Traditionally cross-modal integration was seen as taking place rather late in cognitive processing. Recent studies on ERP (Molholm et al., 2002) and evoked gamma band oscillations (Senkowski et al., 2005) suppose that there are already early interactions. Besides, it is assumed that a spread of attention to unattended modalities occurs if one part of a multimodal object is attended in a different sensory domain (Busse et al. 2005). Furthermore induced gamma band responses were assigned to cross-modal semantic processing (Yuval-Greenberg & Deouell, 2007) and attention (Başar-Eroğlu et al., 1996). Combining these studies, the current paradigm was set up, while having the following questions in mind: when does cross-modal integration take place? Which role does attention play in this context? And which neural responses are involved? Animal pictures were presented rapidly alternating to the left or right visual hemi-space accompanied by a congruent, an incongruent or no sound. While their brain activity was measured with EEG, human participants had to attend to one side and detect a target animal in the visual domain while ignoring the sounds. Hence, three factors (side of presentation x attention x type of sound, 2 x 2 x 3) were examined for analysis. The analysis of induced and evoked cortical oscillations reveals significant induced gamma increases early and around 250 ms post-stimulus onset in the comparison of the response to attended congruent and incongruent stimuli in occipital electrodes. This could be attributed to early cross-modal semantic processing. Peaks of induced gamma activity also occurred as response to attention effects to visual or congruent multimodal stimuli. Besides, there is a significant early induced gamma increase as response to multi-sensory congruent objects. In the evoked potentials an early attention effect is found in tendency. Furthermore relatively early significant increases in evoked gamma band are detected as response to semantic congruence. All in all, the current study indicates that parts of an object occurring in a non-attended modality also receive enhanced processing if another part of the object is attended, and that this may take place at a relatively early stage of processing. had the idea for the current study, which was first conducted in the framework of Christian Mühl's master's thesis (Mühl, 2007). Due to some technical problems, they were only able to use the data of four participants. Since they were convinced of their paradigm, it was decided to recruit more participants and conduct the experiment again. …


A method to couple acoustic linear problems is presented in this paper. It allows one to consider several acoustic subsystems, coupled through surfaces divided in elementary areas called patches. These subsystems have to be studied independently with any available method, in order to build a database of transfer functions called patch transfer functions, which are defined using mean values on patches, and rigid boundary conditions on the coupling area. A final assembly, using continuity relations, leads to a very quick resolution of the problem. The basic equations are developed, and the acoustic behavior of a cavity separated in two parts is presented, in order to show the ability of the method to study a strong-coupling case. Optimal meshing size of the coupling area is then discussed, some comparisons with experiments are shown, and finally a complex automotive industrial case is presented.


In order for the study to achieve its main objective was guided by the following specific objectives; To establish the influence of leadership on strategy implementation among firms operating in the Petroleum   industry in Kenya, to determine the influence of employee involvement on strategy implementation among firms operating in the Petroleum   industry in Kenya, to investigate the influence of resource allocation on strategy implementation among firms operating in the Petroleum   industry in Kenya and to investigate the influence of organization culture on strategy implementation among firms operating in the Petroleum industry in Kenya. The target population for the study was 10 oil companies. Analysis of data was done using the statistical package for the social sciences (SPSS). The findings indicated that the oil companies' chain of command was flexible. As well, there was a strong feeling of togetherness to other businesses and a job structure. Results showed that the leadership in place in the oil companies had led to the realization of objectives, motivated employees and led to the implementation of strategy. It was found out that the oil companies used the available technologies in oil companies operations. This study expanded our knowledge on the effect of strategic change on the performance of oil companies . Though this study had fulfilled its aim and objectives, there were a number of areas for additional studies and empirical research, given the limitations of the research. The leadership had coefficients of estimate which was significant basing on β 1 = 0.097 (p-value = 0.001 which was less than α = 0.05) thus we concluded that leadership had a positive and significant effect on firm performance. This suggested that there was up to 0.097 unit increase in firm performance for each unit increase in leadership. R esource allocation revealed that 71% of the respondents strongly agreed that organizational Resources contributed to strategy implementation in organization , while 29% agreed that organizational Resources did not contribute to strategy implementation in organization . Keywords: Leadership, Employee Involvement, Resource Allocation, Organization Culture, Strategy Implementation


In patients with end stage renal failure it is vitally necessary to have permanent long functioning vascular access, providing all requirements of modern hemodialysis. Authors on the big clinical material have been evaluated the terms of functioning of arterio-venous fistulas after reconstructive and regenerative operations at 56 patients. Carrying out of reconstructive operations on a arterio-venous fistula allows to increase term of functioning of constant vascular access for hemodialysis on the average on 21,1 ± 3,9 month.


Parents can increase the probability of violence and other problem behaviors among their children because they serve as the primary socialization context for their adolescents. The goal of this study was to examine the associations between family attachment, parental rejection, and child discipline with the violence among High School Students in Kuwait. The sample of this study was high school students of seven hundred and sixty seven cases of 10th-grade and 12th-grade (...)


Introduction: The main drug used for the treatment of xerostomia is pilocarpine. Objective: To evaluate the cardiopulmonary repercussions of intraperitoneal administration of pilocarpine (2 mg/kg) in Wistar rats. Method: Animals were divided into two groups: control group (SAL) and pilocarpine treated group (PILO), and evaluated by means of spirometry, electrocardiography and analysis of blood perfusion in peripheral musculature. The data were evaluated in the following situations: 1) Basal and 2) Stimulation: Saline or Pilocarpine. Results: The PILO group had a statistical decrease in heart rate and respiratory rate, but did not alter in pulmonary ventilation and peripheral blood perfusion compared to the SAL group. Conclusion: Treatment with pilocarpine at a low dose to induce salivary secretion promoted bradypnea and bradycardia in rats, without repercussion on pulmonary ventilation and peripheral blood perfusion.


Islamic Corporate Social Responsibility (ICSR) is one of the efforts to reduce social problems that occur in society, by encouraging community productivity and creating justice. This study aims to analyze the effect of environmental performance on financial performance with Islamic Corporate Social Responsibility (ICSR). This research uses quantitative research. The population in this study is mining companies listed on the Indonesian Sharia Stock Index (ISSI) from 2016 to 2020. The sampling technique used in this study uses a purposive sampling technique. The number of samples in this study is 15 companies. The type of data used is secondary data in the form of financial reports and annual reports obtained through the official website of the Indonesia Stock Exchange and the official website of the related company. The dependent variable in this study is financial performance, while the independent variable is environmental performance. The data analysis method used is path analysis with the help of the Smart-PLS 3.0 application program. This study shows that environmental performance has an effect on financial performance, while Islamic Corporate Social Responsibility (ICSR) cannot mediate the relationship between environmental performance and financial performance.


This talk consists of Equiripple approximation and design of optimal: • notch FIR filters • narrow band-pass filters • DC-notch filters • comb FIR filters • half-band FIR filters • filter banks • cascade representation • Almost equiripple approximation of low-pass filters • Approximation functions • Differential equations of approximation functions and their solutions • Degree equations • Formulas for the evaluation of corresponding impulse responses • Robustness of the design, examples • Current challenges.


The paper addresses the design of angle section columns whose legs are slender and thus subject to local buckling in their ultimate limit state. For such slender angle sections, the local buckling mode is identical to the torsional mode and traditional design procedures become excessively conservative because they account for the torsional (local) buckling mode twice. The paper describes design methods for slender equal-leg angles which ignore torsion in determining the overall buckling stress and use recently presented effective width equations to accurately determine the bending capacity of angle sections, as required in the beam–column design approach. The shift in the effective centroid resulting from local buckling is determined from the actual stress distribution, as obtained using Stowell's classical solution, rather than the effective cross section. The columns are assumed to be simply supported and thus allowed to rotate about their principal axes.


A newly developed fluorescent sensor, , shows a specific turn-on response to Zn(2+) and can be excited by visible light. The in situ nuclear Zn(2+) imaging in HeLa and HepG2 cells reveals the nuclear envelope penetrability of the sensor. The specific sensor location in a zebrafish larva was also demonstrated.


An approach to robotic path planning, which allows optimization of useful performance indices in the presence of obstacles, is given. The main idea is to express obstacle avoidance in terms of the distances between potentially colliding parts. Mathematical properties of the distance functions are studied and under certain conditions the derivatives of the distance functions are characterized. The results lead to a general formulation of path planning problems and suggest numerical procedures for their solution. A simple numerical example involving a 3-degree of freedom cartesian manipulator is described.


This paper mainly uses Interpretative Structural Modeling Method (ISM) model to clarify environmental factors which affect the development of ride-sharing platforms in China, and to understand their hierarchy and importance order. According to the caculation of matlab, there will be a 7 layers ISM diagram for those environmental factors, from the diagram, the industrial economic strength, core technology and support, infrastructure construction, internet technology implementation, industry policies, laws and regulations, industry management level are the most key factors which affect the development of ride-sharing platform in china.


A digital computer data acquisition, display, and analysis system for use with a scintillation camera is described. The system makes possible quantitative analysis of a scan image now represented by a 50 × 50 matrix. The low cost of the small general-purpose computer employed in this system makes it a practical consideration for the average nuclear medicine laboratory.


(57) Abstract: The present invention provides zinc finger proteins with enhanced affinity and specificity, provides a method of making a chimeric zinc finger protein with improved linker.


