Based on the RBAO technology, low-shrinkage mullite/SiC/Al[sub 2]O[sub 3]/ZrO[sub 2] composite were fabricated. A powder mixture of 40 vol% Al, 30 vol% Al[sub 2]O[sub 3], and 30 vol% SiC was attrition milled in acetone with TZP balls which introduced a substantial ZrO[sub 2] wear debris into the mixture. The precursor powder was isopressed at 300--900 MPa and heat-treated in air by two different cycles resulting in various phase ratios in the final products. During heating, Al oxidizes to Al[sub 2]O[sub 3] completely, while SiC oxidizes to SiO[sub 2] only on its surface. Fast densification (at > 1300 C) and mullite formation (at 1400 C) prevent further oxidation of the SiC particles. Because of the volume expansion associated with the oxidation of Al (28%), SiC (108%), and the mullitization (4.2%), sintering shrinkage is effectively compensated. The reaction-bonded composites exhibit low linear shrinkages and high strengths: shrinkages of 7.2%, 4.8%, and 3%, and strengths of 610, 580, and 490 MPa, corresponding to compaction pressure of 300, 600, and 900 MPa, respectively, were achieved in samples containing 49--55 vol% mullite. HIPing improved significantly the mechanical properties: a fracture strength of 490 MPa and a toughness of 4.1 MPa[center dot]m[sup 1/2] increased to 890more » MPa and 6 MPa[center dot]m[sup 1/2], respectively.« less


The present invention relates to a frame module, constructed and arranged for receiving a window and / or door, wherein the frame module is presettable in front of an opening of a building and in particular with the border of the opening is air-tightly connected, wherein the frame module an insulating layer of a thermally insulating material included to reduce heat transfer between the interior of the building and the environment and / or to prevent, and wherein the frame module has at least one recess which extends in the interior of the frame module by the same, so that a connection from the interior of the building to the ambient and / or at least one further providable facade element or provided, and an arrangement comprising a frame module, and a heat insulation plate.


This report covers the activities of one of the sub-tasks within the Spent LWR Fuel Transportation Receiving, Handling, and Storage program. The sub-task is identified as Cask Handling Equipment Standardization. The objective of the sub-task specifies: investigate and identify opportunities for standardization of cask interface equipment. This study will examine the potential benefits of standardized yokes, decontamination barriers and special tools, and, to the extent feasible, standardized methods and software for handling the variety of casks presently available in the US fleet. The result of the investigations is a compilation of reports that are related by their common goal of reducing cask turnaround time.


The authors propose a kinetic model describing the heterogeneous oxidative ammonolysis of m-xylene on a catalyst comprised of the oxides of antimony, bismuth, and vanadium. The end result of the reaction is the production of isophthalodinitrile and m-tolunitrile. The dependence of the reaction kinetics on temperature and partial pressure is incorporated into the model. The rate equations of the individual routes of the reaction were obtained by empirical selection of the reaction orders and the corresponding rate constants.


The recent article by Autier et al. (1) invites some critical evaluation, since it has important public health implications. The authors assessed the influence of the sunscreen sun protection factor (SPF) on the duration of sun exposure and sunburn episodes in two groups of young people given unlabeled products of either SPF 30 or SPF 10. They concluded that sun exposure was 25% longer in volunteers who used SPF 30 than in those who used SPF 10. This finding is not surprising, but it is difficult to understand the basis of this increased exposure, since there was no difference in sunburn or skin-reddening episodes in the two study groups. Thus, an important question remains: What caused the SPF 30 group to sunbathe for longer periods? In other words, what clinical end point determined sun exposure behavior? The authors state that both SPF groups used the same amount of sunscreen, which was estimated to be 25% to 33% of the amount required for SPF assessment. It is recognized that people use less sunscreen than under SPF test conditions (2). However, each volunteer was given a total of 300 mL (approx. 370 g) sunscreen, which is enough for a maximum of 10 whole-body applications per person if applied correctly. This amount is at best a 5-day supply, assuming two daily applications, whereas the mean holiday period was about 20 days, 8 of which, on average, had sunbathing activity. Such a limited supply of sunscreen might have encouraged rationing. In fact, the volunteers used much less than recommended— about 70 g—enough for two wholebody applications or 1 day's supply. This observation suggests that the sunscreens were either hardly used at all or just applied to restricted areas. Application of the product at a lower level than under SPF test conditions reduces the SPF (3). Assuming an approximately comparable degree of SPF reduction for both products (3) and allowing for 25% increased exposure time with the higher SPF product, the data predict that the SPF 30 group would have received less than 50% of the erythemal ultraviolet radiation (UVR) dose than the SPF 10 group on the sunscreentreated sites. In other words, one would have expected the higher SPF group to be better protected from sunburn even though they spent 25% more time in the sun. Surprisingly, however, the cumulative sunburn and skin-reddening data suggest that this was not the case. Given the very low level of sunscreen use, it would have been useful to have assessed whether sunburn occurred on protected or unprotected sites. The possible modifying effect of sunscreens on sun exposure is an important public health issue, and its study is most welcome. It would not be surprising if high SPF products were used by sunsensitive people, especially the young, to allow longer sunbathing. However, the most likely determinant of long-term risk is the UVR exposure dose at the basal layer, rather than exposure time per se. Comparably applied, use of an SPF 30 product for twice as long as use of an SPF 10 product (with comparable UVR absorption profiles) will result in 1.7-fold better acute, and probably better chronic, photoprotection of sunscreen-treated skin. In this context, the observations by Autier et al. (1) are interesting but are rather difficult to explain, since there seemed to be no differences in acute photoprotection. One possible explanation is that the goal of the study population was a tan and that sunburn was seen, incorrectly, as required for tanning. Overall, the data obtained by Autier et al. (1) suggest that the public still requires considerable education on the correct use of sunscreens.


LBNL-52381 UCB-PTH-03/07 hep-ph/0306161 arXiv:hep-ph/0306161 v2 26 Dec 2003 Scalar Dark Matter From Theory Space Andreas Birkedal-Hansen (a) and Jay G. Wacker (b) (a) Department of Physics University of California Berkeley, CA 94720 , USA and Theoretical Physics Group Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Berkeley, CA 94720, USA (b) Jefferson Physical Laboratory Harvard University Cambridge, MA 02138 Abstract The scalar dark matter candidate in a prototypical theory space little Higgs model is investigated. We review all details of the model pertinent to a relic density calculation. We perform a thermal relic density calculation including couplings to the gauge and Higgs sectors of the model. We find two regions of parameter space that give acceptable dark matter abundances. The first region has a dark matter candidate with a mass O(100 GeV), the second region has a candidate with a mass greater than O(500 GeV). The dark matter candidate in either region is an admixture of an SU (2) triplet and an SU (2) singlet, thereby constituting a possible WIMP (weakly interacting massive particle).


Finding diffeomorphism-invariant observables to characterize the properties of gravity and spacetime at the Planck scale is essential for making progress in quantum gravity. The holonomy and Wilson loop of the Levi-Civita connection are potentially interesting ingredients in the construction of quantum curvature observables. Motivated by recent developments in nonperturbative quantum gravity, we establish new relations in three and four dimensions between the holonomy of a finite loop and certain curvature integrals over the surface spanned by the loop. They are much simpler than a gravitational version of the nonabelian Stokes' theorem, but require the presence of totally geodesic surfaces in the manifold, which follows from the existence of suitable Killing vectors. We show that the relations are invariant under smooth surface deformations, due to the presence of a conserved geometric flux.


Interfacial interaction between flaked graphene and epoxy was the key element of effecting whether graphene as nanofillers could improve some of the properties of epoxy. Based on really materials and applied manufacturing process, a new kind of a thermal conductivity predictive method for graphene epoxy nanocomposites which could compute and analyze thermal conductivity of any content ratio of graphene in the epoxy with only one content ratio was built in order to provide theoretical foundations for design and property of graphene epoxy nanocomposites. According to practically different materials system and corresponding manufacturing processes, few experiments which only needed thermal conductivity of one random content-ratio graphene epoxy nanocomposites were made to predict effective thermal conductivity of any other content ratio of graphene epoxy nanocomposites under the same manufacturing processes by obtaining experimental constants based on numerical progressive iterative approximation method and compute the above experimental constants as basic materials parameters so as to build the whole analysis model in the next step. An excellent agreement was found between data obtained from this study and the experiment.


In the case of intermittently transmitting the reference signal can be prevented at a particular resource request channel quality information and congestion reports in the time direction in order to avoid throughput degradation. Transmitting means (eNB) at the timing of a subframe having a reference signal (CSI-RS) in the same time or earlier, for each receiving device by a distributed manner performs transmission manner using the PDCCH receiving device (UE1, UE2) CSI transmission request command. Each receiving device (UE1, UE2) detecting a request from the CSI transmitting apparatus and the CSI using the calculated channel estimation value after the CSI-RS received. Each subframe receiving device (UE1, UE2) followed CSI reporting interval prior notice information according to a given time interval, it has been detected and reported CSI CSI-RS transmission timing, determines its own CSI reporting subframe, and PUSCH transmission using the feedback signal comprises CSI reported values.


