The effects of spacing and bud number per hole on the tillering ability of Hemerocallis fulva Stella D'oro were studied by the average tiller number of single bud in the different treatments.The results showed that the most average tiller numbers(4.07) and the least average tiller numbers(2.11) in single bud were observed in the treatment 1(20 cm×20 cm spacing and 1 bud per hole) and in the treatment 9(30 cm×30 cm spacing and 3 bud per hole) respectively.The tiller number was increased 92.89% in the treatment 1 than in the treatment 9.The tillering ability was decreased with the increases of the bud number per hold at the same planting density,while,the average tiller numbers of a plant were decreased with the increases of planting density at the same bud number per hold.


AbstractOnline programs expand the possibility of LIS education. With 24/7 access to coursework, students grow accustomed to immediate access to information. Online education presents unique consid...


The microwave probes are developed for measurement systems of microcircuits on a wafer. The irregularities have been inserted into a tract of a probe to improve device characteristics.


A method is devised for the experimental determination of the dependence of the cross section on photon energy for bound‐continuum transitions of species dissolved in polar liquids of low vapor pressure. The method is based on the determination of energy distribution curves (EDC) for photoelectron emission (PEE) into the gas phase above the solution. Theoretical analysis covers EDC distortion by electron‐molecule collisions in the gas phase and resulting experimental requirements; derivation of a general equation for EDC's; criterion for the superposition of the descending segment of EDC's at different photon energies; and determination of cross section. Experimental results on PEE by the anthracene anion radical A− in hexamethyl phosphoric triamide include the effect of pressure on EDC's from 0.4 × 10−3−3.4 × 10−3 torr at different photon energies and the effect of photon energy on EDC's at 0.4 × 10−3 torr from 475 to 240 nm. Analysis of data covers effect of pressure; validity of the method for obtainin...


The meteo- and solar sudden cardiac death risk factors are exposed by conventional and robust statistical methods. The data are the statistics of daily measured numbers of sudden cardiac deaths and meteo-solar factors in Arkhangelsk for 1983-1985 years, totally 1096 days. These factors include: pressure and temperature, their increments, an average wind speed, indexes of the Earth magnetic and the solar activity, Wolf number, an area of sunspots and a number of sunflares. The most dangerous risk factors are the pressure increment and the AS-index of the solar activity. The new robust estimates of correlation matrixes are introduced and they demonstrate high robustness in the principal component procedures.


This part mainly deals with the existence (and uniqueness, if possible) of optimal shapes and their regularity. The topics have been marked by the pioneering work of Caffarelli and Alt [2], and presently are intensively developed, in particular by French and Italian schools. In general, the problem of the existence of an optimal shape is complex and difficult due to the lack of appropriate compactness in the set of domains and to poor behavior of the shape functionals with respect to the topology in the set of domains [3].


Abstract : A device is proposed for disrupting the spin-spin bond of the H(1) or F(19) nuclei with the P(31) nucleus when recording the spectra of nuclear magnetic resonance by means of spectrometers with an operating frequency of 40 MHz. The device provides for a maximum induction of a 4 Gauss high frequency magnetic field in the sample. The frequency is controlled from 15.3 to 17.6 MHz in 3 steps achieved by varying the capacity and inductance of the tank circuit as well as the capacity of the diode. The latter variation is achieved by a biasing dc voltage. Figures are presented showing the spectrum of proton resonance obtained by means of the device. The device makes it possible to achieve double resonance with high stability and with a uniform frequency control.


The susceptibility of Stethorus punctum picipes (Casey) and Harmonia axyridis Pallas larvae to pesticides used or with potential for use in Washington hops, was examined in laboratory bioassays. All pesticides tested except the miticide, hexythiazox, the insecticides, chlorpyrifos and pirimicarb, and the fungicide, mycobutanil, produced 100% mortality in S. punctum picipes at concentrations equivalent to field rates. The insecticides, pirimicarb, endosulfan, and thiamethoxam were least toxic to H. axyridis. Bifenthrin, diazinon, dimethoate, methomyl, carbaryl, malathion, phosmet, imidacloprid, and chlorpyrifos were highly toxic. The miticides, abamectin and fenpyroximate were highly toxic, milbemectin was moderately toxic but all other miticides tested were non-toxic. All fungicides had low toxicity. Selection and use of pesticides compatible with natural enemies and conservation biological control in Washington hop production is discussed.


The problem and related earlier work All the above problems involve the passage of a long chain molecule, through a region in space, where the free energy per segment is higher, thus effectively presenting a barrier for the motion of the molecule. This is what we refer to as the Kramers proble...


The invention relates to a connection piece for connecting graphite electrodes comprising at least one region made of graphite and at least one region made of carbon-fiber-reinforced carbon, wherein the graphite comprises less than 10 mass-% fibers and the carbon-fiber-reinforced carbon comprises more than 20 mass-% carbon fibers. The connection piece preferably comprises a graphite body in the shape of a cylinder or a bi-cone, wherein there is a plurality of groove-shaped recesses in the graphite body which are filled with the material made of carbon-fiber-reinforced carbon having a percent by weight of carbon fibers of more than 20 mass-%.


A re-claiming type anchor rod is an anchoring which removes a fixed clamp device of a PC steel rope which is firmed on an anchoring and the PC steel rope which is finally used as a tensioning member for an anchoring solid for the anchoring solid, which is formed by a supporting body and the fixed clamp device which is fixed on the supporting body, wherein the fixed clamp device comprises a wire harness which is formed by wires for drawing and the PC steel rope using as the tensioning member, a fixed base, a supporting body of the fixed base which is tightly firmed on the supporting body and a fixed cap component which is tightly firmed on the supporting body of the fixed base. The crimping clamp device of the PC steel rope is arranged on the periphery of the wire for drawing, and the back end portion is engaged with the front end face of the fixed base, and the PC steel rope is limited along the groove of the fixed base. And a braking element of the crimping clamp device of the wires for drawing is formed through connecting a stop tube element which is arranged on the fixed cap component to the front end of the crimping clamp device of the wires for drawing with threads.


The authors conducted a participatory action community-based research project that included the development, implementation and evaluation of 36 Community Adventure Play Experiences (CAPEs) in a variety of communities in the United States and abroad. In CAPEs, the emphasis is on free play created by children using "loose parts" that are readily available in their communities such as cardboard boxes, tires, fabric, recyclables, sand, wood, and water. During these play experiences children use their imaginations, and take the initiative to collaborate and problem-solve with found materials. Play facilitators ensure a safe physical and emotional space and assist children in their play as directed by the children. The authors studied CAPEs in rural, urban and peri-urban settings in the United States, Tanzania, Malawi, and Zimbabwe. As part of the investigation, they interviewed 225 caregivers and teachers in the United States, Tanzania, Malawi and Zimbabwe for information about their perceptions of CAPEs. ab st ra ct


GeoQuest Vesuvius is a class Role Playing Game to teach Earth Science and History. The educational technology is based on the idea of using language which is closer to pupils to improve the teaching/learning process. The game seems to be a perfect vehicle for education, even more when cooperative, since the acquisition of knowledge and enhancing skills now requires more actual approaches. The use of tablets, smartphones, social networks, etc. is more comprehensible and funny for young people compared to traditional media. The several roles allow everyone to enhance their own skills and are perfect for a full inclusion of Special Education Needs (SEN) students. We have already realized a role playing computer game called GeoQuest [1] creating at the same time a Role Playing Engine [2] which involves all students to the game through their personal mobiles or tablets giving a total interaction of the whole class to the game. The outcome of the class experimentation were excellent, both for didactic and educational results obtained [3]. This article is focused on our role playing game experience with the pupils. The students go through a virtual environment, which is progressively discovered by the choices done by them. This game story is set under the Somma-Vesuvius volcano. The environment that gradually reveals itself to the players is full of significant elements that can be traced back to a volcanic site, inserted in a specific geodynamic situation. It is located in the Mediterranean area, specifically in Campania, close to Pompeii and Herculaneum, where there was compressive and divergent geological events, which produced differentiated magmas and explosive volcanism. Players can also discover where they are from the story of some historical and mythological figures they meet on their path. They can interact to solve several quests appearing during the game related to mineralogy, volcanology, geodynamics, history, myths. Introduction The aim of the work is to use the latest ICT techniques to create innovative educational products. Our primary topics was Earth Sciences, History and Mythology all together in a unique interdisciplinary approach. We have already realized a first role playing computer game called GeoQuest creating at the same time a Role Playing Engine which can be easily applied to create new didactic games for


The topic of the paper is the presumption of innocence in EU law and the case law of the Court of Justice EU. The paper begins by outlining legal regulation of the presumption of innocence in the Charter of fundamental rights of the EU and the Directive on certain aspects of the presumption of innocence and of the right to be present at the trial in criminal proceedings. The second part of the paper analyzes the case law of the Court of Justice EU in the application of the Directive with special reference to the presumption of innocence standards of the European Court of Human Rights. The paper points out the minimalistic orientation of the CJEU regarding the presumption of innocence, which in some elements lowers the standards of protection offered by ECtHR. Low standards threaten to produce a domino effect on the criminal courts in EU member states, which could create a risk to the presumption of innocence as a guarantee of the legitimacy of criminal proceedings.


Gesture recognition has various applications in fields such as prosthetic control and human-machine interaction. In recent years, various gesture classification models based on surface electromyography (sEMG) signals have been proposed. Feature extraction of sEMG signals is discussed in this paper, and four models are used for recognizing gestures based on sEMG signals, which are convolutional neural networks (CNN), Multi-stream CNN, support vector machines (SVM) and Multi-stream CNN-SVM. The classification results show that Multi-stream CNN and SVM have better recognition performance than classical CNN. In addition, a Multi-stream CNN-SVM hybrid model is proposed. Compared with relevant research by other scholars, our proposed hybrid model performs better in gesture classification problems, with the highest classification accuracy of 97.7%.