New product development is a major responsibility of the production functions just as much as it is for the design, development, marketing and other functions. Indeed, the best new product development practices are, of course cross-functional. Improvements to new product development come about by the dissemination of information on best practices. Implementing these improvements usually requires changes in personal and group behaviour as well as working styles. These adaptations are often found difficult. Thus it is useful if the means of dissemination can also help individuals and companies alike to make these adaptations easier. Effective dissemination needs definite means of passing on information and ideas. Also, excellent framework models are required for enabling the best presentation, understanding and discussion. In this paper, means of dissemination are discussed and recommended framework models are presented. Work at the National University of Singapore is briefly described. Some of the critical, pitfall and often-overlooked aspects of best practice implementation and human factors are discussed. Finally, some reported benefits of good dissemination and implementation are described. It is intended that this paper will be of particular help to individuals and companies who are striving to improve new product development and enhance the resulting growth of new business.


Climatic erosivity and its characteristics were studied by analyzing data on rainfalls recorded from 1999 to 2003 in the Ecological Experiment Station of Red Soil (EESRS) located in Yingtan, Jiangxi Province. The results showed that there were 180 rainfalls causing soil erosion in all from 1999 to 2003. Rainfall mainly took place in between April and June. According to R values of the ″EI30″ method, the rainfall erosivity each year during the observation was calculated to be 3 722.3,6 864.2,4 520.5,6 299.1 and 5 580.9 MJ·mm / (hm2·h·y). In addition, a simple refined model was established tentatively according to the rainfalls and can be used to calculate the value of rainfall erosivity R in this area.


Patients with heart failure and without daily medical monitoring may have their heart physiological signs compromised, causing them many health problems. This recurring scenario reduces the patient's life quality, resulting in new hospital admissions, thus becoming a cost to the health system. We consider that the use of ubiquitous healthcare, by using sensor and wearables, may improve this process by reducing the number of hospital admissions. In this context, this article proposes a model named UbHeart, which employs situation awareness to identify possible cardiac problems. As a scientific contribution, the model provides monitoring of degradation of the vital signs of the patient's heart through detection of situations of cardiac complications. Health parameters established by the Brazilian Society of Cardiology were used. Thus, the evaluation of UbHeart was made using physiological sings and developed prototype and showed promising results.


NEED FOR REMOTE CHECK-IN FOR AIR PASSENGERS AND BAGGAGE AT RAIL TERMINALS, INTEGRATION OF RESERVATIONS AND TICKETING, IMPROVED CARGO INTERMODALITY.


The article is devoted to the analysis of ways to improve the efficiency of regional banks in the regions of the Russian Arctic. The approaches to the allocation of regional banking structures and the features of the organization of their activities are considered. Based on the analysis of the research of the leading authors, the positive influence of regional banks on the stability of socio-economic systems of the subjects of the Russian Federation, as well as on financial support for the implementation of regional economic processes, confirmed the thesis on the effectiveness of the implementation of various schemes of interaction between authorities and credit institutions for the development of the region, including by granting a credit institution a special status (a reference bank, authorized bank, partner bank). The authors highlighted criteria for determining the regions, for which it is effective to create a regional bank with a model of organizing activities based on interaction with authorities. Regional banks, operating in the regions of the Russian Arctic, are in detail studied, the directions of their specialization and the features of the models of organization of their activities are highlighted. The conditions and the need to create regional banks with a special status in the regions of the Russian Arctic, including supporting regional banks, are analyzed. It is concluded that currently there is a need and potential for the creation of such banks in such regions of the Russian Arctic as the Murmansk and Arkhangelsk regions, the Komi Republic. The article provides recommendations for improving the efficiency of regional banks operating in the Murmansk region (PJSC Murmansk Social Commercial Bank) and in the Komi Republic (PJSC Northern People's Bank) as well as for creating on their basis supporting regional credit organizations whose activities will contribute to the development of financial systems of these subjects of the Russian Federation.


For the development of infection-resistant artificial bone, a robust animal model that closely mimics clinical infection is necessary. Therefore, we established a rat model of cranial infection. After creating a bone defect in the parietal cranium of rats, either collagen sponge honeycomb or sterile cotton gauze was inserted into the defect, and wounds were then inoculated with Staphylococcus aureus. This method effectively resulted in cranial infection in a manner dependent on the inserted sponge/gauze. In conclusion, we believe this model will be useful as a cranial infection model and will enable studies of materials used in cranioplasty for their infection potential in a state befitting that of a clinical setting. Correspondence to: Yoshiaki Sakamoto, Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Keio University School of Medicine, 35 Shinanomachi, Shinjuku-ward, Tokyo 160-8582, Japan, Tel: +81-3-5363-3814, Fax: +81-3-33521054; E-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com


HIS PAPER has been written in an attempt to summarize our experience and that of our suppliers in the development of standards of hygiene in the bakery trade over the past twenty-five years. Marks & Spencer are, we believe, one of the very few large retailing organizations, that have developed over the years a large team of food technologists (including qualified hygiene officers), to work closely with our food suppliers at all levels of management on many scientific and technological problems of joint interest. This work has included the field of hygiene and cleanliness in all its aspects. We have thus become involved in many problems in food hygiene in various branches of the Bakery Industry and have accumulated much more experience in so doing than would be possible for most manufacturing firms. Ours is therefore a unique position. A survey of the problems experienced and knowledge gained should therefore be of interest to all involved in this type of work. A somewhat similar paper was read to the 1960


Laxatives represent a multimillion-dollar business. They are widely used by an apparently well population and are frequently included as routine medication for patients in hospitals and other institutions.' The bowelconscious consumer frequently asks his or her pharmacist or physician to recommend "a good laxative" for what is perceived to be constipation. Because these drugs are available without a prescription they are thought to be safe and harmless. Before a laxative is recommended, however, careful consideration must be given to the cause of the patient's bowel disorder, to nonchemical means of correction and to possible side effects of the medication. This article will examine the clinical and pharmacologic aspects of some of the available laxatives and will review their rational and irrational use. Other means of promoting "normal" bowel function will also be discussed.


A change in German energy policy has resulted in a strong increase in the number of biogas plants in Germany. As a consequence, huge amounts of nutrient-rich residues, the by-products of the fermentative process, are used as or- ganic fertilizers. Drained peatlands are increasingly used to satisfy the huge demand for fermentative substrates (e.g., en- ergy crops, grass silage) and the digestate is returned to the peatlands. However, drained organic soils are considered as hot spots for nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions and organic fer- tilization is additionally known to increase N2O emissions from managed grasslands. Our study addressed the questions (a) to what extent biogas digestate and cattle slurry applica- tion increase N2O and methane (CH4) fluxes as well as the mineral nitrogen use efficiency (NUEmin) and grass yield, and (b) how different soil organic matter contents (SOMs) and nitrogen contents promote the production of N2O. In ad- dition NH3 volatilization was determined at one application event to obtain first clues with respect to the effects of soil and fertilizer types. The study was conducted at two sites within a grassland parcel, which differed in their soil organic carbon (SOC) and N contents. At each site (named Corg- medium and Corg-high) three plots were established: one was fertilized five times with biogas digestate, one with cattle slurry, and the third served as control plot. On each plot, fluxes of N2O and CH4 were measured on three replicates over 2 years using the closed chamber method. For NH3 mea- surements we used the calibrated dynamic chamber method. On an annual basis, the application of biogas digestate sig- nificantly enhanced the N2O fluxes compared to the appli- cation of cattle slurry and additionally increased the plant N-uptake and NUEmin. Furthermore, N2O fluxes from the Corg-high treatments significantly exceeded N2O fluxes from the Corg-medium treatments. Annual cumulative emissions


It has been shown that a non-synonymous polymorphism Asp299Gly of Toll-like receptor-4 (TLR-4) gene could be associated with lipopolysaccharide hyporesponsiveness and decreased risk of atherosclerosis in Caucasians. However, this polymorphism is not detected in Asians including Japanese and hence considered to be a population-specific one. To investigate if there are common non-synonymous SNPs of TLR-4 gene in Japanese, 100 DNA samples randomly selected from 613 healthy volunteers were sequenced for exons 2 and 3. As a result, Thr175Ala (A690G) was found in 6 out of 100 samples. Genotyping of Thr175Ala was then performed for 842 DNA samples from 613 healthy volunteers and 229 patients with ulcerative colitis. Frequency of heterozygote (Thr/Ala) or homozygote (Ala/Ala) in healthy subjects was 2.3% (14/613) or 0% (0/613), respectively. There was no significant difference of the genotype distribution between ulcerative colitis patients and age- and gender-matched controls. Furthermore, Thr175 is known to be involved in a potential N-linked glycosylation site and hence the polymorphism might affect the function of TLR-4. These data suggest that Thr175Ala is a common non-synonymous polymorphism of TLR-4 gene in a Japanese population.


Since the early nineties, the Black Sea region has witnessed fundamental geopolitical changes and significant shifts in its regional context and dynamics. In an attempt to react to the altered circumstances after the collapse of the Soviet Union and to address an increasing number of common challenges, the Black Sea states have jointed efforts in various regional cooperation activities. Throughout the years, the Black Sea cooperation has evolved with different speed and success, reflecting the difficult regional circumstances and attracting increasing external involvement. Today, more than twenty years after the first cooperation activities have been launched, the Black Sea cooperation is still shadowed by persisting historical rivalries, unrecognized territorial entities, 'frozen conflicts' and security threats. As a result, despite the many pressing problems of regional character, the cooperation efforts are currently showing rather limited outcomes. Seen against this background, the current paper presents a study of the main challenges and the existing potential for further development of the Black Sea regional cooperation.


The sensitivity of the conventional enzyme immunoassay methods is seriously limited by the presence of nonspecific immunoglobulins at high concentrations in test serum. In order to overcome this difficulty, various methods have been developed, and the detection limit of serum antibodies has been lowered to 50–100 ng/l, which is 300,000‐fold lower than that by the conventional enzyme immunoassay method using antigen‐coated solid phases and anti‐immunoglobulin antibody‐enzyme conjugates. As a result, anti‐insulin antibodies have been demonstrated in most of patients treated with insulin for 0.5–10 months, and anti‐thyroglobulin IgG has been demonstrated not only in all patients with Graves' disease and chronic thyroiditis, but also in a large proportion of healthy subjects.


