RA nONALE: Variation at the VNTR (variable number tandem repeat) minisatellite upstream of the insulin (INS) gene. is known to modify susceptibility to type I diabetes and polycystic ovarian disease (PCO) and to influence birlhweight. In type 1 diabetes. the longer. class Ill VNTR alleles are protective. whereas in PCO they increase disease risk. Case-control studies have hinted at a similar class Ill association for type 2 diabetes. bu1 have generated inconsistent findings. This may reflect confounding effects of population stratification which lead to false positive or negative results. METHODS: We employed family-based association methods to study the INS VNTR in 170 parent-offspring trios from the BOA-Warren trios repository. All trios were ascertained via a Europid proband with type 2 diabetes (age at diagnosis, 40(25-58)yrs; BMI 30.4(19.7-59.6)kgm2 [rnedian(range))). MOOY and type 1 OM were excluded by clinical, biochemical (anti-GAO) and genetic methods. VNTR class genotypes were inferred from analysis at the -23Hphl polymorphism known to be in virtually complete linkage disequilibrium with the VNTR in Caucasoids. RESULTS: Of 126 heterozygous parents, 62 transmitted the class I Hphl allele, and 64 class Ill (transmission/disequilibrium test P=0.86). However, this analysis masked parent-of-origin effects. Paternal transmissions favoured class Ill (32 vs. 21) : maternal transmissions, class I (33 vs. 24: paternal vs maternal, exact P=0.048). INS genotype showed no relation to relevant intermediate traits in probands or parents including weight BMI, waist and WHR. SUMMARY: Parent-of-origin effects have been observed at INS in other conditions. In this study, family-based association methods have provided evidence that this may extend to type 2 diabetes, with opposing effects seen in maternal and paternal transmissions. This suggests complex modulation of disease risk at INS, presumably involving mechanisms such as imprinting.


This paper aims at assessing the relative effect of Portuguese pavement surfaces on traffic noise. It presents the main results obtained with two distinct experiments, originally intended for other purposes, which address a significant number of thin layers and porous layers. These experiments included nine road surfaces: three of them were gap graded, three contained rubberized asphalt, one had porous asphalt and two had dense asphalt. On these road sections the tyre-road noise generated by two-axle heavy trucks and three-axle heavy trucks and several light vehicles at three levels of speed were measured by means of pass-by tests. Surface texture tests were also performed. The results focused on noise level variation versus speed and estimated noise level for each speed level versus type of surface. The best performances were achieved by gap graded mixtures with and without rubberized binder and small grain sizes. The fair behaviour shown by the porous asphalt indicates that the surface texture determined by the grain size seems to influence the noise level more than porosity.


In this paper, the structural responses and failure characteristics of a new type of water conveyance tunnel lining structure subjected to reverse fault conditions were numerically investigated by considering multiple loads and interaction separation modes between different structural layers. This study proposes a new evaluation standard for the safety level of the damage state of the composite lining water conveyance tunnel. It also discusses the influences of fault dislocation displacement (Δf), dip angle (β), and the mechanical properties of the surrounding rock in the fault fracture zone on the water conveyance tunnel response and damage. The results indicate that the buckling failure of the steel tube under axial compression is the dominant failure mode of the composite lining structure. With increasing fault dislocation displacement, the axial compressive strain and circumferential shear strain of the composite lining are most severely damaged on the sliding plane. With decreasing fault dip angle, the axial compressive strain of the composite lining weakens, while the bending and shear strains increase. The increase in rock stiffness in the fault fracture zone reduces the damage scope but increases the composite lining structural damage severity. Overall, the numerical results of this study provide a better understanding of the failure mode and damage process of composite lining water conveyance tunnels under reverse fault conditions; therefore, this study can serve as a reference for composite lining structure disaster assessments.


A new technique for building of scalable models of passive MMIC elements is presented. It allows to decrease a number of required test structures. The principal technique feature is that it uses measured S-parameters of real test elements as well as «virtual» S-parameters of elements calculated from EM simulation. In addition, electrophysical parameters of materials necessary for EM simulation are obtained using the extraction of simple equivalent circuits of measured elements and analysis of physical equations. The technique is applied to constructing a scalable model of a thin-film GaAs MMIC resistor.


The construction project environment is fraught with risks of every conceivable nature and high levels of uncertainty. A research project was therefore initiated to define the most important construction risks from the insurance stakeholders' point of view. The risk management functionality in terms of the formal risk culture, risk framework and risk practices within the participating construction organisations were tested through a comprehensive questionnaire. Analysis of the completed questionnaires indicated that the results were consistent and repeatable. It was found that construction companies generally have weak risk management cultures, frameworks and practices, even though risk management awareness was relatively high at the construction project level. This seemed to emanate from the separation of project- and enterprise-related risks. The most important risks in the new proposed model are (1) the loss of key employees and business intelligence, (2) contractual related failure, (3) unfavourable financial market conditions and (4) failures of key contractors and clients.


The information technologies add vigor to the traditional logistics industry,and RFID technology plays key role in the impetus industry development,setting up information sharing mechanism,optimizing logistics management.This article makes a brief introduction to the RFID technology and its industry status,then analyzes distributing of technolo- gies and patentees in this area.Faced with technology barrier based on technological advancement of developed countries and RFID huge industry opportunity,the only way for us is the innovation.We put forward three countermeasures to do- mestic enterprises:one is secondary innovation based on learning,assimilation of their advanced technology,then ap- plying for patents and copying with technology barrier through IP cross-licensing arrangements;the second is to estab- lish logistics industry development alliance to advance technology application,the third is participating in setting-up our national standards.These measures will make the Chinese IT enterprises to approach market in the technology emer- ging,and promote logistics industry information development


An EVSE case having an electric service unit (electric vehicle service equipment, EVSE) system, forward plug surface (front plug face), the back (rear face), and the trapezoidal prism right and left grip side that defines a cross-section as a whole (gripping sides), the right and left grip side are respectively right and left with more convex gripping portions, are positioned in the EVSE case, the relay (relay), and the EVSE case located in said EVSE case a controller (controller) in communication with the relay, wherein the controller when the pilot signal is present and a duty, the controller responsive to a pilot assignment signal.


This paper aims to expose some reflections regarding both scholastic and the teaching methodology that was developed in the University of Paris in XIII Century, emphasizing the questions 15 and 16 from Part I-II of Summa Theologiae, by Saint Thomas Aquinas. Based on a perspective that places man, society and education into a whole - a totality - and also having as basis texts written by contemporary authors who studied Medium Age and Thomasian thought, there was an attempt to approach the essential aspects of their formulations, thus contributing for studies covering the field of History of Education. Key words: History of Medieval Education, scholastic, Saint Thomas Aquinas.


The relationship between variation in a cultural trait, the songs of male swamp sparrows Melospiza georgiana, and genetic variation at nine polymorphic enzyme loci was examined using seven geographic locations covering a major portion of the breeding range of this species. Swamp sparrow songs exhibit geographical variation, and song populations at a location can remain relatively stable over a ten year period. Three measures of song syllable variation were used to examine the similarities between the song populations. Electrophoretic analysis suggested at least 3 groups of locations based on allelic frequency differences. Two of these groups are geographically extensive. The mean proportion of songs two locations share is related independently to the distance between the locations and to the similarity of their allele frequencies. The allele frequency similarity between two locations is not related to the geographic distance between them. A descriptive analysis of the relationship between song and genetic variation yielded two conclusions. First, two of the three population subdivisions exhibited a pattern of correlation between song syllable variation and genetic variation that may resemble character displacement. The similarity of song syllables at two locations may depend on the position of the two locations relative to the region where different allele-frequency groups come into contact. Second, this pattern of correlation did not hold for comparisons involving the third subdivision, and thus was not species universal in swamp sparrows. Song syllable variation may have different biological relevance in different geographical areas.


Abstract An aptasensor for the detection of ochratoxin A (OTA) in environmental samples was developed. It displayed high sensitivity and good selectivity. Factors such as specific binding between a FAM (5-carboxyfluorescein)-labeled aptamer (f-RP) and OTA, and a magnetic property of a streptavidin magbeads-modified capture probe (bm-CP) resulted in aptasensor's linear relationship between fluorescence intensity and the concentration of OTA. This characteristic is present at the OTA concentration ranges from 0.100 μM to 25.00 μM with a LOD (limit of detection) of 0.0690 μM. The bm-CP can be reused through melting, washing and magnetic separation, which contributes to cost reduction. In addition, the proposed method is simple and detection process is fast. The aptasensor can be used in real samples.


Sukuk is a syariah based investment aimed to mobilize the idle fund which appropriates for moslem and non moslem investors. Sukuk presented in Indonesia later than other major population moslem countries. Regulations of Sovereign Sukuk was issued in 2008, six months after corporate sukuk was firstly issued in 2002. Generally, sukuk involves three parties in the sukuk structure. However,parties to be involved in Sukuk practices in Indonesia depend on corporate need. For example, sukuk Ijarah PT.Berlian Laju Tanker Tbk was issued by the originator which is generally issued by SPV. These practices are acceptable since Spy


Law is the book of distributing interest.Economic law not only has the function of distribution,it also has the function of redistribution.In primary distribution,economic law makes some restrictions on market distribution and market freedom and plays its instructional and preventive role. In secondary distribution,economic law plays the role of regulating economy.It coordinates the relationship between the economic efficiency and economic justice,and keeps each other's balance.Economic law plays an irreplaceable role in realizing the fairness of income distribution.


