......................................................................................................................................... ii Acknowledgements ...................................................................................................................... iii Chapter 1: Introduction to Psychosocial Dislocation Theory of Addiction, History of Substance Use in Vancouver, and the Development of the Therapeutic Community ..............1 1.1 Research Methodology ..................................................................................................2 1.2 Key Terms ......................................................................................................................4 1.3 Psychosocial Dislocation ...............................................................................................5 1.4 Historical Context of Vancouver ....................................................................................8 1.5 BC Substance Use ........................................................................................................12 1.6 Development of the Therapeutic Community ..............................................................13 Chapter 2: Elements of the Therapeutic Community ..............................................................19 2.1 Pro-Social Bonding ......................................................................................................20 2.2 Clear Guidelines...........................................................................................................23 2.3 Life Skills .....................................................................................................................25 2.4 Staffing .........................................................................................................................27 Chapter 3: Effectiveness of the Therapeutic Community ........................................................29 3.1 Effectiveness ................................................................................................................29 3.2 Validity of TC Research ...............................................................................................33 3.3 Retention ......................................................................................................................37 Chapter 4: Conclusion and Suggestions ....................................................................................42 4.1 First Nations Population of Vancouver ........................................................................42 4.2 First Nations Treatment Research ................................................................................44 THERAPEUTIC COMMUNITIES v 4.3 Methods........................................................................................................................45 4.4 Cultural Fusion.............................................................................................................47 4.5 The TC and the Greater Community ............................................................................49 4.6 Conclusion ...................................................................................................................52 References .....................................................................................................................................54 THERAPEUTIC COMMUNITIES 1 Chapter 1: Introduction to Psychosocial Dislocation Theory of Addiction, History of Substance Use in Vancouver, and the Development of the Therapeutic Community The phenomenon of problematic substance use is well publicized. Newspapers often publish stories that turn attention towards illicit drug use. Institutions such as the Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse and the National Institute on Drug Abuse have been developed to study and engage this problem. Multiple solutions have been offered to curtail the problem, and it is estimated that at least $22.8 million is spent annually by the federal government (Government of Canada, 2015) and at least $1.3 billion by the government of British Columbia in 2008/09 (Ministry of Health Services, 2010) to address substance use. With such a large effort of time and money going towards this, it is important to have an accurate assessment of individual problematic substance users and their social environment. A common experience for those engaged in problematic substance use is that of isolation. This resonates from the pages of Alcoholics Anonymous to peer reviewed literature (Alexander, 2015) to the anecdotal stories of individual users. These stories communicate that the feelings derived from substance use often numb the feeling of intense loneliness. Indeed, substance use, along with the associated risks, appears to be preferable to feeling lonely. Unfortunately, the continued use of substances, and engaging in behaviours that meet the needs for acquiring the substance, usually increase loneliness and the experience of isolation. Substance users may be dishonest with friends, stay away or hurt loved ones, and be unable to maintain work. This phenomenon can be expressed as an individual's fear of social connection, and at the same time an intense desire for relationship with a community. THERAPEUTIC COMMUNITIES 2 One method to foster connection, both felt and in real relationships, is treatment in a communal environment which has been viewed by both researchers and clients as an effective means of engaging in recovery (De Leon, 2000). However, a common barrier for problematic substance users is a personal history of social dysfunction and interpersonal abuse. Because of this background, clients may experience a high degree of anxiety and apprehension engaging in the very relationships that are likely to improve their well-being. In this thesis, I will focus on the Therapeutic Community (TC) setting for recovery because I believe that this treatment modality provides distinct conditions for social integration that may have been unmet over the span of a substance user's life. I will explain TC structure and propose that this structure provides an appropriate environment for the healing of the individual both relationally with others and in relation to self. I will review research regarding TCs. I will then draw attention to the theory of social dislocation as proposed by Alexander (2008) and integrate this into my proposals for TC practice. 1.1 Research Methodology I have used a narrative literature review as my methodology for this study. A narrative review focuses on the explanation and importance of a problem, synthesizes previous research findings, and describes possibilities of addressing the problem (Baker, 2016; Rhoades, 2011). I discerned that this method was appropriate in order to bring attention to current research on TCs, as well as grounding my research in the context of previous studies (Rhoades, 2011). I have intended to use this narrative literature review to propose creative views and practices of substance use treatment in the city of Vancouver (Baker, 2016). In order to establish a historical THERAPEUTIC COMMUNITIES 3 basis for my proposals, as well as highlight a strong tradition of TC research and practice, I have consulted studies from previous decades ranging back to the 1980s. I deemed a literature review appropriate for the purposes of synthesizing the writings of numerous authors across North American and European contexts (Rhoades, 2011). Since the beginnings of TC practice and research, there have been multiple observations in the literature that the TC environment has undergone changes from its initial foundations. These changes have been strongly influenced by the paradigms of North America and Europe, as I will demonstrate below. To clarify the degree to which TCs adhere to foundational approaches, authors have used labels such as "TCs," "Modified TCs," and "TC-oriented." Service deliveries have varied from peer-delivery to professional involvement, residential houses to prison environments, and from populations of hundreds to small groups. This literature review will attempt to draw themes from the research in order to propose recommendations for beneficial practical treatment options in Vancouver. I began my research by using the search terms "residential," "recovery," and "substance use" in the City University of Seattle's academic library. However, these words turned up few relevant results. In reading this handful of articles, a common term that was mentioned was "therapeutic community." Using this term to conduct further searches turned up many articles that were written over decades of study. Another goal I had in developing my research in this area was that it would be applicable to the clients I currently serve. I have been working at a recovery centre for over a decade. It is a six month residential, abstinence-based program that provides a six month time period for men who want to change their patterns of substance use. To this end, I limited my article selection to research with adult populations. Furthermore, the clients that access my agency's service are not THERAPEUTIC COMMUNITIES 4 officially mandated by the judicial system to attend the program, although there often are strong recommendations to participate from probation officers, lawyers, and police. With the goal of gathering studies that presented clients who had similar sources of social influence as my own clients, I excluded studies that were exclusive to prison-based populations and services. Nevertheless, I have included studies that address the interactions clients have had with the legal system and the changes that TC participants have experienced in their relationship to illegal behaviour. I have included these studies because many problematic substance users have had experiences with law enforcement, and it was difficult to draw from studies that did not include any mention of legal influences.


ion of Drinking Water (75/440/EEC) Drinking Water Directive (80/778/EEC) Industrial Pollution and Risk Management Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control (96/61/EC) Air Pollution from Industrial Plants (84/360/EEC) Large Combustion Plants (88/609/EEC) Chemicals and Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) Control of Major Accident Hazards (Seveso II) (96/82/EC)


The purpose of the scientific article is to find out ways to commit the illegal manufacture, processing or repair of firearms or falsification, illegal removal or alteration of their markings, or illegal manufacture of ammunition, explosives or explosive devices. The methodological basis of scientific research is a set of methods and techniques of scientific knowledge necessary to achieve a specific goal, the specifics of the object and subject of research. The use of methods ensured the validity and reliability of the research results. The leading method of research is dialectical, with the help of laws and categories which determine the methods of illegal manufacture, processing or repair of firearms or falsification, illegal removal or alteration of its markings, or illegal manufacture of ammunition, explosives or explosive devices. Special research methods were also used, namely: method of system analysis, system-structural, formal-logical, sociological and statistical. The scientific novelty of the publication is as follows: it is established that the main ways of committing the crime under investigation are active actions against firearms, ammunition, explosives or explosive devices: manufacture (for all weapons specified in Article 263-1 of the Criminal Code); reworking, removal of markings, change of markings (only for firearms); most ways of committing crimes are fully structured (have stages of preparation, commission and concealment); actions covered by the features of the crime are often a separate link in the chain of detailed criminal activities related to the illicit trafficking of weapons, ammunition, explosives or explosive devices; the expediency of the definition in Art. 263-1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine of criminal liability for illegal processing of ammunition. Conclusions. Most ways of committing crimes under Art. 263-1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, are fully structured, i.e. have stages: a) preparation: the choice of premises; preparation of necessary materials, devices, tools; use of publicly available information in open sources on manufacturing, making constructive changes in weapons; purchase of tools, metalworking devices; visits to facilities related to their production, storage and use; purposeful survey of military conflict zones; b) committing and c) concealment: non-appearance on call; giving false testimony; refusal to testify; putting forward a false alibi; destruction of traces and tools of crime; influencing witnesses. In addition to the established, typical ways of committing crimes under Art. 263-1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, identified trends to improve, modernize methods of illegal manufacture, processing or repair of weapons: high-tech processing, manufacturing using modern technical means; use of reference information, purchase of separate constructive mechanisms, details to armaments through the Internet sites; application of masking agents. Actions covered by the signs of a crime under Art. 263-1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, is often a separate link in the chain of detailed planned criminal activities related to the illicit trafficking of weapons, ammunition, explosives or explosive devices


This paper presents some useful expressions for fading correction, which can be used in practical situations as they can be encountered in clinical dosimetry. The situations took into consideration can be encountered in hospital environments during and after radiotherapeutic treatments of patients as well as for radiation protection procedures concerning staff members.


