With  the  development  of  laser  technology,  the  application  scope  of  nondiffracting  beams,  such  as  Bessel beams,  Mathieu  beams,  cosine  beams,  and  parabolic  beams,  which  remain  invariant  along  their  propagation, continues  to  expand.  During  its  propagation,  the  main  lobes  of  these  beams  tend  to  bend  towards  off-axis position,  which  is  called  self-accelerating  (or  self-bending)  property.  A  Bessel-like  beam with  self-acceleration can realize  the  propagation of  the  main lobe  along a  curved trajectory while  maintaining the  non-diffraction. Because of the above property, Bessel-like beams have been utilized in various areas such as guiding particles along arbitrarily curved trajectories, self-accelerating beams in nonlinear medium, plasma guidance, and laserassisted guiding of electric discharges around objects. In this paper, we propose a method of bending the trajectory of Bessel-like beams by using a magnetic fluid deformable mirror (MFDM) instead of traditional spatial light modulator (SLM) and Pancharatnam-Berry (PB) phase  manipulation.  The  MFDM provides  a  method  without  pixelation,  where  all  parameters  can  be  rapidly modified for fine-tuning. Furthermore, compared with the conventional deformable mirror, the MFDM has the advantages  of  a  continuous  and  smooth  mirror  surface,  large  shape  deformation,  low  manufacture  cost,  easy extension, and large inter-actuator stroke. Therefore, it is easy for the MFDM to generate the ideal shape of an axicon. Firstly,  according to geometric analysis,  the asymmetrical  mirror profile  to produce a self-accelerating Bessel-like optical beam is proposed. The proposed mirror profile can be used to compensate for the difference in optical path length for each annular slice of the axicon. If a collimated Gaussian beam is incident on the mirror combining the axicon and the asymmetrical mirror profiles, which can obtain Bessel-like beams with arbitrarily curved trajectories. Secondly, the resultant of the self-accelerating Bessel-like beams along parabolic trajectories is validated by the simulation in MATLAB. Finally, a prototype of MFDM consisting of the dual-layer arrays of  miniature  electromagnetic  coils,  a  Maxwell  coil  and  the  magnetic  fluid  filled  in  a  circular  container  is fabricated  for  the  experiment.  The  experimental  results  show that  the  Bessel-like  beams  propagate  along  the parabolic  trajectories,  with  the  MFDM  used,  and  the  accuracy  of  the  curved  trajectories  is  verified.  The proposed method in this paper opens a new experimental way to the study of Bessel-like beam; the theoretical approach can also be generalized mathematically for other non-paraxial beam propagation.


Objective To establish HPLC fingerprint for the identification of Radix Cynanchi Panicu-lati. Method Chromatographic fingerprint of Radix Cynanchi Paniculati was determined by RP-HPLC (DAD)and the qradient elution mode applied in chromatographic separation, data were analysed by Fingerprint Similarity Evaluation Software to compare the similarity of samples. Result The HPLC fingerprint of Radix Cynanchi Paniculati was established preliminarily. Conclusion HPLC fingerprint method is re-peatable and can be used in quality assessment of Radix Cynanchi Paniculati.


Facies play an important role in the development of the huge Gondwana coal deposits in India mainly lie along the five major tectonic lineament viz; Damodar-Koel, Son-Mahanadi, Wardha- Godavari ,Pench-Kanhan-Tawa and Rajmahal area (Map-1).The economically important coal deposits occur in Barakar and Raniganj formations of Lower Gondwana Sequence in Damodar Valley basins i.e. Jharia, Raniganj, East Bokaro,West Bokaro,Ramgarh ,Girdeeh,North Karanpura and South Karanpura - a store house of huge potential area for the development of CBM and also in other basins in their time equivalent strata viz., Kamathi in Godavari valley. The coals of Tertiary age are mainly developed in Assam, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan and Gujarat and are of lignitic to sub-bituminous in rank and are mostly thought unsuitable for coal bed methane target however, new informations of methane occurrences were recorded in the lignitic horizon of Mannargudi and Bahur areas of Tamil Nadu has opened a new window for CBM development in South India. Neyveli Lignite Corporation shown the targeted area of 5500MT of lignite deposit the likely gas reserves of 8250 MCM. The geological setup well Powder River Basin, northeastern Wyoming, US, where the about 823 Mcf per of coal Bed Methane The geological characteristics of TamilNadu/ Mannargudi lignites depicts deltaic lacustrine settings showing the average thickness of seam is 45m, Ash varies from 2-12%, Reflectance varies from 0.35-0.41%. Lignite beds are associated with aquifer zone, Mostly occurring


This paper describes the relationships found between remotely sensed soil moisture, in situ observed soil moisture, and spatial distribution of soil and climatic factors. For the comparison between remote and in situ soil moisture, soil moisture map series at high resolution, obtained by applying a downscaling approach that combines Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) and MODIS imagery is extracted. The in situ soil moisture series are obtained from the Soil Moisture Measurement Stations Network (REMEDHUS) in Spain. For the spatial analysis, factors such as topography, precipitation, and land uses were mapped from the climatic and cartographic database of REMEDHUS. The comparison between downscaled and in situ soil moisture data resulted in correlation coefficient (R) values between 0.40 and 0.70, bias between -0.04 and 0.16 m3m-3, and root mean squared difference (RMSD) between 0.07 and 0.19 m3m-3. Regarding the spatial correlations between downscaled and spatial factors, no clear patterns were found when considering the topography (Topographic Wetness Index, TWI), and the land uses (Landsat classification). Nevertheless, the downscaled soil moisture was more related with the spatial distribution of precipitation (Antecedent Precipitation Index, API), with significant correlations varying between 0.24 and 0.55.


Modern era's changing lifestyle along with changing food culture has given birth to various diseases. Amlapitta is one of the most common symptom (disease) seen in the society. 'Hurry', 'Worry', and 'Curry' are the three main reasons for the disease. The disease Amlapitta has not been mentioned in Vrihatarayee. Acharya Kashyapa was the first to describe Amlapitta as disease. Ahara is the best preventive medicine and solely responsible for health and illness, sorrow and happiness. Almost all diseases occur due to unwholesome diet and dietary habits. A good & proper diet in disease is worth a hundred medicines & no amount of medication can do well to a patient who does not follow a strict regimen of diet. Acharya Kashyap had stressed on the dietary restriction and its importance in the management of Amlapitta with utmost concern. This review paper emphasizes on strict dietary interventions and life style modifications to prevent and to cure Amlapitta as Ayurveda has given extreme importance to optimal dietary regimen and its variation as per the season, Agni , Prakriti , type of food taken and the disease condition in the management of disease like Amlapitta , where the dietary factors are working along with several other diseases, in the manifestation. Yogic practices play a significant role in the prevention & management of Amlapitta . Shatkarma detoxifies internal system and expels waste material. After completion of these Karmas there is enhancement of bodily properties.


SUMMARY This paper will review, firstly, the state and trend of robotics in Japan, and secondly, how to promote a rapid increase of robot population in Japan. Finally, in anticipation of the coming 21st century, human-robot symbiosis is discussed in connection with social implications.


Embodying robot morphologies evolved in simulation can present serious problems for an engineer when translating simplified simulated mechanisms into working devices, often drawing on pre-existing component parts to provide specific functions, to reduce construction times and to cut costs. Actuators for generating motion in articulated joints are key components of any robot and a vast range of compact, low cost devices are available, but their behavior is based on generating positions and velocities by ironing out perturbations. In simulation it is easy to create variable compliance actuation schemes where damping and spring forces used to guide motion can be subject to evolutionary search and aid the generation of efficient adaptive behavior. We present an experimental design for a cost effective actuator module with software controlled compliance that can approximate arbitrary mechanical spring damping systems, with parameters that are software configurable at run time. The benefits of this software controlled compliance and the versatility of our embedded control system are demonstrated in a minimal walking robot. The potential value and inherent limitations of this device as a tool for evolutionary robotics, where software controlled compliant properties can form part of an evolutionary search, and in the wider field of autonomous robotics, are discussed.


domestic politics is fair-minded, often finding a fresh perspective on some familiar episodes. Every historian will bring his or her own emphases or interests to such a large and complex story. For some years, Beaumont has been a leading participant in a worldwide debate about memory. The nation's experience of military history is all about memory: revered institutions have names like the Australian War Memorial and the Shrine of Remembrance, and phrases such as 'Lest we forget' and 'We will remember them' are chanted like religious mantras. But how has our memory of war been constructed? How much of what we remember, and what we choose to forget, has been shaped by those who served, how much by those at home who mourned their loss, how much by succeeding generations and how much by governments seeking either to lead or to respond to public sentiment? Beaumont is an expert in this field, and she brings insights from international debates on the subject to the story of, in the words of the subtitle, 'Australians in the Great War'. Running through the book, alongside the narratives of military, political, diplomatic and social developments, is a narrative of the construction of memory. Beaumont draws attention, for example, to the sites chosen by the men of the five Australian Imperial Force divisions for their respective memorials— choices, sometimes surprising, which tell us something about how and why they wanted to be remembered. Broken Nation is a great achievement, a magnum opus from a distinguished historian of Australia's military, diplomatic and social history. This is the book for those who want a single volume to guide them through the approaching centenary of Australia's experience of the Great War. It deserves to be both a scholarly and a commercial success.


