The Linear Fractional Transformation (LFT) is a general, flexible and powerful framework to represent uncertain systems. Linear Fractional Representations (LFRs) are the basis for the application of many modern robust control techniques (e.g., robust H-infinity control design, mu-synthesis/analysis). For several classes of uncertain systems, it is in principle straightforward to generate equivalent LFRs. However, the resulting LFRs are generally not unique, a theory for the generation of LFRs with minimal complexity does not exist and the pure application of existing ad-hoc realization methods generally yields LFRs of high complexity. LFR-based modern robust control methods are numerically highly demanding and of high computational complexity, e.g., many methods require to solve a large system of Linear Matrix Inequalities (LMIs). Therefore the application of these methods is restricted to LFRs of reasonable complexity, otherwise the computation time will be unacceptable or the methods may even fail. To realize LFRs of low complexity, a three step procedure is employed in this thesis consisting of (i) symbolic preprocessing of uncertain system models using improved and newly developed decomposition techniques, (ii) object-oriented LFR realization based on a newly developed generalized/descriptor LFT, (iii) numerical multidimensional order reduction based on newly implemented numerical reliable and efficient routines. All the techniques are implemented in version 2 of the LFR-toolbox for Matlab and allow to realize an LFR of almost minimal complexity for one of the most complex parametric aircraft models available in the literature. Using this LFR, a reliable LFR-based robust stability analysis covering the whole flight envelope has been performed, which was not possible with earlier generated LFRs of high complexity. An LFR of minimal complexity is generated for a parametric vehicle model. Based on this LFR, a mu-synthesis controller and a gain-scheduled Linear Parameter Varying (LPV) controller are synthesized. Both controllers show better performance and are robust with respect to a considerably larger parametric uncertainty domain than recently developed controllers using the Parameter Space (PS) method.


Purpose: The purposes of this research are to determine the role of competitive advantage as mediating the effect of strategic planning on company performance.
Design/methodology/approach: The steps are first, determine the influence of strategic planning on competitive advantages; second, determine the influence of competitive advantages on company performance, third determine the role of competitive advantages as a mediating variable from the influence of strategic planning on company performance.
Findings: The results showed that strategic planning has a positive and significant effect on competitive advantages and organizational performance. Competitive advantage has a positive and significant effect on organizational performance. Competitive advantage played a role in mediating the effect of strategic planning on company performance.
Research limitations/implications: The research data set had collected using a questionnaire. After the data set had collected, an analysis had been finished using PLS
Practical implications: Strategic planning can improve company performance through increased competitive advantage as an intervening variable.
Originality/value: The paper is original.
Paper type: The type of this research is causal research because the purpose of this study is to determine the effect of variables on other variables.


Introduction: B lymphocyte, macrophage and mast cell densities in the stroma underlying cervical low and high grade squamous intraepithelial lesions (LSIL and HSIL) and squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) in 200 tissue samples, with concomitant HPV typing, was assessed, in order to examine their relationship to disease status and progression. Methods: Sections from 215 cervical specimens (149 LSIL, 38 HSIL, 13 SCC and 15 normal cervical mucosae) were immunostained for B lymphocytes (CD20), macrophages (CD68) and mast cells (CD117). The number of cells per high power field (henceforth called density) in the stroma underlying epithelial lesions was assessed. Statistical analysis was performed using four ordinal scale groups of increasing severity (normal, LSIL, HSIL and SCC). Results: Densities of all three cell types had a statistically significant, proportional correlation to disease severity, more so for B lymphocytes. Increased density of any cell type is linked to an increase in the densities of the remaining two. A statistically significant difference in B lymphocyte and mast cell density was found between LSIL and HSIL. No cell type density was found to be predictive of the outcome of LSIL. No relationship with HPV type was found. Discussion: Increased B lymphocyte and mast cell density in the stroma underlying cervical HSIL and SCC compared to LSIL suggests a possible relationship of both cell types to progression of cervical SIL. No predictive value of the density of any cell type was found concerning the outcome of LSIL. Immunohistochemistry may contribute to elucidate the relationship of local immunity effector cells to cervical epithelial lesions.


We report here a Japanese girl with psychosocial short stature (PSS) who was initially diagnosed as having growth hormone (GH) deficiency. The status of the GH-insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-I axis was evaluated before and after hospitalization. The patient was a second child born after 32 weeks gestation. The parents were not related. There was no family history of growth retardation, mental retardation, or psychiatric disorders. Paternal height was 165 cm and maternal height 146 cm. Birth weight was 1589 g and length 40.5cm.At the age of 3.5years, she was referred to our hospital because of growth retardation. Her height was 70.3 cm (-6.7 SD) and weight 7.6 kg (-4.5 SD). Her height velocity had been 2.3 cm/year for the previous year. Physical examination showed no abnormalities, except for short stature. Laboratory examinations showed normal urinalysis, hemogram and serum electrolytes, and normal liver, renal and thyroid function tests. Two of three different provocative tests revealed low responses of GH (Table 1).Bone age was 1year. On the basis of these clinical features, she was diagnosed as having GH deficiency at that time. At the age of 3 years and 10 months, recombinant human GH (hGH) replacement therapy (0.5 IU/kg/ week) was begun, and was continued for 9 months without improvement in her growth rate (Fig. 1).


The Space Shuttle photographic and television analysis project (SSPTAP) at the Johnson Space Center (JSC) is described. The films and videos of every Space Shuttle launch and landing are scrutinized for information on the vehicle's condition and performance which can only be obtained by photographic means when necessary. On-orbit video is used to assess problems. The photographic information is used with various other data sources to develop feasible scenarios for particular events. The data and methods used to analyze the state of the Shuttle launch vehicle are analyzed, and examples are given of some of the studies that have been conducted.


There are many Chinese movies on the internet for learning Chinese, one of which is on YouTube. This educational film provides negative and positive comments. To get a good movie to learn Chinese, we need to classify positive and negative comments ratings for Chinese learning that teachers can use in this video. In addition, a review of comments is an evolution of Chinese film ratings. The evaluation of comments included includes storytelling, content, model, visual effects, and more. The review has criticisms and comments that include feelings about the movie on Chinese language learning. Commentator helps movie students compare a movie's mood with positive or negative emotion groups. This research uses the naive Bayes taxonomy with the Lexicon Based function in sentiment analysis of comments. The classification process considers the appearance of words of emotional content in the score and the possible score values for positive or negative emotional classes. Based on test results, feature selection accuracy, precision, and recall in the form of stop word exclusion receive scores of 0.91, 0.87, and 0.98, respectively.


During the last decade much has been written about relationship therapy with heterosexual couples. The fact that there also are homosexual couples in our society is just beginning to be acknowledged in professional publications. The purpose of this paper is to provide information for therapists who are experienced in working with heterosexual couples and would like to expand their practice to include therapy with same-gender couples. The literature is surveyed, guidelines for therapy are suggested, and problems and problem areas are defined.


Follow this and additional works at: https://escholarship.umassmed.edu/cts_retreat Part of the Artificial Intelligence and Robotics Commons, Chemistry Commons, Diagnosis Commons, Neoplasms Commons, and the Translational Medical Research Commons Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 License This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 License.


COURSES in the sociological study of the family have been taught in American colleges and universities during the entire past portion of the twentieth century. The response of the students to the offering has grown since 1902, when it was rated seventeenth among the sociology courses. It was tenth in 1910, but had risen to third or second, depending on the region, by 1950. In southern schools it was found to be third by Robert Kutak in his study of the sociological curriculum in 1944.1 It has continued to grow since then in popularity among students and in acceptance by administrations. The present Committee of the Southern Sociological Society on the Teaching of Sociology has found it offered in some form throughout the South in slightly less than one-half of the schools. The techniques for teaching the course have also undergone considerable alteration. One major new approach was initiated by Ernest Groves, to name one of the fathers of the movement, in the late 1920's at Boston, and Columbia, and then permanently at North Carolina. As marriage and family life education, it sought to refine the enthusiasm of the proponents for sex education. This practical and functional approach to training for family living has caught on since 1930. Many of the departments of sociology have introduced a course in preparation for marriage. It is certainly not improbable that almost every school has studied the wave of interest and sought to do what it could to meet it. Some have met the wave by having two courses: the long-established sociology of the family taught on the upper level was continued, but sections in the field of marriage preparation were also set up, generally for lower level students. Wisconsin, Utah, and North Carolina come to mind as schools that chose this alternative. Others have entirely capitulated, particularly since World War II, and turned their attention to the institution of marriage. Small church-related colleges usually have done this, rationalizing their choice as making a greater contribution to the general education of their students. Still others strove to meet both objectives in one course. They presented a scientific analysis of the institution of the family as it has appeared in historic societies, and gave guidance in effective mate selection and parenthood. Such a course is called by its defenders a combination course in Marriage and Family. F. Bernadette Turner,2 in an unpublished doctoral dissertation at Washington University, recently had a less complimentary term for some such attempts: hodgepodge. Turner found, in a rather comprehensive study of the contents of the college course on the family, that 42 percent of the courses offered could be classified as aimed toward this double objective. 28 percent retained the traditional type geared solely to sociological theory; practical education for marriage and family living was the objective of 26 percent. Considering the problem involved, perhaps it is not surprising that 6 percent appeared to be lacking in direction. Various defenses have been offered for one or the other choice. Where it has been established, the functional course has needed little defense. Departments on large university campuses which could not or would not make double offerings have usually rationalized that they are not the ones to offer guidance in such moralizing enterprises as building for marriage. There have been some, however, who have contended that a combined course, beside being sociologically sound and administratively practical, is actually a better and more functional project than any simple attempt at popularizing a part of the curriculum. They believe that it is actually unscientific, ineffective, and futile to presume to help students to make successful marriages without helping the student to see such a relationship in its familial and social * Read before the fifteenth annual meeting of the Southern Sociological Society, Atlanta, Georgia, March 28, 1952. l Robert Kutak, "The Sociological Curriculum in the Southeastern States," Social Forces, 24 (October 1945), pp. 56-66. 2 F. Bernadette Turner,


This paper is devoted to a simpler derivation of energy estimates, compared to previously existing ones, for effectively hyperbolic operators. One of main points is no use of general Fourier integral operators and another point is an efficient use of the Weyl calculus of pseudodifferential operators associated with several different metrics.


