Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC)
Ontario Centers of Excellence (OCE)
Iraqi Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research


Fuel cells and renewable energy are green and environmentally friendly sources because they don't emit carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases that cause global warming. An energy management system is required for the generic hybrid energy hybrid system, which combines a fuel cell and an energy storage system to regulates energy consumption according to an optimization approach. The objective of using an intelligent management system is to adapt the generated energy of a hybrid power system according to variation in load demand and battery state of charge (SoC). This article discusses the performance of an intelligent energy management system based on the fuzzy logic technique. This energy management system is used to optimize the performance of the hybrid power system. It increases the lifetime of both batteries and fuel cells while also providing sufficient power to the load with minimum fuel consumption. MATLAB/Mathworks software is used to design and simulate the fuzzy EMS system.


We have developed an ELID (ELectrolytic In-process Dressing) grinding technique that creates mirror-like surfaces on Ti-13Zr-13Nb alloys. To create a smooth surface, a metal-bonded grinding wheel was used for rough grinding and then a rubber-bonded wheel was used for final grinding. The optimum conditions for rough processing were a rotational speed of 400 rpm, a cut depth of 0.5 mm, a 40 mm/s feed rate of the work , and pitch interval for feeding in the y-direction of 1 mm. For final grinding, the optimum spark-out scanning time was 20 min. This new ELID processing technology decreased surface roughness to 30 nm (Ra).


Cross-country skiing is a popular alpine sport. It can be one of the most physically demanding of all sports, involving most of the body's muscles, and requiring a sustained cardiovascular and respiratory output. It is also ideal as a recreational sport, and can be enjoyed by individuals of all ages. Crosscountry skiing includes ski-touring, defined trail skiing using the diagonal stride or skating techniques, and cross-country/downhill skiing. Cross-country skiers have been estimated to account for approximately 20% of all participants in alpine sports. The most common type of cross-country skiing injuries are sprains/twists, fractures and bruises. The most frequently injured body regions are the knee, arm/hand and the ankle. Risk factors for injury, include poor condition of ski tracks; unsuitable or inferior equipment; poor balance, inadequate mastery of the cross-country skiing technique and overuse. The aim of this report is to present a critical review of the extent to which the effectiveness of cross-country skiing injury countermeasures has been evaluated and to make recommendations for further research, development and implementation. Countermeasures specifically reviewed in this report include: ski pole handle design, ski bindings and equipment, skiing technique, pre-season conditioning, ski lessons, clothing, adequate nutrition and reduced alcohol intake, standards for skiing equipment, environmental factors, ski patrollers, first aid, rescue equipment and general resort safety. Little is known about cross-country skiers, their characteristics, aetiology and injury patterns, equipment related factors and the relationship between injury patterns and causal factors such as skiing ability, equipment, snow conditions and terrain. Some cross-country injuries are similar to those among alpine skiers. This suggests that countermeasures that have been effective in preventing alpine injuries, such as improvements in equipment design, may also prevent cross-country injuries. More attention needs to be directed towards preventing cross-country injuries, including data collection and epidemiology studies of injury patterns, studies of the mechanisms of injury and the safety of equipment.


The multi-domain operation of LEDs characterized by the tight coupling between their electrical, thermal and optical properties manifests not only on chip and package level, but has to be tracked in case of LED products of higher integration level such as LED modules or LED luminaires as well. An option for tracking this operation is to apply so called multi-domain Spicelike models of LEDs, suitable for implementation in circuit simulation programs. In this paper an LED model is presented, capable of calculating the self-heating and the emitted radiant flux of an LED chip along with its forward voltage – forward current characteristics and the temperature dependence thereof. The parameters of this model can be identified directly from combined thermal and radiometric measurements of LEDs, compliant to the most recent LED package level testing standards.


The Author presents an hypothesis about the desert varnish characterized from a black-blue colours risen from progressive mass of manganic oxide on the rocky surfaces. The process, studied on the field and in laboratory tested, surely sems due to an electrolytic action which start with a climate characterized from a marked windiness and frequent stormy rainfalls: this climate took place in the desert regions at present until 5500 years ago with alternate changes.


High-resolution CFD results, supplemented by extensive experimental validation, are presented for Newtonian laminar flow fields in a stirred tank equipped with three Rushton turbines. Flow fields are computed using the ORCA software suite for Reynolds numbers ranging from 20 to 200 with an unstructured tetrahedral mesh containing roughly 2 million tetrahedra. Each of the flow solutions takes less than 8 h to converge when running in parallel on eight desktop workstations. Excellent agreement is obtained between computed velocity fields and planar velocity vectors obtained using particle image velocimetry. Planar laser-induced fluorescence was used to expose persistent poor-mixing regions, in excellent agreement with numerical results. The computational results used illustrate strong flow compartmentalization and significant spatial heterogeneity with respect to local deformation rates within the vessel.


The idea of political federation in East African region has a long history. It was particularly popular during the early post-colonial era, when Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda were searching for possibilities of federation. Instead, a regional integration organism was formed, called the East African Community (EAC), which operated between 1967 and 1977. A renewal of federalist ideas in the region could be observed since 2001, when the EAC became active again. The paper presents the idea of a political federation and analyses the attempts of its implementation by East African countries. A descriptive analysis performed from a historical perspective led to the conclusion that despite the time span and many economic and political changes a practical implementation of federalist ideas in East African Countries remains very difficult, especially by the initial date, set in the year 2015. Therefore, a question arises about the sense and real possibilities of achieving such a serious integration target in the reality of underdeveloped African countries.


Fifteen male murrah buffaloes weredivided into 3 groups of 5 each. Animals in group I were given only paddy straw while those in groups 11 and III were given paddy straw along with supplementation of UMMB 'Ex' and 'C' free choice. UMMB supplementation significantly (P<0.05) increased DMI (kg/d) (from 4.84±0.45 to 7.51 ±0.44) and digestibility coefficients of DM and OM (from 55.5 and 54.27 to 58.98 and 58.27). Digestibility of other nutrient was not affected. Balances of N, Ca and P were negative in group I(-12.57±1.64; -10.07±0.67 and -1.02±0.14), which became positive when UMMB was supplemented. However, the diiferences in balances observed between group II and III were non significant. Total nitrogen, ammonia-N and urea N content in blood increased significantly (P<0.01) in group II and III but remained in the physiological limits. It is therefore concluded that UMMB supplementation improves the paddy straw utilization.


We address the question of how light the lightest supersymmetric particle neutralino can be to be a reliable cold dark matter (CDM) particle candidate. To this end we perform a combined analysis of the parameter space of the minimal supersymmetric standard model (MSSM) taking into account cosmological and accelerator constraints including those from the radiative b{r_arrow}s{gamma} decay. Appropriate grand unification (GUT) scenarios are considered. We find that the relaxation of gaugino mass unification is sufficient to obtain a phenomenologically and cosmologically viable solution of the MSSM with a neutralino as light as 3 GeV. We find good prospects for the direct detection of these superlight CDM neutralinos via elastic scattering off various nuclei in the forthcoming experiments with low-threshold DM detectors. In a certain sense, these experiments can probe the gaugino mass unification giving constraints on the possible GUT scenarios within the MSSM. {copyright} {ital 1997} {ital The American Physical Society}


of private property and capitalist exploitation. Cooperatives were seen as a socialist intervention in the capitalist system to reduce social inequalities. The available evidence in this book show that cooperatives have not necessarily reduced inequalities. They suggest instead that cooperatives are gradually transforming themselves into private corporate enterprises. Surely, this movement from cooperativism to corporatism needed more attention from the contributors to this volume.


Ultrafine carboxylated styrene–butadiene rubber(CSBR) powders were prepared by using gamma irradiation and following spray-drying method. The influences of dose rate, absorbed dose, and sensitizer content on the crosslinking density of CSBR latices were studied in detail. Then the ultrafine CSBR powders were used to toughen nylon 6. The toughness and thermal properties of nylon 6/CSBR blends were measured by using notched lzod impact test and differential scanning calorimetry and thermogravimetry, respectively. Results showed that the crosslinking density of CSBR increased with increasing of dose and sensitizer content, and it is independent on dose rate. The notched Izod impact strength of nylon 6 under room temperature increased after incorporation of irradiation crosslinked CSBR powders with appropriate crosslinking density. The morphology of higher impact nylon 6/CSBR blends indicated that the finer dispersion existed with dispersed particles of 150-nm diameter. Fracture morphology of nylon 6/CSBR blend suggested that the shear yielding in matrix is the primary toughening mechanism for nylon 6/CSBR blends. The crystallinity of nylon 6/CSBR blends decreased slightly compared with pure nylon 6, whereas the addition of CSBR powders had little influence on the thermal stability of nylon 6. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 86: 3040–3046, 2002


An improved algorithm for moving objects detection based on Gaussian mixture model is proposed to make up the deficiencies of original method.Firstly,model updating mechanism is improved by using different learning rate in different period and updating the background model selectively.Secondly,improved Gaussian mixture model and frames substraction are combined by using twice and operation and once morphological dilation.Finally,the moving objects are got after the above-mentioned process.The experimental results indicate that the proposed method can effectively eliminate noise and shadow in a complex environment and improve the accuracy of moving objects detection.


Now XML data encryption method is focus on special application,lacks of description for encryption process,it is not common and efficient.A new language which controls the encrypfing process is designed based on symmetric cryptography and asymmetric cryptography.With this language,encrypting process could be universal and more efficient.Furthermore,implementation of this method is provided.


Effect of mineral additives admixed into cement is of great importance for the reduction in consumption of natural raw materials and energy sources and for the reduction in CO2 emissions. In this research are shown experimental results from industrial production of reference cement and cement with optimal mineral additives (20 % slag, 10 % fly ash, 5 % limestone). Analysis of getting results shown that when mixed cement with 35 % of mineral additives is used in manufacture of concrete with targeted 28-day strength, savings in thermal energy and CO2 emissions of about 32 % can be achieved relative to Portland cement containing no mineral additives. Beside that, the heat released during early age of hydration is much lower in case of concrete with mixed cement and thus the possibility of the occurrence of early-age cracks is lessen, which in the long way result in increased concrete durability.


