as following. Idea generation is positive correlated with idea implement. Proactivity and network ability is positive correlated with idea generation.


In this paper, a Kalman filter for fractional order singular systems has been proposed. To design the Kalman filter, the fractional order singular system is decomposed into two sub-systems by using several transformations. The first sub-system is a dynamic system with fractional order non-singular state equations and the second sub-system is a static system in which the output is a combination of fractional derivatives of its input. Then, the Kalman filter has been elaborated for the system with an index 1 and 2. In the case of index 2, the identification method should be used due to the existence of color noise. At the end, two examples are used to demonstrate efficiency of the proposed method. [Leila Ashayeri, Masoud Shafiee, Mohammad Bagher Menhaj. Kalman Filter for Fractional Order Singular Systems. J Am Sci 2013;9(1):209-216]. (ISSN: 1545-1003). http://www.jofamericanscience.org. 33


Population in this research are manufacturing companies listed in Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) from 2010 to 201 5 . The samples are selected using purposive sampling method. There are 63 manufacturing companies as sample in this study. Data used in this research is secondary data from the website of Indonesia Stock Exchange www.idx.co.id. The regression results indicate that Corporate Risk has significantly influenced tax aggressiveness while Corporate Social Responsbility and family ownership has not significantly influenced tax aggressiveness. Keyword : tax aggressiveness, Corporate Risk, Corporate Social Responsibility, family ownership.


In this volume, investigators shed light on the relationship of nutrition to the aging process, the specific nutrient needs of the elderly, and the role of nutrition in preventing geriatric diseases. The book begins with overviews of the health statistics and eating habits of older people. The contributors then describe age-related changes in renal, endocrine, and gastorintestinal function, energy metabolism, taste and odor perception, and immune responses, and relate these physiological changes to nutritional status. It examines the energy, protein, fat, vitamin, and trace element requirements of the elderly, discuss the role of nutrition, estrogens, exercise, and fluoride therapy in preventing osteoporosis, explore the relationship of brain mineral metabolism to Alzheimer's disease, and address practical aspects of nutrition of the elderly in the home and the institutional setting.


The structural color is generated by the interaction of light waves and some microscopic structures. This type of coloring is more intense and more durable than colors generated by pigments. In nature, various animals, plants and insects exhibit structural color, an example is the metallic sheen of the ventral part of the scarab beetle Cotinis mutabilis, popularly known in México as "mayate" (Mayatl in Nahuatl). Furthermore, in the beetle's cuticle chitin-protein complexes form a helical structure (the so-called Bouligand structure) acting as a natural left-handed circular polarizer arising the circular Bragg phenomenon.


Althoughthedemographyofwoodyplantsinsavannashaslongbeenshowntobeduetomanyfactors,therestill is no consensus as to the relative importance of the top-down processes of fire and herbivory, nor on how fire and herbivory affect plant demography. We review the recent literature and suggest that further progress depends on the following: (i) a demographic framework with clear terminology and which focuses on recruitment, transitions and mortality, (ii) an understandingofmechanismsofhow fireactuallydamagesplantsandhowplantssurviveandout-growthisdamage,mainly throughheight,barkthicknessordiametergrowth,(iii)anunderstandingofhowlossesinbiomassduetoherbivorymayaffect plant demography and, (iv) a consideration of interactions between fire and herbivory. Our synthesis suggests (i) strong recruitment limitation as well as some evidence of transition limitation by both fire and herbivory, (ii) that in some cases herbivory alone, notably by elephants and impala, can be more significant than fire alone, on woody plant population size, (iii) that fire and herbivory together are a lethal combination for woody plants and, (iv) that differences in strategies and responses of savanna plants to fire and herbivory are poorly explored.


The major impetus for this statement has been recent changes to private insurance funding of Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP). Specifically, the Canadian Sleep Society (CSS) has become ve...