A recent trend in manufacturing is to utilize electric controls to simplify and ensure better reliability of machines and to reduce the impact on the environment. Because of this trend, there has been an increasing need for bearings with sensing capabilities. Integrated sensor bearings with speed detection capabilities have just become available on the market. However, when using a sensor bearing near a device that generates a magnetic flux, such as electric motors and magnetic clutches, the sensor may be influenced by the magnetic field, resulting in malfunctions such as sensor output failure. Therefore, sensors need to have sufficient leakage magnetic flux resistance, so that they are not influenced by magnetic flux generated by nearby devices. NTN has been working to enhance the leakage magnetic flux resistance by optimizing the mechanical structure through magnetic field analysis. An overview of this process was introduced in NTN Technical Review No. 69. Due to requirements of some applications further improvement of leakage magnetic flux resistance is required. NTN has established sensor circuit technology with drastically improved leakage magnetic flux resistance compared to conventional bearings. An overview of this technology is introduced in this paper.


We address the pair of conjugated field modes obtained from parametric down-conversion as a convenient system to analyze the quantum-classical transition in the continuous variable regime. We explicitly evaluate intensity correlations, two-mode antibunching, and entanglement for the system initially in a thermal state and show that a hierarchy of nonclassicality thresholds naturally emerges in terms of thermal and down-conversion photon number. We show that the transition from quantum to classical regime may be tuned by controlling the intensities of the seeds and detected by intensity measurements, even in the case of the transition between separability and entanglement. Besides, we show that the thresholds are not affected by losses, which only modify the amount of nonclassicality. The multimode case is also analyzed in some detail.


We previously mapped loci for the genome‐wide association studies (GWAS) and genome‐wide gene‐by‐alcohol dependence interaction (GW‐GxAD) analyses of risky sexual behaviors (RSB). This study extends those findings by analyzing the ancestry‐ and sex‐specific AD‐stratified effects on RSB. We examined the concordance of findings for the AD‐stratified GWAS and the GW‐GxAD analysis of RSB, with concordance defined as genome‐wide significance in one analysis and at least nominal significance in the second analysis. A total of 2,173 African‐American (AA) and 1,751 European‐American (EA) subjects were investigated. Information regarding RSB (lifetime experiences of unprotected sex and multiple sexual partners) and DSM‐IV diagnosis of lifetime AD were derived from the Semi‐Structured Assessment for Drug Dependence and Alcoholism (SSADDA). In our ancestry‐ and sex‐specific analyses, we identified four independent genome‐wide significant (GWS) loci (p < 5*10−8) and one suggestive locus (p < 6*10−8). In men, we observed a GWS signal in FAM162A (rs2002594, p = 4.96*10−8). In women, there was a suggestive locus in PLGRKT (rs3824435, p = 5.52*10−8). In AAs, there was a GWS signal in GRK5 (rs1316543, p = 1.25*10−9). In AA men, we observed an intergenic GWS signal (rs12898370, p = 4.49*10−8) near LINGO1. In EA men, there was a GWS signal in CCSER1 (rs62313897; p = 7.93*10−10). The loci identified in this GWAS implicate molecular mechanisms related to psychiatric illness and personality features, suggesting that the interplay between AD and RSB is mediated by alleles associated with behavioral traits.


Systemic-onset juvenile idiopathic arthritis (sJIA) or Still's disease is a chronic inflammatory disease of unknown etiology belongs to the group of Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis. In contrast to other JIA patients in whom the joint disease usually overshadows the more general symptomatology, in Systemic-onset juvenile idiopathic arthritis (sJIA) extra-articular features such as spiking fever, hepatosplenomegaly, lymphadenopathy, rash, pleurisy, or pericarditis, and vasculopathy are most prominent. Thus the onset of disease can be vary nonspecific and may suggest bacterial or viral infection, malignancy or other rheumatic disease. As it is highly characterized by its extra-articular systemic illness features, in some ways, it resembles a fever of unknown origin. We present 2 cases of fever of unknown origin, initially presented with fever and other extra-articular features, without any arthritis, but after several months develops arthritis and finally diagnosed as Systemic-onset juvenile idiopathic arthritis (sJIA) or Still's disease .
Anwer Khan Modern Medical College Journal Vol. 10, No. 1: Jan 2019, P 84-88


Introduce the process of fabricating two kinds conversion film on one workpiece, the process is used in the manufacture of radiator on broadcasting station, the capability of conductivity,radiation and anticorrosion accord with our expectation.


The article is concerned with cam mandrels used for positioning of asymmetrical blanks such as rings and bushings while machining. It is understood that blanks have high bending stiffness. There is GOST 31.1066.04–97, developed for cam mandrels, but according to manufacturers and scientists, the design proposed in GOST has a number of drawbacks, which can be attributed to simplified technology of mandrel parts manufacture. This has been proven by practical experience. The paper points out the defects of standard cam mandrel design and describes a fragment of the process for manufacture of more accurate mandrels. While designing cam mandrel it is necessary to provide for safe attachment of blanks (this requirement is well addressed), to know the influence of main parameters of its parts on the machining accuracy and to prevent damage to base surface of the blank. Practically, the last two requirements are not addressed. A series of articles, including this paper, covers theoretical and experimental studies to meet these requirements. Six prototype mandrels with different number of cams (from three to twelve), model rings and six batches of ring blanks are designed and manufactured for experimental and production-related studies of accuracy of positioning and machining of blanks in cam mandrels. The model rings and blanks in the batches have different diameter of the base hole and its length in order to study these parameters for accuracy of positioning and machining of blanks. In each batch there are at least 30 blanks which makes it possible to process the results obtained in the experiments by mathematical statistics methods. Four batches of blanks have polished base holes, and two batches have turned holes. The model rings and blanks have been subjected to metrological control.


Within the framework of self-consistent cranked Hartree-Fock-Bogoliubov theory (one dimensional) we predict a second backbend in the yrast line of ${}^{182}\mathrm{Os}$ at $I\ensuremath{\approx}40\ensuremath{\Elzxh}$, which is even sharper than the first one observed experimentally at $I\ensuremath{\approx}14\ensuremath{\Elzxh}$. Around such a high spin the structure becomes multiquasiparticle type, but the main source of this strong discontinuity is a sudden large alignment of ${i}_{13/2}$ proton orbitals along the rotation axis followed soon by the alignment of ${j}_{15/2}$ neutron orbitals. This leads to drastic structural changes at such high spins. When experimentally confirmed, this will be observed for the first time in this mass region, and will be at the highest spin so far.


The problem of Attitude Recovery of rigid and flexible spacecraft/satellite is investigated using the feedback linearization control approach. The attitude and flexible dynamics equations for a class of spacecraft/satellite are presented. Since the flexible spacecraft is under-actuated, the input-output linearization technique was specifically used to break up the system into two distinct parts, namely (1) an external linearizable system for which a linear controller can be easily implemented and (2) an internal nonlinear unobservable system for which the associated zero dynamics is shown to be asymptotically stable for a representative case. The overall closed-loop stability of the flexible satellite is analyzed rigorously and shown to be asymptotically stable using Lyapunov's method. In order to design and analyze attitude control system for satellites, it is important to be able to simulate the dynamics of the spacecraft. Hardware-in-the-loop simulations of a spacecraft, such as air-bearing spacecraft simulators, are not only expensive to build, but they cannot provide the full experience of micro-gravity. An alternative is to have a high fidelity software simulator. Consequently, the resulting nonlinear and coupled equations of the satellite are implemented into a high-fidelity, user-friendly simulation environment, named the Flexible Spacecraft Simulator (FS2). The development and utilization of the FS2 for our research will also be presented.


A finger device of a bevel gear system combined underactuated robot belongs to the technical field of robot hands, and comprises a base, a motor, a reducer, a middle finger section, a tail finger section, shafts near joints, shafts far away from the joints, a plurality of bevel gears, a spring leaf and the like. According to the motor arranged in the middle, equidirectional transmission mechanisms, and the movable sleeving between the middle finger section and the spring leaf, coupling and a self-adapting combined underactuated grab mode are realized, so that multi-joint linkage during a grab process can be realized to generate a better personification effect, and the finger device can be suitable for objects of different shapes and sizes to generate a better self-adapting grab effect; and various grab modes such as holding and pinching can be realized. The finger device is easy to control, and low in energy consumption; as a driver is arranged in the middle finger section, the space of the finger is used completely, that is, the layout is compact; the space of a palm is not used any more, so that a control mechanism which is more complex can be mounted in the palm; the structure is simple; the manufacturing cost is low; and the maintenance is convenient.


Since 1980, many Koreans are interested in environmental problems. As improvement of the conditions of national life with high-income and high-school career, many demands for amenities in the city and housing complex have been increased. The policy which is the liberalization of apartment sales price in 1999 make develope constructions of environment-friendly housing complex. This study is designed to analyze causes and problems by generating the process of construction ecological outdoor space, give alternative solutions the problems for improvement quality of outdoor space in environment-friendly housing complex. Specialists who planned and constructed the cases are interviewed, and then improvement plans are offered on the basis of interview which is analysed. As a result, the levels of the elements in plan and design are similar to each case. In spite of the capacity rates which cases are various. It is becoming intensively to green network systematization, eco-pond creation, stream creation, various plant species, pedestrian road, permeable pavement. Also the contents of elements are similar. There are total eight interviewees who are designers and constructers, and the contents of interview are divided two items. One of them is the their opinion whether the intented environment-friendly design is expressed and the construction is reflected or not. The other one is the cause of problems of construction and charged contents in the process of design and construction.