Abstract Teaching material and textbooks undoubtedly operate politically and should be scrutinized concerning the knowledge that they construct and legitimize. But such scrutiny often involves new hegemonies and political complicities that also require further scrutiny. Following Ernesto Laclau and Chantal Mouffe's discourse analysis the present article critiques one such hegemony: that which sets civic identity against ethnic identity and, to prioritize the former, depoliticizes or even effaces the latter. To illustrate the need for further scrutiny of such politics the article carries out a deconstructive reading of a text (that of Yannis Papadakis, 2008) that is representative of this hegemony. This reading reveals that Papadakis tacitly blames ethnic identity as such for the wrongful treatment of Otherness, thus incriminating ethnic attachment wholesale and, therefore the very Otherness in whose name he purportedly deploys his social constructionism. I argue that Papadakis' modernist suggestion to disconnect the present from the historical past undermines ethnicity while failing to stave off essentialist and racial understandings of it. At cross-purposes with social constructionism, Papadakis' critique of the pernicious political operations of ethnic identities ends up annihilating ethnic identities.


The problem, of finding extreme eigenvalues and eigenvectors of a real symmetric positive definite matrix can be viewed as a smooth optimization problem on a smooth manifold. We present a cost function approach for computing higher dimensional sub-spaces corresponding to smallest and largest eigenvalues simultaneously. This approach is then generalized to develop dynamical system for computing the singular value spread of any real matrix.


Developmental Dysplasia of the Hip (DDH) refers to an abnormal hip condition in infants characterized by anomalous development of the hip joint, in which hip joint dislocation, misalignment, and musculoskeletal instability are present. Clinical reports and previous research show very low success rates for the Pavlik Harness for severe grades of hip dislocation. Statistically, it has been shown that for reduction rate for the International Hip Dysplasia Institute (IHDI) Grades I-III is 92% while only 2% for grade IV. DDH is found responsible for 29% of primary hip replacements in people up to 60 years of age. The primary goal of this project is to assist in the improvement of the success rate on non-surgical interventions for patients with DDH, as well as the ensuing consequences in adulthood. In order to experimentally verify the computational model of the hip reduction and abduction in severe cases of DDH, a mechanical bench-top model is to be designed, built and tested for the four grades of dislocation. This approach will be repeated for three patient-specific infant's musculoskeletal models, as to corroborate the use of this experimental bench-top design in the validation of the patient-specific computational model. 70th EDGD Midyear Conference 3


Kazuhisa SHIKI,Yukihiro ITO, Koji ISHIBASHI,Shinya UCHIDA, Hiroshi MATSUDA,Akira DEMIZU and Yoshitomi KIMURA This paper presents fundamental study of the displacement measurement using square marker and the field test results of deflection of the bridge in service. For fundamental study, the influence of the shape of maker, the gradation value of maker image and the distance for taking picture on measuring error were investigated. Then, digital image correlation method was compared with square maker measurement in relation to measuring the displacement of target. As a result, square maker measurement had high accuracy with average of absolute error was less than 0.05mm, it wasn't influence by gradation value, and square maker measurement was more robust than digital image correlation method outdoor. In the field test, a bridge was loaded by a dump car which was 20ton in gross weight and the loading point was changed in 2m, 4m, 6m and 8m. Five kinds of the square maker with different sizes and shape were set on felloe guard. Then square maker was compared with the displacement transducer in order to evaluate the accuracy of measurement. It is shown that square maker was able to measure the deflection of bridge up to a practical level even if illumination changes every hour.


This paper analyses the impact of the myth of España Negra on Spanish identity and culture from the country's crushing defeat in the Spanish-American War to the present. Spain's loss of Cuba and the Philippines (the last remnants of its once-global empire) to the United States in 1898 gave rise to a profound national crisis and provided a catalyst for a new wave of writers, artists and intellectuals known collectively as the Generation of '98, a movement that focused on the motives for the debacle and sought the "essence" of Spain in the sobriety of the Castilian landscape and regional customs. Conservative authors of that period such as Azorin and painters such as Ignacio Zuloaga and José Gutiérrez Solana propagated a troubling, dark vision of Spain that remained unquestioned during the Franco dictatorship and has been repeatedly revived by new generations of Spanish writers, visual artists and movie directors. The España Negra myth has had a particularly strong impact on Spanish photographers, many of who have focused on archetypes and endeavoured to create a visual record of a vanishing national heritage. José Ortiz Echagüe, whose work is examined in depth in this text, served as a reference for most Spanish photographers until the end of the 1970s in terms of both style (an outdated form of pictorialism) and subjects (landscape, country and heritage viewed from an urban perspective). The notion of España Negra has evolved and waned over time. Photographers lost interest in the topic following Franco's death and the end of his decades-long dictatorship and looked increasingly to Europe for inspiration. This paper analyses how new generations of image-makers working in radically different circumstances have ideologically and aesthetically distanced themselves from outmoded perceptions of Spain as an irredeemably backward and underdeveloped society.


Zinc metal pastes can be electrolytically discharged in a concentrated caustic electrolyte. The ease with which a paste can be pumped is determined by the relative ratios of liquid, zinc, and a smaller particle size phase such as ZnO. These ratios are not arbitrary but are predictable via a model based on the packing of spherical particles. The depth of discharge is limited in part by the original liquid content of the paste.


preferred antidote, it seems, is the encouragement of artistic endeavour. Art works, he argues, contrast fundamentally with political communication in their complexity and multiple perspectives, and thus help to distance perceivers from conventional ideologies. While there is no specific audience for this book, students of public opinion, public policy and political communication would clearly benefit from exposure to its provocative perspective and well-argued thesis. In Shaping Political Consciousness, David Green traces the evolution of dominant political labels in US politics since the Civil War. His is a painstaking historical analysis of the struggle over identification with particular labels, and the transformation of both labels and their meanings in response to changing conditions. In this philological odyssey from "individualism" through "conservatism," "progressivism," "liberalism" to "anticommunism," Green seeks to make a number of points. First, and perhaps foremost, he attempts to demonstrate that political labels are adopted and given meaning by politicians for strategic reasons. In effect, labels are harnessed to the political agendas of those who successfully adopt them, and assume meaning by virtue of that association. Green warns that a failure to appreciate this by critics and scholarly investigators transforms them unwittingly into custodians of specific political paradigms. The reification of FDR's New Deal liberalism is a case in point. Second, Green argues that there is a logic to the sequence of labels' 'that has been central to the shaping of political consciousness and thereby the evolution of politics itself" (2). A significant element of this logic is the development of complementary "good" and "bad" labels in each of the historical periods examined. "Individualism" confronted "paternalism," "progressives" fought "reactionaries" and so on. Another element in this logic is the presence of contradictory sets of assumptions or beliefs associated with the "good" label. Green argues that this pattern, which he detects in each period, is not an accident; rather it is essential to allow adherents to adjust to changing social conditions and to "remain in a state of conflict without having either to act or to admit powerlessness" (8). The deliberate adoption and manipulation of labels by politicians over the period under study is well-revealed in this book. Less persuasive is the application of the author's theoretical argument. For example, the historical sequence of labels is clear from his account, but the "logic" of this developmental sequence is not well-demonstrated. Also underdeveloped is Green's argument that adoption of a label was central to the process of shaping public consciousness. The argument might as easily be made that the politician's successful "reading" of the public consciousness shaped his adoption of labels and his political agenda.


30 cases ot RCC, including 16 clear, 1 spindle and 6 mixed (clear and granular), were carefully compared in their ultrastructural characteristics. The clear, granular and spindle cell type of RCC were not different in nature but rather in the quantity of lipid, glycogen and mitochondria present. So, ultrastructually, RCC may be classified into 3 types: that rich in lipid and/or glycogen (clear), that rich in mitochondria (granular) and that poor in lipid and mitochondria (spindle). It was also found that the degree in ultrastructural differention can be of value in prognosing the RCC.


Odor imaging sensor was developed with odorants sensing mechanism based on the complicated fluorescence interactions between the multi-fluorescent-probes and odorants. In this research, poly vinyl chloride (PVC) films including various fluorescent probe were developed, and fluorescence properties of the film were investigated. Using the multi fluorescent probe film, fluorescence intensity change spectrum to various odorants was measured, and odorants could be clustered by their chemical structure by multi-variate analyses of hyper spectra images.


Chiral liquid crystal materials (n = 10 and 11 homologues of a biphenyl alkyloxybenzoate series) exhibiting the ferroelectric smectic C phase (SmC*), the smectic A phase (SmA) and the cholesteric phase (N*) have been studied by structural, electro-optical and dielectric methods. In the structural study, helical pitch, tilt angle and polarization measurements show that the N* -SmC* and the N* -SmA phase transitions appear near a N* -SmA-SmC* multicritical point. In the dielectric measurements, we have studied the soft mode in the SmC* and SmA phases. We have detected a new relaxation mechanism in the N* phase of these compounds. The temperature dependence of this relaxation process is similar to that of the classical soft mode observed in the SmA phase. This dielectric relaxation process is attributed to an electroclinic effect in the N* phase near a N*-SmA-SmC* multicritical point. From the experimental data (structural and dielectric studies), we have evaluated the soft mode rotational viscosity, the α -coefficient of the free energy and the electroclinic coefficient for the SmA and N* phases.


