Users of Facebook has been increasing exponentially in the last two decades, allowing millions of people to expose their profiles to the public and with no or little privacy for individuals. Facebook, in today's context has created a concern regarding privacy of its users and the consequences of information disclosure. Based on current reports regarding negative consequences of disclosure of information on social network sites, students seem to be unconcerned about the potential negative impacts of the same. The objectives of the study are to analyze the pattern of information disclosure on Facebook, examine the relationship between information disclosure and gender, determine the methods used for making friends on Facebook and its association with gender and, measure the attitudes towards privacy on social networking sites. A quantitative research approach was employed using a self-administrated questionnaire to gather responses from undergraduates of the Eastern University, Sri Lanka. The results revealed that the majority of undergraduates disclose their real name (82.3%), hometown (63.2%), e-mail address (60.53%) and, education (62.13%), and rarely share the relationship status (32%). Education is the highest criteria which both gender use to select friends (Male-56.12% & Female-55.89%). Moreover, the results revealed that females seldom share this information than males (p<0.05).  Further, there was a tendency, to share different information with different groups of people which was statistically significant. The favourite, events, and location are associated with friends, while location and opinions are associated with the public. However, political views, and photos are appearing towards not sharing category. Relatively 41.1% of respondents were satisfied with the privacy setting of SNS. It gives evidence that privacy settings are still neglected, and it stresses the need for awareness programmes on privacy concerns on SNS for undergraduates.


SUMMARY This article focuses on families in general, both those we as social workers and other mental health professionals work with and those within which we live. Specifically, the focus is on ways that growth may be facilitated as family members operate according to the principles of acknowledging connectedness, suspending judgment, trusting the universe, creating realities, and walking the path with heart. The ramifications for individuals, families and society of the choice to pursue soul healing, or to undertake consciously a journey toward wholeness, also is discussed.


Information security is a dynamic field in which methods and means of protection against threats and their destructive component are rapidly changing and improving, which is a challenge for organizations and society as a whole. Therefore, information systems related to cybersecurity require a constant flow of knowledge from internal and external sources, the volume of which is constantly growing. The introduction of big data sets in the field of cybersecurity provides opportunities for application for the analysis of data containing structured and unstructured data. The application of semantic technologies to search, selection of external big data, and description of knowledge about the cybersecurity domain require new approaches, methods, and algorithms of big data analysis. For selecting relevant data, we are offered a semantic analysis of metadata that accompanies big data and the construction of ontologies that formalize knowledge about metadata, cybersecurity, and the problem that needs to be solved. We are proposed to create a thesaurus of problems based on the domain ontology, which should provide a terminological basis for the integration of ontologies of different levels. The cybersecurity domain has a hierarchical structure, so the presentation of formalized knowledge about it requires the development of the hierarchy of ontologies from top to bottom. For building a thesaurus of problem, it is proposed to use an algorithm that will combine information from information security standards, open natural information resources, dictionaries, and encyclopedias. It is suggested to use semantically marked Wiki-resources, external thesauri, and ontologies to supplement the semantic models of the cybersecurity domain.


This article proposes a low-cost and practical alternative to vector network analyzers (VNAs) for characterizing dielectric materials using a calibrated frequency-modulated continuous wave (FMCW) radar measurement setup and a machine learning (ML) model. The calibrated FMCW radar measurement setup has the ability to accurately measure the $S$ -parameters of dielectric materials. In addition, an ML model is developed to extract material parameters such as thickness, dielectric constant, and loss tangent with high accuracy. $K$ -means clustering was additionally applied to significantly reduce the complexity of the neural network (NN). Additionally, a state-of-the-art open-set recognition (OSR) technique was adopted to simultaneously classify known classes and reject unknown classes. The developed model uses a modified version of the class anchor clustering (CAC) distance-based loss, which outperforms the conventional cross-entropy loss. The proposed model was evaluated on several dielectric materials and compared to reference measurements using a VNA and curve fitting. The results indicate that the proposed model is accurate and robust, and that the calibrated radar sensor provides a practical and cost-effective alternative to VNAs in characterizing dielectric materials, as long as the material parameters are within the defined limits.


(61 and 75). In general, however, the authors manage to keep an admirable fairmindedness at the same time as maintaining a moral commitment (the conclusions to Chapters Six and Seven on social care are exemplary here). If I do have a small reservation, it is that the book's detail of the history of disability policies sometimes comes at a cost. Partly this is the near-total absence of any comparative perspectives; this is very much a book about British disability policy, and the illumination we could get from other countries' approaches is missing. But partly it is that the wonderful detail of the book can make it hard to take a step backwards and see how this all fits together. There were times I found it difficult to piece everything together; for example, the overlapping chapters on the benefits system and work (Chapter Five and Chapter Nine). As a result, there are certain questions that could be asked more clearly in future versions: where should policies draw the line as to what constitutes 'disability', and how should this be assessed? What is the benchmark against which we should assess the level of 'extra cost benefits' such as Disability Living Allowance? And as Chapter 10 briefly mentions, which policies should we defend to the hilt with our backs to the wall, and which should we grudgingly accept are luxuries that can be temporarily sacrificed in this climate of austerity? Inevitably I also have some even more minor quibbles; for example, the omission of the changes to benefits uprating policy under the Coalition (which in cash terms is the single biggest long-term cut); the lack of any figures to visually show statistical information; and the description that disabled people were seen as scroungers in the 1990s 'for the first time' (54). But such differences in personal preferences are bound to happen in a book of this scope, and it is perhaps more striking that I have so few minor suggestions in a book of this length. Ultimately this is a book that both offers a way in to the major twentieth-century debates on disability policy and provides a wealth of clearly-explained detail and analysis that are a must-read for anyone involved in scholarship on disability in Britain. It contains an astonishing amount of information for such a short and clearly-explained book, and will be a standard feature of university reading lists for years to come – particularly if the authors and publishers can be persuaded to produce updated editions in the uncertain years that follow.


The present invention discloses a double gear drain valve for water tank, comprising: a valve body; an inner sleeve with a water stop at the bottom end, wherein the said inner sleeve is arranged within the valve body thus controlling the water stop to open/close water tank by using relative slip between the inner sleeve and the valve body; a full drainage keg float that is arranged between the inner sleeve and the valve body and is able to act on the inner sleeve; a half drainage keg float that is arranged between a inner sleeve and a valve body and is able to act on the inner sleeve, whereina pendulum hook that swings relative to the half drainage keg float is arranged on upper joint of the half drainage keg float and can swing to position of half drainage and full drainage; and a starting device, including a half drainage starter that can start half drainage and a full drainage starter that can start full drainage. The drain valve has a compact structure, and is applicable to slim water tank, enables well cooperation between each other and convenient operation.


Formaldehyde (FA) is a very reactive one-carbon compound, can react with lipids, proteins, and nucleic acids which are cellular components.FA induces cellular toxic effects in the liver by damaging hepatic parenchyma and impairment of functions. This study was carried out to evaluatethe serum biochemical changes and cytotoxic effects on liver in Swiss albino mice caused by FA toxicity. For this purpose, mice were divided into threeequal groups i.e. Control, oral andintraperitoneal.Oral and intraperitonealgroups were further divided into three subgroups which were subjected to exposure of FA for 30 and 10 consecutive days respectively. After exposure, blood and liver samples were collected and analyzed for biochemical and morphological studies. The serum biochemical parameters like Aspartate Transaminase (AST) and Alanine Transaminase (ALT) were increased significantly (P‹0.05) in mice after FA exposure. The anatomical results revealed gross morphological changes i.e. congestion and petechial hemorrhages on the liver. Histologically, the liver showedscattered lymphocytic infiltration, dilatation of sinusoids, necrosis and degeneration of parenchymatous cells in orally exposed mice (10 mg/kg) and diffuse lymphocytic infiltration, necrosis were seen in intraperitoneallyFA injectedmice at the rate of 7 and 10 mg/kg body weight.All these findings revealed that, FA depending on specific dose leads to an irritant toxic effects on the liver of mice. Keywords:Formaldehyde, Histomorphology, Liver, Mice, Serum biochemical test.


Abstract Castor is a prime industrial crop belonging to a monotypic genus and its genetic improvement depends on creating desired variability in the primary gene pool. This study reports the development of tetraploid castor plants through colchicine treatment. Seeds of three castor genotypes were soaked in aqueous solutions of colchicine with variable concentrations, and the LD50 value was determined. Of 1010 treated field-raised plants, three were identified as potential polyploids based on increases in a guard cell size and reductions in the number of stomata. The putative polyploid plants were selfed and the progeny were subjected to meiotic analysis. All the progeny were found to be tetraploid. The pairing of chromosomes was abnormal with univalent to octavalent configurations during meiosis-I, but the later parts of meiosis were normal. Seasonal variations in pollen fertility indicated the possible role of temperature-sensitive male sterility in causing the sterility in tetraploid plants. The tetraploid plants were phenotypically comparable with their diploid counterparts, but produced substantially bigger seeds. Thus, these tetraploid plants are valuable resources for basic and applied research in castor.


