Response to Reviewers' Comments (reviewer comments in italics) We would like to thank both reviewers for their helpful and constructive comments, and particularly for drawing our attention to pertinent references. Reviewer 1 This manuscript estimates the contents of glacial meltwater and sea ice melt in the water masses near the Fimbul Ice Front based on temperature, salinity and oxygen isotope data from a cruise in 2005. Meltwater from the Fimbul Ice Shelf is thought to contribute to the water mass formation in the eastern Weddell Sea and also to influence


Show it investigation took to effect in Cuesaca's community of the canton Bolivar in the provinces of the Carchi, with evaluating four organic bioestimulantes's application on the growth purpose and production of the lettuce cultivation; Identifying the bioestimulante and the best-suited dose and accomplishing the treatments's economic analysis. 118 that is the more utilized for the zone's farmers Utilized in order to the planting the Lettuce Great Lake- lettuce variety itself and the bioestimulantes Kelpak were applied, Biozyme, Bioenergia and Raimul Plus in two dose. Bloques Utilized the experimental design once was called complete at random, with nine treatments and three repetitions, the variables were submitted to variancia's Analisis using Tukey's test to the 5. variables evaluated attended : Height from the beginning; Equatorial diameter; I weigh of the plant; the cultivation's performance and economic analysis.


This work presents the semantical analysis of the two spatial prepositions and associated prefixes, the French sur, sur- (on) and the Polish przez, prze- (across). We propose a theory of abstract places (loci), as a method of description which helps to build an invariant meanings of the two linguistics units.


This paper explores the use of Igbo proverbs in selected folklorist Mike Ejeagah's folk songsOmekagụ (one who behaves like a lion) and Ụwa Mgbede Ka Mma (life of serenity is beautiful). Mike Ejeagha, the folk artist is known for his ingenuity in fusing tales rich in proverbs within his folk songs. This paper argues that the contextual meanings of the exemplary proverbs in the selected songs are derived from the content of the tales in the selected songs. The researcher will do a textual analysis of the proverbs in the songs while asserting that the meanings of the proverbs are embodied in the storyline. In analyzing the meanings of the proverbs in the songs, this research affirms the place of proverbs in the socio cultural environment of the Igbo people of South Eastern Nigeria and it finally shows that Mike Ejeagaha's folk songs can be an agent of cultural and historical storage of the Igbo culture. Original Research Article Amara et al.; ARJASS, 14(1): 11-18, 2021; Article no.ARJASS.66901 12


In this study, we aim to gage students' satisfaction, learning outcomes, and experiences with student-faculty team-teaching in an undergraduate quantitative-research-methods course. Three peer tutors co-taught with a faculty instructor each year, receiving pedagogical-placement credits. Data were collected via bi-weekly journals, a focus group, and a questionnaire on students' satisfaction and learning experiences. Data were analyzed through descriptive and thematic analyses. Peer tutors reduced student anxiety, increased engagement, and availability of help inside/outside class. Peer tutors described uncertainty about their roles and tension with classmates. However, peer tutors gained new perspectives, skills, and described supportive student-faculty teaching teams as assets to improving the course experience for students.


More than 1930 hectares of grassland were reclaimed during the past fifty years and it caused the degeneration and sandification of great amount of grassland resources in China.


Electron-hole symmetry breaking of Dirac electrons has been evidenced as a well-resolved cyclotron resonance (CR) peak splitting at magnetic fields around 300-500 T in epitaxial monolayer graphene. The magnetic field was swept up to 560 T for the infrared CR by means of the electromagnetic flux compression technique in a 1000-T class megagauss generator. The authors argue that it is the CR mode repulsion, caused by the electron-electron correlation, which is responsible for the observed CR intensity transfer from the hole to the electron.


The invention relates to a remote-control electromagnetic dedusting system with multiple solar cell panels. The remote-control electromagnetic dedusting system comprises multiple bases used for mounting of the solar cell panels, supporting rods are symmetrically mounted on each base, a limiting support and a fan are mounted on one side of each supporting rod, a glass protecting layer is mounted on each solar cell panel, multiple parallel electrodes are arranged on the lower surface of each glass protecting layer, the end portion of each electrode is connected with a high-voltage dedusting module, adjacent high-voltage dedusting modules are cascaded with one another, a power detection module is connected on an output end of each solar cell panel and connected with a digital processing and controlling module which is connected with the corresponding high-voltage switching module through an intelligent control module, and each digital processing and controlling module is connected with a host through a NET transmission module. The remote-control electromagnetic dedusting system has the advantages of high controllability, flexibility in adjusting, simplicity in dedusting operation and low energy consumption.


Introduction: Nuth and his colleagues have created amorphous non-stoichiometric silicate smokes of various compositions by combustion from gas-phase precursors [1]. These smokes have metastable eutectic compositions and have similar infrared spectra as the materials observed in circumstellar and cometary dust [1]. These smokes were characterized with TEM techniques and were found to be composed of chains of rounded amorphous particles 10-50 nm in size [2,3]. Subsequent annealing experiments showed that the Mg silicate smokes anneal into 200-250nm sized particles of forsterite, tridymite and periclase at 1000-1100 K in up to 30 hours [1,2]. The Fe silicate smoke required higher temperatures (~1300 K) to anneal in the same time scale as the Mg smoke [1]. Amorphous silicate materials have been reported in the matrices of several primitive carbonaceous chondrites (e.g. CM2 Murchison, CO3 ALHA77307, the ungrouped chondrite Acfer094, CM2 Y-791198 and the anomalous chondrite Tagish Lake) [4-8]. Those in the fine-grained rims of Y-791198 are similar to aggregate IDPs in terms of textures and mineralogy [7]. Could amorphous non-stoichiometric silicate material, similar to that found around nacent stars and in cometary dust, have been incorporated into the matrices of carbonaceous chondrites and then have altered into some of the observed secondary phases? Methods: Mg-Si-O smokes created at 800K in October 2003 and Fe-Si-O smokes created at 500K in September 2003 were acquired from Joe Nuth's laboratory in the summer of 2005. Two batches of experiments were done at two experimental temperatures (~25 o C and ~5 o C), one of each composition. Approximately 1.5 mg of amorphous silicate smoke was sealed in a 1.5 mL centrifuge tube and left at the experimental temperature. A 250 mL bottle of distilled H 2 O was also left at temperature. 72 hours later, 1.5 µL of distilled H 2 O at temperature was added to each tube. At the appropriate time step, the tubes were filled with 100% ethanol at temperature in order to stop any hydration reactions. Preliminary experiments with the Mg silicate smoke showed that the ethanol successfully prevented any further reaction for at least 1 month. In preparation for TEM characterization, each tube was placed in an


Recently, some push-pull scheduling strategies have been proposed to replace the pull mechanism in mesh based P2P streaming systems. A push-pull mechanism is more efficient in terms of the overheads and leads to a much better playback delay performance since the pull part is mainly used either at startup or to recover lost content. In this work we combine the low scheduling delays of push scheduling with the resiliency and multi-parent ability of mesh overlays. We propose a pure push scheduling strategy, PurePush, where we replace the pull mechanism by a probabilistic push: Parents of a node push a packet with a relaying probability in order to reduce redundancy. Through simulations, we show that PurePush outperforms, with respect to playback delays, a typical push-pull strategy in the realistic situation where we consider packet loss.


To meet the demand of web popularity and modern management, it is a common practice to establish teaching electronic file.This paper puts forward some suggestions and views concerning the management of teaching electronic files.


Samples ( 1 and 5 liters) of filtered seawater (0.5 Jo) at its natural pH were equilibrated with several ,Gi of either carrier-free zinc-65 or carrier-free cobalt-60 and allowed to flow down individual resin columns. Retention of the ions was estimated by examining the eluate for activity; both cobalt and zinc were completely retained by the resin from both the 1 and 5 liter samples of seawater.


Israel is fighting terrorism from its very early days. The terror acts are characterized by carrying out lethal attack on Israeli residents and/ or the abduction of civilians / soldiers in order to free Palestinians imprisoned in Israeli jail. During the years Israel's counterinsurgency doctrine was shaped based on two main cornerstones – Moshe Dayan's doctrine of reprisal actions on terror attacks, formulated in the early 1950s, and the "Rabin Doctrine" on dealing with abducted Israelis. This article will analyze the processes of decision- making in Israel when fighting the two main forms of terror acts. After reviewing the main decision – making model a new decision- making model will be presented - the Two-Group Decision Making Model that will be demonstrated through analysis of four case studies: two cases of terror attack that Israel reacted by a military reprisal operation and two cases in which Israelis were abducted and the decision- makers had to choose to surrender to the terrorists demands or to launch a military rescue operation. The main conclusions of this article are that most of the decision- making process is made within a very small and intimate group headed by the leader and in most cases the Israeli decision – makers prefer to carry out a military operation on negotiations or any other course of action.


Within the last year much has been written about the ope ration known as laryngotomy. The chaotic results obtained by various surgeons are bewildering, and to persons not acquainted with the facts of this wa//<?r*the various claims as to the origin ator of this operation are misleading. Among veterinarians, as among professional men of different calling, one meets with a certain degree of strife and rivalry. Against honorable and pure rivalry no objection can be raised. When, however, overzealous individuals in their desire to emulate, use means which give them publicity and notoriety, to which they righteously have no claim, an interception becomes necessary. Leaving aside the plagiarism which has been practiced in connection with laryn gotomy, I ask you, what have we gleaned from the various writ ings on the subject? and can but answer, nothing conducive of a proper and lucid conception of it. If laryngotomy is to be uni versally practiced, the profession should be presented with the records and results of the different operations, so that it can thoroughly and rationally test the efficiency of operative interfer ences as a means of relieving roaring. To-day, laryngotomy bids fair to fall into disrepute as it did twenty-six years ago, and only because its modus operandi has not been properly promul gated. The fact that eminent veterinarians fail with this opera tion leads us to suspect that the success of ' ' lesser lights, ' ' in many cases, is rather due to a combination of accidental circum stances than to an actual comprehension of the subject. To ac curately and efficiently perform laryngotomy considerable dexter ity is necessary, which should be cultivated on the cadaver. Ere describing the operation proper, we would like to summarize in a short manner a few interesting facts which are linked to laryn gotomy. Galen and Riolan (1612) performed section of the recurrent


The liquefaction and dynamic stability of the foundation of a fly-ash dam under seismic load were studied by combining the two-dimensional dynamic finite element analysis with the limit equilibrium analysis of dam slope method.The research results show that according to the slope ratio of 1∶3 for the current flay-ash sub-dams,the height of single-stage sub-dam is not designed more than 5 m.When the sub-dam has necessary impervious elements and drainage facilities and the starter dam has good drainage facilities,dry sands about 50 m in length are designed at the upper reaches of fly-ash silo during the operating period.Liquefaction does not occur in the flay-ash sub-dam under seismic load,but it only occurs within the range of 1.0~2.0 m in depth at the upper reaches of fly-ash silo.Accordingly,it does not cause dam instability so as to ensure the dam safety.


