Some aspects linked to SN curves are discussed in the paper. Firstly the usefulness of the model of material strength of machine elements including the gears is emphasized. A short discussion is made on the modeling of SN curves emphasizing the useful observation (given in A03�40 5:1991) that the stress distribution is normal and its standard deviation is quasiconstant at all numbers of cycles. Based othis observation a proposal for a more precise assessment of the standard deviation is made. An example of the application of this proposal using the data pitting test obtained by Eberspacher (1995) and Schaller (1990) is presented. Finally some conclusions useful for gear design are presented.


NMR (Nuclear Magnetic Resonance) FID instabilities due to the most common types of magnetic field and/or RF offset fluctuations are investigated. The study analyses quantitatively some of the artifacts due to such instabilities. The effect of a random, normally distributed field noise on averaged FID's is shown to be their multiplication by a well-defined weighing function whose shape is intermediate between Lorentzian and Gaussian. While integral sensitivity of the instrument is not affected, there is a line shape distortion which might be easily mistaken for field inhomogeneity. The effects of periodic/quasi-periodic field perturbations on FID's and spectra are also investigated in detail. The results are directly applicable to the effects of type A instabilities such as mains-related field brum and ripple (including environmental pick-up). Type B instabilities whose magnitudes have a non-uniform spatial distribution require an additional averaging over individual sample voxels. The study establishes the respective averaging procedures and shows that when the normalized self-correlation functions of the field fluctuations are the same for all voxels, the final effect on averaged FID's is still a simple weighting by a particular function. The results are applicable to effective field fluctuations induced by sample spinning (in HR-NMR), sample vibrations (all branches of NMR) and field gradients noise (in MRI and in PFG self-diffusion measurements).


While systemic plasma endothelin‐1 (ET‐1) levels are increased during acute crisis in sickle cell disease, the relative levels of potent vasoactive factors that contribute to the regulation of vascular function, such as ET‐1, NO, and cell‐free hemoglobin, during the course of periodic vaso‐occlusive episodes remain unclear. Moreover, whether and to what extent sickling‐induced release of ET‐1 alters vascular tone is not completely understood. To investigate the sequential changes in circulating vasoactive factors, we measured plasma ET‐1, NO metabolites (NOx), and cell‐free hemoglobin (Hb) before (steady‐state), during (crisis), and after a vaso‐occlusive (post‐crisis) episode. Steady‐state ET‐1 levels (fmol/mL) increased from 2.3 ± 0.4 to 11.0 ± 1.4 and 4.2 ± 1.0 during crisis and post‐crisis periods, respectively. There was no significant difference in plasma NOx levels. Cell‐free Hb levels were significantly higher in sickle cell patients in all phases as compared to the control group, and especially during crisis cell‐free Hb levels were elevated by 4‐fold (209,000 ± 31,000 vs. 46,000 ± 5,300 ng/mL in steady‐state). Conditioned medium from human pulmonary artery endothelial cells exposed to sickled erythrocytes prepared by deoxygenation induced contraction of aortic rings, and this effect was blocked by an ETA receptor antagonist. These findings indicate that ET‐1 is the predominant contractile factor released by cultured endothelial cells upon exposure to deoxygenated sickled SS erythrocytes and ET‐1–NO–NO scavenger balance is altered in favor of vasoconstriction during an acute episode in SCD. Am. J. Hematol. 76:245–251, 2004. © 2004 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.


Chan, B. W. B. (1969).Brit. J. industr. Med.,26, 237-239. Haemodilution as a cause of anaemia in coalworkers. Blood volume measurements were made in eight cases of anaemia in coal-workers, including four men with Caplan's syndrome (rheumatoid pneumoconiosis), and in eight non-anaemic patients with chronic lung disease without significant arterial hypoxia. The total blood volume and the plasma volume were significantly increased in the anaemic group but the red cell volume was almost identical in the two groups. These results suggest that haemodilution is an important factor in the anaemia of these patients.


In the past several years, many exchanges in North America and Europe have introduced options on foreign stock indexes. The most popular are Nikkei put warrants (hereafter, NPWs). In Canada, six NPWs have been listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange (see the Appendix for details). The mushrooming of NPWs around the turn of the decade was mainly due to the belief that the Japanese stocks were seriously overvalued. That belief was subsequently confirmed by the movement of the Nikkei index: Over the last three years, it has dropped by about 50%. As a result, most of the NPWs have been exercised. Although the creation of NPWs was mainly motivated by an assessment of the market movement, many similar products have been introduced for other reasons.(1) One important rationale is the ability of investors to participate in the foreign stock market without incurring otherwise prohibitive transaction costs. In fact, some of the foreign index warrants allow investors to participate in the foreign stock index movements without incurring exchange rate risk. Given the globalization of the world financial markets, it is logical to foresee more development and creation of cross-currency instruments such as NPWs. Despite the popularity of these innovative products, the literature has been lacking in formal treatments of the new instruments. Although some authors have examined the theoretical pricing of cross-currency products, very few have examined the empirical evidence in this market.(2) There are two exceptions. Chen, Sears, and Shahrokhi (1992) studied the price behaviour of NPWs traded on the American Stock Exchange. Wei (1992a) empirically tested pricing models, using NPWs traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange. The question of market efficiency of the NPW market is largely unanswered. The purpose of this paper is to investigate efficiency of the NPW market. Specifically, NPWs traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange were used to evaluate two trading strategies designed to make arbitrage profits. In the remainder of the paper, we will present the NPWs and their pricing models, describe the data and testing methodologies, and report empirical results. NIKKEI PUT WARRANTS AND THEIR VALUATION An NPW is an American put option written on the Nikkei 225 index. Although the index the underlying asset is denominated in Japanese yen, the warrants are traded in dollars. Therefore, it matters as to how the Japanese yen payoff is converted into dollars. Existing NPWs can be classified into three different categories, according to conversion scheme. We will use the following notation. S = Nikkei 225 index level in yen; X = current Cdn$/JapY exchange rate; X sub 0 = pre-specified, fixed exchange rate; K = exercise price in yen; r = Canadian risk-free interest rate; r sub f = Japanese risk-free interest rate; sigma sub s , = volatility of the Nikkei index; sigma sub x , = volatility of the exchange rate; rho = correlation coefficient between the index and the exchange rate; q = continuous dividend yield on the Nikkei index; t = current time; T = maturity date. In terms of payoffs, the three categories can be characterised as follows. Category--Payoff upon exercise in dollars Category I NPWs--Max [0, X sub T (K - S sub T )] Category II NPWs--Max [0, X sub 0 (K - S sub T )] Category III NPWs--Max [0, X sub 0 K - X sub T S sub T ] It is seen that the exchange rate enters the payoff function in different ways. For category I NPWs, the exchange rate simply serves as a currency conversion factor. Therefore, holding a category I NPW is exactly like holding an ordinary Japanese index put option. This is because the spot exchange rate at the time of exercise is always used to convert the yen payoff. It is, however, not the case with a category III NPW. Here, the exercise price is converted upfront, at exchange rate X sub 0 , which is constant throughout the life of the warrant, but the Nikkei index is converted at the spot exchange rate at the time of exercise. …


State-of-the-art semiconductor transistors manufactured on silicon wafers exhibit a characteristic length below several tens of nanometers. The advantage of such scaled transistors is an increased switching rate and higher density devices per unit area. However, severe performance issues have to be considered in nanoscale transistors and circuits made employing these devices. The most prominent device performance issues are bias temperature instability (BTI) and hot-carrier degradation (HCD). When the effect of BTI is investigated, drifts of the device threshold voltage are typically measured and analyzed. Quite interestingly, a continuous drift of the threshold voltage is recorded when large-area transistors are tested. In the case of nanoscale transistors, discrete steps in the drain-source current can be observed. These steps correspond to a charge capture or emission event of a defect located either at the semiconductor/insulator interface or directly in the oxide. Thus, scaled devices offer a microscopic zoom mechanism and allow a detailed study of the charge trapping kinetics and physics of single defects. Next to device reliability, charge trapping at single defects can also affect the performance of circuits. For instance, the variability between seemingly identical devices increases towards scaled technology nodes. In consequence, a larger variation in the signal propagation delay of logic inverter circuits can be observed. In this talk, we will discuss the challenges of single defect characterization and modeling the defects' trapping behavior. Finally, an overview of the consequences for integrated circuits employing nanoscale transistors will be presented.


Scientific and effective classification of share resources of cooperative enterprises is founda-tion of share resource management and allocation.It is more important to classify resources by scientific method because different kinds of resources become more and more similar while resource classifying level is increased.Cluster analysis is used to classify share resources of cooperative enterprises in this paper.Then an agglomerate hierarchical clustering algorithm for share resource classification is put forward.Finally material,as an example,is classified by this method,and the effectiveness of the method is proved.


In allusion to the investigation need of micro air vehicle at present,aerodynamic forces and moments produced by the flapping of wing were analyzed and calculated,and the motional differential equations and body equations of motion for the body of flapping wing type micro air vehicle were derived.Also,the position and attitude of flapping wing in the process of flight were given.Finally,the Virtual Flapping Wing Micro Air Vehicle with Matlab and Simulink was built and the simulate result was given.


Hoffmann (H‐) reflex amplitudes in plantar flexor soleus muscle are modulated by posture, yet dorsiflexor tibialis anterior (TA) H‐reflex parameters have sparingly been studied. The purpose was to investigate modulation of the TA H‐reflex when postural demands are increased from sitting to standing. In this study, data from 18 participants (Age: 25 ± 4 years, Height: 170.9 ± 9.5 cm, Weight: 75.9 ± 17.2 kg) allowed comparison of two experimental conditions involving different postures (i.e. sitting and standing). Maximal amplitude of the TA H‐reflex (Hmax) as a percent of the maximal M‐wave amplitude (Mmax) (Hmax (% Mmax)) during sitting and standing was compared using ANOVA. Modulation of TA H‐reflex amplitude was found: Eleven participants showed facilitation and seven showed no change of reflex amplitudes. Only participants in the facilitation group showed modulation related to changes in posture (sitting: 8.7 ± 2.9%; standing: 14.8 ± 6.7%, P = 0.005). These data provide evidence of the sensitivity to posture of TA H‐reflexes. As with task‐dependent changes in soleus H‐reflexes, presynaptic regulation of Ia afferent transmission is a possible mechanism. Further investigations into causes of modulation are warranted.


