The superheated droplet detector (SDD) consists of a large number of drops of superheated liquid, suspended in another immiscible liquid like, soft gel medium or a firm polymer matrix. It is used to detect neutrons, gamma-rays and other charged particles under different operating conditions [1]. It is also one of the promising detectors to search for weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs), one of the favored candidates for cold dark matter [2, 3]. For such experiment, the strong possible candidates as sources of background are neutrons, gammarays and alpha-particles. The discrimination between these backgrounds are important for detection both the neutron and WIMP search experiment. The discrimination technique of neutron and gamma induced events in SDD with R114 liquid (C2Cl2F4; b.p. 3.7 C) was discussed in the literature [1]. In present work, SDD with R12 (CCl2F2; b.p. -29.8C) as the sensitive liquid has been fabricated. Events are recorded in presence of Am-Be, neutron source and Am, alpha source. The analysis of acoustic signal has been carried out to find the variables to discriminate between the neutron and alpha particle induced events.


This article describes an approach for providing dynamic quality of service (QoS) support in a variable bandwidth network, which may include wireless links and mobile nodes. The dynamic QoS approach centers on the notion of providing QoS support at some point within a range requested by applications. To utilize dynamic QoS, applications must be capable of adapting to the level of QoS provided by the network, which may vary during the course of a connection. To demonstrate and evaluate the dynamic QoS concept, we have implemented a new protocol called dynamic resource reservation protocol (dRSVP) and a new QoS application program interface (API). The paper describes this new protocol and API and also discusses our experience with adaptive streaming video and audio applications that work with the new protocol in a testbed network, including wireless local area network connectivity and wireless link connectivity emulated over the wired Ethernet. Qualitative and quantitative assessments of the dynamic RSVP protocol are provided.


Partial membrane depolarization induced by increasing the KCl concentration of the medium bathing cardiac myocytes leads to an increase in cell (Ca/sup 2 +/), and accelerates the frequency of spontaneous contractile waves (W) caused by periodic sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) Ca/sup 2 +/ release. In suspensions of myocytes bathed in 1.0mM Ca/sup 2 +/ at 37 (pH 7.4) and loaded with the fluorescent Ca/sup 2 +/ - indicator Fura-2, by incubation with 2 ..mu..M acetoxymethyl ester for 30 min, the addition of KCl to raise (K/sup +/) from 5 to 30 mM is associated with a rapid (< 10 sec) increase in fluorescence, corresponding to an increased cell (Ca/sup 2 +/). Prior exposure (3 min) to 10/sup -7/ M phorbol myristate acetate (PMA) diminishes this response to 44 +/- 10% of that in control suspensions (n = 9). Under the same conditions W frequency (min/sup -1/) in individual cells in 30 mM KCl averaged 8.3 +/- 0.6. Addition of PMA abolished W within 1 min. Diacylglycerol (10 ..mu..M L..cap alpha..-1,2-dioctanoylglycerol, di C8) had a similar effect on W frequency. The thesis is that PMA attenuates cell Ca/sup 2 +/ overload and its associated potentiation of spontaneous SR Ca/sup 2 +/ oscillations.more » In view of the efficacy of PMA and di C8, it is suggested that the effect is mediated by protein kinase c, and it may involve an alteration in the intracellular distribution of this enzyme.« less


Reasonable differentiation of remuneration, which includes both measures to ensure a highly labor and control over rational use of funds allocated for this.


A fast and exible method for segmenting text and graphics of document images is presented, assuming that text-regions have diierent texture properties than non-text-regions. As features we use measures of the local sub-band energies in the output of a computa-tionally eecient critically sampled lter bank. First we develop an un-supervised approach, and we get good results, but even better segmentation is desired. We therefore extend our approach with a novel supervised segmentation scheme. The experimental results from the supervised method show the expected improvement over the results from the un-supervised method.


The paper presents examples of design solutions obtained with analytical methods and describes the applied design approach. It also includes the outputs of analyses carried out on two types of airport pavement structures: rigid and flexible. Analytical possibilities of Finite Element Method (FEM) are presented with the focus on various computer modelling techniques. The outputs of FEM analyses concerning the stresses, strains and displacements in slabs were compared against the results obtained with the conventional Westergaard model.


Currently,serious shortage of the corpses resource is one of the factors which curbs and restricts the anatomy teaching of medical colleges.The unpaid corpses donation is undoubtedly the most important channel,yet the status quo is not satisfying due to various factors.We propose to improve and enrich the corpses donation work by analyzing the main factors which restrict the corpses donation,enhancing supporting facilities,developing the workflow,rules and regulations of donation process,carring out the thanksgiving education and employing the full-time staff,and etc.


We proposed a combo design of pick-up head used prism to shorten the geometrical size and reduce the optical components. We apply a rhomboid beam splitter to separate two diodes in the design for the optical pick-up head of DVD and HD-DVD.


ABSTRACT Pit clusters have not received systematic attention from archaeologists working in Anatolia and the Near East, in contrast to many other parts of the world. This paper presents a case study of Middle Chalcolithic pits from the prehistoric site of Barcın Höyük in northwestern Anatolia to show how pit clusters, interpreted as underground grain silos, can inform us about ancient food economies, social organization, and inhabited landscapes. It is argued that the silos at Barcın Höyük were used by small family-sized groups to store surplus grain. Dated to the first quarter of the 5th millennium b.c., the silos present evidence for agricultural productivity during a period that has largely eluded archaeological investigation in western Anatolia.


The branch of science that studies the naming of places is called toponimi. Toponimi's research contributes greatly to the historical understanding of society and provides a very useful geographic reference system in society. Banyuwangi Regency has a relatively unique area because it consists of coastal / marine, terrain and mountain areas. Its inhabitants have ethnic diversity namely Osing (Banyuwangi original ethnic), Java, Madura, Bugis and Bali. This is an indication of the naming of places that have their own characteristics.The research was done by descriptive method which was done with the research phases which is planned is phase I of toponomic study of 24 districts. The taking is done by interviewing 3 resource persons. The first interview was conducted with the local government. Furthermore, two community leaders were selected based on information obtained from the local government. The interview was conducted by 2 teams in which 1 researcher was accompanied by 1 surveyor. The interview process is equipped with a tape recorder and documentation using a camera. Information on the results of interviews will then be organized into categories and analyzed using triangulation method.


Objective:To study the role of β-EP( beta-endorphin) in hypothalamic of juvenile rats with anorexia and the effect of Erbao Granules on them. Methods: A model of juvenile rats with anorexia was established by imitating the cause of children anorexia. Immunohistochemistry and quantitation were used in experiment. Result: The neurone cell of β-EP in hypothalamic in the model group were lower than in the control group (P0.05). The neurone cell of β-EP in hypothalamic in the therapy group significant increased than the model group (P0.01). Conclusion: : The decreasing of β-EP in hypothalamic may be one of the factors causing anorexia in rats. Erbao granules can improve β-EP in hypothalamicof anorexia.


In this paper we consider the two-dimensional Schr\"odinger operator with an attractive potential which is a multiple of the characteristic function of an unbounded strip-shaped region, whose thickness is varying and is determined by the function $\mathbb{R}\ni x \mapsto d+\varepsilon f(x)$, where $d>0$ is a constant, $\varepsilon>0$ is a small parameter, and $f$ is a compactly supported continuous function. We prove that if $\int_{\mathbb{R}} f \,\mathsf{d} x>0$, then the respective Schr\"odinger operator has a unique simple eigenvalue below the threshold of the essential spectrum for all sufficiently small $\varepsilon>0$ and we obtain the asymptotic expansion of this eigenvalue in the regime $\varepsilon\rightarrow 0$. An asymptotic expansion of the respective eigenfunction as $\varepsilon\rightarrow 0$ is also obtained. In the case that $\int_{\mathbb{R}} f \,\mathsf{d} x<0$ we prove that the discrete spectrum is empty for all sufficiently small $\varepsilon>0$. In the critical case $\int_{\mathbb{R}} f \,\mathsf{d} x = 0$, we derive a sufficient condition for the existence of a unique bound state for all sufficiently small $\varepsilon>0$.


This paper describes an efficient low-power static logic family in GaAs. Its behaviour mimics the one of CMOS, by compensating the lack of complementary transistors by the use of complementary logic signals. This Pseudo-Complementary FET Logic (PCFL) is fully compatible with Direct Coupled FET Logic. An original bootstrapping technique compensates the level degradation due to the use of enhancement-mode MESFETs only. The power consumption of an inverter is of the order of 10¿W at 100MHz. Preliminary measurement results on an inverter chain are reported.


This paper represents an examination of recent research in the fields of urban planning, visual artwork, visual image and text analysis, according to which the increasing importance of visual representation in modern society has altered the traditional understanding of visual representation in urban planning. Therefore it is a challenge for architects and urbanists to model and represent urban planning strategies visually to an ever-wider audience of experts and non-experts in urban planning. The focus of this paper is on the consolidation of various cross-disciplinary criteria and how to conceptualise visual representation in urban planning.


MEDICAL DEVICE INTEROPERABILITY WITH PROVABLE SAFETY PROPERTIES David Arney Insup Lee Applications that can communicate with and control multiple medical devices have the potential to radically improve patient safety and the effectiveness of medical treatment. Medical device interoperability requires devices to have an open, standards-based interface that allows communication with any other device that implements the same interface. This will enable applications and functionality that can improve patient safety and outcomes. To build interoperable systems, we need to match up the capabilities of the medical devices with the needs of the application. An application that requires heart rate as an input and provides a control signal to an infusion pump requires a source of heart rate and a pump that will accept the control signal. We present means for devices to describe their capabilities and a methodology for automatically checking an application's device requirements against the device capabilities. If such applications are going to be used for patient care, there needs to be convincing proof of their safety. The safety of a medical device is closely tied to its intended use and use environment. Medical device manufacturers create a hazard analysis of their device, where they explore the hazards associated with its intended use. We describe iv hazard analysis for interoperable devices and the creation of system safety properties from these hazard analyses. The use environment of the application includes the application, connected devices, patient, and clinical workflow. The patient model is specific to each application and represents the patient's response to treatment. We introduce Clinical Application Modeling Language (CAML), based on Extended Finite State Machines, and use model checking to test safety properties from the hazard analysis against the parallel composition of the application, patient model, clinical workflow, and the device models of connected devices.


