This collaborative self-study of teacher educators' feedback practices argues for an intentional process for teacher educators to develop an inquiry stance toward our own teaching. Data sources include formative observation forms, evaluations, observation notes, debriefings, surveys, researcher journals, and layered memos. Findings define influences and shared patterns of practice. Our professional learning from this self-study built our capacity as teacher educators by informing our development of an inquiry feedback cycle rooted in representations, approximations, and decomposition of practice (Grossman et al., 2009) to intentionally model and scaffold the development of an inquiry stance toward practice in our teacher candidates. Cochran-Smith and Lytle (1993) introduced the concept of an "inquiry stance" as a professional orientation that teachers could leverage to not only withstand, but thrive, in an often-tumultuous climate of ongoing educational reform. They defined inquiry stance as "the position teachers and others who work together in inquiry communities take toward knowledge and its relationships to practice" (p. 288). Inquiry stance as a tool is particularly powerful because the orientation fosters educators' ongoing professional learning across their career trajectories (Cochran-Smith & Lytle, 1993; 2001; 2009; Crocco, Faithfull, & Schwartz, 2003). Wolkenhauer and Hooser (2017) argue that developing an inquiry stance in teacher candidates (TCs) is essential to supporting them as new teachers because inquiry can be used as a "tool" to build teachers' flexibility, advocacy, leadership, and professional identity (pp. 9-10). As teacher educators, we asked How could we build our own capacity to model an inquiry stance for our TCs? We explored that question by engaging in professional inquiry. Often, without a clear pedagogy of teacher education (Cochran-Smith, 2003), new teacher educators are left to rely on preparing teachers in the same ways they taught their K-12 students (Cuenca, 2010). Given the meaningful differences in the instructional context and needs of post-secondary and K-12 students, teacher educators need to build capacity to adapt their teaching practice to higher education (Neumann, 2014). Moreover, increasing attention to the performance of teacher preparation programs and teacher quality is generating a heightened need for research into the professional learning of teacher educators to build capacity to teach postsecondary students in teacher preparation programs (Williams, 2014). Meta-analyses on faculty learning for postsecondary teaching 1 Dismuke et al.: Building Capacity in Teacher Preparation with Practitioner Inquiry Published by Scholar Commons, 2019 call for more qualitative research that utilizes a plethora of data sources (Levinson-Rose & Menges, 1981; Steinert et al., 2006; Stes, Min-Leliveld, Gijbels, & Van Petegem, 2010); more robust descriptive language of practice to serve as a foundation for future inquiry (Stes et al., 2010); and a more holistic examination of professional learning efforts to better understand the potential of specific practices (Amundsen & Wilson, 2012). As teacher educators and full-time faculty, we took up these calls in this collaborative self-study. In particular, we saw this self-study as an opportunity to develop our own inquiry stances and to build capacity to foster that professional habit in our TCs. We utilized a collaborative self-study approach to our practitioner inquiry to illustrate how the experience taught us about our own practice, to inform our theorizing about teacher preparation, and to allow us to more systematically model what it look likes to take an inquiry stance toward teaching and learning. We also strived to contribute a rich, holistic description of a case of faculty learning about teaching that focuses on a promising teaching framework, drawing on a theory from the more developed field of K-12 teacher education (Amundsen & Wilson, 2012; Neumann, 2014). Our self-study focused on giving TCs feedback during their clinical field experience, since research suggests that feedback is a particularly powerful teaching practice (Hattie & Timperley, 2007) and field supervision is a fruitful context to engage in practitioner inquiry (Zeichner, 2010). As teacher educators, we view feedback as a critical mechanism that bridges TCs' learning in university coursework and their classroom placements, answering over two decades of scholarship and policy calling for teacher educators to ground teacher preparation in instructional practice (Ball & Cohen, 1999; Conway & Munthe, 2015; Jenset, Klette, & Hammerness, 2017; Zeichner, 2012). Mindful of this need, we engaged in self-study to examine our own clinical feedback practices to: ...transcend the practicalities (and limitations) of discrete teaching skills and tools gained from previous teaching experience; and develop ways of thinking about and approaching teaching and learning that promote the application of a professional repertoire to a vast array of dilemmas, most of which cannot possibly be anticipated beforehand (Goodwin & Kosnik, 2013, p. 337). Investigating our practice of giving feedback to TCs contributes to the understanding of skilled teacher education by investigating a central practice and its enactment in the field (Pinnegar & Hamilton, 2009). We asked, ● What do we, as teacher educators, learn about our own feedback and feedback practices after analysis of our own feedback, that of our peers, and our teacher candidates' perceptions of our feedback? 2 Journal of Practitioner Research, Vol. 4 [2019], Iss. 1, Art. 5 https://scholarcommons.usf.edu/jpr/vol4/iss1/5 DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5038/2379-9922.214.171.1245
 ● How does participation in this collaborative self-study build our capacity as teacher educators to model and engage candidates in taking an inquiry stance toward practice? Theoretical Framework This self-study is framed by the mission to develop and maintain an inquiry stance within a community of practice by taking a critical lens toward our opportunities to teach practice through the clinical feedback cycle to our TCs. Inquiry Stance in Communities of Practice Exploring the connections between classroom teaching and teacher education practices is a complex endeavor (Martin & Dismuke, 2018; Cochran‐ Smith et al., 2016; Davis & Sumara, 2006; Grossman et al., 2009). Teacher education programs that emphasize an inquiry stance toward teaching and teacher education provide spaces for teacher educators to unpack complexity by making "problematic their own knowledge and practice as well as knowledge and practice of others and thus stand in a different relationship to knowledge and action" (Cochran‐Smith & Lytle, 2009, p. 614). We agree with Hamilton (2009) that, while individual reflection is beneficial, learning in small groups may enhance the social construction of teaching knowledge, resulting in more substantial change in practice. We adopted Wenger, McDermott, and Snyder's (2002) definition of a community of practice: a group of people "who share a concern, a set of problems, or a passion about a topic, and who deepen their knowledge and expertise in this area by interacting on an ongoing basis" (p. 4). Investigating complexities of clinical experiences together provides opportunities for "both individuals and the collective to develop new and shared understandings" (Martin, Snow, & Torrez, 2011, p. 300), advancing our faculty learning goals. Teaching Practice Utilizing Representations, Decomposition, and Approximations We explored the theory that teacher education programs could improve the teaching of instructional practice if we provide scaffolding through representations, decomposition, and approximations of practice (Grossman et al., 2009). Representations of practice deal explicitly with the problem of familiarity by making less familiar and more challenging components of the work visible (Grossman et al., 2009). Thus, the selection of representations for clinical teacher education is a significant one since those representations will shape novice awareness of the landscape of practice and foster a nuanced view of practice. The decomposition of practice "involves breaking down practice into its constituent parts for the purposes of teaching and learning" (Grossman et al., 2009, p. 2056). 3 Dismuke et al.: Building Capacity in Teacher Preparation with Practitioner Inquiry Published by Scholar Commons, 2019 Through the decomposition of larger, complex components of practice into smaller, more manageable parts, teacher educators can help novices better manage the complexity of practice. Approximations of practice provide novices with the opportunity to practice in front of an expert (e.g., teacher educators). These first enactments of practice are understood as carefully constructed opportunities for novices to practice components of teaching, in their decomposed or recomposed forms, in contexts that vary in their degree of authenticity (Grossman et al.). Grossman et al. (2009) argue that the integration of representations, decomposition, and approximations of practice are critical in teacher education to support TCs in becoming well-started beginning teachers. In our clinical context, we considered what this integration might look like in debriefing conferences between supervisors and TCs. In other words, how might those conferences change if we deliberately attended to the integration of representations and decompositions of practice to examine the teaching just observed and then considering the feedback informing TCs' future approximations of practice? We decided as a community of practitioners to begin our inquiry into our feedback practices by examining our extant practices using Grossman and colleagues' teaching of practice as one of our lenses to guide our analysis of our collaborative self-study inquiry data.


Absente/Guntai land ownership still exist and found in Temas of Batu City. This shows that related to the enforcement and control of land ownership there is still looseness or legal gap in the registration of licenses and behind the name of absente/guntai land ownership. This research use sociological juridical approach method, primary data source obtained from field result and from documentation and legislation as well as data collection technique in the form of field interview and field observation to location where absent land ownership in Temas Batu City as place of search and primary data collection then data result of research analyzed by descriptive qualitative. Based on the research to BPN/ATR Batu City and tenants absente/guntai land axisting obtained results land ownership absente/guntai status the owner of the land and passive in terms of management and land use evidence obtained from the minutes of landreform and book tax village with the result that land ownership absente/guntai in Temas, Batu city can be registered application land registry. Need to increase the supervision and prosecution firmer structure