This is a description of a compiler project: a compiler for Mini-P, a substantial subset of Pascal. My goal was that the students implement a compiler that generates code executable under the Linux...


"The Missing of Love" locates Hardy's debt to Virgil in the Poems of 1912-13 in the sequence's reprisal of the episode of Aeneas's forgetting to look behind for Creusa in their flight from Troy. By reading both Hardy's and Aeneas's failures to look behind as inversions of Orpheus' fatal failure not to, the paper asks after the good of this negative power to forget, abandon, take for granted, or leave behind, insofar as it becomes a trope for love between poets, and relates to the strangely imperceptive capacity various philosophical and literary traditions have designated as faith or trust.


Objective To investigate age-related changes of collagen fibers in rat heart.Method Twenty-one male Wistar rats were divided randomly into infant,young and old group.The distribution and quantity of collagen fibers in different age hearts were studied by Masson staining methods and digital image analysis technology.Results (1)The collagen fibers encircled every cardiac muscle and formed collagen net each other.(2)There were distinct distribution difference of collagen fibers in different aging rat hearts. The collagen fibers distributed densely and evenly in infancy rat heart,and relative sparse and evenly in young rat heart,and they increased distinctly with heterogeneous distribution in old rat heart.(3)The content of collagen fibers was the infant the young the old group. The cardiac collagen fibers was growing from infant to old rat,and cardiac collagen was rapid progress during young rat.Conclusion The distribution of collagen fibers varied in different age,and the content cardiac collagen are increasing with growing.


This paper studies the problems of stability for sampled-data control systems and networked control systems (NCSs) with state feedback. First, a new approach to stability analysis of sampled-data systems is proposed, which is based on defining a new type of Lyapunov-Krasovskii functional (LKF), and combining an iterative convex combination technique with a new enlargement scheme. A less conservative stability criterion depending on both lower and upper bounds of sampling intervals is obtained. Then, the approach is extended to NCSs. By clarifying the relationship of the network-induced delay and the executive duration, less conservative and less complex stability criterion is also obtained. Finally, some illustrative examples are given to show the effectiveness and the improvement of the proposed method.


The oligomerization and fibrillation of β‐amyloid (Aβ) peptides are important events in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease. However, the motifs within the Aβ sequence that contribute to oligomerization and fibrillation and the complex interplay among these short motifs are unclear. In this study, the oligomerization and fibrillation abilities of the Aβ variants Aβ1–28, Aβ1–36, Aβ11–42, Aβ17–42, Aβ1–40 and Aβ1–42 were examined by thioflavin T fluorescence, western blotting and transmission electron microscopy. Compared with two C‐terminal‐truncated peptides (i.e. Aβ1–28 and Aβ1–36), Aβ11–42, Aβ17–42 and Aβ1–42 had stronger abilities to form oligomers. This indicated that amino acids 37–42 strengthen the β‐hairpin structure of Aβ. Both Aβ1–42 and Aβ1–40 could form fibres, but Aβ17–42 formed irregular fibres, suggesting that amino acids 1–17 were essential for Aβ fibre formation. Aβ1–28 and Aβ1–36 exhibited weak oligomerization and fibrillation, implying that they formed an unstable β‐hairpin structure owing to the incomplete C‐terminal region. Intermediate peptides were likely to form a stable structure, consistent with previous results. This work explains the roles and interplay among motifs within Aβ during oligomerization and fibrillation. Copyright © 2017 European Peptide Society and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


Society is riddled with uncertainty, but uncertainty is often poorly communicated to decision-makers. Novice investors are particularly vulnerable to this as they are often shown future returns with misleadingly high levels of precision. We test the hypothesis that consumers are impressed by numbers – i.e. offset the uncertainty in investment decisions by over-relying on precise numerical information. Six incentivized experiments compared decisions when expected growth is presented in point estimates as opposed to ranges. Consumers prefer and invest more in point estimates, particularly when the range features a larger width or a potential loss. This is because point estimates are associated with certainty and therefore give consumers more confidence. This effect holds when consumers are made aware that performance is variable and expected growth is not guaranteed, which shows the limits of current financial communications. On the other hand, experiencing discrepancies between expected and actual growth dissipates the preference for point estimates. Although consumers favor seemingly precise numerical information, we find conditions under which this bias can be alleviated and open promising avenues for effective interventions.


Despite growing attention to framing contests as important discursive struggles in articulating societal challenges and their solutions, most research focuses on competition over which frame become...


In Italy, the last 30 years witnessed the implementation of cross-sectional surveys providing baseline data on numerous risk factors collected from random samples of the adult general population.
In order to support those groups who would like to implement an health examination survey (HES), according to the experience of  the CUORE Project surveys, the objective of this paper is to describe some information related to the organization of a survey (examination sites and sampling, selection of analytic laboratory, coordination and personnel involved, sample selection, recruitment and appointment scheduling, informative notice and informed consent, participation rate, non-participation bias, quality assurance, survey data, long term storage of the samples, internal quality control, external quality assessment, feedback to participants, error checking, correction and documentation of the data, transfer and storage of the data, statistical analyses and interpretation of results, dissemination of results), usually shortly described  in scientific papers but relevant when an HES is planned.


CONCLUSION Questionnaires were distributed to 250 older adults, and answers were collected from 244. After excluding missing values and outliers, data from 234 older adults (men: 49, women: 185) were used in the analysis. "Attitude toward own aging" was higher in younger than in older participants (p < .05). "Agitation" was higher in men than in women (p < .05). Number of events leading to life purpose showed positive correlation with "Agitation," "Lonely dissatisfaction," and "Attitude toward own aging" (p < .05). Specifically, events improving sense of purpose in life were "Educational and cultural enrichment activities," "Sports or recreational activities," "Volunteer activities," "Activities for an elderly's club," "Care of grandchildren and family get-together," and "Going for shopping or on a trip." Number of diseases showed negative correlation with sense of purpose in life (p < .05). Specifically, cardiopathy, fracture, liver disease, and dementia were diseases that reduced the sense of purpose in life.


Rankings are at the core of countless modern applications and thus play a major role in various decision making scenarios. When such rankings are produced by data-informed, machine learning-based algorithms, the potentially harmful biases contained in the data and algorithms are likely to be reproduced and even exacerbated. This motivated recent research to investigate a methodology for fair ranking, as a way to correct the aforementioned biases. Current approaches to fair ranking consider that the protected groups, i.e., the partition of the population potentially impacted by the biases, are known. However, in a realistic scenario, this assumption might not hold as different biases may lead to different partitioning into protected groups. Only accounting for one such partition (i.e., grouping) would still lead to potential unfairness with respect to the other possible groupings. Therefore, in this paper, we study the problem of designing fair ranking algorithms without knowing in advance the groupings that will be used later to assess their fairness. The approach that we follow is to rely on a carefully chosen set of groupings when deriving the ranked lists, and we empirically investigate which selection strategies are the most effective. An efficient two-step greedy brute-force method is also proposed to embed our strategy. As benchmark for this study, we adopted the dataset and setting composing the TREC 2019 Fair Ranking track.


Thank you very much for reading free at last a documentary history of slavery freedom and the civil war. Maybe you have knowledge that, people have search numerous times for their chosen readings like this free at last a documentary history of slavery freedom and the civil war, but end up in harmful downloads. Rather than enjoying a good book with a cup of tea in the afternoon, instead they juggled with some infectious virus inside their desktop computer.


A derivative‐free estimator was introduced to alleviate the drawbacks of the conventional Kalman filter when performing nonlinear analyses under different circumstances. In this work, the scaled Unscented Kalman Filter, Divided Difference Kalman filter, and Cubature Kalman filter (CKF) were selected to investigate the effectiveness of these filters in predicting the states of a complex semi‐batch reaction between propionic anhydride and 2‐butanol. The estimator's performance was evaluated under four different case studies, that is, under normal condition, under poor estimator initialization, under disturbances, and under parameter uncertainty. Results from the study show that CKF was the best option for an online dynamic optimization because of its highest degree of accuracy and stability under the normal and noisy conditions. Under normal condition, CKF yielded the lowest root mean square error of 0.61 × 10−2. Under uncertain initial condition, disturbance and parameter uncertainty, the lowest error of 1.83 × 10−2, 1.04 × 10−2, and 0.81 × 10−2 were obtained, respectively.


We studied reed bed development in Matsalu wetland and the Kasari River delta, Estonia, since the late 18th century using historical schemes, topographical maps and aerial photographs. Our aim was to understand the mechanisms controlling reed distribution in Matsalu wetland, the largest coastal wetland of the eastern Baltic Sea occupying an area of about 25 km. Natural development of the reed bed in Matsalu Bay and the Kasari delta is mainly controlled by shoreline displacement due to postglacial neotectonic land uplift. The dredging of the Kasari delta in the 1920s–1930s caused a rapid seaward migration of reed bed communities due to the dispersal of fragmented rhizomes on the shallow sea bottom and along the canal banks reaching Matsalu Bay, while the landward parts of the former wetland were occupied by meadow communities. The expansion of the reed bed started in between the 1951s and 1970s and a maximum extent of 27 km was gained by the late 1970s at the peak of eutrophication. In the last decades the reed bed development has been influenced by sea level rise and increased intensity of cyclonic activity in the Baltic Sea, which has caused the deterioration of the reed bed that was weakened by eutrophication due to nutrient inflow from agricultural landscapes mainly in the 1960s–1980s.