The flexible employment group of middle and low level is mainly composed of laid-off workers and urban peasant workers, they are disadvantage group in the employment group. How to supply them with better institutional arrangements to promote the development of flexible employment is significant to relieve the employment pressure. Laid-off workers and urban peasant workers are common and different as well in flexible employment. The analysis of similarities and difference to them can promote them to realize better the flexible employment, and provides reference to the government to take appropriate countermeasures.


From the: *Duke Global Health Institute; †Department of Population Health Sciences, Duke University; ‡Department of Emergency Medicine, Duke University Health System, Durham, NC, USA; §Western Norway University of Applied Sciences, Bergen, Norway; ¶London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London; **WHO Collaborating Center on Health Workforce Policy and Planning, NOVA University of Lisbon, Lisbon. Correspondence to: Michel D. Landry, Duke Global Health Institute, 310 Trent Dr., Durham, NC 27710 USA; firstname.lastname@example.com. In late December 2019, people from a local market in China's Wuhan Province began to present with symptoms similar to those seen in the 2003 severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) epidemic.1,2 The world now knows that Dr. Li Wenliang was likely the first person to report these cases of a novel coronavirus (COVID-19) that had made the leap from animals to humans, signaling yet another emerging zoonotic disease.3 Remarkably, in the 3 months since COVID-19 was signaled, it has spread to at least 164 countries and infected more than 190,000 people. The effects on human life have been tragic, with almost 8,000 known casualties. Beyond human tragedy, massive economic impacts are unfolding as industries ranging from manufacturing to tourism are grinding to a halt, panic has almost overtaken the financial markets, and a sense of fear and misinformation have emerged. The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared COVID-19 a global pandemic.5 Infectious diseases are not new. Between 1347 and 1351, the plague took the lives of more than 200 million people. Only after the plague ravaged Europe did strategies such as quarantine of infected people and policies to restrict trade from endemic countries become common. At that time, transmission of infectious disease was not well understood, and it took hundreds of years for science to catch up. It was during the 1854 cholera outbreak in London that Dr. John Snow, known as the Father of Epidemiology, identified that the cholera transmission vector was water droplets, not miasma or "bad air."6,7 Although his scientific approach was not well accepted at the time, he was correct, and so began the pre-vaccine period of public health interventions to curb infectious disease. Vaccinations against disease were eventually pioneered, and their worldwide distribution largely explains the extended global life expectancies at the dawn of the 20th century.8,9 Some 600 years after the plague, a combination of treatments including vaccination, rehydration, and improved public health have become the standard approach to the eradication of infectious disease. So what is the connection between physiotherapy and rehabilitation in the context of infectious disease outbreaks? We suggest that given the relatively high likelihood of survival after exposure to infectious disease, physiotherapy can mediate the deleterious pulmonary, respiratory, and immobility complications that are commonplace. Moreover, we argue that rehabilitation can offer a cost-effective upstream strategy that can restore mental and emotional quality of life during and after medical intervention. For instance, on the basis of quarantine experiences during the 2003 SARS outbreak, Lau and colleagues reported that patients who took part in a physiotherapist-supervised exercise program improved their cardiorespiratory and musculoskeletal fitness.10 Moreover, Hawryluck and colleagues reported that post-traumatic stress disorder and depression were observed in as many as 31% of respondents who had contracted SARS and were isolated and that longer periods of quarantine were associated with higher symptom impact.11 Similarly, with Ebola, another highly infectious disease, Moll and colleagues reported that patients benefited from an interdisciplinary approach (including physiotherapy) that reduced hospital length of stay and optimized successful patient transfer to the community.12 Others, such as Martin and colleagues and Jacobs and colleagues, have also highlighted the need for multidisciplinary care among Ebola-infected survivors to improve their physical and mental function. As a case in point, the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy and Howlett and colleagues have highlighted the critical role of physiotherapists who are


: In recent years, the increasing uncertainty of China's financial system, the gradual accumulation and dominance of financial risks covered by the rapid economic growth, the measurement of financial pressure, and the prevention of financial risks focus on deepening financial supervision. Based on the AHM (Attribute Hierarchy Model) - EWM (Entropy Weight Method) model, this paper constructs the financial stress index of China and uses the GM (1, N) model to predict the financial stress. The results show that: China's total financial stress index aggregation frequent volatility is evident and the overall trend of rising, in a short period of high risk, low risk for a long time. The simulation results of the GM (1, N) model are in good agreement with the measured data, which verifies the effectiveness of the model in forecasting the financial stress index in China.


While much has been written about the power of teacher feedback as a means of enhancing learning, evidence of its effectiveness as currently practised in higher education (HE) is not compelling, at least for the majority of institutions with large student cohorts. The UK National Student Survey (NSS) shows that students are less satisfied with the quality of teacher feedback than with any other aspect of their course. Each year, across all disciplines and across most institutions, students show concern about the timeliness of teacher feedback, about its level of detail and about its failure to clarify things they did not understand. Institutions have responded with interventions such as faster turnaround times for assignments, extra feedback on examination scripts, electronic feedback to automate delivery, feedback calendars to clarify the timing of feedback and structured feedback rubrics to improve efficiency.


Recommender systems, now used in many websites, have a critical role in e-commerce systems. Among many techniques for recommender systems so far, collaborative filtering has proved to be one of the best solutions. However, there still remain some problems for collaborative filtering recommender systems, i.e. the scalability problem, which is the most critical one. In this paper, we focus on the scalability problem and present some algorithmic elements to improve the scalability of recommender systems. Then we show the trade-offs which the newly introduced elements bring about.


0.633‐ and 3.39‐μm lines were brought into simultaneous oscillation with a He‐Ne laser. The 3.39‐μm line was locked to the saturated absorption line of CH4 to control the cavity length, as a result of which the 0.633‐μm line was also frequency stabilized. The frequency stability of the 0.633‐μm line was better than 4.2×10−9/h, which is the stability of a reference laser HP 5500C.


The article is devoted to the analysis of scientific publications, covering the activities of cooperative enterprises (commercial artels) in chronological period between the completion of the recovery of the national economy after World War II (late 1940s early 1950s) and the complete nationalization of cooperative industry in 1960.


The effect of phase composition and microstructure of some MgO-Al 2 O 3 refractories on their densification and refractory properties was investigated. The phase composition of refractory samples processed up to firing at 1700°C was calculated and confirmed by XRD. A computerised SEM attached with an EDS unit was used to investigate the microstructure of the dense samples. Densification and the refractory properties of these samples were determined and the results are discussed as related to their composition and microstructure. It is concluded that dense and highly refractory magnesia-spinel and spinel grains as well as composite spinel-bonded magnesia and alumina grain batches could be processed from the commercial Chinese dead-burned magnesite and calcined bauxite materials up to firing of their corresponding batches at 1700°C. The processed refractories are recommended for application in lining cement, steel and glass furnaces to replace chrome-bearing refractories in order to eliminate dangerous environmental pollution.


The cause of air preheater 's leakage was analyzed,The working principle of air leakage control system was elaborated.And the experience of retrofit of air leakage control was introduced by the No.2 unit at Hubei Ezhou power Co.,Ltd.,for example.


Aim: to describe the perception about renal transplant of patients on hemodialysis that have not yet entered the waiting list. Method: this qualitative and exploratory study was developed with 15 patients on hemodialysis of a renal clinic. Data collection occurred from March to July 2012 through narrative interview of experiences. Data were submitted to thematic analysis. Results: patients see renal transplantation as a treatment that still requires care especially with medications, and involve risks such as infection, rejection and death. However, the transplant is perceived as the possibility of a better life, with more freedom and fewer restrictions. Conclusion: the positive and negative perceptions of patients about a renal transplantation influence their decision of entering a waiting list to perform a transplant, since it implies changes and limitations in their daily life for which they are not prepared yet


(57) Abstract: multivesicular liposomes, are prepared in a commercial scale by forming a first w / o emulsion was combined with a second aqueous solution w / o / w emulsion using a static mixer. The solvent to form a removed from the resulting emulsion multivesicular liposome-containing compositions. A further optional process step comprises primary filtration and secondary cross-flow filtration. Product prepared according to the method of the present invention may be prepared through a series of sterile process.


Babesia rossi causes severe morbidity and mortality in dogs in sub-Saharan Africa, and the complications associated with this disease are likely caused by an unfocused, excessive inflammatory response. During this experimental B. rossi study we investigated inflammatory marker and cytokine kinetics during infection and after treatment. We aimed to determine whether infectious dose and treatment would influence the progression of the inflammatory response and clinical disease. Five healthy male beagle dogs were infected with B. rossi, three with a high infectious dose (HD group) and two with a low infectious dose (LD group). Clinical examination, complete blood count (CBC) and C-reactive protein (CRP) were determined daily. Cytokines were quantified on stored plasma collected during the study, using a canine specific cytokine magnetic bead panel (Milliplex©). The experiment was terminated when predetermined endpoints were reached. Parasitemia occurred on day 1 and 3 in the HD group and LD group respectively. The rate of increase in parasitemia in the HD group was significantly faster than that seen in the LD group. Significant differences were found in heart rate, blood pressure, interferon gamma (INFγ), keratinocyte chemoattractant (KC), INFγ-induced protein 10 (IP10), granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF), monocyte chemoattractant protein 1 (MCP1), tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFα), interleukin 2 (IL-2), IL-6, IL-7, IL-8, IL-10 IL-15, IL-18, CRP, neutrophils and monocytes between groups at multiple time points during the course of the infection. Our findings suggest that the initiation of inflammation occurs before the onset of clinical disease in B. rossi infection and infectious dose influences the onset of the inflammatory response. Treatment not only fails to curb the inflammatory response but may enhance it. Finally, we found that there is an imbalance in pro/anti-inflammatory cytokine concentrations during infection which may promote parasite replication.