The DOE's Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Program employs both upward- and downward-looking remote-sensing instruments to measure the horizontal and vertical distributions of clouds across its Southern Great Plains (SGP) site. No single instrument is capable of completely determining these distributions over the scales of interest to ARM's Single Column Modeling (SCM) and Instantaneous Radiative Flux (IRF) groups; these groups embody the primary strategies through which ARM expects to achieve its objectives of developing and testing cloud formation parameterizations (USDOE, 1996). Collectively, however, the data from ARM's cloud-detecting instruments offer the potential for such a three-dimensional characterization. Data intercomparisons, like the ones illustrated in this paper, are steps in this direction. Examples of some initial comparisons, involving satellite, millimeter cloud radar, whole sky imager and ceilometer data, are provided herein. that many of the lessons learned can later be adapted to cloud data at the Boundary and Extended Facilities. Principally, we are concerned about: (1) the accuracy of various estimates of cloud properties at a single point, or within a thin vertical column, above the CF over time, and (2) the accuracy of various estimates of cloud properties over the Cloud and Radiation Testbed (CART) site, which can then be reducedmore » to single, representative profiles over time. In the former case, the results are usable in the IRF and SCM strategies; in the latter case, they satisfy SCM needs specifically. The Whole Sky Imager (WSI) and ceilometer data used in one study were collected at the SGP CF between October 1 and December 31, 1996 (Shields, et. al., 1990). This three-month period, corresponding to the first set of WSI data released by ARM's Experiment Center, was sufficiently long to reveal important trends (Rodriguez, 1998).« less


Introduction: The goal of losing weight in obese patients is the loss of fat mass (FM), however, a proportion of lean mass (LM) it´s also lost, it´s contributes to the metabolic rate. Skeletal muscle (SM) is an important component of LM and the best predictor of basal metabolic rate (BMR). Changes in body composition after bariatric surgery (BS) and BMR is controversial. The decrease in BMR may contribute to post-surgical weight regain. Bioimpedance (BIA) is a useful technique for measuring body composition. Objective: To evaluate the changes in body composition after BS. Material and method: Descriptive, observational, retrospective study. Anthropometric data and body composition analysis were collected before BS and 12 to 24 months after it. Gastric bypass (GBP) and sleeve gastrectomy (SG) were performed.


© Oxford University Press, 2009. All rights reserved. This article reviews the literature that has explored the ways in which music may have benefits beyond those associated with our enjoyment of active engagement or listening in community and educational settings. It outlines developments in community music, considers research that has assessed its impact, explores the way in which music has been used to attain educational aims beyond those relating to music education itself, and considers issues and findings relating to the use of background music when studying.


A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T Article history: Received : 05 April, 2017 Accepted : 12 May, 2017 Online: 04 June, 2017 One of the most important roles of the wireless sensor networks (WSN) is to avoid wiring costs, be self-sustainable and be able to function for several years. However, due to the slow progress in battery technology, power continues to be a limited resource in wireless sensor communication and electric energy storage remains to be an important issue. On the other hand, if batteries must be replaced often, many remote sensing applications may become impractical. Therefore, batteries with long life on the order of several years are needed. This paper is an extension of work originally presented in The 5 International Conference on Electronic Devices, Systems and Applications to investigate further the power requirements for wireless data transfer between two nodes using batteries with different capacities (55 mAh, 550 mAh and 5500 mAh). In particular, the effect of a propagation medium such as air, distilled water and engine oil on the wireless communication inside a one meter long metallic pipe was investigated. Our first result shows a successful transmission of wireless signal through air, distilled water and oil medium with very low transmission losses. The second result shows that an increase in the battery capacity will increase the two-node wireless sensor operation time even in different propagation medium. This result can be used to determine the required battery capacity for extending the WSN operation time.


The drug prices in India are controlled using what is called the Drugs (Prices Control) Order (DPCO). The DPCO is an order issued by the government under Section 3 of the Essential Commodities Act, 1955 empowering it to fix and regulate the prices of essential bulk drugs and their formulations. NPPA (National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority), Controls and regulates the prices of Pharmaceutical drugs in India, it has limited authority to fix, review and justify pharmaceutical prices under the Drug Prices Control Order (DPCO), 1995. NPPA began working since August 1997. In order to fix and revise the prices of controlled drugs, the NPPA monitors the prices of decontrolled drugs in order to keep them at a reasonable level. The current DPCO 2013 has three primary aims: expanding the National List of Essential Medicines (NLEM), authorizing the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority


. This paper presents vibration analysis and mathematical model using Euler-Bernoulli and Hamilton's energy expressions for fluid conveying welded Galvanized Iron pipe with clamped-clamped boundary condition. A 3D CAD Model was developed in NX-ideas for empty pipe, pipe with fluid flow and welded pipe with fluid flow. Vibration analysis was performed on developed models for 3 mode shapes to generate frequency data using ABAQUS. The developed models were imported in to ABAQUS for generating frequency data. For the welded pipe, effects of weldment at girth welds on the vibration characteristics and stability of pipe was investigated. Results acquired from ABAQUS were compared with theoretical results of natural frequencies and observed the variation of 3% error.


This paper suggests a new axiomatic framework for interval probability, which is novel in two aspects: 1) this framework can degenerate into the classical probability model; and 2) the sound mathematical properties can be derived from this framework. The above virtues do not exist in the old framework for interval probability, nor in the D-S evidence theory which can also deal with an interval representation of uncertainty.


Considers the nature of a collective agreement, outlining two types, collective and procedural. States that no European laws exist, at present, which cover these and questions the legal enforceability of any agreement. Outlines the European position and then covers the situation under UK law, showing the differences. Looks at the future proposed models of European Collective Agreements and highlights the need for discussion whilst the European Collective Agreement is in its infancy. Advocates different definitions for procedural and collective agreements with the former carrying legal enforceability which exists in Europe and the latter using the UK definitions and carrying legal unenforceability.


With smart grid typically characterized by attributes like, reliable and secure, efficient and economic, environment friendly and safe to the extreme extent as feasible, it calls for quality transmission and distribution operation backed by generation with optimum utilization of assets considering expected level of commitment from all stakeholders. Latter encompass investors, owners, traders, service providers, operators, and consumers of different categories. Such being the concept plant operation and control assumes an important, but difficult task at every instant of time to go. With Indian grid still growing to meet demand along with expansion of network whether from new generation or strengthening intermediate power systems, stabilization of the process would definitely take some more years. But aspiration of consumers nevertheless is not going to stop from the point of view of quality, besides quantitative adequacy at every instant of time. This calls for on the one hand smart grid to adjust with generation and its possible storage with availability whenever and wherever called for, self-healing mechanism in the face of disturbance, optimum utilization of assets achieving high level of efficiency in operation, while at the other hand consumer getting quality electricity as per quantitative requirement, through successfully enabled provision of services, products marketed, etc. Extensive usage of digital technology in terms of communication and information technology on real-time basis is an essential feature for achieving success in the matter considering the demand-supply scenario accurately at every instant. Depending upon the same means of automatic or intelligent operation and control within smart grid concept has been deliberated in the paper.


Children start exploring from the earliest age, but first organized knowledge about nature, they learn in an integrated form during their preschool education, and then in primary school. In accordance with the educational system of the Republic of Serbia, students in the first four grades of primary school study natural sciences in an integrated form through mandatory subjects: The World around Uѕ (first and second grade) and Nature and Society (third and fourth grade). They can also choose from optional subjects (intended to expand the knowledge) such as: Guardians of the Nature and Hands in the dough (taught in all four grades). Students in the first four grades of primary school become familiar with studying nature through different methods and processes, but acquire scientific approach much better through direct practical experience (Eshach, 2006) when they: measure, touch and manipulate different materials, draw, make charts and write data in (Ateş & Eryılmaz, 2011, Karamustafaoğlu, 2011). Research activities have a central and distinct role in natural sciences teaching which can be neither efficient nor relevant without their use in the process (Katcha & Wushishi, 2015, Hart, Mulhall, Berry, Loughran & Gunstone, 2000). They usually imply the use of the problem approach and the usage of certain scientific skills, but are mostly based on conducting experiments (Koray & Serdar Köksal, 2009). Laboratory work (research activities) is carefully organized in teaching practice and presented to students through the laboratory-experimental method, combined with different teaching methods in the classroom and outside of it. Being subjected to it students learn independently (more than through other methods), look, conduct experiments and perform tasks which additionally activate them to participate in the teaching process (Cvjetićanin, 2009, Özmen, Demircioğlu, Burhan, Naseriazar & Demircioğlu, 2012). This kind of activity, primarily based on noticing, gathering and analyzing data through experiments can provide students with a deeper understanding of nature and enable developing their problem-solving skills and research abilities. Furthermore it can teach them how to make generalizations about the most important scientific elements, Stanko Cvjetićanin, Mirjana Maričić University of Novi Sad, Serbia Abstract. The aim of this research is to establish the contribution of demonstration and student-led experiments on the quality of students' knowledge about the air-related content in the third grade of primary school. This research included 120 students from Serbia, divided into two groups: control (C) and experimental (E). In group C the experiments were demonstrated by the teacher, whereas those same experiments were independently conducted by the students' inside smaller groups in group E. The quality of the students' knowledge was examined after the application of the experiments with the post-test, while the quality of the duration of knowledge was examined with the retest. The students in the group E acquired the knowledge of the higher quality and more durable knowledge about the air-related content then the students' from the group C on the cognitive levels: analysis, evaluation and synthesis. Therefore, the priority should be given to the student-led experiments over the demonstration, when processed air-related content in the third grade of primary school, because their application contributes to the increase of the students' knowledge quality.


The comprehensive practical activity is a kind of course based on students' direct experience,closely relating to students' life and society and reflecting the comprehensive use of knowledge.The purpose of carrying out the chemical practical course in the school of elementary education is to make students acquire the knowledge,techniques and methods of teaching in the future and clear the relations between chemistry learning and their professional development.So some detailed suggestions and ways were expounded as to how to implement the integrative practical activities in elementary chemistry education.