We researched the chemical character and its formation mechanism of the ground water of mires as a basic study to conserve of natural mires. The researched area was Sarobetsu mire (23,000ha), in the north of Hokkaido, where its vegetation and other aspects of its nature has been gradually changing, such as the partial development of the mire into agricultural fields. This research shows that ground water of high moor bog region where Sphagnum spp. are dominant is increased only by rain water and in the ground water of the high moor bog, the decomposition of organic matter by bacteria activity is suppressed. And it was found that in the region where the conservation of mires is necessary because of invasion of Sasa palmata in the original bog vegetation, concentrations of general inorganic components and nutrients were extremely high because of their elution from clay mingled into the peat soil, inflow of water rich with nutrients from other water systems and the decomposition of the peat soil by development in the area.


The aim of this study was developed by a simple method including solution mixing of cellulose acetate/sodium alginate containing laponite (CA/SA-LAP) hydrogel composites with flexible mechanical, physical, and biological properties for wound healing application. The surface properties of the as-prepared CA/SA hydrogel and CA/SA-LAP hydrogel composites were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and x-ray Diffraction (XRD). The influence of LAP content (0.1, 0.2, 0.5 wt%), the swelling ratio (171.0 ± 7.0, 143.0 ± 4.0, and 96.6 ± 2.5), degradation rate (65.7 ± 4.0%, 49.0 ± 5.5%, and 19.4 ± 1.4%), mechanical properties elongation at break from 68.3 ± 6.0% to 148.3 ± 5.6%, and the morphology of the CA/SA-LAP was investigated. By increasing the LAP concentration with an average pore size diameter decreased from 300 μm to 225 μm, 150 μm, and 75 μm. The as-prepared CA/SA-LAP dressing has designated good antimicrobial activity against Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli bacteria at 95.9 ± 4.0% and 98.4 ± 1.5% for 24 h and 92.3 ± 4.5% and 96.4 ± 3.5% for 48 h. Furthermore, CA/SA-LAP revealed admirable biocompatibility against human osteosarcoma cell line MG-63. Noticeably, the MTT assay demonstrated that fibroblast proliferation significantly enhanced on 0.5 wt% LAP in CA/SA-LAP compared to CS/SA hydrogel at 92.6 ± 4.2% and 96.4 ± 3.5% for 24 and 48 h. Systematic in vivo research of the CA/SA-LAP was conducted in the rat bone defect model. The in vivo results proved that the CA/SA-loaded LAP significantly promoted bone healing in rat defects, compared to the CA/SA hydrogels. These results demonstrated the great potential of CA/SA-loaded LAP in wound healing material in nursing care application.


The purpose of this study was to describe, by light microscopy, exogenous and endogenous development of Isospora brachyrhynchi sp. n. from the American crow, Corvus brachyrhynchos Brehm. Crows were intubated with varying doses of sporulated oocysts of I. brachyrhynchi from a naturally infected crow and killed for necropsy at various hours postinoculation. Tissues were fixed in Bouin's fluid and processed for light microscopy. Sporulation of I. brachyrhynchi to typical isosporoid oocysts required 48–72 h at 21 ± 2 °C. Sporulated oocysts were 20.4 × 18.9 μm, with sporocysts 16.2 × 10.6 μm and sporozoites 12.9 × 2.6 μm. There was a prominent polar granule within the oocyst and a Stieda body at the blunt end of the sporocyst. Each sporozoite had a central nucleus and two refractile granules. Isospora brachyrhynchi developed below the nuclei of epithelial cells in the small intestine. First-generation merogony occurred 24 h postinoculation in villar epithelium in the distal small intestine and occasionally in ...


A preliminary palynological study of Beacon Supergroup sedimentary rocks exposed at Milorgfjella, Dronning Maud Land, has yielded a relatively rich and well preserved palynoflora dominated by spores and pollen grains, but also including acritarchs and green algae. The palynoflora is dominated by the pterophyte spores Punctatisporites gretensis, Punctatisporites parvus, Granulatisporites spp., Microbaculispora tentula Horriditriletes spp. and Verrucosisporites andersonii, and the gymnosperm pollen grains Plicatipollenites spp. and Cannanoropollis spp. Also present are the lycopod spore Jayantisporites pseudozonatus, the praecolpate pollen grain Marsupipollenites striatus and the monocolpate pollen grain Cycadopites cymbatus. The palynoflora indicates freshwater conditions or, at least, a major freshwater influence on the depositional environment. Comparison of the palynoflora with others from Gondwana suggests an Early Permian (Asselian–Sakmarian) age.


This paper presents construction and performance of a novel hybrid microelectromechanical system (MEMS) vortex flowmeter. A miniature cantilever MEMS displacement sensor was used to detect frequency of vortices development. 3-mm-long silicon cantilever, protruding directly out of a trailing edge of a trapezoidal glass-epoxy composite bluff body was put into oscillatory motion by vortices shed alternately from side surfaces of the obstacle. Verified linear measurement range of the device extended from 5 to 22 m/s; however, it could be broadened in absence of external 50-Hz mains electrical interfering signal which required bandpass frequency-domain digital sensor signal processing. The MEMS vortex sensor proved its effectiveness in detection of semilaminar airflow velocity distribution in a 40-mm-diameter tubular pipe.


Results of inspection and treatments of 102 patients of elderly and senile age with a stomach ulcer of a stomach and the duodenal gut complicated by a bleeding in a gleam of a digestive path are analysed. Comparative studying some parameters of a homeostasis is carried out, chemoluminescence of blood plasmas is investigated. It is drawn a conclusion that on a degree of oppression of chemoluminescence of blood plasmas can be judged weight of a condition of the patient and a degree endogenous intoxications.


There is growing evidence that the planet's climate is changing at a pace and level never before witnessed by humankind. The concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere is unprecedented, temperatures are increasing practically all over the planet, the polar icecaps are melting, and the ocean levels are rising 1. From the thermodynamic point of view, the increase in the atmosphere's temperature involves an enormous accumulation of heat that tends to intensify energy exchanges between land, ocean, and atmosphere 2, producing extreme climate events like droughts, floods, and heat waves. Yet the consequences of these phenomena for health are not obvious, direct, or immediate. While climate change can produce extreme, unexpected, and sometimes catastrophic events, an unusual event is not necessarily the result of climate change. The appearance of penguins on Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro can be viewed as one such unusual event, although frequent. In fact, some penguins come to Rio de Janeiro's beaches during the winter in search of food, following ocean currents after splitting away from their colonies. The increasing appearance of penguins in Copacabana, out-of-season and in larger numbers, may point to new migratory patterns and a possible food shortage in the South Seas or changing patterns in coastal currents. However, in order to be considered an indicator of climate change, the event must be related to a broader, global process, although manifested locally. In addition, coming to Copacabana Beach may mean tragedy for one stray penguin, but not for its colony as a whole or for the Copacabana neighborhood. Recognition of these links, which are multi-scale, historical, asymmetrical, and complex, requires interdisciplinary and innovative approaches. In this and in various other cases, it is necessary to incorporate theories, methodologies, and analytical techniques from outside the field of Public Health. Importantly, these processes take place in a global context not only of climate change, but also of political, social, and economic changes. The combination of precarious sanitation, poverty, population aging, and restrictions on access to health services can aggravate the effects of climate change on health 3. Finding a penguin in Copacabana today is so trivial that it is not worth even a note in a scientific journal. Progress is needed in methods and theories to explain the processes under way in order to help protect the population's health and the health of the environment. The choice of climate change as the theme for the cover photos on the 2015 editions of Cadernos de Saúde Pública highlights the urgency of this debate and the openness of Public Health to new scientific approaches.


In mass culture of Pacific bluefin tuna Thunnus orientalis, a marked growth variation is frequently observed after yolk-sac larvae of other species start feeding at 6 7 mm in body length (BL), and the growth variation of tuna larvae is a factor leading to the prevalence of cannibalism. In order to examine the prey utilization in relation to the growth variation, stable isotope ratios (δC and δN) were analyzed for individual larvae. A prey switch experiment was conducted under two different feeding regimes: a group fed rotifers and Artemia nauplii (plankton fed group), and a group fed yolk-sac larvae (fish larvae fed group) from 15 days after hatching (7.38 mm BL). The fish larvae fed group showed significantly higher growth than the plankton fed group. Changes in the δC and δN of the fish larvae fed group were expressed as an exponential models and showed different patterns from those of the plankton fed group. The δN of fast growing tuna larvae collected in the actual mass culture tank after the feeding of yolk-sac larvae were significantly different from those of the slow growing larvae, indicating that prey utilization of tuna larvae were different corresponding to their growth.


This paper present simple fuzzy control approaches for shunt active power filter based on five-level (NPC) inverter which can mitigate current harmonics generated by nonlinear loads and compensate reactive power. Today, five-level inverter is strongly used in the medium and high voltage applications; these advantages are low harmonic distortions, low switching losses, low electromagnetic interference and low acoustic noise. Second, fuzzy logic techniques have been successfully employed in several power electronic applications. To benefit from these advantages a novel control scheme based on fuzzy current controller is adopted; it is designed to improve compensation capability by adjusting the current error using a fuzzy rule. The reference current signals required to compensate harmonic currents use the synchronous current detection method, this technique is easy to implement and achieves good results. To maintain the dc voltage across capacitor constant and reduce inverter losses, a proportional integral voltage controller is used. The simulation of global system control and power circuits is performed using Matlab-Simulink and SimPowerSystem toolbox. The results obtained in transient and steady states under various operating conditions show the effectiveness of the proposed shunt active filter based on five-level (NPC) inverter using fuzzy control.