Based on the description of library design concept of Lanzhou University of Technology,the article explores how to organically combine campus culture concept,building language signature,rational function layout with building technology,with a view to make the library to the landmark and temporary building.


This paper mainly focuses on the dry etching process of Silicon oxide(SiO2).A series of etching experiments were carried out with reactive ion etching system.Silicon oxide was etched using different etching process,and the etching rate,uniformity,selectivity were obtained under different process conditions.The results were compared and analyzed,and the optimum conditions were chosen.


The sentiment captured in opinionated text provides interesting and valuable information for social media services. However, due to the complexity and diversity of linguistic representations, it is challenging to build a framework that accurately extracts such sentiment. We propose a semi-supervised framework for generating a domain-specific sentiment lexicon and inferring sentiments at the segment level. Our framework can greatly reduce the human effort for building a domainspecific sentiment lexicon with high quality. Specifically, in our evaluation, working with just 20 manually labeled reviews, it generates a domain-specific sentiment lexicon that yields weighted average FMeasure gains of 3%. Our sentiment classification model achieves approximately 1% greater accuracy than a state-of-the-art approach based on elementary discourse units.


This work was a follow‐up study (birth years 1999–2003) of the prevalence of autism in children of Somali background living in the county of Stockholm, Sweden. In a previous study (birth years 1988–98), the prevalence of autism associated with learning disability * was found to be three to four times higher among Somali children compared with other ethnicities in Stockholm. We examined all records of children of Somali background, born from 1999 to 2003, registered at the centre for schoolchildren with autism and learning disability. The census day was 31 December 2009. The prevalence of autism and PDDNOS (with learning disability) was 0.98% (18/1836) in the Somali group and 0.21% (232/111 555) in the group of children of non‐Somali origin (p<0.001). The increased prevalence remained and was now between four and five times higher in children of Somali background. A clinical observation was that more than 80%, in addition to autism and learning disability, had a profound hyperactivity. The findings accord with many other studies reporting higher prevalence rates of autism in children of immigrant mothers. We discuss the need for further research of underlying mechanisms.


OBJECTIVE: Relationship between emotional intelligence and leadership skills among physiotherapist of Lahore.
METHODOLOGY: This was an analytical cross-sectional study ln which 350 physiotherapist were selected according to inclusion criteria. A questionnaire of emotional intelligence and leadership skills was distributed. The data was collected by using leadership skills Questionnaire and Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire. Questionnaire was given and received from the subject as handout. After collecting data was saved in a secure place to prevent and avoid any issue or biasness.
RESULTS: Relationship between emotional intelligence and leadership skills of the participants was non-significant positive correlation between emotional intelligence and leadership skills of the participants (r=.006, p=.950)
CONCLUSION: This study concluded that there non-significant correlation between emotional intelligence and leadership skills of the participants. By increasing emotional intelligence leadership skills also increases although this correlation is non-significant.


Sierpinski Triangle or Sierpinski Gasket or Sierpinski Sieve is a fractal and attractive fixed set with the overall shape of an equilateral triangle, subdivided recursively into smaller equilateral triangles. In this paper the number theoretical aspect of Fuzzy Triangular Numbers (FTN) in Sierpinski Triangle and Right Angle Triangle have been established and some arithmetic operations of α – Cut, Centroid of the Triangle, Approximation of the Triangular Fuzzy Numbers are explained.


(1) Background: Parents of children with rare diseases experience great uncertainty and employ different strategies to care for their children and cope with the disease. The purpose of the present study was to describe the perspective of parents with children with Phelan McDermid Syndrome (PMS). (2) Methods: A non-probabilistic purposeful sampling was used to perform this qualitative descriptive study. Thirty-two parents with children with PMS were interviewed. In-depth interviews and research field notes were analyzed using an inductive thematic analysis. (3) Results: Four themes emerged from the data. "Understanding and accepting the disease" described how parents experienced their child's diagnosis and the lack of information. The second theme, called "Living day by day", highlighted the daily difficulties faced when caring for a child with PMS. The third theme, "Expectations versus reality", was based on the parents' expectations of parenthood and the reality they face. Expectations for the future are also included. Finally, "Pain and happiness" describes how parents alternate feelings of distress and suffering but also joy with what they learn from these experiences. (4) Conclusions: Health professionals can use these results to support parents.


Bangka Regency waters in Bangka Belitung Islands Province is one of the squid fishing ground. The dominant squid which is captured in this area is Loligo chinensis. This study was conducted to determine the relationship of length-weight and to estimate the relative condition factor of squid L. chinensis in Bangka Regency waters. During this research, measurement was conducted on 392 squids consisting of 223 females and 169 males. The female L. chinensis mantle length range was 78-252 mm, and 14-277 g weight. The male L. chinensis has 84-370 mm mantle length range and 9-349 g weight. The relationship between mantle length and body weight is W = 0.0008 L 2.315 for the females and W = 0.0082 L 1.803 for the males. Regression coefficient (β) obtained for both female and male squids shows negative allometric growth which means that the increase of mantle length is slower than body weight. L. chinensis squids are less flattened in shape because they have a value of condition factor between one and three.


The goal of the session is to introduce the participants to the idea of using an e-portfolio (e-pf) platform in order to enhance a graduate's chances of success at interview. Students need to create an overarching narrative of their past experiences so that they can plan their future careers (Graves & Epstein, 2011). An e-portfolio gives the students a frame to recognise common themes in their experiences. Students can revisit and revise the e-portfolio frequently due to the electronic medium, empowering them and their future (Buyarski, Aarom, Hansen, Hollingsworth, Johnson, Kahn, Landis, Pedersen & Powell, 2015). Naturally, each e-pf will be unique to the student but the e-pf itself can be seen as a unifying platform that allows the student individual expression while being accessible to all. Self-authorship, reflection and meaning making all attribute to the creation of the eportfolio and the unique aspects (Buyarski et al., 2015). The session will be instructive and interactive and will consist of demonstration, video use, role-play and reflection. The participants will be shown the technology, examples of its use in action and then asked to use the platform in a role-play situation. The attendees will, therefore, experience how the e-pf idea works and will be able to reflect upon whether they think it would be useful for their own educational contexts.


In the course of translation-related subject teaching, we have found that the translation teaching at the Faculty of Chinese Linguistics and Literature, USSH, VNUHCM has not had a consensus on the evaluation criteria for the Chinese-Vietnamese translation in accordance with the teaching environment, which makes it difficult for both teachers and learners in the teaching and learning process. Therefore, specifying the error scale is essential for the objective assessment of students' learning outcomes. With the goal of building an error scale as a basis for evaluation, the study uses the actual data on linguistic translation errors collected from learners' Chinese-Vietnamese translation practice, combined with Chinese-Vietnamese translation theories (selecting the criteria that can be applied to the teaching environment) and translation analysis methods, thereby proposing the suitable criteria for the error scale of evaluating the Chinese-Vietnamese translation at the elementary level. The research results suggest the criteria for identifying common linguistic errors in the Chinese-Vietnamese translation at the elementary level. In addition, these results will support teachers better in marking and evaluating elementary-level translation tests as well as helping learners better understand common errors in the process of learning and practicing elementary-level translation.


The present communication deals with the palynological observations on the Devoniam sedi men ts f rom Parana Basin, Parana Sta te, Brazil. This is the first of a series of research work under study and records observations on the paleoeco logy and biostratigraphy of this region. Though the assemblage is not very rich it has some characteristic spores along with acritarchs which suggests a lower Denovian age (Emsian) to the sediments studied. General comments based on palynological assemblage are also attempted.


Totally 219 seed plants which belong to 63 families and 133 genera,have been collected from Daweishan nature reserve.The holotype plants in this region are characterized not only with ancient and primitive species,but also with many subtropical species.Beside a small part of these holotype plants in Daweishan nature reserve with direct economic value;most of them possess important indirect economic value for sure.The study concerns that the holotypes' origins have significance for flora study,seed resource's original protection and conservation as well as accurate definition of protective objectives.


In this paper we propose a scheme for enhancing the timing performance of a pre-designed synchronous sequential circuit. In the proposed scheme, a circuit is driven by two clocks. One of them is the conventional clock while the other one, having a shorter period, is applied when the circuit stabilizes well before the critical delay. We use a symbolic algorithm to analyze the timing behavior of the synchronous sequential circuit and provide add-on circuitry to select the appropriate clock based on the current state of the circuit. We demonstrate an appreciable gain (67% in average) in timing performance on several benchmark circuits.


