Our study investigates changes occurred in the Italian social stratification in the last twenty years.It is based on stratification studies that consider individual occupations as the main aspect of the immaterial and material resource allocation and, more precisely, the studies that order occupations along a continuum by their social desiderability. At this aim we compare the de Lillo-Schizzerotto Scale (1985) with a new edition of the same scale, realized in 2005 by an inter-university research equipe; doing this, we focused on scores and ranking of the occupational categories in the two scales.Metric and ordinal association measures between the two Scales do not show significant changes in the structure of perceived desiderability of occupations in the Italian labour market.Therefore, in this point of view, twenty years later results confirm the stability of the social inequality system in our country.


The authors discuss the problem of distributed knowledge acquisition for the construction of complete and consistent knowledge bases in integrated expert systems, in particular dynamic integrated expert systems, via sharing of knowledge sources of different topologies (databases as electronic media, experts and problem-oriented texts). This work is focused on models and methods of distributed knowledge acquisition from databases as additional knowledge sources and automation of the process via intelligent program environment. It is discussed in context of dynamic integrated expert systems development, so the problem of temporal knowledge acquisition is also mentioned. Special standard design procedure for dynamic integrated expert system construction and for combined knowledge acquisition method is reviewed, which provides synchronization of knowledge acquisition processes in distributed variant. This procedure uses technologic knowledge base of intelligent planner of AT-TECHNOLOGY workbench and special program tools.


and it was possible to measure S-parameters over a full bandwidth in a very short time. The availability of accurate phase measurements, mainly due to the use of synthesizers to produce the RF and microwave signals and to the accurate system calibration, has enabled sophisticated mathematical treatments to be made on the measured signals such as Fourier transform, allowing calculation of echoes in the time domain, filtering and removal of unwanted echoes (time-gating capability), and returning back to the frequency domain with an improved measurement accuracy. The same methodology can now be used also to measure the voltage standing wave ratio (VSWR) of an absorber wall over a full bandwidth, with improved accuracy and in a shorter time. For that purpose, the transmitter/ receiver and the stub tuner are now replaced


The full-potential linearized augmented plane wave method (FP-LAPW) based on the density functional theory (DFT) and Boltzmann's Transport theory, are employed to investigate theoretically the electronic structure, optical and electrical properties of Sc, Ti and V doped rutile SnO2. The FP-LAPW based on the new potential approximation known as the Tran-Blaha modified Becke-Johnson exchange potential approximation (mBJ). The calculated band structure and density of states (DOS) exhibit a band gap of pure SnO2 (3.3 eV) closer to the experimental one. As well, our results indicate that the average transmittance in the 400 to 1000 nm wavelength region was 90%. The high transmittance and electrical conductivity indicate that doped SnO2 system is a potential as material for solar energy applications.


A river system from source point to the discharge point is subjected to continuous morphological changes for example degradation or aggradations of bed River. Water structures, are applied structures that are built in different positons of water domains (rivers and seas) in onshore and offshore. The main purpose looked for in building these structures is optimum use of water domains and currents and in fact, providing of coastal destroy and unwanted damages which maybe take place in different times. In this research, hydraulical and hydrodynamical study is done about Karoon river from Mollasani to Arab Hassanar. That is, we consider the ways for decreasing coastal destroy and erosion due tofloods three. So, appointing an applied model about pattern of river currents under different conditions of the domain, we inform from effectiveness of coasts such the case study zone as a part of coastline .The present study attempts to investigate the morphological changes of the Karoon River and explore the effects of the river floods. The hydraulic performance of Karoon river demonstrates significant flood damage potential in agricultural, industrial and residential areas adjacent the river in Khouzestan plain. Therefore, flood control of Karoon river is one of the main aims for under study and construction plans in this part of country. This article presents the results of flood analysis in Karoon catchments and flood control effect of under operation and construction dams. It also presents the evaluation of structural flood control plans in downstream of dams and floodplain areas. In this regard, inundation level and inundated area was calculated by using flood dynamic routing model named MIKE11 in different situations, without and with different flood mitigation alternatives. At last, hydraulic principles dominated on the river will be considered and analyzed.


Coral reefs are declining in the Caribbean region due to a variety of reasons. Nitrogen from agriculture, sewage, and other anthropogenic sources is polluting coastal waterways and represents one major threat to reef health. The effect of nitrogen eutrophication on coral reefs was investigated in this review. Nitrogen pollution slows calcification, changes photopigment concentrations, accelerates coral disease rates, increases coral-algal competition, and reduces coral reproduction and recruitment. To conserve these important ecosystems and sustain the variety of services they provide, nitrogen loading to coral reef ecosystems must be reduced.


In Peninsular Malaysia, while the female population aged 15-19 years registered a growth of some 240,000 persons between 1966-1984, the number of births occurring to teenage mothers has decreased by 15,176 from 33,348 to 18,172 during the same period. In 1966, teenage births constituted some 10.8% of the total births but has declined to 4.7% by 1984. A breakdown of the 1984 data by detailed age groups shows that only 0.9% of the teenage births had actually occurred among those below 15 years of age. The declining trend in teenage births, particularly the higher order births among the very young mothers, augurs well for the improvement in family welfare. However, in order to safeguard the health and welfare of mothers and children, concerted efforts should continue to be undertaken to integrate population, family health and family life education into the school curriculum.


Stress-relaxation phenomena in SiGe-on-insulator (SGOI) layers during the oxidation-induced Ge condensation process have been comprehensively investigated as a function of several parameters (SiGe thickness, Ge fraction, oxidation temperature, and oxidation time). Final SiGe thickness-dependent relaxation ratio was found, i.e., complete relaxation for thick (> 100 nm) SGOI layers, and abrupt decrease in relaxation ratio with decreasing SiGe thickness below 100 nm, e.g., the relaxation ratio of 30% for the SiGe thickness of 30 nm. An improved method combined with H + irradiation (5 X 10 15 cm -2 ) and postannealing (1200°C) has been examined to enhance the stress-relaxation. This achieved a high relaxation ratio (70%) and a low defect density (1 X 10 6 cm -2 ) in the ultrathin (28 nm) SGOI with a Ge fraction of 30%. A local-area slipping model was proposed, where SiGe/SiO 2 interface slipping occurred during postannealing in local areas surrounded by cross hatches. This model quantitatively explained the enhanced relaxation ratio of the SGOI layers obtained by the Ge condensation method combined with H + irradiation and postannealing.


Malformed body parts do not have the shape or form that they are supposed to, especially, when they have been like this since birth, and restoring such parts of their lost function and esthetics is done using various biocompatible materials. The congenitally missing ear is an esthetic problem, and its replacement is an art and science. This can be corrected either surgically or prosthetically, but the choice of correction depends on the patient. This article presents a case report of a young patient with a congenital unilateral auricular defect restored with silicone prosthesis. These prostheses provide a cost-effective means when compared to surgical reconstruction.


Usnea species are medicinally important, so we take unexplored species, Usnea emidotteris. Seven components 2-hydroxy-3-methoxy-4, 6-dimethyl ethyl benzoate, 2, 4-dihydro-xy-3, 6-dimethyl ethyl benzoate, 2-hydroxy-4-methoxy-3, 6-dimethylbezoic acid, usnic acid, barbatic acid, diffractaic acid and evernic acid are isolated first time from Usnea emidotteries and identified from their physicochemical data.


Sequential dictionary learning algorithms have been successfully applied to a number of image processing problems. In a number of these problems however, the data used for dictionary learning are structured matrices with notions of smoothness in the column direction. This prior information which can be traduced as a smoothness constraint on the learned dictionary atoms has not been included in existing dictionary learning algorithms. In this paper, we remedy to this situation by proposing a regularized sequential dictionary learning algorithm. The proposed algorithm differs from the existing ones in their dictionary update stage. The proposed algorithm generates smooth dictionary atoms via the solution of a regularized rank-one matrix approximation problem where regularization is introduced via penalization in the dictionary update stage. Experimental results on synthetic and real data illustrating the performance of the proposed algorithm are provided.


This article briefly introduces the value of Chinese excellent traditional culture to the ideological and political education of college students. Through the analysis of the existing problems in the ideological and political education of college students at this stage, it explores the value of Chinese excellent traditional culture in the ideological and political education of college students. Effective measures are to transform the traditional ideological and political education of college students, effectively integrate the excellent traditional Chinese culture, guide college students to establish correct values, cultivate good ideological and moral qualities, and promote the improvement of college students' ideological and political education.


An annotated checklist and bibliography of 197 species (representing 78 genera and 26 families) of non-marine polychaetes of the world is presented, including synonymies, information on ecology, distribution, habitat, and references to the taxonomic and biological literature. Over half (57%) of the checklist species are represented by just three families as follows: Nereididae (61 species including Namanereis, Namalycastis, Neanthes and Hediste), Aeolosomatidae (27 species, mostly Aeolosoma) and Sabellidae (24 species including Caobangia and Manayunkia). Other well-represented taxa are the epizoic histriobdellid Stratiodrilus (11 species), the inland-sea-specialist ampharetid Hypania and related genera (5 species), and the freshwater-tolerant spionid Marenzelleria (5 species). One new combination is proposed for the nereidid Nereis tenuipalpa Pflugfelder, 1933, viz. Paraleonnates tenuipalpa n. comb.