Motivated by the growing interest in PT-quantum mechanics, in this paper we discuss some facts on generalized Gibbs states and their related KMS-like conditions. To achieve this, we first consider some useful connections between similar (Hamiltonian) operators and we propose some extended versions of the Heisenberg algebraic dynamics, deducing some of their properties that are useful for our purposes.


Record and Habitat. I am indebted to Dr Theodore Monod of Paris for his kindness in sending me four female specimens of Basanistes huchonis (Schrank) which, according to him, is common on Salmo hucho on the inner side of the operculum, in the rivers of Continental Europe. In 1928, Parasitology, 20, 183, I gave an account (in which by an error the specific names of the host and parasite were unfortunately interchanged) of the external features, with figure, from the single specimen in the British Museum, which it is unnecessary to repeat here. As the Museum specimen lacks a bulla and the appendages of Basanistes, owing to its apparent rarity, have not been adequately described, I append the following account. The male is still unknown.


To study the influence of QIANGGUBAO Ⅱ (QGBⅡ) on glucocorticoid induced osteoporosis,56 three month old male SD rats were randomly and averagely divided into 4 groups.3 groups were modeled with prednisone (4.5mg/11g,twice each week) respectively,while group 1 (G1) taken only NS as control.And then group 2 (G2)treated with NS,group 3 (G3) GUSONGBAO,and group 4 (G4) QGBⅡ daily from the baseline.7 rats of each group were killed on 8th week and the proximal tibiae were taken for the dynamic and static histomorphometric measurement,and the same procedure was made on 13th week in another half.The results showed that the parameters of bone formation in G2 is significantly lower than that of G1 8 weeks after the experiment.In comparison with G1 13 weeks after the experiment,the parameters of bone mass and bone formation in G2 were obviously decreased,while there was no significant difference between G3 and G4.The bone resorption parameters of G4 were lower than those of G3.The results indicates that QGB Ⅱ is effective in the prevention of the glucocorticoid induced osteoporsis.


s of Titles classified in this List under the following headings :— Seienee in Relation to Hygiene and Preventive Medicine. Hygiene of Special Classes, Trades, and Professions. Municipal Administration. Building Materials, Construction, and Machinery. Water Supply, Sewerage, and Refuse Disposal. Heating, Lighting, and Ventilating. Personal and Domestic Hygiene. NOTE.—A list of sub-headings is given on page 286, and a list of the Journals from which the Titles are selected is given on page 300. Science in relation to Hygiene and Preventive Medicine. BEIiI~'I3~IJI, Dr. J. Ueher Immunisirung von Versuchsthieren ge~en die Mischinfection milt Diphtheriebacillen und Stl'eptococcen. Arch. t. f~Jgie~ae, Bel. XXXIII., Pts. 1 cC 2, 1898, p. 35. On the immunisation of animals against the mixed infection v-ith Diphtheria, bacilli and Streptococci. DI ~1ATTEI, Prof. Dr. EUGENIO. Studien iiber die yVntllkrankheit. I. Die elherimentelle Wutli beim Wolf. A7.cfi. ,t: Hygiene, Ipd. XXXIII., Pt. 3, 1898, p. ~66. Studies of Hydrophobia,. I. Experimental Hydrophobia in the Wolf. lB1EYERHOF, MAX. Zur Morphologic des Diphtheriebacilius. A~~cla. ,f: Hygiene, Bd. XXXIII., Pts. 1 ~C 2, 1898, p. 1. , . On the lllorphology of the Diphtheria bacillus. OPREscu, Dr. V. Studien iiher thermophile Bacterien. A7,cfi. f. Ilygiene, Bd. XXXIII., i'ts. 1 cE 2, 1898, p. lü4. Experimental studies of the Thermophilic Bacteria. RUBNEI:~ DZA1. Notiz iiber die Wasserdampfausscheidung durch die Lunge. A?'ch. f. Hygiene, Bd. XXXIII., Pts. 1 & 2, 1898, p. i5i. Note on the excretion of v-ater through the lungs.


Sleep (or lack of it) is back in fashion. Two recent books, Why We Sleep by neuroscientist Matthew Walker and The Business of Sleep by clinical psychologist Vicki Culpin, warn in the strongest terms that regularly sleeping less than seven hours a night is a disaster for our mental and physical wellbeing.

As a culture, we in rich countries are in the throes of what Culpin calls "an epidemic of sleeplessness," increasing our risk of depression, …


Archaea represent a significant portion of biomass in the marine sediments and may play an important role in global carbon cycle. However, the identity and composition of deep sea sediment Archaea are unclear. Here, we used the archaeal 16S rRNA gene primers to determine the diversity and community structure of Archaea from shallow water (<100 m) and deep water (>1500 m) sediments in the South China Sea. Phylogenetically the archaeal community is separated between the shallow- and deep sea sediments, with the former being dominated by the Thaumarchaeota and the latter by the Marine Benthic Group B, E and the South African GoldMine Euryarchaeotal Group as well as Thaumarchaeota. Sand content showed significant correlation with Thaumarchaeota, suggesting that the porous media may create an oxic environment that allowed these aerobic organisms to thrive in the surface sediments. The carbon isotope composition of total organic carbon was significantly correlated to the distribution of archaeal groups, suggesting that Archaea overall may be constrained by the availability or sources of organic carbon in the sediments of the South China Sea.


In some regions of the US, cattle range large areas that do not provide adequate mineral levels and due to the area, mineral supplementation is not possible. Weaned calves from this production system exhibit decreased production performance due to their deficient mineral status. However, there is currently no best practices to supplement these calves with mineral when they are received into a confined feeding setting. As such, this research examined the effects of different mineral supplementation strategies on weight gain, 12th rib fat thickness (REFT) and ribeye area (REA) of sixty feedlot steers obtained from a sale barn in an area known to be mineral deficient. Initially animals were stratified by weight into four different treatment groups (n=15): control (CON), dietary mineral (DM), multimin+dietary mineral (MM+DM), or Multimin (MM) and fed in pens equipped with GrowSafe bunks. Steers received their treatment for the first 40 d of the trial; after this time all steers received the DM treatment. Days 0, 5, 11, 40, 59, 95, 120 and 148 weights were recorded and d 4, 56, and 148 REA and REFT were measured via ultrasound. All data were analyzed using the PROC MIXED procedure of SAS with day as a repeated measure to determine the main effect of treatment. Weight, REA and REFT each increased (P< 0.05) over time. Treatment impacted (P=0.02) weight such that steers receiving the DM treatment gained more (P< 0.05) than those receiving MM+DM and MM, but were no different (P=0.25) than CON steers. Additionally, treatment impacted (P=0.05) REFT such that CON steers had increased (P=0.02) REFT than MM steers, but no other treatment groups were different (P >0.10) from one another. This study suggests that mineral supplementation strategy during the first 40 d of confined feeding may impact production parameters of mineral deficient steers.


This article reviews some of the key debates in the area of just‐in‐time operation and implementation, and identifies 13 research issues. These issues include: information systems for JIT; organisational structures; performance measurement; the management of the supply‐manufacturer‐customer chain; location policy; purchasing and distribution strategy and the social implications of JIT.


In this study, hexasubstituted thiourea was carried out via reaction of isothiocyanato cyclophosphazene intermediates with a series of aromatics amines and amino acids in a one-pot reaction system. The reaction was not as straightforward as typical thiourea synthesis. Six unexpected thiourea derivatives 3a–f were formed in the presence of cyclotriphosphazene moieties in good yields (53–82%). The structures of 3a–f were characterized by elemental analysis and FTIR, 1H, 13C, and 31P NMR spectroscopies. The occurrence of reverse thioureas formation in a one-pot reaction system is discussed. The possible binding interaction of the synthesised thiourea 3a-b in comparison to the predicted phenyl thiourea 5a-b and the targeted 4a with enzyme enoyl ACP reductase (FabI) is also discussed. Molecular docking of the targeted hexasubstituted thiourea 4a is able to give higher binding affinity of −7.5 kcal/mol compared to 5a-b (−5.9 kcal/mol and −6.3 kcal/mol) and thiourea 3a-b (−4.5 kcal/mol and −4.7 Kcal/mol).


