The individual biography is relevant to the relation between suicide and religion. The religious socialization can have an indirect influence on the origin of a suicide crisis and on the way both young people and adults deal with solving this problem. This is the outcome of an empirical-theological research into seven case-studies. In connection with physical, psychological and social factors, the effects of the religious socialization cause, at worst, an individual lack of being fully aware of possibilities, situations and actions or of interpreting them realistically and act as the problem requires. At best, they encourage the search for possibilities to solve the oppressing problems adequately, by supporting the critical openness for the purpose of a process of finding the meaning of life.


Due to anthropogenic activities within watersheds and riparian areas, stream water quality and ecological communities have been significantly affected by degradation of watershed and stream environments. One critical indicator of anthropogenic activities within watersheds and riparian areas is forest fragmentation, which has been directly linked to poor water quality and ecosystem health in streams. However, the true nature of the relationship between forest fragmentation and stream ecosystem health has not been fully elucidated due to its complex underlying mechanism. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships of riparian fragmented forest with biological indicators including diatoms, macroinvertebrates, and fish. In addition, we investigated variations in these relationships over multiple riparian scales. Fragmentation metrics, including the number of forest patches (NP), proportion of riparian forest (PLAND), largest riparian forest patch ratio (LPI), and spatial proximity of riparian forest patches (DIVISION), were used to quantify the degree of fragmentation of riparian forests, and the trophic diatom index (TDI), benthic macroinvertebrates index (BMI), and fish assessment index (FAI) were used to represent the biological condition of diatoms, macroinvertebrates, and fish in streams. PLAND and LPI showed positive relationships with TDI, BMI, and FAI, whereas NP and DIVISION were negatively associated with biological indicators at multiple scales. Biological conditions in streams were clearly better when riparian forests were less fragmented. The relationships of NP and PLAND with biological indicators were stronger at a larger riparian scale, whereas relationships of LPI and DIVISION with biological indicators were weaker at a large scale. These results suggest that a much larger spatial range of riparian forests should be considered in forest management and restoration to enhance the biological condition of streams.


A brief historical survey is followed by a discussion of the economic implications of hard metals as high-performance materials in cutting processes and for wear parts. Modern manufacturing processes are characterized by a trend towards the further improvement of product homogeneity and further optimization of the properties with regard to the given application of the products. Improved raw materials and new manufacturing technologies have made this possible. Recent developments in the field of finestgrain hard metals and titanium carbonitride based cermets are annotated and trends in coating technology described. Moreover, applications of hard metals and cermets are outlined against the background of rapidly changing manufacturing technologies


This study is an examination of the effects of a series of adaptations made to a phonics-based reading intervention program for students with an intellectual disability (ID). The adaptations were designed to make the program more accessible to augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) users. They consisted of using a pointing-response modality to allow participants to give their answers as well as the use of internal speech, which involved performing certain tasks in one's head because students with complex communication needs could not perform them aloud. Participants also completed reading and spelling activities on an iPad® application.A multiple-probe-across-participants design was used. Specifically, the adapted reading program's effects were assessed on reading and spelling skills of three students with ID who were AAC users.The outcomes indicate that all three participants improved their reading skills, and two participants also improved their spelling skills.The results and implications for future research are discussed.


This article investigates the bearing‐based formation control problem for second‐order multiagent systems (SMS) in the presence of the bounded disturbances in their models. The main contributions of this article are listed as follows: (1) We extend the bearing formation control to SMS. (2) We propose two novel robust distributed bearing formation control laws. In the first control law, the bearing measurement in the global inertial frame is required. This control law guarantees that the inter‐agent bearings converge to the desired bearings. The second control law requires obtaining the local bearing measurements and relative orientation measurements. This control law guarantees that the inter‐agent bearings converge to the desired bearings and the orientation of each agent converges to a common orientation. Some simulations are conducted, and simulation results verify the effectiveness of the proposed control laws.


Most of current Manufacturing Execution Systems(MES)adopted by printing and dyeing enterprises apply barcode technology as the identificaiotn of production task to indirectly acquire process data.It is hard to ensure instantaneity and accuracy of production information.aiming at this problem,a method of acquiring real-time process date in printing and dyeing MES by using RFID(Radio Frequency Identification)technology through material vehicle in shop floor was proposed.The design of the electronic material vehicle based on RFID technology,the technologies of anti-collision recognition,location and radio frequency card read-write were studied additionally.The above method can achieve synchronization of material processing information and production management information in informatization architecture of two databases and three layers of two data base and three layers through MES-based real-time information acquisition in production process.


Abstract In the twentieth century, cultural encounters with the metropolis have often met with difficulties when trying to map or visualize the complexity and vastness of the modern city. Drawing on a range of textual and some pictorial examples, from mid-Victorian times to the threshold of the new millennium, this paper argues that the underground system of the London tube may offer ways to address this problem. Because of the widely different and often ambivalent attitudes towards the experience of underground transport, the London tube emerges as a central space for cultural and critical engagements with the project of modernity.


1 Senior Resident in Internal Medicine, SMS Medical College and Hospital, Jaipur 2 Senior Resident, Department of Medicine, SMS Medical College and Hospital, Jaipur *Corresponding Author Dr Yadvendra Gupta Abstract Background: Our hypothesis is that NLR could be a useful important inflammatory marker that detects the inflammatory status during acute exacerbations of COPD (AECOPD) and could identify early acute exacerbations for early management. Methods: The cross-sectional study includes patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease irrespective of the severity and duration of disease. Study cases are personally interviewed to get relevant details after getting informed signed consent. Based upon inclusion and exclusion criteria a minimum of 100 cases are selected. An exacerbation of COPD is defined as an onset or worsening of more than two respiratory symptoms (ie, dyspnea, cough or wheeze, sputum amount or purulence) for two or more consecutive days. Results: 46.00% patients duration of disease was more than 10 year and NLR was 4.45±1.28. The severity wise difference in NLR was statistically significant. Conclusion: NLR can be used as a new inflammatory marker for assessment of inflammation in COPD patients. It is a good predictor for exacerbation of COPD. It is a quick, cheap, easily measurable with no need for a special request.


Public debate on the future of work and of education and training has been raging across Europe. Globalisation, digitisation, migration, demographics and the greening economy are the challenges fuelling discussions. Unemployment, underemployment, mismatches between people's skills and available jobs, and flat or falling incomes have been undermining the cohesion and the social model of European societies.


According to the existing problems in hygienic status of University Libraries this paper put the measures of health management and disease prevention of University Libraries.


We report the discovery of KELT J041621-620046, a moderately bright (J ∼ 10.2) M-dwarf eclipsing binary system at a distance of 39 ± 3 pc. KELT J041621-620046 was first identified as an eclipsing binary using observations from the Kilodegree Extremely Little Telescope (KELT) survey. The system has a short orbital period of ∼1.11 days and consists of components with M 1 = 0.447 + 0.052 − 0.047 M ⊙ and M 2 = 0.399 + 0.046 − 0.042 M ⊙ in nearly circular orbits. The radii of the two stars are R 1 = 0.540 + 0.034 − 0.032 R ⊙ and R 2 = 0.453 ± 0.017 R ⊙ . Full system and orbital properties were determined (to ∼10% error) by conducting an EBOP (Eclipsing Binary Orbit Program) global modeling of the high precision photometric and spectroscopic observations obtained by the KELT Follow-up Network. Each star is larger by 17%–28% and cooler by 4%–10% than predicted by standard (non-magnetic) stellar models. Strong Hα emission indicates chromospheric activity in both stars. The observed radii and temperature discrepancies for both components are more consistent with those predicted by empirical relations that account for convective suppression due to magnetic activity.


The growing demand for electricity & depletion of fossil fuel makes increasing use of Renewable sources of energy day by day. Solar energy has gained much importance as it is an inexhaustible and easily available energy source. But the harnessing of solar energy using PV modules comes with its own problems that arise from the change in insolation conditions. These changes in insolation conditions severely affect the efficiency and output power of the PV modules. So in order to maximize the output power of PV Panels, several MPPT techniques have been developed and these techniques are well available in the literature. In this paper different MPPT techniques are reviewed and compared with their pros & cons. A Fuzzy Logic based MPPT controller is also implemented using MATLAB FUZZY Logic toolbox. This paper may be considered as a reference for the future work of PV generation.


Education and philosophy are two important sciences that feed each other. Education programs are prepared in the light of a specific philosophy. It is expected that the philosophy of the program will reflect on all the elements of the program. Within the framework of the programs created teacher candidates who will train both students and students receive training. Individuals, who are raised according to the philosophy of the education program, shape their business and private life in line with the philosophy they adopt. Although there are many educational philosophies, four educational philosophies are frequently emphasized: Essentialism, permanentism, progressivism and reconstructionism. training programs currently used in Turkey is seen as designed by progressivism education philosophy. Metaphor is the indirect reflection of an individual's perceptions about a situation. This research aimed to determine which philosophy metaphors created for preschool teachers and their children reflect according to their educational philosophies. In the study, what is the perspective of teacher candidates and teachers on the concepts of "preschool teacher" and "child" and how successful are our programs designed based on progressive education philosophy to teachers and pre-service teachers? In the research, document analysis technique, one of the qualitative research techniques, was used. The data of the study consists of articles and theses published in Google Academic and Higher Education Council Thesis Center. A total of 7 articles and a master's thesis were examined. As a data source, metaphor studies on the concept of preschool teacher and child were used. Document analysis method was used in the analysis of the research. As a result of the research, it was observed that while the most preferred philosophy was "Permanence and Essentialism", the least preferred "Reconstructionism" philosophy. As a result of the findings, it was seen that the educators still had a traditional mindset in their views on children and teachers. Some suggestions were made because of the research.