An individualistic insight to the very underpinning of Social Contract reveals as per Hobbes a persisting state of war among individuals which according to him is the state of nature. While Rousseau, acknowledging the light of reason as the quintessential factor presupposes that the state of nature of human beings is essentially of peace and concord. He goes a degree further than Locke to contend that beyond the natural capacity for pity, there is no innate human nature. Human nature is itself a social product. This forms the core of various modern social and political philosophies and its magnification to a macro level, in connotation of states lead to the development of International Law, concluding that the innate nature of state is also of peace and harmony.
The Law of War is a species of this genesis of governance of statal behaviour. However, it needs to be borne in mind while we trace its development; Western 'Eurocentric' thinkers decline to recognize Ancient Hindu Jurisprudence which enunciated principles on Ethics of War far from the conception of those modern thinkers, both in terms of time and conceptual clarity. This paper attempts to highlight the contribution of ancient Hindu philosophers to relook at various dimensions of war ethics. This paper being an historical analysis shall deal with the definition of war in the Hindu parlance, the classification of war as per various Hindu scholars, the Hindu doctrine of bellum Justum, Hindu doctrine of jus in bello, the status of war as last resort, ethics of warfare and conclude with how this learning from sages and seers would be an archetypal in order to have a rich confluence of intelligentsia from the past to positively influence the present of International Humanitarian Law and its enforcement.


PPP (Public-Private Partnership) is applied widely in infrastructure development and has many different models. The purpose of this research is to develop a two-stage decision-making method to select an appropriate PPP model for a specific public project. Finally, effectiveness of the two-stage decision-making method has been verified through a case study.


Visual object tracking of moving objects is a dynamic area of research in computer vision. In developing video surveillance systems, it requires fast, consistent and robust algorithms for poignant object detection, classification, tracking, and activity analysis. Kalman filter to track visual objects of variant sizes such as cars, ball and humans by varying few factors. Gaussian Mixture Model (GMM) is used for object detection using background subtraction. A blob analysis is carried for calculating area and centroid of detected objects. Theses, parameters are used for predicting and updating the location of tracked object using a Kalman filter. The proposed Kalman filter uses a constant acceleration model, as it is capable of tracking objects in all possible conditions of occlusions. Experiments using MATLAB show that the simulated results of proposed algorithm are accurate and can be used for real time multiple visual object tracking.


Galactofuranose is a rare form of the well-known galactose sugar, and its occurrence in numerous pathogenic micro-organisms makes the enzymes responsible for its biosynthesis interesting targets. Herein, we review the role of these carbohydrate-related proteins with a special emphasis on the galactofuranosidases we recently characterized as an efficient recombinant biocatalyst.


The definition of the discrete fractional Fourier transform (DFRFT) varies, and the multiweighted-type fractional Fourier transform (M-WFRFT) is its extended definition. It is not easy to prove its unitarity. We use the weighted-type fractional Fourier transform, fractional-order matrix and eigendecomposition-type fractional Fourier transform as basic functions to prove and discuss the unitarity. Thanks to the growing body of research, we found that the effective weighting term of the M-WFRFT is only four terms, none of which are extended to M terms, as described in the definition. Furthermore, the program code is analyzed, and the result shows that the previous work (Digit Signal Process 2020: 104: 18) based on MATLAB for unitary verification is inaccurate.


D URING the las t several years , surgeons have d e m o n s t r a t e d a good dea l of in te res t in a new adhes ive , m e t h y l ~ -cyanoac ry la t e ( E a s t m a n 910 adhes ive) . This p las t ic adhes ive is a m e m b e r of the a lky l ~ -cyanoac ry l a t e fanii ly. I t sets r ap id ly , be ing po lymer i zed b y t races of water , and affords an excep t iona l ly s t rong bond. 5 F u r t h e r m o r e , t he adhes ive appears to be self-s ter i l iz ing ~ and, to da te , the re have been no r epor t ed infections s econda ry to i ts use. a,s,9 As a resul t , m a n y inves t iga tors have used m e t h y l ~-cya n o a c r y l a t e as a biological adhes ive bo th expe r imen ta l ly and cl inical ly, no t on ly to repa i r a r te r ia l wounds 3,7 b u t to close skin incisions and anas tomose boweP as well. These repor t s have s t i m u l a t e d neurosurgeons to use the 910 adhes ive . Arak i et al. 2 coa ted in t r ac ran ia l aneu rysms wi th the adhes ive in an imals and in humans . Albin et al. 1 have also ut i l ized the adhes ive to graf t pa tches of Teflon to dura l defects in (togs wi th good results. Ca r ton and his associa tes 4 r ecen t ly r epo r t ed the repa i r of a t ea r a t the base of an in te rna l ca ro t id aneurysm. T h e 910 adhes ive was used to p a t c h du ra m a t e r over the defect ; pos tope ra t i ve ang iograms d e m o n s t r a t e d t h a t the in te rna l ca ro t id a r t e r y r ema ined pa ten t . Severa l inves t iga tors 4,s,~~ have cal led a t t e n t i on to an acu te i n f l a m m a t o r y reac t ion a r o u n d a r t e r io tomies closed wi th 910 adhesive and to th rombos i s of vessels whose i n t ima has come in con tac t wi th the adhesive. However , in spi te of the widespread use of m e t h y l ~ -cyanoacry la te , careful a d e q u a t e l y


With the aim of reducing the risk of stress corrosion cracking of PWR steam generator tubing, a study was made of the efficiency of stress relief heat treatments of bends and roll-expanded zones. It was shown that in the raw state of manufacture, these zones can present, for Inconel-600 as well as for 316 stainless steel, very high tensile stresses, equal to or even exceeding the yield stress E/sub 0.2/. A treatment of the bends by direct electrical heating at an average temperature about 100/sup 0/C below that of mill-annealing leads to an almost complete relieving of the residual stresses, without adverse effects on the structure (slight grain enlargement at the bottom side no variation in the sensitivity to intergranular corrosion reagents). A heat treatment of the roll-expanded zones lasting from 10 to 20 hours at 550/sup 0/C does not reduce sufficiently the corresponding residual stresses. Higher temperatures (though limited a 625/sup 0/C in order not to affect the characteristics of the tube-sheet) could possibly be more effective. Apart from the precautions that can be taken against stress corrosion by thoroughly monitoring the chemistry of the water or by choosing the right materials, stress relief heat treatments of the typemore » studied appear capable of making an effective contribution to trouble-free performance. 10 fig. (auth)« less


The two accompanying articles (Teter et al., 1994; Condorelli et al., 1994) report the methylation status of CpG sites in the rat GFAP gene in various tissues and cells. This summary of these independent investigations describes the CpG sites evaluated and the correspondence of their results based on two different techniques for the evaluation of DNA methylation, i.e., methyl-ation-sensitive restriction endonucleases (Condorelli et al., 1994)


Introduction: Cryotherapy is a new form of treatment, in which the body is exposed to cold temperatures. Hence, this study was aimed to evaluate the effect of intracanal cryotherapy on postendodontic pain and interleukin-6 (IL-6) expression in teeth with symptomatic apical periodontitis. Materials and Methods: Forty-eight single-rooted teeth in patients with symptomatic apical periodontitis were randomly divided into four groups based on the irrigation protocol. Group I (control): 5% sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl) at room temperature (RT) was used during instrumentation and final rinse. Group II: 5% cold NaOCl (2°C–5°C) was used during the root canal procedure. Group III: 5% NaOCl at RT during instrumentation, while the final rinse was 20 mL of 5% cold NaOCl (2°C–5°C). Group IV: 5% NaOCl at RT during instrumentation followed by 20 mL of cold saline (2°C–5°C). Postoperative pain score was recorded using a modified visual analog scale at 12, 24, 48, and 72 h and after 1 week. Paper point passing 2 mm beyond the apex was used to collect periapical fluid before, immediately after mechanical instrumentation, and after 1 week to characterize the mRNA expression of IL-6 using real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Data were statistically analyzed. The significance level was set at P ≤ 0.05. Results: The control group showed the significant highest mean pain score (7), whereas experimental Groups II, III, and IV showed significantly lower mean pain scores with no significant differences in between (P > 0.05). Group II showed the lowest levels of IL-6 expression with no statistical significance between the experimental groups (P > 0.05). Conclusion: All irrigation protocols using intracanal cryotherapy resulted in lower postoperative pain levels and IL-6 expression than the control group.


Overview: In this supplemental material, we present additional qualitative results showing a variety of generated outputs from our non-parametric method as compared to the uniform, normal, Gamma (Kilcher et al., 2018), and Cauchy distributions (Leśniak et al., 2018). We compare results on four datasets: a) CelebA dataset (Liu et al., 2015), b) CIFAR10 (Krizhevsky & Hinton, 2009), c) LSUN Bedroom, and d) LSUN Kitchen (Yu et al., 2015)). We note that our non-parametric prior has visual quality that is consistent across the datasets, and is typically on-par or improved as compared to other methods.


The purpose of this paper is to identify health management status on elderly who live in low-income permanent rental housing in order to construct smart home. In order to meet the end, a field survey and an expert survey were conducted on targeting 217 old people living in public rental housing in Gang-seo area. Finally, It suggests the model based on analyzing status of resident's health care management and economic difficulties.


A university medical center department of psychiatry is using a portion of its staff and facilities to provide continuous, flexible, community-oriented care for a random sample of schizophrenic patients from a city health district. The reasons for and goals of this undertaking are presented, its progress and problems described.