The invention provides a device and a method for manufacturing bent member. A bending device comprising: (a) a first manipulator for constituting a feeding means (22) which is disposed at a first position and feeds a hollow metallic material (25) in the longitudinal direction thereof, said metallic material (25) having a closed cross-section; (b) a second manipulator for supporting both a heating means (23) and a cooling means, the heating means (23) being disposed at a second position downstream of the first position in the feeding direction of the metallic material and heating a part of or the whole metallic material being fed, the cooling means being disposed at a third position downstream of the second position and cooling the portion of the metallic material being fed, said portion being that which is heated by the heating means; and (c) a third manipulator for constituting a second support means (24) which is disposed at a fourth position downstream of the third position and bends the metallic material being fed, the bending of metallic material being fed being performed in such a manner that, while supporting at least one part of the metallic material and moving in a two-dimensional or three-dimensional direction, the second support means (24) applies bending moment to the heated portion of the metallic material.


It is not often that ENT topics are the leading stories on the World Health Organization (WHO) website, but with the publication of new prevalence data on hearing loss, to coincide with International Ear Care Day (1 March 2013), this has indeed happened. These new data reveal greatly increased figures for hearing loss. There are an estimated 360 million people with disabling hearing loss worldwide (5.3 per cent of the world's population). The prevalence of disabling hearing loss is highest in the South Asia, Asia Pacific and Sub-Saharan African regions. Approximately one-third of people over 65 years of age are affected by disabling hearing loss. In younger persons, ototoxicity is a much overlooked cause of hearing loss in low and middle income countries, where resources for monitoring serum drug levels and audiometry often do not exist. In last month's issue, we highlighted the hidden effects of environmental noise, particularly that generated by wind turbines. The major contributors to environmental noise remain road traffic and aviation. The United Kingdom's Department for Transport recently drafted an Aviation Policy Framework for the UK, which seeks to balance economic and environmental considerations. Such initiatives emphasise the fact that environmental noise is a major public health issue which requires greater awareness. In this issue, a number of articles focus on important aspects of tonsillectomy. There is increasing pressure on surgeons to carry out tonsillectomy as a day-case procedure. Clement reports that children's eligibility for tonsillectomy with same-day discharge has increased, and that there is an association between deprivation and tonsillectomy. Those wishing to justify tonsillectomy on quality of life grounds can refer to the systematic review by Andreou and colleagues, who conclude that the effects are likely to be long-lasting and to have a greater impact on younger patients. Finally, following their randomised, controlled trial El-Fattah and Ramzy report that preemptive triple analgesia is effective for the control of post-tonsillectomy pain in children.


Particulate samples were collected by the multi-stage impactor sampler and classified into five grades by their sizes from January to July in 2012 in the area of the 3rdwest ring road in Beijing City.The organic aliphatic acids in the samples were determined by GC-MS after the pretreatment of solvent extraction and derivation.Twenty one monocarboxylic aliphatic acids and seven dicarboxylic aliphatic acids were separately determined.The results showed that both acids had a tendency to concentrate in ultrafine particles which were smaller than 0.69 μm.For the two acids,ρ 0.69(∑21MOA) and ρ 0.69(∑7DIA) accounted for 30.0% and 32.5% of the concentration of all stages particles,respectively.The monthly variations with concentrations of monocarboxylic aliphatic acids and dicarboxylic aliphatic acids appeared quite different.ρ(∑21MOA) were much higher obviously for January and February and were the second in March.However,the highest values of ρ(∑7DIA) appeared from May to July.There were obvious differences in composition characteristics of the two acids.The monocarboxylic aliphatic acids in the ranges C 10 ~ C 24 had a significant even number predominances,while dicarboxylic aliphatic acids presented no parity preponderance.For the fatty acids,the concentration of hexadecanoic acid was the highest followed by octadecanoic acid;Nonandioic acid presented the highest concentration in dicarboxylic acids.Preliminary analysis based on the ratios of C18/C16 and the CPI showed that monocarboxylic aliphatic acids mainly caused by human activities such as coal combustion,vehicle exhaust and cooking emission.For instance,the most important source of fatty acids was coal burning in January and February.


