To the Editor:

We read with interest the reflection by Forest et al. (1) highlighting the need of professional supervision for cutting-edge technology. In 2014, we implemented a full total laboratory automation (TLA)1 section in our institution, moving from a compartmentalized organization toward a decision-making–based laboratory department arranged as a core laboratory executing first-line tests and satellite laboratory sections performing specialized tests (2). In the core-lab, samples are handled in real time by exploiting TLA in which the Flexlab …


We study strip packing, which is one of the most classical two-dimensional packing problems: given a collection of rectangles, the problem is to find a feasible orthogonal packing without rotations into a strip of width 1 and minimum height. In this paper we present an approximation algorithm for the strip packing problem with absolute approximation ratio of 5/3 + epsilon for any epsilon > 0. This result significantly narrows the gap between the best known upper bound and the lower bound of 3/2; previously, the best upper bound was 1.9396 due to Harren and van Stee. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.


Close Air Support (CAS) is the use of air power in close proximity to friendly forces against enemy combatants. CAS requires precise and detailed communication between the personnel on the ground and the air vehicles. To be useful, a network simulation should be a superposition on the planning simulations for these activities. In a CAS mission, all of the above activities are critical. A hypothetical CAS mission is modeled as an "as is" solution with stove-piped communications and a "to be" network enabled solution. A co-simulation laboratory using OPNET with SITL (SYSTEM in the Loop, cosim, JFORCES (Joint Force Operational Readiness Combat Effectiveness Simulator), and JSAF (Joint Semi-Automated Forces) simulation system is described.


We consider the problem of finding the closest multivariate Gaussian distribution on a constraint surface of all Gaussian distributions to a given distribution. Previous research regarding geodesics on the multivariate Gaussian manifold has focused on finding closed-form, shortest-path distances between two fixed distributions on the manifold, often restricting the parameters to obtain the desired solution. We demonstrate how to employ the techniques of the calculus of variations with a variable endpoint to search for the closest distribution from a family of distributions generated via a constraint set on the parameter manifold. Furthermore, we examine the intermediate distributions along the learned geodesics which provide insight into uncertainty evolution along the paths. Empirical results elucidate our formulations, with visual illustrations concretely exhibiting dynamics of 1D and 2D Gaussian distributions.


Residential solar photovoltaic power generation systems are becoming increasingly popular now-a-days in South Africa with more and more customers now installing photovoltaic (PV) systems in order to power their homes. This paper presents the modeling and economic analysis of a small scale solar PV power generation system aimed to supply middle income residential customers. The modeling is done using the Hybrid Optimization Model for Electric Renewable (HOMER, version 2.68) software, considering the latitude and longitude of Cape Town as the South African customer base location in order to gather and generate solar irradiance data. The system design components such as photovoltaic (PV) array, the battery bank, converter, and AC load are considered, and component specifications (size, capital costs, replacement costs, etc.) are included and specified in HOMER to generate the PV system model. Three different cases considering the maximum annual capacity shortage of 0%, 5% and 10% are presented and compared against different technical and economic parameters detailed in the paper.


In February 2011, the CIRSDe − Interdisciplinary Centre for Women's Studies and research at the University of Turin organized t he international Conference "World Wide Women: Globalization, Gender, Languages". One of the sessions of the Conference deals with the issue of violence and women's agency . I this contribution I will present some key issues that have been discussed by a number of contributions that focused on the specific issue of domestic violence in relation to the new p henomena of globalization. The first point refers to the issue of "definitions" or "re-definit ions" that the new multicultural and new repositioning of gender relations require from us. The other major issue deals with the relationship between violence and globalization.


Educational expenditures claim a particularly large portion of available resources in LDCs. Major investment is being undertaken at a time when many economies are being constrained by recessionary pressures while still being confronted with meeting the educational need of burgeoning populations. Effectiveness of every dollar invested is crucial. This paper attempts to fill gaps in the existing research: (i) cost studies which rely on ad hoc functional forms and specifications that often impose unnecessary restrictions that run counter to economic theory; (ii) a priori restrictions have been imposed regarding the structure of technology; and (iii) reliable disaggregated cost function studies are lacking. This paper estimates a flexible cost function specified according to sound economic criteria and uses disaggregated school-level data for Bolivia and Paraguay. The study utilizes data that contains information on the cost structure of a sample of schools and on the characteristics of the students of these schools. Conclusions are that the average school does not exhibit scale economies, there is some scope for substituting between labor and non-labor inputs, physical plants may be excessive, and proprietary nature and location do not have significant impact.


In a model where a multiverse wavefunction explores a multitude of vacua with different symmetries and parameters, properties of universes closely related to ours can be understood by examining the consequences of small departures of physical parameters from their observed values. The masses of the light fermions that make up the stable matter of which we are made-- the up and down quarks, and the electron-- have values in a narrow window that both allows a variety of nuclei other than protons to exist, and at the same time allows atoms with stable shells of electrons that are not devoured by their nuclei. These fundamental parameters of the Standard Model are good candidates for quantities whose values are determined through selection effects within a multiverse, since a living world of molecules needs stable nuclei other than just protons and neutrons. If the fermion masses are fixed by brane condensation or compactification of extra dimensions, there may be observable fossils of the branching event, such as a gravitational wave background.


The article analyzes the use of images of folk demonology, including witches, devils and others, by Yury Vynnychuk in the novel «Apothecary». The key factors of character formation of mythical characters have been revealed. The author's achievements are outlined in comparison with the folklore and fairy tale tradition. The writer moves away from the depiction of Ukrainian folklore characters. With the help of expanding the background, dialogues, building social connections, the fantastic characters in the novel are normalized, even domesticated. The peculiarity of the novel «Apothecary» consists in combining the real with the fantastic, giving color and identity to demonic images in the original author's reading of them. Among the images explored in the article are the following: a witch, a devil, a golem woman, a warlock, an alchemist, a werewolf, etc. It was found that the image of the witch is represented by two types. The first type is related to the modern stereotypical idea of the impossibility of the existence of such a being. Through the lens of the gaze of one of the main characters of the work, doctor Lukasz, who as a «scientist» is used to rationalizing everything he sees, the reader looks at women who go to prison due to accusations of witchcraft, and together with Lukasz understands the absurdity of these events. Tortured women confess to witchcraft, are forced to prove their own connection with diabolical forces, testify for themselves, sharing details of the witch's life. The second type of witches are «real» ones. The reader is offered an episode of witch orgies on Lysia Gora, which is replaced by a detailed description of the witch's life, presented without any comedy. Thanks to this technique, the image of the witch does not appear folk-comic, but original and very authentic. An old witch named Vyvdia is depicted as a recluse, she knows how to make magic potions, and often helps visitors solve personal problems for a fee. The author depicts the image of a witch-healer, a wise woman who knows about herbs and ancient wisdom, and personifies in it the second stereotypical image of a witch, which is related to the etymology of the name. Witch from the word «to know» («vidaty», that sounds similar to «vidma» (witch in Ukrainian)). The devil is personified by a character named Franz. Its peculiarity is the difference from the traditional depiction of this image in classical Ukrainian literature. Devil Franz appears as a descendant of the demonological images of the romantic tradition in Ukrainian literature, but was created in the vortex of the author's myth of Yury Vinnychuk. He is a unique character, different from his predecessors. It has been found that the devil and the witch are the most productive demonological images in the novel. Other fantastic creatures form a kind of artistic background for them, make their appearance organic. All demonological images are completely woven into the realistic course of events of the work. The article concludes that the demonological images depicted by Yury Vynnychuk in the novel «The Apothecary» are undoubtedly related to the literary tradition. This work reflects a long-standing culture of using mythical characters in works of various genres. As an expert in folkloristics and classical Ukrainian literature, Y. Vynnychuk skillfully weaves ancient folk beliefs into his work about the 17th century, playing with eras, weaving modern discourses into antiquity. The artistic world of the novel is saturated with images of Ukrainian and European demonology (the devil Franz, the witch Vivdia, the alchemist Kalkbrenner, his creation the golem Amalia, warlocks, werewolves, spirits, demons, etc.). These characters are surprisingly real, believable and incredible, belong to different eras, cultures and at the same time are very harmonious.


The weight of large-value capacitors, used in airborne and space applications, is an appreciable portion of the weight of the total electronics system. The use of high-energy-density capacitors (energy storage per unit mass) can substantially reduce both the payload and bulk on board aircraft and space vehicles. The construction of capacitors with extremely high energy densities is limited by several factors. One such factor is the ability of the dielectric material to be used at field strengths approaching the maximum theoretical breakdown of the material. Other factors such as the weight of the external packaging and connections also limit the energy per unit of mass of the capacitor. The relative mass of the electrodes is also a factor since the electrodes add mass to the capacitor but do not contribute to energy storage. Previous attempts to increase the energy density of capacitors involved the use of vacuum evaporation and sputtering techniques in which alternate layers of an electrode material and an insulating dielectric material were deposited onto a substrate [I]. Although up to nine layers were fabricated by such a method, there were appreciable problems with respect to the dielectric strength achieved using the sputtering process. The dielectric strength was limited by defects such as pin holes, low oxide density, and nonstoichiometric oxide formation.