Stylish Celebration of Outstanding Mathematics The award ceremony was the highlight of a weeklong celebration in Oslo, held in great style and marked by warm Norwegian hospitality. On May 18, the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters hosted a dinner in honor of the Abel Laureate, following a wreath-laying at the Abel Monument (the Norwegian mathematician Niels Henrik Abel died in 1829, at the age of 26). Present at the May 19 award ceremony, in addition to Gromov and King Harald, were Her Majesty Queen Sonja and Tora Aasland, the minister of research and higher education. The ceremony included speeches by Kristian Seip (current chair of the Abel Committee), Øyvind Østerud (president of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters), and Gromov himself. Beautiful music by trumpeter Arve Henriksen and the musicians of Trio Mediaeval (which many of us hurried to download from iTunes) added to the elegance of the ceremony. That evening, the Norwegian government gave a banquet in honor of the Abel Laureate at the Akershus Castle (and provided a unique chance to see a lot of mathematicians in tuxedos!). Ingrid Daubechies of Princeton University, a former member of the Abel Committee, gave a memorable speech in which she connected mathematics and science with Maurice Sendak, author of beloved children's books, including Where the Wild Things Are. The celebrations ended on May 20 with a reception at the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters, where Enrique R. Pujals of IMPA (Brazil) was awarded the Ramanujan Prize for young mathematicians from developing countries. The scientific component of the celebrations consisted of four Abel Lectures, given at the University of Oslo. Mikhail Gromov led off with an inspiring chalk-and-board lecture in which he showed, once again, how real problems from the physical sciences can motivate very deep and difficult mathematical challenges. Gromov's NYU colleague Jeff Cheeger followed with the second Abel Lecture, titled "How does he do it?" Along with some of Gromov's deep mathematical results, Cheeger recalled numerous interactions he has had over the years with the Abel Laureate. Through such anecdotes, he provided helpful insight into Gromov's extraordinary thinking and mathematical approach and philosophy. In the third Abel Lecture—titled "Geometry everywhere: Fiat lux!"—Martin Bridson of Oxford University focused on revolutionary ideas that Gromov has brought to discrete group theory. Both Cheeger and Bridson made it clear that the important theorems proved by Gromov are just the beginning of his contributions; equally important are the actual proofs and methodologies, filled as they are with brilliant and unexpected innovations. The speakers provided numerous illustrations of Gromov's new, unpredictable, and very innovative approaches into different areas of mathematics. The lectures, in the words of the Abel Committee, are intended "to give a general audience a glimpse of the mathematics of the Abel Laureate and to convey to the general mathematician the importance and impact of his work." Cheeger and Bridson achieved this aim and more, leaving the audience with a clear understanding of the committee's decision to award the prestigious Abel Prize to Gromov. The scientific component of the ceremonies ended with the Science Lecture, which "is intended for the broader scientific community and aims to highlight connections between the work of the Abel Laureate and other sciences." I had the honor of presenting this year's Science Lecture, which I titled "One small step for Gromov, one giant leap for shape analysis: A window into the 2009 Abel Laureate's contribution in computer vision and computer graphics."


Observations and ESR investigations of self-trapped electrons formed in Hg(NO/sub 2/)/sub 2/ x H/sub 2/O as a result of x irradiation at 77 K are reported. (AIP)


A non-volatile 16kb magneto-RAM with a 0.24/spl mu/m design rule uses a self reference sensing scheme for reliable sensing margin. This sensing method is achieved by storing the voltage of the magneto-tunnel junction (MTJ) and afterwards storing a reference voltage of the same MTJ (self-reference), thus eliminating variation in tunneling oxide thickness. Cell size is 2.06/spl mu/m/sup 2/ and read access is 120ns.


The results of ecological and socioeconomic scientific research within the central ecological zone of the Baikal natural territory (CEZ of the BNT) are presented, the legislatively fixed function of which is the preservation of the unique ecological system of Lake Baikal. It administratively includes the territory of three districts of the Irkutsk region (Irkutskii, Olkhonskii and Slyudyanskii) and four in the Republic of Buryatia (Barguzinskii, Kabanskii, Severobaikalskii and Pribaikalskii). The research is based on the theoretical and methodological approaches of social geography; we applied the ideology of the "green" economy and the centrality of territorial development. For Lake Baikal as an object of the World Natural heritage (since 1996) on the basis of the adopted federal law "On the protection of Lake Baikal", three federal target programs for the protection of the lake and socioeconomic development of the Baikal natural territory have been developed. Based on the data obtained during the targeted research of the federal and regional level on the territory of the CEZ of the BNT, a matrix is proposed for assessing the location of economic activity objects (e.g. industry of specialization - the recreational sphere). Geographical features of the CES of the BNT and its modern functional purpose predetermine the Baikal-centric vector of economic activity, primarily recreational, and the growing role of the emerging environmental protection infrastructure (GIS). We consider the GIS as part of the environmental infrastructure from the standpoint of the"green" economy as a practical implementation of the principles of sustainable development. Methods of expeditionary research and sociology (questioning, survey) were used.


The application of the DFT (design for testability) technique to VLSI circuits is a difficult procedure, since it requires the knowledge concerning the application environment, effectiveness and cost of individual techniques. This paper discusses an automatic embedding system for DFT techniques, dealing with the circuit at the functional block level. The system is constructed with the goal of easy implementation and modification of DFT functions. The use of a generalpurpose inference engine is assumed. DFT techniques as well as circuit structures are represented by a structured database, and the rules to be applied are represented by a rule base. When more than one DFT technique can be applied to a block to be tested, the one minimizing the cost function is adopted. The selection of the generator and compressor is accelerated by the use of a heuristic method. As DFT techniques, the exhaustive testing, locally exhaustive testing and random testing are implemented for combinational circuits. Universal testing, memory random testing and built-in memory testing are implemented for PLAs. OPS83 was used as the tool for construction.


PURPOSE: To obtain a foaming agent and a foam stabilizer for general purpose derived from a natural substance, having excellent foaming ability and foam stability for various uses. CONSTITUTION: A foaming agent and a foam stabilizer for food comprises a water-soluble hemicellulose as an active ingredient. The hemicellulose is preferably hemicellulose derived from soybean. The use of various kinds of gums or a water-soluble polymer substance such as protein besides the hemicellulose more improves effects. The water-soluble hemicellulose is a little inferior to egg white in foaming properties, but superior in foam stability and is excellent in terms of hardly being affected by heating and pH. COPYRIGHT: (C)1993,JPO&Japio


A qualitative case study of two urban neighborhood-planning processes contributes to knowledge regarding citizen participation in the context of public housing redevelopment. The data were collected and triangulated from multiple sources including participant observation, field notes, artifacts, and 24 hours of semistructured interview data (n = 26). Data provided context for understanding engaged residents' and professionals' experience of participation in a Resident Advisory Council (RAC) and influence during neighborhood redevelopment planning. Study participants reported the benefits of inclusion in the RAC community planning process including: (a) being engaged by attending meetings and dialoging, (b) maintaining and building relationships, and (c) maintaining organizing pressure and fighting back.


The development of smart cities and their fast-paced deployment is resulting in the generation of large quantities of data at unprecedented rates. Unfortunately, most of the generated data is wasted without extracting potentially useful information and knowledge because of the lack of established mechanisms and standards that benefit from the availability of such data. Moreover, the highly dynamic nature of smart cities calls for a new generation of machine learning approaches that are flexible and adaptable to cope with the dynamicity of data to perform analytics and learn from real-time data. In this article, we shed light on the challenge of underutilizing the big data generated by smart cities from a machine learning perspective. In particular, we present the phenomenon of wasting unlabeled data. We argue that semi-supervision is a must for smart cities to address this challenge. We also propose a three-level learning framework for smart cities that matches the hierarchical nature of big data generated by smart cities with a goal of providing different levels of knowledge abstraction. The proposed framework is scalable to meet the needs of smart city services. Fundamentally, the framework benefits from semi-supervised deep reinforcement learning where a small amount of data that has users' feedback serves as labeled data, while a larger amount without such users' feedback serves as unlabeled data. The framework utilizes a mix of labeled and unlabeled data to converge toward better control policies instead of wasting the unlabeled data. This article also explores how deep reinforcement learning and its shift toward semi-supervision can handle the cognitive side of smart city services and improve their performance by providing several use cases spanning the different domains of smart cities. We also highlight several challenges as well as promising future research directions for incorporating machine learning and high-level intelligence into smart city services.


Objective To establish the analysis methods for the residual methanol, acetone and ethanol in famotidine samples with capillary gas chromatography. Methods Commercially available and self-prepared famotidine samples were analyzed on an HP5890 gas chromatograph using flame ionization detector with a capillary column (30 m×0.32 mm×0.50μm). Results good linear correlations were obtained during the detection(r=0.9996-0.9997). The average recoveries were 97.86%(RSD 1.34%, n=3),98.16%(RSD 1.21%, n=3) and 98.04%(RSD 0.94%, n=3 ) for methanol, acetone and ethanol, respectively. The limits of quantification for methanol, acetone an ethanol were 0.004%, 0.002% and 0.004%, respectively. The contents of the residual solvents in three batches of products were acceptable. Conclusion the method is reliable and can be applicable in the detection of residual methanol, acetone and ethanol in famotidine samples.


The increasing availability of image and multimedia-oriented applications markedly impacts image/multimedia file and database systems. Image data are not well-defined keywords such as traditional text data used in searching and retrieving functions. Consequently, various indexing and retrieving methodologies must be defined based on the characteristics of image data. Spatial relationships represent an important feature of objects (called icons) in an image (or picture). Spatial representation by 2D String and its variants, in a pictorial spatial database, has been attracting growing interest. However, most 2-D Strings represent spatial information by cutting the icons out of an image and associating them with many spatial operators. The similarity retrievals by 2-D Strings require massive geometric computation and focus only on those database images that have all the icons and spatial relationships of the query image. This study proposes a new spatial-relationship representation model called This chapter appears in the book, Multimedia Systems and Content-Based Image Retrieval, edited by Sagarmay Deb. Copyright © 2004, Idea Group Inc. Copying or distributing in print or electronic forms without written permission of Idea Group Inc. is prohibited. 701 E. Chocolate Avenue, Suite 200, Hershey PA 17033-1240, USA Tel: 717/533-8845; Fax 717/533-8661; URL-http://www.idea-group.com IDEA GROUP PUBLISHING


A series of planning meetings ended in a step-by-step rehearsal the day before treatment of the first patient. At every point, nurses were present: identifying equipment needs, anticipating emergency situations, and planning patient and procedure flow. We were proud to be a part of the highly specialized team of physicists, statisticians, physicians, computer programmers, and technologists. Care had been exercised to choose


Based on the traditional demodulation method of four phase shift keying (QPSK), a QPSK demodulation model was proposed. The FPGA-based QPSK modulation and demodulation system and circuit had been achieved. In Xilinx ISE12.3 development environment, using the SPARTAN-3E development board, the simulation results demonstrate the feasibility of this design.


