Aqueous size for treating textile fibers containing a film former and at least one adhesion promotor, characterized in that the sizing contains the following components a) 0.5 to 1.5 wt .-% polyvinylpyrrolidone b) 0.1 to 0.6 wt .-% polyamide c) from 0.3 to 1.0 wt .-% silane coupling agent d) water as the balance to 100 wt .-%


Questionnaire investigation on cultivated land effectiveness for farmers was carried out in three counties and one city of Changsha Prefecture, Hunan Province. According to the statistics of this investigation, it can be shown that there are three ways to express the effectiveness for farmers, with regard to cultivated land: social security, employment, and direct economic output. It should be noted that non-agricultural income has a direct influence on the above -mentioned effectiveness. The policy of contracted responsibility system, based on the household in force due to its member rights, has strengthened the social carrying function of the cultivated land. In view of the reality that there are no sound social security systems in rural areas, and that there are demands for improving the effectiveness of cultivated land, the present structure for the system of farmland in China consists of establishing a standard exchange system, concerning the power of farmland operation, based on a family contracting management system. In addition, there is an effort to attach both social security mechanisms and social parity mechanisms, in order to promote better economic results from farmland and to reduce social bearing pressures.


Abstract Building on my experiences as a student, PhD candidate and researcher, this "letter from Norway" presents some characteristics of philosophy at the University of Bergen. First, I describe a basic philosophy course that is obligatory for each student at the university. As this "examen philosophicum" provides a common ground for graduates from all subjects, philosophy is still present in Norwegian public discourse. Second, I follow one specific thread in the history of Bergen's philosophy department, focusing on the philosophy of language and Wittgenstein studies that began with the first professor and is still practiced, for example with recent digital editing. In this context I also sketch the working conditions for PhD-students and researchers today. Finally, a brief exposition of the original praxeology of Jakob Meløe allows me to formulate what I found so characteristic of philosophy in Bergen: the recognition and appreciation of specific and individual experiences in doing philosophy.


In this study, we aimed to investigate the influence of soil preservation approaches, especially cryopreservation and high temperature-drying on the sequencing quality of its microbial community and the background microbial diversity information of fairy ring soil from Leucocalocybe mongolica. Through DNA metabarcoding surveys based on 16S rDNA and ITS barcodes, we observed that the bacterial abundance was notably changed when the soil samples were exposed in room temperature for 4 hours, whereas the fungal composition was not significantly changed. Moreover, the soil samples preserved their major microbial structures even after high temperature-drying for 12 hours, whereas their microbial diversity was influenced. Overall, a total of 9283 and 1871 OTUs were obtained from soil bacteria and fungi, respectively, and we observed that Chthoniobacteraceae and Tricholomataceae were the dominant bacterial and fungal families in the fairy ring soil, respectively. Our study reveals the impact of soil processing methods on the microbial community compositions and contributes to the understanding of fairy ring ecology.


erinary Protozoology, ed. Levine ND, pp. 13 1-1 32. Iowa State University Press, Ames, 1985 5 Fayer R, Ungar BLP: Cryptosporidium spp. and cryptosporidiosis. Microbiol Rev 50:458-483, 1986 6 Kirkpatrick CE, Dubey JP: Enteric coccidial infections. Zsospora, Sarcocystis, Cryptosporidium, Besnoitia, and Request reprints from Dr. Thomas P. Lipscomb, Department Hammondia. Vet Clin North Am [Small Anim Pract] 17: of Veterinary Pathology, Armed Forces Institute of Pathol1405-1420, 1987 ogy, Washington, DC 20306-6000 (USA). 7 Levine ND: Apicomplexa: the coccidia proper. In: Vet-


Objective: The hepatoprotective action of Amukkarac curanam (AC), a widely used Siddha medicine was evaluated using acetaminophen-induced hepatic damage in rats. Material and methods: AC was administered orally at a dose of 500 mg/kg body weight for 7 days. Serum levels of transaminase (AST, ALT), alkaline phosphate (ALP), bilirubin, Total protein (TP) and albumin (Alb) were used as the biochemical markers of hepatotoxicity. Liver thiobarbituric acid reactive substances and histopathological studies were also done to confirm the biochemical changes. Results and Discussion: The results of the study indicate that pretreatment with AC significantly reversed the increased levels of serum marker enzymes such as AST, ALT, ALP and bilirubin, when compared to acetaminophen-induced group. The level of liver thiobarbituric acid reactive substances was also brought to near normal. AC has protected the liver from acetaminophen-induced damage. Probable mechanism of action is by protection against oxidative damage produced by acetaminophen.


Philip and Janssen present a synthetic indicator of the fiscal stance for New Zealand, which attempts to gauge the impact on aggregate demand of discretionary fiscal policies. The indicator corresponds to the change of the cyclically adjusted primary balance, as a ratio to GDP, adjusted for various factors. The paper discusses systematically the problems that arise in calculating such an indicator and is transparent on the decisions taken concerning each of them. Accounting and data issues are extensively examined and the way the authors treat capital transactions is definitely more accurate than in most analogous studies. The authors note that, at least in the period considered, the indicator is not very sensitive to the key decisions taken in its construction but still advocate a very cautious use of the tool, as a synthetic indicator cannot, by definition, capture all important factors relevant for the assessment of the impact of fiscal policy on the economy.


Arthrodiastasis (using external fixator and distraction) has been used for various pathologies including deformity correction/stiff hip/slipped capital femoral epiphysis. Historically this has been used for treatment of Perthes disease. The purpose of our study is to evaluate efficacy of arthrodiastasis in management of stiff hip. A 15 year old boy with stiff hip presented with complaints of pain in the left hip for past 6 months. Radiologically the left proximal femur was found to be deformed with metaphyseal widening, sclerosis and arthritic changes. Hip spanning external fixator using limb reconstruction system was done. Distraction was done at a rate of 1 mm/day. After 2 months, fixator was removed. Hip was mobilized under anaesthesia. Good range of all movements was achieved. Arthrodiastasis seems to be a good option in young adolescent in whom total hip replacement needs to be delayed as much as possible.


Physical properties of pentacarbonyl(trifluoroacetato)manganese have been investigated. Discrepancies in i.r. spectra reported in earlier studies have been resolved and new data, including Raman, 19F n.m.r., X-ray photoelectron, and mass spectra, and molecular-weight measurements, have been obtained. A convenient route to substituted derivatives of this compound has been developed and the new compounds [Mn(CO)3L2(O2CCF3)][L = pyridine (py) or PPh3; L2= 2,2′-bipyridine (bipy), 1, 10-phenanthroline (phen), RSCH2CH2SR (R = Et or Ph)] isolated and characterised.


Spherical shock experiments produced gradual pressure changes from S4 level up to complete melting. At ~50 GPa peak pressure shock darkening of silicates is observed due to troilite melt penetrating silicate grains associated with reduction in intensity of silicate 1 and 2 μm absorptions. This process stops at higher pressures as partial melting of silicates along grain boundaries isolates troilite melt. Darkening occurs again upon material complete melting. In MIR region, spectral trends are similar, however the reststrahlen silicate bands are still resolved in shock-darkened or impact melt zones. Figure 1: Section of the shocked Chelyabinsk samples with four shock zones. Scale unit is 1 mm.


The scholarly debate over the causes of currency crises has reached an impasse with policy failure and market power approaches engaged in a deadlocked "tug-of-war." In an effort to break this deadlock, this article builds and applies a social theory of currency crises drawing on work in political theory and the sociology of embedded business networks. It argues that changes in trust relations between state and market actors influence exchange relations by mediating how these actors assess risks. This approach differs from existing accounts in two fundamental ways. First, it takes an international political economy view to what has traditionally been seen as a domestic political economy issue. Second, it argues that currency relations are mediated by socially-constituted relations of trust, relations generally deemed epiphenomenal in mainstream theory. This "authority network" approach is then applied to the interwar gold standard crisis. The case study illustrates how variations in trust relations among networked actors produce distinct logics of economic exchange, influence state and market actor behavior and thereby produce episodes of currency stability, volatility and crisis that rationalist approaches struggle to explain.


Objective To design an approach above the fibular head for treating posterolateral tibial plateau fracture,and to investigate its feasibility,advantages and disadvantages in clinical application.Methods Ten frozen adult cadaveric knees were dissected to observe the correlation of the important lateral structures and effect of knee flexion on tensity of the lateral collateral ligament.The distance (OA) from superior border of facies articularis capitis fibulae to lateral edge of articular surface of tibial plateau and the distance (OB) from the cross point of lateral collateral ligament and facies articularis capitis fibulae level to lateral edge of articular surface of tibial plateau were measured.According to the anatomic measurement results,the approach above the fibular head was designed.Then 12 patients with posterolateral tibial plateau fracture were treated through this approach,and the short-term clinical results were evaluated.Results The value of OA ranged from 9.43 to 14.92 mm (average,12.97±1.83 mm).At 0° of genuflex,the lateral collateral ligament was tense and the average value of OB was 4.87±0.33 mm.During the course of genuflex,the lateral collateral ligament got loose following which the value of OB became larger.At 60° of genuflex,the lateral collateral ligament was most loose,and the posterolateral tibial plateau could be exposed completely by drawing posterolaterally lateral collateral ligament and rotating medially tibia.All patients were followed up for 6 to 24 months (average,18 months).The average bone healing time was 10.2 weeks (8 to 12 weeks).According to Rasmussen's knee functional score system,the results were excellent in 10 cases and good in 2 cases.No complications occurred,such as numbness of limbs,instability of the knee and internal fixation loosening.Conclusion The approach above the fibular head is feasible,simple and safe for treating posterolateral tibial plateau fracture.