Food behaviours and food insecurity are complex topics, but there is minimal research on the food behaviours of post-secondary students, a population at higher risk of food insecurity. To understand the financial and temporal constraints faced by this population, this study uses a mixed-method approach. Ten semi-structured interviews were conducted, and an online survey was administered to 743 undergraduate students at the University of Toronto. The results of the analyses indicate students who live with their families' face fewer barriers to accessing food, and students are more likely to report a healthy diet when they prioritize healthful food consumption. The findings demonstrate a need for more research on undergraduate student nutrition and lifestyle in relation to temporal and financial constraints. Such work will help universities and public health researchers gain a better understanding of how students purchase, prepare, and consume food, and ultimately contribute to student success and wellbeing.


various of DNA the HLA class precise of HLA genotypes, new insights into the pathogenesis of this we analyzed HLA class ll genotypes in Japanese patients with lgAN to detemine the role of genetic factors in pathogenesis of this analyzed in 165 unrelated patients biopsy- confirmed lgAN using polymerase chain reaction (PCR)一based sequence-specific oligonucleotide correlated with distinct clinical findings, which may reflect heterogeneity of both the pathogenesis and genetic background of the disease.


pathology was built up. In order to profile both circadian and COL6 genes, we designed two novel TaqMan® low-density arrays, one covering 10 circadian genes (CLOCK,ATF5,ARNTL, EGR1, DBP, CCRN4L, FKBP5, PER1, PER2, PER3) and the other covering the full-exon composition of the three collagenVI genes. All the transcriptomic analyses revealed a profound deregulation of the circadian genes with a CLOCK upregulation in the more severe (UCMD) phenotype. We propose that CLOCK gene might be a severity biomarker for collagen6 myopathy. In addition our TaqMan assays may be used as diagnostic tools for collagen-VI related myopathy lacking molecular characterization.


The present work was undertaken to observe the impact of human activity and sewage disposal in Sonrakh river by analyzing different nutrient parameters. The sampling sites were selected based on their distance from urban (developing) areas and rural (under develop) areas along the Sonrakh River. The physico-chemical parameters like colour, pH, Electrical Conductivity (EC), acidity, alkalinity, turbidity, calcium, total hardness, total dissolved solids, chloride, magnesium, potassium, fluoride and sodium were analyzed during winter season. During the study It was observed that the main cause of deterioration in water quality was due to the high anthropogenic activities, illegal discharge of sewage and industrial effluent, lack of proper sanitation, unprotected river sites and urban runoff. The results of the present study have been discussed and from the data it can be concluded that the water is moderately polluted, it is clear that the water is not highly polluted, the range of physico-chemical parameters were within the permissible limit. Keyword Sonrakh River, physical water analysis, chemical water analysis, nutrient, potassium


Purpose: After the final report of Clinical Outcomes of Surgical Therapy (COST) study group, the application of laparoscopic surgery in colon cancer a spread widely. However, laparoscopic surgery in the rectum is still regarded as a complicated procedure to start due to technical difficulties and a steep learning curve. The aim of this study was to show the safety and technical feasibility of a laparoscopic low anterior resection at an early time on the learning curve in comparison with open low anterior resection. Methods: The learning curves of one colorectal surgeon in open and laparoscopic low anterior resections were retrospectively compared. The compared factors were clinicopathologic characteristics, operation time, and the factors associated with postoperative recovery, morbidity and mortality. Results: There were no significant differences in age or sex between two groups. The operation time was significantly longer in the laparoscopy group (P<0.001) In the view point of postoperative recovery, the laparoscopy group showed significant advantages in hospital stay (P<0.001), the passage of flatus (P<0.001), the number of analgesics used (P=0.03), and the removal of foley catheter (P=0.001). There were no conversions in the laparoscopy group, and the complication rate was lower in the laparoscopy group (10.7% vs. 17.6%). There was no postoperative mortality in either group. Conclusions:Even though the operation time was significantly longer in the laparoscopy group, a laparoscopic low anterior resection appears to have some benefits in postoperative recovery and morbidity. In terms of surgical outcomes, a laparoscopic low anterior resection can be performed safely even in early times on the learning curve.


In recent years, carbon nanotubes have raised scientific interest due to their unmatched properties and their numerous potential applications. Their exceptional mechanical properties especially make them candidates for superstrong and lightweight nanocomposites. The present study aims to test the possibility of fabricating nanocomposites, with aluminum as the matrix and carbon nanotubes as the reinforcing phase, using liquid vacuum infiltration. Before infiltrating nanotubes by molten aluminum, it is necessary to enhance their wettability. For this purpose, an electroless plating of copper was carried out to ensure a good quality of the matrix / nanotubes interface. Three steps were needed to make this plating. Firstly, the carbon nanotubes were oxidized in a mixture of strong acids in order to improve their chemical reactivity. Secondly, their surface was activated by the deposition of some catalytic nuclei of palladium. Finally, the electroless copper-plating step was performed. Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy, Field Emission Transmission Electron Microscopy, Transmission Electron Microscopy, X-ray microanalysis, and Fourier-Transform Infra Red spectroscopy were used for chemical and microstructural characterization during the different steps of the process with emphasis on studying the interface.


Reporting of the actual data in graphs and plots increases transparency and enables independent evaluation. On the other hand, data summaries are often used in graphs because they aid interpretation. To democratize state-of-the-art data visualization of raw data with a selection of statistical summaries, a freely available, open-source web app was written using R/shiny that uses the ggplot2 package for generating plots. Users can to choose how to display the data and which of the data summaries to add. In addition, the 95% confidence intervals (95CIs) can be added for visual inferences. By adjusting the visibility of the layers, the visualization of the raw data and their summaries can be tuned for optimal presentation and interpretation. The app is dubbed PlotsOfData and is available at https://huygens.science.uva.nl/PlotsOfData/.


To the editor Resistant hypertension (RHTN) is a clinical condition associated with high cardiovascular risk and incidence of target organ damage (TOD). These patients require intensive pharmacologic and nonpharmacologic approaches to achieve blood pressure (BP) control and prevent TOD progression. Despite the great number of drugs available in the clinical setting, the proportion of patients achieving adequate BP levels remains low. Recently, renal denervation (RDN) has emerged as an alternative invasive therapy for these difficult-to-treat patients. The Symplicity HTN-1 and -2 trials, which evaluated the effects of RDN on BP levels in patients with RHTN, revealed large BP reductions; however, several methodological concerns of these studies were highlighted. On the other hand, Symplicity HTN-3, the first randomized, blinded, and sham-controlled trial was performed to overcome these methodological flaws including sham procedure as a control group. Surprisingly, no additional reduction in office or ambulatory BP were found after 6 months of RDN compared with the control group, contradicting Symplicity HTN-1 and -2 findings. The reasons Symplicity HTN-3 failed to demonstrate BP reduction have been pointed out by clinicians and researchers. Some authors accurately attributed these disappointing results to the lack of experience with a procedure that has a learning curve, although the commonly attributed reason is that sympathetic activity was not increased in such patients. RHTN is a multifactorial and polygenic disease, making the decision a challenge in the physician-patient setting. It is well-known that patients fail to respond equally to treatments, which may be explained by the influence of genetic and nongenetic factors. Therefore, it is reasonable to infer that the therapeutic response to RDN may be affected by the presence of genetic variants in different pathophysiological pathways of BP level control, including sympathetic nervous system (SNS) genes. For instance, some studies have demonstrated an association of polymorphisms in genes of adrenergic receptors with hypertension, which may affect SNS activity. Increased allele frequencies of some single nucleotide polymorphisms in the adrenoceptor genes were found in hypertensive patients (Arg492Cys, Asn251Lys, Gly389Arg, Arg16Gly, Gln27Glu, and Arg389). Currently, approximately 4000 variants in the genes encoding adrenoceptors have been identified. However, there is no consensus regarding the impact of the adrenoceptor variants on BP, as well as the therapeutic response and risk for hypertension. It is well established that RHTN implies on patients with an extreme phenotype, although the prediction that genetic factors play a greater role in these patients than in the general hypertensive population is debatable. In addition, some studies have already shown the influence of polymorphisms on BP control (WNK1 AluYb8 insertion), cardiovascular risk (I180V), and therapy resistance in RHTN patients. Finally, similar to the majority of pharmacologic interventions, it is not surprising that RDN does not work for all RHTN patients. It is reasonable to propose the stratification of patients, taking into account the degree of SNS impairment and genetic information to identify patients prone to show greater BP reduction after RDN. To achieve this aim, efforts to identify additional genes, polymorphisms, and regulatory pathways involved in RHTN and responsiveness to antihypertensive drugs must be encouraged in order to achieve a better treatment guide and personalized intervention.


The medicinal plants are considered to be most important in primary health care system of the developing countries and herbal drugs in the industrialized countries. The therapeutic property of a plant depends upon the physiologically active chemical compounds present in the plant parts employed in preparation of a medicine. In the present study fluorescence and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR) analysis of leaf and fruit of Trichosanthes dioica carried out for characterization of the crude drugs and detection of functional groups in these parts of the plant. The fluorescence analysis showed that the crude drugs exhibited clear fluorescence behaviors at different radiation due to the presence of various phytochemical constituents after treated with different chemical reagents. Whereas FT-IT analysis showed different functional groups based on its peak ratio in the ethanolic extract of leaf and fruit of Trichosanthes dioica.


The large numbers of hepatic disorders of a genetic origin continues to drive the quest for safe and efficient non-viral gene delivery systems with the design features suitable for in vivo application. Here, we examine the efficacy of hepatocyte-specific stealth lipoplexes in the human hepatoma cell line HepG2. Thus cationic liposomes were formulated with the cytofectin N,N-dimethylaminopropylaminylsuccinylcholesterylformylhydrazide (MS09), the neutral co-lipid 1,2-dioleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphoethanolamine (DOPE) with and without the asialoglycoprotein receptor (ASGP-R)-specific ligand cholesteryl-β-d-galactopyranoside (Chol-β-Gal), and 1,2-distearoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphoethanolamine-N-[methoxy(polyethylene glycol) 2000] (DSPE-PEG2000) in the 0–5 mol% range. Lipoplexes formed with pCMV-luc plasmid DNA were characterized by cryo-transmission electron microscopy (cryo-TEM), gel retardation, and ethidium displacement assays showed that cargo DNA was compacted and protected from serum nucleases by cationic liposomes. Hydrodynamic diameters were in the 114 ± 6.2–224 ± 5.3 nm size range while particle sizes, polydispersity indices (PDI), and ζ-potentials decreased with increasing degree of PEGylation. Cell viabilities of >75% were attained by targeted complexes in the ASGP-R-negative human embryonal kidney cell line HEK293 and in ASGP-R-positive HepG2 cells. Targeted 5% PEGylated lipoplexes at N/P ratio = 3.5 achieved the highest transfection activity in the hepatocyte-derived cells while competition assays and fluorescence microscopy confirmed that all targeted lipoplexes transfected HepG2 cells largely by ASGP-R mediation.