This is an Intranet application used to automate operations related to a typical office management of a college. This allows a user to log in and add details of fees accounts, payments and Recruitment. It also provides search of fees accounts, payments report and easy access to the databases. This based on workflow technology, Office Automation system, office, and many other items can be integrated with the work. Overall project is divided into two main parts. One part contains admin panel which is in control of user manager/engineer/super user. Second part contains the different users of application like office user for add or update student database, examination cell user for update pass or fail status of students in the database (This will help to various department user to maintain student promotion record and make attendance sheets as well as the corrections in student info), department user allowed to view the database and correct the mistakes in student data, but not allows to delete any entry. This also allows a user to log in and add details of fees accounts, payments and Recruitment. It also provides search of fees accounts, payments report and easy access to the databases. The database lies on a central system or Server and the same can be accessed via HTML browser on a system connected peer-to-peer in network. The concept of Office Automation System provides key advantage of data integrity, no data duplication, and easy data backup. This is an user-friendly interface.


A new type of two-wheeled motor vehicle was introduced in Denmark in 1994. This "scooter-45" has become very popular and is sold in large numbers. The aim of this study was to examine the consequences of the introduction of the scooter-45 in the number of road traffic injuries. All patients treated at the Odense University Hospital during 1996 to 2000 following road traffic accidents with two-wheeled motor vehicles were included in this study. Injuries were graded according to the Abbreviated Injury Scale. A significant rise in the annual incidence rate for traffic injuries was observed in the study period for both mopeds and scooter-45s (p < .05). For both scooter-45s and motorcycles, the highest incidence rate of road traffic accidents was observed in the age group of 20 to 29 years. For mopeds, the highest incidence rate was seen in the age group of 10 to 19 years. We found an increase in the annual incidence rate of injuries following road traffic accidents with mopeds and scooter-45s. Single accidents were the most common accidents.


The HST's WFPC2 has several advantages over ground--based observations for the study of globular cluster luminosity functions (GCLFs) and distance determination. Here we present WFPC2 data on the globular clusters associated with NGC 5846. This giant elliptical is the dominant galaxy in a small, compact group located ~ 13 Mpc beyond the Virgo cluster. We have detected over 1200 globular clusters in three (central, north and south) separate pointings. The luminosity function in each of these pointings are statistically the same, indicating that the mean luminosity (mass) does not vary between ~ 3 and 30 kpc from the galaxy center. This suggests that dynamical friction and bulge shocking destruction processes are insignificant. We have fit a Gaussian and t_5 profile to the GCLF (of the combined pointings) and find that it is well represented by a turnover magnitude of m^0_V = 25.05 +/- 0.10 and a dispersion of sigma = 1.34 +/- 0.06. Our 50% completeness level is ~ 1 mag fainter than the turnover. After applying a metallicity correction to the `universal' GCLF turnover magnitude, we derive a distance modulus of (m--M) = 32.32 +/- 0.23. For a group velocity V_{CMB} = 1883 +/- 28 km/s, the Hubble constant is H_o = 65 +/- 8 km/s/Mpc.


The invention provides a high-back-pressure turbine end vapor seal capable of being rapidly detached, and relates to the energy and power industry. An adjustment gasket A is arranged between a vapor seal main body A and a cylinder lower half part. An adjustment gasket A is arranged between the vapor seal main body A and a cylinder upper half part. The cylinder upper half part is connected with an axle sealing cover through hexagonal socket screws. An adjustment gasket B is arranged between the axial sealing cover and a cylinder seal main body B. The left side of the cylinder seal main body B is connected with one end of an anti-rotating pin A, and the other end of the anti-rotating pin A makes contact with the vapor seal main body A. The right side of the cylinder seal main body B is connected with one end of an anti-rotating pin B, and the other end of the anti-rotating pin B makes contact with a cylinder seal main body C. When the end vapor seal of a unit is replaced, bolts, the pins and other fastening pieces through which the axle sealing cover is connected with the cylinder upper half part and the cylinder lower half part are detached, the axle sealing cover is then detached, a midsplit bolt of a cylinder seal body is detached, the cylinder seal body is composed of two parts which can be taken out of the upper portion after the axle sealing cover is detached, and end vapor seal rings are replaced. After replacement, the end vapor seal rings are installed back according to a reverse sequence, and the end vapor seal can be easily, conveniently and rapidly replaced under the condition of not lifting the cylinder upper half part.


Locating a distribution center is an important problem in logistics,which has been studied widely.Most of the models discussed in literature are static,that is,the cost(or the time) to transship some goods along a path is a constant.In our real lives,however,such kinds of costs are functions of the departure time.In this paper,we address the problem of how to locate a logistics distribution center in a time-varying circumstance.The problem is formulated mathematically and an algorithm is proposed to find the optimal solution of the problem.


Nishina and colleagues (1) provided important evidence that suggested the implication of the Hippo pathway in methyl methanesulfonate (MMS)-induced DNA damage. The work looks impressive. However, contribution of factors other than Yes-associated protein (YAP) cannot be ruled out. YAP is a nuclear effector that binds to the TEA domain (TEAD) transcription factor and could promote nuclear/cytoplasmic translocation as well as its paralog TAZ (transcriptional coactivator with PDZ-binding motif) (2). TAZ is an important transcriptional coactivator sharing significant homology with YAP (3) and plays an important role in cancer (4). Therefore, other factors such as TAZ could contribute to this action.

YAP is a candidate oncogene amplified in many human cancers (5). In this study, it seemed that the YAP acetylation cycle is an important defensive mechanism for DNA damage. The authors proposed that hYAP acetylation could improve the sensitivity of HeLa cells to chemotherapy (Fig. 7A in Ref. 1). Generalization, however, is dangerous due to the limited number of cancer cell lines and the reliance on in vitro assays. Future studies in tumor-bearing animal subjects are needed to confirm the findings.

Furthermore, YAP is highly expressed in cancer cells as well as in certain normal tissues, such as the lungs, prostate, and ovary. Post-translational modification of YAP, such as acetylation, may have differential effects on the responses of cancer versus normal cells to chemo/radiotherapy. Specifically, the YAP acetylation cycle is a balance between acetylation and deacetylation and is subjected to regulation by the transcriptional coactivator activity of hYAP (Fig. 7B in Ref. 1). Thus, targeting YAP by acetylation may be favorable for cancer treatment but unfavorable for normal tissue repair. The nonspecific toxicities or adverse effects were not mentioned in this study and need to be examined in the future.


We introduce a new method to detect solar-like oscillations in frequency power spectra of stellar observations, under conditions of very low signal-to-noise ratio. The Moving-Windowed-Power-Search (MWPS) searches the power spectrum for signatures of excess power, over and above slowly varying (in frequency) background contributions from stellar granulation and shot or instrumental noise. We adopt a false-alarm approach to ascertain whether flagged excess power, which is consistent with the excess expected from solar-like oscillations, is hard to explain by chance alone (and hence a candidate detection).

We apply the method to solar photometry data, whose quality was systematically degraded to test the performance of the MWPS at low signal-to-noise ratios. We also compare the performance of the MWPS against the frequently applied power-spectrum-of-power-spectrum (PS⊗PS) detection method. The MWPS is found to outperform the PS⊗PS method.


Approximately 700,000 tons and 10,000 different types of disperse, reactive, direct dyes and pigments are produced annually across the world and are extensively used in many industries including textile, leather, pulp, paper, food and plastics (Kiran et al., 2009; Aksakal and Ucun, 2010). Amongst the different dyes listed in the Color Index and available in the market, 60 70% belongs to the azo dyes compounds. These dyes are used in the textile industry for the colouring of polyester, nylon, cellulose diacetate and triacetate, acrylic fibres etc. The relative share of azo dyes among reactive, acid and direct dyes is even higher, it can be expected that they make up the vast majority of the dyes discharged by textile-processing industries. In 2010, India produced ~200,000 tons of dyes of which 50% were ISSN: 2319-7706 Special Issue-2 (2015) pp. 357-365 http://www.ijcmas.com


Modern E-commerce recommendation systems use copurchase history to increase user conversion and engagement. However, without sufficient purchase history, analysis with co-purchase recommendation is difficult, and involves cold-start issue in practice. In this project, we are motivated to explore ways to utilize the IMDB casting network to enhance the Amazon co-purchase network inference in cold-start and early post cold-start stage with insufficient purchase history. To tackle cold-start issue, we perform a multi-start supervised random walk over external network, derived from IMDB casting network. We then augment the external network by adding internal network edges and rank new candidates based on proximity features ensemble with cold-start results. Our methods outperform the conventional benchmark models in both cold-start and early post cold-start stages and prove external network to be extremely useful in early stage link inference. (**Note we are not challenging the state-of-the-art link prediction methodologies but to investigate brand-new ways of tackling cold-start and early stage internal link prediction using external network.**)


Both orbitaland rotationaldynam icsem ploy the m ethod ofvariation ofparam eters.W e express,in a non-perturbed setting,the coordinates(Cartesian,in the orbitalcase,orEule-rian in the rotation case) via the tim e and six adjustable constants called elem ents (orbital elem ents or rotationalelem ents). If, under disturbance,we use this expression as ansatz and endow the\constants" with tim e dependence,then theperturbed velocity (Cartesian or angular) willconsist ofa partialderivative with respect to tim e and a so-called convective term ,one thatincludesthe tim e derivativesofthe variable \constants." O utofsheerconve-nience,the so-called Lagrange constraint is often im posed. It nulli(cid:12) es the convective term and,thereby,guarantees that the functionaldependence ofthe velocity upon the tim e and \constants" stays,underperturbation,the sam e asitused to be in the undisturbed setting. The variable \constants" obeying this condition are called osculating elem ents. O therwise,


We study a spin lattice realized with an array of charged quantum dots and embedded in a cavity. Optically excited polaritons, i.e., exciton-cavity-mixed states, interact with the electron spins in the dots. Linearly polarized excitation induces two-spin and multispin interactions. We discuss how the multispin interaction terms, which represent a source of error for two-qubit quantum gates, can be suppressed using local control of the exciton energy. The exciton spontaneous emission and the photon leakage out of the cavity are taken into account. We show that using detuning conditional phase-shift gates with high fidelity can be obtained. The cavity provides long-range spin coupling and the resulting gate operation time is shorter than the spin decoherence time.