Summary: Normal rabbit serum contains substances resembling antibodies which stain rat thymus cells by the indirect immunofluorescence technique and are cytotoxic for rat lymphoid cells in general. Separation of several normal rabbit sera on a Sephadex G-200 column yielded cytotoxic activity in either macroglobulin or both macroglobulin and globulin fractions. The cytotoxic properties of both fractions were found to be 2-mercaptoethanol-sensitive and heat-labile at 56 C for 30 min, and neither was dependent on added complement for cytotoxicity. Cytotoxicity was inhibited by horse antirabbit γ -globulin antiserum and in the presence of ethylene diamine tetraacetic acid. By the use of a quantitative absorption technique, the antigen responsible for cytotoxicity was shown to have a distinctive distribution in rat lymphoid tissues. There are proportionately larger quantities on thymus cells than on lymph node cells, peripheral white blood cells, spleen cells, or bone marrow cells, respectively. It is also present on kidney homogenates.


Photoactive polymers are important for fundamental studies and applications in several area of photonics such as data storage and holography and nonlinear optics and photomechanics. The latter is perhaps one of the most important applications of such materials, since they act as light to mechanical energy transducers and move under light action. For example, azo-polymers irradiated by inhomogeneous resonant ultra-violet or visible light undergo molecular and macroscopic motion, at sub-glass transition temperatures by photoisomerization of the azo dyes. Our recent research in this field highlighted the fundamentals of mobility enhancement by light, including light-induced viscosity change and acceleration of relaxation times, and photomechanics, encompassing motions in gradients of actinic light leading to surface structuring and actuation. In this paper, we present an original model which predicts the creation of mechanical pressure, i.e., motion, by a photo-induced change in the occupied volume and length of anisometric isomers, and we give simple analytical expressions describing the dynamics of volume as well as strain change upon polarized light irradiation of photomechanic samples.


The article presents a corpus-based study of the diachronic and dialect variations of adverbial intensifiers used as the expression of emotionality that is a key defining feature of interpersonal conversation in the British and American film discourse. Based on the corpora of scripts of British and American feature films released in the 1930–1950s and 1990–2010s, data on the frequency of adverbial intensifiers in the sub-corpora of the English regional varieties of the two periods were obtained and their comparative analysis was carried out to establish the regional specifics and historical dynamics of their use; the collocation profiles of adverbial intensifiers that form syntagmatic units in the dialogic speech of British and American film discourse for each of the studied periods were described; semantic classes and stylistic characteristics of adjectives that form the most frequent collocations with the intensifiers were identified; the pragmalinguistic potential of the intensifiers and adjectives to indicate informality and emotionality in the dialogues of the English film discourse was determined. The diachronic analysis revealed a decline in the occurrences of the standard register intensifiers (terribly, awfully, perfectly, extremely, etc.) with adjectives carrying the semantics of general evaluation, opinion, judgment, and emotionality in both corpora of modern English film discourse. In the 1990–2010s period, the process of renewal is observed in the UK and US film discourse when formerly frequent intensifiers are seen to be replaced by informal adverbs with a maximal degree of emotionality in speakers' attitudes to situations, objects of the surrounding world and the interlocutor, which reflects a trend in preference towards the colloquial and substandard stylistic register. The growth of substandard vocabulary indicates that this trend is in line with the expectations of the English-speaking discursive communities that perceive film discourse as a reflection of authentic face-to-face discursive practices.


A program system based on the finite-element method was developed for the detailed behavior analysis of the vicinity of intersection of tubular T-connections. This program system consists of a nonlinear shell analysis program, a nodal data generation program, and a nonlinear solid analysis program. The strain distributions calculated by this program system show a good agreement with experimental results. Experimental results of fatigue crack initiation life of tubular T-connections are evaluated by applying the calculated equivalent strain amplitude into the fatigue strength curve for the same material as that of the connections and into the X-curve in AWS Code, suggesting unsatisfactory safety factor to the X-curve, especially in the lower cycle range.


The determination of the anisotropic and heterogeneous character of the saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ks) of wetland soils is technically challenging, but is crucial for the accurate quantification of flow and transport processes. We modified a laboratory method to determine Ks both in the vertical (Ks,v) and horizontal directions (Ks,h), and tested it on the same undisturbed peat samples using a constant head upward flow permeameter. The first results showed that Ks,v was greater than Ks,h in the majority of samples from two profiles of a degraded fen peat, indicating that Ks was anisotropic. In conclusion, the described method was suitable to determine Ks,v and Ks,h and can be recommended to estimate the anisotropy of Ks in wetland soils.


ABSTRACT Leaf erectness is an important agronomic trait for improving canopy photosynthesis in rice. It is well known that leaf inclination angle (LIA) decreases after expansion during ripening. However, the high-yielding indica cultivar 'Takanari' retains a greater LIA during ripening than the high-quality japonica cultivar 'Koshihikari'. To clarify the cause of the cultivar difference in LIA, we investigated anatomical characteristics of the lamina joint of a flag leaf. We found a close linear correlation between LIA at the centre and at the base of the leaf blade in both cultivars during ripening. The length of the lamina joint increased significantly more on the adaxial side of a leaf (the margin of the collar) than on the abaxial side (the abaxial side of the central part of the collar) in 'Koshihikari' after leaf expansion, but there was no clear difference in 'Takanari'. We found a close linear correlation between the ratio of lamina joint length on the adaxial to abaxial sides and LIA in 'Koshihikari' and 'Takanari' during ripening. In 'Koshihikari', the average length of cells on the adaxial side increased significantly after leaf expansion, with no significant increase in that on the abaxial side and no significant change in cell number on either side. In 'Takanari', cell length and cell number showed no significant changes on either side of the lamina joint. We conclude that the cultivar difference in LIA during ripening is caused mainly by cell elongation on the adaxial side of the lamina joint. List of Abbreviations: k: light extinction coefficient; LIA: leaf inclination angle; QTL: quantitative trait locus


Supply Chain Management has become essential for manufacturing firms worldwide. Supply Chain Integration is a major topic in this field mainly because it is essential to optimize customer satisfaction. Only by integrating all aspects of the supply chain can customer satisfaction be optimized. Olhager and Selldin (2004) explained the current Supply Chain Integration status among Swedish manufacturing firms. According to Olhager and Selldin companies were starting to appreciate the importance of the supply chains in which they operate. However, most firms had a long way to go to take full advantage of the promises of supply chain integration. They found that in Sweden in 2004 awareness of planning and control techniques and communication means was high. And they thought work on increasing and improving supply chain integration and collaboration would be strengthened in the near future. Based on previous research it is useful to explain the current supply chain integration status to notice what happened in the past years. Have trends in this field proceeded as expected?


A comprehensive experiment of characterization of the metal oxide coating structures has been designed.For RuO2and(Ru,La)Oxcoatings,the effects of rare earth element La on the coating surface structure have been studied by means of SEM,EDX,XRD and DSC.The results show that the surfaces of the Ru-La oxide coatings show the cracked-mud morphology with the addition of La species.The amount of RuO2 crystal decreases on the coating surface,where the Ru-La oxides show more in the form of the amorphous phase.This is the main reason for the catalytic activity of the coatings increased.This experimental design has correlated theories to practical experiments by carrying out a project,helping the students to develop the ability of critical thinking and problem solving depended on what they learned.


pulses/mmn. GENS9AT (E.DF CERN 400 KV CERN 10KV It was agreed at the beginning of the project to power P 1 PC _ directly this new machine from the 400 kV network of EDF (Electricite de France), without any form of interfig. 1 Network con mediate storage i.e. M-G sets providing that steps are taken to fully compensate the reactive power of the pulse and to have a load substantially harmonic free. The short circuit capacity 9 GVA of the X 18KV STAILISED 400 kV Genissiat substation, on which CERN is connected, is high enough to keep at a low level the transmission-angle changes and the system frequency disturbance induced by the pulse. At Genissiat three other 400 kV lines achieve a satisfactory distribution of SO_ the pulse energy throughout the general network; thus relative power fluctuations in the nearest hydroelectric groups are less than 2.5%. f ,


This research project is primarily aimed at investigating the use of project management tools and techniques in the Sri Lankan public sector and how they affect project success. The study sample consisted of 202 public sector employees who are responsible for projects.Confirmatory factor analysis coupled with structural equation modeling (SEM) was employed as the primary statistical analysis technique. The findings reveal that project manager's competency, top management support and affective organizational commitment facilitate project success through effective use of project management tools. Further, it was found that project complexity moderates the positive relationships between top management support and the use of project management tools, as well as affective organizational commitment and the use of
project management tools.


In many applications, there are strong discrepancies between the signal models assumed in the design phase and the actual signals encountered in the field. These discrepancies penalize significantly the performance of the matched filter that is fine tuned to the preassumed conditions. We propose a geometric framework that designs, via wavelet multiresolution-based techniques, a receiver whose performance is to a large degree insensitive to these mismatches. We say that the receiver is a focused detector. The approach defines a signal set S that identifies the class of diverse conditions that are expected to arise. We illustrate the method in the context of multipath problems. The matched filter, which is a simple receiver, assumes that S is a singleton. When this is not the case, the matched filter experiences strong degradation. On the other hand, the optimal receiver for the signal set S is practically infeasible since it requires a multidimensional nonlinear optimization. The paper designs the focused receiver as a good compromise between these two extremes. We replace the signal set S by a linear subspace G-the representation subspace-that minimizes a measure of similarity with S. We choose G to be a multiresolution subspace. This choice resolves to satisfaction several issues. The subspace design is reduced to the design of a single shiftable scaling function, the similarity between S and G can be computed explicitly, and the focused receiver that computes the energy of the orthogonal projection on G is implemented by a bank of correlators matched to scaled/delayed versions of the reshaped scaling function followed by an energy detector. We assume that the transmitted signal is a sample of a random process. The signal set S becomes an ensemble of linear spaces. We introduce the modified deflection as the appropriate similarity measure. The paper details our algorithm, describes how to compute the modified deflection, and illustrates the performance results that can be obtained.