The present work was carried out to determine the structure of relations among the definition of the concept "strategy" that have been elaborated by authors from its origin in the decade of the sixties during the twentieth century. For its execution, thirty-eight definitions were taken as a sample. Each of them was deconstructed to identify the key terms used by the authors. Once it was accomplished, a filiations's matrix was elaborated using the authors as the observation unit and the definition's key terms as variables. Then (1) was assigned to the presence of the term in the definition and zero to the absence of it. Finally, the structure of the relations among key terms was obtained through the program Net Draw. The Kappa Cohen test was applied to determine the coefficient of concordance between each pair of authors who dealt with the definition of the concept of Strategy, then a incidence matrix was built assuming that there is 1 if only there is a coefficient of concordance (K>0.40) and there is no relation (0) if the opposite


Cactoblastis cactorum (Berg.) is recognized as an invasive species in the Caribbean, the United States, and Mexico. Prior work using hexane extracts of sex glands showed that the sex pheromone of this species has 54% of (Z, E) ‐9.12 ‐14: acetate, 42% of (Z, E) ‐9.12 -14:OH and 4% of Z9-14: Ac. Although traps baited with this mixture are effectively to attract males of the cactus moth, it is necessary to determine whether the pheromone can be optimized and to determinate if female diet may impact pheromone composi ‐ tion. Experiments with insects were made at the USDA‐ARS Crop in Tifton, Georgia, where there is a colony maintained on cactus and another on an artificial diet. Solid- phase microextraction (SPME) was used to collect pheromones in the headspace above a single calling female and by rubbing the excised female sex gland with SPME fibers. Rubbing the gland directly with SPME fiber revealed that the pheromone consists of the compounds cited above plus Z9-14:Ac. With dynamic aeration and capture of volatiles with fiber only captured two compounds. In addition, our results indicated that natural or artificial diet does not influence the composition of the sex pheromone. (Z9-14: Ac). Rubbing the gland directly with SPME fiber was an appropriate technique for recovering sexual components of sex gland females. Our results indicate that natural or arti‐ ficial diet does not influence the composition of the sex pheromone. Of the eight mixtures evaluated in the field, more moths were captured with binary mixtures of the di-unsaturated acetate and di-unsaturated alcohol in 60:40 proportions. Using two-component mixtures as bait will likely make traps less expensive while providing capture efficiencies that are equal to or greater than commercial traps that are currently available that use four components and therefore more expensive. Currently, the mixture of the main compounds in 60:40 propor ‐ tions is used in 1400 wing traps that are changed and checked every month along the Gulf of Mexico to detect the entry of the cactus moth to Mexico. In the near future, the next step will be to study the volatiles of Opuntia species and determine if the female of the cactus moth uses them to find their host plant. Thus, we would have a pheromone for capturing males and an attractant for capturing females.


The aim of research carried out in this paper is the application of mathematical modeling capabilities for environmental monitoring, through the development of models and algorithms for numerical simulation of the spread of harmful impurities in the atmosphere. Achieving this goal is due to the decision of a complex of interrelated problems: 1) the mathematical modeling of the transport of harmful impurities in the atmosphere; 2) implementation of a mathematical model.


reading, which has proved to be impracticable in conventional mobile mass radiography, would present relatively little difficulty at static units with 100-mm. cut films. It is obvious.that even a large number of these static units would be unable to deal with the periodical routine x-ray examination of all men in the critical age groups, but general practitioners could help by sending for chest x-ray examination all men over 35, irrespective of the reasons for visiting their surgeries. In the meantime,. it would be wrong in our opinion to engage in any form of propaganda that suggests that at present routine mass radiography is a certain means of detecting " early cancer," and attention should not be deflected from the much more important preventive aspects of the present situation.


Vertically stacked transition metal dichalcogenides of multilayer structures have gained increasing attention because of their fascinating features in electronics and optical properties [1]. We performed the calculation of structural and electronic properties of twisted MoS2 bilayers are using first principle calculations (ABINIT [2]) and Tight-binding method (TB). The result shows that significant differences in the band structures of twisted and non-twisted ones: the appearances of the crossover between direct and indirect bandgap, gap variation and atomic relaxations. For rather large rotation angles  between the two layers, the band structures with different  are very similar [3]. For the smallest angles, the stacking forms a Moiré pattern (figure 1) and TB calculations predict some flat bands in the valence band and the conduction band. As in twisted bilayer graphene, those states are localized in the AA stacking region of the Moiré as shown by the fine peaks in the local density of states (figure 2).


We propose an iterative learning control algorithm (ILC) that is developed using a variable forgetting factor to control a mobile robot. The proposed algorithm can be categorized as an open-closed-loop iterative learning control, which produces control instructions by using both previous and current data. However, introducing a variable forgetting factor can weaken the former control output and its variance in the control law while strengthening the robustness of the iterative learning control. If it is applied to the mobile robot, this will reduce position errors in robot trajectory tracking control effectively. In this work, we show that the proposed algorithm guarantees tracking error bound convergence to a small neighborhood of the origin under the condition of state disturbances, output measurement noises, and fluctuation of system dynamics. By using simulation, we demonstrate that the controller is effective in realizing the prefect tracking.


With the development of medical treatment information technology,HIS are widely used.To utilize the historical data more efficiently and to offer better services,more and more hospitals are building their data warehouses.This article analyzes the characteristics of data warehouse,and illustrates its utilization in HIS,and finally it thinks the whole process in some deep degree.


The importance of education has given rise to the search for different learning techniques and the use of information technology tools. One of the techniques currently used to achieve and encourage learning is serious games and gamification; these techniques allow students to achieve learning objectives while playing. This paper presents a systematic literature review about proposals for learning web programming based on serious games; 10 studies based on serious games are presented for learning content related to web programming, programming languages, and the topics addressed in teaching. This study contributes to web programming learning for students who want to learn web programming.


The caudal medullary raphe (CMR) is an essential structure in controlling pain, cardiovascular, and respiratory function (1). Partial reversal of systemic opioid‐induced respiratory depression was achieved with naloxone injection into the CMR (2). This study investigated the presence of endogenous opioid activity in the CMR.


Qui tacet, consentire videtur. The paper is a personal account of the attempt of one man-as a citizen and as a teacher - to create the field of bioethics in Croatia as a countermeasure to the experience of war. While acknowledging that ethics education alone cannot make future generations more moral, he belivies that such an education should help future professionals to orient themselves in "the forest of contemporary ethical issues and dilemmas, as well as make them more competent to resolve complex moral problems in health care and medicine.


Poems are meeting on the corner of somewhere and somewhere, where mom sounds like an address you'd write to and words have girlfriends or notes attached, clever like string, they fly close to the sun on Icarus wings warm and dangerous? there are no bad trapeze artists if you believe in Darwin, so it is with poetry it's just the packaging, sentiment can be convenient it's not a crime, it's a way to keep children and blush and stumble then let them go, it's first things and last things which may be metaphors but mostly it's just first things and last things, a way to lengthen the dark, or the way finding a piece of popcorn down the back of your couch can inspire 80 kilograms of popcorn to form a mountain in a gallery I wouldn't say piece, but kernel, yet how far removed is corn from the pop of it.


Abstract : A thermal initiation apparatus is fully described for rapidly heating and monitoring high energy materials in the range of 300 to 1000C. Time delays to explosion, which range from 0.05 to 5 msec are a function of sample temperature. A capacitor discharge pulse heats a sample enclosed in a hypodermic needle tubing. Calibration methods, sample handling techniques, and representative data are also reported.


Purpose: To assess the use of phosphorylated histone H2AX protein (γ-H2AX) in human blood leukocytes as a rapid screening tool for radiation biodosimetry using a method that examines the characteristics of γ-H2AX phosphorylation in a variety of lymphocyte subsets following exposure to radiation. Materials and methods: Human peripheral blood exposed to 0–10 Gy of 137Cs irradiation and cultured for 0–48 h was analysed using a rapid whole blood flow cytometry assay to measure γ-H2AX phosphorylation in different lymphocyte subpopulations. Results: Lymphocyte subsets displayed a similar linear dose response relationship, although cluster of differentiation 4+ (CD4+) and CD8+ lymphocytes were found to express H2AX phosphorylation on the order of 1.5 times higher than CD19+ lymphocytes. Phosphorylation of all lymphocyte subsets reached a maximum at 1.5 h and had essentially returned to baseline levels 24 h post-exposure. Conclusions: Differences in the expression level of γ-H2AX between lymphocyte subsets were minimal. The usefulness of this assay for radiation biodosimetry is hampered by its relatively quick lifetime kinetics and large inter-individual variation. Therefore, it could only be useful if samples were obtained within 24 h of exposure. Even in this situation, the assay could only be used as an indicator of exposure and not a dosimeter.


Information architecture(IA) and information ecology(IE) are highly concerned at home and abroad.On the basis of the relationship between IA and IE,this paper probes into the problem of applying IA theory into information ecosystem,and from the three aspects of the information environment,information man and information,demonstrates that the theory and framework of IA could solve the imbalance of IE.