1. Introduction HISTORICAL AND CONCEPTUAL ISSUES 2. A history of cognitive rehabilitation 3. Cognitive rehabilitation and its relationship to cognitive-neuropsychological rehabilitation 4. Fundamentals of cognitive rehabilitation 5. Applying the WHO ICF framework to the rehabilitation of patients with cognitive deficits 6. Methodological issues in evaluating the effectiveness of cognitive rehabilitation ATTENTIONAL DISORDERS 7. Attentional behaviour: varieties, deficits and theoretical accounts 8. Testing speed and control: the assessment of attentional impairments 9. Treating attentional impairments: review with a particular focus on naturalistic action rehabilitation 10. Can disabilities from attentional impairments be effectively treated? MEMORY DISORDERS 11. The neuroanatomy of memory 12. The assessment of memory 13. Can memory impairment be effectively treated? 14. The effective treatment of memory-related disabilities SPOKEN LANGUAGE DISORDERS 15. Language: cognitive models and functional anatomy 16. Tried, tested and trusted? Language assessment for rehabilitation 17. Language deficits: the efficacy of impairment-based treatments 18. Can speech and language therapy affect activity and participation levels? A review of the literature EXECUTIVE DISORDERS 19. Theories of frontal lobe executive function - clinical applications 20. Assessment of executive dysfunction 21. Can executive impairments be effectively treated? 22. Rehabilitation of executive deficits: effective treatment of related disabilities COGNITIVE REHABILITATION THEORY 23. For a theory of cognitive rehabilitation: progress in the decade of the brain 24. The neural basis for a theory of cognitive rehabilitation PATHOLOGY-BASED OUTCOMES 25. Cognitive rehabilitation outcomes for traumatic brain injury 26. Outcome of cognitive rehabilitation in clinical stroke services 27. Cognitive rehabilitation in early-stage dementia: evidence, practice and future directions


In this paper, we present a new fractional variational problem where the Lagrangian depends not only on the independent variable, an unknown function and its left- and right-sided Caputo fractional derivatives with respect to another function, but also on the endpoint conditions and a free parameter. The main results of this paper are necessary and sufficient optimality conditions for variational problems with or without isoperimetric and holonomic restrictions. Our results not only provide a generalization to previous results but also give new contributions in fractional variational calculus. Finally, we present some examples to illustrate our results.


Our world of Mankind and Nature is becoming more and more seriously threatened as human populations and profligacy increase. Yet short of near-future calamity, there should be hope in global environmental education as a basis for countering such threats as those of world hunger, acidic precipitation, increasing desertification, nuclear proliferation, 'greenhouse' warming, and stratospheric ozone depletion. We need to educate people throughout the world to see these dangers in their global context and to act always within this perspective — be they decision-makers, legislators, or mere private citizens. For their actions and effects compound to make up those of their pandominant species, the likes of which our unique planet Earth can surely never have experienced before, and consequently its all-important Biosphere, constituting virtually the whole of our and Nature's lifesupport, is totally unprepared to withstand. The above means that decisions and concomitant actions at the personal level can and often do affect the globe, to however infinitesimal a degree, and of this all people on Earth should be forewarned, acting on it with clear understanding and due responsibility. Particularly North Americans should realize that their effect is disproportionately large, as they use some 36% of the world's resources although comprising only about 6% of its population. Towards remedying such anomalies and effecting an improved sharing of responsibility among all the world's human inhabitants, an urgent need is, clearly, effective global environmental education. We need a world of concerned people with the knowledge that personal decisions and local actions can affect others very widely, and that each individual human being thus has a role in furthering solutions to environmental, as well as political and social problems. With the need for such thinking and action so clear, and the stakes so very high, why is it that global perspectives are not better integrated into today's educational system? 'The answer is that the barriers to such integration and concomitant action are many and strong, and due understanding of holism's fundamental importance is barely beginning to sweep our prejudice-bound world.' These barriers include lack of student interest and pertinent enrolment, lack of international perspective among teachers and in the general press, and lack of television and other news-media coverage of such real world affairs. A general obstacle lies in the tendency of educational efforts to emphasize differences rather than similarities — scarcely conducive to fostering an interdependent, one-world ethic. Yet global issues should be our ultimate consideration, and holistic practice our means of furthering them for lasting survival. It is clear that we humans no longer have the option of foregoing a global perspective, and that there is dire need for widely-increased global environmental education to inculcate greatly-increased respect and concern for the world environment. This is brought starkly to mind on realization that practically all the horrors which now beset our world were known fairly widely already twenty years ago — including threats to the stratospheric ozone shield, the 'greenhouse effect' on world climate, the effects of deforestation and devegetation with ever-increasing human population pressures, and many more — and that new ones keep on emerging. These latter include build-up of nuclear-waste and other pollutions, AIDS, everincreasing acidic deposition and salinization, flooding of lowlands and other effects of climatic changes, and further foreseeable problems that are likewise of our own making in being due to human overpopulation, ignorance, and/or profligacy.


An important factor in increasing the productivity of dairy cattle is to ensure the full value of diets by improving the quality of feeds and enriching its with a complex of additives from alternative sources, in particular from the richest forest resources. Scientific-economically experience by studying the effect of feeding coniferous flour on milk productivity and metabolic parameters of cows and determining its optimal dosage was carried out in the conditions of LLC Plemzavod Tayozhny Sukhobuzimsky district of the Krasnoyarsk territory. Three groups of milking cows (control and two experimental) of the Black-Motley breed of the second calving, 5 heads in each group were formed for the experiment on the principle of analogues. The duration of the experiment was 100 days. According to the scheme of studies, the control group received the main diet, the 1st experimental group in addition to the main diet received coniferous flour at a dosage of 50 g/head/day, the 2nd experimental group coniferous flour at a dosage of 100 g/head/day. Research and data processing were carried out according to generally accepted methods. As a result of researches positive influence of coniferous flour on milk productivity and technological properties of cow milk was established. The analysis of the obtained data allowed to determine the most effective dosage of coniferous flour for the diet of cows 50 g/head/day, which contributed to an increase in milk yield for 100 days of lactation by 15.6%, the milk fat amount by 29.8%, the milk protein amount by 17.1%, milk of basic fat content by 29.4%, improvement technological properties of milk.


A telescopic boom is pivotally mounted on a frame of a vehicle and comprises telescopically disposed first, second, third and fourth sections. A double-acting cylinder has a rod thereof connected to the first section and a housing thereof connected to the second section. A first pulley is rotatably mounted on a forward end of the cylinder housing and a second pulley, having a larger diameter than the first pulley, is rotatably mounted on a rearward end of the cylinder housing. A first end of a cable is secured to the first section and is sequentially entrained over the first pulley, secured to the third section, entrained over the second pulley and has a second end thereof secured to a forward end of the first section. Thus, extension of the cylinder will function to extend the second section relative to the first section and simultaneously extend the third section at twice the linear speed as that of the second section. The fourth section of the boom is adapted to have a rearward end thereof connected to a forward end of the third section to substantially increase the overall working length thereof.


This note shows that there is no interior solution in Mai and Hwang's oligopolistic location model with free entry when the sum of external economies scale and the degree of returns‐to‐scale is one or less than one. Furthermore, the shape of the demand function plays a key role in the determination of the oligopolistic firm's plant location.


Ga self-diffusion in gallium phosphide (GaP) is measured directly in isotopically controlled GaP heterostructures. Secondary ion mass spectroscopy (SIMS) is used to monitor intermixing of 69Ga and 71Ga between isotopically pure GaP epilayers which are grown by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) on GaP substrates. The Ga self-diffusion coefficient in undoped GaP is determined to be D=2.0 cm2 s−1 exp(−4.5 eV/kBT) between 1000 and 1190 °C under phosphorus-rich condition. The self-diffusion entropy is found to be ∼4 kB.


Hybrid Scheduling Problems (HSPs) combine temporal and finite-domain variables via hybrid constraints that dictate that specific bounds on temporal constraints rely on assignments to finite-domain variables. Hybrid constraint tightening (HCT) reformulates hybrid constraints to apply the tightest consistent temporal bound possible, assisting in search space pruning. The contribution of this paper is to empirically evaluate the HCT approach using a state-of-the-art Satisfiability Modulo Theory solver on realistic, interesting problems related to developing scheduling agents to assist people with cognitive impairments. We demonstrate that HCT leads to orders of magnitude reduction of search complexity. The success of HCT is enhanced as we apply HCT to hybrid constraints involving increasing numbers of finite-domain variables and finite-domains with increasing size, as well as hybrid constraints expressing increasing temporal precision. We show that while HCT reduces search complexity for all but the simplest problems, the relative effectiveness is dampened on problems with partially conditional temporal constraints and hybrid constraints with increasing temporal disjunctions. Finally, we present our preliminary investigations that indicate that HCT can assist in increasing communication efficacy in a multiagent setting.


The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of Problem-Based Learning with cooperative learning on performance. The study employed the 2X2 factorial design. The first factor was the method of instruction namely Problem-Based Learning with cooperative learning. The independent variable was the method of instruction while the dependent variables were the student performance in solving moral dilemmas according to Kohlbergs' Moral Development Stages. The sample comprised 60 form four students from two intact classes. The findings showed that Problem-Based Learning with Individual learning significantly decreased preferences for giving punishment and apathy.


The present invention relates to on-coating of titania (TiO According to the invention, metal or ceramic or reducing the risk of fire or powder dust explosion caused by by injecting powder of titanium or a titanium alloy to the surface of the object consisting of a mixture thereof when the photocatalytic coating to form a titania layer, the titanium powder or it can be eliminated. Photocatalytic coating,


Genetic variation contributes to individual differences in food preference, dietary habit, and nutrient intake, thus affecting nutritional status. Although studies which showed the relevance between genetic differences and the intake of nutrients such as carotenoid, vitamin E, and fat are available, more studies are needed for implementation of precision nutrition. Objective of the study was to investigate genetic variations that are associated with nutrient intake and taste sensitivity.

 A total of 100 healthy adults (50 men and 50 women) aged 25–35 y who were free of diseases were recruited. Anthropometric measurements, clinical parameters including CBC, lipid profile, glucose level, and liver function tests, dietary intake data using 3-day food record, and taste sensitivity for salty and sweet tastes were determined. A total of 800,000 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were analyzed by Theragen Etex using Theragen Precision Medicine Research Array (PMRA) chips.