The sites of a body-centered cubic lattice are either vacant or occupied by molecules with four hydrogen-bonded "arms", two positive and two negative, directed tetrahedrally. Appropriately oriented nearest-neighbour molecules can form bonds by linking bonding "arms" of opposite polarity. There are also interaction energies for unbonded nearest neighbours and second-nearest neighbours. As well as disordered states, two long range ordered structures are possible, one an open bonded network on a diamond sub-lattice, like ice I(c), and the other a close-packed structure with intertwined bonded networks, like ice VII. A free energy, depending on three order variables, is derived using a zeroth-order statistical approximation modified to allow for asymmetrical bonding.For suitable energy parameter values, there exist four phases, vapour, liquid, open ice and close-packed ice. There is a critical point, an open ice/liquid/vapour triple point and a close-packed ice/open ice/vapour triple point at a lower temperature. Between the triple points increase of pressure causes the open ice to transform into a liquid of higher density than the ice while below the lower critical point it causes it to transform to close-packed ice.


Explosive initiator for initiating explosive device, comprising: a transceiver for receiving wireless command signal; a control circuit for processing a wireless command signal received by the transceiver; and a light source, which is adapted to explode explosives and was activated by the control circuit.


Aluminum alloy sheet metals have been widely utilized for a light weight construction of automobile. However, Aluminum sheet metals still remain one of the difficult materials to predict the accurate final shapes after press forming processes, because of several mechanical weak features such as lower Youngs modulus, strong plastic anisotropy of yield stress, Lankford values, and so on. In order to solve the problems, the present author has developed a new constitutive model called Modified Yoshida-Uemori model. The present model can describe accurate non-proportional hardening behaviors of Aluminum alloy sheet metals. In the present research, several experimental procedures were carried out to reveal the mechanical properties of Aluminum alloy sheet metals. From the comparison between experimental data and the corresponding calculated results by our constitutive model, the performance of our model was evaluated. In addition to the above mentioned research, the evaluation of some springback analyses were also carried out. The calculated results show good agreements with the corresponding experimental data.


The finite element model of the double-rotors system with intermediate bearing is established,using the caculate soft of ANASYS to bulid the real model of he double-rotors system. The frequency and critical speed of double-rotors system with intermediate bearing are studied by the modal analysis and harmonic analysis of the model.The result show that the count between model cacuation and experiment is similitude mainly.Consequently,it prove that model calculation is validity and validity.


Fumigation with air containing 0.075 ppm formaldehyde for one hour reduces the rate of photosynthesis and respiration of Euglena cells. "Fasting" of the cells for 4.5 hours in bicarbonate buffer pr...


Managing an aesthetic or medical practice can be scary. Get tips and tricks from a seasoned pro who practices with 14 other dermatologists and nearly 100 staff members.


The main aim of this paper is to establish a theorem which asserts an interesting relationship between the multidimensional Laplace transform, the multidimensional Varma transform and the generalized Weyl fractional integral involving product of a general class of multivariable polynomials and a generalized polynomial set. By specializing the various parameters involved, this general theorem would readily yield several (known and new) results involving simpler integral operators. Further, the theorem is applied to evaluate the generalized Weyl fractional integrals of Fox's H-function and the (Srivastava – Panda) H-function of several complex variables.


The superpotential method for construction of flat static domain walls (DW's) solutions of threedimensional new massive gravity coupled to scalar matter is reviewed. The geometric properties of the asymptotic AdS3 space-times representing DW's that relate two extrema of a particular (two degenerate minima) matter potential are described in details. The causal structure of such positive tensions DW's is discussed.


AbstractPitfalls in the common approaches to obtaining material parameters from soil-water characteristic curves (SWCCs) are discussed, and the typical mistakes made in the literature are highlight...


We consider a society of agents making an iterated yes/no decision on some issue, where updating is done by mutual influence under a Markovian process. Agents update their opinions at the same time, independently of each other, in an entirely mechanical manner. They can have a favourable or an unfavourable perception of their neighbours. We study the qualitative patterns of this model, which captures several notions, including conformism, anti-conformism, communitarianism and leadership. We discuss under which conditions opinions are stable. Finally, we introduce a notion of entropy that we use to extract information on the society and to predict future opinions.


The security of maritime traffic is a significant part of maritime transportation. The human factor plays an important role in it. Many marine accidents are induced by the human factor. Some researchers have applied an automatic operation system in ship maneuver and collision avoidance to reduce accidents caused by the human factor. Researchers found that some accidents are related to the automatic equipment. Automation operation changes the style of working, and forms a new way to make mistakes. The paper proposes a man-machine interactive ship maneuver system. Man is the main part of system. The computer is an auxiliary facility. Adopt Arena and the ship domain method are used to calculate collision risk and evaluate operation by the navigator. If there is a high risk of collision or the navigator adopts an irrational strategy, the system will send a warning signal to the navigator. The navigator must affirm the messages; if there is no reply, the system will adopt collision avoidance and other rational operations at the point of last helm.


Abstract The wood of Cryptomeria japonica D. Don was liquefied in ethylene glycol (EG) with sulfuric acid (H2SO4) as a catalyst at 150°C for 60 min. The liquefied wood (LW)- and EG-based polyester polyols (EG-Polyest.-ol) were synthesized by reacting LW and EG with adipic acid (AA), respectively. Polyurethane (PUR) resins were made by mixing Polyest.-ol with isocyanate. The results show that LW-Polyest.-ol is a suitable raw material for PUR. The PUR films prepared with LW-Polyest.-ol have higher tensile strength with less elongation at breaking point than that with EG-Polyest.-ol. According to dynamic thermomechanical analysis, the PUR films prepared with EG-Polyest.-ol have a homogeneous molecular structure, whereas a phase separation has been found for those made with LW-Polyest.-ol. Thermal gravimetric analysis showed that the thermal degradation of LW-PUR films only starts at higher temperature than that of EG-PUR.


Refer to this research, a baseline error-based tuning sliding mode controller (LTSMC) is proposed for robot manipulator. Sliding mode controller (SMC) is an important nonlinear controller in a partly uncertain dynamic system 's parameters. Sliding mode controller has difficulty in handling unstructured model uncertainties. It is possible to solve this problem by combining sliding mode controller and adaption law which this method can helps improve the system 's tracking performance by online tuning method. Since the sliding surface gain ( λ) is adjusted by baseline tuning method, it is continuous. In this research new λ is obtained by the previous λ multiple sliding surface slopes updating factor �δ� . Baseline error-based tuning sliding mode controller is stable model-based controller which eliminates the chattering phenomenon without to use the boundary layer saturation function. Lyapunov stability is proved in baseline error-based tuning sliding mode controller based on switching (sign) function. This controller has acceptable performance in presence of uncertainty (e.g., overshoot=0%, rise time=0.4 second, steady state error = 1.8e-10 and RMS error=1.16e-12).


This document gives formatting instructions for authors preparing articles for publication in the jCEC journal.  The authors must follow the instructions given in the document for the articles to be published.  You can use this document as both an instruction set and as a template into which you can type your own text. Abstract should be no longer than 1000 characters including spaces (or from 200 to 300 words). It gives a brief summary of the content of the main objective, the methods, the results obtained and major conclusions. Translation of the abstract to an appropriate language must be provided here. Please choose either Portuguese or Spanish, and adapt your list of keywords accordingly.


Abstract Embedded controllers are increasingly popular in industrial applications since designing flexible control modules over them can rapidly provide a finished product with a low manufacturing cost. Hence, rapid controller prototyping for embedded controller has been presented to resolve obstacles to developing controllers quickly. However, most proposed methods are prohibitively expensive and are restricted in the choice of software and hardware, thus, making them infeasible for engineering applications with the considerations of performance and cost. To solve the aforementioned problems, this study adopts MATLAB/Simulink with Real-Time Workshop as an effective means of producing a rapid controller development platform (RCDP), in which the controller model is built by the graphical drive modules, and is verified in Simulink, and the executable code correspondent to the controller model is then automatically generated and transferred to the target system for testing and verification. Experimental results indicate that the automatic generated code for third order controller with 1 ms sampling rate and actual position tracking in the X-Y table motion control can typically achieve the desired performance. Thus the proposed RCDP can effectively and practically save the development time of controller designs, particularly in the experimental course related to control theory in the education.


The dynamics of planning together, team teaching, troubleshooting problems, reflecting on and assessing a program's impact on students, and navigating the paths of institutional proposals and approvals together has become a process of professional growth for 2 professors who developed a summer program for provisionally admitted students. Point Loma Nazarene College in San Diego, California, provides special academic support for these students through its Program Quick Start, a collaborative, cross-disciplinary proj'ect involving the fields of literature and biulogy. The only comprehensive volume on university-level collaboration among profer.Lors is the ASHE-ERIC Higher Education Report entitled "Faculty Collaboration: Enhancing the Quality of Scholarship and Teaching" (Austin and Baldwin, 1991). Perhaps the best theoretical basis for academic collaboration is that which perceives collaboration as a mechanism by which a new negotiated order emerges among a set of stake holders. Their collaboration resembles "configurational unity," and their team is an example of "ideational unity." These professors' arrangement also resembles specialist, generalist, and interactive teams as described in the professional literature on collaboration. The professional advantages offered by team teaching include improved teaching, p...ofessors experiencing new learning, and diminished teacher isolation. Disadvantages include the extra time team teaching takes, a loss of autonomy, and alienation from departmental colleagues. Differences exist, however--one professor wants to fully integrate the two courses, the other insists that the program not replace his responsibilities to his discipline and to his department. Their collaboration is based on their common concern for nurturing individual at-risk freshmen students, and the use of writing assignments to develop conceptualization in biology. (RS) The Collaboration of Two Professors from Two Disparate Disciplines: What It Has Taught Us PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE THIS MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER IERICI U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Office s, Educa:.onat Fiesewth ana Innvovement EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC; I/This document has been reproduced as received from the person or organization originating a. 0 Minor changes have been made to improve reproduction quality Points of view or opinions stated in this document do not necessarily reprnsent official OERI position or policy Philip David Bowles Associate Professor of English Point Loma Nazarene College, San Diego Symposium Title Collaboration Pays Off: An Advance Program tor At-Risk College Freshmen Teaches a Few Lessons To Students, Faculty, and the Institution National Reading Conference, San Diego Area IX: Policy Issues Saturday, December 3, 1994 BEST CUP Y HVAILIAOLL The Collaboration of Two Professors from Two Disparate Disciplines: What It Has Taught Us Darrel Falk and I feel reasonably proud of the program that we created with our dean's help. It is not perfect, of course, and we continuallY brainstorm about how we can improve what we do for Program Quick Start students. But, interestingly, the dynamic of planning together, team teaching, troubleshooting problems together, reflecting on and assessing the program's impact on students, and navigating the paths of-institutional proposals and approvals together has become an unusual process of professional growth for the both of us. One Team's Process At a Glance In the mid-1980s, before Darrel arrived on the PLNC campus, I had approached several PLNC scientists who taught general education courses, asking if they would be interested in interfacing their courses with my freshman composition course during a regular school term. Although I had long since cast my lot with the arts, I had enjoyed the sciences through my years of general education and was convinced that undergraduates at PI.Ne would be well served by an integration oi the disciplines in the general education curriculum. The associate dean of students in charge of academic advisement had dreamed aloud in the early