Ruminants produce a large amount of methane (CH4) and carbon dioxide (CO2) in their foregut. These gases cause greenhouse effect. There are a lot of studies about different feed additives which can reduce the production of greenhouse gases in ruminants. Prebiotics can also change the amount of bacteria in animal gastrointestinal tract and reduce the occurrence of diarrhoea. The aim of this study was to test whether the prebiotic inulin affects the production of CH4 and CO2 in calves' rumen and whether it affects the bacteria count in the rumen fluid and bacterial overgrowth in intestines. We used the flour of Jerusalem artichoke (Helianthus tuberosus L.) containing 50% of inulin. Approximately fifty days old, Holstein Friesian crossbreed calves were used in this study. Eight were in the control group, 8 received 12 g of flour and 8 received 24 g per day. On the 28th and 56th day of the research, we measured the amount of CH4 and CO2 in calves' rumen, took rumen fluid samples for bacterial analysis and urine to measure the level of phenol and indican. We concluded that adding the flour of Jerusalem artichoke at doses 12 g and 24 g did not significantly impact the production of CH4 and CO2 in calves' rumen, the prebiotic inulin may suppress the growth of anaerobic microorganisms in the rumen at concentration 12 g of inulin reaching 56th day of experiment. The amount of phenol and indican in calves' morning urine did not correlate with the faecal consistency of calves.


Background: About 15% of diabetic patients will develop a chronic ulcer, and about 25% of those will have to undergo foot amputation. Despite evidence of the effectiveness of autologous protein C (PC) in diabetic ulcers, efficacy and feasibility of this treatment in the general population remain unclear. Aim of the study was to compare the efficiency of management of diabetic ulcer with platelet-rich plasma (PRP) and conventional dressing. Methods: A total of 40 patients who divided into two groups: group I comprising 20 patients received homologous platelet concentrate and group II comprising 20 patients received conventional wound dressing, and the results had statistically discussed. Results: Out of total 40 patients, 20 received homologous platelet dressings, and the 20 patients received conventional moist wound dressings. 7 patients had operated for split skin grafting, 7 patients had 0-10% of the area covered with necrotic tissue, mean duration of hospital stay was 18 days, mean duration of wound debridement was 3 days and mean number of wound dressing was 6. In conventional wound dressing group, 15 patients had operated for split skin grafting, 4 patients had 0-10% of the area covered with necrotic tissue, mean duration of hospital stay was 39 days, mean duration of wound debridement was 18 days and mean number of wound dressing was 48. Conclusions: Patients operated for split skin grafting, number of wound debridement, duration of hospital stay, and duration of wound debridement, necrotic tissue coverage was less in platelet group compared to the conventional wound dressing.


The gross and microscopic pathological changes induced by a relatively acute vitamin A deficiency have been thoroughly studied 1 and the mechanism of the process of repair described. 2 , 3 On the other hand, a mild chronic deficiency of the vitamin, such as is more likely to occur in man, has received less attention. The production of such a borderline condition in animals is attended by many difficulties; chief among these is the fact that an excess of the vitamin is readily stored and external evidence of the deficiency removed whereas too small a supply results in the more acute type of the deficiency and in death. The following procedure, however, was found satisfactory for the production of a chronic deficiency of long duration. Albino rats were specially prepared by withdrawing vitamin A from the mother's diet before the young were 13 days old. At weaning (21 days) the animals were caged individually and fed a purified, vitamin A-free ration adequate in all other respects. When either beginning decline in weight, the first stages of xerophthalmia, or continued excess cornification of the vaginal epithelium of the females appeared (at an average age of 52 days), a small but known quantity of vitamin A in the form of cod liver oil† was administered by mouth. Thereafter, the amount of vitamin A to be given each day was determined for each individual rat from its clinical state (body weight, appearance of eyes, snuffles, and vaginal smear). Thus, the quantity of the vitamin was so adjusted that the animals were maintained in a state of incipient vitamin A deficiency for periods up to one year. The average daily dose of vitamin A required varied from 0.7 to 6.0 (range 0.7–8.0) International Units.


The present work shows the operation of a practical community in an academic library and how workers have tacit knowledge that allows them to contribute to the problem of the availability of materials.


California aims to achieve five million zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs) on the road by 2030 and 250,000 electrical vehicle (EV) charging stations by 2025. To reduce barriers in this process, the research team developed a simulation-based system for EV charging infrastructure design and operations. The increasing power demand due to the growing EV market requires advanced charging infrastructures and operating strategies. This study will deliver two modules in charging station design and operations, including a vehicle charging schedule and an infrastructure planning module for the solar-powered charging station. The objectives are to increase customers' satisfaction, reduce the power grid burden, and maximize the profitability of charging stations using state-of-the-art global optimization techniques, machine-learning-based solar power prediction, and model predictive control (MPC). The proposed research has broad societal impacts and significant intellectual merits. First, it meets the demand for green transportation by increasing the number of EV users and reducing the transportation sector's impacts on climate change. Second, an optimal scheduling tool enables fast charging of EVs and thus improves the mobility of passengers. Third, the designed planning tools enable an optimal design of charging stations equipped with a solar panel and battery energy storage system (BESS) to benefit nationwide transportation system development.


1. Introduction.—The object of this paper is twofold: firstly, to present a table of the Chebyshev polynomials Cn(x) = 2 cos (n cos−1 ½x) for n = I(I)12 and x = o(o·o2)2, values being exact or to 10 decimals; secondly, to provide a working list of coefficients and formulæ relating to these and allied functions. Valuable accounts of applications and properties will be found in Van der Pol and Weijers, 1933, in Lanczos, 1938, and in Szego, 1939. Further applications are indicated in the following paper, by J. C. P. Miller, which also suggests methods of reducing the inconvenience caused by the present lack of tables of the allied polynomials Sn(x). It is hoped that suitable tables will be prepared later.


Fixed point theorems for various cyclic contractions are proved in b-metric spaces. Our result general- izes many known results in fixed point theory. We use our results to obtain fixed points of certain contractions of integral type.


The language which children hear from their teachers in mathematics lessons is laden with special mathematical vocabulary, and with words and phrases particularly characteristic of mathematics lessons words like 'assume', 'multiple', and 'represent'. These words and phrases, together with the special meanings assigned to them in Mathematics, are referred to as 'the speech register of school mathematics'. Mathematical language is said to be m the 'transactional' style, since it is geared to conveying information as concisely and unambiguously as possible. To what extent do children use the transactional style, and the speech register of mathematics when they — ally want to communicate mathematical ideas? (This is different from trying to say what one thinks the teacher wants one to say...) And how does their use of this language, or their failure to use it, as the case may be, affect their mathematical thinking?


Abstract:This study brings into focus the interaction between levels of watchers and the watched in Griselda Gambaro's 1986 work, Antígona furiosa. Combinations of the laughable and the serious are shown to hold affective ways of understanding and remembering Argentina's most recent military dictatorship (1976-1983). Belittling and making light of Antígona's situation, Antinoo and Corifeo act as grotesque buffoons. The audience sometimes laughs with the buffoons, but then later reflects on it; at other moments, the two men mock and laugh while the audience merely observes their cruelty. Through both taking part in and observing nuances of humor, the importance of the witness's role in the theatre and in society is heightened and the audience ultimately acquires a new way of knowing the trauma of the dictatorship.


A hydraulic drive and braking system for vehicles has at least one hydraulic machine (primary machine 71), preferably a pump, and at least another hydraulic machine (secondary machine 2), preferably an engine. Both hydraulic machines are linked to each other by corresponding hydraulic medium ducts. Besides the primary machine, a second hydraulic machine (accelerating machine 71') is non-rotatively coupled to the driving source (69). The accelerating machine (71') is rotatively coupled to the driving source (69). The accelerating machine (71') is in communication over I/O valves (14, 15) with an accumulator (4) and it (71') has an adjustable stroke.


We study analytically and numerically the thermoelectric properties of a chain of cold atoms with dipole-dipole interactions placed in an optical periodic potential. At small potential amplitudes the chain slides freely that corresponds to the Kolmogorov-Arnold-Moser phase of integrable curves of a symplectic map. Above a certain critical amplitude the chain is pinned by the lattice being in the cantori Aubry phase. We show that the Aubry phase is characterized by exceptional thermoelectric properties with the figure of merit Z T = 25 being 10 times larger than the maximal value reached in material science experiments. We show that this system is well accessible for magneto-dipole cold atom experiments that opens new prospects for investigations of thermoelectricity.


In this paper, we have investigated the characteristics of the magnetic abrasive using sludge on polishing of internal finishing of seamless stainless steel (STS304) tube applying magnetic abrasive polishing. Either white alumina (WA) or green carborundum (GC) grain was used to resin sludge at a low temperature, and the sludge of magnetic abrasive powder was synthesized and crushed into 200 meshes. Surface roughness was measured before and after polishing, and more than of improvement of surface roughness was achieved when WA grain was used under a specific condition. Even though some degree of surface roughness due to deeper scratches still exist, but the result showed a prospective magnetic abrasive polishing using sludge with WA or GC grains.