A measurement of the cross section for the production of an isolated photon in association with jets in proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy root s = 7 TeV is presented. Photons are ...


Remark 2 We say that a set S has a covering radius at most r if every point in {0, 1}n is inside B(z, r) for some z ∈ S. Theorem 1 asserts that the dual code satisfies a relaxed version of the property: for large enough r, at least a n−O(1) fraction of the points are inside B(z, r) for some z ∈ C⊥. This is sufficient for establishing an asymptotic bound on the rate of the codes, as shown in Corollary 3.


The New World genus Bot~telo~a was established in 1805 by Lagasca. In publishing the genus, Lagasca listed 5 species, B. racemosa (B. c~o'tipe~ldula (Michx.) Torr.), B. hirs~da, B. barbata, B. simplex, and B. prostrata. No indication of a type species was made by Lagasca but Griffiths (1912), Hitcheock (1920), and Swallen (1939) have accepted the first species listed, B. c~lrtipe~,d~da, as the type. The genus Bo~deloua as presently interpreted is comprised of about 50 species, these being divided into two well-marked groups, subgenus Bo~teloua and subgenus Cho~trosium. In all grasses of subg. Botdclo~a the inflorescence branches are deciduous at maturity, the spikelets falling intact with the branch rachis. In subg. Cho~drosi~m the inflorescence branches are persistent and the spikelets disarticulate above tile glumes. This characteristic, together with the fact that grasses of subg. Cho~drosi~lm have relatively few inflorescence branches (most frequently 1-4) and numerous spikelets per branch (usually 25-60), provide a ready basis for the separation of the two subgenera. The present study was concerned with the taxonomy and probable phylogenetic relationships of B. curtipe~dula and a series of 11 closely related species belonging to subg. Boutcloaa. hi these grasses the inflorescence characteristically has 12-80 or more pendulant branches, with mostly 1-7 spikelets per branch. For the most part, other taxa of the subg. Boutelo~a. have fewer than 12 inflorescence branches and average 5-15 spikelets per branch. The writers wish to acknowledge the cooperation and assistance of the curators of the following herbaria in making specimens available for study : University of Arizona, Tucson (ARIZ) ; Escuela Nacional de Agricultura, Chapingo, Mexico (CHAPINGO) ; Escuela Agrieola Panamericana, Tegueigalpa, Honduras (EAP) ; Dudley Herbarium, Stanford University (DS) ; Gray Herbarium, Harvard University (GH) ; University of Michigan, Anu Arbor (MICH) ; Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis (MO) ; New York Botanical Garden (NY) ; Oklahoma State University, Stillwater (OKLA); Rocky Mountain Herbarium, University of Wyoming (RM); Southern Methodist University (SMU) ; Sul Ross State College, Alpine (SRSC) ; University of Texas, Austin (TEX) ; University of California, Berkeley (UC) ; United States National Museum (US). The first set of collections of the writers are on file in the Tracy Herbarium of Texas A. & M. University (TAES) ; Latin diagnoses for tbe new taxa have been kindly supplied by Dr. Lloyd Shinners. Grateful acknowledgement is made for grants from the Systematic Biology section of the National SeieHce FoundatioH, which made possible much of the field work for this project.


Reclaimed water can be used in lawn irrigation,which can broaden the application range of reclaimed water and ease the tension of water use in city.In this experiment,both tap water and reclaimed water were used in lawn irrigation test.Cool-season turf grass including Panterra cultivar and Premier cultivar of Ryegrass(Lolium perenne),Barlexas cultivar and Easy care cultivar of Tall Fescue(Festuca arundinacea),Barvictor cultivar and Barrister cultivar of Kentucky bluegrass(Poa pratensis) were used as materials,and their changes of physiological indicators under reclaimed water irrigation were studied.The results show that reclaimed water irrigation can improve lawn texture and remarkably raise the leaf width of turf grass.Additionally,the grass chlorophyll content under irrigation test of reclaimed water was significantly higher than that under tap water irrigation,and there was no significant difference in the leaf cell membrane permeability and root activity between grasseses under irrigation conditions.In short,reclaimed water irrigation for turf grass has a very good application prospect in Lanzhou.


Purpose Toxicity caused by acetaminophen and its toxic mechanisms in the liver have been widely studied, including effects involving metabolism and oxidative stress. However, its adverse effects on heart have not been sufficiently investigated. This study evaluated the cardiac influence and molecular events occurring within the myocardium in rats treated with a dose of acetaminophen large enough to induce conventional liver damage. Materials and Methods Male rats were orally administered a single dose of acetaminophen at 1,000 mg/kg-body weight, and subsequently examined for conventional toxicological parameters and for gene expression alterations to both the heart and liver 24 hours after administration. Results Following treatment, serum biochemical parameters including aspartate aminotransferase and alanine aminotransferase were elevated. Histopathological alterations of necrosis were observed in the liver, but not in the heart. However, alterations in gene expression were observed in both the liver and heart 24 hours after dosing. Transcriptional profiling revealed that acetaminophen changed the expression of genes implicated in oxidative stress, inflammatory processes, and apoptosis in the heart as well as in the liver. The numbers of up-regulated and down-regulated genes in the heart were 271 and 81, respectively, based on a two-fold criterion. Conclusion The induced expression of genes implicated in oxidative stress and inflammatory processes in the myocardium reflects molecular levels of injury caused by acetaminophen (APAP), which could not be identified by conventional histopathology.


Steganography derives covering private or enigma sound inside a transporter in impalpable way. In this paper we are wearing out avideo steganography calculation in context of Haar Integer Wavelet Transforms (IWT) and extraction in luminance and chrominance (YCbCr) bits of the video records. In this approach, the cover-video is disconnected into YCbCr charts and the sound perfectly healthy is implanted into the IWT coefficients. The presented sound is expelled from stego-video utilizing the switch method of information disguising. Haar wavelet change is related with get the low rehash sub-band in a photograph to cover information. The rehash sub-packs are (LL, LH, HL and HH).The work of different scientists is talked about video steganography and their strategies for embeddings and extraction of information. With the advance of progression and mixed media data, Videos and electronic pictures is expanding rapidly. A tremendous measure of data can be secured in video documents. It contains number of edges played over some dubious time apportioning. .Data can be secured in any or number of edges. Also, Attacker or Human eye can't see the closeness of message in video since video plot is unmistakable for a little measure of time.


We firstly analyze the advantages of the Visual C++ language and SuperMap,then propose the basic principles and general method of hybrid programming with VC and SuperMap.The integrated software can not only take the advantage of a powerful graphics and video processing capability of SuperMap,but also lead that VC++ language can play in high-efficiency,and software product quality is improved.


This paper proposes a short-term load forecasting method that takes into account the correlation of integrated energy load. The method use wavelet packet to decompose the electric cooling and heating load in frequency bands, analyze the cross-correlation of the electric cooling and heating load in each frequency band, and choose different forecasting methods according to the strength of the correlation to reflect the cross-correlation of the load itself; the method use recurrent neural network as a forecasting model to reflect the autocorrelation of the load itself. Compared with putting the electric cooling and heating load into the same recurrent neural network or back propagation neural network for forecasting, the method in this paper considers the autocorrelation of the electric cooling and heating load itself and the cross- correlation of the electric cooling and heating load in different frequency bands. This method reduces the average absolute percentage error of the load forecasting.


The bias-dependent electrical characteristics of individual self-assembled GeSi quantum dots (QDs) are investigated by conductive atomic force microscopy. The results reveal that the conductive characteristics of QDs are strongly influenced by the applied bias. At low (−0.5 to − 2.0 V) and high (−2.5 to − 4.0 V) biases, the current distributions of individual GeSi QDs exhibit ring-like and disc-like characteristics respectively. The current of the QD's central part increases more quickly than that of the other parts as the bias magnitude increases. Histograms of the magnitude of the current on a number of QDs exhibit the same single-peak feature at low biases, and double- or three-peak features at high biases, where additional peaks appear at large-current locations. On the other hand, histograms of the magnitude of the current on the wetting layers exhibit the same single-peak feature for all biases. This indicates the conductive mechanism is significantly different for QDs and wetting layers. While the small-current peak of QDs can be attributed to the Fowler–Nordheim tunneling model at low biases and the Schottky emission model at high biases respectively, the large-current peak(s) may be attributed to the discrete energy levels of QDs. The results suggest the conductive mechanisms of GeSi QDs can be regulated by the applied bias.


Introduction: Issue of stigma and discrimination not only related to people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) but the community around them. The study aimed out to determine the level of stigma and discrimination toward PLWHA by community in Sarawak and determine the factors affecting it. Methods: A community based cross sectional study was conducted from June to November 2016, among 900 community in Sarawak via multistage sampling with gender stratification (450 male, 450 female). Data were collected using interviewed-guided questionnaires. Socio-demographic, knowledge on HIV/AIDS transmission, history
HIV testing, perceived HIV disclosure, communication on HIV/AIDS and risk behaviour of HIV/AIDS. Hierarchical multiple regression models were fitted to identify associated factors for HIV/AIDS related stigma and discrimination toward PLWHA. Results: The mean age for male and female respondents was 41.57 (13.45) and 41.57 (13.45) respectively. The HIV/AIDS related stigma and discrimination was higher among female than male respondents. There was a significant negative correlation
between knowledge on HIV/AIDS score and HIV/AIDS related stigma and discrimination score for both gender (p<0.01).
However, religion, occupation, average household income and history of HIV testing were the strongest correlates of HIV/AIDS related stigma and discrimination among female, whereas ethnicity and communication were among male respondents in the multivariate analysis. Conclusion: HIV/AIDS related stigma and discrimination toward PLWHA coexisted among community in Sarawak, and this urged for specific intervention strategies by promoting de-stigmatisation of HIV/AIDS and tailored socioculturally.