During biometric studies it was observed that several specimens of Holcus mollis L. presented a peculiar but constant morphology caused by the presence of Tilletia holci (Westend.) J. Schrot. These changes in morphology were very clear in the spikelet where glumes were shorter and larger and both florets were awned. This morphology closely matches the description of Holcus mollis L. var. parviflora Parn. The type material was also infected with Tilletia holci. Taxonomic distinction of infected plants is not acceptable.


This paper mainly introduces a new method that is used for mechanical simulation of robot.It can solve the problem that the motion is not consistent in the rigid bar system.This method bases on pulse technique. When reasonable parameters are chosen,the system can reach high precision and possess good energy maintenance,and the calculating time of the simulation will be reduced greatly.This method is stable and can not lead to separation of the model.So this method is especially suitable for virtual system and complicated electromechanical system.


This paper introduces the large-area deficit faced currently by real estate management enterprises,analyzes the causes of the deficit of real estate management enterprise,and advances some countermeasures for solving the deficit of real estate management enterprise.


Narcissism is defined as the cognitive-affective preoccupation with the self (Westen, 1990). The concept of narcissism relate to "narcissus", the fabulous character that fell in love with his own reflection. Narcissism is seen as a personality trait classified as a psychological disorder. It originated from psychoanalysis and different theoretical framework of empirical research (American Psychiatric Association, 1994, 2000; Kohut, 1972; Levy, Ellison, & Reynoso, 2011;Miller & Campbell, 2008; Millon, 1997; Ronningstam, 2005).For instance Freud (1932) as psychoanalyst explained narcissism as libido regulator. It is a type of attachment to the self that strengthen the positivity of the self by ignoring the feelings of warmth of others (Baranger, 1991). Furthermore, object relational theories of narcissism (Kernberg 1974, 1975; Kohut, 1977) focused on maladaptive and unreliable parental care giving practices such as excessive parental admiration and lack of realistic parental feedback as the key factors causing narcissism pathology. Likewise, these early pathological object relations lead individuals to develop ambivalent internalized mental images of the self and other that create pathological image of self, ideal self and ideal object (Kernberg, 1993).Clinical description of Narcissism emphasizes the self-importance, egotism, overconfidence, and entitlement as key personality characteristics. People with this disorder totally focus on their own self and are preoccupied with how others perceive them (APA, 2000; Cain, Pincus, & Ansell, 2008; Ronningstam, 2005; Westen, 1990). Narcissistic people will mostly dismiss others needs of admiration, entitlement, blaming the others for their own failure (Farwell & Wohlwend-Lloyd, 1998), willingness to exploit others (Buss & Chiodo, 1991) and show lack of interest in affectionate and intimate interpersonal relationships (Campbell, Rudich, & Sedikides, 2002).Narcissistic grandiosity and vulnerability are two interrelated themes (Cain et al., 2008). Overconfidence, exhibitionism, publicity, and exploitativeness are characteristic of narcissistic grandiosity. Self-interest, defensiveness, uncertainty, and resentfulness are characteristic of vulnerability (Pincus & Lukowitsky, 2010; Miller & Campbell, 2008; Wink, 1991).Empirical researches on narcissistic personality have revealed that people differ in two independent dimensions of narcissism, i.e., grandiosity and vulnerability. Both dimensions of narcissism predict egotistical, confrontational, and opportunistic tendencies in a person. The characteristics to show-off, being egoistic and assertive fall in the dimension of grandiosity while the vulnerability dimension includes characteristics of being argumentative, bitter, and self-protective. Many researchers have investigated these distinct dimensions to identify relationship with other personality traits. Authority, low emotional distress, and high self-esteem are linked to grandiosity where as High emotional distress and low self-esteem is related to vulnerability. However, entitlement and dismissive tendencies are associated with both dimensions (Glover, Miller, & Lynam, 2012; Krizan & Johar, 2012; Miller et al., 2011; Rathvon & Holstrom, 1996; Wink, 1991).In the last few decades, the construct narcissism has been widely explored in the field of psychology (Cain et al., 2008; Miller & Campbell, 2008; Pincus & Lukowitsky, 2010). Social and personality psychology looked into the complex information about the construct of narcissism. On the one hand, the construct is associated with the psychological health, but in contrast it is associated with aggression and impaired interpersonal relationship (Sedikides, Rudich, Gregg, Kumashiro, & Rusbult, 2004; Wallace, Ready, & Weitenhagen, 2009; Campbell, Foster, & Finkel, 2002; Locke, 2009; Raskin, Novacek, & Hogan, 1991).Numerous studies have shown contrary findings related to the link between narcissism and self-esteem and narcissism and aggression. …


Human cancer is a major public health problem; in particular, uterine-cervix carcinoma is frequent in most latin American countries. Activated cellular oncogenes (myc and ras, for example) and inactivated anti-oncogenesis (p53 or Rb) participate in multistep carcinogenesis. In addition, some viruses are associated with human cancer. For example, high risk human papillomaviruses (HPV) are involved in uterine-cervix carcinomas. Typification of HPV is important for clinical diagnosis and prognosis of this disease. The understanding of the biochemistry and molecular genetics of tumor suppressor genes, cellular oncogenes and tumor viruses has opened up new possibilities for diagnosis, vaccination and therapy of uterine-cervix carcinoma.


Along with the widespread concern of spam problem, at present, there are spam filtering system about the problem of semantic imperfection and spam filter low effect in the multi-send spam. This paper proposes a model of spam filtering which based on Latent Semantic Analysis (LSA) and Message-Digest algorithm 5 (MD5). By making use of the LSA marks the latent feature phrase in the spam, a semantic analysis is introduced into the spam filtering technique; the "e-mail fingerprint" of multi-send spam is born with MD5 on the LSA analytical foundation, the problem of filtering technique's low effect in the multi-send spam is resolved with this kind of method. We design a spam filtering system based on this model. This system is evaluated with an optional dataset. The results obtained are compared with Nave Bayes algorithm filter experiment results. The experiments show the expected results, and the feasibility and advantage of the new spam filtering method is validated.


The incidence of acute kidney injury (AKI) in transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) varied among different centers and populations. The studies about the AKI in TAVR in Asian population were relatively scarce. Here, we reported the first descriptive study of AKI in patients underwent TAVR in Thailand. We also analyzed the risk factors of AKI in patients underwent TAVR.

 We reviewed the medical records of patients underwent TAVR in Chulabhorn hospital from August 2019 to September 2022. Baseline characteristics, serum creatinine and estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) at baseline, day 2, day 7 and at discharge were recorded. Patients who did not have serum creatinine measured at day 2 or day 7 were excluded from our study. Patients who already underwent hemodialysis or peritoneal dialysis before TAVR also excluded from our study. We used the definition of AKI by KDIGO guideline. Outcome of AKI including 30-day mortality, 1-year mortality and renal replacement therapy were also recorded.

 We included 113 patients who underwent TAVR, all of which had the diagnosis of severe symptomatic aortic stenosis. 56 patients (49.6%) were male patients. The mean age was 80.2 +/- 5.6 years. The average length of stay was 9.9 days. 54 patients (47.8%) had pre-existing chronic kidney disease (CKD) before underwent TAVR. Other co-morbidities were hypertension (81/113 = 71.7%), dyslipidemia (71/113 = 62.8%), prior myocardial infarction (53/113 = 46.9%), diabetes (36/113 = 31.9%), and prior stroke or transient ischemic attack (5/113 = 4.4%). AKI occurred in seven patients (6.2%). Four patients (4/7 = 57.1%) underwent acute dialysis after TAVR. 30-day mortality rate was 0% and 1-year mortality rate was 1.8%. The 1-year mortality rate in patient with AKI was 14.3% compared with 0.9% in patient without AKI. The univariate analysis revealed that age, prior myocardial infarction, pre-existing CKD and pre-TAVR serum creatinine were risk factors for developing AKI after TAVR.

 This is the first study exploring incidence, outcomes and risk factors of AKI in patients underwent TAVR in Thailand. The incidence of AKI was 6.2%, relatively low compared with previous study.


Surface photovoltages (SPVs) excited with a chopped 633 nm-wavelength photon beam (PB) were measured at various PB power densities from 0.78 to 8800 W/m2. The PB power was measured before the PB came into the wafer holder; no correction due to the wafer holder absorption or wafer reflection was added to the PB power. SPVs begin to saturate at 2.3 W/m2 and almost become saturated at 780 W/m2. This is considered to be caused by the inversion capacitance, or, simply, photocapacitance. This capacitance is proportional to the power density, at least up to 780 W/m2.