Biofeedback technology is the feedback of the human physiological and psychological information to the subjects. According to the feedback information, the subjects can carry out self-training. The photoelectric pulse sensor gathers pulse signal, and the signal will be filtered and amplified, which inputs the Arduino controller for A/D conversion and data processing. The signal will be transmitted to the PC using Bluetooth serial HC06. The signal shows in the Processing which can feedback the results to subjects, reaching the biofeedback therapy.


Applying the conjugate contact condition, contact lines of a cylindrical worm gear has been calculated. The characteristics of tooth contact were analyzed and the pitting resistance were also assessed. It has been verified that: i) the length of contact is shortest on the 1st tooth of the front region, ii) the contact region is more narrow in the recess side than in the access side, iii) the contact region is more narrow in worm than in worm wheel. Hence, the pitting resistance is weakest in the recess side of the 1st contacting worm tooth.


This chapter is a detailed examination of Herbart's Allgemeine praktische Philosophie, which was his chief work on ethics. It carefully considers the characteristic feature of Herbart's ethics: its subordination of ethics to aesthetics. It examines the reasons Herbart gave for this perspective and his account of the difference between ethics and aesthetics. Herbart's work was a systematic version of romantic aesthetics, making the fragmentary in romantic aesthetics into a unified system.


The reliability of pedagogical practice is highly dictated by how it enhances science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) students' critical thinking achievement. Adequate pedagogical practice is thus needed in line with the demands of STEM learning in the 21st century, namely achieving optimal critical thinking. This paper reports this pedagogical practice on a topic of polymer film fabrication irradiated with gamma rays. The specific objective was to analyze STEM students' critical thinking performance in literacy of the aforementioned topic. It is an exploratory study with an experimental method. Only one treatment group was involved, they were STEM students attending the Material Physics Courses. By employing valid critical thinking instruments and adequate methods of analysis, the findings show that literacy on the assigned topic significantly improved STEM students' CT skills. It was proven that the mean scores of CT indicators have increased in all aspects of the CT assessed. The statistical analysis confirmed that there were significant differences in the CT skills of STEM students between the observations before and after the learning process intervention. The implication of this study is that pedagogical interventions integrated with studies on advanced material modification technology could be effectively used for creating inspiring STEM learning, especially for training STEM students' critical thinking ways.


Using the traveling wave technology, this paper analyzes the transient state process of non-solidly earthed network in detail when single phase earth fault occurring, and discovered the follow conclusions: in the fault line, forward voltage traveling wave and the backward voltage traveling wave are both arrived, but in the healthy lines, the arrival time of the backward voltage traveling wave lagged behind that of the forward voltage traveling wave certain amount; the initial polarity of forward voltage traveling wave in the fault line and the health line is extremely opposite. According to those two characteristics, this paper proposed new criterion of fault line selection based on the ratio of the forward and backward traveling wave energy and the forward voltage traveling wave polarity. This criterion won't be affected by fault initial phase angle and transition resistance. The effectiveness of the criterion has been verified by the ATP simulation results.


The parameter configuration is frequent and necessary in the simulation application development. During the parameter configuration, the candidate parameters are numerous and of various types, selecting the correct candidate parameter by hand is of heavy workload and error-prone, thus hampering the progress of the simulation application development. Aiming at this problem, this paper puts forward a Word Net-based parameter configuration assistance technology, which calculates the similarity of the target parameter and candidate parameters based on Word Net one by one, from three aspects: parameter name, parameter type and parameter description. And then rank the candidate parameters in a descending order according to the similarity value, providing the users for easier selection. The test result shows that this method can effectively avoid frequent selection, thus improving the efficiency of parameters configuration.


To reach younger audiences, museums worldwide have incorporated interactive and hands-on activities, while some venues specialise in children as their main audience. Videos, in particular, can be easily integrated in the museum space and provide a variety of application possibilities. Their use creates a hybrid experience for the visitor in which the interaction between physical and digital elements transforms and enriches their experience of the exhibits. Furthermore, the use of interactive technologies has been proven to increase visitor numbers and interactions on- and off-site. In this context, our research focuses on the use of interactive video technologies, and factors that can lead into the design of engaging and user-friendly museum experiences for children. To achieve this, a museum was chosen as a case study and a survey was conducted. The results indicated that the creation of an interactive video could benefit the areas that were visited less; the preferable length is rather short; while hands-on and video installations promote and prolong the engagement of young visitors, and are favoured by both younger and older children. Additionally, fictional or dramatised stories are attractive to children compared to documentaries; and it would be preferrable to access the interactive content on their mobile devices. These have led to the production of Paintings Alive, an interactive film for children, based on the museum's art gallery, and accessible on the visitors' mobile devices. Our paper also discusses the findings of the project, alongside the challenges and limitations imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic, and offers recommendations for future work.


Increased sediment and nutrient fluxes arising after wildfires may affect downstream water quality. we use mineral magnetic tracers to elucidate linkage between different slope units, river channel and a reservoir sediment column in the gorge-dissected landscape of a burnt water supply basin. Comparison of magnetic properties of source areas with down stream (sub-aerially stored) channel deposits suggests predominantly ridge-top origin with significant storage of sediment within footslopes. Magnetic properties of the sediment column provide insight into the nature of sediment accumulation on the reservoir floor and the role of immediate post-fire rainfall events. Comparison of source signatures with sub-aqueously stored sediment is complicated by the apparent fragility of some fine pyrogenic mineral grains; these may have to be accounted for in sediment column interpretation. Tracing tools provide river basin managers with important process-based evidence of post-fire sediment redistribution, useful for more effective mitigation of these infrequent, but significant, sediment redistribution events.


This book describes value management (VM) in design and construction and suggests a method for implementation. The philosophy, tools, and techniques of VM are highlighted and a critical appraisal is given of how it has been implemented in the North American construction industry. The authors bring insights from six years research into VM in North America, the U.K., and mainland Europe. The book provides in-depth explorations of functional analysis--the key to a VM service; the presentation of a series of North American case studies of projects; client approaches to implementation of VM and a successful VM consultancy firm. Life cycle costing--an important component of project economics--is given considerable coverage and the book concludes by presenting the authors' approach to the practical implementation of VM in the construction industry.


This paper presents the implementation of a novel transform technique for two dimensional coding. The hardware is composed of six blocks, of which only three are distinct. The "butterfly" block is the main engine of the transformer and is multiplier free. The matrix transposer block is a novel structure minimizing the number of registers and the interconnections. The third distinct block is a parallel to serial converter designed using the register allocation technique. Layouts for the whole circuit have been drawn and simulations using technology parameters have been carried out to prove the functionality of the transformer.


President Trump's issuance of Executive Order 13769 titled "Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry into the United States" restricts and even bans access to refugees and asylum seekers from seeking international protection in and from the United States. It is done by creating narratives that refugees and asylum seekers are capable of committing "potential threats" under the umbrella of terrorism. This study aims to dismantle the paradoxes the Executive Order conveys. It focuses on the international refugee regime under the ambit of international law and a broader context of immigration debates—socially, economically, and culturally. This study uses theThird World Approach to International Law (TWAIL),making it possible for academic legal discussionto correspond in cultural context. The findings show that Trump's Executive Order 13769 functions as the tool for the United States to "othering" refugees and asylum seekers as foreign terrorists in order to wage its national interests while ruling out humanity and the regime.


Abstract In this paper, we propose and develop an iterative method to calculate a limiting probability distribution vector of a transition probability tensor arising from a higher order Markov chain. In the model, the computation of such limiting probability distribution vector can be formulated as a -eigenvalue problem associated with the eigenvalue 1 of where all the entries of are required to be non-negative and its summation must be equal to one. This is an analog of the matrix case for a limiting probability vector of a transition probability matrix arising from the first-order Markov chain. We show that if is a transition probability tensor, then solutions of this -eigenvalue problem exist. When is irreducible, all the entries of solutions are positie. With some suitable conditions of , the limiting probability distribution vector is even unique. Under the same uniqueness assumption, the linear convergence of the iterative method can be established. Numerical examples are presented to illustrate the theoretical results of the proposed model and the iterative method.


Medical informatics has matured into a true scientific discipline, with its own international conferences, journals, exhibitions, research laboratories, calls for proposals for national and international research funding, and master's courses for the training of students. Both basic and applied aspects are taught, not only in all areas of health (medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, health and social sciences, nursing, public health) but also in many other domains, including life sciences, engineering and economics. Medical informatics is a complex and rapidly changing discipline. Few books are published in this domain, and they rapidly become obsolete. This book is the fruit of collaboration between several authors, all of whom teach medical informatics in France and perform research in this field. It contains 18 chapters, all of which include learning objectives, recommendations for further reading and information retrieval, exercises and bibliographic references. Chapter 1 presents the main areas of medical informatics and links to other scientific domains, such as computer sciences, biostatistics, biomedical engineering and public health. Key scientific societies, journals, conferences and exhibitions are listed. Chapter 2 focuses on the broad terminological resources developed for health. These resources are an essential tool for the normalisation of concept expression and for information coding in health, both these operations being prerequisites to the use of health information. Chapter 3 presents the various types of knowledge resources available in the domain of health, the principles underlying their indexing, the means developed for accessing these documents and quality criteria for health information. Chapter 4 deals with the representation of patient data in health information systems. The problems posed by the computerisation of patient records are analysed, and ways of structuring and standardising data are presented. In Chapters 5 and 6, the reader is introduced to the principles of medical image processing and analysis. These chapters provide an understanding of the ways in


Waning student engagement during year-long capstone design projects may decrease team effectiveness and create challenges for team faculty advisors and graduate teaching assistants (GTAs) who oversee team progress. As an influence process, leadership may be a potential tool to bolster student effort and overall team effectiveness, but little is known regarding how faculty advisors and GTAs enact leadership within design teams. This study examines how faculty advisors and GTAs enact leadership within capstone design teams and how their prominence in the teams' leadership networks relates to team effectiveness. Results indicate that faculty advisors tend to be more active in leadership networks than GTAs and that prominence in the leadership networks correlates with enhanced team extra effort and satisfaction but not course grades.