Kernel adaptive filters (KAFs) are non-linear filters which can adapt temporally and have the additional benefit of being computationally efficient through use of the "kernel trick". In a number of real-world applications, such as channel equalisation, the non-linear mapping provides significant improvements over conventional linear techniques such as the least mean squares (LMS) and recursive least squares (RLS) algorithms. Prior works have focused mainly on the theory and accuracy of KAFs, with little research on their implementations. This article proposes several variants of algorithms based on the kernel normalised least mean squares (KNLMS) algorithm which utilise a delayed model update to minimise dependencies. Subsequently, this work proposes corresponding hardware architectures which utilise this delayed model update to achieve high sample rates and low latency while also providing high modelling accuracy. The resultant delayed KNLMS (DKNLMS) algorithms can achieve clock rates up to 12× higher than the standard KNLMS algorithm, with minimal impact on accuracy and stability. A system implementation achieves 250 GOps/s and a throughput of 187.4 MHz on an Ultra96 board with 1.8× higher throughput than previous state of the art.


Radial structures of atmospheric pressure glow discharges in dielectric barrier discharge with multiple current pulses are investigated by a self-consistent two-dimensional fluid model. The simulation results show that the discharge current densities at different radial positions do not reach their peaks simultaneously, indicating that there exists a radial non-uniform structure. The time delay between the plasma ignitions in different positions become larger and larger in the successive current pulses. It is argued that the radial non-uniformity originates from the edge effects in the first current pulse, and grows in the successive current pulses by the activation-inhibition mechanism.


We discuss and analyze the absorption-amplification properties of a weak probe field in a typical four-level atomic system in the presence of an additional coherence term, the spontaneously generated coherence term. The influences of the spontaneously generated coherence and a coherent pump field on the probe absorption (amplification) are investigated in detail. We show that the absorption of such a weak probe field can be dramatically enhanced due to the presence of the spontaneously generated coherence. At the same time, the probe-absorption profile exhibits the double-peak structure and the probe-absorption peak gradually decreases as the pump intensity increases. On the contrary, the amplification of such a weak probe field near the line center of the probe transition can be achieved by adjusting the coherent pump field intensity in the absence of the spontaneously generated coherence.


International law — Relation to municipal law — Municipal statute with extraterritorial effect — Whether contrary to international law — Whether statute may be construed in manner abrogating international law — The law of Pakistan. Jurisdiction — Territorial — Limits of — State's right to tax foreigners — Legislation with extraterritorial effect — Whether contrary to international law — The law of Pakistan.


BG Ind is a well-studied, bright, nearby binary consisting of a pair of F stars in a 1.46-d orbit. We have discovered in the TESS light curve for TIC 229804573 (aka BG Ind), a second eclipsing binary in the system with a 0.53-d period. Our subsequent analyses of the recent TESS and archival ground-based photometric and radial velocity (RV) data reveal that the two binaries are gravitationally bound in a 721-d period, moderately eccentric orbit. We present the results of a joint spectro-photodynamical analysis of the eclipse timing variation curves of both binaries based on TESS and ground-based archival data, the TESS light curve, archival RV data, and the spectral energy distribution, coupled with the use of PARSEC stellar isochrones. We confirm prior studies of BG Ind that found that the brighter binary A consists of slightly evolved F-type stars with refined masses of 1.32 and 1.43 M⊙, and radii of 1.59 and 2.34R⊙. The previously unknown binary B has two less massive stars of 0.69 and 0.64 M⊙ and radii of 0.64 and 0.61R⊙. Based on a number of different arguments that we discuss, we conclude that the three orbital planes are likely aligned to within 17○.


Commercial peanut cultivars in the USA are often grown under soil and environmental conditions resulting in intermittent periods of water deficit. Two plant traits have been identified that result in conservative use of water and allow sustained growth during drought: (1) restricted transpiration rate under high atmospheric vapor pressure deficit (VPD) and (2) earlier closure of stomata in the soil-drying cycle resulting in decreased daily transpiration rate. The objective of this study was to investigate whether there was diversity in these two putative traits for drought resistance among nine US commercial peanut cultivars. When the response to VPD was measured at an average temperature of 32∘C, eight of the nine cultivars expressed a restricted transpiration rate at high VPD. However, at 24∘C none of the cultivars exhibited a restriction of transpiration rate at high VPD. No differences were found among the nine cultivars in their response to soil drying.


AIM: To investigate the protective effect of magnesium isoglycyrrhizinate(Mg IG) on excessive hepatectomy animal model and its possible mechanism.METHODS: We used the standard 90% hepatectomy model in Sprague-Dawley rats developed using the modified Emond's method,in which the left,middle,right upper,and right lower lobes of the liver were removed. Rats with 90% liver resection were divided into three groups,and were injected intraperitoneally with 3 m L saline(control group),30 mg/kg(low-dose group) and 60 mg/kg(high-dose group) of Mg IG,respectively. Animals were sacrificed at various time points and blood was drawn from the vena cava. Biochemical tests were performed with an automatic biochemical analyzer for the following items: serum alanine aminotransferase(ALT),aspartate aminotransferase(AST),glutamyl endopeptidase,total bilirubin(TBil),direct bilirubin(DBil),total protein,albumin,blood glucose(Glu),hyper-sensitivity C-reactive protein,prothrombin time(PT),and thrombin time(TT). Postoperative survival time was observed hourly until death. Hepatocyte regeneration was analyzed by immunohistochemistry. Serum inflammatory cytokines(IL-1,IL-6,IL-10,and i NOS) was analyzed by ELISA. STAT3 protein and m RNA were analyzed by Western blot and quantitative reversetranscription PCR,respectively.RESULTS: The high-dose group demonstrated a significantly prolonged survival time,compared with both the control and the low-dose groups(22.0 ± 4.7 h vs 8.9 ± 2.0 vs 10.3 ± 3.3 h,P = 0.018). There were significant differences among the groups in ALT,Glu and PT levels starting from 6 h after surgery. The ALT levels were significantly lower in the Mg IG treated groups than in the control group. Both Glu and PT levels were significantly higher in the Mg IG treated groups than in the control group. At 12 h,ALT,AST,TBil,DBil and TT levels showed significant differences between the Mg IG treated groups and the control group. No significant differences in hepatocyte regeneration were found. Compared to the control group,the high


Sanathnagar, located in the centre of Hyderabad city, is taken as a case study to assess the meteorological factors influencing the air quality parameters Benzene, Toluene, Xylene (BTX compounds) and to identify the significant sources of pollution using the interspecies ratios. A data of ten years (20072017) from Central Pollution control board (CPCB), Hyderabad, Telangana state is studied. TX compounds coming under Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC) were considered as the air quality parameters, seasons as cases and concerning meteorological factors such as Atmospheric Temperature AT (C), Relative Humidity RH(%), Wind Speed WS (m/s), Wind Direction WD (deg), Sun Radiation SR (w/m), Barometric Pressure BP (mm/Hg). Multivariate statistical techniques, namely Principal Component Analysis (PCA), and Cluster Analysis are used in this study with the help of IBM SPSS 26. The KMO test sampling adequacy found to be higher than 0.5, and the Bartlett test showed lesser value than 0.00, hence proving the results of the analysis are satisfactory. From BTX ratios it was observed that T/B was much higher than one and X/B been minimal value for all seasons indicating traffic pollution as a significant source of ambient air pollution in the study area. On the other hand, the correlation matrix states that a positive correlation between meteorological factors and ambient air quality parameters are as follows: SRBenzene, Xylene; BPToluene; WSBenzene, Toluene, and Xylene and the factors with a negative correlation on parameters are WD, RH, AT. PCA states that ambient air quality parameters are influenced by meteorological factors such as SR, RH, WS, WD (major influencers) and BP, AT (moderator influencers). Whereas in Cluster Analysis major influencers are WS, AT, RH and moderate are WP, SR, BP respectively. Therefore, PCA and CA results have shown similar trends in the categorization of meteorological influencers.


Some characters on micro structure and chemical composition of hydrous titanium oxide (HTO) and its granules crosslinked with polyacrylic acid hydrazide (PAH) were measured. And by using agitated tank system, seawater uranium adsorption properties of HTO and its granules were evaluated. Based on these results, the mechanism of adsorption and the effect of granulation were discussed. Pore diffusion appeared to occur in macro pore and adsorption seemed to occur mainly on inner surface of the macro pore. The pore diffusion coefficient and adsorption capacity of the granulated HTO were found to be little affected by crosslinking or by granule diameter. With increase of granule diameter the liquid-film mass transfer coefficient of the crosslinked granule increased. It was shown that PAH is a binder with good seawater permeability.


This paper proposes a novel technique for speech-based interest recognition in natural conversations. We introduce a fully automatic system that exploits the principle of bidirectional Long Short-Term Memory (BLSTM) as well as the structure of socalled bottleneck networks. BLSTM nets are able to model a self-learned amount of context information, which was shown to be beneficial for affect recognition applications, while bottleneck networks allow for efficient feature compression within neural networks. In addition to acoustic features, our technique considers linguistic information obtained from a multi-stream BLSTM-HMM speech recognizer. Evaluations on the TUM AVIC corpus reveal that the bottleneck-BLSTM method prevails over all approaches that have been proposed for the Interspeech 2010 Paralinguistic Challenge task.