The invention discloses an organic snow-melting agent. The snow-melting agent mainly comprises the following components in percentage by weight: 50% of potassium acetate and 50% of sodium acetate. The snow-melting agent disclosed by the invention adopts the organic raw materials including potassium acetate and sodium acetate which do not contain chlorine salts, is basically harmless to pavements, greening plants and public utilities, and is an environment-friendly product; the snow-melting speed is high, the adding dose is small, the use cost is low, the problems of erosions to pavements and bridge steel bars of the conventional product are solved, and influences and damages to the pavements and the environment caused by the snow-melting agent are reduced to the utmost extent; residual products of snow melting can promote plant production and realize secondary utilization. The organic snow-melting agent is easily air-slaked, has a certain effect of stabilizing soil and controlling dust, and can be applicable to a -30 DEG C low-temperature environment.


Abstract. The study aimed to measure the effectiveness of modulation mode to acquire the skill of eating for children with severe mental retardation in a sample of Jordanian, the study sample consisted of (12) children have severe mental retardation in the city of Amman in Jordan, (6) children as experiment at group to training program, (6) children as a control group, has been chosen sample way intentionality and distribution to the two groups randomly, the researchers prepared a tool to measure the skills of eating, They designed a training program to teach skills to eat. The results indicated the presence of statistically significant differences between the experimental group and the control group in the acquisition of the skill of eating for the experimental group , and the presence of improvement among all members of the experimental group in the acquisition of skill eat, and these results show the positive impact of the training program , the study recommended to carry out further research and studies in the area of effective composition skills to eat all kinds of skills and selfcare , especially in environments Arabic , on all types of disabilities , especially autism and mental health, and further research on modifying the behavior of mentally disabled children will be strongly , and make workshops for mothers and workers about how to train the disabled mental skills to eat using the method of formation. Key words: mentally disabled, behavior modification, modulation method, eat skill


A study was conducted to exploit different sources of calcium and phosphorus with or without phytase on performance of Satpuda desi birds suitable for family poultry rearing. Three hundred and sixty (n=360) day old Satpuda desi chicks were randomly divided into six dietary treatments groups. Each dietary treatment had three replications of 20 chicks each reared upto ten weeks of age on deep litter system. All the six dietary treatment groups were fed on corn soya based diet as per BIS (1992) having CP 21% and ME 2700 Kcal. The different sources of calcium and phosphorus were added as (T1) Limestone Powder and Di-calcium phosphate, (T2) Limestone powder and diammonium phosphate, (T3) Limestone powder and Single Super Phosphate, where as T4, T5 and T6 contained same sources with the addition of enzyme phytase @ 300 g/ton of feed. The body weight gain and FCE was significantly (P<0.01) better in T5 group comparing with other dietary treatments. Significantly higher DM metabolizability, N, Ca and P retention were observed in T5 group than other dietary treatments. The blood biochemicals assessed during fifth and tenth week revealed significantly (P<0.01) higher values of Hb, TEC, TLC, Ca, P and ALP recorded in T5 group than other dietary treatments. The carcass traits revealed non-significant difference due to various sources of calcium and phosphorus and phytase. The bone mineralization traits, such as tibia strength, tibia weight, tibia ash, tibia calcium and phosphorus were significantly higher in T5 group as compared to other dietary treatments. The net profit Rs/kg gain was highest in T5 group than other dietary treatment group. It was concluded that inclusion of lime stone powder and Di-ammonium phosphate with phytase @ 300 g/ton feed supplementation in corn-soya based diet yields better profit in Satpuda desi bird production. Further Lime stone powder and Di-ammonium phosphate can be supplemented as cheaper calcium and phosphorus source for backyard poultry rearing.


An image recording device includes an obtaining module arranged for obtaining tilt information indicating a tilt direction and a tilt angle of an image with respect to a horizontal direction for a processing unit including frames, a rotational processing module arranged for performing, in accordance with the tilt direction and the tilt angle indicated by the tilt information, a rotational processhaving a same rotational direction and a same rotational amount for correction of tilting with respect to images of the frames, and a recording module arranged for recording the images of the frames subjected to the rotational process.


A method and apparatus for label application to the article, comprising: from a storage location to the labeling position of the mobile object; reverse feed is disposed on the label and printing at a continuous liner; peeling edge moves across the plate, whereby tag peeled from the plate; the label is transferred from the plate to the object; and an object is removed from the clear position to the labeling position.


In the present study, the effects of chemical reaction on unsteady free convection flow of a viscous, electrically conducting, and incompressible fluid past a moving semi-infinite vertical cylinder with mass transfer and temperature oscillation is studied. The dimensionless governing partial differential equations are solved using an implicit finite-difference method of Crank–Nicolson type, which is stable and convergent. The transient velocity, transient temperature, and transient concentration profiles are studied for various parameters. The local as well as average skin-friction, Nusselt number, and Sherwood number are also analyzed and presented graphically. The results are compared with available computations in the literature, and are found to be in good agreement.


This paper proposes a distributed finite-time secondary controller to achieve average voltage regulation and proportionate current sharing within a finite settling time for autonomous network of dc microgrids. It is employed by using a distributed finite-time control approach which maintains average voltage regulation of the system facilitating proportionate current sharing simultaneously by virtue of dynamic consensus between its neighbors. The proposed scheme ensures an improved performance over the conventional distributed secondary methods by reducing overshoots and chattering which is significant for critical operation of the loads. The proposed control strategy is simulated in MATLAB/Simulink environment to test link-failure resiliency, plug and play capability, and controller performance under communication delays within a tolerable upper bound on delay determined using time-delay analysis. Moreover the effect of variable time delays in different transmission medium is also simulated to test the practicality of the approach. This strategy is further tested on a 500-W FPGA-based experimental prototype to validate the control approach under different scenarios.


A description is given of the single-crystal equipment which has been in continuous operation at the DIDO reactor for the past two years. Two diffractometers are used on the same reactor hole and each employs a copper monochromator reflecting neutrons of wavelength 1.04 A through 90°. The advantages of this high reflecting angle are discussed.


Speaking ability is to express the idea and thought by orally in class context, school, and surroundings. But, speaking ability will be difficult if not unstinting. Self-Directed Learning are increase knowledge, skill, accomplishment, or personal development that an individual selects and brings about by his or her own efforts using any method, in any circumstances, at any time. The aim this research is To describe how the ways self-directed learners in speaking English done by Non-English Department. The subjects of research are five students Non English Department 2nd semester of Perbankan Syariah in IAIN Sultan Amai Gorontalo by using qualitative method and collected data by using interview unstructured and documentation. The result of research that is self-directed learning of students in speaking English ability is by doing the element essential of self-directed learning.


We constructed an HD DVD mastering process simulator on the basis of the cell removal model. In the exposure process, we simulated the exposure profile in the photoresist film. In the development process, we defined the density and development rate of the unit cell. We carried out iterative calculation for each unit cell dissolution. The development rate was approximated as the function of the exposure intensity profile. From the results, we were able to simulate the three-dimension (3D) pit profiles of HD DVD-ROM (read only memory). We clarified that our development rate equation is similar to Hirai et al. and Trefonas and Daniels' type equation in semiconductor lithography.


Ab initio Hartree–Fock calculations at the HF/6−31 G* level of theory for geometry optimization and the MP2/6−31 G*//HF/6−31 G* and B3LYP/6-311G(2df,p)//HF/6−31 G* levels for a single point total energy calculation are reported for the important energy-minimum conformations of 1-oxo-thiane (1), 1-oxo-1,2-dithiane (2), 1-oxo-1,3-dithiane (3), 1-oxo-1,4-dithiane (4), 1,2-dioxo-1,2-dithiane (5), 1,3-dioxo-1,3-dithiane (6), and 1,4-dioxo-1,4-dithiane (7). According to the MP2/6-31G*//HF/6-31G* calculations, while the axial conformations of compounds 1, 2, and 4 are more stable than the equatorial forms by 6.0, 20.0, and 9.9 kJ mol−1, respectively, the equatorial geometry of 3 is 3.0 kJ mol−1 more stable than the axial form. The diaxial conformations of 5 and 7 are calculated to have similar energies, but the diaxial form of 6 is about 43 kJ mol−1 less stable than that of 5 or 7.


It takes special technologies to apply arbuscular mycorrhiza fungi to the land reclamation.This paper studies sunflower growth,soil properties remediation and microbe population fluctuation after arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi being inoculated on the Shendong coal mine subsided land for 5 months.The following results are obtained.Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi can shift the plant flowering period two weeks earlier than the control group.After 5 months growth,the mycorrhizal inoculation rate and the hyphal density are both increased.Mycorrhiza can promote plant growth.The leaf number and the weight of the mycorrhizal plants are increased as compared with the control group.The mycorrhizal plant root extends well.Mycorrhizal plant's dry weight is higher than the control group.The sunflowers' productions are also increased.The effectiveness of phosphorus and potassium is increased in the mycorrhizosphere soil.The populations of the microorganism are increased.All those show that their ecological effects are significantly improved.Arbuscular mycorrhizae would promote reclamated soil properties that will help the rehabilitation and sustainability of the ecological systems.These results provide a theoretical base for the micro-reclamation application in the coal mine areas,also for the reclamation practice.


The deformation property of carbon fiber reinforced concrete(CFRC)at elevated temperature is investigated using selfdesigned high temperature SHPB system.The results showed load rate strengthening effect and temperature weakening effect on the dynamic critical strain of CFRC.Dynamic limit increased with load rate.At the same load rate,the dynamic limit strain increased before 200 ℃ and decreased after 200 ℃.At 800 ℃,it was higher than that at room temperature.Carbon fiber could effectively enhance the dynamic deformation property of concrete at different temperature and load rate.The increase ratio reached the maximum at the volume fraction of 0.3%.Then follow 0.1% and 0.2%.


Digital Transformation is very slowly coming within the reach Public Administration in town, city, county, state and the federal government. If and how it reaches Public Administration in the Universities of Applied Sciences (UAS) however, has not yet being analyzed. The UAS point out that they have a strong practical orientation and devote themselves to this in their research. Therefore, they have research programs and lecture programs focusing on Digital Transformation. Coming face to face with this, the question arises whether the Digital Transformation has not just found its way into research and teaching but also into the administration of UAS. This paper describes an analytical model for assessing digital maturity and then addresses this question through an example of a UAS in Baden-Württemberg.