ObjectiveTo complete the investigation of genetic polymorphism of Y-chromosome STR loci of Han population in Zhejiang, and provide the basal data for its forensic application. MethodDYS389Ⅰ、DYS389Ⅱ、DYS439、DYS438 and DYS392 loci were amplified by using Y-PLEX~(TM)5 PCR Amplification Kit and the products were analyzed by 3100 genetic analyzer, 200 unrelated male individuals of Han population in Zhejiang were investigated to determine the distributions of allele frequencies and haplotypes. (Results) 4、7、5、4、6 alleles were found in 5 Y-STR loci and the GD value were 0.5868、0.7779、0.6734、0.5062 and 0.6328 respectively. 95 haplotypes were found in 5 Y-STR loci, of which 54 were unique, 15 were found in 2 individuals,12 were found in 3 individuals,5 were found in 4 individuals,4 were found in 5 individuals, 1 were found in 6 individuals, 1 were found in 7 individuals, 2 were found in 8 individuals, 1 were found in 11 individuals, and the observed haplotypes diversity value was 0.9920. ConclusionThe 5 Y-STR loci are highly polymorphic and are suitable for forensic application in Zhejiang.


A cerium-doped SrTiO3 compound with the composition Sr0.4Ce0.4TiO3 has been produced by conventional solid-state processing. The structure of this compound was analyzed by X-ray, electron, and neutron diffraction. While no superlattice can be observed via X-ray diffraction, both electron and neutron diffraction show evidence of a noncubic supercell caused by antiphase tilting of oxygen octahedra. The most likely space group is C2/c, corresponding to an a−b−b− tilt system. Octahedra are tilted by ∼5° about the pseudo-cubic a-axis and ∼1.5° about the pseudo-cubic b- and c-axes.


The glycemic index (GI) is a useful method to educate the diabetics in better managing the disease. Several researchers identified its shortcomings of it being overly pessimistic and or optimistic. Despite GI weaknesses, the method faired better in explaining the rise and fall of blood glucose level with the intake of high or low glycemic carbohydrates. Thus, in this article, GI of sweet potato cultivars namely white star (Pakistan) and Beauregard (US) were estimated in a study enrolled 40 subjects (20 each normal & Diabetic) from Pakistan. The GI's were compared with that of glucose as control and Caiapo. Mean glycemic response for normal subjects was 100.28, 98.64, 98.12 and 101.32 for dehydrated white star, Glucose+Caiapo, Whit Star skin and dehydrated Beauregard, respectively. In case of diabetic subjects, the mean response of white star; Glucose+Caiapo; white star skin and Beauregard varied from 72.84; 68.03; 67.10 and 77.67, respectively. The white star skin index was lowest followed by glucose + Caiapo, dehydrated white star and Beauregard, respectively In summary, white star and its skin followed by Beauregard indicated blood glucose lowering effect on diabetic subjects. White star skin followed by Caiapo showed blood glucose reduction in normal subjects. Both metabolic and epidemiologic data indicated that substitution of high GI with low GI carbohydrates can reduce the risk of type-2 diabetes. This in turn will improve glycemic control and reduce hypoglycemic episodes among those treated with insulin.


Skid-resistance data are compared by the ASTM E274 locked-wheel test method that uses blank E524 and ribbed E501 test tires on 59 pavements. The ribbed E501 tire is shown to be a poor discriminator of the drainage capability from the tire-pavement interface produced by pavement macrotexture. The blank E 524 test tire is shown to produce data sensitive to both macrotexture and microtexture. The pavements included in the study range from well-polished and worn dense-graded asphalt and portland cement concrete to open-graded asphalt grooved portland cement concrete; they ranged in SN40 from 24 to 69 with the ribbed tire. It is also noted that the ribbed E501 tire provides better drainage than do most passenger car tires during the latter third of their usable life. (Author)


The ant genus Cardiocondyla is characterised by a remarkable variability of reproductive life histories and colony structures. Little is known about the C. stambuloffii group, whose distribution extends from southeast Europe to central and eastern Asia. We here present data on the structure of Cardiocondyla colonies from southern Georgia. Morphometry and sequencing of the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunits I and II indicates that it is distinct from the other species of this group (C. gibbosa, C. koshewnikovi, C. stambuloffii, and C. tibetana). Microsatellite analysis revealed a high nestmate relatedness and frequent inbreeding, matching the observation of exclusively wingless males and the phylogenetic position of the group in the "Palaearctic clade," in which colonies are typically single-queened.


We show how NS5-branes wrapped on a two-sphere inside an ALE space give the dual of pure = 2 SYMin four dimensions. Using seven dimensional gauged supergravity with two or three scalars we find solutions corresponding to circular and linear distributions of classical vevs. These solutions reproduce the correct perturbative result for the coupling constant; they are all singular in the infrared, where field theory instanton corrections, which are not taken into account by the supergravity limit, start becoming relevant.


The traditional concepts considered that only off-plane displacement can be obtained by the shadow moire method, but the slope moire fringes must be obtained from the specimen with mirror surface by the reflection moire method, etc. However, our recent experimental results reveal that the off-plane displacement fringe and the slope fringe appear together in a shadow moire pattern under experimental definitions. The basic principle and related experiment techniques are presented firstly in this paper. Two examples, a thin hyperboloidal shell and a thin cylindrical shell with local buckling, are given to demonstrate the actual coupled moire fringe patterns. Moreover, two distribution curves of δW/δx and W along asymmetry axis on the thin hyperboloidal shell are also calculated.


This paper presents initial data collection and language understanding experiments conducted as part of a larger effort to create a nutrition dialogue system that automatically extracts food concepts from a user's spoken meal description. We first summarize the data collection and annotation of food descriptions performed via Amazon Mechanical Turk. We then present semantic labeling experiments using a semi-Markov conditional random field (CRF) that obtains an F1 test score of 85.1. Finally, we report food segmentation experiments that explored three methods for associating foods with their corresponding attributes: a generative Markov model, transformation-based learning, and a CRF classifier. The CRF performed best, achieving an F1 test score of 87.1.


Background: Observational studies show that lung function is associated with cardio metabolic traits (e.g. BMI, coronary artery disease, type 2 diabetes, blood pressure) and markers of systemic inflammation (e.g. CRP). However, these associations may be confounded by shared risk factors (e.g. smoking). In this study we investigated whether the associations of lung function with cardio metabolic traits may be causal. Methods: We selected instrumental variables from published large scale genome-wide association studies, including SNPs with P Results: MR estimates suggest a negative association of BMI with FEV1 and FVC and a positive association with FEV1/FVC (P Conclusion: We show, by using genetic instruments, that the observational associations of BMI, T2D, SBP, CRP and lung function are unlikely to be confounded and may be causal. Investigation of possible pleiotropic effects are currently being performed to further explore these findings. Funding: EU H2020 grant 633212


(51) Int. Cl." ..................................................... G06F 13/42 (52) U.S. Cl. .............................................................. 710/305 (57) ABSTRACT One exemplary System embodiment includes a detection logic that facilitates identifying that a point-to-point trans action is a transaction that is not micro-architecturally implemented and a tracking logic that facilitates tracking the transaction and related packets through the Virtual bus interface and that also facilitates producing an error data asSociated with the non-micro-architecturally implemented transaction.


The research programme currently being undertaken involves an experimental study of the effect of self-aeration on flow in the spillway of the Aviemore dam on the Waitaki River. This investigation represents the first known attempt to obtain detailed information from a full-scale structure. This paper covers the laboratory developments of the field instrumentation and the subsequent trials in March 1970, the results of which are presented and discussed. The paper also summarises the aim of the main experimental programme which was proposed for late 1970, at which time, water was expected to be freely available for spilling at Aviemore.


Human and mouse TLR4/MD2 molecules respond differently to specific types of LPS. Their response to normally acylated LPS is similar, but they respond differently to hypoacylated LPS found on specific gram-negative bacteria. The LPS of Coxiella burnetii is hypoacylated, heavily glycosylated and is known to cause a minimal response by human cells. We hypothesized that mice expressing human TLR4/MD2 (hTLR4/MD2) molecules would respond differently to C. burnetii infection compared to wild type mice. Mice expressing hTLR4/MD2 molecules had enhanced weight loss, and more bacteria in tissues than did wild-type mice. Bone marrow chimera experiments indicated that mice expressing hTLR4/MD2 on stromal/epithelia cells had more severe disease and enhanced bacterial replication compared to when mouse TLR4 was expressed on these cells. Surprisingly, hTLR4 expression on hematopoietic cells was of minimal consequence. These data suggest that species-specific TLR4/MD2 responses in stromal and epithelial compartments can alter the disease course. Studying C. burnetii infection in hTLR4/MD2-expressing mice will result in findings that are likely more readily applicable to human patients.


