Cell cycle deregulation can occur at different levels in cancer. In human breast cancer it includes overexpression of cyclins D1 and E, down‐regulation of cyclin‐dependent kinase inhibitors and inactivation of the retinoblastoma and p53 tumor suppressor proteins. Telomerase activity is strongly associated with an immortal phenotype and expression of telomerase is linked to the cell cycle. We have recently demonstrated a connection between specific cell cycle defects within the pRB pathway and levels of telomerase activity in breast cancer. In the present study, 106 tumors were investigated for p53 gene and protein status. By single strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP) analysis, 15% showed mutations within exons 5–8 and by immunohistochemistry (IHC), 29% were p53 positive. Tumors with a telomerase activity above median (i.e., telomerasehigh) were significantly associated with p53 protein accumulation (p = 0.004), but not with p53 gene mutations. The strongest telomerase expression was found in tumors with p53 protein accumulation. Morphologic grade, estrogen and progesterone receptor expression differed significantly between the telomerasehigh and telomeraselow groups (p < 0.0001, p = 0.016 and p = 0.046, respectively), but no difference was observed for stage or nodal status. Telomerasehigh tumors were significantly associated with a poor prognosis for node‐negative (N0) patients (p = 0.008), but not for node‐positive (N+) patients, whereas the opposite was demonstrated for tumors with p53 accumulation. The survival data indicated that telomerase expression has biological importance particularly for N0 tumors, suggesting that telomeraselow tumors constitute a group of "pre‐immortalized" tumors with a good prognosis. Int. J. Cancer (Pred. Oncol.) 79:343–348, 1998. © 1998 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.


A new iron(III) phosphate, RbFe(HPO4)2, has been synthesised hydrothermally at 230°C and characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. The crystal is trigonal with a very long c axis: space group Rc, a= 8.160(1), c= 52.75(1)A, Z= 18 and R= 0.0207. The compound adopts an intersecting tunnel structure, with the rubidium cations in the tunnels. The framework consists of corner-sharing FeO6 octahedra and HPO4 groups. A triclinic polymorph was also obtained.


The influence of copper on recrystallization of Ti-stabilized interstitial free steels has been studied. It is shown that the recovery and the recrystallization kinetics are slowed down. Thus the final recrystallization texture is modified: whereas the γ-fiber is still present, its intensity is lower. The deformed α-fiber contribution is larger than without copper and its magnitude depends on the annealing conditions: it is all the more intense as the heating rate is small. These effects are related to the presence of copper-based precipitates. The recrystallization textures are discussed in function of the precipitates evolution.


(57) Abstract: The present invention relates to the detection of the rollover tendency of the vehicle at about the vehicle axis extending in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle. For this, at least one value representing the transverse dynamics of values and a vehicle representative of the wheel rotational speed to at least one wheel is determined. At least one short braking torque and / or drive torque at the wheels is being generated and / or varied as a function of the value representing the transverse dynamics of the vehicle. During braking torque and / or drive torque at least one wheel is generated a short time and / or changes, and / or braking torque and / or drive torque is generated a short time in at least one wheel and / or after being changed, the value quantitatively representing the wheel characteristics as a function of the at least one value representative of the rotational speed of the wheel relative to the wheel is determined. As a function of this value, whether rollover trend in about a vehicle axis extending in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle is present is determined for the vehicle.


A 2D DCT/IDCT is widely used in image compression system. However, due to its computational intensity, dedicated hardware architecture is required to compress large video data in real-time. This paper propose an efficient architecture to concurrently process all macro block data in 2D DCT/IDCT. As a result, the processing speed is increased up to 13.30 times and no transposition buffer is required. Eliminating transposition buffer is significantly reduced the design size and the processing latency. Moreover, proposed architecture critical path consists only three stage adder which improve system speed. The proposed architecture also does not require a large bit width to produce high quality reconstructed image (High PSNR). It is because the architecture use the multiplier just once for each data. Therefore, the rounding of intermediate data does not cumulative. The design has been implemented and verified in FPGA to real-time show compression and decompression of a moving JPEG. The design has been also synthesized using CMOS 0.18μm technology library that results in 12.37 ns critical path.


The groundwater quality in areas adjoining the River Yamuna at Delhi (India) has been assessed to determine the suitability of groundwater for domestic use. Thirty-eight groundwater samples from shallow and deep aquifers were collected each during pre- and postmonsoon seasons in the year 2000 and analyzed for various physicochemical and bacteriological parameters and trace elements. The study indicated concentrations of total dissolved solids, nitrate, sulfate, and sodium higher than water quality standards. The presence of total coliforms indicates bacterial contamination in the groundwater. The grouping of samples according to their hydrochemical facies indicated that the majority of the samples fall into Na-K-Cl-SO4 followed by Na-K-HCO3 and Ca-Mg-Cl-SO4 hydrochemical facies. The qualitative analysis of data depicted higher concentrations of various physicochemical and bacteriological parameters on the western side of River Yamuna, even in deep aquifers.

Keywords:

groundwater quality;
trace elements;
hydrochemical facies;
Chadha's diagram


Multi-sensor fusion deals with the combination of complementary and sometimes contradictory sensor data into a reliable estimate of the environment to achieve a sum which is better than the parts. Multiple sensors can be used to overcome problems associated with object recognition systems. The introduction of multiple sensors into such a system emphasizes the need for useful methods for combining sensor outputs. Multiple sensors can yield duplicate information that can be used to verify input and possibly to ease the task of object recognition. Since each sensor output contains noise, multiple sensors can be used to determine the same property, but with the consensus of all sensors. We introduce a Bayesian approach for combining sensor outputs that increases the confidence in features supported by multiple sensors and reduces the confidence in unsupported features. This paper describes how feature level input from an arbitrary number of sensors may be combined to make 3-D object recognition more accurate. An example involving features from range, intensity, and tactile is given.


Bachelor work deals the problems of the european public administration functioning. The work is devided into theoretical and practical part. The practical part is focussed on the functioning of the public administration in two particular countries of European Union - the Czech republic and Slovakia. In this part there are compared reforms of public administration above all, but also for example election system in these two countries.


0 FAR, only some viruses, all of them of large particle size, are susoJceptible to chemotherapy. The viewpoint that this susceptibility to chemotherapeutics is due to a certain amount of independent metabolism of these viruses (Henry (1), Moragues and coll. (2) ) seems to be especially confirmed by Findlay's work, (3) who observed that para-amino-, benzoic acid counteracts the therapeutic effect of sulfathiazole on mice inoculated with the virus of lymphogranuloma venereum. As far as the true viruses of small particle size, like rabies, encephalomyelitis, yellow fever, poliomyelitis, influenza and others are concerned, no effective therapeutic agents have been found up to now. Although the solution of this as well as of the whole, virus problem will be probably attained through a thorough knowledge of intracellular biochemistry, it is felt that the study of the in vitro action of non-toxic chemical agents on viruses could be of some use in this sense. The inactivating effect of urea in high concentrations on some viruses is well known. The destruction of the influenza virus by vapors of propylene glycol was recently described by Puck and coll. (4)


Recent advances in information communication technologies have yielded a variety of new services. Location based services are attractive as they offer so many new functionalities. However, if they are used indoors, location recognition is essential because the global positioning system, the preferred choice outdoors, cannot be used indoors. Therefore, this paper proposes an indoor human location recognition method that uses the vibration signals captured by acceleration sensors placed on the floor. The user does not wear any device. Preliminary experiments show that signal magnitude corresponds to the distance between the sensor and the point of pressure which indicates the feasibility of the proposal. Another experiment with walking subjects showed that for subject-sensor distances of 1 to 5 m, the proposed method could recognize subject location with 68 % accuracy at distances of 1 m or better tolerance and 87 % at distances of 2 m or better tolerance. These results verify the feasibility of the proposed system.


.Abstract: In this study, cationic guar polymer was selected from many ca tionic polymers currently using in shampoo and then was newly developed having 0.7 % above of nitrogen con tent and 190 ~ 200 cps of viscosity through vari-ous performance measurements. Wet combing ability, polymer subs tantivity, silicone deposition and panel test were evaluated for performance measurements. Cationic guar polymer t hat was invented from this study can optimize con-ditioning effects in shampoo.Keywords: cationic guar, charge density, molecular weight, conditioning, shampoo


This paper treats a for the semiconductor industry somewhat different application: The first-ever manufacture of Diffractive Optical Elements (DOE's) as directly written multilevel diffractive micro-reliefs using the DUV SLM-based Sigma7300 Mask. The reliefs were manufactured in the DUV Chemically Amplified Resist (CAR) FEP-171. This particular application is of direct interest since DOE's are already incorporated in the Sigma7300 system. The design and manufacture are demonstrated with (1.) A Fan-out element and (2.) A logotype generator. The first attempts, reported here, resulted in a Fan-out element with diffraction efficiency of 64% compared to the theoretical design of 88%.


The question of possible flood control and flood mitigation measures and their effects is still challenging. While the effect of purely technical flood control measures such as dams or levees is sufficiently described by using any of widely spread or more specific models, the effectiveness of close-to-nature ones (river restoration, appropriate land use, landscape structure regeneration, etc.) is not adequately verified and quantified. On that account, the benefits and feasibility of integration of the natural potential of floodplains to absorb and transform flood wave is being discussed. In addition, there are many side benefits of close-to-nature measures which are hard to evaluate and include into decision making processes. This contribution presents a part of the study related to river and floodplain restoration and revitalization measures in catchments and their flood-control effect. In the study the possibilities of using one-dimensional (HEC-RAS) and two-dimensional hydraulic mathematical models (FAST2D, DIFEM2D) of steady and unsteady flow for estimation of transformation effects of a floodplain were compared. The comparison of used models was made with respect to computed results and also to the availability of input data, mathematical stability, processes and accuracy demands and time requirements. The above mentioned methods of hydraulic modelling were applied to three case study localities in the Czech Republic. The parts of river channels and their floodplain differ in terms of morphology, river channel form and training situation and land-use. Case study areas were selected to represent the main types of floodplains within the Czech Republic for their further classification related to flood wave transformation potential. The transformation effect is compared not only for the natural state of the floodplain, but also for various theoretical scenarios in each locality.