ABSTRACT An operon containing the genes purD andpurE and part of the purK gene was cloned from the facultative anaerobic gram-positive bacterium Lactococcus lactis by complementation of the purD mutation inEscherichia coli SØ609. The genes encode enzymes in the de novo pathway of purine nucleotides. The expression of the genes was regulated approximately 35-fold at the transcription level by the availability of purines in the growth medium. Deletion analysis of the nucleotide region upstream of purD indicated that a region of 145 bp is enough to give regulated expression of the reporterlacLM genes, which encode β-galactosidase. Deletion of a region 79 bp upstream of the transcription start point reduced the promoter activity 33-fold when incubated in a purine-free medium and to values below the detection limit when incubated in a purine-containing medium. No secondary transcription start points were mapped in or close to this region, indicating that a putative activator site and not a promoter was deleted or partly destroyed.


While the Tercentenary of Shakespeare's death (1916) was hardly celebrated in India and marked the beginning of a period in which Shakespeare was hidden, the Quartercentenary of his birth (1964) spawned a large number of collections, theatre performances and even exhibitions to pay homage to the Bard. Although a special issue of the journal Indian Literature published in 1964 contributed to the re-emergence of Shakespeare, the most revolutionary projects in the making of a vernacular Shakespeare occurred on the Indian stage via Utpal Dutt's Shakespearean productions in Bengali. Following Arjun Appadurai, this paper argues that Utpal Dutt's Bengali theatre productions in 1964 participate in a "decolonization" of Shakespeare, consisting in liberating Shakespeare "the text" and Shakespeare "the author" from the bonds of the empire, from restrictive colonial associations. Two out of his three theatre performances produced in 1964 – Romeo and Juliet and Julius Caesar – are symptomatic of the effects of "glocalizing" the Shakespearean texts since the original place names and names of the characters are combined with the Bengali language and some unavoidable localization. Thus, Shakespeare's Quartercentenary in India not only saw the re-emergence of the Bard, but also took its first steps in his indigenization.


Statistical energy analysis (SEA) was initially developed for predicting noise and vibration levels in interior spaces and structures at audio frequencies. The methodology developed in this paper extends traditional statistical energy analysis beyond the prediction of mean‐rms vibroacoustic response. An SEA response sensitivity algorithm was formulated to relate variability of design parameters to SEA response variation. The method can be used to sort the design parameters which have the greatest effect on the sound‐pressure levels in acoustic spaces. The SEA response variance analysis relates response variance directly to variances in design parameters. This methodology is important for acoustic design of aircraft, ship, and automotive vehicles because it enables the user to qualitatively and quantitatively determine the rank and variations of vehicle interior sound‐pressure level with respect to changes in design parameters. When fully developed, this methodology can be a powerful tool for identifying t...


FOREIGN-body aspiration with subsequent airway obstruction typically occurs in children between the ages of 6 months and 5 years; this may be heralded by sudden respiratory decompensation and often is manifested by asymmetric abnormalities on both physical and roentgenographic examination. A history consistent with exposure to either food or small parts of toys is present in approximately 90% of proven cases.1Bronchoscopic removal is the recommended treatment as it is safe and effective.2Because we recently treated a child whose presentation and course following aspiration of a foreign body were so unusual, we report this instructive case to discuss potential pitfalls in diagnosis and management. Report of a Case A 3-month-old male infant had a medical history of wheezing that was treated with antihistamines and bronchodilators. On the morning of admission he was febrile, irritable, and breathing with slightly more difficulty than usual, according to his mother. By noon,


The presence of chlorophyll in pressure olive oils initiates a series of photooxidative phenomena consequent on the transformation of oxygen from the ground triplet state to the single state. It involves a strong oxidation reaction, the effects of which modify the derivative spectrophotometric indices. In this paper we have evaluated the incidence of these phenomena on the variation of the Δ'K241 over time because this index is important in order to define the oldness of a vegetable oil. It has been possible to confirm that the contemporaneous presence of high quantities of chlorophyll and light makes the value of the AK241 increase sensibly. Over time this action goes down in consequence of the progressive discolouration of the sample and/or because of the contemporaneous presence of carotenes that have, instead, a decided quenching effect tending to contrast the photooxidative action carried out by the chlorophyll.


We evaluated the effects of temperature and humidity on thyroid hormones (T4, T3) and thyrotropin (TSH) measured in blood spots dried on filter paper. AlAs for 14 and T3 blood spots were optimized to measure these analytes over the neonatal and euthyroid adult reference intervals. Sensitivities of the T3 and T4 assays were 0.5 and 10 nmol/L, respectively. A blood-spot immunoradiometric assay for TSH involving magnetizable particles was developed with a sensitivity of 6 milli-int. unitslL. Control sera stored at -20 DC, 4 #{176}C, room temperature, 37#{176}C, and at external ambient temperatures for 36 days showed no significant change in measured concentrations of TSH or 13 during 30 days or for T4 at -20 and 4#{176}C. T4 markedly declined in blood spots stored at room temperature (either high or low humidity), 37 #{176}C, or ambient temperature. TSH and T3 in blood spots evidently are stable at temperatures likely to be encountered during storage or transport, but blood spots for T4 assay must be stored between -20 and 4 #{176}C.


AEC-377, an 8-page fact sheet by Bryan D. Terry and Glenn D. Israel, describes how UF/IFAS' Unifas software should be used to report Extension contacts, defines two types of contacts (Extension and Clientele) and provides examples for recording contacts. Published by the UF Department of Agricultural Education and Communication, May 2006.
AEC377/WC058: Reporting Clientele Contacts in Workload (ufl.edu)


What is the characterization of asset prices and investor's behavior under myopic or time-inconsistent preferences? This paper investigates the characterization of financial market equilibrium when individuals are myopic or time-inconsistent. We consider an infinite horizon economy under certainty with two heterogeneous CRRA individuals, one good and one long-lived asset. The question of survival in the market arises when individuals are time-inconsistent or myopic with wrong expectations about equilibrium asset prices. We provide sufficient conditions such that the individual with intertemporal elasticity of substitution (IES) close or equal to one, log-utility, dominates the market and the other individual with IES further away from one is eliminated. In the long-run, only the individual with IES close or equal to one has an impact on asset prices. Thus, long-run asset prices reflect only the preference parameters of the surviving individual. On the other hand, asset prices are characterized by extreme dynamics if the economy is populated by myopic individuals only, who have perfect foresight about equilibrium asset prices. We show that even though the dividends of the long-lived asset are constant over time, there exist asset price dynamics that resemble an everexpanding asset price bubble. Lastly, we introduce debt in the initial set-up by allowing individuals to hold liquid and illiquid assets. This allows for the possibility of bankruptcies. ∗I am indebted to Herakles Polemarchakis and Andres Carvajal for their guidance and support throughout my studies. I have benefited from discussions with Pablo Beker which has made many interesting suggestions.


A one-axis stage mechanism, driven by an AC linear motor and guided by a rolling ball guide, has been constructed. Non-contact drive and position-sensing are adopted. The dynamic characteristics of the stage are different in different displacement regions. Two different controls are designed for coarse and fine positioning by using different dynamic characteristics. A coarse positioning with 100 nm resolution, 200 mm/s maximum velocity and 250 mm stroke, and a fine positioning with better than 1 nm resolution without backlash are achieved. The switching from the coarse positioning to the fine positioning is studied.


Objective: The purpose of this study is to grasp the fundamental structure of incident occurrence in nuclear organizations based on system thinking, and analyze how various causes are interrelated in terms of the causal loop diagram. Background: The recent domestic and overseas nuclear power plant-related incidents and accidents are directly or indirectly associated with safety culture, and thus effective plans for the improvement of safety culture are being called for. While the safety of a nuclear power plant is highly dependent upon technology and equipment, the utilization, maintenance and inspection of the technology and equipment are conducted by workers of the nuclear power plant. Method: Methodology of system thinking perspective using causal loop analysis. Results: As a result of the analysis, first, it turned out that the fundamental cause of incident occurrence in nuclear organizations is time constraint. Second, if a workload of workers increases, their adherence to regulations and procedures comes to be reduced due to time constraint. Third, it is needed, through organizational learning education, to increase actions made from thoughts considering safety as the utmost priority in advance. Fourth, it is necessary to improve professionalism by enhancing educational programs for new workers, and to develop various scenarios with which they can cope with certain situations. Application: This paper provides a base for system dynamics simulation model for future study.


In this paper, we have designed the p-type metal-oxide semiconductor field-effect transistor(pMOSFET) for SiGe devices with gate lengths of and using the TCAD simulators. The electrical characteristics of devices have been investigated over the temperatures of 300 and 77K. We have used the two carrier transfer models(hydrodynamic model and drift-diffusion model). We how that the drain current is higher in the hydrodynamic model than the drift-diffusion model. When the gate length is , the threshold voltage shows -0.97V and -1.15V for 300K and 77K, respectively. The threshold voltage is, however, nearly same at for 300K and 77K.


Combined use of hardware and software in end systems is an important aspect in providing high performance communication subsystems to be used in real time distributed systems. We present a system for industrial automation and process control called MMS-ATM. Our architecture is based on the ATM (Asynchronous Transfer Mode) protocol implemented in hardware and the MMS (Manufacturing Message Specification) application layer protocol implemented in software. We discuss the implementation structure of MMS-ATM and evaluate the performance of this hybrid hardware/software implementation.