Key words:
Tibial fractures;  Anatomy regional;  Fracture fixation, internal


PURPOSE: To carry out a topical treatment of human body having inner cavities with a drug at a high concentration without any action of the drug owing to the high concentration against any other parts of the human body by making a small fluidizing area in such a way that fine holes don't affect contraction of a balloon around a catheter shaft under an effect of an inspired gas added into an expanded inner cavities. CONSTITUTION: There is used a cylindrical balloon catheter 10 which flexible and non-elastic cylindrical balloon 16 at its distal end and which has multiple fine holes arranged at equal distances for leaching a drug at a limited flow amount. Inside of the balloon 16 is connected to a inner cavity 18 extending through a catheter shaft 10 on one hand, and also connected to a connector 22, at a base end of the catheter for connecting the inner cavity 18 to a syringe or other pressuring injection means. A fluidizing area formed by fine holes of the balloon is selected in such a way that a leached flow amount through a balloon wall being typically quite low such as several cm 3 /min and a maximum flow amount being corresponding to the specified drug to be supplied. The catheter is selected according to a diameter of an inner cavity within a body blood vessel to be treated. COPYRIGHT: (C)1990,JPO


This paper is an empirical investigation of the choice of exchange rate regimes of the 25 transition economies in Eastern Europe over the period 1990—2004. I suggest finance—based approach to exchange rate regime choices focusing on the role of financial interests. I argue that exchange rate regime choices depend on two dimensions: first, on the institutional variation of national financial systems and bank-industry relationships shaped by the specific methods of privatization; and, second, on the different preferences and strategies of state-owned and foreign banks in determining exchange rate policy. Empirical results support the premise that countries with financial systems characterized by greater participation by foreign banks in the bank intermediation are more willing and able to commit to and to sustain fixed exchange rate arrangements than countries with financial systems dominated by incumbent state-owned banks. In the empirical tests, I do not find support for the hypothesis that privatization method determines the choice of exchange rate regime. Privatization has only an indirect impact on exchange rate policy through its impact on financial system development. The paper also shows that the de facto exchange rate regimes in EE do diverge considerably from what is announced.


The large amount of oil storage tank possesses significant risks of leakage, and once leakage occurs, the combustible gas is prone to fire and explosion accidents. When the combustible gas cloud is exposed to the ignition source, there are possibilities of triggering the domino effect with more serious consequences. As one important kind of protective layers, the combustible gas detectors continuously monitor the leakage of combustible gas, guaranteeing the safety performance of the site. Using the computational fluid dynamics software FLACS as a tool, the impact of the consequences of the raw material leakage with a vapor cloud explosion accident in a large chemical fiber manufacturer's storage tank area is studied, and the risk of domino effect in the tank area during the course of the accident is predicted. The study shows that FLACS can be applied to the simulation study of gas diffusion explosion phenomenon in complex operation and storage areas, with the great capability of the explosion risk quantitative assessment and the reliable prediction to the risk of domino effects.


Diane M. ThoMpson1, T.R. aulT1, M.n. evans2,1, J.e. Cole1,3, J. eMile-Geay4, a.n. leGRanDe5 Department of Geosciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, USA; email@example.com Department of Geology and Earth System Science Interdisciplinary Center, University of Maryland, College Park, USA; Department of Atmospheric Sciences, University of Arizona, Tucson; USA; Department of Earth Sciences, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, USA; NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies and Center for Climate Systems Research, Columbia University, New York, USA


Nonresonant excitation of H2 at 248 nm using 5 ps and 0.5 ps laser pulses with intensities 5×1011 and 5×1012 W/cm2, respectively, is studied by measurement of the angle-speed distributions of the H+ photofragment using velocity map imaging. Three main H+ production channels are observed: (a) three-photon dissociation to H(n=1)+H(n=2) followed by photoionization of H(n=2); (b) dissociative (auto)ionization following four-photon absorption to form H(n=1)+H++e−; and (c) autoionization from a doubly excited state producing a H2+ vibrational distribution peaking at (v+=2,7,13) and subsequent photodissociation of these vibrationally excited ions. In the neighborhood of the energy sum of three 248 nm photons lie transitions to the B′ 1Σu+(3pσ) vibrational continuum and the two bound states B″ 1Σu+(4pσ)(v=2) and D 1Πu+(3pπ)(v=4). These states are believed to play an important role in three-photon absorption and at the subsequent fourth photon level. Their effect on the observed kinetic energy and angular distribu...


This paper describes the implementation of an algorithm capable of enumerating a large number of propagation paths in interactive time for the special case of 2.5D environments. A two-dimensional beam tracing algorithm is used to compute the projection of the propagation paths in the plane and the heights lost in this projection, allowing the reconstruction of the actual propagation paths in three-dimensional space. The propagation paths computed are comprised of specular reflections and diffractions. As the propagation beams are created in a preprocessing stage, the system treats only sources with fixed position and moving receivers. For a long time, the computational simulation of acoustic phenomena has been used mainly in the design and study of the acoustic properties of concert and lecture halls. Recently, however, there has been a growing interest in the use of such simulations in order to enhance virtual reality applications, as computer games for example. To achieve the interactive rates necessary for these applications, an approximation known as geometrical room acoustics [1] is used. As Kuttruff describes it, in geometrical room acoustics the concept of a sound wave is replaced by the concept of a sound ray. The use of sound rays to simulate the propagation of sound in an environment makes the algorithms created for this purpose very similar to the ones used in the analysis of wireless communication networks [2] and in visualization (hidden surface removal), such as ray tracing [3] and beam tracing [4]. This means that all these applications can benefit from the same techniques used to accelerate visualization applications, as was shown by Funkhouser et al. [5] for acoustic simulations. In this paper we present an algorithm capable of enumerating propagation paths comprised of specular reflections and diffractions in 2.5D environments (environments defined by the vertical sweeping of twodimensional shapes). By using the acceleration techniques mentioned above, the algorithm is capable of enumerating a large number of propagation paths in interactive time. Figure 1 contains a dataflow diagram that illustrates how the algorithm works. The first stage of the algorithm, represented by the gray boxes in the diagram, is a preprocessing stage. This stage is responsible for the construction of the beam tree data structure and of the height paths. The first allows the fast computation of propagation paths in the plane and the second allows us to unproject these paths, transforming them into 3D propagation paths. In the diagram, one can see that the environment, the position of the source and the z coordinate of the receiver are inputs to the preprocessing stage. If any of these inputs is modified, the preprocessing stage must be repeated. The second stage, represented by the white boxes in the dataflow diagram is responsible for the creation of the propagation paths in the plane and for the reconstruction of the 3D propagation paths, represented by the Path Merger box in the diagram. The following sections present each step of the algorithm in more detail. We begin by reviewing some previous work in Section 2 and by making a brief introduction to the beam tracing technique in Section 3. This introduction covers the Cell Decomposition, Beam Tracer and Path Tracer steps of the algorithm. Then, the construction of the height paths and the reconstruction of the 3D paths are explained, respectively, in Section 4 and in Section 5. Finally, we present some results (Section 6) and our conclusions and future work (Section 7).


Folded paper models to represent structures in chemistry have been widely used but have been restricted mostly to molecular shapes. We have devised simple, body-centered, and face-centered cubic, hexagonal, and sodium chloride unit cell models for teaching about crystalline solids, which students can build from paper templates and glue. Once constructed, these individual unit cells can be combined to create a large model of a crystalline solid. Not only does this activity provide each student with personal models, but the students can also participate in a large group activity as the large crystal structures are assembled.


A low heat ultra high strength concrete composition is provided to obtain uniform construction properties and express an intensity exceeding 120 Mpa by using a binding material in which ground granulated blast-furnace slag, silica fume and anhydrous gypsum are mixed in the cement and being mixed at a low water-binder ratio of 10~17 weight%. A low heat ultra high strength concrete composition comprises water and a binding material. A mixing ratio of the water and the binder is 10~17 weight% and a fine aggregate rate is 30~35 weight%. The binding material is manufactured by mixing the cement of 10~30 weight%, the ground granulated blast-furnace slag of 50~70 weight%, the anhydrous gypsum of 1~10 weight% and the silica fume of 5~15 weight%.


ABSTRACT Faculty retention is paramount given the steep financial investment required for recruitment. To study factors associated with job satisfaction, participants (N=591) were recruited from the Council on Social Work Education's membership. Results indicated that greater job satisfaction was most strongly associated with colleague and administration satisfaction and satisfaction with pay (not salary) explaining 57% of the variance. An analysis on salary indicated that the number of years in academia had the greatest effect size. Content analysis of an open-ended item revealed that dissatisfaction with administration and leadership was the most frequent reason for someone wanting to leave their position. Results suggested that relationship building is at the heart of job satisfaction, and investments in the climate may facilitate retention.