The invention relates to a concentrated oil supply hydraulic system. The concentrated oil supply hydraulic system comprises a hydraulic tank. The concentrated oil supply hydraulic system is characterized in that a 300kg hydraulic oil tank is arranged in the hydraulic tank; the hydraulic oil tank is connected with an input end of each hydraulic pump; an output end of each hydraulic pump is connected with one end of a check valve; the other end of each check valve is connected with every bearing grinding machine through an oil inlet pipeline; an oil return pipeline of every bearing grinding machine is connected with an oil inlet of a cooler; an oil outlet of the cooler is connected with the hydraulic oil tank; a power input end of each hydraulic pump is connected with a power output shaft of a corresponding motor; the oil inlet pipeline and the oil return pipeline are galvanized pipes. According to the concentrated oil supply hydraulic system, the waste and the heat of the electric energy are greatly reduced during usage and accordingly the manufacturing cost of a machine tool is compressed and the use of oil products is greatly reduced and the production cost is reduced, the production environment is comprehensively and effectively improved, and the site is neat and attractive.


Choices available to the City of Portland for conserving energy are summarized. Incentive and mandatory programs are presented for savings in the industrial, residential, commercial, transportation, and governmental sectors. It is estimated that their implementation will reduce the Portland region's 1995 energy demand by 34%. The programs are applicable to all U.S. cities, the savings depending upon local conditions such as climate and local building codes. A summary of the study methodology is presented for adaptation to other jurisdictions.


The possibility of using a fillet form to control the horseshoe vortex flow caused by the turbulent shear flow around a wing-body junction has been investigated numerically. A numerical method for the solution of three dimensional incompressible, Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes equations with the two-equation (k,epsilon) turbulence model has been developed to evaluate the effect of fillet forms on appendage-body junction vortex flow. The wing investigated is NACA0020. The Reynolds number based on a chord length is 1.0 x 105. Three configurations including a baseline, a triangle fillet form, and a constant radius convex arc fillet form along the entire wing/flat- plate junction are presented. It is shown that a suitable convex fillet form can significantly improve the stability of junction horseshoe vortex and reduce the strength of vortex and the non-uniformity in the wake velocity profile. The capability of the numerical approach in the design of vortex flow control devices is also demonstrated.


In alpine habitats, wind is the predominant dispersal vector of diaspores (seeds and spores). The wind flow field in mountain areas depends on the interaction of wind with topography which creates very complex patterns for both wind directions and speeds. Most alpine species utilize wind transport for diaspore dispersal, and more than 90% are anemochorous. The transport of diaspores is to date considered a forward (ahead in time) problem, i.e. from actual diaspore locations to future ones. I argue here that, using appropriate reverse mathematical modelling, the problem can be reversed: starting from actual locations of plants and diaspores, one can evince the trajectories that led to actual positions. So doing, one can reconstruct the trajectories followed by plant species to reach actual niches. A particular application of this approach is the individuation of corridors followed by exotic plant species. The ad-hoc software Wind-Lab has been realized which incorporates both forward and backward wind modelling. The model described here might be of importance in geobotany, climatic ecology and plant conservation biology.


The current work aims to analyze the role of commitment perceived by the consumer in the maintenance of long‐term relationships. The context of analysis chosen is the tourism sector, more specifically the relationships that retail travel agencies establish with their consumers. The study tests a conceptual model via a system of structural equations using the statistics package EQS 6.1 for Windows. The results corroborate the importance of the consumer's trust in the travel agency and the consumer's perception of the firm's commitment, because this commitment acts as an antecedent of trust and creates the conditions for the firm to achieve a stable portfolio of customers.


This study was aimed to examine English language teachers' beliefs about the teaching and learning of English language in the context of English language education reforms in western Ethiopia. It made survey with 125 school teachers from 43 schools. Data were collected during the ELT Enhancement Workshop organized by Wollega University at three of its campuses in the months of February 2013, March 2013 and April 2014. The questionnaire focused on gathering data on teachers' current thinking using the Likert Scale. The data collected using questionnaire were analyzised using percentages. These data were substantiated with the data collected using interviews. The findings of the study have shown that in spite of the introduction of various teacher development programmes (like CPD, induction, ELIP and other related workshops), English language teachers have mixed beliefs about the use of language teaching approaches. The study, therefore, suggests that the pre-service and in service trainings which address teachers' beliefs need to be the focus area in the future professional development programmes for ELT teachers in the study area.


Author(s): Debeau, Christopher M; Silverman, Dennis | Abstract: A model for lepton pair production from quark-antiquark annihilation is presented in which antiquarks are obtained from constituent pions and form factors are included to account for the transverse-momentum dependence. The single-lepton spectrum and the lepton-pair spectra in mass squared, transverse momentum, and longitudinal momentum are calculated and compared with proton- and pion-beam experiments. © 1978 The American Physical Society.


Objectives: The objective of this study was to develop a structured curriculum for a group-based parenting program for parents/caregivers of children or adolescents treated in the inpatient child and adolescent mental health unit of a national health institute. Methods: Data from group session reports of 3 years of conducting group-based parenting programs in the same setting were analyzed and prominent themes of discussions were shortlisted before finally arriving at a six-session group parenting program module. Results: A six-session intervention module was designed by psychiatric social workers experienced in group work. The content followed combination of various theoretical approaches and methodologies ultimately aiming in improving the overall knowledge and understanding of parents or caregivers on various child and adolescent mental health issues, and enhancing their skills and competence in dealing with various emotional and behavioral problems in children. Conclusion: Group-based parenting programs are found to be effective in improving the over psychosocial health of parents and the emotional and behavioral problems of children and adolescents as a result of better parenting. Development and standardization of culture appropriate group intervention curriculums would help in the development of this cost effective method as a medium of change.


Amyloid fibrils formed by peptides found in semen have been shown to enhance HIV infectivity in vitro. The first of these peptides to be identified was the 248–286 fragment of prostatic acid phosphatase (PAP248–286) (Munich et al., 2007). PAP248–286 is highly cationic, and its fibrils might facilitate infection by decreasing the electrostatic repulsion between the negatively charged surfaces of the virus and the target cell. Whereas PAP248–286 can easily form fibrils in seminal fluid, it needs rapid agitation in other environments, and certain ions have been shown to be critical for its assembly into fibrils (Olsen et al., 2012). However, mutation of the positively charged residues to alanine results in a peptide (PAP248–286Ala) that can more easily form fibrilar aggregates. We studied PAP248–286 and PAP248–286Ala fibril formation in water and water + NaCl environments. While PAP248-286Ala can efficiently form fibrils in both water and water + NaCl, PAP248-286 can only do so in a water + NaCl solution. The inability of PAP248–286 to form fibrils in water could be due solely to repulsion between the positively charged peptides, an effect that might be diminished by the presence of salt. However, it is also possible that the explanation lies in PAP248–286's failure to populate conformations that can easily lead to ordered aggregates. To answer this question, using molecular dynamics simulations, we characterized the ensemble of conformations populated by the two peptides in water and water + NaCl environments. The results indicate that PAP248-286Ala favors contacts that stabilize a strand-turn-strand, or β-arch, motif around P31, the only proline residue in the sequence. Because β-arches are a common feature in amyloid fibrils, and because it is very unlikely that a proline residue would be in any position other than the β-arch, we expect the formation of this motif to be the rate-limiting step in PAP248–286Ala / PAP248–286 fibril formation. Moreover, the contacts stabilizing the β-arch would bring positively charged residues into contact in PAP248–286, which, consistent with the experimental results, would be facilitated by the presence of negative ions. To summarize, we have tried to understand if the inability of PAP248–286 to efficiently form fibrils in water is only due to a slower aggregation caused by electrostatic repulsion between the positively charged peptides. Our data suggest that this effect is also due to electrostatic repulsion between the residues within each monomeric peptide, which prevents PAP248–286 from populating conformations that would lead to ordered aggregates.


sources. (The regrettable lack of a bibliography and index makes such certitude difficult.) More broadly, the work is certainly innocent of such matters as cultural typologies and literary sociology, to say nothing of gender or deconstruction! Finally, one wonders whether the history of the sonnet in Russia really merited an entire (almost!) book. Mikhail Lomonosov figures hardly at all in this story, for the very simple reason that he wrote not a single sonnet; and Sumarokov had a low estimation of the genre, even if he and his followers did work in this field. Moreover, although the story of the Russian sonnet might have needed telling, in broader terms, it is a rerun of the now long familiar story of how archaic Trediakovskii was defeated by the modernizers. (Implicitly, at least, Berdnikov admits that he is merely giving an old tale a new spin by invoking a Blagoi work of 1946 to corroborate his argument.) The Happy Phoenix, then, is decidedly a curate's egg of a work. There are some distinctly old-fashioned features, although there is also much to admire.


Blood may be the gift of life, but transfusions aren't without risk. Nurses play a key role in safeguarding patients receiving blood components.


OBJECTIVES
To explore the influence of social support on parental physical activity (PA).

METHODS
Forty parents (21 mothers, 19 fathers) participated in semistructured individual or group interviews. Data were analyzed using thematic content analysis.

RESULTS
Instrumental (eg, providing child care, taking over chores), emotional (eg, encouragement, companionship), and informational support (eg, ideas and advice) as well as reciprocal support (eg, giving as well as receiving support) and autonomy support (eg, respecting one's choices) are important for parents' PA behavior. However, having support for being active is not straightforward in that many parents discussed issues that inhibited the facilitative nature of social support for PA performance (eg, guilt in getting help).