What Is Talmud? The Art of Disagreement, by Sergey Dolgopolski. New York: Fordham University Press, 2009. 333 pp. $60.00. The title question of Sergey Dogopolsky's ambitious book is disarmingly simple: "What is Talmud?" This, however, is no introduction to Talmud, companion to Rabbinic Literature or Talmud for dummies.The Talmud, that is the historical text finally edited towards the end of late antiquity in the sixth or seventh century, plays a secondary role in this sprawling, densely argued and somewhat opaque volume. The "Talmud" of the title refers to a method of argumentation and thinking which is no less strict, philosophical, or rational than the rationality of Aristotelean thought as mediated by Maimonides (p. 35). When Dogopolsky, in his introduction, says he is going to be analyzing a Talmudic treatise (p. 25), he is not referring to one of the tractates of the Babylonian Talmud, but, rather to a book written centuries later in Spain by Rabbi Isaac Canpanton. Once the underbrush of misunderstanding is cleared away, one must say that Canpanton's The Ways of the Talmud is an understudied work worthy of an intensive and extensive study. Dogopolsky reviews the contents of The Ways of the Talmud in a very competent and thorough manner in the second to last section of his book. However, Dogopolsky's primary aim is to situate Canpanton in an intellectual discourse with the likes of Spinoza and Deleuze (p. 103), and as an intellectual opponent to Maimonides (pp. 34-35), the great rationalist philosopher. For Dogopolsky's Canpanton, "talmud" holds the relationship to philosophy that (the recently revitalized) sophistry does (p. 34). Talmud is a mode of thinking in which tradition guarantees the parameters of discussion and perhaps its "truth" (p. 25), in which both "sides" of a discussion are not to be embodied and thereby historicized on the persons of historical Sages but rather "as eternal eons different from one another due to a phrase they will never erase and never write anew" (p. 49). Canpanton's work is impressive in its systemic discussion of a certain method of studying Talmud, beginning with the student's first encounter with any specific Talmudic text (he instructs the student to "read the language with heartfelt joy two or three times out loud" [Darkhei Hatalmud p. 26, my translation]). The parts of Canpanton's method which are central to Dogopolsky's book are diyuk or "exaction," hidush or "invention," and svara mibahutz or "external judgment." These are the tools of classic pilpul finely honed by Canpanton. Exaction is the approach to any talmudic statement which assumes that there is a logically compelling reason for that statement to be made. There are no "rhetorical questions" (in the common understanding of this term) or "straw man" arguments. All statements are necessary and therefore the student must investigate why this statement must have been made. Exaction's companion term is "refutation" or kushya, which is used to refine the exaction and to clarify the understanding of the statement. "Invention" is the new understanding of the original statement arrived at as a result of the exaction and the refutations. The external judgment is, on a certain level, the guarantor of truth. To sum up the method with Dogopolsky, the method of Talmudic speculation (iyyun) is neither logical syllogism nor hermeneutic search for meaning but rather exaction and external judgment about the "orations" (meimrot=statements) of past ("past without any claim to presence," p. 103) Talmudic sages or masters. This results from the fact that the Talmudic masters' orations are "granted an unquestionable validity-something that since it happened it did not happen in vain" (p. …


The present invention relates to a semi-fluid food product comprising guar gum and fiber beta-glucane.L'invention also relates to the use of this food product as a functional food, in particular for the prevention diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular diseases and the prevention and / or treatment of surpoids.L'invention finally relates to the use of a combination of guar gum and beta fibers - glucan in the manufacture a functional food for preventing diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular disease and prevent or treat overweight.


Postoperative cognitive dysfunction (POCD) is a newly diagnosed subtle impairment of memory, concentration, and speed of information processing after surgery. POCD in adults and geriatric population has been well established, but less explored in the paediatric age group. The aim of this study is to compare the effects of intravenous propofol and inhalational sevoflurane on short term postoperative cognitive outcomes in children. Experimental approach: 80 paediatric patients aged 5 - 15 years of ASA grade I and II posted for surgeries under general anaesthesia except neurosurgery were randomly allocated into two groups with 40 patients in each group. Group A received intravenous propofol and Group B received inhalational sevoflurane for maintenance of general anaesthesia. Cognitive assessment tests were done using Wechsler's Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC-V) both preoperatively and postoperatively at 6hr, 12hr and 24hr respectively. Major Findings: Comparison of various cognitive indices in Group A and B is significantly lower at 6 hours in comparison to the preoperative value. Comparison of various cognitive indices between preoperative and at 24 hours postoperative levels, in Group A and B showed that these parameters return to the preoperative state at 24 hours after surgery.Conclusion: There is no significant postoperative cognitive decline in patients comparing the cognitive functions preoperatively and 24 hour postoperative levels when using intravenous propofol versus inhalational sevoflurane. There was a transient but significant decline noted in the cognitive functions at 6 hour postoperatively compared to the preoperative period, noticed equally with both groups.


The overall objective of this research was to understand Indonesian teachers' applications of reflection in their daily practice by examining their reflective actions in relation to the Teacher Competency Standards. This study was designed to improve the education quality in Indonesia. This qualitative case study included two phases. The first phase involved three purposefully selected experienced teachers to gauge the range of teacher understandings of reflective practice. The second phase, involving eight experienced teachers, was designed to investigate their understandings and develop a model of reflection suitable for Indonesian teachers. Findings from the first phase of the study showed that these teachers applied reflection but did not engage with it regularly and systematically. The research showed that teachers' understandings of reflection were limited to reflection before closing the lesson and teachers emphasized students' reflection on the lesson rather than their own reflection on their teaching practice. Intuitively, teachers did reflect on their practice but they did so informally by thinking back on their teaching methods and strategies based on students' test results. Further, teachers' understanding on the Teacher Competency Standards was limited, especially on dimensions that focused on the meaning of reflection. Their understanding mostly was on how to prepare, deliver and evaluate certain lessons. Based on the main study findings, by engaging in conversations about their experiences, the teachers began to understand how to do reflection and realised that reflection is not only about students' understanding but also involves teachers analysing their own practice to solve learning problems that occurred. The most powerful action was reflective conversations during which teachers shared experiences of their teaching practice. Teachers were encouraged or motivated to explain their own experiences to others and could reflect on those following exploration and interrogation by the researcher. The second powerful action was videotaping of lessons where teachers were able to reflect on their own recordings and identify their own weaknesses. A third powerful action was writing journals though this was not a favourable action due to the tight teaching schedule; nevertheless, these teachers


The present invention takes the extra initial cost, and, to avoid that must be carried out inventory management. A display device (panel) in an electronic device, is recognizable prepared by the application (11). Thus, the configuration parameters during startup for use programs (parameters such as a display length and a display width, TFT drive parameters such as pulse width), be used in applications other dummy line (L1 ... L22) It becomes possible.


The grain fluctuation situation of Hubei was analyzed by calculating the grain fluctuation coefficient from 1990s. And the quantitative correlation between grain production and the water disaster was studied by grey correlation analysis. The results were shown as follows. The main water disaster factors impacting grain production were effective irrigated area and planting structure, the relationship degree of which with grain yield is respectively 0.91 and 0.85 ranking the first two among all the selected factors. It was shown that water disaster influenced the grain yield heavily


This paper introduces the information system disaster recovery level,and then from the technical angle elaborated information system disaster recovery technology framework.The focus of comparative analysis of the three kinds of the current mainstream based on different levels(based on storage,based on host and based on the application of) the enterprise information system disaster recovery technology solutions and techniques,and it analyses the respective advantages and limitations.Finally the case of the actual production environment of enterprise level is analyzed.


Superconducting Nb thin films were grown on different arrays of triangle‐shape metallic islands. The vortex lattice dynamics could be strongly modified by these asymmetric vortex traps. These asymmetric pinning potentials lead to a rectification effect on the vortex motion: Injecting an ac supercurrent on the sample yields a net dc vortex flow. This vortex ratchet effect is adiabatic and reversible: The effect is frequency independent and the polarity of the dc voltage output could be tuned by the applied magnetic fields and the input ac currents.


The performance of the metre-scale SuperDove constellation is evaluated for water applications using measurements from a PANTHYR autonomous in situ hyperspectral radiometer. Turbid water chlorophyll a absorption is retrieved in the Belgian coastal zone.


Malaria is an infectious disease which is still becoming a major public health problem. Based on data from the Ministry of Health in 2016, API in Papua Province, there are 49 cases of positive malaria per 1,000 populations. Modeling the right number of malaria (Morbidity) cases will be an important instrument in eradicating malaria. Regional or spatial based analysis is a good method of describing malaria morbidity because malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects one location and another. Geographically Weighted Regression (GWR) is a spatial-based statistical method which develops a global regression model into a local model. The GWR model aims to explore spatial diversity by forming different regression models at each observation location. In general, the results of the GWR analysis in this study indicated that the variables that influenced the model of malaria morbidity in Papua Province were the percentage of clean water usage and the number of health workers per 10,000 populations.


We construct an addition and a multiplication on the set of planar binary trees, closely related to addition and multiplication on the integers. This gives rise to a new kind of (noncommutative) arithmetic theory. The price to pay for this generalization is that, first, the addition is not commutative, second, the multiplication is distributive with the addition only on the left. This algebraic structure is the "exponent part" of the free dendriform algebra on one generator, a notion related to several other types of algebras. In the second part we extend this theory to all the planar trees. Then it is related to the free dendriform trialgebra as constructed in [J.-L. Loday, M.O. Ronco, C.R. Acad. Sci. Paris Ser. I 333 (2001) 81–86].  2002 Elsevier Science (USA). All rights reserved.


Objectives: Although moxibustion is one of the most frequently used methods in oriental medicine, effect of moxibustion in myofiber regeneration and muscle fatigability is hardly studied. This study was researched to observe the effect of moxibustion in myofiber regeneration and muscle fatigability. Methods: We reviewed studies which contained moxibustion and published after 2000s in Pubmed. We also reviewed domestic studies in RISS, KISS and DBPIA, but only three studies were researched. Results : In myofiber regeneration, moxibuston has improved blood flow in muscle tissue and recover tissue injuries fast. Especially, moxibustion trigger an increse of HSP levels, which protect the cell against irreversible damage, apoptosis and death. Thus, that helpsto stimulate myofiber regeneration. In many studies, as moxibustion stimulate PMRs and decrease fatigue substances, such as lactate acid and creatinine, so moxibustion is considered to be effective to recover and prevent muscle fatigability. Based on such effects, moxibustion is considered to have an effect on TPs, but have been hardly studied. Conclusions: Although Moxibution is considered to be effective in myofiber regeneration and muscle fatigability, futher study is needed.