A 77-year-old woman presented to the emergency department after the shortness of breath and chest pain she had been experiencing for a week suddenly worsened. She had recently received treatment for suspected pneumonia or pleurisy and had undergone cardiac catheterization (findings were reported as normal) for nonspecific ischemic changes on electrocardiography. The patient described the pain as pleuritic with pressure sensation over her chest. She denied any symptoms of deep venous thrombosis, fever, chills, cough, hemoptysis, or sputum production; any recent surgery, prolonged immobilization, or any personal or family history of deep venous thrombosis, pulmonary embolism, or clotting disorders; and any history of smoking tobacco, drinking alcohol, or using recreational drugs. The patient's history was remarkable for hypertension, hyperlipidemia, hypothyroidism, acid reflux, and melanoma treated 20 years earlier. Physical examination findings were unremarkable except for mild bilateral pedal edema. No calf tenderness was noted. Laboratory values were normal except marginally elevated troponin levels. Electrocardiography showed slightly prolonged QTc and T-wave inversion across precordial leads. Chest computed tomography with contrast medium revealed massive bilateral pulmonary emboli (short arrows) and an 8-cm intracardiac thrombus traversing patent foramen ovale (PFO) (with each limb, 3-4 cm, in the left and right atrium [long arrow]). Transthoracic echocardiography of the heart confirmed the findings on computed tomography (supplemental video online linked to this article). Anticoagulation was initiated and the patient referred to cardiothoracic surgery for emergent clot removal.

A well-known cause of paradoxical emboli, PFO can cause stroke, limb ischemia, visceral infarction, or pulmonary embolism. Primary care physicians and hospitalists should have a high index of suspicion for detecting PFO during work-up for cryptogenic stroke.


This research aimed to investigate whether the implementation of "English Songwriting" as a teaching activity could increase students' learning attitudes. The researcher noted the challenges while the research was carried out and provided solutions for the study. Action research was conducted with 110 students from a private university in Taiwan as participants. It spanned for two semesters with two instances of English songwriting activities.[1] Data collection instruments included both the students' reflections and their levels of satisfaction toward the English songwriting activities before, during, and after teaching. Qualitative methodology was used to analyze whether English songwriting was able to improve the students' attitudes on English learning through their opinions, feedback, interviews and satisfaction questionnaires. The findings showed that all of the students completed the task of English Songwriting, and most of the students did the work in a joyful and serious manner. Results showed that this activity increased students' English vocabulary and motivation for learning. Other abilities also developed such as teamwork, communication, appreciation of peers' talents in writing lyrics and songs, brainstorming, creativity and research work. The contents of the songwriting could also be a first step to have a better understanding of students' psychological and emotional status. The researcher provided suggestions for English teaching and recommendations for future studies based on the results.


This paper addresses the control problem for a structurally flexible positioning system by utilizing lead zirconate titanate (PZT) piezoelectric transducers to act as actuator and sensor elements. It is shown that proper placement of PZT actuators can result in less torque requirements for these actuators. Furthermore, a nonlinear control scheme is developed and augmented with a friction compensation term. Experimental results are presented which illustrate the effectiveness of the control algorithm and improved performance of the controller as compared to the case where no secondary actuation is used.


Electron‐scale magnetic holes (ESMHs) have been widely observed in astrophysical and space plasmas, while their generations, evolutions, and three‐dimensional topologies are still unclear. Here we report two ESMH events detected by the Magnetospheric Multiscale spacecraft in the solar wind and the magnetosheath, respectively. The divergence analysis for the magnetic field indicates that ESMHs have nonlinear field topologies. Then a recently developed reconstruction method, based on the second‐order Taylor expansion, is applied to such ESMHs. Eventually, the first three‐dimensional topologies of ESMHs are obtained. The reconstructed results show that the ESMHs may have complex cross‐section shapes (e.g., saddle‐like shapes) and comparable extension lengths in the parallel and perpendicular directions to the magnetic field, which are inconsistent with the cylinder simplifications for a magnetic hole in previous studies. This work could improve our understandings for the geometric properties and thereby the generations and evolutions of ESMHs.


In the field of control engineering, approximating the higher-order system with its reduced model copes with more intricate problems. These complex problems are addressed due to the usage of computing technologies and advanced algorithms. Reduction techniques enable the system from higher-order to lower-order form retaining the properties of former even after reduction. This document renders a method for demotion of uncertain systems based on State Space Analysis. Numerical examples are illustrated to show the accuracy of the proposed method.


The unveiling of the first reusable space shuttle vehicle by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration is discussed. The role of orbiter 101 as a test vehicle is stressed. Approach and landing tests, ground vibration tests, crew are among the topics included.


Aim To design and synthesize 3 (2 alkyloxy 5 methylphenyl) 3 phenylpropylamine derivatives,and to search for the drug for urinary incontinence with fewer side effects and improve its activities Methods The title compounds were synthesized through cyclization,methylation,amidation,reduction,or demethylation from cinnamic acid and p cresol Results Ten new compounds were obtained Their structures were confirmed by IR and 1H NMR.


Recently, Le Vine and Willett obtained a correction to the transmission line model for computing radiation from lightning. In this paper we examine procedures, based on the formula of Le Vine and Willett, for obtaining the location, velocity, and current of lightning discharges from multiple station measurements such as those being implemented by Thomson. In the appendix we apply the algorithms of this paper to recently obtained data for an observed in-cloud pulse. We show that the propagation velocity of the pulse is 0.61 c, while the channel length is 118.7±9.2 m. In numerical simulations of lightning discharges, we observed in an earlier paper that before each flash, there was a channel formation phase where electric breakdown occurred along short channels in the cloud with length on the order of 100 m. Hence the length of the channel associated with this pulse is consistent with the length of the breakdown regions during the channel formation phase observed in the numerical simulations.


This paper discusses about the issue of "soft control" for swarms system in Euclidean space, which coordinates the collective behavior of the group by adding a few controlled intelligent agents under the condition of keeping the local rules of the existing agents in the system. It shows that the swarm center will be effectively transferred into an expectant position by putting a few controlled intelligent agents and controlling their initial position or controlling their position for a short time, and the swarm members will converge to a bounded region around the expectant position in a finite time. This paper gives a controlled law for controlled intelligent agents. Simulation testing shows the feasibility of soft control for swarm system.


Pulmonary thromboembolism in which hemostatic balance is disrupted is a disease with high morbidity and mortality rates with challenging diagnosis. A 73-year-old female patient presented to the emergency department with respiratory distress. She had undergone surgery for femoral neck fracture three months ago. She had gradually aggravating respiratory distress for the last 3-4 days. The patient was admitted to the hospital with the diagnosis of massive pulmonary embolism. She had a cardiac arrest after completion of thoracic computed tomography (thoracic CT). Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) was initiated. Alteplase (rt-PA) was infused at 100 mg/2 hours starting at the 37th minute of CPR in the late phase. As there was no room on the wards, she was admitted to the emergency room observation unit and extubated on the 9th day. Coumadin (warfarin) dose was adjusted and the patient was discharged on day 17 with an INR (International Normalized Ratio) of 2.3.


The utility model relates to an outdoor cabinet for a communication system, which comprises a cabinet body with doors. A communication device, a power supply and a wiring device are arranged inside the cabinet body. The utility model is characterized in that a water-logging warning module connected with an externally-connected monitoring center is arranged below the communication device inside the cabinet body. Compared with the prior art, the utility model has the advantage that as the water-logging warning module connected with an externally-connected monitoring center is arranged below the communication device inside the cabinet body, when water enters or submerges the water-logging warning module, the module is capable of sending a warning signal and transferring the signal to the monitoring center in a switching value so as to inform the monitoring center about repairing the cabinet, thereby protecting the communication device.


The main buildings of the Zuojiang multi-purpose dam project are dam, powerhouse, shipping water
slope and switch station, etc. The power house was river bed style and been laid out in the right bank, com-
posed of main and sub power house and fitting shop. The paper introduced the construction feature and reviewed
the construction course.