TtgR is a multi-drug binding protein in the gram negative bacteria Pseudomonas putida (DOT-T1E strain) and regulates one of the key mechanisms of its antibiotic resistance by active extrusion of toxic compounds through the membrane-bound efflux pumps. The paper reports the molecular docking studies of Pongachalcone I, a natural pyranochalcone and reported potent inhibitor of the bacteria, on the transcriptional regulator (TtgR) enzyme (PDB Code: 2UXI) which is a key efflux pump TtgABC operon repressor. Although the bacterium is capable to expel antibiotics like Chloramphenicol, Tetracycline and Naringenin, yet Pongachalcone I has potent activity against it. The work unveils the key roles played by the residues ASN 110 and CYS 137 in the active site of the enzyme, which would be highly beneficial in providing insight into the molecular mechanism of multiple drug recognition and in designing drugs for antibiotic resistance bacteria. Background : Antibiotic resistance of bacteria is a widely spread phenomenon. One major mechanism that underlies antibiotic resistance in bacteria is the active extrusion of toxic compounds through the membrane-bound efflux pumps that are often regulated at the transcriptional level [1]. Resistance to antimicrobials is as a result of three main strategies namely enzymatic inactivation of the drug [2], modification of target sites [3] and extrusion by efflux [4]. The active efflux of toxic compounds is one of the common mechanisms employed by bacteria to protect themselves against the deleterious effects of toxic molecules they encounter in the environment [5]. TtgR represses the transcription of TtgABC, a key efflux pump in Pseudomonas putida, which is highly resistant to antibiotics, solvents and toxic plant secondary products [1]. The majority of the efflux systems in bacteria are non-drug-specific proteins that can recognize and pump out a broad range of chemically and structurally unrelated compounds from bacteria in an energy-dependent manner, without drug alteration or degradation [6]. The consequence of this drug extrusion is that, it leads to a reduced intracellular concentration of the antimicrobial such that the bacterium can survive under conditions of elevated antimicrobial concentration [7].


Phthisiatrician-patient cooperation, the efficiency of which largely depends is influenced by the outcome of treatment, is one of the aspects of antituberculosis therapy. This review gives a brief general characterization of studies dealing with physician-patient relationships and details the issues of communication having regard to the specific features of phthisiatrician specialty.


Fuzzing has been an important approach for finding bugs and vulnerabilities in programs. Many fuzzers deployed in industry run daily and can generate an overwhelming number of crashes. Diagnosing such crashes can be very challenging and time-consuming. Existing fuzzers typically employ heuristics such as code coverage or call stack hashes to weed out duplicate reporting of bugs. While these heuristics are cheap, they are often imprecise and end up still reporting many "unique" crashes corresponding to the same bug. In this paper, we present FuzzerAid that uses fault signatures to group crashes reported by the fuzzers. Fault signature is a small executable program and consists of a selection of necessary statements from the original program that can reproduce a bug. In our approach, we first generate a fault signature using a given crash. We then execute the fault signature with other crash inducing inputs. If the failure is reproduced, we classify the crashes into the group labeled with the fault signature; if not, we generate a new fault signature. After all the crash inducing inputs are classified, we further merge the fault signatures of the same root cause into a group. We implemented our approach in a tool called FuzzerAid and evaluated it on 3020 crashes generated from 15 real-world bugs and 4 large open source projects. Our evaluation shows that we are able to correctly group 99.1% of the crashes and reported only 17 (+2) "unique" bugs, outperforming the state-of-the-art fuzzers.


The experimental program reported here was conducted to gain insight into the behavior of concrete confined with fiber-reinforced polymers (FRPs). A total of 112 cylindrical concrete specimens, each 150 mm in diameter, 300 mm in height, and concrete strength up to 112 MPa, were tested under monotonic uniaxial compression. Test variables included amount of FRP, strength and stiffness of FRP, concrete strength, and the health of concrete at the time of strengthening. Results showed that, with an increase of the unconfined concrete strength, the strength enhancement, energy absorption capacity, ductility factor, and work (energy) index at rupture of FRP jackets all decreased remarkably. A positive correlation was found between concrete ductility and FRP rupture strain. A gradual post-peak failure of the specimens, observed previously from FRP-confined concrete columns tested at the University of Toronto, was also observed in some of the current tests. This ductile failure, attributed to the gradual unzipping failure of FRP jacket, is related to specimen size and is explained in terms of various confinement parameters.


We have calculated the lifetimes of the two-neutrino and neutrinoless double-positron decay, K-capture, and KK-capture processes for several nuclei. It is found that the two-neutrino KK-capture process is a dominant channel with a lifetime of 10/sup 23/--10/sup 24/ yr, whereas the neutrinoless processes have lifetimes greater than 10/sup 27/yr if the currently accepted upper limits on the lepton-number-violation parameters are used.


: Remanufactured engine crankshaft axial clearance is an important factor which affects the remanufactured engine quality. Besides, the control of crankshaft axial clearance is the difficult part during the assembling process of remanufactured engine under the uncertain environment. The factors affecting the remanufactured engine crankshaft axial clearance in uncertainty are analyzed. The uncertainty measure model is put forward based on the assembly size of information entropy. According to this mode, the quality coupling relationship of crankshaft axial clearance during the assembling process of the remanufactured engine is researched. On the condition that the assembly size entropy of the crankshaft axial clearance of the remanufactured engine is not to be bigger than that of the original product, the coefficients of the first axle journal's width of the remanufactured crankshaft and the bearing pedestal for cylinder block are deduced by mathematical formulas. The optimal control method of crankshaft axial clearance of the remanufactured engine is proposed, which is based on the group mating model. This method is applied on the manufacturing process of a remanufactured engine company, to verify that the proposed method can make best use of remanufacturing resources, and improve the quality of remanufacturing products.


ABS>Investigations and electro-chemical separation were carried out with saturated phases formcd in hexacomponent nickel solid solutions (Al-- Cr -- Mo-- Nb-- Ni-- W) with various TiC contents. The saturation phase does not separate in anode dissolution of alloys containing 0.1% TiC, confirmed by microstructure data and x-ray analysis. The appearance of only two phases: the gamma nickel solid solution phase and complex carbide phase of composition STATi(Cr, Mo, Nb, and W)C! was observed in alloys containing 1.0, 4.0, and 7.5% TiC. The observed carbide phase has a cubic grain-centered lattice which responds to the carbide titanium lattice with parameter changes from 4.38 to 4.33 kX in relation to the changing of Nb and TiC content. (R.V.J.)


Biochemist Stephen West attended university to avoid a lifetime of working with fish. Growing up near Hull, Yorkshire, England, West saw the swollen hands of the dock workers who spent their days filleting fish under ice-cold water. His father, a fish buyer, would come home with his arms covered in scales. "I don't think I ever expected to be a successful scientist, though," West says. "Just a job that didn't involve fish would be quite enough."

Stephen C. West. Image courtesy of Stephen C. West.

West's trajectory away from fish landed him in a biochemistry laboratory, however, and on a course that eventually led to the Francis Crick Institute in London and election to the National Academy of Sciences in 2016. West's research into the mechanisms of DNA repair has elucidated the pathways that strive to keep our genome error-free, and the ways in which breakdowns in this process can lead to cancer.

Born in 1952, West grew up in Hessle, a few miles from the fishing port, on England's east coast. Because of their work schedules, West's mother would see him and his older brother off to school in the mornings, and his father would prepare dinner in the evenings. Unsurprisingly, dinner was often fish. "After eating fish for so many years, I think I couldn't face one for 5 or 6 years after leaving home," West says. "Now that I'm getting older, I'm starting to appreciate it again."