CONCLUSIONS
Results highlight the complex nature of social support in facilitating parental PA.


Medical Tourism is a new development in Taiwan recently. The willingness and barriers of potential tourists from China to participate medical tourism are studied. A questionnaire survey is conducted and the SPSS software is used to analyze data. The results show that under one fifth of respondents express full medical tourism participation willingness. Among travel barriers toward medical tourism, "insufficient information of medical tourism trip", "not enough time", "no companion", "worrying about unsatisfied itinerary." are perceived the most important barriers.


Most of the fungal infections in denture wearers are caused by Candida species which colonizes the denture surfaces forming a biofilm which is critical in the development of denture stomatitis. TiO 2 nanoparticles has gained popularity in dentistry as it is nontoxic, chemical inactive, cost efficient, corrosion resistant and possesses high microhardness. Since antimicrobial studies done in the past were with titanium coatings, titanium dioxide nanoparticles in different concentrations has been used in this study. A total of 44 acrylic resin specimens with concentrations of 0%, 0.5%, 1% and 1.5% of TiO 2 nanoparticles were tested for anticandidial activity and the colony forming units were counted. It was found that the addition of TiO 2 nanoparticles had an inhibitory effect on candidal growth and a decrease in the colony forming units were noted with an increase in the concentration of the nanoparticles.


Sales letters are one type of persuasive letter often assigned in the business communication classroom. This article dis cusses three approaches that require the student to either taste a product, try out an item, or touch an object before writing the sales letter to a prospective audience. The article describes pre-assignment activities, the assignment, and student reaction to the activities. Samples of handouts and student work are included.


FIELD: information technology. SUBSTANCE: method includes steps of transmitting display data from an application running on a portable computing device (PCD) to a first PCD docking station display; receiving calls through the PCD; determining whether the PCD is communicating with the PCD docking station; displaying a telephone application on a second PCD display; and ringing a call through one or more PCD docking station speakers. EFFECT: broader functional capabilities owing to simultaneous display of information of a telephone application on the PCD docking station display and the PCD display during the telephone call, made through PCD docking station speakers. 24 cl, 37 dwg


The Gamma‐Ray Imaging Spectrometer (GRIS) is a powerful second‐generation high‐resolution gamma‐ray spectrometer. It consists of an array of seven large (typically ≳200 cm3) n‐type Germanium detectors surrounded by a thick (15 m) NaI active shield. Its energy range is 0.02 to 10 MeV. A new detector segmentation technique will be employed to reduce the detector background. The β‐decay background component, which is expected to be dominant in the 0.2–2 MeV range, will be suppressed by roughly a factor of 20. The 3σ GRIS sensitivity to a narrow Fe line at 847 keV (expected to be the most intense from a supernova) will be ∼2×10−4 photons/cm2‐s for an 8 hr observation of the LMC over Alice Springs, Australia with unsegmented detectors. The instrument in simplified form will be ready to observe SN 1987A in early 1988.


Electric power plants that burn fossil fuels emit several pollutants linked to the environmental problems of acid rain, urban ozone, and the possibility of global climate change. Damages caused by those emissions are viewed by many economists as "externalities" and an ineffi-ciency of the market when electric power rates do not reflect, nor ratepayers directly pay, the associated social costs. Until recently, efforts to control power plant emissions have focused on the command-and-control approach of setting standards. More recent efforts, including the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990, have involved incentive-based measures, such as emissions fees and systems of marketable emissions allowances. A few State regulatory bodies are experimenting with methodologies to "price" environmental externalities and incorporate that cost information in deliberations about least-cost ways to meet projected demand for electric power. The spread of these methodologies could be affected by increased competition in the electricity industry, which would allow electric power customers direct access to a variety of electric power providers.


A novel coplanar waveguide-fed tri-band monopole antenna with a compact radiator (10 × 23 mm2) for WLAN/WiMAX applications is presented. By etching properly an inverted-L slot on the straight strip loaded with a rectangular tuning patch and further adjusting the dimensions and positions of these structures, three distinct wide bands can be achieved. The measured and simulated results show that the proposed antenna has 10 dB impedance bandwidth of 470 MHz (2.38–2.85 GHz), 360 MHz (3.36–3.72 GHz) and 890 MHz (4.98–5.87 GHz) to cover all the 2.4/5.2/5.8 GHz WLAN bands and 2.5/3.5/5.5 GHz WiMAX bands. Also, the proposed antenna produces good dipole-like radiation pattern over the covering bands.


Many case studies have shown that local communities are capable of managing natural renewable resources like fish, forests or grazing lands in a highly sustainable and profitable way by making informal agreements on the managing strategies. Unfortunately there are counterexamples in which communities fail to do so: Resources are depleted far too quickly leading to devastating ecological and economic consequences, a result that is often referred to as Tragedy of the Commons. Even more puzzling is the fact that communities switch sometimes out of a sudden from a sustainable and successful harvesting regime to an unsustainable and unsuccessful one.


The experimental observation and theoretical description of a previously unrecognized mechanism for generating electromagnetic emissions and anomalous resistivity from a beam‐plasma interaction which is characteristic of Penning discharges is reported. Very clear emissions were observed from electric field‐dominated bumpy torus plasma near the geometric mean plasma frequency. These emissions are inconsistent with familiar physical mechanisms, and occurred in excellent agreement with the theoretical frequency ωgm = 0.537(ωpeωpi)1/2. This frequency was derived from a theory based on the interaction of two opposite, interpenetrating electron beams with a heavy ion plasma. The anomalous resistivity associated with this interaction is predicted to several hundred times that of the familiar Buneman or ''turbulent'' resistivity. A perturbation procedure is used to obtain analytic expressions for the emission frequency and the anomalous resistivity in the zero temperature case. These results are extended to inclu...


Dear Editor We read with interest the article by Elfeki et al. (1) recently published in Clinical Transplantation. In their retrospective single-center review of patients who had a liver transplant, the authors identified recipient–donor age difference (i.e. younger donor and older recipient) as a significant predictor of graft-versus-host disease (GvHD). Although limited by the small sample size (8 patients), this result is interesting and worth more exploration. The same observation was made more than a decade ago by Smith et al. (2) in their retrospective review of liver transplant-associated GvHD (12 patients). Herein, we attempt, using our current knowledge about GvHD in the setting of allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT), to provide an explanation for this interesting finding. Acute GvHD is the result of alloreactive graft T cells attacking recipient cells. The immunosuppressed status of the recipient impairs the recipient's ability to eradicate donor T cells. One major reason for the rarity of GvHD after solid organ transplantation (SOT) compared to HCT is the magnitude of recipient immunosuppression (mild in SOT and severe in HCT). A large age difference between the donor (younger) and recipient (older) may result in the transfer of T cells belonging to a "young" immune system into an "immunosenescent" recipient (3). The inability of the immunosenescent recipient to clear alloreactive donor T cells can explain the higher incidence of GvHD in the setting of young donor, old recipient SOT. However, seemingly contradictory to this hypothesis, grafts from older donors are associated with a higher incidence of GvHD in the setting of HCT (4). This observation can be explained by the massive antigenic exposure that occurs after high-dose cytotoxic conditioning before HCT. Conditioningrelated mucosal barrier damage results in release of intracellular substances from the dying enterocytes and translocation of endotoxin and other inflammatory stimuli across the gut. These two parallel processes lead to the exposure of the incoming graft T cells to numerous recipient-derived antigens and can result in the development of acute GvHD (5). Pre-transplant conditioning is significantly milder with SOT than HCT and results in less intense antigen exposure and presumably less donor T-cell activation. Tolerance to the host may decrease with age because of age-related exposure of donor T cells to cumulatively larger numbers of antigens and increased replacement of na€ıve T cells with memory T cells (6). When exposed to the massive alloantigen release in the heavily conditioned host in the HCT (but not SCT) setting, these cells are activated, then expand and recruit more effector cells, and ultimately result in allocative tissue injury and GvHD. The hypothesis developed here provides a mechanistically plausible explanation for the interesting observation made by Elfeki et al. (1) and Smith et al. (2) in the liver transplant setting, and brings it into a unifying context with the HCT setting, where donor age is directly associated with a higher incidence of GvHD and worse outcomes. The similarities between SOT and HCT as well as their unique characteristics provide a unique opportunity for cross-disciplinary research.


The mating behaviour of the Knife livebearer Alfaro cultratus is described in detail. During "Rubbing", the male swims to a position above the female, and gently moves down repeatedly touching the dorsal part of female head with the pelvic fin tips. This courtship behaviour constitutes the first report of a pelvic fin male-female contact during mating in poecilids. Based on preliminary evidence, I propose that a sensory bias mechanism could mediate the evolution of signal design/mate choice in this species, which should be tested in further studies. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.