The hermeneutical horizon of my work is provided by the extent of the discussion of the relationship between the doctrine of the truth and the doctrine of opinion as are dealt with in Parmenidean thought and work. Rejecting the vision of any separation or opposition between the two parts in which the Parmenidean poem has traditionally been divided, I argue in favour of its theoretical unity. In this way, the ontology lays the foundations for an innovative explanation of natural phenomena. After having highlighted how this unity is required by the general structure of Parmenides' thought, I show how the B4 DK fragment represents the place where Parmenides constructs the passage from ontology to the explanation of natural phenomena. KEY-WORDS: Parmenides, being, doxa, eon, dokounta, apeonta, pareonta. RIASSUNTO: L'orizzonte interpretativo entro cui questo lavoro si inserisce è quello della discussione del rapporto tra la dottrina dell'essere e quella dell'opinione nel poema di Parmenide. Rifiutando la prospettiva di una qualche separazione o opposizione tra le due parti in cui esso tradizionalmente viene diviso, sostengo la tesi dell'unità teorica del Poema. Dopo aver mostrato come una tale unità sia richiesta dall'impianto generale del pensiero di Parmenide, individuo nel frammento 4 il luogo in cui Parmenide articola il passaggio tra le due dottrine. Il Poema offre pertanto una positiva visione della realtà, dove l'ontologia pone le premesse di un'originale spiegazione dei fenomeni naturali. PAROLE-CHIAVE: Parmenide, essere, doxa, eon, dokounta, apeonta, pareonta. APEONTA, PAREONTA. On fragment B4 DK FRATTICCI, Walter ANAIS DE FILOSOFIA CLÁSSICA, vol. 14 n. 27, 2020 ISSN 1982-5323 247 I. The history of the studies on Parmenides witnessed a crucial turning point with the turn of the second millennium. The traditional monopoly of metaphysical interpretation called by Mourelatos "the Standard Interpretation" (Mourelatos, 2008, xv) reading the poem Peri Physeos as an unfinished draft of ontology , gradually crumbled and was 1 replaced by a clear retrieval of the positive teaching embedded in the fragments of what is unanimously considered the second part of the poem, i. e. the so-called "doctrine of the Doxa". With a sort of Copernican revolution, which emphasized what until then had been too hastily marginalized or considered philosophically uninteresting, Parmenides as a scientist, or at least as a naturalist, started to overshadow the theorist of Being as presented in traditional textbooks. And I do not believe there would be any exaggeration in stating that if Theophrastus or Plutarch or Simplicius, as any of the commentators to whom we owe most of our present knowledge of Parmenides' poem, came across a report on the recently published studies on the sophos from Elea , maybe 2 would toil in recognizing in his profile outlined by these studies the long discussed philosopher. Another Parmenides, to quote the title of one of the most recent studies (Rossetti, 2017) , pushed his way through the 3 lines of fragments that had long been considered of low cognitive value, a keen scholar of natural phenomena, an expert cosmologist and daring researcher of vital processes. In short, the gravity centre of the poem changed. "Parmenides began Philosophy proper. A man now constitutes himself free from all ideas and opinions, denies their 1 truth, and says necessity alone, Being, is the truth. This beginning is certainly still dim and indefinite, and we cannot say much of what it involves; but to take up this position certainly is to develop the Philosophy proper, which has not hitherto existed" (Hegel, 1833, 208). Who, meanwhile, has turned out to be attractive to contemporary cultural sensitiveness. On Eleatica website 2 (www.eleatica.it) Pulpito has recorded more than seventy publications concerning Parmenides in the first two decades of the 21st century. A more detailed analysis of Rossetti's book in Fratticci 2020. 3 APEONTA, PAREONTA. On fragment B4 DK FRATTICCI, Walter ANAIS DE FILOSOFIA CLÁSSICA, vol. 14 n. 27, 2020 ISSN 1982-5323 248 Such an important shift did not obviously happen all of a sudden. It was prepared by a long series of works, which variously emphasized the importance of the so-called "second logos" of the poem . The 4 second part of the poem stopped being considered literary fiction or a 5 plain and simple criticism of Parmenides' contemporary scholars or precursors , showing all its value as real research on natural phenomena. 6 In this way, what was an evident imbalance in interpretation was redressed. After all, approaching with the modern logic of specialization or disciplinary distinction the 5th century an age in which the philosophical reflection on the origins and the myths at the basis of the peoples' cultures was turning towards a more exact knowledge of the position of man in the world was clearly an improper operation. A sophos of that time, to the extent he attempted to reconduct the plurality of natural phenomena to one principle with an approach we would call philosophical, could not dismiss the task of turning his searching sight towards them in order to decipher them. Consequently, assuming a preference for metaphysics to the detriment of naturalistic research was 7 clearly a wrong anachronism. An interpreter is certainly the son of his time . The eyeglasses he 8 wears always belong to the time he lives in. General cultural dynamics, in particular, theoretical atmospheres that mark epochs more or less deeply, do not leave him unaffected. The prevailing, if not exclusive, metaphysical interest which characterized the tradition of the studies on Parmenides finds its explanation in this observation, which also helps To be mentioned the studies by Schwabl 1953 and Bollack 1957. 4 Zeller's view 1923. 5 According to Diels 1897. 6 But also, vice versa, a preference for science to the detriment of the reflection on Being, as suggested by some 7 interpretative tendencies (the latest, Cerri 2018, 49-73, discussed by Fratticci 2018). Interpretation is always an open and, above all, endless process. It arises from the dialogue of a questioning reader 8 with a text in which he seeks adequate answers, making sure not to lock the text within the boundaries of the questions, and taking up the challenge of being surpassed and questioned by the very answers. APEONTA, PAREONTA. On fragment B4 DK FRATTICCI, Walter ANAIS DE FILOSOFIA CLÁSSICA, vol. 14 n. 27, 2020 ISSN 1982-5323 249 understand the direction contemporary researchers took. Our postmodern and technological age at the same time disillusioned with the all-encompassing views of the world built by a human, too human, metaphysical thought, and caught by the successes of science strongly 9 affects the bias of the interpreters of our time, and represents the cultural horizon of their interpretation. The reader of the 21st century is therefore spontaneously led to find in past thinkers' works the syntony with the scientific issues he is mostly attuned to. The historiographical interest is consequently very easily focused on the first steps of an adventure whose present constitutes the most advanced stage. Taking into due account this kind of cultural prejudice is essential in order to avoid naïve generalizations to which the interpreter might be led. In any case, Parmenides as a naturalist gained the centre of the stage. This new concern had the merit to advance the understanding of his thought, by digging in the fragments and obtaining new information. Among the scholars most committed in the endeavour to reconstruct Parmenides' naturalistic knowledge, Rossetti found in the poem and in the testimonies of doxography a catalogue of over 34 statements of undoubted naturalistic interest, some of which first provided by Parmenides himself . The so-called doxa doctrine contains 10 interesting information, and philosophical historiography cannot ignore it any longer. The effects of this hermeneutic revision, though, are not limited only to the doxa doctrine, but inevitably concern the whole image of Parmenides' poem. As a matter of fact, the new emphasis on the naturalistic teaching outlines a different perimeter of Parmenides' thought, reopening at the same time old issues which seemed clarified. As a matter of fact, not only is the doxa legitimized and raised to the And more than that, by a technology dismissing the interest in the great questions originating philosophical 9


In the present study it is revealed that majority of the mango growers were not adopting recommended plant protection measures for control of mango pest like mango hoppers, thrips, fruit flies, stem borer, shoot borer, mealy bug and termites. In case of control of disease like powdery mildew, majority of the mango growers had complete adoption whereas, majority of the mango growers had partial adoption regarding control measures of anthracnose. The study indicated that majority of the mango growers were not adopting recommended control measures for control of diseases like die-back and fruit rot. The study inferred that majority ( 66.67 per cent) of the mango growers had 'medium' level of adoption regarding plant protection measures.


The dramatic increase of the number of available transistors on a die have enabled the use of Field-Programmable-GateArrays (FPGAs) as custom computing elements. The mapping of ever larger computations to larger FPGAs, however, has exacerbated the problems of current design flows. Mapping steps such as place-and-routing can now last in the order of hours to accomplish; as the substantial increase in configurable elements and routing possibilities has undoubtedly stressed the algorithmic limitations of current synthesis tools.


Friction stir welding of aluminium alloys widely used in automotive and aerospace application due to its advanced and lightweight properties. The behaviour of FSW joints plays a significant role in the dynamic characteristic of the structure due to its complexities and uncertainties therefore the representation of an accurate finite element model of these joints become a research issue. In this paper, various finite elements (FE) modelling technique for prediction of dynamic properties of sheet metal jointed by friction stir welding will be presented. Firstly, nine set of flat plate with different series of aluminium alloy; AA7075 and AA6061 joined by FSW are used. Nine set of specimen was fabricated using various types of welding parameters. In order to find the most optimum set of FSW plate, the finite element model using equivalence technique was developed and the model validated using experimental modal analysis (EMA) on nine set of specimen and finite element analysis (FEA). Three types of modelling were engaged in this study; rigid body element Type 2 (RBE2), bar element (CBAR) and spot weld element connector (CWELD). CBAR element was chosen to represent weld model for FSW joints due to its accurate prediction of mode shapes and contains an updating parameter for weld modelling compare to other weld modelling. Model updating was performed to improve correlation between EMA and FEA and before proceeds to updating, sensitivity analysis was done to select the most sensitive updating parameter. After perform model updating, total error of the natural frequencies for CBAR model is improved significantly. Therefore, CBAR element was selected as the most reliable element in FE to represent FSW weld joint.


Objective:To study the major complications of preterm infants and their treatments. Methods:One hundred and eight cases of preterm infant, which were treated by synthetic method, were analyzed.There were 31 cases of pneumonia,20 cases of sclerema neonatorum,15 cases of asphyxic,19 cases of hypoglycemia, 5 cases of hyperglycemia, 5 cases of RDS, 7 cases of haemorrhagic disease and 6 with other problems. Results:The results showed that 87 cases were cured, 9 cases got better, 12 cases died. Conclusion:Position therapy , respiratory management, attention to glycemia and active conveyance are important methods to improve the conditions of preterm infants.


We present our theoretical studies of the luminescence spectra of a quantum cascade laser where the quantum wells in the active regions are replaced by parabolic quantum dots. In recent years there has been considerable progress in quantum-dot laser research. This is because of the discrete atom-like structure of energy levels in quantum dots. As a result of this energy structure the quantum-dot lasers are expected to have better performance than the quantum-well lasers. We study the optical properties of quantum dots cascade lasers for a finite size system by finding numerically eigenfunctions and eigenvalues of many-particle Hamiltonian with Coulomb interaction between the electrons. A typical laser structure [1], emitting at a wavelength 10.5 μm, was employed in our numerical simulations. The size (up to 20 nm) and the shape (circular or elliptic) of the quantum dots and the number of electrons (up to 9 electrons) in an active dot are varied. We also study the influence of external magnetic field on the emission spectra of quantum dot cascade structures.


A newly developed silver halide material, KONIKA MINOLTA OPTO P7000, was examined its holographic characteristics. The commercially available material, KONIKA P5600, is blue-green sensitive but the new P7000 shows enough sensitivity to red light for practical use. We recorded holograms with He-Ne laser light on P7000 plates and evaluated the holographic characteristics such as diffraction efficiency and reconstructed wavelength. The results are discussed comparing with those of former Agfa products.


The seven-story apartment building in Emser Straße designed by Sebastian Treese Architekten stands in the vibrant district of Berlin Wilmersdorf. Currently under construction, its dark brick façade is a tribute to the expressionist architecture of early 1920s Berlin found widely in the area. In a world of increasingly industrialized building techniques and disappearing craftsmanship, Sebastian Treese Architekten tries to show that it is possible to combine both worlds. This essay describes the spatial and organizational context of the building and how it was designed to fit into and be part of its neighborhood by considering some of the compositional and material resources involved.