With the development of electric vehicles, the shortage of charging piles (CPs) has gradually been exposed. In response to this situation, CP operators have taken private CPs into the shared charging system. Due to the lack of maintenance personnel for private CPs that join shared charging, users often face the problems of damaged CPs and poor service attitudes of CP owners. Reputation solutions based on third-party platforms face a problem of single-point failures and reputation solutions based on blockchain face problems of storage and query efficiency. To improve storage and query efficiency, this article proposes a multichain charging model that stores different types of information on different blockchains. However, it faces the problem of unreliable information called across chains, when calculating reputation across chains. Therefore, this article proposes a cross-chain trusted smart contract ( $C_{2}T$ smart contract) to ensure the authenticity, real-time, and interchain write mutual exclusion of cross-chain information, making reputation calculation in the multichain charging model more convenient and more accurate. Especially, we propose a data mutual trust mechanism based on Merkle proof to ensure the authenticity of cross-chain information and prevent forged information from participating in calculating reputation. Furthermore, we present a data structure composed of multiple counting Bloom filters (MCBFs) to verify the real time of information and filter out non-real-time information, thereby ensuring the real time of the calculated reputation. In addition, we put forward an algorithm to guarantee the interchain write mutual exclusion by hash mutexes, making the reputation calculation process more accurate and complete. The security analysis and experimental results demonstrate that $C_{2}T$ smart contract is feasible in practice.


Summary Most sectors of Australia's economy have undergone significant structural change over the last thirty years, but health care has bee n largely insulated from these processes. Its architecture remains substantially t he same as it was in the mid 1970s. What changes have occurred have been partial, in re sponse to specific problems. Each change has been made in the context of the pol itical ideologies, fashions, and fiscal conditions at the time. Consequently, health care is fragmented, without coherent policy underpinnings. There are programs with universal free entitlements alongside others with strong means testing. There a re two separate hospital systems, one nominally "public", the other nominally "privat e", with entirely different funding mechanisms. There are many exemptions from competition, impeding structural change and maintaining privileges for providers. Su ch fragmentation has been costly, in terms of equity and technical and allocative eff iciency. Only in health funding, specifically in health insu rance, have there been significant changes. The balance between private and public ins urance has oscillated in line with the ideologies of successive governments, distracti ng from the more important question of the extent to which health care expense s should be met by individual payments, without the moral hazard of insurance. Ec onomic theory and evidence suggest that the most equitable and efficient way c ommunities can share health care costs is through a single national insurer (general ly a government insurer). That does not mean the government need be the major provider of health care, however. There is scope for the private sector to dominate the sup ply of services and for individual payments to take a stronger role in financing servi ces.


Reactivity differences between odd ([M]+) and even electron ions (α-cleavage product) were studied by comparing water elimination mechanisms in 6-undecanol. The compounds specifically labelled with deuterium in positions 6, 5 + 7, 4 + 8 and 3 + 9 were made, and a detailed investigation of tghe metastable ion transitions carried out. A highly specific 1,4 elimination of water without preceding intramolecular hydrogen exchange occurs from [M]+, but equal amounts of 1,3 and 1,4 elimination of water preceded by specific hydrogen exchange between -OH and the hydrocarbon chain occurs from the α-cleavage ion [M – C5H11]+. To make such distinctions a thorough examination of metastable ions is essential.


Under funding from the Department of Energy (DOE) and the Northeast Gas Association (NGA), Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) developed an untethered, wireless remote controlled inspection robot dubbed Explorer. The project entailed the design and prototyping of a wireless self-powered video-inspection robot capable of accessing live 6- and 8-inch diameter cast-iron and steel mains, while traversing turns and Ts and elbows under real-time control with live video feedback to an operator. The design is that of a segmented actively articulated and wheel-leg powered robot design, with fisheye imaging capability and self-powered battery storage and wireless real-time communication link. The prototype was functionally tested in an above ground pipe-network, in order to debug all mechanical, electrical and software subsystems, and develop the necessary deployment and retrieval, as well as obstacle-handling scripts. A pressurized natural gas test-section was used to certify it for operation in natural gas at up to 60 psig. Two subsequent live-main field-trials in both cast-iron and steel pipe, demonstrated its ability to be safely launched, operated and retrieved under real-world conditions. The system's ability to safely and repeatably exidrecover from angled and vertical launchers, traverse multi-thousand foot long pipe-sections, make T and varied-angle elbow-turns while wirelessly sending live videomore » and handling command and control messages, was clearly demonstrated. Video-inspection was clearly shown to be a viable tool to understand the state of this critical buried infrastructure, irrespective of low- (cast-iron) or high-pressure (steel) conditions. This report covers the different aspects of specifications, requirements, design, prototyping, integration and testing and field-trialing of the Explorer platform.« less


The invention relates to a P2P network resource management system, wherein the adoption of a layering resource management architecture can eliminate the bottle-neck in a network center and reinforce the expandable capability and reliability of the system. Simultaneously a domain structure is dynamically regulated according to the change of the terminal node state and the resource management system architecture is optimized in time. Moreover the terminal can establish a connection with a better node nearby and obtain service through adoption of one or more principles in the priority of region,progress synchronization and suitable proportion principles, the service quality of the real-time business is improved as well as the trans-regional flux is reduced.


Motherhood in western societies at the end of the twentieth century is a site of cultural and social contradictions and tensions. Over the past quarter-century, women with children have been encouraged to construct their subjectivities increasingly through activities in the 'public' domain, including through paid labour. Yet they are still also expected to conform to ideals of 'good motherhood'. This article reports on some preliminary findings of a longitudinal study researching first-time parenthood in the 1990s. Drawing on a series of interviews conducted with 25 women just before the birth and over the first six months of their infants' lives, the article focuses on the discourses articulated by the women when describing their ideals of the 'good mother' and their own experiences of mothering. Many women, at least in the early stage of motherhood, found their ideals difficult to achieve. They talked about an ambivalent 'love/hate' relationship with their infants. This ambivalence appeared to emerge from the difficulties they experienced in maintaining an autonomous subjectivity in a socio-cultural context in which they were charged with the primary responsibility for the care of their infants.


Although several manipulative experiments provided evidence for a negative effect of defoliation on tree growth, results from observational studies were less univocal. This may be due to the ability of observed defoliation to reflect the health status of individual trees, to the influence of site condition and to the amplitude of time window used for growth assessment. Here, we investigated the relationship between two tree health indicators (crown defoliation, damage symptoms) and annual (measured by tree-ring width on 69 Norway spruce trees) and periodical (5-year and 10-year diameter increments, 346 trees from five coniferous species) tree growth. Data originated from 14 (seven for tree rings) ICP Forests Level I plots in Trentino, northern Italy. Diameter, defoliation and damage were measured between 1997 and 2011 as part of the annual crown condition survey, while cores for tree-rings were collected on a sub-sample of trees in 2012. We carried out regression modeling combined with model selection in one-step (periodical data) and two-step (annual data) approaches, using moving averages for the annual data with varying time window widths. Our results indicated an overall negative correlation between defoliation and annual or periodical stem diameter growth. The relationship between defoliation and growth changes in relation to the time window considered, and becomes stronger when data are aggregated over longer time windows (>3 years), when also the occurrence of damage symptoms plays a significant role. The effect of the amplitude of the time windows for data aggregation is probably due to the mechanisms behind the defoliation-growth relationship, which may change according to the causal factors involved. In particular, when larger time windows are considered, short-term fluctuations are likely to be smoothed out, and more general patterns may emerge. We concluded that radial growth is significantly negatively related to defoliation, and this supports the use of defoliation as a rapid indicator for forest health and vitality.


Photoionization, ion-electron recombination, and ion-neutral charge-exchange reactions are introduced into and coupled with a neutral photo-chemical model of Saturn's atmosphere. In addition to modeling standard hydrogen and hydrocarbon ion chemistry, we investigate the effects of an oxygen (H2O, CO, 0) and metal (Mg) influx from ring or meteoritic sources. The Infrared Space Observatory (ISO) observations of H2O and CO2 in Saturn's atmosphere are used to constrain the influx of meteoritic material. As expected, the topside ionosphere of Saturn is dominated by W, with Ht becoming dominant just below the electron density peak. We find that metal ions, represented here by Mg+, may dominate over hydrocarbon ions in the lower ionosphere. The introduction of sinusoidal winds into the model, to simulate the effect of gravity waves, leads to sharp peaks in the electron density profiles. The location and magnitude of the sharp layers observed with the Voyager radio occultation experiments may help constrain wind profiles and physical properties such as size, volatility, and composition of interplanetary debris in the outer solar system. Preliminary modeling indicates that micro meteoroids near 10 AU may be smaller and more volatile than particles near I AU. ABSTRACT The Kuiper Belt has been assumed to be the source of the Centaurs and Jupiter-family comets. This paper shows, however, that there are problems with that assumption. Discrepancies exist which imply that the Kuiper Belt may not in fact be this source. A difference between the observed and expected Centaur populations, as well as different size distributions between the Centaurs and the Kuiper Belt, show that there may be a problem with the Kuiper Belt being the sole source of these objects. It is therefore possible that there is another source of the Centaurs and the comets. One such possible source is investigated here. Hypothetical Trojan objects in the vicinity of Neptune are integrated over one billion years to determine the likelihood of this source. Chondrules are the product of solar nebula processes that include aggregation of early formed condensate minerals, followed by melting and partial melting of these crystalline aggregates [I]. Fragmentation of early formed chondrules and further aggregation and melting attests to the complexity of this process. Though the petrogenetic history of purely igneous (melt droplet) chondrules-which contain barred olivine, radial pyroxene, microgranular and microporphyritic textures, and interstitial glass [2)-is reasonably well understood [3], more complicated chondrules, those that experienced between I 0-50% partial melting and contain relict crystals, have not previously been studied. When a region of the nebula is heated to near l 700°C, high enough to form melt droplet chondrules [4], a temperature gradient must exist in the surrounding regions, and the chondrule precursors in these surrounding regions would be exposed to lower temperatures, and may be partially melted. I have examined the unequilibrated ordinary chondrite (UOC) WSG95300 and have identified aggregates that show evidence of partial melting (PM). To further test this hypothesis, I have conducted partial melting experiments in an attempt to reproduce these textures experimentally. A portion of WSG95300 was ground, and experimental charges were melted at a variety of temperatures and cooled at different rates. The results showed distinct similarities with naturally produced PM aggregates. Understanding the rate of crystal destruction in pre-existing chondrules can help put constraints on the nature of melting temperatures, heating event durations and cooling rates in the solar nebula. Furthermore, if chondrules can form porphyritic textures with limited degrees of partial melting, then the retention of volatile elements can be more easily explained. Compositional analyses show early melts to be rich in alkalis, out of equilibrium with the crystals they enclose as evidenced by transition metals which have abnormally high partition coefficients.