Objectives To evaluate the efficacy, cost effectiveness & stone clearance of Percutaneous nephrolithotomy(PCNL) as monotherapy in renal calculi. Materials and Methods Sixty patients with mean age of 39.45 years referred from emergency department with acute renal calculi between January 2003 and August 2004 were evaluated and subjected to PCNL. Patients were followed for one year for recurrence of symptoms. Results: In our study the complete stone free rate was seen in 95% of patients following PCNL. With pelvis and upper calyx clearance was 100%, middle and lower calyx clearance was 92 & 93% respectively. Residual calculi was seen in 5% of patients. Total complication rate was 6% with mean hospital stay of 6.9 days. Conclusion: PCNL as the primary treatment and monotherapy for renal calculi offers the twin advantage of minimally invasive therapy and complete stone clearance. This also helps in shortening the overall treatment duration and significant saving in cost as compared to other modalities, minimize the number of other less successful attempts of stone removal and optimize the chance that the problem will be managed safely, expeditiously and economically.


An analysis of secondary flow structures and losses in a variable-vane radial turbine geometry is provided based on CFD. A complete turbine stage of a commercial vehicle turbocharger is modeled, including the entire 360° rotor and stator, in order to account for the circumferential non-uniformity of the flow. The full-stage model consists of approximately 12,500,000 nodes. The stator domain accounts for the endwall clearance on the hub side of the nozzle vanes. As an additional feature typical for variable turbine geometries, cylindrical shaft seals at the stator vane axis at hub and shroud as well as four circumferentially equidistant spacers are modeled. These geometrical details allow a more realistic simulation of the stator domain. In an analysis using fields of helicity and Q-Criterion, the present features are found to induce additional secondary vortices in the stator, in addition to the inflow and horse shoe vortices found by previous investigators. A detailed analysis of the secondary flow structures in this realistic stator shows that the spacers contribute 33% to the overall stator losses.© 2011 ASME


India has adopted LPG Policy in 1991 for rest of the world and leads to increase an integration of the Indian capital market with international financial. Here, we have examined the co-movement of the Indian stock market(BSE) with developed markets like US, Japan, UK, Germany, France, Australia, and developing markets like Brazil, China, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Korea, Pakistan using daily data for the period January 2001 to May 2011. Tools like descriptive statistics, correlation, rolling correlation and Granger-causality tests have been used in the paper to find out the same. We found that the US market is not playing a unique role in integration of Asian markets. It is observed from the analysis that majority of the Asian Stock market indices integrate with each other, like BSE, SHANGHAI, JAKARTA and KLSE is highly correlated with Strait Times whereas KSE is highly correlated with BSE. All these stock exchanges are the developing economies of the world. Whereas the developed countries stock indices showed the co-integration majorly with the developed countries indices like, Dow Jones is highly correlated with DAX, CAC40 with DAXand NIKKEI with AOA. This shows that an investor can be able to earn a good return by diversifying investment in both kinds of economies (developed and developing). This study yields an interesting result that, excluding the Indian market from the set of Asian markets leads to no or fewer co-integrating relations; this indicates a unique role of India in the degree of linkages of these stock markets during the recent period of more open capital markets, where FII investments play a key role in synthesizing markets across a region. The degree of integration found is not significant that implies the nature of integration with emerging Asian markets does not yet warranty any immediate concern for India regarding possible contagion effect. The observations also showed that there is still much scope for reaping benefits of portfolio diversification.


The stability of sputter deposited dielectric film (SiO2 and Al2O3)-mirror facet interfaces of AlGaAs/GaAs DH laser diodes under Kr laser irradiation is evaluated by using current-voltage characteristics, junction photocurrent spectra, Auger sputtering profiles and ellipsometric analysis. For SiO2 coated laser diodes, Ga out-diffusion into the SiO2 film and facet oxidation occur with photoexcitation, resulting in an increase and a decrease in junction photocurrent below and above the active layer band gap energy, respectively, and an increase in the leak current (2kT component). Al2O3 coated laser diodes were stable against irradiation. The Al2O3 film-mirror facet interface is more stable than the SiO2 film-mirror facet interface.


Abstract Objective: To review the existing diagnostic modalities and treatment for primary tracheal synovial sarcoma, and to report a case of primary cervical synovial sarcoma arising in the trachea. Design: Retrospective. Setting: Head and neck surgery unit at a tertiary university centre. Patient: One case of primary cervical tracheal monophasic synovial sarcoma diagnosed by SYT–SSX gene rearrangement. Intervention: This patient underwent surgical resection of the synovial sarcoma, together with tracheal resection and primary anastomosis assisted by laryngeal-releasing manoeuvres, without complication. Main outcome measures: Clinical, radiographical, pathological and surgical information were collected. Result: One year post-operatively, there was no evidence of recurrence. Conclusion: Synovial sarcoma arising in the trachea is very rare. Diagnosis is confirmed by demonstrating the SYT–SSX gene rearrangement. The first-line treatment is surgery.


Based on the summarize of typical flue gas ammonia desulfurization technology at home and abroad such as injection process,wet process,electron beam process,pulse corona process and simple process.this paper analyses the characteristic,applications,advantages and current challenges of flue gas ammonia desulfurization technology.The purification of the flue gas ammonia desulfurization by-products is the key point of its generalization and application,so the research on the purification shows a very good future.


In this paper we propose a method for synthesis of combinational networks using non conventional logic gates. The logic components considered are Stochastic Logic Gates (SLGs) able to change their logic functionality by means of a single control parameter and the environmental level of noise. SLGs are able to adapt their computed logic function depending on the environmental conditions. Circuits composed of SLGs are thus sensitive to changes in the environment which alter the computed logic function. We propose a solution for the synthesis of SLGs combinational networks able to produce a network operating fault tolerant in different environmental conditions, i.e. different levels of noise. Given a description of the problem, in form of a truth table, the synthesis of the network is performed by means of genetic algorithms. The proposed solution is tested with a half-adder and compared to the optimal solution found with an exhaustive search.


This article is the last of our series of articles on survey research. In it, we discuss how to analyze survey data. We provide examples of correct and incorrect analysis techniques used in software engineering surveys.


Germline variants in the DNA mismatch repair (MMR) genes (MLH1, MSH2, MSH6, and PMS2) cause Lynch syndrome, an autosomal dominant hereditary cancer susceptibility syndrome. The risk for endometrial cancer is significantly higher in women with MSH6 pathogenic/likely pathogenic (P/LP) variants compared with that for MLH1 or MSH2 variants.


Introduction: Th17 and Treg cells have important roles in the development and progression of the allergic diseases, such as asthma. Several studies reported that Nigella sativa could improve chronic airway inflammation, and inhibit airway remodeling by regulating the immune system. To examine the effect of Nigella sativa supplementation on Th17/ Treg cells, and asthma control test score in asthmatic children. Materials and Methods: Twenty-eight children with asthma meeting the inclusion criteria in Saiful Anwar Hospital, Indonesia, participated in this study. All subjects took the standard treatment based on asthma guidelines. Nigella sativa oil (NSO) is given as additional treatment at the dose of 15–30 mg/kg/day for eight weeks in a randomized, singleblind-controlled trial. Th17 and Treg in peripheral blood mononuclear cells were analyzed by flow cytometry tool. Improvement of asthma control was accessed by ACT (Asthma Control Test) Score. Results: There was a significant decrease of Th17, and an increase of Treg percentages in NSO treatment group. Th17/ Treg ratio was lower in NSO group compared to the standard treatment group (1.06±0.33 vs. 2.30±1.08, p=0.001). The ACT score improvement was significantly higher in NSO compared to that in the standard treatment group (3.71±1.634 vs. 1.86±0.864, p=0.033). However, there was no significant correlation between Th17/Treg ratio and ACT score in preand post-treatment (p=0.552, p=0.344 respectively). Conclusion: NSO supplementation improves Th17/Treg balance and clinical symptoms in asthmatic children.


Various economic, political, environmental and social reasons can force people to migrate, leaving their home. Migration, which is as old as human history, has increased because of some reasons such as globalization, wars and natural disasters. Children have constituted a significant proportion of immigrants. According to the report of the United Nations Children's Fund for 2015, the number of immigrant children living in a different country from the country of their birth is approximately 31 million, of whom about 10 million are refugees around the world. Children have been obliged to deal with many problems such as hunger, thirst and illness during their migratory journey. In countries to which children migrated to seek asylum, children have been exposed to a great deal of abuse and exploitation, including violence, human trafficking and participation in criminal organisations. Unaccompanied children are especially vulnerable to all these hazards. The physical and mental health of immigrant children is affected by cultural, geographical and climatic changes. Not knowing the language of the destination country and being unable to communicate with their peers causes an impact of psychological trauma on children. In addition, refugee children living in difficult conditions for a long time are at risk of mental problems and behavioural disorders.


We report the first optical physical unclonable function designed for robustness against fluctuations in optical angular/spatial alignment, polarization, and temperature, and introduce silicon photonic quasicrystal interferometry for secure hardware applications.


Treatment of Depression: Old Controversies and New Approaches, ed. P.J. Clayton & J.E. Barett. New York: Raven, pp. 265–290. BLATT, S.J. (1974). Levels of object representation in anaclitic and introjective depression. Psychoanalytic Study of the Child 29:107–157. ——— (2004). Experiences of Depression: Theoretical, Clinical, and Research Perspectives. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association. ——— D'AFLITTI, J.P., & QUINLAN, D.M. (1976). Experiences of depression in normal young adults. Journal of Abnormal Psychology 85:383–389. ROBINS, C.J., LADD, J., WELKOWITZ, J., BLANEY, P.H., DIAZ, R., & KUTCHER, G. (1994). The Personal Style Inventory: Preliminary validation studies of new measures of sociotropy and autonomy. Journal of Psychopathology & Behavioral Assessment 16:277–299.


The notion of approachability was introduced by Blackwell (Blackwell, 1956) in the context of vector-valued repeated games. The famous Blackwells approachability theorem prescribes a strategy for approachability, i.e., for steering the average vector-cost of a given player towards a given target set, irrespective of the strategies of the other players. In this paper, motivated by the multi-objective optimization and decision making problems in dynamically changing environments, we address the approachability problem for Stackelberg stochastic games with vector-valued cost functions. We give two results. First, we give a simple and computationally tractable strategy for approachability. Second, we give a reinforcement learning based algorithm to learn the approachable strategy when the transition kernel corresponding to the underlying dynamics is unknown. We also show that the conditions that we give for approachability are both necessary and sufficient for convex sets and thus giving a complete characterization.