A basic assumption behind most atherosclerosis research of the last twenty years has been the idea that the giant lipoprotein molecules which circulate in our blood percolate all the time through the walls of our arteries (moving from the lumen through the intima and media into the adventitia) and that when there are too many of them, they get into the wall faster than they get out of it, and, therefore, begin to accumulate there. In recent years, however, our own studies and those of others have led us to suspect that far from being freely permeable, the normal arterial endothelium has a very low permeability for large lipoprotein molecules. We therefore proposed a very different hypothesis at the Tokyo, Frankfurt and Helsinki Symposia of 1969 and at the Lindau Symposium of 1970, as a basis for future experimental work: We postulated that under normal conditions mostly small molecules cross into the arterial wall to take care of its metabolic needs. Most of the big molecules, such as the lipoproteins, would leave the vascular tree at its finest terminal twigs, namely the capillaries and venules, in order to get to the various organs where they are urgently needed to supply energy and building blocks for new cell membranes. And if we stop to think about it for a moment, arteries really represent canals for long distance transport. It would not make any biological sense if nature allowed these valuable large molecules to be lost in the walls of the canals before they reach their destination. When, however, an artery is injured in any of a dozen ways, then injury changes the endothelium, it "opens doors" in it and allows large quantities of lipoprotein molecules to penetrate into the arterial wall where they accumulate because they cannot get out and they cannot be handled easily;they are not expected there. What insults could open doors in the arterial endothelium? We thought that most of the agents that promote the deposition of lipids into arteries should be able to do this, namely hypertension, immune insults, diabetes, nicotine, and-above all-prolonged hyperlipemia. Some recent studies have given partial support to this concept, notably those of Dr. Adams, Dr. Gore and Drs. Scott and Hurley. These workers injected intraven*Professor of Pathology Department


The substantial concern of this article is a question to what extent does the contemporary World Wide Web as an information retrieval system reflect key attributes of ideal hypertextual systems. The topic is relevant, since in the literature notions of hypertext and hypertextual systems are accompanied with strong implications not only for the ease and efficacy of access to information, but also for fostering democratisation, augmenting creativity and cooperativeness of human beings. After the brief presentation of the problem the paper focuses on the methodology of analysing this problem – definition of relevant dimensions of hypertext in the World Wide Web, their operationalisation and empirical verification. The latter is presented most thoroughly since it includes a procedure of generating a network of web sites in the Slovenian World Wide Web on the basis of approximately 1.8 million of web pages, identified by search system Najdi.si. After the definition of units and relations, relevant methods and their results are presented in order to assess the hypertextuality of the Slovenian World Wide Web. It is shown that a relatively great proportion of web sites do not follow the expectation of the designers of the World Wide Web technology for it to be a globally interconnected "Docuverse", however, a large minority of web sites are in aggregate reflecting the attributes of ideal hypertext systems. The results can be informative for the global World Wide Web since one of the essential characteristics of the Slovenian World Wide Web have similar distribution to the one assessed in other researches on significantly larger - although not adequate for complete network analysis - proportions of the World Wide Web.


Because of COVID-19, distance learning was adopted by the majority of educational institutions as a strategy to ensure the continuity of education. In Morocco, forcing students to change their traditional learning methods has put them through an unprecedented learning experience. This study aims at investigating Moroccan university students of English experiences with distance learning during the pandemic in terms of readiness, satisfaction and perceived barriers. To achieve the objectives of the study, the researchers relied on an exploratory descriptive approach through a self-developed online questionnaire involving 138 respondents. The results indicate that students' readiness to engage in distance learning was found to be at a moderate level. Additionally, the participants reported a low level of satisfaction with their experience of distance learning during COVID-19 pandemic. Thus, they preferred face-to-face learning over distance learning. Lack of previous experience with distance learning, lack of needed technology and inadequate internet connection were found to be among the major barriers to distance learning during the pandemic. Furthermore, the respondents expressed concerns on issues related to motivation, interaction and lack of technical skills. The findings of this study were discussed and compared to the findings of other related studies.


The microtubule (MT) plus end–tracking protein TTBK2 phosphorylates kinesin-13 family MT depolymerase KIF2A and removes it from MTs, thereby antagonizing KIF2A-induced depolymerization at MT plus ends during cell migration.


A comparison of results for an analogous scattering problem is made for the interactive scattering of a double sphere in both acoustics and electromagnetic scattering. For initial testing purposes, the problem is simplified to that of two identical spheres with the same size and physical properties. The acoustical scatterer is modeled to match optical characteristics of the already studied optical scattering problem [G. W. Kattawar and C. E. Dean, Opt. Lett. 8, 48-50 (1983).]. Particular study is made of situations that lead to large side scattering responses due to resonance phenomena. The model for the acoustical scattering problem was discussed in a previous Acoustical Society of America meeting [C. E. Dean and J. P. Braselton, J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 139, 1121 (2016)].


A method for manufacturing a bipolar punch-through semiconductor device is provided, wherein the following steps are performed (a)providing a first high-doped wafer (10) having a first and a second side (11, 2), which is doped at least on the first side (11) with first particles of the first conductivity type, (b)providing a second low-doped wafer (20) of the first conductivity type having a third and a fourth side, (c)creating a wafer laminate having a wafer laminate thickness by bonding the first wafer (10) on its first side (11) and the second wafer (20) on its fourth side (22) together, (d)performing afterwards a diffusion step,thereby creating a diffused inter- space layer (31), which comprises first sided parts of the first wafer (10) and fourth sided parts of the second wafer (20), wherein that part of the second wafer having unamended doping concentration in the finalized device forms a drift layer (2), (e)afterwards creating at least one layer of the second conductivity type on the third side (21), (f)afterwards reducing the wafer laminate thickness from the second side (12) within the inter-space layer (31) and within the second wafer (20) such that a buffer layer(3) is created, which comprises the remaining part of the wafer laminate on the fourth side (22) having higher doping concentration than the drift layer (2).


Link failures frequently occur in communication networks, which negatively impacts network services delivery. Compared to traditional distributed networks, Software-Defined Networking (SDN) provides numerous benefits for link robustness to avoid services unavailability. To cope with link failures, the existing SDN approaches compute multiple paths and install corresponding flow rules at network switches without considering the reliability value of the primary computed path. This increases computation time, traffic overhead and end-to-end packets delay. This paper proposes a new approach called Reliability Aware Multiple Path Flow Rule (RAF) that calculates links reliability and installs minimum flow rules for multiple paths based on the reliability value of the primary path. RAF has been simulated, evaluated and compared with the existing approaches. The simulation results show that RAF performs better than the existing approaches in terms of computation overhead at the controller and reduces end-to-end packet delay and traffic overhead for flow rules installation.


OBJECTIVE
The Basque Government (Spain) approved a population based Colorectal Cancer Screening Programme in 2008 with its base on Primary Healthcare. Since then, a coverage of 100% of the population and an average participation rate of 68.4% have been achieved. General Practitioners and nurses play a central role on its implementation. The aim of this work was to describe the characteristics, involvement and attitudes of the health professionals that implement the programme.

METHODS
A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted in Primary Healthcare to general practitioners and nurses between May and June of 2016. An ad-hoc online questionnaire was designed. The data included socio-demographic information and questions regarding their involvement on the programme.

RESULTS
1,216 health professionals answered the questionnaire, 50.7% were general practitioners and 49.3% nurses. 78% of the responders were women. The 75.8% considered the programme very important although differences were found between general practitioners and nurses. The 89% of the professionals attended training and 34% scientific workshops about screening at least once. There were differences between general practitioners and nurses on the attendance to the training and importance they give to the programme, and on their participation on workshops.

CONCLUSIONS
There is a high level of involvement of Primary Healthcare professionals in the programme as they consider it very important; this could be one of the keys for its success. The differences between professionals on their opinion and experience should be taken into account on its design, as they are the ones with a closer contact with the population.


Diabetes mellitus is a disease of body metabolic disorders with a sign of an increase in blood glucose levels. This disease is chronic and requires treatment for life. The instability of blood glucose levels can cause chronic complications, so prevention is needed with treatment therapy. Compliance with someone taking oral hypoglycemic medication is one of the contributions to the occurrence or absence of complications of diabetes mellitus so education needs to be done so that the client is compliant in taking medication. This research was a quantitative type with the method of quasi experimental pre and post test without control. Subjects were respondents 34, selected by purposive sampling. Data were analyzed by Wilcoxon test. The results showed that there was a significant difference between adherence to taking oral hypoglycemic drugs clients in Diabetes Melitus before and after health education with p-value of 0.000. Health education can support health programs in managing diabetes so as to produce changes and increase knowledge in controlling blood sugar levels in diabetes clients. Keywords: Health education, Diabetes mellitus, Oral hypoglycemic drug


Education is an inherent right for all individuals. In addition, all individuals no matter what their cognitive level or physical abilities, have a right to be able to experience and participate in educational activities just as their same aged peers do. It is the job of the professionals who work with these individuals to ensure that they have access to the tools that will allow them to be the most independent and experience the most joy and success when attempting these tasks. It is the goals of the Integrated Crayons for Adaptive Needs (ICAN) project to achieve this through the use of a customized adapted crayon that has been made using recycled materials. ICAN achieves not only the goal of access and inclusion for individuals with disabilities, but it integrates innovative practices in biomedical engineering, inclusive practices in education and assistive technology, and the environmental practices of recycling and community involvement.