 A total of 577,164 qualified SNPs were analyzed and three SNPs that might have significant relevance with energy intake (rs75052357, rs1125186, rs73471118) were identified. Carriers of the C allele in rs75052357 (C > T), which is identified in IQGAP1 loci, showed significantly higher fat mass (CC: 16.16 ± 3.52 kg, TC: 14.26 ± 3.58 kg, TT: 12.43 ± 3.83 kg) and higher % body fat (CC: 25.68 ± 5.40%, TC: 22.79 ± 6.10%, TT: 20.60 ± 7.52%) despite a lower energy intake (CC: 1782.2 ± 445.5 kcal, TC: 2212.5 ± 424.1 kcal, TT: 2315.0 ± 892.6 kcal). Carriers of G allele in rs1125186 (G > C) had significantly higher fat mass (CC: 13.34 ± 16.22 kg, CG: 16.22 ± 3.48 kg, GG: 15.67 ± 3.63 kg) in spite of lower energy intake compared with CC carriers (CC: 2222.5 ± 515.9 kcal, CG: 1927.9 ± 452.6 kcal, GG: 1745.7 ± 476.7 kcal). Carriers of T allele in rs73471118 (C > T) had significantly higher energy intake (CC: 1815.5 ± 445.0 kcal, TC: 2726.5 ± 490.6 kcal), while having lower threshold for sweet taste (CC: 8.94 ± 8.51 g/L TC: 0.40 ± 0.00 g/L).

 Novel SNPs showing associations between energy consumption and fat mass or sugar taste sensitivity have been identified. This finding can help developing personalized recommendation for energy intake, however, further studies to delineate the mechanisms are needed.

 Supported by Seoul National University Research Grant in 2018.


In order to improve the acoustics of an existing meeting room of which the reverberation time is too long for speech communication, we implemented the honeycomb-backed MPP panels in that room to control the reverberation time with minimum amount of sound absorbers. MPP is not allowed to be used for an interior wall due to the regulation in Japan, we propose a panel of honeycomb-backed MPP which is not for an interior finishing but an additional panel hang on the walls and ceilings, in the way not to violate the interior regulation. The absorption characteristics of MPP panels were designed using FEM simulation and its absorption coefficient were measured in an echoic chamber. Additionally, the effect of installed MPP panels was checked by acoustic parameter measurement. As the results, we observed that the reverberation time was reduced half, the equivalent absorption area increases double, the EDT values were also reduced, C50,mid increases more than 5 dB and STI value turns one rank up.


Traditional non-destructive methods of diagnosing pit and fissure caries, such as explorers and radiographs, have limited use in the detection of both early lesions and lesions extending well into dentin.1-3 Furthermore, bacteriological sampling of early dentin lesions provides little reason to believe that we can effectively "seal in" decay when present.4,5 With the emergence of pit and fissure decay as the most prevalent form of new decay in our population, accurate diagnosis and early prevention are becoming increasingly important. This article presents the clinician with a treatment technique for this hidden decay, which is estimated to affect 15% of first and second molars in 6to 18-year-olds.6


Eventscape integrates various environmental elements experienced by event goers, which constitutes one of the key points of overall experience of festival & special events. Previous studies mostly focused on the effects of eventscape on customer"s behavior through the mediation impact of emotion. However, rare of them considered the interactive relationships between eventscape and other psychological elements. This study aims to investigate the relationships among eventscape, event motivation and emotion of 2016 Taihu Midi Music Festival through SEM. Empirical results suggest that both eventscape and event motivation positively and significantly affect event goer"s emotional experience. Furthermore, pleasure and arousal both act as intermediary variables between event motivation and eventsacpe.


The Career Development and Transition Education Service, trading as Quest Rapuara, was established in July 1990 to provide high quality services that would enable people to make appropriate education and work-related plans and choices in New Zealand. It is a Crown-owned entity, controlled by a Board appointed by the Minister of Education and funded from two distinct sources. First, through Vote: Education, from which source the Minister of Education purchases services on behalf of educational institutions, registered training providers and the public at large; and second, from income received through revenue-generating activities with third parties in both the public and private sectors. Permanent staff of 124,30 per cent of whom are Maori and 60 per cent of whom are women, supplemented by contract staff, operate 20 public outlets nationwide to provide career information, career counselling, career development, training and consultancy services. The information service consists of the Career Library and a database of more than 500 jobs and over 3000 related training courses. The library and database are available at all Quest Rapuara outlets, as well as many educational institutions and community groups. Other career education resources, including i guides to CV writing and 1 establishing a small business, are


The relationship between games and learning has, predominantly, either treated games as potential educational content or only considered the social contexts of learning from games at a general level. A methodology has been developed that permits the detailed analysis of how people learn from particular instances of game play. This is used to study two approaches to playing Deus Ex, one involving the training level and one neglecting this. The study reveals what players learnt, the playing strategies they developed, the way in which these strategies evolved and also how previous experience was transferred to this new context. Conclusions are drawn about the value of training levels and the importance of designing games in a way that recognizes previous gaming experience. The study also has implications for defining game genres, for decisions about the inclusion of design features such as quick saves and for the design of AI scripts.


In this paper we present a method based on two steps for reconstruction rotational and planar symmetric objects from a single partial view for grasping tasks. In the first step the orientation of the object is determined and in the second step the symmetry axis position is found. Then shape parameters are recovered and the completed geometry is used to plan and execute grasps. We leverage the symmetry information from the reconstruction to plan grasps effectively, resulting in high ratio of good grasps vs. tested grasps. We evaluate our methods on a robot platform that can reliably perform the grasps. Also, a shape characterization is provided for which the first step of the method (finding an object's orientation) will work, giving a starting point for more general shape reconstruction methods.


Information is power. Inbound logistics' annual logistics IT research survey uncovers the latest trends powering the supply chain, and reveals the Top 100 sector leaders.


Land surface temperature (LST) is closely associated with urban and rural development. To study the spatiotemporal evolution of the LST, we used daily night light and LST data as well as the gravity model, coupling coordination model, standard deviation ellipse, and other methods. Under the analysis–coordination–gravity framework, we studied the spatiotemporal and gravitational evolution of the nighttime LST in the Henan Province in 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2022. Our research revealed significant differences in the high-brightness values of nighttime lighting between different years and seasons. The maximum offset distance occurred in the winters of 2013–2016 at 20,933.28 m, whereas the minimum offset distance was observed in the autumns of 2019–2022 at 1196.03 m. In addition, the spatiotemporal gravity of the LST exhibits a certain evolution pattern. Although differences in the direction of evolution and the distribution of high gravity density were found, a homogenization trend was observed for the distribution of gravity in the spring of 2016, autumn of 2019, and summer of 2022. LST shows different characteristics over changing space and seasons, and its gravity shows the characteristics of spatial aggregation. The results provide new ideas for LST studies and are of significance for the restoration of ecosystems.


Extraordinary electron-spin polarization, magnetic anisotropy, and d electron location arise from strong correlation effects induced by Fe and Cu atoms doped into two dimensional (2D) Si3N4 honeycomb structures. When an Fe atom is embedded to replace a Si atom, the emergence of intricate transport phenomena can be shown, such as the presence of an energy band structure, magnetic anisotropy, and spin-polarization propagation. Here, we investigated electronic structures with strong correlation effects using first-principles calculations. Spin data revealed that Fe preferentially selected the nearest-neighbour N atom to establish the spin-polarization propagation direction. Cu positioned in a next-near neighbour site increased the spin order and d electron location. We proposed the use of spin-polarization to examine special magnetic anisotropy in 2D wide energy bandgap materials.


A two-component coupling agent layer consisting of polybenzimidazole and 4 aminophenyl disulfide showed better anticorrosive performance and higher adhesive strength for copper and resins than did each single component even at high temperature. © 1995 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.


tion, and Treatment of High Blood Pressure (JNC 7) recommendations and an equal proportion of patients eligible for aspirin based on American Heart Association (AHA) guidelines were not receiving these therapies. Although the study time period overlapped with the publication dates of these guidelines, basic recommendations for primary prevention have not changed dramatically for many years, and therefore the results of Nasir et al are very consistent with the existing literature about missed opportunities for prevention. This study also demonstrates the somewhat fine balance between "underuse" and "overuse" of medical therapies and thus has implications for efforts to improve health care quality. As expected, the use of primary prevention increased over time in patients who were considered appropriate candidates for treatment. However, after receiving CACS results, a substantial proportion of patients for whom guidelines do not recommend therapy were also started on these treatments.


A method of forming a petterned substracte is provided. The method includes providing a substrate (300) having a structured surface region comprising one or more recessed features (310). The method includes disposing a first liquid (325) onto at least a portion of the structured surface region. The method includes contacting the first liquid with a second liquid (330). The method includes 300 displacing the first liquid with the second liquid from at least a portion (315) of the structured surface region. The first liquid is selectively located in at least a portion of the one or more recessed features.


Acknowledgements Introduction 1. Self-interest as a first principle 2. Epicurean vs. stoic schemes 3. Self-interest and reason 4. Passions, interests and society 5. Interested and disinterested commerce 6. Self-interest and the public good Conclusion Bibliography Index.


The germplasm resources,breeding status of Rhododendron simsii in China was reviewed,as well as several suitable breeding pathway,so as to provide reference for breeding of Rhododendron simsii.


A number of studies have reported that influenza vaccine (IV) administration has been less than optimally effective in certain subpopulations. This study examines yearly influenza death rate, yearly influenza case rate, and yearly rate of hospitalizations with influenza as the first-listed discharge diagnosis. By these measures, the yearly U.S. mass influenza vaccination campaign has been ineffective in preventing influenza in vaccine recipients. The use of antiviral drugs to treat influenza, in light of the potential for an influenza pandemic, needs further consideration.