When targeting high performance computing (HPC) platforms, improving the performance and scalability of code is often a tedious and time consuming task. The code has to be executed and even compiled many times under different conditions in order to observe its behaviour on the target hardware. These experiments are performed with the goal of estimating an optimal set of the run-time environment parameters to achieve optimal performance and energy efficiency. This optimization task is best performed automatically, but due to the heterogeneous nature of the source codes and the HPC platform, fully automation is often hard to implement. The domain specific language (DSL) and toolflow approach proposed in the ANTAREX project (www.antarex-project.eu) can provide the mechanisms needed for addressing properly the problems previously described. The DSL being developed is based on the LARA DSL [1] and allows to specify strategies for code instrumentation and code transformations, including the required code adaptation for dynamic autotuning [2]. By using instrumentation strategies, the measurements can be integrated seamlessly into the development process, e.g., as a standalone stage in the continuous integration process. The ANTAREX project plans to demonstrate the usage of the LARA DSL and the autotuning approach on two use cases in cooperation with commercial partners, HPC Accelerated Drug Discovery System (Dompe), and the Selfadaptive Navigation System (Sygic). The poster is focused on the presentation of the DSL and autotuning tools for the selfadaptive navigation system use case, which basic idea is to combine server-side and client-side data knowledge and their routing capabilities to provide the most efficient navigation system in the context of smart cities. In such a use case, we assume a significantly large portion of drivers participating in the system. The efficiency is essential given that the routing system needs to serve many requests requiring potentially huge computation power. Then still, even without limits to be reached, it is desirable to optimize the execution of such a system with respect to the energy efficiency. The probabilistic Time-Dependent Travel Time Computation algorithm [3] has been selected for the demonstration of DSL and autotuning tools usage in the Self-adaptive Navigation System. The input for the algorithm is a departure time and a selected route composed as a line of road segments. A Monte Carlo simulation (MCS) is used for the computation of the probability distribution of travel time for the selected route. The simulation randomly selects probabilistic speed profiles on road segments and computes travel time at the end of the route. Many MCS iterations are needed to obtain enough travel times for the construction of the probability distribution of travel time. The number of simulation iterations greatly affects the precision of the result.


This paper starts with the researches on concepts and features of the digital display design and analyzes the functions of interactions and language transformation in digital display design.It also discusses the influences of the interactions on cognitive behaviors in digital display design and the relationship between interactions and language transformation.The research purpose of this paper is trying to summarize the fundamentals of digital display design and provide theoretical references for digital display design,from the perspectives of interactions and language transformation.


The normalized treatment method in gas load forecasting is discussed,and a model for forecasting gas load based on radial basis function neural network is established. Combined with an example,the forecasting results using the maximum,minimum and zero average normalization are compared,and the latter has higher precision.


The main objective of this investigation is to determine the different ways of worthy reparation in the perspective of national and international law, thought in benefit of women victims of condemnatory sentences about crimes of violation committed in Guatemala. Stablishing a large number of international laws and decisions about human rights, the criteria and standards of worthy reparation applicable to victims of sexual violation crimes against women. This takes on the identification of types of worthy reparation dictated on judicial decisions and the establishment of actions from victimology in favor of women victims of sexual violence predicted on condemnatory decisions about worthy reparation, which constitutes a mechanism of social, economic and moral compensation towards women victims of sexual violence as collateral victims that confront a criminal process in Guatemala.


Electrical resistivity soundings using a Schlumberger array have been carried out at Dome C, East Antarctica (74°39′S, 124°10′E, elevation 3400 m), to sound the entire 3500-m depth of the ice sheet. Changes in density and temperature are largely separated in the ice at Dome C, so activation energies for both firn and ice could be determined: we find an activation energy of 0.25 eV in both solid ice and firn between −15°C and −58°C. A common value of the activation energy points to a single transport regime in which the charge carriers and conduction paths are the same in firn and ice. To evaluate the variation of resistivity with density, we have considered five dielectric mixture models that fit the available data on the high-frequency dielectric constant of firn. Only Looyenga's equation fits the field data for dc resistivity. In the upper 900 m of the ice sheet, where impurity concentrations are known from core samples, we find no correlation between resistivities and the concentrations of salts or acids. Instead, we find it likely that resistivities are correlated with the crystal size, hence with the Holocene-Wisconsin boundary in the ice column. A pronounced increase in resistivity, to a value comparable with that in temperate glacier ice, occurs deep within the ice sheet. We attribute this to a large increase in the size and irregularity of the ice crystals, which destroys the continuity of the impurity shells surrounding the ice crystals that we believe supply the conduction paths (Shabtaie and Bentley, 1994a). High resistivity does not imply removal of the impurities from the system; moderate concentrations of impurities can be accommodated by locating them in disconnected domains.


This paper presents a new method used to determine the optimum group configuration of any specified number of piezoelectric actuators for vibration control of a flexible aircraft fin. A finite element model of the fin was used to obtain the frequency response function (FRF). The fitness function for optimization using a genetic algorithm was derived directly from this FRF, eliminating the need for a closed-form analytical solution. In comparison to the existing approaches, the novelty of this method is in that it allows optimization on much more complex geometries where the derivation of an analytical fitness (cost) function is prohibitive or impossible. Optimum configurations of pre-determined numbers of actuators are presented for single mode and multi-modal acceleration and displacement control criteria. Group efficiency and control authority are also examined, allowing a suitable number of actuators to be selected for any application. Actuator efficiency was higher for single mode control; however, actuation authority was much higher in multi modal control, reflecting the fact that it is desirable to select actuators that are able to exert substantial control authority over several modes.


This document is the result of five years of research and presents a formation model design to generate skills in the human capital of organizations, through e-learning and independent learning. The model provides a training tool that allows people to be autonomous in the management nd acquisition of knowledge; directs them to identify their needs in the search for information, where to get it, as well as its use, process and evaluation


This is hosted by sport psychologist, Dan Abrahams; a former professional golfer with an MSc in sport psychology. Each episode features guests from a range of backgrounds from elite level players to high performance coaches, sport psychology consultants and researchers, who all agree that psychology plays a vital role in sporting success. The podcast usually starts with the guests informing the listener about their career history. This experience provides context for the authentic discussion that follows regarding pertinent topics within the field (e.g. the coach-athlete relationship). Dan's calm and engaging demeanour puts guests at ease. The eloquent use of metaphors and phrases from guests (and Dan) gives the listener a better understanding, from a behavioural point of view, of what the brain does and why and how this knowledge is integrated into practice. The conversations provide unique perspectives on sport psychology philosophies, tools and techniques that positively impact participation, progression and performance in sport. Every episode is filled with valuable nuggets of information. The podcast 100% delivers on its aims of demystifying sport psychology for players, coaches and parents and, as such, is a valuable resource for all those involved in the coaching process.


АСТМА ТА АЛЕРГІЯ, No 2 • 2013 Experts GOLD (Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease) in 2011 identified: chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), a common preventable and treatable disease, is characterized by persistent airway limitation that is usually progressive and associated with an enhanced chronic inflammatory response in the airways and the lung to noxious particles or gases. Exacerbations and comorbidities contribute to the overall severity in individual patients [8]. Pathological changes in COPD occur in the four structures of lungs: the central airways, peripheral airways, lung parenchyma, blood vessels of the lungs, which in various forms present in each patient. These different pathogenesis mechanisms leading to pathophysiological disorders – hypersecretion of mucus, mucociliary dysfunction, airway obstruction, lung hyperinflation, gas exchange abnormalities, pulmonary hypertension and systemic effects [10]. Breathing provides gas exchange of oxygen (O2) and carbon dioxide (CO2) between the environment and the body, depending on its metabolic demand and includes several stages. The first stages, or external respiration – the exchange of O2 and CO2 between the environment and the pulmonary capillary blood, includes two components: pulmonary ventilation – gas exchange between the environment and the alveolar air of the lungs and gas exchange between alveolar air and pulmonary capillary blood. The second stage of breathing – is blood transport of O2 and CO2, the third – the exchange of O2 and CO2 between blood and body cells and the fourth – tissue respiration. In the process of pulmonary ventilation resumed gas composition of the alveolar air. Alveolar ventilation directly affects the content of O2 and CO2 in the alveolar air and thus determines the nature of gas exchange between blood and alveolar air [3]. One of the factors for the maintenance of normal arterial blood gas concentration is the optimal ratio of alveolar ventilation (Va) and blood perfusion (Q). The optimum level of Va/Q should be 0,86. Reduced levels of this ratio lead to arterial hypoxemia and hypercapnia, increased means useless ventilation. Among the causes of arterial hypoxemia imbalance Va/Q is 95 %, and alveolar hypoventilation – 5 % of cases. Both pathogenic processes occur in COPD [9]. We study the possibility of non-invasive determination of gas exchange in patients with COPD with the use capnometry. Сapnometry – a measurement and digital display of concentration or partial pressure of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the air that the patient inhales or exhales during the respiratory cycle [7]. For pulmonary practice in general, and in the management of patients with COPD in particular, the possibility capnometry not understood. In the available literature there is no definitive data on the use capnometry in COPD and the matching results of capnometry to the anamnesis features. This study was performed with the aim to improve the gas exchange abnormalities diagnosis in patients with COPD by applying techniques capnometry. For this purpose the following tasks were decided: provide the analysis of comorbidities in COPD patients; to examine the smoking status of patients in the study groups; to find the relationship between smoking status and capnometry results in COPD patients; to examine the impact of exposure to hazardous industrial and domestic factors on the gas exchange in COPD patients.