Practical applications: The findings of this study show that stealth lipoplexes bearing PEG2000 at a density of 5 mol% may be effectively targeted to the ASGP-R, which is almost exclusively expressed on hepatocytes and hepatocyte-derived cells, by inclusion of the simple monoantennary cholesteryl-β-d-galactopyranoside at 10 mol% in the parent cationic liposome preparation. The remarkable efficacy of this cholesteryl glycoside ligand, in the presence of serum, shows that a β-glycosidic link between the cholesteryl membrane anchor moiety and the pyranose ring is sufficient to ensure efficient ASGP-R recognition of the sugar hexose at clinically relevant PEG grafting densities, by lipoplexes into which it has been incorporated. We conclude that the targeted, PEGylated lipoplexes characterized and evaluated in this study constitute a solid platform for the development of hepatotropic nucleic acid delivery vehicles.

This study shows that stealth lipoplexes bearing PEG2000 at a density of 5 mol% may be effectively targeted to the asialoglycoprotein receptor (ASGP-R), which is almost exclusively expressed on hepatocytes and hepatocyte-derived cells, by inclusion of the simple monoantennary cholesteryl-β-d-galactopyranoside at 10 mol% in the parent cationic liposome preparation. The remarkable efficacy of this cholesteryl glycoside ligand, in the presence of serum, shows that a β-glycosidic link between the cholesteryl membrane anchor and the pyranose ring is sufficient to ensure efficient ASGP-R recognition of the sugar hexose at clinically relevant PEG grafting densities. Targeted, PEGylated lipoplexes characterized and evaluated here, constitute a solid platform for the development of hepatotropic nucleic acid delivery vehicles.


In this article there are considered the methodological basics of integrated audit process of various information systems, their effective operation is requirement of modern management development.


Indications that already in the Ancient World, methods based on chromatographic principles were utilized, are discussed. As pointed out, they had little to do with chromatography.


Throughout the ages there has prevailed a distressing symbiosis between religion and violence. The histories of Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism, and Islam are heavily laced with internecine vendettas, inquisitions, and wars. Again and again, religionists have claimed a divine mandate to terrorize and massacre heretics, infidels, and other sinners. Some people have argued that Buddhism is different, that it stands in marked contrast to the chronic violence of other religions. But a glance at history reveals that Buddhist organizations throughout the centuries have not been free of the violent pursuits so characteristic of other religious groups. In the 20th century alone, from Thailand to Burma to Korea to Japan, Buddhists have clashed with each other and with non-Buddhists. In Sri Lanka, huge battles in the name of Buddhism are part of Sinhalese history.


This descriptive work on the Ecuadorian economy, characterized by having an unstable economic development measured by its growth rate in the period under study, has the objective of analyzing the incidence of the determining variables within the Ecuadorian economy from the Cobbproduction function. Douglas, as a means of establishing the explanatory force of Ecuadorian economic growth and the elasticities of its components. Scientific research methods such as bibliographic review, content analysis, Fecha e presentación: 10/01/2021, Fecha de Aceptación: 15/03/2021, F cha de publicación: 1/05/2021 Sociedad & Tecnología | Revista del Instituto Tecnológico Superior Jubones | ISSN: 2773-7349 111 Volumen 4 | número 2 | mayo-agosto | 2021 and analytic-synthetic were used. The sample selected for the analysis includes 18 years that involve two presidential terms, from 2018 to 2019. The methodology used allows the construction of an econometric model using the Cobb-Douglas production function. The results coincide with recent studies that estimate the importance of exports for economic growth and their relationship with the gross formation of fixed capital that they require together with the labor force, understanding that investments made in non-traditional export sectors in the last five years is a source of analysis rich in information related to the external sector of Ecuador


A robotic system for continuous observation of a night sky is proposed. The "Full Pi of the Sky" system will consist of 32 CCD cameras and 8 motorized parallaactic mounts. The location of a future observation site requires full remote control and autonomous on-line and off-line data analysis. Inorder to test scalability of the sytem and to develop optimal control and analysis algorithms a full, real-time jardware simulation will be employed. The concept of the "Full Pi of the Sky" architecture and some aspects of its software emulation are discussed in this paper.


Abstract Information on the spatial variability of soil texture including soil clay content in a landscape is very important for agricultural and environmental use. Different prediction techniques are available to assess and map spatial variability of soil properties, but selecting the most suitable technique at a given site has always been a major issue in all soil mapping applications. We studied the prediction performance of ordinary kriging (OK), stratified OK (OKst), regression trees (RT), and rule-based regression kriging (RKrr) for digital mapping of soil clay content at 30.4-m grid size using 6,919 topsoil (0–20 cm) samples in an approximately 7,100 km2 representative area in Denmark. Eighty percent of the data were used for model calibration and the rest for validation. Twelve derivatives extracted from the digital elevation model, together with the information derived from the maps of landscape types, land use, geology, soil types, and georegions, were used as predictors in RT and RKrr modeling. Existing landscape classes were considered for stratification in OKst, and variograms were used to study the spatial autocorrelation. Predicting ability of the models was assessed with R2, RMSE, and residual prediction deviation (RPD) for comparison. Among all the prediction methods, the highest R2 (i.e., 0.74) and lowest RMSE (i.e., 0.28) were associated with the RKrr model, which also had an RPD value of 2.2, confirming RKrr as the best prediction method. Stratification of samples slightly improved the prediction in OKst compared with that in OK, whereas RT showed the lowest performance of all (R2 = 0.52; RMSE = 0.52; and RPD = 1.17). We found RKrr to be an effective prediction method and recommend this method for any future soil mapping activities in Denmark.


The relatively large number of university applicants predicted multiple A-grades in end of school A-level examinations when they apply has led to growing interest by several Universities in special additional tests for admissions purposes. The UK Government is also concerned about access to university courses, and in May 2003 Secretary of State for Education and Skills Charles Clarke requested Professor Steven Schwartz, Vice-Chancellor of Brunel University, to conduct an independent review1. The enquiry's concerns about widening access to higher education has also led to a search for additional admissions indicators. Tests based on Thinking Skills appear promising for both purposes, and CAA has a major contribution to make in delivering them successfully.


With the process of Chinese modernization,Chinese intellectuals are facing the chanllenge of tools of rationalism against traditional values.At the same time intellectuals sparked reflection about such as morality,social responsibility,and the critical spirit.Antonio Gramsc intellectuals theory bring the enlightment for sovling the plight and challenge that Chinese intallectuals are facing in the process of modernity.


Dedication Acknowledgements Series Editor's Note: Lunsford, L.D. Foreword: Anderson, W.F. Introduction: Freese, A. Janson, C. Leone, P. Simeone, F.A. The Spine and Spinal Cord The Molecular Basis of Intervertebral Disc Degeneration: Leo, B.M. Walker, M.H. Anderson, D.G. Genetics of Degenerative Disc Disease: Kurpad, S.N. Lifshutz, J. Gene Therapy for Degenerative Disc Disease: Kim, J. Gilbertson, L.G. Kang, J.D. Bone Morphogenetic Proteins. Spinal Fusion Applications: Bomback, D.A. Grauer, J.N. Cellular and Gene Therapy Approaches to Spinal Cord Injury: Steinmetz, M.P. Liu, J.K. Boulls, N.M. Neural Stem Cell Transplantation for Spinal Cord Repair: Iwanami, A. Ogawa, Y. Nakamura, M. Kaneko, S. Sawamoto, K. Okano, H.J. Toyama, Y. Okano, H. Functional and Restorative Molecular Neurosurgery Contemporary Applications of Functional and Stereotactic Techniques for Molecular Neurosurgery: House, P.A. Rao, G. Couldwell, W. Xeno-Neurotransplantation: Schumacher, J.M. Adeno-Associated Viral Vectors for Clinical Gene Therapy in the Brain: Samulski, R.J. Giles, J. Molecular Mechanisms of Epilepsy and Gene Therapy: Telfeian, A. Celix, J. Dichter, M. Emerging Treatment of Neurometabolic Disorders: Brady, R.O. Brady, R.O., Jr. Gene Therapy for Parkinson's Disease: Hadaczek, P. Daadi, M. Banklewicz, K. Simplifying Complex Neurodegenerative Diseases by Gene Chip Analysis: Scherzer, C.R. Gullans, S.R. Jensen, R.V. Molecular Pathology of Dementia. Emerging Treatment Strategies: Gouras, G.K. Expanding the Role of Deep Brain Stimulation from Movement Disorders to Other Neurological Diseases: Leone, M. Franzini, A. Broggi, G. Bussone, G. Molecular Mediators of Pain: Chaudhary, P. Burchiel, K. Gene Transfer in the Treatment of Pain: Fink, D. Mata, M. Glorioso, J.C. Neurovascular Disorders Gene Discovery Underlying Stroke: Barone, F.C. Read, S.J. Molecular Mediators of Hemorrhagic Stroke: Macdonald, R.L. Advances towards Cerebrovascular Gene Therapy: Watanabe, Y. Heistad, D.D. Ex vivo Gene Therapy and Cell Therapy for Stroke: Kondziolka, D. Sheehan, J. Niranjan, A. Neuro-Oncology Neurosurgical Applications for Polymeric Drug Delivery Systems: Wang, P.P. Brem, H. Immunotherapy Strategies for Treatment of Malignant Gliomas: Harshyne, L. Flomenberg, P. Andrews, D.W. Glioma-Genesis. Signaling Pathways for the Development of Molecular Oncotherapy: Kapoor, G.S. O'Rourke, D.M. Oncolytic Viral Therapy for Glioma: Lamfers, M.L.M. Visted, T. Chiocca, E.A. Molecular Neurosurgery in the Pituitary Gland. Gene Transfer as an Adjunctive Treatment Strategy: Castro, M.G. Jovel, N. Goverdhana, S. Hu, J. Yu, J. Ehtesham, M. Yuan, X. Greengold, D. Xiong, W. Lowenstein, P.R. Stem Cells for Targeting CNS Malignancy: Yip, S. Sidman, R.L. Snyder, E.Y. Autor Index Subject Index


Liquid crystals are a successful example of how the control of self-assembly via chemical design leads to novel applications. Direct patterning of a continuous metal-free mesogenic phthalocyanine film (discotick liquid crystals) is shown by the spatial control of columns orientation by unconventional lithography. These patterned films work as time-temperature integrators at a columnar rectangular-hexagonal transition temperature. © 2009 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA.