Based on microstrip antenna technology, a compact single-layer circular aperture array is proposed in this paper. The proposed method is suitable for designing large-scale and high-efficiency patch array in Ka band. By using the high-impedance characteristic of the coupled microstrip line, a novel multi-stage feeding network that can realize large power division ratio is proposed, and its structure is center-symmetrical and is fed through a coaxial probe at the center. The parallel branch of the multi-stage divider is connected to the row array, and the array elements can obtain uniform excitation through the design of the division ratio of each stage. A 256-element patch array operating at 35 GHz is proposed, the length and width of the antenna unit are 2.74 mm and 3 mm, respectively, the horizontal spacing between the array elements is 0.742λ0, the vertical spacing varies from 0.677λ0 to 0.737λ0, and the radius of the proposed array is 60 mm (7λ0 at 35 GHz). At the end, a prototype is fabricated and measured, the measured results show that the maximum gain is 29.5 dBi at 35 GHz, which correspond to the radiation efficiency and aperture efficiency of 61.66% and 46.07%, respectively, and the results show that the proposed antenna achieves high efficiency in Ka band, which verifies the correctness of the design. The proposed array antenna is compact in structure and only needs single-layer design, which can achieve high efficiency and low in manufacture cost, which is an excellent candidate for millimeter-wave large-scale array application.


【Purpose: To compare the leakage and scattered radiation from hand-held dental X-ray unit with radiation from fixed dental X-ray unit. Materials and Methods: For evaluation we used one hand-held dental X-ray unit and Oramatic 558 (Trophy Radiologie, France), a fixed dental X-ray unit. Doses were measured with Unfors Multi-O-Meter 512L at the right and left hand levels of X-ray tube head part for the scattered and leakage radiation when human skull DXTTR III was exposed to both dental X-ray units. And for the leakage radiation only, doses were measured at the immediately right, left, superior and posterior side of the tube head part when air was exposed. Exposure parameters of handheld dental X-ray unit were 70 kVp, 3 mA, 0.1 second, and of fixed X-ray unit 70 kVp, 8 mA, 0.45 second. Results: The mean dose at the hand level when human skull DXTTR III was exposed with portable X-ray unit $6.39{\mu}Gy$ , and the mean dose with fixed X-ray unit $3.03{\mu}Gy$ (p $2.97{\mu}Gy$ and with fixed X-ray unit the mean dose was $0.68{\mu}Gy$ (p】


This article proposes an adaptive, optimal, data-driven control approach based on reinforcement learning and adaptive dynamic programming to the three-phase grid-connected inverter employed in virtual synchronous generators (VSGs). This article takes into account unknown system dynamics and different grid conditions, including balanced/unbalanced grids, voltage drop/sag, and weak grids. The proposed method is based on value iteration, which does not rely on an initial admissible control policy for learning. Considering the premise that the VSG control should stabilize the closed-loop dynamics, the VSG outputs are optimally regulated through the adaptive, optimal control strategy proposed in this article. Comparative simulations and experimental results validate the proposed method's effectiveness and reveal its practicality and implementation.


Abstract The effect of pulsed current on TiB2 formed by reactive consolidation between titanium and boron is reported in this paper. This consolidation was performed using the plasma pressure compaction (P2C) technique. A comparison between the pulsed and control samples reveals that pulsed current reduces grain growth (pulsed samples had an average grain size of 2·79 μm compared to 5·99 μm) while increasing sintering rates (pulsed samples were on average 15·5% more dense). The reduced grain growth and increased densification is due to the removal of adsorbed oxygen from the surface of the powder.


Sucrose, supplied todetached pea(Pisum sativum L.varAlaska) epicotyls through cutbases, supported better growth ofapical tissue than supplied glucose and/or fructose. Thehexoses wereconverted mainly to sucrose inbasal regions oftheepicotyl butsomemovedassuchthrough theepicotyl andaccumulated attheapex(plumule) ataratefaster than sucrose. Agreater proportion ofthecarbon derived fromsupplied hexoses thanfromsucrose wasusedforsynthesis ofethanol-insoluble products throughout theepicotyl. Byuseofasymmetrically labeled sucrose, itwas shownthat neither hexose moiety wasusedpreferentially forthesynthesis ofmetabolites. Supplied sucrose movedassuchonly uptotheregion of cell elongation where itwashydrolyzed andcompletely equilibrated before moving into moreapical regions. Theresults indicate that better growth withsupplied sucrose thanhexose could nothaveresulted fromdifferential effects oncell division, morerapid uptake ortransport ofsucrose, enhanced wallsynthesis, orcleavage bysucrose synthase. Itisconcluded that transported sucrose mersus hexoses mustundergo orevoke different reactions which affect growth intheregion ofceOl elongation. Sucrose isconsidered tobethemajor formofcarbohydrate translocated inhigher plants, largely because ofitsubiquitous occurrence andits predominance amongfree sugars intransport streams that emerge fromphotosynthesizing leaves andgerminat


Pyrazole derivatives have attracted considerable attention in last decade in view of diverse chemotherapeutic potential including anti-cancer. In the present research work some derivatives of pyrazole, 4-(1H-imidazol-1-yl)-5-phenylpyrazolidin-3-one (4a-g), were synthesized by treating the corresponding hydrazones with base in moderate yields. The synthesized derivatives were characterized by FT-IR, 1H NMR and Mass spectroscopy and screened for in vitro antimicrobial activity. The compounds 4c, 4f and 4g showed significant antimicrobial activities.


Introduction: Endodontic treatment failure can be caused by the bacterium E. faecalis, which has a prevalence of up to 90%. E. faecalis is difficult to eradicate because it forms a biofilm to defend itself against antibacterial agents. Lime leaves are one of the many herbal products available in Indonesia (Citrus hystrix DC). Lime leaf extracts include antibacterial components such as essential oils, phenolics, alkaloids, saponins, and tannins. The purpose of this study was to investigate the antibacterial activity of lime leaf extract against E. faecalis bacterium. Material and Methods:The agar diffusion technique was used for four experimental groups, using lime leaf extract at 4% (group 1), 8% (group 2), and 16% (group 3) as the negative control. Each group was repeated six times on Muller Hinton Agar (MHA) medium with a paper disc, and the diameter of the inhibitory zone was measured with a caliper. Results and Discussions: The results revealed that a 4 % concentration of lime leaf extract had an average inhibition zone diameter of 7.31 mm, an 8 % concentration had an average inhibition zone diameter of 8.59 mm, and a 16 % concentration had an average inhibition zone diameter of 11.41 mm. The difference in the inhibition zone was statistically significant (p= 0,000) evaluated using the one-way ANOVA. Conclusion: It can be concluded that lime leaf extract is antibacterial potential against E. faecalis bacteria in the endodontic treatment.


Abstract Nowadays, a tremendous speed of computer technologies is being observed. This caused intensive numerous researches in the fields of data protection, information processing and image processing. This article is devoted to computer graphics. To create and manipulate realistic objects in computer graphics one needs to have powerful computers to perform a lot of complicated computations. Though, GPU in modern visual adapters is able to handle very complicated operations during short period of time, a lot of other devices (e.g. hand-held devices) not equipped with GPU require simplification of computations for image shading. Herein we suggest approximation of BRDF (Bidirectional Reflectance Distribution Function) which hard to get computed, by two quadratic polynomials.


The liquid smoke in liquid form is considered less practical and susceptible to damage to
phenolic compounds during storage. Liquid smoke encapsulation technology is expected
to be able to overcome the problem of handling liquid smoke. This study aimed to
determine the optimum conditions for the manufacture of liquid smoke nanoparticles in
terms of the particle size distribution produced. The ratio of arabic gum and maltodextrin
concentration, homogenization speed and homogenization time were optimized using the
Box-Behnken Response Surface Methodology (RSM) experimental design. The response
used in this study is the particle size distribution (z-average). Based on the results of the
study, the optimum conditions for the manufacture of liquid smoke nanoparticles were
obtained at a concentration ratio of gum arabic and maltodextrin 12:88, a homogenization
speed of 4000 rpm and a homogenization time of 3 mins, with a particle size distribution
(z-average) 78.53±1.48 nm.


Chemotherapy is an essential treatment to combat solid tumours and mitigate metastasis. Chemotherapy causes side effects including muscle wasting and weakness. Regulated in Development and DNA Damage Response 1 (REDD1) is a stress‐response protein that represses the mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR) in complex 1 (mTORC1), and its expression is increased in models of muscle wasting. The aim of this study was to determine if deletion of REDD1 is sufficient to attenuate chemotherapy‐induced muscle wasting and weakness in mice.


In the 1970s a new HVAC system was designed and developed in Japan—the inverter driven ductless heat pump (DHP) 1 . Today, almost all residential HVAC systems in Asia and the majority of systems in Europe are ductless. DHPs account for only one percent of the U.S. residential HVAC market and have primarily been installed in multi-family homes. Approximately 100,000 residential customers in Connecticut heat with electric resistance heat. A disproportionate number of electric heat customers are limited-income and face extreme hardships, especially during the winter months as Connecticut's electricity rates are the highest in the continental United States. In 2007, a pilot was conducted in Connecticut and Massachusetts to test the feasibility of using DHPs in addition to electric resistance heat. DHPs were installed at 144 sites where electric heat was the primary heating source. In 2009, a follow-up evaluation was completed that quantified the energy and demand savings impacts through on-site metering. The metering measured the electricity used by the entire home, DHP and baseline electric heaters. A concurrent qualitative evaluation captured participant and vendor perspectives on DHPs, including participant acceptance, comfort and reliability. The quantitative evaluation estimated the installed DHPs demonstrated savings of over 2,000 kilowatt-hours (kWh), or $400 annually per residence during the heating season and significantly reduced summer air conditioning electrical consumption. Additionally, over 85 percent of participants were satisfied with the quality of the heating and cooling. Based on the results of the 2007 pilot, Connecticut Energy Efficiency Fund (CEEF) program administrators 2 have developed an aggressive DHP initiative to target electric resistance heat participants. The initiative includes increased participant incentives, contractor training, and upstream negotiated cooperative promotions with DHP manufacturers.