By introducing the whole process for making glass fiber products for electronics applications (electronic yarns and fabrics) and key techniques at each process step, the auther would like to discuss with the specialists in same industry so as to upgrade the production technology for these products progressively.


INTRODUCTION: Vitamin D deficiency has been associated with higher rates of SSI following a variety of surgical procedures. However, this association has been under-investigated for spinal procedures. METHODS: Patients who underwent lumbar fusions between 2011-2014 were reviewed from the HCUP-NIS database. Propensity score matching was utilized to minimize the effect of confounding variables between the 2 groups (normal vitamin D vs vitamin D deficiency). RESULTS: A total of 238,875 cases of lumbar fusions met inclusion criteria for analysis. These included posterior/transforaminal lateral interbody fusions (PLIF/TLIF), Anterior lumbar interbody fusion (ALIF) and lateral lumbar interbody fusion (LLIF). 22,454 (9.4%) patients carried the diagnosis of vitamin D deficiency and were significantly more likely to be non-white (26.5% vs. 19.9%) and obese (21.1% vs. 15.4%) as compared to patients without deficiency. Other patient characteristics, socioeconomic factors, and hospital setting were comparable between two groups. SSI rates were compared between matched cohorts (18,350 patients in each). In patients without vitamin D deficiency, there were 202 (1.1%) cases of SSI recorded, while there were 1266 (6.9%) cases of SSI recorded in patients with vitamin D deficiency (P<0.001). Patients with vitamin D deficiency had higher incidence of thromboembolic events (2.6% vs. 0.3%), length of hospital stay (5.7 vs. 3.4 days) as well as increased hospital charges (87,812$ vs. 79,650), (P <0.05). CONCLUSION: Optimizing preoperative vitamin D level could be potentially a cost-effective strategy to reduce the rate of SSI, thromboembolic events and prolonged hospital stay in patients undergoing lumbar fusion. Further cost-effectiveness analyses are encouraged to make definitive claims regarding pre-operative vitamin D screening/supplementation in these patients.


This research paper is about to examine the role of spin-off companies in research and development. The paper emphasizes the success factors (closeness to parent institutions, founder's competencies, life experience, R&D capacity, industrial concentration) in spin-off development. We introduce ELINOR Engineering Ltd., a Hungarian technology-oriented spin-off company, which can be seen as a good case for a successful spin-off company. The company initiated a new project in healthcare, which aims to develop duplex threaded fixing screw for more efficient curing of femoral fractures. The project is characterized by pronounced interdisciplinarity linking traumatology, technology engineering and business management. The paper shows the development of this project by emphasizing the success factors of spin-off companies.


Discrimination of 5 rice cultivars (Sangjubyeo , Dongjinbyeo Simbaekbyeo , Hwamanbyeo , and Simbaek-hetero ) using metabolic profiling was carried out. Whole cell extracts from each cultivar were subjected to NMR spectroscopy. When spectral data were analyzed by principal component analysis, 5 cultivars were clustered into 3 groups: SJ, DJ + SB, and HM + SH. Thecultivars showed great difference in carbohydrate region of NMR spectra, suggesting that qualitative and quantitative differences in carbohydrate compounds play a major role in discrimination of the cultivars. In addition, it was readily possible to determine relative quantification of major carbohydrates including sucrose, glucose, maltose from spectral data of the cultivars. SJ showed 2 to 4 times higher content of maltose than the other rice cultivars. Overall results indicate that metabolic discrimination of rice cultivars using NMR spectroscopy combined by multivariate statistical analysis can be used for rapid discrimination of numerous rice cultivars and simple quantitative analysis system of major carbohydrate compounds in rice grains.


This thesis consists of two parts, theoretical and experimental. The first part contains the necessary theoretical background that includes an introduction to steel. For the continuity we analyze the stainless steel and furthermore the corrosion and the various mechanisms. Finally, we describe a related theoretical part of the knowledge required to understand the second part of the thesis based on Strength of Materials. The second part is the experimental process, which is the core of this work. In more detail in the following chapters are presented the experimental procedure, the analysis of the measurements and the conclusions drawn.


Recent progress on sensor technologies poses challenges on software development such as more interaction with physical environment and context-awareness. This trend makes it difficult to decide the boundaries between changing module interactions. In this paper, we propose a concept of fluent module interactions where we characterize the module interactions in three dimensions, i.e., definition, duration, and scope. Module interactions in any of those dimensions can change dynamically. We also propose a possible extension of existing programming language with fluent module interactions based on context-oriented programming (COP). Then, we derive a future research roadmap for realizing fluent module interactions that covers a wide range of research fields including theory, implementation, engineering, and applications.


Objective To know the germicidal efficacy and disifection-related properties of chlorhexidine alcohol disinfection solution containing chlorhexidine acetate and ethanol as its main germicidal ingredients.Methods Suspension quantitative germicidal test and animal toxicity test were used to carry out experimental observation.Results The killing logarithm values of Staphylococcus aureus,Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa exposed to the stock solution of chlorhexidine alcohol disinfection solution containing chlorhexidine acetate 2600 mg/L and 70% ethanol for 0.5 min were 5.00 and that of Candida albicans exposed for 0.5 min was 4.00.The average killing logarithm value of the natural bacteria on skin of medial side of forearm and hand wiped with the stock solution of the disinfection solution for 1 min was ≥1.00.The acute oral toxicity test of the disinfection solution showed that its LD50 in both rats and mice was 5000 mg/kg(body weight) which is practically non-toxic.Its stock solution was non-irritating to rabbit skin and had weak sensitizing effect.Subacute toxicity test result showed that it didi not induce positive sign and the hematological indexes were negative. Conclusion Chlorhexidine alcohol disinfectant has good germicidal efficacy and belongs to non-toxic substance in animal test.


The article introduces a method on preparation of a kind of cobalt (Ⅲ) complexes. It analyzes its composition and tests the conductivity. At last, it shows the composition and equation.


Horizontal electrode having a memory unit electrically connected to a small compound and metal sulfur. Range of cross-sectional area is generally controlled by the deposition / etching method for semiconductor fabrication steps. To finally produce the memory cell can be driven by CMOS operating unit.


What is the present state of mathematical physics? What are its problems? What is its future? Is it about to change its orientation? Will the object and methods of this science appear in ten years to our immediate successors in the same light as they appear to us? Or are we to witness a far-reaching transformation? These are the questions we are forced to face to-day at the outset of our inquiry. It is easy to ask; difficult to answer. If we felt tempted to hazard a prediction, we should easily resist this temptation by stopping to think of the nonsense the most eminent scholars of a hundred years ago would have spoken in answer to the question of what this science would be in the nineteenth century. They would have thought themselves bold in their predictions; and after the event how timid we should have found them! Do not expect of me therefore any kind of prophesy. But if, like all prudent physicians, I refuse to give a prognosis, still I cannot deny myself a little diagnosis. Well, then, yes; there are symptoms of a serious crisis, which would seem to indicate that we may expect presently a transformation. However, there is no cause for great anxiety. We are assured that the patient will not die, and indeed we may hope that this crisis will be salutary, since the history of the past would seem to insure that. In fact, this crisis is not the first, and in order to understand it it is well to recall those which have gone before. Allow me a brief historical sketch. Mathematical physics, as we are well aware, is an offspring of celestial mechanics, which gave it birth at the end of the eighteenth century at the moment when it had itself attained its complete development. The child, especially during its first years, showed a striking resemblance to its mother. The astronomical universe consists of masses, undoubtedly of great magnitude, but separated by such immense distances that they appear to us as material points; these points attract each other in the inverse ratio of the squares of their distances, and this attraction is the only force which affects their motion. But if our senses were keen enough to show us all the details of the bodies which the physicist studies, the spectacle thus disclosed would hardly differ from the one which the astronomer contemplates. There too we should see material points separated by intervals which are enormous in comparison with their dimensions, and describing orbits according to regular laws. These infinitesimal stars are the atoms. Like the stars proper, they attract each other or repel, and this attraction or repulsion, which is along


Cybersecurity strategies could be greatly improved by identifying when errors are more likely to occur, therefore being able to anticipate, mitigate, and resolve issues more efficiently. At their core, most cybersecurity issues all have one thing in common the human user. As a result, an emerging and important area of considerations is the study of Human Factors. This paper presents an initial review that situates Human Factors within the context of cybersecurity.


Cancer is an important disease that threatens human health. Protein mutations disrupt the normal proliferation regulation of cells, which leads to the formation of tumor. In this paper, we studied the characteristics of connectivity degree, folding rate, aggregation propensity of cancer-associated proteins and their relationships. We explored the aggregation propensity of neoantigen proteins in cancer immunotherapy and examined the overlap between neoantigen and cancer-associated proteins. The results showed that cancer-associated proteins have higher connectivity degree, larger folding rate, lower aggregation propensity and that there is a significant negative correlation between the folding rate and aggregation propensity of cancer-associated proteins. The aggregation propensity of neoantigen proteins are increased compared with the corresponding premutated sequences. Our study helps to understand the protein folding and binding mechanisms and proffers a new indicator for the selection of neoantigens that are useful in designing immunotherapy for cancer treatment.