EPCglobal_Class1 Gen2 standard employs Q algorithm to adjust frame length automatically in dynamic frame slotted ALOHA tag anti-collision algorithm. The Q algorithm has empty slots, wasting resource timing. Because of the high demand for real-time performance and the large number of tags, in blood management, it is not acceptable to waste time resources. In this paper, a method of pre allocation slots twice is proposed, and the numerical simulation is performed. The results show that the proposed method can significantly improve the efficiency of tag identification.


Soil aeration is an important factor controlling microbial activity, nutrient availability, and plant root growth. We investigated the effect of hairy vetch (Vicia villosa) addition to well aerated (60% water-filled pore space (WFPS)) and poorly aerated (90% WFPS) soils of varying texture on transformations of C, N, P, K, Ca, Mg, S, Zn, Mn, Fe, and Cu for a 30-d period. Of the total residue C recovered as CO2–C, 84 and 68% evolved in 0 to 10 d and 11 and 19% from 10 to 20 d at 60 and 90% WFPS, respectively, suggesting rapid decomposition of vetch residue. Of the total nutrients added to soil in vetch residue, significant apparent mineralization of N, P, K, S, and Zn were observed after the initial 20 d of aerobic incubation. Rapidly decomposing residue enhanced anaerobiosis in poorly aerated soils resulting in chemical reduction and a severalfold increase DTPA extractable Mn, Fe, and Cu after 20 d. After 30 d, reoxidation of these nutrients resulted in decreased DTPA extractable concentrations. At 90% WFPS, coarse soil texture retarded residue composition, and texture had a controlling influence on the time required for reoxidation of reduced Fe, Mn, and Cu in the order of SIC > SiL > SL. These results imply that incorporation of easily decomposable residue may supply substantial amounts of nutrients to growing plants. Where soils remain wet for > 10 d, residues may create intensive reducing conditions and a severalfold increase in available Fe, Mn, Cu, and P. Conversely, DTPA extractable Fe, Mn, and Cu can vary greatly within a few weeks depending on soil aeration status, residue management, time of sampling, and soil texture and may lead to erroneous indices of nutrient availability to plants.


Philip Schmidt is the Donald J. Douglass Centennial Professor, Emeritus and University Distinguished Teaching Professor, Emeritus at the University of Texas at Austin, where he recently retired after 43 years on the faculty in Mechanical Engineering. He is a Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and a registered professional engineer. Dr. Schmidt received a BS in Aeronautics and Astronautics from MIT and MS and PhD in Mechanical Engineering from Stanford, the latter in 1968. Prior to coming to UT in 1970 he taught for two years at Prairie View A&M as a Woodrow Wilson Teaching Fellow. In 1994 he was named Texas Professor of the Year by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and in 1995 he was selected as one of the 10 inaugural members of the Academy of Distinguished Teachers at UT Austin. Dr. Schmidt received ASEE's Ralph Coats Roe Award in 1992, and the Chester F. Carlson Award in 2010 for his contributions to development of project-based engineering education and promotion of educational and professional opportunities for women and minorities. During the past 10 years he has worked actively with the Austin Children's Museum to encourage children's interest in STEM. In 2013 Dr. Schmidt was retained as a consultant by iFLY Corporation to develop programs which utilize the company's unique indoor sky-diving facilities and expert flight instruction with a handson science/math curriculum to produce exciting and memorable STEM educational experiences for K-12 students.


This paper studies the research programs of maintenance mode for the EU's civil aircraft named TATEM,and establishes a mathematical model of aircraft maintenance process based on the analysis of the major factors of aircraft maintenance processes.Fuzzy mathematical knowledge is used to assess the promoting function of the technologies which is used in the digital supporting system for aircraft maintenance process.In the paper,a number of primary functional modules of digital support systems are designed in detail and used to guide the development of system software.The research and development of digital support systems for aircraft maintenance process has an important significance for other complex equipment's.