In Belgium, radioactive waste management is entrusted by law to a national agency, whose competences include the development of disposal solutions. Two projects are currently going on, viz., near-surface disposal for low-level and short-lived waste and geological disposal in clay for long-lived and/or high-level waste (vitrified waste or spent fuel). The paper outlines the main features of both projects: historical background, basic concept, current status, and future implementation prospects. Taking into account only the technical requirements, near-surface disposal could become operational within the coming 4 to 5 years, and geological disposal, around the year 2035


OBJECTIVE To evaluate the application of spatiotemporal image correlation(STIC)in fetal great vessel imaging.METHODS 245 pregnant women with 20-38 weeks fetuses were examined for heart of fetuses by the two-dimension ultrasound(PHILIPS IU-22 Color Doppler ultrasonography),then the spatiotemporal image correlation and acquired volume data was analyzed.RESULTS A11 the 245 fetuses were wel1 displayed by the three-dimensional graphic images(ABC flat)and the STIC volume data were gained(A,B and C surface).203 fetuses gained the 3 D graphic of pulmonary artery branch,198 gained the 3 D graphic of aortic arch and artery duct arch.The heart malformation of the 12 fetuses were found,2 cases showed TGA,1 case had single atrium single ventricle combined truncus arteriosus,2 cases had atrioventricular canal malformation combined TGA,6 cases had ventricular septal defect,and 1 case had tetralogy of fallot.CONCLUSION STIC can analyze the volume data outline and reduce operational difficulties of ultrasound screening for fetal heart,acquire the fetal great vessel imaging which could not be gained by two-dimension ultrasound,and improve detection rate of the fetal congenital great vessel disease.


The Anti-Japan Cultural Movement developed vigorously in the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression in Guilin,known then as the "Cultural City." Led by the Communist Party and promoted by the Guilin Branch of the Chinese Cultural Association,many modern writers united as one and helped the anti-Japan literature flourish unprecedentedly.They wrote a large number of outstanding literary works of great ideological and artistic value,which had considerably great influence and greatly enriched the modern literary treasure trove in the history of China's new literature.


Objective:To investigate the effect factors of comfort of patient after breast cancer operation and its nursing countermeasure.Methods:To analyze the uncomfortable reason of 103 patients after breast cancer operation through the methods include observing the patients′ condition earnestly and inquiring closely the patient's response.Take the corresponding nursing measure in view of the reason.Results:Caused the patients to be comfortable through many kinds of methods include setting up the correct nursing idea,creating the comfortable environment and strengthening social,psychological and physiological nursing for the patients after breast cancer operation.Conclusion:Application of comfortable nursing in postsurgical period of modified radical mastectomy can raise the nursing quality and the patient's quality of life,dissolve the contradiction between the nurse and patients and raise the satisfaction of the patient and their families.


Accelerated purification process for colloidal sols using heat/deionization scheme, sharply reduces waiting time between deionization cycles from several months to a few days. Process produces same high purity silica sols as conventional methods.


Under the pressure of air pollution and oil shortage of transportations, hydrogen as a renewable and clean energy gets more and more attentions from all over the world. There predicts that the 21s' century will be a hydrogen century. Nowadays, for the cost and not matured technology of fuel cell stack, hybrid system becomes the best solution. For a 5-ton fuel cell hybrid electric bus discussed in this paper, high-pressure PEMFC and high-power NiMH battery pack forms the hybrid system. In order to obtain the higher fuel efficiency and avoid the frequent charge & discharge of battery pack, a fuel cell output power-oriented control system is built. Also two kinds of control strategies for the control system are put forward as conventional Fuel cell output power oriented control, Fuel cell output power oriented control based on FCE loading and unloading equations. Their corresponding effects are compared based on simulation results. Finally, the fuel cell output power-oriented control system was applied on the fuel cell hybrid electric bus and the experiments are carried out. The Experimental results indicate that the fuel cell output power can follow the driver's requirement very well and the hybrid bus has a good hydrogen economy.


The paper proposes free-space optics (FSO) as one of the potential solutions for the design and development of next generation, high-capacity, high-speed wireless networks. The hybrid wireless architecture is introduced and the role of FSO in the proposed architecture is highlighted. The significance of the hybrid architecture in achieving ubiquitous, carrier-grade wireless connectivity is also explained. The paper presents various FSO network design challenges and potential solutions for real-time FSO link performance characterization as well as dynamic FSO link adaptability for enhanced performance during adverse operating conditions. Dynamic power control and dynamic data rate control schemes are evaluated for FSO link adaptability. Dynamic load switching (DLS) scheme for hybrid architecture functionality during extreme conditions is also evaluated. Finally, the paper describes an elaborate field test-bed based on hybrid architecture, and various dynamic FSO link adaptation techniques implemented in to the test-bed. The performance of these dynamic link adaptation schemes and DLS functionality is presented to quantify the improvement in overall hybrid architecture performance. The results, recorded from the experiments during extreme weather conditions, validate the hybrid architecture concept and conclusively prove the reliability of the architecture in achieving sustained high-speed connectivity.


Mathematical modeling of complex electrical systems, has led us to linear mathematical models of higher order. Consequently, it is difficult to analyse and to design a control strategy of these systems. The order reduction is an important and effective tool to facilitate the handling and designing of a control strategy. In this paper we present, firstly, a reduction method which is based on the Krylov subspace and Lyapunov  techniques, that we call Lyapunov-Global-Lanczos. This method minimizes the H1 norm error, absolute error and preserves the stability of the reduced system. It also provides a better reduced system of order 1, with closer behaviour to the original system. This first order system is used to design PI (Proportional-Integral) controller. Secondly, we implement an adaptive digital PI controller in a microcontroller. It calculates the PI parameters in real time, referring to the error between the desired and measured outputs and the initial values of PI controller, that were determined from the first order system. Two simulation examples and a real time experimentation are presented to show the effectiveness of the proposed algorithms.


In order to effectively induce children to have healthy dietary habits, we propose CHILDISH, a smart plate and cup series. CHILDISH will help to make mealtime fun and encourage children to eat healthy foods delightfully. CHILDISH is comprised of a tableware with an image which can entice children's interest and an intelligent product design kit (see Fig. 1). The intelligent product design kit is a modular system consisting of a main board, input modules including magnetic sensors and static electricity sensors and output modules, such as speakers and power LEDs [1]. A magnetic sensor and Sound kit which records and plays the sound is installed under the smart plate. When the user touches the smart dish with a spoon or a fork, the headlight of car flashes. There are three levels of light intensity, and at the third and maximum brightness level, the smart plate makes a hooting sound as well (see Fig. 2). A static electricity sensor is attached near the edge of the smart cup, and the Sound kit which records and plays the sound is installed in the bottom side of the cup. When the user puts mouth near the cup and drinks, the cup generates the sound of the animal drawn on the bottom of the cup (see Fig. 3). Our team's purpose is to design smart products that make mealtime fun. Before selecting the concept of design, we observed childrens' mealtime, whom our users. Children want television, toys, smartphones rather than eating. They didn't know about importance of healthy dietary life. We want to help their healthy growth (see Fig. 4). Parents try various kind of methods to make their children concentrate to their food every time. For example, they turn on the cartoon or sound of character. They even act like actors. Therefore, we recognized that children pay more attention to visible changes and audible effects. We used moderate prices of plates, cups and forks (see Fig. 5). The result of an experiment, we found the most proper quality of the material and method. In case of plastic dishes and cups, colorease make a lot more effectiveness than transfer paper (see Fig. 6). We transfer the visual, audible effects of toys to tableware. The effect of our CHILDISH is to make children be interested in mealtime. Also, parents can release their stresses because of a fretful child. Our plates and cups designed to help children's eating habits. If they touched plates with forks, LED lights of the illustration turned on. Lights become brighter if they keep continue their meal. When they finish the meal, sound related to the illustration came out. Our second design is smart cup that has animal mouth on the bottom of the cup. We have motif from the image when people drink. The bottom cover the mouth part, and we think it's fun to design the bottom of the cup. If children drink anything with this cup, they can hear the animal sound and feels like they become an animal. Our scenario is to make children drink pleasantly by role playing.


The primary argument of this essay is that social and political scientists tend to theorize democracy on a continuum between two poles: elitist and populist. The elitist theory of democracy describes a society dependent upon an intellectually capable and technically savvy few who rule by virtue of their abilities. Their abilities therefore provide a normative justification for their authority to rule. This is the picture of the ideal society found in Plato's Republic and many subsequent works of political philosophy. The populist theory of democracy describes a society in which the technically astute are acknowledged to posses valuable skills. However, in a populist democracy the people assert their right to rule by virtue of a status as sovereign, despite their technical ignorance. In a populist democracy the people are understood to be the source of political legitimacy and authority. This is the vision of the ideal society found in John Dewey's The Public and Its Problems. These two conceptions of democracy represent two ends of a continuum frequently invoked by social and political scientists. The essay also advances two secondary arguments. The first of these is that a fixation on the "state" as the primary form of political organization, and moreover the conflation of democracy with the state, continues to discourage political scientists from exploring alternative democratic practices. Second, justification for the correctness of either the elitist or populist theory of democracy is inexorably connected to, and buttressed by, a particular methodology. Here a general definition of methodology is intended: a mode of inquiry often generically categorized as quantitative or qualitative. In the quantitative category are various


From an appropriate parameterization of the three-dimensional (3D) coherency matrix R, that characterizes the second-order, classical states of polarization, the coherency matrices are classified and interpreted in terms of incoherent decompositions. The relevant physical quantities derived from R, as the intensity, the degree of polarimetric purity, the indices of polarimetric purity, the angular momentum, the degree of directionality and the degree of linear polarization are identified and interpreted on the light of the case study performed. The information provided by R about the direction of propagation is clarified and it is found that coherency matrices with, does not always represent states with a well-defined direction of propagation. Moreover, it is demonstrated the existence of 3D mixed states that cannot be decomposed into a superposition of a pure state, a 2D unpolarized state, and a 3D unpolarized state. Appropriate representation and interpretation for all the different types of 3D coherency matrices is provided through physical consistent criteria. Under the approach proposed, the conventional two-dimensional model arises naturally.