Lymphoma‐associated haemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (L‐HLH) is characterized by excessively activated macrophages and cytotoxic T lymphocytes, but few reliable markers for activated macrophages are available clinically. This study, designed to discover novel biomarkers for the diagnosis of lymphoma patients with L‐HLH, was initiated between 2016 and 2018. Fifty‐seven adult lymphoma patients were enrolled — 39 without HLH and 18 with HLH. The differential serum protein expression profile was first screened between lymphoma patients with and without L‐HLH by a quantitative mass spectrometric approach. Soluble V‐set and immunoglobulin domain‐containing 4 (sVSIG4), specifically expressed by macrophages, was significantly upregulated in the L‐HLH group. Subsequently, sVSIG4 concentration was confirmed by enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay to be significantly increased in lymphoma patients with L‐HLH. When it was exploited for the diagnosis of lymphoma patients with L‐HLH, the area under a receiver operating characteristic curve was 0·98 with an optimal cut‐off point of 2195 pg/ml and the corresponding sensitivity and specificity were 94·44% and 94·87% respectively. In addition, the one‐year overall survival was significantly worse in patients with a sVSIG4 concentration above 2195 pg/ml compared with those below 2195 pg/ml (5·3% vs. 72·2%, P < 0·0001). sVSIG4 may be a surrogate marker of activated macrophages for the diagnosis of lymphoma patients with L‐HLH.


This paper focuses on graph properties of relaxed planning graph(RPG),a widely-used tool in automated planning.When proposition levels are extracted from RPG,and thus,used to build a proposition relation graph(PRG),it is found that PRG keeps primary planning properties in RPG.Preliminary research results include the following four aspects: The close pth out-neighborhoods(CON) of initial proposition set(IPS) is the relaxed reachable proposition set(R-RPS) in planning;the maximum distance from any proposition in initial state to any proposition in goal states is a reasonable estimation of the plan length;acyclic order in graph indicates that some orders that held corresponding propositions are necessary;contraction of in/out cut-vertex means construction of macro-action is currently being planned.The first and second results show PRG keeps planning properties in RPG,and the third and fourth results can be used in goal agenda building and macro-action construction.Three related algorithms are proposed: PRG in RPG finding algorithm,an O(mn2/4)(n is the number of propositions in RPG,m is the number of actions in RPG) algorithm;acyclic order reduction algorithm,an O(n+m)(n is the number of nodes in PRG,m is the number of edges in PRG) algorithm;macro action suggestion algorithm,an O(n2)(n is the number of nodes in PRG) algorithm.


Higher eukaryotes' phenotypes–the unique properties of a system composed of several genes and their relations–are entirely different from a set of properties of individual genes. During evolution, higher organisms' genes become multipurpose and their phenotypic implication become abstract. We hypothesize that an operating system of life (OSL) exists in "genome space," encoding a variety of phenotypes and realizing them through chemical circuits in "material space." Genes' generalization and abstraction explain the necessity of "genomic modules," each of which encodes a unitary phenotype as a subroutine in the OSL. A genetic network is a projection map of the OSL's active modules on the interface between the two spaces. We searched for genomic modules and intermodular networks developed in differentiating cells with the density matrix that mathematically defines a state of the system composed of genes and their relations, and demonstrated the modules' relevance to the phenotypes of differentiating cells.


The performance of an all solid-state Refex electrode has been evaluated as a reference electrode for pH measurement for use with a glass pH electrode, an ISFET pH probe and six encapsulated ISFET chips. It was found that the solid-state Refex electrode functioned as well, if not better, than the built-in Ag/AgCl reference electrodes of the glass electrode and the ISFET probe. Excellent results were also obtained with the ISFET chips.


Suzanne is a story-collector and an artist based in Melbourne, Victoria. Currently she is studying her Masters in Landscape Architecture. Through art, she explores the ideas of cultural and social identity, connections and reactivating forgotten urban landscape. Story-collecting is an integral part of her practice, and they become a source of inspiration for her artwork and installations.


A knowledge of the residence time distribution function C(t) is important in the identification and design of many industrial flow systems. The radiotracer method is one of the more efficient methods for C(t) function determination. The high sensitivity of radiotracer density distribution measurement and the fact that it does not disturb the investigated system are the basic advantages of this method.


The article continues the author's research of emergence and development of the Russian state system of ranks according to the Table of Ranks. He has identified a great number of 18th century orders that regulated the activities of a special group of officials on clerical positions. This group of civil ranks has not yet been a subject of special study. The article studies the development of this special rank group of clerical officials who served in the district and gubernia secretary offices, the Collegiums and the Senate, for the first time. It describes the duties and requirements for the highest clerical officials, such as secretaries of various classes of the Table of Ranks, as well as translators, minute-takers, actuaries, and registrars. A special 1 / 4 Development of the Office Clerk Ranks in the Table of Ranks in the 18th Century attention is paid to the promotion mechanisms for clerical officials. The study demonstrates that serving in secretary offices was unpopular among the nobility. The government had to recruit its clerks among other classes; noble rights did not apply; and promotion to highest clerical ranks — those of secretaries — was only allowed as an exception if there were no candidates from the nobility. In 1762, the order of Peter III permitted promotion to secretaries of clerks from commoners. The majority of the examined ranks remained in the Table for 200 years and formed the basis of the lower rank civil servants system. Records management in subordinate offices of the directorates was a foundation of a successful state policy; thus, and the clerical officials were given special attention of the monarchy. This makes the studied group of clerical ranks unique.


Aim The use of Emergency care plans (ECPs) is recommended by 'Together for Short Lives', (TFSL) to prevent inappropriate escalation to futile interventions in children with incurable life-limiting conditions (LLC). The aim was to assess compliance with TSFL guidelines for ECP in children on a High-Dependency Unit (HDU), at a large children's hospital: proportion of children with completed ECPs whether care during an acute episode was consistent with ECP Methods Children with LLCs admitted to HDU over a 6 month period were identified. Underlying condition; reason for admission; record of discussion of end-of-life (EoL) preferences; HDU treatment; escalation to PICU. Results 45 patients were evaluable. Fourteen (31.1%) patient notes recorded EoL preference. (24.4% completed ECP, 6.7% discussion alone). In two cases preferences were not followed because situation changed (1 parental wishes, 1 alternative intervention). 3/11 ECPs were physical hard copies in the notes that would be sought in an emergency, five could not be located. Conclusions Documentation of preference in EoL care should be accessible in 100% of patients with LLC admitted to HDU. That target was not reached. For most, there was no record of any EoL discussion. Documentation was mis-filed in many cases, potentially rendering it difficult to access at crucial points in patient care. Where ECPs were in place, they were followed unless there was a reason for deviation. We would recommend: A lower threshold for clinicians to raise the subject of ECPs in life-limited children A dedicated copy of any ECP to be filed at the front of the patient notes A clinical portal copy of the ECP


In many development projects, individuals from one organisation are assigned and relocated to another organisation. For these 'guests' to be effective in the provision of technical assistance, they need to learn about and adapt to the local milieu. Using a Navajo case study, this paper analyses how practices called acts allow guests to make effective contributions through learning and adaptation. It is shown that two categories of acts, calibrating and progressing, are crucial in this regard. Calibrating allows guests to assess the appropriateness of assumptions, and progressing allows them to elicit information and explanations to help develop an understanding of the context. These sets of acts contribute to cross-cultural communicative competence and, thereby, to the success of the development project.


The subject of the invention is a process for preparing cutting and pre-stripping for a cable or conducting wire and apparatus for its implementation. The method of preparing cut into pieces and pre-cutting is of the type using cutting means and pre-stripping means and is characterized in that it uses a cutting means which cuts to the desired lengths ( L1) pieces of cable; the cutting means cuts only the core or wire strand (6, 7, 8, 9) of the conductor and the minimum of insulation (12) encasing the core of the conductor and this, so as to keep the rest of the insulating parts (12); predurudation means are arranged and used downstream and / or upstream of the cutting means. The invention is particularly applicable to single or multi-stranded conductor wires, optical fibers to said ribbon cables with two, three, four conductors and more.


Laboratory experiments and analysis of field samples showed that clay minerals, Fe and Mn oxides, and humic matter (colloids) have complex and often dramatic effects on the microbial methylation and demethylation of Hg, and on other microbial activities, in lake sediments. Depending on the nature, abundance, and surface chemistry of the colloids, the source of the sediment, the nature of the microbes, and synergistic/antagonistic effects of environmental variables, the colloids either strongly inhibited or stimulated the Hg transformations, had little or no effect, or alternated in their effects. Most of the results suggest specific effects on particular kinds of microbes, and are not attributable to general inhibition or stimulation of microbial growth or to effects due to the binding of Hg by the colloids. The colloids probably alter the species composition of the microbial community and affect the course of ecological succession, upsetting the dynamic balance between methylation and demethylation and causing alternate increases and decreases in methyl mercury (CH3Hg+) levels along with changes in other indicators of microbial activity [CO2 and CH4 production and oxidationreduction potential (Eh)].