In this research, we predict User's Future Request using Data Mining Algorithm. Usage of the World Wide Web has resulted in a huge amount of data and handling of this data is getting hard day by day. All this data is stored as Web Logs and each web log is stored in a different format with different Field names like search string, URL with its corresponding timestamp, User ID's that helps for session identification, Status code, etc. Whenever a user requests for a URL there is a delay in getting the page requested and sometimes the request is denied. Our goal is to generate a Frequent Pattern Itemset on the Web Log we have chosen and after analyzing and processing the data we apply Apriori All algorithm with a minimum support to prune and improve the Frequent Pattern and thereby predict the User's Future Request which will help the user in successfully reaching out to the URL pages he has requested.


Metal oxides/sulfides have been considered as promising anode candidates for use in next-generation lithium-ion batteries (LIBs), but the large volume changes and poor electron and ion conductivities limit their practical applications.


Many recent papers conclude on short-term profitable patterns based on trading strategies relying on the belief that best (worst) performing securities over the past short-term period tend to continue to perform well (poorly) over the subsequent period of up to 12 months. Along with exploiting past price patterns, ever since the early 1980s the researchers' attention is drawn on the usefulness of company financial statements in predicting stock market returns. We argue on the necessity to develop a framework that would enable investors to support their everyday decisions by taking into account information retrieved from financial statements in an automated manner. We propose an ML-based AI system that inputs historic price information as well as information on a number of balance sheet items, profit and loss items, and cash flow items for the company of interest and predicts the probability of its stock price going down in the next period. The prediction relies on a dynamic automated selection of significant accounting and historic features. Tracking the dynamics in the structure of significant features could shed additional light on company specific issues that might be taken into account by investors when making their decisions.


In a consumer society,the key point of tourism marketing lies in providing the symbolic value of tourism prod-ucts,for the spiritual needs of tourists.In the process of tourism symbol marketing,creation is the important decision of in-fluencing coding and decoding quality and the performance of marketing activity.At the same time,the inherent nature of tourism products,the increasingly fierce competition and the increasingly rich tourist consumption experience promote tourism marketing into the creative marketing stage.Creative tourism marketing is a marketing concept which taking creation for its core driving force,with unique concept,original form and significant effect as its external performance,with innovating con-cept,guiding needs and enhancing value as the internal characteristics.Essentially,creative tourism marketing is a kind of value innovation and communicative activity by means of modern mass media,on the basis of combination with the natural attribute of tourism products,the cultural attribute of tourism demand and the related factors of other fields,by using creative thinking,and then forms the marketing concept.


Background The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has caused respiratory failure in many patients. With no effective treatment or vaccine, prolonged mechanical ventilation is common in survivors. Timing and performance of tracheostomy, for both patient and surgical team safety, remains a question. Here within, we report our experience with percutaneous dilatational tracheostomy with modification to minimize aerosolization. Methods A modified percutaneous dilatational tracheostomy technique is described. The technique was performed on 10 patients in the surgical intensive care unit. Results Ten patients underwent percutaneous dilatational tracheostomy. There were 7 males, and the average age for the group was 60.8 years. The average number of ventilator days before the operation was 26.3. All procedures were successful, and no patient had any procedure-related complications. Conclusions The procedure described was successful in our patient population. We believe that this approach is safe for patients with coronavirus disease 2019 and limits aerosolization during the operation. Level of evidence Level IV, case series.


The networks of the future are touted as being highly dynamic, allowing users a huge degree of mobility and flexibility. Seamless Mobility demonstrates networks where users move seamlessly between providers obtaining the best possible service experience. While a large focus in this area is on enabling handover, what is ultimately important is the impact of this on the user. In this paper we discuss a novel approach which does not focus on network handover but instead adopts a different view to the problem. We focus on selecting, configuring or reconfiguring a service to suit the user's current situation based on a number of factors including user profiles, user preferences and the available network.


Due to susceptibility of bridges in the past earthquakes, vulnerability assessment and strengthening of bridges has gained a particular significance. The objective of the present study is to employ an analytical method for
the development of fragility curves, as well as to investigate the effect of strengthening on the RC box-girder bridges. Since fragility curves are used for pre- and post-earthquake planning, this paper has attempted to adopt the most reliable modeling assumptions in order to increase the reliability. Furthermore, to acknowledge the interaction of soil, abutment and pile, the effect of different strengthening methods, such as using steel jacketing and FRP layers, the effect of increase in the bridge pier diameter, and the effect of vertical component of earthquake on the vulnerability of bridges in this study, a three-span RC box-girder bridge was modeled in 9 different cases. Nonlinear dynamic analyses were
carried out on the studied bridges subjected to 100 ground motion records via OpenSEES platform. Therefore, the
fragility curves were plotted and compared in the four damage states. The results revealed that once the interaction of soil and abutment and the vertical component of the earthquake are accounted for in the calculations, the median fragility is reduced, implying that the bridge becomes more vulnerable. It was also confirmed that steel jackets and FRP layers are suitable methods for pier strengthening which reduces the vulnerability of the bridge.


tivs que]} Alured. / ]}e mon. ]}e on his youh]}e. / yeorne leorne]}. / wit and wisdom. / and i-writen redenr / he may beon on eide. / wenliche lor^eu. / And ]}e }oat nule one youh^e. / yeorne leorny. / wit and wysdom. / and i-writen rede. / ]}at him schal on eide. / sore re we.1Throughout La3amon's Brut or Hystoria Brutonum characters evince great interest in both divining and planning for the future, aided by prognostication as well as means more mundane. But it is apparently difficult to identify any equally intense interest in the past - in how matters might have happened differently. We must assume that La3amon desired his readers to derive some clear lessons from the history the Brut presents, but although the Bruts author tells us in his famous proem that he was a priest, he mostly refrains from sermonizing, so that when he concludes with the suggestion that reading his work might bring benefit to the soul he does not specify what its beneficial lessons might have been.2 Nor do La3amon's characters customarily reflect on mistaken earlier actions. I would like to come closer to satisfactorily explaining the Brufs apparent dearth of explicit retrospection by considering, through analogues, the intellectual-cultural background to one episode in the Brut where "the wisdom of hindsight" actually does appear.3 Lugubrious meditation on past history seems to be quite common in other works of early Middle English literature contemporary with La3amon's, and I shall argue that an apparent coincidental similarity of these poems, in which the meditator on history is almost always a character near the end of life, is in fact essential.The presence in La3amon's Brut of the early Middle English topos of retrospection reflects a medieval vernacular commonplace that musing on the lessons of history is especially, perhaps uniquely, suited to advanced age. The curriculum of medieval schools was responsible for this habitual juxtaposition of age and retrospection in early Middle English vernacular writing, and La3amon chose to confine retrospection by his characters almost completely to this context. Despite initial appearances, old age as depicted in these poems does not reflect a yearning for (or poets' identification with) long-defunct political realities. Some of the texts do seem to take pains to identify their retrospective ageing figures as Anglo-Saxon in origin, perhaps for secular appeal, but the ideological background is medieval and Christian rather than pagan Germanic.4 Focusing on their Christian background allows us to see the speakers' retrospection, an activity always more poignant at the end of life, in terms of personal conversion rather than veiled political discontent.5Here I propose to call attention to the episode concerning King Leir, a quintessential ageing character late to wisdom.6 The passage occurs early in the poem (11. 1450-1861) and its meditations on history may seem entirely explicable as part of La3amon's usual practice of expanding Wace's Toman de Brut, in this episode from approximately three-hundred and ninety-one octosyllables in Wace to over eight hundred long alliterative lines split by a caesura.7 Yet both Wace and his source, Geoffrey of Monmouth, also pay particular attention to the sad tale of King Leir.8 The position and length of the episode in La3amon do not give special emphasis over other episodes in the poem.More significant is the fact that the episode presents pronouncements on the past at all. The Bruis Leir episode is not the only one from which lessons about history could have been drawn by characters in the poem. Other characters, however, are simply not given to such reminiscent moralizing. Nor is La3amon's Leir an exception in learning from his past behaviour, given that his tragedy derives from issues of family, rather than national, importance. Personal matters play a large role in the episode of the brothers Elidur and Argal - but they do not utter soliloquies resembling Leir's. …


This study confirms that high stresses between the metallization layer and ceramic lead to significant failures in DBC substrate. The driving forces behind several different failure modes are discussed. Further understanding of these failure mechanisms enables the modules to be engineered for longtime operation and helps to enhance the reliability of system-level operation.


Adopted by the uplink transmission for Long Term Evolution (LTE) system, Discrete Fourier Transformation-Spread-Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (DFT-S-OFDM) can be recognized as a multicarrier technique which is preprocessed by Discrete Fourier Transformation (DFT). Multicarrier signal affected by the nonlinearity of Power Amplifier (PA) brings severe inter-modulation between subcarriers, which causes interference to the adjacent channel and unacceptable Adjacent Channel Leakage power Radio (ACLR). As one of the linearization techniques, power de-rating under a certain level can reduce the adjacent interference efficiently. This paper analyzes the forming of 3rd inter-modulation and the level of power de-rating which can be represented by Maximum Power Reduction (MPR) and Cubic Metric (CM). And also, the factors which influence the value of MPR and CM are discussed based on the analysis of 3rd inter-modulation.


An exegesis of Luke 1, 78-79. Mercy is presented as a soteriological category in the third gospel. The paper applies the various exegetical methods of the new Testament.


It is the scope and purpose of this study to investigate the Whitman-woman relationship and to attempt to answer, so far as this Whitman puzzle may be answered, the question of the effect of women on the Whitman philosophy and the nature of that philosophy concerning women.