Oxidants and Antioxidants: Mechanism of Action and Regulation of Gene Expression by Bio?avonoids Transcriptional Regulation of Cellular Antioxidant Defense Mechanisms Redox Regulation of In?ammatory Tissue Damage by Thioredoxin Regulation of NF-kB-Driven In?ammatory Genes by Phytoestrogens Nuclear Factor-kB as Target for Chemoprevention Heme Oxygenase-1: An Emerging Major Cellular Defense Against Cigarette Smoke-Induced Oxidative Stress and Cytotoxicity Biphasic Induction of HO-1 in Macrophages Treated with Lipopolysaccharide: Role of HO-1 Induction in Cell Survival from Oxidative Stress The Role of Ga12 Proteins in the PKC and JNK-Dependent Induction of NOS by Thrombin Actions of 8-Hydroxyguanine in DNA Role of Oxidative Stress in Hypercholesterolemia-Induced In?ammation Oxidative Stress in Rheumatoid Arthritis Roles of Carbon Monoxide and Nitric Oxide in Liver Damage Role of Oxidative Stress and In?ammatory Response in Smokers and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Association of Chronic In?ammation with Carcinogenesis: Implications of Anti-In?ammatory Strategies for Cancer Prevention Molecular In?ammation as an Underlying Mechanism of Aging: The Anti-in?ammatory Action of Calorie Restriction Oxidative Stress in Mitochondria: The Involvement in Neurodegenerative Diseases Implications of In?ammatory Stress in Alzheimer's Disease Biomarkers for Evaluating Antioxidant Effects Antioxidant and Neuroprotective Potentials Resveratrol-A Unique Polyphenolic Antioxidant Present in Grape Skins and Red Wine-Is a Preventive Medicine Against a Variety of Degenerative Diseases Molecular Mechanisms of Prevention Against Allergic Rhinitis by Aller-7, A Novel Polyherbal Formulation Antioxidant Character of Selenium and Its Survival Signals by Activation of PI3-K/Akt Pathways Neuroprotection by Rasagiline and Related Propargylamines Is Mediated by Suppression of Mitochondrial Death Signal and Induction of Antiapoptotic Genes Index


Twenty-four genotypes selected from different agroclimatic zones of Jharkhand (India) were assessed for seed oil content that varied from 21.86% to 41.86% with 14 genotypes recording above average 32.11 % for the trait which indicates towards efficiency of selection processes. Several genotypes in 'Central and Western Plateau' agroclimatic zone of Jharkhand displayed a good potential for high oil content. The employed 23 polymorphic microsatellite loci exhibited three to twenty one alleles per locus with an average of 12 while total 270 alleles were detected. Two primer set PpSSR21 and PpSSR27 showed 100% polymorphism among the genotypes. The high oil yielding plant K19 showed different band pattern with the locus PpSSR04. From the Nei's analysis it was found that maximum diversity exists between the full sib genotypes K10 and K2. Thus, the genotypes (K2 and K10) which are more diverse could be used further in improvement programme. Overall, the genotypes included in the study showed a correlation with their geographical origins such that genotypes from the same region tend to have higher genetic similarity as compared to those from different regions. However, in UPGMA based Nei's analysis, some genotypes were found not to be grouped based on geographical origins possibly due to the exchange of germplasm over time between farmers across the regions. Both molecular and oil content (biochemical) markers appeared useful in analyzing the extent of genetic diversity in P. pinnata. The result of these analyses will help to better understand the genetic diversity and relationship among populations constituting a set of useful background information that can be used as a basis for future breeding strategy and improvement of the species.


OBJECTIVE
To study the effects of tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) on granulation tissue in rats.

DESIGN
Animal experiment.

SETTING
University Hospital, Finland.

MATERIAL
48 rats in 6 groups.

INTERVENTIONS
The test implants were treated with either a single or daily injections of 200 ng of TNF-alpha. The samples were collected 4 and/or 7 days postoperatively.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES
Pro alpha 1 (I) and pro alpha 1 (III) collagen mRNA concentrations, hydroxyproline, nitrogen, uronic acids, and hexosamine content of the sponge; and ingrowth of new granulation tissue into the sponge.

RESULTS
A single application of TNF-alpha resulted in no significant differences between the groups. After daily applications of TNF-alpha the accumulation of collagen hydroxyproline and volume of ingrowth of granulation tissue were significantly lower than in the controls. After 7 days there were significant reductions in the concentrations of RNA-ribose, nitrogen, and uronic acids. Daily injections of TNF-alpha reduced pro alpha 1 (I) collagen mRNA concentrations but those of pro alpha 1 (III) collagen mRNA levels were not lowered to the same extent.

CONCLUSION
Repeated application of TNF-alpha was required to reduce the synthesis of collagen. This down-regulation was selective as pro alpha 1 (I) collagen mRNA concentrations were lowered more than those of pro alpha 1 (III) collagen mRNA.


To overcome the limitations of the existing UNIFAC-type group-contribution models presented in part 1, two empirical approaches are presented. They both involve adjustment of the pure-compound parameters of the compounds involved which, while reducing the general character of the group-contribution approach, can lead to very satisfactory results when applicable. Such an approach is successfully applied to the correlation and prediction of mutual solubility data in water/hydrocarbon mixtures.


Lifting aerodynamic configurations have been screened and selected for the Mars aerocapture mission that (1) meet the geometric packaging requirements of the various payloads and the Space Shuttle cargo bay and (2) provide the aerodynamic performance characteristics required to obtain the atmospheric exit steering accuracy and the parachute deployment conditions desired. Hypersonic heat transfer and aerodynamic loads to the vehicle in the CO2 atmosphere are evaluated. Contemporary low density ablative thermal protection materials were selected that meet all the atmospheric entry requirements and provide a minimum mass solution. Results are presented of the aerodynamic configuration and thermal protection materials screening and selection. It is concluded that the aerothermodynamic design of this concept is feasible using state-of-the-art technology.


Many computational problems admit fast algorithms on special inputs, however, the required properties might be quite restrictive. E.g., many graph problems can be solved much faster on interval or cographs, or on graphs of small modular-width or small tree-width, than on general graphs. One challenge is to attain the greatest generality of such results, i.e., being applicable to less restrictive input classes, without losing much in terms of running time. Building on the use of algebraic expressions we present a clean and robust way of combining such homogeneous structure into more complex heterogeneous structure, and we show-case this for the combination of modular-width, tree-depth, and a natural notion of modular tree-depth. We give a generic framework for designing efficient parameterized algorithms on the created graph classes, aimed at getting competitive running times that match the homogeneous cases. To show the applicability we give efficient parameterized algorithms for negative cycle detection , vertex-weighted all-pairs shortest paths , and triangle counting .


Multicarrier systems are gaining much attention for their possible application to the design of wideband wireless networks for both indoor and outdoor environments. We present a method for the evaluation of the bit error rate (BER) degradation in orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) systems when the sampling instant is affected by timing jitter. We model the timing jitter by a stationary random process with a known statistic and we describe the error caused by it as additive noise. This decomposition is useful because it allows for the analytical determination of the BER. The method may be applied for both uncoded and coded input data sequences.


Background: The bene fi t of palliative gastrectomy for patients with metastatic gastric cancer (mGC) is controversial, and suitable candidates for surgery and treatment strategies remain unclear. The present study aimed to investigate the ef fi cacy of palliative gastrectomy plus chemotherapy among patients with mGC and to identify the potential patients for such treatment using real-world data. Methods: A dataset of 236 patients with mGC diagnosed at the Sun Yat-Sen University Cancer Center from January 1, 2006 to December 31, 2012 were analyzed retrospectively. The cohort comprised 80 patients who had palliative gastrectomy plus chemotherapy (SC) and 156 patients who had chemotherapy only (CO). Propensity score matching (PSM) was employed to minimize the in fl uence of confounders. Results: The median overall survival of the SC group was signi fi cantly better than that of the CO group (Before PSM: 17.0 months vs 12.0 months, P =0.038; after PSM: 17.0 months vs 13.0 months, P =0.017). In the multivariate analysis, SC (Before PSM: hazard ratio (HR) =0.68, P =0.023; after PSM: HR =0.64, P =0.021) was favored for better survival after adjustment for sex, age, year of diagnosis, primary tumor location, and tumor grade. Total gastrectomy ( P =0.026) was associated with worse survival for the SC group. The signi fi cant survival advantage of SC over CO was retained in patients with single organ metastasis ( P =0.016), peritoneal seedings ( P =0.039), and those receiving taxane-based chemotherapy ( P =0.011). Conclusion: SC could improve the overall survival of patients with mGC as compared with CO. The chemotherapy regimen and type of resection were proven to in fl uence ef fi cacy. Patients who received taxane-based regimens might be suitable for palliative gastrectomy.


The purpose of the work is to consider two trends in the development of the Egyptian novel on the examples of the works by Tawfiq al-Hakim, Yahya Haqqi, Naguib Mahfouz, Abd ar-Rahman ash-Sharkawi on the one hand, and Ibrahim Abd al-Qadir al-Mazini, and Abbas al-Akkad, on the other hand; to trace their development and manifestation in the works by famous contemporary Egyptian authors, winners of the Man Booker Prize − Bahaa Taher and Yusuf Zeidan. It is necessary to point out the main features laid down by the founders of the novel genre, are awareness of national tasks, ideas of national unity, subordination of personal interests to public ones, attention to social problems, and high spiritual content. These features were equally inherent in such works as Return of the Spirit, A Bird from the East, The Lamp of Umm Hashim, Earth and many novels by Naguib Mahfouz. The democratism of these novels, their high moral potential, focus on national themes, and patriotism are noted. On the other hand, the works Ibrahim the Writer and Sarah are considered, where the philosophy of egoism, the opposition of the individual to public interests, the ideas of free love and 'liberation of the flesh' are cultivated. Novels that demonstrate these two different tendencies have one thing in common − the influence of an external model, as, for example, in the novel The Writer Ibrahim of M. Artsybashev's novel Sanin. The continuation of these two directions of the Egyptian novel is demonstrated by the example of the works Love in Exile and The Nabatean.


Locating of gas-bearing structure and dynamic monitoring are two key problems in methane tunnel exploration.As far as methane found in Jijiapo Tunnel in the Three Gorges Dam highway,using geological survey,geological prediction in construction(geophysical prospect and geological drilling),comprehensive gas monitoring and other means of investigation are adopted to analyze gas-bearing structure,study formation cause of gas,and predict gas feature of surrounding rock mass in front of the cutting face and determine dangerous position.It is concluded that gas in this tunnel is characterized by disperse,low density and small volume.The gas flows through fissures and pores in rock mass without tectonic condition for large gas-bearing structure.Comprehensive survey can help to improve predicting accuracy and provide reliable geological support,and can be of great guidance to construction of similar tunnel project.