This study aims to identify the decision-making process of prospective teacher students in developing HOTS level analysis problems from COVID-19 Data. The pandemic that has been immobilize many sectors globally becomes a huge issues lately. Students also face a big challenges to adapt with new way to learn. Teachers also face more challenges to keep the learning quality in check while improving the students' performance in HOTS. As Covid-19 provides a real time data, we challenged the senior year prospective mathematics teacher to developed HOTS problem based on it. Decision making processes includes formulate the decision-making space, generating ideas, clarifying ideas, assessing the fairness of ideas, and reflection. The result showed that the subject managed to perform all of the decision making step and create HOTS problems based on Covid-19 data up to C4 Bloom taxonomy level. Future research is strongly recommended to see how the created problem give difference on the student's learning experience. Covid-19 data itself can be use as learning material for problem posing-based learning method. © 2022 Author(s).


Studies have been made of the initial sintering (surface area diminution and crystallite growth) of MgO freely dispersed in CO2. The sintering rate at 1123 K was directly proportional to the CO2 pressure in the range 0.67–93.1 kPa, and the apparent activation energy for sintering was 153 ± 11 kJ mol–1. Increases in the cation vacancy concentration by doping with Mn ions resulted in virtually no variation in the sintering rate. From sintering measurements in 18O-enriched CO2, the bulk 18O distribution in crystallites grown by sintering was determined and it was shown that most of the anions migrate only on the surface during sintering. Relative sintering rate constants at 1123 K were (3.4 ± 0.3)× 106, 38 ± 8, 1.3 ± 0.1 and 1 in H2O, CO2, O2 and Ar, respectively.It is concluded, on the basis of these facts, that sintering is enhanced by increased surface migration of O2– ions (the slower moving ions), caused by repetition of the adsorption–desorption cycle of CO2 molecules (anion-exchange mechanism).


ABSTRACT In this study, eighteen surficial sediments were collected from two shallow lagoons of the Red Sea, King Saudi Arabia (Al-Shaibah and Al-Budhia lagoons), and analyzed for their grain size, CaCO3, and organic matter (O.M.) contents. The concentration of total phosphorus (TP), Organic-P (OP), and Inorganic-P (IP) were determined. In addition, Phosphorus bioavailability was also investigated by a sequential extraction procedure. The results of the current study showed variation in the levels of total phosphorus and the organic and inorganic form (TP, IP, OP). Al-Shaibah lagoon showed higher TP contents (274.78–389.24 and 265.91 ± 29.03 µgg-1) more than Al-Budhia lagoon (227.25–318.55 and 265.91 ± 29.03 µgg-1). The distribution of phosphorus bioavailability concentrations in the studied fractions in Al-Shaibah lagoon sediments was increased in the following order: hot H2O-P (0.10–0.25µgg−1) < NaHCO3-P (1.85–3.11 µgg−1) < exchangeable fraction (NH4Cl-P; 2.64–10.64 µgg−1) < Fe and Al-associated phosphorus (NaOH-P; 29.67–7.32 µgg−1). A similar order was observed in the Al-Budhia lagoon with slight differences in its content. The different fractions of the contribution of phosphorous bioavailability from the Total-P concentration were recorded as: NaOH-P (14.63–18.62%) >> NH4Cl-P (2.11–1.99%) > NaHCO3-P (0.75–1.04%) >H2O-P (0.05–0.09%). The phosphorus concentrations in the HCl-P fraction (calcium-associated phosphate/apatite) represent 32.67–59.60% of the total phosphorus in lagoon sediments.


Thermodynamic data were obtained at 25 °C for the solution and protonation of six bases B: ammonia, three methylamines, and monoethyl and n-propylamines in dimethylsulfoxide (Me2SO) and propylene carbonate (PC). Vapour pressure, potentiometric, and calorimetric determinations were carried out. The solvent effect on the basicity order and protonation of the amines is analysed by using gas phase data and comparing the solution thermodynamics of gaseous B and BH+. The heat of solution of B in both solvents is close to its heat of condensation. The solution data for BH+ are discussed in terms of two recent hydration data interpretations.


Industrial robots are always requested to realize a fast position control and keep a robot safety on external force. In order to realize a fast position control, we have already proposed both the dynamic internal torque compensation of its motion reference and the robust continuous path tracking control with vibration suppression control. For the purpose of keeping the robot safety on external force, it is important to detect the external force which is separated from the dynamic internal torque on its motion control. Hence, this paper proposes a new fast position control considering robot safety based on dual dynamic torque compensation for industrial robots. The proposed control system realizes both the robust fast position control of its motion reference and the impedance control for robot safety. The paper applies the proposed method to the motion control of tested industrial robot manipulator and confirms the validity by the numerical simulation and experimental results.


Plants used for traditional medicine contain wide range of compounds that can be used to treat both chronic and acute diseases. According to Diallo et al (1999), a vast knowledge of how to use the plants is still of great importance. According to World Health Organization (WHO), 80% of the world s population relies mainly on traditional therapies which use the plants extracts o their active substance (WHO, 1993). In India, around 17,000 species of higher plants, 7500 are known for their medicinal uses (Shiva, 1996). Chemical studies of Indian medicinal plants provide a valuable material base for the discovery and development of new drugs of natural origin (Qin and Xu, 1998). A great structural diversity exists among antimicrobial phytocompounds (Cowan, 1999).


putting social change back on the agenda. Since the book critically engages with existing academic theory yet includes the voices and experiences of women's daily lives, it can be recommended to both readers who are beginning to grapple with the history and evolution of feminist theory, as well as those who are well versed in such debates and wish to revive their fading optimism. The final line of the book urges us to 'let the conversations begin'. For those of us for whom these conversations are perpetually ongoing, it is welcome recognition of the importance of the debates.


Abstract Recently, to improve manual mapping method, digital mapping using high-resolution camera and laser scanner has increasingly attracted attention and the relevant study is reportedly on the rise. In this study, laboratoryand field test which are intended to quantitatively analyze and estimate the weathering degree which is one of the engineering characteristics of tunnel face using laser scanner that integrates high-solution imaging technique have beenconducted. In a bid to analyze correlation between reflectance of laser scanner and weathering degree, investigation of the factors influencing on reflectance was carried out. And to minimize the effect on RGB value which is onethe critical influential factors on reflectance, modification equation obtained from lab test was proposed. Modificationequation proposed in this study was verified by comparing the values before and after correction using the data obtained by scanning. Consequently, weathering index estimated by modified reflectance appeared very similar withdominant weathering degree and weathering ratio monitored at the field.


CorpusDB is a system for representing sound files and associated analysis metadata in a structured format. The formats and conventions used in conjunction with the database allow for representation of sound files and their processed variants; multiple, overlapping, hierarchical relationships between sound files and segments thereof; and connections between sounds, their transformations, and analysis metadata. The software described in this paper is a parallel implementation consisting of SuperCollider classes, Python classes, and a common data representation of corpora that allows for seamless sharing of data between the two complementary environments. Code examples and listings of multi-step algorithms are included that demonstrate the kinds of operations possible within this system.


In this study, the 60,000-km durability tests were performed on two diesel engines (EURO IV and EURO II) by using B10 (10% waste cooking oil + 90% diesel) and B8 (8% waste cooking oil + 92% diesel), respectively, to determine the impacts on the emissions of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PCCD/Fs). The above emissions were measured per 20,000-km testing intervals. The highest total PAH mass concentrations were 38.2 and 25.6 μg Nm^(-3) before durability test by operating the EURO IV and II engines, respectively, and decreased 51-55% after 60,000-km operation. The dominant congeners of PAH emissions were naphthalene (> 45%), pyrene, and phenanthrene, which belonged to the LM-PAHs. The total PAH BaP_(eq) had different emission trends between the two engines during the durability tests. The highest level was 2.17 μg BaP_(eq) Nm^(-3) from EURO II engine before the test and reduced 84% after a 60,000-km cycle, when the total-BaP_(eq) emissions of EURO IV tended to increase from 0.0894 to 0.154 μg BaP_(eq) Nm^(-3) after the same test. The most dominant congener to the toxicity emissions was benzo(a)pyrene (~70%). Additionally, the PCDD/F emissions were tested in EURO IV engine by using B10. The PCDD/F concentrations of mass and toxicity approached the highest levels, 167 ng Nm^(-3) and 3.69 pg WHO-TEQ Nm^(-3), after 60,000-km and 20,000-km running cycles, respectively. The main dominant congeners were OCDD (> 50%) for mass, 2,3,7,8-TeCDD (> 35%) and 1,2,3,7,8- PeCDD (> 18%) for toxicity. Consequently, the use of WCO-biodiesel might reduce the PAH mass and toxicity emissions in older engine but had no significant effect in PAH and PCDD/F emissions during the deterioration of a newer engine.


The utility model provides an acoustic measurement device for dynamic stiffness of a woodworking band saw blade, and the acoustic measurement device is simple in method and accurate and reliable in measurement data. The acoustic measurement device comprises a force hammer and a sound level meter, wherein the force hammer knocks the woodworking band saw blade and is provided with a force sensor; the sound level meter is arranged on one side of the woodworking band saw blade, receives sound waves produced by vibration of the woodworking band saw blade, and converts the sound waves into electric signals; outputs of the force sensor and the sound level meter are connected with a signal conditioning instrument; and an output of the signal conditioning instrument is connected with a signal acquiring and analyzing instrument.


It is known that lightning discharges produce temporary disturbances of the Earth's magnetic field in their neighborhood, often of magnitude sufficient to produce departures of several millimeters on the records, but no disturbances have been detected that could certainly be traced to the movements of charged clouds.

However, since a moving charge is an electric current, it follows that charged clouds as they drift by, and ionized winds with an excess of either positive or negative electrons, must produce magnetic fields, at right angles to their line of motion, whose disturbance of the Earth's field depends upon the direction and the speed of the winds, and upon the kind and extent of their electrification.


