A registration method for whole-body (WB) scintillation camera images is presented, with application to conjugate view activity quantification. Accurate image registration is here required if the quantification is performed on an image basis, for (a) serial emission images, for analysis of the biokinetics, and (b) transmission and emission images, for a pixel-based attenuation correction. The spatial transformation used for registration is composed of both global and local transformations, including rigid, projective and one curved transformation. As similarity measure, the mutual information is used. An initial coarse solution is first calculated by cross-correlation. Optimization is then performed in a sequence, beginning with the legs position, followed by the abdomen and head. Evaluation has been performed for Monte Carlo simulated 131-I images of an anthropomorphic WB phantom. Obtained registration errors are within one pixel (<3.6 mm).


Wherein the total content of lycopene and astaxanthin is in the range of 0.00001 mass% to 0.2 mass%, and the skin cell renewal agent.


Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) enable numerous applications such as search and rescue operations, structural inspection of buildings, crop growth analysis in agriculture, performing 3D reconstruction and so on. For such applications, currently the UAV is steered manually. However, in this paper we aim to record semi-professional video footage (e.g. concerts, sport events) using fully autonomous UAVs. Evidently, this is challenging since we need to detect and track the actor on-board a UAV in real-time, while automatically – and smoothly – controlling the UAV based on these detections. For this, all four DOF (Degrees of freedom) are controlled in separate simultaneous control loops by our vision-based algorithms. Furthermore cinematographic rules need to be taken into account (e.g. the rule of thirds) which position the actor at the visually optimal location in the frame. We extensively validated our algorithms: each control loop and the overall final system is thoroughly evaluated with respect to both accuracy and control speed. We show that our system is able to efficiently control the UAV such that professional recordings are obtained.


Since the beginning of recorded history, man has been concerned about work-rest cycles. Studies of industrial fatigue date back to 1893 when the hours of work were reduced from 54 to 48 hours a week. Further reductions have brought us to a 40-hour work week with five days of work and two days of rest. Management recognizes the value of rest breaks and normally provides these in accordance with the type labor performed and environmental conditions.


Human performance has permanently been an objective for society and, specifically, for researchers. Traditional sports, board games, video games... A wide diversity of domains have recall the attention on the reasons why top players perform better than the rest. eSports can be defined as competitive multiplayer video games. Nowadays, eSports have a huge impact on society with billions of people playing or consuming related content. Being a relatively new universe, there is a wide gap when talking about applying scientific principles to performance analysis and improvement on eSports. This paper tries to establish a new research topic, introducing Virtual Reality and neuroscience as main frameworks to pursue a double objective: evaluate psycho-cognitive characteristics of eSports players aiming to profile them and, additionally, using that profile to create custom psycho-cognitive training plans. Neuroscience and EEG data from players have the ability of explaining the complex decision making procedures that involve an individual action while playing. Neurofeedback training (NFT) is a neuro-behavioral technique that will allow using real-time EEG data to drive a gamified environment aiming to adapt their brain activity to the optimum performance mode. This project aims, for the first time, to use neurofeedback within a gamified training environment in order to improve individual performance on eSports.


It is generally accepted that particulate organic matter derives from plants. In contrast, the enriched labile fraction is thought by many to derive from microbes, especially fungi. However, no detailed chemical characterization of these fractions has been done. In this study, we wanted to assess the sources (plants or microbes; fungi or bacteria) and degree of microbial alteration of (i) three particulate organic matter fractions – namely the free light fraction (1.85 g cm−3), the coarse (250–2000 μm) and the fine (53–250 μm) intra‐aggregate particulate organic matter fractions – and of (ii) three density fractions of fine‐silt associated carbon – namely < 2.0, 2.0–2.2 (i.e. enriched labile fraction) and > 2.2 g cm−3– by analysing the amino sugars, by CuO oxidation analyses, and by 13C‐, 1H‐ and 31P‐NMR analyses. Macroaggregates (250–2000 μm) were separated by wet‐sieving from a former grassland soil now under a no‐tillage arable regime. The three particulate organic matter fractions and the three density fractions were isolated from the macroaggregates by a combination of density flotation, sonication and sieving techniques. Proton NMR spectroscopy on alkaline extracts showed that the enriched labile fraction is not of microbial origin but is strongly degraded plant material that is enriched in aliphatic moieties partly bound to aromatics. In addition, the enriched labile fraction had a glucosamine content less than the whole soil, indicating that it is not enriched in carbon derived from fungi. Decreasing yields of phenolic CuO oxidation products and increasing side‐chain oxidation in the order coarse intra‐aggregate particulate organic matter < fine inter‐aggregate particulate organic matter < fine‐silt fractions indicate progressive alteration of lignin as particle size decreases. The light fraction was more decomposed than the coarse inter‐aggregate particulate organic matter, as indicated by (i) its larger ratio of acid‐to‐aldehyde of the vanillyl units released by CuO oxidation, (ii) the smaller contribution of H in carbohydrates to total extractable H as estimated by 1H‐NMR spectroscopy, and (iii) a larger contribution of monoester P to total extractable P in the 31P‐NMR spectra. In conclusion, the four fractions are derived predominantly from plants, but microbial alteration increased as follows: coarse inter‐aggregate particulate organic matter < light fraction ≈ fine inter‐aggregate particulate organic matter < enriched labile fraction.


An incident that happened to one of us (RSM) may be an appropriate starting point for this discussion. But imagine that it is happening to you. While jogging across a university student parking lot, you observe three young men excitedly looking through the contents of a car. While you are still perhaps 50 meters away one sees you jogging toward them, and two of the three quickly run away. As you approach the car the third understands what has happened, and also runs away. But now you are close enough to see his face very clearly. You look into the car and see the contents of the glove box strewn around, and it seems clear that the three have broken into someone's car to steal something. Because the university security office is nearby, you jog there and report that a student car has been broken into. Further, you tell them that the three offenders ran off in the direction of the local high school. A security officer examines the car, and calls the local police. Now the problem for the police is to nominate a suspect(s) for this offense, collect whatever evidence can be had, and obtain an identification from you, the eyewitness. This problem can be approached in a number of ways. So soon after the witnessed event you might be asked to go with the police to the high school to see if you "see" the offender(s). This is just what happened. It was a rainy day, and the offender was wearing a bright yellow raincoat ( one among hundreds), had hair that was dark from being wet, which hung in his face, and which would now be dried


A process is described for the synthesis of an alkyl-substituted 1,1,1-trialkylalkane of the formula R/sub 1/R/sub 2/R/sub 3/CCH/sub 3/ by hydrogenation, wherein R/sub 1/, R/sub 2/ and R/sub 3/ are the same or different alkyl of 1-10 carbon atoms in the presence of a hydrogenation catalyst and hydrogen, the improvement which comprises hydrogenating a feed of a neoacid of the formula R/sub 1/R/sub 2/R/sub 3/CCOOH, at a temperature from about 325/sup 0/C to about 375/sup 0/C; a hydrogen feed rate of 1500 to 8000 m1/g catalyst/h; a neoacid feed rate of 0.2 to 4.9 mM/g catlyst/h and a hydrogen pressure of 35-140 Kg/cm/sup 2/ over a copper oxide/zinc oxide catalyst comprising 80-95% by weight of copper oxide/zinc oxide in an 8:1 to 1:1 weight ratio and 20-5% by weight alumina to obtain substantially complete conversion of the neoacid and recovering a product containing at least about 15 mol % yield of neoalkane based on the neoacid feed.


Smart city adoption and deployment has taken the centre stage worldwide with its realisation clearly hinged on energy efficiency, but its planning is threatened by the vulnerability of smart grids (SGs). Adversaries launch attacks with various motives, but the rampaging electricity theft menace is causing major concerns to SGs deployments and consequently, energy efficiency. Smart electricity meters deployments via the advanced metering infrastructure present promising solutions and even greater potential as it provides adequate data for analytical inferences for achieving proactive measures against various cyberattacks. This study suggests the sources of threats as the first step of such proactive measures of curbing electricity thefts. It provides a framework for monitoring, identifying and curbing the threats based on factors indicative of electricity thefts in a smart utility network. The proposed framework basically focuses on these symptoms of the identified threats indicative of possible electricity theft occurrence to decide on preventing thefts. This study gives a useful background to smart city planners in realising a more reliable, robust and secured energy management scheme required for a sustainable city.


The nature of the hypotension produced by several esters of germine and by veratridine has been investigated in the open-chest preparation of the dog. Cardiac output and vascular tone both decrease after intravenous injection of effective doses of all alkaloids and both changes participate in the fall in blood pressure. The relative contribution of each of these factors depends upon the level of cardiac output and vascular tone existing before the injection. During the period of drug-induced decrease of cardiac output the atrial pressures were either slightly decreased, not changed, or increased. In 19 out of 31 reactions the filling pressures were increased. In these cases the fall in output was probably due to a decrease in myocardial contractility. A neurogenic influence upon myocardial contractility has been reported recently by several investigators. A decrease of myocardial contractility, attributable to nervous influences, during the action of drugs which are known to cause a decrease in sympathetic vasoconstrictor tone implies the existence of a neurogenic positive inotropic tone.


The California Department of Water Resources has predicted that California's population, now 38 x 706, may exceed 48 x 106 by 2030.  In 2008, California irrigated agriculture generated a gross income of $39 x 109 by irrigating about 9.6 x 106 ac of land with 34.2 x 106 ac-ft of water (average 3.56 ac-ft/ac).  About 50% of the irrigated agriculture still relies on furrow and flood irrigation and, based on research and demonstration, this acreage could be converted to drip and subsurface drip irrigation (DI and SDI) with a yearly reduction in applied water of 0.5 ac-ft/ac.