Design, performance, and applications of a pulsed, single mode optical parametric oscillator (OPO) for studies of high resolution spectroscopy and photodissociation dynamics are presented. Single mode operation is achieved by resonantly seeding a four-mirror OPO ring cavity with a tunable, continuous wave (cw) ring dye laser, providing continuous scanning capability at near Fourier transform limited resolution [Δν=160(20) MHz] with peak output energies ⩾10 mJ. The high spectral brightness of this OPO light source is sufficient to saturate Δv=3 stretching transitions in OH, NH, and CH vibrational manifolds, which makes feasible quantum state-selected multiple resonance spectroscopies at 0.005 cm−1 resolution. The capability of this single mode OPO is explicitly demonstrated via (i) vOH=3←0 overtone spectroscopy of HOD, (ii) near-IR optical saturation studies of H2O in the |03−〉 overtone vibrational manifold, (iii) high resolution LIF Dopplerimetry of OH radicals, and (iv) IR/UV multiple resonance spectrosc...


Leachability of lanthanides from the radioactive pegmatite pockets
 found in Gabal Abu Furad area, southwest Safaga city, limited by latitudes
 26°37′ and 26°43′ and longitudes 33°36′ and 33°43′ E. Central
 Eastern Desert, Egypt. It was investigated using different acids at different
 concentrations, liquid-to-solid ratios, contact times and temperatures in
 order to determine the optimum recovery conditions. The best leaching
 efficiency was obtained with 40 g/l HCl solution, 8 hours contact time,
 90°C temperature and 1:5 (g/ml) solid:liquid ratio. Afterwards, lanthanide
 stock solutions were prepared by applying the optimum leaching
 conditions. Lanthanides were then precipitated by either 10% oxalic acid
 or 20% sodium hydroxide solutions. Electron scanning microscope (ESM)
 analysis was utilized to determine the qualitative percentage of the existed
 lanthanides. It was found that thorium percentage was around 10.05%.
 High percentages of light lanthanides were detected, e.g., La (11.16%),
 cerium (39.97%), Pr (6.21%), Nd (13.99%), Sm (2.00%), and Gd (1.06%).


Diffusion of particles in restricted geometries is a subject of considerable interest due to their applicability in the observation and manipulation of nanoscopic systems. The single-file model has been introduced to model situations where the particles are constrained to move in nanopores in a single file without the chance for a particle exchange. Similarly, the motion of Brownian particles moving in a ratchet potential has been an active area of research because of its applicability to a wide range of nanoscale systems, including the transport properties of molecular motors. Here, we briefly review these models and discuss particle motion in a ratchet model constrained with the single-file condition. The motion of overdamped particles in a single-file model constrained to move in a ratchet potential is subdiffusive with mean square displacement that has t 1 2 time dependence when hard-core interaction is significant, and becomes diffusive for long times. The N-particle switching time for maximum current is N times the switching time for one particle maximum current.


Patients with diabetes require continuous self-care practice as poor self-care results in complications. This study assessed the perception of self-care and self-care practice of diabetic patients attending selected hospitals in Oyo State, Nigeria. An institutional-based cross-sectional study was employed and a total of 120 diabetic patients were selected using a systematic random sampling technique. Pretested, structured, and interview administered questionnaires were used for data collection. The collected data were analysed using IBM SPSS version 23 to generate descriptive (Mean and standard deviation) and inferential (Chi-square and correlation) statistics. The respondents had a mean perception score of 30.68±7.56. Majority 113(94.2%) of the respondents had poor self-care practices. Respondents' perception was significantly correlate with patient physical activity (r= 0.184; p=0.004); healthy eating (r=-0.24; p= 0.026); glucose monitoring (r=0.319; p=0.000); compliance with medication (r= 0.438; p = 0.00); risk reduction (r= 0.229; p=0.012) However, patient perception is not correlated with foot care (r= 0.052; p=0.575). Patient's perception of diabetes is a key determinant of self-care. It is recommended that psycho cognitive interventions are developed to help patients practice the recommended self-care practices.


A simple, specific, accurate, precise and sensitive reverse phase high performance liquid chromatographic method has been developed for the quantitation of Pantoprazole in both pure and tablet dosage forms...


In this paper, a practical strategy for adjusting PID parameters of hydro-governors in hydro-dominant power systems is presented, in order to suppress the ultra-low frequency oscillation (ULFO) in the range of 0.05 Hz. Firstly, practical indexes are proposed to select sensitive generators of ULFO. Then, Practical PID parameters optimization methods are introduced, considering damping characteristic of governor. Afterwards, general process of adjusting parameters for hydro-governors is presented, which could be referenced by engineering and technical personnel. Finally, the proposed strategies are applied to Southwest China Power Grid (SCPG) which is going to be asynchronous interconnection with Central China Power Grid. Simulation and field test results show effectiveness and practicability of the proposed measures.


It has been reported 1 that fibrinolysis by Group A hemolytic streptococci was a character of diminishing intensity as one proceeded from the S-culture phase through the R and finally to non-hemolytic colonies showing an exclusively diphtheroid cell-morphology. Moreover, these feebly fibrinolytic diphtheroids possessed an unusual lability, as indicated by their occasional reversion to the identical S-colony type of hemolytic streptococcus (Stoddard strain) from which they had originally dissociated. Such a "reverted" diphtheroid culture agglutinated significantly in the antistreptococcal S-serum and absorbed from this serum the antibodies specific for it. Subsequently the cultures of this diphtheroid, started from a single cell, have undergone further changes that appear to determine the Lancefield group into which the streptococcus redissociated from this diphtheroid shall fall. These changes have occurred under the following conditions. When this strain was kept for several months in our desiccated stocks and then transferred to semi-solid blood agar at room temperature, 4 transfers being made at monthly intervals, it lost practically all of its fibrinolytic ability. The same strain kept under the same conditions, except that it had been stocked on blood-agar slants in the cold room instead of being desiccated, retained its original fibrinolytic capacity. Inasmuch as Group C strains are usually non-fibrinolytic, the loss of this character might be viewed as the precursor of additional changes that resulted eventually in a strain having the serological reactions of Group C. The non-fibrinolytic diphtheroid was then transferred to ordinary blood-agar slants which were sealed and put in the cold room (10°C). Transfers were made to the same medium under the same conditions at monthly intervals. In a future paper it will be shown that under these conditions after 5 transfers this strain underwent changes that resulted in its reversion to a hemolytic streptococcus (NF), the characters of which were obviously different from those of the streptococcus (F) that reverted under identical conditions from the fibrinolytic diphtheroid.


Objective To observe the clinical curative effect of Vitamin A on immunologic function in infants with pneumonia. Methods Eighty eases of infants with pneumonia were randomly divided into two groups: 40 cases in Vitamin A group and 40 cases in conventional therapy group. Another 40 cases of healthy infants were selected as control group. The level of serum Vitamin A and serum immunoglobulin ( IgG,IgM and IgA) and C3 were measured in every cases. All the infants with pneumonia were given conventional therapy including antibiotics and oxygen therapy, and Vitamin A group was supplemented with Vitamin A 2500U orally. The therapeutic effects in both groups were observed and the levels of serum immunoglobulin and C3 between two groups were compared. Resulta In compare with the control group, the level of serum Vitamin A and the concentrations of lgG and IgA and C3 of infants with pneumonia were. lower (P〈 0.05). There were significant difference between Vitamin A group and conventional therapy group in the clinical efficacy (P〈 0.05). Vitamin A could improved the immunologic function of pneumonic infants. Conclusions Vitamin A could be used to help treat infant' s pneumonia.

Key words:
VitA;  Infant;  Pneumonia


The study of the bradykinin precursor-bradykininogen(BKG)in plasma or other biological fluids is of obvious importance in understanding the role of this polypeptide in several physiological and pathological conditions. The determination of the BKG variations under various circumstances might give an insight in the extent of the mobilization of the biochemical process responsible for the release of bradykinin in blood. Bradykinin itself is difficult to assay in blood because i t is on one hand quickly destroyed by the powerful bradykininolytic enzymes present in this fluid and on the other hand i t is diluted in the extracellular fluids of the animal body. From a biochemical point of view it is also of interest to understand the metabolic alterations of such a specific protein as BKG under a variety of experimental and clinical conditions. As a first step, a simplified method for BKG determination was developed in this laboratory.' The method and its use in the study of some experimental and clinical problems will be reviewed in this paper.


The law of Muamalat gives the freedom to bind themselves to contracts and conduct transactions for mutual benefits and benefits. Islamic banking prepares various types of contracts in accordance with sharia provisions, one of the murabahah contracts. The formulation of the problem in this study is how is the application of fiqh maslahah in Islamic banking murabahah financing contracts? The method used in this study is a normative juridical method, which refers to the concept of law as a rule. In this research the author of the legal approach, analytical approach. The specification of this study is descriptive analytical research. The type of data used in this study are secondary data and primary data. Data collection begins with activities to identify and inventory data sources. Drawing conclusions is done using inductive methods. Murabahah is a sale and purchase agreement between a bank and a customer where the bank buys the goods needed and resells the customer with a basic cost plus profits agreed by both parties, there is no coercion from the parties in making murabahah agreements. In making and implementing murabahah financing contracts must pay attention to public interests not just the interests of the parties. According to Islamic law in making contracts based on sharia principles, must prioritize the benefit and refuse harm to achieve the goal of shara, namely to increase the benefit of the people by guaranteeing basic needs (dharuriyah) and fulfilling secondary needs, needs (hajjiiyah) and their complementary needs.