The role of clays was critically dependent on surface coatings. Clays often interfered with methylation (while in some cases strongly promoting subsequent demethylation); but iron oxide (FeOOH) often promoted methylation, and FeOOH coatings on clay tended to counterbalance the negative influence of the clay. Removal of oxide coatings depressed both methylation and demethylation. Manganese oxide (MnOOH) coatings sometimes promoted methylation, but larger amounts of MnOOH (unlike FeOOH) strongly suppressed methylation. On addition of organic nutrients, oxide coatings enhanced methylation and impeded demethylation; without nutrient enrichment, the reverse tended to occur. Humic matter in solution tended to stimulate methylation; but humic coatings on clay impeded methylation and fostered demethylation. Thus, the effects of natural colloids on Hg speciation are vitally important but variable, inconsistent, and not altogether predictable.


We have collected, recomputed, and compiled a database consisting of 633 unique atmospherically relevant molecular clusters containing sulfuric acid, bases, oxidized organic compounds, and water. The database is composed of strongly hydrogen-bonded molecular clusters and spans neutral, negatively charged, and positively charged clusters of atmospheric relevance. All the cluster structures and vibrational frequencies have been re-evaluated at the ωB97X-D/6-31++G(d,p) level of theory, and the single point energies have been refined using a high-level DLPNO-CCSD(T)/aug-cc-pVTZ calculation. The database unifies published atmospheric molecular clusters under a single common methodology and serves as an efficient look-up table for molecular cluster structures and thermochemical parameters. Utilizing the database, the performance of four semi-empirical methodologies (PM6, PM7, B97-3c, and PBEh-3c) in calculating the binding energies of atmospheric molecular clusters is assessed. It is identified that the B97-3c ...


The intricate morphology of porous media can considerably affect the progression of penetration and the diffusion of grouting slurry. In this study, a Newtonian fluid's refined seepage motion equation was proposed to incorporate the impact of tortuosity on the grouting process into gravel soil, and the column-hemispherical penetration grouting mechanism was analyzed using the method of theoretical analysis. Utilizing secondary-development programming techniques, a numerical simulation program was developed with COMSOL Multiphysics to model the penetration grouting mechanism of a Newtonian fluid in a column-hemispherical pattern, considering a medium's tortuosity. The penetration grouting process of Newtonian cement into gravel soils was then simulated. Finally, the theoretical analysis, experimental values, and numerically simulated values were compared.The findings suggested that incorporating the tortuosity of porous media is more efficacious in depicting the penetration and diffusion behavior for Newtonian fluid grouting in porous media, as compared to omitting the tortuosity. The findings of this study contribute to a better understanding of grouting engineering in porous media strata, guiding practical design and construction.


Bolitophilella Landrock, 1925, is reduced to a subgenus of Bolitophila Meigen, 1818. Consideration is given to tlie affinities of Bolitophila species described by Garrett with the species of other investigators. A key is presented to the 20 North American species of Bolitophila , 8 of which are in subgenus Bolitophilella . No new species are described.


Inlroduction.--In considering a variety of problems in hydrodynamics and in the theory of convective heat and mass transfer in two-phase systems with mobile interphase boundary (liquid-liquid or liquid-gas) one encounters so-called capillary phenomena, i.e., phenomena caused by the existence of surface tension on the interphase boundary. These phenomena include, for example, the retardation of droplets and bubbles moving in a liquid that contains dissolved surface-active substances, formation of surface waves in liquids under the influence of different kinds of disturbances, the motion of liquids in thin capillaries, etc. Capillary phenomena may occur in two cases: (a) when the surface of phase separation possesses considerable curvature, and (b) when the surface tension varies from point to point on the surface. In both cases, there arise forces near the interphase boundary that change the nature of the motion in each of the phases or induce motion originally absent. Formally, the effect of surface tension on the hydrodynamics (and via the hydrodynamics also on the heat and mass transfer) appears in change of the boundary conditions on the interface. According to the basic principles of hydromechanics (1), the condition of a balance of the forces acting in each phase must be fulfilled on the mobile phase boundary. This condition may be written in the following general form:


First-principles studies are performed on Au12W@Si60 by using projector-augmented wave (PAW) method and generalized gradient approximation for the exchange-correlation energy. The geometry, electronic structure, orbital hybridization, and charge transfer are discussed. It is found that the magic Au12W cluster interacts strongly with Si, thus stabilizes Si60 cage structure. Meanwhile the metal cluster is dissociated when encapsulated in the Si60 cage, and charges are transferred from the Si cage to the metal atoms. PACS. 61.48.+c Fullerenes and fullerene-related materials – 36.40.Cg Electronic and magnetic properties of clusters – 61.46.+w Nanoscale materials: clusters, nanoparticles, nanotubes, and nanocrystals – 71.20.Tx Fullerenes and related materials; intercalation compounds Atomic clusters containing about a dozen atoms constitute subnanoscale systems that exhibit unique size and composition specific properties. Assembling these clusters can lead to a novel route for the synthesis of cluster-assembled materials with tailored properties [1–5]. Currently there is tremendous interest in studying Au and Si clusters. One of the efforts in studying Au cluster is to make gold less noble. It is well-known that bulk Au is the most noble metal. When in nano-size, however, gold becomes chemically active. This provides a new way to synthesize the novel catalyst and nano devices like molecular conducting nano-wires [6,7]. For silicon, on the other hand, the intense interest is motivated by the fact that silicon and carbon belong to the same group in the periodic table, while carbon fullerene cages and their assembled materials can display novel electronic, optical and super-conducting properties. These findings on carbon greatly stimulated the world-wide interest in the study of Si cages and the related nano structures, which have great potential applications in microelectronics. It has been found that Si20 fullerene cage can be stabilized by one metal atom [8], and Si60 fullerene cage can not be stabilized by encapsulating C60 [9], while the one dimensional nano silicon structure can be formed by doping magic Si clusters into carbon nano tube [10]. Both Au cluster and Si cluster individually are important subjects in chemistry, physics, and materials science. It is very interesting to study the interactions between these two technologically important systems. In a e-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com this paper, we explored Au12W@Si60. Recently, magic cluster Au12W is theoretically predicted [11], and experimentally synthesized [12]. Like Al12Si and Al12Ge clusters, Au12W cluster also has an icosahedral geometry, which is compatible with the symmetry and the size of Si60 fullerene cage. We are interested in the following questions: (1) How is the geometry of Au12W changed when encapsulated into Si60 cage? (2) How strong are the interactions between these two clusters? (3) How is the charge distributed between the metal core and silicon cage, which is an extremely interesting point. Usually, charge will be transferred from metal to nonmetal when they interact. But the situation is quite special for gold, which is the most electronegative metal, comparable to selenium, and only slightly more electropositive than sulfur and iodine, its electron affinity is actually greater than that of oxygen, therefore it can form compounds such as Au−Cs+ where gold is anionic [13]. We have performed accurate ab initio calculations [14,15] using density functional theory and generalized gradient approximation for exchange correlation [16]. In order to optimize the geometry, a plane-wave basis set is adopted with the projector-augmented wave (PAW) method originally developed by Blöchl [17] and recently adapted by Kresse and Joubert [18]. The particular advantage of the PAW method over the ultra soft pseudo potentials is that the pseudo-augmentation-charge can be 232 The European Physical Journal D Fig. 1. The initial (a) and optimized (b) geometries for Au12W@Si60. The outer shell of Si60 in optimized geometry is plotted in (c). The dark balls stand for the doped metal atoms, and light balls for Si atoms. The pair correlation distribution function for the optimized structure is shown in (d). avoided. The structure optimization is symmetry unrestricted with conjugate-gradient algorithm. We have used super-cells with 12 Å vacuum spaces along x-, y-, and z-directions for all the calculated clusters. The Γ point is used to represent the Brillouin zone due to the large supercell. The cutoff energy is taken as 300 eV, and the convergence criterion for energy and force is 10−4 eV and 0.01 eV/Å, respectively. The accuracy of our method was first tested by computing the structure and properties of Au12W. The bond lengths of W–Au and Au–Au are 2.74 and 2.88 Å, respectively, in agreement with the values of 2.75 and 2.89 Å obtained in reference [12]. Both the highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) and the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) are fivefold degenerate with hg symmetry, and the HOMO-LUMO gap is 1.78 eV, in good agreement with experimental finding of 1.68 eV [12]. We note that the fullerene geometry of a 60-atom cage consists of 12 pentagons and 20 hexagons. Au12W icosahedric cluster containing 12 Au atoms on the surface, which are situated along axes passing through the centers of the 12 pentagons of the 60-atom fullerene cage, can conform to the structural symmetry of the fullerene. This is shown in Figure 1a, which is used as the initial structure for full optimization, the final optimized geometry is given in Figure 1b, and the outer Si shell is plotted in Figure 1c. The pair correlation function distribution is shown in Figure 1d. The strong interaction of Au12W with Si60 cage completely destroyed its icosahedric geometry, and Si60 cage is distorted. We define the encapsulation energy as the energy difference between the compound cage Au12W@Si60 and the separated cages, i.e., ∆ = E(Au12W@Si60) − E(Au12W) − E(Si60), which is found to be 18.32 eV, much stronger than the interactions of Al12X (X = Si, Ge, Sn, Pb) clusters with Si60 cage [9]. Au12W cluster is dissociated inside the Si cage with the average Au–Au distance of 3.13 Å. The average Si–Au bond length is 2.83 Å, and the average Au–W distance is 2.93 Å. The whole cage has C1 symmetry with the average diameter of 10.94 Å. We know that bulk gold is regarded as the noblest of all metals, even oxygen molecules do not absorb on the gold surface at the room temperature. However, Au12W cluster can strongly interact with Si60 cage. In this sense, the magic cluster Au12W cluster is chemically active. It is interesting to study the charge distribution. To be quantitative, Wigner-Seitz cell method is used for charge partitioning. The charge transfers are got from the charge difference between the compound cage and the separated ones. In this way, the errors from partitioning will be Q. Sun et al.: Interaction of magic gold cluster with Si60 cage 233 Fig. 2. Partial DOS (a–c) and total DOS (d) of Au12W@Si60. The dashed line is for Fermi