"An analysis is presented of the accidental release of activity following the operation of the NS "Savannah" at the New York Shipbuilding Corporation docks in Camden, New Jersey. Although a number of accidents are considered, the report is primarily concerned with the environmental activity levels and subsequent exposures which would result from the "maximum credible accident" (p. v).


Objective: To compare the metabolic outcomes in psychiatric patients treated with Olanzapine and Risperidone.
Study Design: Quasi experimental study.
Place and Duration of Study: The study was conducted at Armed Forces Institute of Mental Health, Rawalpindi,from Aug 2016 to Jan 2017.
Methodology: In this study 114 newly diagnosed psychiatric patients taking atypical anti-psychotics were selected and placed randomly into two groups i.e. group A (Olanzapine) andgroup B (Risperidone), 57 patients each. Patients of either gender, 20 to 60 years' age, clinically diagnosed new cases having psychiatric illness using DSMV were selected consecutively. Baseline and six months' end study data were collected and compared.
Results: Total 14 out of 109 (5 patients lost follow up) patients developed metabolic syndrome. Among these 10(18.18%) were in group A while 4 (7.41%) were in group B. Patients receiving Olanzapine were 2.58 times moreprone to develop metabolic syndrome compared to the Risperidone receiving [RR= 2.58 {C.I. 0.85009, 7.62703}].Weight gain (p-value = 0.0048), increased Waist circumference (p-value = 0.00867) and elevated Blood Pressure (pvalue = 0.0563) were seen more significantly with use of Olanzapine.
Conclusion: Olanzapine although associated with good efficacy but indeed with more serious and long-term side effects like impaired blood glucose tolerance, dyslipidemia and increase weight. Psychiatrist must screen and continuously monitor such patients.


Reducing friction between the vehicle leaf springs can improve the ride comfort,reduce the contact fatigue and make fatigue life to increase.We focus on considering the structural optimize design of leaf spring from the mechanical point.It is found that the main contact parts between leaf springs end in leafs and adopting end calender method can obtain good antifriction effect.We use ABAQUS software to do finite element contact analysis.By simulating the hysteresis loop of leaf springs,we obtain the amount of the average damping force reduced after implementing antifriction measures,comparing with the original leaf springs.It's the linear relationship between the amount of thickness of the leaves calendered and the percentage of the amount of friction reduced,and it's the nonlinear relationship between the amount of length of calendered leaves and the percentage of the amount of friction reduced.


Tax administrations have to deal with a large number of risks. These may concern the risk of non-compliance, including risk of tax fraud. The main purpose of this paper is to show how the Internet business models effect on tax administration in the context of risk management. The research problem analysed in the article concerns the adequacy of analytical and control tools used today by tax administration of OECD member countries to counter the phenomenon of tax avoidance using computer networks in business activity. The purpose of research problem framed this way is to verify whether reducing the negative effects of tax avoidance in connection with the digital economy development and 'dematerialisation' of many aspects of business activity requires nothing more than making organizational changes in tax administration operations, or whether it is necessary to introduce substantial changes in tax law to adjust legal standards to the requirements of the 'new economy'. The research integrates a variety of theoretical frameworks and relates to legislation governing tax procedure in OECD member countries, with references made to actions taken by Polish tax authorities. To achieve the goals set, the methods of analysis and criticism of specialist literature and documents, in particular reports published by the OECD, the EU and the Polish Ministry of Finance, will be primarily used.


Synopsis: The paper summarizes the results on flowing and cohesive superplasticized mixtures studied and placed in the 1970's and 1980's with properties very close to those of Self-Compacting Concretes (SCCs) presently considered to be the most advanced cementitious material. Case histories (from Hong Kong, New York, and Trieste, Italy) concerning placing of superplasticized self-levelling concrete without any vibration at all, published in the 1980's, are re-examined to compare them with the present SCCs In particular, the paper deals with the ingredients of these mixtures (superplasticizer, cement, fly ash, ground limestone, silica fume, etc.) by examining their specific role in determining the main properties of these concretes, such as fluidity, on the one hand, and resistance to segregation, on the other. Some interesting new materials, such as ground fly ash or powder from recycled aggregates, appear to be very promising for manufacturing SCC in agreement with the requirements needed for sustainable progress.


Purpose – Proposes to evaluate 5/99 content for reusability as learning objects.Design/methodology/approach – Presents the criteria developed specifically for this particular set of content, and the process by which they were developed. Some data are given on how the projects fared in the evaluation.Findings – In 2001 a JISC study gathered data about 27 of its 5/99 projects, mapping content categories and approaches to reusability, metadata and interoperability. A total of 18 were chosen for evaluation, based on availability of content, and coverage of content categories. Appropriate reusability evaluation criteria were developed specifically for the study in four areas: aggregation level; reusability; subject specificity; and vertical reusability. The projects showed high levels of awareness of, and willingness to plan for, reusability and interoperability. Planning from the start for developing reusable resources is imperative, if the potential of learning technology for sharing resources is to be fulfi...


Citrated human plasmas obtained from patients without prior injection of heparin were studied for their lipemia-clearing activity (LCA) in the presence of partially purified human clearing-factor p...


Since there is a cost associated with providing 24/7 support, it is also common to divide user support into tiers where a group focused on usability and training of the software provides tier 1 support and another group, consisting of mainly developers, is focused on feature development, software bug fixing, and related issues work separately in a different tier. This paper focuses on software organizations where the developer tier operates from just one part of the world under a single time zone. This group is not available on a 24/7 basis, but the Tier 1 group works in different regions – and hence time zones - throughout the world to deal with user problems and questions. Users can be internal or external, depending on the purpose of the software. This paper discusses only internal users (developers, users and help desk employees who work for the same company) and the delays in support when dealing with these users who may be working in different regions and/or time zones. Tier 1 support is available around the clock due to hiring help desk resources in different locations under different time zones. If an issue cannot be resolved, the Tier 1 workers escalate the issue to the next tier (the developers), who work regular hours in one region under one time zone. This paper uses discrete event simulation modelling to provide insights for a company with a similar structure to better understand possible software support delays. These delays can be reduced, and better overall support can be provided in the future.


The gain enhancement of an annular slot antenna fed by a cavity is studied numerically. The method of moments for bodies of revolution is used as a numerical tool for the simulations. The effect of different parameters is investigated and methods for gain enhancement are proposed. It is shown that the antenna gain can be increased by adding a dielectric layer, or conducting ring above the slots. An open cavity with additional chokes can also be used to decrease the backlobe level and increase the gain.


everywhere after any rearrangement of the terms, then w(n) is said to be a Weyl multiplier for almost everywhere unconditional convergence, or a UC-multiplier. The classical Menshov–Rademacher theorem (see [1], [2]) asserts that the sequence log n is a C-multiplier for any orthonormal system. The study of UC-multipliers for classical orthonormal systems has a long history. Kolmogorov [3] was the first to observe that the sequence w(n) ≡ 1 is not a UC-multiplier for the trigonometric system. A proof of this result was later given by Zahorski [4]. Developing Zahorski's argument, Ul'yanov [5] showed that the condition ∞ ∑


Criterion is a seven-year-old company with branches in Dallas, San Diego, and Mexico City. Total staff is about 45. The company is involved in approximately five major areas of activity. The five, roughly organized as divisions within the company, are (1) economic consulting to the telecommunication industry, particularly with regard to cost analysis and pricing decisions in a regulated environment, (2) research and consulting in the area of labor, particularly those matters involving affirmative action and employment discrimination litigation, (3) consultation with the nation's major law offices on matters of litigation involving economic damage or key economic issues, including antitrust litigation, wrongful death and personal injury, general economic damage, marital dissolution and breach of contract, (4) economic modeling and forecasting, particularly at the regional level, and (5) the provision of geographic and demographic information and analysis.


Closed-form expressions for outage probabilities of mobile radio channels experiencing multiple, cochannel, independent Nakagami interferers are derived. This is done for the case of Nakagami fading alone with an arbitrary number of interferers. Analytical results for the case of Nakagami fading combined with log-normal shadowing are obtained for a single interferer. The case of multiple shadowed interferers is examined by simulation. The fading severity parameter in the Nakagami distribution may be varied to model different fading conditions. Interferers with similar and different Nakagami statistics are analyzed. The probability of cochannel interference is related to the reuse distance, which is one of the key parameters in the design of cellular mobile radio systems. In addition, the effects of specifying a minimum signal power requirement for satisfactory reception are investigated. A number of system examples that illustrate applications of the results are included. >


Two late Quaternary alloformations are identifed throughout the Torngat Mountains by degree of soil profile development in till with a granitic composition, morphologic expression of deposits, and their relative areal distribution. The two alloformations are interpreted to represent two, successively limited glaciations of the Torngat Mountains by the Laurentide Ice Sheet. Deposits of the Shoal Cove Alloformation mantle hillslopes distal to deposits of the younger Saglek Alloformation. Deposits are primarily soliflucted till found around coastal regions. Soils developed in till of the Shoal Cove Alloformation are characterized by well-expressed Bw horizons ≥ 19 cm thick. Deposits of the younger Saglek Alloformation are characterized by prominent, well-preserved moraines, outwash fan surfaces, and ice-marginal channels. Soils described in till are poorly developed, with A horizons directly overlying Cox horizons, or separated from Cox horizons by thin, transitional (AC, CA) horizons or poorly expressed Bw ...


According to the data characteristics of aeronautical advanced composites,the reasonable data system was designed and the data warehouse was constructed by Oracle 10g.Based on the mixed model of two-layer client/server and three-layer browser/server,the data management platform and user interface were developed.Two key technologies were solved.One was the integration of the self-design calculating procedure.The special calculating procedure by Fortran were pre-complied to be the dynamic-link library(*.dll file)with the good transplantability and were invoked by Java in user environment.The other was the development of interface of database system and MSC.PATRAN software by using PATRAN Command Language(PCL).