Objective To investigate the clinical efficacy and safety of Ivor-Lewis surgery in treating middle and lower chest esophagus carcinoma.Methods A retrospective analysis of 170 patients′s clinical data from June 2008 to June 2012 in our hospital,Ivor-Lewis surgery(right chest and abdominal incision) 86 cases,Sweet surgical(left chest posterolateral incision) 82 cases,compared the mediastinal lymph nodes and abdominal lymph node dissection,operative bleeding,cardiopulmonary complication rate,postoperative hospital stay of two groups.Results Ivor-Lewis surgery group in mediastinal lymph nodes and the number of abdominal lymph node dissection,the incidence of cardiopulmonary complications,postoperative hospital stay were better than the Sweet surgery group(P0.05),no significant difference between the two groups in the amount of surgical bleeding.Conclusion Ivor-Lewis surgery conducive to the esophagus free and two field lymph node dissection,less post-operative complications,is the ideal surgical treatment for the middle and lower chest esophagus carcinoma.


An assembly comprising a projector and a camera, with a processor for determining three-dimensional (3D) coordinates of a used object surface. The processor adjusts detected 3D coordinate of a mathematical representation, which is provided to a shape of a surface feature. The processor adjusts the measured 3D coordinates of the shape and if the fit is not acceptable, selects and at least executes one of the following through: changing a pose of the assembly, changing an illumination level of the light source and changing a pattern of the emitted light. Once the changes are made, a further scan to obtain 3D coordinates.


Relationship between IL-6, IL-1β, and vitamin D on frailty status in elderly women Dwi Ngestiningsih1*, Jessa Kris Dayanti2, Lusiana Batubara3 Background: The aging process is associated with an increase in proinflammatory markers' serum levels, indicating that a chronic inflammatory process is correlated with an increase in disability, mortality, and frailty. Pro-inflammatory cytokines that increase with the incidence of frailty syndrome are IL-6, IL-1β and TNF-α. 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25 (OH) D) deficiency is also a potential risk factor for frailty, especially in the elderly. Vitamin D deficiency is associated with a risk of falling, which can speed up the frailty process. The aim of the study is to determine the relationship between IL-6, IL-1β and Vitamin D on frailty status in elderly women in elderly integrated health services (posyandu lansia), Semarang City. Methods: This study used a cross sectional design with a consecutive sampling method of 27 subjects. Subjects measured vital signs, weight and height measurements. The study subjects were then taken venous blood to measure the levels of IL-6, IL-1β and vitamin D in blood serum and assessed their frailty status. Data analysis using SPSS 25 with Spearman correlation


The concepts of multiple conductors partial capacitance and mutual inductance are very important in electrostatic field. In this paper,the properties of partial capacitance and mutual inductance,measure principle and instruments are introduced. The experimental results are in accord with the theoretical results. The practice shows the two experimental systems can not only promote students' ability to apply knowledge,but also can inspire their interest in electromagnetic field professional theory study.


This Classification using ensemble generally combines multiple classifiers that results in the improvement in the accuracy of the classification. Experimenting with the same dataset using the single classifier provides lesser accuracy than ensemble techniques. Many researches have been carried out using the technique of combining the predictions of multiple classifiers to generate a single classifier. The produced classifiers provide more accurate results than any individual classifier. This paper focuses on the ability of ensemble techniques to improve the accuracy of basic J48 algorithm. Ensemble techniques like Bagging and Boosting improved the efficiency of the J48 classifier. Experiments have been carried out on many datasets taken from UCI repository to investigate the effects of ensemble techniques on J48 and Naïve Bayes algorithm. WEKA tool is used to measure the effectiveness of a classifier model.


Calmodulin (CaM) is a primary Ca2+-binding protein found in all eukaryotic cells. It couples the intracellular Ca2+ signal to many essential cellular events by binding and regulating the activities of more than 40 different proteins and enzymes in a Ca2+-dependent manner. CaM contains two structurally similar domains connected by a flexible central linker. Each domain of the protein binds two Ca2+ ions with positive cooperativity. The binding of Ca2+ transforms the protein into its active form through a reorientation of the existing helices of the protein. The two helices in each helix-loop-helix Ca2+-binding motif are almost antiparallel in Ca2+-free CaM. The binding of Ca2+ induces concerted helical pair movements and changes the two helices in each Ca2+ binding motif to a nearly perpendicular orientation. These concerted helix pair movements are accompanied by dramatic changes on the molecular surface of the protein. Rather than exhibiting a flat, hydrophilic molecular surface as seen in Ca2+-free CaM,...


Background and objectives Caudal epidural analgesia is widely used in children, many additives are used to improve the analgesic profile of this block. The main objective of the study was to investigate the efficacy of adding dexmedetomidine or nalbuphine to local anesthetic in children undergoing hypospadias surgery. Patients and methods After ethical approval, this randomized controlled study was carried out in Cairo University hospitals; 60 patients with American Society of Anesthesiologists classification (ASA) I, aged 2-7 years were randomly assigned into one of three groups: group B (control group) (n = 20) received caudal bupivacaine 1 ml/kg with concentration of 0.25%, group BD (n = 20) received caudal bupivacaine 0.25% mixed with 2 μg/kg dexmedetomidine and group BN (n = 20) received caudal bupivacaine 0.25% mixed with nalbuphine 0.2 mg/kg body weight. Pain and sedation was assessed postoperatively. First time of rescue analgesic, total dose of rescue analgesic and side effects were observed for 24 h. Results Postoperative FLACC pain scores were significantly less in BD group and to a lesser extent in BN group than in B group (p < 0.001) . Patients in BD and BN groups were more sedated in the first 6 hours than in control group but there was no statistically significant difference between BD and BN groups regarding sedation. The first time for postoperative analgesic requirement was significantly longer in BD group (16.89±0.74 hours), BN group (6.70±0.38 hours) and B (control) group (4.84±0.70 hours) (p < 0.001). Conclusion Dexmedetomidine was more effective and provided longer duration of analgesia than nalbuphine when added to caudal bupivacaine.


Due to environmental and economic reasons, the world is moving from bulk generation towards distributed generation. Microgrids (MGs) are a group of distributed energy resources, loads, and storage units that are controllable within clearly defined electrical boundaries. MGs have the potential to provide better power quality, reliability, voltage profile, and outage management. This paper aims at modeling and optimizing the size and operation of a MG. The MG must be able to exploit available resources such as solar, wind and other renewable energy sources. Technical and economic constraints are taken into consideration. A mixed integer linear programming model is used to find the optimal size of the different components then GAMS modeling language was used to find the optimal size of the different components and the optimal strategy to be followed. This enables exploring different scenarios. These scenarios are based on different parameters such as load and supply profiles. Solar irradiance and wind profiles have been used from the weather station at Birzeit University. Therefore, the data represents typical profiles in Palestine. Yet, the framework can be used to study building a MG in any location in the world.


The education reform in recent years has emphasized the reform of university education, attaching importance to the performance of university running, and pursuing excellence and equal educational quality. This research aims at a university in China, and explores the empirical study of students' satisfaction and loyalty to the quality of university administrative services. The results show that the quality of administrative services in universities through student satisfaction will have a significant impact on student loyalty to the university. For parents whose children are attending university or who are concerned about education, if they can understand the performance of university administration through objective university evaluation, they can further increase parents' confidence in the university and a sense of mission in participating in university affairs. Universities are professional organizations and must establish self-renewal mechanisms. Therefore, the ultimate purpose of university evaluation is to promote the development of a self-evaluation mechanism that operates on a regular basis, and to activate a steady stream of energy for the university's sustainable operation. According to the meaning represented by the above analysis results, there are further explanations and discussions in this article.


Fifty eight Acute Lymphpblastic Leukemia( ALL ) patients were recorded when they admitted to the Nanacally Hospital for Blood Diseases in Erbil and submitted to treatment with first induction phase therapy. (40childern 69% and 18 adults-31%) between December 2012 and November 2013.The study were determine the type, frequency and severity of gram negative bacterial infections. A total of 74 isolates were isolated and identified by VITEK 2 GN Colorimetric Identification Card. Abscess swab was the most common site of infection 30/74(40%) followed by oral and throat swab19/74 (26%), urine14 /74(19%). The detection of gram negative bacterial in the patient's, blood has diagnostic by ( automated blood culture <020 )instrument for incubation and periodic reading which were positive in 11/74(15%). Bone marrow(BM) was negative ( 0%)isolate. The most gram negative was E. coli 24/74 (32%) ,Pseudomonas aeruginosa 16/74(22%)) Kebsiella pneumoniae ,8/74(11%) Acinetobacr baumannii 6/74(8% ) Proteus mirabilis, Raoultella ornithinolytica and Yersinia enterocolitica 4/74(5%) Serratia fonticola, Pseudomonas luteola, Acinetobacter genomospecies3,and Morganella morganii 2/74(3%) of isolates . MIC of 17 antimicrobial were tested and there was variation in the resistance of the isolates .E.coli isolates were resistance to 71% of the antibacterial K.pneumonia to 53% .S. fonticola to 35% P. aeruginosa to 41% P. luteola to 6% ,A.genomospecies3 to 23.5% A. baumannii to 70.5% . P.mirabilis to 35%, R.ornithinolytica to 82%.M. morganii to 76% , Y. enterocolitica to 41% of the antibacterial. All isolates were susceptible to Imipenem and Meropenem.The subtypes of ALL were 39(67%)L1,19(33%)L2,L3(0%) .Only 52/58 (90%)were associated with neutropenia and 6/58(10%) were without neutropenia. The male patients were (55%) and female were (45%) ,(71%)B cell and (29%) were T cell ALL . Half of the patients had no any education levels 50%, patients who had no family history 71% and 88%of patients were no smoking .