as gentlemen who are already acquainted with many of these details, learned I trust, during your apprenticeship, and endeavour to select for your consideration those points which are least likely to have come under your notice in the routine work of the dental laboratory. " I must not, however, allow this opportunity to pass by without saying one word on the great importance of this branch of your work. Much has been done of late years towards the preservation of the natural organs of mastication, but notwithstanding the advances of conservative dental surgery, there is a wide field left open in the department of prosthetic dentistry. Indeed, when we look around and note the increasing deterioration of the teeth and the universally acknowledged importance of the possession of masticating power, and feel, as we cannot fail to


The intraocular pressure is statically determined by the tension in tile eye wall. the cornea and the sclera. The wall has no active contractile elemel-ts, the tension arising passively, by distension. An increase in the intraocular volume increases the wall distension and causes an increase of the intraocular pressure. Thus, the eye pressure may be considered a function of the intraocular volume. The relation between changes in the intraocular volume and pressure has been determined experimentally, and is expressed in empirical formulas (Friedenwald 1937, McBain 1958, Holland etal . 1960, Prijot 1961, McEwen &: St. Helen 1965), or directly in tables (Langham 1963). The most frequently used expression for the ocular pressure-volume relationship is the one given by Friedenwald (1937). It may be written in the form


In this paper, I investigate the relationship between managerial annual earnings announcement delays and stock-return behavior surrounding their releases. The empirical results indicate that the pattern between announcement timing and stock returns persists. In particular, annual earnings announcement delay, on average, negatively affects stock market returns. Delayed disclosure of bad news is associated with a significant stock-return decline. On the other hand, stock markets reward the late disclosure that conveys good news. This study provides empirical evidences showing that information transaction delay, as proxy by earnings reporting lag, are associated with a smaller underreaction. This finding is consistent with the theory of conservatism in that the asymmetric underraction to good versus bad news appears to be consistent with the argument of exacerbated conservatism for market to full reveal on information.


PurposeVirtual communities of practice (VCoPs) supported educators during the COVID-19 pandemic and the resurgent movement for racial justice that arose in 2020. Four VCoPs offered a venue for practitioners and researchers to develop social capital in the face of pandemic and persistent institutional racism.Design/methodology/approachResearchers conducted semi-structured interviews with organizers of four VCoPs and collected supporting documentation from those organizers.FindingsVCoP organizers created opportunities to develop bridging and bonding capital of equity- and justice-focused educators.Research limitations/implicationsThe analysis points toward the affordances of VCoPs in crisis response and equity leadership.Originality/valueThis original analysis extends work on communities of practice, generally, virtual communities of practice, and equity leadership development.


A novel inverse scattering method to reconstruct the permittivity profile of one-dimensional multi-layered media is proposed in this paper.Based on the equivalent network ofthe medium,a concept of time domain signal flow graph and its basic principles are introduced,from which the reflection coefficient of the medium in time domain can be shown to be a series ofDirac δ-functions(pulse responses).In terms of the pulse responses,we will reconstruct both thepermittivity and the thickness of each layer will accurately be reconstructed.Numerical examplesverify the applicability of this method


In Jelkmann (2008) Table I it is noted that the methoxy polyethylene glycol-epoetin beta (CERA) has received marketing authorization for CKD and cancer patients receiving chemotherapy, supportive therapy for autologous blood transfusion. However, the drug is indicated for treatment of anaemia associated with chronic kidney disease (CKD) only. The safety and efficacy of CERA therapy in other indications has not been established.


Molecular-scale devices have recently become possible with self-assembly techniques. Examples of a number of simple molecular devices and circuits include a negative-resistance device that exhibits peak-to-valley ratios exceeding 1000:1 and a molecular memory cell with refresh times exceeding 10 minutes.


Being an important component of aero-engines, the labyrinth seal has always been the focus of research for leakage characteristics. Rotation is usually neglected or taken for minimal effect on seal leakage in previous studies. However, the effect of high rotational speed is inevitable to understand the leakage characteristics of labyrinth seal accurately. Meanwhile, due to high rotational speed, viscous heat is generated massively to result in the rapid temperature rise of leakage flow. Also, the influence of rotational speed on windage heating inside the seal clearance has not been indicated completely. Therefore, the leakage and windage heating of staggered labyrinth seals with smooth and honeycomb lands were experimentally and numerically studied. The Large-scale and Multifunctional Sealing Test Rig was employed to carry out the experiments with rotational speed 12,000 rpm and pressure ratio range 1.1 to 2.2. The simulation data obtained by 3D computational fluid dynamics methodology shows great agreement with experimental results. Notably, the leakage coefficient is not monotonically decreasing with increased rotational speed, but exists a maximum peak at RPM = 8,000. The variation of axial kinetic energy in seal clearance entrances provides a clear explanation of the phenomenon. Rotational speed plays an important role in windage heating, and honeycomb cell size is of secondary importance. Based on simulation data, the calculating formula of windage heating is fitted and shows great performance. This study can provide theory and data support for the follow-up structural optimum design of the labyrinth seal.


This study theoretically investigated the reasons why banks are reluctant in granting credit facilities to the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Nigeria. The study identified the indispensable roles of SMEs as the most viable engine for job creation, economic growth and development, and the need for the development of the Small and Medium Scale Enterprise (SMEs) in Nigeria. Adopting the theoretical approach, the study observed that banks are willing and capable to provide the necessary funds needed by SMEs but so many factors have hampered them. SME operators are compelled to provide their own electricity, water and, in some cases access roads to offset deficiencies in public infrastructural facilities. This is detrimental to viability and efficiency in production and is considered as high risk by the banks. Banks as a business entity have to make profit and maintain enough liquidity needed to meet up with other obligations of other stakeholders. The inability of the deposit money banks to extend the needed credits to the SMEs is due the unfriendly environment in which these SMEs operate. This study therefore recommends that government should totally adopt the Indian Model of SMEs development. Again, the environment for doing in Nigeria should be improved by the government most especially the electricity generation, sustainable water supply, quality roads.


Planar basin boundaries of iterated homeomorphisms induce homeomorphisms on prime ends. When the basin is connected, simply connected, and has a compact connected boundary, the space of prime ends is a topological circle. If the induced homeomorphism on prime ends has rational rotation number, the basin boundary contains periodic orbits. Several questions as to basin boundary periodics, decomposability, and minimality, when the induced map on prime ends has irrational rotation number, are answered by construction of both homeomorphisms and diffeomorphisms. Examples in the literature of basin boundaries with interesting prime end dynamics have been sparse. Prime end dynamics has drawn recent interest as a natural tool for the study of strange attractors. In their 1951 manuscript entitled Some fixed point theorems, M. L. Cartwright and J. E. Littlewood proved that if the induced map on Caratheodory's prime ends has rational rotation number, then a connected basin boundary of an orientation preserving planar homeomorphism must contain a periodic orbit [CL 1, C]. In this note we explore the relationship between aperiodic maps induced on the circle of prime ends and the periodicity, minimality, and decomposability of basin boundaries. Attractors (as frequently defined) serve as connected basin boundaries and one usually requires them to contain dense orbits. The existence of a dense orbit would distinguish an attractor from a union of periodic orbits or other attracting sets. Can the map on prime ends, induced from the basin itself, help detect these dense orbits? We construct a basin separating attractor (of a C1 diffeomorphism) containing no dense orbits which induces pure irrational rotation of both circles of prime ends (Example A). But some minimal attractors (all orbits dense) can induce two Denjoy maps on prime ends (on both sides) which have no dense orbits [Den] (Example E). Conceptually one imagines the map on the circle of prime ends as the action of the planar homeomorphism on the basin boundary as viewed from the basin. Precise definitions of key terminology follow. An excellent reference is J. N. Mather's exposition [M]. Received by the editors October 28, 1988 and, in revised form, March 14, 1989. 1980 Mathematics Subject Classification (1985 Revision). Primary 54H20; Secondary 58F12, 58F22. ? 1991 American Mathematical Society 0002-9947/91 $1.00 + $.25 per page


In the title complex, [Ni(C14H34N6)](ClO4)2, the 14-membered hexaazacyclotetradecane macrocycle ring chelates to the Ni atom through its four secondary N atoms. The O atoms of the perchlorate ions are 2.86 (1) and 3.070 (4) A from the Ni atom, whose geometry is best described as intermediate between octahedral and square pyramidal.