There are two main halls in the Main Palace of the Koryo Dyansty in the 11th and 12th century. One, named Hoekyongjeon, was served only for special ceremony ; hundred Buddhist priests' sermons or receiption of Chinese emperor's letters. The other one, Kondukjeon, was used as ordinary throne hall. The ordinary throne hall was built when the palace was erected at the beginning era of the Koryo Danasty, while the special ceremony hall built after the reconstruction in the 11th century. The throne hall was located at northwest side of the special ceremony hall. Audience chamber and King's bedroom were located at west and northwest side of the throne hall. The basic layout of the Palace showed unsymmetrical shape. It seemed mainly effected by its undulating terraine. The acess road from main gate to the throne hall showed zigzag way, by following a stream penetrating the site obliquely, It could be said that the Main Palace of the Koryo Danasty achieved its originality on the aspect of unsymmetrical layout and zigzag acess road, which was not found in the former palaces.


Situating its discussion among recent ecocritical developments in studies of Shakespeare and the literature of the English Renaissance, this essay considers the medieval enclosed garden, or hortus conclusus, as a way of being in the world that was available to the Elizabethan imagination. A concept ultimately derived from Canticles 4.12, the idea of the enclosed garden was read allegorically, if differently, by both Catholic and Protestant exegetes. Enormously productive in the late middle ages, the iconography of the hortus conclusus was appropriated in Elizabethan England by poets and gardeners alike and may be found in plays including Shakespeare's Richard II, Romeo and Juliet, and The Winter's Tale, as well as in actual gardens, among them Theobalds, Kenilworth, Wimbledon, and Nonsuch. While fashioned to embrace theological and political concerns of the late sixteenth century, these late manifestations of the enclosed garden retain a recognizably medieval character.


We consider directed acyclic networks with multiple sources and multiple terminals where each source generates one i.i.d. random process over a finite field and all the terminals want to recover the sum of these random processes. The different source processes are assumed to be independent. The solvability of such networks has been considered in some previous works. In this paper we investigate on the capacity of such networks, referred as sum-networks, and present some bounds in terms of min-cut, and the numbers of sources and terminals.


The Coronavirus pandemic has posed new challenges to Georgia's economy and business. The use of online technologies in the field of business has gained special urgency. To reduce the negative consequences of the crisis, it became necessary to massively switch to online sales, the introduction of new and modern methods of business processes, which will allow customers to virtually, without leaving home, make sales, transfers, and payments. The companies, which find their niche in the virtual world on time, have more chances of success. Speed, convenience, flexibility, and accessibility are the main advantages of digital commerce and are especially important in pandemic conditions. The main goal of the research is to define the role of digital commerce in the conditions of COVID-19, to identify new opportunities to increase the efficiency of existing platforms, to introduce e-commerce models in the Georgian business space, to increase the efficiency of digital commerce platforms and to solve related problems.


The Conjoint Adaptive Retroactive Database System (CARDS), an alternative approach to adaptive conjoint analysis, was designed to minimize the effects of respondents' burden and internal inconsistencies. Respondents were asked to sort web-based conjoint cards which formed a fractional factorial design. We forced our respondents to sort the cards in such a way that the orderings are perfectly consistent with feasible sort orders, which were calculated beforehand and are stored in a database. The simplifying assumptions inherent in CARDS allowed us to reach a solid estimate of utiltiy functions quickly and efficiently. Thesis Supervisor: James Orlin Title: Professor


Introduction/purpose: The aim of the paper is to establish some coupled fixed point results in C*-algebra-valued b-metric spaces. Moreover, the obtained results are used to define the sufficient conditions for the existence of the solutions of some classes of integral equations. Methods: The method of coupled fixed points gives the sufficient conditions for the existence of the solution of some classes of integral equations. Results: New results were obtained on coupled fixed points in C*-algebra-valued b-metric space. Conclusion: The obtained results represent a contribution in the fixed point theory and open new possibilities of application in the theory of differential and integral equations.


Biodiesel is the most promising and sustainable substitute for fossil diesel, it is renewable and can be derived from various plant species, seeds, and microorganisms. It can more efficiently be utilized in low heat rejection (LHR) engines. The present work was carried out to improve the performance, emission, and combustion characteristics of thermal barrier coated diesel engine running on the blends of pure diesel and microalgae methyl ester (MAME). In this study, the crown portion of the piston was coated with yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) of about 350 μm (0.35 mm) using plasma spray coating technique. During experimentation, a set of tests were conducted with various diesel and MAME blends ranging from 10% to 30% with base engine and coated engine at several load conditions. Finally, the experimental values of performance, emission, and combustion characteristics of all tested samples were analyzed and compared with those of pure diesel values with an uncoated piston. The result data revealed that a significant improvement was found for the coated engine with all the blends in terms of reduced brake specific fuel consumption, increased brake thermal efficiency, and reduced CO, HC, NOx emissions with increased CO2, exhaust gas temperature, and Smoke opacity. The cylinder peak pressure and maximum heat release rate were also increased with reduced ignition delay. Of all the blends, the blend B30 has exhibited far better results with the coated engine.


The ATOM Awards Ceremony is for film, television and multimedia that appreciate students, from primary through to tertiary levels, and industry professionals alike. Rod Quantock hosted the 23rd ATOM Awards in Cinema 2 at The Australian Centre for the Moving Image, in Melbourne, recognizing amateur filmmakers for their efforts of working with very low budgets and minimal equipment.


We examine whether policymakers can predict whether nominees to the Supreme Court will drift ideologically. We analyze the pre-nomination speeches, articles, and separate opinions published by every justice who served at least ten years on the Court. Our data show that we can indeed predict whether a nominee will drift ideologically once on the Court.


.Ambit of the regime. Enforcing authorities. Inspection of land. Identifying land as contaminated. Special site. Relationship with other statutory powers. Remedies notice. Consultation before service of notices. Restrictions on serving remediation notices. Procedure where a remediation notice cannot be served. Action by owners and others to avoid service of notices. Procedure for remediation notices. The "appropriate person". Particular cases. Migration of contamination. Apportionment of liability. Where the local authority itself is an appropriate person. Enforcement. Appeals. Other means of attacking notices. Registers and information handling. Commercial implications


We study the synchronizing sensitive errors of chaotic systems for adding other signals to the synchronizing signal. Based on the model of the Henon map masking, we examine the cause of the sensitive errors of chaos synchronization. The modulation ratio and the mean square error are defined to measure the synchronizing sensitive errors by quality. Numerical simulation results of the synchronizing sensitive errors are given for masking direct current, sinusoidal and speech signals, separately. Finally, we give the mean square error curves of chaos synchronizing sensitivity and three-dimensional phase plots of the drive system and the response system for masking the three kinds of signals.


In this paper the approach is to embed coding techniques into neural networks in order to increase their performance as associative memories in the presence of partial erasures. The motivation comes from the recent works by Gripon and Berrou, which benefit from error correcting codes in neural networks schemes like Hopfield neural networks. The construction introduced stores messages as cliques of small size which can be retrieved in spite of partial error. We improve on the success of retrieving learnt messages by doing a local coding and by mapping codewords of a code on an extension field of G F (2) in clusters. We also use the fractal approach and a slightly different decoding scheme, which is appropriate for partial erasures, in order to reduce the complexity of retrieval. The approach is an improvement over previous methods in terms of computational complexity, and simulations show an improved error performance.


The stability of a three-dimensional, incompressible, viscous flow through a finite-length duct is studied. A divergence-free basis technique is used to formulate the weak form of the problem. A SUPG (streamingline upwind Petrov-Galerkin) based scheme for eigenvalue problems is proposed to stabilize the solution. With proper boundary condtions, the least-stable eigenmodes and decay rates are computed. It is again found that the flows are asymptotically stable for all $Re$ up to $2500$. It is discovered that the least-stable eigenmodes have a boundary-layer-structure at high $Re$, although the Poiseuille base flow does not exhibits such structure. At these Reynolds numbers, the eigenmodes are dominant in the vicinity of the duct wall and are convected downstream. The boundary-layer-structure brings singularity to the modes at high $Re$ with unbounded perturbation gradient. It is shown that due to the singular structure of the least-stable eigenmodes, the linear Navier-Stoker operator tends to have pseudospectrua and the nonlinear mechanism kicks in when the perturbation energy is still small at high $Re$. The decreasing stable region as $Re$ increases is a result of both the decreasing decay rate and the singular structure of the least-stable modes. The result demonstrated that at very high $Re$, linearization of Navier-Stokes equation for duct flow may not be a good model problem with physical disturbances.


An Advanced Pharmacy Practice Framework for Australia (the 'APPF') was published in October 2012. Further to the release of the APPF, the Advanced Pharmacy Practice Framework Steering Committee planned to develop an advanced practice recognition model for Australian pharmacists.


This article analyzes some problematic issues regarding the collection, admissibility and assessment in criminal proceedings of digital evidence resulting from covert surveillance, within the scope of the digital era, from a comparative perspective and based on the Spanish experience. To this end, some concepts and characteristics of the digital evidence are presented and some problems that this kind of evidence brings to criminal proceedings are presented. Then, the implications of how digital evidence is obtained, admitted and assessed when obtained by means of covert surveillance are analyzed. Finally, the concluding thoughts on the subject are presented. KeywoRds: digital evidence; covert surveillance; evidential admissibility; evidence assessment. sumaRio: Introducción. 1. La prueba digital en el proceso penal. 1.1. Conceptualización y caracterización de la prueba digital. 1.2. Problemas de la prueba digital en el proceso penal. 2. Obtención de la prueba digital a partir de la vigilancia secreta en el proceso penal. 3. Admisibilidad y valoración de la prueba digital producto de la vigilancia secreta. 3.1. Aspectos generales. 3.2. Precisiones sobre admisibilidad y valoración de la prueba digital producto de la vigilancia secreta en la experiencia de investigación penal en España. Conclusiones. Referencias.