By mid-April 2020, a third of the global population was under full or partial lockdown. While 'lockdown' was not a technical term used by public-health officials, it referred to anything from mandatory geographic quarantines to non- mandatory recommendations to stay at home, closures of certain types of businesses, or bans on events and gatherings. During this lockdown period, the travel sector worldwide continued to experience a loss of business. For example, Spain's famous annual San Fermin bull-running festival, which usually draws thousands of participants, was canceled because of the coronavirus crisis. "As expected as it was, it still leaves us deeply sad," said acting mayor Ana Elizalde in a statement from the local Pamplona town hall. The July festival, which was made famous in Ernest Hemingway's novel The Sun Also Rises, has seldom been canceled in its history. Other major European tourist events were canceled, including Oktoberfest, the famous annual German beer-drinking festival which traditionally sees six million people travel to Munich.


Nineteen commercial high-density polyethylene resins made with different polymerization processes and catalyst types were analyzed by high-temperature size exclusion chromatography and crystallization analysis fractionation. The information obtained with these characterization techniques on the polymer chain structure was correlated to environmental stress cracking resistance. Environmental stress cracking resistance increases when the molecular weight and concentration of polymer chains that crystallize in trichlorobenzene between 75 and 85 °C increase. Polymer chains present in this crystallization range are assumed to act as tie molecules between crystal lamellae. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci B: Polym Phys 38: 1267–1275, 2000


Inspired by recent multiband Passive Bistatic Radar (PBR) high range resolution achievements, an airliner's and a propeller aircraft's bistatic range profiles were analyzed in greater detail. The two targets were shown to behave sufficiently different in the signal processing to be categorized correctly as two targets of different type. The airliner's main scatterer was accompanied by other weaker frequency dependent scatterers already present in the single channels range-Doppler plots. However, by applying multiband PBR signal processing, finer details of the scatterers were revealed. (6 pages)


Hannibal Bank is a biodiversity hotspot off the Pacific coast of Panama. Using the AUV SeaBED, 12 photo-transects of the seafloor systematically captured over 21,712 images during a research cruise in 2015. A subset of the images was analyzed to characterize the benthic community by identifying and quantifying visible fauna based on morphology. In addition, the dominant substrate types within each image was also recorded. Additional multivariate analyses of the faunal assemblage data were performed to study the factors important in structuring the benthic community, including geography, substrate, and depth. A total of 5,606 images were analyzed identifying 137 morphospecies from the phyla Annelida, Arthropoda, Chordata, Cnidaria, Echinodermata, Mollusca, and Porifera.


Stephen J. Nawotniak, MA, OTR (2014), has written the Handbook for Healthy Living With a Mood Disorder, designed to enable the readers=participants to join the process of writing their own guidebooks as a resource to use during bipolar illness' ups and downs. He holds a mirror up to his method of living with bipolar conditions. Stephen has first-hand experience with being weighted down alternating with flying high. It has been his desire for himself not to merely cope with these experiences, but to live as good a life as he can, despite alternations in mood. This book is available in hardcopy, ''print on demand,''and=or electronic form at Amazon.com. What Nawotniak (2014) has found is that writing down material and goals in advance for himself to guide him to carry out light tasks on burdensome days, and heavy, energetic activities on buoyant days enables him to manage his bipolar experiences. He also incorporates the occupational therapy principle of using a graded sequence of activities as he moves from one period of energy to another. In this way he helps the readers carry out self-regulation, customized for their preferences and priorities. As a result the reader has self-designed, individualized guidance for successfully living with a challenging condition. Nawotniak guides the reader through use of outlines and tables for self-regulation. The book's chapters address issues of function around handling finances to protect the individual from manic spending. Other areas of function he addresses are sensory-based strategies suitable for various levels of energy to damp down or kick up motivation by enticing oneself to handle extremes of feelings. To generally energize the self, Nawotniak recommends identifying activities that are appealing and meaningful, and to write these down for times when the spirit is stalled or the mind is whirling. As indicated earlier, Nawotniak draws out of the reader which activities of daily living are best suited to acute symptomatic exacerbations. Nawotniak helps the readers=self-help writers identify long term and short term goals so that they can both see the big picture, and subdivide it into manageable chunks. His aim is to promote a sense of self-worth and self-confidence by normalizing previous experiences of disorganization. This Occupational Therapy in Mental Health, 30:213–214, 2014 Copyright # Taylor & Francis Group, LLC ISSN: 0164-212X print=1541-3101 online DOI: 10.1080/0164212X.2014.909655


open As global solid waste management systems evolve to include wider elements of sustainability, developing countries are struggling with how best to work with a growing informal sector. This research seeks to investigate how developing country mainstream solid waste management systems can harness the opportunities presented through the informal recycling sector. This research explores the dialogue around "formalisation of the informal" and "integration of informal recycling sector into mainstream solid waste management systems", approaching this from an informal sector perspective. The research endeavours to offer insights to this discourse from an inclusive, social innovation approach. The research looks at what business models the informal recycling sector use as they adopt or adapt industrialised practices and how these harness inclusion and social innovation. The research area is Bulawayo, Zimbabwe with the informal recycling sector as case study. The main research question is "How can we harness inclusion and social innovation as the informal sector transitions into mainstream economic spaces?" The research employs an inductive qualitative approach through a rapid ethnography, focus group discussions and semi-structured key informant interviews. Key concepts explored in this research include "circumstantial social entrepreneurship", "generational informality", "value chain alliances", "public, private, community and informal sector partnerships (PPCIPs)" and "inclusive development as a pre-requisite to formalisation". By unpacking the business models employed by the informal recycling sector and how inclusive, social innovation opportunities inherent in these can be harnessed during the transition from shadow to mainstream economy spaces, this research intends to offer progressive approaches on how to unlock shared value during the graduation of the informal recycling sector from shadow to mainstream socio-economic spaces. Additionally, the outputs of this research aim to contribute to context-specific knowledge on types of nontraditional social entrepreneurial activity within informal spaces and how these push boundaries of inclusive, social innovation.


Conventional microbial methods can yield an aetiological diagnosis in almost all of the patients admitted with community-acquired pneumonia. Sputum examination, if accurately performed, is still one of the most important diagnostic tools. Antigen detection, especially for pneumococcal antigen, is a valuable and rapid method for diagnosing pneumococcal pneumonia even during antibiotic treatment. Because of the high fatality rate in severe community-acquired pneumonia, invasive procedures may be indicated and are useful; they are preferably performed before antibiotic treatment is initiated. Bronchoalveolar lavage has the advantage of sampling secretions from a relatively large part of the lobe, and this fulfils the requirements for appropriate specimens for all microbiological procedures. Polymerase chain reaction is the most promising new diagnostic technique in pulmonary infections. It can detect DNA or RNA of a low number of microorganisms with high accuracy in different biological fluids. Larger studies are necessary to investigate the impact of this technique on the aetiology, treatment and outcome of community-acquired pneumonia. Although serology is useful for aetiological and epidemiological studies, in the majority of cases the results of serology are available only after completion of treatment, and therefore seldom influence the choice of specific antibiotic.


A CONSIDERABLE portion of the men who appear in our courts as expert witnesses represent neither the standing and character of the medical profession nor do they have the ability and knowledge to represent properly and efficiently the medical profession as experts on medical subjects for which they appear. This is about as evident as anything can be and it is deplorable that this statement must be made and that it cannot be disputed. The reason for the existence of this condition is mainly due to the unwillingness of many of the more prominent and really qualified members of the medical profession to appear as witnesses. It is a fact that many of these men refuse to appear as expert witnesses, even though they are importuned to do so by the highest type of attorneys and in the furtherance of justice. One such physician, who stands high in the profession, with whom the writer, together with a highly esteemed attorney, pleaded for an hour to appear on the witness stand, refused and gave as his only excuse, ...


Decision tree classifiers are considered to serve as a standout amongst the most well-known approaches for representing classifiers in data classification. The issue of expanding a decision tree from available data has been considered by various researchers from diverse realms and disciplines for example machine studying, pattern recognition and statistics. The utilization of Decision tree classifiers have been suggested multifariously in numerous areas like remote sensing, speech recognition, medicinal analysis and numerous more. This paper gives brief of various known algorithms for representing and constructing decision tree classifiers. In addition to it, various pruning methodologies, splitting criteria and ensemble methods are also discussed. In short, the paper presents a short self-explanatory review of decision tree classification which would be beneficial for beginners.


An experimental trial was conducted to standardize optimum dose of inorganic plus organic fertilizers for production of Silybum marianum (Milk thistle) under peach plants and open field condition. Milk thistle crop was grown with five integrated nutrient doses, viz., T1(Recommended doses of fertilizers), T2(75%Recommended doses of fertilizers +25%Vermicompost), T3(50% Recommended doses of fertilizers +50% Vermicompost), T4 (25%Recommended doses of fertilizers + 75% Vermicompost) and T5 (100% Vermicompost). Treatment, T3 showed the best results on most of the growth and yield parameters, viz., plant height (142.15cm), number of leaves plant−1 (147.62), number of branches plant1(18.99), number of thistles plant−1 (24.78), LAI (4.70), root-shoot ratio (0.09), total biomass production (10.01q ha−1) and seed yield ha −1 (2.01q ha−1). Peach trees had a positive effecton growth and yield performance of S. marianum, which were found healthier and better thriving underneath its canopy than in sole cropping. Irrespective of the planting condition, soil chemical parameters viz., OC (13.92 g kg−1), available N (312.51 kg ha−1), available P (56.69 kg ha−1) and available K (390.99 kg ha−1) also showed higher value under T3 treatment. However, pH (6.95) and EC (0.27 dSm−1) were found maximum in treatments T4 and T1, respectively. Based on the economic analysis, it was found that S. marianum gave more profitunder Treatment T1(recommended doses of NPK) interms of monetary value ( 5, 71, 27 ha−1) when intercropped with peach in comparison to other treatment combinations. From the present investigation, it can be concluded that milk thistle crop under peach based agroforestry system can be a viable option both ecologically as well as economically.


Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to establish whether or not promotional efforts can help public libraries to become more visible and their services more recognizable in the local community. At present, libraries employ different promotional efforts for their products and services, usually less aggressive than commercial information providers. Their final goal is to reclaim the role of the primary provider of quality information resources and accompanying services from electronic media.Design/methodology/approach – The first part of the paper offers an introduction followed by information about the actual promotional activities in public libraries. The third part of the paper was based on a user survey in five major public libraries in Zagreb, Croatia.Findings – The predominant way of acquiring information about public libraries and their activities is by word of mouth while other means of communication, such as TV, radio and the internet, are used less. The results suggest the need for better use o...


We demonstrate that at least two varieties of E' defect precursors exist in a wide variety of conventionally processed thermal SiO2 thin films. We provisionally label the defects EP and E'γp. We find that EP defect capture cross sections exceed the corresponding E'γp values by an order of magnitude, that EP centers are distributed far more broadly throughout the oxides than are the E'γp defects, and that the EP resonance, unlike the E'γp resonance is not stable at room temperature.


In this paper, dual-port polarization reconfigurable circular patch antenna is proposed. The polarization reconfigurability is achieved by modifying the coplanar waveguide (CPW) slotline feeding network located on the ground plane. Two quarter wavelength phase delays are interconnected on each of the slot lines. Eight switches are placed on the CPW slotline transmission to activate and deactivate the phase delay slotlines, which controlled the flow of the current and consequently changed the polarization mode of the antenna. The dual port feature is realized by utilizing the odd and even mode of the CPW characteristic. Simulation results demonstrate the proposed antenna has the capability to switch the polarization excited, whilst maintaining good impedance matching and port-to-port isolation.


The rapid quenching dynamics of the F-center excitation by CN- defects in CsCl crystals were investigated by monitoring the ground state bleach recovery kinetics of F-centers, using a picosecond streak camera absorption spectrometer. The F-centers in CN- doped quenched samples show two bleach recovery components. Optical aggregation converts the slow component to the fast component. The slow one is due to the normal relaxation of the F*-centers as found in CN- free crystals. The fast one is due to the energy transfer of the F-center electronic excitation to the vibrational energy levels of CN- molecualr defects. The energy transfer occurs only in the F-center-CN- defect pairs, F_H(CN-)-centers.


The importance of the ignition process is reflected in the fact that the only combustion property that is specified for diesel fuel is the ignition delay time as indicated by the cetane number. The objective of the work described in this paper was to determine the relationship between the ignition process as it occurs in an actual engine, to ignition in a constant volume combustion bomb. The ultimate goal is to develop a new procedure for rating the ignition and combustion quality of fuels for diesel engines. The short-term goal, and an interim step in the development effort, is to establish the bomb approach for determining cetane number.


Classification of electric appliance parts is one of the interesting and practically valuable applications for 3D object recognition. Based on existing works, in this paper we try classifying electric appliance parts data obtained in an automatable process, which becomes a basis for automated recycling system. The dataset includes deformable objects such as cables as well as various rigid objects, some of which lacking a large part of the surface because of self-occlusions and materials of the parts. To realize high accuracy in classification, after the comparison of several similarity measures, we combine a measure which describes well the whole shape similarity with a measure that expresses the ratio of local surface patterns that appears in each model. The latter measure is suitable to describe the similarity of deformable objects that the whole shapes are heavily dependent on their configurations. We also investigate how the scale of computing local feature affects the classification result.


Current technologies for monitoring neural activity either use different variety of electrodes (electrical recording) or require contrast agents introduced exogenously or through genetic modification (optical imaging). Here we demonstrate an optical method for non-contact and contrast agent free detection of nerve activity using phase-resolved optical coherence tomography (pr-OCT). A common-path variation of the pr-OCT is recently implemented and the developed system demonstrated the capability to detect rapid transient structural changes that accompany neural spike propagation. No averaging over multiple trials was required, indicating its capability of single-shot detection of individual impulses from functionally stimulated Limulus optic nerve. The strength of this OCT-based optical electrode is that it is a contactless method and does not require any exogenous contrast agent. With further improvements in accuracy and sensitivity, this optical electrode will play a complementary role to the existing recording technologies in future.


The reflectance spectrum of a wafer/solar cell is used to measure physical parameters of the wafer and its structural components and interfaces. New applications of the reflectometer have been developed, which enable determination of the average parameters over the entire wafer/cell, as well as their spatial mapping. Measurements can be made in less than 100 ms. This method is well suited for commercial monitoring of solar cell processing.


The study was conducted on a buffalograss lawn in Lincoln, NE. The buffalograss was maintained at a mowing height of 10 cm and was mowed to 5 cm prior to insecticide applications., Thatch accumulation ranged from 0 to 0.64 cm. Conditions at the time of application were as follows: air temperature, 21°C; soil temperature (10-cm depth), 21°C; soil type, silty clay loam; soil organic matter, 3-5%; soil pH, 6.0 to 7.0; water pH, 7.0; soil moisture, near field capacity. Insecticides were applied on 17 Jun to 1.2 x 1.2 m plots arranged in a RCB design with 5 replications. Liquid insecticides were applied with a COa sprayer using a LF-4 nozzle at 165.5 KPa and delivering 18.9 liter spray/93 m2. Granular formulations were applied with a calibrated Grandy 24H12 spreader. Immediately following application, plots were syringed with 0.32 cm of water. Product efficacy was evaluated 5 DAT (22 Jun) by removing from each plot three turf-soil cores to a depth of 1.3 cm with a 10.8 cm diam cup cutter (0.03 m2 total area per plot). Cores were returned to the laboratory and placed in Berlese funnels. Extracted chinch bugs were counted after 48 h.


Article presents the models for optimization of biological wastewater treatment process by hierarchical adaptive control approach inside embedded system of communal wastewater treatment plant.


The variation rule of SRB in media with different pH values and the effects of these variation of bacteria on the corrosion of carbon steel have been studied.The results present that the activities of acid resistance bacteria and alkali resistance bacteria are less than that of original SRB.The acid resistance bacteria live in groups and the body of SRB presents roundness with flagellum.Alkali resistance bacteria are bacilli,and larger and longer than the original SRB.The distribution of sulfur in corrosion product is not uniform.


Organising teaching materials in such a way as to maximise motivation for learning, and to do so within an effective framework, is a preoccupation familiar not only to textbook and materials writers, but to all teachers who wish to realise their full creative potential in the classroom and to engage learners actively in the learning process. There is a need to select materials which provide a challenge to the students and are relevant to the purpose for which they are learning the language, and at the same time, it is necessary to ensure that the materials concerned succeed in forming the pattern of an integrated lesson or course book unit.


Computational room acoustics models are frequently used to derive room acoustical parameters, and also for auralisation of sound from stage to audience area of auditoria. Auralisation of sound on stage is much less common. This paper considers how auralisation can be implemented for a musician within a large ensemble. Using a computer model of an auditorium, impulse responses are derived from various source positions on the stage to the auralised position for the musician (also on the stage). For the playback, anechoic recordings of individual instruments within a small or large ensemble are convolved with the appropriatiately synchronised and spatialised impulse responses. The roomreflected sound for the musician's own instrument or voice is auralised separately using a real-time convolution system previously developed for auralising the sound of one's own voice in rooms. This paper describes the integration of these processes, which are illustrated using a case study.


Abstract In this study, we consider Hessenberg matrices with applications to generalized Fibonacci-Like sequences associated with Fibonacci and Lucas sequences. We then investigate the relationships between the Hessenberg matrices and generalized Fibonacci-Like sequences. We define some Hessenberg matrices and show that the determinants and permanents of these Hessenberg matrices are terms of generalized FibonacciLike sequences.


FIELD: construction industry. SUBSTANCE: invention refers to construction materials and can be used during manufacture of gypsum binding, building solutions, concretes and products on their base. Modifying agent includes the following, wt %: hydraulic binding agent 42 - 76, active mineral component - microsilica and fine silica-containing component 8 - 48, plasticising agent 2.1 - 11.4, setting time control 0.23 - 3.8, stabilising agent - water-soluble cellulose ester with viscosity of 5000-20000 MPa·s with 0.01 - 1.5. Invention has been developed in depending claims. EFFECT: increasing strength, crack resistance and durability of modified gypsum binding agent, building solutions and concretes on their base, reducing power consumption. 13 cl, 1 tbl, 10 ex


A novel electroconductive polypeptide gel based on a formation of a charge-transfer (CT) complex between poly(L-lysine) (PLL) and 7,7,8,8-tetracyanoquinodimethane (TCNQ) was prepared. The PLL gel extensively swelled in DMSO containing TCNQ and showed a dark green color to give PLL + TCNQ - . DSC showed a significant depression of the melting temperature. The electrical conductivity of the PLL + TCNQ - gel below melting temperature of DMSO was nearly 3 orders of magnitude higher than the corresponding solution. These phenomena were explained in terms of the extensive association of DMSO molecules with the charged network through strong electrostatic interaction


American Academy of Orthotists & Prosthetists 40th Academy Annual Meeting & Scientific Symposium February 26 March 1, 2014 FPTH14 INTRODUCTION Prosthesis rejection is a common phenomenon after hip disarticulation (HD) and hemipelvectomy (HP). Main reasons are low walking speed and dependence on walking aids. Physical therapy, component selection, and enhanced comfort of the pelvic socket increase the acceptance of a prosthesis. Thus far, the benefits of new prosthetic hip components have been shown in case reports only. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate changes in walking capabilities, function, and independence by use of the Helix 3D prosthetic hip joint.