In this article, we focus on the variable selection for partially linear additive model under high dimensional data. Variable selection is proposed based on modal regression estimation with Adoptive Bridge Method. Using the B-spline basic function to approximate the additive function, a penalty estimation objective equation is constructed. It establishes and proves that the variable selection methods have oracle property. Numerical simulations tested the performance of the proposed methods in a finite sample and verified the significance of the proposed estimation and the variable selection methods. At the end of the article, we attach the detailed derivation of the theoretical results. Therefore, the correctness of the method used is verified theoretically and practically.


Visual Teach and Repeat (VT&R) has proven to be an important ingredient for mobile robot navigation. For VT&R, visual localization on a known map is a challenging task, especially in the case of motion jitter, feature-poor scenes and occlusion. State-of-the-art feature-based localization or SLAM algorithms sometimes may fail to overcome these challenges, and, as a result, suffer from tracking loss. To solve the problem of tracking loss in monocular-SLAM-based VT&R, we propose a particle filter (PF) based algorithm, which can provide robust location estimation even under challenging conditions. Our experiments verify the ability of our proposed PF-VT&R method.


Introduction:
 Cardiosphere-derived cells (CDCs ) are a population of heart-derived progenitors with demonstrated therapeutic efficacy in preclinical and clinical settings. CDCs exert their effect through the secretion of EVs, lipid-bilayer nanoparticles laden with bioactive molecules. Among the bioactive cargo identified in these immortalized CDC (imCDC)-derived EVs (imCDC-EV) are piwi RNAs (PiRNAs). PiRNAs bind Piwi proteins (members of the argonaute family) and regulate both the epigenome and transcriptome. The role of piRNAs (in particular EV-derived piRNAs) in modulating gene expression remains undescribed. Here we describe the role of a PiRNA highly enriched in imCDC-EVs (imEX-Pi).

 Methods:
 EVs were prepared by 24 hours hypoxic conditioning followed by normoxic recovery for three cycles. EVs were isolated from conditioned media using ultrafiltration. Fractions were analyzed for particle size, concentration and piRNA content. In vitro, bone marrow derived-macrophages (BMDM) were exposed to imCDC-EV, imEX-Pi and vehicle for transcriptomic analysis. In vivo, myocardial ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) injury was induced in 8-10-week-old Wistar-Kyoto female rats by LAD coronary ligation for 45 minutes followed by reperfusion. Twenty minutes later, imCDC-EV, imEX-Pi, scramble or vehicle were injected into the left ventricle with an aortic cross-clamp. Cardiac Troponin I levels, infarct size and circulating monocytes were assessed at 24 and 48 hrs post I/R.

 Results:
 RNA sequencing showed that piRNAs are enriched in both CDC-EV and imCDC-EV. ImEX-Pi was one of the most highly-expressed non-coding RNAs.
 In vitro
 , imEX-Pi altered the transcriptome of BMDMs compared to vehicle. This included upregulation of inflammatory and cell death pathways. In a rat model of I/R injury, imEX-Pi reduced infarct size and cardiac troponin levels compared to vehicle- and scrambled- treated animals. ImEX-Pi also significantly decreased circulating monocytes at 24 hours followed by a significant increase at 48hrs.

 Conclusions:
 We show that imEX-Pi is a key mediator of imCDC-EV therapeutic efficacy and that the principle target cells may be macrophages. This is further rationalized by the critical role that macrophages play in the injury and resolution response.


Robotic colorectal surgery offers technical advantages to com plex surgeries such as combined resection for direct invasion into adjacent organs [ 1, 2 ]. Self- expanding metallic stents (SEMS) are increasingly used as a bridge to subsequent elective surgery for ob structed colon cancer 3, 4 ]. Although the role of para- aortic lymph node dissection in the management of colorectal cancer has not been established, extended lymphadenectomy might be beneficial in carefully selected patients [5, 6]. Here, we present a video of ro botic surgery for obstructed rectosigmoid colon cancer with paraaortic lymph node metastasis and direct invasion into the uterus and adnexa (Video S1 ). An 81- year- old woman was referred to our hospital and colonoscopy revealed a huge, ulcerated mass encircling the lumen with complete obstruction. A SEMS was inserted under fluoroscopic guidance. Imaging studies revealed a rectosigmoid colon cancer with para- aortic lymph node metastasis and direct in vasion into the uterine fundus and right ovary. Histopathological examination of the specimen showed a moderately differentiated T4bN2bM1a adenocarcinoma measuring 9.1 × 6.2 cm in size. Total and positive lymph nodes harvested were 35 and 8, respectively. The lesion on the right ovary was diagnosed as metastatic carci -noma, secondary to the large intestinal tumour. The patient has six cycles of avastin/FOLFOX chemotherapy with no re currence during the 14 month follow- up period. Based on the pres ent case, robotic resection for locally invasive colorectal cancer can be performed safely and facilitate various kinds of combined resections with optimal wrist movements, 3- D visualization, and tremor stabilization allowing for adequate exposure and dissection in selected cases. for


OBJECTIVE To investigate the change in antibiotic resistance of Pseudomonas aeruginosa causing nosocomial infections so as to provide basis for clinical reasonable use of antibiotics.METHODS A total of 175 strains of P.aeruginosa isolated from various clinical specimens from Jan 2008 to Dec 2010 were collected.The drug susceptibility testing for 13 antimicrobial agents was performed.RESULTS The detection rate of P.aeruginosa isolated from sputum was the highest(65.7%),followed by pus specimens(17.1%) and urine samples(10.3%);the drug resistance rates of P.aeruginosa to ceftazidime,cefepime,ciprofloxacin and levofloxacin were less than 20.0%,the drug resistant rates to cefotaxime and ceftriaxone were higher than 40.0%,P.aeruginosa was most susceptible to amikacin and tobramycin,the drug resistance rate to imipenem was 21.3%.CONCLUSION The isolation rate of P.aeruginosa causing nosocomial infections keeps increasingly upward tendency,and P.aeruginosa is multidrug-resistant,it is necessary to choose antibiotics for clinical anti-infection therapy in accordance with the result of in vitro drug susceptibility testing.


The Superconducting Quantum Interference Device (SQUID) has been used and proposed often to read out low-temperature detectors for astronomical instruments. A multiplexed SQUID readout for currently envisioned astronomical detector arrays, which will have tens of thousands of pixels, is still challenging with the present technology. We present a new, advanced multiplexing concept and its prototype development that will allow for the readout of 1,000–10,000 detectors with only three pairs of wires and a single microwave coaxial cable.


This article investigates the relationship between sectoral government expenditure with economic growth in Ethiopia. In this study, the time series data from the period 1979–2018 is used. Autoregressive Distributed Lag approach to co-integration and error correction model are applied to investigate the short- and long-run impacts of government expenditure on economic growth. Using bound test approach to cointegration, the study revealed that agriculture, health and road expenditure has positive and significant in the long run, while expenditure on health and road has also a positive and statistically significant in short run. Applying the Granger causality test, we found a unidirectional causality running from health, transportation and communication and road government expenditure to growth at the one lag length. Therefore, it is important that the government better to spend on agriculture, health and road sectors of government expenditure for better development on these sectors and also should increase the efficiency of financial resources.


Stimuli-responsive core–shell microgels are of significant interest because of their fascinating applications due to the different swelling/shrinkage properties of their core and shell networks. Because such stimuli-responsive core–shell microgels are...


The method of forming the panel is disclosed. Method comprising the steps of positioning the stage, and a skin 22 and compressible material 24 which combines the steps of: forming a flexible skin 22 and compressible material 24 to the skin 22 in the mold, compressible material 24 and to form a rigid substrate 20 to surround the skin 22, and form a skin 22 and the substrate 20, a first flexible zone 12 where the compressible material 24 disposed between, the first flexible zone 12 has a step defined by a compressible material (24). Vehicle panel manufacturing method, a flexible skin, a compressible material, the rigid substrate, a flexible area


In view of low precision rate and recall rate problems on image retrieval based on single global color feature or local feature,an image retrieval method based on information entropy and improved scale-invariant feature transform(SIFT) algorithm was proposed. First,local feature of images was extracted by an improved SIFT algorithm. Then,color feature and information entropy were calculated. Finally,the weights of color feature and SIFT feature based on information entropy were utilized to calculate the similarity among images for image retrieval. The experimental results show that this method has better retrieval performance than the color histogram and SIFT algorithm.


A transformer-less grid-connected inverter is presented for photovoltaic generation system. The proposed inverter topology features low leakage current and no need for split capacitors. The topology, basic operating principles and pulse-width modulation scheme for the proposed inverter are described. Moreover the characteristic of leakage current of the proposed topology is analyzed. Experimental results show the performance of the proposed grid-connected inverter is as expected.


Regarding the effect of the initial geometric defect (IGD) on the static stability of single-layer reticulated shells, its distribution pattern and magnitude are the main concerns to researchers. However, the suitable selection of the initial geometric defect magnitude (IGDM) is still a controversial topic. Therefore, it is intended to study the determination of the proper IGDM based on the structure force state (SFS) and the defect coefficient. In order to find out a qualified IGDM, more than 5200 numerical cases are carried out for four types of commonly used single-layer reticulated shells with the span ranging from 40 to 70 m and the rise–span ratio from 1/4 to 1/7, within the random defect mode method, by taking both geometric and material nonlinearity into account. The results show that it is more feasible to set the L/500 as IGDM when evaluating the stability of the single-layer reticulated shell. In addition, an updated criterion to identify the SFS at the stability critical state (SCS) is developed.