This article discusses the role of child protection and residential care institutions in mediating the tension between women's productive and reproductive responsibilities in early state socialist Hungary. At a time when increasing numbers of women entered paid work in the framework of catch-up industrialization but the socialization of care work was inadequate, these institutions substituted for missing public child care services. Relying on not only policy documents but more than six hundred children's case files, including Romani children's files, from three different locations in Hungary as well as interviews with former children's home residents and personnel, the article examines the regulatory framework in which child protection institutions and caseworkers operated. It points to the differentiated forms of pressure these institutions exercised on Romani and non-Romani mothers to enter paid work between the late 1940s and the early 1950s from the intersectional perspective of gender and ethnicity. Showing that prejudice against "Gypsies" as work-shy persisted in child protection work across the systemic divide of the late 1940s, the article contributes to scholarship on state socialism and Stalinism that emphasizes the role of historical continuities. At the same time, reflecting on parental invention in using child protection as a form of child care, the article also complicates a simplistic social control approach to residential care institutions in Stalinist Hungary.


Study Design. Multicenter, prospective equivalency trial with each patient serving as his/her own control. Objectives. To compare the effectiveness of a Grafton® DBM gel composite with iliac crest autograft in posterolateral spine fusion. Summary of Background Data. While autograft remains the preferred graft material to facilitate spine fusion, the supply is limited and harvesting produces undesirable clinical consequences. Methods. A total of 120 patients underwent posterolateral spine fusion with pedicle screw fixation and bone grafting. Iliac crest autograft was implanted on one side of the spine and a Grafton® DBM/autograft composite was implanted on the contralateral side in the same patient. An independent, blinded reviewer evaluated anteroposterior and lateral flexion-extension radiographs. The fusion mass lateral to the instrumentation on each side was judged fused or not, and the mineralization of the graft was rated absent, mild, moderate, or extensive. The degree of correspondence in outcomes between sides was estimated by computing the percentage agreement and kappa statistic. Results. Nearly 70% of patients (81 of 120) provided complete 24-month radiographic studies. The bone graft mass was fused in 42 cases (52%) on the Grafton® DBMside and in 44 cases (54%) on the autograft side. The overall percentage agreement for fusion status between sides was approximately 75% (61 of 81), indicating moderately strong statistical correspondence (kappa = 0.51, P < 0.0001). Bone mineralization ratings also were similar between treated sides. Perfect agreement was realized in almost 60% of patients (48 of 81) with moderate statistical correspondence (weighted kappa = 0.54, P < 0.0001). Conclusions. Grafton® DBM can extend a smaller quantity of autograft than is normally required to achieve a solid spinal arthrodesis. Consequently, a reduced amount of harvested autograft may be required, potentially diminishing the risk and severity of donor site complications.


ABSTRACTThe aims of the study presented in this article were to validate the Swedish version of the Team Diagnostic Survey (TDS), and to examine effects of a feedback intervention to increase team effectiveness. The TDS is based on Hackman's (2002) theory of group effectiveness which described three main criteria of performance and 14 factors that should affect team effectiveness. Participants in the survey were employees (N=533) across several different workplaces. Analyses were done at the group level, and data from 97 teams was included in the final data material. The sample (n=237) for the randomized field experiment consisted of 31 real life work teams from the larger survey sample (n=533/97). Results from validation data indicate that the TDS has satisfactory high Cronbach's Alpha values on most factors. Cronbachs's Alpha is a statistical measure of internal consistency; that is, how closely related a set of items are as a group. Results from the field experiment indicated that there was an overall increase in self-reported team effectiveness from first to second measurement. On several factors of team effectiveness a number were significantly higher for those receiving the TDS-based feedback. The outcomes suggest that group work practice might benefit from using research-oriented surveys such as the Team Diagnostic Survey as an effective feedback tool.KEYWORDSteam diagnosis, team effectiveness, performance, development, intervention.IntroductionThe aims of the study were to validate a Swedish language version of Hackman's (2002) Team Diagnostic Survey (TDS) and to examine the effects of it as an intervention to improve team effectiveness. It was hoped that group facilitation practice would benefit from a self-reporting measure that takes into account the most important factors that leaders or facilitators should work with to enhance team effectiveness. To get an overall picture of team effectiveness improves communication between facilitators, participants and stakeholders.The validation data followed the structure of the original proposed by Wageman, Hackman and Lehman (2005). In a field experiment, TDS was used as a feedback tool and it was the first attempt to date to use the TDS instrument on a before-after design.People responsible for workgroups often want a straight answer to the question 'How are we doing?' But without an accessible empirical instrument available to get valid data that fits the question, the answer is not often within reach of groups. There is today an increased awareness of the complexity of team effectiveness. But, at least in Sweden, management consultants are too often hired instead of skilled group facilitators to improve team effectiveness. Often managers are disappointed with consultants selling them fixed solutions based on oversimplifications of group dynamics. Even if these consultants are aware of the multidimensionality of team effectiveness, they often use non-validated instruments. In the best case, these instruments have a rather high face validity but low construct or discriminant validity. On the other hand, the scientific studies of team effectiveness have long involved research that examines a few variables at a time. In short, consultant-developed instruments lack the reliability and validity that may be required for the scientific study of team effectiveness. Conversely scholar-developed instruments can be far too complex and generally don't make communication between researcher and client any easier. To meet this need, feedback instruments should be able to provide answers to questions like: 'What can leaders do to help groups be more productive and satisfying? Why do similar groups vary so much in effectiveness? How does the type of task affect the group work? What organizational context is best for the development of teams?' That is, the challenge is to create instruments that are valid, reliable, and can give answers to the questions given by group work shareholders. …


The objective of this paper is to discusses gender discrimination in the labour market in Brazil and understand the role that the private sector plays in both sustaining and fighting gender inequality and the wage gap. It does so through the analysis of main problems and challenges for the achievement of full gender equality. It is a study in the field of law, economics, and social science. The paper first reviews the history of gender equality in Brazil, highlighting both current problems and progresses, in particular in the area of legal protection of female workers. It then discusses current gender inequality issues and wage gaps in the workplace in Brazil and analyses the reasons for the persistence of such inequality. Finally, the paper discusses the role of the private sector in both sustaining gender discrimination and promoting gender equality. This paper acknowledge progress in the area of gender equality achieved in Brazil in the past two decades, but it considers that discrimination is the key persistent issue that needs to be addressed to completely eradicate this problem. In particular, special attention should be given to the role of the private sector – something that has been so far overlooked in Brazil.


The hospice movement has shown that, even when underlying pathologies are incurable, there may be considerable scope for providing symptomatic relief through optimal use of pharmacological agents. Symptomatic palliative treatment has revolutionised terminal care, especially the management of severe pain. Could this principle equally be applied to the treatment of low-grade misery and everyday unhappiness?


I. INTRODUCTION In Europe, the United States is commonly seen as the key proponent of legislation having an extraterritorial effect, while Europeans regard themselves as eschewing this practice. This article will seek to examine whether this perception is right or whether the approaches of the United States and Europe are closer than may be commonly supposed. It will first examine European (and particularly British) responses to assertions of extraterritoriality by the United States and will then consider the European way of dealing with extraterritoriality. In both cases, the focus will be on antitrust or competition law. II. EUROPEAN RESPONSES TO U.S. ASSERTIONS OF EXTRATERRITORIAL LEGISLATIVE JURISDICTION A. U.S. Antitrust Laws and the U.K. Response Antitrust or competition law is a particularly interesting hybrid from a legal point of view, comporting elements of public and private law and involving specific public institutions. Moreover, although trade is global, there is no single global regulator. Further, different nations and regions will have different economic and political perspectives and requirements. (1) To protect perceived national interests, states have asserted extraterritorial jurisdiction. This has been reconciled with international law on the basis of a broad reading of the so-called "effects doctrine." It is well established that jurisdiction can be asserted on the basis of conduct occurring within a territory that has effects outside of the territory's borders. (2) This is relatively uncontroversial when the effect is direct and obvious--teachers of law favour the example of a gun being fired across a border--but the situation is much more problematic where the effects are indirect and economic. The classic example of a piece of legislation asserting extraterritorial jurisdiction based on the "effects doctrine" is the U.S. Sherman Antitrust Act. (3) This was given a broad interpretation in United States v. Aluminum Co. of America, (4) where the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals stated that "it is settled law ... that any state may impose liabilities, even upon persons not within its allegiance, for conduct outside its borders that has consequences within its borders which the state reprehends...." (5) Later, other U.S. courts attempted to adopt a more moderate approach, importing factors such as reasonableness and balancing of interests, (6) but this softening of approach did little to mollify most foreign states. In many cases their response, by the late 1980s, was to adopt so-called "blocking" legislation. Although these measures did not necessarily refer to the United States by name, it was clear that the U.S. extraterritorial legislation was their focus. (7) One example of such blocking legislation was the U.K. Protection of Trading Interests Act of 1980. (8) This Act used two methods to target the potentially detrimental effect of the U.S. antitrust law on U.K. businesses. Sections 1-3 of the Act focused on trade measures and gave powers to the Secretary of State to take various steps to protect U.K. interests. The Secretary of State was allowed to prohibit compliance with measures taken under foreign legal systems (the United States was not specified by name) which were damaging or threatening to damage the trading interests of the United Kingdom. These steps could be prohibited "in so far as they apply or would apply to things done or to be done outside the territorial jurisdiction of (the relevant foreign) country by persons carrying on business in the United Kingdom." (9) The Secretary of State was also endowed with powers to require information or to prohibit the production of information and documents. (10) Failure to comply with requirements imposed under the Act was made subject to an unlimited fine. (11) The latter half of the statute particularly stigmatized the U.S. antitrust law, though again without making specific reference to it. …