The employment of women and racial/ethnic minorities in the public work force has grown considerably in the past 20 years, and projections have suggested that such growth can be expected to continue into the immediate future (Johnston et al., 1988). Already, die federal civil service has, in the aggregate, become remarkably reflective of the nation's population. Women comprise more than 43 percent of the total federal civilian work force while African Americans hold 16.6 percent of those positions, and Hispanic representation stands at 5.4 percent (U.S. Office of Personnel Management, 1990a). This level of integration has, however, failed to reach all segments of the public bureaucracy. Women and minorities remain concentrated in lower-echelon jobs. Much attention has focused recently on that issue and on ways to ensure that equal opportunity reaches the higher grades in the public service;(1) yet, there is considerable variation across federal agencies in the overall percentage of jobs held by women and minorities and the rate of growth of minority and female employment. These differences are illustrated in Tables 1 and 2, which report employment shares for women, African Americans, and Hispanics in 30 selected agencies for the year 1988, and the percentage increase in employment shares for each group from 1982-1988, respectively. (The term "agency" is used to refer to departments as well as independent agencies.) [TABULAR DATA OMITTED] The empirical issue addressed in this article is the extent to which interagency differences in female and minority employment shares, as well as share changes, are systematically related to the distribution of occupations within an agency and an agency's demographic and organizational characteristics. A distinctive feature of this analysis is the use of panel data, a pooled cross-section/time-series see grey box on page 266.) Previous empirical work has relied amost exclusively on crosssectional econometric approaches. The availability of panel data allows for control of the passage of time and of unobserved time-invariant agency characteristics that may be correlated with explanatory variables in subsequent regressions. Such control is not possible in standard cross-sectional analysis, and as a result, coefficient estimates from such models may be inconsistent. Agency Characteristics and the Employment of Women and Minorities In any study of determinants of government employment integration along gender, racial, and ethnic lines, attention should be directed to the distribution of occupations across agencies. Traditionally, women and minorities have been over-represented in clerical positions and under-represented in professional, administrative, and technical job categories (Saltzstein, 1986; Mladenka, 1989; Kellough, 1990; and Kellough and Elliott, 1992). As a result, it can be expected that the estimated effect of the percentage of clerical positions on the employment of women and minorities will be positive. Similarly, because of the over-representation of African-American and Hispanic employees in blue-collar positions, the prevalence of blue-collar positions in an agency should be positively associated with African-American and Hispanic employment. By contrast, female and minority employment should vary inversely with the percentage of professional, administrative, and technical occupations in an agency. Apart from occupational variation, however, federal agencies also differ dramatically in terms of their size or total employment. Grabosky and Rosenbloom (1975) provided early evidence that minority employment shares are negatively related to agency size. One explanation for this relationship is that each additional minority (or female) hire makes a smaller contribution toward diversity in large agencies; such agencies must employ a larger number of minorities to achieve the same racial/ethnic composition as smaller agencies. …


We have developed a new computer based learning environment to teach adaptive systems in the electrical engineering (EE) undergraduate curriculum. The learning environment is based upon an electronic book containing a hypertext document linked with a software simulator which runs interactive examples on-line, and is fully controlled by the student. This paper presents the concepts behind the project, its implementation, and discusses the teaching methodology and an evaluation of the first course offering.


Based on a comparative analysis of the two Chinese versions of the famous British novel Wuthering Heights,this paper aims at explaining the importance of cohesive devices both for understanding the texts in source language and reconstructing texts in target language in translation.During the process of text translation,consciousness of cohesion not only helps to achieve a better comprehension of the original text,but helps to produce a translation functionally equivalent to the original.


We present the calculation of the beam-beam tune shift and dynamical beta function for PEP-II as a function of the fractional tune and the beam separation at the parasitic collision (PC) points. We do the calculation both for "typical" and for "pacman" bunches taking into account all the PCs. 1 IN'IRODUCTION If the beam-beam interaction is relatively weak, as is the case for most colliders, one can assess, in linear approximation, its most basic constraint on the choice of the working point. This constraint is absolutely necessary, although far from sufficient, for acceptable luminosity performance. Obviously this approximation is insensitive to all synchro-betatron resonances, and to all betatron resonances except those near the integer and half-integer tunes. There are three well-known consequences that follow from the linear approximation: (1) stopbartds near integer and halfinteger tunes appear, (2) the tune shift produced by the beambeam collision is significantly different from the beam-beam parameter near the edges of the stopband; and (3) the beta function at the IP is different from its nominally-specified value (this is the so-called "dynamical beta function" effect). We compute here the edges of the stopbands, the beam-beam tune shifts and the dynamical beta functions at the IP for the specific case of PEP-II, as a function of tune. The PEP-II design [1] calls for head-on collisions with magnetic separation in the horizontal plane. As a result, there are four PCs on either side of the IP. If the beam were uniformly populated, the tune shift and dynamical beta function would be the same for all bunches. However, the existence of an ion-clearing gap implies that those bunches at the head and the tail of the train (dubbed "pacman" bunches) do not experience all PCs. For this reason, these bunches have a different tune shift and dynamical beta function from the bunches away from the ends of the train (dubbed "typical" bunches). In our calculation we take into account all the PCs, and we present results both for typical and for pacman bunches. This article summarizes Ref. [2]. 2 CALCULATION IN LINEAR THEORY Each beam-beam collision, whether it is head-on or longrange, is characterized in lowest order by a beam-beam parameter !; which measures its strength as experienced by the twork supported by the Director, Office of Energy Research, Office of High Energy and Nuclear Physics, High Energy Division, of the U.S. Department of Energy under Contract no. DE-AC03-76SF00098. 1 particle at the center of the bunch. In the small-amplitude approximation it is described by the kick matrix K(n)= ( 1 OJ -4n/;n/f3n 1 (1) where f3n is the lattice beta-function at the collision point n. We assume that the lattice is linear and that there is no x-y coupling, so that we can treat the horizontal and vertical phase spaces separately in the two rings. We label the parasitic collisions n = 1, .. ·,4 or n = -4, .. ·,-1 as shown in Fig. 1, and n = 0 is the main collision at the IP. With this convention, the one-tum map for a particle corresponding to a surface of section immediately before the IP is given by M'(O) = M(0,-1)K(-1)···K(-4) xM(-4,4)K(4) .. ·K(l)M(1,0)K(O) (2) where M(n,m) is the linear transport matrix [3] from point m to point n.


A new density cell based on the vibrating tube principle is described. This cell provides an accuracy of density measurements of 2 × 10−6 g/cm3 and presents a great stability with respect to temperature and time variations. In two experiments—measurement of self-diffusion coefficient of heavy water through membrane and determination of partial specific volume of polymers in very dilute solutions—it is shown that such a precision leads to new types of investigations.


BY molecular dynamic simulation on the self-diffusion properties of Cu nanoclusters, we found the diffusion coefficients of copper nanoclusters Nc8949 increase with the increasing temperature and increase with reciprocals of their radii approximately at 1 000 K. At the same time, we conclude that nanoclusters will not diffuse at room temperature, and the molecular dynamics simulation results of some paper, which support evident diffusion of nano-grains at the same temperature, were a false appearance caused by macro-rotation of system in simulation.


Folded morphogenesis, which with the emergence of reinforced structures in the early XX century received a strong boost to the development, is actively used in modern architecture. The object of this research contains three types of buildings: 1) with folded forms as the main composite element; 2) with concept based on Gilles Deleuze theory of folds; 3) that use thin folded reinforced concrete structures. The goal of this work is to determine the development trend of folded morphogenesis in modern architecture, as well as give a forecast to the development of folded morphogenesis. The criteria for analysis became the quantitative and qualitative indicators: duration of construction, duration of exploitation, cost of construction, capacity, total area, height, construction material, construction place, situation, aesthetic aspect, functionality, number of floors, utility, private or government capital, and the Pritzker Architecture Prize. The research results demonstrate that the development trends of folded morphogenesis are vectored from utilitarian to spectacular function, as well as excessive fascination of the architects with aesthetics of the folded forms.


The relationships of molecular weight distribution, grain morphology and processing rheology property of suspension PVC resins with different recipe of novel four unit dispersing agent system were studied by GPC, SEM, Instron capillary rheometer and HAAKE torque rheometer. And the contrast with those employing general three unit dispersing agent system was also made. The results showed that the grain morphology and rheological properties of resins with four unit dispersing agent system were not inferior but superior to those with three unit dispersing agent system. Besides, the producing cost of the former was much lower than that of the latter.


The 'Urf approach in Islamic studies is to find out the content of Islamic teachings in a community custom in an area that takes place repeatedly. The purpose of this study to find out the value of Islamic contained in the culture of nyongkolan for the Sasak people in Lombok, where the meaning of nyongkolan is to announce marriage to the local community as in Islam which is announced to announce the news of marriage so that there is no slander in the future. This research method uses literature review, namely taking data source from books, applicable laws and the results of previous research in accordance with the current research theme. Understanding the 'Urf approach in Islamic studies is like an effort to find out the regulations for registering marriages from a legal perspective in Indonesia. The provisions for marriage are regulated in Article (2) which reads "Every marriage is recorded according to the applicable laws and regulations". From the provisions of article 2 it explains that every marriage must be recorded according to the applicable laws and regilations as the legal for each party concerned.


the reproduction quality of diagrams is not consistently good. This applies especially to maps in Chapter 2, which are sourced from other publications, and which are printed at a poor resolution such that the legends are difficult to discern. Unfortunately, I also consistently failed when trying to access the Companion Website (http://www.wiley.com/go/bradshaw/sykes/ecosystem) which supposedly provides powerpoints of all the figures and PDFs of tables from the books. Instead, I found myself at a general Wiley page on resources and events, but with no easy-toclick links to the material for which I was searching. This is not, clearly, the fault of the authors, and will hopefully be remedied by the publishers.


Taking into account the size limitations of both weight and length of departure trains,and the break-up sequence of inbound trains and make-up sequence of outbound trains,the 0-1 integer programming model for optimization of wagon-flow allocation at marshaling stations was established.The objective of this model was set to minimize the total costs of cars assignment.Then the hybrid heuristic algorithm based on the harmony search strategy and ILOG was designed to solve the model.The harmony search strategy was used to optimize the break-up sequence of inbound trains and make-up sequence of outbound trains,and cars assignment for harmonic evaluation was solved by ILOG.The neighborhood search strategy was used to enhance the convergence rate of the algorithm in the process of constructing the new harmony.The result of a numerical example proves that the proposed model and algorithm can provide a wagon-flow allocation scheme of higher robustness.


By analyzing the current situation of liberary criticism in the angle of luyao's theory of cniticism and acceptance,it can be obviously found that the criticism of academic school and the criticism on mass culture have not led the literary criticism of china to a prosperous period when the criticism of mainstream ideology declined gradually.Chinese literary criticism has fallen into a embarrassed condition: elite criticism is divorced from social life;mass criticism lacks promotion of social culture;literary cueptonce is seriously separated from acceptance.