In this article, we present proper quantization rule, ∫  x A  x B k(x) dx ‐ ∫  x 0A  x 0B k0(x) dx = nπ, where $k(x) = \sqrt{2 M [E-V(x) ]}/\hbar$ and study solvable potentials. We find that the energy spectra of solvable systems can be calculated only from its ground state obtained by the Sturm‐Liouville theorem. The previous complicated and tedious integral calculations involved in exact quantization rule are greatly simplified. The beauty and simplicity of proper quantization rule come from its meaning – whenever the number of the nodes of the logarithmic derivative ϕ(x) = ψ(x)‐1dψ(x) /dx or the number of the nodes of the wave function ψ(x) increases by one, the momentum integral will increase by π. We apply two different quantization rules to carry out a few typically solvable quantum systems such as the one‐dimensional harmonic oscillator, the Morse potential and its generalization as well as the asymmetrical trigonometric Scarf potential and show a great advantage of the proper quantization rule over the original exact quantization rule.


The construction machine, the silt stopping and sealing bottom measures, the con-struction working procedures,the quality control and examining of the rammed-pedestal pile are discussed, that applying of the rammed-pedestal pile will acquire remarkable technical e-conomy benefit is indicated under appropriate engineering geologic condition.


The aim of this article is to determine the influence of the single monetary policy on the process of macroeconomic stabilisation in the monetary union. The basis for the considerations concerning the impact of the monetary policy on the macroeconomic stabilisation process in the common currency area is theoretical works on the stabilisation policy existing in the related literature. However, the monetary integration processes are responsible for the fact that the conclusions of these works cannot be easily applied to the analysis of the economic situation in the entire currency union and in its individual member states. In the monetary union, the main central bank conducts the single monetary policy for all member states which, despite many common features, are quite a heterogeneous group at the micro- as well as the macro level. These special characteristics are the reason for which the analysis of the stabilising influence of the single monetary policy in the monetary union should include a risk of inadequacy of the single monetary policy, the quality of national fiscal policy, as well as the risk of inadequacy of supervisory policy.


The classification and its parameters for discrimination of surfactant micro- emulsion were introduced. Differences of properties with conventional emulsion were compared. Formation and concerning theoretical conceptions of the surfactant micro- emulsion were described. Applications of the surfactant micro- emulsion in the fields of cosmetics,medicament and oil extraction equipment were summarized.Finally,their development outlooks were prospected.


ObjectiveTo study the efficacy and toxicity of bleomycin combined lifein in treatment of malignant pleural effusion.MethodsClosed thoracic drainage was conducted withcentral venous catheter.When drainage was nearly completed and pulmonary reexpansion was achieved,bleomycin and lifein were used for intrapleural perfusion.ResultsThe overall effective rate was 87.5%.The mainly side effects were fever,thoracalgia and nausea.ConclusionBleomycin combined with lifein has ideal efficacy in treatment of malignant pleural effusion.The toxic effect is mild.It is an acceptable therapy for the patients.


Dynamic stability analysis of a large interconnected power system is extremely time consuming and laborious and may even exceed the storage capacity of modern fast computers because of the high order of the system matrix. The complexity often makes it difficult to obtain a good understanding of the behavior of a system. The proper/efficient analysis of high order systems is very tedious and costly i.e. high order systems poses great challenge to system analyst & control engineers. If a low order linear model is derived for a high order system then the preliminary design and optimization is achieved with very much ease. Hence, methods have been developed here to obtain simplified models of the systems by using different reduction techniques. In this paper an analysis is presented by use of four different Model Order Reduction Methods viz Routh Approximation Method, Routh Stability Method, Differentiation Method and Stability Equation Method in Time & Frequency Domain. The results are quite encouraging and showing the preservation of stability and other characteristic parameters of a single machine infinite bus system (SMIB) with power system stabilizer, whose 2nd & 3rd order reduced model are obtained.


Speaking is considered an essential skill to master. There are some problems with students, lack of communication in class, and lack of vocabulary. The purpose of this study was to improve students' speaking skills through debate techniques. This research method is classroom action research, which is used in two cycles, and each cycle has four steps: planning, action, observing, and reflection. The data presented in this study were obtained from observations, interviews, and students' speaking scores. In this study, the researcher got the result, namely the percentage of speaking. Scores in cycle one 71% passed, and 29% failed; 92% and 8% failed in cycle two. So, the increase in yield in cycle 1 and cycle 2 is 21%. Based on the data above, it can be concluded that learning English, especially speaking through debate techniques, can improve students' speaking skills.


The invention provides a method and a device for treating environment sound during conversation. The method comprises the steps of acquiring an environment sound signal under the condition that a user makes a call through headsets inserted to a mobile terminal; and reducing the sound volume of the other calling party and playing a key sound signal in a superposed manner through the headsets when the key sound signal meeting a set condition exists in the environment sound signal. The device comprises an acquiring module and a processing module. The method and the device can be used for effectively avoiding unexpected situations generated because key voice information in an ambient environment is missed when the user answers or makes a call in a way of wearing the headsets.


We prove that if a unitary representation of a connected Lie group has the property that no nonozero vector is fixed by any nontrival normal connected subgroup, then the matrix coefficients decay to zero at Adjoint-infinity.


Report presenting the design and performance of a turbine to drive a supersonic compressor in order to determine the problems that would be encountered in turbines required to drive high-speed, high-weight-flow compressors. A model of the turbine was built and operated over a range of speed and total-pressure ratios. Results regarding performance, the effects of rotor choking, and possible modifications to the design are provided.


Electrospray ionization (ESI) is the most widely used ionization method in on‐line coupling of capillary electrophoresis‐mass spectrometry (CE‐MS). The conventional coaxial sheath flow electrospray interface is currently being replaced by the more sensitive nanoelectrospray technique. The usual limitation of nanoelectrospray CE‐MS interface has been its short lifetime caused by deterioration of the metal coating on the CE capillary terminus. This article describes an easy way to construct a more durable and sensitive nanospray interface for nonaqueous CE‐MS. In this approach a very thin glass spray capillary (ca. 30 μm outer diameter) is partly inserted inside the CE capillary, the junction being surrounded by the electrolyte medium, which is in contact with the platinum electrode. The interface was tested with five pharmaceuticals: methadone, pentazocine, levorphanol, dihydrocodeine, and morphine. Detection limits ranged from 12 to 540 fmol. Separation efficiency and reproducibility were also studied. The CE current was found to be stable and the migration times were highly reproducible. All the CE separations were carried out in a nonaqueous background electrolyte solution.


Fibre reinforced composites occur mainly in the form of longitudinally aligned continuous and discontinuous fibre, discontinuous randomly oriented and spatially distributed, fibre matts and fibre laminates. In these cases whilst design is reference to the categories given, re-orientation of the reinforcing fibres is likely to arise during placement of the fibres and compounding of the composite. The need does therefore arise for quick methods that can be used to verify conformity of the averaged fibre orientation with the design specifications. Expressions are developed here for use in predicting the averaged orientation of reinforcing fibre in fibre reinforced composites, based on known values of elastic modulus in any two mutually orthogonal directions. Theoretical validation of the expressions is carried out based on known properties in specific directions. Experimental validation however, is part of on-going work.


It studies the corrosion and scale inhibition capability by static corrosion and scale inhibition test with potato starch in order to mitigate or avoid the pollution resulting from corrosion and scale inhibitor let.The ending indicates that: potato starch can be a good corrosion inhibitor, the rate of scale inhibition on carbon steel,aluminum,copper,stainless steel can reach to 96.95%、78.33%、82.86%、90.24% respectively.


A simple and accurate method to determinate furosemide (FUR) based on converting the secondary amine to primary amine with acidic hydrolysis then azotization by nitrous acid and coupled with resorcinol as a coupling agent in aqueous medium at pH 13. The optical characteristic like beers law limit found to be (0.25-2.5) μg.ml−1, detection and quantification limits (0.0196) (0.0654) μg.ml−1respectivly and Sandel sensitivity was 0.006738 μg.cm−2. The least-square method was used to evaluate the regression equation and the correlation coefficient. The resulted azo dye has a maximum absorbance at 430 nm with light orange color. The developed method was successfully applied to determinate FUR in its formulation with 84-105 % as a recovery with a relative standard deviation not more 2% and less than 5% relative error. To validate the proposed method, the standard addition method was applied to evaluate FUR in different formulation sources.


The present work was under taken to study knowledge of the pregnant and lactating mothers regarding consumption of nutrients, and to evaluate changes in knowledge and practice status of the subjects due to nutrition education imparted to them. One hundred and fifty pregnant and lactating mothers with at least one living child were purposely selected. The nutrition education was provided to these subjects. The inferences were drawn with the help of suitable statistical tools, wherever felt necessary. Majority of the overall subjects had no knowledge of protein and vitamins at initial phase of the nutrition education. The change in knowledge status during post evaluation period was significant in illiterate mothers only. Insignificant changes in other educational categories indicated high level of pre-knowledge. Further, significant amelioration in knowledge and practice aspects (mean ± SD scores) were observed due to nutrition education. These findings suggested significant impact of nutrition education imparted to the pregnant and lactating mothers. Correspondence to: ANITA SINGH Department of Food and Nutrition, Faculty of Home Science, Sri Agrasen Kanya Autonomous P.G. College, VARANASI (U.P.) INDIA


Rapid growth of tertiary education is partly due to the expansion of post-secondary vocational education and training (PSV). A well developed post-secondary PSV system and links between universities and [vocational education and training] VET institutions improve skills and employment opportunities. What is post-secondary PSV and how does it relate to other components of the education system? How do the labour market and globalisation trends impact post-secondary PSV? How do OECD countries address the issues of transition, pathways and collaboration in tertiary education? This report is part of the OECD work on higher education in regional and city development. In the course of the reviews of more than 30 cities and regions, this work identified VET-university linkages as one of the common issues that impact the engagement of tertiary education in socioeconomic development across countries. Part one provides an overview of PSV and part two outlines PSV in Australia, Scotland, Norway, Italy and Spain, and discusses the issues of transition, participation and collaboration in tertiary education.