We would like to begin by thanking authors Zalaquett and D'Andrea, Sciarra and Whitson, Schmidt, and Mitcham-Smith for their insightful critiques of our article. We also would like to thank editors Rich Lapan and Rick Auger for the opportunity to have this extended discussion. In giving further thought to empowerment theory and in reviewing the critiques of the respondents, there are several issues that strike us as deserving additional consideration with respect to empowerment theory for professional school counselors. We would like to give further attention to the importance of the empowerment process for school counselors, the question of outcomes with respect to the empowerment process for students, and the operationalization of empowerment theory in schools. Addressing these issues should further assuage any concerns about the viability of empowerment theory as an appropriate theoretical orientation to guide social advocacy in school counseling. THE NATURE OF THE EMPOWERMENT PROCESS FOR PROFESSIONAL SCHOOL COUNSELORS As Mitcham-Smith and Schmidt in their responses both suggest, it is evident that if professional school counselors are to be successful in facilitating the empowerment of students, they must engage in a self-reflective process that leads to their own development of critical consciousness and sense of empowerment. This is especially crucial for counselors whose racial/ethnic background, socioeconomic status, ability, or sexual orientation gives them a position of power and privilege both in the school setting and the general society. Counselor educators would do well to facilitate the empowerment process for school counselor trainees; this would entail incorporating issues of social inequalities, leadership development, public policy, ethnic studies, lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender studies, women's studies, and social justice into counselor education curricula. For those professional school counselors who are already in the field, the following books are recommended to help them in the process of developing critical consciousness: Readings for Diversity and Social Justice: An Anthology on Racism, Anti-Semitism, Sexism, Heterosexism, Ableism, and Classism (Adams et al., 2000) and Class and Schools: Using Social Economic and Educational Reform To Close the Black-White Achievement Gap (Rothstein, 2004). Other insightful readings can be found in the References section of our original article. Although we agree with Mitcham-Smith and Schmidt that professional school counselor empowerment is crucial to facilitating the empowerment of students, it needs to be clear that school counselors are not to assume a savior role with respect to students from marginalized communities. Student empowerment must evolve from student efforts. Therefore, counselors must be seen as important, but ancillary to the movement of students for personal and community empowerment. OUTCOME OF EMPOWERMENT FOR STUDENTS OF MARGINALIZED COMMUNITIES Answering the critical question of what do we want to see empowered students accomplish, we envision the empowered student to excel academically and be an agent of change in the community. After all is said and done, student empowerment in the school setting must be, as Sciarra and Whitson suggest in their response, about student educational achievement. …


PURPOSE: A communication protocol for a remote controlled probing using an electronic power meter is provided, which is applied in a bidirectional data transmission without regard to a transmission medium, and varies a communication speed as required. CONSTITUTION: According to a communication protocol between a terminal where an electronic power meter is installed for power meter checking and a server which processes meter inspection information from the terminal, an application layer loads control information required in its own layer to a material received from an application program of the server or the terminal, and then sends them to a data link layer, or decodes the control information from a sub application layer and then provides it to the application program. The sub application layer divides the material into a maximum length of 255 Bytes and then provides them to the data link layer to prevent the non-efficiency which can be generated while transporting a large amount of materials, or assembles the divided material and then provides it to the application layer, and includes a header having information as to the position and sequence of the material. And the data link layer performs an actual communication between the server and the terminal, and comprises a data link header and an application header, a data and a CRC. The data link head stores information such as destination, source, material length and a control method to prevent an error generated during a communication between systems.


The (4+1)-annulation of dimethoxycarbene with readily accessible α,β-unsaturated carbonyls gives cyclic orthoesters, which can then be converted in just a few steps to other O-heterocycles, including methoxyfurans, furanones, and furans.


A 45 year old woman was referred by psychiatrists for assessment of raised alkaline phosphatase. She had been admitted to a psychiatry ward for management of schizophrenia and was being treated with fluphenazine and olanzapine. She had been otherwise well and denied any gastrointestinal symptoms or any bone or muscle pains. Her blood tests results were as follows (normal ranges in brackets)):

Abdominal ultrasound showed normal physiology in the gallbladder, common bile duct, common hepatic duct, and liver parenchyma. Further tests showed that the patient was vitamin D deficient, with a serum level of calcidiol of 23 nmol/l (normal range 25-250 nmol/l). Tests for anti-nuclear and anti-mitochondrial antibodies were negative. Vitamin D2 (ergocalciferol) 5000 units daily and calcium 1500 mg daily were commenced.

Three months later, the patient's calcidiol level was still only 22 nmol/l. On repeat testing, her alkaline phosphatase concentration had risen to 573 U/l. Vitamin D2 was replaced with calcitriol 0.25 µg daily. Her calcidiol concentration went up to 126 nmol/l and alkaline phosphatase came down to 253 U/l when tested three months later.

Over the next five months, the patient's alkaline phosphatase concentration ranged from 267 U/l to 279 U/l, despite normal levels of calcidiol (i.e., 165 nmol/l). Given that the patient had no gastrointestinal symptoms, nutritional vitamin D deficiency was thought to be the cause of her vitamin deficiency. However, the biochemical abnormalities did not return to normal after vitamin D replacement. Further investigations were positive for coeliac antibodies (normal values in brackets):

Anti-tissue transglutaminase IgA >200 U/ml (<10)

Anti-gliadin …


Urban built-up areas are not only the embodiment of urban expansion but also the main space carrier of urban activities. Accurate extraction of urban built-up areas is of great practical significance for measuring the urbanization process and judging the urban environment. It is difficult to identify urban built-up areas objectively and accurately with single data. Therefore, to evaluate urban built-up areas more accurately, this study uses the new method of fusing wavelet transforms and images on the basis of utilization of the POI data of March 2019 and the Luojia1-A data from October 2018 to March 2019. to identify urban built-up areas. The identified urban built-up areas are mainly concentrated in the areas with higher urbanization level and night light value, such as the northeast of Dianchi Lake and the eastern bank around the Dianchi Lake. It is shown in the accuracy verification result that the classification accuracy identified by night-light data of urban build-up area accounts for 84.00% of the total area with the F1 score 0.5487 and the Classification accuracy identified by the fusion of night-light data and POI data of urban build-up area accounts for 96.27% of the total area with the F1 score 0.8343. It is indicated that the built-up areas identified after image fusion are significantly improved with more realistic extraction results. In addition, point of interest (POI) data can better account for the deficiency in nighttime light (NTL) data extraction of urban built-up areas in the urban spatial structure, making the extraction results more objective and accurate. The method proposed in this study can extract urban built-up areas more conveniently and accurately, which is of great practical significance for urbanization monitoring and sustainable urban planning and construction.


This paper elaborates the importance and reasonableness of setting up UPS power in the process of design, and explains the application of some UPS main wiring system in different circumstance.


The purpose of the study was to evaluate if 2 week Levine score can provide an adequately responsive outcome measure in Carpal Tunnel Decompression by comparing it with 6 month score.The treatment outcome of 300 patients with Carpal Tunnel Decompression was determined by using Levine score at 2 weeks and 6 months after surgery. The mean age of patients was 55 years and 6 months, 71.3% (214) were female with 55.33% (167) operations being performed on right hand. All patients were scored through Levine questionnaire pre operatively and at 2 weeks and 6 months from date of surgery. The correlation between the scores was evaluated.Although statistical significance was found between the pre operative score and the scores at both 2 weeks and 6 months, no statistical difference was found between the scores at 2 weeks and 6 months post surgery. Multiple regression analysis with the 2 week–6 month score difference as the dependable variable shows a predictable outcome at 2 weeks.We conclude that the Levine score a...


Three normal children with headache occurring only with exertion were advised to try "head cooling" (eg, immersion of the head in cold water, cold water poured over the head, application of a cold, wet towel or ice pack) at the onset of headache. The patients were followed up quarterly as outpatients, and the effectiveness of head cooling in terms of the frequency of headaches, intensity (interference with play), duration, and side effects was assessed over 18 months.


The liberalization of the electricity market has clearly brought about an increased pressure on the power system management to reduce costs. The pursuit of potential savings through maintenance is of special importance. Standardised concepts are increasingly used as well as multicultural products that cover the complete functional requirements of a feeder circuit. Interdisciplinary beginnings are occurring in the power system management and the asset management areas. A medium sized Distribution System Operator (DSO) maintains an asset population of some 1000 relays. The age of the individual relays in the asset population may vary between 1 and 20 years consisting of numerous models and some makes. Their associated protective schemes have to be engineered, commissioned, routine-tested, administered and their performance analysed after power system fault clearance. The budget for such expenses may amount to some 30% of the total operating costs. For economic and operator reliability reasons, the DSO therefore has a strong interest in smart human-machine interfaces HMIs supporting the vast majority of the relays in the system. Beyond the traditional use as HMI tool, facilities for system fault analysis and quick power system restoration after an outage become vital for efficient system operation management


The Entomological Society of America held its Thirty-second Annual Meeting on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. A joint symposium on the subject "The Relationship Between Insects and Plant Diseases" was held on Tuesday afternoon. The symposium was sponsored by the Entomological Society of America and the American Association of Economic Entomologists. Three members of the American Phytopathological Society took part in the symposium which was well attended by all three societies.


We propose and fabricate a chip containing optical antennas for single molecule Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (SMSERS). We verify that SMSERS is achieved using experiments with Rhodamine 6G (R6G) isotopologues.


The topographically bound, balanced motion of an incompressible, inviscid, and stratified fluid on the f -plane is studied. The potential vorticity of the fluid is specified as a positive function of its density. For an infinite, straight bottom ridge, it is shown that a solution with constant density along the entire bottom surface is possible only when the crest height is less than a critical value, which depends on the shape of the ridge profile and on its width in comparison with the deformation radius. If the crest height exceeds the critical value, the upper part of the ridge must protrude into less dense layers above, disrupting the lowest isopycnic surfaces. The critical crest height is calculated for certain simple ridge profiles. The situation seems to be qualitatively similar for a circular bottom topography. In this case, the critical summit height must be determined from the non-linear gradient wind equation, since the geostrophic approximation fails when the critical height is approached. Although no explicit expression for the critical height is offered, it seems plausible that its value will be smaller than for a ridge of similar profile. DOI: 10.1111/j.2153-3490.1980.tb00979.x


Tonsil/adenoidectomy (T/A) is a commonly performed procedure with an average post‐tonsillectomy bleed (PTB) rate between 3 and 5%. Patients with bleeding disorders (BDs) are believed to have an increased risk of PTB. We hypothesize that our medical management of BD patients using a combination of DDAVP/antifibrinolytic agents has a similar PTB rate to control patients. This study suggests a standardized protocol for patients with BDs to avoid PTB.