"Our industry should do much more product cross-over work in conjunction with nearby industrial clusters. Hybrid media and composite packaging serve as good examples in this field. Market acceptability is also another field where our industry could benefit substantially, if the pre-competitive harmonisation of solutions in areas such as forest certification, best available techniques (BAT), development of energy and water saving techniques were to be carried out in research groups consisting of all interested stakeholders".


In this paper, we applied in activity coefficient of Rare Earths salt LaCl_3 in H_2O at 298K with conductivity method , Determined electrice conductivity of Rare Earths salt LaCl_3 in H_2O at 298K , The use of formula has calculated the molar conductivity of Rare Earths salt LaCl_3 in H_2O at 298K, The use of Debye-Hucker and Osager-Falkenhangen formula has calculated the activity coefficient of Rare Earths salt LaCl_3 in H_2O at 298K , and discussed the effect of concentration on activity coefficient of LaCl_3 electrolyte solution at 298K. With the inereasing of the concentration of Rare Earths salt LaCl_3 in water, the activity coefficient of Rare Earths salt LaCl_3 in water got lower.


Solar panels produce higher output power when the solarradiation reaching it is perpendicular to its surface. Trackers are used to orient the solar panels perpendicular to the incident irradiation for maximum power output.In the temperate region, there is low irradiation compared to the Tropical region, thereby necessitating the use of solar trackers in order to harness as much energy as possible. This research seeks to investigate the effect of using trackers in the Tropical region by making a comparative analysis of the power and voltage output between a static solar panel and a panel mounted on a solar tracker. A cost-benefit analysis is also carried out. The results showed that there was an increase in output power with the use of a solar tracker, relative to a static photovoltaic module by 23.87%. It was concluded that use of trackers in the tropical region could be beneficial if it is used for a large generating solar plant or during the raining season, when there is more cloud cover.


The Los Alamos Neutron Science Center (LANSCE) linac provides an 800 MeV direct H{sup +} proton beam, and injects H{sup {minus}} to the upgraded proton storage ring for charge accumulation for the Short Pulse Spallation Source. Accelerating these interlaced beams requires high average power from the 201.25 MHz drift tube linac (DTL) RF system. Three power amplifiers have operated at up to three Megawatts with 12% duty factor. The total number of electron power tubes in the RF amplifiers and their modulators has been reduced from fifty-two to twenty-four. The plant continues to utilize the original design of a tetrode driving a super power triode. Further increases in the linac duty factor are limited, in part, by the maximum dissipation ratings of the triodes. A description of the system modifications proposed to overcome these limitations includes new power amplifiers using low-level RF modulation for tank field control. The first high power Diacrode{reg_sign} is being delivered and a new amplifier cavity is being designed. With only eight power tubes, the new system will deliver both peak power and high duty factor, with lower mains power and cooling requirements. The remaining components needed for the new RF system will be discussed.


This work presents deep asymmetric networks with a set of node-wise variant activation functions. The nodes' sensitivities are affected by activation function selections such that the nodes with smaller indices become increasingly more sensitive. As a result, features learned by the nodes are sorted by the node indices in the order of their importance. Asymmetric networks not only learn input features but also the importance of those features. Nodes of lesser importance in asymmetric networks can be pruned to reduce the complexity of the networks, and the pruned networks can be retrained without incurring performance losses. We validate the feature-sorting property using both shallow and deep asymmetric networks as well as deep asymmetric networks transferred from famous networks.


Artificial Neural Networks have proved their efficiency in a large number of research domains. In this paper, we have applied Artificial Neural Networks on Arabic text to prove correct language modeling, text generation, and missing text prediction. In one hand, we have adapted Recurrent Neural Networks architectures to model Arabic language in order to generate correct Arabic sequences. In the other hand, Convolutional Neural Networks have been parameterized, basing on some specific features of Arabic, to predict missing text in Arabic documents. We have demonstrated the power of our adapted models in generating and predicting correct Arabic text comparing to the standard model. The model had been trained and tested on known free Arabic datasets. Results have been promising with sufficient accuracy.