............................................................................................................................ IX GENERAL INDEX ................................................................................................................... X FIGURES INDEX ................................................................................................................. XIII TABLES INDEX................................................................................................................... XIV ANNEXES INDEX ................................................................................................................ XV ABBREVIATIONS AND SYMBOLS.................................................................................. XVI BOOK CHAPTERS AND ARTICLES...................................................................................... 1 BOOK CHAPTERS ................................................................................................................. 1 PUBLISHED ARTICLES ........................................................................................................... 1 SUBMITTED ARTICLES .......................................................................................................... 3


Chitosan treatment results in significantly lower plasma LDL-cholesterol concentrations. To 12 test the working mechanism of Chitosan, we measured plasma surrogate markers of cholesterol 13 absorption, synthesis, and degradation to bile acids corrected for cholesterol concentration (R_sterols). 14 One hundred sixteen obese subjects (BMI 31.7, range 28.1 – 38.9 kg/m2) were studied under Chitosan 15 treatment (n=61) and placebo treatment (n=55) during 12 weeks. The participants underwent a short 16 nutrition education on how to improve quality of nutrition and energy expenditure. Daily Chitosan 17 intake was 3200 mg. RESULTS. Plasma LDL-cholesterol concentration decreased significantly stronger 18 (P=0.0252) under Chitosan (-8.67 ± 18.18 mg/dl, 5.6%) than under placebo treatment (-1.00 ± 24.22 mg/dl, 19 0.9%). This reduction was not associated with corresponding decreases of markers of cholesterol 20 absorption under Chitosan treatment. As a marker for cholesterol synthesis R_lathosterol showed a 21 trend towards a stronger decrease under Chitosan treatment (P=0.0759). Regarding markers of bile acid 22 synthesis, R_7α-hydroxy-cholesterol decreased significantly only under Chitosan treatment, but not 23 stronger than under placebo treatment. In conclusion, a significant selective reduction of plasma LDL24 cholesterol under Chitosan treatment is neither associated with an expected reduction of plasma 25 surrogate markers of cholesterol absorption nor with expected increases of markers for cholesterol and 26 bile acid synthesis. 27


The aim of present this article is to introduce a new method for establishing polynomials and spline approximation to unbounded functions in weighted space in terms of averaged modulus, modulus of smoothness and Ditzian-Totik modulus.


cerebral malignancies. We therefore feel convinced that this patient had ADEM, supported by the clinical response to corticosteroid therapy. At the time of presentation the patient had already fully seroconverted and there is no negative HIV test available within the previous 6 months. Therefore, the patient does not strictly fulfil the definition of primary HIV infection, namely detectable HIV-RNA or p24-antigen concomitant with negative or inconclusive HIV serology, or alternatively, evidence of seroconversion within the last 6 months [10]. However the clinical history with sexual exposure followed within 4 to 5 weeks by a febrile illness and subsequently after 1 month a positive HIV test with very high viral loads in both plasma and CSF as well as high CD4 count is fully compatible with and highly suggestive of primary HIV infection and very recent seroconversion. We therefore believe that this patient did have ADEM triggered by primary HIV infection, although it cannot be excluded that the patient had chronic HIV infection and ADEM caused by another infectious agent. In conclusion, we suggest that ADEM might be a possible, although rare, manifestation of primary HIV infection, and that ADEM should be considered among the multiple differential diagnoses in an HIV-infected patient presenting with neurological symptoms. References


This paper describes an autonomous airborne vehicle being developed at the Georgia Tech Engineering Experiment Station. The Autonomous Helicopter System (AHS) is a multi-mission system consisting of three distinct sections: vision, planning and control. Vision provides the local and global scene analysis which is symbolically represented and passed to planning as the initial route planning constraints. Planning generates a task dependent path for the vehicle to traverse which assures maximum mission system success as well as safety. Control validates the path and either executes the given route or feeds back to previous sections in order to resolve conflicts.


Contract management is an essential part of project management as well as construction management. International contract management practice has a great influence on Croatian construction contract management practice (CCCMP). The influence is manifested in the terms of globalization and integration processes, in the implementation of new financing models, in the ascending market demands, as well as in the increase of projects' complexity. The shortage of national assets and a constant need for the Government's borrowing from international financial institutions, resulted with the presence of international contract management and legal systems (Common Law) in the Republic of Croatia, which are inconsistent with the domestic ones (Civil Law). Such an influence urges for a remodelling and reshaping of the national contract practice. For instance, public projects financed by the international finance funds, due to the lack of quality and eligible domestic contract practice, often result in the direct application of FIDIC Form of Contract. The aim of this paper is to present the construction contract management as a form of a complex organizational process composed of several generic sub-processes, possibility of implementing data tracking and control system (DTCS) and its specificities in the CCCMP, with the emphasis on Progress Billings and Payments sub-process.


Abstract The neutron cross section standards are now being evaluated as the initial phase in the development of the new ENDF/B-VI file. These standards evaluations are following a somewhat different process compared with that used for earlier versions of ENDF. The primary effort is concentrated on a simultaneous evaluation using a generalized least squares program, R-matrix evaluations, and a procedure for combining the results of these evaluations. The ENDF/B-VI standards evaluation procedure is outlined, and preliminary simultaneous evaluation and R-matrix results are presented.


A spectral-resource-utilization-efficient and highly resilient coarse granular routing optical network architecture is proposed. The improvement in network resiliency is realized by a novel concept named loop inflation that aims to enhance the geographical diversity of a working path and its redundant path. The trade-off between the inflation and the growth in circumference length of loops is controlled by the Simulated Annealing technique. Coarse granular routing is combined with resilient path design to realize higher spectral resource utilization. The routing scheme defines virtual direct links (VDLs) bridging distant nodes to alleviate the spectrum narrowing effect at the nodes traversed, allowing optical channels to be more densely accommodated by the fibers installed. Numerical experiments elucidate that the proposed networks successfully achieve a 30+0/0 route diversity improvement and a 12% fiber number reduction over conventional networks.


1 The isoflavone genistein may either stimulate or inhibit cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) Cl− channels. To investigate how genistein inhibits CFTR, we studied CFTR Cl− channels in excised inside‐out membrane patches from cells expressing wild‐type human CFTR. 2 Addition of genistein (100 μM) to the intracellular solution caused a small decrease in single‐channel current amplitude (i), but a large reduction in open probability (Po). 3 Single‐channel analysis of channel block suggested that genistein (100 μM) may inhibit CFTR by two mechanisms: first, it may slow the rate of channel opening and second, it may block open channels. 4 Acidification of the intracellular solution relieved channel block, suggesting that the anionic form of genistein may inhibit CFTR. 5 Genistein inhibition of CFTR Cl− currents was weakly voltage dependent and unaffected by changes in the extracellular Cl− concentration. 6 Channel block was relieved by pyrophosphate (5 mM) and ATP (5 mM), two agents that interact with the nucleotide‐binding domains (NBDs) of CFTR to greatly stimulate channel activity. 7 ATP (5 mM) prevented the genistein‐induced decrease in Po, but was without effect on the genistein‐induced decrease in i. 8 The genistein‐induced decrease in i was voltage dependent, whereas the genistein‐induced decrease in Po was voltage independent. 9 The data suggest that genistein may inhibit CFTR by two mechanisms. First, it may interact with NBD1 to potently inhibit channel opening. Second, it may bind within the CFTR pore to weakly block Cl− permeation.


The aim of this article is to look into the provisions of the newly amended Juvenile Justice Act. The central question which this article looks at whether the article is comprehensive enough to eliminate the possibilities of crime by juveniles as it is based on principle of reformation and rehabilitation of children who are otherwise presumed to be innocent not to commit a crime. It also tries to see if the intention of juveniles involved in crimes can be differentiated from their social surroundings that can help to punish the perpetuators in the former while thinking of remedial measures in the latter.


The monodromy action in the homology of level sets of Morse functions on stra-ti(cid:12)ed singular analytic varieties is studied. The local variation operators in both the standard and the intersection homology groups de(cid:12)ned by the loops around the critical values of such functions are reduced to similar operators in the homology groups of the transversal slices of the corresponding strata.


Normalization of relations between the Peoples Republic of China and the United States should provide opportunities for scientific and medical information exchange and collaborative research. US medical organizations are urged to establish communication channels with the Chinese. Initial inquiry and contacts can be made through the following: Dr. Wu Chieh-ping MD vice president Chinese Academy of Medical Science in Peking Peoples Republic of China; Chinese Medical Association 42 Tung Ssu Hsi Ta Chieh Peking Peoples Republic (direct letters to Chen Chih-ming MD vice president and secretary-general or to Tu Pao-chung MD deputy secretary-general Chinese Medical Association; Mr. Hu Nansheng Embassy Peoples Republic of China 2300 Connecticut Avenue Washington D.C. 20008; T. O. Cheng MD U.S.-China Physicians Friendship Association George Washington University Medical Center 2150 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Washington D.C. 20037.


Some 5-arylalkylidene-2-thioxo-1,3-thiazolidine-4-one derivatives were prepared as potential antimicrobial compounds. General synthetic approach of all newly synthesized compounds is presented. All the discussed rhodanine derivatives were analyzed using the reversed phase high performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC) method for the lipophilicity measurement. The procedure was performed under isocratic conditions with methanol as an organic modifier in the mobile phase using end-capped non-polar C18 stationary RP column. In the present study the correlation between RP-HPLC retention parameter log K (the logarithm of capacity factor K) and log P values calculated in various ways is discussed as well as the relationships between the lipophilicity and chemical structure of the studied compounds.


Code smells may introduce some side effects in the source code and therefore deteriorate the code quality. Martin Fowler has presented a list of 22 code smells, but all these code smells have not been paid good attention for their detection. One such code smell is Temporary field code smell. A publicly available software tool called "Designate Java" has performed a good amount of work in context of code smells. Designate Java is able to detect just 10 code smells. A recently published study has proposed a metric- based approach to detect temporary field smell but as far as we could possibly know, neither this work nor some other tool exists that can identify temporary field code smell. This paper has proposed and developed a software tool called "TFfinder", for automatic detection of temporary field code smell. TFfinder tool has been thoroughly tested on mainstream open source JAVA projects from the GitHub. Examination of results showed that all these projects taken for the investigation experienced Temporary field code smell in fluctuating degrees extending from 3% to 22%. We have likewise forked the "Designate Java" and pushed another branch containing code of the temporary field detection. At long last, we presented this branch to the original repository with the goal that the entire network can be benefitted.


A review of Knowledge Representation -- Logical, Philosophical, and Computational Foundations, by John F. Sowa. Pacific Grove, California, Brooks/Cole, 2000, 534 pp., ISBN 0534949657.