In this paper, we present a novel algorithm – DRGBT (Dynamic Rapidly-exploring Generalized Bur Tree), intended for motion planning in dynamic environments. The main idea behind DRGBT lies in a so-called adaptive horizon, consisting of a set of prospective target nodes that belong to a predefined $\mathcal{C}$-space path, which originates from the current node. Each node is assigned a weight that depends on relative distances and captured changes in the environment. The algorithm continuously uses a suitable horizon assessment to decide when to trigger the replanning procedure. A comprehensive simulation study is performed, covering a variety of manipulators, where DRGBT is compared to a state-of-the-art algorithm. Results indicate some promising features of the proposed method.


Abstract The rotational spectra of the ground vibrational state of the cis and trans isomers of crotononitrile have been measured in the frequency region 6-420 GHz. Accurate rotational constants, centrifugal distortion constants, and nuclear quadrupole coupling constants have been determined for both isomers. A barrier height of 1387.2(8) cal/mole for the internal rotation of the methyl group of cis-crotononitrile was obtained from the analysis of the splittings. An ab initio structure has been calculated for both forms (as well as for isomers) and a near-equilibrium structure has been estimated using offsets derived empirically. The variability of the C N bond length and the linearity of the C C N group are discussed.


In this paper we discuss the shortcomings of traditional Demand Response programs in an environment in which a large amount of distributed generation is available. An innovative approach is given in which true Customer Site Integration is obtained in the spirit of the liberalized electricity market, by making use of the load flexibility of underlying processes of production and consumption devices. The approach is based on distributed control mechanisms and incorporates new market models for distribution and aggregation costs, load losses, and network constraints.


The production of crude palm oil biodiesel was studied by using acid and basic heterogeneous catalysts by pre-esterification and transesterification steps, respectively. Pre-esterification step is necessary for high free fatty acid content oils because problems associated with soap formation are avoided. In both reactions the variables analyzed were catalyst type, temperature and time.


A method for cyanation reaction of ketones and ketimines having lower reactivity than aldehydes and aldimines with TMSCN in the presence of N-heterocyclic carbene prepared from 1,3-bis(2,4,6-trimethylphenyl)imidazolium chloride and potassium tert-butoxide, as a nucleophilic organocatalyst, is described. These cyanations of ketones and ketimines afford the corresponding products in good yields under mild reaction conditions.


The structures of new antifungal antibiotics, PF1163A and B, were elucidated by spectroscopic analyses of the degradation products and by X-ray crystallography of the de-2-hydroxyethyl derivative of PF1163B. Both antibiotics consist of a 13-membered macrocyclic structure containing a derivative of N-methyl tyrosine and a hydroxy fatty acid. PF1163A differs from PF 1163B by having an additional hydroxyl group on the side chain.


As it is required that electronic products are designed with shorter design period, lower cost and higher quality, circuit optimization has been paid increasing attention. In this paper, a practical approach to circuit parameter optimizationUniform Design Fitting Genetic Algorithm is proposed. The main idea is to replace circuit simulation with fitting of multivariate polynomial to guide the searching process of Genetic Algorithm as to reduce the number of times of circuit simulation. During datum sampling, Uniform Design is utilized, which can not only reduce the number of sampling, but also make initial population contain comprehensive information. This will be of benefit to the convergence of algorithm. Two circuit optimization experiments demonstrate that this approach is useful for those circuits with complicated objects having many design parameters.


Objectives: To compare real-time myocardial perfusion echocardiography (RTMPE) with myocardial-delayed enhancement imaging on cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) for prediction of cardiac events (CE) in revascularized STEMI patients (pts).

Methods: Consecutive acute STEMI pts with acute reperfusion by PCI and/or thrombolysis were studied. RTMPE (Definity) and CMR were performed within 1.04± .8 days & 1.7±1.2 days from PCI, respectively. Visual assessments of perfusion by RTMPE and transmural necrosis extent by CMR in 17-segments were graded independently as:0=normal/no scar;1=hypoperfused/non transmural scar;2=absent perfusion/transmural scar. Perfusion score indices PSI RTMPE & PSI CMR were calculated [sum of segmental perfusion scores / segments]. CMR infarct mass (g) and RTMPE myocardial blood flow [MBF dB/sec] were quantified. Pts were followed for CE [death, nonfatal MI, revascularization, angina, and heart failure]. Cox regression analysis was done.

Results: All 27 pts [age 62 ±14; follow-up 3.5±2.6 yrs] had TIMI grade 3 flow of revascularized infarct vessel. CE occurred in 17 (63%) (death=5,STEMI=1, angina=4,CABG=1,PCI=2,HF=4). CE pts had higher PSIRTMPE , PSICMR , infarct mass, and lower MBF Figures A,B . PSIRTMPE cutoff .3 had AUC .856 [82% sensitivity,70% specificity], while PSICMR cutoff .2 had AUC .765 [76 % sensitivity, 60% specificity]. Pts with PSICMR ≥ .2; infarct mass ≥ 14; PSIRTMPE≥ .3 and MBF ≤.557 had increased CE [log-rank X2 1.6, P=.21; 5.7, P=.02; 4.3, P=.04,and 5.1, P=.02 respectively]. Infarct mass and MBF were independent predictors of CE after adjusting for risk factors [hazard ratios: 20.9 (95% CI 1.8-256) P=.02 and 8.1 (95% CI 1.5-78) P =.01, respectively].No pts had side-effects reported.

Conclusions: RTMPE performed comparably to CMR in excellent prediction of subsequent cardiac events in revascularized STEMI pts. These findings support a prognostic role for this novel, readily available, noninvasive, bedside imaging method.

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In order to demonstrate how the radiation reactance of a piston, at low frequencies, depends on its shape, the solution for a rectangle of varying aspect ratio is obtained by contour integration. The method gives in a few short steps the exact value of the asymptotic accession to inertia, previously available only by means of a much longer computation. The result is graphed as a function of the piston's aspect ratio, and compared with the known value for the circle.


The stud connection is the main connection methods of concrete and steel in the composite structure. There are fewer study on the stud connector for steel self-compacting concrete with machine-made sand. Considering different concrete strengths and stud diameters, 28 finite element models of stud connector for steel self-compacting concrete with machine-made sand are designed, and the shear performance of stud connector are analyzed under different influencing factors by using Abaqus finite element software and the stress-strain curve of machine-made sand self-compacting concrete. It is found that the diameter affects the ultimate bearing capacity of the connector more than the concrete strength, and the strength of the self-compacting concrete has a small effect on the stiffness of the connector. While the diameter of the stud is larger than 19 mm, the concrete strength influences the ultimate bearing capacity of the model obviously.


Abstract Purpose: To report a rare case of isolated dermolipoma of the lower eyelid. Design: Case report. Results: A young otherwise healthy girl presenting with a slowly progressive, painless lesion of the left lower eyelid of about 3 years' duration had undergone conservative management elsewhere for symptoms of intermittent, mild irritation associated with the mass without any significant benefit. Increase in the size of the lesion in the recent past had been noted. Mass excision with histopathology showed it to be consistent with a dermolipoma. Conclusions: An eyelid dermolipoma is distinctly uncommon in occurrence. Nonetheless, it should be considered in the differential diagnosis of benign mass lesions of the eyelid.


Four DIG-labeled nucleic acid probes for specific detection of chicken endogenous and pathogenic exogenous avian leukosis virus(ALV) were synthesized by PCR using specific primers,these probes are used to detect exogenous pathogenic ALV specific nucleic acid in suspected samples through cross dot hybridization.Genomic DNA extracted from the samples or its amplified PCR products using the appropriate primers can be detected with specific probes.The results could be reported in 24~36h by cross-dot hybridization.


The main objective of this work is to improve the fine grained security scheme towards cloud storage and improve the privacy by means of two norms such as Attribute-based encryption (ABE) and Advanced Encryption Standard (AES). A new fine-grained two-factor authentication (2FA) access control system for web-based cloud computing services has been proposed. In recent years, many users have uploaded data to the cloud for easy storage and sharing with other users at the same time, security and privacy concerns for the data are growing. Attribute-based encryption (ABE) enables both data security and access control by defining users with attributes so that only those users who have matching attributes can decrypt them. In actual implementations, ABE is used in hybrid with a symmetric encryption scheme such as the advanced encryption standard (AES) where data is encrypted with AES and the AES key is encrypted with ABE. The hybrid encryption scheme requires re-encryption of the data upon revocation to ensure that the revoked users can no longer decrypt that data. To re-encrypt the data, the data owner (DO) must download the data from the cloud, then decrypt, encrypt, and upload the data back to the cloud, resulting in both huge communication costs and computational burden on the DO depending on the size of the data to be re-encrypted.