Two methods of standardizing death rates for age are in common use, the "direct" and the "indirect" Both of these methods require a detailed knowledge of the age structure of the population in which the deaths occur, and the direct method requires the age structure of the deaths in addition. A third method is now suggested which requires only detailed knowledge of age structure of the deaths themselves. This method might conveniently be called Inverse Standardization. The rate is calculated for each age group in some suitable standardizing population. For deaths, the standardizing population will usually be the whole population of England and Wales. For any one age group, the number of deaths observed divided by the standard rate for that age group gives an estimate of the size of the group from which the deaths are drawn. Thesum ofthese estimates gives an estimate of the total number in the population. This-estimate will be too high if the death rates in the population are higher than the standard death rates, and conversely. The ratio of the estimate of the population to the true number in the population, expressed as a percentage, gives an index of the healthiness of the population, which may conveniently be called the "Inverse Standardized Mortality Ratio". In a population for which each age-specific death rate is in the same ratio to the corresponding rate in the standard population, the three different methods of standardization give exactly the same result. When the ratios are different, the standard methods give considerably more weight to differences in the higher age groups, while the new method gives weight in proportion to the total number at risk in each age group. This would probably be an advantage in the study of, for instance, occupational mortality, where, as the "Decennial Supplement for 1951" (Registrar General, 1954a) points out, "the swamping effect of the inevitably high mortality" of the older age groups may obscure occupational differences in some circumstances. The Standard Error of an "Inverse S.M.R" is usually higher than that of the corresponding ordinary S.M.R., especially if one or more of the age-specific death rates in the standardizing population is much lower than the others. For this reason it would not.be a suitable index for mortality in a population containing both children and adults. In general, the usefulness of the Inverse S.M.R lies in its power to use information that would be inadequate for other methods. For instance, in analysing the death rates of a county borough, the age structure of social class groups or municipal ward populations is rarely known, but the total populations are available. When it is possible to use the ordinary S.M.R, however, this is to be preferred, as its standard error is smaller. If R1, R2 . . . etc. are the age-specific rates in the standardizing population, xl, x2, . . . etc. are the number of deaths observed in the population being studied, and P is the total number at risk, The inverse S.M.R. is: 100 2 T R, + X, ...R


Emergency physicians need to recognize the diversity of identities held by sexual and gender minorities, as well as the health implications and inequities experienced by these communities. Identities such as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, intersex, asexual, aromantic, and many others fall under the LGBTQIA+ acronym. This wide spectrum is seldom discussed in emergency medicine but nonetheless impacts both patient care and patient experience in acute and critical care settings.


We present our method of generating if-then rules expressing the trained neural network's behaviour. By using the causal index on characteristic input patterns, we produce a list of inputs which were significant in reaching the decision made, a set of rules governing this decision, and the next most likely decision the network could have made. This method correctly produced rules for 94% of the decisions made by a sample network.


Abstract Carruthers rejects developmental evidence based primarily on an argument regarding one skill in particular: understanding false beliefs. We propose that this rejection is premature; and that identifying and examining the development of other subcomponent skills important for metacognition and mindreading, such as the ability to assess levels of knowledge, will in fact be useful in resolving this debate.


Production of extracellular polysaccharide by Monilinia fructigena in B-I medium containing cereals was higher than that in glucose medium. Productivities in B-I medium and glucose medium were 0.7g/l nd 0.2-03g/l respectively. The maximum content of polysaccharide occurred at the rising point from the lowest pH of culture. As the apparent viscosity of the polysaccharide solution increased, the flow Index (m) decreased, and the consistency Index (Kc) also increased. The polysaccharide solution was a typical pseudoplastic fluid. The mycelium was separated from the culture solution by mesh-filter and the polysaccharide was precipitated by adding 50% of ethanol (v/v). The amount of the polysaccharide removed from the filtrated solution was 0.45 g/l and the amount adhered to the mycelium was 0.25g/l. In experiments for investigating growth enhancement of rotifer (Brachionus plicatilis) by the polysaccharide, the dose of the polysaccharide was 1mg per 10,000 organisms of rotifer. Maximum specific growth rate of rotifer with feed consisting of sea Chlorella sp. and the polysaccharide was 1.095/day in the batch culture for 10 days. A semi-continuous culture was done for 30 days, the biomass of rotifer could be harvested twice. Maximum specific growth rate with sea Chlorella sp. and the polysaccharide was 0.734/day before the first harvest, and 1.685/day before the second harvest. Productivity was 38 with sea Chlorella sp. and the polysaccharide.


OBJECTIVE This study aims to evaluate the sensitivity, specificity and Positive Predictive Value (PPV) of body temperature measurements > 100.5°F in relationship to laboratory confirmation of influenza and other ILI pathogens. BACKGROUND The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) defines Influenza-like Illness (ILI) for its sentinel providers as fever (temperature >  100.5°F or 37.8°C ) and a cough and/or a sore throat in the absence of a known cause other than influenza [1]. Classifying ILI with clinical data that only identifies individual aspects of the case  definition may add excessive levels of unwanted noise to the system; however, the capability to analyze a patient's body temperature along with other available clinical data (ICD-9 codes) could improve diagnostic precision and more accurately classify cases of ILI in a syndromic surveillance system [2]. METHODS Data for this study was extracted from across the Military Health System (MHS) using the Clinical Data Mart (CDM). The CDM uses a Business Objects interface to perform structured queries and analysis capabilities through a secure Web interface. Data collected between December 1, 2007 and February 29, 2008 was used to profile encounters that included at least one body temperature measurement and at least one microbiology or chemistry laboratory test for influenza (A and/or B) or one of the other ILI pathogens (RSV, adenoviruses, S. pneumoniae, M. pneumoniae, H. influenzae, B. pertussis, C. pneumoniae, C. psittaci). RESULTS Those with laboratory confirmed influenza pathogens were observed to have a significantly higher body temperature (p<0.01) compared to those who were laboratory-negative. This trend held true for all age groups included in the sample.


Knowledge management (KM) is a holistic, cross-functional approach focused on ways organisations create and use knowledge to improve outcomes (Association for Project Management 2019; BSI 2018). KM has been around as a discipline and organisational practice since the early 1990s but is still a relatively new concept in project environments. Although KM is widely practised in project work, managers don't always recognise the knowledge aspects of their work and tend to treat KM as a series of discrete activities rather than as a way of making project work produce better outcomes in different contexts. What is labelled 'KM' is often not KM at all – and the real KM is hidden.


AbstractThe accumulation of biogenic greenhouse gases (methane, carbon dioxide) in organic sediments is an important factor in the redevelopment and risk management of many brownfield sites. Good practice with brownfield site characterization requires the identification of free-gas phases and pathways that allow its migration and release at the ground surface. Gas pockets trapped in the subsurface have contrasting properties with the surrounding porous media that favor their detection using geophysical methods. We have developed a case study in which pockets of gas were intercepted with multilevel monitoring wells, and their lateral continuity was monitored over time using resistivity. We have developed a novel interpretation procedure based on Archie's law to evaluate changes in water and gas content with respect to a mean background medium. We have used induced polarization data to account for errors in applying Archie's law due to the contribution of surface conductivity effects. Mosaics defined by cha...


Heydrich and other adversaries of Steiner's movement developed a concerted campaign to suppress anthroposophical activities and eliminate anthroposophist organizational life from the Third Reich. These efforts in turn spurred a variety of anthroposophical strategies for accommodation to the strictures of the Nazi state, often through appeals to supporters in Nazi quarters. In this process, the lines between accommodation and collaboration became blurred as anthroposophists attempted to demonstrate their loyalty to Nazi goals. The perception of the Anthroposophical Society and the Christian Community as ideological organizations impeded their acceptance in a state which had no room for a plurality of worldviews. Still, many anthroposophists accommodated themselves to the Nazi regime and participated in its activities, whether out of conviction, opportunism, to the survival of Steiner's movement. Regardless of their conduct, anthroposophists faced persecution from sectors of the regime that viewed alternative spiritual groups as obstacles to National Socialism's totalitarian aims.Keywords: accommodation; anthroposophist; christian community; collaboration; Heydrich; national socialism; Nazi state; Steiner


Has economic reform run its course? What potential remains for the resumption of nation-building progress? Contrary to expectations, Canberra is emerging from 20 years of neo-liberalism with disciplined government, ample revenues, an effective regulative apparatus and — perhaps — the capacity for government to steer the economy towards a brighter future. These prospects are weighed against the negative impacts of neo-liberalism on our institutions and then examined from the three viewpoints of: (1) our national political experience; (2) the administrative apparatus; and, (3) popular expectations. This chapter then considers the dynamic energies inherent in the challenges, respectively, of climate change, infrastructure development, and economic policies based on the enhancement of quality of life.