Neuronal differentiation is a complex process characterized by a halt in proliferation and extension of neurites from the cell body. Changes in gene expression mediate the metabolic redirection leading to neurite formation and function. Acceleration of membrane phospholipid synthesis is associated with neurite elongation and phosphatidylcholine (PtdCho) is the major membrane phospholipid in mammalian cells. Our results indicate that membrane biogenesis is driven by the elevated expression of a subset of lipid biosynthetic genes following retinoic acid (RA)‐induced differentiation of Neuro2A cells. The transcription of genes encoding key enzymes in the CDP‐choline pathway of phospholipid biosynthesis is stimulated, including the Chka gene for choline kinase (CK) and the Pcyt1a gene for the CTP:phosphocholine cytidylyltransferase (CCT). The promoter regions for both genes indicated common DNA sequences which are proposed to be binding sites for transcription factors (TFs) that coordinately activate expression in a RA‐dependent manner. Alteration of CK or CCT expression regulated PtdCho synthesis and neurite extension following RA treatment. These results indicate that PtdCho synthesis is important for RA‐dependent differentiation of Neuro2A cells.


Herein, rhombohedral self-doped KNbO3 (S-KN) nanorods were fabricated via a one pot, solvothermal method without using any surfactant. The presence of Nb(4+) in S-KN greatly narrows its band gap and thus extends its photoresponse from UV to the visible light region. Moreover, S-KN/Nb4N5 nanorod heterostructures were obtained by nitriding S-KN nanorods for different times, which exhibited significantly enhanced photocatalytic activity for hydrogen production under visible light irradiation. The junction formed between S-KN and Nb4N5 and the Nb(4+) self-doping of KN are supposed to be responsible for the enhanced photocatalytic activity of S-KN/Nb4N5. This study also paves the way for the synthesis of other similar photocatalysts.


Summary form only given. Attention is given to a rapidly emerging technology, named Yeoman, which links electronic navigation data with the conventional geographical database of paper charts and maps. The human factors both in using electronic data and inputting geographic instructions into electronic systems have been considered, drawing heavily on experience with installed Yeoman technology products in marine, airborne, and land-based applications.<<ETX>>


This study was designed to evaluate efficacy of polyherbal hypocholesterolemic supplement AV/HLP/16 (test compound) on serum and egg yolk cholesterol levels and egg quality parameters in layers. One hundred and twenty healthy White Leghorn (BV 300 strain) of 54 weeks age were randomly divided into four treatments (T 0 , T 1 , T 2 , T 3 ); subdivided into three replicates with ten birds in each replicate for a period of five weeks (54 th to 58 th weeks of age). T 0 was the control supplied with commercial basal diet without addition of test compound. T 1 , T 2 and T 3 were supplemented with test compound in basal diet @ 1.0, 1.5 and 2.0 kg/ton of feed, respectively. Weekly feed intake, daily egg production, egg weights, egg yolk total cholesterol, egg weight, shape index, yolk weight, albumen weight, shell weight, shell thickness was recorded. Significant reduction in serum cholesterol and egg yolk cholesterol (P<0.05) was observed in treatment groups. Polyherbal AV/HLP/ 16 supplementation in layers did not impart any beneficial or deleterious effect on feed intake, feed efficiency, hen day egg production or egg quality traits viz ., egg weight, shape index, yolk weight, and albumen weight except shell thickness. Polyherbal hypocholesterolemic supplement AV/HLP/16 @ 1.0, 1.5 and 2.0 kg per ton of feed reduced egg yolk cholesterol with better egg shell thickness without affecting the performance as well as egg quality parameters in layers.


We have applied THz time-domain (TD) attenuated total reflection (ATR) spectroscopy to a heavy fermion compound CeNiSn aiming at revealing a potential for an ultrafast opto-magnetic device the principle of which is based on the Kondo effect. The well-behaved frequency dependence of the phase of the ATR signal is clearly demonstrated.


The use of a polynomial system of residue classes allows digital signal processing (DSP) in real time. This is due to the fact that the operation-orthogonal transformations are carried out in parallel signals according to the selected grounds. One of the basic operations of DSP effectively implemented in polynomial system of residue classes is multiplication modulo. This paper presents a new algorithm for the operation of multiplication modulo, as well as the circuit implementation of this algorithm.


Erectile dysfunction (ED) is defined as the inability to achieve and/or maintain an erection which is sufficient for satisfactory sexual activity. Risk factors for ED include many of the same risk factors for cardiovascular disease: hypertension; lipid abnormalities, including low high-density lipoprotein cholesterol; diabetes; and smoking. Therefore, some patients with ED will have ischemic heart disease. ViagraR, an oral therapy for ED, is the citrate salt of sildenafil, a selective inhibitor of cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP)-specific phosphodiesterase 5(PDE5). The adverse effects of sildenafil include headache, flushing, dyspepsia, nasal congestion, visual disturbance, and cardiovascular complications. A general impression exists that cardiovascular complications of sildenafil occur mainly when the drug is taken concomitantly with nitrate. We report the case of a 52-year-old man who developed an acute myocardial infarction shortly after taking one tablet of sildenafil without sexual activity. The patient had not been using nitrates. Physicians treating patients with chest pain should be aware of the potential consequences of giving nitrates to patients taking sildenafil. We suggest that before initiating therapy, the history of sildenafil ingestion be obtained from patients with suspected myocardial infarction.


Objectives. The objectives of this study were to examine the profile of relative concentrations in plasma phospholipids of n-3 fatty acids among periand postmenopausal Inuit women living in Greenland and to verify their relationships with ischemic heart disease risk factors and more particularly, with concentrations of plasma triacylglycerols. Study Design. This study was part of a survey conducted in 2000, which aimed to assess the prevalence of osteoporosis and the associated risk factors among peri-and postmenopausal Greenland Inuit women. Methods. The study population consisted of 153 women aged 49–69 years (mean ± SD: 55.3 ± 4.4 y) randomly selected. Data were obtained through an interview (questionnaire on lifestyle habits, medical history etc) and a clinical session (physiologic and anthropologic measurements). Plasma samples were used to measure the fatty acid composition of plasma phospholipids. Results. The mean body mass index of women was 27.9 ± 6.1. Seventy-five percent were smokers and 9% were currently on hormone replacement therapy. Relative concentrations of total n-3 fatty acids were very high (13.8%, 95% CI: 13.1-14.6), with docosahexanoic and eicosapentanoic acids accounting for 4.7% and 7.2%, respectively. The ratio of n-3:n-6 fatty acids was 0.67. n-3 fatty acids were inversely correlated to triacylglycerols. Conclusion. These data show that peri-and post-menopausal Greenland Inuit women have very high plasma concentrations of n-3 fatty acids that protect them from ischemic heart disease.


Uranium–neptunium mixed dioxides are considered as fuels and targets for the transmutation of the minor actinides in fast neutron reactors. Hereafter, a local and atomic scale structural analysis was performed on a series of U1–xNpxO2 (x = 0.01; 0.05; 0.20; 0.50; 0.75; 0.85) synthesized by the sol–gel external gelation method, for which longer range structural analysis indicates that the process yields solid solutions. The oxidation state of IV for uranium and neptunium cations was confirmed using U LIII and Np LIII edge X-ray absorption near edge structure (XANES). The atomic scale structure was probed with 17O magic angle spinning nuclear magnetic resonance (MAS NMR) for the anion. Structural distortions due to the substitution of U by the smaller Np cation were detected by 17O MAS NMR.


In this paper, we present a time-frequency (TF)-dependent a priori speech absence probability (SAP) estimator utilizing the magnitude square coherence (MSC) between two microphone signals. It is shown that the normalized SNR can be numerically computed from the MSC by solving a quadratic equation. Based on the fact that the normalized SNR is bounded between 0 and 1, we directly use it for the probability of speech absence in each TF-unit. Since this approach does not require prior statistical knowledge of noise and speech, it is not affected by the performance of the noise PSD estimator. Furthermore, unlike the conventional SNR-based estimator, additional mapping strategy is unnecessary. The algorithm was evaluated using the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve and it attained higher correct detection rate at a given false-alarm rate than the conventional algorithms.


The paper considers the issues of modernist and pragmatic discourses in the works of the Ancient Greek writer of the 2nd century AD. Lucian of Samosata. His famous work The Passing of Peregrinus is placed in the conceptual field of "Theory of the avant-garde" by Renato Poggioli, terminologically close to the conception of the menippea of Mikhail Bakhtin. Ancient modernism and pragmatism are analyzed in connection with the modern European intellectual history and general theory of culture. The author comes to the conclusion that it is necessary to separate the elements of modernist aesthetics and pragmatic theory in the work of Lucian. In addition, the author insists on the identification of several proper modernist discourses competing with Lucian (and the corresponding classification of connotations): primitivist (populist) and intellectualist (elitist). Lucian's philosophical instrumentalism becomes an ideal background for the collage (intertextual) aesthetics of novelty and shock, the autonomy of the aesthetic sphere. At the same time, the rejection of ontologism and metaphysics by Lucian leads to a situation of considering artistic, political and philosophical problems within the framework of a kind of unified media theory, which also anticipates contemporary conceptual approaches.