Background and aim: The mammalian ductus arteriosus undergoes alterations in its pharmacological responsiveness with advancing gestational age. Cyclic AMP and cyclic GMP are second messengers involved in the regulation of ductus arteriosus tone. The aim of the present work was to study the ontogeny of cAMP- and cGMP-evoked ductus arteriosus relaxation in the chicken embryo between 0.7 and 0.9 incubation.Methods: Isolated right ductus arteriosus segments from chicken embryos at day 15 and day 19 of the 21-d incubation were mounted in a myograph for isometric tension recording, bubbled with 0%, 5% or 95% O2/5% CO2. Relaxations induced by acetylcholine (ACh, 0.1 nM-10 mM), the nitric oxide (NO) donor, sodium nitroprusside (SNP, 0.1 nM-30 mM), the adenylate cyclase activator, forskolin (10 microM-0.3 microM) and the beta-adrenergic agonist, isoproterenol (0.1 nM-10 mM), were evaluated during contraction induced by 62,5 mM K+. Some experiments were performed in the presence the NO synthase inhibitor L-NAME (0.3 mM), the soluble guanylate cyclase inhibitor ODQ, (0.1 microM) or the beta-blocker propanolol (0.1 microM).Results: Relaxations induced by ACh (inhibited by L-NAME and ODQ), SNP (inhibited by ODQ), forskolin, and isoproterenol (inhibited by propanolol) were not significantly different between 15 and 19 days. Forskolin and isoproterenol completely reversed K+-induced contraction, whereas ACh and SNP only caused respectively 40% and 60 % maximal relaxation. Bubbling the organ chamber with 95% O2 instead of 5% O2, reduced the response to ACh and SNP in both groups of age.Conclusions: The ductus arteriosus of the chicken embryo responded, in vitro, to NO/cGMP- and cAMP-mediated relaxation, without significant developmental changes. cAMP mediated relaxation was more potent than NO/cGMP mediated relaxation. Oxygen tension modulates chicken embryo ductus arteriosus relaxation.


The theory of convexity plays an important role in various branches of science and engineering. The objective of this paper is to introduce a new notion of preinvex functions by unifying the n-polynomial preinvex function with the s-type m–preinvex function and to present inequalities of the Hermite–Hadamard type in the setting of the generalized s-type m–preinvex function. First, we give the definition and then investigate some of its algebraic properties and examples. We also present some refinements of the Hermite–Hadamard-type inequality using Hölder's integral inequality, the improved power-mean integral inequality, and the Hölder-İşcan integral inequality. Finally, some results for special means are deduced. The results established in this paper can be considered as the generalization of many published results of inequalities and convexity theory.


This article addresses the use of Sim42, a steady‐state free process simulator, as a powerful tool to teach heat integration and parametric optimization in a complete plant. It was considered a natural gas plant as a case study. The thermodynamic package used in the simulations was validated using experimental data published in the literature. The results were compared with the commercial simulator HYSYS and plant information. Good agreement was achieved. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Comput Appl Eng Educ 18: 476–484, 2010; View this article online at wileyonlinelibrary.com; DOI 10.1002/cae.20200


Distributed collaboration is becoming increasingly impor tant also in software development. Combined with an increasing interest in experimental and agile approaches to software development, this poses challenges to tool support for software development. Specifically, tool support is needed for flexible, distributed collaboration. We intro duce theDistributed Knighttool that provides flexible and lightweight support for distributed collaboration in obje ctoriented modelling. The Distributed Knight implementation builds crucially on thetype-based publish/subscribe distributed communication paradigm, which provides an effective and natural abstraction for developing distribu ted collaboration tools.


SIZE DISTRIBUTIONS OF INCOME are among the most complex types of economic statistics and the most difficult to interpret. The distribution of income among the various groups of the population is shaped by numerous economic and noneconomic processes, some of which are of a long-run nature while others are of a cyclical character. Any given distribution is the end result of the interaction of numerous forces; some are mutually reinforcing, others working in the opposite direction. The degree of inequality shown by any given pattern of distribution depends, moreover, on the definitions of income, recipient unit, and income period used. Finally, the process of inflation which our economy has been undergoing makes the study of changes in the proportion of the population falling within a given income bracket, say from $3,000 to $5,000, rather meaningless. Distributions must be analyzed in a form that removes the influence of changes in the price level as fully as possible.


Unsaturated polyester resins (UPRs) are used widely in the fiber-reinforced plastics (FRPs) industry. These resins have the disadvantages of brittleness and poor resistance to crack propagation. In this study, hybrid poly- mer networks (HPNs) based on UPR and epoxidized phe- nolic novolacs (EPNs) were prepared by reactive blending. A HPN is composed of a backbone polymer containing two types of reactive groups that can take part in crosslinking reactions via different mechanisms. EPNs were prepared by glycidylation of novolacs using epichlorohydrin. The novol- acs had varying phenol: formaldehyde ratios. Blends of un- saturated polyester with EPN were then prepared. The physical properties of the cured blends were compared with those of the control resin. EPN shows good miscibility and compatibility with the resin and improves the toughness and impact resistance substantially. Considerable enhance- ment of tensile strength is also noticed at about 5% by weight of epoxidized novolac resin. TGA, DMA, and DSC were used to study the thermal properties of the toughened resin and the fracture behavior was studied using SEM. The blends are also found to have better thermal stability. Blend- ing with EPN can be a useful and cost-effective technique for modification of UPR. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 100: 457- 465, 2006


There are a large quantity of idioms and fixed expressions in both Eng lish and Chinese languages. We are bound to meet how to translate them in the co mmunication between Chinese and West cultures which are developed further today. Great diversities exit among them because of the influence of their different c ultures. Only do we go into these diversities and adopt suitable principles, we can mix up this equivalence gap. Then the real aim of intercultural communicatio n can be arrived at.


The Vipeholm Dental Caries Study' clearly established the relationship between the physical form of the diet and dental caries activity. In their report on that study, Gustafsson, Quensel, Swenander-Lanke, Lundqvist, Grahnen, Bonow, and Krasse stated (p. 361): ". . . The risk of sugar increasing caries activity is great if the sugar is consumed in a form with a strong tendency to be retained on the surfaces of the teeth." This fact had been suspected for many years, and the great importance of adhesion of the diet to teeth demonstrated in the Vipeholm study has helped to call attention to the lack of basic knowledge of such matters in dentistry. A preliminary investigation of the adhesion of foods to teeth has been made,2 and recently Beck and Bibby3 reported on a centrifugal method of measuring food retention on teeth. This present study was an evaluation of the adhesion of over seventy foods to teeth. It provided data that, it is hoped, might be helpful in understanding the properties of foods that are involved in intraoral food retention. Such data might also be used in designing caries-reducing diets.


The mobilized civil airlift force plays an important role in enhancing US's strategic airlift capability and achieving the goal of US Army's global force projection. In this paper we analyze the characteristics of US's civil aircraft mobilization,and put forward a few suggestions and measures for enhancing our civil aircraft mobilization,such as founding and perfecting the mechanism of function and corresponding, strengthening the airlift reserve force perfecting the statute system of civil airlift mobilization,and improving the information system design of civil airlift mobilization.


Introduction: Statins have led to significant reductions in cardiovascular disease (CVD) events; however, a high level of residual cardiovascular risk remains. The REDUCE-IT trial showed additional...


The present invention relates to a system and method for reproducing multimedia contents on the Internet network, using an application in the network to one or more of the Internet and multimedia content in the multimedia content / or local storage of the reproducing apparatus reproducing. The application may provide a web browser function, e.g., receiving, processing, decoding and / or reproducing the multimedia Internet content. The application may have enhanced user interface, the enhanced user interface may enable a user to select the playback apparatus of the multimedia content and Internet network, the Internet transmitting multimedia content to the reproducing means and / or controlling the content of the Internet multimedia reproducing apparatus reproducing.


A cross-cultural food habit model conscructed aft~r review of available literature was used as a guide for inves.tigating food habit determinants. A food habit survey was conducted in Antigua, w. I.. in December, 1981 and January, 1982 to test the model. Data collected by questionnaire from 305 households included household food purchase and production, food consumption via 24-hour recall and food frequency, food-related beliefs and socioeco~omic characteristics of respondents and household members. Results showed that .the Antiguan diet is starc.h-based and that, despite crop production by about t.lio-thirds of the households sampled, many diets appeared to be def~c~nt in selected fruit and vegetable groups. Diets appeared to be adequate in protein, .with reliance ori fish, egg, chicken and pork. on a product by product basis, diets appeared to .be a mixture of locally-produced items or traditional foods, suc.h as saltfish and local vegetables, and of imported i.tems such as Ovaltine, canned milk, can.ned fish and Cream of ihea~. Noon and evening meal pat:terns resembled traditional breakfast (noon) patterns of English-speaking south Caribbean islanders (Jerome, 1975) • .Investigation into one striking food pattern, the ~idespread consump~ion of a fortified food beverage powder, revealed that the powders supplemented most of the diets with one or more of the selected food groups found to be limiting in respondents• diets and that respondents from a variety of socio.economic groups were consuming the powders. Analysis of cultural factors influe.nci.ng food habits revealed that the major food avoidance was pork, for religious reasons. were asked which foods they would select When respondents .with extra food money and why, major health and preference. variables representing influence food hahits reasons for choices were r~lated to An extensive array of socioeconomic fac±ors in ±he model hypothesized to in Antigua were tested for a significant correlation (Kendall's tau b coefficient,) with a Dietary Adequacy Score reflecting the presence of six selected food groups i.n a respo.nde.nt•s one-day intake. As a result of m·ulticollinearity among the ind.ependen.t variables significantly (p<0.05) related to the Dietary Adeguacy Score, factor analysis of the ind.ependent variables was run. Two of the four resulting factors, re pre sen ting household wealth and the exposure to new ideas, were significantly related to the Dietary Ade~uacy Score in a multiple linear regression model.