A statistical thermodynamic treatment has been successfully applied to several uni-univalent and uni-bivalent anion exchange reactions, with, in the latter case, an empirical correction factor to allow for the effects of non-uniformity of cross-linking in the exchanger. From the plots of ln K[c] against the equivalent fraction exchanged values of o, the interaction energy associated with placing two B[z-] ions on adjacent sites, and K[T], the thermodynamic equilibrium constant and hence the standard free energy of exchange, DeltaG°, have been calculated. The standard enthalpies of exchange have been obtained both by an accurate calorimetric method and by application of the van't Hoff isochore. The good agreement shown between these two methods provides additional support for the theoretical approach. For some uni-univalent reactions, where data was available, linear correlations have been obtained between DeltaG°, the standard free energy of exchange, and S[ho], the partial molar entropy of hydration and, to a lesser extent, DeltaG°, the free energy of hydration of the ions. The selectivities for several univalent organic acid anions have been explained on the basis of interactions between the carbon chains and the external and exchanger aqueous phases and for some bivalent organic acid anions partly on the basis of the differences in charge separation. The interaction energy, o, is independent of temperature, but is dependent on external electrolyte concentration. It is also related to the water content of the exchanger and, more particularly, to the ratio of the water content divided by the crystal radius of the ion concerned. A method for predicting values of o and DeltaG° has been introduced and found to be useful in assessing the accuracy of the results obtained. The effect of changes in cross-linking on the foregoing phenomena has also been studied.


This book presents oral literature from the perspective of Igede and Tiv societies of Benue state, Nigeria. A peculiar quietness of this book is its focus on contemporary songs in examining social structures and contours while also drawing solutions profoundly from the creative reservoir of composers and singers in both societies. Socio-political, cultural, religious and economic issues find explicit scrutiny in songs captured herein; thus, demonstrating the intricate nature and relentless efforts of contemporary artists in surmounting challenges deterring the transformation and development of their immediate society. These songs which are rendered in both Igede and Tiv languages are advantageous because it leads to better understanding of messages communicated. More fundamentally, they satisfy the yearnings and aspirations, while also orienting and re-orienting the younger generation in both societies.


In this paper, we apply alternating minimization method to sparse image reconstruction in compressed sensing. This approach can exactly reconstruct the MR image from under-sampled k-space data, i.e., the partial Fourier data. The convergence analysis of the fast method is also given. Some MR images are employed to test in the numerical experi-ments, and the results demonstrate that our method is very efficient in MRI reconstruction.


Glucocorticoids (GCs) are necessary for fetal development, but clinical and experimental studies suggest that excess exposure may be detrimental to health in both the short and longer term. Exposure of the fetus to synthetic GCs can occur if the mother has a medical condition requiring GC therapy (e.g. asthma) or if she threatens to deliver her baby prematurely. Synthetic GCs can readily cross the placenta and treatment is beneficial, at least in the short term, for maternal health and fetal survival. Maternal stress during pregnancy can raise endogenous levels of the natural GC cortisol. A significant proportion of the cortisol is inactivated by the placental 'GC barrier'. However, exposure to severe stress during pregnancy can result in increased risk of miscarriage, low birth weight and behavioural deficits in children. Animal studies have shown that excess exposure to both synthetic and natural GCs can alter normal organ development, including that of the heart, brain and kidney. The nature and severity of the organ impairment is dependent upon the timing of exposure and, in some cases, the type of GC used and the sex of the fetus. In animal models, exposure to elevated GCs during pregnancy has been associated with adult‐onset diseases, including elevated blood pressure, impaired cardiac and vascular function and altered metabolic function.


We consider the problem of providing privacy, in the private information retrieval (PIR) sense, to users requesting data from a distributed storage system (DSS). The DSS uses an (n, k) Maximum Distance Separable (MDS) code to store the data reliably on unreliable storage nodes. Some of these nodes can be spies which report to a third party, such as an oppressive regime, which data is being requested by the user. An information theoretic PIR scheme ensures that a user can satisfy its request while revealing, to the spy nodes, no information on which data is being requested. A user can achieve PIR by downloading all the data in the DSS. However, this is not a feasible solution due to its high communication cost. We construct PIR schemes with low download communication cost. When there is b = 1 spy node in the DSS, we construct PIR schemes with download cost 1/1-R per unit of requested data (R = k/n is the code rate), achieving the information theoretic limit for linear schemes. The proposed schemes are universal since they depend on the code rate, but not on the generator matrix of the code. When there are 2 ≤ b ≤ n - k spy nodes, we devise linear PIR schemes that have download cost equal to b + k per unit of requested data.


The vulnerability of Chinese cities to water-related disasters is being exacerbated by climate change. To counter the effects of flooding, water scarcity and water pollution, the government has been trialling innovative green solutions. This policy brief looks at how the "Sponge City" approach has been implemented in Wuhan.


Radionuclide decay and measurement with appropriate counting instruments is one of the few physical processes for which exact mathematical/probabilistic models are available. This paper discusses statistical procedures associated with display and analysis of radionuclide counting data that derive from these exact models. For low count situations the attractiveness of fixed-count-random-time procedures is discussed.


PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a wafer carrier which is used for fixing a wafer in a chemical-mechanical polishing process and a semiconductor manufacturing device provided with the carrier. SOLUTION: A wafer carrier 10 which is used for holding a wafer at the time of manufacturing a semiconductor device has temperature control means which locally adjust the temperature of a wafer on its surface. Therefore, the temperature at the desired part of the wafer can be adjusted by arranging the temperature control means on required spots.


Quantitative online nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy was used to study the species distribution in solutions of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) in aqueous N-methyldiethanolamine (MDEA), and MDEA + piperazine (PIP). The mass fraction of MDEA in the unloaded ternary solution was 0.2, 0.3, and 0.4 g/g. In quaternary solutions, the mass fraction of MDEA was 0.3 g/g, and that of PIP was 0.1 g/g. The temperature ranged from 293 K to 333 K, and the overall CO 2 loading was up to 1.4 molco 2 /mol amine. For the measurements, a special apparatus was used that allowed the mixtures to be prepared gravimetrically and applied pressures up to 25 bar to keep the CO 2 in solution. It was coupled to a 400 MHz NMR spectrometer by heated capillaries. Using both 1 H and 13 C NMR spectroscopy, quantitative information on the concentrations of the following species was obtained: amines, carbamates, bicarbonate, and CO 2 . Because of the fast proton transfer between molecular and protonated amines, only the sum of their concentrations can be determined. Furthermore, a byproduct was observed and quantified. The experimental data were used to develop a thermodynamic model of the studied electrolyte solutions, based on the extended Pitzer G E -model. In the model development, vapor-liquid equilibrium (VLE) data from the literature also were included. The model describes both the species distribution and the VLE of the studied mixtures. The properties of the quaternary system are predicted from information on the subsystems.


. This brief piece summarizes the author's lifelong personal credo, particularly his attempt to translate traditional religious wisdom into modern scientific concepts. Contemporary science reveals to us the vast system of natural processes that has brought the universe, our planet, and our species into existence. This natural system is in fact a "more-than-human 'Lord of History,'" corresponding to traditional ideas of God. This Lord of History not only has created us but also sustains us—not just externally but also our interior psychic and spiritual nature. We are challenged to discern the requirements that this system of natural processes places upon us; if we conform to these requirements, we shall be blessed, and we will be enabled as co-creators of our future evolution.


Interpretative analyses of the X-ray emission from the giant starformation region R 136 have concluded that several colliding-wind binaries are likely to contribute to its X-ray output. Using our dedicated high-energy stellar population synthesis programme, we try to reproduce the suggested number of colliding-wind binaries. It appears that only assuming a very high binary fraction for the cluster's stellar population we can reproduce the observed X-ray luminosity distribution, if also the two most luminous sources are in fact multiple sources.


First of all, the principle of the high-frequency AC current bus distributed power system, which has the characteristic of good load expansibility and isolation of high voltage is introduced. Then, based on the principle, a novel topology of DC power supply with multiple and isolated output is presented and working stage is analyzed in detail. A prototype has been used in solid state fault current limiter with 10 kV voltage successfully.


This paper is concerned with the H∞ control problem for networked control systems (NCSs) with random packet dropouts. The NCS is modeled as a sampled‐data system which involves a continuous plant, a digital controller, an event‐driven holder and network channels. In this model, two types of packet dropouts in the sensor‐to‐controller (S/C) side and controller‐to‐actuator (C/A) side are both considered, and are described by two mutually independent stochastic variables satisfying the Bernoulli binary distribution. By applying an input/output delay approach, the sampled‐data NCS is transformed into a continuous time‐delay system with stochastic parameters. An observer‐based control scheme is designed such that the closed‐loop NCS is stochastically exponentially mean‐square stable and the prescribed H∞ disturbance attenuation level is also achieved. The controller design problem is transformed into a feasibility problem for a set of linear matrix inequalities (LMIs). A numerical example is given to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed design method.