In an inventive method for detecting a fault condition of a hydraulic brake system of a motor vehicle, at least one pressure value p of the brake fluid of the braking system and at least one associated with the pressure value volume value V of the master cylinder is determined during an actuation of a brake master cylinder and for detecting a fault condition of the brake system with at least one pressure volume reference pair of values (p each a backlash g determines the actuations of the brake master cylinder and by comparing the calculated backlash g with the reference value g The invention also relates to a hydraulic braking system for an automotive vehicle.


The Healthy Living and Eating After Cancer Trial demonstrated that a clinic‐based weight loss program reduced body weight, as compared with a waitlist control group, over 15 weeks. Here we report the impact of the weight loss intervention on health‐related quality‐of‐life outcomes at week 15, and maintenance of weight loss to week 30.


Selenium (Se), an essential trace element, is involved in a variety of biological functions through optimized levels of dietary intake. Obesity and type 2 diabetes have been characterized by altered gut microbiota, inflammation, and gut barrier disruption. We have previously demonstrated that suboptimal Se intake at levels <23% of nutritional needs increases susceptibility to type 2 diabetes in middle‐aged mice. Furthermore, results of 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing analyses show a profound impact of dietary Se deficiency on gut microbiota, inducing an increased abundance of Lachnospiraceae in old mice. Lachnospiraceae, a family of anerobic and spore‐forming bacteria in the phylum Firmicutes, can degrade mucins and are associated with inflammation of the gut and insulin resistance. In particular, many studies link the R. torques species of the Lachnospiraceae family to type 2 diabetes. Thus, we hypothesized that dietary Se deficiency reshaped gut microbiota to modulate type 2 diabetes. The objective of this study was to determine whether and how R. torques and dietary Se interacted to influence type 2 diabetes. Weaning female C57BL/6J mice were fed either a Se‐deficient or a Se‐adequate diet for 27 weeks, and half of them were given an oral gavage of R. torques (2 ×108 CFU in 0.2 mL) daily between weeks 22 and 25. Mice were terminated at week 27. Neither dietary Se deficiency nor R. torquesenrichment influenced body weight or food intake during the time course. Dietary Se deficiency induced (P < 0.05) glucose intolerance (13%) and insulin insensitivity (16%) in the female mice aged 7 months. Although R. torquesenrichment did not aggravate or improve these two type 2 diabetes‐like symptoms, it affected the abundance of Lactobacillus, Faecalibacterium prausnitzii, Roseburia spp./E. rectale, and E. coli in the fecal and/or cecal samples. R. torquesenrichment 1) decreased selenoprotein P and glutathione peroxidase 1 in the liver but not skeletal muscle in Se‐adequate mice; 2) increased liver glutathione peroxidase 1 at the protein level in Se‐deficient mice. Altogether, R. torquesenrichment does not restore dietary Se deficiency‐induced glucose intolerance or insulin resistance in mature female mice despite changed protein expression of two key selenoproteins in Se metabolism.


The SASE-FEL at LEUTL (APS) [1], the demonstration of SASE laser saturation at wavelengths below 100 nm at TTF (DESY) [2] and the operation of the HGHG-FEL at BNL [3] has stimulated proposals on future 4 generation light source user facilities in the VUV to soft X-ray spectral range and hard X-rays worldwide, refs. [4-10]. The BESSY Soft X-Ray FEL is planned to be built next to the 3 generation BESSY II light source, covering the spectral range 62 nm to 1.24 nm. A superconducting 2.25 GeV linac will supply three independent FEL-lines with a highly flexible electron-bunch pattern; the use of APPLE II type undulators will deliver variable photon-beam polarization. These SASE-FELs will permit unprecedented spectral-, spatialand temporal resolution for user experiments. A Status of the design work is presented in the paper.


Background. Due to the aging of the population, it is urgent to search for non-drug components of prevention and rehabilitation of the development and /or progression of major geriatric syndromes, in particular, the syndrome of falls in older people at the outpatient and home stages of medical rehabilitation. Aim: to study new physical components for the secondary prevention of the development of falls syndrome, as well as medical rehabilitation of older patients at the outpatient and home stages. Results. In the work, the effectiveness of the course of hypobaric hyperbaric adaptation, physical training by Qigong and Nordic walking to increase the statokinetic stability in older patients was obtained by the method of stabilometry. Conclusions. The results obtained enable to recommend the proposed physical components for practical application in the concept of the National Strategy "Active Longevity-2030" and in medical rehabilitation programs at the outpatient and home stages.


Mental illness is increasing among high school girls. At the same time the use of social media is increasing which is considered to be a major part of Western society. Increased body weight is cons ...


Summary form only given. In summary, we have presented the design of dispersion-flattened fibers with relatively large-effective-core areas employing the triple-cladding profile and successfully fabricated quasi-dispersion-flattened fibers exhibiting the dispersion slopes 55 /spl mu/m/sup 2/.


A comprehensive gas puff capability is being developed on the Z pulsed power generator. We describe the methodology employed for developing a gas puff load on Z, which combines characterization and modeling of the neutral gas mass flow from a supersonic nozzle, numerical modeling of the implosion of this mass profile, and experimental evaluation of these magnetic implosions on Z. We are beginning a multiyear science program to study gas puff z-pinch physics at high current, starting with an 8-cm diameter double-shell nozzle, which delivers a column of Ar gas that is imploded by the machine's fast current pulse. The initial shots have been designed using numerical simulation with two radiation-magnetohydrodynamic codes. These calculations indicate that 1 mg/cm should provide optimal coupling to the driver and 1.6:1 middle:outer shell mass ratio will best balance the need for high implosion velocity against the need to mitigate the magnetic Rayleigh-Taylor instability. The models suggest 300-500-kJ Ar K-shell yield should be achievable on Z, and we report an initial commissioning shot at lower voltage in which 250 kJ was measured. Future experiments will pursue optimization of Ar and Kr K-shell X-ray sources, study fusion in deuterium gas puffs, and investigate the physics of gas puff implosions including energy coupling, instability growth, and radiation generation.


Relationship marketing has received much attention in the last decades from both practitioners and researchers as one of the strategies firms can employ to remain competitive. Despite this attention, little empirical research has
been done about relationship marketing practices among SMEs especially those in developing countries. However, it is now widely accepted that SMEs play a crucial role in economic development. Consequently, their effectiveness in relating to customers in a sustainable way is considered an
important contribution to macro-economic development of industries as well as countries. This study was intended to investigate the relationship marketing instruments
employed by SMEs in Uganda and to suggest practical tools that policy makers in developing countries can use to enhance SME competitiveness. The study is part of a wider study to investigate the relationship marketing practices of SMEs in Uganda and to propose a suitable model that can be
used to improve their competitiveness. Data was collected from SME owners-managers, employees and regular customers to identify the relationship marketing instruments employed by
SMEs and their contribution to SME competitiveness. Findings revealed that the instruments employed vary between different SME sectors and that, in general, those SMEs that were perceived to be more relationship marketing oriented had higher customer satisfaction levels compared to those that were not. The findings also confirmed the mediating role of customer experiences. These findings confirm that relationship marketing practice can have a big impact on SME competitiveness in Uganda. The study contributed to existing
literature on the relationship marketing practices of SMEs in developing countries and formed a foundation for future research in related fields.


Abstract In Communist regimes the party‐state used fear to make people say what the party wanted in public regardless of what they thought privately. To test for the incidence of fear distorting public opinion, the 2004/2005 round of the New Europe Barometer (NEB) survey in 13 post‐Communist countries, some free while others are not, asked whether respondents thought people are today afraid to say what they think. Overall, 51% indicated some fear, 45% did not and 4% replied don't know. Five hypotheses are tested about why some people are afraid to voice opinions while others are not: the failure of all to account for differences implies a random distribution of fear. As a cross‐check on this finding, the paper then considers whether fearful people differ in their answers to political questions about partisanship and approval of the political system independent of their socio‐economic characteristics and attitudes. They do not. The conclusion considers the implications of publicly expressed opinions, whether freely expressed or not, for undemocratic as well as democratic political systems.


A large Nb–Ta ore deposit was found in the Yushishan leptynite in the west Qilian Orogenic Belt (QOB). Based on a field geological survey and using a Mineral Liberation Analyser (MLA, including scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy-dispersive spectrometer (EDS)) methods, eight Nb minerals (fergusonite, polycrase, columbite, Nb-rutile, aeschynite, pyrochlore, microlite, and ilmenorutile) were found to occur in the leptynite. This accounted for approximately 69% of Nb, with fergusonite, polycrase, and columbite being the dominant phases. The other 17.90% Nb as a minor element was dispersed in titanium magnetite–maghemite, and another 13.00% Nb was dispersed in gangue minerals. Nb minerals are formed mainly by two metallogenesis stages. The first stage is magmatic genesis to form four Nb minerals, euhedral-subhedral fergusonite, polycrase, pyrochlore, and microlite, which are crystallized within or between primary minerals, such as quartz and feldspar. Late alteration phenomena are locally observed. The second stage is the hydrothermal genesis of columbite, anhedral fergusonite, Nb-rutile, and aeschynite, which are dispersed in the fissures of the wall rocks as irregular veins and lump assemblages. Meanwhile, they are closely associated with metasomatic chlorite, albite, and secondary quartz. Furthermore, direct metasomatism among different Nb minerals is also found at the local scale. The Nb percentage of these two Nb mineral mineralization types is approximately equal, which reflects two main mineralizing periods. The first stage of mineralization occurred in the Neoproterozoic Era (834–790 Ma). Magmatism of this period produced early niobium and formed fergusonite, polycrase, pyrochlore, microlite, and zircon. The initial enrichment of Nb, Ta, and other rare metals occurred during this stage. The second stage of mineralization occurred in the Caledonian period (490–455 Ma). Large-scale and intense tectonic–magmatic thermal events occurred in the western part of the QOB due to the plate subduction and convergence (510–450 Ma). Hydrothermal activity in this period formed columbite, fergusonite, Nb-rutile, and aeschynite. Moreover, rare metal elements in the Nb-bearing rocks activated and migrated at short distances, forming in situ Nb–Ta-rich ore deposits.