Growing up, West leaned toward soccer rather than academics, although he loved to read and treasured his library card. At the same time, as a teenager, West was captivated—along with the rest of the world—by the space race, which culminated in the first manned landing on the moon. Although he excelled in chemistry, biology, and physics in school, "I never …


With the maturation of the normal child's nervous and sensory system, the child emerges from the period of partial communication blackout. His ego boundary, until now fused with his mother's, becomes more sharply delineated, A barrier between his mother's mental processes and his own i s established, thus ending their symbiotic phase of development. The separation i s reinforced by what amounts to cultural repression directed against the return of ESP. Western culture i s programmed in such a way that the return of primitive mentality, as well as telepathy and related phenomena, i s prevented and, if necessary, penalized by a l l means of social disapproval and ostracism available. However, a large body of evidence indicates that telepathy between parent and child significantly influences the child's later development. Parapsychologists report many anecdotes of mentally defective or otherwise handicapped children who, because of their defect, remain in a prolonged symbiotic relationship with their mothers. The first case i s that of l lga K., age 9, who was suffering from a severe reading disability. She was, however, able to "read" any text i f her mother was simultaneously perusing it. Experiments revealed that llga could do so even when her mother was sitting behind a curtain or in another room. Another case concerns Bo, a retarded boy of 11. who, like Ilga. seemed capable of "reading" only when his mother was "functioning vicariously" in his behalf. Originally he was thought t o be a "lightning calculator" because he did complicated mathematics despite his intellectual limitations. However, he could only do this when his mother was doing the calculations "in her head." A third child, known only as the "Cambridge Boy," was suffering from spastic diplegia and congenital cataracts in both eyes. Yet his ophthalmologist was puzzled by his striking ability to "read" the visual acuity charts when the boy's mother was hovering over him. Telepathy was suspected. A series of long-distance telepathic experiments between boy and mother seemed to confirm this hypothesis. These cases have three things in common: First, they a l l involve a handicapped child or adolescent. Second, their respective mothers all had a strong, sometimes frantic, motivation to help their offspring overcome their disability. Third, there was a primafacie evidence of telepathic "tracer elements" in a l l three youngsters' performances which had been specially tested by the observers. It i s true that helping a child to overcome a reading or arithmetic disability i s a far cry from trying to compensate for biological defects which would jeopardize his survival. However, correspondence of the children's performances with the symbiotic model i s unmistakable. By Jan Ehrenwald


We present a random variable characterization of the necessary and sufficient conditions for a shift of the distribution of rate of return on the risky asset in the two asset portfolio problem to reduce demand for all risk–averse expected utility maximizing investors. We also present a random variable characterization of the shifts that lead to both a reduction in demand and a non–increase in expected utility for all strictly risk–averse investors, and a random variable characterization of the shifts that lead to a reduction in demand and an increase in expected utility for some risk–averse investor.


The present invention relates to a burner for a combustor for a barrel. The present invention relates to a combustor for a gas turbine burner, having a mixing and dispensing device, wherein the mixing and dispensing device comprising a wall defining a restricted gas flow channels and at least two streamlined body (22), each streamlined body extending into the gas flow channel in the first lateral direction. Each streamlined body (22) having two lateral surfaces arranged substantially parallel to the main flow direction (14), the lateral surface thereof on the upstream side connected to each other to form the leading edge of the body, and their connecting the downstream side, to form a rear edge of the body (22). Each streamlined body (22) having a cross-section perpendicular to the first lateral direction (49), which is formed streamlined profile. The present invention further relates to a gas turbine for use in the method of the burner.


A switchable reflector which can switch reflection level using pin diodes for the vertical polarization and absorb for the horizontal polarization was proposed. The vertical polarized reflection coefficient was switched -29 dB with OFF-state diodes and -0.5 dB with ON-state diodes, and horizontal polarized one was less than -15 dB at 9 GHz. The reflector with ON-state diodes was applied to an antenna reflector of a dipole antenna and comparable radiation pattern to that with a metal reflector was obtained at 9 GHz. Therefore it can contribute to dual-polarized antenna RCS reduction at operating frequency without degrading antenna performance.


Insects grow quickly and are hardly controlled when grains are stored in the area of high temperature and high humidity.Nitrogen filling technology can effectively control the resistant pest and solve the cross-contamination problems to ensure the storage safety of grain.It was found that using nitrogen filling technology can kill all cryptolestes ferrugineus with killing rate of 100%.In addition,it is a new development direction for green storage of grain.Application of the gas-controlled storage technology can reduce chemicals usage amount,avoid environment pollution and increase fumigation-free rate and food safety.


Jennifer Jamison and Terri Lee Tabasso PUBLIC AND SCHOOL LIBRARY COLLABORATION IN ATLANTIC AND CAPE MAY COUNTIES 2005/06 Dr. Marilyn Shontz Masters of Arts in School and Public Librarianship The purpose of this study was to identify the elements necessary for a successful collaboration between public libraries and school libraries, as well as to measure the collaborative efforts between the school and public libraries. This study was geographically limited to all school libraries and public libraries in Atlantic and Cape May Counties of Southern New Jersey. This study of public and school library collaboration utilized applied research techniques. Mailed questionnaires were sent to public and school libraries in Atlantic and Cape May Counties. The response rate was 58% for public libraries and 54% for school libraries from the two. The results of this study provided an awareness of the collaborative efforts that existed among the public and school libraries in two New Jersey counties. As a result of this study, the researchers concluded that the collaboration efforts between the school and public libraries in Atlantic and Cape May Counties were dismal. A definitive and measurable lack of communication was apparent. The most promising effort seemed to be in the area of providing summer reading lists to the public library. Since the results reflected a lack of collaboration between the two libraries, the researchers recommended establishing partnerships to help increase student achievement.


Within the framework of the current revolution in military affairs, at the End of the Cold War a new concept was born: the concept of War Based on Computer Networking or NCW Network Centric-Warfare which was established as a central element of modern military operationsDetermined by theprogress recorded in the fi eld of communication systems of all types, technology of information (HI-Tech, IT), war based on computer networking brings a change in the war paradigm and its inherent components In this respect, logistics based on computer networking represents one of the ways in which the reality of the battlefi eld is preserved which enhances the joint perspective upon the military forces.


MOTIVATION
Evaluating all possible internal loops is one of the key steps in predicting the optimal secondary structure of an RNA molecule. The best algorithm available runs in time O(L(3)), L is the length of the RNA.

RESULTS
We propose a new algorithm for evaluating internal loops, its run-time is O(M(*)log(2)L), M < L(2) is a number of possible nucleotide pairings. We created a software tool Afold which predicts the optimal secondary structure of RNA molecules of lengths up to 28 000 nt, using a computer with 2 Gb RAM. We also propose algorithms constructing sets of conditionally optimal multi-branch loop free (MLF) structures, e.g. the set that for every possible pairing (x, y) contains an optimal MLF structure in which nucleotides x and y form a pair. All the algorithms have run-time O(M(*)log(2)L).


Narrow spectral sensitivity in materials is one of the crucial challenges to develop high-performance broadband photodetectors. Here, we design a heterostructure of two-dimensional molybdenum disul...


The stance is taken that present day railroad management does not address the fundamental objectives needed to run a successful railroad: operating efficiency and operating discipline. Instead, moneys are spent on high level personnel who more often than not have very little knowledge as to how to manage a railroad while purchasing the latest "in" equipment and cutting back the very departments such as maintenance of way which are needed to keep the railroad up and running and the customer happy. Poor task assignments to supervisors, poor communications within the management levels can hardly promote employee discipline to run a more efficient operation. The author further states that after 150 years of operation, railroads have yet to develop the operating discipline needed to be responsive to shippers in a definitive and knowledgeable manner and the future looks no better.


Abstract Objective: Medical residents are an important group for antimicrobial stewardship programs (ASPs) to target with interventions aimed at improving antibiotic prescribing. In this study, we compared antimicrobial prescribing practices of 2 academic medical teams receiving different ASP training approaches along with a hospitalist control group. Design: Retrospective cohort study comparing guideline-concordant antibiotic prescribing for 3 common infections among a family medicine (FM) resident service, an internal medicine (IM) resident service, and hospitalists. Setting: Community teaching hospital. Participants: Adult patients admitted between July 1, 2016, and June 30, 2017, with a discharge diagnosis of pneumonia, cellulitis, and urinary tract infections were reviewed. Methods: All 3 medical teams received identical baseline ASP education and daily antibiotic prescribing audit with feedback via clinical pharmacists. The FM resident service received an additional layer of targeted ASP intervention that included biweekly stewardship-focused rounds with an ASP physician and clinical pharmacist leadership. Guideline-concordant prescribing was assessed based on the institution's ASP guidelines. Results: Of 1,572 patients, 295 (18.8%) were eligible for inclusion (FM, 96; IM, 69; hospitalist, 130). The percentage of patients receiving guideline-concordant antibiotic selection empirically was similar between groups for all diagnoses (FM, 87.5%; IM, 87%; hospitalist, 83.8%; P = .702). No differences were observed in appropriate definitive antibiotic selection among groups (FM, 92.4%; IM, 89.1%; hospitalist, 89.9%; P = .746). The FM resident service was more likely to prescribe a guideline-concordant duration of therapy across all diagnoses (FM, 74%; IM, 56.5%; hospitalist, 44.6%; P < .001). Conclusions: Adding dedicated stewardship-focused rounds into the graduate medical curriculum demonstrated increased guideline adherence specifically to duration of therapy recommendations.


Ground Based Augmentation Systems (GBAS) ensure safe low-visibility aircraft landings at suitably equipped airports. Low latitude ionosphere characterized by ionospheric irregularities and anomalous gradients pose a severe threat to the performance of Indian GBAS. No significant work has been reported on the range and position domain errors introduced by severe gradients identified at low-latitude stations. In this paper, extensive analysis of range domain errors, induced by anomalous gradients is carried out. From the analysis carried out in this work, it is observed that PRN affected by gradient of 460 mm/km induced range error of 8.11m. For other PRNs the error is only upto 2.3m.


