Working memory allows people to manipulate information in support of ongoing tasks and provides a work space for cognitive processes such as learning, reasoning, and decision making. How well working memory works depends, in part, on effort. Someone who pays attention at the right time and place will have better memory and improved performance on memory tasks. In adult cognitive research, participants' devotion of maximal task-focused effort is often taken for granted, but in infant studies, researchers cannot make that assumption. In this article, we showcase how pupillometry can provide an easy-to-obtain physiological measure of cognitive effort that allows us to better understand infants' emerging abilities. In our work, we use pupillometry to measure trial-by-trial fluctuations of effort, establishing that, just as in adults, such fluctuations influence how well infants can encode information in visual working memory. We hope that by using physiological measures such as pupil dilation, there will be a renewed effort to investigate the interaction between infants' attentive states and cognition.


A grouping problem involves partitioning a set of items into mutually disjoint groups or clusters according to some guiding decision criteria and imperative constraints. Grouping problems have many relevant applications and are computationally difficult. In this work, we present a general weight learning based optimization framework for solving grouping problems. The central idea of our approach is to formulate the task of seeking a solution as a real-valued weight matrix learning problem that is solved by first order gradient descent. A practical implementation of this framework is proposed with tensor calculus in order to benefit from parallel computing on GPU devices. To show its potential for tackling difficult problems, we apply the approach to two typical and well-known grouping problems (graph coloring and equitable graph coloring). We present large computational experiments and comparisons on popular benchmarks and report improved best-known results (new upper bounds) for several large graphs.


Abstract Low-cost zinc is employed as a catalyst along with triethylsilane (TES) in a simple, straightforward, chemoselective reduction of various aldimines and ketimines to the corresponding secondary amines at room temperature and pressure.


The knowledge of rheological properties is important for conduction of processes in food production and achieving specific properties of food. The different carbohydrates are important ingreadiants of many food Products. The aim of this paper was to investigate the influence of soluble dry solid content, insoluble dry solid content and shear rate on rheological properties of sucrose model solutions at low temperatures before and during freezing. Model solutions were made from different mass weights of sucrose (20%, 30% and 40%) and different combinations of model solution of 30% sucrose with addition of pectin (0, 2% and 0, 4% (71% esterification)) and cellulose (1%, 2%, 3% and 4%). Measurements were conducted by rotational viscosimeter with refrigeration unit. Dependance of shear stress and shear rate at 0°C and 5°C ; at constant shear rate by continuing and scale cooling were measured. Results showed that all examined model solutions of pure sucrose at 0°C and 5°C had newtonian caracter. Pectin and cellulose addition in sucrose model solutions increase viscosity and it becomes pseudoplastic. The shear of investigated solutions was conducted at higher cooling temperatures at scale coling, while at continous cooling the temperatures were lower.


The reading, assumed as interactionist process, requires the readers to resort to previously acquired knowledge to be, in fact, be processed. The newspaper, although it is traditionally a common vehicle


Hydroalumiination of olefins followed by treatment with boron trifluoride etherate provides a convenient and selective method for the preparation of organoboranes. Trialkenylboranes are obtained in excellent yields from nonconjugated diolefins.


policy into a coherent framework of an asylum convention. Also, the Commissioner called for a cautious approach regarding the repatriation of refugees to Bosnia and Herzegovina. Such returns should be organized in a coordinated and phased manner, within a multilateral framework, and led by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. The Presidency-in-Office cited the decision to improve transparency of decision-taking in the Council and, from now on, to publish the most important acts on asylum and immigration, adopted under the Third Pillar, in the Official Journal. The Presidency cited the problems which had prevented the Council so far to adopt a joint action on racism and xenophobia due to British opposition. The European Parliament adopted a long resolution, in which it expresses, inter alia, disappointment at the restrictive scope of the joint position on the harmonized application of Article 1 of the 1951 Convention, and criticizes the narrow interpretation of Article K 6 (consultation with the Parliament) as well as the way in which the Council continues to adopt resolutions, recommendations, conclusions and declarations, instruments not mentioned under Title VI of the Treaty. The Secretariat General of the EU Commission prepared a Communication to the Parliament and the Council on the possible application of Article K 9 of the Treaty. This article provides for the possibility of applying Article lOO(C) of the Treaty to action in the areas of asylum and immigration policy, thereby transferring (some) competence from the Member States to the Community. Although the Commission has repeatedly stated its support for such 'communitarisation' of asylum and immigration policy, for technical and political reasons it favours an approach by which this issue is pursued in the context of the forthcoming InterGovernmental Conference rather than through an initiative based on Article K 9 of the Treaty. The Commission is of the opinion that in this way duplication of work will be avoided, asylum policy will be reviewed in a more comprehensive manner and the possibility of enhanced parliamentary control as well as a revision of the voting system in Council will be addressed more effectively.


In every organization, employees are the important assets. However, conflict raise among employees nowadays. Development in human resource management is almost important especially sending employee to attend training. This is because training can transform employee to be more motivated, skilled and change the attitude to be more positive in increasing the performance. In the research finding, we will see the impact of training on employee in motivation aspect, self-improvement and skills development. This research does in Kota Bharu involving employee from public and private sector. 100 questionnaires will distribute to the employee. Collected data will be analyze through Stastical Package for Social Science (SPSS) versi 18.0.


Based on data and wave spectral analysis, it is shown that the seasonal activity of the west-Pacific subtropical high is influenced and restricted evidently by the east-Pacific subtropical high in summer. This sort of dynamical effect has a close relation with the low-frequency high-potential center抯 west propagation in the Pacific subtropical area and the remote correlation between east and west Pacific subtropical high may be related and achieved through the low-frequency potential wave.


Calymperes campylopodioides Mull.Hal. ex Besch. is placed in synonymy with Calymperes graeffeanum Mull.Hal., and the occurrence of the latter species in continental Africa is noted.


Transient ischemic attack (TIA) and minor stroke (MIS) represent disorders on the same ischemic continuum. It is now well established that these patients are at high risk for early deterioration and recurrent ischemic events. Although clinical characteristics are important for identifying high-risk patients1, the sensitivity of clinical scoring systems in correctly predicting a recurrent event is far from perfect.2 Multiple studies over the past decade have evaluated the ability of modern neuroimaging in isolation3 or in combination with the clinical features in triaging these patients.4, 5


Based on the measurement of dispersion characteristic and birefractive index of the fluorinated polyimide film,a statistical optimum design method is proposed and used to realize the design of 32- and 36-wavelengths optical waveguide wavelength - interleave coupler (i, e. , interleaver) with the optimization of polarization fluctuation and wavelength interval of 0.8 nm at 1 550 nm. The largest cross coupling ratios of the two interleavers are respectively less than 1. 8% and 3. 5%, while the least through coupling ratios are respectively greater than 98. 2% and 96. 5%. The output differences due to polarization fluctuation are less than ± 1.7 % and ± 3.2 %.


The significant role of cultural background knowledge of the source and target language societies in the process of transferring meaning across languages whose speakers possess totally distinct cultures has been emphasized by numerous scholars (e.g., Malinowski, 1935; Nida, 1964; Toury, 1995; Agost, 1998; Agost, 1999; Paniagua, 2000; Nord, 2001; Riccardi, 2002; Albirini, 2009; Yang, 2010; House, 2015). To this end, the current study investigated the effect of cultural instruction in general as well as 'Focus on Forms' versus 'Focus on Form' methods of cultural instruction in particular on developing translation quality of culture-bound texts. Participants of the study were 98 undergraduate students of English translation at a university in Iran. These participants were divided into three groups: 'Focus on Forms' group which received explicit instruction about cultural features of the source language, 'Focus on Form' group which received instruction about cultural features of the source language through input flood and input enhancement, and control group which merely received translation exercises. Participants' ability to translate culture-bound texts was then assessed through translating some excerpts of news adopted from Voice of America, following a 4-week intervention. The results of one-way between-groups analysis of variance revealed that both 'Focus on Forms' and 'Focus on Form' methods of cultural instruction are influential in developing ability to translate culture-bound texts at a high quality. The pedagogical implications of the findings suggested supplementing translation courses with cultural features of the source language society. Keywords: Culture, Focus on Form, Focus on Forms, Instruction, Translation


Bevacizumab is a humanized monoclonal antibody targeting vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). Recurrence after resection of colorectal liver metastases (CRLMs), presumably caused by VEGF-mediated outgrowth of micrometastases, might decrease when VEGF is inhibited. This study examines the efficacy and safety of adding bevacizumab to an adjuvantregimenof CAPOX inpatients undergoing radical resectionfortheirCRLMs. Patientswith resected CRLMs were randomized after surgery to receive CAPOX and bevacizumab


Abstract Objective Transcutol® is a perfect solubilizer and an effective permeation enhancer of many active substances commonly used in cosmetics. Microemulsions due to the content of surfactant and co-surfactant could be also considered as chemical permeation enhancers that may support transdermal delivery of poorly water- soluble drugs. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of Transcutol® and potential microemulsions on diffusion of poorly soluble indomethacin through an artificial membrane and excised rat skin. Methods After drug solubilization in different enhancers, drug was dispersed in sodium alginate or carbopol gel used as dermal basis. For characterization of the microemulsions, the basic physico-chemical properties were determined. In vitro as well as ex vivo drug release was determined by vertical Franz cells. Results Enhancing effect of the examined microemulsions was observed only in carbopol gel. There was an increase in cumulative drug amount released through synthetic membrane by 37.7–39.8% from the microemulsion formulation and 90.6% from Transcutol® formulation within 6 h compared to the control samples. The differences between the permeation curves with or without the content of the enhancers were statistically significant (p < .05). Pearson correlation coefficients indicate a very high degree of dependence (r > 0.9) between in vitro and ex vivo drug release from all dermal vehicles used. Conclusion It can be stated that Transcutol® is the best solubilizer and also penetration enhancer from the examined, and therefore it seems to be effective excipient/solubilizer in topical IND formulation.