considers an impressive array of sources from allied disciplines. The first part of Boccaccio's Heroines shows how the De mulieribus claris served as a humanist exemplum and details the circulation it enjoyed among the major dynastic courts of Renaissance Italy. She demonstrates how the various legendary women whose biographies appear in Boccaccio's work surface in artistic depictions of the day, and how the interplay between art and literature contributes to the definition of social values. The middle segment of Franklin's Heroines deals, first, with women whose lives provide examples of self-serving, power-hungry females and, second, with women who have power thrust upon them and turn into effective rulers, wise companions, or simply clever, self-sacrificing players, such as the Minyan wives. She draws comparisons between Boccaccio's exempla and their historical counterparts who interacted, within the bounds of acceptable behavior, with Quattrocento males. Franklin's observations concerning the blurring of gender boundaries with regard to male and female virtues in the Boccaccian work are juxtaposed with the reactions of some Renaissance males to decidedly female achievement. The argument then segues into a discussion of how this gender blurring is manifested in contemporary artistic depictions, such as in the uomini famosi cycle at the Florentine Villa Carducci. The final chapter delves into the emerging role of the female consort in the late Quattrocento and her power within the male hierarchy. These women were expected to run a stable governmental operation in the absence of their husbands, thereby, in effect, controlling men. For her examples of this type of Renaissance woman, Franklin focuses on two remarkable females of the Este family: Eleonora d'Aragona, wife of Ercole I d'Este, and her daughter, Isabella. Both women personified Boccaccio's fictional heroines who ruled wisely, within the bounds of legitimate authority and, at least outwardly, not because of personal ambition. What is most impressive is that not only did these women recognize the strength of their own authority but also that their authority was acknowledged gratefully by the men around them. In women such as Eleonora and Isabella, Boccaccio's fictionalized, classical ideals became flesh and blood. Franklin's work is replete with primary and secondary sources and examples from literature, history, and art history. Boccaccio's Heroines contains little gems for students and scholars alike and makes a significant contribution to the existing body of critical thought on women in the Renaissance. ELIZABETH H. D. MAZZOCCO University of Massachusetts, Amherst


This paper is meant as a (short and partial) introduction to the study of the geometry of Carnot groups and, more generally, of Carnot-Caratheodory spaces associated with a family of Lipschitz continuous vector fields. My personal interest in this field goes back to a series of joint papers with E. Lanconelli, where this notion was exploited for the study of pointwise regularity of weak solutions to degenerate elliptic partial differential equations. As stated in the title, here we are mainly concerned with topics of Geometric Measure Theory in Carnot groups and in particular with rectifiability theory in this setting. Thus, the core of the paper consists of Section 3 (dedicated to the study of BV functions with respect to Carnot-Caratheodory metrics), of Section 4 (dedicated more specifically to the theory of Carnot groups and, in particular, to the calculus associated with their differential structure as differential bundles) and of Section 5 (dedicated to the theory of intrinsic hypersurfaces and to rectifiability theory in Carnot groups). These sections rely basically on a group of results obtained in several papers in collaboration with R. Serapioni and F. Serra Cassano, starting from 1996. On the other hand, Section 2 and 6 are dedicated to the notion of Carnot-Caratheodory metric, to the properties of related Sobolev spaces and to Poincare inequality associated with a family of Lipschitz continuous vector fields. In particular, relying on a group of joint papers with R. L. Wheeden, S. Gallot, C. Gutierrez, P. Hajlasz, P. Koskela, G. Lu and C. Perez, deep relationships between Poincare inequality and the geometry of Carnot-Caratheodory spaces are studied.


The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of the principal's leadership on the work motivation of elementary school teachers in Modoinding district and to find out how much influence it had. The results of the research conducted show that based on the results of the calculation of the significance test and the linearity regression test above, it can be concluded that the influence of the Principal's Leadership (X) on the Teacher Work Motivation variable (Y) is significant and linear. This is evidenced because Fcount 7.913> α (0.05). Furthermore, the regression equation Ŷ = 37.299 + 0.297 X shows that every one increase in the Principal Leadership score will cause an increase in the Teacher Work Motivation score of 0.297 at a constant of 37.299. Based on the table above, it is known that the amount of Principal Leadership on Teacher Work Motivation in Modoinding District can be 0.150 or 15 percent. This indicates that 15% of the Principal's Leadership determines the Work Motivation of Teachers in Modoinding District. Meanwhile, 85% is influenced by other factors not examined.The more principals in Modoinding District carry out their functions optimally as school managers during the Covid19 pandemic, the more teachers' work motivation will increase, where the increase is linear.


This study investigates the applicability of distorted models in predicting the frequencies and responses of coated thin plates. The significance of this study is that it provides the necessary scaling laws and structure size applicable intervals, which guide the design of distorted models. By comparing the effect of different coating thickness and different coating forms (single-sided coating and double-sided coatings), the direct use of a governing equation is employed to establish the scaling laws between the model and the prototype. Both complete and partial similarity is discussed. Then an aluminum-coated steel plate, which is commonly used, is analyzed as an example. Establishment of the structure size applicable interval is discussed, which should keep the same first-order natural characteristics (natural frequency and vibration mode). Applicable intervals of the distorted model under different orders are also obtained by using a numerical method. The applicability of the scaling laws and applicable intervals of coated thin plates are verified. The analytical results indicate that distorted models which satisfied the structure size applicable intervals can predict the characteristics of the prototype with good accuracy. This study provides a theoretical foundation for the design of scaled-down models of coated structures.


Prostate-specific antigen (PSA), first identified in 1970 (1), is a serine protease widely used for the early detection and monitoring of prostate cancer (2). Although previously thought to be produced exclusively by the epithelial cells of the prostate, PSA at present is considered a widespread biochemical marker present in many nonprostatic tissues and fluids (3). Studies indicate that the PSA expression in both physiological and pathological conditions is not organ- or sex-specific, but rather a steroid hormone-mediated response (4). In 1985 PSA immunoreactivity was demonstrated in urine, even though the source of urinary PSA appeared to be a local production rather than the renal filtering of serum PSA into urine (5)(6).

Considering the recent studies on PSA immunoreactivity in normal and tumor kidney tissues (7)(8), we undertook the present study on PSA content in urine samples (in particular on the first 5 mL of voided urine) collected from 50 healthy female volunteers, ages 25–39 years (mean 31 ± 3). All of these women did not have sexual intercourse for at least 1 or 2 weeks before the sample collection. The urine specimens were centrifuged at 800 g for 10 min at 4 °C and …


According to experiences of experimental teaching,the problem of Computer Network speciality students is lack of interest,do not attach importance to experiment,practical capacity can not adapt to the practical requirements of society in various fields.This article sums up an experiment teaching system with four platforms,implemented a series of education reform measures to enhance practical ability of students.This is a multi-level comprehensive practice teaching system,which can apply talents training requirements in the popular higher education environment.


Scott Loring Sanders Td been in a rush to get to the post office before six. If Andy sent the check, Td be able to cash it before the bank closed. The bank in Clinchco ain't far from the post office, so I knew Td be able to make it. I parked the Neon in front and jumped out. The post office sits back from the road on a little hill. It's nothingmore than a trailer, striped in red-white-and-blue paint. Looks like a fireworks stand I seen in South Carolina on our way to Myrtle once. More like that than a post office, I reckon.


Renewable and sustainable composite materials can be produced using forest biomass if we maintain healthy forests. Small diameter trees and other forest biomass can be processed in the forest into small solid wood pieces, sliced veneers, strands, flakes, chips, particles and fiber that can be used to make construction composite products such as gluedlaminated lumber, plywood, structural composite lumber, flakeboard, particleboard, fiberboard, and molded materials. It can also be combined with other resources to make new materials taking advantage of the unique properties of each resource. Non-construction composites can also be made such as geotextiles, filters, sorbents, packaging and nano-materials. The adhesive used in the various products depends on the intended application.


Objective To discuss the feasibility on treatment of ureteral calculus after suspension of abdominal wall to avoid pneumoperitoneum. Methods 5 cases of such patient were underwent removing ureteral colculus after suspension of abdominal wall to avoid pneumoperitoneum with laparoscope.The average time was 65±20.5min with average bleeding volume of 40±24.5ml and hospitalized time was 4±1.2d.Results All cases were successful without severe complications.Conclusion This method might be a safe,effective and economic method to treat ureteral calculus.


In the domain of Supply Chain Management (SCM), business process should be structured in a flexible manner to allow full use of supply chain information. To investigate the characteristics and importance as well as the limitations in supply chain process modeling, in this research, six main frameworks and references models including SCOR, GSCF,VRM,CPFR, ISA95, and SAP are compared and discussed. Finally, the state of the art and challenges in several current methodologies in supply chain process modeling are discussed. The results show that the main challenges with respect to the modeling methodologies is to extend them for supporting different stages in the development of supply chain information systems. Key-words: Logistics, Supply chain process, Process modeling, SOA, Modeling Language


In vitro matured bovine oocytes were co-incubated with sperm for 18 hr in a droplet of fertilization medium under a gas atmosphere of 5% CO2 with 5 or 20% O2. After removing the cumulus cells, they were fixed to examine their fertilization rate, or cultured for another 154 hr in a chemically defined medium under 5% O2 to determine their development to the blastocyst stage. There was no difference between the 5 and 20% O2 groups in the fertilization rate. However, the percentage of inseminated oocytes which developed to the blastocyst stage was higher when in vitro insemination was conducted under 5% O2 compared with that under 20% O2 (34.4 vs. 24.7%, P < 0.05).


The present study was carried out in order to establish an economical effective diet for the pacific white shrimp in the southern part conditions of Iran. Three dietary energy levels (E1=262, E2=312, E3=362 Kcal 100 g -1 diet) and 6 ratios of fish meal (FM): soybean meal (SBM) [(P1= 100% FM+ 0% SBM), (P2= 80% FM+ 20% SBM),(P3= 60% FM+ 40% SBM), (P4= 40% FM+ 60% SBM), (P5= 20% FM+ 80% SBM),(P6= 0% FM+ 100% SBM)], 18 experimental diets were prepared. Completely randomized design was used to assign 54 polyethylene 300 litre round tanks provided by aeration and was stocked by 19 juvenile shrimp as 3 replicates to each treatment. Shrimps average weight was about 0.77 g at the start. After 56 days culture period, maximum growth and nutritional performance were observed in the P6E1 and P5E1 treatments. In addition, the highest survival rate of the shrimps was observed in the P1E1, P1E2, P3E3 and P5E3 treatments. Results indicated that protein, fat, fiber and ash contents of carcase were significantly affected by the treatments (P<0.05). Results of the present study suggest the replacement possibility of at least 80% of dietary fishmeal by soybean meal in the diet of pacific white shrimp in the conditions of southern part of Iran.