ABSTRACT A mathematical model based on a set of differential equations representing the reactions of thyroxine (T4) and triiodothyronine (T3) with the binding proteins of human plasma is presented. Simulation of experiments on the kinetics of these reactions established that they are probably vexy rapid at body temperature. The value for the association constant of T4 with albumin was held constant and the effects of changes in the constants for T4 binding by thyroxine-binding prealbumin and thyroxinebinding globulin on the predicted % free T4 at equilibrium were explored. For plasma of average hormone and binding protein content a wide range of values gave results consistent with either the high % (about 0.042%) observed in experiments with undiluted plasma and unpurified T4 or the low % (about 0.028%) found in experiments using diluted plasma or predialyzed labeled T4. In both cases, however, when calculated values were compared with experimental results obtained from plasma of varying binding protein c...


Amongst the many channels through which migration a¤ects sending countries, remittances stand as the most prevalent potential source of development opportunities. Remittance ‡ows are of critical importance for many developing countries'economies. Mexico is no exception: in 2007, remittances accounted for almost 3 percent of Mexico's GDP, surpassing in‡ows from foreign direct investment and tourism (Reyes, 2008). According to World Bank's estimates (Mohapatra et al., 2008), Mexico is likely to have kept its position as the third largest recipient of remittance ‡ows in 2008 among developing countries.


This article presents a mathematical framework to simultaneously tackle the problems of 3D reconstruction, pose estimation and object classification, from a single 2D image. In sharp contrast with state of the art methods that rely primarily on 2D information and solve each of these three problems separately or iteratively, we propose a mathematical framework that incorporates prior "knowledge" about the 3D shapes of different object classes and solves these problems jointly and simultaneously, using a hypothesize-and-bound (H&B) algorithm. In the proposed H&B algorithm one hypothesis is defined for each possible pair [object class, object pose], and the algorithm selects the hypothesis H that maximizes a function L(H) encoding how well each hypothesis "explains" the input image. To find this maximum efficiently, the function L(H) is not evaluated exactly for each hypothesis H, but rather upper and lower bounds for it are computed at a much lower cost. In order to obtain bounds for L(H) that are tight yet inexpensive to compute, we extend the theory of shapes described in [14] to handle projections of shapes. This extension allows us to define a probabilistic relationship between the prior knowledge given in 3D and the 2D input image. This relationship is derived from first principles and is proven to be the only relationship having the properties that we intuitively expect from a "projection." In addition to the efficiency and optimality characteristics of H&B algorithms, the proposed framework has the desirable property of integrating information in the 2D image with information in the 3D prior to estimate the optimal reconstruction. While this article focuses primarily on the problem mentioned above, we believe that the theory presented herein has multiple other potential applications.


This paper introduces a simple communication design of between VC6.0-based SCM and PC with an example of basic data transmission,and puts forward the implementing mode of interface circuit design and software design.


For thousands of years Hungary has, for the most part, been a transit zone for other nations' armies or a target of conquest. As a result, the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse: Conquest, War, Famine and Death were ravaging mostly at the same time. Among them, Death is "the deputy of hell", which can destroy everything by diseases and epidemics. This study is a brief review of the infectious diseases which ravaged various regions in Hungary during the past centuries, followed by a more elaborate description of those that targeted the whole country: plague, cholera and Spanish flu. With the help of documents which have not been revealed so far, the study sheds light on interesting stories, like the way the plague helped the city of Pest to become the capital city, or how Hungarian doctors could successfully cure tuberculosis in the unique climate of the Tatra Mountains. At the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, cholera triggered a development in public healthcare and hygiene that still has its impacts felt to date. The coronavirus, which has hit us in the 21st century, is studied with a focus on its effects on our current society.


Nanocomposites based on poly(butylene succinate) (PBS) and organophilic montmorillonite were synthesized via in situ polymerization using three different clay compositions (4, 6 and 8 wt%). The products were characterized by several different techniques. X-ray diffraction was useful to confirm the increase of the interlayer spacing of the clay due to the presence of the polymer chains among layers. Thermal analysis indicated that the polymerization method chosen led to materials with lower thermal stability compared to the pure PBS, due to the difficulty of chain growth in the presence of the clay. Low-field NMR technique was used to assess clay dispersion in the polymer, with exfoliated structures predominating in the nanocomposites.


This study aims to see the effectiveness of the use of the Project Citizen model as strengthening character education in the learning of Pancasila and Citizenship Education. This research is the experimental research. The model is applied to parallel class XII in State Senior High School (SMAN) 8 Pontianak. Class XII IPS 1 and class XII IPS3. Students of class XII IPS 1 were treated by learning the Project Citizen model and class XII IPS 3 by learning ordinary classical models (the teacher used the lecture and question and answer method). Character values seen are religious, independent, cooperation, integrity, and nationalist values. Based on the results of the t-test on the Expansion class and the Control class, the value of t sig (2-tailed) of 0.000 is smaller than 0.05 so that Ho is rejected. It means that there is a significant difference in strengthening character education in the experimental class using a project citizen model with control who use ordinary learning and effect size. From this study, it is known that the impact of enhancing character education in the XII IPS class of SMAN 8 Pontianak is equal to 1 in the high category, thus learning with the Project citizen model is effective as a reinforcement of character education.


Significance The Siberian Arctic has witnessed numerous societal changes since the first known appearance of dogs in the region ∼10,000 years ago. These changes include the introduction of ironworking ∼2,000 years ago and the emergence of reindeer pastoralism ∼800 years ago. The analysis of 49 ancient dog genomes reveals that the ancestry of Arctic Siberia dogs shifted over the last 2,000 years due to an influx of dogs from the Eurasian Steppe and Europe. Combined with genomic data from humans and archaeological evidence, our results suggest that though the ancestry of human populations in Arctic Siberia did not change over this period, people there participated in trade with distant communities that involved both dogs and material culture. Dogs have been essential to life in the Siberian Arctic for over 9,500 y, and this tight link between people and dogs continues in Siberian communities. Although Arctic Siberian groups such as the Nenets received limited gene flow from neighboring groups, archaeological evidence suggests that metallurgy and new subsistence strategies emerged in Northwest Siberia around 2,000 y ago. It is unclear if the Siberian Arctic dog population was as continuous as the people of the region or if instead admixture occurred, possibly in relation to the influx of material culture from other parts of Eurasia. To address this question, we sequenced and analyzed the genomes of 20 ancient and historical Siberian and Eurasian Steppe dogs. Our analyses indicate that while Siberian dogs were genetically homogenous between 9,500 to 7,000 y ago, later introduction of dogs from the Eurasian Steppe and Europe led to substantial admixture. This is clearly the case in the Iamal-Nenets region (Northwestern Siberia) where dogs from the Iron Age period (∼2,000 y ago) possess substantially less ancestry related to European and Steppe dogs than dogs from the medieval period (∼1,000 y ago). Combined with findings of nonlocal materials recovered from these archaeological sites, including glass beads and metal items, these results indicate that Northwest Siberian communities were connected to a larger trade network through which they acquired genetically distinctive dogs from other regions. These exchanges were part of a series of major societal changes, including the rise of large-scale reindeer pastoralism ∼800 y ago.


Oolong tea was manufactured by raw material with one bud and three or four leaves of Maoxie cultivar, using new processing technology. The activities of Polyphenol oxidase (PPO) and Peroxidase(POD) in Zuoqing process were investigated. During the Zuoqing process, the activities of PPO and POD in the entire leaf varied as low→high→low and high→low→high respectively; the activity of PPO in the leaf edge varied as high→low→high, but of POD as low→high→low; the activities of PPO and POD in leaf center increased and decreased respectively.


Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is a common chronic debilitating psychiatric disorder, which affects about 1–3% of the population world wide.1-4 Epidemiological studies conducted in several countries reported current prevalence around 1% and lifetime prevalence ranging from 2% to 3%.5,6 Among adults, men and women are equally likely to be affected, but among adolescent boys are more commonly affected than girls.2,3 Studies assessing pediatric samples report male preponderance (70%), whereas adult studies report equal gender distribution or a slight female preponderance.7,8 Regarding gender, a bimodal distribution of age of onset has been described. The mean age of onset is about 20 years, although men have slightly earlier age of onset (mean about 19 years) than women (mean about 22 years). Overall, the symptoms of about two thirds of affected persons have an onset before the age of 25 years. Male patients usually report early onset of Obsessive-Compulsive Symptoms (OCS) and its association with tic disorders, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and anxiety disorders. Two-thirds of the patients with OCD have a major depressive episode during their lifetimes.1 Some studies have also reported that women with OCD presented with an abrupt onset of illness having an episodic course with precipitating stressful life events, whereas men generally had an insidious onset with a chronic course and higher symptom severity. A study in Bangladesh found that of the obsession, contamination was the highest followed by doubt, and of the compulsion, washing or cleaning was the highest followed by checking, repeating, and ordering rituals. More than half of the subjects had severe OCD where according to CY-BOCS revealed that, more than half of the patients had severe OCD (53.3%) followed by 36.7% who had extreme OCD, 6.7% who had moderate OCD, and only 3.3% who had mild OCD. The proportion of extreme OCD was found to be high among the adolescents (48.7%) whereas severe OCD was higher among the children (71.4%).2


The applicability of world class manufacturing (WCM) in small and medium enterprises (SMEs) is a hotly debated topic. This paper belongs to this stream of research and presents a statistical survey designed to assess which WCM practices, if any, are implemented by SMEs and their effects on operational performances. Specifically, a comprehensive questionnaire was submitted to a sample of North Italian make-to-order batch-production SMEs, in the furniture, precision mechanics and textile-fashion industries. To assure consistency, and to avoid subjective interpretations, practices included in the questionnaire were adequately contextualised and answers were measured with an innovative five-point Likert-type scale. Outcomes, relative to the reference domain, demonstrate that SMEs can overcome quality-cost-time tradeoffs, using an integrated set of WCM practices. Results also indicate that belonging to a formal business group is a powerful enabler for a successful implementation of WCM, in SMEs.


Cyclin-dependent kinase-like 5 (CDKL5) deficiency disorder (CDD) is a severe early-onset epileptic encephalopathy resulting mainly from de novo mutations in the X-linked CDKL5 gene. To determine whether loss of presynaptic CDKL5 function contributes to CDD, we examined synaptic vesicle (SV) recycling in primary hippocampal neurons generated from a Cdkl5 knockout rat model. Using a genetically-encoded reporter, we revealed that CDKL5 is selectively required for efficient SV endocytosis. We showed that CDKL5 kinase activity is both necessary and sufficient for optimal SV endocytosis, since kinase-inactive mutations failed to correct endocytosis in Cdkl5 knockout neurons, whereas the isolated CDKL5 kinase domain fully restored SV endocytosis kinetics. Finally, we demonstrated that CDKL5-mediated phosphorylation of amphiphysin 1, a putative presynaptic target, is not required for CDKL5-dependent control of SV endocytosis. Overall, our findings reveal a key presynaptic role for CDKL5 kinase activity and enhance our insight into how its dysfunction may culminate in CDD.


It is shown that the delay differential equations with nonlinear neutral term as[x(t)-px~α(t-τ)]~′+q(t)x~β(t-σ)=0,t≥t_0,has positive solution under the conditions that(α-1)~2+(p-1)~20 and ∫~∞_(t_0)q(s)ds∞,which generalizes the existing results in the literature,where p∈(-∞,∞),τ∈(0,∞),σ∈[0,∞),α and β are quotients of odd positive integers,q∈C([t_0,∞),[0,∞)).


In 2014 the security environment of Europe has drastically changed and therefore the importance of the southern neighborhood has significantly increased in answering the challenges emanating from the South. The Alliance decided on further strengthening the partnership with the countries of these regions in order to enhance our common stability. In this article I explore if this renewed impetuous will be able to change the currently existing mistrust between the West and the South. I consider it as an important question if the Alliance will be able (or ambitious enough) to become a decisive power in these regions or just follow a narrowly interpreted security scenario as a reaction for the current political and security events. Under the southern neighborhood the Alliance consider the Middle-East to North-Africa, in this article I mainly focus on the African region.


In this paper, an effective solution for the steering control system which is indeed an important part to build the autonomous vehicle is presented. A Model Predictive Controller (MPC) is designed to control the steering angle. Vehicle is controlled by varied counting of the steering angles according to the obstacle's position in the lane. The system has obstacle swerving abilities which is supplemented by a LIDAR detector. The proposed setup analyses the space surrounding the vehicle's lane and tracks moving obstacles. The foremost maneuver is to initiate the motive force to quickly move the vehicle to an adjacent lane, drive past the obstacle and move to the initial lane. Other feature incorporated is the Lane Keeping Assist (LKA) system used to detect when the vehicle deviates from the lane and accordingly adjusts the steering angle mechanically. This performance of the controller is evaluated using MATLAB simulations and is implemented on vehicle prototype.


According to the data deduplication process and storage arrays provided in an embodiment of the present invention, the controller is connected to the cache device via a switching device, a cache device calculates the eigenvalues of the data block to be deduplication controller queries the eigenvalues index set of data blocks according to the eigenvalues of the data block to be deduplication, when not found the same eigenvalues, the controller transmits the cache address of the data block deduplication in the cache device to the controller of the target hard disk the controller of the target hard disk, the cache address of the data block, reading a block of data deduplication.


In 1943, the British Special Operations Executive (SOE) launched one of the Allied intelligence services' biggest efforts to foster resistance within Nazi Germany in cooperation with Slovene partisans in the Carinthian borderland. The so-called Clowder Mission systematically supplied weapons and other military assistance to the partisans who, in summer and autumn 1944, offered the strongest – albeit often neglected by scholars – militant resistance within the borders of Nazi Germany. Although SOE's operational aim of externally fomenting Austrian separatist, patriotic resistance deeper inside the country failed, its strategic aim of assisting the separation of Austria from Germany and re-establishing an independent Austrian nation-state proved to be sound. At the same time, the Carinthian Slovene partisans fell short of attaining their political objectives. This article analyses the paradoxical results of British subversive politics towards Austria and Slovenia. It traces the impact of the SOE's agenda and the origins of the Moscow Declaration on the reestablishment of Austria, and elaborates on the character of British-Slovene cooperation, its success and its breakdown in the context of British subversive politics, inter-Allied rivalries and competition, and the geopolitics of resistance.


Cold gas propulsion system is the most widely used propulsion technology for Drag-free spacecraft at home and abroad. The flow output is generated by feedback-loop control of valve opening of piezoelectric proportional valve, and then the micro flow is converted into micro thrust. Due to the inherent nonlinear characteristics of piezoelectric actuator in piezoelectric proportional valve, such as hysteresis, creep, temperature drift, as well as the mechanical structure of valve body, fluid flow, there are nonlinear factors, resulting in a nonlinear relationship between the output flow rate of the system and the driving voltage. Therefore, in order to realize control compensation, the nonlinear link in the system should be analyzed first, a reasonable mathematical model should be established. This paper analyses the structure of each link of the system and determines the nonlinear factor of the system. And analyze the reason why the existing model is not suitable for the whole model of piezoelectric proportional valve. Combined with the analysis of the theoretical model, an improved BW model is proposed: the linear ARX model is combined with the BW hysteresis component model. The order information of the linear component is determined through the system structure identification, and the unknown parameters in the model are identified by the genetic algorithm, and the curve mean absolute error of fitting is 0.2643 mg/s, and the goodness of fit is 97%. Furthermore, the proposed soft measurement method of valve core displacement can reconstruct the displacement output of valve core without adding displacement sensor, which is used for the design of feedback-loop controller. The system model established in this paper has guiding significance for the controller design of the cold gas propulsion system, the structural improvement of the piezoelectric proportional valve and the nonlinear compensation.