The intellectual production of Johannes Gallensis (also known as John of Wales, c. 1210/30 – 1285), regent-master of the Friars Minor at Oxford and later a lecturer and Doctor of Theology at Paris, was oriented towards furnishing Catholic preachers with a variety of compilations of moral philosophy aimed to serve them in their pastoral ministry. One of these compilations is the Communiloquium, a manual of a kind, which displays its author's attempt to provide adequate and specific argumentation for admonishing all sorts and types of devotees. Its most prominent characteristic is a highly accurate use of classical auctoritates and exempla, which turned this work into a kind of anthology of quotations and references, for it offered its readers the possibility of citing sources and texts that they themselves had never actually consulted. The impressive number of manuscript copies of the Communiloquium that reached our times bears witness to its great popularity (some one hundred and sixty dispersed in different European libraries, according to Jenny Swanson's John of Wales. A Study of the Work and Ideas of a Thirteenth-Century Friar). The Communiloquium must have reached the Iberian soil by means of Franciscan friars and soon spread through courtly circles, as much as in the religious milieu, due to the political taint of its first part, rooted in the organological metaphor and containing extensive reflections on the virtues and the due behaviour of a monarch. In the Crown of Aragon, the Communiloquium used to be read out loud even among the artisans. In Castile, on the other hand, particularly between the XIIIth and the XVth centuries, its main audience happened to be the lettered nobility and those intellectuals who, dedicated to composing glosas and specula principum, required its resources...


Objective To identify the factors related to prognosis of diabetic foot ulcer (DFU).Methods A total of 186 patients with type Ⅱ DFU from a single diabetic foot center was included in this prospective study.Follow-up of the final outcome (healing,major amputation or death) was made in 6 months.Influence of patient demographics and clinical data on outcome was detected using multivariate Logistic regression analysis.Results Follow-up was performed in 172 patients,of whom 147 were cured (55 cases cured after minor amputations),3 underwent major amputations,6 died,and 16 were not yet cured at the final follow-up.In multivariate Logistic regression analysis,the outcome was independently correlated with ischemia (P <0.01),infection (P < 0.05),ulcer number (P < 0.01) and peripheral neuropathy (P < 0.05) ; the risk of poor outcome increased with ischemia [odds ratio (OR) =10.8],infection (OR =211.4),ulcer number (OR =39.5),and peripheral neuropathy (OR =181.1).Conclusion Prognosis of DFU is associated with ischemia,infection,ulcer number,and peripheral neuropathy.

Key words:
Diabetic foot ;  Prognosis ;  Prospective studies


Objective:To investigate the role of mitochondrial mutations in the pathogenesis of essential hypertension and left ventricular hypertrophy,and to find a new way to diagnose and treat hypertension. Method:We recruited 540 outpatients or in-patients at the General Hospital of PLA from January 2006 to January 2007. They were divided into hypertrophy and non-hypertrophy group,besides 270 healthy individuals as control. And sequence analyses were performed at the hotspots of mitochondrial DNA. Result:There were no significant differences in mitochondrial variants between hypertrophy and non-hypertrophy group. However,C8414T(P=0.01)and A8701G(P=0.0001) were found remarkably more in the cases than the control. Conclusion:Mitochondrial variants were not tightly related to the pathogenesis of left ventricular hypertrophy,while some specific variants deserve further investigation due to their influence on function of mitochondria. C8414T and A8701G might affect the course of essential hypertension.


The paper examines the effects on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions accounting methodology by introduction of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) 2006 guidelines with respect to methane and nitrous oxide emission quantification in the dairy sector. Typical systems for dairy management in Latvia are compared with the aim to highlight methods available to calculate and report agricultural GHG emissions in national inventories and outcome differences among greenhouse gas emission contributing sources with the reference to the most important agriculture branch in Latvia. The study results show that the emission origin in the country for dairy farming is most accurately characterized by using Tier 2 methodology for emission calculations, however, the best results are available only if country specific parameters are available. Methane emissions are significantly affected by the dairy cow feeding system, while nitrogen oxide emissions are directly related with nitrogen excretion from the animal. Different manure management technologies show slighter effect on GHG emissions per dairy cow.


This paper presents a study of permeability of asphalt mixtures with renormalization method.The critical connectivity air void of asphalt mixtures' permeability is derived.Critical connectivity air voids for four kinds of asphalt mixtures of superpave garadations are calculated on the basis of experiment results.The theory and practice value of critical connectivity air voids are also presented.In conclusion,the problem of permeability of asphalt mixtures of road engineering has been solved to some extent.


Determining the required sample size is still a challenge in biological studies, including work on seed germination estimation. In this context, we studied a mathematical model to calculate sufficient sample size, using seeds of Bowdichia virgilioides Kunth. as a biological model. Coefficients of variation of the germinability (CVG) were calculated to determine the sufficient sample size (nc) to test the germination process. These CVG were subjected to the mathematical model (modified maximum curvature method – MMCM) and sufficient sample size was determined algebraically by the mathematical expression nc = [a2b2(2b + 1)/(b + 2)]1/(2b + 2) where a is the parameter of the model and b is here called the germinability heterogeneity index. Coefficients presented significant adjustment to this model, regardless of the physiological quality of the sample (99.94% ≤ R2 ≤ 99.99%). The nc is the maximum point of inflection of the CVG curve and depends on the physiological quality of the sample. Samples with higher germinability required fewer seeds to reach the nc than those with lower germinability. Thus, considering the variability of the studied material (measured by the CVG), the MMCM allows us to calculate the nc of the germination process. Our results demonstrate that is possible to prepare protocols to test the germination process for any species, with a reduced number of seeds.


High school students need to be introduced to and trained in system thinking skills as one of the implementations of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). This study aimed to develop high school students' systems thinking skills through ESD-laden project-based learning on environmental change material. A pre-experimental method was applied with the One Group Pretest Posttest Design to 35 class X high school students in Bandung Regency who were selected by non-random sampling. The data were collected through open questions to evaluate students' systems thinking skills and were processed by scoring student answers based on the rubric for assessing system thinking skills. The N-Gain value was calculated to determine the magnitude of the increase in students' systems thinking skills before and after learning. The results showed that the N-Gain value was 0.64, which means that students' systems thinking skills moderately developed after project-based learning containing ESD. The development of system thinking skills can train students to change paradigms to view a problem from various perspectives to find a sustainable solution, encouraging them to pay more attention to their activities and take more responsible actions.


The objectives were to introduce a simple methodology which could be used to replace the time-consuming and expensive conventional methods of metallographic and quantitative analysis of thermal treatment effect on microstructure. Metallurgical analysis continually calls for the evaluation of thermal treatment effects on microstructure. This commonly demands metallographic sample preparation and microscopic examination, which are time absorbing and costly. These drawbacks are burdensome when large numbers of samples must be levied fast. Mechanical testing can sometimes be substituted, but sample size and shape frequently make these methods impractical. The experiment described here is ideal for the microstructural evaluation of lamp filaments and other wire samples such as copper wire which can be conveniently coiled.


When using the non-contact method to collect the image of the back of the hand, in view of the problems that the different degrees of finger opening and closing affect the segmentation of the finger image, the area of interest of the knuckles of the knuckles is difficult to locate, and the image is easily affected by light, a knuckles of the knuckles of the knuckles based on morphological operations are proposed. Region of interest positioning method. In this method, a combination of opening and closing operations in morphological operations is used to construct an image mask of the back of the hand, and then the mask is used to shield the area of the back of the hand, and five images of the back of the finger are separated and angle-corrected. For the corrected image, the top-hat transformation is performed first, and then the method of combining the sliding window algorithm with image information entropy is used to locate the knuckle pattern area of the dorsum of fingers. Finally, LBP and SIFT are used for feature extraction, and support vector machine (SVM) is used as a classifier, and experimental verification is carried out on the self-built back of hand image database. The experimental results show that the proposed method can eliminate the influence of illumination and environmental noise, and can accurately and quickly locate and extract the region of interest of the dorsal knuckle pattern on the back of the hand image.


The author describes a funeral ceremony — netemestamp — in which she had been able to participate during a brief stay in 1974 at Lendombwey, centre-south Malekula, in the Mbotgote group (small Nambas). The ceremony, dedicated to seven dead people, was organized around the presentation of funerary objects of high quality, of which there were seven rambaramb and many temes nevimbur . It was the occasion for an important exchange of possessions (tubers and pigs) between the relatives of the deceased. The two days of the ceremony and its key moments (dance of the "marionettes" and departure of the mortuary effigies) are first retraced chronologically. The reconstitution of the genealogies of the village makes it possible to evoke the identity and role of the organisers of the ceremony. This tentative explanation is the subject of the second part of the article, which ends with information gathered on the ways of participation in the ceremony, and the exchange and redistribution of possessions.