The importance of knowledge and cultural integration has been widely recognized as a vital condition to an organization survival, especially if knowledge and culture are diverse. This diversity needs to be integrated into organizations in order to establish common knowledge and culture to support its businesses. However, limited studies have been carried out in this area in particular within Islamic banks context. This chapter discusses the strategy of knowledge and culture integration in Islamic banks in Indonesia. This study used a case study approach. Data were gathered from direct observation, in-depth interviews with informants from different level of hierarchies, and written material. The results show that the process of knowledge integration was carried out through various mechanisms such as training, seminars, workshops, formal education, regular morning praying, and religious lectures. Some facilities such as internet, intranet, telephone, books, and brochures were also used to facilitate knowledge and culture integration of the bank. Knowledge integration in Islamic banks has resulted in common knowledge creation. However, employees' beliefs, norms, and values toward Islamic banks principle are not fully changed except in practicing Islamic symbolism in works place. A model for knowledge integration within Islamic banks context is proposed.


One of the instruments of cashless payments is a bank card. Operations on plastic cards are among the most profitable types of banking activities, and the banks task to ensure the security of customers' transactions on plastic cards and monitor transactions on accounts in order to detect fraud.


This study investigated Emotional Intelligence and Parental Involvement as Predictors of Students' Achievement in senior secondary financial accounting in Ifo Local Government of Ogun state, Nigeria using survey research design of correlational type. A total of two hundred SS II financial accounting students selected through simple random sampling technique participated in the study. Three research questions were raised and answered at 0.05 level of significance. Two validated instruments: emotional intelligence and parental involvement rating scale (EIPRS) and Financial Accounting Achievement Test (FAAT) were the major instruments used for data collection. The Pearson moment correlation and multiple regression analysis were the statistical tools used for data analysis. Findings from the study revealed that both emotional intelligence and parental involvement predict students' achievement in Financial Accounting. It was recommended among others that counselors and teachers should work on the emotional well being of the students in the school, while the parent should be positively disposed to the academic pursuit of their children.


Backward-angle cross sections for the reactions $^{24}\mathrm{Mg}$($^{16}\mathrm{O}$, $^{12}\mathrm{C}$)$^{28}\mathrm{Si}$(g.s.; 1.78 MeV) and $^{24}\mathrm{Mg}$($^{16}\mathrm{O}$, $^{16}\mathrm{O}$)$^{24}\mathrm{Mg}$(g.s.; 1.37 MeV) were obtained for $17 \mathrm{MeV}l~{E}_{\mathrm{c}.\mathrm{m}.}l~31 \mathrm{MeV}$, ${\overline{\ensuremath{\theta}}}_{\mathrm{c}.\mathrm{m}.}\ensuremath{\simeq}176\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{}$. The first reaction shows gross and fine resonant structures; the second shows mainly gross structures. Angular distribution measurements give $L$ values of 15 and 21, respectively, at ${E}_{\mathrm{c}.\mathrm{m}.}=21.6 \mathrm{and} 28.0$ MeV. The resonant gross structures for $^{24}\mathrm{Mg}$($^{16}\mathrm{O}$, $^{12}\mathrm{C}$)$^{28}\mathrm{Si}$(g.s.) are governed by the entrance channel and are discussed from the shaperesonance point of view.


Fractional motion estimation, using the interpolation process, improves the quality of the compressed video by about 2dB in terms of PSNR over integer motion estimation. Most existing interpolation techniques in recent video coding standards, such as the symmetric 6-tap filter of the H.264/AVC standard, do not perform well around the object edges. This increases the value of residuals, which in turn results in higher bit rate. In this paper, a new interpolation method has been proposed that considers the edges of video objects. Simulation results indicate that the proposed method, when used in the H.264/AVC encoder, improves PSNR by up to 1.0 dB (0.4 dB in average) with respect to the standard interpolation technique. This is achieved at the expense of up to 6% (3% in average) increase in the computational complexity.


Since its introduction by Cerletti and Bini in 1938 electroconvulsive therapy has become a major bulwark of therapy in psychiatric practice. Until a few years ago, before the introduction of the psychotropic drugs, it was the commonest method of physical treatment employed in psychiatry.


An illuminating device. The lighting device includes a base (1) provided with a notch (5),-out at least the cut and the reflector are constituted by a portion of (5) (51), arranged in the cutout (5) in the is, has at least one optoelectronic semiconductor component (20), the semiconductor component (20) has an optical member (3), the optical member, wherein during operation semiconductor component (20) is configured to deflect at least a portion of the electromagnetic radiation emitted to the reflector (51) by the beam exit surface of the lighting device (61), of the semiconductor component has at least twice as large as the total radiation exit surface (44).


In recent years the pressure on economy of design for all civil engineering structures has been more and more increasing. In case of steel structures cost saving measures have led to reduction of their own weight and thus as well to their total stiffness. Insufficiently rigid structures are usually influenced by unfavorable effects, which some of them cannot be anticipated at the beginning of their design. In these cases less or more important failures occur. An example of such failures is a two bay industrial steel hall equipped by four runway cranes. Operation of these cranes have caused failures of load bearing joints. The object of this paper is analysis of cause of failure of this structure. © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. Peer-review under responsibility of the issue editors.


Laser secondary neutral mass spectrometry (laser SNMS) is one of the most sensitive ways to analyze the chemical composition of surfaces, providing high spatial resolution. An ideal laser source for this would have a continuous tuning range from the UV through the visible spectrum to the near-IR, allowing it to detect a large variety of different species. In addition, it would meet laser SNMS requirements of nanosecond pulses with energies up to the millijoule level, a narrow spectral line width, and repetition rate of 1kHz for high throughput. Principally, Ti:Sapphire lasers fulfill these ideal requirements, but neither the fundamental laser frequencies nor the higher harmonics cover the visible spectrum region between 520nm and 670nm. At the University of Münster, we have created a Ti:Sapphire laser system that reduces that region, closing the gap between UV and near-IR. Using computer-controlled wavelength tuning and without the need to exchange optics, crystals, or whole converter units, we have achieved nearly continuous wavelength tuning from 240nm to 1020nm. A module for difference frequency generation (DFG) has been developed to provide tunable output through most of the visible spectral range. This converter unit mixes the frequency-doubled output of the Ti:Sapphire laser with the fundamental output of a Nd:YAG laser. DFG is a nonlinear optical three-wave interaction process similar to sum-frequency generation, which is well known for higher harmonic generation. To achieve a high efficiency, the induced polarization wave in the nonlinear material and the generated electromagnetic field at the output frequency must be kept in phase. This phase-matching condition may be fulfilled by using birefringent materials and aligning the wave vector to a certain angle in reference to the optical axis. For tunable lasers, Figure 1. A snapshot of non-filtered DFG output shows a widespectrum visible component.


This paper is situated within the general framework of a PhD study and looks at one aspect of the data analysis regarding discourse. To understand this aspect of the data analysis, the context of the study, will first of all be discussed, as well as the use of discourse and how practices such as repeating children at 1Preschool can result from particular discourses. The study addresses some concerns I have had during the course of my work as an early childhood teacher. These concerns relate to the practice of repeating children at preschool, and also the related practice of 2returning children to preschool from Year One, despite a growing body of research that argues against such practices. This paper is part of a study that looks at these issues.


In this system, a PLC-based NC milling machine control system is designed. all the axes of the machine are drived by steeper motors, and the motion of motors is controlled by PLC. The speed control and position control of the steeper motor is easy to be implemented by the impulse commands provided by PLC. The NC process compiled on a PC is transmitted to PLC via serial Communications to adjust the parameters of impulse commands. The feasibility of the system is verified by an experimental NC milling machine.


Considering that medical images play a crucial role in today's biomedical research, it is more and more important to extract the edges of cell images. However, there some phenomena of the overlapping and discontinuity of edges exist, so it is more difficult to solve the problems. In view of it, we have employed a novel scheme to integrate edge detection, edge thinning and edge linking by use of directional information. The scheme proposed in this paper performs significantly better than previous isolated methods (edge detector, edge filter and so on) so that we can obtain the integral edge information to further analyze the roundness, perimeter and number of cells. In a word, our scheme is focused on directional information from beginning to end. The experiments on some cell images indicate that our scheme achieves high quality and it is also applicable to similar images.