Abstract Low phosphorus (LP) limits crop growth and productivity in the majority of arable lands worldwide. Here, we investigated the changes in physiological and biochemical traits of Tibetan wild barleys (Hordeum vulgare L. ssp. spontaneum) XZ99 (LP tolerant), XZ100 (LP sensitive), and cultivated barley ZD9 (moderately LP tolerant) under two phosphorus (P) levels during vegetative stage. These genotypes showed considerable differences in the change of biomass accumulation, root/shoot dry weight ratio, root morphology, organic acid secretion, carbohydrate metabolism, ATPase (Adenosine triphosphatase) activity, P concentration and accumulation under LP in comparison with CK (control) condition. The higher LP tolerance of XZ99 is associated with more developed roots, enhanced sucrose biosynthesis and hydrolysis of carbohydrate metabolism pathway, higher APase (Acid phosphatase) and ATPase activity, and more secretion of citrate and succinate in roots when plants are exposed to LP stress. The results prove the potential of Tibetan wild barley in developing barley cultivars with high tolerance to LP stress and understanding the mechanisms of LP tolerance in plants.


H. maintains the view that ' Zealots ' was probably the original name of the Jewish ' Freiheitsbewegung ' before the revolt, and that the original Zealots were the whole party inspired by the teaching of Judas the Galilean, the founder of the ' Fourth Philosophy '. After the split which had occurred among them as the result of the clash between Menahem, the descendant of Judas, and the priestly group of Jerusalem the name was usurped by the latter. This discussion is the basis for the excellent historical narrative of Hengel's sixth chapter. He emphasizes throughout his study the role assumed by Menahem as a Messianic king and the leader of the extremists over the whole country. His death at the hands of his priestly opponents is interpreted as a crucial event in the development of the revolt, since he was the only man who by his family connections and position could command respect from the different groups of fighters. After his death his nearest followers retired in disgust to Masada (see above, pp. 142 ff.). It seems to me necessary to stress more that ideological diversity was inherent in the extremist groups right from the beginning. We can follow two main trends, one with a strong belief in an individual Messiah-King to lead the hosts of the rebels, and the other opposing it. The great figures of the first trend were, among others, Menahem and Simon Bar-Giora, while the Jerusalem Zealots rejected wholly their messianic claims. It appears that the groups with a preference for a kingly leader had at the same time a marked tendency to social revolution which the other groups mostly lacked. The remnants of the party of Menahem swelled the ranks of the other MessiahKing, Bar-Giora, to whom they were akin both by temper and ideology, thus making his the largest fighting force among the rebels. Some other details call for comment. It is highly improbable that the Hellenistic city of Gerasa was sacked by the Roman army, and the inscriptional evidence does not lend any support to such a disaster having occurred in the history of the city (cf. Fink, JRS xxm, 120 f.). We should look instead for this Gerasa of Josephus in some Jewish township which may be tentatively identified with Jureish in Samaria. Also the apparent contradiction between Judas the Gaulanite from Gamala of Ant. xvin, 4, and Judas the Galilean of the other passages of Josephus and of Acts 5, 37, may be explained in a simpler way than it is usually done. It looks as if Gamala was sometimes described loosely as a part of Jewish Galilee, and one may point to BJ 11, 568, where Gamala is attached to the military province of Galilee assigned to Josephus. The chapters dealing with the principles of the ' fourth Philosophy ' and the various connotations of the concept of ' Zeal' in Jewish religion and life are masterly studies. The subtle analysis of the Talmudic and Midrashic passages bearing on the great prototypes of zealotism, Pinchas and Elia, is very instructive. The fifth chapter discusses the eschatological aspects of the movement and includes many contributions, conspicuous among them being the studies of the part played by prophecy in the last struggle around the Temple, of the motive of retirement to the desert and of Zealot martyrology. H. has mastered all the original sources and almost all the modern literature in different languages (including Modern Hebrew) relating to his subject. His style is fluent and the book is very readable. The bibliography at the end of the volume will prove useful, though classical scholars may be surprised to find there still, instead of later and better editions, Dindorf's Dio Cassius, Hertz's Livius and Bekker's Appian. The study on the whole is one of the finest contributions to Jewish history in the Roman period. It has done much to clarify the background of the great struggle between the Jews and the Roman Empire.


A numerical study of three-dimensional supercritical states of natural convection in a narrow-gap horizontal cylindrical annulus is presented. For the first time, an odd number of counter-rotating transverse rolls is shown to occur in a narrow-gap annulus. Flow and temperature fields associated with the odd roll state are compared to those of transverse roll states exhibiting even numbers of rolls, and factors influencing the occurrence and number of odd rolls are investigated.


Contents Introduction: 'Non-Realism: The Once and Future Reality' Or 'Twice Abused Bodies and the Question of Agency' The Mystery of Violence 'To Witness These Wrongs Unspeakable': The Metaphorical, the Material and the Violenced Body' The Poison in the Womb: Dis/placing the Violenced Body in Toni Morrison's Beloved Narrating Collectivity from Violence: The Case of Slavery and World War I in Toni Morrison's Beloved and Sula The Voice and the Book: Collectivity, Orality and Novelistic Discourse Immigration and Identity: The Case of Feudalism and the Second World War in Maxine Hong Kingston's The Woman Warrior and Amy Tan's The Joy Luck Club 'An Invisible Country, A True Chile': The Body of Evidence in Isabel Allende's House of Spirits Bibliography Index


The surfactant polysorbate 20,40,60 and 80 were evaluated for their effects on the in vitro fermentation of corn-straw by mixed sheep ruminal microorganisms.The results showed that polysorbate 60 and 80 raised 24h cumulative gas production and fermentation rate.Compared with the control group,the 24h cumulative gas production of T60 and T80 groups increased by 5.68%(P0.05)and 9.02%(P0.05).The fermentation model wasn't affected after polysorbates adding,but the intensity strengthened when polysorbate 60 and 80 added,in vitro.The digestibility of DM improved by 5.2-8.1%(P0.05)and that of OM tended to increase in groups,except T20 group.At the end of fermentation,the concentration of NH3-N in culture supernatant decreased and the reducing sugar and MCP rose,but not for pH and TVFA in T40,T60 and T80 groups.Compared to the control,the concentration of reducing sugar improved 7.54%(P0.05)and 7.26%(P0.05)in T60 and T80 groups,and MCP increased 15.93%(P=0.061).In present research,polysorbate 60 and 80 could greatly stimulate the degradation of corn-straw in vitro anaerobic fermentation.Those results suggest the polysorbate 60 and 80 may have pottntially enhancing forage digestibility in rumens.


Introduction: Acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary diease (COPD) is one of the most important event in natural history of the disease. Pathogenesis of acute exacerbation of COPD is not fully defined. We evaluated serum levels of angiopoietin-2 in acute exacerbation of COPD. Method: Ninety patients including 41 stable COPD patients., 49 patients with acute exacerbation of COPD were compared with 100 healthy control group. Serum level of ang-2, C-reactive protein (CRP), and blood oxygenation status were measured in COPD exacerbated patient at the time of admission and, at the time of discharge.Same laboratory measurements were done for stable COPD patients and for control group. Results: Mean serum level of ang-2 in acute exacerbation group was 78.17± 58.25 pg/ml at the time of admission and 36.39±28.45 pg/ml at discharge day. In stable COPD group , it was 11.06± 7.43 pg/ml and in control group it was 9.43 ±2.81 pg/ml. In COPD exacerbation group serum level of ang-2 at the time of admission was significantly higher than serum level at the time of discharge (P-value<0.001). There was no significant difference of ang-2 between COPD exacerbaton group at the time of discharge, stable COPD group and control group.
 Conclusion: Angiogenesis may be one of the important aspects of pathogenesis at COPD exacerbation, and Ang-2 can be used as a biomarker in diagnosis and follow-up of the patients.


Minimally invasive surgery (MIS) such as laparoscopy and robot are now popularized for curative colon resection of colon cancer (1,2). As time goes by, growing number of colorectal surgeons are accustomed to MIS procedure.


It is important to control the microstructure and surface of films to use them in gas sensors. Chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) processing is one of the most useful methods for improving the surface roughness of films. The effects of CMP on the surface morphology of WO3 thin films prepared by the rf sputtering system were investigated in this article. The removal rate of the films increased, and the rms surface roughness decreased with the addition of an oxidizer to the tungsten slurry. Within-wafer nonuniformity was improved to below 5% when oxidizers of 5.0 and 2.5vol%, respectively, were added to the tungsten slurry. The optimized oxidizer concentration, reflected by both the rms roughness values and a hillock-free surface with the good uniformity, was 5.0vol% as shown with atomic force microscopy analysis of thin film topographies. Our CMP results will be a useful reference for advanced technology of thin films for gas sensor applications in the near future.


The ancestor of Manchus ethnic group dates back to Sushen in Zhou Dynasty,Yilou in Han Dynasty,Wuji in the North and South Dynasties,Mohe in Sui Dynasty and Tang Dynasty and Nuzhen since the Jin Dynasty.The Nuzhen in Ming Dynasty gradually developed into what we called Manchu ethnic group today.All the above mentioned are the different nationalities in the history of China and ancestors of Manchus ethnic group.The formation of Manchus Community come into being in 1635.


Abstract: The effect of some selective monoamine oxidase (MAO) inhibitors on aromatic L‐amino acid decarboxylase (AADC) gene expression in PC12 cells has been examined. Irreversible MAO B inhibitors [(–)‐deprenyl, pargyline, and MDL 72,974A] stimulated AADC gene expression, whereas a selective irreversible MAO A inhibitor (clorgyline) and a reversible MAO B inhibitor (Ro 19‐6327) had no effect. Because there is no apparent MAO B activity in PC12 cells, it is postulated that there is a novel site of action for these MAO B inhibitors and that the pharmacological profile of this site matches that of neuroprotective MAO B inhibitors. Finally, it is suggested that the stimulation of AADC gene expression may be relevant to the antiparkinsonian effects of MAO B inhibitors.