Background: Alcohol control strategies (e.g., increasing the price of
 alcohol, raising the legal drinking age) have been proposed in an attempt to reduce young
 people's hazardous alcohol consumption. However, little research has measured young people's
 perceptions of the effectiveness of such strategies. The present study collected data from
 young people in several European countries to answer this question. Method: N = 1704 (Female =
 1219; Male = 481) participants, recruited from five European countries, reported their
 perceptions regarding the effectiveness of 11 alcohol control strategies via an online survey.
 Results: Repeated Measures ANOVA was used to compare perceptions of strategies. Statistically
 significant differences in perceived effectiveness of the strategies were found F(10,1694) =
 236.408, p <.001, η2 = .583). "Alcohol treatment and relapse prevention" received the
 highest rating of effectiveness (M = 5.45; SD = 1.51), while "Raise the legal drinking age" was
 received the lowest rating of effectiveness (M=3.12; SD=1.98). Discussion: Study results show
 that young people rate strategies that do not directly affect them as the most effective, and
 rate strategies that could affect them as less effective.


ABSTRACT This research explored the social responsibility (SR) attitudes of engineering students with respect to their self-reported religious beliefs and the religious affiliation of their institution. The study measured SR attitudes using 50 items on a 7-point Likert metric. Over 1900 responses were received in spring 2014 from undergraduate engineering students attending 5 Christian-affiliated and 12 secular universities. On average, students attending Christian-affiliated institutions had more positive SR attitudes than students attending secular institutions. However, an individual's religious beliefs were more important than the institution in predicting SR attitudes. Students who stated that they were very active in an organized religion had more positive attitudes toward SR than students who self-characterized as spiritual, who were in turn more positive than students less active in their religious preference, indifferent, or atheist. College courses were reported to have impacted views of SR by 42–74% of the students attending various institutions; among these students, 32% of the students attending Christian-affiliated institutions indicated that religion-related courses had an impact. The results indicate a need to further explore how religious beliefs impact SR beliefs, toward the goal of more effectively encouraging all engineering students – religious or not – to recognize the importance of socially responsible engineering.


The article provides brief information on the distribution of species of genus Crambe L in North-West Transcaucasia. In the contact zone of the two species: C. maritima L. and C. koktebelica (A. Junge) N. Busch, populations of plants of hybrid origin are discovered. The description of the new to science nothospecies – C. × tchalenkoae Popovich et A. Zernov nothosp. nova (= C. maritima L. × C. koktebelica (A. Junge) N. Busch) is given. The distinctive characteristics of the parent species are provided. The distribution and ecology of the nothospecies are indicated.


The 1.2m Quantum Teleportation Telescope imaging system is a multi-band imaging system with dual channels called 'red end' and 'blue end'. Each channel includes a CCD camera and a filter wheel system, and the blue end contains a focusing system. In order to improve the tracking accuracy, the guiding CCD is designed and deployed. The imaging system studies the mass of the black hole and the structure of AGN by observing the variation of AGN spectral line. In order to improve the observation efficiency, we design and implement a multi-level remote unattended observation and control system. The system adopts the framework of combining RTS2 and EPICS. EPICS is used to realize the individual control of each device. We defined status code and split device properties for debugging purpose or high-level invocating purpose. The EPICS Channel Access is integrated into the RTS2 software and a set of configurations in XML format is designed so that the RTS2 module can find the EPICS application. In the RTS2 layer, we developed a module for the coordinated control of the equipment. The module is responsible for sending instructions to the telescope and the guiding module according to the pre-defined list of observation plans, switching to the corresponding filter, and performing exposure operations. Finally, we developed web service and used web pages as user interface, which makes it convenient for users to control the telescope remotely and complete the observation task.


This paper will investigate micro-shutter developments for IR applications. By demonstrating a interrupter mechanism MEMS design, we will show how to implement a micro-shutter technology to enable adaptive coded aperture imaging and non-imaging systems. The use of Photonic MEMS for creating adaptive coded apertures, for surveillance systems, has been gaining momentum since 2007 1,2. Through the investigation of the interrupter mechanism 3,4, we will demonstrate a novel approach for IR applications. This paper discusses challenges and opportunities that may arise from the fabrication of a MEMS interrupter mechanism. We discuss the characterization of the micro-shutter to include mechanical, electrical and IR properties. The "open and close" speeds of the micro-shutter device will also be assessed from a scaling perspective to determine usability through modeling and simulation.


We analyze the asymptotic behavior of inexact infinite products of nonexpansive mappings, which take a nonempty closed subset of a complete metric space into the space, in the case where the errors are sufficiently small. Mathematics Subject Classification (2010): 47H09, 47H10, 54E50.


The thermal quantum correlations in a two-qubit one-dimensional XXZ Heisenberg spin- 1 2 chain subjected to an inhomogeneous magnetic field are investigated. The concurrence, as thermal entanglement quantifier, and the discord-like quantifiers, namely the trace distance discord and local quantum uncertainty, are computed. Their dependence on the anisotropy parameter γ, uniform magnetic field B, coupling constant J and nonuniform magnetic field b are presented in detail. The mentioned quantifiers behaviors in terms of this parameters are compared and discussed. The results show that TDD is always much stronger than the concurrence and LQU, whereas the latter two show a swinging behavior depending on system parameters. Also, we have shown that the nonuniform magnetic field can reduce the effects of temperature on thermal correlations. Furthermore, the thermal correlations, for fixed values of b, can be enhanced in the antiferromagnetic system in comparison to the ferromagnetic one. In addition, the quantum correlations amounts in the ferromagnetic system are deteriorated when γ decreases, but they are improved when the system is antiferromagnetic.


Twenty varieties of rice with different eating quality were chosen as materials.The relationships between eating quality and starch components,molecule structure,and rapid visco-analyzer(RVA) profile were analyzed.A negative correlation was shown between the apparent amylose content and eating quality.The rice starch was fractionated into three components,amylase,amylopectin,and intermediate fraction,and was analyzed by gel-permeation chromatography.The long chains of three components of rice starch(FrI+FrII) negatively correlated with eating quality.A strong correlation existed between the RVA parameters and eating quality.The rice with low cool paste viscosity,setback and consistence,and high breakdown held better eating quality and less long chain starch.


Aim: The present study aimed at investigating the effectiveness of self-questioning strategy in improving some basketball skills among seventh grade female students in Amman, Jordan. Method: This was a quasi-experimental study. The study was conducted in the period between 6 of January 2019 and 14 of February 2019. The study included a random sample of 36 students from the seventh grade. The participants were randomized equally into a control group (n=24, received traditional teaching) and an experimental group (n=24, instructed through self-questioning strategy). The study used the anthropometric measurements and valid and reliable skills pre and posttests to identify any significant effect of the self-questioning strategy on the shooting, passing and dribbling basketball skills among the study participants. Results: The results of the study showed that there were significant statistical differences at significance level (α≤0.05) in the mean scores of the shooting skill (t=6.0684, p=0.000), passing skill (t=4.1412, p=0.000) and dribbling skill (t=2.4581, p=0.0178) between the control group and the experimental group in favor of the experimental group referred to the use of self-questioning strategy. Conclusion: The study concluded that self-questioning strategy is an effective strategy in improving shooting, passing and dribbling basketball skills. The study recommends conducting further research studies to support the research-based evidence regarding the effectiveness of self-questioning strategy on improving the basic sport skills among school students.


Sierra Leone suffered a devastating civil war between 1991 and 2002 and an Ebola virus disease outbreak in 2014/15. During the war many people, many of them young, fled the conflict by heading to the city for protection. As a result, Sierra Leone is experiencing a post-conflict and post-epidemic economic and demographic recovery. The country shows evidence of economic growth, electoral stabilisation and improving human development indicators. Considerable challenges remain. [Narrated by K. Lynch because K. Bangura was unable to attend the event.]


We explore the relationship between general eggshell colour (background and spots) and proportion of surface covered by spots on the eggs of blue tits Cyanistes caeruleus and several variables reflecting female health and condition. Females laying more spotted eggs showed a poorer body condition, higher cellular concentration of the stress protein HSP70 and marginally lower total immunoglobulin levels in blood. In addition, these females were paired with males with higher levels of HSP70 and lower concentrations of immunoglobulins. We interpret these results based on the properties of the eggshell pigment protoporphyrin, which is known as an inductor of oxidative stress in females. Although observational, this study presents, for the first time, clear evidence of eggshell spottiness and general colour as indicators of general condition and stress in avian populations.


CART is expressed in central nervous system (CNS) sites known to be important in the control of food intake, including the hypothalamus and hindbrain, as well as in the nodose ganglion of the vagus nerve whose central projections terminate in the nucleus tractus solitarius (NTS), an important site for peripheral feedback controlling appetite and associated motivated behaviors. Numerous groups, including ours, have demonstrated that CART inhibited food intake when administered i.c.v. in rats. In addition, others have demonstrated that central administration of antibodies to CART peptides increased feeding. These studies established the potential for endogenously produced CART peptides to be physiologically relevant regulators of food intake and overall glucose homeostasis. Those pharmacologically‐based studies were corroborated by experiments using CART knockout animals and human studies which identified CART SNPs associated with metabolic dysfunction. Like other centrally‐expressed anorexigenic peptides, CART exhibits functional changes in expression depending on metabolic status. In particular, CART expression is reduced in the fasted state, but returns to baseline levels upon refeeding, an effect that is conserved across multiple species. Combined, these findings suggest a critical role of CART in appetite regulation.


Due to high degree of nonadiabaticity near the conical intersection point, the electron-vibration entanglement plays a key role in the quantum dynamics. We have studied the current through a molecule with a conical intersection within an electron transport set up considering the source and sink as fermionic reservoirs. A sharp enhancement in current is found which can be identified as a typical feature of conical intersection. This amplification of current is shown to be correlated with the Wigner function and other measures of entanglement. So the typical dynamics due to conical intersection can be probed through an electron transport measurement which stems from an interplay of the persistent and a sensitive type of entanglement present in the system.