The cement clinker was activated by mechanochemistry with the high-energy planetary mill.The effect of grinding on particle size,mineralogical characterizations,microstructure,and thermodynamic properties were analyzed by using XRD,SEM,FI-IR and DSC.Results show that the clinker grinding results in crystal structure disorder,dehydroxylation reaction,and Si-O breakage,which increases its activity.The particles of clinker are reduced and tend to be spherical after grinding.


Objective:To establish a hydrophilic interaction high performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry method(HILIC-ESI/MS) for the determination of glycine in thiamphenicol glycinate hydrochloride(TGH).Methods:Alanine was used as the internal standard for MS quantification;Chromatographic separation was performed on a Waters Atlantic Hilic(150 mm×4.6 mm,5 μm) column by using water(containing 0.1% formic acid)-acetonitrile(containing 0.1% formic acid)(25∶ 75) as the mobile phase;The mass spectrometry was operated in positive ion mode,selective ion monitors were set at m/z 66 for glycine and m/z 90 for alanine.Results:The standard curve was linear over the range of 0.05-6 μg·mL-1(r=0.9998) with detection limit at 0.2 ng·mL-1 and quantification limit at 0.5 ng·mL-1;The recoveries for the three spiked level(10%,100% and 120%) were 108.5%,105.3%,and 99.2%,respectively.Conclusion:The established method is simple and suitable for glycine determination in TGH.


In our previous study, HP(2–9)‐MA(1–12), HP‐MA for short, a hybrid peptide incorporating residues 2–9 of Helicobacter pylori ribosomal protein L1 (HP) and residues 1–12 of magainin 2 (MA) was shown to have strong antibacterial activity. In this study the antifungal activity of HP‐MA was evaluated using various fungi, and it was shown that the activity was increased when compared with the parent peptides. In order to investigate the fungicidal mechanism(s) of HP‐MA its action against fungal cell membranes was examined by the potassium‐release test, which showed that HP‐MA caused an increase in the amount of K+ released from the cells. Furthermore, HP‐MA induced significant morphological changes. These facts suggested that the fungicidal effect of HP‐MA involves damaging the fungal cell membranes. CD investigators suggested that the α‐helical structure of these peptides plays an important role in their antibiotic effect, but that α‐helicity is less directly correlated with the enhanced antibiotic activity of the hybrid. Copyright © 2003 European Peptide Society and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


OBJECTIVE
To illustrate mechanisms of arsenic trioxide(As2O3) in the treatment of acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL).

METHODS
Cell-DNA content distribution, CD11b and CD33 antigens and nitroblue tetrazolium (NBT) reduction were evaluated in fresh APL cells from six APL patients treated in vitro with As2O3.

RESULTS
As2O3 had double effects on the cells inducing apoptosis and inducing partial differentiation at higher and at lower drug concentrations, respectively. As2O3 (0.1 approximately 2.0 micromol/L) could rapidly modulate and degrade APL-specific marker molecule PML-RARalpha protein, which could play an important role in the effects of As2O3 on APL cells.

CONCLUSION
As2O3 had double effects (induction of apoptosis and partial differentiation) on APL cells through the modulation and degradation of PML-RARalpha proteins.


Bouveret's syndrome is a rare complication of gallstones, leading to duodenal obstruction. We report a 25-year-old woman with this condition, probably the youngest patient reported.


Extracting electromagnetic patterns by near field scanning can provide concrete information about a device under test (DUT), which benefits a lot when locating EMI sources. In this paper, we extracted the electromagnetic pattern of DUT under different operation state and classify the pattern with a machine learning algorithm for simplifying post-process procedure and better EMC engineering. The result showed different operation state lead to different electromagnetic emission.


After the 1980s, Greece, as a member state of the European Union (EU), entered in a series of educational reforms that compiled to the EU's agenda on societal modernization and fiscal economy. In relation to language, the reforms dealt with the teaching of standardized Greek as a mother tongue, as a second/foreign language, of traditional foreign languages (e.g., English, French, German), and recently, of immigrant languages. Gradually, the official language curriculum is transformed in a multilingual and multimodal one, calling the student to learn and the teacher to teach multiliteracy, within a multilingual and multicultural context. The paper discusses Greece's language policies in parallel to the indigenous curriculum as a minority curriculum that is based on two contrastive concepts: the societal (hence, educational) multiculturalism, and the monolingual homogeneity of its corresponding community.


Digital badging has become popular to accredit individuals for a gained competence or developing skills. Simultaneously, badges are meant to provide an incentive and benefit for an individual. In Germany, the use of a unified digital badging strategy, remains an area to explore. One of the most crucial points of concern currently with digital badging is how to validate or credit a competence or skillset and what value this validation will carry for the individual. The Mozilla digital badge backpack (Mozilla, 2013) is the badging system which was adapted to reward teachers in the ICT4RED initiative in South Africa for providing proof of applying the TPD training in the classrooms. Based on the experience from this project where researchers from Germany were also involved, it was decided to apply a similar badging system both digitally in addition to a paper-based model, to validate competencies gained during an online Master's Degree program in Risk Management from the University of Koblenz-Landau in Germany. From the ICT4RED project it was found that validation and acknowledgement was the biggest challenge in the development of an open badge system. The purpose of this paper is to describe how the University of Koblenz-Landau addresses validation in their planned design of a multi-channel open badge system (OBS) to recognize and validate competence-learning.


For diagnostics and therapy planning, the segmentation of medical images is an important pre-processing step. Currently, manual segmentation tools are most common in clinical routine. Because the work is very time-consuming, there is a large interest in tools assisting the physician. Most of the known segmentation techniques suffer from an inadequate user interface, which prevents their use in a clinical environment. The segmentation of medical images is very difficult. A promising method to overcome difficulties such as imaging artifacts are active contour models. In order to enhance the clinical usability, we propose a user-driven segmentation approach. Following this way, we developed a new segmentation method, which we call interactive snakes. Thereto, we elaborated an interaction style which is more intuitive to the clinical user and derived a new active contour model. The segmentation method provides a very tight coupling with the user. The physician is interactively attaching boundary markers to the image, whereby he is able to bring in his knowledge. At the same time, the segmentation is updated in real-time. Interactive snakes are a comprehensible segmentation method for the clinical use. It is reasonable to employ them both as a core tool and as an editing tool for incorrect results.


VO 2 generally has a higher theoretical capacity and layered structure suitable for the intercalation/extraction of zinc ions. However, Zn 2+ ions with high charge density interact with the crystal lattice and limit further development in electrochemical performance. Defect engineering is potential modification method with extremely application prospects, but the existing procedures for preparing defects are complicated. Herein, we explored VO 2-x (B) with oxygen deficiency via a simple solution reaction with NaBH 4 . The presence of an oxygen deficiency was confirmed by positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy, ultraviolet-visible light absorbance spectroscopy and others. Owing to the presence of oxygen defects, the aqueous Zn/VO 2-x (B) battery exhibited improved specific capacity, excellent reversibility, and structural stability. Ex-situ characterization techniques were employed to demonstrate the reversible insertion/extraction mechanism of Zn 2+ ions from/into the host material. In addition, the Zn/VO 2-x (B) batteries still exhibit considerable electrochemical performance even at high-loading electrodes (about 4 mg cm -2 ).


January 30 is World Leprosy Day. An analysis of the historical and medical aspects of the formation and development of medical care in Hansen's disease reveals the main milestones in the history of the humanity's opposition to the disease that could not be completely defeated in South America, Southeast Asia and Africa.


Objective To explore the experiences and values of laparoscopy in abdominal injuries.Methods Clinical data of 38 patients with abdominal injuries undergoing laparoscopic exploration during January 2008 and December 2010 were retrospectively analyzed.Results 38 patients were diagnosed by laparoscopic exploration,8 of whom were diagnosed with hepatorrhexis,7 with rupture of small intestines,6 with rupture of spleens,4 with rupture of epiploon haemorrhages,4 with injury of abdominal walls,3 with retroperitoneal hematomas,3 with rupture of mesenteric vessel haemorrhages,2 with injury of pancreas,1 with rupture of diaphragm.19 patients were operated on under celioscope,7 patients had no need of surgical treatmeat,12 patients were converted to open abdomen surgery.All the patients were cured,and the mean hospitalization time was 5-15 days,and no complications occurred.Conclusion Laparoscopic exploration in abdominal injuries as a minimally invasive surgical technique has many advantages such as safety,accuracy,easy diagnosis and treatment,short-term recovery and few complications.


Chalcogenide glasses have amongst the highest third order nonlinearity of any amorphous material, negligible nonlinear absorption and excellent mid infrared transparency. This talk summarizes recent progress on nonlinear devices based on chalcogenide glass waveguides.


Summary Analysis of directional character of Hessian operator leads to two new schem es for computing inverse Hessian in angle domain. The methods modify the original explicit Hessian formula into angle domain. The implementations avoid the huge inversion problems. Due to the need of stability, damping factors are used in the wavenumber domain. Tests on the SEG/EAGE salt model show good compensation results.


Chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) is a disease characterized by the expansion of granulocytic cells. The BCR-ABL tyrosine kinase inhibitor imatinib, the frontline treatment for Ph+ leukemias, can induce complete hematologic and cytogenetic response in most chronic phase CML patients. Despite the remarkable initial clinic effects, it is now recognized that imatinib will unlikely cure patients because a small cell population containing leukemic stem cells (LSCs) with self-renewal capacity is insensitive to tyrosine kinase inhibitors. In Chapter I, I briefly review the BCR-ABL kinase and its related signaling pathways. BCR-ABL kinase activates several signaling pathways including MAPK, STAT, and JNK/SAPK. BCR-ABL also mediates kinase-independent pathways through SRC family kinases. I will also discuss pathways involving β-catenin, hedgehog, FoxO and Alox5 are critical to the regulation of self-renewal and differentiation in LSC of CML. As detailed in Chapter II, I describe our work evaluating the effects of omacetaxine, a novel CML drug inducing cell apoptosis by inhibition of protein synthesis, on self-renewal and differentiation of LSCs and BCR-ABL-induced CML and acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL) in mice. We found that treatment with omacetaxine decreased the number of LSCs and prolonged the survival of mice with CML or B-ALL. In chapter III, I describe that Alox5 is an essential gene in the function of LSCs and CML development. We show evidence that Alox5 affects differentiation, cell division,


? The paper discusses the world's developing trends in the 90's of the 20th century and the market demand for the hydrogenated base oil of lube oil next century ,illustrates inexorable trend of rapid and vigorous development for hydrogenated base oil from the base oil required by new generation PCMO and AFT.


The cytokine interferon‐gamma (IFN‐γ) is a master regulator of innate and adaptive immunity involved in a broad array of human diseases that range from atherosclerosis to cancer. IFN‐γ exerts it signaling action by binding to a specific cell surface receptor, the IFN‐γ receptor (IFN‐γR), whose activation critically depends on its partition into lipid nanodomains. However, little is known about the impact of specific lipids on IFN‐γR signal transduction activity. Here, a new conserved cholesterol (chol) binding motif localized within its single transmembrane domain is identified. Through direct binding, chol drives the partition of IFN‐γR2 chains into plasma membrane lipid nanodomains, orchestrating IFN‐γR oligomerization and transmembrane signaling. Bioinformatics studies show that the signature sequence stands for a conserved chol‐binding motif presented in many mammalian membrane proteins. The discovery of chol as the molecular switch governing IFN‐γR transmembrane signaling represents a significant advance for understanding the mechanism of lipid selectivity by membrane proteins, but also for figuring out the role of lipids in modulating cell surface receptor function. Finally, this study suggests that inhibition of the chol‐IFNγR2 interaction may represent a potential therapeutic strategy for various IFN‐γ‐dependent diseases.


We read with a great interest the article ''Increased mean platelet volume (MPV) and mean platelet volume/platelet count (MPV/P) ratio in Korean patients with deep vein thrombosis (DVT)'' written by Han and coworkers [1]. They aimed to compare the MPV and MPV/P ratio between DVT and control subjects. They demonstrated that MPV was higher in DVT patients compared to controls. The DVT patients also had a higher MPV/P ratio compared to the control group. MPV was conversely correlated with the platelet count in DVT patients. They suggested that the MPV and MPV/P ratio may be considered meaningful laboratory markers for the risk of DVT. The study is successful in design and documentation. DVT is a common disease found worldwide. It presents symptoms ranging from asymptomatic to fatal pulmonary embolism. So, prevention and early diagnosis of DVT are very important. The presence of DVT was closely associated with increased platelet activation [2]. Blood stasis, vascular endothelial injury, and hypercoagulable conditions are well-known risk factors of DVT. It has also been related to obesity, smoking, previous surgical history, trauma, cancer, immobilization and another platelet dysfunctions [3]. In contrast to the present study, the authors demonstrated downregulation of platelet activation after long-term immobilization in the previous study [4]. For this reason, we think that because platelet function can affect various factors, further studies should consider these conditions. A complete blood count is a routine, easy, and cheap examination technique that gives information about the patient's formed blood contents; the red and white cells, platelets, the counts and dimensions of subgroups of cells, and parameters like the distribution widths, mean platelet volume. MPV is one of the most widely used laboratory markers to be related to the platelet function based on the inflammatory condition [5,6]. MPV also indicates the function of platelet, which is central to processes that are involved in coronary heart disease pathophysiology and endothelial dysfunction [7,8]. Platelet parameters can be affected by coronary risk factors including age, obesity, smoking, diabetes mellitus, hypertension, hyperlipidemia metabolic syndrome [6]. Another study demonstrated that MPV can be predicted in patients with stroke [9]. Some other recent studies have presented that elevated MPV is linked with peripheral artery disease and stroke, all of which are related to atherosclerosis on the basis of inflammation [5]. Previous studies demonstrated an association between the long-term mortality after non-ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction and the peripheral blood platelet indices including the MPV, platelet count, and the MPV/P ratio [10]. It can also be affected by thyroid and rheumatic diseases [11,12], malignancy and medications such as anticoagulant therapy, statins. So, if the authors had mentioned these factors, it might be useful. MPV is as an important marker of inflammation. Previous study has shown that MPV showed significant differences in patients with hepatic diseases [13]. On the other hand, MPV value was higher in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients compare with those of the control group [14,15]. Therefore, if the authors gave information about hepatic function tests and respiratory condition, the results of the present study may be different and stronger. Additionally, it would be better if the authors defined how much time they specified on measuring MPV levels, because the delaying blood sampling can cause abnormal results in MPV measurements. Finally, MPV may be affected by many factors, the routine clinical usage of these parameters may not be reasonable yet. MPV itself alone without other overt inflammatory markers may not give information to clinicians about the chronic endothelial inflammatory condition of the patient at the first look. So, we think that it should be evaluated together with other inflammatory markers. We believe that these findings will guide further studies about MPV as a surrogate marker of endothelial dysfunction and inflammation in patients with DVT. We thank the authors for their contribution.


The necessary condition for the existence of zero or negative eigenstate of infinite potential well plus negative delta potential is given.The wave function and energy are also derived.


AbstractIn chemical looping combustion (CLC), a metal oxide (generalised as MeO) is used to oxidise a gaseous fuel in: (2n+m) MeO+C n H 2m →(2n+m) Me+mH2O+nCO2. Pure CO2 can then be obtained by cooling the off-gases to condense the steam. The reduced form of the metal oxide, Me, is then transferred to a different reactor, where it is re-oxidised by air in: Me+1/2O2→MeO. The gas from this reactor is N2 containing unused O2. The net effect of these reactions is that the fuel has been burned, with the total heat evolved being the same as for combustion of the fuel in air; however, the resulting CO2 is now pure and not mixed with the nitrogen from the air. This paper shows how it is possible to use CLC with a solid fuel, such as coal char, provided a gasification agent like steam is introduced into the reactor. The gasification agent transfers solid carbon to gaseous CO, which, like the H2 also formed, can be reacted with a solid, e.g. Fe2O3, carrying oxygen, to yield CO2 and H2O. On the basis of a limited se...


To improve simulation precision and stability of solution with STAR-CD,the cylinder mesh centering O-grid template(CMC-O-gird template) was created.It was used to cut the geometry of combustion chamber to produce its mesh,thus eliminating the coupling surface in the region the fuel spray passing through and insuring a good mesh quality,so that the solution stability may be improved and the computation time also shortened.The combination of transversal and longitudinal section images of fuel spray was adopted to display microcosmic field,which gave more information with least images.In order to overcome limitation of traditional post-processing methods,namely only microcosmic field images were used to make a qualitative analysis,a set of post-processing method based on key cell set to make quantitative analysis of microcosmic parameters was summarized.The simulation results show this method is helpful to reveal the microcosmic mechanism.


The invention discloses an anti-light-ageing reinforcement material of colored relics. The reinforcement material is prepared from the following components in parts by weight: 500-1,200 parts of silicon dioxide, 6,000-20,000 parts of B72, 5-40 parts of polyethylene glycol octylphenol ether, 4-20 parts of aminopropyl triethoxy silane, 5,000-80,000 parts of a 85%-95% ethanol aqueous solution and 30,000-200,000 parts of ethyl acetate. Compared with a common reinforcement material B72 of the colored relics, the anti-light-ageing reinforcement material is relatively long in service life and relatively high in stability, especially, the light ageing resistance is remarkably improved, and a preparation process of the anti-light-ageing reinforcement material is simple and convenient to perform.


In February 2019, OUTSaskatoon, a 2SLGBTQ+ resource centre in Saskatoon, SK, received 1.1 M in federal funds to support a five-year project set to intervene in the instances and societal perpetuation of gender-based violence toward the 2SLGBTQ+ community. The project involved partnerships between OUTSaskatoon and the University of Saskatchewan, including a comprehensive research and evaluation stream to accompany the delivery of front-line services and educational activities. During the project's application to the University's Research Ethics Board (REB), members of the ethics review committee expressed heightened levels of fear and discomfort not only with the subject-matter, but with the role (and centrality) of the community organization within the research process. The documented experience explores pressing barriers to effective and ethical community-university research partnerships. To this end, the authors explore their communications with the REB alongside the themes of "vulnerability," "risk-aversion," and more broadly regarding the timelines of community work versus university processes. Together these themes maintain a culture of academic exceptionalism that causes significant barriers to the development of reciprocal partnerships between community partners and universities. In this case, the outcome was hopeful, as a formal complaint to the REB received a documented apology. In documenting this specific, though not unique, experience, we aim to highlight the possibilities for leaning in and building ethical space between and through community and academic environments to foreground both needed critique and collaborative pathways forward.


The interpolation error operator is an effective tool for the detection of digital time series data errors characterized by discontinuities in the function itself or its low order derivatives. The generalized interpolation operator of multiplicity n simultaneously interpolates n consecutive terms. This operator is effective in correcting short lengths of erroneous data.


Abstract : As the United States enters its tenth year of conflict against Islamic terrorists, the nation's military services seek to provide their mid-grade officers with educations that promote adaptive and creative problem solving for increasingly complex battlefields. The study of relevant historical figures can contribute positive lessons-learned to the contemporary military officer One such person is Sir William Johnson, a British Indian Agent during the mid-eighteenth century in North America. By examining Johnson through the a contemporary lens, namely the four elements of national power, Army and Marine Corps officers can learn valuable traits that are applicable on modern, often irregular battlefields


In this paper, we show the existence of solutions of the convex minimization problems and common fixed problems in CAT(1) spaces under some mild conditions. For this, we propose the new modified the proximal point algorithm. Further, we give some applications for the convex minimization problem and the fixed point problem in CAT(κ) spaces with the bounded positive real number κ. Our results improve and generalize many recent important results in the literature.