The year 2010 marked the three hundredth anniversary of the birth of the astronomer, author and lecturer James Ferguson (1710-1776). Subsequently I visited the site of the churchyard where Ferguson is buried. He is mentioned in a plaque on the site and I thought that the details might be of interest.


Locating moving objects in a scene is a generic task needed in numerous applications. Whenever the viewing system is static, detecting moving objects in the scene simply leads to detecting moving regions in the image plane. We describe an original framework to solve this labeling problem. The framework is based on a statistical regularization approach using spatiotemporal Markov fields. It takes temporal variations of the intensity function as observations and delivers two-symbol label maps. The solution is derived by minimizing an energy function using an iterative deterministic relaxation scheme and it is independent of the size, intensity distribution, motion magnitude, and direction of the image of the moving objects. Experiments carried out on real image sequences depicting outdoor scenes are reported. The computations are local and can be easily parallelized. This motion detection algorithm can also lead to an elementary, straightforward but useful tracking procedure applied at the moving object mask level.


Based on the research in analysis of typical problems of phase flow in horizontal pipe vibration,two-phase flow simulation equipment and dual-channel data acquisition PL302 test equipment,such as Horizontal gas-liquid flow pipeline are applied to examine a variety of vibration problems.Characteristics and principles of the above vibration problems can be obtained by applying analysis and comparison to the collected vibration signals,which provides basis for further research in vibration feature under this circumstance.


College library is the window to the outside world and the index of college construction and development.The college libraries in southwest border ethic area can get their position with specialized construction and development of collection,staff,information,network and multiple service.


While the marketing education literature has contributed to our understanding of the skills that are important for successful employability, there has been limited effort to study both technical and non-technical skills together and second, their relative importance. This study addresses these gaps by conducting a Delphi study with a panel comprising of 12 human resource managers and 15 marketing managers. Among the list of 51 skills identified, the panelists selected and ranked 20 skills as being the most critical for entry-level marketing graduates. We further compared our results with four different industry studies and discuss their implications for marketing education.


Coagulation of asphaltenes in crude oil has been studied by electronic spin resonance (ESR). Free radicals in asphaltenes with the content of vanadium less than 0.1 mass% are found to recombine when asphaltenes precipitate. Polyaromatic fragments are shown to be localized in the inner part of the asphaltene molecules. A possibility of the formation of diamagnetic compounds between vanadyl (VO 2+ ) complexes and free radicals of asphaltenes is investigated.


Performance monitoring is a crucial aspect of parallel programming. Extracting the best possible performance from the system is the main goal of parallel programming, and monitoring tools are often essential to achieving that goal. A common tradeoff arises in determining at which system level to monitor performance information and present results. High-level monitoring approaches can often gather data directly tied to the software programming model, but may abstract away crucial low-level hardware details. Lowlevel monitoring approaches can gather fairly complete performance information about the underlying system, but often at the expense of portability and flexibility. In this paper we discuss a compromise approach between the portability and flexibility of high-level monitoring and the detailed data awareness of low-level monitoring. We present a firmware-based performance monitor we designed for a Myrinet-connected Shrimp cluster. This monitor combines the portability and flexibility typically found in software-based monitors, with detailed, low-level information traditionally available only to hardware monitors. As with hardware approaches, ours results in little monitoring perturbation. Since it includes a software-based global clock, the monitor can track inter-node latencies accurately. Our tool is flexible and can monitor applications with a wide range of communication abstractions, though we focus here on its usage on shared virtual memory applications. The portability and flexibility of this firmware-based monitoring strategy make it a very promising approach for gathering low-level statistics about parallel program performance.


Abstract : Fatigue tests have been performed on notched specimens of three precipitation hardened aluminium alloys under constant amplitude loading. The fatigue characteristics have been obtained over a range of mean stress values which includes tensile and compressive levels, comparisons being made between the three alloys and between the two notch factors used in the tests. Correlation is obtained between alternating stress and the numbers of fatigue nuclei and evidence of two types of fatigue failure at certain stress levels is identified. A useful method of presenting data at different mean stress values is introduced and further work on it suggested.


Lightweight flow setup (LFS) is a proposed reservation mechanism for use in the Internet that requires no complex signaling protocols and is simple enough to be implemented in the datapath of high performance routers. It can provide significant benefits even when partially deployed and incorporates mechanisms to support usage accounting, enabling network service providers to offer it as a value-added service, providing an incentive for commercial deployment. This paper provides a detailed description of the LFS protocol and an evaluation of its performance.


The monolithic gels were prepared through different drying procedures including super critical, infrared wave lengths and traditional drying methods. Dense and transparent glasses with chemical composition of 66SiO2-18B2O3-7Al2O3-6K2O -3BaO (in wt.%) were obtained after controlled heat treatment of the dried porous xerogels at 950°C for 2 h in air atmosphere. The chemical bonding as well as different properties of the prepared gels and the relevant glasses were investigated by means of Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), Brunauer-Emmitt-Teller (BET) and UV-Vis spectrometer. The results indicates that different drying conditions affect the average pore size and the total pore volume of the studied gels. The mean pore size was found to be 8.7, 2.4 and 3.2 nm for super critical, IR radiation and slow drying in air respectively. The glass network structure was significantly changed by heat treatment temperature such that the B-O-Si bonds were formed only after 450°C. It was found that the gel dried under super critical condition was unable to reach to its full density under the sintering conditions adopted in this study.


This article proposes new model checks for dynamic count models. Both portmanteau and omnibus-type tests for lack of residual autocorrelation are considered. The resulting test statistics are asymptotically pivotal when innovations are uncorrelated but possibly exhibit higher order serial dependence. Moreover, the tests are able to detect local alternatives converging to the null at the parametric rate T− 1/2, with T the sample size. The finite sample performance of the test statistics are examined by means of Monte Carlo experiments. Using a dataset on U.S. corporate bankruptcies, the proposed tests are applied to check if different risk models are correctly specified. Supplementary materials for this article are available online.


The utility model relates to a 60-degree thermal circuit breaker which comprises an overtemperature protection control circuit, wherein the overtemperature protection control circuit consists of an electronic switch field-effect tube Q1, a 5V three-terminal regulator U1, a negative power supply formation circuit for a comparator, a temperature sampling circuit, a voltage sampling follower circuit, a reference voltage formation circuit, a comparator circuit, an automatic shut-off circuit and a power supply filter circuit. The 60-degree thermal circuit breaker is an overtemperature alarm protective device which is independent of a constant temperature control device. When used in a physiotherapeutic instrument with a heating function, the 60-degree thermal circuit breaker ensures that the temperature of a treatment surface is not more than 60 DEG C when temperature rises abnormally. After protection action is performed, the 60-degree thermal circuit breaker is not damaged; and as long as a power supply is turned off, the temperature drops, and the 60-degree thermal circuit breaker can immediately start to work again after being restarted. The protection state of the thermal circuit breaker can be self-locked; and once the protection action is performed, the thermal circuit breaker cannot automatically start to work again without manual intervention. The 60-degree thermal circuit breaker is applicable for various physiotherapeutic instruments with the heating function.


The observed apparent angular broadening of radio sources as they pass close to the sun is discussed in terms of statistical ray theory. Unlike earlier works in which the turbulent interplanetary plasma is assumed to possess a spectrum of Gaussian form, we here treat power spectra for fluctuations in electron density, which are assumed to be of the same form as have been obtained for magnetic field and velocity fluctuations by in situ measurements. Such spectra are distinctly non-Gaussian. We find that the data suggest that the solar wind turbulence is strong between 10 and 100 solar radii distance from the sun. This result disagrees with earlier analyses, which suggest that the fluctuations are of the order of only a few per cent of the mean, but it agrees with the large fluctuations in electron density indicated by direct satellite measurement near the orbit of the earth. The data usually imply that the solar wind electron density varies as r−2, and that the correlation length and inner scale (that wavelength below which there is little power) of the turbulence are constant with distance from the sun. At times, however, the data imply that the electron density varies as r−2.5, and the two length scales are constant; or that the density varies as r−2, and the two length scales increase linearly with distance from the sun.


A case of cryptococcal meningitis in a 20‐year‐old Aboriginal woman is described. The fungal infection cleared rapidly during a superimposed meningeal infection with Pseudomonas cepacea. This is of interest as an apparent example of antibiosis in vivo, and the possible mechanisms of it and the need for improved treatment of cryptococcal meningitis are briefly discussed.


During the transmission of signal, some noises are introduced due to channel non linearties and various impairments. This deteriorates the original signal. Therefore it becomes essential to separate these noises from the original signal. This is the simplest aim of signal processing to reduce these noises. In this paper Butterworth low pass filter which is the first classical analog filter and Elliptic low pass filter which is the last classical analog filter are used to reduce the noise and then a comparative study is made between the performances of the two filters using MATLAB simulation. The MATLAB results show that Elliptic filter removes the noise more effectively than the Butterworth filter.


We propose a new solution concept to address the problem of sharing a surplus among the agents generating it. The sharing problem is formulated in the preferences-endowments space. The solution is defined in a recursive manner incorporating notions of consistency and fairness and relying on properties satisfied by the Shapley value for Transferable Utility (TU) games. We show a solution exists, and refer to it as an Ordinal Shapley value (OSV ). The OSV associates with each problem an allocation as well as a matrix of concessions "measuring" the gains each agent foregoes in favor of the other agents. We analyze the structure of the concessions, and show they are unique and symmetric. Next we characterize the OSV using the notion of coalitional dividends, and furthermore show it is monotone in an agent's initial endowments and satisfies anonymity. Finally, similarly to the weighted Shapley value for TU games, we construct a weighted OSV as well. JEL Classification numbers: C72, D50, D63.