In this investigation tribological properties of Aluminium-Alumina metal matrix composites (AMMCs) are developed through developing microstructure and improving physical properties by controlling process parameters of two different powder metallurgy routes. In one route; 5, 10 and 15 weight percent Alumina (Al2O3) powder was manually blended with pure Aluminium (Al) and compacted at 10 ton/inch2 uniform pressure followed by sintering at 400°C, 500°C and 600°C for 30 minutes. Alternately, commercially pure Al powder was oxidized at 500°C, 600°C, 700°C and 800°C for 15, 30 and 45 minutes individually followed by same powder metallurgy process as applied in the first route of AMMCs fabrication like blending, compacting and sintering. Optical micrographs of fabricated AMMCs were taken and corelated with the apparent porosity of fabricated AMMCs as well as with different process parameters and variables like sintering and oxidation temperatures, oxidation duration, and wt. % of Alumina. Tribological properties of all AMMCs were also measured and corelated with the process parameters and variables as well as with the observed microstructure and measured apparent porosity. It is observed that finer grain structures are developed by increasing sintering and oxidation temperatures, and oxidation duration. It is also observed that wear resistance of AMMCs is enhanced by increasing sintering and oxidation temperatures, oxidation duration, and wt. % of Alumina individually; whereas, more enhancement is observed in case of second route of AMMCs fabrication. Therefore, the uniqueness of this investigation is to improve the wear resistance of pure Aluminium by fabricating AMMCs through simply heating pure Al powder at different temperatures followed by powder metallurgy process instead of adding reinforcement material (Alumina powder).


Summary An intranuclear canalicular system connecting the nuclear envelope to the nucleolus has been found in interphase cells of the Novikoff hepatoma in both the ascitic and the solid forms. Throughout the nucleoplasm, flattened canaliculi are seen in sections as parallel membranes covered by thin layers of chromatin material. Membrane-bounded tubules exist in direct contact with the nucleolus, where they are often stacked in parallel array and embedded in an amorphous matrix substance. Those intranuclear membranes disappear at metaphase and reappear at telophase. It seems likely that the canaliculi are formed by deep invagination of only the inner layer of the nuclear envelope and reach into the nucleolus. The interspace of intranuclear canaliculi is continuous with the perinuclear cisterna of the nuclear envelope, which, in turn, is confluent with the cisternae of the rough endoplasmic reticulum.


We show that the perfect matching problem is in the complexity class SPL (in the nonuniform setting). This provides a better upper bound on the complexity of the matching problem, as well as providing motivation for studying the complexity class SPL. Using similar techniques, we show that counting the number of accepting paths of a nondeterministic logspace machine can be done in NL/poly, if the number of paths is small. This clarifies the complexity of the class FewL. Using derandomization techniques, we then improve this to show that this counting problem is in NL. Determining if our other theorems hold in the uniform setting remains an important open question, although we provide evidence that they do. More precisely, if there are problems in DSPACE(n) requiring exponential-size circuits, then all of our results hold in the uniform setting.


We demonstrate a novel concept, plasmonic nanofocusing, for strong-field-photo emission of nanometer-sized ultrafast electron pulses from metal nanotips. Avoiding direct tip illumination, the concept carries significant potential for improving time resolution in ultrafast electron microscopy.


Two independent lines of evidence suggest that the hydrogen sulfides (H2S, SH−, S2−) are present in open surface seawater at pico to nanomolar levels. 1) Such concentrations are calculated for a chemical steady state involving carbonyl sulfide hydrolysis as source, followed by oxidative removal. 2) Although it is not yet certain that measurements of gaseous H2S over the open ocean are reliable, they require aqueous sulfide concentrations in this range in order to support sea-to-air flux. If pico to nanomolar of the hydrogen sulfides are included in standard equilibrium models of seawater complexation chemistry, several trace metals speciate predominantly as sulfide complexes and are supersaturated with respect to their solid sulfides. This supersaturation argues for solubilization of the metals through other unexpected complexes, perhaps involving reduced sulfur ligands associated with dissolved organics, or even intermediates along the hydrogen sulfide oxidation chain.


This paper discusses the significance of improving the automatic control level of electromechanical equipment in coal mine,analyzes the present situation of fully mechanized mining technology,and introduces the type selection of equipment used on fully mechanized working face and the programming design of automatic control system.


Tm3+-doped lead-silicate glass with good thermal stability was prepared by the melt-quenching method. The absorption spectra, emission spectra, luminescent lifetime, and absorption and emission cross sections of the core glass were measured and analyzed. Then, Tm3+-doped lead-silicate glass photonic crystal fiber (PCF) was successfully drawn with a core diameter of <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$30~\mu \text{m}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> and a mode-field-area of ±<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$3160~\mu \text{m}^{2}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> of the emitted fundamental mode. Nearly 2.0-<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\mu \text{m}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> amplified spontaneous emission was obtained in a 3.0-cm-long as-drawn PCF. The results indicate that the Tm3+-doped PCF is a promising fiber material for 2.0-<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\mu \text{m}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> fiber laser applications.


The invention radioisotope labeled and monitored containing the pigment of the fluorescent dyes and visible light in the near infrared region binding albumin lymph markers, their preparation, sentinel node including the same multi-mode imaging kit for, and monitored using the same lymph node relates to a multi-mode imaging method. SLN markers of the present invention, because the characteristic that enables the characteristics and the multi-mode image to a long retention in lymph nodes, as well as to reduce the possibility of false negative judgment improves the accuracy of the sentinel lymph node biopsy and reduces the dependence on the equipment.


This paper presents a new steady state model which contains fewer polarisation curve fitting parameters compared to other semi-empirical models. The established model is also defined at no load operation and can be fitted perfectly to the static polarisation curve for a wide range of cell currents. The model links the fuel cell voltage to the current by a simple function to which various useful derivative laws can be applied. As a result, many analytical expressions, for example, polarisation resistance or power density, can be evaluated directly from the model.


In this thesis work, we presents several applications and developments of the modal method: in particular, imagining a logical path from low to high frequencies, are considered the tsunami waves, seismic waves propagating in structures with strong lateral heterogeneity, to conclude with the application of the method to the acoustic range. The topic treated in the first chapter is the extension of the modal technique to the tsunami wavefield (long period gravity waves), showing how this methodology allows different approaches to the modeling of both heterogeneous structural models and of the seismic rupture process that generates the tsunami. These techniques have been applied in different contexts, both in order to validate the computer codes (Western Mediterranean Sea, the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami of March 2011) and to assess tsunami hazard scenarios for the selected target zones (Vietnam Coasts, Adriatic Sea). The topic of the second chapter is the modeling of seismic waves propagating in strong laterally heterogeneous models, in particular with vertical liquid-solid interfaces. After a short theoretical introduction, we shows the results of some modelling tests adopting several structural models and different frequency ranges (in particular reaching a maximum frequency of 10 Hz). Thus, going to higher frequencies, up to 100Hz, the package of programs originally developed for the seismic waves has been tested and, after appropriate improvements, used to study the propagation of acoustic waves in the oceanic structures. The purpose of these tests, subject of the third and final chapter of this work, is to understand the sensitivity of the acoustic waves to the characteristics of the structure in which they propagate, such as the presence of low velocity sedimentary layers or a low velocity channel in the liquid. In the second and third chapter, the study of the computed signals was complemented through a joint time-frequency analisys (FTAN) which greatly helped to understand their salient features, related to both the source and the structure, further confirming the validity and the polyhedric nature of the modal approach.


Mercaptoundecanoic acid coated gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) are synthesized by the Stucky method with slight modifications.[1] Nanocomposite gels are synthesized as follows: 0.4 mg AuNP are dried in a vial before adding a pre-gel solution comprising 11.7 mg acrylamide, 1.5 mg sodium acrylate, and 0.2 mg methylene bisacrylamide in 200 μL deionized water. The solution is degassed and the reaction is initiated by adding 2 μL of an aqueous ammonium persulfate solution (0.1 g/mL) before injecting between two glass slides separated by 125 μm Kapton spacers. The mold is then placed under N2 and allowed to react for 1 h. The gels are placed in deionized water to release from the mold, then transferred several times to fresh water solutions to wash. The gels are punched manually into the desired size and shape with stainless steel punches (leathercrafttools.com).


The dispute between moral and law involves the responsibility choice,so it is an important thing to make a conclusion by way of analyzing their internal inspirit. Exchanging yokemate in Nanjing embodies the fact that modern society breaks traditional prohibitions to pursue diversiform sexual love. Illusive morality and authentic law do not separate each other,and their value conjunction and accordance does not write off respective domination,thus the exchanging yokemate no endangering external benefit shall be remained with morality.


The quality of graduate education is to promote the all-round development of graduates and meet the needs of society. Based on the systems management theory and hierarchy of needs theory, this paper builds a relation model of impact factors of engineering graduate education quality in local colleges and universities, and analyzes the factors' relations and functions from seven-dimensions, and for engineering graduate education quality assurance, proposes local colleges and universities on talent positive effect on the local society orientation, correctly handling the relations between local government and local enterprises and institutions, establishing a long-term graduated graduate students liaison mechanism, reforming graduate cultivation mechanism, strengthening tutor team construction, establishing quality supervision mechanism. KEYWORD: Systems management theory; Hierarchy of needs theory; Local colleges and universities; Engineering graduate education; Quality; Impact factor


In the article, experimental tests are carried out to predict the service life of DFB laser diodes used in optical communication systems. The experimentally obtained results were used to estimate the operating time of laser diodes of the DFB type. In this work, the method of automatic control of the power of optical radiation of a laser diode is used to study the process of degradation of laser diodes. For this, the current of the laser diode is regularly adjusted to ensure the stability of the optical radiation of the laser diode. When POC laser diodes are used in an optical transmitter module as a transmitter, the optical power is constantly monitored. Therefore, the use of the method of automatic control of the radiation power in the study of the process of failure of a laser diode provides a high compatibility of the experimental process with the real process of the laser diode operation.