Devised and written by Jo Turney and Rosemary Harden. The 'Floral Frocks' project intended to redress the relationship between fashion and textiles within a display context. Emphasising inclusively, it aimed to question how fashionable dress and printed textile design diffuses into everyday dress. Similarly, it addressed both disciplines as both production and consumption. This offered the potential for new approaches to exhibition display, as well as approaches to 'special' and 'ordinary' objects. The project employed an inter-disciplinary approach to the understanding of objects. It also aimed to demonstrate the potential for collaboration between academic institutions and museums. The website offers an in-depth view of six garments included in the exhibition. This includes 360 degree rotations, close-ups, discussions arising from the garments and object analyses. Also included are patterns and dye recipes, so users can create the garments at home. The emphasis here is on interactivity, between exhibition and visitor, highlighting sensory and practical issues such as tactility and vision, and experimentation in design hitherto unexplored within a museum context.


Theoretical investigation has been carried out on the bound magnetic polaron (BMP) due to the strong exchange interaction between the charge carriers bound to an acceptor/donor impurity and the localized spins of Mn2+ ion in a semimagnetic Cd 1 − x i n Mn x in Te / Cd 1 − x out Mn x out Te triangular quantum well as a function of externally applied magnetic field. The effect of various combinations of the composition of Mn2+ ion in the well (xin) and in the barrier (xout), in such a way that xout – xin = x is always the same on the donor BMP, has been studied and the effect of triangular confining potential on the BMP associated with the heavy and light holes bound to an acceptor impurity has also been addressed. The binding energy of the acceptor/donor impurity has been calculated using variational technique in the effective mass approximation and the interaction between the magnetic moment of the Mn2+ ions and the spin of the carrier has been treated using mean field theory.


The combination of Savonius and Darrieus turbines had been proposed with the aim to overcome the weaknesses and complement the strengths from each design. This paper gathers relevant information and provided an extensive review on the combined Savonius-Darrieus turbine for both wind and hydro applications. The paper initially reviews the experimental and computational methodologies utilized in previous research in design evaluation of the turbines. The self-starting capability and efficiency of both turbines were the main concern. Following this, investigations were conducted on the possibility of combining the advantages on the two turbines with respect on the design compactness, radius ratios, attachment angles and rotational velocities.


Aiming at the situation of cement concrete damaging caused by the increase of traffic,represents the methods of the reform of the old concrete pavement by laying asphalt,and introduces the construction process of laying asphalt,to get the purpose of extension the service life of pavement,increase the stability of pavement and the water-stable of asphalt pavement.


Introduction: Piper betel is a vine widely grown in South East Asia. It was traditionally used as an ingredient for betel chewing as well as traditional herbal medicine for dermal irritation and fungal infection. Previous studies revealed that hydroxylchavicol, a major phenolic compound from P. betel leaf, possessed antioxidative, antimutagenic and anticarcinogenic activities. Therefore, this study aimed to isolate this compound and to evaluate hydroxychavicol's effect on PUC19 plasmid DNA fragmentation. Materials and M ethod: Dried Piper betel L. leaves were macerated with 96% ethanol (EtOH). The EtOH extract was subsequently partitioned with n -hexane, dichloromethane (CH 2 Cl 2 ) and ethyl acetate (EtOAc) respectively. The CH 2 Cl 2 extract was further isolated on silica-columns. Fractions were collected and pooled according to TLC pattern. The fraction containing major compound was further purified on a Sephadex LH20 column. Structure elucidation of the compound was done by means of NMR and MS. Various concentrations of this isolated compound were subsequently tested for its effects on PUC19 plasmid DNA breaks. Results: By means of chromatographic techniques, a pure compound, hydroxychavicol (yield 0.008% dw), was isolated from P. betel leaf extract. Structural identification was accomplished by 1 H-, 13 C-NMR and MS. Hydroxychavicol by itself at concentrations ranging 5, 8, 16 and 32µM did not induce PUC19 DNA breaks but hydroxychavicol at concentrations of 0.5, 1, 2, and 5 mM respectively led to DNA damage. Interestingly, H 2 O 2 -induced DNA fragmentation was suppressed by hydroxychavicol at low concentration but DNA damage was markedly enhanced by hydroxychavicol at high concentration (>1mM). Conclusion: This study shows that hydroxychavicol is isolated from P. betel Land its effect on DNA fragmentation depends on the exposed concentrations. Therefore, further study should be conducted to investigate its underlying mechanisms.


The existence of conservation area of mangrove in Passo village has to be evaluated with the aim to know the area status and need for sustainable management concept. Politically, the existence of area is admitted. It can see by the representing, originality, natural beauty, accessibility, and community aspiration. Therefore, the status of this area should be maintained, as well as, the rate of extinction, intactness, and natural amenities need to pay attention. While the uniqueness and rarity have shown that the interference to the area will be higher. The effort which could to develop to retain the status of the area are as follow; set up regional formal rules, rehabilitation of the mangrove ecosystem by designing the integrated concepts and strategies, developing integrated management organization and intensive monitoring and evaluation.Keywords : conservation area, evaluation, mangrove Lonawarta, Volume XXII, Nomor 2, Tahun 2016:26-30


A nonlinear dynamic model to simulate radial stiffness of ball bearings due to race waviness is presented. A five-degree of freedom model of outer race are considered and influence of an elastohydrodynamic(EHD) fluid film is also taken into account. The simulated results show that the stiffness of a ball bearing changes periodically with respect to its stiffness without considering the effect of race waviness; although the fluid film increases its stiffness, the increase in stiffness is only 1 percent. At last, some experimental results are presented and influence of lubrication on the radial stiffness are validated by tests.


Magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) pumping has several attractive features including no-moving-parts operation, compatibility with biological solutions, and bi-directional pumping capability. In this work, a re-circulating ceramic MHD micropump is described. The MHD operation principle is based on the generation of Lorenz forces on ions within an electrolytic solution by means of perpendicular electric and magnetic fields. These Lorenz forces propel the ions through a channel, thus creating a net flow with no moving parts. Fabrication of the pumps is achieved by means of a new ceramic MEMS (CMEMS) platform in which devices are built from multiple layers of green-sheet ceramics. The major advantage to this technology is that unlike many other fabrication technologies, the multi-layer ceramic CMEMS platform is truly three-dimensional, thus enabling the building of complex integrated systems within a single platform. The ceramic-based MHD pumps have been analyzed and tested using both finite element modeling and experimental validation. Test results indicate that the pumps are capable of pumping a wide range of biological fluids in the flow rate range of microliters per minute. Additionally, good stability over 24 hours and good correlation with modeling data have been verified.


Change your habit to hang or waste the time to only chat with your friends. It is done by your everyday, don't you feel bored? Now, we will show you the new habit that, actually it's a very old habit to do that can make your life more qualified. When feeling bored of always chatting with your friends all free time, you can find the book enPDF software engineering an industrial approach and then read it.


An ultrasonic range finder was mounted on a horizontally rotatable rail at fixed distance, s, to a reflector on the top of a car. The change of the distance reading, s, determined the two-way velocity of sound as a function of the car's velocity and direction. As a result of this experiment, the out and back velocity c2 was determined to be isotropic – as in the optical case of the Michelson-Morley experiment. Within the experimental er-


Through qualitative and quantitative analysis, the paper thinks that natural conditions and agricultural productive conditions of Gansu show clear regional characteristics and the regional differentiation of agriculture in Gansu is the major basis to design the industrialization model of ecological agriculture. According to the regional differentiation of agriculture in Gansu, the paper had designed six industrialization models of ecological agriculture, which are of importance to guide the development of ecological agriculture in various regions of Gansu because they embody the principle of adjusting measures to local conditions.


Thoracic outlet syndrome is described as the compression of one or several neurovascular structures that cross the thoracic outlet. The syndrome often appears overlooked and misdiagnosed because objective findings are scarce leading to persistent pain, impaired function and emotional distress. The aim of this study was to identify normal and abnormal anatomy of thoracic outlet using computed tomography scan in symptomatic costoclavicular compression syndrome and to plan them for surgery there after. This was a prospective hospital based study. All the symptomatic cases of costoclavicular compression syndrome admitted in the department of Cardiovascular and thoracic surgery, SKIMS, Srinagar from May 2011 to May 2013 were taken up for the study. A total of 30 cases of symptomatic costoclavicular compression syndrome were reported from May 2011 to May 2013. Mean age of presentation was 26.3 years. The most prevalent age group was 21- 30 years (46.67%,n=14).Majority of patients were females(83.3%,n=25) with male female ratio of 1:5. 66.67%(n=20) had bilateral cervical rib, more in females(72%) than males(40%).96.7%(n=29) had neurogenic thoracic outlet syndrome and 3.3%(n=1) had vascular thoracic outlet syndrome.34.4%(n=10) of cases with neurogenic thoracic outlet syndrome had subclavian artery compression on CT Angio of thoracic outlet. All the patients with subclavian artery compression were subjected to surgery. Costoclavicular compression syndrome affects mainly young females.CT Angio is complementary in finding vascular compression in cases presenting mainly with neurogenic symptoms of thoracic outlet syndrome. Keywords: Costoclavicular compression syndrome, CT Angio, Vascular thoracic outlet syndrome, neurogenic thoracic outlet syndrome.


Bandwidth limitations of collinear acoustooptic TE-TM mode converters have been overcome by a method in which the optical and surface acoustic waves have been interacted in a doubly confined waveguide structure. A 5 percent bandwidth centered at 550 MHz and a conversion efficiency of 50 percent at a total acoustic input power of less than 1 mW have been obtained withY-cut LiNbO3. It is found that the power transfer efficiency does not degrade significantly when the phase mismatch increases.