Clinical research and practice increasingly recognize the psychospiritual treatment needs of adults abused as children, yet a more detailed understanding of the benefits and challenges associated with meditation and other Eastern pathways is warranted. Informed by constructivist, humanistic and transpersonal perspectives, this narrative study examined the trajectory of ten women childhood trauma survivors" journeys of psychological healing and spiritual awakening. Data were collected through in-depth interviews and subject to holistic content analysis and a shorter holistic analysis of form. Research participants had engaged in Eastern spiritual practices aiming at self-realization as well as in Western psychotherapeutic approaches aiming at ego integration. All interviewees constructed quest and recovery narratives with a positive outcome, portraying ways in which psychological healing and spiritual awakening interfaced to promote growth after trauma. Content analysis resulted in six key themes reflecting aspects of participants" experience of healing and awakening: (1) untiring aspiration, (2) opening to the mystery, (3) undoing the story, (4) healing connections, (5) repairing the split, and (6) reclaiming the body. Narratives revealed significant psychological and spiritual transformation even after severe


With the expansion of the cultivation of eucalyptus into areas with limited water resources, recommending genotypes which are tolerant to low water availability is important in order to maximize productivity under such conditions. The aim of this work therefore was to evaluate five hybrids of Eucalyptus grandis x E. urophylla (H1 to H5) subjected to four irrigation regimes in the greenhouse: daily (IR1), every two days (IR2), every four days (IR4) and every six days (IR6). The following characteristics were evaluated: photosynthetic rate (A), transpiration (E), stomatal conductance (gs), leaf water potential (Ψw), leaf relative water content, photochemical efficiency and chlorophyll content index. Evaluations of A, gs and E were carried out on two occasions: 1 - under stress, at the end of the interval between irrigations for each treatment; and 2 - in recovery, 48 h after irrigation for all plants in the experiment. On average, there was reduction of 25 and 40% in A values, 40 and 55% in gs, 15 and 22% in E, and 96 and 103% in Ψw respectively in those plants under regimes IR4 and IR6, compared to under IR1. Stomatal conductance had only partially recovered 48 h after irrigation, and due to being more sensitive, its changes are a good indication of water stress. Hybrid H3 is the most tolerant and H5 the most sensitive to a reduction in water availability in soil.


ABSTRACTBlanking process can be simulated on computer and it will aid in die , punch design andpress selection. Further effect of punch wear on fracture height and bur height in blankcan be ascertained by simulation. This paper demonstrates the blanking process bysimulation using ABAQUS v 6.4. For a 2mm mild steel sheet the simulation shows thatfor the punch force of 240 kN the crack starts at 30% punch penetration depth andpunch force suddenly drops to value of 70kN and remains steady till the blanking iscomplete. In the elastic plastic range the experimental and simulation results agree wellwith rising punch force up to the point of creation of crack, however there is slightdiscrepancy in the down fall of force with depth of penetration of punch. With increaseof the thickness of sheet the crack height is reduced and blank quality is improved.


Islamic Social Responbility (ISR) is an index of social responsibility disclosure (CSR) that has specific indicator on the ethical principles of Islam. In this study, assessment a level of CSR disclosure conducted on companies in the Jakarta Islamic Index (JII). This study aim to obtain an empirical evidence about the analysis of the factors that affect the disclosure of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). Factors used include profitability, types of industry, environmental performance and the size of the company. Measurement of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is based on the category of Islamic Social Reporting (ISR) that used to calculate the Islamic Social Reporting index as seen from the company's annual report. This research is a quantitative research. The population of this research is all companies that listed in Jakarta Islamic Index totaling 30 companies sharia. The sampling technique used is Purposive sampling. The total sample is 16 companies sharia. Analysis of the data used to test classic assumptions and hypothesis testing with multiple regression method. The results of this study indicate that the environmental performance and the size of the company have a significant effect on the disclosure of Islamic Social Responbility. While profitability and industry type does not significantly affect the disclosure of Islamic Social Responbility in Indonesia. Keywords : Islamic Social Reporting, Corporate Social Responsibility, Jakarta Islamic Index, profitability, types of industry, environmental performance and the size of the company .


Dochtermann introduced the loop space construction of a based graph $(G,v)$ whose basepoint is a looped vertex. He showed that the complex $C(\Omega(G,v))$ is homotopy equivalent to the loop space $\Omega(C(G),v)$ of $C(G)$. Here we write $C(G)$ to mean the clique complex of the maximal reflexive subgraph of $G$. In this paper, we consider its bigraph version. A bigraph is a graph equipped with its 2-coloring. We introduce the loop space construction $\Omega_{/K_2}(X,x)$ of a based bigraph $(X,x)$. This is a graph such that $C(\Omega_{/K_2}(X,x))$ is homotopy equivalent to the loop space of the box complex $B_{/K_2}(X)$ of the bigraph. As a result, we have alternative proofs of some results of Matsushita and Schultz.


Shauna L. Price, Takahiro Murakami, Ulrich G. Mueller , Ted R. Schultz, and Cameron R. Currie 4 1 Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS 66045, USA, e-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com (T.M.), email@example.com (S.L.P.), firstname.lastname@example.com (C.R.C.) 2 Department of Systematic Biology, MRC 188, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC 20560-0188, USA, e-mail: email@example.com 3 Section of Integrative Biology, Patterson Laboratories, University of Texas, Austin, TX 78712, USA, e-mail: email@example.com 4 Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Apartado 2027, Balboa, Republic of Panama


6086 Background: Adenoid cystic carcinoma (ACC) of the salivary glands is a rare orphan disease of the head and neck usually resistant to conventional chemotherapy, that was found to express KIT in 87% (39/45) of cases in our institutions. Methods: This study explored the antitumor effects of imatinib given at 800 mg daily in a phase II study for patients (pts) with recurrent or metastatic ACC failing locoregional treatments, presenting CT-scan documented progressive disease and highly (50–100% of tumor cells) expressing KIT. Primary endpoint of this study was time to tumor progression, secondary endpoints were tumor response and safety. Results. Since 2004, 17 pts (M/F: 5/12, median age 48, range 33–71) were included. Target lesions were pulmonary metastasis (13 pts), renal metastasis (1 pt), locoregional (2 pts) and pulmonary + locoregional (1 pt) recurrences. Previous treatment with chemotherapy was reported in 5 pts. Median duration of treatment was 6 months (range, 1–14 months). Toxicity was mild to ...


SUMMARY. The available diagnostic procedures for malignant melanoma are critically discussed. The hazards of simple excision biopsy can be reduced by the technique of radiation or chemotherapeutic cover.


Introduction The Union of International Associations has, prior to the new edition of its Yearbook of International Organizations, restricted its attention to non-profit international organizations, whether governmental or non-governmental. Nearly all intergovernmental organizations are non-profit but the few exceptions have been included in previous editions of the Yearbook to ensure that all intergovernmental organizations were listed. These include such bodies as Eurochemic and Eurofimà. There are many non-governmental organizations which, although they do not have profit as the main aim, nevertheless operate in order to facilitate profit maximization by their members. Most of these are in the commercial section of the Yearbook classified list. The distinction between governmental and nongovernmental organizations as defined by the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations, does not differentiate between profit and non-profit international non-governmental organizations. In practice however the nongovernmental organizations accepted into consultative status with the United Nations have all been non-profit organizations. Since the 1966-1967 edition of the Yearbook and particularly during the first six months of 1968, there has been considerable interest in « multinational » or « transnational » business entreprises and corporations. Articles dealing with the characteristics and business polices of world entreprises have however been appearing in the Harvard Business Review and other


Ecological city is a trend of human civilization development and future directions of urban development. the system introduced the ecological implications of the city and its characteristics,the ecological civilization,systematic and comprehensive,coordination,uniqueness,aesthetic nature,and consistency illustrates the ecological principles of the city,middle and micro policies,ecological construction of city planning and ecological change in the modern city,help to accelerate the construction of ecological city,and promote the development of human civilization.


Abstract This article explores how European Jesuit missionaries engaged with literary and oral cultures in seventeenth-century Tonkin and Cochinchina (Vietnam). It considers the many interactions between texts, oral cultures, and the sacred on the mission fields, and the challenges of communicating with the divine in a new language. Missionary projects to translate sacramental phrases—such as the baptismal formula—into local languages could be particularly controversial: missionaries had to ensure that the translation did not affect the validity of the sacrament. This article examines how missionaries attempted to preserve the spiritual potency of Catholic holy texts and sacred words in a new cultural context and uncovers the strategies they adopted to convey the sacrality of Catholic writings and speech.


Alloantiserum and hybridoma‐derived anti‐Ia antibodies were investigated for their idiotypic similarity using 4 monoclonal anti‐idiotypes raised against monoclonal anti‐Ia. With one anti‐idiotype, idiotypic cross‐reactivity could be found between three independently derived monoclonal BALB/c anti‐Ia antibodies, all of which were directed against the same serological determinant, Ia.2. The respective idiotype, tentatively designated la.2 idiotope, could also be demonstrated on anti‐Ia.2 antibodies in BALB/c alloantisera, but not on anti‐Ia against other specificities. The expression of the Ia.2 idiotope is linked to the Igh allotype; the use of Ig‐recombinant mice allowed us to map the Igh‐Ia.2 locus to the left of the T1S marker in the Igha V region.


Background: Management of acute myocardial infarction has improved but preventing the first myocardial infarction in the first place continues to be a challenge. Guidelines for prevention have focused on 'one-size-fits-all' approach. With the nation's changing trends in risk factor profile (Diabetes mellitus, obesity and tobacco use), we aimed to examine the risk factor profile for young adults ( 50 years).

Methods: The Nationwide Inpatient Sample (NIS), a part of the Healthcare Cost and Utilization project (HCUP) is the largest publicly available inpatient database designed to provide information on patients discharged from United States community hospitals. Using the NIS database from 2008 to 2010, 374,173 adults with AMI were identified.

Results: Younger adults had a significantly higher incidence of smoking (51% vs. 18.8%; P< 0.001) and obesity (17.3% vs. 9.9%; P<0.001). The rate of hypertension was similar in both groups.

Younger adults were more likely to present with ST elevation myocardial infarction (42 % vs. 27%) and undergo percutaneous revascularization (62% vs. 41%) as compared to older adults.

In-hospital mortality was lower in younger adults presenting with AMI (1.7 % vs. 6.2%) as expected.

Conclusion: 1). Acute MI in the young adult is more likely to present as STEMI.

2). Young adults are more likely to be obese and use tobacco.