2466 A 45-year-old woman presented in 1992 with symmetrical polyarthritis affecting the small joints of the hands and wrists bilaterally. The diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) was made and she was given methotrexate and small doses of prednisone, with significant improvement. In 1997 she experienced a flare of the synovitis and cyclosporin A (CSA) (3 mg/kg/day), equivalent to 200 mg/day, was added. Six months later the synovitis had improved1 . At that time she presented with mild hypertrichosis involving the areas of the arms and forearms bilaterally, followed by progressive gingival hyperplasia (GH) (Figure 1)2 . In 1998, the dose of CSA was decreased to 100 mg/day and one year later the GH had decreased. Clinical manifestation of CSA induced GH begins within the first 6 months after initiation of CSA therapy. Its incidence ranges from 8 to 85%. However, part of this variability probably results from many of the patients receiving CSA concurrently taking other medications such as calcium channel blockers, which can contribute to GH3 . CSA induced GH has been reported to be less common in treated patients with RA than in transplant recipients. Concerning the pathogenetic mechanisms underlying GH, it seems that CSA regu


The economic development of Poland and its regions results from a complex interaction of many factors, which include regional innovation policy. The task of regional innovation policy is to identify and develop smart specialisations, which may offer an opportunity of building up sustained competitive advantage of Poland's provinces. The identification of regional specialisations for the needs of regional policy carried out by Poland's provinces is a complex process. It must be placed within the context of all other processes of territorial development. To formulate specialisations, it is necessary to perform a thorough analysis of regional economic structures, taking into account both resources of a given region and possibilities of generating revenue. One of the methods used to identify potential regional specialisations is the Krugman dissimilarity index. In the paper, it is employed to analyse dissimilarities between economic structures of Poland's regions.


With longer exposure to atmospheric impacts the products lose their properties and the life cycle decreases. Consequently, there is need to determine the material properties after a longer exposure to atmospheric impacts. The paper has studied the impact of natural and laboratory ageing on the mechanical properties of the reaction cast polyamide 6 (PA6) with addition of oil. The tensile properties, hardness and toughness were studied. Since polyamide 6 with addition of oil was selected, the friction factor and the abrasion wear have been studied as well. In determining the required properties of castings from PA6 it should be taken into account that they are the result of the reaction primary shaping, which means that fi rst there is primary shaping of product, and then primary structuring at molecular and higher levels.


The present paper deals with study on Zygopterous dragon fly larva. The purpose of this paper is to demark some of the principal morphological changes and extent of variations occuring during development of three different species of Zygopterous dragon fly larvae the Pseudagrion decorm, Rambur; Ischnura delicate, Hagen and Ischnura senegalensis, Rambur.


Through the analysis of the art forms,it discusses the basic connotations and the relations of the three values in rhythmic gymnastics including the subject value of man,the aesthetic value,and the technology value.As the core value,the subject value of man means the understanding about man himself,society,and nature through the sports art forms.The aesthetic value is the way to show the subject value based on its aesthetic characteristics and connotations,that is,the systematic,coordinate,and creative beauties.The technology value is the basic carrier and important way for us to observe and understand the subject and aesthetic values,which tells the people how to know and understand these values.


An attempt has been made to measure the concentration of paracetamol (98%, Aldrich Chemical Co. Inc., MO) in different solutions using an in situ ATR-FTIR device and chemometrics. A partial least-squares (PLS1) algorithm has been applied to construct two calibration models for paracetamol concentration, water mass percent, and temperature. The models and errors have been analyzed using validation data sets and diagnostic tools. The models are then used to evaluate the solubility of paracetamol (PA) in pure isopropanol, pure water, and isopropanol−water mixtures in the temperature range 5−40 °C. The solubility of paracetamol in isopropanol−water mixtures shows a maximum at almost 20 water mass percent. For some selected data points, the measured solubility by the FTIR is in good agreement with the corresponding solubility measured using the gravimetric method. Also the solubility in pure isopropanol and water is in reasonable agreement with the data reported in the literature.


The impact of proximity-induced spin-orbit and exchange coupling on the correlated phase diagram of rhombohedral trilayer graphene (RTG) is investigated theoretically. By employing \emph{ab initio}-fitted effective models of RTG encapsulated by transition metal dichalcogenides (spin-orbit proximity effect) and ferromagnetic Cr$_2$Ge$_2$Te$_6$ (exchange proximity effect), we incorporate the Coulomb interactions within the random-phase approximation to explore potential correlated phases at different displacement field and doping. We find a rich spectrum of spin-valley resolved Stoner and intervalley coherence instabilities induced by the spin-orbit proximity effects, such as the emergence of a \textit{spin-valley-coherent} phase due to the presence of valley-Zeeman coupling. Similarly, proximity exchange removes the phase degeneracies by biasing the spin direction, enabling a magneto-correlation effect -- strong sensitivity of the correlated phases to the relative magnetization orientations (parallel or antiparallel) of the encapsulating ferromagnetic layers.


Self concept has been explored (as it relates to the self/avatar relationship) from several different perspectives including the concept of extended self concept (where we put ourselves into the objects we own) (Belk 1988), the distributed self (Turkle 1995), in that one's understanding is not unitary but fragmented in to several different selves as represented by virtual identities in virtual environments and Bessiere, Seay and Kiesler (2007) state that one's avatar represents one's aspirational identity. Additionally Schultze and Leahy (2009) report on the notion that the greater the perceived presence (as exhibited by the integration of social and tele presence) the closer the relationship between self and avatar. What is consistent between these approaches is that one's self concept is not unified but has more than one dimension. Based on the theoretical understandings presented above we wondered if one's various aspects of their self concept would be differentially impacted by external situations. We argue that one's avatar will be more susceptible to external situations and expectations if they are not as confident in who they are. The concept of self concept clarity was developed by Campbell et all (1996) and they state that self concept clarity is the ".. extent to which the contents of an individual's self concept (e.g., perceived personal attributes) are clearly and confidently defined, internally consistent, and temporally stable."(p 141) To this end we posit that self-concept clarity is negatively correlated with self concept – avatar concept discrepancy. Methodology To test the idea that the degree of self concept clarity would negatively impact the differences between one's perceived self and avatar concepts we conducted two experiments over the course of several years. In the first experiment students (166) were recruited to play the role-playing game Oblivion. In the second experiment students were recruited (106) to play the role-playing game Skyrim. In these games the participant creates an avatar and is expected to adventure through the land and loot dungeons, kill monsters and otherwise generally explore. Each recruited student played six hours of the game over three sessions of two hours for each game. The selfconcept (Maholtra 1981) scale was used to ascertain their self-concept and after game play was used to ascertain their avatar's concept. The scales were identical with the exception of the object of the questions (self vs avatar). The discrepancy between selfconcept and avatar concept as calculated to be the absolute difference between the


Garbage collection can be carried out on-demand in a non-real-time system. However, a real-time system can aaord this overhead only during intervals ofìdle' time. We motivate the usefulness of reconnguring the available memory for data structures, and the intervals of garbage collection of these data structures, in a parallel real-time system performing speculative execution. After brieey mentioning the data structures, we describe a scheme for reconnguring garbage collection. The parameters of such reconnguration are based on the available platform, and the amount of idle time available in the real-time system. Speciic parameters are provided for one architecture { the KSR2 parallel processor. Experimental performance evaluation of the scheme is currently under investigation.


Objective To observe the clinical effect of low dose heparin combined with Xuebijing in the treatment of sepsis. Method 78 cases of sepsis patients in our hospital from April 2008 to April 2013 were chose as the subjects of study, and they were divided into observation group and control group according to the random number table method, 39 cases in each group. All patients were treated with conventional therapy, and received intravenous drip of Xuebijing. Observation group patients were treated with low dose of heparin on the basis of the above treatment. While the same dose of saline was added in control group. Coagulation parameters, inflammatory factors, APACHE Ⅱ score, liver and kidney function changes, adverse reactions and prognosis between the two groups were compared. Result After treatment, PLT, FIB levels were significantly increased in the two groups(P 0.05), and D-D level significantly decreased(P 0.05), with more significant changes in observation group(P 0.05). After treatment, APTT, PT in observation group significantly reduced(P 0.05), with no significant change in control group(P 0.05). After treatment, IL-6, TNF-α levels and APACHE Ⅱ score were significantly decreased in the two groups(P 0.05), observation group decreased more significantly(P 0.05). IL-10 level in the two groups had no significant changes before and after treatment(P 0.05). After treatment, ALT, AST, BUN, SCr levels significantly decreased(P 0.05). SCr level decreased more significantly in observation group(P 0.05). During the treatment, the two groups patients had no active bleeding, allergies and other adverse reactions. The mortality rate in observation group was significantly lower than control group(P 0.05), the mean survival time was significantly higher than control group(P 0.05). Conclusion Low dose heparin combined with Xuebijing injection can effectively improve the blood coagulation function and reduce inflammatory level, with exact curative effect and safety, worthy of clinical promotion.


ADDITIONAL INDEX WORDS. chlorophylls, carotenoids, 'Arbequina', 'Farga', olive development, olive ripening, enzymatic activities ABSTRACT. The aim of this study was to monitor the pigment profile and chlorophyllase (Chlase) and lipoxygenase (Lox) activities of olive (Olea europaea L.) drupes during the development of the fruit from 'Arbequina' and 'Farga' in order to fi nd better ways to characterize cultivars such as 'Arbequina' that produce virgin olive oils that are highly appreciated in international markets. 'Farga' was included as a comparative reference. The total pigment content in olive drupes from the two cultivars studied suffered a decrease when the maturation process began, the rate of chlo- rophyll degradation being more marked than that of the carotenoid pigment. Chlorophyllides a and b, cis-α-carotene, β-cryptoxanthin, and esterifi ed xanthophylls were detected only in 'Arbequina' fruit. The behavior of the Chlase and Lox activities in both cultivars was different. Chlase activity in olives from 'Farga' was detected only at the end of the pit hardening period, but in the case of 'Arbequina' the presence of dephytilated chlorophyllic derivatives is directly related to a higher Chlase enzymatic activity than that of 'Farga' fruit. Although the level of these enzymatic activities decreased when ripening advanced in both cultivars, in 'Arbequina' both enzymes showed a slight increase of activity at the latest stages of ripening. The olive tree has been cultivated for thousands of years around the Mediterranean. The olive requires a long, hot growing season for the fruit to ripen properly, without late spring frosts to kill the blossoms and suffi cient winter chill to ensure fruit dif- ferentiation. The olive fruit is a green, fl eshy, edible drupe with a more or less oval shape depending on the cultivar, which is used either for the extraction of olive oil or for consumption as table olives (green or black), and is the major lipid component of the Mediterranean diet. During olive development, structural changes and chemical transformations that affect the different components of the fruit take place inside the drupes. This complex process involves the modifi cation of compartments, loss of cell wall structure, causal softening, and accumulation of carbohydrates (Shulman and Lavee, 1979). The olive fruit grow rapidly in their initial stages, followed by a lag period and thereafter another accelerated period of growth, equivalent to the initial one. Fruit setting is character- ized by cellular division and an increase in cell size. After fruit set, olives grow rapidly for 30 or 40 d, after which time the seed is formed and the pit hardens. After lignifi cation of the pit, fatty acid synthesis begins together with a fast increase in pulp weight coinciding with the increase of the oil content. Finally, during the ripening process, the olive fruit darkens to purple-black at the same time as the oil content increases.