Recent advances in nonlinear feature extraction algorithms have led to significant research contributions in the area of feature aided navigation techniques (e.g., simultaneous localization and mapping), most notably in the image-aided navigation application. These feature extraction and tracking algorithms are attractive due to their ability to extract a collection of interest points in an autonomous or semi-autonomous fashion. The location of these extracted features in a sequence of images can easily be exploited to solve for pose using the principles of multiple-view geometry. One of the limitations inherent in feature tracking approaches is the requirement for the signal-processing algorithm to make hard decisions regarding the information remaining in the observation during the signal pre-processing stages. Because these decisions are made without incorporating a priori knowledge, they result in a loss of information and, as a result, sub-optimal performance. For these reasons, a more holistic approach to extracting navigation information from a sequence of images is motivated. In this paper, the statistical predictive rendering (SPR) technique is explored. SPR techniques seek to minimize the deleterious effects of sub-optimal pre-processing stages by using the entire observation to improve the navigation state estimate. The paper begins with an overview of the SPR algorithm, highlighting the importance of properly modeling the time-varying error statistics. The algorithm is then applied to the passive relative navigation problem encountered in autonomous air-to-air refueling. Conclusions are presented regarding the accuracy and stability of the SPR algorithm and future research directions. Statistical Predictive Rendering for Robust Passive Relative Navigation 9 2 STO-EN-SET-197 1.0 STATISTICAL PREDICTIVE RENDERING The Statistical Predictive Rendering (SPR) algorithm is designed to present an alternative to feature-based image tracking algorithms by leveraging known shape and textural information in a holistic fashion. In addition, the algorithm is designed to use the existing library of high-performance graphical rendering algorithms and associated accelerated hardware (e.g., graphical processing units). The SPR algorithm consists of three main components: predictive rendering, comparison, and statistical back projection. 1.1 Predictive Rendering In the most general terms, rendering is the process of generating an expected sensor observation using a model of the world and of the sensor itself. In most cases, the sensor produces a multi-dimensional observation. One of the most common forms of rendering is generating images using computer graphics libraries such as OpenGL [1] and DirectX. Because of the natural application of predictive rendering techniques to computer vision applications, the predictive rendering discussion in this paper will focus on the image rendering problem. In order to render an image, both a model of the world and the camera are required. The world consists of all objects and media that generate or transform energy in the wavelengths detectable by the camera sensor. These combine and interact to create an irradiance pattern, or scene, on the surface of the camera lens [2]. The camera uses lenses to focus the image, on the surface of the detector array. In a digital camera, the detector array measures the light intensity on each pixel and produces an array of digital numbers known as the sampled image. A typical digital camera imaging configuration is shown in Figure 1. Figure 1: Typical Digital Imaging Model. The pattern of light energy entering the aperture is focused on the detector array to produce a digital image. Statistical Predictive Rendering for Robust Passive Relative Navigation STO-EN-SET-197 9 3 Each pixel location is mapped to a direction in the world frame. In general, this relationship is nonlinear, however a calibration can be performed to map the relationship to a projective transformation known as the pinhole camera model. The pinhole camera model consists of both intrinsic (specific to the camera) and extrinsic (specific to the imaging geometry) components. Additional details can be found in [3]. , as an array of For the purposes of this article, it is sufficient to model the image at time k, pixels which is mapped via the observation function (1) where is the image at time k, is the state vector, is the model of the scene and camera, and is the observation function. The state vector contains the parameters of interest. For navigation applications, the position and orientation of the camera are common. The model vector consists of the parameters that are known a priori. Unfortunately, the model of the scene and camera are not known perfectly. As such, a statistical error component must be added to the model: (2) where represents the random errors present in the scene and camera. These errors manifest themselves as differences in pixel intensity and can be caused by many factors, including: unmodeled lens distortions, unmodeled or random effects in the detection and sampling portion of the camera, unmodeled illumination sources and types, errors in the texture or structure of objects in the scene, and many others. In the presence of a large number of errors, an additive Gaussian model is justified based on the properties of the Central Limit Theorem. Revising (2) yields (3) where is a Gaussian random vector. Without loss of generality, is assumed to be zero-mean.


ARACE is a new method developed within the framework of Verbal Decision Analysis (VDA). VDA methods work with verbal form of preference elicitation and evaluation of alternatives without resorting to numbers. ARACE is based on the ideas of the VDA method ZAPROS but uses a more flexible approach to inconsistency of the decision-maker's preferences by introducing a special construct of a "quasi-expert." Mismatched preferences of the decision-maker are viewed as preferences of several quasi-experts. The preference system for each quasi-expert is transitive, leading to consistent decision rules formed for each quasi-expert separately. These rules are used to compare alternatives. Differences in possible comparison of alternatives based on different quasi-experts are resolved through a Clustered Rankings Method for rankings with ties.


Aortic stenosis (AS) is an age-related disease characterized by fibrotic aortic valve narrowing, resulting in high shear stress (SS). We demonstrated that SS can activate TGF-β1 released from plate...


Objective Despite the recognition that educating healthcare students in patient safety is essential, changing already full curricula can be challenging. Furthermore, institutions may lack the capacity and capability to deliver patient safety education, particularly from the start of professional practice studies. Using senior students as peer educators to deliver practice-based education can potentially overcome some of the contextual barriers in training junior students. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of a peer-led patient safety education programme for junior pharmacy students. Design A repeat cross-sectional design utilising a previously validated patient safety attitudinal survey was used to evaluate attitudes prior to, immediately after and 1 month after the delivery of a patient safety education programme. Latent growth curve (LGC) modelling was used to evaluate the change in attitudes of first-year students using second-year students as a comparator group. Setting Undergraduate university students in Sydney, Australia. Participants 175 first-year and 140 second-year students enrolled in the Bachelor of Pharmacy programme at the University of Sydney. Intervention An introductory patient safety programme was implemented into the first-year Bachelor of Pharmacy curriculum at the University of Sydney. The programme covered introductory patient safety topics including teamwork, communication skills, systems thinking and open disclosure. The programme consisted of 2 lectures, delivered by a senior academic, and a workshop delivered by trained final-year pharmacy students. Results A full LGC model was constructed including the intervention as a non-time-dependent predictor of change (χ2 (51)=164.070, root mean square error of approximation=0.084, comparative fit index=0.913, standardised root mean square=0.056). First-year students' attitudes significantly improved as a result of the intervention, particularly in relation to internalising errors (p=0.010), questioning behaviours (p<0.001) and open disclosure (p=0.008). Conclusions Peer-led education is an effective method that can be adopted to improve junior pharmacy students' attitudes towards patient safety.


Automatic arrhythmia detection methods are a very significant area of computational ECG analysis. This field has been researched for a long time, however, there are various challenges still faced. Some of the main flaws in current ECG-based arrhythmia classification research are limited variety of datasets used and varying experimental setups, which makes it difficult to directly compare different methods. Most often, a method is evaluated on a specific dataset and task (set of arrhythmia classes). By placing these methods under unified evaluation setup (one umbrella), we can apply (evaluate) them on a wider range of datasets and tasks than they were originally proposed for. To address these challenges, in this paper, we perform benchmarking of some of the most significant deep-learning based methods for arrhythmia detection. These methods are compared on four datasets, considering the most significant state-of-the-art arrhythmia classification tasks. Included are the data from the CinC2017 and CPSC2018 challenges, as well as two recently published large-scale ECG arrhythmia datasets: the PTB-XL and the Shaoxing Hospital Database. The analyses cover a wide range of both morphological and rhythmic arrhythmias, all while focusing on methods suitable for single-lead analysis. In addition, the classification performance on 12-lead data and single-lead data is compared and discussed.


On average, when one removes the water, biomass fuels such as wood and hay have a ratio of about 40 C to 4 H. (Charcoal, by the way, is essentially pure C.) Coal comes in many shades but typically has about 8 C to 4 H. APPEA's prime products, like gasoline and jet fuel, average about 2 C to 4 H. Methane, as mentioned, burns only one carbon for every four hydrogens, 1/40th the ratio of wood (Fig. 2). Almost 25 years ago, my colleagues and I put all the hydrocarbons humans used each year for the past two centuries in a hypothetical gigamixer and plotted the history of fuel in terms of the ratio of C to H. To our surprise we found a monotonic trend toward decarbonisation. Figure 3 shows carbon losing market share to hydrogen as horses losing to cars or typewriters losing to word processors. The slow process to Oil has blessed my career. The profits of the Standard Oil Company allowed John D. Rockefeller in 1901 to establish the institute that became the university specialised in sciences where I have worked for more than 20 years. Let me also point out that John D. Rockefeller did far more to save whales than Greenpeace. The innovations of the petroleum industry, beginning with Colonel Drake's discovery of abundant supplies in Pennsylvania in 1859, led speedily to the collapse of the whaling fleet in the early 1870s. Whaling was primarily an oil industry, not a meat industry. Had worldwide whaling continued at its mid-19th century pace for even one or two decades more, humans might well have extinguished many whale species. This anecdote about whaling is not tangential. Rather, it illustrates my central message: the substitution of an environmentally and economically superior product. I will not keep you in suspense about the next product for your industry. The product is methane, CH4, with its rich energy per carbon atom. APPEA also foresees methane's coming dominance in its March 2007 submission to the Prime Ministerial task group on greenhouse gas emission trading. A photo of a lake of liquid methane on Saturn's largest moon (Fig. 1) shows non-biological methane is astoundingly abundant there, as it will prove to be on Earth, a point to which I will return. Here let me introduce the most important trend in the environment for the energy business, namely decarbonisation. I need not say to APPEA that hydrocarbons are a mix of carbon (C) and hydrogen (H), but perhaps I can bring a new historical appreciation to their changing roles. get from 90% C to 90% H in the fuel mix should take about 300 years and culminate about 2100. Some decades have lagged and some accelerated, but the inexorable decline of carbon seems clear. Times make the man. John D. Rockefeller surfed on this long wave. So do Lord Browne and Al Gore. Successful people and companies ride the wave of history and arrogate fame and money. I hope people in this room will do so. In the past 20 years decarbonisation has entered the vernacular, and the broker Merrill Lynch even has a decarbonisation mutual fund. A variation (Fig. 4) of decarbonisation shows the kilos of carbon, per unit of energy, integrate fuel switching with increases in efficiency; that is, technical progress, for example better motors. The variation of carbon per GDP further integrates energy with consumer behaviour, that is, whether consumers favour energy with their marginal dollar. The decarbonisation lines always point down for C and up for H. One naturally asks why. The explanation is that the overall evolution of the energy system is driven by the increasing spatial density of energy consumption at the level of the end The future environment for the energy business


national media systems, and the need to attach greater importance to attempts at reducing the deleterious imbalance in news tlow among nations. Markul is not alone in making this cri du coeur. and, thus, tacitly expressing thmecci for restructuring the content of the international news system. Hach ten ,2 Schramrn,3 3 Ht~stcr,'~ 4 Schiller,' and Lent,' inter alios, remarked that there has been the consistent domination of the international media systems by the developed nations. What is perhaps even more distressing is the betrayal of an exhortation made some two and one-half decades ago by the International Press Institute that media contcnt should emphasize more human interest (foreign ) news.' Steinberg, in a testament to the disheartening trend in the Ameri-