In order to reduce the cost of establishing a computer music teaching system,based on an open source operating system and open source music software,this paper puts forward a new solution and tries to illustrate its theory.


Recent interest has been aroused in the drug urecholine® 1 (urethane of beta methylcholine chloride) by the demonstration of the stimulatory action of this drug on gastric motility following complete vagotomy. This action was first reported by Machella 2 and confirmed by Grimson, 3 Stein, 4 Smith 5 and Dragstedt. 6 Starr and Ferguson 7 have reviewed the early literature and have demonstrated the value of urecholine® in postoperative urinary retention. The stimulatory effect of urecholine® on intestinal motility was reported by Youmans 8 and has been further studied experimentally by Postlethwait. 9 METHOD The effect of urecholine® on the stomach was studied by means of kymographic tracing of gastric motility as well as clinical observations. A detailed report of the gastric motility studies was previously published. 10 The effect of urecholine® on intestinal motility was studied by clinical observation of patients with adynamic ileus. The effect of urecholine® on


ABSTRACT This study aims to analyze the factors that influence taxpayer compliance, namely the awareness of taxpayers, taxation sanctions, and understanding of taxation. The population of this study was determined based on purposive sampling method, the data was collected by distributing online questionnaires, ecommerce players who made trading sales through the Market Place Shopee application domiciled in Malang City, had> 1000 followers, and had many positive reviews from customers who became source of data of the author in the study. The research analysis method used is multiple linear regression. Based on the results of the analysis shows that the awareness of taxpayers has a positive and significant effect on taxpayer compliance, tax sanctions have a positive and significant impact on taxpayer compliance, understanding taxation has a positive and significant impact on taxpayer compliance. The most dominant factor affecting taxpayer compliance is the awareness of taxpayers because it has a standard coefficient value of 0.476 beta. Keywords : Taxpayer Awareness, Tax Sanctions, Taxpayer Compliance and Taxpayer Compliance


Abstract : This thesis addresses a known problem in Carrier Aviation. The problem is the constant duplication of effort writing the carrier airplan. This problem is common to all airwings and results in late airplan publish times which reduce the combat effectiveness of the battlegroup. The analysis of the airplan Is accomplished through the establishment of a database of carrier airplans. The database interacts with a spreadsheet designed to help Strike Operations aboard the carrier streamline the process of writing the airplan. The Prototype model developed accepts inputs from the Assistant Strike Operations Officer. The model searches the database for airplans that conform to his inputs and provides candidate airplans for review. Once an airplan is selected, an airplan template, In spreadsheet format, can be altered to meet any required changes. Once changed to meet specific tasking the final product can be saved. After a period of operations the database search file can be updated to mold the database to a specific ship and airwing's standard operating routine. Airplan Production, Database, Airplan.


The case presented in the article describes the experience of organizing and functioning of initiative groups from Petrozavodsk State University conducting research in the field of public and administrative communication. This experience was accompanied with expert activities and organizing dialogue involving university representatives and public and administrative institutions of the region in the context of tasks determined by the status of pillar university. The aim of the article is to define possible forms of university community influence on forming public agenda in the region in the context of pillar university development asks based on the description of social involvement parameters of university initiative groups created in 2015-2017. Because of obtaining the status of pillar university in 2017 PetSU focused the main vector of university development on solving the tasks of forming innovation infrastructure and organizational design which suggests implementation of renewed mission and strengthening the social role of the university in the region. Alongside with actualization of university interaction with main stakeholders ensuring stable regional development existing practices of university public participation in intersectoral interaction system also play an important role. Many of them result from implementing strategic development program «University complex of PetSU in academic and educational space of European North: innovation development strategy» (2012-2016 гг.). Since 2015 within this program several initiative projects on studying public and administrative interaction in Republic of Kareliya were conducted. Peculiar features of organizing and implementing these projects are analyzed in this article. The results of project activities were used as the basis for forming overall interaction system for initiative groups' members and external partners, authorities and republic administration, public consulting structures and public organizations. Practical use of experience in organizing interdisciplinary teams and results of initiative projects are reviewed in the discourse of university third mission. The forms of social involvement presented in this case can be used in constructing interaction between pillar university with main actors participating in the process of regional development management. Project materials are analyzed with the help of such methods as event - analysis, comparison, structural and functional analysis in the framework of «case-study» research strategy. Case review is preceded by literature review on the topic of university social role. Original nature of this article is in the analysis of pillar university participation in the system of communication between public and administration. Use of experience allowing for defining social partnership patterns in the process of forming regional agenda demonstrates opportunities which are initially seen in intersectoral dialogue at the local level in the context of solving individual tasks. Multiplication of interaction cases gives cumulative effect which reveals new opportunities of university influence on the state of regional public sphere. Presented information can have practical implementation in renewing forms of social involvement as an integral part of the third mission. Generalization of existing social partnership practices is important for organizing interaction with regional society on a higher level of pillar university development management.


This paper discusses the viability of using Germanium Telluride (GeTe) thin films as reconfigurable antennas. The reconfiguration technique is based on altering the phase of GeTe from a conductive crystalline state to a highly resistive amorphous state or vice versa. Using a laser to alter the phase, any antenna geometry can be drawn into a GeTe thin film or an existing antenna can be reconfigured into any other desired geometry. Photographs of a reconfigured GeTe antenna fabricated at the US Army Research Laboratory (ARL) are shown and simulation results comparing a GeTe antenna to conventional antenna materials are presented.


The experience gained in the community education practice in Han zheng street gives us at least two points of enlightenment to Wuhan Economic Technological Development Zone.First,We should recognize the significance of the community education in the acknowledgement of the community development under the leadership of the Party and the government.Second,we should construct the communication net by making full use of the educational resources within the community and making a good choice in cultivating the community education bodies.The successful community education practice in Wuhan Economic Technological Development Zone will accumulate beneficial experience for the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.


1. Rice, S.J. Asbestos, Mineral Commodities of California. Bulletin 176. Div. of Mines, California Dept. of Material Resources (1957). 2. Millette, J.R. et al. Concentration and Size of Asbestos in Water Supplies. Envir. Health Perspectives, 34:13 (1980). 3. Millette, J.R.; Clark, P.}.; & Pansing, M.F. Exposure to Asbestos from Drinking Water in the United States. EPA Rept. EPA-600/ 1-79-028. USEPA, Cincinnati, Ohio (1979). 4. Millette, J.R. et al. The Need to Control Asbestos Fibers in Potable Water Supply Systems. Proc. Intl. Symposium on Water Supply and Health, Noordwij Kerhout, Netherlands (Aug. 1980). 5. Conforti, P.M. et al. Asbestos in Drinking Water and Cancer in the San Francisco Bay Area: 1969-1974 Incidence. Jour. Chronic Diseases, 34:211 (1981). 6. Nelson, D.H. Use of Asbestos-Cement Pipe in the City Water Distribution System. In-house Rept. City of Thousand Oaks Utilities Dept., Calif. (Aug. 1980). 7. Anderson, C.H. & Long, J.M. Interim Method for Determining Asbestos in Water. EPA Rept. EPA-600/4-80-005. USEPA, Athens, Ga. (1980). 8. Standard Methods for the Examination of Water and Wastewater. APHA, AWWA, and WPCF. Washington, D.C. (15th ed., 1981). 9. McGuire, M.J. & Cohen, R.S. Occurrence of Asbestos Fibers in Source Water Supplies Available to Metropolitan. Inhouse Rept. The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, La Verne, Calif. (Oct. 1980). 10. Severson, R.K.; Harvey, J.; & Polissar, L. The Relationship Between Asbestos and Turbidity in Raw Water. Jour. AWWA, 73:223 (1981).


1. A portable apparatus for dispensing material through adapted to refilling the cartridge comprising: a portable tank, comprising: a receiver configured to accommodate a cartridge removably refilling and having a lid cooperating with said tank for closing the cartridge refilling said reservoir further and it comprises an outlet channel for feeding the material from the cartridge refilling to the outlet, and a valve d A material flow control of said cartridge refilling ikartridzh refilling and reusable, having a size suitable for its placement at the receiver and containing the pressurized gas and the material are substantially separated by a biconical transmission apparatus for transmitting force, the cartridge refilling also It comprises a first end having a control valve for controlling the flow of material, and a second end having an inlet for compressed gaza.2. The apparatus of Claim. 1, wherein the biconical transmission apparatus for transmitting force includes a cylindrical middle portion which separates two conical poverhnosti.3. The apparatus of Claim. 1, wherein refilling the cartridge causes the compression of gas biconical transmission apparatus for transmitting force.


Based on the detail introduction of the forming mechanism of geochemical anomalies and different oil and gas indicators,the article pays attention to analysis of the variation laws,the content features and the related ratio characteristics of different geochemical indicators of different strata of Baima 8 well. It is discovered that there are no any oil and gas accumulation in all strata around Baima 8 well. But the result also shows that the second and fourth terrane of the Xujiahe group is the good reservoir in the region,which should be paid attention for oil and gas exploration in the future.


The bonding glue is well used in packaging of the optoelectronic elements. The light paths of the elements are aligned accurately before bonding. The coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) of bonding glue is much more larger than the one of silicon based optoelectronic elements, the light paths of the elements are thus misaligned after the bonding. The silica filler is usually mixed into the bonding glue for lowering the CTE. In this paper, the ceramic powder of the LiAlSi/sub 2/O/sub 6/ with negative CTE grating is thus mixed the commercial bonding glue for deriving of the extra low dilation adhesion. The thermal expansion of the composite bonding glue with negative CTE fillers is measured accurately to compare with the filler of silica powder. The results show that a composite glue with the very low coefficient of thermal expansion is therefore acquired for packaging of optoelectronic elements.