Apter AJ, Kinman JL, Bilker WB, et al. Represcription of penicillin after allergic-like events. J Allergy Clin Immunol 2004; 113:764–770. [31] Backstrom M, Mjorndal T, Dahlqvist R. Under-reporting of serious adverse drug reactions in Sweden. Pharmacoepidemiology and Drug Safety 2004; 13:483– 487. [83] Cetinkaya F, Cag Y. Penicillin sensitivity among children without a positive history for penicillin allergy. Pediatr Allergy Immunol 2004; 15:278–280. [55] Gomes E, Cardoso MF, Praca F, et al. Self reported drug allergy in a general adult Portuguese population. Clin Exp Allergy 2004; 34:1597–1601. [35] Helbling A, Hurni T, Mueller UR, et al. Incidence of anaphylaxis with circulatory symptoms: a study over a 3-year period comprising 940000 inhabitants of the Swiss canton Bern. Clin Exp Allergy 2004; 34:285–290. [46] Kiechl Kohlendorfer U, Hof D, Peglow UP, et al. Epidemiology of apparent life threatening events. Arch Dis Child 2005; 90:297–300. Messaad D, Sahla H, Benahmed S, et al. Drug provocation tests in patients with a history suggesting an immediate drug hypersensitivity reaction. Ann Intern Med 2004; 140:1001–1006. [85] Mittmann N, Knowles S R Gomez M, et al. Evaluation of the extent of under-reporting of serious adverse drug reactions: the case of toxic epidermal necrolysis. Drug Saf 2004; 27:477–487. [84] Nebeker JR, Barach P, Samore MH. Clarifying adverse drug events: a clinician's guide to terminology, documentation and reporting. Ann Intern Med 2004; 140:795–801. [06] Peng MM, Jick H. A population-based study of incidence, cause and severity of anaphylaxis in the United Kingdom. Arch Intern Med 2004; 164:317–319. [45] Pirmohamed M, James S, Meakin S, et al. Adverse drug reactions as cause of admission to hospital: prospective analysis of 18820 patients. BMJ 2004; 329:15–19. [25] Temple ME, Robinson RF, Miller JC, et al. Frequency and preventability of adverse drug reactions in paediatric patients. Drug Safety 2004; 27:819–829. [63]


Currently housing price in China is rise rapidly.The housing market is led by high-end houses and real estate developers.Property speculation becomes increasingly fierce,while low income residents are facing difficulties in housing market.This study investigated real estate market in Beijing,Through analysis of the status of housing-low-rent housing,low-cost housing,commercial housing,as well as house leasing,and relevant policy,this disquisition is trying to focus on the sticking point and policy-oriented reason behind the high price of housing in our country.Based on investigations and research,it has put forward some ideas and suggestions from a personal point of view in terms of intensifying government responsibility and making a better housing guarantee policy.


Functional brain networks exhibit dynamics on the sub-second temporal scale and are often assumed to embody the physiological substrate of cognitive processes. Here we analyse the temporal and spatial dynamics of these states, as measured by EEG, with a hidden Markov model and compare this approach to classical EEG microstate analysis. We find dominating state lifetimes of 100--150\,ms for both approaches. The state topographies show obvious similarities. However, they also feature distinct spatial and especially temporal properties. These differences may carry physiological meaningful information originating from patterns in the data that the HMM is able to integrate while the microstate analysis is not. This hypothesis is supported by a consistently high pairwise correlation of the temporal evolution of EEG microstates which is not observed for the HMM states and which seems unlikely to be a good description of the underlying physiology. However, further investigation is required to determine the robustness and the functional and clinical relevance of EEG HMM states in comparison to EEG microstates.


The article is dedicated to finding new scientific ideas about the forms of contemporary literature. Noting that instead of differentiating, regulatory paradigm of the genre in the nineteenth XXI centuries comes looser, synthesizing one, the authors propose to consider non-classical, non-canonical works of the newest forms of literature as author's models. Such model performs the function of genres, but have a new degree of freedom. New degree of freedom is determined by the authors, firstly, by using the product of the expressive possibilities of different genres of the single ancestral paradigm, and secondly, by the orientation not on the form of the genre but on the well-known plot, motive, the situation of the repertoire of world culture or an event of actual reality. Key concepts: the literary kind, genres, non-classical form, the epic and lyric drama, Pushkin, Blok, Mayakovsky, the author's model, the cultural model.


This chapter discusses the use of asynchronous cellular automata with controlled movement of active cells for image processing and recognition. A time-pulsed image description method is described. Various models and structures of cellular automata for transmitting active signals are presented. The image of the figure is binarized and an active signal moves along its edges. At every moment in time, the active cell of an asynchronous cellular automaton generates a pulse signal. The shape of the generated pulse sequence describes the geometric shape of a flat figure. Methods for describing images of individual plane figures, as well as a method for describing images consisting of many separate geometric objects, are proposed. Cellular automaton is considered as an analogue of the retina of the human visual canal. The circuitry structures of cells of such asynchronous cellular automata are presented, and the software implementation of the proposed methods is also performed. Methods allow one to classify individual geometric image objects.


In certain cases, the conversion of paddy fields is unavoidable. Nevertheless, the change in land use must consider various aspects of the feasibility of development, both legal aspects, physical aspects of the area, the environment and others.The objectives are to, analyze the implementation of the policy on the transfer of agricultural land into residential areas, and analyze the factors that support and hinder the implementation of the policy. The type of research used is descriptive qualitative, using primary and secondary data. Data collection methods are interviews, in-depth (Indep interview) and direct discussion or Focus Group Discussion (FGD), observation and literature review.
The results of the study indicate that the activity of land conversion into a residential area in West Lombok Regency has been guided by the Regional Regulation and Regional Spatial Planning (RSP) No. 11 / 2011. The use of agricultural land for residential areas has been regulated in the determination of the spatial pattern of residential areas in urban areas. and rural areas, the inhibiting factor in implementing the land use change policy is the absence of a detailed regional spatial planning plan and the limited number of field officers. The supporting factors are the Regional Spatial Planning Coordination Team, which is coordinated by the Regional Secretary. The recommendation given is to immediately issue a Detailed Spatial Plan so that there is an even distribution of housing areas. It is necessary to make a regional regulation that specifically examines and regulates the conversion of land functions.


This paper expound the plan of developing the software parameter CAD using Visual LISP for Aluminum Bottle Cap Blanking and Stretching Compound Mold .Through the software, by man-machine conversation to input the interralated parameter. the theoretic calculation and drawing of the mold could be fulfiled automatically, and the design quality and the efficiency could be improved observably.


PURPOSE: A flat type vibration motor is provided to reduce the damage of a magnet due to external shocks by installing a flexible printed circuit board in a bottom bracket and to reduce the rotation instability of a rotor by stably supporting a bearing member. CONSTITUTION: One end of a shaft is fixed to a bottom bracket(110). The other end of the shaft is fixed to a top case(120). The top case is combined with the bottom bracket and forms an internal space. A bearing member(170) comprises a mounting hole. A rotor is connected to the bearing member and rotates. A spacer is fixed and installed in the top case in order to reduce a friction area of the bearing member and the shaft. An installation hole in which the shaft passes through is formed in the spacer. A slope part is formed in the upper side of the bearing member in order to reduce a friction area with the bottom surface of the spacer.


A great deal of research has been reported in the past five years on the applications of holographic interferometry to the nondestructive testing of materials and products. The majority of this research has been concerned with measuring either the object's surface displacements or its internal refractive index changes (or both). Relatively few researchers have pursued the fact that, in addition to measuring such changes in the object, holographic interferom-etry can be used to produce a contour map of the object's shape. The lack of interest shown to holographic contouring is easily explained by the relative lack of practical applications.


In this article the results of a study of psychological readiness of pregnant women to parenthood are presented. Psychological readiness is defined as a structure consisting of three components: the cognitive, emotional, and behavioral, which is consistent with the single theory of psychological processes L. M. Vekkera. It was found that the main component that determines the high level of psychological readiness for motherhood is a cognitive component. The content of the cognitive component includes an understanding of the child as a value. Some results of the research of value orientations of pregnant women in the structure of psychological readiness for parenthood. To identify the value system of pregnant women, the method of "Value Orientations" by M. Rokich was applied. The analysis of empirical data was performed using factor analysis and U criterion of Mann-Whitney. Respondents were distributed into two age groups: first group of 21-25 years (56 persons), second group of 26-30 years (44 persons). All women are iparous. The younger age group of pregnant women is characterized by values that are directed at the outside world. Emotional component dominates in the structure of psychological readiness for motherhood. Values of women in the second group are aimed at children. Cognitive and behavioral components dominate in the structure of their psychological readiness for motherhood. Knowledge of the structure of psychological readiness of women to parenthood will help to diagnose disorders of maternal behavior, to design methods of its correction and prevention.


The baby monitoring system is a kind of smart IoT system helpful for busy working parents. Besides providing basic safety care, it actually also delivers the moments of baby growing and development by all time recording. Hence, in baby monitoring systems nowadays, capturing and recommending the precious moments of infant growth to their parents has become a real-world demand. How to capture the interesting, worthwhile and exquisite moments with commemorative and catering to the parents' preferences is a challenging problem. In this paper, we propose a novel image rating framework, namely Infant growth Precious Moment capturing (IPreMom), which is based on the concept of continual learning for comprehensively addressing the problem of automatically capturing the precious moments during infant growth. Through a series of experiments, it was shown that our proposed framework delivers excellent performance compared to the baselines, with up to 40% improvement in terms of MAE. Moreover, the proposed framework has been implanted into a commercial baby monitor on the market. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first work that solves the problem of automatically capturing the infant precious moments using continual learning and image rating techniques, which is important and has not been well studied in the academic and industrial communities.