Veterinary medicine is a broad field, allowing practitioners a wide variety of options. Many of us commonly think of veterinarians that care for companion animals, such as dogs, cats, and horses. However, veterinarians are also needed to protect the health of food animals, provide service in the military, ensure public safety, and advance research knowledge related to animal, human, and environmental health. Some veterinarians choose to specialize in a specific facet of medicine, such as oncology (cancer), ophthalmology (eye health), or orthopedics (bone health).


Utilizing GIS and hydrologic modeling techniques,this study analyzed various urban stormwater management strategies. Due to data limitation and availability in China,a typical watershed in the United States was chosen as a demonstration. The 185-square-kilometer watershed,located in the vicinity of the City of Chicago,Illinois,USA,has been experiencing urbanization in recent decades. Considering the land use pattern of 2005 as pre-development condition and projected land development of 2040 as post-development condition,a numeric model was constructed using HEC-HMS software,and hydrologic effects of urbanization were examined. Moreover,various urban stormwater management measures,such as detention,retention,infiltration,and rain water harvesting,were modeled both at sub-catchment scale and watershed scale;the quantitative relationships among the various measures were investigated at watershed scale. The outcomes demonstrate that the sustainable urban stormwater management integrated at watershed level can fully utilize the flood conveying and attenuating capacities of the watershed and urban water courses. As a result,the required detention/retention volume can be reduced significantly,the land use conflicts alleviated,and heavy financial burden lightened. As land scarcity being one of the major barriers to sustainable urban stormwater management in china,this study proposes a new method for planning and evaluating urban stormwater management systems which will create economic benefits and environmental advantages.


H‐NS is a well‐established silencer of virulence gene transcription in the human pathogen Vibrio cholerae. Biofilm formation aids V. cholerae in colonizing both its host and its external environments, and H‐NS silences biofilm gene expression. Cyclic‐di‐guanosine monophosphate acts through the DNA binding proteins VpsR and VpsT to overcome H‐NS‐mediated repression of biofilm genes, driving a transition between a planktonic and a colonial/biofilm lifestyle. The H‐NS binding pattern has now been charted on both chromosomes in V. cholerae, but whether or not this abundant DNA‐binding‐and‐bridging protein plays any roles in nucleoid organization in this bacterium remains an open question.


Starting from a content analysis over some published news in the main Lisbon newspapers on the topic of corruption, the following paper pretends to show the effects of this speech produced by media on the building of social perception of Portuguese people about the problem of Corruption in Portugal. On the other hand, the document also shows some characteristics of the social speech about the way the Portuguese judicial system seems to deal with the problem of corruption.


AbstractOne of the major monuments uncovered by the Harvard-Cornell Archaeological Expedition in Sardis, Turkey, is a gigantic bath-gymnasium complex of the imperial type dating from the 2nd century A.C. (FIG. 1 ). The eastern half of the complex is occupied by a large open courtyard surrounded on all sides by colonnades, the palaestra; the western half consists of many large vaulted halls and rooms arranged symmetrically around a major east-west axis and is intended for bathing. At the west end of the palaestra is an impressive vestibule displaying a rich, two-storied arrangement of colonnaded architecture, dedicated to the Imperial Cult (FIG. 2). This hall, named 'Marble Court' by the excavators on account of its rich marble architecture and decoration, was reconstructed from the ground up by a joint team of American and Turkish architects, archaeologists, and epigraphists between the years 1964 and 1973. Together with the reconstruction of the Stoa of Altalus in the Athenian Agora, the Marble Court of ...


In recent years thermosetting polymeric systems have been used extensively as binders in electrical insulation and composite plastic structures with excellent success. However, such properties as post-cure gassing, thermal stability, and high temperature bond strength have always been stumbling blocks for the insulation engineer. Experience has shown that these properties can ultimately affect the dielectric endurance of an insulation when subjected to high voltage stresses. The above-mentioned problems are generally controlled by the organic binders present in the insulation. Test methods have been developed whereby the behavior of the polymers under certain conditions can be predicted, thus increasing the effectiveness of the design engineer.


Aims: To study the feasibility and challenges for early vision screening of the 0-6 yr preverbal/ preschool children in both urban and rural settings of India using the simple Red Reflex test.
Study Design:Operational research.
Place and Duration of Study: Four settings (two urban and two rural) were designed to target the 0-6year old children. Model I .Pre School (Urban slum Population), Model II. Health Centre                (Urban Hospital), Model III. Immunization OPD of Municipal Hospital (Rural hospital) Model IV. Anganwadi Centre (Rural Population) was designed and conducted July 2017 –Dec 2017 (6 months).
Methodology: All models were conducted as single day vision screening camps except Model III which was an opportunistic screening for a period of 3 months (July – Sept 2017). Vision screening was done using Red Reflex test and follow up was done for three months. Data was analyzed on MS Excel and expressed in proportions / percentages.
Results: Maximum children (155) were screened in Model I. Out of the 301 total children screened 33 (10.96%) had abnormal Red Reflex test. The yield was maximum 6 (17.14%) in Model III. Urban health centre Model I was the most time efficient model(average 0.74 minutes/child).
Conclusions: Single day screening of population based cohort is time efficient but opportunistic screening using universal immunization programme model had maximum yield.


Abstract The Moroccan legislature should receive more credit than it does for its manifold contributions to the kingdom's political life and reform efforts. Many of the weaknesses which observers frequently ascribe to parliament actually reflect deeper, structural deficiencies within the Moroccan body politic, or they merely flow from the insufficient level of resources that have been placed at the disposal of the legislature. Even so, parliament enjoys a level of public visibility that it did not have even a few years ago. If it were truly devoid of influence, much of the public debate in Morocco would not revolve around the rules and procedures which determine access to it; nor would it be emerging progressively as a focus for lobbying activities by professional associations. In the past several years, interest groups that have ignored parliament repeatedly have paid a high price for doing so. Significantly, media outlets and analysts are spending more time tracking what happens within the walls of parliament. Morocco's parliament is making growing contributions to political representation and executive branch oversight. Its influence on law-making is real. Even with regard to reviewing and approving the budget, where its performance remains the weakest, its role easily can be underestimated. Above all, it performs an integrative and stabilising function that helps shelter Morocco against the divisive and polarising forces that agitate—and under certain conditions could tear apart—the country's society and body politic. Parliament is slowly becoming more pro-active and assertive. Within it, one can detect growing signs of a sense of corporate identity and of a nascent 'parliamentary culture' that transcends political divisions. Despite its recent achievements and new evidence of its institutional maturation, the Moroccan legislature continues to operate under powerful constraints, some of which are internal while others originate in the broader constitutional and political environment within which the Moroccan legislature is situated. The article suggests four ways in which a donor might help overcome these obstacles.


Established in 1974, SEIA is the national trade association of the United States solar energy industry and is a broad-based voice of the solar industry in Illinois. Through advocacy and education, SEIA and its 1,000 member companies are building a strong solar industry to power America. There are 34 SEIA member companies in operation in Illinois working in all market segments – residential, commercial, community solar, and utility-scale – representing millions of dollars of in-state investment and a significant portion of Illinois' 4,000 solar jobs. SEIA member companies also provide solar panels and equipment, financing, and other services to a large portion of Illinois solar projects. Established in 1975 ISEA, which has approximately 600 business and individual members, educates and advocates for the advancement of solar development in Illinois. The CCSA is a national coalition of businesses and nonprofits working to expand customer choice and access to solar for all American households and businesses through community solar.


This paper analyzed the repairing technology of 35t hot metal bottle in the shortage of machining capacity, introduced a simple and rational repairing method by using the borer T612A and a special fixture to boring the large holes and by adopting cooling contracting method to assemble the holes and the shafts


Designing low-cost, highly active and stable electrocatalysts is important to various renewable energy storage and conversion devices. We fabricated a NiMoN nanosheets hybrid catalyst through a reduction reaction of NiMoO4...


In 2015, an ambitious wildlife response preparedness project was initiated; funded as part of the post-Macondo IPIECA-IOGP (International Association of Oil and Gas Producers) Oil Spill Response Joint Industry Project (OSR-JIP). The Global Oiled Wildlife Response System (GOWRS) Project, which involved 11 leading wildlife response organizations from seven countries, aimed to develop an international framework for oiled wildlife response as well as encourage the further development of wildlife response preparedness by industry and other stakeholders. This paper will provide an overview and assessment of the key outcomes of both the JIP-funded phase of the project (2015-16; development of internationally agreed standards and common operating procedures) and the second industry-funded phase (2017-18; focused on response readiness) in order to provide key background information to support the movement towards operationalizing the system.