This research investigates the accuracy of emotional intelligence and forgiveness in predicting the degree of satisfaction in marital communications between Iranian married couples. A total of 200 Iranian married couples were randomly selected for investigation. Multivariable regression and correlation coefficients were used to measure the accuracy. Results show that the correlation coefficient calculated between emotional intelligence and satisfaction in marital communications was 0.405, which was significant at 0.01 level. The correlation coefficient calculated between emotional intelligence and forgiveness did not reach a level of significance. The correlation coefficient calculated between satisfaction in marital communications and forgiveness was 0.71 for original families and 0.243 for nuclear families, which were significant at 0.05 level. An analysis of multivariable regression of female and male data showed a significant coefficient between predictions and evidence variables. The correlation coefficients calculated between satisfaction in marital communications and forgiveness were 0.71 and 0.243 for the original and nuclear families, respectively. The predictive accuracy of emotional intelligence is 0.505 for males and 0.253 for females.

 Key words: Emotional intelligence, forgiveness, satisfaction marital communications.


An ileorectal bypass performed entirely through a transanal route has recently been described in an animal model. The present study aimed to demonstrate its technical feasibility in four human cadavers.


Abstract : A network analyser based system has been established which characteristics the crystal response over the region of the resonant and antiresonant frequencies by a set of typically several hundred S12 measurements. A new software system has been developed which determines the equivalent circuit parameters by an iterative algorithm which fits the theoretical response to the measured values in an optimal way. This method is therefore virtually operator independent, and provides excellent resistance to random errors; reproducibility of motional inductance values are of the order of 1 in 10 to the third power.


Practical teaching is an inevitable necessity for the development of higher vocational colleges. To view from the philosophic perspective, performing practical teaching is the primary approach to achieve the overall development of a person. It presents the practical concept of Marxist philosophy and is the prerequisite for students to acquire the sustainable capability to improve their vocational skills.


Protection of local destruction is very important in the multi-channels water hydraulic static pressure loading system.It is also one of the very important step to ensure experiment to run safely and reliably.One method which confirms local destruction based on the trace wind age was introduced,and one solution was introduced to prevent serious over shoot which happens as unlocked cut-off valve to be loaded again.


Background: Oral health problem, prevention is very important especially for
Bannangsta people, because knowledge and behavior perception can improve and
increase of oral health problem. Someone's behavior is based on knowledge.
Therefore, the writer is interesting to do a research about the description of oral
health knowledge and perception about prevention in oral health problem at
subdistrict Bannangsta people.
Objective: The research aims to find out the description of oral health knowledge
and perception prevention in oral health problem at subdirstrict Bannangsta
people.
Methodology: This study is an observational study with cross-sectional design.
This research was done in Bannangsta sub-district in April 2015. Before the
research was done, the research did the questionnaire validity and reliability of
the questionnaire at sub-district Bannangkuwae
Results: The result gained is analyzed using Pearson test resulting in significant
value of 0,001 (p<0,05) which means that there is the description of oral health
knowledge and perception behavior oral health problem. The correlation
coefficient value is 0, 799 which means there is a medium correlation strength
and positive correlation direction between the knowledge level and perception
prevention.
Conclusion : It can be conclude that the description of oral health knowledge and
perception prevention in oral health problem at subdistrict Banangsta yala
Thailand.


At this year's early years conference, on 'exploring the importance and development of communication in the early years', (page 17 ) Vasudevi Reddy, professor of development and cultural psychology, spoke about narrative and early development. She played a video of a neonatal imitation project, in which a researcher was seen holding a succession of newborn babies (some as young as 15-minutes-old) and making a specific facial expression to each. After a while, the baby would begin to imitate that expression. The researcher also tried making a sound, and again, the same thing happened. This was incredible to me – that a tiny human being, who had not yet been in the world half an hour, was able to pick this behaviour up as a point of reference.


Research on the FKBP5 gene and FKBP51 protein has more than doubled since the discovery that polymorphisms in this gene could alter treatment outcomes and depressive behavior in humans. This coincided with other data suggesting that the stress hormone axis contributes to the development of numerous mental illnesses. As a result, FKBP51 now lies at the heart of the research of many stress related psychiatric disorders, which has led to advances in the understanding of this protein and its role in humans and in animal models. Specifically, FKBP5-/- mice and a naturally existing overexpression of FKBP5 in 3 genera of new world monkeys have helped understand the effects of FKBP5 in vivo. This review will highlight these finding as well as discuss the current evolutionary need for the FKBP5 gene.


Golden needle mushroom (Flammulima velutipes), soybean and table salt were used to make fermented golden needle mushroom sauce under the action of rice leaven arid some spices. The production technics and material composition of the golden needle mushroom sauce were gained through experimental study. Golden needle mushrooms in the sauce were amber colored and suspended in the red - brown sauce juice. Golden needle mushroom sauce had moderate density and salt. The fragrant and fresh sauce can be used as spice or eaten together with rice.


Control chart, one of the seven problem solving tools in statistical process control (SPC) is very popular technique in improving productivity, preventing defects and avoid purposeless process adjustment. Traditional control charts of X S  were introduced by Shewhart that used to detect whether assignable causes are exist. In SPC, an early assumption for traditional control charts where the sample observations must be independent and process observation must follow a normal distribution is needed. However, real world data or problems are too complicated to handle and the difficulty involves with the level of uncertainty. Uncertainty is a part of many situations in real life. Uncertainty can come from human, measurement devices or environmental conditions. The problem in using control chart will arise when uncertain data and not precise data present. Since the fuzzy set theory's concept can dealt with uncertainty, the control limits of X S  control chart are transformed into fuzzy control limits. In this paper, the fuzzy X S  control charts using α-level fuzzy midrange transformation are applied to solder paste thickness data. The control charts performance can be measured by average run length (ARL). It is found that fuzzy X S  charts are better than traditional X S  control charts in monitoring the product quality with lower value of average run length.


A thermodynamic analysis of propane dehydrogenation with carbon dioxide was performed using constrained Gibbs free energy minimization method. Different reaction networks corresponding to different catalytic systems, including non-redox and redox oxide catalysts, were simulated. The influences of CO2/C3H8 molar ratio (1–10), temperature (700–1000 K), and pressure (0.5–5 bar) on equilibrium conversion and product composition were studied. In the presence of CO2 with a molar ratio of CO2/C3H8 = 1, the temperature of dehydrogenation can be 30 K lower than that of dehydrogenation in the presence of steam (H2O/C3H8 = 1) and about 50 K lower than that of simple dehydrogenation without dilution to achieve 60% propane conversion. It was found that the occurrence of dry reforming of propane and coke-forming side reactions could strongly impact the equilibrium product composition of the multireaction system and, therefore, these reactions should be kinetically controlled. Comparison of the simulated reactant conversions with those reported in the literatures revealed that the experimental conversion levels of propane are far below the corresponding equilibrium values due to rapid catalyst deactivation by coke, implying that research efforts should be directed toward formulation of more active and selective catalysts.


The purpose of this study is to describe how to improve social science critical thinking skills by applying Think Pair Share learning model. This study uses a classroom action research method. The subjects of this study were class VIIIA students of SMP Negeri 2 Gresik totaling 32 students. The study used three research instruments, namely tests, observations and interviews. Based on the results of observations, obtained data that the highest average social sciencecritical thinking skills of students in the first cycle is 60% and the lowest is 25%. While the second cycle increased, the highest average student's social science critical thinking ability became 90% and the lowest 70%. From these results it can be concluded that the application of the think pair share learning model can improve the critical thinking skills of social science grade VIIIA students of SMP Negeri 2 Gresik. Keywords: Social Science, Critical thinking skills, Think pair share learning models


In the year of 2008,the five tobacco varieties KRK22,KRK23,KRK26,KRK28,T27 were introduced from Zimbabwe to make contrast with K326(CK),Yunyan87(CK) and were tested at Shilin of Kunming.The results showed that among the five introduced varieties,the comprehensive economic quality of KRK26 is the best,which has better yield,value,price per kg and the higher proportions of upper and middle class tobacco leaves and should be recommended for further demonstration in Kunming tobacco area.


On the night of December 28, 1968, eight Israeli helicopters took part in an attack on the Beirut International Airport. Israeli commandos descended from six of the helicopters (the other two hovered above) that had landed either on runways or at the hangars of the airport. All commercial aircraft belonging to Arab airlines were destroyed by explosives being placed in the nose-wheel well and in the undercarriage well of each plane. The attack resulted in the destruction of 13 planes whose worth has been estimated to be $43.8 million. Additional damage has been reported done to hangars and other airport installations. Lebanese sources report that two Israeli commandos were injured by gunfire from airport guards. There was no loss of life.


The metalloproteinase matrilysin is widely expressed in the epithelial tumor cells of malignant colorectal adenocarcinomas. Approximately 50% of benign adenomas also express low levels of matrilysin that is focally localized. The expression of stromelysin‐1, stromelysin‐3, and gelatinase A was observed in the stromal component of several carcinomas and was not present in adenomatous tissue. The expression of interstitial collage‐nase and gelatinase B was observed in occasional adenomas and carcinomas. Stromelysin‐2 transcripts were not detectable in any of the samples examined. Tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase‐1 gene expression was widespread and was observed in both epithelial and stromal cells of adenomas and carcinomas. These results indicate that matrilysin gene expression is an early event in colorectal tumorigenesis and that the expression of stromelysin‐1, stromelysin‐3, and gelatinase A is primarily a late event. The observed gene expression patterns suggest that matrilysin may participate in early events in tumor progression and that multiple members of the metalloproteinase family may work in concert to facilitate late‐stage tumor invasion and metastasis. © 1994 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.


The software of VB and AutoCAD is integrated by ActiveX to realize the teaching simulation manufacture and computer simulation.This paper makes a study of the parameter modeling technique of the involute change-place-bevel wheel,forms its accurate three-dimension model and then achieves the assemblage and machine movement simulation.