New calculations related to the determination of transformation parameters between the national geodetic (La Canoa-Hayford) and the geocentric satellite datum WGS-84, used as reference system for GPS coordinates, are analysed. Parameters of a national and regional nature obtained under different calculation conditions with corresponding quality tests are presented.


In this paper, we propose a video object segmentation algorithm based on change detection and background updating that can quickly obtain video object from video sequence. The change detection is used to analyze temporal information between successive frames more efficiently than motion estimation. The combination both frame difference mask and background subtraction mask which is used to acquire the initial object mask and solve the uncovered background problem and still object problem. Moreover, the proposed boundary refinement is introduced to overcome the shadow influence and residual background problem. Finally, subjective and objective evaluations of the algorithm are demonstrated and the experimental results show that the spatial accuracy can be achieved above 95%. Keyword:Change Detection, Background Update, and video object segmentation.


The Nepalese economy always experiences the trade deficit.Only, listed few goods are exported to foreign in cheap price whereas most of basic and all of luxurious items are imported from overseas at a high price. India is an immediate neighbor with whom most of the transactions of import and export are done.Again, the purchasing power of common Nepalese is comparatively high than other underdeveloped nation. The increasing openings of a bank account by people in every bank are a kind of surprise. If we observe the financial statement of every bank the number of the consumer of each product is increasing year by year. Banks are earning more than previous, some are doing good by earning double benefit than previous FY financial statement. Though the country political, economic and social current structure is not so supportive, it is very unusual fact to see the progress of banks and financial institutions. This creates a kind of curiosity to the researcher to find the reason behind it. This topic "increasing access of general people of Nepal to the banking sector is selected to analyze the reason behind in depth that will kind the different dimensions and level of society to formulate their own policies.


Bending moment of the slab caused by a load of a heavy machine under demolition work is usually defined less than allowable moment for temporary loading. The number and arrangement of tube supports are determined to meet the condition. If the plastic deformation of a slab is estimated with accuracy, the reasonable floor support system can be proposed. In this report, the results of measured axial forces of the supports in a 2 way slab are described, and the reasonable support system is proposed.


We analyze time profiles of isotropic intensity, components of vector and tensor anisotropies of cosmic rays (CR) when Earth crosses the neutral sheet of the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) in solar activity cycles 23–24. The moments of the crossings are determined from Wilcox Observatory synoptic charts and IMF data. Periods of Forbush decreases and ground level enhancements are excluded from the analysis. The events are analyzed for the epochs of positive and negative signs of the Sun's general magnetic field. During each epoch, the crossings from the positive sector to the negative one and vice versa are separated. In total, 213 crossing events have been selected. The first two spherical harmonics of the angular CR-distribution are obtained using the global survey method. In each case, the average number of stations is equal to 32. The analysis shows that the temporal change of the isotropic component is caused by a magnetic mirror. For the first time, the zonal harmonics are reliably distinguished, and the existence of the antisymmetric diurnal CR-variation in a low energy range, which is oriented along IMF, is recognized. We compare our results with those obtained earlier.


Governance for the people represents the basic philosophy of the governance of CPC and reveals the ultimate requirement of the rule of CPC governance. It is vital to deepen our understanding of essence of governance, subjects and objects of governance as well as the criteria and ultimate value of governance for the people so as to carry through the philosophy of governance for the people, enhance CPC' s ability to governance and strengthen the basis of validity and rationality.


the Management Level of Construction Technology in Constructional Engineering Plays an Important Role in Buildings. to Improve the Quality of Constructional Engineering, the First Task is to Do a Good Job in the Management of Construction Technology. At Present, There Are Many Problems in the Management of Construction Technology in Constructional Projects in Our Country Making the Construction Quality Decrease Obviously and Have Obvious Influence on the Construction Progress. in Order to Improve the Management Level of Construction Technology, the Author First Analyzes the Current Situation of Construction, Then Discusses the Importance and Necessity of Research on the Management of Construction Technology. Finally, the Author Discusses the Strategies of Improving the Management Level of Construction Technology.


The detection of trace level of explosives is a challenging field of great importance to national security and landmine detection. Chemical signatures of buried landmines are in a very complex environment. External physical conditions that affect explosive vapors and particles in soil can affect the explosive chemical signature. The chemical spectroscopic signature of the RDX in clay soil environments has been investigated by means of reflectance FT-IR microspectroscopy. The soil obtained from the University of Puerto Rico at Mayaguez was treated using the textural mechanical method in order to separate the clay from all the other components in the soil. B3LYP/6-311G** calculations performed on the low energy conformers of RDX helped to determine its most stable conformations, their symmetry, and vibrational spectra. The FT-IR technique confirmed the existence of two different RDX solid phases, known as the α-RDX and β-RDX, which have different symmetries and revealed significant differences in their spectra. The IR microspectroscopic study showed that the RDX-Clay mineral complex and its interactions can be detected using the FT-IR technique at a low concentration of 1000 part-per-millions. Variations in the clay's pH revealed changes in the RDX-Clay complex spectroscopic signature. These results also indicate that the interaction between the RDX and the clay minerals affects mainly the ring breathing, the C-N vibrations and the NO2 groups of the explosive molecules. It is suggested that the electron donor nitrogen atoms from RDX are interacting with the electron acceptor oxygen atoms of the edge sites of the clay's surface.


This paper surveys officials involved in public–private partnerships (PPPs) in the water sector in order to examine the differing motives of Indonesian actors in adopting PPPs. It also analyses the challenges of vertical coordination across different levels of government in PPP programs. We find that four motives for adopting PPPs are perceived differently by central government respondents and subnational government respondents. However, no significant differences are found between the two groups' perceptions of the importance of vertical coordination problems. These results highlight the need for local capacity-building programs and improved coordination mechanisms to enhance PPP adoption and implementation in the water sector.


With the rapid development of optical communications, the fiber detecting instrument developed quickly. We introduced the principle and application of two kinds of fiber detecting instrument-Optical Fiber Identifier and Identifier of fiber's both terminations that based on fiber bending loss. The instruments detect fiber without interrupting the communications that is important to optical communications.


The complex process of weathering, land sliding, glacial and fluvial erosion yields the sediment from a catchment which depends on the catchment area, topography, slope of catchment, amount of rainfall, temperature and soil characteristics. Stream flow with suspended sediment (SS) transport rate variation is one of the most remarkable effects of rainfall changing patterns in Himalayas, Nepal. This study analyzed relationship between specific discharge and rainfall together with SS transport from Kali Gandaki (KG) River basin area of 7060 km at hydropower reservoir. Mann-Kendall trend (MKT) test along with Sen's slope for 20 homogenized meteorological stations situated between the elevations ranges 700 to 2744 m MSL were used to evaluate monthly, seasonal and annual time series rainfall data over the period 1957-2017. Among 20 homogenized stations, MKT statistics showed that the rainfall in 9 stations exhibited increasing and remaining 11 stations showed decreasing trends. Statistically, four stations showed decreasing trend during winter (December-February), three stations showed increasing trend during pre-monsoon (March-May), one station showed decreasing and one station showed increasing trend during monsoon (June-September) and only one station showed significantly decreasing trend in 95% confidence interval during post monsoon (OctoberNovember). The increasing trend of rainfall during monsoon increased the discharge of KG River which transported an average of 40.90±12.45 Megatons (Mt) of suspended sediment annually in to hill-side reservoir dam.


The article presents the outcomes of treatment of 143 patients with the first episode of spontaneous pneumothorax. The features of its clinic presentation, diagnostics and surgical treatment were considered. The most common medical tactics errors made at surgical departments as well as arising complications were analyzed.


This special issue emerged from the largest-ever international conference on Polish gender issues outside of Poland, The Impacts of Gender Discourse on Polish Politics, Society and Culture, organized by Ula Chowaniec, Ewa Mazierska and Richard Mole and held at the School of Slavonic and East European Studies, University College London, on 11–12 June 2018. As can be seen from the group photo at the end of this introduction, the conference was very well attended, suggesting that gender studies, LGBTQ+ discourses and feminist movements in Poland are flourishing. It was also a year in which we celebrated 100 years of Polish women's suffrage (hence the #naukaniepodległa/independent education on the banner in the photo from the conference at the end of this introduction). Nevertheless, the actual papers revealed that the mood was not optimistic. The nationalist politics and rhetoric of the governing Law and Justice Party (PiS) has exerted a negative impact on openness towards queer culture and the acceptance of LGBTQ+ rights within Polish society. As we prepared this volume for publication, we followed the discourse surrounding the presidential election in Poland (28 June and 12 July 2020), in which homophobic discourse was employed to appeal to the more conservative section of the population. During the presidential campaign, the LGBTQ+ communities' language and rights were presented as a threat to a healthy Polish society. The most conspicuous sign of this hostile approach was the creation of public 'LGBT-free zones/strefy wolne of ideologii LGBT' in approximately 100 cities and towns in Poland. The topic of queer politics and culture in Poland has been the subject of numerous events at University College London in the last few years. During 2017 several events took place, which discussed gender and LGBTQ rights in a changing Europe and elaborated upon the impact of Brexit on the queer communities from Poland. Among the invited guests and authors were Izabela Morska, one of the first openly lesbian authors in Poland, who spoke about her research and the situation for queer people in contemporary


The transfer of information between topological edge states is a robust way of spatially manipulating spatial states in lattice environments. This method is particularly efficient when the edge modes are kept within the topological gap of the lattice during the transfer. In this work, we show experimentally the transfer of photonic modes between topological edge states located at opposite ends of a dimerized one-dimensional photonic lattice. We use a diamond lattice of coupled waveguides and show that the topological transfer is insensitive to the presence of a high density of states in the form of a flat band at an energy close to that of the edge states and prevails in the presence of a hopping impurity. We explore the dynamics in the waveguide lattice using a wavelength-scan method, where different input wavelengths translate into different effective lattice lengths. Our results offer an alternative way to the implementation of efficient transfer protocols based on active driving mechanisms.