on digestion, etc.). Sufficient material is provided for a year's course; changes in order are possible, as is selection of a smaller number of exercises for a shorter course. Representatives of the major phyla are considered ; about a third of the manual is devoted to the vertebrates, with special attention to the frog. Included are exercises on cells and histology. This publication, like most, is not perfect: one wonders at the value of providing diagrams outlined in gray to be traced over by the student; occasional specific instructions concerning matters of procedure (quizzes, recitation, etc.) would hardly apply to all courses. A more general question is suggested: is the emphasis on anatomy and neglect of physiology necessary or desirable? This question, of course, may be directed at most lab manuals and introductory zoology courses. The author's stated aim is to provide sufficient guidance and practical direction for the student to progress on his own without being spoon-fed or feeling confused. This is a difficult balance to strike, but Potter does so with apparent success. Comprehensiveness makes flexibility possible. The student should find the suggested review outline and the questions on comparative aspects helpful if he gives them his attention. Finally, in view of the current interest in improving science instruction at the secondary school level and providing stimulating material for capable students, high school teachers might well consider using manuals like this instead of the fill-in-the-blanks type. With wise selection of exercises and somewhat more supervision by the instructor, Potter's manual could be used below tfie college level. This is the story, briefly and delightfully told, of the conception, growth, and flowering of a small clinical research unit, the Mallinckrodt Research Ward of the Massachusetts General Hospital. Dr. Means, the founder and long-time director (he prefers "guide") of Ward 4 as Jackson Professor of Clinical Medicine at Harvard Medical School, describes the impressive results of encouraging free exchange among physicians, "pure" scientists, and administrators in a congenial medical school-hospital environment. The book is basically personality-centered. Dr. Means first pays tribute to the wisdom of the men like Edsall who recognized the need for full-time clinical investigators and provided them with support. Always stressing the virtues of "investigator-centered" research, the chapters that follow tell of the research teams that have utilized Ward 4, in spirit and substance, in their study of disease mechanisms. The investigators and their endeavors are most …


This article is studying the position of the objectives regimes in the law of treaties. As it knows, this categorie is no included in the 1969 Vienna Co nvention and its existence is doubtful. In fact, it is a controversial question in this field of internation al law. We intends to demostrate that it really exi st in international current practice and we propose an op erative concept and some practical considerations for its treatment.


Original scientific paper This research introduces an open-source framework, AUTonomous Articulated Robotic Educational Platform (AUTAREP). The platform is centred on a 6 Degree Of Freedom (DOF) arm with multiple feedbacks to ensure precision and autonomy. The sensory system consists of vision, position and force feedbacks while the actuation system comprises six precise DC servo motors. In particular, this paper presents the design of an embedded controller for AUTAREP. The proposed design of the control hardware and software interface has been tailored as per academic requirements of relevant undergraduate and postgraduate courses. Low level commands have been provided to permit readily development of applications for trainees. Advanced users can further exploit the open-source architecture of the platform. The performance of the proposed control system has been demonstrated by various experiments on the fabricated hardware. The control has been subjected to various test inputs to analyse its transient and steady state behaviour. The robot has been tested to achieve a set-point position successfully and the encoder data corresponding to all the joints has been recorded. Finally, a common application of "pick and place" has been implemented. The proposed platform is potentially beneficial in teaching engineering courses, training in industrial sector and research of advanced algorithms.


Liquid-liquid extraction of poor naphtha containing high content aromatics(10%-30%(w)) with sulfolane as the extractant and the steam cracking of the extracted naphtha were carried out to solve the shortage of raw materials for the cracking. The effects of the liquid-liquid extraction separation under different conditions and the change of the cracking product distribution were investigated. The results showed that,in the extraction process,the aromatic removal rate was 74.85%-96.86% and the non-aromatic recovery was 78.11%-91.50%. The extraction pretreatment made the aromatic content decrease by 69%-94%,the bureau of mines correlation index(BMCI) decrease by 31%-57%,ethylene yield increase 1.67-4.48 percentage points,total olefin yield(ethylene,propylene and butadiene) increase 2.43-6.98 percentage points,and the aromatic output increase by 13.20%-156.50% compared to that of conventional processes. The results indicated that the aromatic extraction could effectively improve the quality of the inferior naphtha as steam cracking feedstock,and be economically feasible.


In this work, we report an aptamer biosensing array for
thrombin detection by measuring the electrochemical impedance
spectroscopy (EIS) upon aptamer-protein formation at the
surface of gold CDtrodes (GCDTs) in the presence of redox
couple [Fe(CN)6]3-/4- [2]. The biosensor was constructed by
self-assembling a thiol-modified thrombin binding aptamer (TBA)
onto the GCDT surface followed by the protein addition in a
wide range of concentrations ranging from 20 nM to 1 microM.
Achieved results reveal that the GCDTs present good versatility
and suitable reproducibility for thrombin recognition with a
limit of detection (LOD) of 5 nM. Non-specific interaction with
similar molecular compounds like bovine serum albumin (BSA)
demonstrates an appropriate and specifically target sensor
response thanks to the aptamer incorporation as transducer
elements. In order to verify the practical application of GCDT
aptasensor in complex biological fluids, we have detected
thrombin in spiked diluted blood plasma samples. Additionally,
individual steps of biosensor assembling were monitored by
Scanning electron microscopy (SEM). GCDT response was also
satisfactory compared with commercial gold screen printed
electrodes (GSPE).


With the rising demands of public safety systems, face recognition has gained extra notice for the researchers in recent times. Real-world face recognition systems require cautious balancing of two important concerns: execution Time, recognition rate. The most important methods for feature extraction and classification are Dimension Reduction-Discrete Cosine Transform (DR-DCT), Dimension Reduction-Discrete Fourier Transform (DR-DFT) and Dimension Reduction-Difference of Gaussian (DoG) along with the Extreme Learning Machine (ELM) classifiers. The feature vector of the proposed algorithm is reduced by means of subspace method Principal Component Analysis (PCA). The execution time of the proposed DR-DFT, DR-DoG and DR-DCT algorithms along with ELM classifier is less when compared to the traditional methods such as Hough transform, Radon Transform, Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT) and Discrete Cosine Transform (DCT) for ORL face database. Similarly, Hybrid methods are proposed by combining DR-DCT &DR-DFT (Hybrid Method 1), DR-DCT & DR-DoG (Hybrid Method 2) and DR-DFT & DR-DoG (Hybrid Method3) along with ELM classifier. Hybrid Method 1 attains 98.50% recognition rate with the feaure size of 60×1 for ORL dataset. It achieves optimal execution time of 0.020 sec.


Phytophthora infestans (Mont.) cause potato late blight disease and can infect of roots, tubers, and shoots of the plant. The majority of significant factors in determining the spread of the potato late blight is the cultivation of infected potato tubers and their presence as agricultural plant debris in the agricultural field. Mycelium, zoospores, Oospores, and sporangia, all these structures can make infection, also Oospores with their thick wall can survive for 3 to 4 years under low temperatures. P. infestans responsible to yield losses may arrive at 100% in optimum condition. There are two types of mating patterns for A1 and A2, and this depends on the spread of each type in different environments. This fungus also contains several genetic patterns that have been identified through molecular analysis. The different genotypes in this fungus led to new challenges to make an unstable guideline for the study of virulence and aggressiveness. Different strategies or methods were used to prevent or control late blight disease, included of chemicals, crop rotation, bio-agents, and resistant plants. There are many advantages or disadvantages to each strategy, but several studies mention that using resistant plants and fungicide together on conditions in suitable times and strategies led to perfect effect. This paper investigated in important factors in the spread of late blight disease, and some challenges in this fungus.


Two electrons, excited just above the double-ionization threshold of an Ag[sup [ital q]+] ([ital q]=5,6) core in a single collision of a 0.1-MeV/u Ag[sup 4+] projectile ion with an Ar atom, are detected. The electron detector consists of electrically isolated anode segments located behind a microchannel-plate electron multiplier. A large electrostatic 30[degree] parallel-plate analyzer is used to deflect the two free electrons, which move with approximately the projectile velocity, into the detector. The cross sections for producing final states consisting of a positively charged ionic core and two electrons just above the threshold for double ionization in ion-atom collisions have been measured. The cross sections for producing states with one electron moving with a kinetic energy less than 0.13 eV in the projectile frame and the other moving with somewhat higher kinetic energy are presented.


In order to maintain a reasonable rf system, it is necessary for the muon collider to have a slippage factor (cid:17) < 1 (cid:2) 10 (cid:0)6 for all the particles in the bunch. The buckets dominated by the zeroth order, (cid:12)rst order, or second order of (cid:17) are examined, and the required rf voltages are computed. The problem of microwave instability is addressed. The reliability of computing higher-order momentum-compaction factor using a lattice code is discussed. given


Race and other forms of difference are socially constructed concepts, continually reproduced and redefined in interaction. It is important to focus on how race and class are constructed by future teachers, because the ways in which they perceive their students may affect their interactions in the classroom, including having lower expectations for certain minority groups. This study focuses on how a cohort of interns – predominantly White (European American) and middle-class – make sense of racial and class differences while teaching in an urban, low-income, minority-race high school. Ethnographically oriented discourse analysis was employed to examine the interns' representations of difference. Findings include the rarity of explicit discourse about race and class, the functions of various discourse strategies to circumvent explicit discussions, and a deficit model approach among interns toward educating low income, minority students.


This chapter sheds light on the story of an imperial commissioner in Qing China. In 1799, a Manchu aristocrat, Nayancheng, was appointed as a Special Imperial Commissioner to supervise the suppression campaign against a sectarian rebellion, the White Lotus Rebellion. Not only was he expected to inject new energy into the enervated campaign and promote the reform at the warfront, but it was also anticipated that he would prove his own worthiness so that he could be named to lead the Grand Council, the Qing monarch's key advisory body. Nevertheless, Nayancheng's mission ended in failure, with severe consequences for him as well as for the central government. Humiliated and stripped of almost all his numerous titles, Nayancheng fell so precipitously that he had to strive the rest of his life to re-prove himself but received only more denunciation and disgrace. Keywords: Grand Council; Nayancheng's mission; Qing China; White Lotus Rebellion


This paper provides a comprehensive overview of the national approach Transit has adopted towards operating the state highway network. It describes the innovative traffic management and traveler information services Transit New Zealand is using to meet the principles and objectives of the New Zealand Transport Strategy. The paper describes the national architecture, and operating management tools, which combined, assist Transit to deliver its obligations with respect to achieving an integrated, safe, responsive and sustainable state highway system.