Quantitative research (QR) has undeniably improved the quality of law- and rulemaking, but it can also present risks for these activities. On the one hand, replacing anecdotal assertions regarding behavior or the effects of rules in an area to be regulated with objective, statistical evidence has advanced the quality of regulatory discourse. On the other hand, because the construction of such evidence often depends on bringing the complex realities of both human behavior and rules designed to govern it into simple, quantified variables, QR findings can at times camouflage complexity, masking real problems. Deceptively objective findings can in this way prevent the kind of deep, difficult granular investigation a problem needs.In this paper, I examine the methodology of QR, highlighting points where objectivity and verifiability can be threatened. I then discuss a number of case studies where common patterns emerge in the interaction between QR and policymaking. These include the displacement of qualitative problems with inaccurate quantification, the release of powerful, statistical or otherwise quantitative 'sound bites' that immediately move policy but are later found to be incorrect, deflating like a 'bubble', and the abdication of governance duties by regulators in favour of quantitative indicia like the performance benchmarks of an 'efficient market'. These case studies reveal a particularly troubling tension between the strength of QR in reaching generalized findings and the uniquely context-specific nature and operation of most laws and regulations.I recommend a number of measures to improve the use of QR in policymaking, including increasing the transparency of data generation and analysis within the academic community, putting more emphasis on inter-disciplinary creation and validation of findings, using certain cautionary disclosure when making 'public offerings' of quantitative findings, and holding policymakers more strictly to their statutory mandates, even if not complementary with quantitative analysis.


Nine workshop meetings were held at the symposium in order to foster informal exchanges of information on a variety of subjects identified as being of major concern based on a polling of the meeting registrants prior to the meeting. Three workshops, each lasting two hours, were run in parallel on three days. The results of the survey were also used to schedule the workshops with minimum potential conflicts for those participants interested in a variety of topics, so that as many workshops of interest as possible could be attended. Each workshop was organized by two co-chairpersons, one representing the ASTM dosimetry community and one representing the European dosimetry community. The two co-chairs jointly organized each workshop by defining the workshop scope, identifying potential presenters using the individual survey questionnaires and abstracts of papers to be presented at the symposium. The workshops were scheduled so that the presented papers on related topics generally preceded the workshop to allow the workshop discussions to build on the results of the papers. After the workshops, the co-chairs for each workshop prepared the summaries that follow. Each workshop summary was then subjected to peer review, including one of the attendees at the workshop who was selected as a result of his expertise on the subject of the workshop.


Egyptian Revolution, also known as Arab Spring or Arab Uprising, was a shock for international community because Egypt has been seen as one of the strongest military state in North Africa region. Experts and observers even suggested that this revolution is the biggest event since the Cold War. No one ever saw this coming; yet, the Revolution happened, and it succeeded to topple President Hosni Mubarak from power. Indeed, prior to the revolution, there are factors that became the preliminary incidents as well as problems that led to the revolution, and most of these factors came from within the country. Nevertheless, this revolution has given idea to other states with repressive regime in the North Africa region, which started the 'domino effect' in Middle East and North Africa region. As for Egyptians, though successfullnes of the revolution brought positive outcome for them, the negative result also followed as well as responses from international community. The objective of this paper is to examine the Egyptian Revolution that led to the end of Hosni Mubarak regime. Keywords : Arab Spring; Egyptian Revolution; President Hosni Mubarak; 'domino effect'; Middle East and North Africa region.


In our experiments of the ocean acoustic tomography, M-sequence signal is used in order to detect a signal in the noisy environment in the ocean and improve the resolution on the time axis after correlation of signals. The frequency of the sound source for our tomography transceiver is 200 Hz to ensure the propagation distance of 1000 km. The acoustic characteristics of the source were evaluated using M-sequence signal, and compared with the results of the conventional method by using sinusoidal waves. In this report, the results of the simulation of the waveform variation of M-sequence signal with various wave numbers per digit are shown, and then the experimental results in the ocean using M-sequence and sinusoidal waves at the depth of 800, 1000 and 1200 m are shown. The relationship between the wave number per digit of M-sequences and the frequency response using sinusoidal waves is discussed. Finally, the experimental results for a long-range propagation in the Western Equatorial Pacific are introduced.


The Self-Perception Profile for Children (SPPC) was administered to 300 school-aged children (8-12 years) in order to investigate its psychometric properties in a non-American sample. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses supported the multi-factorial structure of the SPPC. The internal-consistency and test-retest reliability of the SPPC were found to be acceptable. Significant gender differences were found, showing that boys perceive themselves as more competent than girls. The results of this study closely match the results obtained in American samples, indicating that the SPPC is a reliable and internally valid instrument in measuring the self-concept in children.


Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, Shanghai, 200093, P.R.China Clean Energy Technology Research Innovation (CETRI), Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science, University of Regina, 3737 Wascana Parkway, Regina, Saskatchewan S4S 0A2, Canada. Joint International Center for CO2 Capture and Storage (iCCS), Provincial Hunan Key Laboratory for Cost-effective Utilization of Fossil Fuel Aimed at Reducing Carbon-dioxide Emissions, Department of Chemical Engineering, Hunan University, Changsha, 410082, China.


A new type of flat substrate has been used to visualize structures inside living cells by surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) and to study biochemical processes within cells. The SERS substrate is formed by stabilized aggregates of gold nanostars on a glass microscope slide coated with a layer of poly (4-vinyl pyridine) polymer. This type of SERS substrate provides good cell adhesion and viability. Au nanostars' long tips can penetrate the cell membrane, allowing it to receive the SERS signal from biomolecules inside a living cell. The proposed nanostructured surfaces were tested to study, label-free, the distribution of various biomolecules in cell compartments.


The Tibetan Buddhist presentations of the self reflexive awareness, also called apperception (Tibetan: rang rig), and the perspectives related to its systematic training might contribute valuable information about the firstperson perspective to the science of consciousness. This would bring new resources to current cognition research while at the same time preserving valuable aspects of a central factor of the Tibetan cultural heritage, namely Tibetan Buddhism.


Importance Fear of dementia is pervasive in older people with cognitive concerns. Much research is devoted to finding prognostic markers for dementia risk. Studies suggest apathy in older people may be prodromal to dementia and could be a relevant, easily measurable predictor of increased dementia risk. However, evidence is fragmented and methods vary greatly between studies. Objective To systematically review and quantitatively synthesize the evidence for an association between apathy in dementia-free older individuals and incident dementia. Data Sources Two reviewers conducted a systematic search of Medline, Embase, and PsychINFO databases. Study Selection Inclusion criteria were (1) prospective cohort studies, (2) in general populations or memory clinic patients without dementia, (3) with clear definitions of apathy and dementia, and (4) reporting on the association between apathy and incident dementia. Data Extraction and Synthesis PRISMA and MOOSE guidelines were followed. Data were extracted by 1 reviewer and checked by a second. Main Outcomes and Measures Main outcomes were pooled crude risk ratios, maximally adjusted reported hazard ratios (HR), and odds ratios (OR) using DerSimonian-Laird random effects models. Results The mean age of the study populations ranged from 69.2 to 81.9 years (median, 71.6 years) and the percentage of women ranged from 35% to 70% (median, 53%). After screening 2031 titles and abstracts, 16 studies comprising 7365 participants were included. Apathy status was available for 7299 participants. Studies included populations with subjective cognitive concerns (n = 2), mild cognitive impairment (n = 11), cognitive impairment no dementia (n = 1), or mixed cognitive and no cognitive impairment (n = 2). Apathy was present in 1470 of 7299 participants (20.1%). Follow-up ranged from 1.2 to 5.4 years. In studies using validated apathy definitions (n = 12), the combined risk ratio of dementia for patients with apathy was 1.81 (95% CI, 1.32-2.50; I2 = 76%; n = 12), the hazard ratio was 2.39 (95% CI, 1.27-4.51; I2 = 90%; n = 7), and the odds ratio was 17.14 (95% CI, 1.91-154.0; I2 = 60%; n = 2). Subgroup analyses, meta-regression, and individual study results suggested the association between apathy and dementia weakened with increasing follow-up time, age, and cognitive impairment. Meta-regression adjusting for apathy definition and follow-up time explained 95% of heterogeneity in mild cognitive impairment. Conclusions and Relevance Apathy was associated with an approximately 2-fold increased risk of dementia in memory clinic patients. Moderate publication bias may have inflated some of these estimates. Apathy deserves more attention as a relevant, cheap, noninvasive, and easily measureable marker of increased risk of incident dementia with high clinical relevance, particularly because these vulnerable patients may forgo health care.


Abstract Wildlife agencies in North American were contacted about their wildlife viewing programs with regard to current resources and staffing, program emphasis, estimated public interest in programs, and administrative challenges. Fifty‐nine of 62 North American state and provincial agencies were contacted (95%), with 42 agencies (71%) reporting having a wildlife viewing program. Although wildlife viewing program coordinators perceive high demand for viewing opportunities, staffing and funding are limited. The average program budget is $309,000, equivalent to only 3% of the average hunting budget, and 4% of the mean fishing budget. Only five coordinators devote 100% of their time to the viewing program. Coordinators report that the greatest challenges facing wildlife viewing programs are inadequate resources and lack of agency support and legitimacy. Although securing funding for programs is one step toward addressing the demand for wildlife viewing, a long‐term commitment should consider defining the p...


The objective of the work is to conduct the necessary studies required to evaluate the efficacy, potential benefit and role of bromine-77 labelled steroids in the detection and evaluation of treatment for hormone-dependent tumors. The synthetic goals of 1982-3 included the synthesis estradiol derivatives which were radiohalogenated in the A- or C-ring with bromine-77 or bromine-82. Estradiol derivatives in which the radiohalogen was incorporated into the C-ring were prepared and purified with high specific activity. Biodistribution studies of the resultant compounds will be performed on rats in the near future. Various synthetic approaches toward estradiol which is radiohalogenated in the 1-position are discussed.