Objective: This study aims to translate and validate the Impact of Event Scale-Revised (IES-R) into the Arabic language with a population of medical students at two different universities in Saudi Arabia Method: Fifty-six male and female medical students were tested during different periods of quarantine due to the COVID-19 pandemic using both original and translated versions of the IESR Results: The Arabic IES-R has acceptable internal consistency, with the following alpha coefficients: Intrusion (Cronbach's a= 0 85), Avoidance (Cronbach's a= 0 75), Hyperarousal (Cronbach's a= 0 74), and total IES-R score (Cronbach's alpha= 0 88), all of which were significant (p-value< 0 01) The test-retest reliability of the Arabic scale examined with the same sample is high, with correlation coefficients ranging from 0 75 to 0 81 (p-value< 0 01) for the three subscales and total score The reliability-parallel form method of the Arabic IES-R with the original IES-R indicates excellent consistency between the two scales, with significant (p-value< 0 01) intraclass correlation ranging from 0 80 to 0 89 for its three subclasses and total score Finally, a principal components analysis using Varimax rotation was performed with the 3-factor forced solution explains 50 5% of the variance and generated an intrusion factor (items 1,3,6,9,14,15), avoidance factor (items 5,8,11,17,22), and hyperarousal factor (items 2,4,10,12,16,18,19) Conclusion: The Arabic IES-R has proven to be a reliable and valid measure for posttraumatic stress symptoms in our sample of medical students in quarantine during the COVID-19 pandemic Category: Psychiatry, psychometry, community


English has been taught in early years of school and become one of the main course in the school based on the need of global society while not every school is able to offer the course due to the lack of qualified teachers. The evaluation needed in the learning process face a difficulty in which due to the lack of qualified teachers, is only capable of doing test and not evaluation. Based on the phenomena, this research is conducted to find a new method of evaluating English course by using language tools software that can be used by non-English teacher in accurate and valid evaluation and projected to modernised evaluation process in English course and able to support distance learning. The research employs quantitative analysis in a series of four data collections and analyses involving four participants over the time of 3 months. This research is further supported by language analysis from language expert as a secondary instrument to validate the result of the analysis from the main instrument, P_LEX language tools. The result of the research shows that language tools is valid as a supporting device for evaluating language performance as the result of the language analysis is in parallel to the analysis of language expert.


The purpose of these guidelines is to provide assistance to electric utilities in enhancing the capability of fossil fueled power plants, especially new power plants, to successfully withstand partial load rejections. For a power plant, a partial load rejection is a large sudden decrease in load during which the main generator breaker remains closed and the generator remains connected to the remaining reduced load. Partial load rejections are relatively rare events in large interconnected power systems and usually occur as the result of a major system disturbance that leaves a generation rich island. However, any power plant with both a local connected load and a single tie to the rest of the interconnection is more likely to incur a partial load rejection. These guidelines emphasize the need for overall plant control and provide guidance on the important control factors to be considered. However, there is no intent to specify any particular type of control; the intent is to identify the functions that the plant controls must perform. Although rare, partial load rejections have generated much interest in the electric utility industry. These guidelines, developed by the IEEE Working Group on Power Plant Response, are intended to respond to this interest.more » Information from the References has been used in preparing these guidelines.« less


Absolute measurements of the neutron diffuse intensity scattered by a single crystal of 62Ni0.765Fe0.235 have been made, at room temperature, on the 4 circles D10 spectrometer at the Laue Institute in Grenoble, France.


With the rapid proliferation of app stores, competition among app stores companies has become more and more fierce. Thus, to know what drives users' downloading intention of apps is significant to app stores providers. The purposes of this study were to examine whether factors from information system model, namely system quality, information quality and service quality, and social interaction were related to users cognitive and affective involvement with app stores, which in turn affect their downloading intention of apps. An online survey was conducted and data from 201 valid samples was processed by partial least squares (PLS). The results reveal both cognitive and affective involvement significantly affect users app downloading intention. However, system quality and information quality only influence users' cognitive involvement with app stores while service quality and social interaction only have effects on users' affective involvement. Finally, suggestions were proposed to app stores providers.


Multiple Myeloma (MM) is a plasma cell malignancy that, despite advances in treatment, remains incurable. In over 90% of MM patients, aberrant bone remodeling occurs and results in osteolytic lesions. Korean traditional medicine has a long-standing interest in healthy foods to enhance the immune system, energy-boost, and Yin-and-Yang balance. Traditional medicine has used herbal extracts (HE) from natural plants with fewer side effects and long-term treatment tolerance. In earlier studies, lycii radices cortex (LRC) and achyranthes japonica (AJ) containing HE have demonstrated the ability to enhance cell growth and mineralization of osteoblast cells while also inhibiting osteoclast differentiation. The current study investigated the effects of LRC+AJ containing HE on murine 5TGM1 MM-bearing mice.This HE significantly increased the mouse survivals of both Treatment before Transplant (TbT) and Treatment after Transplant (TaT) groups with median survivals of undetermined and 52.5 days, respectively, while MM control had a median survival of 42 days. The Mantel-Cox test found that TbT and TaT mice were significantly different from the control group (P=0.0014 and 0.0182, respectively). In histomorphometric analysis, the spines were scanned by micro-CT and revealed that TbT and TaT groups had significantly increased bone volume over total volume (BV/TV) than control. To see if HE affects cell growth of myeloma cells and osteoblast cells, we further investigated the HE on preosteoblast cell line MC3T3-E1, mouse MM cell line 5TGM1-Luc, and human MM cell line U-266. Cells were treated with HE, and viability was assessed at 48 and 96 hours post-treatment. Remarkably, LRC+AJ containing HE increased MC3T3-E1 cell growth while it decreased 5TGM1 and U-266 cell viability. In addition, we found the DAP3G in HE used in this study.Our results demonstrated that LRC+AJ HE prevents MM and promotes bone formation in 5TGM1 engrafted NSG mice. We also found that LRC+AJ HE suppresses myeloma cell growth and enhances osteoblast cell survival. Although it is yet to be defined, a correlation of osteoblast activity and myeloma cell inhibition suggests a possible connection of these events to prevent MM progression.
 Citation Format: Syed Hassan Mehdi, Sun-OK Lee, Dam Huh, Donghoon Yoon. Herbal extracts from lycii radicis corex and achyranthes japonica prevent multiple myeloma progression. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2023; Part 1 (Regular and Invited Abstracts); 2023 Apr 14-19; Orlando, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2023;83(7_Suppl):Abstract nr 3828.


TITLE Sphingosine-1-phosphate is increased in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and mediates epithelial to mesenchymal transition. MATERIAL AND METHODS Cell culture and stimulation Alveolar macrophages were isolated from BAL fluid by means of adherence properties on a culture cell plate. Macrophage cell purity was 99.2 ± 4.9% as assessed by May-Grunwald staining of cytospin preparations. Human alveolar type II cells (ATII) were isolated from human lung tissue as described previously, with modifications. 1 The protocol for purification was as described previously with modifications. 2 Briefly, to isolate alveolar type II cells, lung


To work sustainability issues in the urban environment is one of the great challenges in current. One of the ways to reach goals of this size is through the insertion of sustainable technologies in the public transportation sector. Examples include the use of biofuel instead of fossil fuels and the adoption of hybrid electric buses. Such replacements have been carried out in the collective transportation of the city of Curitiba, Parana, which has been a pioneer in this type of management and has 1.7 vehicles per inhabitant. Therefore, the proposal of the article is to question the extent to which these actions contribute to the sustainability of the planet. For this purpose, emissions from the vehicles that compose the city's bus fleet were quantified over a one-year period, with evaluation of opacity tests and greenhouse gas emissions [GHG's]. In the period, the public transport sector was responsible for the emission of approximately 200,000 metric tons CO2 eq. The use of biodiesel in public transportation in Curitiba prevented the emission of approximately 10,000 metric tons of CO2. The results of the opacity tests indicated that the hybrid model operating the B100 emits about 93% less black smoke. It was verified that there is a significant contribution by the city to reduce the emission of GHG's. By economic analysis, if the entire fleet of the city of Curitiba were hybrid, with the total volume of fuel used, an economy of R $ 62,558,868.08 would be obtained, which would cover public health expenditures emissions from public transportation, for example, from the city of Sao Paulo, the most populous in South America.


The urbanization of Central Plain Area in the future suit start with setting up and perfecting the development mechanism, having the basic power of city's economy development in mind. Putting into practice the two-way advance's urbanization strategy of "structuralizing the Central Plain city group,and developping the small town actively".


This paper presents a fast and efficient method for sizing power/ground networks. No restrictions on network topology or number of supplying pads are imposed. Wire widths are calculated such that the weighted area of wire segments is minimized while electromigration and voltage drops constraints are fulfilled. The algorithm proposed here runs 50% faster than the best methods reported for tree type network topologies.


Many-body dynamics problems are expected to handle millions of unknowns when, for instance, investigating the three-dimensional flow of granular material. Unfortunately, the size of the problems tractable by existing numerical solution techniques is severely limited on convergence grounds. This is typically the case when the equations of motion embed a differential variational inequality (DVI) problem that captures contact and possibly frictional interactions between rigid and/or flexible bodies. As the size of the physical system increases, the speed and/or the quality of the numerical solution decrease. This paper describes three methods the gradient projected minimum residual (GPMINRES) method, the preconditioned spectral projected gradient with fallback (P-SPG-FB) method, and the Kuc̆era method that demonstrate better scalability than the projected Jacobi and Gauss-Seidel methods commonly used to solve contact problems that draw on a DVI-based modeling approach.