In the article the authors investigate dependence of multiprocessor systems productivity on processors execution speed and develop algorithm for estimation of effective execution speed of processors.


In 2009, China Ministry of Industry and Information Technology issued 3G (3rd generation mobile network service) licenses in China, which marked China's telecom industry enter into 3G era. Motivating the diffuse of 3G network services has became an important issue for the telecom operators and China's telecom industry. However, very little is actually known about critical factors for consumers' acceptance of the 3G service in China. This study will be based on the Technology Acceptance Model, the Compass Acceptance Model and perceived enjoyment theory to explore the key factors which will influence consumers' acceptance of 3G services. The results show that perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, perceived enjoyment, perceived mobility, and subjective norm have significant positive effect on the usage attitude and usage intention toward 3G services, the perceived cost has negative effect on the usage attitude and usage intention toward 3G services, and the usage attitude has positive effect on usage intention toward 3G services. The results have important marketing implications for the telecom operators, and it also provides significance guidance to the future development of China's telecom industry.


Galactic winds are driven by pressure gradients of the thermal gas, the energetic particles and the magnetic waves. In the case of time-dependent inner boundary conditions (e.g. super bubbles, star burst regions) shock waves are generated within the wind thereby also re-accelerating the cosmic rays and modifying the flow structure. The physical model is described by a set of nonlinear partial differential equations which is solved in flux-tube geometry by an implicit adaptive numerical scheme allowing an accurate treatment of moving discontinuities inside the flow. Numerical features of the method as well as properties of the physical solutions will be discussed.


The study examined the effect of corporate tax on sustainable financial performance of listed manufacturing firms in Nigeria. The study employed ex post facto research design using data on corporate tax paid, return on equity and debt to equity ratio extracted from published financial statements of ten listed manufacturing firms for the period 2013-2017. Data analyzed using simple linear regression revealed that corporate tax payment has no significant effect on the return on equity of firms, while a positive and significant causal link was found to exist between corporate tax payment and debt-to-equity ratio of the listed firms. The paper concludes that tax payout policies of manufacturing firms are critical issues in modelling investment decisions, and recommends that corporate investors in the sector should synchronize their tax payout policies with their capital combination decisions for optimal results in performance and market value of the firm. Keywords: Corporate Tax, tax payout policies, Return on Equity and Debt-to-Equity Ratio, Market Value.


Objective To evaluate the curative effect of frequency-doubled double-pulse Nd??YAG laser in treatment of ureteral calculus.Methods Totally 409 cases with ureteral calculus treated via endoscope with U100 laser were summarized.Results The successful rate was 91.2% (83/91) in the proximal ureteral calculus,97.1% (236/243) in the middle ureteral calculus,97.3% (73/75) in the distal ureteral calculus and 95.8% (392/409) in all.While the other 17 patients still suffered because of the remained stone fragments,among whom 12 cases of stone migration occurred and 5 cases of stones were too impacted.Hospitalization,on average,was 3 days with a range of 2~5 days.The laser worked (5.5-3.5)minutes in average.No major complications such as hemorrhoea,high fever or pyonephrosis were observed.Conclusions The frequency-doubled double-pulse Nd:YAG laser used with ureterorenoscopy for endoscopic lithotripsy is an effective and harmless method with high success ratio,after which patients recover quickly.It is an ideal therapeutic tool for ureteral stones.


The importance of multiple sets of d functions on the energy of SO2 and other molecules of Si, P, S, and Cl has been tested by comparing total energies from the SWPS set (supplementation by five sets of d functions as recommended by Stromberg, Wahlgren, Pettersson, and Siegbahn) with those obtained with one or two sets of d functions. The energy improvement due to supplementation is very sensitive to the nature of the attached atoms and to valence shell expansion but the optimum d function exponents are not appreciably affected by either of these factors. When used in conjunction with Dunning–Hay basis sets for second row atoms, supplementation by a single set of d functions provides about 80% of the self‐consistent field (SCF) energy lowering obtained with five sets; use of a second set generates about 15% more. These results are compared with the results of adding f or replacing nuclear‐centered functions with bond functions. Varying d function exponents about the optimum values produces an energy surfa...


MS is a chronic neurological condition and evidence suggests a high prevalence of mental health symptoms in people with MS. Previous studies have suggested that symptoms of depression in people with MS may be overlooked. This qualitative study aimed to investigate the perceptions of people with MS of mental health symptoms and access to care for these symptoms, in particular through primary care services. People with MS were recruited from the community and primary care settings to participate in a semi-structured interview and data analysed using constant comparative analysis.Different methods of recruitment will be discussed.Participants reported reluctance to report their mental health needs to anyone, due to normalising these symptoms, fear of stigma or not knowing whom to approach for help. Participants did not identify their GP as involved in their care for their MS symptoms, including associated mental health needs. Other health care professionals, usually responsible for offering on-going support for the MS, were identified as a first point of contact including MS specialist nurses, Practice Nurses, and Continence Nurses who managed participants? most significant symptoms.People with MS need clear information on accessing care for mental health symptoms. GPs need to be aware of their potential role in managing these symptoms. My future research will explore health care professionals? perceptions of their roles in managing people with MS and the identification and management of depression and improving patient wellbeing.


ABSTRACT The effects of Reynolds and Prandtl numbers on the heat transfer characteristics of an isolated square cylinder have been investigated for the range of conditions 1 ≤ Re ≤ 45 and 0.7 ≤ Pr ≤ 4,000 (the maximum value of Peclet number being 4,000) in crossflow. Heat transfer correlations are obtained for the constant cylinder temperature and constant heat flux boundary conditions on a solid square cylinder in the steady flow regime. In addition, the variation of local Nusselt number on each face of the obstacle and representative isotherm plots are presented to elucidate the role of Prandtl number on heat transfer in the steady flow regime.


Oil shale is an important substitute resource and the oil shale resources in Songliao and adjacent basins in NE China are quite rich.According to the up-to-date research,shale oil resources in the Songliao Basin could reach about 57.84 gigaton if the oil shale resources are counted into shale oil(resources.) At present,the exploitation and production of the oil shale in the NE China are still concentrated in some old oil shale bases,and small open-pit and underground mining with high cost and low production are very common.Also,the present outputs of the oil shale is below the historical high,thus do not match with the abundant resources in the area.At the same time,the huge oil shale resources and the possible rich return have drawn many domestic and overseas investors to contest the oil shale resources in the Songliao and adjacent Basins,therefore,these bring many serious problems in turn,such as the out-of-order competition of oil shale resources and resource wasting,etc.Hence,China should make a long-term programming,strengthening the scientific management of oil shale resources and promoting the reasonable exploitation and utilization of the oil shale resources.


Two major strategies are currently pursued to improve the energy density of lithium-ion batteries using LiNixCoyMnzO2 (NCM) cathode materials. One is to increase the fraction of redox active Ni (≥80%), which allows larger amounts of Li to be extracted at a given cutoff voltage (Umax). The other is to increase Umax, in particular for medium-Ni content NCM materials. However, the accompanying lattice changes ultimately lead to capacity fading in both cases. Here the structural changes occurring in Li1.02NixCoyMnzO2 (with x = 1/3, 0.5, 0.6, 0.7, 0.8 and 0.85) during cycling operation in the voltage range between 3.0 and 4.6 V vs Li are quantified by means of operando X-ray diffraction combined with detailed Rietveld analysis. All samples show a large decrease in unit cell volume upon charging, ranging from 2.4% for NCM111 (33% Ni) to 8.0% for NCM851005 (85% Ni). To make a fair comparison of the structural stability of the different NCM materials, energy densities as a function of Umax are estimated and corre...


1981 census data on internal migration are used to analyze recent movements between Ontario and the Atlantic provinces of Canada. In particular the characteristics of returning and non-returning migrants are differentiated. The results indicate that returning migrants of both sexes are found in greater proportions in marginal more traditional Atlantic Canada industries such as fishing and fish product industries. (SUMMARY IN FRE) (ANNOTATION)


Capsule Summering Greylag Geese Anser anser are increasing in number and expanding their range in Scotland. Aims During the summers of 2008 and 2009, extensive surveys of Greylag Geese in Scotland were undertaken to update the current distribution and population estimates, as well as estimate breeding success. Methods Checks of known moult-sites were combined with a random stratified sample of lochs to the south and east of the Great Glen (the 're-established population' area). Sample lochs were selected on the basis of altitude, the proportional areas of woodland and water cover and previous summer records of Greylag Geese within the 10-km squares in which the lochs were located. To the north and west of the Great Glen (the 'northwest Scotland' population area), comprehensive post-breeding counts of feeding areas were undertaken in late August. Results Combined results from 2008 and 2009 suggest an estimated 47 405 (range 44 059–51 763) Greylag Geese in Scotland. Since 1989, Greylag Geese encountered to the south and east of the Great Glen (derived from re-established birds) have increased at an annual rate of about 9.7% per annum and, since 1997, those in northwest Scotland have increased at an annual rate of about 11.7% per annum. It is estimated that the total number of Greylag Geese summering in Britain is about 84 500 birds. In 2008, overall breeding success was 24.1% young in the late summer population, which probably more than compensates for natural and shooting mortality. Conclusion There is no indication of a decline in the rate of increase of Greylag Geese in Scotland and the species is expected to continue to increase in abundance and distribution.