The paper deals with the brief reign of the Roman emperor Vetranio (Marchto December of 350), investigating the ways he is represented on coins bearing his nameminted in Siscia and Thessalonica. In that sense, I choose two different types (whosereverses show inscriptions like SALVATOR REI PVBLICAE and GAVDIVM REIPVBLICAE, respectively) that closely approximate the "usurper" Vetranio to the Hellenistic-Christian idea of basileia. The latter concept, in turn, served to distinguish a wholeset of practices and symbols related to Constantius II, the "legitimate" emperor who ruledover the eastern part of the Roman Empire precisely at that time.


This paper describes a Web Service that automatically parses and extracts data records from Web pages containing structured data. The Web Service allows multiple users to share and manage a Web data record extraction task to increase its utility. A recommendation system, based on the Probabilistic Latency Semantic Indexing algorithm, enables a user to find potentially interesting content or other users who share the same interests with the user. A distributed computing platform improves the scalability of the Web Service in supporting multiple users by employing multiple server computers. A Web Service interface allows users to access the Web Service, and allows programmers to develop their own applications and, thus, extend the functionality of the Web Service.


Family witnessed resuscitation is gaining wide acceptance across the healthcare sector, but some nurses and medical colleagues remain sceptical about adopting this practice. A qualitative study presented at the recent research conference in Cardiff (news April 8) involved patients admitted as emergency cases and a group who survived resuscitation. Most were positive about having family members present during resuscitation.


Influence of late side-effects upon daily life after radiotherapy for pp. 487-91. The influence on daily life from long-term side-effects was studied in patients treated more than 5 years ago with radiotherapy for laryn- geal and pharyngeal cancer. Forty-six patients were asked to partici-pate in telephone interviews and 44 participated. Only a minority (10 per cent) stated serious problems related to the treatment. Problems related to the voice and severe xerostomia were especially men- tioned. Half of the patients treated for pharyngeal cancer, com-plained of xerostomia and had occasionally a feeling of being handicapped. Social relations were impaired in 10 per cent of the patients and 10 per cent had retired due to their cancer or therapy related side-effects. It is concluded that radiotherapy seems to be a well tolerated treatment with relatively little impairment of the daily life in patients with laryngeal cancer. In patients with pharyngeal cancer, xerostomia is a major problem, which often persists more than 5 years after treatment. Author. LOD heterozygous DMD dystrophin DXS1068 dystrophin recombination DMD DXS997, dystrophy in any family ABSTRACT oropharyngeal-section diameter of which was a few millimetres larger than the diameter of the tracheal section. The wall thickness was a constant 0.20 mm. The wire reinforcement was stainless steel flat wire or superelastic nickel-titanium alloy. The superelastic nickel-titanium alloy reinforcement made those ETTs crush-proof; after forceful manual compression, recovery was complete. To obtain a seal with the upper airways, we first shaped a short section of the oropharyngeal section of the ETT from round to oval (or egg-shaped) to conform better to the larynx. We then attached to this seg- ment numerous soft, pliable, 0.025-0.075-mm-thick rings of poly-urethane to occlude voids for potential air leaks from within the larynx. RESULTS: In vitro pressure-flow studies showed a decrease by as much as four- or fivefold in air-flow resistance in the adult ETT range, effectively increasing the internal diameter by 2.3-3.7 mm, compared with conventional ETTs of the same outside diameter. In vivo studies for 24 h in sheep showed no air leaks at airway pressures to 30 cmH2O and minimal leak at greater pressures. The gross appearance of the trachea was normal. CONCLUSIONS: Although the new tubes appear to offer advantages to those currently used, testing in humans is required to assess the clinical utility of the tube-cuff design. Author. were noted for three proven neurotoxicants, i.e., carbon disulfide, toluene, and trichlo-roethylene, and for two probable human neurotoxicants—styrene and xylene. The percentages of workers (estimated NIOSH National Occupational Exposure Survey) exposed to these solvents in each economic sector are Work identified where mutliple exposures occur to solvents and noise. The need for future research is discussed. 1591^1. OBJECTIVE: To determine whether any advantage exists using racemic epinephrine instead of the more potent and less expensive levo( 1 )-epinephrine in the treatment of postextubation laryngeal edema. DESIGN: Prospective, double-blind, randomized study. SETTING: Paediatric intensive care unit in a university teaching hospital. PATIENTS: Twenty-eight patients with stridor during the immediate postextubation period. INTERVENTIONS: After extubation, patients demonstrating clinically important stridor were ran- domized in a double-blind fashion to receive an aerosol containing either 2.25 per cent racemic or 1 per cent 1-epinephrine. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Heart rate, respiratory rate, blood pressure, and stridor score were determined at 20,40, and 60 min and 4 and 8 h after the initial aerosol administration. Patients in both groups demonstrated significant (/ > <0.01) reductions in stridor score after aerosol administration. No significant differences were observed between treatment groups in improvement in stridor score or the number of subsequent aerosols required. Respiratory rate decreased significantly 40 and 60 min after 1-epinephrine but not after racemic epinephrine. No significant change in heart rate or blood pressure occurred after aerosol administration in either group. CONCLUSIONS: These data suggest that aerosolized 1-epineph-rine is as effective as aerosolized racemic epinephrine in the treat- ment of postextubation laryngeal edema without additional adverse side effects. When dosed appropriately, 1-epinephrine is a less expensive and more widely available alternative to racemic epinephrine for the treatment of postextubation laryngel edema. Author. auditory evoked mag- We recorded middle-latency auditory evoked magnetic fields from nine healthy subjects with a 122-channel whole-head SQUID gra- diometer. The stimuli were click triplets, 2.5 msec in total duration, delivered alternately to the two ears once every 33 msec. Con- tralateral clicks elicited P30m responses in 16 and P50m responses in 12 out of 18 hemispheres studied; ipsilateral clicks did so in 7 and 13 hemispheres, respectively. The field patterns were satisfactorily explained by current dipoles in 16 and 4 hemispheres for contra- and ipsilateral P30m, and in 4 and 10 hemispheres for contra- and ipsilateral P50m. The peak latencies of P30m and P50m were not affected by stimulation side. The results show that middle-latency auditory evoked responses receive a strong contribution from auditory corti- cal structures, and that differences of input latency to cortical auditory areas, evaluated from MLAEF latencies, do not explain the latency differences seen in late auditory evoked fields to contralat-eral vs. ipsilateral stimulation. Author. ABSTRACT Tiqva, This study reviews the records of 56 patients with early glottic car- cinoma involving the anterior commissure (T1NOMO) who were treated between 1958 and 1988 at Beilinson Medical Center. Five- and 10-year survival rates were 82 per cent and 60 per cent, respect-ively. Most failures were local (15 patients). In addition, three patients who were treatment failures had neck lesions (regional fail-ure) and one had lung lesions (distant metastases). All 56 patients received irradiation as the only mode of initial treatment. The effec-tiveness of irradiation for anterior commissure lesions is therefore evaluated. The study supports previous reports suggesting that glottic carcinoma involving the anterior commissure is associated with a high rate of treatment failure. Author. hydropic (1-2), pp. 177-82. Total interruption of blood or oxygen supply to the inner ear pro-duces very rapid and drastic effects, whereas moderate decreases can be well tolerated by normal ears. In experimental endolymphatic hydrops some moderate alterations of cochlear vasculature have been described which might affect cochlear adaptation to moderate blood or oxygen deficiencies. In order to test this hypothesis an hypoxia at 5 per cent oxygen was imposed for 30 min in normal and hydropic ears of awake guinea pigs and cochlear function was moni- tored with an electrode at the round window. Electrophysiological recordings used measures of compound action potential (CAP) amplitudes evoked by high-intensity tones, and of CAP thresholds. In normal ears hypoxia induced threshold elevations at all fre- quencies and decreases of CAP amplitude only for high frequencies. Hydropic ears presented similar or smaller threshold elevations but showed CAP amplitude decreases extending to lower frequencies and showed a much slower recovery both for CAP thresholds and amplitudes. The data indicate that hypoxia had different effects on auditory nerve responses evoked by high versus low intensity tones. The deleterious effects of hypoxia were increased in hydropic ears. Hypoxia-induced alterations were measured twice at one week inter- vals during which an anti-ischaemic drug was administered to the animals; some beneficial effects of the drug treatment were observed on normal but not on hydropic ears. Allergen-induced late nasal responses are associated with recruit- ment and activation of T lymphocytes and eosinophils and prefer-ential mRNA expression for T-helper type 2 (Th2) cytokines. We tested the hypothesis that topical corticosteroids may inhibit late responses by inhibiting cells expressing mRNA for Th2 cytokines. A randomized double-blind placebo-controlled trial of topical corticosteroid (fluticasone propionate) was performed in 48 adult grass pollen-sensitive patients. Nasal biopsies were taken at baseline and repeated 24 h after local nasal allergen provocation following 6 weeks treatment with either fluticasone propionate 200 micrograms or placebo nasal spray twice daily. Baseline mRNA expression for interleukin-4 (IL-4) (P = 0.01) and IL-5 (P = 0.002) was higher in the patients than in normal controls. Topical corticosteroid treatment significantly inhibited immediate nasal symptoms, with almost complete inhibition of the late response following allergen challenge. This was associated with a marked decrease in the allergen-induced increases in cells expressing mRNA for IL-4 (P = 0.002) but not for IL-5. Inhibition of the late response was also accompanied by decreases in CD25+ cells, presumed T lymphocytes and eosino- phils. A significant correlation was observed between the decreases in IL-4 mRNA+ cells and in eosinophils after treatment (r = 0.46, P<0.05). These results suggest that prolonged treatment with topical corticosteroid inhibits allergen-induced early and late nasal responses and the associated tissue eosinophilia, and that, at least in part, this may result from inhibition of cells expressing mRNA for IL-4. Author. IL-4 mRNA signals. Significant increases in T lym- phocytes and eosinophils and in the number of IL-4 mRNA+ cells were observed after allergen challenge. Double immunocyto- chemistry/m situ hybridization demonstrated that the majority of IL-4 mRNA+ cells after allergen challenge were CD3+ (73.7 per cen


The power quality disturbance (PQD) problem involves problems of voltage swell, voltage sag, power interruption, harmonics and complex events involving multiple PQD problems. The PQD problem attracted considerable attention from utilities, especially when renewable energy is getting a higher penetration. The PQD problem could downgrade the service quality, causing problems of malfunctions and instabilities. This paper proposed a simplified SVM technique to identify the PQD problem including the multiple PQD classification. With the simple structure proposed, the methodology could reduce a great deal of training data; requires much less memory space and saves computing time. An IEEE 14-bus power system was used to show the performance. Many tests were conducted, and the method was compared with an artificial neural network (ANN). Simulation results showed the shortened processing time and the effectiveness of the proposed approach.