Two blackbody sources permanently located within the international thermonuclear experimental reactor (ITER) diagnostic shield module at equatorial port 9 will operate in conjunction with two remotely retractable mirrors to generate and direct blackbody radiation to calibrate the radial and oblique views of the ITER electron cyclotron emission diagnostic. The main calibration requirements include a high-emissivity surface heated to 700 °C or higher, the ability to perform the calibration in high vacuum and in the presence of a magnetic field, and 5000-h operational lifetime over 20 years. Major constraints include a heater current limit of 40 A, no direct fluid cooling to mitigate failure risks, small size to avoid compromising neutron shielding, and adequate structural support to mitigate vibration loads. This paper describes the preliminary design of a hot calibration source supported by analysis and test results of a calibration source test prototype developed to address the calibration source requirements and its constraints.


Random walks on graphs provide a mathematical model in many scientific areas, from finance (financial modelling), to physics (magnetization properties of metals, evolution of gases, etc.) and biology (neural networks, disease spreading, etc.). In particular graphs describe the microscopical structure of solids, ranging from very regular structures like crystals or ferromagnetic metals which are viewed as Euclidean lattices, to the irregular structure of glasses, polymers or biological objects. Geometrical and physical properties of these discrete structures are linked by random walks (especially the simple random walk), which usually describe the diffusion of a particle in these more or less regular media. An interesting feature of random walks on graphs is their large time scale asymptotics which is deeply connected with the concept of recurrent or transient random walk. This classification was first introduced by Pólya for simple random walks on lattices (see [2]) to distinguish between random walks which return to the starting point with probability one (these are recurrent), and those whose return probability is less than one (which are transient).


Metrology, the theoretical and practical study of measurement, has applications in automated manufacturing, inspection, robotics, surveying, and healthcare. An important problem within metrology is how to interactively use a measuring device, or probe, to determine some geometric property of an unknown object; this problem is known as geometric probing. In this paper, we study a type of proximity probe which, given a point, returns the distance to the boundary of the object in question. We consider the case where the object is a convex polygon P in the plane, and the goal of the algorithm is to minimize the upper bound on the number of measurements necessary to exactly determine P. We show an algorithm which has an upper bound of 3.5n + k + 2 measurements necessary, where n is the number of vertices and k ≤ 3 is the number of acute angles of P. Furthermore, we show that our algorithm requires O(1) computations per probe, and hence O(n) time to determine P.


Cartilagenous and osseous metaplasia were observed in the heart of a 370-day-old male Charles River-CD rat. The papillary muscle, chordae tendineae, subendocardium, and myocardium of the left ventricle were affected, and the lesions resembled in most instances an endochondral bone formation with primitive bone marrow. A few emboli of cartilage surrounded by fibrous tissue were also observed in the lumen of the left ventricle. Severe cardiomyopathies were noted, and these were associated with the metaplastic changes.


Background: The gut microbiome affects the health and performance of the animal. This study was carried out to evaluate the effect of Alchornea cordifolia and Costus afer leaf meal on gut microbiome of young male rabbits. Methods: Twenty-four 5-6 months old rabbit bucks with an average weight of 5.3 kg were used for this study. The completely randomized design was used and the rabbit bucks were distributed into four feeding /treatment groups (T) designated as T1 (the control fed with regular rabbit feed only), T2 (fed with Alchornea cordifolia), T3 (fed with Costus afer) and T4 (fed with a mixture of Alchornea cordifolia and Costus afer). The rabbits were fed the experimental diet for eight weeks and samples for microbiological analysis were collected from the different sections of the rabbit gut (stomach, ileum, caecum, and colon) and droppings then analyzed for total heterotrophic bacteria (THB) and total coliform counts (TCC). Results: The population density of THB was the highest in T4 at the stomach (5.03±0.87 x 105 colony forming units (CFU)/g) and ileum (5.32±1.19 x 105 CFU/g), but in T3 at the caecum (4.83±0.95 105 CFU/g), colon (4.15±0.60 x 105 CFU/g) and droppings (3.35±0.65 x 105 CFU/g. The population of TCC was highest in T4 in the stomach (i.e., 2.72±0.40 x 105 CFU/g) and ileum 2.67±0.53 x 105 CFU/g), in T3 at the caecum (3.53±0.69 x 105 CFU/g) and droppings (2.02±0.37 x 105 CFU/g, but T1 in the colon (2.77±0.60 x 105 CFU/g). The feed intake was the highest in T4, followed by T3 and T1, but the least in T2 (P 0.05) in the average weight gain of the rabbits (1.75 kg). Conclusions: We found that while Alchornea seemed to be reducing the population, Costus afer was enhancing their population and the overall effect on weight gain was insignificant.