Two dimensional electron gases (2DEGs) formed at interfaces between two oxides have been drawing growing attention for their intriguing magnetic, superconducting, and optical properties. Remarkable anisotropic transmission was observed from an indium-tin-oxide (ITO) coated lithium niobate (LN) slab, implying that a 2DEG is formed at one of the ITO/LN interfaces, and this is seemingly behind the anisotropic transmission. To optically probe 2DEG formation at one of the ITO/LN interfaces, the first reflected beam was monitored with one (two) laser beam(s). Reflective dynamics as large as 5%-15% were observed, pointing unambiguously to a subwavelength coupling and corresponding to, conservatively, exponential gain coefficients of −26 800 to +2700 cm−1 with half a wavelength as the coupling range. All observations are far beyond the reach of conventional bulk photorefractive effects, but align well with a picture of surface plasmon polariton excitation based on 2DEG formation. The 2DEG proximal to the LN substrate is a promising candidate for designing nonlinear plasmonics based nanometric waveguides, rectifiers, modulators, and sensors, which are compatible with current photonic circuits.Two dimensional electron gases (2DEGs) formed at interfaces between two oxides have been drawing growing attention for their intriguing magnetic, superconducting, and optical properties. Remarkable anisotropic transmission was observed from an indium-tin-oxide (ITO) coated lithium niobate (LN) slab, implying that a 2DEG is formed at one of the ITO/LN interfaces, and this is seemingly behind the anisotropic transmission. To optically probe 2DEG formation at one of the ITO/LN interfaces, the first reflected beam was monitored with one (two) laser beam(s). Reflective dynamics as large as 5%-15% were observed, pointing unambiguously to a subwavelength coupling and corresponding to, conservatively, exponential gain coefficients of −26 800 to +2700 cm−1 with half a wavelength as the coupling range. All observations are far beyond the reach of conventional bulk photorefractive effects, but align well with a picture of surface plasmon polariton excitation based on 2DEG formation. The 2DEG proximal to the LN subst...


The relationship between tourism development and vegetation landscapes is seen from Sensitive Level(SL),Landscape Importance Value(LIV),information index of biodiversity(H′),Shade-tolerant Species Proportion(SSP) and Tourism Influencing Index(TII).SL is a kind of the degree of tourists paying attention to the selected sample,and shows the scenery of vegetation landscapes.LIV is a kind of the index that shows the important degree of the selected sample in all the vegetation landscapes,and this importance embodies both the quality of ecological environment and the tourism value of plant communities by species' characteristics,biodiversity,community structure,aesthetic factors and so on.H' is an index of biodiversity,and can show the richness and the evenness of species.SSP is the ratio of the coverage of shaded-tolerant species to that of all the species in the selected sample,so it can show the impact of tourism activities on ecological environment.TII is a main standard of evaluating the impact of tourism development on natural environment,including rubbish index,damaging branches index,treading ground index,treading stakes index,woods regeneration index and herb situation index.However,to show the impact of tourism on vegetation in Luya Mountain Nature Reserve clearly,we use Two-Way Indicator Species Analysis(TWINSPAN) and Detrended Correspondence Analysis(DCA),which are the most common ways for vegetation analysis.TWINSPAN can integrate all the factors' information and divide vegetation landscapes into different types,and DCA can range vegetation landscapes in certain sequence in space.In TWINSPAN and DCA,elevation,slope,aspect,road width,distance from tourism road,SL,LIV,H′,SSP and TII constitute a 10×16 matrix with samples.Based on tourism activities,the rule of vegetation landscape types and spatial pattern is analyzed.It shows that:(1) TWINSPAN gives correct and rapid partition to the classification,and divides all vegetated landscapes into five types.The results produced by TWINSPAN can reflect the ecological relationship between tourism development and vegetation landscapes objectively,and the indicative factors can also embody the humane environment and characteristics of vegetation landscapes.The dividing principle of TWINSPAN is according to the comprehensive information of all factors,so its result is more superior to that only based on one factor obviously.(2) The ordination diagram of DCA can differentiate vegetation landscape districts,and each type has its own area.Seen from their distribution,the first axis of DCA mainly reflects the mutual changing regulation of tourism development and vegetation landscapes,that is,from the left to the right,the distance from tourism road,LIV and H′ increase gradually,while SL and TII decrease.At the same time,the less rubbish is,the lower the height under dead-branch is,the thicker the humus layer is,and the greater the herb' coverage is.The third axis of DCA shows the change of tree stumps,that is,from the bottom to the top,the tourism rejecting degree decreases gradually.Therefore,under the impact of tourism activities,the differentiate phenomenon of vegetation landscapes takes place.These results show that DCA can reflect the relationship between tourism development and vegetation landscapes commendably,but this relationship need to be recognized based on ecology knowledge.(3) The DCA ordination could reflect the number-diagram model of vegetation landscapes in simple environmental space.The results of TWINSPAN are identical to those of DCA,both are comparable.This is because that both of them are based on the first axis of RA/CA ordination and have the common grounds in the arithmetic.


Objective To investigate the effectivity of thymosinα1 on immune function and cytokines in the abdominal sepsis patients,and discuss the therapeutic function of thymosinα1 in sepsis.Methods Forty-five sepsis patients admitted between February 2005 and May 2006 in the Research Institute of General Surgery of Nanjing General Hospital of Nanjing Military Command of PLA were randomly divided into the treatment group (24 cases) and control group (21 cases).Thymosinα1 was used in the treatment group on the basis of infection control.The concentration of cytokines(TNF-α,IL-6,IL-10) and the percent of CD3,CD4,NK cell were observed.Results The concentrations of TNF-αand IL-6 were increased significantly in both group.But it was more prominently in the control group.The concentration of IL-10 and percent of CD3,CD4, NK cell increased more significantly in thymosinα1 treatment group than in the control group.Conclusion Thymosinα1 can modulate the release of TNF-α,IL-6,IL-10,mitigate the inflammatory reaction and improve the immune function.


"Clinical Showcase" is a series of pictorial essays that focus on the technical art of clinical dentistry. The section features step-by-step case demonstrations of clinical problems encountered in dental practice. If you would like to contribute to this section, contact editor-in-chief Dr. John O'Keefe at firstname.lastname@example.com.


OBJECTIVE:Palliation of patients with Klatskin tumors involving both hepatic ducts is usually performed with bilateral biliary stent placement. Magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography (MRCP) offers the ability to visualize the hepatic ducts without injection of contrast, thereby reducing the patient's risk of developing postprocedure bacterial cholangitis. We used decision analysis techniques to quantitate the cost-effectiveness of MRCP before stent placement versus routine placement of bilateral biliary stents in the setting of inoperable malignant hilar obstruction. In addition to determining which strategy was most economical, we used sensitivity analysis to identify the critical factors defining relative costs.METHODS:A decision analysis model was designed comparing MRCP with subsequent unilateral biliary stent placement and double biliary stent placement approaches for palliation of jaundice in a patient with inoperable malignant hilar obstruction, as viewed from the societal perspective. Baseline probabilities, obtained from the published literature, were varied through plausible ranges using sensitivity analysis. Charges were based on Medicare professional plus facility fees or diagnosis-related group rates for out- and inpatients, respectively.RESULTS:MRCP with subsequent directed unilateral stent placement was the least costly approach ($3806) compared with bilateral stent placement ($4275), provided the bilateral biliary stent complication rate was >3%. Bilateral stent placement needed to confer a survival advantage of at least 7 days over unilateral stent placement to become the more cost-effective approach.CONCLUSIONS:The use of MRCP to guide biliary stent placement in a patient with inoperable hilar obstruction reduces the overall cost of treatment. The uncertainty of any survival advantage that bilateral biliary stent placement confers over unilateral stent placement makes cost-effectiveness difficult to assess.


The development of wireless communication technology has brought great convenience to our lives, however, in the fields of military communications, remote signal control and wireless signal transmissions, we still face huge challenges. Based on the problems above, some researchers extract features from the time domain and the frequency domain of the transient and steady-state part of the wireless signal separately, ultimately achieved the purpose of identification individual wireless network devices; some researchers extract the features of the wireless frames by parsing the IEEE802.11 protocols, and the method can also achieve the purpose of identifying wireless network devices. For the steady-state part of the wireless signal, it needs high-precision equipments for data acquisition, and the volume of data obtained is very large. As for the transient part of the wireless signal, it has a very short duration, conventional equipment can hardly meet the requirements. The method by parsing the wireless frames and then extracting the frame interval is also very inefficient, it has some limitations for parameter acquisition. In this paper, we proposed a method which takes frame interval as a fingerprint to represent wireless device, this method eliminates the need for high-precision equipments, at the same time, it avoids the demands to parse the IEEE802.11 protocols. Using this method, we can quickly and easily get data whose volume is quite small without expensive equipment. Probability density curves are used in this paper to represent the signature. The experimental results show that the proposed method is effective for the identification of IEEE802.11 wireless network devices, and the average recognition rate reaches 95%.


This paper studies how banks in Jordan promote long-term strategies in an effort to attract and retain loyal customers. An exploratory qualitative study was undertaken in order to develop a clearer understanding of background issues relating to the research problem. An in-depth interviewing technique was used, experts from nine different Jordanian banks participated in the data collection, the interviewees consisted of marketing directors, managers and executives as well as senior relationship managers and direct banking managers. Content analysis was used to analyze textual information from interviews in order to draw conclusions from them. Findings revealed Relational strategies, tactics, and tools used to achieve customer retention used by banks and benefits of customer retention, it also showed how retention is linked with customer profitability, findings showed that internal marketing is important for achieving retention. A number of drivers were found to be critical in banks efforts toward fulfilling relational strategies; trust, satisfaction, loyalty, commitment, closeness, communication, transparency, confidentiality, privacy, culture, customer acquisition, and reputation. However this study should be carried out in a different context. Further study is needed to explain how these constructs are linked in order to develop a model of customer retention.


under-examined, it provides a detaUed and engaging discussion of Goethe's Faust as a kind of pre-musical composition; and it usefully situates in historical relation to each other a series of additional literary and musical texts that have occupied themselves with the Faust story, and some of which are Ukely to be unfamiliar to many of Kreutzer's readers. The narrower Kreutzer's focus, the more satisfying the results. The book offers productive insights Ui its examination and comparison of individual works, and may provoke others to think more about the relation between the Faust story and the particular media in which it has been represented.