Background RANKL and OPG play an important role in bone resorption. The \documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage[substack]{amsmath} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage[mathscr]{eucal} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \DeclareFontFamily{T1}{linotext}{} \DeclareFontShape{T1}{linotext}{m}{n} {linotext }{} \DeclareSymbolFont{linotext}{T1}{linotext}{m}{n} \DeclareSymbolFontAlphabet{\mathLINOTEXT}{linotext} \begin{document} $${{RANKL} \over {{\rm{OPG}}}}$$ \end{document}RANKLOPG ratio increases in periodontal disease. The present study was conducted to evaluate the effect of Phase 1 periodontal treatment on the salivary \documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage[substack]{amsmath} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage[mathscr]{eucal} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \DeclareFontFamily{T1}{linotext}{} \DeclareFontShape{T1}{linotext}{m}{n} {linotext }{} \DeclareSymbolFont{linotext}{T1}{linotext}{m}{n} \DeclareSymbolFontAlphabet{\mathLINOTEXT}{linotext} \begin{document} $${{RANKL} \over {{\rm{OPG}}}}$$ \end{document}RANKLOPG ratio in patients with severe chronic periodontitis. Materials and methods Saliva samples were collected from 13 patients with severe chronic periodontitis and 14 healthy controls at baseline and then four weeks after the treatment using unstimulated spitting. The salivary levels of RANKL, OPG and \documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage[substack]{amsmath} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage[mathscr]{eucal} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \DeclareFontFamily{T1}{linotext}{} \DeclareFontShape{T1}{linotext}{m}{n} {linotext }{} \DeclareSymbolFont{linotext}{T1}{linotext}{m}{n} \DeclareSymbolFontAlphabet{\mathLINOTEXT}{linotext} \begin{document} $${{RANKL} \over {{\rm{OPG}}}}$$ \end{document}RANKLOPG ratio were investigated using the ELISA method. Results The findings of this study showed that the mean \documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage[substack]{amsmath} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage[mathscr]{eucal} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \DeclareFontFamily{T1}{linotext}{} \DeclareFontShape{T1}{linotext}{m}{n} {linotext }{} \DeclareSymbolFont{linotext}{T1}{linotext}{m}{n} \DeclareSymbolFontAlphabet{\mathLINOTEXT}{linotext} \begin{document} $${{RANKL} \over {{\rm{OPG}}}}$$ \end{document}RANKLOPG ratio was significantly higher in the patients with periodontal disease than in the healthy controls (P=0.001). Also, the \documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage[substack]{amsmath} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage[mathscr]{eucal} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \DeclareFontFamily{T1}{linotext}{} \DeclareFontShape{T1}{linotext}{m}{n} {linotext }{} \DeclareSymbolFont{linotext}{T1}{linotext}{m}{n} \DeclareSymbolFontAlphabet{\mathLINOTEXT}{linotext} \begin{document} $${{RANKL} \over {{\rm{OPG}}}}$$ \end{document}RANKLOPG ratio was significantly higher in the patients with a higher mean CAL (P=0/004). The comparison of the salivary \documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage[substack]{amsmath} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage[mathscr]{eucal} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \DeclareFontFamily{T1}{linotext}{} \DeclareFontShape{T1}{linotext}{m}{n} {linotext }{} \DeclareSymbolFont{linotext}{T1}{linotext}{m}{n} \DeclareSymbolFontAlphabet{\mathLINOTEXT}{linotext} \begin{document} $${{RANKL} \over {{\rm{OPG}}}}$$ \end{document}RANKLOPG ratio in patients with periodontal disease before and four weeks after the treatment showed a significant reduction in this value four weeks after the periodontal treatment (P=0/001). Conclusion The results of this study showed a direct relationship between the \documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage[substack]{amsmath} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage[mathscr]{eucal} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \DeclareFontFamily{T1}{linotext}{} \DeclareFontShape{T1}{linotext}{m}{n} {linotext }{} \DeclareSymbolFont{linotext}{T1}{linotext}{m}{n} \DeclareSymbolFontAlphabet{\mathLINOTEXT}{linotext} \begin{document} $${{RANKL} \over {{\rm{OPG}}}}$$ \end{document}RANKLOPG ratio and the severity of periodontal disease. Phase 1 of periodontal treatment was found to be effective in reducing the \documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage[substack]{amsmath} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage[mathscr]{eucal} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \DeclareFontFamily{T1}{linotext}{} \DeclareFontShape{T1}{linotext}{m}{n} {linotext }{} \DeclareSymbolFont{linotext}{T1}{linotext}{m}{n} \DeclareSymbolFontAlphabet{\mathLINOTEXT}{linotext} \begin{document} $${{RANKL} \over {{\rm{OPG}}}}$$ \end{document}RANKLOPG ratio. In other words, the \documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage[substack]{amsmath} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage[mathscr]{eucal} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \DeclareFontFamily{T1}{linotext}{} \DeclareFontShape{T1}{linotext}{m}{n} {linotext }{} \DeclareSymbolFont{linotext}{T1}{linotext}{m}{n} \DeclareSymbolFontAlphabet{\mathLINOTEXT}{linotext} \begin{document} $${{RANKL} \over {{\rm{OPG}}}}$$ \end{document}RANKLOPG ratio can be a good predictor of treatment success. Further long-term studies with larger sample sizes are required for confirming these results.


Dung's original argumentation frameworks have been extended in various ways. One such extension introduces positive interactions, or support, between arguments. Frameworks containing evidential, necessary, and deductive supports have been proposed, and it is natural to compare these and analyse whether translations between these are possible. Although a positive answer was given in the necessary and deductive cases, it was claimed that evidential support cannot be expressed by any other type and that it cannot be handled together with them in a single framework. In this paper we show that it is not the case and that there exists a natural translation between argumentation frameworks with necessities and evidential argumentation systems.


This article introduces the new techniques and the prospect of robot application in the field of high speed handling according to a FANUC Robot M-3iA system. It mainly describes the technique of FANUC Robot visual tracking and line tracking and a FANUC Robot M-3iA system. To decrease the errors and enhance number of unit transmission by modifying the parameter to meet the demand of high speed handling.


The minister : an employee of the church council?
In this article it is argued that the relationship between a minister and the congregation is not one of employment, but a relationship sui generis that is constituted in a community alius generis. As seen from the reformed church government, this relation is governed on a Scriptural and dogmatic basis in the church as the people of God, and not by state government.


Objective
To systematically review the respiratory training on swallowing function and respiratory function among patients with dysphagia so as to provide a reference for rehabilitation nursing of patients with dysphagia.

Methods
From establishing the database to 30th April 2018, we retrieved the randomized controlled trials (RCTs) on respiratory training of patients with dysphagia in PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, CINAHL, Physiotherapy Evidence Database, Chinese BioMedical Literature Database (CBM) , China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) and WanFang Data by computer. The literatures were screened and quality of the included literatures were evaluated according to the system evaluation method of the Cochrane collaboration. The RevMan5.3 was used to statistical analysis.

Results
A total of 9 literatures were included, and three of them were with the level A of literature quality and the rest were with the level B. Meta-analysis showed that compared with routine dysphagia nursing, respiratory training could improve the swallowing function evaluated by water swallow test [RR=1.33, 95%CI (1.17, 1.53) , P<0.01], forced vital capacity (FVC) [MD =0.47, 95%CI (0.11, 0.82) , P<0.01], forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) [MD=0.47, 95%CI (0.20, 0.74) , P<0.01], peak expiration flow (PEF) [MD=1.00, 95%CI (0.91, 1.10) , P<0.01]and reduce the score of penetration-aspiration scale (PAS) [MD=-1.05, 95%CI (-1.70, -0.41) , P<0.01]of patients with dysphagia.

Conclusions
Compared with routine dysphagia nursing, respiratory training could improve the swallowing function evaluated by water swallow test, FVC, FEV1, PEF and reduce the score of PAS of patients with dysphagia. However, the findings still need be validated by large sample, multicenter and high quality RCTs.

Key words:
Meta-analysis; Breathing exercises; Deglutition disorders; Respiratory function; Systematic review


Periodontal diseases are mainly the immune-inflammatory diseases caused by the microbial accumulations on the tooth surfaces. These microorganisms release number of chemical mediators which stimulates the series of host inflammatory response. Various Chemotherapeutic agents have been tried to modulate host response. Flurbiprofen is a non-steroidal antiinflammatory drug widely researched as host modulating agent for periodontal diseases. A controlled release drug delivery system was designed for the effective delivery of flurbiprofen to the periodontal tissues with minimum side effects. The present study was undertaken to evaluate the in vitro and in vivo release of the drug from the novel indigenously prepared delivery system. The results of the study showed the sustained release of the drug from the system in the effective concentration for the period of 14 days.


We explored whether students' (N = 154) engagement in mind wandering (both intentional and unintentional forms) throughout a 12-week undergraduate course was related to their performance on in-class quiz questions and later course exams. Intermittently presented thought-probes sampled mind-wandering rates during lectures, and retention of lecture information was gauged by later quiz and exam performance. A number of self-report measures including overall grade-point average (GPA), motivation to learn, and overall propensity to mind wander were also collected. Among the many results of our study, we found that at the group level students' bouts of intentional, t = 2.37, p < .05, but not unintentional, t = 1.39, p = .17, mind wandering resulted in poorer quiz scores than did periods of on-task focus. At the level of individual differences, regression and mediation analyses revealed that intentional mind wandering was most strongly linked to short-term performance costs, measured by quiz performance (intentional: β = −.23, p < .01; unintentional: β = −.16, p = .06). Conversely, unintentional mind wandering was most strongly related to longer term performance costs, measured by exam performance (intentional: β = −.01, p = .90; unintentional: β = −.14, p = .06). Interestingly, mind wandering was found to be associated with performance independently of other known determinants of performance (e.g., GPA, class attendance). Together these findings provide evidence that (a) mind wandering during university lectures is associated with significant performance costs, and (b) the nature of these costs depends on whether the mind-wandering episode was intentional or unintentional.