This paper contributes to the literature on the individual and institutional factors explaining academic scientific productivity. On the basis of very detailed information for a sample of about 220 academics at the University of Torino over a ten year period, we test a series of econometric models that aim to solve omitted bias and endogeneity concerns. We show that after taking into account commonly omitted variables such as children and teaching, competitive funding is no longer associated to higher productivity, though a significant effect on citations remains. In instrumental variable models we further show that the funding effect on citations turns insignificant, too. This indicates that quantity is subject to time-constraints which can be modelled with better data on time availability. The quality of research, instead, is related to academics innate ability, which can only be addressed by tackling the reverse causality problem.


ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Firstly, I would like to thank my advisor, Richard Vuduc, for his support and his guidance over the past two years, and for giving me the chance to work for him as a research assistant in the HPC garage. Secondly, I would like to thank Mark Adams for many insightful discussions and for helping me understanding many details of segmental refinement multigrid solvers. Thirdly, I would like to thank the remaining committee members, Edmond Chow and Hao-Min Zhou, for their patience in scheduling and observing my thesis defense. Special thanks go to Jed Brown who developed the HPGMG finite element multi-grid solver that the segmental refinement implementation presented in this work is based on, as well as to Achi Brandt who ingeniously developed the theory of modern multigrid algorithms, including segmental refinement, and to Ulrich Rüde who introduced and got me interested in multigrid methods. I would also like to thank my friends and colleagues of the HPC garage and all CSE faculty and students who have made my time at Georgia Tech an incredibly valuable and memorable experience. Lastly, I would like to thank my parents and my sister for their great support throughout my entire life and especially during my time in graduate school. Any opinions, findings and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of DOE.


The general mission of this one investigation was to propose an audit model, for the installation, operation and maintenance of switches and routers. This must like intention provide a manual of procedures to guarantee the effectiveness and efficiency in the installation, operation and maintenance of devices of interconnection of networks as they are it switches and routers.. The study is considered of descriptive type and field. As far as the design it is of nonexperimental type. The applied instrument was a questionnaire, determining the validity by means of consultation to experts and the


Background and purpose:Most of the patients with esophageal cancers were late stage cases when diagnosed clinically. Since the prognosis is very poor, it is extremely important to improve the quality of life (QOL) of these patients. Concurrent chemoradiotherapy is an effective modality for esophageal cancer. However, effects on quality of life of chemoradiotherapy are rarely reported domestically. Our purpose was to assess the immediate effect on the quality of life in patients with primary esophageal carcinoma. Methods:QOL was assessed by the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire (EORTC QLQ-C30) Chinese edition. Fifty-two patients were randomized to receive either concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CRT) or late course accelerated hyperfractionated radiotherapy (LAHF). QOL questionnaires were given before therapy and at the 4th week during radiotherapy, the completion of radiotherapy, and then after 1 and 3 months after the completion of radiotherapy, respectively. Results:It has been observed that the scores of global health status, physical functioning, role functioning and social functioning during the radiotherapy and from completion of radiotherapy to 1 month post radiotherapy in CRT and LAHF groups, deteriorated temporarily, but it were not signifi cant when compared with those before radiotherapy (P0.05). However,global health status scores, physical functioning scores, role functioning scores were signifi cantly improved in patients who received CRT at 3 months post radiotherapy. Mean scores were improved by 12.0±3.7 (P=0.012),8.1±2.9 (P=0.023) and 14.8±5.2 (P=0.015), respectively. Nausea and vomiting, pain and appetite loss scales scores rapidly recovered to the baseline level after therapy, although they were worsened during therapy. Conclusion:Global health status scores, physical functioning scores and role functioning scores were signifi cantly improved at 3 months after radiotherapy in patients treated by CRT. In terms of QOL , CRT is a feasible modality for esophageal cancer.


This paper analyzes the daily data of China's air quality index (AQI) from 2015 to 2020 using kriging, spatial autocorrelation, and gravity center method. The results confirm that China's air pollution is gradually controlled. From 2015 to 2020, the AQI, the proportion of air pollution days and the city air quality exceedance rate decreased by about 29%, 44%, and 49% respectively. The spatial distribution of air pollution changes with seasons. The heavily polluted area (AQI > 200) is largest in spring, which accounts for 0.48% of the total area, while the polluted area (AQI > 100) is largest in winter due to large area pollution in the North China Plain. The air pollution has strong spatial autocorrelation with a global Moran's Index larger than 0.7. The Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region and southern Xinjiang are high-pollution clustering areas. The former is dominated by PM2.5 pollution caused by anthropogenic activities, while the latter is dominated by PM10 pollution from natural sources. Using gravity center method, it works out the air pollution gravity center (APGC), economic gravity center (EGC), the secondary industry gravity center (SIGC), the tertiary industry gravity center (TIGC) and the population gravity center (PGC) in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region and its surrounding areas. Results show that the spatial overlapping indicator of the APGC with the PGC is the highest, and the APGC and the SIGC has the highest shifting consistency indicator. When combining the two indicators, it is obtained that air pollution has the highest degree of spatial coupling with the secondary industry, but low coupling with economic volume. It is indicated that the driving factors of air pollution is the secondary industry. Therefore, it is suggested that the regulation of air pollution should start from optimizing the industrial structure in China.


The crystal structure of the title compound has been determined from single-crystal X-ray diffraction data by conventional methods. The yellow complex crystallises in rhombohedral space group Rc, with Z= 2 in unit cell of dimensions a=b=c= 15.603(2)A, α=β=γ= 53.133(2)°. Full-matrix least-squares refinement returned a final R factor of 0.038 for 1 206 reflections. The complex has overall C3v symmetry, with the [Ph3MeP]+ ion adopting a 'propeller-like' conformation and the [Cu4I6]2– ion forming a tetrahedron of copper atoms with iodine atoms displaced from the centre of each edge. Thus each copper atom has approximately trigonal planar co-ordination and is bridged by three iodine atoms. Within the crystal alternate anions have an inverted core of copper atoms whilst Still accommodating the same iodine atoms on tetrahedron edges. Cu–I bond distances range from 2.539(5) to 2.638(5)A, and Cu–I–Cu bond angles are 63.9(2) and 65.2(2)°. The non-bonded Cu ⋯ Cu separations of the Cu4 tetrahedron are 2.742(7) and 2.757(7)A. The observed structure is consistent with that previously suggested on the basis of i.r, Raman, and n.q.r. studies.


Abstract Background Antibiotic prescribing (AP) and resistance (AR) may influence severity of illness in urinary tract infection (UTI). Limited data exist assessing the relationship between county-level AP and AR on initial presentation to hospital for UTI. This study evaluated the association between county-level AP and AR on UTI severity of illness among hospitalized patients in New York State. Methods Retrospective, cross-sectional analysis, combining data from New York State Statewide Planning and Research Cooperative System (SPARCS) and previously published data on countywide antimicrobial resistance and antimicrobial prescribing. Inclusion criteria: female patients admitted to a New York inpatient setting in 2017, UTI (CCS 159), Medicare insurance. Exclusion criteria: missing countywide prescribing or resistance. All-patient refined (APR) clinical severity ≥ 3 was the primary outcome. Counties were classified as prescribing above or below the median prescribing proportion, and above or below the median prevalence of E. coli resistance for TMP-SMX and NTF. Countywide prescribing practices, antimicrobial resistance, patient factors, and location factors were evaluated for association with APR clinical severity ≥ 3 using chi-squared and logistic regression. Results 8,024 patients met study criteria. Baseline characteristics are presented in Table 1. 3,597 (44.8%) had an APR severity of ≥ 3. Factors associated with APR severity ≥ 3 include age group (P < 0.001), ethnicity (P = 0.013), hospital county (P < 0.001), first line prescribing ≥ 45.4% (P = 0.049), E. coli TMP-SMX resistance ≥ 29.0% (P < 0.001) via chi-squared test. In the logistic regression analysis counties with higher first line prescribing was associated with decreased odds for severe infection (aOR: 0.83 [0.72 – 0.97]). Additional factors associated with severe infection are presented in Table 2. Conclusion Prescribing patterns may have a significant influence on initial presentation to the hospital for urinary tract infections. Outpatient antimicrobial stewardship should endeavor to promote guideline driven prescribing. Further research is needed to corroborate the findings from this cross-sectional study. Disclosures All Authors: No reported disclosures


We herein report the first case of Mediterranean glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) variant from Bangladesh. A boy had been admitted to hospital and was diagnosed with uncomplicated Plasmodium vivax infection and treated with 30 mg/kg body weight (BW) chloroquine for 3 days and 4.8 mg/kg BW primaquine (PQ) to be taken over 14 days. The boy was discharged but represented 4 days later with severe hemoglobinuria and fatigue. Hemoglobin was measured at 6.0 g/dL and serum bilirubin was at 5.6 mg/dL, although malaria microscopy was negative. The boy had taken the 4-fold recommended daily dose of PQ and was treated with two fresh blood transfusions. Subsequent molecular analysis showed the boy to have the Mediterranean G6PD variant and a G6PD activity of 0.93 U/gHb.


: Working with so-called linkages allows to define a copula-based, [0 , 1]-valued multivariate dependence measure ζ 1 ( X ,Y ) quantifying the scale-invariant extent of dependence of a random variable Y on a d -dimen- sional random vector X = ( X 1 ,...,X d ) which exhibits various good and natural properties. In particular, ζ 1 ( X ,Y ) = 0 if and only if X and Y are independent, ζ 1 ( X ,Y ) is maximal exclusively if Y is a function of X , and ignoring one or several coordinates of X can not increase the resulting dependence value. After introducing and analyzing the metric D 1 underlying the construction of the dependence measure and deriving examples showing how much information can be lost by only considering all pairwise dependence values ζ 1 ( X 1 ,Y ) ,...,ζ 1 ( X d ,Y ) we derive a so-called checker- board estimator for ζ 1 ( X ,Y ) and show that it is strongly consistent in full generality, i.e., without any smoothness restrictions on the underlying copula. Some simulations illustrating the small sample performance of the estimator complement the established theoretical results.