Effective software effort estimation is one of the biggest challenges in software engineering. One of these challenges occurs when it is required to estimate software effort in the early stages of the software life cycle, as software requirements in this stage are usually incomplete. As Unified Modeling Language (UML) model became more prominent in software requirements and design processes, software estimators became more interested to use UML model and especially the use case diagrams to estimate software. In this paper, a novel regression model based on the use case point method is created for software effort estimation. Moreover, a Mamdani Fuzzy Inference System (FIS) approach is applied on this model to enhance the accuracy of estimation. Results show that an overall improvement of 10% can be achieved after applying the proposed approach. KeywordsMamdani FIS, regression model, software effort estimation, use case diagrams, Use Case Points


Storytelling is an effective and important educational means for children. With the augmented reality (AR) technology, storytelling becomes more and more interactive and intuitive in the sense of human computer interaction. Although AR technology is not new, it's potential in education is just beginning to be explored. In this paper, we present a 3D mixed media story cube which uses a foldable cube as the tangible and interactive storytelling interface. Here, we embed both the concept of AR and the concept of tangible interaction. Multiple modalities including speech, 3D audio, 3D graphics and touch are used to provide the user (especially children) with multi-sensory experiences in the process of storytelling. Our research explores a new interface for children education.


SECTION 1.—Membership shall be open to persons interested in the object of the society. SECTION 2.—The membership of the society shall consist of the following classes: a. Active members who pay annual dues in the following categories: Student, Foreign, Regular, Associate, and Sustaining. b. Honorary Foreign Members shall be elected by the Board of Governors from among the ichthyologists and herpetologists, located outside of Canada, Mexico, and the United States, who have attained distinction as investigators. The Honorary Foreign Members shall be equally divided between ichthyologists and herpetologists. SECTION 3.—Nomination to membership shall be upon recommendation of one member. SECTION 4.—Distinguished Fellows. a. Distinguished Fellows shall be elected by the Board of Governors from among North American members of the society who have attained distinction as investigators and/or have made noteworthy contributions to the society. b. Nominees for Distinguished Fellows shall have been members of the society for a period of 20 years or more. c. The number of Distinguished Fellows shall not exceed 20 at any one time and not more than six shall be elected in any one year. They shall be equally divided among ichthyologists and herpetologists. d. Distinguished Fellows shall be nominated by petition that shall be signed by 10 or more members of the society. This petition shall list the scientific achievements and services rendered by the nominee. The petition shall be addressed to the Secretary at least two months before the annual meeting. e. Distinguished Fellows shall be listed on the inside front cover of Copeia.


We propose a quantitative approach to both feature evaluation and comparison that combines Forensic Handwriting Examination best practices with Pattern Recognition methodologies. The former provide a set of features that are meant to capture the distinctive aspects of handwriting, the latter the computational tools for the quantitative evaluation of the features values as well as for their comparison. We will show that such a combined approach leads to a procedure that is theoretically sounds and can be expressed in terms the document examiners are familiar with. Eventually, we will suggest possible ways of using the results of the proposed approach in forensic handwriting examiners casework.


Service recovery is a question which the service provider needs to face earnestly in the service marketing.Under the background of economic globalization,the cross-regional operation of service industry entails facing diversified groups of customers.On the basic of empirical study on Chinese and American questionnaire,from the aspects of satisfaction,social capital and servicing time,this paper researches the difference of the consumer's reaction to win-back offer,and puts forward the suggestions to enterprises.


This research aims to develop an electrical energy monitoring system using Internet of Things (IoT) technology and  based on mobile applications to increase the efficiency of electrical energy use and reduce energy waste. The context of this research is  the increasingly urgent need to monitor and optimize electrical energy consumption, both in domestic and industrial environments, as part of efforts to reduce environmental impact and Operating costs related to electricity consumption. The methodology used in this study includes the design and implementation of an IoT system consisting of energy sensors and hardware connected to the Internet, as well as the development of a mobile application as a user interface. Energy consumption data recorded by the sensors will be transmitted wirelessly to mobile applications for real-time monitoring and analysis. The results of this study show that an IoT-based electrical energy monitoring system is capable of providing accurate and timely information on electrical energy consumption, thereby helping users  increase energy efficiency  and Reduce operating costs related to electricity consumption. Additionally, the system allows users to easily monitor and control electrical energy consumption through their mobile devices, which in turn can contribute to more resilient and sustainable energy management. This research is important in efforts to create a more sustainable and energy-efficient environment, as well as raise public awareness about electrical energy consumption.


The solubility of hydrogen in molten iron, nickel, iron-copper and iron-copper-nickel alloys has been studied. Methods for solubility determination and deoxidizing conditions of specimens have been examined and comparison of experimental results with thermodynamic calculations shows that insufficient deoxidation of melts may lead to inaccurate results.Experimental results obtained with helium argon and molybdum methods are compared, and the helium method appears to be the most reliable. In the present investigation, all determinations except the hydrogen solubility in nickel were made with the helium method.Addition of copper to molten iron increases the solubility of hydrogen up to 25% Cu, the solubility appears to decrease with further addition. The addition of nickel to liquid Fe-Cu alloys up to 7% Ni has no appteciable effect on the solubility of hydrogen.


Chromatophore responses of fiddler crabs have been utilized to study the chro-matophorotropins that these crabs produce themselves and, in addition, to assay for chromatophorotropic substances from other species of invertebrates.


Inheritance of purple and yellow storage root pigmentation was studied in F 2 and BC generations derived from carrot plant introductions. Purple and yellow root col-ors were each conditioned by single dominant loci, P, and Y 2 . P, is described for the first time. Differences in expressivity of P, were noted within storage roots and throughout the plant. Purple root and flower pigmentation were inherited together in derivatives of PI 173687, but PI 175719 purple-rooted derivatives had no purple flower pigmentation. This suggests two different alleles of P,. Purple node color was conditioned by a second locus, P 2 , which was linked to P, and separated by approximately 36 cM. Purple leaves, peti-oles, and bracts tended to be inherited together and independently of root pigmentation. V 2 , which has been described previously, conditioned low carotene content of the storage root xylem ("core") in high carotene orange background whereas in lower carotene orange background the yellow appearance often spread into phloem. P, and Y 2 were not linked to each other or to Rs. F 2 progeny and 1:1 normal/mutant ratio in testcross progeny. The mutant phenotype was controlled by a single recessive allele, designated phm. The mutant phenotype is expressed by plants in field and greenhouse environments. The genetic stock can be used as an easily iden-tifiable marker in linkage studies and in studies of floral morphogenesis in pearl millet.


Objective To investigate significance of correct the imbalance of pro-and anti-inflammatory cytokines by high volume hemofiltration(HVHF) in prophylactic treatment of multiple organ dysfunction syndrome(MODS).Methods Eighteen minipigs were allocated either to an control group(group M,n=9) or to the treatment group(group HF,n=9) that underwent prophylactic HVHF which startes 1 hour later after the end of the injection of LPS and lasts 12 hours every day and 3 days in all.Blood samples were taken at every time points for evaluation of serum macrophage migration inhibitory factor(MIF) and glucocorticoid((cortisol).)Utilization ELISA to detect expression of MIF,IL-4,IL-6 in blood plasma.Radio-immunity(RI) was used to observe the expression of glucocorticoid(cortisol) in serum.Results Earlier HVHF could reduce the plasma concentrations of inflammatory cytokines.Earlier HVHF could reduce the morbidity and mortality of MODS.Conclusion The earlier HVHF could reduce the plasma concentrations of proinflammatory cytokines and could partly correct the imbalance of pro-and anti-inflammatory cytokines.By correcting the imbalance of pro and anti-inflammatory cytokines in prophylactic treatment of multiple organ dysfunction with HVHF,a valuable theory evidence of HVHF in preventing and treating MODS is found.


Although diabetes mellitus is reaching epidemic proportions worldwide, ocular surface complications are still largely believed to be uncommon. Although these complications are not often sight threatening, the general well‐being of patients and the cost of their health care can be respectively compromised and added by them. Over the last decade, an association of ocular surface complications (in particular reduced corneal sub‐basal nerve density and corneal sensitivity) with peripheral neuropathy has emerged, which could help recognize the development of peripheral complications at an earlier stage and also provide research opportunities for examining new treatment modalities of diabetic neuropathies. The ocular surface complications of diabetes mellitus and their association with peripheral neuropathy are reviewed by this report.


A concept platform integrating the precise movement of a linear or azimuthal actuator, such as in instrumented wireline intervention tools (IWIT), with fast pressure measurement and/or rock sampling instruments is presented. This device accurately moves the measurement probe or sampling assembly either in the longitudinal or azimuthal direction in the wellbore to significantly improve operational efficiency and data quality.
 Precise movement control enables acquiring data at exact intervals to eliminate errors induced by cable stretching, overpull, or variable cable creep. Specific lithofacies can be targeted from a borehole image log. Simulation with current IWIT capabilities shows significantly reduced uncertainty over common wireline protocols. The operational procedure includes correlation using standard wireline gamma ray methods. The platform is anchored at the top of the zone of interest and a distributed survey made with the linear actuator for every probe displacement. Removing cable movement significantly reduces an important source of error in distributed pressure measurement. A similar approach is proposed for the coring tool with the added benefit of being able to rotate the tool's bit at different azimuths to collect rock samples.
 This concept platform would enable reducing the time spent on pressure surveys if similar accuracy to current standard practices is acceptable. Because the only remaining source of error is gauge accuracy, results show that fewer stations are necessary to replicate standard wireline results. Where accuracy is important, as with distributed pressure measurements to quantify reserves using gradient intersection to define fluid contacts or determine compositional gradients, the proposed approach is shown to significantly reduce error using the same number of stations. We use data sets from previous work to show the impact of the error reduction in the position of the fluid contact.
 IWITs currently used in cased hole employ active anchoring to perform intervention tasks, including linear actuators capable of delivering up to 80,000 lbf of stroking force. In the proposed concept platform, this pulling force could be instrumental where there is high risk of differential sticking. By anchoring the upper part of the platform in overlying impermeable intervals, the probe could be lowered into the permeable interval to conduct the pressure survey or fluid or rock sampling operation without exposing the full length of the platform to the pressure differential forces for significant risk mitigation.
 The proposed architecture for the concept platform innovatively combines several operational concepts used today as separate entities in wireline operations. Their integration, however, generates important efficiency gains, reduces the risk in stationary measurements and operations, improves accuracy, and enables the implementation of unprecedent distributed pressure measurements and coring practices with azimuthal rotational capabilities using wireline.