Objective: Here we evaluated the effects of several sulfurous mineral waters in an in vitro model with human articular chondrocytes isolated from osteoarthritic cartilage. The parameters of study were the viability of the cells, the production of nitric oxide (NO) and the gene expression of known mediators of inflammation, namely, the inducible NO synthase (iNOS), cyclooxygenase 2 (COX2), microsomal prostaglandin synthase (PTGES), IL6 and metalloproteinase (MMP) 13. Materials & Methods: Cell viability was evaluated with the alamarBlueO method using a chondrocytic cell line (T/C-28a2). For the rest of the experiments we used primary human articular chondrocytes stimulated with IL1-b (5 ng/mL). Cell culture media was prepared by dissolving powdered Dulbecco's minimum essential medium in either distilled or sulfurous water, plus the needed supplements. This two stocks were used as prepared or mixed in different concentrations (25%, 50% and 75%). NO was quantified by the Griess reaction and the RNA expression of OA characteristic inflammation markers was quantified with qRT-PCR. Results: The viability of the cells was not affected by the exposure to different proportions of sulfurous water in the culture media. NO production and iNOS mRNA expression were reduced down to as low as 13% of the stimulated values, but there were important donor-to-donor variations. With respect to the mRNA expression of the rest of inflammation mediators, there were marked reductions in IL6 and MMP13 with media prepared with 75% and 100% sulfurous water. On the other hand, we found no effect on the expression of COX2 or PTGES, both implicated in the synthesis of prostaglandin E2. Conclusions: The present results demonstrate that sulfurous mineral water can exert anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory effects on osteoarthritic human chondrocytes, when the cells are exposed to it in their culture medium. These results are similar to those previously obtained by our group using synthetic hydrogen sulfide sources [1].


Preface 1. Early Music in America (to 1783) 2. An Energetic New Nation (1783 to 1840) 3. A Nation Struggling for Maturity (1840 to 1880) 4. A Nation Coming of Age (1880 to 1923) 5. Other Venues (1880 to 1923) 6. The Business and Dissemination of Music 7. Boom, Depression, and War (1923 to 1961) 8. Other Venues (1923 to 1961) 9. The Electronic Age 10. Reaching into the Future (1961 to 1993) 11. Other Venues (1961 to 1993) 12. A Musical Nation Appendix: Basic Musical Concepts Glossary Index Index of Titles


Synthetic aperture radar (SAR) remote sensing ofthe ocean from space in China began in the early 1990s. This paper presents the research and marine applications of synthetic aperture radar technique in China. Research activities in SAR remote sensing range from basic research to technique development. Basic research has been focused on studies of SAR imaging mechanisms. Technique development has been given to methodology for extracting information about sea surface waves internal waves water bottom topography and ship detection. Applications of SAR data include the study of oceanic phenomena and coastal environmental monitoring. Some examples are presented. Future research and applications are discussed.


The understanding of the impact of different government support methods on R&D efficiency is of great significance for evaluating the performance of innovation policies in various countries. We selected 31 manufacturing industries in China from 2009 to 2015, used the stochastic frontier analysis (SFA) method to measure R&D efficiency, and used tobit regression method to examine the relationship between direct government subsidies and preferential tax policies and manufacturing R&D efficiency. The results reveal that the overall R&D efficiency of China's manufacturing industry was low, but it has been steadily increasing, and the R&D efficiency of emerging industries was significantly higher than that of traditional industries. Tax incentives played a stable and significant role in promoting R&D efficiency in manufacturing. Affected by factors such as the government's long-term preference and information asymmetry, direct subsidies had no significant impact on the current R&D efficiency of the manufacturing industry, and began to play a positive role after a two-year lag. Based on the above research findings, this paper suggests that progressive preferential tax rates can be designed according to the "base + increment" approach for tax preferential policies. At the same time, different proportions of tax cuts should be set for enterprises of different sizes and levels of innovation, and the focus should be on small and medium-sized enterprises and emerging industries. In terms of direct funding subsidies, the government should not only increase the support for basic research, but also give more preference to enterprises that receive tax incentives for research and development, so as to enhance the complementary effect of the two types of subsidy policies. The marginal contribution of this paper mainly includes three aspects: First, based on the Chinese situation, the impact of direct government subsidies and tax incentives on the R&D efficiency of the manufacturing industry is tested. Second, we present the evidence that direct government funding subsidies "crowd out" enterprise R&D funds. Thirdly, we describe the influence of enterprise scale, innovation level, ownership, and management ability on R&D efficiency of the manufacturing industry, and put forward the possible influence mechanism.


Para-nitroaniline, a well known donor–acceptor system, with relatively high nonlinearity was commonly used to design and synthesize molecules with high electro-optic coefficients. It has attracted attention because of the specific effects of an electron withdrawing nitro group and an electron donating amino group being in para position at an aromatic ring system, showing a great nonlinear susceptibility and making this molecule interesting for nonlinear optics [1].


By implementing surface structures in vertical cavity surface emitting lasers as manifolds for curved space, we experimentally study the impacts of geometrical constraints on wave localization. We observe localized waves pinned to the maximal curvature in an elliptical-ring, and confirm the reduction in the localization length of waves by measuring near and far field patterns, as well as the corresponding dispersion relation. Theoretically, analyses based on a dissipative model with a parabola curve give good agreement remarkably to experimental measurement on the transition from delocalized to localized waves. The introduction of curved topology allows to control and design lasing modes in the nonlinear regime.


Objective: To investigate the transcranial Doppler(TCD) and electroencephalogram characteristics of child migraine which had been misdiagnosed as headache epilepsy and to improve the understanding of the disease.Methods: Clinical data,TCD,electroencephalogram of 15 children patients with child migraine which had been misdiagnosed as headache epilepsy from February 2003 to March 2007 were analyzed retrospectively.Results: Five cases had a positive familial history,9 cases had inducing causes before onset,3 cases had omen.The sites headache were lateral or bilateral frontotemporal and parietal,features of pain were blunt and pulsative,last for 15~30 minutes.All the patients had abnormal TCD,11 cases had increased asymmetric cranial blood flow,4 cases had decreased brain blood flow.Of the electroencephalogram,10 cases had abnormal slow wave,6 cases had increased slow wave on frontal and temporal area and 4 cases had increased slow wave on paritotemporal area.4 cases had bilateral synchronized high-voltage slow wave after 1~2 minutes hyperventilation.Conclusion: There are similar symptoms in child migraine and headache epilepsy.Comprehensive analysis of clinic symptoms,TCD and electroencephalogram during the headache episode and intermission phase is helpful for the establishment of diagnosis.


Adrenocortical carcinoma is an aggressive cancer, with an incidence of 0.5–2 per million. We present a case of adrenocortical carcinoma with all the clinical and partly immunohistochemical features of disseminated undifferentiated lung cancer, and 'accidentally' treated as such. Four cycles of carboplatin–vinorelbine conferred partial response in the adrenal, lung and disappearance of a 2 cm subcutaneous iliac nodule that had appeared suddenly before the first course. Owing to progression, four cycles of carboplatin–pemetrexed were administered inducing partial response and then stable disease for an additional 12 months. As fluoro-d-glucose (FDG)-positron emission tomography (PET) only showed activity in the adrenal, laparoscopic adrenalectomy was performed. Three months later FDG-PET revealed a lung nodule unresponsive to carboplatin–pemetrexed, removed by wedge resection. Finally, re-evaluation by a tertiary centre confirmed adrenocortical carcinoma with Ki67—50% in the adrenal and the lung. The patient is alive and tumour free almost 3.5 years after retrospective diagnosis of metastatic adrenocortical cancer.


Cross-national criminology is naturally embedded in spatial and historical contexts, but cross-national crime researchers rarely employ data visualization techniques to illustrate relationships built in time and space. In this paper, the author argues that data visualization techniques, if employed following sound principles of analytical design, can facilitate data analysis, causal reasoning, and theoretical development. This paper reanalyzes data from a cross-national analysis of homicide rates in 34 nations from 1956–1998 in order to demonstrate the value of data visualization for cross-national criminology. Using two data visualization techniques – mapping and sparklines – the author argues that how we see the data affects how we think about data. This re-presentation of data shows new patterns that were not apparent in the original analysis and encourages further theoretical thinking. The author concludes that data visualization techniques provide additional tools for cross-national crime researchers to better incorporate space and time in their analyses.


We implement a Korean syntactic analyzer which decreases many ambiguities in syntax parse trees using segmentation and semantic connection units. We use dependency grammar for parsing. Our syntactic analysis system generates all parse trees of a given sentence. So, the number of parse trees of syntactic analysis is many. To decrease the number of parse trees, we suggested semantic connection unit of segmentation. Semantic connection unit is a combined node which consists of all morphemes within a segment. During parsing, our system generates all possible partial parse trees in a segment. There are many partial parse trees after parsing of a segment. We can select some semantic connection units. By using this semantic connection unit, syntactic analysis system can decrease the number of ambiguities of parse trees in Korean syntactic analysis. And also we suggested the pattern rules of predicate to decrease the number of parse trees. There are two types of patterns based on predicate of modifier form, and we found out pattern rules of that predicate pattern. By using this pattern rules, we can decrease the number of ambiguities of parse trees also.


INTRODUCTION
 Parents of a child with a disability have an expanded and exaggerated role. Both mother and father are expected to fulfill societal requirements in being parents, as well as being expected to meet the specific needs arising due to the disability. This child demands more time and attention. Acceptance of the child is difficult, being hindered by accompanying feelings of guilt, anger, depression, self-blame and/or blaming the spouse (Copel, 1973). Society expects the parents to cope with having a disabled child, holds the parents responsible for socializing a disabled child to be like other children and yet expects the child to know his place among the "not normal", the stigmatized (Goffman, 1963).
 The mother is the primary socializing agent of the child. She must help the child learn to conform in his social behavior and to learn the skills of daily living even when the child is handicapped. Yet she is not provided with supports when her child is not capable of achieving the same as the non-handicapped child.
 This study was designed to gain understanding into the mother's perception of her experience vis-a-vis her child, given that her perception determines her emotional state, her attitude toward her child, herself, and her family, and dictates her current intervention with this child.