X-ray radiography of soil cores was used as the primary test method to determine the reasons for the permeation of perchloroethylene into apparently impermeable clay layers at a hazardous chemical spill site. X-ray powder diffractometry, scanning electron microscopy, and chemical analysis were also performed to characterize the materials and structures observed in the soil cores through X radiography and to verify the presence or absence of perchloroethylene. X-ray radiography proved to be an invaluable tool in the examination of the soil structure and in the solution of the problem. Results showed the presence of a three-dimensional network of iron-lined fissures, concretions, and roots in otherwise low permeability clay. These conduits were responsible for the rapid permeation of the perchloroethylene.


A hydrogen maser that operates near 0.5 K using a high-cooling-power /sup 3/He refrigerator is discussed. This cryogenic hydrogen maser is used to study low temperature atomic hydrogen spin-exchange collisions and hydrogen-helium interactions, and to investigate the performance of cryogenic hydrogen masers as possibly improved frequency standards. Recent measurements on these topics are reported.<<ETX>>


A more flexible approach is needed to accommodate rapidly changing require requirements of the fuel market toward the gas-turbine manufacturer. The impact of new fuels on performance of the gas turbine is both long and short range. The short-range effects influence the design of the fuel-handling, combustion, and control systems. Long-range effects on the gas turbine include potential corrosion of the blades and vanes, as some of the new fuels contain small but varying amounts of sodium, potassium, vanadium, and lead. These metallic trace elements, in causing corrosion, are independent of the type of fuel in which they are contained; therefore, safe trace element levels can be established under controlled laboratory conditions, using small specimens of the structural material. This paper deals mainly with the crude oil.Copyright © 1971 by ASME


A tropology of moral injury and corruption long framed the plight of the sex crime victim. Nineteenth-century psychiatric acknowledgment of adverse sexual experience reflected general trends in etiological thought, especially on 'epileptic' and hysteric seizures, but on the whole remained descriptive, guarded and limited. Various experiential threats to the modern sexual self beyond assault and rape were granted etiological significance, however: illegitimate motherhood, masturbatory guilt, sexual enlightenment, 'homosexual seduction' and chance encounters leading to fetishistic fixation. These minor early appeals to medical psychology help us appreciate the multiple nuances of 'sexual trauma' advanced in Breuer and Freud's Studies on Hysteria (1895) and Freud's subsequent work.


Nitrogen-doped ZnSe layers have been grown on (100) GaAs substrates by metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy using NH3 as the doping material. The N-doped layers exhibit a strong free-to-acceptor transition emission at 77 K and a strong acceptor bound-exciton emission line at 15 K. The layers with a high doping level, which exhibit broader excitonic emission lines, indicate p-type conduction with low resistivities from 102 to 103 Ω·cm, carrier concentrations of the order of 1014 cm-3 and mobilities from 20 to 50 cm2/Vs. Current-voltage characteristics of the N-doped ZnSe/n-GaAs heterojunctions conform to the p-type conduction.


Uniaxial compressive tests were carried out with two types of slate samples from Jinman copper mine,Yunnan province.Experiment results demonstrated that both rocks had obvious anisotropy.Values of compressive strength,average elastic modulus and the average Poisson's ratio of the grey slate subjected to loading parallel to bedding stratum corresponding to values subjected to loading perpendicular to bedding were 0.62,1.66 and 8.68 respectively.Which of them in purple slate were 1.63,8.38 and 34.64 respectively.Dilation phenomenon of the slate appeared during the loading process when volume strain was less than 0 or Poisson's ratio is larger than 0.5.Dilation appeared significantly at lower stress in slate subjected to loading parallel to bedding,while dilation occur at stress near to failure in slate subjected to loading perpendicular to bedding.


We show that we are able to extract the pion electromagnetic form factor by using the recent charged pion electroproduction data from JLab and a simple t-channel diagram. For this purpose we have performed the Q2-independent and dependent analyses. The result of the first analysis is in good agreement with those of previous works and fit the Maris and Tandy model as well as the monopole parametrization which describes a pion radius of 0.672 fm. The result of the second analysis corroborates the findings in the first analysis. Our findings therefore provide a direct proof that at the given kinematics the t-channel diagram really dominates the process. This could also set a new constraint to the phenomenological models that try to describe the process.


THE DETERMINANTS OF RURAL OUTMIGRATION IN THE UNITED STATES: 2010-2014 MUNIA SUNJID 2017 This study focuses on both economic and noneconomic determinants of geographical migration out of rural areas in the United States. In line with existing studies on individual's decision to migrate from rural to urban areas, our analysis compares expected returns in rural to those in urban areas. Using annual U.S. countylevel count data spanning the period from 2010 to 2014, Fixed Effect and Negative Binomial methods are used to evaluate the effects of both economic and noneconomic variables on geographical outmigration from rural to urban areas. Determining factors investigated include distance between place of origin and potential destination, median household income, educational attainment, the poverty rate, the unemployment rate, a natural amenity index, the prevalence of primary healthcare providers and social associations. Findings suggest that higher expected returns in urban compared to rural areas contribute to releasing people out of rural areas in the United States. A large distance between origin and destination associated with high migration costs demotivate rural people to migrate to urban areas. On the other side, relatively high median household incomes, low unemployment rates, high level of education, a high presence of natural amenities, high level of access to primary healthcare providers in urban destination areas encourage rural people to migrate to urban areas. The poverty rate and social associations


Capital includes material capital and human capital.Human capital,which is nontransferential,increasable,exterior and accumulable,is the summation of knowledge,skill and health that cohere in the human body by way of investment.However,human capital,dynamic and venturesome,characterizes the inconsistency of investors and beneficiaries and the retardation of profit. In fact,it determines economy development,benefits innovation of knowledge and technology,increases productivity,attracts foreign capital and equalizes income.In all,it helps the economy develop apace and evenly.


In this article, an improved method for eigenvalue assignment via state feedback in the linear time-invariant multivariable systems is proposed. This method is based on elementary similarity operations, and involves mainly utilisation of vector companion forms, and thus is very simple and easy to implement on a digital computer. In addition to the controllable systems, the proposed method can be applied for the stabilisable ones and also systems with linearly dependent inputs. Moreover, two types of state-feedback gain matrices can be achieved by this method: (1) the numerical one, which is unique, and (2) the parametric one, in which its parameters are determined in order to achieve a gain matrix with minimum Frobenius norm. The numerical examples are presented to demonstrate the advantages of the proposed method.


The monitoring of gearbox is a matter of concern to the industry in terms of cost and downtime reduction. This work focuses on the condition monitoring of a helical gearbox and the determination of the effect of pitting faults formed on tooth surface on vibration of helical gearbox. In addition to studies related to determination of faults in gearboxes in the literature, the vibration zone of the gearbox is extracted by using instantaneous acceleration values taken from the helical gearbox on the two directions. This vibration zone is recorded as an image in a binary system and the area of the vibration zone is calculated by using image processing algorithms. The area of the vibration zone gives information about the condition of the gearbox. As a result of the experiments carried out, it has been seen that the vibration zone analysis is a successful method for condition monitoring of a gearbox.


- Microplastics (plastics that are less than 5 mm in size) has entered the water, soil and air that we breathe. By successive degradation of larger plastic debris in a wide timeline, we get microplastics. Microplastic is one of the emerging contaminations in the recent times. This study aims at investigating the presence of microplastics in Periakulam, one of biggest lake in Coimbatore district, TamilNadu. The methodology of the study involves collecting samples at planned locations followed by moisture removal, density separation, digestion, filtration and finally subjected to FTIR spectroscopy to characterise the identified micro-plastics. As ascertained, the presence of microplastics has been confirmed. Among the identified contaminants, LDPE (low density polyethylene) and HDPE (High density Polyethylene) was dominant type of polymer component. The aquatic life which in turns out to be food for local population, thus microplastic enters the food web of humans. We hope this study contributes something to the researcher's community who are working on microplastics contamination in different aspects and component of environment.


An algorithm capable of estimating the image motion of a moving object in real-time is described. Our method is based on the image correlation technique. But unlike previous approaches, we estimate the motion along the image gradient direction only. As the result we obtain the normal flow vector. This approach allows us to avoid difficulties often arise due to the multiple matching. Normal flow vectors are used to estimate the actual flow vector (often called full flow vector) by assuming that the 2-D motion is locally constant in a small neighborhood. This process requires solving a linear system of order 2 only. This entire process operates uniformly on several spatial resolutions of image sequence. Each resolution is tuned to a specific range of image motion, and the correct resolution is determined by comparing the confidence which has been computed in the course of full flow estimation.


A method for the fast analysis of a large number of
waveguides coupled through rectangular apertures of arbitrary size and placement is presented. To enable the analysis of weakly excited slots, an accurate method-of-moments approach employing basis functions corresponding to a modal expansion of the electric field in the slot cavities is utilized, which includes both polarizations of the electric field at the slot apertures, as well as the transverse variation of the field across the slot. The characteristic basis function method (CBFM) reduces the memory requirements significantly and speeds up the computation, and is used to analyze a junction with two branch waveguides with very weakly excited slots, showing excellent agreement with the commercial FEKO software. The runtime of the program is considerably faster than FEKO for these geometries.