Drilling activity in Indiana during 1963 was 24.1% less than in 1962. The amount of oil produced in 1963, about 12,200,000 bbls., was virtually unchanged from that of the previous year. There were 59 exploratory successes during the year, a success ratio of 16.1% of the total exploratory holes drilled. The successes discovered 10 new fields, 26 new pools, and 23 pool extensions. The search for stratigraphic entrapments in southwestern Indiana accounted for most of the drilling effort; greater than usual attention was given to deeper possibilities in Mississippian sedimentary rocks.


Chong, L.C., "The Entrepreneurial Decision Context and FDI Decision Making in China: Insights for entrepreneurs and family businesses", International Conference on Entrepreneurship and Family Business, Hangzhou, China, 10-11 June, 2005


Electronic tongue could be used to detect substance taste as human beings.Electronic tongue was applied to evaluate on the taste of yellow rice wine manufactured by different wineries,and the correlations between the detection data by electronic tongue and sensory evaluation results by wine tasters were studied,and 5 models corresponding to sensory evaluation indexes had been established.Finally,the accuracy of the models was judged by the prediction of unknown wine samples.The experimental results revealed that electronic tongue had similar evaluation results as human beings in sweetness,sour taste and mellow taste.The experimental data could provide reference for further application of electronic tongue in sensory evaluation on rice wine.


CrossFit® is a high-intensity sport that combines weightlifting, gymnastic skills, and cardiovascular exercises. To find the anthropometric references that define the optimal body composition, it is essential to first find an optimal body composition for one's physical preparation. The objective of this study is to describe the anthropometric characteristics of 27 Spanish CrossFit® athletes, 19 males aged 39 years old (24–44) and 8 females aged 28 years old (23–40), and how these characteristics influenced their performance. The athletes performed the Fran, Cindy, and Kelly workouts, establishing minimum marks, and the CrossFit Total workout to assess maximum strength. Significant differences were not found in time and repetitions between sexes in skill training, although there was a positive correlation r = 0.876 (p < 0.001) between muscle mass and the Total CrossFit result. We can conclude that the CrossFit® athlete has a low amount of fat mass and a small relative size, which is an advantage when training with bodyweight exercises, and a high muscle mass that provide benefits when strength training. In addition, despite executing movements from a multitude of disciplines, the physical demands for lifting heavy loads resulted in the anthropometric values of athletes being more similar to elite weightlifting athletes than in other sports.


The issue of whether one or both branches of electron-transfer cofactors is active in Photosystem I (PS I) was studied using a strategy employing interposon mutagenesis and electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy. PS I complexes were isolated using n-dodecyl-β-d-maltoside (DM) or Triton X-100 (TX-100) from wild-type and mutant strains of Synechococcus sp. PCC 7002 lacking specific PS I polypeptides. The principal values of the g-tensor of A1 were determined by Q-band (34.0 GHz) EPR spectroscopy of perdeuterated, wild-type PS I complexes as gxx = 2.0062, gyy = 2.0050, and gzz = 2.0021, and a stoichiometry of ≤1.0 A1- per P700+ was measured by spin quantitation of photoaccumulated, wild-type PS I complexes at illumination temperatures between 195 and 220 K. The characteristic anisotropic EPR spectrum of A1- was photoaccumulated in all mutant PS I complexes isolated with DM and most mutant PS I complexes isolated with TX-100; however, A0- was photoaccumulated in PS I complexes isolated with TX-100...


ABSTRACT Reserpine is an indole alkaloid, antipsychotic, and antihypertensive drug that has been used for the control of high blood pressure and for the relief of psychotic symptoms. It was first isolated in 1952 from the dried root of Rauwolfia serpentina whose molecular structure was established in 1953 and natural configuration was published in 1955. The first total synthesis of reserpine was reported by Woodward in 1958. This review article updates current multistep synthetic approaches toward the reserpine natural product and its analogues. GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT


In this study a bootstrapped data analysis from financial statement analysis is proposed to evaluate the short-run operating gains from mergers of Greek listed firms after the outbreak of the sovereign debt crisis in Greece. The examined sample consists of thirty Greek firms, in order to investigate the degree of operating gains from mergers, during a five-year-period inside the debt crisis in Greece. The results reveal that a year before and a year after the merger event, the sample firms were unable to generate short-run operating gains to several financial ratios. Also, we conclude that the use of the standard, normality based, t-test for inference between financial ratios should be done with caution.


Schumacher's stated goal in this book is to examine how we might see the 'oppressive reality of slavery' in the material culture available to us from the Graeco-Roman period. The aim is ambitious, since slavery above all ancient social institutions is the most di ̧cult to discern in the archaeological record. Compared with the signiμcance of slaves in the ancient economy and their probable numbers, the evidence is disparate, indirect, and relatively scant. For the most part, S. succeeds. The result is a concise, clearly written survey, with a judicious selection of evidence used to good e¶ect. With admirable economy he has managed to survey the underlying principles of both Greek and Roman slave systems, giving them a shape easily grasped by the German lay audience he targets. Although by necessity superμcial, his synthesis a¶ords learning with a light touch, abetted by ample illustrations (137 in all). After a brief discussion of types of slavery in the ancient world, the book is divided into three major chapters: (i) slave supply and the slave trade; (ii) categories of slave labour; and (iii) social issues surrounding slavery. Favouring external sources of supply over domestic slave breeding, S. outlines how slaves became integrated into the ancient economy. In tracing the literal movement of human property he draws on a range of sources, from slave lists on Linear B tablets, to the Delian Agora of the Italians (now recognized as a slave market), to the handful of μgural scenes of chained slaves. To evaluate the visual evidence for slavery, S. suggests μve criteria for the identiμcation of slaves: (i) epigraphic declarations of status; (ii) the depiction of individuals on a smaller scale; (iii) marginal μgures in domestic contexts; (iv) work scenes; and (v) μgures with caricatured features indicating an ethnic, non-Italian origin. S. rightly allows himself qualiμcation on (iii) and (iv), acknowledging the possible presence of the free poor, but o¶ers none on the μnal point, as if to suggest that all, or even most, representations of individuals belonging to 'visible minorities' must by deμnition be servile, which is surely an oversimpliμcation. Furthermore, given his own emphasis on warfare and piracy as the major sources of slavery, it is odd that he excludes entirely from consideration scenes of captives, thereby eliminating a major genre of evidence in Roman art. The more prudent course would see the inclusion of captives as a sixth criterion, with the admission that some were imprisoned or executed rather than enslaved. The heart of the book lies in the large central chapter on slave labour. Dividing work into primary, secondary, and tertiary production, S. rapidly covers the major forms of work done by slaves, from agriculture to construction and the production of ceramics, textiles, leather, and metalwork, and to trade, administration, household tasks, and entertainment. Throughout he uses a variety of kinds of evidence, from the well-known commentators (e.g. Greek orators, Roman agricultural writers) to less familiar sources (e.g. the workers' list of the Erechtheion) to convey the profound integration of slaves into all levels of ancient manufacturing. In all areas, the Roman evidence outweighs the Greek, especially in the tertiary sector (commerce, military involvement, domestic work, education, and medicine), which receives the fullest treatment. Still, S. is able to identify distinctions between the two. In ancient banking, for example, Greek slaves had far more independence than their Roman counterparts, who, despite the trust they engendered, were little more than agents for their masters. 170   


A double-layer agar plate (DLAP) method was used to detect Vibrio parahaemolyticus in culture broth and seafood samples, which were added with certain amount of V. parahaemolyticus and then subjected to freezing treatment. The results of DLAP, which were compared with the most probable number (MPN) method and direct-plating methods such as Bio-chrome Vibrio medium (BCVM) and thiosulfate–citrate–bile salts–sucrose agar (TCBS), showed that they were not significantly different (P > 0.05) from each other under the normal experimental conditions. However, if the bacterium was inactive or injured, the results of DLAP were as effective as MPN and more accurate than those of BCVM and TCBS. Furthermore, DLAP showed the total agreement compared with the MPN method by examining the presence of V. parahaemolyticus in naturally contaminated seafood samples. Because of its sensitivity and exactness, DLAP offers a broad application for fast screening and detecting of V. parahaemolyticus in seafood.

Practical Applications

Consumption of raw or undercooked seafood, particularly shellfish, contaminated with Vibrio parahaemolyticus may lead to the development of acute gastroenteritis characterized by diarrhea, headache, vomiting, nausea, abdominal cramps and low fever. Now, this bacterium is recognized as an important seafood-borne pathogen throughout the world. Usually, 5 to 7 days are required for V. parahaemolyticus detection by the most commonly used procedure – the most probable number method, which is very time-consuming and labor-intensive. Some time-saving alternatives such as polymerase chain reaction or DNA methods are not economically appealing. The considerations demand for a rapid method for V. parahaemolyticus detection that is at least as sensitive and accurate as the methods used currently. A double-layer agar plate method described here can satisfy these criteria and can be used for rapid detection of V. parahaemolyticus in artificially and naturally contaminated samples in laboratory testing.