Intumescent flame retardant PP (IFP/PP),in which nylon 6 was used as carbonisation agent instead of pentaerythritol,had the shortcoming of melt dripping and deteriorated flame resistance.The shortcoming was overcomed by the addition of nano-meter montmorillonite (nano-meter MMT) as synergistic agent of IFR.The results showed the use of 4% (mass fraction) of nano-meter MMT overcomed the shortcoming of melt dripping and increased the tensile strength by 44.3%;the results of TGA and flame test showed the addition of nano-meter MMT improved thermal stability of the blend and increased the char yield,resulted in better flame retardance.It was found from SEM that nano-meter MMT improved the interfacial adhesive and increased the toughness of the blends,had synergistic effect on the blend.


Askariasis is an intestinal infection caused by parasite worm Ascaris lumbricoides. Carrots (Daucus carota) is one of the plants that is often used in the community worm medicine (Daucus carota) containing several compounds that have the potential as anthelmintics, namely Quercitrin, flavonoids, saponins, and tannins. The purpose of this study was to determine the differences in the effect of ethanol extract on carrot (Daucus carota)tuber of local and imported varieties on the death of Ascaris suum Goeze worms in vitro. The method in this study was experimental with post test only group design. The subject of the study was Ascaris suum. The study was conducted at the Laboratory of Parasitology Department of Health Polytechnic Surabaya in May-June 2018. This study used 6 treatment groups namely 0.9% NaCl as a negative control, 0.25% pirantel pamoate as a positive control, extracts of local and imported carrots with a concentration of 10%, 20%, 40% and 60%. Data were analyzed using the Kolmogrov-Smirnov test, the Kruskal-Wallis test then continued using the Post-Hoc test to determine differences in anthelmintic power of ethanol extract of carrot tubers (Daucus carota) on imported and local varieties on worm mortality. The duration of Ascaris suum death was caused by local varieties of carrot ethanol extract was 10% for 283.5625 minutes, concentration of 20% for 142,375 minutes, concentration of 40% for 68.125 minutes and concentration of 60% for 36.6875 minutes. Meanwhile, 10% concentrated imported carrot ethanol extract for 277.8125 minutes, 20% concentration for 142.5625 minutes, 40% concentration for 63.375 minutes, 60% concentration for 43.125 minutes. So it can be concluded that carrot tuber extracts of local and imported varieties have an anthelmintic effect on Ascaris suum worms. Keywords: Anthelmintic, Ascaris suum, Carrots


Baksheesh or Bribe? Cultural Conventions and Legal Pitfalls Frank J. Cavico and Bahaudin Mujtaba ILEAD Academy, LLC, 2010 122 pages, Soft cover $17.95Baksheesh or Bribe is a must have for professionals and academicians interested in conducting business within international markets. The authors explore the legal, cultural and political dimensions of bribery and corruption, placing particular emphasis on the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and its implications for executives and entrepreneurs. The title provides a provocative glimpse into a complex and fascinating contemporary business issue, as Baksheesh is the term for bribery used in countries such as Afghanistan, Iran, Turkey, Pakistan, and India. In those countries, and others, baksheesh is not only an accepted practice in some business cultures, but often a prerequisite of receiving government services.Is baksheesh (i.e. bribery) unethical and immoral if it is an engrained cultural practice? Are western executives who engage in bribery to facilitate business within emerging economies acting in the best interest of stakeholders, or are they jeopardizing the firm's reputation and exposing it to lawsuits? These are but a few of the important questions the authors put forth and skillfully answer.The book begins with a discussion of several levels of bribery, but focuses primarily on the concept oi purchase bribes, whereby payment or other considerations are provided by a company's agents to influence foreign officials to secure contracts or exert influence. Several interesting contemporary examples are provided to illustrate the size and scope of the problem. For example, the authors discuss how Halliburton Company recently agreed to pay the U.S. Government a $559 million fine for bribing Nigerian officials for a gas plant contract. Also, the authors discuss how the German conglomerate Siemens AG had spent over $1 billion in recent years in bribes to numerous countries to secure contracts. However, they recently agreed to pay a $800 million fine to the U.S. government. How can the U.S. Government exact a huge penalty from a foreign firm? The answer to this question is explained in Chapter 2, which focuses on the intricacies and ambiguities of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act; and Chapter 3, which explains myriad international anti-bribery related governmental initiatives.Chapter 4 applies cultural conventions to the practice of bribery by examining the phenomenon within several countries, specifically within Greece and Afghanistan. This chapter should be required reading for not only business students, but also any student and/or practitioner of political science and public policy. The authors artfully and quantitatively illustrate the relationship between the pervasiveness of bribery within these cultures and the existing political and economic turmoil embroiling each country at the moment. There is also a fascinating discussion on the practice of bribery in some Chinese dealings. The authors note the hypocrisy that occurs when a culture of corruption is tolerated. While the Chinese government is at times perceived to be among the worst offenders of using bribery as a strategy abroad, its response to bribery at home can be severe. For instance, the official who accepted bribes that ultimately led to the nation's food safety scandal several years ago was executed for his actions.The authors dedicate Chapter 5 to an examination of the ethics and morality of bribery and provide a concise, yet informative, overview of philosophical and applied ethics. …


Detection of early-stage liver diseases is a challenge in medical field. Automated diagnostics based on machine learning therefore could be very important for liver tests of patients. This paper investigates 225 liver function test records (each record include 14 features), which is a subset from 1000 patients' liver function test records that include the records of 25 patients with liver disease from a community hospital. We combine support vector data description (SVDD) with data visualisation techniques and eywords: achine learning iver disease lassification VDD isualisation SO the glowworm swarm optimisation (GSO) algorithm to improve diagnostic accuracy. The results show that the proposed method can achieve 96% sensitivity, 86.28% specificity, and 84.28% accuracy. The new method is thus well-suited for diagnosing early liver disease. © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.


The current issue, on the topic "Hip and Advanced Musculoskeletal Imaging," relates to the theme of the European Society of Musculoskeletal Radiology (ESSR) meeting in Lisbon, Portugal (June 26–29, 2019). The ESSR promotes research activities, educational programs, and a multitude of endeavors that support the advancement of musculoskeletal (MSK) imaging worldwide (www.essr.org). Hip joint imaging hasbeen apersonal enthusiasmofours in both research and clinical practice.1,2 It is our pleasure to present an issue on these topics with high-quality contributions from MSK radiologists and orthopaedic surgeons. These articles offer both an overview of current clinical perspectives and state-of-the-art imaging and also in-depth information of paramount significance for daily activities. MSK radiology is a broad and substantially innovative specialty of imaging dedicated to understanding newpathologies, developing imaging techniques, and improving clinical practice/applications. Hip and advanced MSK imaging is presently in the spotlight, boosted by both new technical developments that deliver precise anatomical images and novel clinical conditions discovered in the past 2 decades,3 such as the recognition of femoroacetabular impingement (FAI) as a cause of early-onset osteoarthritis.4 Identifying the clinical utility of such technologies in an era of rising health care costs is a significant challenge for MSK radiologists. Worldwide populations are continuing to age steadily. Therefore, the impact of hip-preserving surgery (HPS) and osteoarthritis on public health will be ongoing.5,6 Accordingly, precise knowledge of the full scope of hip pathology, from diagnosis and differentials to prognosis and treatment, is essential to fully address present-day clinical concerns. In fact, clinicians currently rely on stateof-the-art imaging to treat their patients adequately. This issue presents 14 reviewarticles on hip and advanced MSK imaging including a thorough assessment of hip pathology along with the exploration of novelties in the emerging field of artificial intelligence (AI). Literature/imaging reviews in tandem with the authors' personal experience will help readers put practical possibilities and limitations into perspective. The first four articles focus on general topics pertaining to a practical approach of the hip and pelvis: sports, arthritis, intervention, and oncology reviews. The next five articles focus on "hip" hip topics, from birth to developmental deterioration of the joint. With the acceptance of FAI and HPS 2 decades ago, a significant number of radiologists, orthopaedic surgeons, and sports physicians have implemented this concept in routine clinical practice.5,7 However, concerns havebeen raised about overdiagnosis and overtreatment of this entity.7 Imaging and clinical evaluation are now established as the cornerstone in the evaluation of patients with suspected FAI.8 These reviews look at the current state of FAI and HPS, both from a strict evidencebased point of view and also from the perspectives of radiologists and orthopaedic surgeons. Thefinal four articles address current concepts on some of the most advanced imaging techniques of MSK, from metal artifact reduction to whole-body MR imaging. Additionally, an overview of AI and specific MSK advancements that have driven recent enthusiasm offers a review of the current literature and examines the most likely ways that AI will shape MSK radiology in the coming years. AI will certainly expand opportunities for radiologists to participate in patient care both via improvements in imaging and extraction of useful data, and possibly also by optimizing the everyday workflow.9


The paper introduces an intelligent control system of crossroads based on AT89C51 microcontroller as the core control device, using ISD2560 as voice recording module and MAX692"watchdog" module to improve the anti-jamming capability. The system completes the normal rotation of traffic lights, real-time monitoring and alarming of vehicles running red lights, emergency traffic control, voice recording and digital tube countdown function. Proteus and Keil software simulation results show that the designed system has strong reliability on the shortcut traffic and ease traffic pressure.