The aim of this paper is to derive the relation between friction factor and the Reynolds number for the pseudo-plastic fluid flow in concentric annular tubes with roughness, which is assumed the model of drilling mud flow in a well, because the estimation methods of the friction factor in the fluid flow are needed.Based on the estimation methods of the friction factor of Newtonian fluid flow in a circular tube with roughness given by Colebrook and the relation between friction factor and the Reynolds number for the pseudo-plastic fluid flow in a circular tube with smooth wall given by Dodge and Metzner, the relation between friction factor and the Reynolds number for the pseudo-plastic fluid flow in concentric annular tubes with roughness, is obtained as Eq.(21) that is capable of calculating the friction factor in the turbulent flow region of pseudo-plastic fluids in concentric annular tubes with roughness at any values of rheology parameter, relative roughness and Reynolds number by using the subroutine subprogram shown in the appendix.The relation presented here includes the cases of Newtonian fluid and pseudo-plastic fluid flow in the circular tubes.


A multistage structure formation process is observed in systems such as fresh cheese or processed cheese. It is unclear so far which reactions control the structure formation process and how processing and compositional factors influence the structure formation. Therefore, the objective of this study is to clarify which mechanisms are responsible for the structure build-up. These findings are used to develop an indepth understanding of these complex reactions. The investigations are carried out with a rheometer to track the structure formation course online during the processing. It was found that the structure formation reaction follows a typical time course through four different phases (lag -, exponential I -, plateau and exponential phase II). The shape of the viscosity curve can be influenced by processing and compositional factors. The following processing factors were investigated: shear intensity, temperature and an upstream homogenisation of the fat phase. The experiments showed that higher shear intensities result in an acceleration of the structure formation process. This can be explained by the intense mixing of the ingredients leading to an increasing contact probability of the proteins. Therefore, the creation of a protein network can take place earlier. Furthermore, it was assessed that a processing temperature of 70 °C and higher is necessary to induce the structure formation. An upstream homogenisation of the fat phase, which influenced the incoming droplet size of the fat globules, leads to a faster reaction. Regarding composition, the kind and content of protein, fat level and pH were varied. The experiments showed that the presence of fat is indispensable, without fat the reaction hardly takes place. A minimum fat level of 15% is required to induce the reaction. Light micrographs highlight the important role of fat for the structure formation process demonstrating that the fat droplets size decreased with increasing processing time. As shown in figure 1, an increasing protein content speeds the reaction up. By means of electron micrographs it was shown that the proteins migrate from the interface between fat and protein to concurrently generate a protein network in the continuous phase. In summary, two reactions seem to play a role in the structure formation process: A change in the state of emulsion and the formation of a protein network in the continuous phase. Fig. 1: Course of viscosity as function of processing time depending on the protein content in a dairy protein model system processing time [min] 0 100 200 300 400 a p p a re n t v is c o s it y [ P a .s ]


Soft errors are a major concern in current and future computing systems. They degrade the system reliability significantly. Existing solutions to soft errors either incur unaffordable area and power overheads or fail to provide resilience against multiple-cell-upsets. We present the first low-cost, compiler-based approach Aster to handle multi-bit soft errors. Aster relies on acoustic wave detectors to detect soft errors, and uses idempotent processing and checkpointing to provide a complete solution to multi-bit soft errors. Aster comes into action when a soft error is detected. Based upon the information about the error location, Aster determines the impact of the error on the program correctness. The program continues to execute in case of no impact. Otherwise, it finds an optimal idempotent region which can recover the program from the error completely, and executes the program from the optimal idempotent region. Experimental results show that the time overhead is within 5 percent, approximately 60 percent reduction compared to the state-of-the-art schemes requiring expensive hardware support.


As the 4 th part in a series of papers on the family Lecithoceridae (Lepidoptera, Gelechioidea) of New Guinea, the genus Pectinimura Park is reviewed, describing P. singularis sp. nov., P. areola sp. nov., P. brahmanica sp. nov., and P. gilvicostata sp. nov. Four previously known species belonging to Lecithocera are transferred to Pectinimura: P. baryoma (Diakonoff), comb. nov., P. liberalis (Diakonoff), comb. nov., P. lutescens (Diakonoff), comb. nov., and P. rhabdostoma (Diakonoff), comb. nov. Adults, heads, labial palpi, and the male genitaia are illustrated. A worldwide catalogue of the genus is provided.


We present a method for generating refined 2D illustrations from hand drawn outlines consisting of only curve strokes. The system controllably synthesizes novel illustrations by augmenting the hand drawn curves' shape, thickness, color and surrounding texture. These refinements are learned from a training ensemble. Users can select several examples that depict the desired idealized look and train the system for that type of refinement. Further, given several types of refinements, our system automatically recognizes the curve and applies the appropriate refinement. Recognition is accomplished by evaluating the likelihood the curve belongs to a particular class based on both its shape and context in the illustration.


The invention provides a groove shaped base type V-shaped foldable handle, which comprises a handle base, a left component, a right component, a left handle, a right handle, a pressing box, a bolt with a handle and an internal stretching pipe, wherein the handle base is a groove-shaped punching component which is downwards opened and in the shape of shoe-shaped gold ingot; the internal stretchingpipe is connected in the middle of the handle base; the left head and the right head of the handle base are rotatably connected with the left component and the right component; the left handle and the right handle are connected at the upper ends of the left component and the right component respectively; the right component and the right component are formed by pressing T-shaped aluminum type blades; the pressing box and the bolt with the handle are rotatably connected on the right component; and the left component and the right component can be interlocked through the pressing box by rotatably screwing the bolt with the handle.


The articles analyzes the various perspective in which economic activity can be balanced with fundamental rights and social solidarity, with particular reference to consumer protection.


of naïve naturalism that one may find in traditional taxidermy. The editors leave the closing remarks to William Miller, one of the leading figures in contemporary disgust studies. His final comments epitomize both the purpose and the challenge of conducting research in this field. In a few snapshots, including allusions to Shakespeare's Hamlet and Machiavelli, Miller gives a hint of the obstacles that pave the path of whoever wants to study an emotion "that is the most keenly attuned to perception as perception, to senses as senses" (150). In other worlds, he argues that studying disgust necessarily leads to ontological reflexion about human beings, who should be first and foremost considered not as superior entities, but as beings interwoven in their environment: "it is very hard to keep a serious face and not burst into laughter when we speak of human dignity, supposedly an inalienable attribute of all of us. We share more with tapeworms, than with angels" (151). Far from any idealism, Miller makes use of the last few pages to remind us of the contingent situation of human existence.


BackgroundTelemedicine is increasingly used for acute stroke care, making neurological expertise available in nonspecialized hospitals. There are few data about telemedicine's acceptance by either medical staff or patients at treating hospitals.MethodsTelemedicine's acceptance was evaluated in the Telemedical Project for Integrative Stroke Care (TEMPIS), a network of two stroke centers and 12 community hospitals in the German state of Bavaria; the grading of teleconsultation regarding video and audio quality, time consumption, and medical relevance was assessed in two periods, 2004 and 2007. Overall satisfaction with in-hospital treatment was compared between patients in telemedically-linked hospitals with specialized stroke care and patients treated in conventional community hospitals. With regard to sufficient follow-up rates, ratings were restricted to patients living at home without severe disability at 3 months after stroke. A second evaluation analyzed how the parameter "Telemedical assessment of patient" (36% of patients in TEMPIS hospitals) affected overall satisfaction.ResultsRespectively, 140 and 127 uses of telemedicine were assessed in the two evaluation periods. Video quality, time consumption, and medical relevance were graded "excellent" by over 50% in both periods. Audio quality was rated "excellent" by only 22% in the first period but 69% in the second. Excellent overall satisfaction was expressed significantly more frequently by patients at TEMPIS hospitals (total number 1044) than by those at control hospitals (total number 484; 56% vs 47% respectively, P<0.01). Patient consultation via telemedicine per se did not correlate with modified grading.ConclusionsAcceptance of telemedicine in acute stroke care was high and stable over a long period. This study suggests improved overall satisfaction with treatment in hospitals offering specialized care and linked via telemedicine. Clinical assessment via telemedicine had no major effect on satisfaction.


STRUCTURE AND STAR FORMING ACTIVITIES OF THE COLD, MASSIVE MOLECULAR CLOUD G216-2.5 SEPTEMBER 1992 YOUNGUNG LEE B.S., SEOUL NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, SEOUL, KOREA M.S., SEOUL NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, SEOUL, KOREA Ph.D., UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS Directed by: Professor Ronald L. Snell We have studied the gas and dust properties and the star forming activity in G216-2.5 (also called Maddalena's cloud), a cold, massive CMC that has no evidence for star formation. We have mapped 11 square degrees in the J = 1-0 transitions of ^^CO and ^^CO using the QUARRY fifteen-beam array receiver on the 14 m telescope at FCRAO. We have confirmed the results of Maddalena and Thaddeus (1985) that the cloud is unusually cold and has very broad linewidths (AV-8km s-i). The visual extinction to ^^CO column density ratio is found to be similar to that in local molecular clouds, suggesting that if the gas to dust ratio is normal, the ^^CO abundance relative to molecular hydrogen in this cloud is similar to that found for clouds near the sun.


Based on the author's former textual researches and new evidence, this paper sets forth new viewpoints on the issue concerning the two figures with the same name of LIU Mu in the Northern Song Dynasty from different angles. By the result from the latest researches, the paper reverses the accomplished conclusion and points out: (1) the LIU Mu from Sanqu had not written any works related to Yi; (2) the transmission pedigree concerning the He tu (River Diagram) and Luo shu (Luo Chart) mentioned by ZHU Zhen has no foundation and should not be based any longer; (3) the contents of He tu and Luo shu came out later than the one-volume Yi shu gou yin tu written by the LIU Mu from Pengcheng, so they most probably were supplemented by his disciples; (4) FAN E-chang's imagology does not relate to He tu and Luo shu. Traced back by this fact to CHEN Tuan's imagology, it should not relate to He tu and Luo shu, either; (5) FAN E-chang was born later than the LIU Mu from Pengcheng, so, the former was not the latter's teacher. Finally, the paper insists that the LIU Mu from Pengcheng who discourses the Dao (Way) of Taiji (Grand Ultimate) undoubtedly should be given a position in the studies of Song-Ming neo-Confucianism.