3). The results suggest that there is opportunity to improve AMI in the young by focusing on modifiable risk factors.

4). The lower short term mortality may imply that young adults with MI are beset with greater or long standing burden for complications.

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Abstract This study addresses the different types and implications of linguistic indeterminacy in Chinese law. It firstly draws on the studies of scholars of different disciplines, such as linguistics and philosophy of language, to provide a taxonomy of indeterminacy in language. It then provides examples of each type, highlighting the implications in law and legal interpretation. It uses linguistic data from various texts, such as statutory laws and judgements, and analyses them with various methods, including discourse analysis and corpus linguistics. This study argues that when the language of the law is indeterminate, the legal outcomes may be particularly uncertain. It suggests that although it is difficult to ascertain whether the degree of indeterminacy is higher in some languages more than in others, some linguistic mechanisms at the word-formation level in Chinese, such as portmanteaus and the modifier-modified structure, are remarkably ambiguous. When uncertain terms are in key parts of the law, the consequences may be more serious. The study of linguistic indeterminacy in Chinese has implications for the study of forensic linguistics, and Chinese studies in general.


Sclerotinia sclerotiorum (Lib.) de Bary is among the world's most successful and omnivorous fungal plant pathogens. Included in the more than 400 species of plants reported as hosts to this fungus are canola, alfalfa, soybean, sunflower, dry bean, and potato. The general inability to develop resistant germplasm with these economically important crops to this pathogen has focused attention on the need for a more detailed examination of the pathogenic determinants involved in disease development. This proposal involved experiments that examined the involvement of protein phosphorylation during morphogenesis (hyphal elongation and sclerotia formation) and pathogenesis (oxalic acid). Data obtained from our laboratories during the course of this project substantiates the fact that kinases and phosphatases are involved and important for these processes. A mechanistic understanding of the successful strategy(ies) used by S . sclerotiorum in infecting and proliferating in host plants and this linkage to fungal development will provide targets and/or novel approaches with which to design resistant crop plants including interference with fungal pathogenic development. The original objectives of this grant included: I. Clone the cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinase A (PKA) catalytic subunit gene from S.sclerotiorum and determine its role in fungal pathogenicity, OA production (OA) and/or morphogenesis (sclerotia formation). II. Clone and characterize the catalytic and regulatory subunits of the protein phosphatase PP2A holoenzyme complex and determine their role in fungal pathogenicity and/or morphogenesis as well as linkage with PKA-regulation of OA production and sclerotia formation. III. Clone and characterize the adenylate cyclase-encoding gene from S . sclerotiorum and detennine its relationship to the PKA/PP2A-regulated pathway. IV. Analyze the expression patterns of the above-mentioned genes and their products during pathogenesis and determine their linkage with infection and fungal growth.


Digital cities of the future should provide digital information about points-of-interest (POIs) for virtually any user context. Starting from several Google Fusion tables about city POIs, we extracted and transferred useful POI data to RDF to be accessible by SPARQL re- quests. In this initial application context, we concentrated on museum and restaurant resources as the result of a precision-oriented informa- tion extraction part. With the current application system we are able to retrieve, lter, and order digital cities POI data in multiple ways. With the help of facets, a user can browse the museums and restaurants; he or she can also lter the relevant objects according to available meta- data criteria such as city, country, and POI categories. Dierent views allow us to visualize the objects of interest as tables, thumbnails, or POIs on an interactive map. In addition, if complementary information from Dbpedia about museum and restaurant records from the cities they are located in is available, this information can be retrieved and displayed at query time.


Background: NSAIDs are the mainstays for the management of a myriad of painful conditions. Diclofenac has been reported to be efficacious in several conditions. Aceclofenac is a relatively new congener of diclofenac and is reported to have better tolerability. Lornoxicam is another NSAID demonstrated to have good analgesic efficacy. Very few reports are available which have compared the efficacy of different analgesic formulations. This study aimed at evaluating the comparative analgesic potential of parenteral formulations, Voveran, Achnil and Flexilor, reported to contain diclofenac, aceclofenac and lornoxicam respectively.Procedures: The rat formalin test was utilised to compare the formulations. Composite pain score and no. of licks were evaluated at 15 mins, 6 hr and 12 hr post-dosing.Findings: Evaluation of these formulations in the rat formalin test at different time-points revealed that achnil was superior to voveran in demonstrating analgesic activity. Observations made for the Achnil treated group revelaed that Achnil was able to reduce the no. of paw licks and composite pain score at all the time points studied. This effect was not only superior to control animals but also than that of the Voveran or Flexilor treated animals. The effects of Voveran and Flexilor reduced to about 52% and 35% repsectively at 6 hrs and results recorded at 12 hrs showed that the effect of Voveran and Flexilor were not significantly different from control.Conclusions: Duration of action for Achnil injection is better and is more suited for management of conditions involving longer pain durations as compared to Voveran or Flexilor.


Purpose – This paper focuses on decision making related to the use of strategic inventory allocation in product platform design. The purpose of the paper is to present a novel approach to managing product variety by considering product and manufacturing strategy, and considering the supply chain benefits.Design/methodology/approach – Discrete event simulation is used for analyzing product platform performance in terms of inventory level and throughput. Simulation parameters such as lead times and safety stock allocation are optimized by using an analytical model of strategic safety stock allocation.Findings – The results show that strategic safety stock allocation supports product platform strategy by increasing production output, and reducing inventory level and customer order queues at a higher level of product variety.Research limitations/implications – Linking the safety stock allocation and product platform strategy facilitates simultaneous product and process design by providing the most optimum pla...


Abstract : An investigation has been made to determine the feasibility of using PIN DIODES AS SWITCHING ELEMENTS TO CONTROL 150 PS, 8 MW impulse signals. Single diodes in shunt and in series with a 50-ohm stripline were studied, as were series stacks of up to 8 diodes. It is found in the series configurations that good signal fidelity obtains in forward bias at all signal voltages, with insertion loss being a function of I region thickness. At higher signal voltages it is an even stronger function of the signal since diode conductance significantly increases with internal voltage stress.


Foulds (1961) has drawn what appears to be a useful distinction between personality traits and neurotic and psychotic symptoms and signs. This distinction is helpful both in diagnosis and in the assessment of treatment. Within the framework of this personality-trait and symptom-sign differentiation, Caine and Hawkins (1963) introduced a measure of what they describe as the hysteroid-obsessoid dimension of personality; and reasons in defence of this admittedly rather ugly terminology have been stated recently by Caine and Hope (1964). The self assessment hysteroid-obsessoid questionnaire (HOQ) was developed as a refinement of the hysteroid-obsessoid rating scale previously devised by Foulds and Caine (1958), which they had not found to be adequate in differentiating between groups of obsessoid and groups of hysteroid persons. The questions in the HOQ are framed in simple language and require only a true-false response. Caine and Hawkins have reported the results they obtained from administering this questionnaire to neurotic in-patients, some of whom also completed the Maudsley Personality Inventory (MPI), albeit at different stages of treatment. Although the MPI has been used extensively with samples drawn from non-psychiatric populations, both in the United States and the United Kingdom, Caine's questionnaire, a relatively new instrument, has not been as widely tested.


There was verified effectiveness of algorithmic educational game means of theoretical training on stage of previous basic development during training period. Established that universal educational game means of theoretical training, which should be used in the study of different information units during stage of previous basic development in fencing, are the «Puzzle» and «Association». Means «Showing», «Know the word», «Tell in other words», «Combat» should be used in different combinations. Most universal algorithmic game means of theoretical training are «Associations», Simulator «TTT» and «Puzzle», which confirmed positive changes in theoretical preparedness within the various information blocks of 7.4–55.6 % of athletes.


An investigation of neuronal signal transmission is intended in this paper through the establishment of solitary wave solutions for the improved
Heimburg Jackson model governing the propagation of the mechanical wave in biomembranes. The computation of soliton solutions is carried out
employing He's semi inverse variational principle. The role of nonlinearity and dispersive effects in the solitonic propation is correlated to the role
of compressibility, elasticity, and inertia over the neuronal signal transmission in the unilamellar DPPC vesicles at T = 45o. The study reveals that
He's semi inverse method is a direct and effective algebraic method to study the experimental features of the nerve pulse in the biomembranes.


Objective: To investigate the feasibility of in vivo tracking for mesenchymal stem cell delivered to infracted myocardium by MRI. Methods: Eight pigs, weight 35~45 kg were used. The acute myocardial infarction (AMI) model was set up by occlution anterior descending coronary artery with balloon. The bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSC) that labeled by MRI contrast Feridex were injected into myocardium of 4 pigs while stem cells without labeling were injected in to other 3 pigs. The heart was checked by MRI before transplant, one hour, one week and two weeks after transplant. The pigs were sacrificed for histological examination and Prussian blue stain two weeks post MI. Results: The mesenchymal stem cells were transplanted successfully at 7 pigs. Injection sites in group injected with Feridex labeled stem cells can be tracked by MRI in all 4 animals after one hour of transplant and the same rate after one week of transplant. After two weeks, injection sites in this group still can be find by MRI in 2 animals. But there are none injection sites in other group can be found by MRI post operation. Prussian blue stain is positive in the injection sites of the group that injected with Feridex labeled stem cells. Conclusion: In vivo tracking Feridex labeled stem cells by MRI can be an effectively and feasible way.


AISI 1020 steel has been carburized to obtain high hardness properties by carburizing process in quenching variation with water cooling media, salt water solution and oil. Each steel has different characteristics, such as physical properties, mechanical propert ies and chemical properties. Therefore, a specific treatment is neededto extend life than planned, among other through heat treatment by Carburizing with Quenching variations using water cooling media, salt water solution and oil which aims to increase hardness. Results of vickers testing show that AISI 1020 steel (original) has an average hardness value of 191.3336 VHN, while steel that has undergone a process of carburizing at 900C for 7 hours and cooled with water, salt water and oil has an average hardness value of 395.3990 VHN, 674.8970 VHN, 621.2040 VHN, respectively.