Experiences of implementing two methods of teaching in Business Data Visualization classes and Management Information Systems classes are discussed in this paper. The two methods of teaching are: (1) the Captain System, where a captain of each group signals whether an instructor can proceed to the next step and (2) the Class Tutor System, where students who nominated as a class tutor help other students. The results of an informal survey indicate that the two teaching methods are effective tools for student learning in the context of computer-hands-on training courses.


This paper presents research and development for autonomous ROV manipulation systems with vision servoing in dynamic underwater conditions. Underwater inspection operations are performed by work-class ROVs equipped with robotic manipulators. The ROV generally travel at pre-planned paths extracting features from the environment, usually detected by a visual sensor. A monocular hybrid position based visual servoing (PBVS) system for underwater inspection on Work-class ROVs with a camera mounted on the manipulator and other on the top of the ROV is proposed. The effectiveness of the proposed system is verified through experiments carried out on real-world environmental tests consisting on using a work-class ROV to autonomously inspect a wall with 10 fiducial markers.


Fifteen individual indicators were selected from the aspects of agricultural production input,agricultural output level and production potential to construct agricultural production capacity evaluation indicator system in Hebei Province.Using variance coefficient method to determine indicator weight,the agricultural comprehensive production capacity in Hebei Province from 2000 to 2009 was evaluated and problems were pointed out.Based on these,some countermeausres were proposed such as to strengthen agricultural science and technology input and technology promotion system,enlarge infrastructure construction and build resources saving agriculture.


In this study, a new form of fuzzy r -minimal structure [28] called a fuzzy soft r -minimal structure, is defined, which is an extension of the fuzzy soft topology introduced by Aygunoglu et al. [26]. In addition, the concepts of fuzzy soft r -minimal continuity and fuzzy soft r -minimal compactness are introduced in fuzzy soft r -minimal spaces. Some interesting properties and characterizations are also discussed. Finally, several types of fuzzy soft r minimal compactness are defined, and the relationships between them are characterized.


About 10 to about 50mg of parthenolide combined with Topoirameto, compositions containing one or more of magnesium and riboflavin, headache, especially effective in the treatment of migraine, higher doses of Topoirameto composition prior to reduce or eliminate the side effects experienced by the user. .BACKGROUND


PURPOSE: To report a case of herpes zoster sine herpete presenting with hyphema. METHODS: A 69-year-old man was referred for traumatic hyphema and corneal edema in his left eye after a sandblast exposure three weeks previously. Slit-lamp examination demonstrated hyphema, anterior chamber inflammation, mid-dilated pupil, impaired corneal sensation, and high intraocular pressure, without any facial skin lesions. Iris fluorescein angiography revealed tortuosity and extensive occlusion of iris vessels. The patient was treated with oral acyclovir and intensive topical steroids with a presumed diagnosis of severe herpes zoster uveitis. RESULTS: Clinical findings improved dramatically within several days. Typical sectorial iris atrophy with pupillary sphincter dysfunction and complete loss of corneal sensation developed after the resolution of intraocular inflammation. CONCLUSION: Herpes zoster should be considered in patients with uveitis and hyphema even in the absence of typical skin rash.


Objective: To explore the expression of Shh signaling pathway factors in Gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST) tissues and their associations with clinical pathological factors. Methods: 129 GIST patient cases that underwent surgery treatment at the first affiliated hospital of Anhui Medical University from January 2001 to December 2008 and with complete records were collected. The expression of Shh signaling pathway proteins Shh, Ptch, Smo and Gli-1 was assayed using immunohistochemistry methods, and the relation between these protein expression and the tumor site, diameter, mitotic figures, NIH risk classification, reoccurrence and prognosis of GIST was analyzed. Results: The expression rate of these four proteins, Shh, Ptch, Smo and Gli-1, in GIST tissues was 90.5%, 83.3%, 85.7%, and 85.7% respectively; The expression level of Ptch was positively associated with that of Smo, but not with Gli-1; the expression level of Smo was positively associated with that of Gli-1; the expression level of Shh, Ptch, Smo or Gli-1 was not associated with patients' gender or age, while it was associated with tumor size, mitotic figures, and risk classification. The positive expression rate of Shh, Ptch, Smo and Gli-1 in GISTs with high and median risk according to NIH classification was substantially higher than those with extremely low and low risk, and the difference was significant. The positive expression rate of Shh, Ptch, Smo and Gli-1 was significantly higher in recurrent GIST than non-recurrent GIST. The 1-, 3-, and 5-year survival rates of patients with positive expression of Shh, Ptch, Smo and Gli-1 were markedly lower than those with negative expression. The positive expression of Gli-1 was an independent risk factor of patients' prognosis. Conclusion: The Shh signaling pathway was present and activated in the GIST tissues. The expression of critical proteins in the Shh signaling pathway was correlated, and they may participate in the origination and development of GIST through ligand-dependent activation. The expression of proteins in the Shh signaling pathway was associated with the reoccurrence and prognosis of GIST, particularly, the expression of Gli-1 protein may be used as an important indicator for predicting reoccurrence.


There is very little hard data on the effectiveness of low-dose triphasic oral contraceptives when a pill is missed. The only relevant study (from the Netherlands) showed that triphasic pills had 39 failures as opposed to an expected 19.4. In 2 triphasics, Ortho Novum 7/7/7 and Syntex's Tri-Norinyl, the lowest dose is no lower than in their regular low-dose pills; and therefore, the risk of pregnancy from missing a pill should be no greater than that from missing a low-dose monophasic. However, for Wyeth's Triphasil and Berlex's Tri-Levlen the phase 1 dosage of progestin and ethinyl estradiol is much lower than for monophasics. The fact is that there are no recent, longterm studies of the failure rate with triphasics, and it is even doubtful whether the increased risk from missing 1 pill could be statistically detected.


In this paper, Swarm Evolutionary Programming (SEP) method incorporating modified System Frequency Response (SFR) model is proposed to solve the optimal Under-frequency Load Shedding (UFLS) scheme design problem. The objective function of this problem is to minimize transient frequency and steady-state frequency deviation from nominal and total quantum of load shedding. The constrained optimization problem is transformed into a non-constrained optimization problem by implementing the penalty method and the proposed algorithm is tested on a nine-bus test system. Simulation results demonstrate that SEP is a promising solution for finding optimal settings for the UFLS scheme.


Synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imaging for moving target can obtain complete situational awareness information of the detection area, and can realize the monitoring and control for moving target in the region of interest, which has important military and civilian dual-use value. However, due to the complex motion of target, the processing results of the existing SAR imaging methods severly defocused. In this paper, a high resolution SAR imaging method for moving target is proposed. First, we eliminate the coupling induced by linear range cell migration (RCM) by keystone transform. Then, the particle swarm optimization algorithm (PSO) is utilized to estimate the Doppler frequency rate, which can solve the problem of Doppler frequency rate mismatching when azimuth compression. Simulation results verifies the effectiveness of the proposed method.


This paper reports on the first big-history course at a Japanese high school. Aletheia Shonan High School is a private, co-educational institute in Chigasaki, Kanagawa, Japan. In April 2016, I introduced Big History in my World History class at Aletheia, and that class marks its eighth year as of 2023.


The article analyzes the impact of the uneven socioeconomic development of the regions of the Siberian Federal District on the migration loss. Using the GRP (gross domestic product) indicator, the author demonstrates significant differences in the level of the socioeconomic development of Siberian regions. The trend towards a decrease in natural increase in Siberia that has emerged in recent years is exacerbated by an increase in migration loss, which has covered a number of regions of the Siberian Federal District. The article contains an overview of modern trends in the field of migration movements, identifies the features of these movements in Siberian regions. On the example of Omsk Oblast, which has demonstrated the most profound migration loss in recent years, the leading factors of influence on migration processes are identified: the fiscal capacity of the region; low wages in the region, the share of the population whose cash income is below the minimum subsistence level; environmental woes; the opportunity of continuing education, obtaining future-oriented professions; conditions for the development of small and medium-sized businesses; the stability of the regional economy; and climatic conditions. Using the methods of quantitative and qualitative analysis, the author assesses the manifestation of each factor in the indicators of migration loss in Siberian regions. The study did not show a direct relationship between the fiscal capacity of the region, the level of wages, and the indicators of migration growth. At the same time, the connection between migration loss and the state support of regions in the educational sphere or the developing assistance to small and medium-sized businesses is more clearly visible. The special role of youth migration is emphasized. The analysis of the identified trends shows that the growing differences between regions will contribute to depopulation trends in some regions and to the loss of complexity in the reproduction of macroregional socioeconomic ties. The author emphasizes that the fiscal capacity of the region should remain the main criterion for federal support, and the state system of budgetary incentives should be implemented in accordance with the needs of the regions and the characteristics of the territorial labor market. In the final part, the measures to improve the spatial strategy of Russia at the present stage are proposed. The idea of macroregional development presented in the strategy should be supplemented by the prescribed mechanisms of interaction between business communities registered in different subjects of the federation, within the framework of promising cluster formations.