A 22-year-old student was admitted to our hospital after she had been resuscitated in an airplane at the local airport. According to the emergency personnel, the patient was found unconscious shortly before takeoff. Upon arrival, the paramedics initiated cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Figure 1 shows the initial rhythm documentation. The patient had no known diseases or family history of sudden cardiac death (SCD) and had never had an ECG taken before. She took no medications and used no illicit drugs. Coronary angiography was performed, due to initially reduced left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF 35%), and revealed normal coronary arteries. Cardiac MRI showed no signs of myocarditis. Questions


Abstract Recent work shows that the majority of therapists strongly value personal therapy for what it can bring to their professional practice, and for personal development. The aim of this study was to explore qualified therapists' experiences of personal therapy. Of the 220 qualified therapists who were contacted via post and asked to take part in a questionnaire study, 48 returned the completed questionnaire, which consisted of a series of closed and open questions. Two-thirds of respondents had engaged in personal therapy. The two most frequently cited reasons for engaging in personal therapy were personal growth and personal distress. Interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) identified two broad domains: impact on the person and impact on the professional. Results show that those surveyed recognised the value of personal therapy to themselves as a form of self-care and personal development. Personal therapy was valued in professional practice as a form of experiential learning from being in th...


This paper addresses the lack of criminological interest in the "crimes" of globalization. It challenges the essentialist assumption of mainstream criminology that the legal definitions of crime are sacrosanct. Following a broader conceptualization of crime which goes beyond the prescriptions of criminal law, the paper draws on three different intellectual traditions (crimes of globalization, structural violence and the critique of neoliberalism) which emphasize the contingent influence of social harm in people's life choices. We argue that the implementation of neoliberal policies in sub-Saharan Africa contribute to the exposure of women to risky life-style choices that often increase their vulnerability to HIV infection. We conclude that criminologists can no longer afford to abandon the study of the lethal consequences of untrammeled capitalism to economic and development experts, but should go beyond the state-centric definition of crime by addressing the "structural and institutionalized" victimization of the people by the market in an increasingly globalizing world.


Abstract : For these wind tunnel tests, conducted in the von Karman Gas Dynamics Facility Tunnel C, the tunnel was run at Mach 4 with a total temperature of 1100-1440 F and a total pressure of 100 psia. Cold wall heating rates were changed by varying the test article support wedge angle. Selected results are presented to illustrate the test techniques and typical data obtained.


This article demonstrates a practical application of the structural articulation method. An existing prototype railway bridge was selected to compare our new method with the industry codes of practice. The response history and dynamic increment of the bridge were investigated through a variety of methods: lump sum mass analysis (LSMA) and suspension system analysis (SSA) for a single-axle force, and SSA for multi-axle forces. We considered both a local irregularity and a global sinusoidal irregularity. The dynamic impact load induced by either form of track irregularity increases approximately linearly with the vehicle speed up to a certain point, then tends to decrease gradually. This behaviour reveals that the dynamic impact load induced by track irregularities is dominated by the resonance of the bridge. If a bridge must support multiple axles, or if an especially accurate dynamic impact factor is required for safety reasons, then multi-axle SSA is recommended because this approach is the most accurate and likely to produce a weaker response than single-axle analysis. The random irregularity is generated by the stochastic track irregularity process. It is found that the dynamic impact load induced by the random irregularity is negligible, compared with the deterministic irregularity.


The metabolic fate of ethion labeled with 14C-at the ethyl ester groups in soybean seeds following topical application to leaves was studied. Chromatographic analysis of soybean oil revealed the presence of the parent compound together with four metabolites which were identified as ethion monooxon, ethion dioxon, O-ethyl phosphorothioate and O,O-diethyl phosphorothioate. The effect of processing on ethion residues in soybean oil was investigated. The refined oil contained small amounts of the 14C-residues originally present (37.5%). Upon feeding rats with the cake containing ethion bound residues, a substantial amount of 14C-residues was eliminated in the urine (73%), and about 6% excreted with the feces. About 5% of the radioactive residues were distributed among various organs. Mature male Wistar rats were fed on soybean seeds containing ethion residues (1.93 ppm), and on artichoke leaves powder (1% W/W) for four weeks. At the end of the experimental period, the ethion-treated group had a significantly higher alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity, urea, creatinine, total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG), and very low density lipoprotein (VLDL) levels. The ethion-treated rats also had a lower total serum protein and albumin levels, as well as acetyl cholinesterase (AChE), catalase (CAT), and glutathione-S-transferase (GST) activity as compared with controls. Moreover, concomitant treatment with artichoke leaf powder improved, at least partially, all the biochemical parameters that were altered by ethion.


Celastrol, a triterpene from plants, has been used in traditional oriental medicine to treat various diseases. Here, we investigated the cardioprotective effects of celastrol against ischaemia.


A 23-year-old woman presented with asymptomatic papulonodular lesions on the right side of the body of 10 years' duration. The lesions initially began as a few small, asymptomatic, mauve maculae and papules clustering on the right forearm 10 years earlier. The lesions increased in number and extent to affect the right side of the chest and back, and right leg. Over the last 7 years, soft intradermal nodules of increasing size have appeared. The primary diagnosis in the outpatient clinic was "angioma." The patient was well and had no significant past medical or family history. On physical examination, there were small, mauve, macular and papular lesions on the right side of the trunk varying in size from 2 to 5 mm. Some papules were fused into large groups. The lesions were distributed in a linear or zosteriform pattern along the nervus intercostalis and the longitudinal axis of the extremities, respectively. The lesions were firm, nontender, and fixed to the skin. There were some soft, nontender, intradermal nodules of 3 to 6 mm in diameter. Two additional nodules on the right forearm and right ventral surface were about 15 mm in diameter, without adhesions to the epithelium; the overlying skin was light blue (Fig. 1a,b). There were no similar lesions on the left side of the body. Biopsies taken from a papule on the right abdomen and the large nodule on the right forearm both revealed a multilobulated tumor mass surrounded by a capsule of connective tissue. The lobules were composed of two types of tumor cell: small basophilic cells and relatively large pale cells with vesicular and ovoid nuclei. The former were arranged along the periphery of the tumor masses, whereas the latter were located towards the center of the masses. Some tumor cells were arranged in characteristic small rosettes. A few ducts of cystic spaces were found (Fig. 2a,b). These features were characteristic of eccrine spiradenoma. Laboratory studies showed normal values for total blood count, urinalysis, liver and renal function tests, and erythrocyte sedimentation rate. The clinical and histologic findings were consistent with eccrine spiradenoma. As the lesions were too extensive to excise, it was decided that the larger nodules should be surgically excised in stages.


The investigations were carried out in the experimental orchard at Warsaw-Wilanow (central Poland) in the years 1998-2001. Trees were planted in the autumn of 1994 in very fertile, loamy alluvial soil. The obtained results confirm that rootstocks affect fruit ripening significantly. PB-4 and M.26 rootstocks delayed the ripening of apples, as opposed to B 9, M.9, P 22, B 146 and P 60, which provoked the earlier ethylene production; therefore, fruits from trees on the latter ones should be picked earlier. During storage, apples from trees on M.9 showed a lower ethylene production rate than fruits from trees on PB-4 or P 22. In all years of the study the lowest firmness was noted in apples from trees on M.26, both at harvest and after storage. In general, rootstock M.9, especially its subclone 984, affected this parameter positively. Rootstock also influenced the soluble solids content significantly; fruits from trees on P 60 or B 396 contained more soluble solids than those from trees on M.7 or PB-4. Fruit size depended on the tree vigour; superdwarfing rootstocks PB-4 and P 22 reduced the mean fruit weight.


The relationship between humans and protected areas may contribute to the success of conservation efforts. The Qinling Mountains are significant to China and the rest of the world, and the Qinling Zhongnanshan UNESCO Global Geopark comprises eight distinct scenic spots with residential communities. This study investigated the Geopark's relationship between humans and protected areas by examining local residents' incomes and land ownership characteristics. Data were derived from a questionnaire survey of 164 residents living in or near four of the eight scenic spots. Their individual and household incomes, requisitioned farmland losses and compensations, employment, and participation were analyzed. Most respondents were aged 30–70 years, and 90.9% were locally born and raised in the region. They tended to be self-employed in food catering or accommodation services within the Geopark or near its entrance. Reliance on the Geopark for their livelihoods was significant, because they worked full-time and earned a major share of their household incomes from Geopark-related employment. Fifty respondents reported that their farmland was requisitioned during the Geopark's establishment. However, not all of them were financially compensated, and compensation was not equally distributed among those who received it. Reforming the complex top-down administrative system and developing an effective profit-sharing scheme for local residents are suggested measures for enhancing public satisfaction and knowledge about the Geopark, both factors that were low among the respondents. Increasing the local residents' participation in Geopark activities is an important way to avoid conflict; increasing the number of job opportunities for local residents is proposed to achieve this goal.


The volatile oils were extracted from flowers and fruits of Aquilaria sinensis by solvent method and analyzed by GC-MS.Twenty-six compounds were identified from the volatile oils of flowers,accounting for 92.07% of the total volatile oil,and twenty-six compounds from the fruits,accounting for 93.66% of the total volatile oil.Eleven compounds were common in both of flowers and fruits.Fragrant constituents such as nonoic acid were also detected in both oils.