13C NNJ:R studies of four para-substituted monothiodib~nzoylmethanes and their zinc(II) complexes 10gether with the 19F NMR studies of 4'fluoromonothiodibenzoylmethane and its Zn(II) comple~. p-Ha~oand p-methyl-substituted monothiodibenzoyln:1ethanes were prepared by the literature method~. For the preparation of zinc(II) complexes, • general method was followed which has been re~orted in an earlier publication9. The l3C NMR sI1>ectraof the crystallised ligands and their comple~s were recorded in cWoroform on a lEOL FX'90-Q NMR spectrometer at 22.49 MHz using th¢ CHC13 signal at 0 77.2 ppm as an internal stan~ard. All the spectra were run over 5000 Hz spe<ttral width using 8K data points and a pulse wi~th of 5 j.lS.The 19F NMR spectra were run in ¢DC13 at 84.25 MHz over a 15,150 Hz


This study provides critical analysis of ranking surveys, leading to regression analysis that provides fresh insight into the factors that structure presidential rating scores. Results demonstrate that rating scores can be predicted with relative ease. Furthermore, new measures are found to be significant — two operationalizing the latest extension of Stephen Skowronek's "political time" thesis and one controlling for cultural level preferences favoring "progressive" presidents. This suggests that expert evaluators take note of presidential performance within context. It also suggests that experts of all political stripes are influenced by the milieu in which their evaluation takes place. In the end, while no claim is made that the popular expert surveys used in this study provide a true measure of presidential greatness, it is argued that ranking polls may tell us more than critics admit.


(57) ABSTRACT Systems and methods which implement surrogate (e.g., approximation) models to systematically reduce the param eter space in an optimization problem are shown. In certain embodiments, rigorous (e.g., higher fidelity) models are implemented with respect to the reduced parameter space provided by use of surrogate models to efficiently and more rapidly arrive at an optimized solution. Accordingly, certain embodiments build Surrogate models of an actual simulation, and systematically reduce the number of design parameters used in the actual simulation to solve optimization problems using the actual simulation. A multi-stage method that facili tates optimization of decisions related to development plan ning and reservoir management may be provided. Iterative processing may be implemented with respect to a multi-stage optimization method. There may be uncertainty in various parameters, such as in reservoir parameters, which is taken into account according to certain embodiments. 13 Claims, 4 Drawing Sheets


Many of the organizations do not know how to choose when acquiring a metadata management tool. It is because of this that one of the main objectives of this study is to know some of the metadata management tools that currently exist in the market. In addition, you want to compare some of these tools by testing data insertion and measuring their performance to choose the most efficient and easy to handle.
But to make it easier to understand these tools we will first define what are metadata and metadata management? Metadata is "data about data" and serves to provide information on the data produced. Metadata consists of information that characterizes data, describes the content, quality, conditions, history, availability, and other characteristics of the data. Metadata management is only the control you have of these metadata


The aim of this study was to investigate the phenotypic relationships between milk production, traits indicating energy utilization, growth hormone (GH) and insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) in 793 lactating two year-old Friesian-Jersey crossbred dairy cows. Total milk volume and yield of milk components protein, fat and lactose were calculated as the sum of spline function predictions. Measures of energy intake, energy balance and efficiency of energy utilisation were calculated using metabolisable energy (ME) prediction equations derived from individual animal measurements of milk production, condition score and liveweight. There was considerable variation in the energy balance measures, with 2.5% of cows having less than 15 days in negative energy balance out of 100 days and 1% of cows being in negative energy balance for all 100 days. Higher producing cows had higher levels of GH and lower levels of IGF-1 and a greater amount of body tissue depletion compared to lower producing cows. Cows with higher ratios of milk ME over maintenance ME had lower circulating levels of IGF-1 and higher GH as well as greater body tissue depletion in the first 100 days of lactation. The relationship between energy balance, efficiency and IGF-1 with fertility and the impact of these relationships on economic efficiency require further investigation.


We examine the relationship between intermediaries, stock markets, and real activity in four East Asian crisis economies (Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, and Thailand) using a series of comparative vector autoregressive and error correction models with quarterly data from 1995 through 2010, thus including both the financial crises of 1997–1998 and 2008–2009. Although we find generally positive effects of stock market development and liquidity on growth and investment for all four countries, expansion in traditional measures of financial development do not promote growth, and even have strongly negative effects for Indonesia and Korea. The results from these economies suggest that credit can build up to the point of "saturation," and that a well-functioning stock market can serve as a growth-promoting outlet for funds as a financial system expands and evolves.


The advent of AT-cut quartz crystal resonator filters has made possible the design of high-quality channel translation equipment with reduced cost and size. This paper describes a new channel bank, with built-in carrier generation, employing 8-MHz polylithic crystal filters for sideband selection and singleresonator filters for carrier selection. Integrated and hybrid thick film circuits have been used to provide increased reliability and size reduction The modulation plan, equipment design, and performance are discussed.


Wavelet based methods for PDEs by C. Basdevant Forecasting with a variable-resolution global model by J. Cote, S. Gravel, M. Roch, A. Methot, A. Patoine, J. Caveen, M. Valin, S. Thomas, and A. Staniforth The simulation and analysis of vortex dynamics in nearly-inviscid 2D and layerwise-2D flows by D. G. Dritschel Direct and large eddy simulation of turbulence by J. H. Ferziger Continuous adaptation of a curvilinear grid by B. Fiedler The semi-Lagrangian method by S. Gravel An introduction to single-point closure methodology by B. E. Launder Numerical simulation of two-phase flows by M. Meneguzzi A high-resolution adaptive moving mesh hydrodynamic algorithm by U.-L. Pen.


Local government has become the implementing agency for development in South Africa. The vision for local government encapsulates far more than its previous role of regulator and service deliverer. A recent policy review process reinforces the characteristics and outcomes of developmental local government, but emphasises inclusivity of local citizens in decision-making. Citizens are encouraged to participate actively at four levels: as voters; as citizens who express views on policy through stakeholder associations; as consumers and end-users of municipal services; and as organized partners involved in the mobilization of resources for development vis-a-vis businesses, non-governmental organisations and community based organisations (DPLG, 2009). Citizen participation is clearly a strategic capacity and imperative of local government. The local government system, like others internationally, has adopted a parallel system of elected representatives and direct participation by citizens and civil society. This development necessitates an innovative public administrative system. Local governments are developing codes and charters outlining the values and principles of participation, in line with international trends. The evidence to date is that participation is both integrally legislated for and institutionalised. Consequently, local governments are polities in their own right, where citizen participation is at the centre of the system of local governance and an emerging system of administrative justice intends to support local decision-making processes.


In-vehicle voice interactions appear to be less distracting than those systems with visual-manual interfaces only. However, speaking with an auditory interface can still divert drivers' attention away from the primary driving task. A driving simulator study was conducted to compare the workloads of speaking and listening. Thirty-two participants were recruited and were asked to multi-task between driving a vehicle, using a voice control system (VCS), and performing the Tactile Detection Response Task (TDRT). TDRT performance metrics show that speaking is cognitively more demanding than listening. There are also associations observed between the complexity of the spoken information and higher cognitive load.


A total of 307 patients with superficial measurable tumors were registered on a Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG) protocol involving fractionated radiation therapy, either alone or followed immediately by hyperthermia (42.5°C, 45–60 min). Overall complete response (CR) was observed in 30% of the lesions treated with radiotherapy (RT) and 32% of those receiving RT and heat. Response was found to be significantly related to both maximum tumor diameter (<3 or >3 cm) and site/histology (breast/adenocarcinoma, head and neck/squamous, or other site/histologies). In tumors < 3 cm in diameter in the breast, trunk, and extremities, a better CR rate was noted with irradiation and heat (62 and 67%) than with irradiation alone (40 and 0%). However, in the head and neck there was only minimal difference in CR with irradiation alone or combined with hyperthermia (50 vs 38%). In lesions < 3 cm treated with irradiation and heat, there was improved local control. In lesions > 3 cm, there was no difference in local control between the two treatment arms. The higher response rate in patients with smaller lesions (<3 cm) may be explained by the fact that these tumors are easier to heat. Problems in correlating tumor response with quality of heating include less than optimal heating in larger lesions and the limited ability of current thermometry to map the temperature distribution in a tumor. Acute and late toxicities in both treatment arms were comparable, except for an overall 30% incidence of thermal blisters in the heated tumors.


In order to improve the passing capability of airboat on ice snow covered pavements, this paper designs a new type of independent suspension system for airboat. The three-dimensional model of independent suspension system is established by using CATIA and it is imported into the ADAMS/VIEW environment for dynamic simulation under typical working conditions with the CAD/CAE data interface. The independent suspension system dynamic analysis is made according to the post processing curve. The damping characteristic of shock absorber and stiffness of rubber bushing are determined and the movement relationship between each component of the independent suspension system is verified to meet the design requirements.


Beta adrenoceptors (beta-ARs) play important roles in regulation of heart function. The well-known beta-AR-associated signaling in heart is composed of a coupled mechanism among both beta1- and beta2-AR and stimulatory G protein, while recent studies emphasized the contribution of constitutive beta3-AR, thereby initiating additional signalling pathways, particularly under physiopathological conditions. The expression level of beta3-AR is very low in normal heart comparison to others and its level is increased markedly under hyperglycemia. In here, we aimed first to examine whether a beta3-AR stimulation via agonist exposure under in vitro conditions can affect the normal electrical activity of cardiomyocyte and then compare them with ones obtained from under hyperglycemic cardiomyocytes. We used ventricular cardiomyocytes exposed to either CL316243 or BRL37344 with 20-30 min incubation. Expose cells to beta3-AR agonist induced marked prolongation in action potential in normal rat cardiomyocytes, whereas it induced marked shortining in the prolonged action potential in hyperglycemic ventricular cells. This opposite effect was also observed in voltage-gated K+-currents as well as TTX-sensitive Na+-currents. However, CL316243 exposure induced similar augmentation in Na+/K+-pump currents in both cells. Taken into consideration a mediation of negative inotropic effect of beta3-AR stimulation by activation of NO-pathway in mammalian cells and an upregulated beta3-AR expression with marked negative inotropic effect in hyperglycemic cells, we tested the relation between upregulation of beta3-AR and increased intracellular free Zn2 + in hyperglycemic cells. Increased free Zn induced a marked increase in the expression level of beta3-AR in normal cardiomyocytes, which was similar to one obtained in diabetic cardiomyocytes. Our data provide important information on opposite role of beta-AR stimulation in cardiomyocytes as well as its relation to increased intracellular free Zn under physiological and hyperglycemic conditions, which includes its direct ionic current remodeling effects at cellular level. Therefore, one can conclude that although various studies provide functional evidence for the role of beta3-AR modulation of ventricular function, it remains to be established whether these effects on cardiac function, particularly under pathophysiological conditions are beneficial or detrimental.