In Taiwan, the emergence of the concept of public art has not only beautified street scenes but also enriched the live of citizens. However, public art is more than an extension of art stages. It is intended to be rooted in the society. In addition to the function of improving the living environment, it should satisfy the substantial needs with the creation based upon citizens and the local features. In the selection for public art works, activities are seldom planned for public participations, resulting in the loss of promotion to and communication with citizens. Thus, how a public art should be created and what method could be applied to create the sense of identity and belongingness would be an issue worth investigation. As a result, this study investigated the public art project of "Hello! XiuShan Flower" that the researcher participated in, recorded the entire process of how the team completed the project, discussed the problems encountered during and after creating the art work, and further proposed suggestions for improvement and directions of creation. It was discovered the problems about the execution of setting up public art works included: 1. The introduction of public art is too late, so selection for location and forms of presentation are subject to existing buildings, resulting in a waste of second construction; 2. The lack of participation of citizens causes a gap of some concepts among citizens. Thus, suggestions for the execution perspective included: 1. Plan for the timing of introduction of public art works in advance to increase the feasibility of presentation forms and reduce wastes; 2. Arrange activities for public participation and help creators and citizens with interaction and communication. At last, the suggestion for the direction of creation was that "publicness", "artistry", "placeness", and "practicality" should be included in the consideration of public art. "Publicness" refers to using issues related to our daily life to increase the opportunity for sharing life experiences and help connect citizens in their communications. "Artistry" is the foundation for beautifying the environment and also the most important catalyzer to stimulate citizens. "Placeness" is the most important indicator for creating the spirit of a local place. With the feature and essence originated from the local place, public art works should help citizens refresh the shared memories and sense of belongingness about the local place. "Practicality" enriches the functions of art and also interacts with and approaches citizens in a natural way. Thus, if artistic creators can get hold of the above 4 perspectives, public art works that are more compliant to the needs of citizens can be created.


We analyze the kinematics and morphology of a coronal mass ejection (CME) from 2010 April 3, which was responsible for the first significant geomagnetic storm of solar cycle 24. The analysis utilizes coronagraphic and heliospheric images from the two STEREO spacecraft, and coronagraphic images from SOHO/LASCO. Using an empirical three-dimensional (3D) reconstruction technique, we demonstrate that the CME can be reproduced reasonably well at all times with a 3D flux rope shape, but the case for a flux rope being the correct interpretation is not as strong as some events studied with STEREO in the past, given that we are unable to infer a unique orientation for the flux rope. A model with an orientation angle of −80° from the ecliptic plane (i.e., nearly N–S) works best close to the Sun, but a model at 10° (i.e., nearly E–W) works better far from the Sun. Both interpretations require the cross section of the flux rope to be significantly elliptical rather than circular. In addition to our empirical modeling, we also present a fully 3D numerical MHD model of the CME. This physical model appears to effectively reproduce aspects of the shape and kinematics of the CME's leading edge. It is particularly encouraging that the model reproduces the amount of interplanetary deceleration observed for the CME during its journey from the Sun to 1 AU.


Collecting genomics data across multiple heterogeneous populations has the potential to improve our understanding of disease. For instance, we might compare cases and controls to discover biological underpinnings of disease and ultimately develop treatments. Or we might compare multiple cancer types to understand etiology and develop more broadly-applicable therapies. Despite sequencing advances, though, resources remain a constraint in how much data can be gathered. If we could predict the amount of new information to be gained from different potential amounts of data, that could guide experimental design to make optimal use of the resources at hand. And while many authors have developed prediction methods for the single-population case [Masoero et al., 2022, Chakraborty et al., 2019, Zou et al., 2016, Gravel and National Heart Lung & Blood Institute (NHLBI) GO Exome Sequencing Project, 2014, Ionita-Laza et al., 2009], that work will generally provide poor-quality predictions across multiple heterogeneous populations when these populations can share information. We develop a new methodology to provide accurate predictions in the face of multiple populations.


We report the measurements of the electron transport of an individual C60 molecule through the combination of two experimental efforts. The nanometer-sized junctions were fabricated using electromigration combined with electron beam lithography and shadow effect evaporation. We performed the scanning tunneling microscopy/spectroscopy measurements of dispersed C60 molecules which were deposited on a highly ordered pyrolytic graphite substrate. The single electron tunneling through a single C60 molecule due to the Coulomb blockage effect is observed at room temperature.


In this article we draw on data from a two-cycle action research project, in which ways of teaching reconciliation in post-apartheid secondary school classrooms are explored. We undertake a detailed analysis of a selection of artefacts produced by South African students representing their understandings of reconciliation. Initially students' work conceived of reconciliation either interpersonally or intrapersonally. Subsequently work related to South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) resulted in a more socio-historical engagement with the idea of reconciliation. An analysis of the visual and verbal messages on postcards designed by students suggests that they experience our ostensibly post-conflict society as one of unstable peace. We argue that for a society with a violent past, reconciliation work needs to find ways of confronting the powerful discourses of the past that continue to circulate and to shape our identities and those of our students.


We report on the development of several operating procedures that promise to make GaAs photoemission electron sources easier to construct, more reliable to operate, and more amenable to use in dynamic vacuum systems. We describe in particular a method for ''ohmically'' heating a 〈100〉 crystal of GaAs under vacuum to approximately 600 °C. We also discuss our observations of the role of oxygen in the activation of the crystal surface, the use of continuous cesiation, and of the performance of the crystal under varying vacuum conditions.


This essay is on Tim Winton's novel Cloudstreet. It was commissioned by Copyright Agency Australia. It is written for a specific audience, teachers of English Literature and senior secondary, junior University students. It is a literary critical essay.


The resources of "resource-conserving" society primarily refer to "natural resources".The conservation in consumption area only means the reduction of resource-consuming production,not the cutting of spending.The adjustment force of the market mechanism on the consumption of resource-consuming production is limited.Under the existing cultural system and production mode,the conservation of resources contributes little to economic growth,let alone removing radically the restraints of scare resources on economic growth.The fundamental approach to breaking the restriction is to change the capitalist system and its corresponding production and consumption patterns,and to establish a new cultural system and production and consumption patterns based on the production and consumption of the spiritual and cultural production and the combination of types of consumption in a harmonious way.Thus,the sustainable development goal of resource conservation and economic growth can be spontaneously achieved and human society will enter the ideal "realm of freedom" from the existing "realm of necessity".


The study of mycelium development character of the two Fusarium species in calyciform crop has revealed that the introduction of different chemical fungicide quantities into nutrient medium causes colony form and mycelium toxicogenity modification depending on its remoteness from a colony centre.


A novel donor–acceptor copolymer containing 9-alkylidene-9H-fluorene unit in the main chain, poly[9-(1′-hexylheptylidene)-2,7-fluorene-alt-5,5-(4′,7′-di-2-thienyl-5′,6′-dialkoxy-2′,1′,3′-benzothiadiazole)] (PAFDTBT), has been synthesized and evaluated in bulk heterojunction polymer solar cells (BHJ PSCs). The polymer possesses a low band gap of 1.84 eV, a low-lying HOMO energy level (5.32 eV), and excellent solubility in common organic solvents. PSCs based on PAFDTBT and (6,6)-phenyl-C71-butyric acid methyl ester (PC71BM) demonstrate a power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 6.2% with a high fill factor (FF) of 0.70, which indicates that 9-alkylidene-9H-fluorene can be a very useful building block for constructing narrow band gap conjugated polymers for high-efficiency BHJ PSCs.


Objective To understand calcium intake and its food sources,as well as its trend in Chinese 18-49 years old adults.Method The data of daily calcium intake and its distribution of food sources in 18-49 aged old adults in Chinese Health and Nutrition Survey(CHNS) during 1991 to 2009 were utilized for analysis.Results The average intakes of calcium in Chinese males and females were 415.3 mg/d and 367.3mg/d respectively in 2009,showing an increasing trend since 1991.The percentages of individuals taking calcium daily over AI were 6.6%,6.6%,2.8% and 4.3% among males and 2.8%,3.6%,2.6%,and 2.1% among females in city,suburb,town and village respectively.The main food sources of dietary calcium were vegetables,legumes and cereals,which accounted together over 70% of the total daily intake.However,the calcium from dairy foods only attributed to 4% of the total daily calcium intake.Conclusion During last 20 years,the average daily calcium intake of Chinese adults still remained at low level.Deficient intake of calcium from dairy and legumes mainly accounted for the low intake of calcium.


The application of BaF2-modified hBN flakes as rapid response and recovery as well as sensitive chemoresistive sensing device materials for detection of acetone and/or ethanol is presented in this study. Modification of the hBN flakes was achieved by using the modified polymer derived ceramics (PDCs) process through the use of 0–10 wt% BaF2 and 5 wt% Li3N. Upon exposure to individual acetone and ethanol vapours, room temperature sensing studies revealed high LoD values (−144–460 ppmacetone and −134–543 ppmethanol) with extremely compromised sensitivities of −0.042–0.72 × 10−2 ppm−1acetone and −0.045–0.19 × 10−2 ppm−1ethanol for the structurally improved 5–10 wt% BaF2-modified hBN flakes. Moreover, enhanced sensing for 0–2.5 wt% BaF2-modified hBN flakes, as shown by the low LoDs (−43–86 ppmacetone and −30–62 ppmethanol) and the high sensitivities (−1.8–2.1 × 10−2 ppm−1acetone and −1.5–1.6 × 10−2 ppm−1ethanol), was attributed to the presence of defects subsequently providing an abundance of adsorption sites. Overall, the study demonstrated the importance of structural properties of hBN flakes on their surface chemistry towards room temperature selective and sensitive detection of VOCs.


A self-biased CMOS analog mixer for ultra-wideband (UWB) applications is presented in this paper. The proposed mixer is complementary and self-biased, and has lower power consumption, superior isolation, and larger bandwidth. The proposed low-power, down conversion mixer is designed and fabricated in UMC  $0.18\mu \text{m}$  CMOS technology. The measurement results show that it can operate at UWB frequencies that range from 1 to 6 GHz. The proposed mixer provides a maximum conversion gain of 13 dB, −4.5 dBm of third-order input intercept point, and a minimum double sideband noise figure of 12 dB. The maximum values of the measured local oscillator LO-to-RF, RF-to-IF, and LO-to-IF isolations are 50, 45, and 52 dB, respectively.