Abstract. Sparse unmixing has been proven to be an effective hyperspectral unmixing method. The row-sparsity model (using l2,0 norm to control the sparsity) has outperformed single-sparsity unmixing methods in many scenarios. However, to avoid the NP-hard problem, most algorithms adopt a convex relaxation strategy to solve the l2,0 norm at the expense of unmixing accuracy and sparsity. In addition, the row-sparsity model might cause aliasing artifacts on the boundaries. To solve these problems, a novel algorithm called two-step iterative row-sparsity hyperspectral unmixing via a low-rank constraint (TRSUnLR) is proposed. TRSUnLR introduces a row-hard-threshold function to solve the l2,0 norm directly. The low-rank constraint, which can make full use of the global structure of data, is imposed to alleviate the aliasing artifacts. The reweighting strategy is used to further enhance the sparsity. Then we adopt the two-step iterative method under the alternating direction method of multipliers framework to solve the proposed algorithm. Specifically, the current solution is computed by a linear combination of the solutions of two previous iterations. Simulated and real data experiments have proven that the proposed algorithm can obtain better unmixing results.


Abstract : A 412 KeV Compton spectrometer has been designed at Warwick, and commissioned at the SRC Rutherford Laboratory. The performance of the system was highly satisfactory, but routine operation of the equipment has been hampered by deterioration in the resolution of the detector, and delays have occurred as a result of faults in the computerised data acquisition system. The Compton profile of vanadium has been measured, and is found to be in disagreement with theory, the anisotropies being smaller than predicted. In related investigations evidence for the failure of the impulse approximation has been found, and the viability of obtaining cohesive energies from Compton profiles has been assessed. (Author)


The present paper deals with the morbidity and mortality rates and examine the effects of age, sex, environmental conditions, management practices and other factors on morbidity and mortality in small ruminants in rural conditions of Himachal Pradesh using suitable statistical techniques. A total 540 livestock owners constitute the ultimate sample from thirty six villages and twelve veterinary hospitals for the study. The sampling scheme followed in the present study was Stratified three-stage random sampling. Morbidity and mortality data were collected from all selected bovine owners in the state for period of one year (January 2011 to December 2011). Overall morbidity and mortality rates were 19.99 per cent and 6.37 per cent respectively. The morbidity rate was highest for specific diseases 14.4 per cent followed by injury & accidents 2.84 per cent, digestive diseases 1.56 per cent and parasitic diseases 0.89 per cent. The mortality rate was highest for specific diseases 3.73 per cent followed by injury and accidents 1.09 per cent, digestive diseases 0.91 per cent and parasitic diseases 0.45 per cent. The above diseases can be minimized by adopting necessary action regarding deworming, vaccination, proper ventilation, balance feeding and good management practices.


The utility model relates to the field of circular knitting machines, in particular to a novel large-disc gear device. The novel large-disc gear device comprises a large-disc gear and a large disc used for supporting the large-disc gear, wherein a ceramic wear plate is arranged between the large disc and the large-disc gear, the ceramic wear plate is round, and the ceramic wear plate covers the lower end face of the large-disc gear. Due to the arrangement of the ceramic wear plate, energy consumption of a machine is reduced by 1 kW/h generally, and reliability of operation is improved.


In this paper, a novel compact 3-D dual-mode stepped-impedance resonator (SIR) with centrally loaded stub is constructed for designing a wideband low-temperature cofired ceramic (LTCC) bandpass filter (BPF). By fully taking advantage of the LTCC technology, the dual-mode SIR, as a cell unit of the proposed filter, is reasonably folded in 3-D environment, and its properties are investigated using the transmission line theory. Accordingly, benefiting from the 3-D circuit layout, the proposed BPF designed by combining the SIR and dual-mode techniques can effectively overcome a vital and common drawback of large circuit size of the LTCC distributed-element filters. For demonstration, a fourth-order wideband BPF centered at 5 GHz is designed, fabricated, and measured. The circuit size of the designed BPF has a compact size of 3.875 × 4.8 × 1.4 mm3. The impact of the package on the coupling and routing scheme and frequency response/transmission zero has been analyzed and demonstrated. The simulated and measured results are presented and compared, showing a good agreement.


The recent financial crisis has brought to the fore issues of understanding and reducing systemic risk. This focus has precipitated exploration of various methods for measuring systemic risks and for attributing systemic risk contributions to systemically important financial institutions. Concomitant with this stream of research are efforts to collect, standardize and store data useful to these modeling efforts. While discussions of modeling approaches are pervasive in the literature on systemic risk, issues of data requirements and suitability are often relegated to the status of implementation details. This short chapter is an attempt to deepen this discussion. We provide a 2×2 mapping of modeling strategies to key data characteristics and constraints that can help modelers determine which models are feasible given the available data; conversely, it can provide guidance for data collection efforts in cases where specific analytic properties are desired. The framework may also be useful for evaluating, at a conceptual level, the trade-offs for incremental data collection. To provide background for this mapping, we review the analytic benefits and limitations of using aggregate vs. micro-level data, provide background on the role of data linking and discuss some of the practical aspects of data pooling including concerns about confidentiality. Throughout the chapter, we include examples from various domains to make the points we outline concrete.


The need of integration of the semi-arid region economy to the national and
international markets, makes necessary the development of researches seeking the evaluation
of tolerant species to salinity. With this purpose, the effect of irrigation water salinity on four
varieties (CNPA-G2, INAMAR-SM2, ORO-9171 and IAC-OURO) of sesame (Sesamum indicum
L.), developed by Embrapa Algodao, was studied. The results showed that the four studied
varieties are tolerant to the applied salt contents, where the seeds germinated in all salinity
levels (25 to 200 meq L-1), even the percentage of germination has decreased with the increase
of NaCl content. The total length of plantules and the hypocotyl length were affected by the
increase of the salt concentrations. The IAC-OURO variety was the most sensitive to salinity
effects.


The esterase enzyme is in dimer form but at specific conditions it changes its structure to monomer. A study is carried out on how the enzyme performs its highest enzymatic activity and therefore provides its optimum working temperature and denaturation temperature using UV-Vis absorption spectroscopy. It is intended to spectrophotometrically characterize the activity of porcine liver esterase.


CONTEXT
Many inherited disorders of calcium and phosphate homeostasis are unexplained at the molecular level.

OBJECTIVE
The objective of the study was to identify the molecular basis of phosphate and calcium abnormalities in two unrelated, consanguineous families.

PATIENTS
The affected members in family 1 presented with rickets due to profound urinary phosphate-wasting and hypophosphatemic rickets. In the previously reported family 2, patients presented with proximal renal tubulopathy and hypercalciuria yet normal or only mildly increased urinary phosphate excretion.

METHODS
Genome-wide linkage scans and direct nucleotide sequence analyses of candidate genes were performed. Transport of glucose and phosphate by glucose transporter 2 (GLUT2) was assessed using Xenopus oocytes. Renal sodium-phosphate cotransporter 2a and 2c (Npt2a and Npt2c) expressions were evaluated in transgenically rescued Glut2-null mice (tgGlut2-/-).

RESULTS
In both families, genetic mapping and sequence analysis of candidate genes led to the identification of two novel homozygous mutations (IVS4-2A>G and R124S, respectively) in GLUT2, the gene mutated in Fanconi-Bickel syndrome, a rare disease usually characterized by renal tubulopathy, impaired glucose homeostasis, and hepatomegaly. Xenopus oocytes expressing the [R124S]GLUT2 mutant showed a significant reduction in glucose transport, but neither wild-type nor mutant GLUT2 facilitated phosphate import or export; tgGlut2-/- mice demonstrated a profound reduction of Npt2c expression in the proximal renal tubules.

CONCLUSIONS
Homozygous mutations in the facilitative glucose transporter GLUT2, which cause Fanconi-Bickel syndrome, can lead to very different clinical and biochemical findings that are not limited to mild proximal renal tubulopathy but can include significant hypercalciuria and highly variable degrees of urinary phosphate-wasting and hypophosphatemia, possibly because of the impaired proximal tubular expression of Npt2c.


The objective of this study was to perform a temporal and spatial analysis of the changes in the past global solar radiation based on climate models and remote sensing data in the State of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil for the baseline period (1961-1990). Data from two climate models the Canadian Centre for Climate Modelling and Analysis and Geophysical Fluid Dynamic Laboratory, were used for the A1B intermediate scenario, data from Conventional Weather Stations and orbital sensor Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) MODIS Land Cover Type (MCD12Q1). The results of the Spatial Dependence Degree indicate that the best model to represent the global solar radiation is CCCMA-Exponential dry 70.01 and rainy 0.21 respectively. It was possible to verify that in places where the areas are occupied by forests there was reduction of global solar radiation for both dry and rainy periods of approximately 13 MJ md. These results indicate that these forest areas can function as islands of freshness, while maintaining the thermal comfort balanced. It was concluded that the dry period had the highest values of solar radiation compared to the rainy (57%), which can be justified by the occurrence of fires in Rio de Janeiro.


In an agglutinative language such as Korean, Japanese, etc., morphological analysis plays an important role in finding the morphological structure of input sentences. In these languages, a word can be divided into many morphemes and each morpheme has lexical ambiguities in many cases by means of the properties of an agglutinative language. In this paper, we propose a morphological ambiguity reduction method that can reduce a burden of the syntactic analysis by 1) adapting a syntactic unit of morpheme in the Feature Generator, 2) making features with detail classification of POS (Part-Of-Speech) tagset, 3) restricting rest morphological ambiguity by the multi-path LR parsing. For this work, we introduce a Morphological Feature Generator (FG) and this transforms morpheme sequences into one morpheme if these morphemes are regarded as syntactically or semantically one meaning.