The ANU dish concentrator, SG4, achieves peak concentration ratios of the order of 14,000x. These high fluxes must be carefully managed to avoid off-axis reflections damaging the dish structure, or creating a hazard in the surrounding environment. Ray tracing using Opticad 10.0 was used to predict peak fluxes on the receiver support structure in a variety of dish-sun positions. Transient and steady-state temperatures of the irradiated receiver trusses were modelled using Strand7 FEM software. A custom written ray tracing program is used to predict reflections onto the dish structure, as well as to the surrounding environment. The program is used to develop strategies for moving the dish to positions required for demonstration or maintenance. Radiation levels on the dish surface were both modelled and measured. Suitable eye protection is required for accessing the dish surface.


Among all the disabilities, blindness and deafness are the most common disabilities across the world. According to latest statistics of World Health Organization, 285 million people are visually impaired whereas 360 million people have disabling hearing loss [1]. Blind and deaf people face many problems in their daily life. And walking safely and confidently without human assistance in unfamiliar environment is very difficult for them. In this paper we propose an advanced blind stick that allows deaf blind people to navigate with ease using advanced technology. The designed blind stick not only detects obstacles like objects, water but also produce vibratory mechanism to aware person holding the stick. In this proposed project, ultrasonic sensors are integrated in stick which detects obstacles ahead using ultrasonic waves. The blind and deaf people can see the obstacles by using the smart walking cane with vibrating mechanism.


The graduation thesis contains the analysis of impact of the closure in organization of urban mass transport in Havlickův Brod. The introduction occupies with the analysis of transport in the town, the analysis of the system of urban mass transport and the location of closure. Then there are the proposals of changes of the urban mass transport lines, positions of stops, the timetables, the turns of drivers and the vehicle timetables. In the last part is this proposal compared with the situation during the common traffic situation in the town.


Discussions around the militarisation of conservation have largely focused on violence meted out against subsistence and commercial poachers in, and around, protected areas. Overlooked is violence experienced by perpetrators of such violence. Using lived experiences of anti-poaching in Sikumi Forest Reserve—a state forest managed by Zimbabwe's Forestry Commission—this article examines working experiences of paramilitary personnel. Empirical evidence shows that, in the process of implementing state militarised conservation practices, paramilitary personnel are subjected to violence perpetrated by the state through its authorities. I discuss this violence in the context of occupational violence and make two arguments. The first is that the range of victims of militarised conservation violence goes beyond local communities and commercial poachers to include paramilitary personnel perpetrating such violence. Related to this argument is the second argument that occupational violence has an exacerbating effect on everyday persistent violence. I conclude that aspects of occupational violence, such as displayed in Sikumi Forest Reserve, should be understood as part of broader green violence.


The common aim of legislation in the field of competition and consumer protection is to ensure the consumers' sovereignty and well-being. Based on the analysis of literature in this field we have established, as the main focus of our research, a study of the correlation between the degree of market concentration and the level of consumer protection. By using regression analysis applied to data collected from two sectors of activity, respectively the compulsory civil liability insurance for car owners and mobile telecommunications, we have shown that there is a direct correlation, meaning that a high degree of market concentration – which indicates a low competition level, leads to a decrease in the level of consumer protection.


Fusion rules generalize groups by allowing multivalued multiplication. Groups are fusion rules of simple current index 1. We classify nilpotent (in the sense of Gelaki and Nikshych) fusion rules of simple current index 2, and characterize the associated fusion categories.


Ultrasound assessment of fetal nuchal translucency plus measurement of serum levels of pregnancy-associated plasma protein A and free β–human chorionic


To investigate the effect of magnetic field strength on the validity of two assumptions (namely, the "transceive phase assumption" and the "phase‐only reconstruction") for electrical properties tomography (EPT) at 1.5, 3, and 7T.


The printed antenna is one of the best antenna structures, due to its low cost and compact design. In this paper, we present a new approach to improve the radiation effectiveness and the performance of antennas by miniaturization of the size. Indeed, we have studied the performance of ultra wideband antenna which consists of a ring-shaped patch. This study was made for the whole frequency band of UWB ranging from 2.5GHz to 9.4GHz and the geometry of the antenna and the results were obtained using the simulation software CST Studio microwaves. The detailed design and the results are shown and discussed in this paper.


The present research is focused on the identification of the main needs of social organizations and the consolidation of circular economy principles in the sector of social enterprises. Also, it approaches the interest to contribute to removing the obstacles which prevent the transition towards a circular economy of the social enterprises, as well as the evaluation of understanding circular economy practices by the social enterprises in Romania. The research method used is the survey with a questionnaire as a research instrument. The questionnaire consists of eighteen questions, and it is drawn up to serve at achieving the above-mentioned objectives. The results show us the decisive role that plays the non-refundable funds in the emergence of social enterprise. The most preferred environmental practices to apply in social enterprises are recycling, the use of renewable energy and selective waste collection, being aware of the opportunities that bring us the circular economy. Special courses in fields related to the social economy like Financing sources of social enterprises, Project management, and The structure and development of a business plan are needed in order to facilitate the emergence of new social organizations.


To obtain highly efficient, stable, and environmentally friendly blue-light emitting materials for display applications, we prepared specially tailored Cd-free, colloidal quantum well (CQW) structu...


The authors, going through the literature on ophtalmoplegie migraine, point out the difference of opinions concerning its existence or not and its physiopathology. They present two cases. Both had a rich symptomatology characterizing the attacks of migraine (more or less rapid onset of the headache localized to one hemicranium and folowed by neurovegetative signs, vomiting and fotofobia). Both cases showed, in the electroencephalogram, bilateral symetrical paroxysmal dysrhythmia indicating a true migraine in patients without epileptic seizures and without an epileptic familial background. The ophtalmoplegia usually followed the most severe attacks of headache with total involvement of the third pair, lasting one to thirty or more days. Based in these two cases where attacks of migraine (localized cerebral oedema) were followed by repetitive troncular palsy of the ipsilateral third pair, the authors think to be able to adopt Foster-Kennedy's theory (compression of the nervous trunk by the oedematous brain) and to accept the existence of a true ophtalmoplegic form of migraine in the sensus of Charcot.


Objective To investigate the epidemic strains and drug-resistance of Shigella in Gansu province,and to provide scientific basis for prevention and treatment of diseases due to Shigella infection.Methods Serotyping and drug sensitive testing were conducted to detect the Shigella strains isolated from stool and food specimens.Results Three hundred and sixty-six Shigella strains were detected from 2 407 specimens,and the positive detection rate was 15.21%.The isolated strains were verified to be multidrug-resistant.The strains were resistant to eight drugs.Shigella flexneri was the main isolated strains(200 strains,54.64%),followed by Shigella sonnei(164 strains,44.81%),while in 2007,Shigella sonnei was the predominant strains(79.88%).Conclusion Shigella flexneri is the predominant strains in Gansu province,and Shigella sonnei increases in the recent years.The drug-resistance Shigella strains increased year by year.


There is a growing interest among visual anthropologists to experiment with documentary film formats and styles. My research about contemporary art practices and aesthetics in Maputo, Mozambique contributes to this ongoing debate through two modes of scholarship—audiovisual and written. First, the film 'Living Art' is a sensorial approach towards visual ethnography, giving attention to the aesthetics and embodiment of contemporary art. Since both art and filmmaking are embodied practices, a sensory approach through filmmaking can communicate the embodied and aesthetic aspects of art on an experiential, rather than explanatory, level. The film challenges conventional anthropological film formats, through the near absence of the spoken word as a discursive element and through various montage techniques, such as juxtaposition, decontextualization, soundscapes and repetition. Second, this text reflects upon the creative possibilities of integrating audiovisual ethnographic practices with intuitive artistic filmmaking in a research project about art. A balance between methodology and theory on the one hand and intuition and creativity on the other hand positively impact the research process and outcomes, but this dual approach also requires critical assessment of the limitations of methodological and creative choices in one's practice. Both text and film are based on a collaborative audiovisual research project carried out with a group of young contemporary artists in Maputo, whose practices range from performance, and visual, to installation art. The great diversity of practices is key for the project because it allows capturing the aesthetics of contemporary art in Maputo in its various forms. Through audiovisual analysis, it reveals patterns of similarity and difference that otherwise wouldn't have become visible. For a research about art, the described integrated approach between art and anthropology offers possibilities of rendering new insights and forms of knowledge about art because of its methodological affinities to art itself. The thesis discusses in detail how this is achieved throughout the entire research, from preparations and fieldwork to the editing process. It introduces the research method aesthetic learning which allows combining the ethnographic and artistic approach during all research phases. The conclusion is that through aesthetic learning and in combination with editing-analysis, aesthetic knowledge can be gained about contemporary art practice, which in return contributes both to art and anthropology. These insights open up possibilities for further studies about contemporary art and stimulate dialogue and reflection about the inter-disciplinary aesthetic connections of different art practices.


In this paper, a new classroom acoustics assessment model (CAAM) for enhancing speech intelligibility and learning quality is proposed. The model is based on five main criteria that affect the learning process and related to classrooms acoustical properties. These include classroom specifications, noise sources inside and outside the classroom, teaching style, and vocal effort. The priority and weights of these major criteria along with their alternatives are identified using the views of students, staff, education consultants, and expertise by using a developed questionnaire, and the AHP methodology. This Model can be considered as a helpful framework enabling KAU decision makers to take effective decisions on classroom acoustics treatment issues. It also provides KAU higher authorities the suitable guidelines that help for determine necessary requirements that help to raise the quality and efficiency of the educational environment; in order to reach an excellent learning environment; and hence increasing students learning outcomes.