It was considered to get interferometry data from microlens array and reconstruct initial image through it directly, while which used to be taken to calculate the phase difference to get the structure of objects in measurement technology. It broke through the depend of resolution improvement on the size of apertures, reducing the volume of image system vastly. Nevertheless, on account of the phase deficiency, this method could not show the details well enough to be generally used in measurement and control systems. Through support estimation of the target, with the feature extraction technology, the deconvolution function could be got, by which the sidelobe and pinniform structure in the "ditry" image caused by the lack of frequency could be eliminated, and phase retrieval was done. Simulation did the reconstruction experiment, yet had got relatively good detail presentations.


Referring to some domestic or abroad literatures of Illicium verum,the article summarizes its chemical components and pharmacological effects in recent years. And its chemical components include volatile oil,flavonoids,microelement and so on,whose pharmacological effects include anti-bacterial,analgesia,antiviral functions and so on.


The Interferometric Bidimensional Spectrometer (IBIS) is an advanced instrument for imaging spectroscopy installed at the Dunn Solar Telescope at NSO/Sacramento Peak. The instrument has been constructed by a consortium of italian institutes and allows for observations of the photosphere and chromosphere at high spatial, spectral, and temporal resolution. Such observations are essential for performing spatial and spectral comparisons with numerical simulations. We will present some of the performance characteristics of the instrument and show some examples of the IBIS data. We will also show some initial results of the recently tested polarimetric mode. IBIS is available for community use as a facility instrument of NSO.IBIS has been funded by the Italian Research Ministry (MIUR), the Italian Institute for Astrophysics (INAF), and the Universities of Florence and Rome. Additional support is provided by the National Solar Observatory.


The physical and chemical properties and the flotation characteristics of D_2 activator are introduced.The applications of D_2 in flotation of various type of oxidized copper ores in different mine are also studied.


Novel effects emerge from an interplay between multiple Andreev reflections and Coulomb interaction in a quantum dot coupled to superconducting leads and subject to a finite potential bias V. Combining an intuitive physical picture with a rigorous path integral formalism, we evaluate the current I through the dot and find that the interaction shifts the subharmonic pattern of the I-V curve toward higher V. For a sufficiently strong interaction the subgap current (at eV < 2Δ) is virtually suppressed.


Thermal conversion of biomass is often carried out in packed-bed furnaces. Optimization of thermal efficiency and furnace emissions is an important goal, which requires accurate understanding of all physical and chemical effects in the reactor. A combined transient single particle and fuel-bed model is presented. The fuel-bed model is discretized, and a representative particle is chosen and discretized in a radial direction at each grid point. Mass, momentum and energy balances are solved for the entire system. Drying is modeled using an equilibrium approach, and primary pyrolysis is described by independent parallel-reactions. Secondary tar cracking, homogeneous gas reactions, and heterogeneous char reactions are modeled using kinetic data from literature. Simulations validated for single particles agree well with experimental studies. Simulation results for the combustion of a biomass bed are presented for one set of furnace conditions.


A 45 days experiment was conducted in fifteen experimental tanks with a view to evaluate the impact of supplementing probiotics 'Prosol' in diet of giant freshwater prawn Macrobrachium rosenbergii juveniles. Seventy five juveniles (7.26 ± 0.48 g mean weight) were divided into five experimental groups each with three replicates. Five experimental diets were formulated with different levels of probioticsviz. control diet (F0) had no 'Prosol' and diet 1 (F1), diet 2 (F2), diet 3 (F3) and diet 4 (F4) having 1, 2, 3 and 4% of Prosol, respectively. Significantly higher growth (P 0.05) were observed among different treatments in carcass moisture and ash content, while protein content (61.4 ± 2.2%) was the highest and lipid contents (8.16 ± 0.5%) were lowest when fed on diet F2. The results of the present study indicated that the addition of 'Prosol' as growth promoter in the diet at 2% may be useful for profitable culture of M. rosenbergii juveniles.


INCLUDED IN THIS CHAPTER ARE THE FOLLOWING: (1) FUNDAMENTAL CONCEPTS (MOISTURE-DENSITY RELATIONS, COMPACTION IN RELATION TO SOIL TYPE, AND COMPACTIVE EFFORT); (2) PROPERTIES OF COMPACTED FINE-GRAINED SOILS (STABILITY INDICES, STABILITY AND STRUCTURE OF COMPACTED CLAY, AND THE FAMILY OF CURVES METHOD FOR STUDY OF STABILITY); (3) FIELD-COMPACTION PROCEDURES AND REQUIREMENTS; AND (4) FIELD-COMPACTION TEST METHODS (QUALITY CONTROL TEST PROCEDURES, FIELD IMPACT COMPACTION TESTS, AND THE CONTROL-STRIP TECHNIQUE). /TRRL/


A heterostructure containing a Fibonacci quasi-periodic layer and a resonant metal back reflector is proposed, which can realize wideband absorption. The Fibonacci layer is composed of graphene-based hyperbolic metamaterials and isotropic media to obtain wideband absorption. To enhance absorption, an impedance-matching layer is put on top of the Fibonacci layer. It is shown to absorb roughly 90% of all available electromagnetic waves in an 11 terahertz absorption bandwidth for a transverse magnetic mode at normal angle incidence. The absorption bandwidth is affected by the reflection band gap. Compared with some previous designs, our proposed structure has a larger absorption bandwidth and higher absorption in the mid-infrared range. The results should be valuable in the design of infrared stealth and broadband optoelectronic devices.


In Reply.— We are sorry that our colleagues and friends Helzer, Robins, and Stoltzman are miffed by our statement that their article contained "serious errors" and "misleading statements." We know that DSM-III and RDC contain numerous ambiguities that result in legitimate differences of interpretation. The reader can decide for himself or herself whether or not the following statements from their original article reflect only "differences of interpretation." 1. "In the DSM-III and Feighner systems, but not the RDC, the presence of organic brain syndrome preempts depression." Not true. In the introduction to the RDC the following statement appears: "All of the conditions in the RDC (with the exception of Alcoholism, Drug Use Disorder and Other Psychiatric Disorder) are to be diagnosed only when there is no likely known organic etiology for the symptoms." 1 2. "Neither DSM-III nor the RDC specifies a primary/secondary distinction (in affective disorder)...." As every user of


Areal rainfall distribution over a 50-square-mile area was observed by 3-cm radar and by a rain-gage network of 33 rain gages. Isohyetal maps were prepared from both rain-gage and radar observation...


In order to study the growth habits of different safflower genotypes, 200 varieties safflower were evaluated in summer , 2004-2005 in Karaj Iran. Seeds were sown by hand on an inter-row spacing of 50cm and with 5cm intra-row spacing, each plot consisted of 3m rows in length. After emergence, manual thinning was used to obtain normal density. In this experiments, 70kg/ha of P2O5 as ammonium phosphate and 25kg/ha of nitrogen as urea were supplied prior to sowing and 30kg/ha of nitrogen as urea at the start of stem elongation. Weeds were controlled by manual weeding before stem elongation. Irrigation was used at 7 stages: After emergence, stem elongation, bud formation, beginning of the flowering, 50% of flowering, at the end of flowering and seed filling .During the growth period some important traits were recorded such as: dates of germination ,stem elongation, flowering time and maturity date. The results showed that the genotypes can be classified in 4 different groups: 1. The genotypes that remain in rosette stage because of absence of cold condition called winter types. 2. The genotypes that pass the rosette stage and start bolting but no flower and no seed. 3. The genotypes that pass the rosette stage and start bolting and flowering but stay in the first stage of flowering. 4. The genotypes that pass the rosette, bolting, flowering and filling stages that called spring types. Some important agronomic traits were recorded in group 4. It seems that the trait of growth habit in safflower can be controlled by many genes.


It has been widely demonstrated that miRNAs are able to modulate the expression of multiple targets, some of which play oncogenic or tumor-suppressive roles. Evidence suggests that some miRNAs can also have opposite effects in different tumoral contexts, as listed in Table 1. Table 1. The most representative miRNAs with an opposite role in melanoma and other tumors. miRNA References miR-9 miR-21 MiR-30b MiR-30d miR-125b miR-155 miR-146a miR-205-5p miR-211 miR-224 5p miR-452 Scientific investigations have shown the involvement of microRNAs (miRNAs) as a new key factor for cancer development and progression. Owing to their role in the regulation of gene expression and their stability (resistance to endogenous RNase activity) in body fluids, miRNAs have been extensively shown to be of particular interest for diagnosis, recurrence, identification, and treatment of cancer metastasis. Despite miRNAs being considered small conserved regulators with the limitation of target specificity, we outline the dual role of melanoma-associated miRNAs, as oncogenic and/or tumor suppressive factors, compared to other tumors.


Abstract A detailed discussion of Newtonian and general relativistic spherically symmetric dust solutions leads to the following suggested criteria for a singularity to be classified as a shell-cross: (1) All Jacobi fields have finite limits (in an orthonormal parallel propagated frame) as they approach the singularity. (2) The boundary region forms an essential C2 singularity which is C1 regular, that is it can be transformed away by a C1 coordinate transformation.


EEG is widely applied in motor imagery because of its non-invasive and easy access. However, multi-channel EEG signals cause noise interference and redundant information. Channel selection can reduce the noisy signal to obtain more real signals. Therefore, many studies focus on the influence of channel selection algorithms on motion imagery decoding. This paper summarizes the characteristics of channel selection methods for decoding motion imagination tasks and compares their methods and results. One way to select the channel is based on neural network and takes the channel as the input parameter of the neural network; Another is an EEG classification method based on statistical information. Statistical information such as CSP rank, cross-correlation, and Pearson correlation coefficient is used to sort channels. In addition, we also discuss the relationship between the channel selection algorithm and high-density electrode design.