The generalized Kähler structures were introduced and studied by Gualtieri in his PhD thesis [16] in the more general context of generalized geometry started by Hitchin in [20]. There are many explicit constructions of non-trivial generalized-Kähler structures [1, 2, 4, 7, 21, 24, 25]. For instance Gualtieri proved that all compact-even dimensional semisimple Lie groups are generalized Kähler. In [25], the generalized Kähler quotient construction is considered in relation with the hyperkähler quotient construction and generalized Kähler structures are given on CPn, on some toric varieties and on the complex Grassmannian. Some obstructions and conditions on the underlying complex manifolds were found (see [2, 5, 16] and related references). By [2, 16] it turns out that a generalized Kähler structure on a 2n-dimensional manifold M is equivalent to a pair of Hermitian structures (J+, g) and (J−, g), where J± are two integrable almost complex structures on M and g is a Hermitian metric with respect to J±, such that the 3-form H = d+F+ = −d−F− is closed, where F±(·, ·) = g(J±·, ·) are the fundamental 2-forms associated with the Hermitian structures (J±, g) and d± = i(∂± − ∂±). In particular, any Kähler metric (J, g) gives rise to a generalized Kähler structure by taking J+ = J and J− = ±J . In the context of Hermitian geometry, the closed 3-form H is called the torsion of the generalized Kähler structure and it can be also identified with


In the title compound, 2Na+·C18H12O6S22−, the sodium ion is sevenfold coordinated by O atoms of five sulfonate groups (two in a chelating and three in a monodentate binding mode). They form (100) layers of edge-, corner- and face-sharing [NaO7] polyherdra which are interconnected by the terphenyl moieties. The asymmetric unit contains one sodium cation and one p-terphenyl-4,4′′-disulfonate anion on a centre of inversion.


A route-based dynamic traffic assignment (DTA) model is proposed with a mesoscopic traffic simulator. In this model, travelers determine their least cost routes from the original to destination with time-dependent shortest path algorithm. It ensures travelers can dynamically choose and change route according the real-time traffic information. The detail descriptions about the three modules in this model are discussed including vehicle generation module, traffic cell module, and vehicle speed and location update module. This simulation structure has the robust restage and expansibility, which provides an excellent framework for application in the traffic management.


The Natural Production Forest Management (NPFM) policy in East Kalimantan has led to massive deforestation and degradation of East Kalimantan's natural forests. Until 2012, almost 70% of East Kalimantan,s natural forest production has been damaged, more than that 80% of East Kalimantan,s forestry business has gone bankrupt. While the ecological and social losses are not countless. This is inseparable form the weaknesses in the NPFM policy operating system. In the perspective of administrative science, the effectiveness of NPFM policy implementation is related to the six administrative principles (Max Weber) in NPFM policy. The six neglected administrative principles are : 1) The principle of specialization of organizational functions, resulting in overlapping organizational functions Bureaucracy,  Corporations and Operations in NPFM operation; 2) the formal hierarchical structure principle, as result there is no NPFM tiered supervision system; 3) Priciple of formal rules and standard operating prosedures (SOP), as a result, the NPFM deviation since the process of licensing, implementation and distribution of results; 4) Impersonal relationships, as a result bureaucratic decisions tend not to be objective; 5) The principle of special competence (professional), consequently the NPFM operation results are not optimal; 6) The principle of employing is in accordance with competence, consequently the NPFM performance is poor.


The paper, using as a basis data already described, analyses the process of arc extinction at current zero in vacuum switches. The interruption of direct current is not considered, since it is possible over only a limited range of current. It is shown that there are three sources of neutral atoms and ions in `ideal' vacuum switches, and equations are developed describing the rates of fall of metal-vapour and ion densities between the contacts, and also the form of the post-zero current under the influence of a given restriking voltage. These results are used to predict the order of magnitude of the interrupting ability of a vacuum switch in terms of current, rate of fall of current and rate of rise of restriking voltage. While technical difficulties related to vacuum processing have prevented the full potentialities of the `ideal' vacuum switch from being realized, the experimental results obtained suggest that the theory is basically correct in its prediction that the vacuum switch has, at least on a basis of commutating factor, an interrupting ability very much greater than that of any switch employing high-pressure gas discharges.


--- The objective of research study was to fabricate neomycin sulphate loaded transferosomal vesicles by modified handshaking technique to increase the permeability of drug through vaginal mucosa. Tween80, span80, tween20, span20, Cremophor EL, brij35, sodium deoxycholate were used at three different concentrations by keeping drug concentration remains constant in all formulations. Stable vesicular formulation was obtained with span80 which is a better intercalatable surfactant in phospholipid layer, results also proved that that the fabricated neomycin sulphate loaded transferosomes were stabilized in terms of zetapotential +5mV homogenously dispersed with PDI value of 0.368 and particle size 152.8nm, entrapment efficiency values are 89.87%. Lipid extrusion test also concluded that fabricated neomycin sulphate loaded transferosomes were highly deformable in nature with deformability index value transferosomes with that of puredrug is 12 fold more. CSLM study proved that vesicles are deformable with better permeability characteristics. Conclusion: Summarizing the results, delivery of neomycin sulphate via transferosomes acts as excellent drug delivery system.The present study fabricated neomycin sulphate through vaginal mucosa and in-vitro and ex-vivo studies clearly reported that developed vesicular formulation may serve as a best carrier mainly due to their possessions such as less side effects, easy scaleup, production with less dose of drug.


Travelling Salesman Problem is a well known problem in operations research. TSP is short for The Travelling Salesman Problem. The general idea is that a peddler travels from one town, through many towns once, only once, and then returns to the original town, asking how to choose the route that will make the journey the shortest. In daily life, many problems can be reduced to this kind of problem. In fact, due to some conditions, the exact distance between the two towns can not be determined. By introducing the theory and concept of Grey for TSP, the grey TSP problem is produced. In this paper, the grey element is introduced into the Travelling Salesman Problem, and based on the grey traveling salesman model, a method of calculating the approximate lower limit of the Travelling Salesman Problem is given by reasoning proof.


The capitalist political civilization is an important component of human civilization.Much of the experience and practice is common development of human society in general.The socialist system,as a stage of development of human society,is bound by it,so it is essential to learn from Western capitalist political civilization.The author spreads out his thoughts on drawing useful democratic principles,successful experience of state administration and law construction and anti-corruption measures and put on the basic principles during drawing on capitalist political civilization.


The annual rates of application were 332, 200, 208, 28 and 1120kg/ha of N, P, K, Mg and Ca respectively. pH in the 0 to 15 and 15 to 30cm horizons was lowered by the application of N ((NH4)2SO4) and increased by Ca (calcitic limestone). Truog-P was increased in both horizons by P application and decreased by N application. Exchangeable K was increased in both horizons by the application of K (KCl), but the increase was small compared to the amount of fertilizer added. K was decreased by N application especially in the 15 to 30cm horizon. No changes in total N were observed.[116:22


The method of renewable flue gas desulfurization has many advantages,such as reusable absorbents,the recycling of sulfur dioxide,no secondary pollution and low consumption of crude materials.However,there are many problems with the regeneration process of absorbents.This paper summarizes the principles,existing problems and solutions of several typical regeneration methods.In particular,the paper mainly discusses the influencing factors and relevant strategies of the generation of heat stable salts(HSS)from sulfite oxidation,which decreases the absorbents regeneration capacities and the recycle of sulfur resource.The main factors are catalytic impurities in the flue gas,reaction temperature and secondary reactions.The strategies include dusting before absorption,controlling reaction conditions properly,using effective additives and treating generated HSS.In addition,this work can provide reference for future research on absorbents regeneration.


This article takes the country level administration buildings in Beijing as the research object,through the investigation the analysis and the summary,discussion on the country level administration buildings in Beijing has been carried on from different aspects including the distribution,the siteplan,the function composition,the form as well as the mark symbol.


The study was aimed at investigating malaria prevalence and interventions in three sub-urban communities in Ijebu North Area of Nigeria. This is because the challenge for malaria control had been mainly a failure to study the socio-cultural aspects of various strategies of the past. Rapid diagnostic tests and questionnaire survey were conducted. The overall prevalence was 65% with a significant difference (p<0.05) in prevalence between male and female sexes. Prevalence recorded by village was highest at Abata (94.7%). Malaria prevalence variation (12.5-89.9%) among the various age groups was statistically significant (p<0.05). Low prevalence was recorded in pregnant women (5.82%) and 68.9% in children. Only 2.2% of the respondents claimed to use the recommended first line drugs while 9.5 and 5.8% used insecticide treated nets ITNs and insecticide spray respectively as intervention. Thirty nine percent of respondents (pharmacists) reported accessibility to and affordability of first line drugs by patients; 50% claimed Sulphdoxinepyrimethamine (SPs) was in highest demand and 11% claimed equal demand. Malaria infection was high in the communities under study while treated malaria cases at the public health centers were low. The status of insecticide treated nets and curtains were low in usage and insignificant. Community empowerment resulting in the need to provide good quality drugs close to homes, as much as possible cannot be over emphasized as people depended more on autotherapy with bought drugs from local drug vendors or natural therapy with herbal concoctions.