Characters of growth period,yield-related and resistance to sheath blight on T_(4) transgenic progenies of E32 mediated by biolistic bombardment was investigated by multivariable heriditary analysis.The results indicated twelve indexes were divided into five common factors by factor analysis and the cumulative variance contribution of five factors reached 92.44%.Total grains per panicle(TGP),grains/cm(G/cm),filled grains per panicle(FGP) played important roles in the first factor.Disease index(DI),disease grade(DG) and disease stalk rate(DR) owned higher factor loading values in the second factor. The third factor was mainly dominated by days before heading(DH) and period of grow(DG).Only number of panicles(NP) and seed setting rate(SSR) played primary roles in the fourth factor and five factor respectively.Twenty transgenic progenies of(E32) were divided into four types by clustering analysis according to the scores after promax rotation,varieties of different type had different characters of grow period,resistance to sheath blight and yield.Therefore,the improvement procedure can be an efficient way for rice breeding according to the relative importance of these principal factors and characters of different type varieties.


With aesthetic values of the technique of blank-out of traditional Chinese painting analyzed,and with fashion design cases as examples,the paper elaborates the skills of applying blank-out in modern fashion design from the perspective of visual effect in order to achieve the harmony between art and design,between design and market.Personal opinions are put forward as to the practical application of blank-out in modern fashion design.


The $k$-core model is a widely used metric of community cohesion. The problem of best community discovery based on $k$-core model and $k$-core function is to find the best $k$-core communities with the highest scores in a social network. The current best community discovery methods only appropriate for static social networks, however, real-world social networks always evolve over time. Adding or deleting points and edges might not only modify the structure of the networks but also have an impact on the results of best community discovery. To address this issue, therefore, we studied the problem of best community discovery in dynamic graphs. We first define a novel index structure KHS-Index based on $k$-core hierarchical decomposition and a $k$-core scoring function. Then, we propose a basic algorithm by reconstructing the index structure on the update graphs. And then we propose a incremental algorithm based on incremental computation strategy for the scores of $k$-core communities. Furthermore, By investigating the improved core maintenance method and index maintenance method, we explore an effective dynamic update algorithm to find the best communities on dynamic social networks. Finally, comprehensive experiments on real datasets are conducted, which show that our algorithms can effectively and efficiently find best communities on dynamic social networks.


This study is conducted in order to know the collocations of 'healthy' and 'unhealthy' as well as to explore the lexical meaning of those collocations. Corpus-based approach is employed in this study since the sole source of the data is the corpus data. Qualitative research method is used in order to find the hypotheses from the corpus data which is taken from Sketch Engine. The results demonstrate that the collocations of two node words are dissimilar in the categorization. 'healthy' node word indicates that three major semantic preferences are associated with it - human, animal, disease. On the contrary, the semantic preferences of 'unhealthy' node word are diverse. Thus, the classification is based on the meaning of the collocations. The collocations with negative meaning occur more frequently than those with positive meaning. It is due to the fact that they use the prefixes –in and –un which create the opposite meaning of the original word. Therefore, the negative semantic prosody is more frequently found the two node words – 'healthy' and 'unhealthy'.


The government investment is the essential method for regulating national macroscopic economy,and takes on important macroscopic guidance role in social investment and resources distribution.The government investment has something of the low efficiency,serious waste of the resources and relatively extensive corruption.The ways to enhance the efficiency and profit of the government investment are:(1) clearly defining the function and scope of the government investment;(2)Improving the decision system of the government investment;(3)Encouraging the private capital investment;(4)reforming the project management organization of the government investment.


The hydrotreating of vegetable oils and animal fats is a possible way to produce a high-quality renewable diesel fuel component. It can be produced by processing the bio-raw material in new units or by the co-pro-cessing of the renewable raw material together with the petroleum middle distillates in existing hydrotreating units. This work was focused on investigating the effect of the hydrogen to the feedstock ratio on the hydrotreating of a mixture of petroleum middle distillates and rapeseed oil in a weight ratio of 8:2 in a tubular fixed-bed reactor. The hydrotreating was performed using a sulfided Ni-Mo/Al2O3 catalyst, a temperature of 345 °C, a WHSV of 1.0 h-1, a pressure of 4.0 MPa and a hydrogen to the feedstock ratio in the range of 120-600 m3∙m-3. The hydrogen to feedstock ratio of 120 m3∙m-3 was not sufficient to desulfurise the feedstock to the level of 10 mg∙kg-1. On the contrary, increasing the hydrogen to feedstock ratio to above 240 m3∙m-3 had no significant effect on the yield and quality of the obtained products. Therefore, the ratio of 240 m3∙m-3 was considered as sufficient for the hydrotreating of the mixture of the petroleum middle distillates and rapeseed oil.


Biofilms form ubiquitous organic coatings on mineral surfaces in soil and aquatic environments. In order to understand the chemical speciation of heavy metals (such as Pb) sorbed to minerals colonized by bacteria, it is essential to evaluate the coupled biotic and abiotic sorption by such heterogeneous systems. We have used EXAFS spectroscopy to quantitatively determine the partitioning of Pb between biofilms (Burkholderia cepacia) and the reactive sites on powdered ot-AI203 and ot-FeOOH. We have also used x-ray standing wave (XSW) methods to study the distribution of Pb sorbed to biofilms grown on the surface of single crystal o~A1203 (1-102). The XSW data show that Pb occurs dominantly at the ot-A120.~ (1-102) surface at low [Pb] r and is more distributed within the biofilm at higher [Pb]v. The Pb Lm EXAFS data show that Pb is partitioned more strongly to the ct-FeOOH surface than the (~-A120.~ surface relative to the biofilm. However, the fraction of Pb sorbed to the 0~-A120 ~ mineral surface relative to the biofilm may increase as Pb coverage increases.


Products formed by gamma irradiation of deaerated aqueous solutions of toluene and other aromatic compounds were examined. In irradiation of oxygen- free solutions of these compounds, dimerization and hydroxylation reactions take place: particular attention was then directed to establish which of the isomeric compounds are formed in order to study the influence of some substituent groups on free radical substitution in aromatic systems. A mechanism is put forward to account for the experimental results. (auth)


An apparatus and method for holding permanent magnet components, particularly on a rotor of an electrical machine. A magnet carrier (10) comprises a channel (30) suitable for receiving an encircling magnet retainer (20) and a method of manufacturing a magnet assembly (100) comprises providing a magnet carrier (10) comprising a channel (30), mounting a magnet (60) on the magnet carrier (10), and encircling the magnet (60) and magnet carrier (10) with a magnet retainer (20), wherein the magnet retainer (20) passes through the channel (30).


Intuitively, the rate at which a population changes depends on at least three factors. Here we assume a specific mathematical form for these factors. For a real-life model, the way that a population depends on each factor would need to be determined by field observations and detailed knowledge of the population's social and reproductive characteristics. The factors we will consider in this module are:


This work aimed to study the influence of tree age and altitude on some anatomical elements characteristics (basic density, total extractives, lignin, and leached ashes) of candeia wood. The sampled trees were collected in the Aiuruoca County, Minas Gersis State, Brazil, in two different altitudes (1,000 and 1,100m above sea level). From each altitude level 15 trees, enclosed in 3 diametric classes, were cut. Disks were taken from the trunk base of each tree in order to determine the age, the anatomical characteristics, and the basic density. Random samples from the trees trunks were collected for the chemical analyses. The wood density varied from 0.74 to 0.68 g/cm 3  in the trees collected at 1,000 and 1,100m of altitude respectively, being higher in the older trees. The wood anatomical characteristics of both sites were similar, with some variations in the amount of vases and pit sizes. Oily cells were observed in the radial parenchyma tissue.  The vases frequency was lower in the older trees.  The content of total extractives, amount of lignin, and leached ashes were statistically different in the two studied sites. The youngest trees presented higher leached ashes content; total extractives and lignin were not influenced by tree age.


The paper presents the review of the development of cooperatives in the Republic of Moldova during the post independence period. After the massive land privatization a large number of small scale agricultural producers occurred that hardly can compete with large scale producers. This preserves a state of underdevelopment of small farmers and of the rural sector. To identify problems that jeopardize cooperation processes and potential solutions a study on the development of cooperatives in the country was carried out. The major problems and possible solutions were identified through a semi-structured survey that encompassed 150 agricultural producers purposively selected in North, Central and South regions of the country. Addressing this critical situation can be made by coagulating dispersed efforts of small scale farmers to reduce costs of purchasing agricultural inputs and services, improve the access to post harvest, processing, transportation, financing, consulting services. Access to more stable markets and negotiation of better prices and better conditions of delivery can also be achieved through consolidated efforts agricultural producers' groups.


Two of the earliest Ch'an masters to use kung-an in instructing their students wereYün-menWen-yen (d. 949), the founder of theYün-men school, and Fen-yang Shan-chao (947–1024), who revived what was at that time a moribund Lin-chi school. Fen-yang himself compiled three separate collections of kung-an in his Record: one hundred "old cases" (ku-tse) with explanatory verses by Fen-yang; one hundred original kung-an by Fen-yang himself, to which he appended his own answers; and one hundred old cases with Fen-yang's alternate answers. It is of course the Lin-chi school that is most closely associated with the use of kung-an, and the majority of kung-an anthologies belong to that school.The largest of these anthologies is the Blue Cliff Record (Piyen lu), compiled in final form by Yüan-wu K'o-ch'in (1063–1135), a tenth-generation Lin-chi successorwho belonged to the collateralYangch'i lineage of that school. The Blue Cliff Record itself is an expansion and elaboration of an earlier work by Hsüeh-tou Ch'ung-hsien (980–1052) entitled One Hundred Cases and Verses to the Old [Cases] (Po-tse song-ku), a collection of one hundred anecdotes concerning earlier Ch'an masters to which Hsüeh-tou appended explanatory verses and annotation. Some sixty years later,Yüan-wu added his own introductory "pointers" to each case along with further explanation of, and commentaries to, both the case and Hsüeh-tou's verses, to form his larger anthology. A typical case in the Blue Cliff Record begins with a "pointer"byYüan-wu to direct the student toward the important issue raised in the kung-an; this is followed by the kung-an itself,withYüanwu's interlinear notes, and a concluding commentary to the verses, also