This paper notes that the dynamics of public expenditure on health care is determined not only by changes in the age structure but also by a set of interrelated demand and supply factors, which are often exogenous to policy decisions. Therefore, reliable projections should account for such non-demographic factors. The authors first describe the projection methodology employed by the European Commission and the Aging Working Group and present the main results. They then discuss possible methodological improvements. In particular, they suggest that a better understanding of the interactions between public and private spending on health could improve the projections. Moreover, some efforts should be devoted to the analysis of supply side factors and to enhancing the comparability of the input data collected from national authorities. It would also be useful to attach probabilities to the shocks introduced in each scenario. Finally, linking the projection results to the institutional setting of each country would enhance the policy relevance of the exercise.


In this paper, a blind digital signature is proposed, and a protocol of electronic voting based on the elliptic curve is designed. The performance analysis to these schemes shows that they are theoretically secure and suitable for some practical applications. The reason lies in that the elliptic curve discrete logarithm problem is difficult to be solved.


Monitoring on the basis of sound recordings, or passive acoustic monitoring, can complement or serve as an alternative to real‐time visual or aural monitoring of marine mammals and other animals by human observers. Passive acoustic data can support the estimation of common, individual‐level ecological metrics, such as presence, detection‐weighted occupancy, abundance and density, population viability and structure, and behaviour. Passive acoustic data also can support estimation of some community‐level metrics, such as species richness and composition. The feasibility of estimation and certainty of estimates is highly context dependent, and understanding the factors that affect the reliability of measurements is useful for those considering whether to use passive acoustic data. Here, we review basic concepts and methods of passive acoustic sampling in marine systems that often are applicable to marine mammal research and conservation. Our ultimate aim is to facilitate collaboration among ecologists, bioacousticians, and data analysts.


Since astronauts hope to spend more time n space, they will receive more exposure to ionizing radiation, a stream of particles that, when pass through a body, has enough energy to damage the components of living cells and tissues. Ionizing radiation may cause changes in cells' ability to carry out repair, reproduction, and cross-talk with other cells. This may lead to mutations, which, in turn, may result in tumors, cancer, genetic defects in offspring, neurodegeneration. A 34 million dollar facility at BNL's NASA Space Radiation Laboratory (NSRL), built in a cooperative effort by NASA and DOE is one of the few places in the world that can simulate the harsh space radiation environment. At this facility, scientists from some several institutions in the U.S. and abroad will learn about the possible risks to human beings exposed to space radiation. Although the spacecraft itself somewhat reduces radiation exposure, it does not completely shield astronauts from galactic cosmic rays, which are highly energetic heavy ions, or from solar particles, which are primarily energetic protons. Within the NSRL target room, Lab researchers and other NASA-sponsored scientists irradiate a variety of biological specimens, tissues, and cells to study the effects that ion beams havemore » on cells and animals.« less


This paper introduces a general space vector modulation algorithm for n-level three-phase power converters. This algorithm is computationally extremely efficient and is independent of the number of levels of the power converter. At the same time, it provides excellent insight into the operation of multilevel power converters.


A well preserved female specimen of the extinct genus Microphorites Hennig, 1971 (Diptera: Dolichopodidae) is known from San Just Amber (Lower Cretaceous, Albian, East Spain) and described as M. utrillensis nov. sp. In addition, ceratopogonids from the same deposit have been recognized as specimens of Protoculicoides skalskii Szadziewski & Arillo, 1998 and Leptoconops zherikhini Szadziewski & Arillo, 2003 two species known previously in Spanish amber from Alava. The new specimens make it possible to complete and emend the original description of P. skalskii. Palaeoecological and palaeobiogeographical comments are provided.


In the cloud computing paradigm, periodical rejuvenation serves as a preventive measure consolidates robustness and performance through refreshing cloud data-centers or machines. Another factor that influences system performance is VM migration, which transports VMs from a physical machine to another. In this work, we propose a comprehensive framework to model and evaluate performance and energy consumption of cloud-based systems with rejuvenation, migration, failure, and repair. The accuracy and correctness of the proposed model and analysis method are validated by discrete-event simulation.


The Mandelbrot set M is "self-similar" about any Misiurewicz point c in the sense that if we examine a neighborhood of c in M with a very powerful microscope, and then increase the magnification by a carefully chosen factor, the picture will be unchanged except for a rotation. The corresponding Julia set Jc is also "self-similar" in the same sense, with the same magnification factor. Moreover, the two sets M and Jc are "similar" in the sense that if we use a very powerful microscope to look at M and Jc, both focused at c, the structures we see look like very much the same.


This article introduces some detailed information of the book,Learning From China: The Tao of the China,also pointing out some author's misunderstanding of Chinese culture.


It is shown how discrete-time, mixed-sensitivity, l/sub 1/-optimal control problems can be converted via polynomial techniques to linear "least absolute data fitting" problems and solved via efficient and stable numerical methods. In particular, two new sub/superoptimization schemes are introduced by expressing the closed-loop sensitivity and complementary sensitivity maps in terms of the free parameter of a stabilizing deadbeat controller parameterization and exploiting the underlying algebraic structure. This approach induces the application of a consistent truncation strategy that leads to a redundance-free constraint formulation and, as a consequence, to linear programming problems less affected by degeneracy. Further, more insight on the algebraic structure of the problem and on the achievement of exact rational solutions is provided, allowing the development of a simple and conceptually attractive theory.


In recent year, as the current and future emission regulations go stringent, the research of exhaust manifold and CCC has become the subject of increasing interest and attention. This study is concerned with the systematic approach to improve catalyst flow uniformity and light-off behavior through the basic understanding of exhaust flow characteristics. Computational approach to the unsteady compressible flow for exhaust manifold of 4-1 type, 4-2-1 type and buffalo type and CCC system of a 4-cylinder DOHC gasoline engine was performed to investigate the flow distribution of exhaust gases. In this study, through calculation, the effects of geometric configuration of exhaust manifold on flow structure and its maldistribution in monolith were mainly investigated to understand the exhaust flow patterns in terms of flow uniformity. Based on the design guidance resulting from this fundamental study, the flow uniformity of 4-2-1 type and buffalo type exhaust manifold demonstrated the more improved exhaust characteristics than that of the 4-1 type one.


A mathematical model of resin flow and temperature variation in the filling stage of the resin transfer molding (RTM) is developed based on the control volume/finite element method (CV/FEM). The effects of the heat transfer and chemical reaction of the resin on the flow and temperature are considered. The numerical algorithm of the resin flow and temperature variation in the process of RTM are studied. Its accuracy and convergence are analyzed. The comparison of temperature variations between experimental results and model predictions is carried out for two RTM cases. Result shows that the model is efficient for evaluating the flow and temperature variation in the filling stage of RTM and there is a good coincidence between theory and experiment.


Most statistics students know that the sample correlation coefficient R is used to estimate the population correlation coefficient ρ. If the pair (X, Y) has a bivariate normal distribution, this would not cause any trouble. However, if the marginals are nonnormal, particularly if they have high skewness and kurtosis, the estimated value from a sample may be quite different from the population correlation coefficient ρ. Our simulation analysis indicates that for the bivariate lognormal, the bias in estimating ρ can be very large and it can be substantially reduced only after a large number (3-4 million) of observations. This example could serve as an exercise for the statistics students to realise some of the pitfalls in using the sample correlation coefficient to estimate ρ.


All anti-nutritive compounds by alcohol are removed. The results shows that when the rapeseed cake is treated at 85% alcohol, 76℃(1∶7rapeseed∶solvent), and the glucosinolate decreases to 0.43mg/g after 3 times of 45-minute extractions with 0.2% addictives—sodium oleate.


This paper presents a 10bits 100-MS/s low-voltage pipelined analog-to-digital converter (ADC), which consists of 8-stage-pipelined low resolution ADCs and a 2-bit flash ADC. Several critical technologies are adopted to guarantee the resolution and high sampling and converting rate such as 1.5bits per stage conversion, digital correction logic, folded-cascode gain-boosted amplifiers. The ADC is designed in a UMC 90nm CMOS technology with a 1.2V supply voltage.


A survey of the literature relating to the risks and after effects of sterilization is reported. Risks of mortality and morbidity are no greater for these operations and that psychological after-effects are relatively rare among those who are sterilized voluntarily. Neurotic and other disordered personalities however may find sterilization a profoundly disturbing experience; public opinion may even influence the psychically sound. More than 90% of those voluntarily sterilized express satisfaction with the effects of the operation.


SUMMARY
Many features discussed in detail in earlier papers are correlated with particular emphasis on (i) the partition of dry material into leaf, stem and root, (ii) the leaf auxochrone, (iii) the interrelationship of flower opening, leaf number and vascularization, (iv) the extension of the hypocotyl, (v) ontogenetic drifts in specific leaf area, (vi) the relationship between specific leaf area and unit leaf rate, and (vii) a general synopsis in the form of a flow diagram. The flow diagram summarizes the overall autecology of the species and indicates the relative importance of factors affecting dry-weight distribution, leaf expansion and the inverse relationship between specific leaf area and photosynthesis (as measured by growth analysis), in determining the growth rate of the plant in various conditions.