We present a general technique, based on parametric search with some twist, for solving a variety of optimization problems on a set of semi-algebraic geometric objects of constant complexity. The common feature of these problems is that they involve a 'growth parameter' r and a semi-algebraic predicate Π( o, o (cid:48) ; r ) of constant complexity on pairs of input objects, which depends on r and is monotone in r , meaning that if Π( o, o (cid:48) ; r 1 ) is true then Π( o, o (cid:48) ; r 2 ) is true for any r 2 > r 1 . One then defines a graph G ( r ) whose edges are all the pairs ( o, o (cid:48) ) for which Π( o, o (cid:48) ; r ) is true, and seeks the smallest value of r for which some graph-monotone property holds for G ( r ). Problems that fit into this context include (i) the reverse shortest path problem in unit-disk graphs, recently studied by Wang and Zhao [17], (ii) the same problem for weighted unit-disk graphs, with a decision procedure recently provided by Wang and Xue [16], (iii) extensions of these problems to three and higher dimensions, (iv) the discrete Fr´echet distance with one-sided shortcuts in higher dimensions, extending the study by Ben Avraham et al. [7], (v) perfect matchings in intersection graphs: given, e.g., a set of fat ellipses of roughly the same size, find the smallest value r such that if we expand each of the ellipses by r (either additively or multiplicatively), the resulting intersection graph contains a perfect matching, (vi) generalized distance selection problems: given, e.g., a set of disjoint segments, find the k 'th smallest distance among the pairwise distances determined by the segments, for a given (sufficiently small but superlinear) parameter k and an appropriate definition of distance between segments, and (vii)


Both interpretations emerge as two aspects of the same phenomenon: the logical intepretation is about the types whereas the linguistic interpretation is about the programs (of those types). These correspondences demonstrate, once again, that the more restrictive setting (constructive logic, pure functional programming) is more general than more liberal setting (classical logic, functional programs with jumps.) Although many regard the more liberal setting as the more general, in fact the exact opposite is the case, because restrictions can be selectively relaxed, whereas affordances cannot be selectively restricted. Once the law of the excluded middle is admitted as a valid principle, it cannot be rescinded within a particular proof, but if it is not so admitted, it can be selectively introduced for particular purposes, recovering the seemingly more general capabilities. Once jumps are admitted as a language construct, it is not possible to preclude their use, whereas if jumps are not so admitted, then they can be used in a particular program by explicit programming of control flow. The situation is entirely analogous to that between so-called untyped (safe) languages and typed (safe) languages. Whereas it is often considered that the untyped languages are the more general, in fact the opposite is true, at least in the presence of recursive types. For in that setting "untyped" becomes "unityped"—it is not that there are no types, it is that there is only one type, a distinguished recursive type. Everything that can be done in the untyped setting can be done in the typed setting by focussing attention on the one distinguished type. The converse is impossible: once a language is committed to there being only one type, it cannot then recover type distinctions. The seemingly more restrictive setting is, in fact, the more liberal!


AbstractModern European societies have set their 'moral covenants' in recent history and these underpin their social institutions. But what happens when new 'alien' religious institutions have to be included into the 'moral commonwealth' since a considerable number of people from different cultural backgrounds have come to live in Europe? How do the 'fragile formulas' (Salvatore) or 'moral covenants' (Selznick) underpin the institutionalisation process of Muslim institutions? How do the covenants persist and change? The institutionalisation processes of imam training programmes in Europe are excellent examples which can be used to examine the content and contemporary use of these 'moral covenants.' This paper explores the example of the Dutch 'imam training debate,' as a contribution to ongoing studies which focus on strategies of various actors involved in the institutionalisation process of Muslim learning institutions in Europe.


An inner decoupler for a sonar array including a linear array of hydrophones and consisting of an alternating multi-layer configuration of acoustic compliance elements in the form of acoustic baffles and acoustic non-compliance elements in the form of water or other acoustic mass-like element located between the hydrophones and the outer surface of a ship's hull. This arrangement embodies an acoustic low pass filter between the hydrophones and the hull and operates to enhance incoming signals incident to the sonar array while attenuating signals such as structure borne noise generated from the opposite or hull side of the array.


The basis of structured program design of language in VFP is the key point of the students.Considering the characteristics of arts students,and according to the two teaching aims of the structured program design in VFP,the author discussed its classroom teaching and experiment teaching and designed specific teaching program.


The concept of water operator partnerships (WOPs) was first proposed by a United Nations (UN) advisory board in 2006. Since then, several hundred WOPs have been implemented within and across different world regions. In contrast to public-private partnerships, WOPs are aimed at facilitating peer-to-peer learning between water and sanitation operators on a not-for-profit basis. According to official UN discourse, "mentor" operators share their expertise out of solidarity and a commitment to enhancing the performance of their peers. However, in light of the controversial history of privatization in the water sector, critics have raised doubts about the role of solidarity as a mentor motivation. Why would water operators assist other providers free-of-charge? Is solidarity indeed the main motivation behind knowledge sharing and capacity building in WOPs, or are more self-interested, profit-oriented incentives driving these activities? This article engages with these questions by analyzing the case of Vitens Evides International (VEI), a public company from the Netherlands that has emerged as the most active "mentor" in North-South WOPs to date. Drawing on interviews with VEI managers, water company representatives, and other experts, I show that VEI's mentoring activities are driven by a complex array of motivations, including staff development and recruitment, customer relations, sustainable development, and the advancement of opportunities for trade and investment. Some of these motivations are closely intertwined with Dutch development policy and the promotion of Dutch water expertise. More research is needed to understand how these interests and motivations affect social equity, learning, and capacity development in WOPs.


In this article we present our program, clinic results and patient satisfaction data from our meditation group developed in a Mental Health Unit. The program is original as a result of the professional and personal experience of the authors. This program was planned to the patients attended on our Mental Health Unit suffering from depressive and anxious symptoms. In spite of its short duration, clinic results in depression as well as in anxiety have been statistically significant and better than control group. Satisfaction data are good as well as the audience report that have improved different personal aspects (self confidence, improvement hope, coping, better understanding of the origin of their problems). Results encourage us to expand meditation use in our daily practice. CITE AS: Martinez Lopez, M.J., Romero Gomero, R., Vucinovich, N. & Poves Onate, S. (2011). Entrenamiento en meditacion en la Unidad de Salud Mental Comunitaria Oriente (Sevilla): fundamentos, programa y resultados clinicos y de satisfaccion de las pacientes. Apuntes de Psicologia, 29, 45-57.


Electron-releasing substituents at the 3-position of allyl phenyl ethers favour Claisen rearrangement of the allyl group to the 6-position, whereas electron-acceptors favour migration to the 2-position. 2-Acylhydroquinone 4-allyl ethers yield, predominantly, the 3-allyl isomers, probably because internal hydrogen bonding confers naphthalenoid character on the aryl residue.


The problem of diffraction by a narrow circular cone is considered in the frame of the approach developed for the strongly elongated bodies. Previous results of axial incidence are extended to the case of plane wave incidence at an angle to the axis of the cone. The leading order approximation is computed.


We prove upper and lower bounds on the minimal spherical dispersion, improving upon previous estimates obtained by Rote and Tichy [Spherical dispersion with an application to polygonal approximation of curves, Anz. \"Osterreich. Akad. Wiss. Math.-Natur. Kl. 132 (1995), 3--10]. In particular, we see that the inverse $N(\varepsilon,d)$ of the minimal spherical dispersion is, for fixed $\varepsilon>0$, linear in the dimension $d$ of the ambient space. We also derive upper and lower bounds on the expected dispersion for points chosen independently and uniformly at random from the Euclidean unit sphere. In terms of the corresponding inverse $\widetilde{N}(\varepsilon,d)$, our bounds are optimal with respect to the dependence on $\varepsilon$.


Stroke is basically a medical condition where there is low blood low to the brain and thus results in cell death. It remains the second most common cause of death. Stroke patients also have different comorbidities on an averagewhere they are prescribedwith 6-10medicines. This increase the chances for drug-related problems (DRPs) and adverse drug events (ADEs) or adverse drug reactions (ADRs) and the interventions found during the follow up of stroke patients. Several studies inding of interventions in stroke patients and reconciliation are ways to reduce ADRs and improve medication use safety. Interventions and medical reconciliation (MR) address a wide array of potential medication-related issues, which is carefully planned that may be done by pharmacist or doctor or professional (or) physician. Here the aim was to access the impact of interventions which includes medications reconciliation and counselling of stroke patients and also identi ication and categorization of DRPs. Polypharmacy causing DRPs was statistically signi icant in all the regions inappropriate drug selection (2.85%), and dose selection (2.85%) was the primary cause of DRPs 85% partially solved. Epidemiologically of all the three regions (GNT, VIJ, RJY) in the total study population. Males are more affected than females. Majority of comorbidities like HTN(70.05%), and DM(47.01%)were in leading role causing stroke absorbed during interventions. Lea let & patient counselling had prominent role in conducting medical reconciliation. Other health care professionals systematically ind, differentiate & report interventions like (DRPs, ADRs, and causes).


Private international Law has stagnated in Africa largely because Africa has largely been excluded from, and not actively engaged with, many of the contexts in which the subject's development has been promoted in other jurisdictions. As opposed to Public International Law which is the law of the political system of nation-states, it provides a barometer for measuring the extent to which a country's legal system engages with other legal systems -Richard Fripong Oppong (2015).According to McKeever (2006) it is a distinct and self-contained system of law, independent of the national systems with which it interacts, and deals with relations which they do not effectively govern. Private International law also known as conflict of laws deals with private relations between differing legal jurisdictions and persons both natural and legal (Briggs (2008)). As such, it concerns itself with questions of choice of laws; choice of jurisdiction; harmonization of the laws, conflict resolution; drafting of the contracts especially in commercial transactions.As a matter of great importance, in an international commercial relationship, legal battles of international character wherein issues of which country's court should have jurisdiction to try the dispute; which country's laws should be applied to resolve the dispute; and whether any foreign judgment obtained abroad might be enforceable in the concerned country are bound to arise and these will call for complex analysis of Private International laws of various jurisdictions to enable parties settle their differences.This paper attempts to examine the extent to which private international law is applicable to commercial transactions in Uganda with specific emphasis on the decided case of Bank of Uganda v Transroad Ltd.