Fuzzy multiset is applicable as a model of information retrieval because it has the mathematical structure that expresses the number and the degree of attribution of an element simultaneously. Therefore, fuzzy multisets can be used also as a suitable model for document clustering. This paper aims at developing clustering algorithms based on a fuzzy multiset model for document clustering. The standard proximity measure of the cosine correlation is generalized in the multiset model, and two nonlinear clustering techniques are applied to the existing clustering methods. One introduces a variable for controlling cluster volume sizes; the other one is a kernel trick used in support vector machines. Moreover, clustering by competitive learning is also studied. When the kernel trick has been used the classification configuration of data in a high‐dimensional feature space is visualized by self‐organizing maps. Two numerical examples, which use an artificial data and real document data, are shown and effects of the proposed methods are discussed. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.


An optimal model reduction method is proposed. The method can be used to reduce single-input singe-output stable systems. An optimization criterion is defined which minimise the weightd variance of the error function between the output of the original system and the reduced order one when subjected to the same input signal. The accuracy of the reduction is often significantly improved compared with the results of other methods.


This article examines the implications arising out of the recent decision of the African Commission on Human and People's Rights (African Commission) to appoint the Chair of the Committee for the Prevention of Torture in Africa (CPTA) as the Special Rapporteur on Prisons and Conditions of Detention (SRP). The article reviews the mandates of these Special Mechanisms and considers the potential impact of one Commissioner holding both mandates at the same time. The article then considers whether the current practice of the African Commission to appoint Commissioners as Special Rapporteurs can in fact deliver the necessary expertise and level of action required to function effectively and meet the increasing demands for more mechanisms to be established. Finally, the article suggests that lessons can be drawn from the recent review of the UN Special Procedures in order to reform the Special Mechanisms procedure of the African Commission.


PurposeDuring the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020–2021 in Indonesia, the indoor environmental quality (IEQ) of local houses occupied by infected occupants was adversely affected. This paper aims to appraise the IEQ of the affected Banda Aceh houses with insights into enabling them to be resilient against the negative impacts of the pandemic.Design/methodology/approachQuantitative field measurement in the case study of five concrete houses located in urban areas which are affected by IEQ factors: (1) indoor air quality (IAQ), (2) thermal comfort and (3) visual comfort, compared against the Indonesian National standard (SNI). The case study involved measurement of the first two factors over 24 h, while the third factor was measured during sun hours. Considering the limitations of the measuring tools for logging available data in this research, air quality is measured from 8 am to 10 pm.FindingsThermal comfort in the affected houses is generally regarded as warm, optimal and cool comfort, indicated by the effective temperatures of between 20.5 and 27.1°C. Frequently closed windows, limited land area and access had caused a lack of air circulation, with air velocity of dominantly 0 m/s in the houses. The illuminance of natural light received in three houses was insufficient – less than 120 lux as compared with the other two. This study found an uptrend of higher air temperature and relative humidity in the affected houses resulting in poorer IAQ; conversely, the higher the air velocity in the houses, the fewer the indoor air pollutants such as formaldehyde (HCHO), total volatile organic compounds (TVOC) and carbon dioxide (CO2).Originality/valueThis study is a pioneer in evaluating IEQ in houses occupied by COVID-19 patients in Indonesia, especially in dwelling cases in Aceh Province. It also encompasses environmental and societal challenges to sustaining resilient buildings in pandemic hit regions.


Middle cerebral artery territory infarction is an important cause of disability and death after stroke. Mortality associated with middle cerebral artery infarcts is usually caused by the complications of severe stroke, eg, pneumonia or pulmonary embolism. Death in a small proportion of cases is caused by coning secondary to malignant cerebral edema. Initially, ischemic cytotoxic edema causes only limited cell swelling, but the subsequent development of vasogenic edema can result in significant enlargement of the volume of infarcted tissue. Typically, patients destined to develop malignant edema present with symptoms of ischemia in the middle cerebral artery but initially remain alert. After a delay of 24 to 48 hours, as the infarct swells there is a rapid decline of consciousness from herniation leading to unresponsiveness and often death. It is logical to consider surgical decompression by craniectomy in these cases. Removal of a large portion of the skull vault allows the edematous hemisphere to expand out through the defect in the skull, relieving the mass effect. There is no doubt that this treatment appears to be life-saving in some cases. However, the syndrome of malignant cerebral artery edema …


This paper describes experiments in the use of cross-correlation as a means of tracking pointing devices for a digital desk. The first section introduces the motivation by describing the potential for applying real time computer vision to man machine interaction. The problem of tracking is then formulated and addressed as a problem of optimal signal detection. Signal detection leads to a formulation of tracking using cross-correlation with a reference template as shown section 2. The problems of normalisation, choosing the size of the reference template and search region are addressed. A method is provided to detect when to initiate tracking as well as when tracking has failed. The problem of updating the reference mask is also addressed.


Abstract : A solvent/water partitioning method was used to measure the complex formation between dimethyl methylphosphonate (DMMP) and hexafluoroisopropanol (HFIP). The highest formation constant was obtained when n-hexane was used as the partitioning solvent. Other solvents all interfered to some extent with complex formation, probably by interacting with HFIP. The log formation constant in carbon tetrachloride was 3.46 + or - 0.10 at 21 C, which was similar to literature estimates for other phosphonates. The data support formation of H- bond charge transfer complexes as the mechanism for HFIP interaction with phosphonates and as primarily responsible for HFIP extraction of these compounds from water. Keywords: Complexation, Dimethyl methylphosphonate (DMMP), Hexafluoroisopropanol (HFIP).


Image processing is a method to convert an image into digital form and perform some operations on it. This is done to enhance the image or to extract useful information from it. Facial expressions are nonverbal form of communication. There are eight universal facial expressions which include: neutral, happy, sadness, anger, contempt, disgust, fear, and surprise. So it is very important to detect these emotions on the face. A monitoring system for elderly people which is based on technology involving recognizing emotions from video image. Our proposed system includes video analysis technology which includes the data from video is adopted to realize monitoring elders' living conditions in real time. In case of emergency, the system will alert their relatives and children by sending a message.


Acharya Sushruta considered Siravedhana as half of all the therapeutic measures (Ardhachikitsa) in Shalya Tantra like Basti Karma in KayaChikitsa. Siravedha is mentioned as a surgical procedure of puncturing the vein and accomplishing the Raktamokshana (Blood-letting). It is very prominent procedure used for the management of those diseases in which there is vitiation of Rakta dhatu. Conditions in which Rakta dhatu is predominantly vitiated along with other doshas are easily curable with the help of Raktamokshana. Acharya has emphasized that Siravedhana helps in the elimination of vitiated dosha from the veins. They clarified that in emergency if due to lack of the time one cannot be able to perform the fivefold purification procedures, Raktamokshana will serve the purpose. They specially mentioned about Siravedhana in surgical conditions with poor venous drainage. It leads immediate alleviation of symptoms along with pain in various diseases like Vatarakta, Gridhrasi etc. where ever Raktamokshana is indicated, Siravedhana is an important technique to do so. My paper is focused on effect of Siravedhana in the management of pain in certain disorders.


BEHAVIORAL NEUROLOGY, 4th edition By Jonathan H. Pincus and Gary J. Tucker 2002. New York: Oxford University Press Price £24.95. ISBN 0‐19‐513782‐5

The first edition of this book was published nearly 40 years ago in 1974. Along with subsequent editions in 1978 and 1985, this well‐established text has been prominent in delineating the complex relationship between the brain and behaviour. This new paperback edition is long overdue, with both psychiatry and neurology having made significant advances over the last 15 years.

The fourth edition begins with a respectable, updated chapter on epilepsy. Complex partial seizures of both temporal and extra‐temporal origin rightfully receive particular attention, in view of the evident diagnostic difficulties. The evidence for intellectual deterioration in epilepsy and the relationship between epilepsy and psychosis is reviewed. There is also a very pertinent discussion of violence in relation to the limbic system and epilepsy leading into a separate chapter on the neurobiology of violence bringing together evidence from biological, psychological and sociological studies.

The following chapter provides an update on the field of schizophrenia with a succinct and broadly helpful review of the extensive research efforts investigating this …


The technology of receipt of food powders out of plant raw materials is given. The developed and mastered technology of receipt of powders out of fruit and vegetables provides highquality product in which all of the ingredients of feedstock are stored in the concentrated kind. Food powders contain no detrimental impurities, have a high food value, are metabolised easily, compact and kept for a long time. Classification of vegetable powders on their functional constituents is given. It is shown what type of the factors influences on the maintenance of nutrients during processing of raw material. Functional powders use recommendations are given.


Four kinds of poly(arylene)- and poly(aryleneethynylene)-type polymers containing TTF units in the π-conjugated main chain, which are susceptible to chemical and electrochemical oxidation, have been prepared by organometallic polycondensation.


This review analyzes experience with the Community Empowerment Project (CEP) credit component, and draws a number of lessons and general principles. Credit contributed to a revival of rural economic activities, especially petty trading and the supply of manufactured goods, helping to re-establish markets and stimulating production and marketing of foodstuffs and higher-value crops. While CEP was not a financial sector project, its use of credit to achieve post-conflict reconstruction goals had implications for the revival of financial services. Since the latter was also an important reconstruction goal, CEP had an obligation to avoid compromising the re-establishment of financial services. While a badly-conducted credit program may succeed in reviving business activity, it might do so at an unacceptably high cost in terms of negative impact on the credit culture. Whether significant negative impact has occurred in Timor-Leste as a result of the poor repayment performance of the CEP and Small Enterprise project (SEP) projects may only become apparent as microcredit begins to expand throughout the country.


Ecological control is provided for the Luanhe River in Chengde County of Hebei Province under the principles of eco-hydraulic engineering and on the basis of such general orientation as "seeking the harmony between man and water,maintaining a healthy ecology".Current situation of the Luanhe River area is studied.Layout of buildings along the river and design of river cross section,flood control as well as bank slope protection are discussed in details.The practice may guide river harnessing of northern cities.