The effect of high temperature gas nitrding (HTGN) on the surface microstructure in pure Ti was investigated. Two phases of TiN and appeared at the outmost surface, and the wide -Ti layer was formed at the next layer. On the other hand, the interior region, where the nitrogen was not permeated, exhibited 'phase. The outmost surface of TiN and showed the maximum hardness of 1000Hv, while the interior 'phase was Hv. The permeation depth of nitrogen increased with increasing the gas nitriding temperature and time. The nitrogen concentration of the surface layer seems to be over 12.7% at .


Endometrial mesenchymal-like stem cells (eMSCs) are adult stem cells contributing to endometrial regeneration. One set of perivascular markers (CD140b+CD146+) have been widely used to enrich eMSCs. Although eMSCs are easily accessible for regenerative medicine and have long been studied, their cellular heterogeneity and molecular program controlling their expansion and differentiation in vitro remains largely unclear. In this study, we applied 10X genomics single-cell RNA sequencing to eMSCs cultured in vitro after microbeading from 7 donors to investigate cellular heterogeneity in an unbiased manner. Corresponding clonogenic progenies of eMSCs after culture for 14 days were also sequenced to construct the in vitro differentiation trajectory of eMSCs. Transcriptomic expression based clustering revealed several subpopulations in eMSCs. Each subpopulation manifested distinct functional characteristics associated with immunomodulation, proliferation, extracellular matrix organization and cell differentiation. Pseudotime trajectory analysis on eMSCs and their differentiated progenies identified in vitro differentiation hierarchy of eMSCs. Further ligand-receptor pair analysis found that WNT signaling, NOTCH signaling, TGF-beta signaling and FGF signaling were important regulatory pathways for eMSC self-renewal and differentiation. By comparing eMSCs to Wharton's Jelly MSCs and adipose-derived MSCs, we found these 3 kinds of MSCs expressed largely overlapping differentiation (CD) genes and highly variable genes. In summary, we reveal for the first time high molecular and cellular heterogeneity in cultured eMSCs, and identify the key signaling pathways that may be important for eMSC differentiation.


Many Veterans of the conflicts in Afghanistan/Iraq who experienced repeated concussions due to blast exposure, also referred to as mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), have persistent post-concussive symptoms (PCS). Additionally, these Veterans often have comorbid, overlapping posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms that further impact recovery. PCS include sleep disturbance, headaches, musculoskeletal pain, anxiety, dizziness/balance problems, fatigue, insomnia, impaired concentration and attention, memory problems, and increased irritability. Veterans with mTBI and PCS tend to have higher rates of unemployment and disability, report a decline in self-rated health and often suffer from anxiety and depressed mood. Multi-modal treatment options remain very limited. Emerging evidence supports the effectiveness of Tai Chi in improving physical and mental well-being, including many common PCS. Adverse events reported in Tai Chi studies tend to be on par with other exercise interventions. Despite this, potential health and physiological benefits of Tai Chi practice in Veterans with mTBI have not been investigated. Physiologically, TBI is associated with chronic autonomic dysregulation along with elevated levels pro-inflammatory cytokines causing neuroinflammation. Numerous studies have demonstrated decreases in pro-inflammatory immune markers following Tai Chi practice. In addition, Tai Chi studies of physiologic measures of noradrenergic function demonstrate short-term decreases in sympathetic tone, and overall greater parasympathetic outflow in Tai Chi practitioners. Given the vast potential for Tai Chi as a treatment modality for mTBI and associated comorbidities, controlled trials, especially in Veterans, are sorely needed.


The effect of arbuscular mycorrhiza on growth and nutrient uptake by bambara groundnut ( Vigna subterranea ) grown in two acid soils (Basachia series, a Haplustox and Udu series, a Gleyic Luvisol) was investigated in a phytotron. The aim was to determine the extent of infection in the roots of V. subterranea plants by indigenous arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, and its effect on the uptake of phosphorus and dry matter production. The soils were analyzed to determine exchangeable cations, exchangeable aluminium ammonium, and nitrate nitrogen and available phosphorus. Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal inoculum was produced from pot cultures of  mycorrhizal fungi indigenous to the soils using highly mycorrhizal onion plants in non-sterile samples of the soils. Bambara groundnut was planted in the soils with and without the application of inoculum. Inoculation of soils with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi significantly enhanced the uptake of phosphorus in both soils. Dry matter production in mycorrhizal plants was significantly greater than non-mycorrhizal plants. The dependency of V. subterranea on the mycorrhizal condition for improved growth evaluated in Basachia series and Udu series soils, were 16.95% and 20% respectively. It is suggested that the arbuscular mycorrhizal association in bambara groundnut could be harnessed to improve the uptake of nutrients such as phosphorus in soils with marginal fertility to increase yields. Keywords: Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, Vigna subterranea , mycorrhizal dependency, phosphorus uptake.


A micro-solid-phase extraction device was developed using the sol-gel method by assembling with a metal-organic frameworks(MOFs) with the gel to form a 1 mm membrane.Subsequently,this device was applied for determination of seven polybrominated diphenyl ethers(PBDEs) in the water by coupling with the gas chromatography-electron capture detector.Variables affecting the extraction efficiency including the amount of the MOFs,extraction temperature,extraction time and desorption time were detected.Under the optimized conditions(MOF 4 mg,extraction temperature 70 ℃,evtraction time 50 min,and desorption time 15 min) recoveries of the seven PBDEs were in the range of 74.9% to 98.1%,and the relative standard deviations were between 3.3% and 5.7%.Limits of detection were less than 4.7 ng/L for all seven PBDEs.


E-learning development can be effectively run by using an organized approach such as the ITIL (Information Technology Infrastructure Library)'s service portfolio. In this study we create service level agreements (SLAs) for Ethiopian e-learning vocational teacher training using the service portfolio approach, in the case of Ethiopian Technical University (ETU) and its 15 satellite campuses. Earlier, we have defined four core ICT services and in this current study the requirements for these services are shown from users' perspective. In this study we approach the evaluation of ICT services users' needs perspective. We organized a survey and a workshop to investigate the SLAs of these services. The target group was teacher trainers from Ethiopia. In this paper, we analyze and present results. The intention has been defining general requirements for four core services. Before the study itself we provide the overview to the key points to service level management and SLAs. The study shows that at ICT services for ETU and satellite campuses special attention needs to give to any kind of networks problems. Solving these problems enable both e-learning and blended learning in the best ways for Ethiopian needs. In these ways the desired support by using email and remote assistance tools is also easier.


In this paper we explore the dynamical behaviour of the qdeformed versions of widely studied 1D nonlinear map-the Gaussian map and another famous 2D nonlinear map-the Henon map. The Gaussian map is perhaps the only 1D nonlinear map which exhibits the co-existing attractors. In this study we particularly, compare the dynamical behaviour of the Gaussian map and q-deformed Gaussian map with a special attention on the regions of the parameter space, where these maps exhibit co-existing attarctors. We also generalize the q-deformation scheme of 1D nonlinear map to the 2D case and apply it to the widely studied 2D quadratic map-the Henon map which is the simplest nonlinear model exhibiting strange attractor.


Four methods of item bias detection-transformed item difficulty, item discrimination expressed as Clemans' lambda, ChiSquare, and the three-parameter item characteristic curve-were studied to determine the degree of correspondence among them in identifying biased and unbiased items in reading and math subtests of the 1978 SRA Achievement Series. Intercorrelations among the four methods were moderate at best, confirming previous research involving different item bias analysis techniques. The item discrimination method showed the least correspondence with the other three methods. The extent of overlap between the four item bias methods in identifying biased items depends on the extent of bias in the items comprising the initial pool of items. That is, except for the item discrimination method, the item bias procedures identify similar sets of most biased items.


In a recent paper, M. Balaj (B) established an alterna- tive principle. The principle was applied to a matching theorem of Ky Fan type, an analytic alternative, a minimax inequality, and existence of solutions of a vector equilibrium theorem. Based on the rst author's xed point theorems, in the present paper, we obtain generalizations of the main result of Balaj (B) and their ap- plications.


Increasing mother's labor supply during a child's preschool years may reduce time investments, yielding a negative direct effect on midchildhood and teenage outcomes. But as mother's work hours increase, income will rise. Can income compensate for the negative effect of hours? Our mediation analysis exploits exogenous variation in both mother's hours and family income. Results suggest a negative, insignificant direct effect from increasing mother's hours on child test scores. However, the positive mediating effect of income creates a positive total effect on test scores (26% of a standard deviation) for a 10-hour increase in mother's weekly hours in preschool years.