The corrosion behavior of friction stir processed magnesium alloy FSP-AZ31and the base metal AZ31in 3.5% NaCl solution was studied.The results show that the corrosion rate of weight loss of FSPAZ31is lower compared with the base metal AZ31in the solution containing chloride ion.The pitting occurred in the surface of both Mg-alloys,while FSP-AZ31is lesser than metal AZ31.Small equiaxed grains and solid solution of the second phase after friction stir processing forming in the FSP-AZ31is the main reason for the increase of the corrosion resistance.


N,N,N-trimethyl chitosan methylsulfate(TMCMS) was prepared by a two-step reaction.First,N,N-dimethyl chitosan(DMC) was synthesized by reaction of chitosan with formic acid and formaldehyde.Then,DMC reacted with dimethyl sulfate to yield TMCMS.It was characterized by FT-IR,1H NMR and elemental analysis.Its average quaternization degree was 74.6% calculated according to elemental analysis results.Differential scanning calorimetry and thermogravimetry results demonstrated its thermal stability was lower than chitosan.However,its water-solubility was obviously better than chitosan,its solubility in water reached 20 mg/mL at 25 ℃,and its 2 mg/mL solution was stable in a wider pH range(3-12).


Modular Multilevel Converters (MMC) are considered very suitable for the transmission of bulk power. Increasing the reliability of MMCs forms a real challenge since they are built from series connection of sub-modules. Applying the concept of fault tolerance to the MMC control system can significantly increase the reliability of the MMC as it will be available in normal as well as faulty conditions. This paper presents an analysis of the MMC reliability enhancement gained from applying different fault tolerant control techniques. The reliability is investigated through solving differential equations generated from Markov chains.


By analyzing computer's requirements of tricolor tube line scanning circuit under different show modes, the tesis works out the work principles of line scanning circuit and provides typical circuits of achieving multifrequency line scanning.


Figure. A: Coronal CT of the sinus shows right ethmoid sinusitis and right maxillary sinusitis with marked hypertrophy of the middle turbinate . Note that the right hypertrophied concha bullosa obstructs the middle meatus, resulting in right chronic ethmoid and maxillary sinusitis. Also note the unusual opening in the medial wall ofthe concha bullosa (arrows) on both sides. B: Telescopic view (4 11111l, 0°) of the right nasal cavity shows the unusual "punch ed-out " opening (arrow) in the medial wall of the middle turbinate (MT). C: Telescopic view (41111n , 0°) shows the anterior end ofthe middle turbinat e being opened with a microdebrider.D: Telescopic view (411111l ,30°) ofthe inside lumen ofthe right concha bullosa distin ctly shows the interior aspect of the ostium of the medial wall of the right concha bullosa (arrow) . A 42-year-old woman came to the office with right facial pressure and right nasal stuffiness of several months ' duration. Coronal computed tomography (CT) of the sinuses detected right chronic ethmoid and maxillary sinusitis (figure, A), despite appropriate long-term antibiotic treatment. The enlarged middle turbinate caused a narrowing of the right middle meatus and subsequently blocked the outflow of right ethmoid and maxillary sinus drainage. Nasal endoscopy at surgery detected concha bullosa bilaterally. Further examination revealed the presence ofan unusual "punchedout" opening in the midportion of the thickened medial wall of the right middle turbinate (figure ,B). It appeared to be a drainage opening to the concha bullosa. A microdebrider was used to open the anterior end of the right concha bullosa, and the inside lumen of the concha bullosa was visualized (figure, C). The mucosa was edematous. Inspection of the lumen with a 30° telescope clearly showed the interior aspect of the ostium of the medial wall of the concha bullosa , which opened into the right nasal cavity (figure, D). The patient underwent a resection of the lateral wall of the right concha bullosa together with a right anterior ethmoidectomy and a middle meatal antrostomy. Polypoid tissue and thick mucus were found .


This paper attempts to answer three questions on the status of real economic convergence in central and eastern Europe. First, how large are the differences, measured by key macroeconomic indicators, between the new member states that joined the EU in 2004, the four EU candidates (Bulgaria, Croatia, Romania and Turkey) and the EU "aspirants" from southeast Europe (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia and Serbia and Montenegro). Second, how long could it take the EU candidates and aspirants to overcome these differences and catch up with the new member states? And third, how long could it take the 16 countries in central and eastern Europe to catch up with living standards in Greece, Italy, Portugal and Spain? Due to the complexity of cross-country comparisons, answers to these questions are only illustrative. It is shown that differences in terms of macroeconomic indicators between the EU candidates and the new member states are not as large as is often thought. However, the starting position of countries in southeast Europe is considerably less favourable. Second, at the average speed of reforms exhibited by the new member states over the past 15 years, it would take between 11⁄2 and 71⁄2 years for the EU candidates and aspirants to reach the level of transition observed in the new member states at the time Dubravko Mihaljek*


The paper contains results of introduced study of species, hybrids and sorts of Deutzia Thunb. genus in the South-Ural botanical garden-institute (Ufa). The collection of Deutzia is one of the largest among ornamental shrubs in the botanical garden. The objects of researches were 12 species, 10 hybrids and sorts of Deutzia . Introduced researches of all taxons were conducted within 10 years (2007-2017). Throughout the entire period of observations the following indicators were annually estimated: lignification of escapes, winter hardiness, preservation of a form of growth, sprout-formation ability, a gain in height, generative development, possible ways of reproduction in the culture. The analysis of the obtained data shows that specific taxons are belong to three groups: quite perspective, perspective and less perspective. The greatest possible indicators characterize 3 species - D. amurensis , D. glabrata, D. parviflora . All of them can be recommended for broad application in gardening of settlements of the Bashkortostan Republic. Perspective and less perspective groups contained 4 species each. Hybrids and sorts in the collection belong to three groups: perspective (II), less perspective (III) completely unusable (VI); in the latter group contains one hybrid.


In the field of autonomous vehicles (AV), it is crucial for the perceptual systems of the AVs to learn inter-domain adaptations in the absence of paired examples for detecting vehicular instances in unstructured real-world scenarios. One straightforward approach is to train the models directly on labeled synthetic datasets. However, this approach usually fails to achieve generality, owing to the domain bias between the real and fake databases of images. We therefore, propose a novel architecture that produces synthetic images based on cycle consistency, in the absence of labeled pair of images. We test the object detectors Detectron and SSD on four types of curated benchmark datasets to evaluate their robustness in detecting objects such as cars, bikes, and pedestrians on road. The four benchmark datasets contain a diversified set of image corruptions and a few variations are built using the proposed framework such as weather variations. The four datasets are PASCAL VOC and SYNTHIA dataset images, weather-translated images, variation-augmented images, and stylized renderings using Adain style transfer. After conducting extensive investigations, we observe a decreased classification loss when exposed to variable image quality. We also witness that augmenting the training datasets with variations in the wild aided in boosting the generalizing capability of the object detectors. The boost in performance is testified by the testing results showing better mAP.


Multilevel inverters provide advantages such as improved efficiency, superior thermal characteristics, a better distribution of switching and conduction power losses, smaller size of passive components including ac filters and EMI filters, as compared to their two-level counterparts. Flying-capacitor (FC)-based multilevel inverters are gaining more attentions, and finding lots of medium-voltage as well as low-voltage industrial applications. Active neutral-point-clamped (ANPC) inverter, as a derived topology from FC-based inverters, offer the advantages of a reduced number of FCs as well as fewer switching cells. However, ANPC inverter needs high-voltage line-frequency switches which makes it difficult to increase number of levels/cells especially to more than five levels. The dual flying-capacitor (DFC)-ANPC topology addresses this by allowing the use of lower voltage power switches in series to replace high-voltage switches due to its feature to have natural zero voltage switching for line-frequency switches. This paper compares the ANPC and DFC-ANPC inverters in terms of high-voltage line-frequency power switch requirements and their practical implementation. Additionally, thermal comparison of both inverters running at low and high modulation indexes is provided, which further verifies the superior performance of the latter topology.


In the present research, effective and ineffective activities that secondary school teachers used and their perceptions on the effectiveness of the activities are investigated. The data were collected from 20 teachers using semi-structured interviews. Data were analysed using open coding and directed content analysis. Research findings showed that the type, cognitive process and ambiguity characteristics of instructional tasks do not differ between effective and ineffective activities. However, findings revealed that effective activities concentrated on cooperative rewards and small group study, whereas ineffective activities occurred in an individualized study and individualistic reward characteristics. Teachers' criteria of activity effectiveness was factors related to implementation process, such as the engagement and students' enjoyment. Teachers associated the effectiveness and ineffectiveness of the activities with the contextual features, such as students' characteristics, course material and classroom environment. Keywords: Classroom activity, task, reward, social group