The basics of highly efficient, organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) based on small molecules are discussed. All factors influencing OLED efficiency are explained and the benefits of pin-type OLEDs are discussed. It is shown how the pin concept can be used to realize highly efficient monochrome and white OLEDs. An extensive list summarizing the current state-of-the-art in emitter material systems for these devices is provided. The analysis of light modes in OLEDs is discussed in detail and experimental methods to enhance the outcoupling efficiency are introduced. Finally, a short overview on the different microscopic mechanisms of OLED degradation and techniques to study these mechanisms is given.


In this paper, we present another fine-grained two-variable validation (2FA) access control framework for electronic distributed computing administrations. In particular, in our proposed 2FA access control framework, a property based access control system is executed with the need of both a client secret key and a lightweight security device. As a client can't access the framework on the off chance that they do not hold both, the instrument can improve the security of the framework, particularly in those situations where numerous clients have the same PC for online cloud administrations. Likewise, characteristic based control in the framework too enables the cloud server to restrict the access to those clients with the same arrangement of properties while preserving client protection, i.e., the cloud server just realizes that the client satisfies the required predicate, however no clue has on the precise personality of the client. Finally, we likewise complete a simulation to exhibit the practicability of our proposed 2FA framework.


Abstract The large number of lakes covering 10% of Finland's surface area provide an opportunity for both full-time and part-time professional fishing. However, the development of the fishing industry is hindered by unpredictable fluctuations in fish stocks, by the elaborate hierarchy of the fisheries system, as well as by certain features of Finnish professional fishing, such as the small size of fishing enterprises, the scattered pattern of production, and long transportation distances to the core demand areas. According to Finnish catch statistics, the stock of vendace Coregonus albula has clearly diminished since the mid 1980s. Our results show that full-time professional fishermen differ from part-time professional fishermen in their adaptation to diminished fish stocks: they increase their fishing efforts, they try to extend their fishing grounds, and they switch to or supplement with a new species. Moreover, their desire to develop their fishing is stronger than that of part-time professional fishe...


Although it is intuitively plausible that a job seeker benefits by using contacts in her job search, the literature is plagued by theoretical disagreements and inconclusive empirical evidence. Single-firm studies consistently find that job seekers applying through referrals achieve better labor-market outcomes than job seekers applying without referrals, but the evidence from job-seeker studies is mixed. To solve this puzzle, we clarify the distinction between having social capital and using contacts as a search method. We present theoretical reasons to suggest that the lack of an association between a job seeker's social capital and whether or not she uses social networks to search for a job should not be taken to imply that job seekers who use social networks to search for jobs do not benefit from using contacts. We exploit a strategic research setting, the school-to-work transition of 291 university graduates who engaged in 3,112 contemporaneous job searches, to show that although a job seeker's social...


How to incorporate critical thinking skills development into teaching for English majors is an urgent and important research topic.Based on a review of the relevant research on critical thinking skills and the theories of Content-based Instruction and critical thinking skills,this paper proposes an integrated teaching approach to English writing and critical thinking skills development,in order to fill the increasing gap between language skills and critical thinking skills development.The approach entails integrated teaching objectives,teaching materials and teaching methods,and is expected to provide a practical framework for the teaching reform of English major in China.


Let L be a many-sorted relational language with E and consider the logic L.,,(Q), infinitary logic with a monotone quantifier. We prove a version of Feferman's Interpolation Theorem for this logic. We then use the theorem to show that for a one-sorted language L and a countable admissible fragment LA of Ls,,z,(Q), any sentence which persists for end extensions is equivalent to a X sentence.


BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE
People living on Matzu, a group of small islets, have the highest mortality rate from gastric cancer (GC) in Taiwan. Intestinal metaplasia (IM) is a precursor lesion of GC. We therefore conducted a gastroscopic screening program in this district to evaluate the risk factors associated with IM.

METHODS
A total of 274 residents of Matzu, aged 30 years or older, underwent testing for anti-Helicobacter pylori IgG antibody and serum pepsinogen (PG) I/PG II levels, and gastroscopic examination. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression models were used to identify risk factors associated with IM in terms of odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs).

RESULTS
Among the 274 subjects, 118 (43%) were confirmed to have IM by histologic examination. Individuals aged 60 years or older had a 2.66 times higher risk (95% CI 1.38-5.13) of having IM, as compared with those less than 60 years of age. Subjects with duodenal ulcer had a 60% lower risk of coexisting IM (OR, 0.40; 95% CI, 0.19-0.83). Meanwhile, subjects with gastric ulcer were not at increased risk of IM (OR, 0.84; 95% CI, 0.34-2.08). Low serum PG I level, low PG I/PG II ratio, and positive anti-H. pylori IgG antibody, were associated with IM in the univariate analysis. While age and duodenal ulcer maintained their independent effects in the multivariate analysis, only a low PG I/PG II ratio and H. pylori positivity were significantly associated with IM.

CONCLUSIONS
This study of residents of Matzu found that age and H. pylori infection are risk factors for IM, while subjects with duodenal ulcer have a lower incidence of coexisting IM. Low PG I/PG II ratio is a potential noninvasive biomarker of IM.


Four-wheel steering (4WS) is an advanced vehicle control technique which can improve steering characteristics. Compared with traditional two wheel steering (2WS) vehicles, the 4WS vehicle can steer the front wheels and the rear wheels individually when cornering, according to the vehicle motion states such as vehicle speed, yaw velocity and lateral acceleration. Therefore, 4WS can enhance the handling stability and improve the active safety for a vehicle. In this paper, the motion characteristics of a 4WS vehicle are analyzed. The steering dynamics model of the vehicle is established, and the transfer function of deflection angle of mass center to steering angle of the 4WS vehicle is deduced. The handling stability of the 4WS vehicle is researched by virtue of Matlab/Simulink, Simulation results show that the 4WS vehicle is agile to and consistent with steering input and the transient handling stability is improved distinctly without increasing the driver's handling burden.


The paper aims to analyse how the mobility can shape the territories. It takes part in the Mob Access project focused on the mobility and accessibility interactions in the French Metropolitan area of Lyon. We use the graph analysis and geovisualisation methods to model spatial interactions, based on disaggregated mobility data over the six last national censuses (1975, 1982, 1990, 1999, 2006 and 2011).


This paper presents an LMI approach to robust H∞ controller design for a class of nonlinear uncertainty time-varying delay systems.Obtain a sufficient condition for the robustly asymptotic stability of the closed-loop system in the light of Lyapunov stability theory.By solving the LMI,we construct an feedback control law which guarantees the robustly asymptotic stability of the closed-loop system and reduce the effect of the disturbance input on the controlled output to a prescribed level.


Hybrid bilayer membranes (HBM) that consist of two different layers (a self-assembled monolayer of alkanethiols on a gold electrode and a second layer of phospholipids) dramatically attenuate the heterogeneous electron transfer between soluble redox couples and the gold electrode. Alternating current voltammetry indicates the presence of a low density of defects in the HBM through which the redox couples can reach the electrode. Adsorption of a pore-forming cationic peptide, melittin, into the HBM increases the HBM capacitance, accelerates the faradic reaction for the negatively charged redox couple Fe(CN)63-, decelerates the faradic reaction for the positively charged redox couple Ru(NH3)63+, and has little effect on the faradic reaction of the neutral hydroxymethylferrocene. These results are discussed in terms of several possible mechanisms, including pore-forming processes and electrostatic effects.


A correlation to the solution of the two-phase dispersion model has been developed for gas-solid fluidized bed reactors operating in the bubbling regime. An analytical solution was obtained for fractional gas conversion by using an exponential function to characterize the dense phase gas concentration profile. The coefficient of the exponential function was found to depend on gas axial dispersion and, in order to determine this parameter, a Peclet number correlation was developed. Model predicted gas conversions were in excellent agreement with experimental conversions for a variety of fluidized bed reaction data over a conversion range from 2.5 to 99%.

Une correlation pour la solution du modele de dispersion diphasique a ete etablie pour des reacteurs en lit fluidise gaz-solides en regime bouillonnant. On a obtenu une solution analytique pour la conversion fractionnelle du gaz en recourant a une fonction exponentielle afin de caracteriser le profil de concentration du gaz en phase dense. On a trouve que le coefficient de la fonction exponentielle dependait de la dispersion axiale du gaz, et, pour pouvoir determiner ce parametre, une correlation en fonction du nombre de Peclet a ete etablie. Les conversions de gaz predites du modele montrent un excellent accord avec les conversions experimentales pour des donnees de reaction en lit fluidise variees et dans une gamme de conversion de 2,5 a 99%.


Based on the experimental section of an expressway, this paper analyzes the measurements of the pile-soil stress ratio in composite foundation load tests and during the embankment construction. The effects of load features to the pile-soil stress ratio of composite foundation are also discussed. The study results indicate that the variation of pile-soil stress ratio under rigid load is quite different from that under semi-flexible load, the pile-soil stress ratio of composite foundation is smaller than that of rigid load and also demonstrate that the arch effect really exists in the embankment fillings.


Osmolytes are small organic molecules that demonstrate the ability to shift protein unfolding equilibria when present as solution components, and provide proteins with protection from denaturation against thermal stress. While many subclasses of osmolytes are known, it is unclear whether there is an intrinsic stabilization hierarchy among the molecules that applies to all proteins. Additionally, it is uncertain what physicochemical properties of osmolytes confer their ability to act as stabilizers or destabilizers in solution. Our investigation utilizes differential scanning fluorimetry (DSF) to measure protein stability in two structure‐based surveys: 1) determining whether there is a stabilization hierarchy among the three main chemical classes of osmolytes with respect to the model proteins, human C‐reactive protein (CRP) and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFα), and 2) investigating the structural moiety requirements for amino acid osmolytes in the stabilization of CRP and myoglobin. The former part of our investigation reveals that ectoine is the most effective stabilizer of CRP, yet is a destabilizer when acting on TNFα, suggesting that there is no one osmolyte, or class of osmolytes, that confers the greatest stability across multiple proteins. The latter part of our investigation reveals that myoglobin is stabilized only by zwitterionic amino acids, as removal of either the carboxylate or amino moiety from the amino acid abrogates all thermal stabilizing effects. In contrast, in the case of CRP the carboxylate proved to be the dominant stabilizing group, as compounds lacking the amino group conferred slightly greater thermal stability than the complete amino acid osmolyte. Collectively, our results affirm that osmolyte effects on protein thermal stability are highly protein‐specific. In addition, our data suggests that contemporary models to explain the osmolyte effect may not apply to all protein systems. These results may have significant implications for the development of chemistries aiming to stabilize diverse protein targets in biospecimens for diagnostic applications.