An optical method of detection applicable to shear stress sensors,which were based on the geometrical Moire effect has been presented.The Moire pattern shift as a result of the displacement of the floating element of the sensor structure.The design of sensor structure linear and sensitivity,the dynamic response of the sensor,and the characteristic of the Moire fringe pattern has been demonstrated.Designed results indicate a mechanical sensitivity of 0.066 μm/Pa,a resonant frequency of 8.16 kHz,and a Moire amplification of 20.


This paper focused on studying the agricultural commodity prices in India and it's extreme volatility due to many reasons such as government interference, growth, market forces factors, regular floods and droughts, transport and warehousing problems, etc. These are contributing factors to demand fluctuations. In this case, the future market plays an important role in the economy. The demand for commodity futures has three particular economic functions: price discovery, price risk management, and price volatility. The future market plays a key role in the process of price discovery. The main aim of this system is to regulate prices to minimize uncertainty, to provide price signals to market traders for futures spot prices through the price discovery phase. So, this study emphasized the role of the derivative market in reducing the volatility of agricultural commodity prices in the Indian market.


To solve the energy efficiency problem in the wireless sensor networks(WSNs),a clustering hierarchy arithmetic based on energy prediction(CHEP) was presented.Taking use of the sensor nodes state diversion module,the proposed remaining energy was added as a considered parameter in calculating the threshold in CHEP.Hence it can guarantee the node with high remaining energy be chosen as the cluster-head node in priority in each round.From the experiments,we analyzed the performance of CHEP and compared it with other cluster-based routing arithmetics where there was no prediction used in selecting the cluster-head node.It was satisfied that the arithmetic of CHEP could prove the validity of energy prediction mechanism and threshold amended.Simulation results show that the process of CHEP can balance the energy load in the network and prolong the lifetime of the network.


The invention discloses a structure of a thermal protection coating material used for a steel structure surface and application thereof. The thermal protection coating material comprises an organic bottom layer material, refractory bricks and an inorganic surface layer material, wherein the organic bottom layer comprises epoxy resin, a curing agent polyamide and a toughening agent liquid rubber; clayey refractory bricks are selected; the inorganic surface layer comprises sodium silicate, a curing agent sodium fluosilicate, sand, cement and a refractory aggregate. The thermal protection coating material can bear scouring of a gas flow simulated by a rocket and ensures that the metal back temperature does not exceed 150 DEG C, and a coating has good thermal insulation property.


A protected sperm whale myoglobin-(57—96)-tetracontapeptide (29) was synthesized by successive condensations of three fragments, Boc–(70 —76)–OH, Boc–(62—69)–OH, and Boc–(57— 61)–OH, to a partially protected eicosapeptide ester, H–(77—96)– OBzl. After removal of the protecting groups of 29, the crude product was purified with reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography to yield sperm whale myoglobin-(57—96)-tetracontapeptide (30). The circular dichroism spectra showed that this peptide was in a random conformation in 0.10 M phosphate buffer (pH 6.50) and in a 69% α-helix conformation in 60% 2,2,2-trifluoroethanol–0.10 M phosphate buffer (pH 6.50).


Social Media services gain increasing importance as a new data source for achieving Situation Awareness in disaster management. One crucial prerequisite is to automatically filter social media messages towards informativeness commonly realized by supervised machine learning. Since disaster situations are different, most classification approaches focus on informativeness classification of similar disasters. Thus their use is limited to particular disaster types, for instance earthquakes or floods, lacking general applicability. At the same time, how to get accurate informativeness classification for new disaster events is not yet totally understood due to variations in training data, features, classification algorithms and their settings. To address these issues, our contribution is threefold: First, a systematic and in-depth analysis of an existing twitter crisis data set is provided along four different dimensions in order to gain a comprehensive understanding of those characteristics indicating informative Tweets in disaster situations. On basis of these insights, a cross domain classifier is engineered, which is applicable not only across different disaster events but also across disaster events of different types. Finally, systematic classification experiments are conducted, demonstrating that our classification approach is more accurate than other disaster type specific ones.


As China comes to play an increasingly essential role in global affairs, ideological front engaging in-depth integration and interaction with the world is becoming an important mission. What are your thoughts about telling Chinese stories in English? How can we spread China's voice and show the world a real, three-dimensional and comprehensive China? Based on questionnaires and analysis, this paper analyzes the number, type and effect of revision of relevant words in students' compositions, discusses the writing teaching in higher vocational colleges assisted by Automated Writing Evaluation with course education, and verifies the effectiveness through empirical research. The results show that it is helpful to train students to inherit excellent Chinese cultural tradition and promote students' patriotism education. Meanwhile, it plays an active role in improving students' ability to modify their own writing. It can stimulate students' interest in learning, develop a good habit of reading and accumulate textual knowledge, as well as improve students' writing skills and strategies and enhance their ability to modify writing comprehensively.


At least two tool parts (3,5), the first tool part is allocated to the valve seat machining having at least one cutting edge (11), the second tool part has at least one cutting edge has a (15) is assigned to the valve guide machining, a machining tool these tool part is coupled via a precision joint (17). Precision joint (17) is formed as a frustoconical joint, a second planar surface of the first planar surface of the first tool part (3) and (19) a second tool part (5) (21 ) has, these flat surfaces are arranged perpendicular to the central axis of the tool (1) (23), together with the phase contact in the assembled state of the tool (1), the first tool part (3) is made of steel. The second tool part (5) is divided into two parts (39, 41), the first portion (39) is made of cemented carbide, the second portion (41) of the first tool part and a blade (13) cutting with made of a material rich in ductility than (3). .FIELD 1


The Discrete Logarithm Problem(DLP)was analyzed.Based on the discrete logarithm in the prime field,and combined with the elliptic curve DLP in the limited domain,a new digital signature was brought up.In addition,the security of this digital signature was analyzed and its performance was compared with other signatures.The results of comparison prove that this new digital signature based on discrete logarithm is more effective and secure than the others.


The high cost of the enzymes used for the hydrolysis of lignocellulosic biomass is one of the bottlenecks in the production of second-generation ethanol and the use of local biomass, such elephant grass, can help to reduce this cost. In this investigation elephant grass biomass was evaluated as a carbon and inducer source of production of cellulases and xylanases by the fungus Penicillium echinulatum strain 9A02S1 in solid-state cultivation. The highest filter paper activity (13.26 U.g-1 dry matter) and β-glucosidase activity (138.34 U.g-1 dry matter) were obtained on the fifth day of cultivation, in medium containing biomass pre-treated with sulfuric acid and untreated, respectively. The highest endoglucanase activity was 158.44 U.g-1 dry matter in the presence of elephant grass pre-treated with sulfuric acid. The xylanase activity was highest with medium that was formulated with 75% untreated elephant grass and 25% wheat bran (372.62 U.g-1 dry matter). In conclusion, the results showed that it is possible to obtain large amounts of cellulases and xylanases using a cosmopolitan and very low cost substrate such as elephant grass.


PURPOSE: It keeps abreast the resin coating process and imprint process and the imprinting apparatus and imprinting method enforce. Throughput is improved. CONSTITUTION: A coating apparatus(140) spreads resin in the top of the substrate. As to the surface and the side which is parallel of substrate, the first drive machinery(141) varies the relative position between substrate and the mold. As to the surface and the side which is parallel of substrate, the second driver tool(142) varies the relative position between substrate and the coating apparatus. It controls the coating apparatus and drive machinery and it keeps abreast the resin coating process and imprint process and controller enforces.


An analysis of the elastic–plastic load-carrying behaviour of thin-walled spatial beam structures is presented. It is based on a beam theory valid for large displacements and rotations, which admits arbitrary cross-sections, curved axes, initial imperfections, a general material description, and which fully accounts for the influence of warping constraints as well as the stress-history dependence of the elastic–plastic shear moduli. An incremental updated Lagrangian viewpoint is adopted in the derivation of the basic beam equations from a generalized variational principle, and in the numerical solution procedure the displacement–finite element approach is followed. The associated tangential stiffness matrices are obtained by direct numerical integration of the governing incremental differential equations rather than through the use of shape functions in connection with a virtual work principle. Applications of the theory are given in which the influence of the loading configuration, material parameters, geometric nonlinearities and warping constraints on the load-carrying behaviour and on the bifurcation and ultimate loads of thin-walled beam structures is explored.


Th17 cells and regulatory T cells(Tregs) are novel subsets from CD4+ T cells in different cytokines environments,which respectively play crucial roles in immune system to maintain the balance.Imbalance of Th17/Treg will lead to a series of autoim-mune diseases.Psoriasis,etiology unknown,is generally believed to be a complex autoimmune inflammatory disease with a genetic basis.Accumulating evidence indicates that either increased Th17 cells or decreased Tregs have a pathogenic role in psoriasis.The cytokines produced by them participate in the onset of psoriasis.This review summarizes the progress so far towards understanding the role of Th17 cells and regulatory T cells(Tregs) in psoriasis,which will further our understanding of the pathogenesis of psoriasis and provide promis-ing directions of clinical diagnosis and treatment.