BACKGROUND
Echinococcus multilocularis growth and persistent granuloma, which lead to the development of the severe parasitic disease alveolar echinococcosis (AE), might be caused by abnormal expression of stress-induced proteins, with subsequent abnormalities in T cell activation. Similar to its involvement in tumors, the NKG2D-major histocompatability complex class I chain-related molecules A and B (MICA/B) signaling system could be involved in host-parasite interactions; however, its involvement in helminthic diseases has never been studied.

METHODS
We studied MICA/B, NKG2D, and transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta) expression on liver sections and measured levels of soluble MICA in serum samples obtained from patients with progressive AE. Livers from healthy and cirrhotic subjects were studied as controls.

RESULTS
Expression of MICA/B proteins was strongly enhanced in the hepatocytes and endothelial and bile duct cells; in the CD68+ cells of the periparasitic infiltrate, especially epithelioid and giant cells; and, also, in the metacestode germinal layer. Strong expression of MICA/B in the liver contrasted with low numbers of NK cells and lack of expression of NKG2D on the numerous CD8+ T lymphocytes of the periparasitic infiltrate, as well as with the absence of soluble MICA in serum. TGF-beta was strongly expressed by most of the infiltrating lymphocytes.

CONCLUSIONS
Sustained expression of MICA/B molecules and TGF-beta might lead to modulation of NKG2D with subsequent inhibition of NKG2D-dependent cytotoxicity. Abnormalities of this signaling system could contribute to parasitic evasion of the host's immunity.


The following papers were presented: Traffic safety development in the Nordic countries 1980-1994. Description of accident rates and injury figures, risk development, factors that influenced the development and traffic safety policy (Nilsson,G and Elvik,R); Traffic safety commission (Bennedsen,D); Traffic safety - is there place for improvements? (Toivonen,S); Traffic safety development and the need for more knowledge (Bruun,A); Brief annotations on the traffic safety development (Faerm,G); Views on traffic safety by the Danish traffic police (Wilbert,M); Commentary on the development of Nordic traffic policy (Valtiala,N); Traffic safety improvements - what happens when traffic grows? (Hvosleff,H); Commentaries from the perspective of the older road users (Staahl,A); The development of traffic safety in Denmark - some explanations (Christensen,L); Brief annotations on development (Berget,T); Viewpoints on traffic safety development (Tingvall,C); European Transport Safety Council (ETSC) - a presentation (Breen,J).


The Russian Federation Ministry for Atomic Energy (MINATOM) and the US Department of Energy (USDOE) have formed International Nuclear Safety Centers to collaborate on nuclear safety research. USDOE established the US Center (ISINSC) at Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) in October 1995. MINATOM established the Russian Center (RINSC) at the Research and Development Institute of Power Engineering (RDIPE) in Moscow in July 1996. In April 1998 the Russian center became a semi-independent, autonomous organization under MINATOM. The goals of the center are to: Cooperate in the development of technologies associated with nuclear safety in nuclear power engineering; Be international centers for the collection of information important for safety and technical improvements in nuclear power engineering; and Maintain a base for fundamental knowledge needed to design nuclear reactors. The strategic approach is being used to accomplish these goals is for the two centers to work together to use the resources and the talents of the scientists associated with the US Center and the Russian Center to do collaborative research to improve the safety of Russian-designed nuclear reactors. The two centers started conducting joint research and development projects in January 1997. Since that time the following ten joint projects have been initiated: INSC databases--web server and computing center; Coupled codes--Neutronic and thermal-hydraulic; Severe accident management for Soviet-designed reactors; Transient management and advanced control; Survey of relevant nuclear safety research facilities in the Russian Federation; Computer code validation for transient analysis of VVER and RBMK reactors; Advanced structural analysis; Development of a nuclear safety research and development plan for MINATOM; Properties and applications of heavy liquid metal coolants; and Material properties measurement and assessment. Currently, there is activity in eight of these projects. Details on each of these joint projects are given.


Lighting accounts for roughly one-fifth of global electricity consumption. The energy consumption for buildings lighting system can reach 30% of the total consumption. The demand for energy is growing day by day with growth in population, revolution in life style, and change in technology. This growing demand led to energy crisis which is the biggest warning for economic stability for developing countries like Pakistan. From the last ten years, Pakistan is facing severe electrical energy shortfall and thus the problem of balancing Pakistan's power supply and the demand has remained in a stalemate position. This crisis has badly affected the everyday life, business and industry. Despite taking steps like resolving this issue through initiating a number of power plant projects, the country still faces a significant energy shortfall. Hence, in order to reduce the gap between electricity demand and supply, the need for efficient usage of available electric energy through opting for the modern, highly energy efficient devices/systems cannot be undermined. A possible way to reduce the electricity consumption, and thus the energy bill, is related to the substitution of the old lamps and control of the new ones. Significant energy conservations can be achieved by reducing energy depletion by artificial lighting which has potential of energy saving by using efficient lighting technologies. For this purpose, new performance lamps like LEDs are studied and developed. Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) have recently entered the lighting market as an energy efficient alternative to traditional light sources such as incandescent and fluorescent bulbs. A case study is carried out for a commercial setup to compare the enactment, suitability, sustainability and economic effects of conventional and LED lights in a commercial setup. An innovative lighting scheme has been designed by using DIALux simulation software based on international standards of Illuminating Engineering Society of North America (IESNA).The conventional lights on the shop floor has been substituted with LED lights as per software design. After hardware installation, it is revealed that by implementing this lighting scheme there is 47% of energy savings and user satisfaction with financial savings of Rs. 55570 per year, having 1.368 years payback period that validates use of LEDs as per proposed lightning design for wide-ranging lighting solicitations


Test of educational theory (including psychology and pedagogy) is designed as a qualification testing system for primary and middle school teachers of non-educational major. This thesis, based on several years of both personal training experience and educational research, proposes that test of educational theory should aim at "conducting the teaching theory by way of testing while taking humanism and the trainee's professional development into consideration". And in light of this, a positive evaluation system should be set up by laying equal stress on both "diagnostic evaluation" and "potential evaluation", and, with testing as a motivating factor in promoting the development of the trainee' professional capacity, the focus of teacher training should be directed to the sustainable development of the trainees, which would be likely to prepare them for the future teaching practice and strengthen their professional confidence and self-esteem. Thus with the help of their strong internal motivation, the training would transform them from "experienced teaching machines" into "professional and all-round teachers".


The utility model relates to an antenna device and a communication terminal device. The antenna device comprises an antenna module. The antenna module comprises an annular conductor which is connected or coupled with a power supply circuit, a magnetic sheet which is opposite and parallel to the annular conductor, and a planar conductor which is opposite to the antenna module. The area of the planar conductor is larger than the area of the annular conductor. The annular conductor is provided with a first part and a second part. The first part is opposite to the planar conductor, wherein the magnetic sheet is arranged between the first part and the planar conductor. The second part is directly in conduction or electromagnetic field coupling with the planar conductor without the magnetic sheet. The annular conductor is provided with a power supply point which is connected or coupled with the power supply circuit, and a current maximum point which is formed by leaving the position of the power supply point. The second part is an area which comprises the current maximum point. Through the annular conductor, faces of the annular conductor are arranged near the planar conductor along the faces of the planar conductor. The second part of the annular conductor is arranged at a position closer to the edge side than the center of the planar conductor.


PMKSY is creating protective irrigation by harnessing rain water at micro level through Jal Sanchay and Jal Sinchan. PMKSY has been implemented with an outlay of Rs. 50,000 crore in five years (2015 to 2020). The net agricultural area of India is 200.8 million hectare, out of which only 95.8 million hectare i.e. 48% of area is covered under irrigation and 52% area is not covered under irrigation i.e. unirrigated area. Farmers in India majorly depending on rainfall for irrigation and it leads to less production output from farms.


Regional indigenous heritage languages (RIHLs) are in decline in Indonesia, and this problem needs attention from language policy and planning. This study explores a subset of the Indonesian language policy, namely, its acquisition planning. Content analysis and doctrinal method were employed. The sample included national legislations and some regional legislations. The results are as follows. As subjects taught in schools, Indonesian is "compulsory" at all levels; RIHLs are "optional" at primary and secondary levels and "absent" at the tertiary level; English is "compulsory" at the secondary level and "optional" at the tertiary level. As the media of instruction, Indonesian is "compulsory" at all levels; RIHLs are "optional" in very limited cases; English is "optional" at the tertiary level. As languages for mass media, Indonesian is "compulsory"; English is "optional" for specific aims or audience; RIHLs are "optional" for local communities. There are possible "incoherences" among various legislations, that is, the Constitution, some national laws and regulations, and some regional bylaws. To implement constitutional mandate, the acquisition planning may need revision. In the revision, RIHLs may need to be included as mandatory subjects, while some RIHLs may need to be used as the media of instruction and in mass media. Further studies for the revision are recommended.


Conjugacy and orthogonality of Latin squares have been widely studied in the literature not only for their theoretical interest in combinatorics, but also for their applications in distinct fields as experimental design, cryptography or code theory, amongst others. This paper deals with a series of binary constraints that characterize the sets of partial Latin squares of a given order for which their six conjugates either coincide or are all of them distinct and pairwise orthogonal. These constraints enable us to make use of a SAT solver to enumerate both sets. As an illustrative application, it is also exposed a method to construct totally symmetric partial Latin squares that gives rise, under certain conditions, to new families of Lie partial quasigroup rings.