The growth of groundwater irrigation poses opportunities and challenges, particularly in Africa where substantial potential exists for increased groundwater irrigation but has been constrained by limited access to energy, technology for pumps and drilling, markets, and other factors. Conventional groundwater governance concepts for state-led regulation or co-management are problematic for conditions where state capacity or political support for regulation to reconcile conflicting interests is limited. Experience in Africa and elsewhere does offer examples that may help recognize feasible patterns for collective action that can influence the equity, efficiency, and sustainability of groundwater development. An extended ladder of participation helps look beyond state-led water governance and co-management to a more diverse range of opportunities for supporting local autonomy and initiative to expand opportunities and solve problems in groundwater development. Collective action in groundwater governance can include well spacing; sharing of wells, pumps, and pipes; protecting domestic water sources; crop coordination; groundwater recharge; water imports; and aquifer management. Even where non-state organizations and collective action play primary roles in water governance, they may still be empowered by, receive advice from, or share information with government agencies and other actors. Polycentric groundwater governance can be supported by improving information, facilitating cooperation, endorsing standards, providing a legal framework for resolving conflicts and constituting governance agreements, and through polycentric social learning. Polycentric institutional artisanship by water users and their organizations can help find feasible solutions for improving groundwater governance.


Galaxies exhibiting a specific large-scale extended radio emission, such as X-shaped radio galaxies, belong to a rare class of winged radio galaxies. The morphological evolution of these radio sources is explained using several theoretical models, including galaxy mergers. However, such a direct link between a perturbed radio morphology and a galaxy merger remains observationally sparse. Here we investigate a unique radio galaxy J1159+5820, whose host CGCG 292-057 displays the optical signature of a post-merger system with a distinct tidal tail feature, and an X-shaped radio morphology accompanied by an additional pair of inner lobes. We observed the target on a wide range of radio frequencies ranging from 147 MHz to 4959 MHz, using dedicated GMRT and VLA observations, and supplemented it with publicly available survey data for broadband radio analysis. Particle injection models were fitted to radio spectra of lobes and different parts of the wings. Spectral ageing analysis performed on the lobes and the wings favors a fast jet realignment model with a reorientation timescale of a few million years. We present our results and discuss the possible mechanisms for the formation of the radio morphology.


In this paper, we describe the implementation of fixed point MAD mp3 decoder on the SandBlaster DSP[1]. We describe the compute intensive blocks in the MAD decoder, and how they can be optimized using Sandblaster tools. .


On December 22, 1982, the Virginia Department of Highways and Transportation (VDH&T) officially opened 10 miles (16 km) of I‐66 in the Northern Virginia suburbs of Washington after 20 yr of planning, environmental studies, court battles, and a final ruling by the U.S. Secretary of Transportation as to design and operational characteristics. These characteristics are unique, including only two lanes in each direction, prohibition of trucks at all times, parkway‐like esthetic treatment and exclusive High‐Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) operation of the peak direction roadways during commuting periods. In response to the Secretary's decision, studies were conducted by the Department to determine the feasibility of implementing a modern traffic surveillance, control, and motorist information system to achieve the operational objectives set forth for I‐66. At the same time, it was decided to include the 12‐mile section of I‐395 (Shirley Highway) as part of this system due to its unique center twolane reversible roadwa...


for research and treatment of schizophrenia. The most recent well-known effectiveness studies have yielded unexpected results and limited mutual agreement (2–5). There is one feature they have in common: they pay very little or no attention to the patients' family environment. If that environment has effects that interact with the effects of drugs, it is possible that it has confounded all of these studies. This factor, which has not been accounted for, may have contributed to the discordant results. If the importance of the family environment for the outcome of psychopharmacological interventions is confirmed in the currently running ITAREPS study, the implication for future psychopharmacological trials of schizophrenia is clear: patient's family environment should be considered a potential predictor of treatment outcome and this should be reflected in study design.


Essential amino acids exist normally in solid state, but in the environment they are often in contact with water or other liquids. The stability of solid state amino acids has been investigated under controlled atmosphere and pressure conditions. The amino acids stability in liquid water environment is important, especially for protein permanency and for human and animal food usage. In this work, the full set of essential amino acids are investigated in water environment at normal atmospheric pressure and under thermal shocks with slew rate as high as 4oC/sec applied in a fiber optic capillary sensor set up. Reactions in some essential amino acids happen at temperatures lower than 80C. The conclusion is that the stability of amino acids in water environment is different from their stability in solid state form. Keywords-essential amino acids; amino acids in water; Llysine; capillary sensor


Abstract Let α and β be any two real numbers and let be the Jacobi polynomial sequences. For any non-zero real number a, is an orthogonal polynomial sequence with respect to convolution if and only if either (i) b = 1, α = 0 and β + 1 is not equal to a negative integer or (ii) b = — 1, β = 0 and α + 1 is not equal to a negative integer.


In this paper the implications of the classical heat conduction equation for the problem of the propagation of plane waves caused by mechanical impulse and sudden heating at the boundary of an elastic-plastic half-space are presented. It is shown that the effect of dynamical thermal expansion is to reduce the jump in the stress at waves of strong discontinuity. The stress and temperature fields dealt with here are assumed to be thermodynamically uncoupled.


The Development of generative phonology to deal with the phonological component of transformational grammars has in recent years led to many fruitful insights in the analysis and description of synchronic states of languages. It was inevitable, however, that generativists should eventually turn their attention to historical linguistics and seek to re-interpret the older laws of sound change in terms of modern rules, recognizing specifically the effects of the addition of new rules, the extension of rules by the removal of constraints, and the deletion or re-ordering of rules (King 1969: 39-63).


The peculiarities of immune responses to a novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) and the possibility of reinfection due to the variability of humoral immunity are currently under discussion. This article presents a case of COVID-19 reinfection in a health care worker.


Little empirical studies have addressed trust, satisfaction and loyalty in e-business from a longitudinal perspective, as well as the examination of trusting beliefs evolution over time. This research presents a dynamic model for understanding the process by which consumers' trust evolves over time in B2C E-business. This model bridges trusting intention, satisfaction and e-loyalty and examines the process of trust development from one period to the next. The empirical research results showed that, online consumers' trusting intention at pre-purchase stage significantly positively affected their satisfaction at post-purchase stage, which indirectly positively affected their e-loyalty at last, almost completely mediated by their relationship commitment to the B2C e-vendor. During the process by which consumers' trust evolves over time, the three dimensions of trusting belief (integrity, ability and benevolence) didn't have the parallel effect on online consumers' satisfaction and e-loyalty. Although integrity and ability belief remarkably positively influenced satisfaction and e-loyalty, the effect of benevolence belief showed insignificant.


Slippage shipment is one of the shipment technologies of large structure including platform jackets and platform blocks. But now the shipment is controlled by the technician, detecting the change of tide and movement distance to calculate the weight adjustment, which is impossible to ensure the safety. It is introduced that tide and structure movement distance is timely imported to calculate adjustment, which bottoms for automatic. Meanwhile adjustment data is amended, and balanced slippage is achieved by RS-485 network, which is based on force detecting of barge and dock.


Objectives: People working in long-term care homes (LTCH) face ethical dilemmas about how to minimize the risk of spread of COVID-19, while also minimizing psychological hardship and other harms of infection control measures on residents. The Dementia Isolation Toolkit (www.dementiaisolationtoolkit.com; DIT) was developed to address the gap in ethical guidance for LTCH on how to safely and effectively isolate people with dementia while supporting the personhood and well-being of residents. In this presentation, we will present the DIT and report on the results of a survey of LTCH staff in Ontario, Canada on their experiences isolating residents in LTCH and the use of the DIT in supporting person-centred isolation care. Methods: A link to an online survey was distributed to LTCH staff through provincial organizations and agencies as well as through social media and the DIT website. Inclusion criteria were LTCH staff working on-site at a LTCH since March 1, 2020, who had direct or indirect experience with the isolation/quarantine of LTCH residents. Results were summarized descriptively. Results: A broad sample of LTCH staff (n=207) participated in the survey, most of whom had experienced an outbreak in their LTCH. Dementia (96%) was the most important barrier to implementation of infection control measures in LTCH, followed by staff distress about the effects of isolation on residents (61%). Important facilitators for isolation included delivery of 1:1 activities in the resident's room (81%) and designating essential caregivers to provide support (67%), while inadequate staffing levels were reported as a barrier (55%). 65% of respondents indicated some familiarity with the DIT, and of those who had used the toolkit, 62% found it helpful in supporting isolation care, particularly in developing care plans and making and communicating decisions. Of those who had used the DIT, 48% found it fairly or very helpful at reducing their level of distress. Conclusions: Isolation as an infection control and prevention (ICP) measure in LTCH environments can be harmful to residents and create moral distress in staff. ICP guidance and support of LTCH needs to address how to minimize these harms by providing dementia-specific guidance such as in the DIT.


In this letter, a lock-in thermography technique has been used to investigate the actual current distribution profile in the active channel region of organic FETs (oFETs). The high accuracy of the setup, for the first time, shows an evidence of not unifor


This paper classifies the definitions of rhetoric into four groups based on the defining methods in Li's English Rhetoric and Essay Writing so that one can have a deeper understanding of the term "rhetoric".


For all of you who are not going to read past the second paragraph of this article, the argument proceeds in reverse, starting from the unsubstantiated general conclusion and ending with the specific example that suggested it. Here is the conclusion: meaningful community life in the West is disappearing; the everyday remains mostly as something constructed by advertising and the media; privatised individuals consume the fantasy of everyday life; everyday life is theatricalised and performed; and the everyday in art has become a historical genre.


A creative, rapid and accurate method for automatically frequency source test based on signal's feature with VEE7.0 is presented. During developing an Automatic Test System(ATS), the major problem confronted commonly is about synchronization. This paper using output signal level jumping from grequency source to get the relationship between input and output of the frequency source, consequently the synchronization problem is avoided. As approved of by many experiments and applications, this method saves a great deal of time and makes the result extremely accurate.