The design of new graphene architectures has become a stake for the fabrication of advanced materials with various functionalities. Despite its outstanding properties, pristine graphene has many shortcomings, and for practical applications it is needed to alter its surface and electronic properties. New routes are envisaged such as strain, patterning/texturing and chemical functionalization [1]. Of our particular interest, graphene sheets decorated with nanoparticles (NPs) are new hybrids materials that can be used as catalysts, supercapacitors and biosensors. It was reported that graphene decorated Au or Ag NPs can effectively enhance Raman signals of absorbed organic molecules that makes it a useful surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) substrate [2]. Nowadays, reduced graphene oxide (r-GO) is one of the most used burgeoning supports to disperse and stabilize metallic NPs because of its rich surface chemistry. Nevertheless, although news approaches have been reported to provide a better surface control synthesis and coverage of NPs on r-GO, alternative graphene platforms are still needed to be developed for simplest preparation method, large scale and sensitive detection of molecular fingerprints. Recently, it was proposed to convert through thermal treatment and with a metal catalyst, various solid carbon sources such as amorphous carbon (a-C) into graphene [3]. However, to date the applications remain largely unexplored. Recently, we have synthesized few-layer (fl) graphene by pulsed laser deposition (PLD) and have shown its applications as an efficient SERS platform [4]. However, at this time, the growth mechanism of graphene using energetic carbon species from PLD is not fully understood and the full potential of this method not totally used. PLD has the advantages to be simple, cost-effective, fast and versatile technique to fabricate amorphous carbon such as Diamond-Like-Carbon (DLC). Moreover, by providing energetic carbon species, PLD is an emerging technique to growth graphene at low temperature. Herein, we report the synthesis of fl-graphene by PLD for different stacking configurations of a-C thin film and investigate its performance to detect various insecticides in solution by SERS. Thin DLC films were obtained under high vacuum condition by ablating a graphite target (99.997% purity) with an excimer laser in a deposition chamber evacuated to a base pressure of about 10 -4 Pa. A KrF laser with a wavelength of 248 nm, a pulse duration of 20 ns, a repetition rate of 10Hz and an energy density of 15 J cm -2 was used for the ablation. A nickel thin film was deposited by evaporation either on top of a DLC thin film (system I) or as an intermediate layer between the DLC film and the substrate (system II). We observed that although homogeneous large scale fl-graphene could be obtained with a standard SiO2 substrate, the use of Si substrate induced textured graphene surface. Figures 1a and b show the SEM images of a-C(5nm)/Ni/Si sample after been thermal annealed at 780°C during 45 min. Distinct surface morphologies were observed (A-II, B-II, and B*-II), indicative of a texturing of the surface. Figure 1c shows some typical Raman spectra recorded at 442 nm excitation in the three aforementioned regions. The presence of a well-defined symmetric 2D mode (~2750 cm -1 ) in the Raman spectra indicates without ambiguity the formation of fl-graphene. The texturing of the fl-graphene is explained through a diffusion of Ni atoms into the Si substrate during the heating and the concomitant formation of Ni3Si2 silicides compounds as confirmed by Raman spectroscopy and Auger analyses. Texturing of surface with nanoscale roughness could be particularly attractive for SERS. Au NPs, prepared by chemical reduction, were deposited on the fl-graphene to investigate its SERS activity (see Figure 2). Rhodamine 6G used as a probe molecule was detected for both aforementioned systems with high sensitivity (10 6 M). Lastly, deltamethrin and Methyl Parathion (MP), which are active molecules of commercial insecticides have been chosen to further evaluate the SERS performance of our devices. MP is one of the most toxic organophosphate pesticides. Recently, Yazdi et al. have detected MP with high sensitivity (5 ppm) using an original method [5]. Figures 3a and b show typical Raman spectra of MP at different concentrations (10 -5 M and 10 -4 M) obtained on the fl-graphene. Distinct Raman features at around 859, 1110, and 1344 cm -1 that are characteristic peaks of MP are clearly observed for a MP concentration as low as 10 -5 M (3 ppm). The method developed is simple, fast and cost effective.


-------------------------------------------------------------------ABSTRACT--------------------------------------------------------------Traffic management and congestion control are major issues in Asynchronous Transfer Mode(ATM) networks. Congestion arises when traffic in the network is more than offered load. The primary function of congestion control is to ensure good throughput and low delay performance while maintaining a fair allocation of network resources to users. In this paper, Enhanced Proportional Rate based Congestion Avoidance (EPRCA) scheme proposed by ATM forum has been considered. But this scheme has limitation of higher cell drop problem for the bursty traffic. Improvements to EPRCA scheme have been proposed to reduce cell drop problem and results of improved EPRCA schemes were analyzed with basic EPRCA scheme.


Teaching grammar has been regarded as crucial to the ability to use language. For this reason, this article introduces a five-step procedure for teaching grammar. I have developed this procedure, which incorporates the notions of practice and consciousness-raising, explicit and implicit knowledge, and deductive and inductive approaches for teaching grammar. This procedure has been derived from my great interest in innovative grammar teaching and my teaching experience in grammar. The proposed steps are expected to be an alternative pathway for English teachers to teach grammar, particularly teaching tenses and modals at college-university levels or even in secondary schools.


Although corporate environmental disclosures have been researched extensively,empirical evidence regarding the indirect impact of carbon pricing on firms' voluntary disclosures is scarce. The objective of this study is to identify the indirect impact of carbon pricing initiatives on the voluntary environmental disclosures (VEDs) of electricity generating companies, analyzed through the lens of institutional theory. This study adds to the growing literature on the determinants of VED, investigating the impact of adoption of the Global Reporting Initiative and ISO 14001 on VED. Secondary data were collected from 2015 annual reports and/or standalone sustainability reports of electricity generating companies from 53 countries around the world. Content analysis approach was adopted for measuring the extent of the quality of VED. Findings of multiple regression analysis suggest that there is an indirect institutional impact of carbon pricing on the quality of VED. This study also finds that, as the form of non government guidance, the Global Reporting Initiative adoption and ISO 14001 certification also have an institutional influence on the VED. VED is also affected by company size although this study reveals no significant relationship of leverage with VED.


Rotational sensorless control methods which are particular to the railway vehicle applications are presented in this paper. An induction motor speed sensorless control method for railway vehicle traction is introduced, including the re-powering control method. Especially, a mechanical simulator method which is utilized for stating induction motors at zero speed condition are presented. A permanent magnet permanent magnet synchronous motor (PMSM) rotor angle sensorless control method with the induced voltage are also introduced, including harmonics current injection method for starting at zero speed condition. A modified inverter short circuit method for re-powering control method of PMSMs is presented in this paper.


BGC823 human stomach cancer cells were cultured for the identification of photodynamic effects of Cortex phellodendri with illumination of 480 nm and 650 nm wave length. In the test groups with illumination, the herb extract diminished cell growth curve and the metabolism of 3 (4,5 dimethylthiazo1 2 yl) 2,5 diphenyl tetrazolium bromide(MTT). Futhermore, the significant decrease of the acid phosphatase ( P 0.01) and the incorporation of 3H TdR into cells ( P 0.01) were demonstrated in the test groups.The progression of cancer cell cycle was postponed in S phase( P 0.01) by the herb of 100 mL/L,but no chromosome adhering aberration appeared. The ultrastructural appearances showed that in the test groups, the mitochondria and the rough endoplasmic reticula of the cells became swollen and vesiculate and the ribosomes decreased.The result showed that Chineses medicine Cortex phellodendri has photosensitive effects on the cancer cells.


In university Japanese teaching, it summarize the similarities and differences between Chinese and Japanese languages and cultures, help students form a clear cross-cultural awareness, and let students have a full understanding of cultural differences, so that Japanese learning can be promoted on the basis of respecting and adapting to cultural differences. This article analyzes the differences between the two languages in terms of poor language expression, behavioral styles, aesthetic awareness, and thinking styles. It follows the principles of two-way penetration, mutual respect, cultural contrast, gradual progress, and advancement with the times. It proposes the background of differences cultural penetration strategy: guide students to establish cultural relativity views, carry out a variety of extracurricular practical activities, give full play to the advantages of modern education technology, combine cultural teaching with language teaching, and organize students to carry out cultural research and cultural works research.


Handbook of Psychology: Preface (I. Weiner). Contributors. 1. Stability and Change in Industrial and Organizational Psychology (W. C. Borman, et al.). PART ONE. PERSONNEL PSYCHOLOGY. 2. Job and Work Analysis (P. R. Sackett & R. M. Laczo). 3. Job Performance (S. J. Motowidlo). 4. Recruitment Research in the 21st Century (S. L. Rynes & D. M. Cable). 5. Personnel Selection and Employee Performance (N. Schmitt, et al.). 6. Intelligence and the Workplace (F. Drasgow). 7. Use of Personality Variables in Work Settings (L. M. Hough & A. Furnham). 8. Perspectives on Training and Development (K. Kraiger). 9. Strategic I/O Psychology and the Role of Utility Analysis Models (J. W. Boudreau & P. M. Ramstad). PART TWO. ORGANIZATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY. 10. Motivation (T. R. Mitchell & D. Daniels). 11. Job Attitudes (C. L. Hulin & T. A. Judge). 12. Leadership Mod els, Methods and Applications (B. L. Avolio, et al.). 13. Theories and Practices of Organizational Development (J. R. Austin & J. M. Bartunek). 14. Work Groups and Teams in Organizations (S. W. J. Kozlowski & B. S. Bell). 15. Customer Service Behavior (A. M. Ryan & R. E. Ployhart). PART THREE. THE WORK ENVIRONMENT. 16. Changes in Workers, Work and Organizations (W. F. Cascio). 17. Work Design (F. P. Morgeson & M. A. Campion). 18. Stress in Organizations (S. Sonnentag & M. Frese). 19. Judgment and Decision Making (T. Connolly & L. Ord??). 20. Career Dynamics (J. H. Greenhaus). 21. Human Factors and Ergonomics (W. C. Howell). 22. Organizational Culture and Climate (C. Ostroff, et al.). 23. Diversity in Organizations (C. P. Alderfer & A. D. Sims). Author Index. Subject Index.


Presents an improved replicable systematic method for the selection or promotion of employees through the developmental stages of a case study. The method provides systematic techniques for ensuring fairness and equality of opportunity for all candidates as related to particular job functions. The Criteria‐Related Employability Assessment Method (CREAM) has gone through continuous improvement over the past 20 years. The case study is of a new firefighter recruit selection process developed for the Phoenix Fire Department. Criteria were drawn from a group of the organization′s currently successful employees. Follow‐up research of those candidates selected for the first two firefighter recruit training classes showed that there was a significantly high correlation between the selected candidates and the criteria group of successful Phoenix firefighters. The playing field being levelled resulted in a significant increase in the number of minority group members and females that were selected to be on the hiri...


This paper proposes an adaptive radial basis function (RBF) neural network (NN) fuzzy control scheme to enhance the performance of shunt active power filter (APF).The RBF NN is utilized on the approximation of nonlinear function in the APF dynamic model and the weights of the RBF NN are adjusted online according to adaptive law from the Lyapunov stability analysis to ensure the state hitting the sliding surface and sliding along it. In order to compensate the network approximation error and eliminate the existing chattering, the sliding mode control term is adjusted by adaptive fuzzy systems, which can enhance the robust performance of the system. The simulation results of APF using the proposed method confirm the effectiveness of the proposed controller, demonstrating the outstanding compensation performance and strong robustness.