Introduction: Viruses can act in two ways, either by a direct pathogenic effect, or indirectly by inducing immunosuppression
and favoring the action of other so-called opportunistic viruses. This survey had a double objective, describe the clinical
aspects of viral ocular pathology and state its principles of treatment.
Materials and Methods: Descriptive cross-sectional study carried out over 2 years at the Ophthalmology department of
the University Hospital of Brazzaville. Patients 18 years of age or older with viral ocular pathology were included. The
diagnosis was made on the sole basis of anamnestic and / or clinical arguments. None of the viruses involved had been
directly detected, with the exception of HIV. Biologically proven patients with a coinfection (bacteria, parasite, fungus)
were excluded. HIV serology had been systematic. Four parameters were analyzed: type of virus, structures affected,
pathologies diagnosed, anti viral treatments used.
Results: Two hundred twenty-five (225) patients were included. The mean age was 44 ± 2.1 years. Sex ratio was 0.8.
Viruses: Adenovirus (51.1%), Herpes zoster (19.5%), HIV (18.7%), Herpes simplex (7.5%), CMV (3.2%). Main structures
affected: eyelid (86.2%), chorioretin (6.4%). Main pathologies: Adenovirus conjunctivitis (61.1%), shingles (16%),
primary herpes simplex infection (8%) Keratitis (6.4%), chorioretinitis (6.4%), uveitis (2.1%). Anti viral treatments used:
Valaciclovir, Ganciclovir and anti retroviral.
Conclusion: Viral ocular pathology is dominated by Adenovirus conjunctivitis and infections due to 3 types of herpes
viridae (Herpes zoster, Herpes simplex and CMV). These herpes viridae are generally responsible for opportunistic
diseases following immunosuppression linked to HIV.


Two-yr-old seedlings of red maple (Acer rubrum L) were exposed to sulfur dioxide (SO{sub 2}) pollution at concentrations of 0, 0.5, 2.0, and 4.0 ppm 8 hr daily for two 3-day periods spaced 3 days apart. Alterations in membrane permeability caused by SO{sub 2} stress were measured by electrolyte leakage of incubated leaf discs, and changes in ethylene biosynthesis were determined by gas chromatography using intact leaves. Ethylene increased 62% as SO{sub 2} concentration changed from 0 to 0.5 ppm, suggesting that ethylene may be a useful indicator for determining the onset of acute SO{sub 2} stress in maple. Membrane permeability was not as sensitive to the onset of SO{sub 2} stress but exhibited incremental changes associated with increasing levels of SO{sub 2}. These data suggest that membrane permeability may serve as a useful index for monitoring changes caused by SO{sub 2} at the cellular level.


An equation-of-state package for water-carbon dioxide mixtures has been constructed from available thermodynamic data that covers the range of interest to the Baca reservoir system. The package has been used to examine the thermodynamic state of the Baca reservoir fluid for conditions of temperature, pressure and CO/sub 2/ content believed to bracket conditions existing at the production depth of the wells in the Redondo Creek area. It is shown that the reservoir fluid may be either all-liquid or two-phase at various well locations and depths, depending on the CO/sub 2/ content. It is also shown that the CO/sub 2/ content at reservoir conditions cannot be reliably inferred from pressure/temperature measurements made on flowing wells. The equation-of-state package has been incorporated into a general purpose geothermal reservoir simulator and a series of calculations made which show that the CO/sub 2/ content of the produced fluid may be less than or greater than that of the reservoir fluid. The characteristics of the produced fluid are sensitive to the CO/sub 2/ content in the reservoir.


September 2015 saw the launch of the Campaign Against Sex Robots (CASR).1 Spearheaded by Kathleen Richardson of Leicester De Montfort University and Erik Brilling of the University of Skovde, the CASR models itself on the longer-standing Campaign to Stop Killer Robots, which was itself organized to preemptively ban fully autonomous weapons. CASR opposes the development of sex robots (for a sense of what we mean by this term, see the opening chapter in this volume by Danaher) on the grounds that they are "potentially harmful and will contribute to inequalities in society."2 The campaign's founders believe that "an organized approach against the development of sex robots is necessary."3


To the Editor:

I appreciated the case report and literature review on giant coronary aneurysms by Crawley and colleagues.1 Their report details the various facets of this unusual condition and its management.

In 2009, my colleagues and I reported our experience with a patient who had multiple giant coronary aneurysms.2 In Crawley and associates' patient, it is notable that the large aneurysm size was diagnosed on coronary angiography, which indicated a lack of aneurysmal sac "content." In our patient, and similar to aneurysmal disease elsewhere in the body, the aneurysms' sacs contained large amounts of debris, and the true sizes of the aneurysms were found intraoperatively. Our patient underwent mitral valve repair 6 years later for severe mitral regurgitation and continues to do well.

I thought that I would mention our earlier case, to augment Crawley and colleagues' nice review.


Abstract A recent analysis published in this journal found different relationships between mean Ellenberg indicator values and environmental measurements in different vegetation types. The cause was stated as bias in mean Ellenberg values between relevés which in turn suggested to reflect a bias in individual Ellenberg values. We discuss two phenomena that could explain these results without the need to invoke bias in either individual or mean Ellenberg values. Firstly, slopes of linear regression lines underestimate true relationships when analyses involve explanatory variables measured with error. Secondly, syntaxon-specific distributions of Ellenberg values follow from the floristic definition of phytosociological units. Mean Ellenberg values per relevé therefore carry the stamp of their associated syntaxon even though associated abiotic conditions may vary between relevés. This will lead to variation in slopes and intercepts between vegetation types not because of bias in individual Ellenberg values but because of prescribed bias in the distribution of Ellenberg values between syntaxa. The residual variation in calibrations carried out across vegetation types is undoubtedly reduced by introducing vegetation type as a factor. However users should note that this is unlikely to reflect bias in individual Ellenberg values but is more likely to reflect error in environmental measurements as well the constraint imposed by phytosociological classification.


A LTHOUGH much has been written on the psychosomatic aspects of dental treatment, very little attention has been paid to the influence of psychic disturbance upon the production of dental disease. Such material as is available deals chiefly with soft tissue disturbances.' Dental caries has not been studied in any systematic fashion, although alterations in physiology have been noted in certain types of mental disease of a nature to suggest changes in caries incidence. For example, schizophrenics have been observed to show an increased rate of salivation2 and salivary pH has been seen to rise under temporary emotional stress.3 In an effort to study dental caries experience among psychiatric patients, dental examinations in terms of DMF teeth (decayed, missing and filled) were recorded over a period of almost three years on as many patients as possible admitted to the Boston Psychopathic Hospital. Approximately 95 per cent of all patients admitted received these examinations in the office of the staff dentist (P.J.D.) and the only patients omitted were those who were too disturbed during their entire stay in the hospital. Those patients who were at first too disturbed to report to the dentist's office but who later improved, received dental examination as soon as improvement took place. The average length of stay in the Boston Psychopathic Hospital is nine weeks. The hospital is a diagnostic, intensive treatment, research and training center so that it has a high proportion of patients who have had a short duration of mental illness. For this reason our data are not necessarily comparable to what might be found in hospitals largely caring for chronic or long-term mental diseases. However, there are many "repeaters" who have had recurrent attacks, several transfers from state hospitals for special treatment, and some patients who have been mentally ill for a considerable time but hospitalization had been delayed. Further study upon chronic mental patients is indicated. The usual dental examination at the Boston Psychopathic Hospital is performed in a dental chair with adequate light, mirror, and explorer. The whole mouth is examined and a record made of all various, missing, and filled teeth. Bridges and artifical dentures are examined and records made of them. Note is also made of extensive caries and teeth too broken down for filling. Third molar conditions are recorded, but have been omitted from the analyses which follow because of lack of x-ray evidence which would permit differentiation between extracted and unerupted or impacted teeth. The average examination takes about five minutes. One dentist has performed the entire series. The


An emotional paradigm, prerequisite counselor skills, and related information believed to be helpful in the counseling of Vietnam veterans are presented and discussed.


and strain rates (0.01-10 s -1 ). Processing maps based on the principles of the dynamic material model are then constructed using the experimental data. Stable and unstable regions on the maps are distinguished to evaluate the hot forming performance of the alloy. The regions suitable for hot forming are validated by the microstructure evolutions. The domain with a high power dissipation efficiencylarger than 0.3 is found to be the optimal processing region on the map at a strain of 0.7, where the temperatures range from 1090 K to 1203 K and the strain rates from 0.01 s -1 to 0.1 s -1 . Moreover, an artificial neural network model with a back-propagation algorithm was developed to predict the hot rheological properties of the alloy involving complex nonlinear intrinsic relationships between the processing parameters. Theoretical processing maps are drawn by using the predicted data and then compared with the experimental maps. The results indicate that the model can track the experimental data with sound precision, and the theoretical maps can definitely give guidance to the design of hot forming process of Ti-6Al-4V in the dual-phase region.


Metal tartrate compounds find various applications. Lead tartrate finds application as additive in gasoline to prevent knocking in motors and calcium tartrate is well known for its ferroelectric applications. In the present study, lead and cobalt mixed levo-tartrate crystals were grown using silica hydro-gel as growth medium. Dendrite crystals were obtained at the gel-liquid interface. The crystals were characterized by Thermo gravimetric analysis and kinetic as well as thermodynamic parameters were evaluated for the dehydration and carbonate stage by CR relation.