The assessment instrument used as a mandatory reference by teachers and students in the 21st century learning process. 21st Century learning integrates literacy skills, knowledge skills, skills and attitudes as well as mastery of technology. Therefore, an assessment that is not only cognitive is needed. This study aims to analyze the need for spiritual assessment in 21st century learning. This study used a qualitative method with data acquisition through observation and interviews with principals and teachers. The results showed that principals and teachers needed spiritual assessment.


Study Design: Retrospective cohort study Objectives: To investigate the effect of perioperative gabapentin administration on postoperative pain and opioid use in elderly patients after elective posterior lumbar fusion. Methods: This was a single-center study of patients over the age of 65 who underwent elective posterior lumbar fusion. The cohort was stratified into two groups based on perioperative gabapentin administration defined as use both in the immediate preoperative period and postoperatively during hospitalization. Mean daily visual analogue scale (VAS) pain scores and mean daily morphine equivalent dosage (MED) during the postoperative hospital stay were compared between these groups using traditional regression and inverse probability weighting. Results: There were 350 patients who received gabapentin perioperatively and 78 patients who did not receive gabapentin. Multivariate regression did not demonstrate a difference in daily MED (beta = -6.6 mg, p = 0.816) or daily pain scores (beta = 0.04, p = 0.257) averaged over the first seven postoperative days. Sub-analysis stratifying by each individual postoperative day also did not demonstrate a difference in MED or pain scores. Conclusion: This study did not find perioperative gabapentin administration to be beneficial in reducing postoperative VAS pain scores or opioid use in the acute postoperative period for elderly patients undergoing posterior lumbar fusion. These findings are consistent with recent literature suggesting gabapentin is of minimal benefit in postoperative multimodal analgesia regimens.


Options to validate a network topology, including the link metrics, are traditionally based on virtual environments (e.g., Mininet), limiting the experiments with transmission speeds over 10Gbps. With the programmability that P4 brings to the network and the capabilities of new generation hardware supporting the PSA (Portable Switch Architecture) and TNA (Tofino Native Architecture) P4 architectures, it is possible to define emulation characteristics of the links and represent a network topology with high fidelity and computation power using a single physical P4 switch (e.g., Tofino). It is possible to emulate network topologies using recirculations, port configurations, different match+action tables, and even DAC cables. What is more, we can connect physical servers to inject traffic to the topology (see Figure 1). P7 comes out to the front from other network emulators [2] [1] [3], exploiting the limitations and gaps and bringing a friendly and robust environment for networking experiments.


Pathogenic variants in the v‐maf avian musculoaponeurotic fibrosarcoma oncogene homologue (MAF) encoding a transcription factor (from a unique subclass of basic leucine zipper transcription factors) are associated with isolated congenital cataracts (CCs) and Aymé–Gripp syndrome (AYGRPS). We collected detailed disease histories from, and performed comprehensive ophthalmic and systemic examinations in 269 patients with CCs; we then performed whole‐exome sequencing. Pathogenicity assessments were evaluated using multiple predictive tools. The clinical validities of the reported gene–disease relationships for MAF genes (MAF‐CCs and MAF‐AYGRPS) were assessed using the ClinGen gene curation framework. We identified two novel (c.173C>A, p.Thr58Asn and c.947T>C, p. Leu316Pro) variants and one known (c.173C>T, p.Thr58Ile) MAF missense variant in three patients. We described novel phenotypes including cleft palate, macular hypoplasia, and retinal neovascularization in the peripheral avascular area and analyzed the genotype–phenotype correlations. We demonstrated associations of variants in the MAF C‐terminal DNA‐binding domain with CCs and associations of variants in the N‐terminal transactivation domain of MAF with AYGRPS. We thus expand the genotypic and phenotypic spectrum of the MAF gene. The ClinGen gene curation framework results suggested that variants in different domains of MAF are associated with different diseases.


Two cases of irreducible fresh posterior dislocation of the elbow were reported. In these cases, manual reduction under general anesthesia was failed and open reduction was carried out. The obstacle for reduction was an interposition of the proximal portion of flexor muscles of the forearm.


This book is a survey of methods used in the study of two-dimensional models in quantum field theory as well as applications of these theories in physics. It covers the subject since the first model, studied in the fifties, up to modern developments in string theories, and includes exact solutions, non-perturbative methods of study, and nonlinear sigma models.


One formulation of the machine sequencing problem is that of finding a mini-maximal path in a disjunctive graph. This paper describes an implicit enumeration procedure that solves the problem by generating a sequence of circuit-free graphs and solving a slightly amended critical-path problem for each graph in the sequence. Each new term of the sequence is generated from an earlier one by complementing one disjunctive arc. The search tree is drastically cut down by the fact that the only disjunctive arcs that have to be considered for being complemented are those on a critical path. An evaluation of these candidates is used to direct the search at each stage. The procedure can start with any feasible schedule like the one actually used in production, or generated by some heuristics, and gradually improve it. Thus one can possibly stop short of the optimum, with a reasonably "good" feasible schedule. Storage requirements are limited to the data pertinent to the current node of the search tree.


An expert system can function as a consultant advising users at once as an assistant to the expert. One way to overcome and help detect the level of disease risk in Persian cats is to create an expert system as a medium for consultation and monitoring of cats so as to minimize the occurrence of diseases that result in death. Keywords: Expert System, Cat, DempsterShefer


AbstractThe use of room temperature vulcanizing (RTV) silicone resin as a flexible gap filler for restoring structural integrity to the components of a wooden architectural object is explained. The advantages of using an RTV for this type of fill are its compatibility with a flexible structure consisting of wood that responds to changing environmental conditions. The method of consolidation prior to the structural fill insertion is also described.


Proteoglycans participate in cellular interactions via modulating the effects of growth factors or with other mechanisms in early embryo. The majority of the functions of proteoglycans are associated with the glycosaminoglycan (GAG) chains. We used β-D-xyloside, an inhibitor of proteoglycan synthesis and specifically of GAG attachment to proteoglycan core proteins, to study proteoglycan functions in early chick embryo development. Low concentrations of β-xyloside which are known to affect differentially chondroitin but not heparan sulfate proteoglycan biosynthesis have provided a convenient tool for altering proteoglycan production. The protein patterns of xyloside-treated embryos showed a shift of radioactive peaks to lower molecular mass which could be attributed to the reduction of proteoglycan size as was demonstrated by chondroitinase ABC/AC II treatments. It was notable in our data that β-xyloside altered the chondroitin sulfate proteoglycan decorin to lower molecular mass while it did not seem to affect the size of the heparin sulfate proteoglycan perlecan. More protein was synthesized from xyloside-treated embryos at stage XII (morula) than from embryos at stage HH2 (initial primitive streak/early gastrula) when compared to the controls. This could have reflected an accelerated translation and/or mobilization of oogenetic transcripts in embryos at stage XII when proteoglycan metabolism was disrupted. Misregulation of proteoglycans by modulating the functionality of the protein and by influencing their expression level resulted in an inability of the early embryo to assemble a stable extracellular matrix that would have been normally produced. These changes were associated with the collapse of the typical blastula architecture and inhibition of the induction of mesoderm in the chick embryo. Induction of neuroectoderm required proteoglycans assembled before the initiation of gastrulation movements. However, sustained proteoglycan biosynthesis was required for the morphogenetic movements to form the neural tube and the rest of the embryonic axis. We also studied the spatiotemporal distribution pattern of link protein by immunofluorescence and immunoprecipitation and the role of this glycoprotein by blocking antibodies in the early chick embryo. The recognition of the link protein 1 (LP1, 48 kDa) and link protein 2 (LP2, 44 kDa) types was an important finding of our study. Link protein links several proteoglycans, such as aggrecan to hyaluronan, creating stable aggregates in the extracellular matrix and has a general function in the organization of the extracellular matrix. It is known that combinations of LP1 and LP2 create more stable complexes than the individual link protein molecule. This was also shown in our experiments, in that aggrecan (180kDa) co-precipitated with LP1 and LP2. Our immunofluorescent experiments showed that link protein expression was first detectable at the blastula stage (st. XIII) and its presence may be fundamental as the first extracellular matrix starts to assemble before the initiation of the first major cellular migrations during the gastrula stage. Link protein influorescence was strong in the cells ingressing through the primitive streak and in the migrating cells in embryos at stage HH3 (intermediate streak/mid-gastrula). At stage HH4 (definitive streak/late gastrula), link protein fluorescence was strong at the apical surface of the neural plate. At stage HH4-5 (head process), link protein fluorescence was strong at the apical surface of the neural folds, notochord and endoderm. At stage HH13 (19 somites), link protein fluorescence was intense in the encephalic vesicles, in the extracellular matrix, in the lumen of encephalic vesicles, intense in migrating neural crest cells, neural tube and in notochord, strong in gut lower wall, hard tube and dorsal aorta wall, intense in dermomyotome and strong in sclerotome in somites. By stage HH17 (29 somites), link protein fluorescence was strong in neuroepithelium and extracellular matrix in the lumen of the diencephalon, strong in neural crest cells, in the intraretinal space in the eye, in myocardium and endocardium, in dorsal aorta, in dermomyotome, the outer surface of pharyngeal arches wall of aortic arches and intense in thyroid rudiment. Inhibition of function of link protein by blocking antibodies showed that link protein was important in neuroepithelial tissue organization and neural tube closure, in normal differentiation of the neural tube to form the brain, in the morphogenesis of the heart tube, the dorsal aorta and gut and in somite epithelialization.


This paper gives a model about satellite application information chain based on queuing network, and ensure its basic parameters. It analyses the question about satellite application information chain's point resource disposing based on queuing network, and optimal algorithms based on queuing time are presented, to dispose the point resource.