Proactive aggression (PA) is goal-directed, hostile social behavior that has been linked to detrimental outcomes. It has been theorized that adolescents who believe aggression is a normal and acceptable social response (approval of aggression) are more likely to show PA. Confidence in one's ability to behave aggressively (self-efficacy about aggression) is understood to mediate this relationship. A mixed-gender sample of 860 Australian, 12–14 year old adolescents was used to investigate gender differences and the mediating effect of self-efficacy for aggression on the relationship between approval of aggression and PA. As hypothesized, approval of aggression, self-efficacy, and PA demonstrated significant positive relationships, with males also scoring significantly higher on these three variables than females. Furthermore, self-efficacy was found to significantly and partially mediate the relationship between approval of aggression and proactive aggression for both genders. Implications for the understanding and prevention of aggressive behavior in adolescents are discussed.


After grain Industrial plants is the second largest group of crops in Vojvodina, and it is cultivated on around 400-450 thousand hectares. The most common is sunflower, followed by soybeans, sugar beets, oilseed rape and the least cultivated one is tobacco. The research analyzes the harvested area, annual production and yield of these most important types of industrial plants in Vojvodina in the period from 2005 to 2019. Descriptive statistics were used for analysis, based on the determined average annual rates of change in the analyzing period, which was base for prediction of production characteristics for the next five years, 2020-24. The average harvested area in analyzed period was: sunflower 173,000 ha, soybeans 160,000 ha, oilseed rape 14,000 ha, sugar beet 60,000 ha and tobacco 3,000 ha. The results of prediction show that will be certain changes in the sowing structure of industrial plants in Vojvodina.


Anti-inflammatory drugs are widely used in medical practice for the treatment of diseases associated with the inflammatory process. However, despite this, many of these medications have the property of causing a variety of side effects and serious conditions. Therefore, the anti-inflammatory activity and toxicity of the new product of phenylglyoxyl acid was studied in rats. Paranitrophenylglioxyl acid thiosemicarbazone, which has shown high activity and low toxicity, can be used as an anti-inflammatory drug.


Properties of chlorine plasmas generated in a high-density, low pressure ( ∼5 mTorr) plasma source using a pulsed-power modulation method are calculated by a spatially averaged (global) model. Both time resolved and time average plasma properties are discussed. The recombination coefficient for chlorine atoms at the wall plays an important role in determining the electronegativity of the plasma, since the dissociation fraction of the gas greatly affects the generation of negative ions. Even for such discharges, which have substantial electronegativity in the bulk plasma, it is only possible to extract negative ions at the walls by using modulations having longer "off" times than a few tens of microseconds. This is the time scale required for the sheath voltage, which confines negative ions within the bulk plasma, to collapse, due to thermalization and loss of electrons.


Barber et al. show that Drosophila insulin-producing cells (IPCs) are functionally connected to the central circadian clock circuit via DN1 neurons. Insulin mediates circadian output by regulating the rhythmic expression of a metabolic gene (sxe2) in the fat body. The activity of IPCs and the rhythmic expression of sxe2 are additionally regulated by feeding.


Research in the direction of increasing the service life of iron-based alloys, which operate in difficult conditions, has been carried out. The possibility of using chromium-manganese alloys (cast iron) as a material has been proven. The material is characterized by a lower manufacturing cost compared to traditional ones (high-chromium cast iron and nikorin-type alloy) due to a decrease in the content of chromium, nickel and vanadium. The results of studies of the influence of the chemical and phase composition, structure and hardness of the metal matrix on the abrasive wear of chromium-manganese alloys after the crystallization of castings were presented. Using X-ray diffraction analysis, carbides Me7C3-(Cr, Mn, Fe)7C3, cementite, ferrite and austenite in the structure of chromium-manganese alloys were identified. With an increase in the content of carbon and manganese, the amount of austenite in the matrix increases. An alloy that contains 3.1% C, 13.1% Cr and 15.7% Mn is the most resistant to wear in various abrasive media. This is due to the hardness of the metal matrix, the amount of austenite-carbide eutectic based on Me7C3 carbide, and deformation-phase transformations that occurred during the tests.


In the developing process of social economy, there must be a close relationship between the changes of resource and structure of the rural people's income and the development of the income inequality between the rural and the urban, especially in some typical areas with the problems concerned. This paper is a tentative research on this relationship based on the analysis of rural-urban income inequality in Zhejiang Province from the point of view of the residents' income resource. Index of GE and its factors decomposition method are popular in the research of income inequality, especially in the research of rural-urban income inequality. This paper first uses the GE region decomposition method to analyze different regions' income inequality and their development in Zhejiang Province. Then it uses the factors decomposition method to analyze different income resources' contribution on the rural-urban income inequality and the contribution's change in the sample time series. Finally, it explains the rural-urban income inequality in Zhejiang Province in view of the income structure. The result of the GE calculation indicates that the total income inequality and the rural-urban income inequality have been increasing since 1990's. Furthermore, the results of factors decomposition of the rural-urban inequality indicate: wage income increases rural-urban income inequality because wage income is the main income for urban residents; family management income is different with wage income, which means that it decreases the rural-urban income inequality, because family management income is the main income for the rural residents; because of the dualistic structure between the rural and the urban and the discriminating institution of income redistribution, the transfer income's contribution to rural-urban income inequality is obviously increasing the rural-urban income inequality; property income's contribution of rural-urban income inequality is not very clear because of its low proportion, but it basically increases the rural-urban income inequality.


We present our approach to teaching an elective course, ELEC 402: Genomics Signal Processing, focusing on genomics, signal processing, and bioinformatics for biology, biochemistry, electrical engineering, and computer engineering students. The course was offered for the first time in the Fall of 2012. The objective of the course was to examine current issues in mathematical biology, computational biology, and bioinformatics from an engineering perspective.


ABSTRACT Astatistical-based algorithm was developed for selecting a threshold to segment row crop images into classes of information corresponding to the crop canopy and soil background. Systematic image sampling was used to determine an estimate of the population of pixels in an image. An automatic-iris lens and an optical filter were used to enhance image contrast to minimize computational image processing requirements. The threshold was selected using a Bayes classifier. The two image intensity classes were assumed to be independent Gaussian random variables. The distribution parameters used in classification were estimated using the method of moments. Data is presented on the development and performance of the thresholding algorithm on 16 representative row crop images. The algorithm was an effective classification technique for segmenting row crop images into crop canopy and soil background classes. In images with an extreme percentage of crop canopy or soil background, a priori knowledge of the class mixture was needed for convergence to the correct image thresholding parameters.


This essay reports revised estimates for the tax cannibalization problem with respect to U.S. state-level corporate income taxes. The essay concludes that, although the tax cannibalization generated by state corporate income taxes has been substantially reduced since 2017, the magnitude of the current problem as reflected in the revised 2020 estimates is still rather large and striking.


radioactive calibrated source (1), comprising a container and a marking material (3) with at least one radionuclide, said labeled material being contained within the container and said container consists of a transparent material to radiation emitted being by said at least one radionuclide, the source being characterized in that the labeled material is a self-hardening polymer chemically inert to the material constituting the container and the container is a flexible sheath (2).


This report summarizes progress during the past year in the following areas of research: the role of meson exchange currents in nuclear reactions, including vector mesons in pion DCX, and K{sup +}-nucleus cross sections. Pion excess distributions in nuclei, and the role of nuclear correlations. Inelastic electron scattering and the Coulomb sum rule. Statistical nuclear spectroscopy, including the evaluation of static densities and expectation values.


It has been revealed that the structure of the transverse and longitudinal parts of the genuine Damascus knife of the XVIII century consists of troos-tite-carbide of the banding. The microhardness of the troostite layers is 450 HV; the carbide layers reach 950 HV. It is shown that such a banding structure in hardness will have a huge impact on the formation of a naturally patterned genuine Damascus structure. It is established that the form of the main drawings of the genuine Damascus pattern consists of separate elements of the topographic contour: hollows, hills, saddles, crosses and wavy dunes. It is shown that the damask pattern is a set of individual elements of the macrostructure alternating in a disordered form on different local areas of the surface. It is established that the destruction of genuine Damascus steels occurs under the action of two or more mechanisms, during the implementation of which traces remain on the surface of the fractures in the form of relief details of a mixed type. The mechanisms of mixed destruction are a combination of intragrain cleavage, micropore fusion and intergrain cracking. It is established that in order to implement the mechanism of separation of the main crack in the direction of the chopping blow, an optimum is required in the dispersion of troostite (61.8%) and carbide (38.2%) layers in genuine Damascus steel, the ratio of their volumes obeys the golden section rule. It is established that the damask pattern, consisting of elements of sinuous lines of a topographic contour, does not significantly affect the level of mechanical properties. This factor is a category of the quality of banding structures in genuine Damascus steel.


The article is focused on the analysis of the substantive aspect of the first competition "Leaders of Russia", implemented in 2017–2018 as a special program identifying the leaders of the new generation and launching the mechanism of social elevators for the development and promotion of young leaders-managers. In the article the methods of selection (remote testing), development (case analysis, business games, interaction with mentors, etc.), promotion of participants, finalists and winners (attraction to leadership positions in the system of public administration) are examined. The motivational tools of the competition (training grants, attachment of mentors for career counseling, etc.) are analyzed. The main results of the first competition on the number of participants, geographical coverage, distribution by level of management and representation of industries among the finalists and winners of the competition are presented. From the angle of identification of possible zones for programs' optimizing, the authors reviewed the mechanisms of assessing and developing the leadership and managerial competencies of the participants. According to the results of the analysis, expert recommendations for improving the competition procedure were proposed.