The family of staircase inclusion compounds formed by the tetrahalo aryl hosts 1 and 2 are re-evaluated in terms of the pi–halogen dimer interactions present in their structures.


Thymidine phosphorylase (dThdPase) is identical to platelet‐derived endothelial cell growth factor (PD‐ECGF). dThdPase is known to promote the development of new blood vessels, which are fundamental to tumor growth and metastasis. Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is a 34–42 kilodalton (kD) protein that induces both angiogenesis and vascular permeability. Proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) is a 36 kD nuclear protein, and its expression is associated with DNA synthesis and cell proliferation.


PURPOSE: To improve the efficiency of a photoreceiver, a transmitter-receiver, and an optical link. CONSTITUTION: The photoreceiver is provided with a semiconductor laminated layer having an active layer 12 and a diffraction grating 16 having a phase shifter 18, a center electrode 30 is arranged on the shifter 18 to tap voltage and a voltage change is reflected by the frequency modulation of a light beam propagated through the active layer 12. COPYRIGHT: (C)1993,JPO


Some of the most dynamic systems being built today consist of physically mobile hosts and logically mobile agents. Such systems exhibit frequent configuration changes and a great deal of resource variability. In this article we present a semantic service discovery and the semantic algorithm it relies on. Finally we present results obtained in the implementation of this algorithm and our conclusions.


Mismatch between a structural femoral allograft and the distal host canal is a difficult problem in femoral reconstruction for revision of total hip replacement. A technique is presented that satisfactorily solves this problem and offers additional advantages over other allograft techniques, as illustrated in two cases.


Ionic microgels are intriguing soft and deformable colloids with an effective pair potential that crosses over from Yukawa-like at large distances to a much softer repulsive interaction at short distances. Here we report the effect of adding an anisotropic dipolar contribution to colloids with such "ultra-soft" interactions. We use an alternating electric field to induce a tunable dipolar contribution, and study the resulting particle self-assembly and phase transitions in situ with confocal laser scanning microscopy. We find significant field-induced structural transitions at low as well as at very high effective volume fractions. At ϕeff = 0.1 we observe a transition from an isotropic to a string fluid. At ϕeff = 0.85, there is a reversible transition from an amorphous to a dipolar crystalline state, followed by the onset of a gas–(string) solid coexistence. At ϕeff = 1.6 and 2.0, i.e. far above close packing, evidence for a field-induced arrested phase separation is found.


The coherence factor provides a quantitative measure of image quality. It is defined as the ratio of the coherent sum across array elements to the incoherent sum and measures the distribution of ultrasonic energy between the main beam and side lobes of a radiation pattern. Values range from 0 to 1. For low values most of the energy is outside of the main beam, and for high values it is in the main beam. The authors have applied the van Cittert-Zernike theorem to determine analytic solutions of the coherence factor for single and multi-row arrays. The solution depends only on the number of rows and columns in a transducer array. With a multi-row probe, the authors imaged a uniform tissue-mimicking phantom and saved coherent signals. Images of the phantom were produced based on coherent and incoherent summations of array elements. They then combined the two images to produce a coherence factor image. Within the focal region, average coherence was 0.50 for the phantom which compares favorably to a value of 0.53 from the analytic solution. Next, phase distortions of pi/2 and pi radians were electronically introduced at specific elements, and the phantom was imaged again. Phase distortion greatly effects energy distribution for coherent summations but has a minimal effect on incoherent summations. An introduced distortion of pi/2 decreased the average coherence factor to 0.33. A distortion of pi further decreased it to 0.11. Results of human studies showed decreased average coherence factors compared to undistorted phantom images. These results suggest that the coherence factor provides a quantitative measure of beam quality for in vivo imaging.


The recent migration to DSM process geometries and very large gate counts, has created a need for low power design and multi-voltage designs as standard rather than the exception. The variety of power optimization and power planning tools has resulted in ad-hock modification to existing design flows to accommodate the new requirements. This has given rise to wide variation in the QOR of the silicon that incorporates these design features. The panel will review and discuss places in the design flow where power planning and optimization are beneficial to improving QOR and also some of the analysis and signoff limitations to the automation that is available and directed at this task.


Abstract Data on 1,645 lambs were analyzed to determine the effects of season of birth, year, type of birth, sex, breed of sire, breed of dam, age of dam, and birth weight on preweaning death loss of lambs born in six separate lamb crops over a 4-yr period. Weaning occurred at 50 ± 3 d. Analysis of variance indicated that breed of dam (P≤.0001) and sex (P≤.003) had significant effects on preweaning death loss. Effects of age of dam (F≤.01), type of birth (P≤.07), and breed of sire (P≤.07) were not as strong but were significant. Preweaning death losses were not greatly affected by season of birth or year. Lambs born to Booroola Merino × Rambouillet ewes had the highest preweaning mortality rate (31.5%), whereas those born to Finn × Rambouillet ewes had the lowest (0.3%). Preweaning death loss was higher for male lambs (15.4%) than for females (10.8%). Lambs of 8-yr-old ewes had the highest preweaning death loss (19.1%) compared with the low of 8.0% for 9-yr-old ewes. Preweaning death rates for single, twin, and triplet lambs were 9.4, 10.1, and 19.7%, respectively. Suffolk-sired lambs had the highest preweaning death loss (18.5%), followed by Rambouillet-, Finn-, and Booroola Merino-sired lambs. Regression analysis indicated that, within the range of weights observed in this data, each kilogram increase in birth weight was associated with a 10.4% decrease in preweaning death rate.


Dynamics of herbage accumulation of marandu palisadegrass swards subjected to continuous stocking and contrasting rhythms of growth Recently, the concept of sward target has been used to define grazing management strategies, with sward surface height, among other swards structural characteristics, assuming an important role for implementing it in field conditions. Management practices can influence growth and senescence processes differently, interfering with herbage accumulation and, therefore, need to have their effect known in order to allow adequate planning of efficient and sustainable grazing management practices. Against that background, the objective of this study was to evaluate sward structure and its patterns of change throughout the year and the dynamics of herbage accumulation on continuously stocked marandu palisadegrass swards maintained at 30 cm and subjected to contrasting rhythms of growth from January 2007 to April 2008. Treatments corresponded to three nitrogen application rates (150, 300 and 450 kg ha N) plus the control (no N fertilisation), and were allocated to experimental units (1200 m paddocks) according to a complete randomised block design, with four replications. The following response variables were evaluated: sward herbage mass, morphological composition, leaf area index (LAI), foliage angle, canopy light interception, tiller population density and the rates of total, leaf and stem growth, senescence, net herbage accumulation. Overall, the increase in nitrogen application rates resulted in increase of sward herbage mass, leaf and stem percentage and decrease of dead material percentage, modifications in line with the increase in LAI, light interception and tiller population density and decrease in foliage angle. These changes in sward structural characteristics were relatively small, but resulted in increased rates of total and leaf growth as well as net herbage accumulation on swards fertilised with high rates of nitrogen application. In spite of the wide range of nitrogen application rates used, it was possible to detect a common pattern of variation in sward structure, there was a common pattern of variation in sward structure, and treatments differences were related only to the size of the variation recorded, consequence of the faster or slower growth rhythm of swards. Changes in sward structure and herbage accumulation were larger with season of the year relative to nitrogen application rates. Faster growth rhythms associated with high nitrogen application rates resulted in proportionately similar increases in growth and senescence, suggesting a strong compensatory mechanism that would avoid that significant variations in utilisation efficiency were obtained. This indicates consistency and robustness of sward height as a field indicator, and highlights the possibility of using it as an efficient management tool to monitor and control the grazing process and sward structure. Further, it also highlights the need for careful planning and strategic use of nitrogen as a means of ensuring high levels of herbage production, utilisation efficiency, animal performance and productivity.


We observed intermittent increases in the electrode current in electrode biasing experiments in Heliotron J. In addition, electron density and floating potential showed pulsating behavior associated with the electrode current. The relation between line density and electrode current and that between floating potential and electrode current showed a hysteresis feature in transitions. Then it is evident that the pulsating behavior was the intermittent transition between two distinctive states. We also observed the mode (∼10 kHz) that accompanied the pulsating behavior in the power spectrum density of the floating potential and ion saturation current obtained via fast Fourier transform. The electron density gradient increased, and subsequently the power spectrum density of the fluctuation increased. c © 2015 The Japan Society of Plasma Science and Nuclear Fusion Research


This paper addresses the parameter estimation problem of a non-stationary sinusoidal signal with a time-varying amplitude, which is given by a known function of time multiplied by an unknown constant coefficient. A robust estimation algorithm is proposed for identifying the unknown frequency and the amplitude coefficient in real-time. The estimation algorithm is constructed based on the Volterra integral operator with suitably designed kernels and sliding mode adaptation laws. It is shown that the parameter estimation error converges to zero within an arbitrarily small finite time, and the robustness against bounded additive disturbances is certified by bounded-input-bounded-output arguments. The effectiveness of the estimation technique is evaluated and compared with other existing tools through numerical simulations.


Manifolds with fλ(6,4) structure was defined and studied in the past. Later the geometry of tangent and cotangent bundles in a differentiable manifold with fλ(6,4) structure was studied. The aim of the present paper is to study complete, horizontal and vertical lifts from a manifold with fλ(6,4)- structure to its cotangent bundle.