Soil behaviour is often an important consideration in the design of protective systems for blast and impact threats, as the properties of a soil can greatly affect the impulse generated from buried explosive devices, or the ability of a soil-filled structure to resist ballistic threats. Numerical modelling of these events often relies on extrapolation from low-pressure experiments. To develop soil models that remain accurate at very high pressures there is a need for data on soil behaviour under these extreme conditions. This paper demonstrates the use of a high-pressure multi-axial test apparatus to provide compressibility and shear strength data for four dry sandy soils. One-dimensional compression experiments were performed to axial stresses of 800 MPa, where the effects of particle-size distribution were observed with respect to compressibility and bulk unloading modulus. Each soil followed a bilinear normal compression line (NCL): more uniform soils initially had higher compression indices, but all four NCLs began to converge at void ratios below e ≈ 0.3. The failure surface of a sand was characterized to mean effective stress [Formula: see text] > 400 MPa using reduced triaxial compression experiments, removing the need to rely on extrapolation from low-pressure data.


The growing literature studying the determinants of subjective wellbeing find that Mexicans report, on average, levels of life satisfaction that are above what would be predicted by the available objective measures of well-being. This paradox raises the following question: Are the drivers of subjective well-being in Mexico different from the drivers in other countries? This paper tries to answer this question using data from the World Gallup Poll and Instituto Nacional de Estadisticas y Geografia (INEGI). In particular, it investigates if the impact that key objective measures of well-being have on life satisfaction is different in Mexico than in other countries. The results show that the drivers of life satisfaction are very similar to those in other countries. In particular, as in other countries, in Mexico income, education, health, job status and other individual characteristics are significantly associated with life satisfaction. These findings suggest that the higher average level of life satisfaction in Mexico is probably related to unobserved country characteristics. This Working Paper relates to the 2015 OECD Economic Survey of Mexico (www.oecd.org/eco/surveys/economic-survey-mexico.htm). Qu'est-ce qui rend les Mexicains heureux? Les determinants du bien-etre subjectif indiquent que les Mexicains declarent, en moyenne, des niveaux de satisfaction de la vie qui sont au-dessus de ce qui serait prevu par des mesures objectives du bien-etre. Ce paradoxe souleve la question suivante: les facteurs du bien-etre subjectif au Mexique sont-ils differents dans les autres pays? Cet article tente de repondre a cette question en utilisant des donnees de la World Gallup Poll et du Instituto Nacional de Estadisticas y Geografia (INEGI). En particulier, il examine si l'impact des mesures objectives du bien-etre sur la satisfaction de la vie est different au Mexique par rapport a d'autres pays. Les resultats montrent que les facteurs de satisfaction de vie sont tres semblables a ceux des autres pays. Au Mexique, comme dans d'autres pays, le revenu, l'education, la sante, la situation professionelle et d'autres caracteristiques individuelles sont significativement associees a la satisfaction de vie. Ces resultats suggerent que le niveau moyen plus eleve de satisfaction de vie au Mexique est sans doute lie a des caracteristiques de pays non observees, comme des obstacles culturels ou linguistiques. Ce document de travail economique se rapporte a l'Etude economique 2015 de l'OCDE sur le Mexique (www.oecd.org/fr/eco/etudes/etude-economique-mexique.htm).


We measure the preparedness of listed firms for international financial reporting standards (IFRS) by changes in explanations from Australian GAAP to IFRS between the half-year and annual accounts. About one-third of sample firms changed their explanations for earnings, cashflows or equity by averages of about −7%, 67% and 3% respectively. Most changes are less than 5% for earnings and equity, and tax is the item most commonly revised. More profitable firms and firms with more reconciling items are most likely to change an explanation. In a telephone survey of chief financial officers, 70% revealed that the change followed an incorrect application of an accounting rule in the half-year accounts.


Surface cement consolidated tailings disposal has recently been proposed to manage tailings in the modern mining industry because it can reduce or eliminate the disadvantages of traditional tailings storage. In this study, the evolution of the macro performance and microstructure characteristics of cement consolidated tailing samples during the curing period were determined by unconfined compressive strength tests, permeability tests, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) observations, and mercury intrusion porosimetry (MIP) tests, respectively. The results show that the curing time notably affected the macro performance and microstructural properties of the hardened cement consolidated tailings samples. As the curing age increases, the compressive strength increases nonlinearly and the growth rate decreases; the permeability decreases rapidly first, then gradually stabilizes, and finally reaches a stable value; the morphology of the hydration products and microstructures continues to evolve with the hydration process; the total pore volume decreases slightly, whereas the critical pore size decreases significantly. The proportion of the pore volume in different pore size ranges can also be affected by the curing age, which results in a large pore (>200 nm) decrease, and the small pores (<200 nm) increased. In this process, the filling effect plays a major role.


The present study attempts to explore mathematical noticing of prospective secondary mathematics teachers in the area of graphing functions through analyzing the Task Dialogue which is a written script of hypothetical student-teacher conversation for a given task. Using the constant comparative meth...


Introduction Turkish Traditional Art Today Part One: Istanbul 1. Istanbul Kapali Carsi: Commercial Entry Tahtakale: The ArtisansO District and the MasterOs Role Suleymaniye: Sinan and the CityOs Centers Turkish Art: A First Summary (Spirit and Mastery) 2. Mahmut Oncu: Master Calligrapher 3. Yusuf Sezer: Young Master of Calligraphy The Recent Past: Context for Revival 4. Celal Atalay: Handwork in the Factory 5. Mustafa Kesici: Woodworking and Representation 6. Mustafa Sargin: Woodworking and Artistic Process Turkish Art: A Second Summary (Creative Integration) 7. Ahmet Sefa: Time and Spirit Change and Continuity: Pattern in the Present 8. Sebire Aktas: Weaving, Mastery, and Life in the City Part Two. Anatolia 9. Anatolia: The Landscape The Village Home: Domestic Architecture The Market Town: Connections The ArtisansO City: Context for Creation 10. Erzurum: The Urban Market 11. Konya: The ArtisansO Mevlana Turkish Art: A Third Summary (The Styles) 12. Bursa: Historical Setting Kayan Demirciler Carsisi: Work and Art Sogukkuyu: Pottery in the Plain Style 13. Kinik: Pottery in the Spirited Style Part Three: Kutahya 14. Kutahya: Pottery in the Masterly Style Cini: Ceramic Process 15. Ahmet Sahin: The Old MasterOs Family 16. Ibrahim Erdeyer and Mehmet Gursoy: Young Masters 17. Roses Picked from the Fire: Form and Meaning Part Four: Canakkale 18. Ezine: The CarpetOs Conext Hali: Form and Meaning in Carpet Design Types and Regions: Carpets in Space 19. Ahmetler: Carpet Technique and Life in the Village Rahime Balci and Nezihe Ozkan: Master Weavers 20. Karagomlek: Innovation in Carpet Design Aysel and Hanife Ozturk: Skill and Affection 21. Ayvacik: Commerce in the Carpet Tradition Conclusion: Turkish Style 22. Turkish Style: A Frame for Viewing 23. Turkish Art: A Fourth Summary (Style and Meaning) Meaning in Time: Experience and Significance Service, Discipline, Tolerance: Turkish Art Defined A Note of Turkish Bibliography Acknowledgments Gunumuzde Geleneksel Turk Sanati Index of Objects Index


Examinations were performed on White Italian geese. Blood samples were collected from goslings at one-week intervals during the first eight weeks of age. Blood samples from adult geese housed in two reproduction flocks were collected at the beginning, middle and at the end of the laying season. Total protein, glucose, calcium and imorganic phosphorus levels were determined. Additionally, the activity of alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alkaline phosphate (AP), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), creatine kinase (CK) and cholinesterase (ChE) enzymes were determined. Commerical diagnostic kits were used. The total proteim, glucose, calcium and phosphorus content was the same in the gosling sera during the first eight-weeks-of-age. A decrease in protein concentration in serum of adult geese at the end of the laying season was found. The activity of AST. AP, LDH and CK enzymes was increased in goslings. In adult geese the activity of AST was considerably lower than in goslings. The activity of AST was lower in females at the middle and at the end of the laying, season. A higher activity of CK and ChE enzymes was found in males than in females.


In modern medicine a number of methods pharmaceutical substances sterilization processes were developed. According to Polish Pharmacopoeia sterilization is process leading to elimination microbes both vegetative and spore forms [1]. It is possible to sterilize solids, liquids and gases. Depending on type, characteristics and way of production of pharmaceutics different methods of sterilizations are apply. Polish Pharmacopoeia accepts following sterilizations methods: heat and gas exposure, filtration and ionizing radiation. Both heat sterilization and radiosterilization leads to free radicals appearing in sterilized pharmaceutical. In this work EPR spectra of thermally and radiosterilized ampicillin were compared. Ampicillin is a beta-lactam antibiotic. Belonging to the penicillin group of beta-lactam antibiotics, ampicillin is able to penetrate Gram-positive and some Gram-negative bacteria. It differs from penicillin only by the presence of an amino group [fig. 1]. That amino group helps the drug penetrate the outer membrane of gram-negative bacteria. Ampicillin acts as a competitive inhibitor of the enzyme transpeptidase. S