INTRODUCTION    Early detection of diabetic retinopathy (DR) is key for preventing irreversible blindness. Recent research has identified some of the genetic factors involved in the pathology of DR, although their precise underlying mechanisms remain unclear. OBJECTIVES    This pilot study aimed to determine genetic predictors of DR among patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and diabetic foot (DF) based on pathogenetic pathways. PATIENTS AND METHODS    The study was conducted on 114 patients with T2DM and DF (64 with DR, 50 without DR) treated in the Medical University of Warsaw. Genetic analysis was performed for each patient and the following polymorphisms were analyzed: rs759853 (AKR1B1), rs1800469 (TGFB1), rs2073618 and rs3134069 (TNFRSF11B), rs6330 and rs11466112 in (NGF), rs1801133 (MTHFR), rs8192678 (PPARGC1A), rs1799983 (NOS3) rs1553005 (CALCA) and 121917832  (CDKN1B). RESULTS    Significant correlations with DR were identified for the following single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs): rs759853, rs2073618 and rs3134069. Carriers of the G allele of rs759853 had higher risk of DR in a dominant model (odds ratio [OR]=3.0; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.15-7.81; P = 0.02). We analyzed two SNPs of the osteoprotegerin gene (rs3134069 and rs2073618), and found the A allele of the rs3134069 decreased the risk of DR in both recessive and additive models (OR = 3.33; 95%CI = 1.07-10.3; P = 0.04). Conversely, there were fewer C carriers of the rs2073618 polymorphism in patients with DR in a dominant model (OR = 0.28; 95%CI = 0.09-0.92; P = 0.04). CONCLUSIONS    The results of our study suggest the SNPs rs759853, rs3134069 and rs2073618 may be involved in the development of DR among patients with T2DM and DF.


This chapter seeks to interrogate normative notions of at-risk girlhood and violence, off ering a roadmap for a broader terminology and reconceptualization of gender in girlhood studies. I argue that studying the knowledge produced by girl-driven activist organizations enables activist-scholars to rethink what constitutes girlhood from a perspective critical of how criminalized, homeless and street-involved, and incarcerated girls and gender non-conforming youth1 have been disciplined, managed, corrected, and punished as prisoners, patients, mothers, and victims of multiple, interconnected forms of violence through imprisonment, medicalization, and secure care. By showcasing case studies of anti-violence and abolitionist activism that contest sexual violence, colonial state control, and carceral state violence undertaken by girls whose identities stretch far beyond normative gender and racial binaries, I aim to frame a transnational discussion of girls' community activism within and against exclusionary notions of what constitutes girlhood and girls' social justice activism. Specifi cally, I showcase how girls organizing to represent the communities on whom interlocking forms of interpersonal and state violence in Canada and the United States have the most impact are at the forefront of developing transformative justice models that conceptualize what it means to bridge social movements organizing against racial, sexual, and gender violence—both at the individual and institutional levels. The Young Women's Empowerment Project, Chicago (YWEP) and Sista II Sista, Brooklyn (SIIS) are autonomous community organizations that seek not only to take power but to make power by building community accountability structures that are not reliant on criminal legal and punishment systems, state funding, private foundations, or professionalized social services.2 Transformative justice is an umbrella term used to defi ne "any strategy to address violence, abuse or harm that creates safety, justice, reparations, and healing without relying on police, prisons ... or any other state systems" (Chen, Dulani, and Piepzna-


Studies were performed comparing the operation of phosphoric acid fuel cells on hydrogen and air at constant load as a function of time and after operation under other conditions, namely: (1) periodic direct injection of methanol-water vapor, simulating failure of the steam re-forming unit, and (2) open-circuit excursion. Tests were carried out on two 3W fuel cells. Detailed organic product analyses of condensed effluent gases of both anode and cathode reveals that trimethylphosphate, a suspect carcinogenic compound, is released. After 5-6 h, direct addition of methanol/water vapor at a rate sufficient to support constant 200-100 mA/sq cm performance on hydrogen (steam re-former unit assumed 90 percent conversion) 0.5 mg of trimethylphosphate were detected from both anode and cathode effluents. These results translate into about 10-30 ppm/h of trimethylphosphate in the anode effluent and about one-third or less of that amount in the cathode effluent stream. These results may impact in situ methanol reforming in phosphoric acid fuel cells and also external reforming at low methanol steam reforming conversion. 14 references.


A linear stability analysis is carried out for viscoelastic filaments (formed by an unentangled polymer solution) during capillary thinning in the regime of unfolded polymer coils taking into account the relative motion of the solvent and the polymer. The conditions for the onset of filament instability with respect to axisymmetric modulation of its surface are found. The analysis is valid for relatively fast processes occurring at times shorter than the characteristic thinning time. It is shown that the growth rate of such pearling instability is determined by the osmotic modulus of the solution and the degree of orientation of macromolecules. In the case of nonassociative polymers, the instability develops (with the growth rate exceeding the rate of filament thinning) when the longitudinal length of stretched polymer chains exceeds the diameter of the filament. The theory is also applicable to soft gels and associative polymer solutions with very long relaxation times. The predictions of the theory are in agreement with experimental data.


The paper gives a fast power-flow-solution technique retaining only voltage-controlled busbars in the iterative process. Voltages are represented in rectangular co-ordinates, and the change in voltages from the assumed values is estimated in the iterative process. Power mismatches are computed only at two stages instead of at every iteration. After obtaining convergence, the original network is restored and the voltages of the load busbars are calculated. The essential features of the method are (a) only voltage-controlled busbars are retained during the iterative process, (b) a smaller-order Jacobian is used which is computed and inverted only once, thereby reducing the time of computation, and (c) on convergence, the system is restored to the original size, giving the voltage of all the busbars. This method is faster than other methods and can be conveniently applied to analysis and planning studies of large power systems.


This research aims to study operation procedure and approach to increase service quality of import containers shipping by using barge vessel of sahathai terminal. By using a questionnaire with users of the container carrier of 11 sample and interviews with ship operation stevedore department and container yard department of 11 sample. By Item-objective congruence index (IOC) form expert 3 people. Is equal to 0.80. Statistics used to analyze data are frequency, percentage, mean and standard deviation. The research found that procedures for transporting containers, importing goods using the barge boat. There are a total of 6 steps. as follows 1. The shipping line notifies the schedule of the ship to arrive in 3-4 days in advance. 2. The ship operations department will take the data estimate time arrival (eta) to calculate the water level on the day of the boat entering. 3. The cargo handling department prepares the general stowage plan. 4. Moving containers from the cargo ship. 5. Consignee bring the container truck to the port of the company to pick up containers. 6. The container truck is moved from the port. Approach to increase service quality of import containers shipping by using barge vessel of sahathai terminal as follows 1. Training staff should be organized in the port to have knowledge and understanding of the duties and responsibilities of the equipment and training in using the equipment in the port 2. There should be a time when each ship will be clearly docked, allowing each ship to be able to plan the navigation by a slight error. 3. Should plan the delivery of containers by preparing a tow truck and the boat is enough to transport 4. The general stowage plan should be prepared in advance in order to speed up the loading of the container quickly. and 5. Should establish a clear traffic route for the port and expand the warehouse to accommodate a large number of products.


The focus of this paper is to describe the seismic analysis of circular oil tanks by carrying out a study of the pressures induced from seismic horizontal acceleration, total response and an analysis of elastic state and elastic-plastic buckling. The main objective is to provide an approach that describes many important seismic actions in tanks as well as their implications for the dynamic analysis of structural instability. Despite the area of oil being considerably discussed, there are few studies on this topic in Brazil. The results of the analysis show the importance to study the dynamic action and its collapse effects. The results are in accordance to Eurocode 8. For the response spectra, Venezuelan code Covenin has been used.


Abstract : Experiments have been conducted to determine the possible use of a high modulus inclusion for the direct determination of stresses in a visco-elastic material. A system was designed to sustain a constant hydrostatic pressure over a long period of time--the main feature of this system is a pressure intensifier activated and regulated by gas pressure. Two sets of tests were conducted with an inclusion inserted in a hole drilled in a salt core subjected to radial hydrostatic pressure. In the first set the inclusion was cemented into the rock and pressures ranging from 1000 to 8000 psi were applied on the specimen. Stress in the inclusion was immediately recorded and no significant time dependent change in stress was observed. The final stress recorded in the inclusion was in the order of 1.45-1.52 of the hydrostatic pressure independent of pressure level. In the second set of tests the inclusion was inserted loosely into the hole. Once contact of the creeping salt and the inclusion was created, time dependent stress change was observed in the inclusion. (Author)


A method for determining the positions of hologram dislocations relative to the optical axes of entangled Laguerre Gaussian modes is proposed. In our method, the coincidence count rate distribution was obtained by scanning the position of one of the holograms in two dimensions. Then, the relative position of the hologram dislocation was determined quantitatively from the positions of the minimum and maximum coincidence count rates. The validity of the method was experimentally verified, and in addition, an experiment demonstrating the violation of the Clauser-Horne-Shimony-Holt inequality was performed using the well-identified optical axes of the entangled modes.