This thesis examined the use of the Internet as a source of support for survivors
of sexual violence. Overall, the results of the thesis provided an in-depth analysis
of how the use of an online support group is beneficial in terms of support for
survivors of sexual violence due to the safety afforded by anonymity, control of
presentation and interactions, and emotional meaningfulness of the contact
between members.
This exploratory research illustrated how survivors use online support to cope
with victimization, indicating that online support groups offer a unique context
in which new beliefs and ideas about problems can be constructed. More
specifically, using data collected from an online support group
("Survivors Online") for survivors of sexual violence, the thesis incorporates
three studies. The first study elicited stories, in the form of narratives about the
survivors' experiences of social support, to inform as to why these survivors
have turned to an Internet group for that support. Understanding how survivors
make meaning from their experiences of sexual violence is essential in
understanding the impact of sequelae and subsequent coping.
Study two examined how the site functions to allow for the provision of social
support by determining the quality and quantity of support messages exchanged
on the most popular message board on the site. The data showed that the
support group is beneficial in alleviating the psychosocial sequelae related to
stressful life events.
Finally, study three assessed how survivors use the Internet to seek social
support by documenting the site members' type of Internet usage (e.g., email,
chat rooms, etc.), effects of usage on the survivors (such as whether the support
site has changed how they use conventional methods of support), and how the
support received is viewed by the members of Survivors Online (in terms of the
perceived best and worst aspects of Internet support). The results suggested
that the online support site is a valuable tool where survivors can receive and provide social support with people experiencing similar issues. However, the
results also indicated that, for some people, there are disadvantages associated
with relying on online social support.


East Kalimantan Government had proposed to expand its tourism division, therefore Balikpapan Botanical Garden has to attract tourist to visit. Accessibility has certain degree of effect to affect visitor trip to certain area. Accessibility is a key feature to evaluating transportation system. Measuring accessibility involving how to measure distance from one point to another as the metric. Providing transport accessibility is an essential element of tourist infrastructure development. The analysis method used in this paper is buffer analysis. This method consists of identifying area surrounding geographic feature. It involving generates buffer around existing geographic feature, then identifying feature whether it locates inside or outside the boundary of the buffer. Balikpapan Botanical Garden had medium accessibility. The nearest collector street from Balikpapan Botanical Garden already have public transportation route. Hotels and Balikpapan Botanical Garden were connected via public transportation route. drawback that affect Balikpapan Botanical Garden accessibility was the distance from public transportation stop point to Balikpapan Botanical Gate may less ideal for pedestrian. The trip took about 35 minutes on foot as far as 2.8 kilometres.


CYPRUS. May 12th, 1888. SIR,—As my previous letter, owing to the deficiencies *of the Cypriote post, failed to reach you until much of the information contained in it was out of date, I will try to give the readers of the CLASSICAL REVIEW a general account of what has been done at Kuklia since the commencement of excavation there by the Cyprus Exploration Fund; to go into much detail or to give exact measurements would demand too much space, and anticipate too far the monograph which will be published later. The work came to an end about a week ago, but excavation had ceased for several days previously on the Temple site itself, an abortive attack on a tumulus and the opening of a few more tombs having filled the remainder of the time. From the point of view of one who wished to determine accurately the plan of so famous a Phoenician sanctuary as that of the Paphian Aphrodite, and to correct earlier futile descriptions, the excavation has been eminently successful, for, in spite of the hideous denudation of the site in mediaeval days, enough traces have been found in situ to make the plan almost complete ; only the fact that most of the walls have been stripped below the floor and even to the foundation level must cause some uncertainty as to the details of entrances, ornamentation, and so forth. The glorification of New Paphos in Imperial times may account for much of the quarrying, but so thorough is it that one is inclined to imagine it to have been done at one period for one single object, and possibly there is some truth in the tradition that Aphrodite Paphia helped to build the mole at Alexandria; the transport of materials down the half-mile slope to the sea could never, have presented any difficulty. From the point of view also of epigraphy, the hundred and sixty-nine inscriptions found upon the site form a very valuable addition to knowledge, ranging as they do over all periods, from the earliest in Cypriote character to the latest of the fourth century A.n. Art however has not gained so much by the work as could have been wished, though it would have been idle to have expected much more; no conspicuous work of art is known to have existed at Paphos ; the Temple was probably, like its primitive worship, devoid of much ornamentation ; and the fact that the pedestals found in such numbers all bore unmistakeable evidence of having carried bronze statues soon destroyed all hope of a find of statuary in a country with so troubled a mediaeval history as Cyprus. One head, however, a life-size marble of Eros, will go far to make up for deficiencies, and we have to thank the barbarity of a Roman architect, who laid his mosaic upon it, for the preservation from Christian vandalism of about the best example of fourth century sculpture ever found in this island. As I hope that it will soon be seen in England I will make no further mention of it here, but only add that it is not the only piece of statuary found upon the site which will be worthy of attention. In another class of work we made also a notable find, that of a large bronze-gilt pin for the hair, the head of which is worked with exquisite delicacy and finish into a design of doves and goats' heads, and must be one of the very best pieces of ancient jewellery in existence. We could have wished to have found more early things, especially Phoenician, for except the actual masonry of the shrine there would be little to show that it had a Phoenician era in its history : the absence of Phoenician relics, although we have cleared the Temple down to the bed-rock, must be ascribed to the thorough renovation in Imperial times, and the position of the site, which is such as to render rapid or deep accretion of soil impossible. Again, more evidence of the domestic history of the Temple itself in the shape of ex votos, or lists of priests or the like, would have been very welcome. Not that such evidence is entirely absent, for besides minor materials, we have one inscription of great interest, a list of eight subscribers (with their places of residence and their quotas), to the festival of the 'EKcuoxpurTiov : it is to be noticed that all those mentioned on this tablet are natives not of Cyprus, but of Asia Minor. Work was begun upon Feb. 7th on the Temple site, and continued for two months and a half with a staff of workpeople averaging about two hundred and twenty in number : the slight accretion of soil (except in two places not much over five feet) and the evident absence of delicate relics, which would have necessitated knife-work, enabled us to dig very rapidly ; and the low rate of wages (about one-third of those paid in Greece for similar work) and the reasonableness of Kukliote landed proprietors, account for the fact that the whole excavation has cost little more than six hundred pounds. The first pick was put in by the line of great blocks which form the south-western angle of General Cesnola's visionary peribolus, and there the rock lay within two feet of the surface : a dispute as to ownership compelled us to abandon work here for two months, and apply ourselves to the other parts of the site, but when we resumed we found east of the blocks a network of walls and column bases, forming apparently an approach to the southern stoa of the Temple from the south. The exact relation however of the blocks themselves to this approach or indeed to any other part of the Temple is a yet unsolved mystery : they stand at a different angle, they have no continuation north or east, and were evidently not considered in the indifferent restoration of Vespasian. Perhaps they represent all that remains now or remained then of the oldest shrine of all, facing the sea.


Bio-based calcium carbonate nanoparticles (CaCO3) were synthesized via size reduction of eggshell powder using mechanical attrition followed by high intensity ultrasonic irradiation. The transmission electron microscopic (TEM) and BET surface area measurements show that these particles are less than 10 nm in size and a surface area of ∼44 m2/g. Bio-based nanocomposites were fabricated by infusion of different weight fractions of as-prepared CaCO3 nanoparticles into Polylite® 31325-00 resin system using a non-contact Thinky® mixing method. As-prepared bio-nanocomposites were characterized for their thermal and mechanical properties. TEM studies showed that the particles were well dispersed over the entire volume of the matrix. Thermal analyses indicated that the bio-nanocomposites are thermally more stable than the corresponding neat systems. Nanocomposite with 2% by weight loading of bio-CaCO3 nanoparticles exhibited an 18°C increase in the glass transition temperature over the neat Polylite 31325 system. Mechanical tests have been carried out for both bio-nanocomposites and neat resin systems. The compression test results of the 2% Bio-CaCO3/Polylite 31325 nanocomposite showed an improvement of 14% and 27% in compressive strength and modulus respectively compared with the neat system. Details of the fabrication procedure and thermal and mechanical characterizations are presented in this article. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 130: 1442–1452, 2013


The purpose of the present study was to investigate the depressive symptomatology of drug users in Greece. More specifically, the study aimed at evaluating the severity of depression in this population in relation to desire for control (DC) and time perspective (TP). The sample consisted of 172 drug users, members of a rehabilitation program for substance use in Greece, who completed three questionnaires on Depressive Symptomatology, Desirability for Control and TP. Results indicated significant correlations between depressive symptomatology and TP. Particularly, future TP was inversely related to depressive symptomatology, while past and present positively. Among DC factors, only "relinquish control" was related to depression. It is worthwhile to mention that the rehabilitation program appeared to be an important protective factor against depression in drug users. Collectively, the rehabilitation program together with fatalistic time orientation accounted for about 37% of the variance in explaining depre...


A Labrador dog was presented with history of swelling on left ear and constant head shaking. Fluctuant and fluid filled swelling on concave surface of pinna was diagnosed as aural hematoma. The hematoma was treated surgically and drained out completely. The dog had an uneventful recovery.


Abstract A questionnaire study of over 600 male and female high school students (intact families and with at least one sibling) explored the phenomenon of parental favoritism. About half the respondents perceived the existence of favoritism on the part of one or both of their parents. Girls more often than boys were perceptive of such favoritism. The youngest child in the family was more often the favorite of the mother and the middle child was least often a parental favorite. Parental favoritism was associated with perceived parental incompatibility. Teenagers who perceived a sibling as being favored evidenced increased angry and depressive feelings as well as identity confusion. This latter effect was most pronounced when a parent of the same sex favored a sibling of the same sex as the respondent.