The interlayer magnetoresistance of the quasi-two-dimensional metal alpha-(BEDT-TTF)(2)KHg(SCN)(4) is considered. In the temperature range from 0.5 to 10 K and for fields up to 10 T the magnetoresistance has a stronger temperature dependence than the zero-field resistance. Consequently Kohler's rule is not obeyed for any range of temperatures or fields. This means that the magnetoresistance cannot be described in terms of semiclassical transport on a single Fermi surface with a single scattering time. Possible explanations for the violations of Kohler's rule are considered, both within the framework of semiclassical transport theory and involving incoherent interlayer transport. The issues considered are similar to those raised by the magnetotransport of the cuprate superconductors. [S0163-1829(98)13219-8].


Patent numbers: US8574158 (B2)EP2148216 (B1)EP2148216 (A3)EP2148216 (A2)US2010010351 (A1)TTO Reference number: 6.0801 Reference EPFL-PATENT-211784Search for this record at the European Patent Office Record created on 2015-09-22, modified on 2017-05-12


Great progress has been made in regional and national geochemical mapping. How to use extremely low-density sampling to obtain a global picture of the distribution of most elements in the periodic table in the expectable future is an important issue for applied geochemists. This will depend on the innovation of the mapping concept and developments of new sample media, sampling layout and sampling methodology. English geochemists found that the analytic results of stream sediment samples taken from estuaries of catchments covering an area of several to several dozen square kilometers approximate the average values of elements in soils in catchments in the upper reaches of the rivers. This finding has been extended by Norwegian and Chinese geochemists who analyzed samples taken from overbank and floodplain sediments at the estuaries of still larger rivers (whose catchments are several hundred, thousand and even a few dozen thousand square kilometers). Such a new finding is in accordance with the fractal concept, which may be further extended to main estuaries of some catchments with an area up to hundreds of thousands of or over a million square kilometers in the world. However, more research should be carried out. Based on this new mapping concept, a proposal of the project "Global Geochemical Mapping and Sediment-Associated Flux of Major World Rivers" was advanced.


Traffic Engineering (TE) is the process of controlling how traffic flows through a network in order to facilitate efficient and reliable network operations while simultaneously optimizing network resource utilization and traffic performance. TE improves the management of data traffic within a network and provides the better utilization of network resources. Many research works considers intra and inter Traffic Engineering separately. But in reality one influences the other. Hence the effective network performances of both inter and intra Autonomous Systems (AS) are not optimized properly. To achieve a better Joint Optimization of both Intra and Inter AS TE, we propose a joint Optimization technique by considering intra-AS features during inter - AS TE and vice versa. This work considers the important criterion say latency within an AS and between ASes and proposes a Bi- Criteria Latency optimization model. Hence an overall network performance can be improved by considering this joint-optimization technique in terms of Latency.


Three areas of "cognitive illusion" that violate basic assumptions of the classical economic model of decision making are risk attitudes, mental accounting, and overconfidence. Their existence indicates that the rational economic model is incomplete in a systematic way. The three phenomena also provide clues to many market anomalies and investor phenomena, and understanding these biases may suggest ways to exploit them in the market.This presentation comes from the Improving the Investment Decision-Making Process: Behavioral Finance and Decision Theory conference held in Marina del Rey, on April 4, 1995.