Effects of lipid-lowing anticoagulant antihypertensive drugs combined with ginkgo capsule on endothelial injury and plaque stability in patients with carotid atherosclerosis Shi-Nian Zou, Zu-Bin Wang 1. Department of Rehabilitation, Songzi People's Hospital in Hubei Province, Songzi, Hubei Province, 434200, China 2. Department of Pharmacy, Songzi People's Hospital in Hubei Province, Songzi, Hubei Province, 434200, China Journal of Hainan Medical University


Niemann-Pick type C (NPC) disease is a fatal inherited neurodegenerative disorder caused by loss-of-function mutations in the NPC1 or NPC2 gene. There is no effective way to treat NPC disease. In this study, we used adeno-associated virus (AAV) serotype 9 (AAV9) to deliver a functional NPC1 gene systemically into NPC1−/− mice at postnatal day 4. One single AAV9-NPC1 injection resulted in robust NPC1 expression in various tissues, including brain, heart, and lung. Strikingly, AAV9-mediated NPC1 delivery significantly promoted Purkinje cell survival, restored locomotor activity and coordination, and increased the lifespan of NPC1−/− mice. Our work suggests that AAV-based gene therapy is a promising means to treat NPC disease.


Vector analysis is widely used for the analysis, modeling and control of electrical machines. The methodmakes use of vector currents, voltages and magnetic variables but does not represent them in an equivalent circuit of the machine. This paper presents the development of an equivalent circuit for an electromagnetic system consisting of scalar electrical, vector electrical and vector magnetic sections and shows the production of a vector current from its scalar counterpart that leads to the production of vector voltages on the magnetic axis of the system. Resultant current, voltage and magnetic variable vectors associated with a phase winding of a three-phase stator are also developed together with a single vector voltage equation of the system.


Summary: The relationships among uncertainty, perceived control, and self-management were examined in 71 coronary heart disease patients. Analysis revealed lower levels of uncertainty predicted higher levels of self-management (belief) and perceived control. Greater levels of perceived control predicted greater selfmanagement (attitude). Minimizing uncertainty and promoting perceived control help patients selfmanage CHD.


Objective: To determine the knowledge among family members of Hepatitis C patients and correlate it with their educational status. Study Design:  A cross sectional observational study. Place and Duration: Outpatient department of Aziz BhattiShaheed Teaching hospital, Gujrat from 1st January 2015 to 31st march 2015. Methodology: Data was collected to assess the fundamental knowledge and mode of transmission in people coming with HCV infected patients. Collected data was analyzed by SPSS V.20. Results: Two hundred and forty one participants were included in study with mean age of 33 years (+11.940 SD). Male to female ratio was 3.30:1, 65.98% married and 104 were below matric (SSC). Two hundred twenty (90%) attendants knew that HCV can cause chronic inflammation, liver failure and liver cancer. Sixty three (26%) assumed it to be a bacterial infection. 164 (Sixty eight %) thought vaccine is available. More than 90 % of attendants knew that it is transmitted through sharing or reuse of syringes 236 (97.9%), blood transfusion without screening 235 (97.5%) and needle stick injuries 225 (93.4%). Two hundred thirty two (96.3 %) disagreed its transmission through holding hands, hugging and kissing. Ninety (37.3%) and fifty five (22.8%) assumed its spread through drinking polluted and unsafe sex respectively. Seventy (29%) disagreed its spread perinataly and contact with open wound. Male and above matric participants have significantly better knowledge (<0.05). Conclusion: Awareness about HCV among attendants of hepatitis C infected patients was inadequate and has lot of misconceptions especially among females and less educated people.


Objective We determined the effect of prolonged treatment with clopidogrel on C-reactive protein(CRP)concentrations and blood thrombogenicity after percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty followed by intracoronary brachytherapy in the porcine model.Methods All 48 pigs received antiplatelet therapy,including aspirin(325 mg,daily)and clopidogrel(300mg,loading dose)1 day before PCI,followed by a daily dose of clopidogrel(75 mg/day)in addition to aspirin.During PCI,one of two balloon-injured arteries was randomly assigned to receive Intracoronary brachytherapy.Animals were sacrificed after 24 h,1 month,and 3 months post-PCI.The pigs,which were sacrificed 3 months post-PCI,were divided into two groups.The first group received clopidogrel in addition to aspirin for 3 months,and the second group received clopidogrel in addition to aspirin for only 1 month after PCI and then aspirin alone.Blood was taken from all pigs before intervention,immediately after intervention,and before sacrifice.Serum CRP was measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.Results Clopidogrel treatment for 3 months reduced CRP levels more than did clopidogrel therapy for 1 month only at 3 months post-PCI(27.9±3.9 vs.56.6±6.3μg /ml;P=0.019).Baseline CRP levels were found to be 50.4±4.8μg /ml.Conclusion Prolonged treatment with clopidogrel reduced CRP levels post-PCI.


Porous acicular mullite ceramic was prepared by in-situ reaction sintering, using clay materials and Al (OH)3) as the raw materials. The influences of different clay materials on the phase composition, formation of acicular grains and microstructure of prepared porous ceramics were investigated. Results show that the metal oxide impurities were beneficial for the synthesis of acicular mullite. The prepared porous ceramic from Longyan kaolin with high impurity content has the highest mullite content of 93.5%, and composed of interlaced acicular grains with high slenderness ratio of 26.4 and large average diameter of about 0.7μm when sintered 1400°C for 2h. The TEM analysis indicates that the growth direction of acicular grains is along the [001] direction (c axis) of orthorhombic mullite crystals.


An efficient approach to speed up the spectral domain analysis for the general case of shielded microstrip has been presented. It uses asymptotic expansion for the Bessel's function and the Green's function which are involved in the computation of the elements of the Galerkin matrix. The coefficients in the asymptotic expansion of the Green's functions are obtained by a combination of analytical and numerical approaches. Efficient computation of the infinite summation obtained after leading term extraction is done using two different super convergent sine cosine series. Very accurate results for the propagation constants in the general case of a multilayered shielded microstrip line can be obtained using a few basis functions.


The U.S. software for calculating atmospheric transmission characteristics, LOWTRAN, is used to analyze the atmospheric transmission ratio based on conventional formulae within metrological visible range, as well as the medium wave and long wave infrared transmission ratios. The results show that the visible light spectrum transmission ratio and the mean transmission ratio under standard U.S. atmospheric conditions can be favorably described by the metrological visible range transmission ratio formula, but the adaptability to ultraviolet and infrared wave bands needs to be treated with caution. Under high temperature and moist conditions, the atmospheric transmission ratio for the medium infrared wave band will degenerate more rapidly at its initial pathway, but beyond a certain range the mean atmospheric transmission ratio of the medium infrared wave band will be better than that of the long wave band.


Hand sanitizer gel is one of the alternative methods for hand hygiene when soap and water are not available. Binahong leaf ( Anredera cordifolia ) is a natural herb that has phenolic, flavonoids, saponins, and the steroid-terpenoids compound, which is potentially used as the active ingredient in the hand sanitizer gel. The primary purpose of this research was to determine the antibacterial potential and physicochemical properties of a hand-sanitizer gel containing binahong leaves' infusion against Staphylococcus aureus. The efficacy of this formulation was tested against a bacterial strain using the disc diffusion method and determined by measuring the inhibition zone of each preparation. The testing of physicochemical properties includes the organoleptic test, pH, viscosity, and gel spreadability. The physicochemical characteristics of the gel showed excellent properties for all formulas. The antibacterial test showed that hand sanitizer gel containing an infusion of binahong's leaves has an inhibition zone (6.02 mm; 6.24 mm; 6.55 mm), almost close to a positive control (9.15 mm). In conclusion, the formulated hand sanitizer gel possesses the antibacterial potential to inhibit S. aureus .


Cancer stem cells (CSCs) play a vital role in cancer progression, maintenance of tumor tissues, and are likely to be the source of tumor recurrence and metastasis. Thus, CSCs are a promising therapeutic target in cancer. The development of novel therapeutic interventions based on the characterization of CSCs is needed to overcome their resistance to conventional anti-cancer therapies. Unfortunately, the separation and purification of the CSCs from human tumor tissues is complicated by a plethora of technical difficulties that prevent the discovery of new anti-CSC drugs. We recently developed a method for preparing induced CSCs by oncogenic reprogramming of non-tumorigenic human mammary epithelial MCF-10A cells via the transduction of defined reprogramming factors. This model is a unique tool not only for analyzing the properties of CSCs but also for screening drugs that selectively target CSCs.


The study aims to investigate the relationship between innovation activities and business process performance in higher education
institution (hereinafter referred to as "HEI") context. The data was collected using a survey and later analyzed through Partial Least
Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLSSEM) and SmartPLS software. A total of 50 questionnaires were submitted from respondents
representing vocational study program management located in Makassar, Indonesia. The findings show that two hypotheses discussed in
this study fit the empirical data. Specifically, the results show that there is a positive relationship between innovation activities and business
process performance, involving two types of innovation activities, which are exploration activities and exploitation activities, within HEIs.
Explorative activity is firmly related to exploitative activity, which furthermore links to business process performance within the HEIs
observed. The results confirm that exploration activity can stimulate and lead the HEIs management to generate exploitation activity. For
instance, capabilities to absorb knowledge from the external institution may lead this institution to generate advanced academic processes,
as well as more efficient and effective managerial processes. The study also signifies ambidexterity capacity, suggesting that it may lead
HEIs management to formulate proper strategies in achieving better performance and gaining competitive advantage.
Keywords: Innovation Activities, Higher Education, Business Process Performance, Ambidexterity Capacity
JEL Classification Code: O30, I23, D23