Waste generated in mushroom cultivation represents a valuable raw material with health benefits, the use of which contributes to a reduction in food waste and to the circular economy. Hydroethanolic extracts obtained by ultrasound-assisted extraction of four edible mushroom species (Agaricus bisporus var. Portobello, Boletus edulis, Lentinula edodes, and Pleurotus ostreatus) were characterized according to their antioxidant, antibacterial, and cosmeceutical potential. The extract with the best properties was incorporated into a cosmetic cream. Concerning the phenolic contents and antioxidant capacity, the extracts of A. bisporus and B. edulis stood out from the other two due to their higher levels. The compounds p-hydroxybenzoic and gallic acids were present in all mushrooms in the ranges of 0.010 to 2.554 µg/g DW and 0.032 to 0.112 µg/g DW, respectively. The extract of B. edulis inhibited all the bacterial isolates, with minimum inhibitory concentration values ranging from 5 to 20 mg/mL for Gram-positive and 10–20 mg/mL for Gram-negative strains. In the anti-hyaluronidase assay, A. bisporus extract (10 mg/mL) was the most effective, with 74.4 ± 7.5% enzyme inhibition, and was selected for incorporation into the cosmetic cream. The cream with A. bisporus extract showed significantly higher phenolic contents and antioxidant capacity than the cream without the extract. Overall, our results support the high value of mushroom reuse as a source of natural antioxidants in the cosmetic industry.


This paper discusses the Gathering System Back Collection In Library PT. PLN (Persero) West Sumatra. This study aimed to determine: (1) How retrieval system in the library collection PT. PLN (Persero) West Sumatra. (2) obstacles encountered in the retrieval system in the Library collection PT. PLN (Persero) West Sumatra.Data were collected through observation and interviews to the librarian at the Library of PT. PLN (Persero) Sumaetra Western Region. Based on data analysis concluded the following: (1) retrieval system library materials in the Library PT. PLN (Persero) West Sumatra is not optimal, it can be seen in the absence of the use of the card catalog that is useful to facilitate retrieval. (2) The constraints found in the retrieval library collection in the Library PT. PLN (Persero) West Sumatra, namely: first, the lack of tool retrieval of library materials in the library PT. PLN (Persero) West Sumatra. Second, the quality of human resources is still low, so that the quality of human resources in the Library PT. PLN (Persero) West Sumatra increased need to be developed by: (a) librarians can participate in professional activities (participating in seminars / workshops), (b) Librarians have lots of reading, lots of reading will be able to expand their knowledge, improve skills, improve skills and keep abreast of science Keywords: retrieval system; library collection


Melton ( Religious leaders of America, Directory of religious organizations ) assembled the first edition for release in 1982 under the title Sects and cults in America bibliographical guides, v.1 . The second edition has nearly doubled (to 2,540 entries) with the publishing of the 1980s. Two prefa


Polymorphic Aβ dimers are the smallest toxic species that play role in the pathology of Alzheimer's disease. There is a great interest in understanding the malfunctions that yield to these toxic species and to provide insights into the molecular mechanisms of the primary nucleation. Herein, we present a first work that demonstrate two distant edges states of Aβ dimers. The first is the so called "random coil" state dimer that mimics the primary seeding/nucleation that is far from a fibrillation state. The second is the "fibril-like" state dimer that is structurally in close proximity to fibril, well-organized state into a fibril-like structure. We show for a first time that a conformational change of one monomer within the dimer impede primary nucleation, while less fluctuations and relatively large number of interactions in nucleation domains induce the primary nucleation to produce toxic stable species. Overall, the current study exhibits a diverse of primary nucleation in each dimer state, suggesting distinct molecular mechanisms of fibril formation. The conformations of the early-stage Aβ dimers that were achieved may provide crucial data for designing inhibitors to impede the primary nucleation.


We study the Euler numbers and the entropies of the non-extremal intersecting D-branes in ten-dimensions. We use the surface gravity to constrain the compactification radii. We correctly obtain the integer valued Euler numbers for these radii. Moreover, the entropies are found to be invariant under the T-duality transformation. In the extremal limit, we obtain the finite entropies only for two intersecting D-branes. We observe that these entropies are proportional to the product of the charges of each D-brane. We further study the entropies of the boosted metrics. We find that their entropies can be interpreted in term of the microscopic states of D-branes.


Objective To estimate the clinical value of two-dimensional speckle tracking imaging technique(STI) in the assessment of right ventricular function in patients with type 2 diabetes(T2DM).Methods Forty-four patients with T2DM(19 with DM only [T2DM Ⅰ group] and 25 with coexisting DM and microangiopathy [T2DM Ⅱ group]),as well as 28 sex-and age-matched normal adults(normal control group,NC) were collected.STI was used to obtain two-dimensional images at the apical four-chamber view under rest condition.Peak systolic strain and strain rate of all segments in right ventricular free wall were analyzed.Results Compared to NC group,systolic peak strain rate(SRs) and early diastolic peak strain rate(SRe) in all of the segments in right ventricular free wall were significantly lower,as well as systolic peak rate(e) and late diastolic peak strain(SRa) in the basal segment in T2DM Ⅰ group(P0.05),while e,SRs,SRe and SRa in all of the segments in right ventricular free wall were significantly lower in T2DM Ⅱ group(P0.05).The e,SRs and SRe in the basal segment were significantly lower in T2DM Ⅱ group than T2DM Ⅰ group(P0.05).Conclusion STI can non-invasively assess right ventricular function in patients with T2DM by detecting strain and strain rate of all segments in right ventricular free wall.


Diversity, phytogeography and conservation status of Sri Lankan tree-ferns are discussed in this paper. The family Cyatheaceae is represented by eight taxa (seven species and one doubtful variety) in Sri Lanka with a high rate of endemism of 75%. Apart from Cyathea walkerae and C. gigantea, the other species are restricted to geographically isolated areas in the country with limited population sizes. Fortunately, all Sri Lankan species of Cyathea occur within the protected areas of the wet zone. However, ex situ conservation is limited to C. walkerae and C. crinita at Botanic Gardens in Hakgala. Despite the family being listed in Annex II of CITES, its species have not yet been assessed in Sri Lanka for the Red Listing criteria. Identification of the nature and level of threat to Sri Lankan Cyathea species is therefore a major priority, followed by the monitoring of populations in situ in protected areas in the wet zone. Ex situ conservation of rare species and cultivation of Cyathea species from spores have also been identified as priority areas. A strong programme should be developed with the National Herbarium to explore little known forest patches in the wet zone to enhance our knowledge of Cyathea species in Sri Lanka. Such information will provide a strong basis for preparing a conservation and management plan for tree-ferns in the country.


At present, curative therapy for prostate cancer (Pca) is limited to tumors confined within the prostate capsula (1,2). It is reported that radical prostatectomy and radiation therapy prolongs the survival of patients with capsular invasion, but without any evidence of metastasis (3). Unfortunately more than 6 0 % of patients with Pca that was detected in the out-patient clinic had high-stage Pca (4). It is expected that Pca in early stage will be detected by mass screening (MS), which will improve substantially the survival rate or Pca death rate.


This research examines the influence of mobile money transfer in sustaining customer loyalty at Safaricom limited. The study looks at the background of Safaricom limited, currently the market leader in telecommunications in Kenya. Safaricom is also the provider of the most successful mobile money transfer globally branded, M-PESA. Despite of the many strategies to grow and retain their customer base, Safaricom has consistently maintained a market lead over the years. . The telecoms industry in Kenya has witnessed bitter rivalry between the four main players. Safaricom rivals have invested in a number of strategies to attract Safaricom customers to their networks. However, majority of Safaricom customers have remained loyal. This has been attributed to Safaricom's mobile money transfer service,M-PESA. The study focused on M-PESA and was carried out from across Kenya. Demographic data as well as other data was collected from customers using researcher administered questionnaires. The study examined five constructs of customer loyalty; quality and availability of service, price, innovation, trust and switching costs. The reliability test was conducted for the items designed for the same construct. Cronbach's Alpha which is a measure of reliability or internal consistency was used and found the data reliable and consistent. The relationship between the customer's loyalty and other variables was measured using Pearson coefficient and t-value. Other measures used are statistical measures of mean, frequency and standard deviation. The results obtained in this research indicated that 86% of the respondents were loyal customers to Safaricom due to influence of its mobile money transfer service, M-PESA. The combination o f quality and availability of service, price, innovation, trust and switching costs showed strong relationship with customer loyalty while demographic variables o f gender, age, location and income levels also showed strong relationship. DECLARATION i DEDICATION iii ABSTRACT iv LIST OF TABLES vii LIST OF FIGURES viii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ix CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION 1 1.1 Background of the Study 1 1.1.1 Money Transfer Services 1 1.1.2 The Concept of Customer Loyalty 2 1.1.3 Safaricom Lim ited 3 1.2 Research Problem 4 1.3 Research objectives 6 1.4 Value of the Study 6 CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW 7 2.


A stoichiometric reaction of Ru(η4-cisoid-2,3-dimethyl-1,3-butadiene)(η4-1,5-COD)(NCMe) (1a) with ethyl 2,3-butadienoate produces rac-prone,supine-(1S,2R,4S,5R)-1-anti-4-anti-Ru(η3:η3-1-ethoxycarbonyl-2-methylidene-4,5-dimethylhex-4-ene-1,6-diyl)(η4-1,5-COD) (2aa) in 90% yield and in 52% isolated yield. The stereochemistry of this and the related products shows prior coordination of the 1,2-diene followed by the nucleophilic attack of the coordinated 1,3-diene, where the Ru(0) complex distinguishes two different orthogonal π planes and the prostereogenic face, depending on the steric congestion, regardless of their electronic properties.