WINE COMPOSITION 1. Wine: Yesterday's Antidote for Today's Oxygen Stress 2. Chromatography of Phenolics in Wine 3. Levels of Phenolics in California Varietal Wines 4. Identification and Assay of Trihydroxystilbenes in Wine and Their Biological Properties 5. Resveratrol in Wine 6. Resveratrol and Piceid Levels in Wine Production and in Finished Wines 7. The Content of Catechins and Procyanidins in Grapes and Wines as Affected by Agroecological Factors and Technological Practices 8. The Structures of Tannins in Grapes and Wines and Their Interactions with Proteins 9. Enantiomeric Analysis of Linalool for the Study of the Muscat Wine Flavorings Composition 10. Monitoring Authenticity and Regional Origin of Wines by Natural Stable Isotope Ratios Analysis HEALTH BENEFITS 11. The Epidemiology of Alcohol and Cardiovascular Diseases 12. Wine Antioxidants and Their Impact on Antioxidant Activity In Vivo 13. The Relative Antioxidant Potencies of Some Polyphenols in Grapes and Wines 14. Metabolic Syndrome X and the French Paradox 15. Wine Phenolics and Targets of Chronic Disease 16. An In Vivo Experimental Protocol for Identifying and Evaluating Dietary Factors That Delay Tumor Onset: Effect of Red WineSolids 17. T he Role of Wine in Ethyl Carbamate Induced Carcinogenesis Inhibition 18. Endothelium-Dependent Vasorelaxing Activity of Wine, Grapes, and Other Plant Products 19. Antithrombotic Effect of Flavonoids in Red Wine 20. California Wine Use Leads to Improvement of Thrombogenic and Peroxidation Risk Factors in Hyperlipemic Subjects


Abstract Magnesium (Mg) deprivation leads to an increased urinary potassium excretion (UKV) and a decreased plasma potassium (PK) concentration. To evaluate the role of aldosterone in this process, rats were placed on a low-Mg diet (0.3 mg Mg/g diet). Group I animals received the low-Mg diet supplemented with normal Mg intake (2.6 mg Mg/g diet) while Group II animals received the low-Mg diet alone. Group III animals received the low-Mg diet plus spironolactone (10 mg/kg/day, sc). After 16 days on their respective diets, PK was higher (4.4 ± 0.1 vs 3.6 ± 0.1 mEq/liter, P < 0.001), cumulative K balance was more positive (1.63 ± 0.31 vs −0.24 ± 0.16 mEq, P < 0.001), and plasma aldosterone concentration was lower (150 ± 16 vs 241 ± 15 ng/dl, P < 0.001) in Group I animals compared to Group II animals. PK was returned toward control (3.9 ± 0.2 mEq/liter), positive K balance was restored (1.94 ± 0.25 mEq), while plasma aldosterone concentration remained elevated (280 ± 33 ng/dl) in Group III animals treated with spironolactone. Micropuncture studies revealed a distal tubular site for K entry in Group II animals as compared to Group I animals; this was reversed in Group III animals. It is concluded that dietary Mg deprivation produces kaliuresis, a fall in PK and a rise in plasma aldosterone concentration. The kaliuresis and negative K balance are reversed by the administration of spironolactone. Micropuncture analysis demonstrated that the kaliuresis was due to increased K entry along the distal tubule consistent with the site of action of aldosterone.


'It hasn't come here yet' - The Influence of American English on Students in Vocational Programmes in Rural Areas in Sweden


Considerable efforts have been devoted in the last decade to understand secondary organic aerosol (SOA) formation from the photooxidation of both anthropogenic and biogenic volatile organic compounds (VOCs)[Hoffmann et al., 1997; Jang and Kamens,1998;Kavouras et al.,1999;Yu et al.,1999; Claeys et al., 2004a;Zhang et al., 2004;Jaoui et al., 2008],because SOA is an important component in the Earth's atmosphere to influence the atmospheric radiation budget directly by scattering sunlight and indirectly acting as cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) [Kanakidou et al., 2005]. On a global scale, the contribution of biogenic VOCs to SOA (18.5-270 Tg/ yr) is one order of magnitude greater than that of anthropogenic VOCs (1-30 Tg/yr)[Andreae and Crutzen, 1997]. Thus, the biogenic SOA is comparable to the global burden of sulfate aerosol of 180 Tg/yr (±22%)[Andreae and Rosenfeld,2008]. Biogenic VOCs that released from vegetation include isoprene, monoterpenes, sesquiterpenes, and oxygenated hydrocarbons such as alcohols,aldehydes and ketones[Guenther et al., 2006; Goldstein and Galbally, 2007;Duhl et al., 2008]. The global emissions of biogenic terpenes and anthropogenic hydrocarbons are both far lower than that of isoprene(500750 Tg year )[Guenther et al., 2006]. Despite its large flux,isoprene had not been generally considered to be an SOA precursor due to the high volatility of its known reaction products. Claeys et al. [Claeys et al., 2004a]first identified two diastereoisomeric 2methyltetrols as oxidation products of isoprene in the Amazonian rain forest aerosols. Since then, these compounds have been detected in ambient air samples collected in Finland[Kourtchev et al.,2005],Hungary Institute of Low Temperature Science, Hokkaido University State Key Laboratory of Environmental Geochemistry, Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences Graduate School of the Chinese Academy of Sciences Department of Chemical Engineering,Indian Institute of Technology Madras Polar organic tracers of isoprene,α/β-pinene andβ-caryophyllene photooxidation in tropical Indian aerosols(PM )collected at Chennai were measured using gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. All the biogenic secondary organic aerosol(SOA)tracers showed diurnal variations with higher concentrations at daytime,which is in agreement with the fact that they are photochemical oxidation products of biogenic volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Total concentration ranges of the organic tracers were 18.3-107 ng m in summer versus 2.69-66.9 ng m in winter. Most of the SOA tracers showed higher concentrations in summer than in winter, whileβ-caryophyllinic acid,a tracer for β-caryophyllene,showed no seasonal differences. A good correlation(R =0.67)was found between the concentrations of 3-hydroxyglutaric acid and 3-methyl-1,2,3-butanetricarboxylic acid(MBTCA). In addition,both 3-hydroxyglutaric acid and MBTCA were strongly correlated with malic acid, indicating a similar formation pathway of these compounds in the tropical region. This study also suggests that isoprene andα/β-pinene oxidation products contribute almost equally to organic carbon (OC)in tropical India. Received 17 January 2010;accepted 29 January 2010 Contributions of isoprene,α/β-pinene andβ-caryophyllene to secondary organic aerosol in tropical India


We consider the problem of optimizing the near-periodic delivery of a product to customers with the additional constraint that there is an estimated deadline for delivery of the product. Delivery after the deadline is unacceptable while early delivery increases the frequency of deliveries which is also not desirable. While satisfying these customer constraints we wish to minimize the resources required by the delivery company to provide this service. In particular, we wish to minimize the total travel distance for delivery of products to customers since this reflects the associated costs of the service.


Objective
To study species identification, geographical distribution poisoning symptoms of russula subnigricans in order to provide guidelines of prevention and proper treatment.

Methods
Based on the data of epidemiological investigation, clinical treatment data and suspicious poisonous mushrooms, the collected mushroom were identified by morphological and molecular analysis, and the poisoning symptoms and medical treatment of R. subnigricans were systematically summarized.

Results
From the present two poisoning case, Epidemiological investigation showed that both patients ate some mushrooms in an appearance of fired charcoal("huotanjun"called by layman) in the evening on July 26th, 2015. The incubation period was 2-3 hours. The main poisoning symptoms were nausea, vomiting, myalgia, typical soy urine, rapid increased in serum creatine kinase (CK), alanine transaminase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), creatine kinase MB (CK-MB) and serum creatinine (sCr) were found. Finally patients fell in kidney failure and respiratory failure. All these symptoms met the typical manifestion of mushroom poisoning reported caused by R. subnigricans. These two patients were treated with hemoperfusion, continuous veno-venous hemofiltration (CVVH), liver protecting treatment, protective renal treatment and antioxidant therapy.One patient died after 40 days after admission.Other patient was transferred to a better facility and experienced physicians, and the other patient was still in hospital without any improvement up to the end of Feb. 2016 with a gloomy prospect. The mushroom eaten by the patients was identified as russula subnigricans though morphological and molecular analysis.

Conclusions
Russula subnigricans is a very toxic mushroom, widely distributed in southern China. Morphological and molecular analysis (using ITS sequence) is suitable for species identification of R. subnigricans. The incubation period of R. subnigricans poisioning is usually short, its target organ is mainly striated muscle, and severe patients usually have unfavourable outcome.

Key words:
Poisonous mushrooms; Russula subnigricans; Species identification; Geographical distribution; Medical treatment


Bearing in mind the problems currently occurring in the functioning of enforcement against monetary claims (hereinafter: enforced collection) of a judgment debtor – natural person, this paper presents a proposal for a project design which would resolve the main existing problems. The project design is based on the concept of implementation of an integrated information and communications technology (ICT) system which would generally include all the writs of enforcement against judgement debtors natural persons. The ICT system would be implemented in the Central Bank of Montenegro. Employers would pay wages arising from personal income in two instalments, the first of which would represent the funds excluded from enforced collection, while the second would be available for collection. The implementation of this proposal would require amending the existing regulations, finalizing the manner of the processing of personal income with the employer, as well as recording natural persons' earning with commercial banks. In addition, this solution includes the adjustment of both the organization and system of the issuer of the writ of enforcement, because all the writs of enforcement would be submitted to the Central Bank of Montenegro electronically.