1 *1 Chief Researcher, Research & Development Institute, Dr. Eng. 技術研究所 主任研究員 博士(工学) *2 Chief Researcher, Research & Development Institute 技術研究所 主任研究員 *3 Osaka Main Office Building design department, Dr. Eng. 大阪本店設計部 課長 博士(工学) *4 Researcher, Research & Development Institute 技術研究所 研究員 *5 Group Leader, Research & Development Institute, Dr. Eng. 技術研究所 構造部 応用数理グループ長 博士(工学) *6 Executive Manager, Research & Development Institute, Dr. Eng. 技術研究所 専門役 博士(工学) Numerical Analysis on Seismic Response of Piled Raft Foundation with Grid-form Deep Mixing Walls Supporting a Base Isolated Building 免震建物を支持するTOFT併用パイルド・ラフト基礎の地震時シミュレーション解析


Provided is a high ground pressure laneway stress transferring method based on a fracturing ring. Fracturing is conducted according to a laneway stress source construction drill hole, a circle of artificial weakening belt, namely a fracturing ring, is formed in surrounding rock, high stress of the laneway surrounding rock is transferred under the action of unloading, stress blocking and yielding, impact energy is absorbed through an additionally arranged weak structure area, and the influence of loads on deformation of the laneway surrounding rock is controlled. The fracturing ring is provided with the weakening belt with a certain width, the inner boundary is called as a guard circle, and the fracturing ring with a small belt width is called as a blocking circle and a blocking arc. The radius of the guard circle is generally determined by a safety coal and rock pillar barrier which is reserved at the edge of a support and has a certain width. The width of the fracturing ring is determined according to the surrounding rock structure, geological stress conditions and construction process conditions, and the higher the geological stress is, the wider the fracturing ring is. All target stratums for spreading stress are blocked by the blocking circle and the block arc. The solid suspended blocking arc approaches or is the boundary between a plastic zone and a failure zone of a coal pillar.


According to the need of actual production in grape garden, we study and manufacture a kind of pint-sized ditching machine, which can gear up the 8.8kW walking tractor, and can be used in narrow grape garden. Its maximum ditch width is 400mm,maximum depth is 400mm, working velocity is 1km/h.


Objective:To study the morphology of AVM in the basal cranium and at the cervical segment of spinal cord thus to provide crucial data for embolization therapy and surgery,so that the incidence of misdiagnosis and missed-diagnosis can be avoided.Methods:In 30 cases suspected of AVM in the basal cranium and in the spinal cord of cervical segment,the clinical manifestation,MRI image characteristics,and results of interventional examination were analysed.Results:From 30 cases with the AVM characteristics on MRI and clinical manifestations at cranial base and cervical spinal cord, selective angiogram of whole spinal vasculature were performed and cerebral vascular angiogram was done if necessary.29 cases were diagnosed as AVM at basal cranium and servical spinal cord (27 cases were feeded by multiple branches from cervical and thorathic vessels. 2 cases were feeded by external carotid artery).On case was at first misdiagnosed and later angiography of the whole brain showed that was a dural AVF supplied by primitive frigeminal artery and drained to paramedullary vein of spinal cord and causing void signal on MRI.Conclusion:For the avoidance of misdiagnosis in the process of interventional examination for vascular malformation of basal cranium and spinal cord at cervical segment, bilateral subclarian artery,vertebral artery etc and external carotid artery angiogram should be obtained in certain cases.whold cerebral angiogram should be performed if necessary.


The effects of a prescribed winter bum on two species of pitcher plant, Sarracenia alata and S. psittacina, were investigated by comparing changes in variables measured before and after the fire in randomly selected plots in a Louisiana savanna. Burned plots showed an increase in foliage and unburned plots showed a decrease in foliage, as measured in total number of leaves (>25 cm) for S. alata and in total cover for S. psittacina. For S. alata, the gain in foliage in the burned plots was less than the loss in foliage in the unburned plots, but for S. psittacina the gain in burned plots was greater than the loss in unburned plots. Seedling recruitment of S. alata after the fire was exponentially related to the number of floral scapes produced in the year before the fire and was greater in burned plots than in unburned plots. Number of floral scapes of both pitcher plant species decreased in the year after the fire, but the decrease occurred equally in burned and unburned plots. THROUGHOUT the Gulf Coastal Plain of the southeastern United States are numerous discontinuous bogs, savannas, and shrub bogs (pocosins) which support carnivorous plants.


Cryptography and encryptions, these terms are now-a-days have an unseen impact in the merging field of network and its security. In the global communal world, where faster access to precise information is the most basic need; security of confidential data during transfer from one place to another place is a major concern. There are a lot of sheltered approaches that can be applied inside the organizations premises to keep the data safe and sound. The prime goal leading the design of an encryption algorithm must provide security against unauthorized attacks. Key-oriented algorithms are very efficient but they were very bulky to manage as key handling must be done. Due to the great overhead, keyless algorithms seem an attractive option. There can be various techniques that can be used to attain secure transfer of data like firewalls, proxy servers, and steganography, data security plans against worms, viruses or denial-of-service attacks.


Skin-Friction Drag Reduction in a Turbulent Channel Flow based on Wall Shear-Free Control Active flow control of wall-bounded turbulent flow for skin-friction drag reduction (DR) has been received great attention in recent years due to large economical and ecological interest. In the present study, direct numerical simulations (DNSs) of turbulent channel flows are utilized to explore an active flow control concept using streamwise shear-free control (SSFC) at the wall. The control is only applied to half of the entire wall comprised of spanwise-alternating longitudinal regions of no-control and control surfaces for simplicity, and the simulations are systematically performed with changing the spanwise periodicity (P/h) of the control surface. In addition, an amplitude parameter (A) imposing the strength of the actuating streamwise velocity at the wall is introduced to enhance the skin-friction DR. Significant DR is observed with increasing the two parameters with accompanying reduction of the Reynolds stresses and vorticity fluctuations, although further increase of the parameters amplifies the turbulence activity in the near-wall region. In order to study the direct relationship between turbulent vortical structures and DR under the control, temporal evolution with initial eddies extracted by the conditional averages for Reynolds-stress-maximizing Q2 events are examined. It is shown that the generation of new vortices is dramatically inhibited with increasing the parameters throughout the flow, and thus fewer vortices are induced under the control. But, when P/h is sufficiently large, the autogeneration process for new vortex is not suppressed over the no-control surface in the near-wall region, thus resulting in increase of the secondand fourth-quadrant Reynolds shear stresses. Although strong amplitude A intensifies near-wall flow properties of turbulence, the increase of the turbulence activity is attributed to generation of counter-clockwise near-wall vortices by the increased vortex transport.


Museums are of course far more than just places of study or education. They
are places of entertainment as wel1. Museums have changed a good deal in the
last twenty years. New methods of interpretation and display , and exciting new
programmes and services, have all helped dispel the old fusty image.
As we near the end of the twentieth century, museums are finding themselves in
an increasingly competitive market place. They are confronted with their
competitors more then ever before. The competitors. including cinemas , T.V.
computer games. huge shopping malls. theme parks , package holidays. etc .. are all
part of the leisure and tourism industry. Leisure time is increasing through
shorter working hours and changing patterns of workl) . Such changing patterns of
leisure time and leisure pursuits open up new opportunities for museums provided
they are closely responsive to their markets. Whether museums like it or not. their
users will be subject to such market pressures and experience such changes in
leisure activities. The other fact that museums facing on is the changing of
government policy. Since the late 1970's government policies throughout the word.
especially in the case of Britain. have been in the process of making cuts in direct
public funding to Museums. and it is pushing museums into the Market-place.
with a consequent need to emphasise income generation and marketing as never
before , Museums therefore need to be one or more steps ahead in catering for
these new market developments. while maintaining their unique role in providing
their audiences with access to collections. At the same time. museums must
increasingly seize the initiative , not simply passively responding to events but
actively seeking to shape them as far as possible. Museums have tended to be
reactive rather than proactive. The current focus on management can enable
museums to grasp more firmly why they exist. what they aim to achieve , and how
this can most effectively be realised. From a management perspective. the current
challenges are as much an opportunity as a threat. To maintain their place in such a
competitive environment museums have begun to emphasise the importance of
marketing, to satisfy the needs of visitors and develop new audiences.


Longitudinal data research projects are often subject to high rates of missingness. This nonresponse may be related to the dropout before the ending of the study, or to the unavailability during one or more measurements. On the other hand, when the information comes from surveys, patients often deny to respond or are unable to answer several questions due to the lack of interest or time. This happens in Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) studies. Because of that, many researchers use different imputation methods, such as simple imputation methods (mean, regression imputation, etc…) as well as more advanced methods, to avoid losing valuable information from those who are unable or unwilling to answer the questions and to conclude misleading inferences about changes in the mean response over time. The most widely used methods of imputation are: hotdeck, propensity score and the Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC). Hotdeck imputation replaces missing data using the data from other observations in the sample at hand. The propensity score technique is based on an implicit approach based on Propensity scores and an Approximate Bayesian Bootstrap (ABB) to generate imputations. The MCMC method uses a single chain to produce the imputations. The posterior mode computed from the Expectation-Maximization (EM) algorithm is used as the starting values for the MCMC process. Selection of the appropriate imputation method is a difficulty itself. Available literature about the benefits of each method exists, although it is not conclusive. We apply these three above mentioned methods to a sample of 788 patients who had a surgical intervention of hip joint replacement. The Pain domain of the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC) was measured before and after the hip joint replacement. The change in pain was the outcome variable and relevant covariates where included in a general linear model. Results from data after imputation were compared to the complete analysis showing that imputation affects to the estimates and standard errors of coefficients and p-values. Different results were obtained depending on the methods of imputation. A simulation study was carried out to illustrate the performance of the mentioned methods. MCMC method shows more accurate results in the simulation study. Therefore, we recommend to apply multiple imputation techniques in the analysis of HRQoL data over time and the MCMC method is preferred to the hotdeck and propensity score methods.