In order to find out the differences in medical college students' learning styles and listening strategies and whether there is any correlation between their learning styles and listening strategies, this study is carried out. Two questionnaires are adopted in this study to survey the different learning styles and listening strategies among medical college students. Based on the experimental data, we conclude that medical college students adopt various learning styles and listening strategies in English learning and there is a strong correlation between learning styles and listening strategies. Namely, when students choose a certain learning style, they tend to adopt a corresponding listening strategy. Therefore, effective measures are put forward to help students choose proper listening strategies by choosing a suitable learning style.


Nationalism has had a bad press in recent years; and with reason. The intellectuals of the 'Thirties had good reason to distrust it. Didn't Franco invade and crush the Spanish Republic in the baleful name of "the national idea"? Wasn't nationalism the last-ditch defence of a world which clung to the old categories of bourgeois thought, and refused to overleap its quarrels and unite? We saw the League of Nations driven headlong on the rocks of fascism and war: we saw the dictators, one by one, fish out their silly sodden symbolism of "young nations" and "old nations", and go about to smash half the world for this or that nationalist lunacy. Who could foresee that nationalism would become a rallying cry, in the 'Fifties, for untold millions of people in the colonial world? It was once held, in the working class movement, that socialism could triumph in any given country only after that country had passed through a more or less prolonged period of capitalism. This idea emerged later, in connexion with the colonial world, as a statement that colonies could become independent only when they had passed through several stages of capitalist evolution, and acquired both bourgeoisie and working class. But in the "bourgeois stage" of this process of self-liberation there would be a period of "bogus liberation" when the native bourgeoisie would exercise power as a puppet of the imperialist bourgeoisie: thus there were some who held that India's independence in 1946 was only apparent, and they were much surprised when they perceived, after a time, that this was not so after all. The same attitude was present in some leftwing attitudes to recent constitutional advances by British colonial peoples in West Africa: these advances, it was held were fake and illusory — how could they be anything else, since they were more or less peacefully granted by the imperial power? And yet we now see that it was this attitude that was fake and illusory, and not the constitutional advances. Beyond any doubt, these constitutional advances in colonies such as Nigeria and the Gold Coast (now Ghana) represent genuine and even far-reaching gains for the cause of equality and independence. Clearly, we have to examine colonial nationalism a good deal more carefully than in the past. We shall find ourselves, otherwise, even further removed from understanding what the colonial peoples want and mean to have: and we are far enough removed, in this country as it is. Now the matter might not be worth discussing if all that colonial nationalism meant was the cessation of imperial rule, an end to foreign garrisons, and the removal bag-and-baggage of invading bureaucrats. In Africa, at any rate, there is much more to it than this; although this is also part of it. Nationalism for many African peoples, perhaps for all African peoples, appears as the road to freedom and to progress not only because it leads to the end of imperialist rule, but also and above all because it conveys the necessary modern reorganisa-


The climate change along with increasing population has increased the pressure on freshwater resources across the world. Therefore, an attempt has been made in the Kumadvati watershed in western Karnataka, India to know the trends in rainfall and groundwater level. Daily rainfall data of 32 water years from 1984-85 to 2015-16 and monthly groundwater level for the same period has been collected from Government departments, GoK. The Mann-Kendall test along with Sen's slope estimator is used to determine the trends and slope magnitude. The annual and season wise result shows there are increasing and decreasing trends in rainfall. However, the groundwater level shows only decreasing trend in the study area. There is a good correlation between rainfall and groundwater level. The rates of decrease or increase in rainfall and groundwater level in the study are


We report a 4th-order Vernier cascaded microring (VCMR) filter on Silicon-on-Insulator that can be continuously tuned over an effective free spectral range of 32 nm using the thermo-optic effect. The filter consists of two cascaded double-microring filter stages with free spectral ranges of 7.8 nm and 6.5 nm. The cascaded architecture allows the two stages to be thermally isolated and individually calibrated, which enables accurate tuning of the VCMR filter without further spectral optimization at each set wavelength. We achieved a wavelength tuning accuracy of ±15 pm over 32 nm and a 3-dB bandwidth variation of ±6.5%, which represent the most accurate tuning performance reported for silicon Vernier microring filters to date. In addition, integrated on-chip thermistors allow for precise tracking of the local temperatures of the microrings, thereby providing a mechanism for monitoring the filter performance.


This paper argues that political-economic trends referred to under the single heading of globalisation have distinct causes and manifestations in different countries. Institutional variables chosen by governments and their constituents play a dominant role in determining the character of those manifestations, few of which are inevitable. The political Left and Right often base their arguments on the common premise that nations have no choice but to adopt the US model of highly mobile investment capital, market-centred provision of most goods, minimal governmental regulation and minimisation of accounting costs. That countries possess considerable degrees of freedom in establishing rules for international flows of labour, capital and goods is insufficiently appreciated by critics and supporters of trade and labour market liberalisation. Variety in political-economic forms achieves institutional diversification on a global scale, providing a multi-dimensional spectrum of benchmarks that help individual countries measure policy performance and update institutional variables accordingly.


Background : In the course of chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infections, a point mutation or core gene deletion has been attributed to play a role in persistence of HBV infection. This study was undertaken to determine the prevalence of core gene deletion in chronic HBV infections, molecular characteristics, and its clinical significance. Methods : Among 276 patients with positive results in HBV PCR for precore and core region, patients with smaller bands in addition to the band of expected wild type size, suggestive of deletion, were analyzed by direct sequencing, and hospital records were reviewed on 217 patients. Results : The prevalence of core gene deletion among patients with positivity in HBV PCR was 12.7% (35/276) and they always existed together with wild type. Seventeen patients were further studied by direct sequencing and 16 patients had similar positions of deletion in the center of core gene (nt 2000-2200). Of 35 patients with core gene deletion, 26 (74.3%) were HBeAg-positive and 7 (20.0%) were anti-HBe-positive. There were no significant differences in AST, ALT and HBV DNA quantitation between the wild type and the deletion groups. Conclusions : HBV core gene deletion is frequently found in chronic HBV infections and has some common features in deleted position, serologic markers and clinical state. However, the mechanism and time at which deletion mutants appear and disappear, and their clinical significances are not fully understood. By longitudinal studies for chronic hepatitis B patients, we should be able to demonstrate the immunologic significance of the core gene deletion mutation.


Scavenging of carrion is essential to terrestrial ecosystems and can shape food webs and behavior.  The prevalence and importance of scavenging has often been underestimated and overlooked in food web studies.  Small-mammal carrion is even less studied and difficult to estimate, especially in the Neotropics.  This project explored small-mammal carcass scavenging in a Neotropical, mid-elevation rainforest, and specifically studied the rate of carcass removal by scavengers, how the conspicuousness and weight of carcasses affect scavenging, and what vertebrate scavengers utilize this carrion resource.  I deployed 194 mouse carcasses of various weights, above and below the leaf litter, and surveyed them daily until disappearance.  I paired each carcass with a trail camera to help identify vertebrate scavengers.   A general linear model analysis showed that most mouse carcasses disappeared within 1 to 2 days.  Carcasses above the leaf litter were removed quicker and larger mice generally lasted longer.  Only 6.25 % of the carcasses were removed by vertebrates.  Most carcasses were removed by something too small to trigger the trail cameras, likely scarab beetles.  The results of this study show that small-mammal carcasses are a sought-after resource in Neotropical forests, and that invertebrates are able to quickly hoard and secure small carrion more efficiently than vertebrate scavengers.  A better understanding of scavenging ecology in Neotropical forests will help in developing a broader framework of the trophic interactions within and across ecosystems.


Dynamical and statistical behavior of the ionic particles in dissolved salts have long been known, but their hydration shells still raise unsettled questions. We engineered a ``diffusion tunnel diode"that is structurally analogous to the well-known Esaki diode, but now concentration gradients serve as generalized voltages and the current means particle flow. In an equipartition sense, the hydrated ions enter a cavity as individual particles and later, upon increase of their concentration therein, they lose water molecules that henceforth are particles of their own. These temporarily attached water molecules thus are the tunnel current analogue. Unlike the original tunnel diode, our negative differential resistance has implications for the second law of thermodynamics, due to thermal effects of changes in the hydration shells.


We examine how firm characteristics, particularly the degree of firm complexity and the firm's need for specialty knowledge, affect the relationship between corporate governance and the risk of bankruptcy. We find that having larger boards reduces the risk of bankruptcy only for complex firms. Our results also suggest that the proportion of inside directors on the board is inversely associated with the risk of bankruptcy in firms that require more specialist knowledge and that the reverse is true in technically unsophisticated firms. The results further reveal that the additional explanatory power from corporate governance variables becomes stronger as the time to bankruptcy is increased, implying that although corporate governance variables are important predictors, governance changes are likely to be too late to save a firm on the verge of bankruptcy.


OBJECTIVE: To discuss the mechanism of action, in vitro and in vivo activity, pharmacokinetics, clinical trials, adverse effects, drug interactions, and dosage guidelines of rifabutin. DATA SOURCES: Pertinent literature published between 1982 and 1993 was identified via a MEDLINE search. Published proceedings of selected conferences were also reviewed. STUDY SELECTION: Selected basic science, microbiologic, and pharmacokinetic articles were evaluated. Because only limited data regarding rifabutin were available in the literature, all clinical trials involving the use of rifabutin in the prevention of Mycobacterium avium complex (MAC) infection in AIDS patients were reviewed. DATA SYNTHESIS: Rifabutin is a rifamycin derivative that was approved recently for the prevention of disseminated MAC disease in patients with advanced HIV infection. The drug has in vitro and in vivo activity against gram-positive bacteria, gram-negative bacteria, and mycobacteria. Two prospective, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, multicenter trials demonstrated that rifabutin decreased the progression to MAC bacteremia in AIDS patients by about 50 percent. Adverse effects that resulted in the discontinuation of rifabutin prophylaxis occurred in 16 percent of patients. Rifabutin induces hepatic enzymes to a lesser extent than does rifampin, but dosage adjustment of drugs that are known to interact with rifampin may be required. CONCLUSIONS: Rifabutin is the only drug shown to be effective in the prevention of MAC bacteremia in AIDS patients; therefore, it should be made available as a formulary agent. It may be reasonable to delay initiation of rifabutin prophylaxis until CD4 lymphocyte counts are less than 75–50/mm3.