Four mine contaminated soils located in northwest of Guangxi autonomous region were selected for microbial community analysis. These mine soils were contaminated by chromium (Cr) and cadmium (Cd). Microbial communities were described by high-throughput sequencing technology, which showed
 39 different phyla in four samples. Among these phyla, Proteobacteria was the most abundant phylum in all samples. Acidobacteria, Actinobacteria, Planctomycetes, Firmicutes, Gemmatimonadetes, Bacteroidetes and Chloroflexi showed higher relative abundances than other phyla.
 In addition, a wide diversity of bacteria with the potential of bioremediation, such as Sphingomonas, Lysobacter and Gemmatimonas were detected in the tested mine contaminated soils. The results of microbial community analysis will provide a new target for isolation of
 microorganisms with the potential of bioremediation and lay the foundation for a great enhancement of bioremediation ability through the genetic engineering modification of indigenous microorganisms in future.


A simple concise formulation of the problem of propagation in multicomponent plasmas with static magnetic fields is given. Application to plasmas, such as the ionosphere, containing electrons and multiple positive ions is considered. For each ionic species beyond the first, a multiple-ion resonance and a multiple-ion cutoff frequency are found for propagation perpendicular to the static magnetic field as well as a cutoff and the expected ion gyrofrequency resonance for the left circularly polarized (Alfven) mode. Also, for each additional ion a crossover frequency is found for which the two longitudinally propagating modes and the transverse extraordinary mode have the same phase velocity. If a crossover frequency moves through the frequency of a wave propagating in a slowly varying medium, the polarization of the wave is changed from predominately right circular to left circular or vice versa.


ABSTRACT Among the GDSL family of serine esterases/lipases is a group of bacterial enzymes that posses C-terminal extensions involved in outer membrane anchoring or translocation. ApeE from Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium, a member of this group, has been expressed in Escherichia coli and was resistant to protease digestion when the protease was added to whole cells, indicating a periplasmic localization. The five consensus blocks conserved within all GDSL esterases were identified in ApeE by multiple sequence alignment and separated from the C-terminal extension. The DNA sequence spanning the four invariant residues Ser, Gly, Asn, and His, and hence representing the catalytic domains of ApeE, was amplified by PCR and fused in frame to the transport domains of the autodisplay system. The resulting artificial esterase, called EsjA, was overexpressed in the cell envelope of E. coli and was shown to be active by the use of α-naphthyl acetate (α-NA) as a substrate in an in-gel activity stain after sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Surface exposure of EsjA was indicated by its accessibility to protease added to whole cells. The esterase activity of whole cells displaying EsjA was determined by a pH agar assay and by the use of microplates with integrated pH-dependent optical sensors. α-NA, α-naphthyl butyrate, and α-naphthyl caproate were used as substrates, and it turned out that the substrate preferences of artificial EsjA were altered in comparison to original ApeE. Our results indicate that autodisplay of esterase in combination with pH sensor microplates can provide a new platform technology for the screening of tailor-made hydrolase activities.


A procedure for the application of product modelling, resulting from a recently concluded PhD project, is presented. The procedure focuses on the various design of products, where the basic product structure is well defined. The procedure is based on four theory elements: reference models for product modelling, work-study analysis, the task concept from systems theory, and the object-oriented paradigm. The procedure has been tested in a Danish company, and it has been shown via a project of moderate size (in this case using 700 engineering hours, including time for experience collection) that it is possible to get started and use product modelling in industrial companies. Furthermore, it has been demonstrated that the application of product models can save considerable engineering resources (1500-3000 hours per year). Another conclusion is that the product modelling activities are an important means for supporting and integrating engineering activities, as the product modelling activities provide engineers from design and methods engineering departments with valuable insight into the knowledge and procedures used for specifying products and as well as into manufacturing methods.


Abstract This paper outlines a step-by-step clinical framework for using the Myers-Briggs personality preferences in couples therapy. The paper also discusses how a Myers-Briggs perspective can be useful in facilitating couple communication.


Self-Organizing Map (SOM) is in the greater concern in these days due to the hierarchy creating in document organization. It will be better for those problems where we needed clustering and visualization. Our direction of this paper is to find better clustering and classification techniques which will be profound in document organization. So in this paper we discuss on the deficiencies find in the traditional techniques and about the possible solutions which can be better in document organization.


Puerto Rico's unique relationship with the United States is shaping what the island can do to resolve its debt crisis


A battery of19synthetic peptides was usedtocharacterize efficient neutralizing andhelper T-celi epitopes on thebovine leukemia virus (BLV)external envelope glycoprotein gp5l.Fouroftheantipeptide antisera raised inrabbits inhibited theformation ofBLV-induced syncytia; these antisera aredirected against peptides 64-73, 98-117, and177-192. Onlyantisera directed against the177-192 region alsoneutralized vesicular stomatis virus-BLV pseudotypes. Thisstudy clearly demonstrates thatneutralizing properties canbeobserved withantibodies raised toregions undescribed sofarandinduded inboththeamino-terminal andcentral parts oftheantigen. Inaddition, some helper T-cell determinants weredefined fromgpSl-immunized miceandfrom BLV-infected cattle. Although noneofthepeptides tested behaved asauniversal helper T-celi epitope, peptide 98-117 stimulated T-cell proliferation fromBALB/cmiceandfromthree infected cows,while peptide 169-188 strongly stimulated T-cell proliferation fromone infected cow. Further experiments performed withthree peptides overlapping the169-188 region (177-192, 179-192, 181-192) demonstrated theparticular relevance of residue(s) P-177and/or D-178inthehelper T-celi epitope. Thesedatashould assist inthedesign ofan efficient subunit vaccine against BLVinfection thatcontains peptides possessing bothB-neutralizing andhelper T-cell determinants.


The process of radiation induced electron capture by protons or deuterons producing new ultra low momentum neutrons and neutrinos may be theoretically described within the standard field theoretical model of electroweak interactions. For protons or deuterons in the neighborhoods of surfaces of condensed matter metallic hydride cathodes, such conversions are determined in part by the collective plasma modes of the participating charged particles, e.g. electrons and protons. The radiation energy required for such low energy nuclear reactions may be supplied by the applied voltage required to push a strong charged current across a metallic hydride surface employed as a cathode within a chemical cell. The electroweak rates of the resulting ultra low momentum neutron production are computed from these considerations.


One hundred fifty day old Khaki Campbell ducklings were randomly assigned into five dietary treatments with three replicates of 10 ducklings each. The groups were i) control (C) - provided basal diet without additional oil, ii) treatment 1 - provided basal diet with 2% palm oil (PO), iii) treatment 2 - provided basal diet with 2% lard (L), iv) treatment 3 -provided basal diet with 2% berga fat (BF) and v) treatment 4 - provided basal diet with 2% soybean oil (SO). The results of the 20 weeks, growth study showed that body weight gain was significantly (P<0.05) varied among the experimental groups. Higher body weight gain and feed conversion was obtained in the soybean oil supplemented group (SO). Feed intake was not varied significantly in different groups. There was no significant variation in plasma glucose, total protein, albumin and globulin among the treatment groups but cholesterol and triglyceride levels were significantly (P<0.05) varied among treatment groups and higher value was observed in lard supplemented group than others. Carcass traits did not varied significantly however abdominal fat varied significantly (P<0.05). The pH, water holding capacity (WHC) and fiber diameter of duck meat did not varied significantly due to different dietary treatment. Thus it may be concluded that soybean oil was found to be superior than other source of fat for growing Khaki Campbell ducks.


The Halthane series of urethane adhesives synthesized by Lawrence Livermore Laboratory (1) are being studied for application to Pantex assembly processes. The series consists of three each two-part systems designated 73-14, 73-18, and 87-1. The 73-18 system to be used was chosen as the first of the three for physical property testing. Each system has certain advantages, and is designed for a specific application. Systems 73-14 and 73-18 have a lower viscosity than 87-1. System 73-18 has a lower tensile and compressive modulus than 73-14 and 87-1. The increasing order of pot life would rank 73-18, 87-1, and 73-14. All three systems reach two-third hardness in 16 hours. These new adhesives will be investigated and utilized by several production plants in the ERDA complex. The Pantex study effort will include measurement of bulk viscosity, cure time, butt tensile strength, lap shear strength, hardness and compatibility. One significant part of the study is familiarization with process and handling requirements that may be unique with the Halthane series.


D eveloping health-based cleanup standards and remediation strategies for chromium-contaminated soils based on the hexavalent forms of this heavy metal is a complex and controversial task. A major effort to address chromium contamination is currently under way in Hudson County, N.J. More than two million tons of chromate-bearing slag were used as fill from the early 20th century until the early 1970s (1) in what is now a populous urban and industrial area just west of New York City. This slag, known as chromite ore processing residue (COPR), was typically used as general fill material for voids or to create usable land from lowland areas Chromium in COPR-enriched soils is principally insoluble Cr(III) with variable concentrations of soluble and insoluble forms of Cr(VI) ranging from negligible to >20 grams per kilogram (g/kg)


The invention discloses a white solvent-free finish paint comprising the following components in parts by weight: 20-30% of functional monomers, 0-10% of aliphatic polyurethane acrylate resin, 35-50% of modified epoxy acrylic resin, 15-30% of titanium dioxide, 4-7% of photoinitiator, 0.4-0.8% of dispersant, 0.2-0.4% of leveling agent, 0.1-0.2% of defoaming agent and 0.1-0.3% of anti-settling agent. The white finish paint disclosed by the invention has the following advantages that the solid content is 100%, and no volatile matters are discharged, so that the environment-friendly requirement is met; meanwhile, the white solvent-free finish paint has the characteristics of high curing speed, high production benefit, excellent mirror surface effect, high hardness, high wear resistance, high gloss, good adhesion, good covering power, good whiteness, high weather resistance and the like.