Historical events often seem more important to their witnesses than they do to historians who judge them later. When this thesis was completed in September 1972 it still appeared to me that the election it describes was a major landmark in the consolidation of the Suharto government and I thought that the enormous social problems apparently ignored by Suharto would not prevent his administration from surviving for many years. Now as I write in the wake of the January 1974 demonstrations that rocked Djakarta, the solidity of the New Order appears to have been a very ephemeral thing indeed and divisions within the armed forces in particular have been laid bare. Few Indonesians would wager that another twenty years will be given to the New Order to carry out its programme of accelerated modernization.


social identity theory is the twentieth century since 1980s gradually arisen social psychology theory.Minority students as college of a special group,its cognitive identity,emotional identification,motivation identity,behavior identity constitute built social contents of the main frame,and with the social transformation period in various new phenomena and problems of national minority students of social recognition will have a significant impact on the paper,by means of yunnan minority university student social identity of dimension,the analysis of the characteristics of performance,put forward from the psychology Angle to construct the effective mechanism of social identity,hope to guide and promote the group as a new subject more actively attention and intervention contemporary China's socialist construction undertaking,solid set up contemporary socialist core values identity foundation,thus further evading social development risk and reduce social development price,effectively improve the livelihood of the people,greatly To promote the construction of the socialist harmonious society will play a positive role.


To investigate aspects of neighbor recognition in a migratory bird with large and complex song repertoires we conducted playback experiments in the field with male territorial Thrush Nightingales Luscinia luscinia as subjects. Males sing with immediate variety and neighbors can share a considerable part of their repertoire of song components and song types. Subjects responded significantly more to their neighbors' song broadcast from the unshared (opposite) territorial boundary than to playback of the same song broadcast from the shared territorial boundary. Thus, this study did not detect constraints on neighbor recognition imposed for instance by large and complex song repertoires, high singing versatility, or sharing of song patterns. Because Thrush Nightingales sing shared patterns in different ways, either by constructing different song types out of the shared pool of elements or by singing shared song types in different sequential order, they could attend to song components and their syntactical arrangement, full songs, or their sequential delivery for neighbor recognition. Which mechanism they use might depend on the similarity of the song and singing style of a singer compared to other familiar conspecifics.


In recent years, with the rapid development and wide application of modern information technology, the management environment and management concept of enterprises have been changed. The environment of enterprise accounting has changed greatly, and the accounting data system came into being. The application of accounting data system not only brings convenient and fast information services to enterprises, but also brings many security risks due to its own openness and the vulnerability of data storage media. With the expansion of the scope of use of computers, it is common to use computers for corruption, fraud and criminal activities. For example, the data stored on computer disks is easy to be tampered with; The data of the database is highly centralized, and unauthorized personnel may invade the enterprise's database through the computer network, browse all data files, copy, forge and destroy important data of the enterprise. Because computer crime has great concealment and harmfulness. Therefore, it is particularly important to strengthen the security of accounting data. This paper uses DES algorithm to encrypt accounting data.


Cholera is reemerging as a major public health concern in rural areas. The advances in our understanding of the pathophysiology and treatment of this disease have enriched the clinicians' therapeutic armamentarium. Treatment of cholera however, was not always effective or straightforward. In this article we present the use of the controversial treatment of hydrotherapy, as described in the book Memoire sur le Cholera Asiatique de 1894 a Samsoun by Dr. C. Lanaras. Klimik Dergisi 2011; 24(2): 82-5.


Introductions: The issue of menstrual cleanliness is deficiently recognized and has not gotten appropriate consideration. Utilization of clean cushions and washing the genital zone are fundamental practices to keep the menstrual cleanliness. Unhygienic menstrual practices can influence the wellbeing of the young ladies and there is an expanded weakness to regenerative tract contaminations and pelvic incendiary infections and different intricacies. Thusly, the goal of this investigation was to survey the learning and routine with regards to menstrual cleanliness among secondary school young ladies at Berhampur, Odisha. Materials and methods: A school based cross-sectional investigation configuration was utilized in Berhampur, Ganjam. A multi arrange examining system was utilized to choose 828 female secondary school understudies. Information gathering was done from May 04 to May 30, 2014 utilizing a pre-tried organized survey. The information were gone into a PC utilizing Epi-data form 3.5.1 and after that traded to SPSS for Windows variant 20.0 for investigation. Bivariate and multivariate calculated relapse examination was done at 95% certainty interim. Results: In this investigation, 504 (60.9%) and 330 (39.9%) respondents had great information and routine with regards to menstrual cleanliness separately. The discoveries of the investigation demonstrated a huge positive relationship between great learning of feminine cycle and instructive status of moms (AOR = 1.51, 95% CI = 1.02 – 2.22), having radio/TV (AOR = 2.42, 95% CI: 1.64 – 3.56). Instructive status of the mother (AOR = 2.03, 95% CI = 1.38 – 2.97) and gaining lasting pocket cash from guardians (AOR = 2.73, 95% CI = 1.76 – 4.26) uncovered noteworthy positive relationship with great routine with regards to menstrual cleanliness. Conclusions: The discoveries demonstrated that the information and routine with regards to menstrual cleanliness is low. Mindfulness with respect to the requirement for data about great menstrual practices is imperative. In this way, wellbeing instruction program ought to be setup to make mindfulness and routine with regards to great menstrual cleanliness.


Synthesis of camphorquinone was carried out by using α-pinene as the starting material.2-chlorinated bornane was prepared by addition and isomerization of α-pinene and dry hydrogen chloride,and it was further eliminated HCl in order to obtain bornylene.Camphorquinone was finally obtained by oxidation of bornylene with KMnO4 in mixed acetone-water solvent.Influences of phase-transfer catalysts and solvent systems,the amount of KMnO4,acetone/H2O ratio and the amount of mixed solvent,reaction temperature and reaction time on the oxidation of bornylene were examined in detail,and the suitable oxidation conditions were determined as follows:KMnO4 was used as the oxidant for oxidizing bornylene into camphorquinone,and KMnO4/bornylene molar ratio was 3.0∶1;acetone/H2O mixture with a volume ratio 3∶1 was used as the solvent,and the solvent/bornylene ratio was 20∶1(mL/g);the oxidation of bornylene was conducted at 30 ℃ for 4 h.The yield of camphorquinone was over 85% under the aforesaid conditions,and its chemical structure was determined with GC-MS,FTIR,1H NMR,and 13C NMR spectra.


A 63-year old female was admitted with sudden unbearable retrosternal chest pain which started immediately after a heated argument with her daughterin-law. There were no cardiovascular risk factors. Examination was normal and electrocardiogram (ECG) showed ST elevation in leads I, aVL, and V6 and ST depression with T inversion in lead III, aVF (Figure). Troponin I was 4.43 ng/ml (normal < 0.04 ng/ml) and other investigations were normal.


Highland barley (HB) is commonly milled into flour for direct consumption or further processed with other food formulations. Nevertheless, the association between milling and HB flour properties remains lacking. This work studied the effect of particle sizes (coarse, 250–500 μm; medium, 150–250 μm; fine, <150 μm) on physicochemical and nutritional properties of raw and sand-roasted HB flour. Gelatinization enthalpy decreased with increasing particle sizes of raw HB flour, while no endothermic transitions were observed in sand-roasted flour. Sand roasting destroyed starch granules and decreased short-range molecular order. Starch digestibility increased while total short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) production decreased with decreasing particle sizes in all samples. The relative crystallinity of sand-roasted HB flour decreased by 80–88% compared with raw samples. Sand roasting raised in vitro starch digestibility, while total SCFAs during in vitro fecal fermentation decreased. Sand-roasted HB flour with particle sizes <150 μm had the highest starch digestibility (94.0%) but the lowest production of total SCFAs (1.89–2.24 mM). Pearson's correlation analysis confirmed the relationship between the nutritional qualities of HB flour and milling.


Oxides of nitrogen (NOx) produced in nuclear fireballs could catalytically destroy stratospheric ozone. Since the NOx would be deposited in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere below the level of maximum ozone concentration, earlier one-dimensional model results showed that the potential ozone destruction rate was limited by the slow rate of vertical diffusion of NOx into the stratosphere. In the current study, the presence of a massive amount of smoke which absorbs solar energy in the upper atmosphere introduces three important changes. First, solar-driven lofting of smoke-filled air displaces ozone-rich stratospheric air with ozone-poor air from the troposphere; at the same time ozone from the northern hemisphere is shifted into the southern hemisphere. Secondly, the modified large-scale circulation rapidly pushes NOx upward, which mixes NOx into the ozone layer much more quickly than previously thought. Finally, the heating of the stratosphere caused by the solar heating of the rising smoke increases the rates of catalytic chemical reactions that destroy ozone. Thus, NOx acts as a chemical catalyst and smoke acts as a thermal catalyst for ozone destruction. The results of simulation using general circulation model (GCM) suggest a rapid ozone depletion in the northern hemisphere. The smoke-induced transport alone can reduce the O3 column by 15–20 Dobson units between the tropics and 60°N after 20 days of simulation. With the chemical reactions included,∼15% of ozone is depleted between 25°N and 75°N after 20 days.


The paper discusses considerations for a large 35 m ground-station antenna operating in Ka-band with a powerful amplification stage. It could give additional functionality for radar applications (investigations into imaging by inverse synthetic aperture radar (ISAR) of objects in space or Near Earth Objects (NEO)) and for Deep Space Telecommunication. Detection of space debris more near to Earth would obviously benefit from high power sources in Ka-band. However, the near-Earth target scenario is better handled with another type of antenna (phased array, mono/bi-static and other parameter scenarios).


According to Bartels and Cattell 1, 'should a hypertensive reaction occur during the course of any operative procedure,it should lead to the suspicion of a phzochromocytoma'. The wisdom of this advice, with which we were unfortunately not familiar at the time, is illustrated by the following case which is also of interest as exemplifying the association of this type of tumour with neurofibromatosis2-8.