This paper is aimed at presenting an analysis method for grand-size underground chamber ventilation under construction as well as a method for calculating the air volume needed for diluting the blast fume. Based on the historical documents,we have made a digital simulation as a tool and a fault tree to analyze the relevant factors involved in such discharges. And,then,based on our analysis results and the software of Fluent,we have done a series of experiments with the discharge procedures of the blasted fume in such underground projects. At the same time,we have investigated the air distribution velocity and concentration of the blasted fume to be extracted in different conditions,which let us make clear the air volume in the ventilation tube and change the cross section area of the chamber properly. The experimental and research results demonstrate that in the case of large cross section chambers,different air volumes of the ventilation tube permit different time lengths needed for the discharge,but it would be impossible to change the total air volume to be discharged. Therefore,the total cross sectional area of the chamber should be taken as the critical factor for the air volume needed. In our experience,the air velocity in the chamber of 200 meters square from the construction site is seriously turbulent. To overcome the barrier,we have made an analysis of the simulation results in comparison with the current air volume calculation formula for the mining production. Based on our analysis results,we have worked out an improved formula for calculating the air volume needed,which allows us to determine the total volume of the blasted fume to be discharged in such grand-size chambers. The said new formula can be applied to discharge the air volume needed while the 200m2to 600 m2of underground chambers are under construction.


An interface of a self-developed two-dimensional semiconductor device radiation effect simulator,GSRES,to SPICE,the general electronic circuit simulator,was established,with which mixed-type simulation of device/circuit could be realized.The method was applied to mixed simulation of a CMOS inverter and a typical digital circuit.Current waveforms and voltage waveforms were obtained.It has been shown that the proposed method is efficient and useful for simulation of high power microwave effects in electronic systems.


In dogs and rats undergoing saline diuresis, removal of one kidney induces adaptive changes in the excretion of water, Na and HCO3. This 'compensatory adaptation' of renal function was further defined in adult and newborn rabbits. Clearance studies were performed on anesthetized animals maintained on a constant fluid balance. In adult animals exclusion of one kidney induced an immediate increase in urine flow, GFR, and in the fractional excretion of Na, K, Ca and P. A transient increase in effective renal plasma flow was observed. In animals undergoing hypertonic saline diuresis, contralateral nephrectomy did not depress free-water reabsorption in the remaining kidney, thus indicating that Na transport in the ascending limb of Henle's Loop was not inhibited in this condition. These observations suggest that contralateral nephrectomy depresses water and electrolyte transport in the proximal tubule of the remaining kidney. Occurrence of 'compensatory adaptation' was studied in eight 1-month-old rabbits. In none of them did contralateral nephrectomy induce compensatory changes in the remaining kidney. The absence of 'compensatory adaptation' in newborns could reflect an inability to depress proximal sodium reabsorption. SUPPORTED BY GRANT No. 3.7490.72 of FNSRS


Arteriovenous (AV) fistula cannulation plays a key role in the management of dialysis sessions, and is crucial for the reinforcement of the patient-to-staff relationship. Compliant patients prefer the buttonhole technique (BH); however, this "funnel" shows a high risk of infections. It is like a short catheter and, therefore, carries an increased risk of infectious complications. The BH cannulation should therefore be considered as a part of the complex planning of VA utilization, including rope-ladder cannulation as the standard of care, and should be reserved to selected patients. Also, prostheses cannulation should be taught and practiced in order to reduce the use of central venous catheters (CVC). In addition, cannulation should be considered as a part of the complete managing process of VA, together with the phases of creation, monitoring, and repair of the vascular access. The dialysis nurse must be considered both as the primary caregiver and the manager of this life-warranting pipeline.


The utility model discloses a hydraulic oil cylinder which comprises a carbon fiber composite cylinder barrel (4). The two end portions of the cylinder barrel (4) are respectively connected with a cylinder sleeve. Due to the fact that the cylinder barrel is composed of a barrel body made of carbon fiber composites which are light and high in strength, compared with a metal cylinder barrel in the prior art, the hydraulic oil cylinder can greatly reduce weight.


The western experience model of social organizations cultivating citizens' rights consciousness provides beneficial enlightenment for solving the low level development of migrant workers' right consciousness. But due to the enormous difference of organizational environment between China and the West,the study of this issue should be based on the social organization process of contemporary China. The paper focuses on how the process of social organizing with Chinese characteristics affects the production and reproduction of migrant workers' right consciousness in the background of relation reconstruction between nation and society in transition period,and what requirements are put forward to social organization to promote migrant workers' right consciousness.


Equations are derived for use in optimization of fin width and tube diameter to minimize system weight of single- and double-surf ace space radiators. Pumping power weight penalty is included in the optimization. Incident radiation from external sources is accounted for, and calculation of required armor thickness for protection against meteoroids is included. Adaptation of the equations to numerical solution by digital computer is discussed. An illustrative problem solution is discussed in which a single-surf ace radiator is optimally designed for typical baseline constraints. Parametric curves are presented which illustrate the effects of off-design incident radiation levels and spacecraft internal heat loads on required fluid flow rate through the optimally designed radiator. The analysis demonstrates that required fin width and tube length are very sensitive to the level of incident radiation.


This paper introduces the installation and configuration of Squid proxy software in Linux, and probes into how to implement the external access of LAN with example.


This paper shows different approaches to save mineral resources or energy for the production of autoclaved aerated concrete (AAC) using secondary materials. The goal is to implement new recycling routes in the building industry and to establish new material loops. It could be shown, that AAC can act as a sink for fine fractions from building rubble consisting of waste concrete and calcium silicate masonry units (CSU) by replacing the primary quartz sand. By choosing secondary raw materials like rice husk ash with a higher solubility than quartz, it is even possible to achieve AAC with the desired properties at lower autoclaving temperatures. After the end of life, AAC can be treated with the patented approach "ENSUBA," a wet‐chemical washing procedure, which enables the complete removal of sulfate ions, which usually cause problems in the recycling of AAC. After this treatment waste AAC can easily be brought back to the material cycle and for example be used as a raw material for cement production. Most importantly, this ENSUBA approach can be combined sensibly with a carbon capture technique like the chilled ammonia process. This process captures CO2 from the cement production in an ammonia solution, leading to the precipitation of ammonium carbonate, which is needed for the ENSUBA process.


Government policy to develop beef cattle in breeders, the aim of which is to be able to meet the needs of food originating from meat and increase farmers' income.The purpose of this paper is to review the implementation and empirically to find out the Government's policy in supporting the improvement of beef cattle business in farmers. The beef cattle business in farms with various daily body weight gain (PBBH) arranged at a 5% level of confidence was very significant (P>0.05). The advantage of IB cattle breeders from IB yields is IDR.4.575.000/year and B/C value of 1,2. The beef cattle business by grazing the plantation area and rubber farmers' profits is IDR.3.185.000/year B/C of 1.2. The business of beef cattle by means of breeding and fattening is still a lot of effort, so that it needs government support and policy so that farmers can continue to maintain their business. Efforts to develop animal husbandry must be supported by market opportunities. In addition to improving technology, infrastructure improvements, capability and progress of farmers can be managed by managing livestock business. Through Government support and policy, it is expected that an increase in beef cattle population and the economic value of farmers will increase.


Making a decision to perform an overhaul of a damaged reinforced concrete structure should be preceded by an analysis of the real durability of that structure after the repair in connection with the anticipated service life. One of the basic problems is the avoidance of further corrosion of concrete and steel after the repair, which depends on the degree of concrete contamination with harmful chemical factors. It is particularly important to determine the content of chloride and sulfate ions which cause corrosion. Concrete pH is equally significant because it conditions effective passivation of the reinforcement. The paper presents the basic issues related to the main chemical threats, including the main sources of their origin as well as their limit values. It emphasizes the importance of conducting the chemical tests of concrete, which should be treated as one of the methods of determining structure suitability for an overhaul, especially in the context of subsequent durability. This seems obvious to an experienced specialist, but in practice, such studies are often ignored. Those considerations are backed up with selected examples of reinforced concrete industrial structures exposed to aggressive chemicals during their operation. The text shows the correlation between their technical condition and chemical test results as well as the influence of those results on making decisions concerning effective overhauls.


Two-component waterborne polyurethane coatings mainly comprise of polyols and polyisocyanates.The good 2K-WPU coating films were obtained by mixing acrylic latex polyol as component A with HDI trimer of hydrophilic modification as component B.The effects of components and structures of the polyol and different proportion of the polyol and the polyisocyanate in mixing and film forming stage on the properties of coating films were addressed during the above process.It was shown that the good coating films can be obtained at the following conditions: hydroxyl content 2.3%,the molar ratio of BA/St 1 and the molar ratio of NCO/OH 1.2~1.4.Finally,compared the prepared coatings films with solventborne two-component polyurethane coating films.It was found that the comprehensive properties of the prepared coating films approach the properties of the solventborne coating films,but the content of VOC of the former is only 40% of the latter,meeting the demand of environmental protection.Therefore,it has the good prospect for application.


The problems of the study of children's books and determining the place of books in modern society are at the epicenter of a complex web of social stereotypes and myths, many of which are interdependent. The status of reading within a predominantly visual culture has changed so significantly that this has significantly affected both the status of children's literature itself and the new model of children's reading. The article also discusses and analyzes the main strategies employed by contemporary prose for young adults.