Objective: To evaluate the risks that might be associated with recurrent macular hole retinal detachment (MHRD) after silicone oil (S.O) removal in myopic patients with open flat macular hole (MH). Methods: In this retrospective series, we assessed the different factors that might be associated with recurrent MHRD after S.O removal in 48 eyes with open flat MH that underwent S.O removal after successful MHRD repair. We divided the enrolled eyes into 2 groups: group 1 included 38 eyes with flat open MH and flat retina after S.O removal, and group 2 included 10 eyes with flat open MH and recurrent MHRD after S.O removal. Results: Ten of 48 eyes (20.8%) with open flat MH developed recurrent MHRD after S.O removal. Univariate logistic regression analysis revealed that MH at the apex of PS, MH minimum diameter, hole form factor (HFF), and MH index (MHI) were significant risk factors for recurrent MHRD after S.O removal in myopic patients with open flat MH. Conclusions: If there is a "flat open" MH that is large, located at the apex of PS, or with an HHF or MHI <0.9–0.5, there is a high chance of recurrent MHRD after S.O removal.


Darwinian and Lamarckian natural selection mechanism and Elster'perfect functionalism explain the foundations of methodology on the theory of enterprise evolution from the beginning of explanation on Teleology as functionality: explanations on Teleology and perfect functionalism.The analysis considers that Williamson' methodology on evolution of organizational structure doesn't adapt to explanation on perfect functionalism,and that Nelson and Winter's methodology on enterprise evolution and Chicago school's selection theory are based on the foundation of typical perfect functionalism.


This paper describes the development and use of a thermofluidynamic model for parabolic trough collectors, specifically suited for carrying out systematic calculations on different design options. The model is based on detailed energy balances, and it has been applied to evaluate collector thermal performances with different working fluids: oil, molten salt, or water/steam. For each heat transfer fluid technology, four parameters have been analyzed: collector length, absorber tube diameter, working temperature, and pressure. The influence of these factors has been studied from the point of view of heat loss, pressure drop, energy and exergy efficiencies. Exergy is considered the suitable magnitude to guide any optimization process in this field, because it accounts for all relevant energy gains and losses, characterized by their corresponding temperature and pressure. Preliminary conclusions point out that direct steam generation is more efficient than oil and molten salt systems.


New imidazolium functionalised ruthenium(II) bipyridyl receptors have been synthesised and shown to recognise chloride, bromide, dihydrogenphosphate and ATP anions in mixed polar organic–aqueous solutions via luminescence spectroscopy. In 90 : 10 acetonitrile–water solution a combined amide–imidazolium ruthenium(II) bipyridyl receptor exhibits chloride anion selectivity. The imidazolium-containing receptors also sense ATP in 50 : 50 acetonitrile–water solvent media.


Objective:To investigate the change of structure,blood dynamics and ventricular function in cardiac disease of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE).Methods:56 cases of SLE were checked by echocardiography and visited at least six months,and we had normal group as a control group.Results:There were some obviously abnormal structure in cardiac disease of SLE,ventricular function changed according to the disease.Conclusion:Echocardiography is a major method to check the carcliac disease of SLE,which indicating the disease severity and prognosis.


The core competence will accompany our life,it determines the sustainable development of our career.Higher vocational college students have strong practice ability,so they are favored by enterprises.But their job-hopping rate and unemployment rate are relatively high.They are difficult to promotion.The core competence is the main reason for the lack of occupation.In higher vocational education,we should correct our understanding and improve the quality of teachers.Higher vocational colleges should integrate the core competence into daily teaching and care for the sustainable development of the graduates' career.


We present a new context-aware method for lexical simplification that uses two free language resources and real web frequencies. We compare it with the state-of-the-art method for lexical simplification in Spanish and the established simplification baseline, that is, the most frequent synonym. Our method improves upon the other methods in the detection of complex words, in meaning preservation, and in simplicity. Although we use Spanish, the method can be extended to other languages since it does not require alignment of parallel corpora.


A chemical vapor sensor based on a free-standing polystyrene (PS) nanofilm suspended between the tines of a quartz tuning fork (QTF) is demonstrated. Exposure to ethanol vapor decreased the modulus of the PS membrane, which resulted in a decrease in the resonance frequency of the QTF as a function of ethanol concentration. The suspended PS membrane structure on the QTF allowed gas molecules to diffuse into the membrane from both the top and bottom allowing faster response. The QTF response time was found to be 6.5 times faster than the response time of a conventional PS film-coated resonator sensor.


OBJECTIVES: In this study we aimed to investigate the effect of diabetes on erythrocyte deformability (ED) and whether it can be changed by an NMDA antagonist propofol or an NMDA agonist, memantine BACKGROUND: Several clinical studies showed that ED decreases in diabetes. Recent studies showed that erythrocytes have N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors (NMDA Rec) on their membrane. METHODS: Thirty rats were allocated to five groups containing 6 rats each. Memantine was given for 30 days to diabetic rats in one group (group DM) single dose propofol injection is added to this regimen in another group (group DP+ memantine) another group received propofol only (group DP). The remaining groups were controls and diabetic controls. ED was measured in each group and compared RESULTS: The deformability index was significantly increased in the diabetic rats ( p <0.0001). However, it was similar in Group DC and DP ( p =0.551), Group DC and DM ( p =1.000), Group DC and DPM ( p =0.176). CONCLUSION: Neither NMDA antagonist propofol nor NMDA agonist memantine affected the altered red cell rheology in diabetic rat model.


Chlorinated compounds are widely used in the chemicals manufacturing industry. They have high toxicity and good stability, leading to the persistent pollution and damage of the ecological environment. In this study, pchlorophenol (p-CP) was selected as the model, and a new dechlorination system was developed, that is, tannic acid (TA) and sodium hydroxide (NaOH) were used together to activate persulfate (PS). The effect of TA, NaOH, PS, and temperature on the degradation of chlorophenol was investigated. When 200 mg/L of TA, 0.4 M of NaOH and 100 mM of persulfate were used, the degradation efficiency of p-chlorophenol (50 mg/L) can reach 99 wt.%. There is no significant change in degradation efficiency when the reaction temperature is changed from 20 C to 40 C. The mechanism on the co-activation of persulfate with tannic acid and NaOH was proposed. The hydroxyl radicals and superoxide radicals play an important role in the degradation of p-CP. The dechlorination system showed excellent degradation performance for the chlorinated compounds, making it to be a potential oxidant for treatment of the contaminated groundwater.


A marked variation of the analyzing power A(theta) with incident proton energy for the ground-state (0/sub g.s.//sup +/) transition of /sup 92/Zr(p,t)/sup 90/Zr(0/sub g.s.//sup +/ was observed over a proton-energy range from 17.0 to 28.5 MeV in the angular region around thetaroughly-equal20/sup 0/ where the corresponding (p,t) cross section sigma(theta) yields the first minimum. On the other hand, no such an energy variation was observed at all in the analyzing power for the ground-state transition of /sup 138/Ba(p,t)/sup 136/Ba(0/sub g.s./ /sup +/) over the same energy range. The former analyzing power shows an ''anomalous'' angular distribution which deviates essentially from the derivative rule )A(theta) = (dsigma(theta)/dtheta)/sigma(theta)), while the latter analyzing power shows a ''normal'' angular distribution. In contrast to the analyzing-power angular distributions, the cross-section angular distributions of the two reactions are quite similar and do not show any remarkable energy variation. All these characteristic features of the two reactions are explained by taking account of strong, sequential (p,d) (d,t) two-step processes in addition to a (p,t) one-step process in terms of the first- and second-order distorted-wave Born approximation. The nuclear-shell orbit dependence ( j dependence) of the analyzing powers for the (p,d) (d,t) two-step process plays an essential rolemore » in producing the distinguished difference in the energy dependence of the observed analyzing powers for the two reactions.« less


Despite the recognition that Gypsies constitute a racial group for the purposes of the Race Relations Act 1976, they have persistently suffered discrimination and prejudice from the rest of society. The Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 (hereinafter CJPOA) contains provisions which will reduce the number of authorised Gypsy sites available in an attempt to discourage the nomadic way of life which has been central to the lives of many Gypsies for over five-hundred years. The effect of this legislation will be to worsen the hostility shown towards the Gypsy community. It is also likely to have severe implications for the welfare of the Gypsy family unit. Ultimately however, a comparison with other European jurisdictions will illustrate that this legislation will not succeed in persuading Gypsies to abandon their traditions because it is founded on a myth, namely that Gypsies are simply a social bonding of nomads with no distinctive culture or group identity.


Application of Random Indexing (RI) to extractive text summarization has already been proposed in literature. RI is an approximating technique to deal with high-dimensionality problem of Word Space Models (WSMs). However, the distinguishing feature of RI from other WSMs (e.g. Latent Semantic Analysis (LSA)) is the near-orthogonality of the word vectors (index vectors). The near-orthogonality property of the index vectors helps in reducing the dimension of the underlying Word Space. The present work focuses on studying in detail the near-orthogonality property of random index vectors, and its effect on extractive text summarization. A probabilistic definition of near-orthogonality of RI-based Word Space is presented, and a thorough discussion on the subject is conducted in this paper. Our experiments on DUC 2002 data show that while quality of summaries produced by RI with Euclidean distance measure is almost invariant to near-orthogonality of the underlying Word Space; the quality of summaries produced by RI with cosine dissimilarity measure is strongly affected by near-orthogonality. Also, it is found that RI with Euclidean distance measure performs much better than many LSA-based summarization techniques. This improved performance of RI-based summarizer over LSA-based summarizer is significant because RI is computationally inexpensive as compared to LSA which uses Singular Value Decomposition (SVD) - a computationally complex algebraic technique for dimension reduction of the underlying Word Space.


Sodium hydride prompted reactions of diethyl anilinodiacetate 1 with acetophenone, p-nitroacetophenone, p-fluoroacetophenone and acetylthiophene result in the formation of tetraketones 3a–d. Evidence is presented to support the formation of 3a–d, via a sequence of reactions involving condensation with hydrazine, their acetyl derivatives, and cyclization with polyphosphoric acid. The structures of the hitherto unknown ring systems have been confirmed by i.r., p.m.r. and mass spectral data.