Mobilizing in Uncertainty is a product of a deep commitment to individuals whose lives have been marked by fi rst-hand experiences of intergroup violence and war, to cumulative efforts across diverse disciplinary traditions to understand these experiences and their implications for social and political processes we study, and to methodologically rigorous research cen-tered on the meanings that participants in these processes attribute to their reality and grounded insights that can emerge as a result. The contributors to the Symposium picked up on these foundations. Their commentaries highlight the challenging fi eldwork and careful attention to the voices of ordinary people underlying this book and my openness about the design and process of research, including the changes that took place along the way. They also point out empirical and theoretical contributions of the book, identifying the reconstruction of events of Abkhaz mobilization in the context of Georgian-Abkhaz con- fl ict and the war of 1992 – 1993 in particular, the interaction of prewar shared understandings of con fl ict and one ' s role in it and social networks at the time of mobilization, and the sig-ni fi cance of uncertainty in mobilization for war as the pillars of the book that can have inter-disciplinary purchase. I appreciate the generosity animating these commentaries. Caspersen ' s, Driscoll ' s, and Schatz ' s critical engagement with the book also points to areas of clari fi cation, discussion, and future research. I will begin by clarifying the purpose of the book, particularly in response to Driscoll ' s commentary. I will then turn to questions of ' ex-post ' explanation raised by Caspersen and will conclude by accepting Schatz ' s invitation to think further about the generalizability and extensions of this research.


In an effort to reduce the disruption to the HgCdTe surface upon metal overlayer formation over that observed at room temperature, interfaces formed at 100 K between HgCdTe and the three overlayer metals, Ag, Al, and Pd, are investigated. The metals were deposited onto the [110] cleaved HgCdTe surfaces in UHV in increments ranging from submonolayer at low coverages to tens of monolayers at high coverages, and the formation of the interfaces were monitored using photoemission spectroscopy subsequent to each deposition. The primary experimental observation of this study is that deposition of all three of these metals onto HgCdTe substrates held at reduced temperatures causes the surface Fermi level (Ef) to move from its initial cleaved position, typically located at or near the conduction‐band minimum, into the conduction band, and this movement is correlated with the absence of the movement of the overlayer metal into the semiconductor. This phenomenon is observed at the lowest coverages (submonolayer) for...


This study investigates the temperature-dependent quasi-static magnetoelectric (ME) response of electrically poled lead-free Na$_{0.4}$K$_{0.1}$Bi$_{0.5}$TiO$_3$-NiFe$_2$O$_4$ (NKBT-NFO) laminated composites. The aim is to understand the temperature stability of ME-based sensors and devices. The relaxor ferroelectric nature of NKBT is confirmed through impedance and polarization-electric (PE) hysteresis loop studies, with a depolarization temperature (Td) of approximately 110$^\circ$C. Heating causes a decrease and disappearance of planar electromechanical coupling, charge coefficient, and remnant polarization above Td. The temperature rise also leads to a reduction in magnetostriction and magnetostriction coefficient of NFO by approximately 33% and 25%, respectively, up to approximately 125$^\circ$C. At room temperature, the bilayer and trilayer configurations exhibit maximum ME responses of approximately 33 mV/cm.Oe and 80 mV/cm.Oe, respectively, under low magnetic field conditions (300-450 Oe). The ME response of NKBT/NFO is highly sensitive to temperature, decreasing with heating in accordance with the individual temperature-dependent properties of NKBT and NFO. This study demonstrates a temperature window for the effective utilization of NKBT-NFO-based laminated composite ME devices.


To match up with the national development strategy in the new period and satisfy the demand for talents,with the view of cultivating top-notch innovative personnel for every industry in the future,Ministry of Education has set up the China Scholarship Graduate Student Overseas Study Program in 2007,which is now a very important way to cultivate high-level talent.In this article,aiming at a further implementation on this program,the thinking and practice were summarized of the implementation of this program in Second Military Medical University,so as to explore a more effective way of cultivating graduate students by joint training at home and abroad.


This thesis deals with the detection of new multiple sclerosis (MS) lesions in longitudinal brain magnetic resonance (MR) imaging. This disease is characterized by the presence of lesions in the brain, predominantly in the white matter (WM) tissue of the brain. The detection and quantification of new lesions are crucial to follow-up MS patients. Moreover, the manual detection of these new lesions is not only time-consuming, but is also prone to intra- and inter-observer variability. Therefore, the development of automated techniques for the detection MS lesions is a major challenge


Initially released in October 1999 by the Society o f Automotive Engineers in the United States and Canada, and the European Association of Aerospace Industries in Europe, and shortly thereafter by standards organizations in Japan and Asia, AS9100 has been re sulted as a cooperative effort of the International Aerospace Quality Group. As such, it combines and harmonizes aerospace requirements outlined in previously different aerospace standards. AS9100 Re vision C was issued in 2009 and it was revised to a lign with ISO 9001:2008 requirements. This article tries to explain why and where this standard is differen t than common ISO 9001 standard along with the benefits that result from its implementation.


Based on the Failure Mode and Effect Analysis (FMEA) theory, a worker-oriented supporting module in Statistical Process Control (SPC) system is developed. This module can provide effective suggestions for quality problems arising from the processes on the assembly line with a search engine according to the inner knowledgebase. Combining FMEA and knowledgebase, this module also can offer the end-users a series of suggestions which can help workers in solving problem through reasoning and analyzing. The merit of this module is to find the potential defects during the manufacturing process in advance and to guide the end-users with reasonable operation suggestions.


The implementation of a suitable example of Ad hoc network routing protocol which is without centralized infrastructure for disaster affected area like flood in Jammu & Kashmir and Mumbai is performed. For the establishment of wireless connectivity without fixed infrastructure the data exchange can be done with the help of wireless channels with multi hop. The routing protocols are required for communication in Ad hoc network. The key aspect of Ad hoc network is to provide efficient performance parameter for timely delivery of real time and non real time information. The various performance parameters of an Ad hoc network are analyzed with respect to three important routing protocols such as Ad hoc on Demand Distance Vector (AODV) protocol, Destination Sequence Distance Vector (DSDV) protocol and Dynamic Source Routing (DSR) protocol for a suitable numbers of node configurations. The analysis of all the necessary parameters is done. The Ad hoc network is implemented in Network Simulator 2. The Advance Encryption Standard security algorithm is utilized to provide the security to the packets used for real time communication in the Ad hoc network. For defense and military point of view it is essential to achieve secure communication. In the initial stage AES-128 is implemented for getting desire encryption and decryption results.


Tocopherol is a chemical name for vitamin E that belongs to the group of amphipathic and lipidsoluble compounds that are easily oxidized when subjected to heat, light and alkaline conditions. Vitamin E can be used as active cosmetic substance for functionalization of textiles, acting as anti-ageing agent through gradual release on the skin. The paper deals with cosmetotextiles, carriers of Vitamin E contained in a suspension of cyclodextrine - a- tocopherol complex, applied in finishing. Research is focused on development of a method for determination of a- tocopherol in a form metal organic chelate complex using UV/VIS spectrophotometry.


Integrating mathematical modeling into the process of higher mathematics teaching in universities is crucial to the cultivation of students' practical and innovative abilities. It is the mainstream direction of reforming mathematics teaching in universities under the new situation, and will play a decisive role in the teaching effect of mathematics in higher education institutions. This paper begins with the basic meaning of mathematical modeling thoughts, analyzes the importance of introducing mathematical modeling ideas in college mathematics teaching, and finally puts forward the specific countermeasures to infiltrate mathematical modeling ideas into university mathematics teaching. It provides useful reference for improving the mathematics teaching effect in colleges and universities.


These are dark times for would-be political satirists. We've now got a self-proclaimed 'government of adults' headed by Tony Abbott and featuring the likes of Christopher Pyne and Cory Bernardi. These jokes are just impossible to top.


Suggested Citation for this Article: Potter P. Of tidal waves and human fraility [about the cover]. Emerg Infect Dis [serial on the Internet]. 2005 Oct [date cited]. http://dx.doi.org/10.3201/eid1110.AC1110


Imaging plays a significant role in modern applications as medicine, telemetry and archiving. Hence, image compression is among the procedures of preserving the system resources. In this paper, we propose a new lossless compression technique based on hierarchical segmentation, namely hierarchi-callossless segmentation (HLS). The principle of HLS works with bilevel images on hierarchical segmentation until homogeneous segments are obtained. The homogeneous segments are then encoded by an efficient interference-limiting constellation in which each symbol assembles two bits. From the compression performance perspective, findings illustrate that the proposed HLS outperforms the existing work with compression gain up to 6%. From the compression time perspective, HLS introduces moderate computational time among the comparable approaches. Images, that meet the smoothness criterion, highlight the compression and computational efficiencies of our proposal.


Introduced combat methods to teaching process, as expl aining, demonstration ,exercise in 24 styles predigest Taijiquan course, and com b ined them with styles. After experiment and comparison in Taijiquan teaching, t he significant functions of combat training is showed.make further cognition to styles and principle of Taijiquan improve their efficiency in learning Taijiqu an , make them easy to remember and provide to forget it; cultivate students' interesting in learning Taijiquan.


X-ray computed tomography (CT) is widely used in nondestructive testing (NDT) techniques. While in medical imaging, classical methods based on backprojection (BP) or algebraic reconstruction techniques (ART) are satisfactory, in NDT applications, data acquisition constraints are such that these methods do not give satisfactory results. There is then a need for extra information and other kinds of data. In this paper, we consider an X-ray CT image reconstruction problem using two different kind of data: classical X-ray radiographic data and geometrical information and propose new methods based on regularization and Bayesian estimation for this data fusion problem. We use two kinds of geometrical information: partial knowledge of values in some regions and partial knowledge of the edges of other regions. We show the advantages of using such information on increasing the quality of reconstructions in a NDT application of wide layered shape (sandwich) structures. We also show results to analyze the effects of errors in these data on the reconstruction results.