Because the alternative process plans have significant contributions to the production efficiency of a manufacturing system, researchers have studied the integration of manufacturing functions, which can be divided into two groups, namely, integrated process planning and scheduling (IPPS) and scheduling with due date assignment (SWDDA). Although IPPS and SWDDA are well-known and solved problems in the literature, there are limited works on integration of process planning, scheduling, and due date assignment (IPPSDDA). In this study, due date assignment function was added to IPPS in a dynamic manufacturing environment. And the studied problem was introduced as dynamic integrated process planning, scheduling, and due date assignment (DIPPSDDA). The objective function of DIPPSDDA is to minimize earliness and tardiness (E/T) and determine due dates for each job. Furthermore, four different pure metaheuristic algorithms which are genetic algorithm (GA), tabu algorithm (TA), simulated annealing (SA), and their hybrid (combination) algorithms GA/SA and GA/TA have been developed to facilitate and optimize DIPPSDDA on the 8 different sized shop floors. The performance comparisons of the algorithms for each shop floor have been given to show the efficiency and effectiveness of the algorithms used. In conclusion, computational results show that the proposed combination algorithms are competitive, give better results than pure metaheuristics, and can effectively generate good solutions for DIPPSDDA problems.


The widespread application of crowd simulation in movies and games has led to numerous tools that offer a simplified approach to this topic and have a strong focus on visual quality. The objective of this thesis is to evaluate if one such tool is suitable for the implementation of more complex, intelligent behavior. The chosen Autodesk Maya plug-in Miarmy has been extended with multiple Python scripts to provide the agents with the ability of realistic pathfinding with obstacle avoidance. Additional features are the individualization of the agents, flight behavior near dangerous objects, as well as the ability to chase other agents. The decision logic has been tested in numerous scenarios to receive a visual feedback and to confirm the realistic behavior of the agents. While the model has limitations and there are problems with the used tool, the result is a working example, positively answering the central question.


399Background: For patients with pancreatic cancer, tumor growth causing obstruction of the bile duct is a common, yet troubling occurrence, leading to potential serious complications including sev...


Using MEMS technology,a Pt microheater(60 μm×100 μm) fabricated on a glass wafer was placed in a silicon-based microchannel of trapezoidal cross section.With the aid of a high-speed CCD,flow boiling phenomena on the surface of the microheater in the microchannel under pulse heating were observed and recorded.At a given mass flux,nucleate boiling and film boiling began to appear on the microheater with increasing heat flux.A flow boiling map,showing the effects of heat and mass flux on the nucleate and film boiling regimes on the microheater at a pulse heating width of 2 ms,was presented.It is found that the nucleate boiling was changed to film boiling as the heat flux supplied by the microheater is increased.Furthermore,increasing mass flux increases the heat flux required for the incipience of nucleate boiling and film boiling on the microheater in the microchannel.


We present a dual-loop PLL architecture for low-noise frequency synthesizers. The approach is experimentally verified for a 48 GHz PLL in 0.25 mum SiGe BiCMOS technology intended for a 60 GHz wireless transceiver. The design employs two parallel charge pumps one of which dominates the loop dynamics and is biased at optimum output voltage. This equalizes the loop bandwidth and reduces charge pump mismatch.


When conflicting syllables are presented in the auditory and visual modalities, two kinds of illusions have been reported by McGurk and MacDonald (1976): combinations (cluster responses) and fusions (fused responses). In the present experiment, we examined the lateralization issue of these illusions. In one half of the session the center of the TV screen was displaced 5 (cid:176) to the right of straight ahead and in the other half, it was displaced 5 (cid:176) to the left. The sound, played at an average level of 40dB, always came from straight ahead. Neither for fusions nor for combinations did we found any difference in the percentage of illusion as a function of the hemifield in which the visual stimuli were presented. This result does not corroborate Diesch's (1995) finding. Using a somewhat different method, this author found a left hemifield advantage for fusions and a right hemifield advantage for combinations.


Systemic sclerosis (SSc) patients often become refractory to proton pump inhibitor (PPI)—a standard treatment for gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD)—and intolerant to PPI in combination with domperidone. PPI with alginic acid is an alternative treatment option, but alginic acid is costly.We compared the costs and effectiveness of alginic acid plus proton pump inhibitor (PPI) versus standard treatments (PPI with/without antacids as needed and lifestyle modifications) for gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) in systemic sclerosis (SSc) patients unsuitable for, or intolerant to, domperidone.An economic evaluation using the Markov model was conducted among SSc patients between 40 and 65 with GERD, having a partial or non-response to 4 weeks of standard-dose omeprazole (40 mg/d) and being unsuitable for or intolerance to domperidone. Using a societal perspective, we computed the incremental cost-effectiveness ratios (ICERs) in terms of Thai baht (THB) per quality-adjusted life-years (QALY) between a combination of alginic acid plus PPI and standard treatment for GERD. The lifetime time horizon was used.The ICER for alginic acid plus PPI versus standard treatments was 377,101THB/QALY. According to the one-way sensitivity analysis, the cost of alginic acid was the most impactful parameter. If the market prices of alginic acid plus PPI were reduced by 61%, this treatment option would become cost-effective at the willingness-to-pay threshold of 160,000THB/QALY (34.71 THB/USD data on 3 December 2022). Furthermore, if alginic acid were included in the public health insurance program, the national budget would be increased by 66,313THB per patient resulting in an overall budget increase of 5,106,101 to 8,885,942THB compared to the standard treatment.Alginic acid plus PPI does not represent good value for money compared to the standard treatment among such SSc patients in Thailand unless its price is reduced significantly.[1]Foocharoen C, Peansukwech U, Mahakkanukrauh A, Suwannaroj S, Pongkulkiat P, Khamphiw P, et al. Clinical characteristics and outcomes of 566 Thais with systemic sclerosis: A cohort study. Int J Rheum Dis 2020;23:945–57.[2]Chunlertrith K, Noiprasit A, Foocharoen C, Mairiang P, Sukeepaisarnjaroen W, Sangchan A, et al. GERD questionnaire for diagnosis of gastroesophageal reflux disease in systemic sclerosis. Clin. Exp. Rheumatol. 2014;32:S-98-102.[3]Foocharoen C, Chunlertrith K, Mairiang P, Mahakkanukrauh A, Suwannaroj S, Namvijit S, et al. Prevalence and predictors of proton pump inhibitor partial response in gastroesophageal reflux disease in systemic sclerosis: a prospective study. Sci Rep 2020;10:769.[4] Foocharoen C, Chunlertrith K, Mairiang P, Mahakkanukrauh A, Suwannaroj S, Namvijit S, et al. Effectiveness of add-on therapy with domperidone vs alginic acid in proton pump inhibitor partial response gastro-oesophageal reflux disease in systemic sclerosis: randomized placebo-controlled trial. Rheumatology (Oxford) 2017;56:214–22.[5] Lei WY, Chang WC, Wen SH, Yi CH, Liu TT, Hung JS, et al. Predicting factors of recurrence in patients with gastroesophageal reflux disease: a prospective follow-up analysis. Therap Adv Gastroenterol 2019;12:1756284819864549.[6] Teerawattananon Y, Chaikledkaew U. Thai health technology assessment guideline development. J Med Assoc Thai 2008;91 Suppl 2:S11-15.[7] BOI: The Board of Investment of Thailand [Internet]. [cited 2022 Apr 19];Available from:https://www.boi.go.th/index.php?page=demographic.[8] Nimdet K, Ngorsuraches S. Willingness to pay per quality-adjusted life year for life-saving treatments in Thailand. BMJ Open 2015;5:e008123.NIL.Chingching Foocharoen Speakers bureau: Boehringer Ingelheim, Norvatis, Janssen, Pritaporn Kingkaew: None declared, Yot Teerawattananon: None declared, Ajanee Mahakkanukrauh: None declared, Siraphop Suwannaroj: None declared, Witsarut Manasirisuk: None declared, Jitjira Chaiyarit: None declared, Apichat Sangchan: None declared.


Process of dissolution of zinc oxide from a candle end has been investigated in modes, characteristic of dissolution process of the burned concentrates (candle ends) in zinc hydrometallurgy. The model of dependence of the rate of zinc dissolution and the initial surface area of particles of a candle end as well as concentration of hydrogen cations in solution has been obtained. It is shown that the rate of dissolution of zinc oxide increased with increasing acidity (at values рН 1.0–4.5) almost by 3 times for particles having size of 0.1–0.2 mm in comparison with particles having size of 0.5–1 mm. With increasing an initial surface of particles weighing 50 g from 0.14 to 0.44 sq.m., the rate of process increased by 66.2 times at рН 1.0–1.5 in comparison with рН 4.0–4.5. The equations of dependence of dissolution rate of zinc oxide and a diffusion constant, a size of an interface of phases, concentration of zinc and hydrogen cations in solution have been obtained using methods of statistical calculations of experimental data.


In two natural experiments based on H-1B visa lotteries and a drastic cut in the annual H-1B visa quota, we document that firms respond to shortages in high-skilled workers by acquiring target firms that have these workers. Additional tests show that desire for the target's skilled workers is an important driver of these acquisitions. Acquirers that successfully obtain skilled workers from their targets outperform acquirers that withdraw their acquisition bids for exogenous reasons. Our findings suggest that skilled labor is a driver of acquisition decisions and a source of synergy gains.


We present the results of work aimed at experimentally studying the behavior of reaction elements charged in a single row with organized arrangement in the reactor channel. The reactor was used for the steam catalytic conversion of methane under the conditions of a real process. In the first stage, we determine the hydraulic resistances of various variants of loading the industrial conversion catalyst GIAP-16-2 as functions of the Reynolds number. In the second stage under the conditions of a real process, we perform a comparative analysis of the macrokinetics activity of a variant of the coaxial single-row charging of the industrial catalyst GIAP-16-2 and tubular reaction elements with a catalytically active layer on the external side surface with variation of the parameters of the process as a function of the effective velocity. When comparing the efficiency of coaxial catalytic inserts, we use information on prolonged semi-industrial tests of cylindrical reaction elements assembled from granules of the industrial conversion catalyst GIAP-16-2


Various system mean times of interest in the steady state are defined. Their matrix formulas are developed and shown to be special cases of the formulas for the generalized mean time to first system failure and the generalized mean time to first system repair. The relative magnitudes of these mean times of interest are discussed.