Today the effectiveness of using of electromagnetic energy is a key issue in the creation and application of electrical devices. It is known that coaxial magneto plasma accelerator can be used to synthesize ultrafine powders of functional materials. The factors that influence on its efficiency are not studied enough. In this paper we demonstrate the possibility of achieving high (about 80%) efficiency of conversion of electromagnetic energy into the energy of combustion of high-current Z-pinch with using high-current pulsed accelerator with graphite electrodes.


Since the work of Harberger, it has been widely believed that corporate and personal income taxation in the U.S. causes capital to be misallocated among sectors. This prevailing view has been challenged in recent years by a number of authors who have argued that the corporate tax does not distort the relative returns to corporate and non-corporate investments. Our analysis shows that recent alternative views of corporate tax incidence rest on two assumptions. Specifically, it is assumed that ordinary income can be converted to capital gains only in the corporate sector and that firms have sufficient taxable income to utilize their nondebt tax shields fully. We present evidence that these assumptions are not supported empirically, and discuss the resulting implications for the allocation of capital.


AMIE+ is a state-of-the-art algorithm for learning rules from RDF knowledge graphs (KGs). Based on association rule learning, AMIE+ constituted a breakthrough in terms of speed on large data compared to the previous generation of ILP-based systems. In this paper we present several algorithmic extensions to AMIE+, which make it faster, and the support for data pre-processing and model post-processing, which provides a more comprehensive coverage of the linked data mining process than does the original AMIE+ implementation. The main contributions are related to performance improvement: (1) the top-k approach, which addresses the problem of combinatorial explosion often resulting from a hand-set minimum support threshold, (2) a grammar that allows to define fine-grained patterns reducing the size of the search space, and (3) a faster projection binding reducing the number of repetitive calculations. Other enhancements include the possibility to mine across multiple graphs, the support for discretization of continuous values, and the selection of the most representative rules using proven rule pruning and clustering algorithms. Benchmarks show reductions in mining time of up to several orders of magnitude compared to AMIE+. An open-source implementation is available under the name RDFRules at https://github.com/propi/rdfrules.


Objective To study the efficacy of transurethral holmium laser resection as well as instant intravesical Pirarubicin instillation for superficial bladder carcinoma.Methods 51 cases with superficial bladder cancer were divided into observation group(A) including 26 cases and control group(B) including 25 cases stochastically.The 26 cases of group A were received transurethral holmium laser resection as well as instant intravesical Pirarubicin instillation therapy whereas 25 cases of group B received transurethral resection therapy.All patients of both groups were treated with intravesical instillation of Pirarubicin therapy regularly at least 1 year and have been followed up for 15 to 39 months.Results Differences were not significant between the two groups in the mean operation time and bladder perforation rate(P >0.05 ),but indwelling period of urethral catheter was markedly decreased in group A than group B ( P < 0.05 ).There were 4 cases of recurrence in group A,recurrence rate was 15.4% (4/26).While there were 11 cases of recurrence in group B,recurrence rate was 44.0% (11/25 ).Significant difference in cancer recurrence rate was found between two groups ( P < 0.05 ).Conclusion Compared with transurethral resection therapy transurethral holmium laser resection as well as instant intravesical Pirarubicin instillation for superficial bladder carcinoma was more effective and quicker recovery,which has a good applied future in the clinical practice.

Key words:
Bladder neoplasms; Laser surgery; Holmium lasers; Pirarubicin; Regional instillation


microRNAs are endogenous, noncoding RNAs. Showing both tumor‐suppressive and oncogenic characteristics, miRNAs can regulate important processes in malignancies. This review aimed at highlighting the recent studies on the contribution of miR‐424 to the modulation of carcinogenesis and exploring its probable clinical effectiveness in the diagnosis and therapy of malignancies. The data were extracted from all papers published from 2013 until 2020. Mature miR‐424 leads to the degradation of its target transcripts or the suppression of translation via binding to the molecular targets. miR‐424 is involved in modulating p53, PI3K/Akt, Wnt, and other molecular pathways, thereby regulating cellular growth, apoptosis, differentiation, chemoresistance, and cancer immunity. miR‐424 was introduced as a tumor‐suppressive miR in numerous types of cancers while as an oncogene in several cancers. Regarding the cancer dependent role of miR‐424, it may be a prognostic and diagnostic biomarker and a potential candidate for the treatment of cancers.


This study was conducted to determine how well the Degrees of Reading Power (DRP) correctly identifies children who are experiencing reading difficulties and to describe more precisely the characteristics of children who have been identified as poor readers so that program planners can design more effective remedial instruction. The DRP and several criterion measures (the Virginia Literacy Testing Program Writing Battery, the Burke Reading Interview, the Estes Attitude Scales, and the Study Habits Inventory) were administered to 54 students attending sixth grade at two different middle schools in rural central Virginia. One-half of the students were identified as poor readers and one-half were classified as above average readers. The Informal Reading Inventory (IRO was also administered to the 27 students identified as poor readers. The coorelation between DRP scores and Informal Reading Inventory instructional levels proved to be modest but significant. The data collected to show that poor readers exhibit similar strategies for dealing with printed material is still being interpreted. All correlations of DRP scores with tests of writing ability are of moderate to high magnitude; all are statistically significant. Results indicated children who achieve higher DRP scores exhibit more positive attitudes toward the subjects they study, especially toward reading. Results support the construct validity of the DRP as a measure of reading proficiency. (Three tables of data are included and 10 reverences are attached. One appendix includes the Burke Reading Interview responses.) (MG) *********************************************************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. ***********************************************************************


Co(II), Ni(II) and Cu(II) complexes of N and O donor ligand derived from ,5-dinitrosalicylicacid and thiosemicarbazide, the spectroscopy techniques like UV-Visible, FT-IR, NMR, mass spectrometry, p-XRD and SEM analysis were used to structurally characterize the metal complexes. From the analytical and spectral evidence, the square planar and octahedral geometry has been proposed to metal (II) complexes. In addition to this computational density functional theory (DFT) using B3LYP/6-31Gþ(d, p)/Lanl2dz(f) method in the ground state was performed, the calculations were done to confirm the geometry of the complexes and also HOMO-LUMO excitation energies levels were also calculated. Additionally, MTT test was used to perform cytotoxic assays on selected MCF-7 (estrogen receptor-positive human breast cancer cells) and HeLa (human cervical cancer cell line) cell lines. The antibacterial test was performed via the disc plate method against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus, and was further supported by molecular docking interactions using protein receptor SEC2 (PDB code: 1STE) in Staphylococcus aureus.


reversibility window. The window is signature of the self-organized Intermediate Phase (IP) with remarkable properties. In oxide glasses, reversibility windows are also observed, and are sharply defined even though melts were reacted for less than 6 hours.Modified oxides apparently homogenize quicker than those of chalcogenides. The variations in the non-reversing enthalpy at T


Global retrievals of surface soil moisture from the Scanning Multichannel Microwave Radiometer for the period 1979–87 are assimilated into the NASA Catchment land surface model as it is driven with surface meteorological data derived from observations. Validation against ground‐based measurements in Eurasia and North America from the Global Soil Moisture Data Bank demonstrates a long assumed (but rarely proven) property of soil moisture fields derived from data assimilation – that the assimilation product is superior to either satellite data or model data alone. An analysis of the innovations reveals that the filter is only partially operating within its underlying assumptions and offers clues how spatially distributed model error parameters could further enhance filter performance.


[Extract]This report summarises the results of a six year ecological monitoring program in streams of the Sarina/Mackay region. The primary focus has been placed on the final four years of investigation since the results from the first two years were discussed in detail in our earlier report (Clayton and Pearson1992). The sampling regime and the amount of resultant data were much less extensive in the final four years than in the first two years because of an altered objective to concentrate on a small number of morphologically similar streams at the time of dunder distribution.

The background to this investigation has changed little since our first report (Clayton and Pearson 1992), although the amount of dunder sold by CSR Ltd. and the geographic extent of the dunder distribution area have both increased. In this report, therefore, introductory segments and general discussions regularly refer to the earlier report or include excerpts from it. This document can be considered the concluding volume of the investigation report and Clayton and Pearson (1992) should be referred to for detailed project background, site details and sampling/analysis methodology.

Much of the report is necessarily technical in nature; however, where possible we have attempted to write for the non-biologist, non-chemist and non-statistician. Data used for the analyses includes that collected in the first two years of the investigation for Plane Creek, Rock Creek, Bell Creek and Marion Creek.

The project was possible as a result of funding from CSR Ltd. and we wish to thank the staff of the Plane Creek mill and distillery for their support and assistance. We also thank the following staff from the Australian Centre for Tropical Freshwater Research who made significant contributions to the project: Jenny Holt, Niall Connolly, Michelle Reilly and staff of the ACTFR water analysis laboratory, including Barry Butler, John Faithful and Elizabeth O'Sullivan.


wireless ad hoc network communication is an important branch of the whole communication field. Its science and technology and application bring many conveniences to people's production and life. Wireless ad hoc network is composed of many nodes. The overall performance of nodes reflects the performance of the whole network. The network is self-organizing, so that nodes can join or exit arbitrarily. However, the life cycle of nodes is an important factor affecting the network, so in order to improve the energy efficiency of nodes, the transmission efficiency of nodes is very important.