The Maryland State Police, with the assistance of the National Public Services Research Institute, developed and evaluated a Belt Use Campaign for Law Enforcement (BUCLE). This program consisted of (1) a policy memorandum and information brochure; (2) an instruction program consisting of an information presentation, testimonials by police officers who were and were not wearing belts in an accident, and a ride in a convincer; and (3) an "incentive" device placed on the safety belt that would reveal whether it had been in use at the time of an accident. Both the information and instruction programs led to significant improvements in knowledge about and attitudes toward use of safety belts. While individual components of the program failed to influence safety belt use, the program as a whole resulted in a two-fold increase in observed use rates.


Abstract Objective To determine the prevalence of iodine deficiency, its causes and its association with intelligence quotient (IQ) in Mexican schoolchildren. Design Cross-sectional analytical study, in which determinations of thyroid gland size, urinary iodine excretion, IQ, iron nutritional status, physical anthropometry, family consumption of goitrogenic foods, type/origin and iodine saturation of salt consumed at home and coliform organisms in drinking water were performed, and the association of each variable with IQ scores was evaluated by multiple regression analyses. Setting Municipality of Cuauhtémoc, in Colima, Mexico (altitude: 600–2700 m above sea level). Sea salt is extracted manually nearby and often used for human consumption. Goitre remains present in the region despite over half a century of mandatory salt iodination in the country. Subjects Three hundred and three children, similar proportions of boys and girls, mean age 9·3 years, randomly selected from 19 public elementary schools. Results Overall goitre rate was 21·4 %; low urinary iodine excretion was found in 19·5 % of the children, high urinary iodine excretion in 32·0 %. IQ scores were transformed into percentile values, with the following categorisation: ≤P5 (low IQ), 48·5 %; >P5 to ≤P25 (below average), 24·2 %; >P25 to <P75 (average), 18·8 %; ≥P75 to <P95 (above average), 3·6 %; ≥P95 (high IQ), 4·9 %. Ninety-two per cent of the population used iodinated salt, but deficient iodine saturation (<50 ppm) was found in 86·8 % of salt samples. The main goitrogenic foods consumed were peanuts (by 31·5 % of the sample), cabbage (30·1 %), broccoli (27·7 %) and cauliflower (25·7 %). Median counts of coliform organisms (colony-forming units/100 ml of drinking water) were: 207·5 (well water), 151 (cisterns), 52 (private homes), 25 (elementary schools) and 12 (kindergartens). Moderate iodine deficiency was associated (P < 0·05) with a 4·26 times higher risk of low IQ. Conclusions There is a perturbing negative impact of these findings on human capital acquisition for the region and the country. More attention is needed to ensure effective salt iodination processes, particularly in regions where goitrogens may contribute to the negative effects of iodine deficiency on the intellectual development of children.


The achievement of high density at reasonable cost would be a definite advantage for the production of P/M components requiring high static and dynamic properties. The use of the electrostatic die wall lubrication technique appears as a very attractive route to promote densification. By reducing the level of friction at die walls, this technique should have the potential to also reduce density variations in powder compacts, particularly for parts having a large sliding surface or a long die fill. This paper presents two case studies of parts having high aspect ratio compacted using die wall lubrication either on a laboratory press or on an industrial mechanical press. Special attention is paid to the axial density distribution of the green compacts as a function of the compacting pressure and the type of lubrication (admixed or die wall lubrication). INTRODUCTION Since the beginning of the nineties, many authors have demonstrated the advantages of using die wall lubrication (DWL) associated with a decrease of the admixed lubricant content to improve density and mechanical properties of P/M parts [1, 2, 3, 4]. By maintaining good lubrication at die walls during the compaction and the ejection of parts, this technique was shown to be very efficient, in particular when combined with warm pressing to increase the density of parts. However, until now, literature focused mainly on the use of very high compacting pressure to reach the highest possible density for relatively simple parts with a low aspect ratio. With the development of die wall lubrication systems that enable the application of external lubricants on die walls in industrial conditions even for long die fill parts [5, 6], it becomes interesting to investigate the benefits of DWL specifically for parts having a large sliding surface or a long die fill. A point to consider regarding the compaction of complex parts is the amount of admixed lubricant required to press the parts. Recent studies have shown that, using DWL, the content of admixed lubricant required to optimize the densification and achieve a good particle rearrangement during pressing was very low, well under 0.2 wt% [7, 8, 9]. However, this was done on simple parts like tensile or transverse rupture specimens. Studies conducted at the Industrial Materials Institute (IMI) in collaboration with QMP, have shown that as the aspect ratio of a part is increased, the optimum level of admixed lubricant is not only dictated by the ultimate reachable density (% Pore Free Density), but also by the level of friction at die walls. Indeed, if the reduction of the admixed lubricant is required to avoid the inhibition of compaction at high pressure due to the volume occupied by the lubricant, the admixed lubricant still play an important role on wall lubrication when combined with a die wall lubrication system. More precisely, a high die fill part easily processed with a mix containing 0.2 wt% of admixed lubricant and with DWL became practically impossible to process with the same mix containing only 0.1 wt% lubricant due to higher ejection forces and bad surface finish (galling). Therefore, an optimum content of admixed lubricant must be determined as a function of the complexity of parts and the lubrication performance at the die walls. In addition to the possibility of applying higher compacting pressures while maintaining adequate ejection pressures, another significant advantage of DWL for parts having a long die fill might be the reduction of the pressure loss along the part height due to less friction on die walls. This reduction should bring a decrease of the axial density variation and an increase of the average green density of the part. Besides, it is worth mentioning that density variations in a powder compact may not only be generated by friction at the die walls, but also by the apparent density variations of the powder mix in the die due to poor die filling, magnetized die, mix segregation, or by a poor particles rearrangement or non optimal tool movements during compaction. The objective of this study was to quantify the effect of DWL on the reduction of axial density gradient in a high aspect ratio part and, consequently, on the increase of the average part density. EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE Laboratory Scale Evaluation All experiments of powder compaction at the laboratory scale were carried out by using a highly compressible water-atomized iron powder (ATOMET 1001, supplied by Quebec Metal Powders Limited) with different quantities of admixed zinc stearate (ZnSt) lubricant. Weight fraction of lubricant content ranged from 0 to 2 wt%. The behavior of the powder during compaction was evaluated using the Powder Testing Centre (model PTC-03DT). This apparatus consists of an instrumented cylindrical die operating in a single action mode. This lab press allows continuous recording all along the compaction and ejection process, of the punch displacement, the applied pressure and the pressure transmitted to the stationary punch. To evaluate the effect of the lubrication mode, a device was designed to apply a thin layer of lubricant on the die wall. The principle used by this apparatus is based on tribostatic electrical charge produced on lubricant particles when they are carried by a flow of air through a small Teflon tube. Cylinders having a height of ~ 8 mm (aspect ratio of 3.36 compared to 1.4 for a standard 1⁄4" TRS bar) were compacted at 25°C and 45 tsi in a D2high speed steel die having a diameter of 9.525 mm at a compacting rate of 1 mm/sec. Powder mixtures containing from 0.5 to 2 wt% ZnSt were compacted without die wall lubrication (DWL), while powder mixtures containing from 0 to 0.75 wt% ZnSt were compacted with ZnSt external lubricant applied on the die walls. At least 5 specimens were pressed for each material and condition. For the different admixed lubricant contents and DWL conditions, friction at the die walls was evaluated from the pressure drop between the pressure applied on the moving lower punch and the pressure transmitted to the stationary upper punch (Figure 1). Compacting pressure 0 10 20 30 40 50 D en si ty


Aiming at the problems of the classical algorithms for solving nonlinear equations,such as high sensitivity to the initial guess of the solution,poor convergence reliability and can't get all solutions,etc.,the Artificial Fish-Swarm Algorithm(AFSA) which was put forward recently to solve nonlinear equations.The solving results are accurate,the computer simulated results show that this technique overcomes the problems such as sensitivity to initial values,poor convergence reliability,and resolves the difficulty in getting all solutions too.It makes a new method for resolving the nonlinear equations.


Agritourism represents a significant part of the tourism industry in the Intermountain West, and is poised to become increasingly important in Colorado. Nationwide, 106 rural counties employed more than 1,000 people in travel and tourism jobs, with some recording 90% of total employment in that industry (Wilkerson, 2003). According to 2002 US Census of Agriculture data, farm and ranch businesses in Colorado derived over $12 million in income from recreational sources. Recreation contributes more than 5% to producers' total farm income in 6 Colorado counties (Wilson, Thilmany and Watson, 2006; US Census of Agriculture, 2002). Moreover, these are conservative estimates of agritourism-based income for Colorado, given that the USDA survey focused only on fishing- and wildlife-based activities, to the exclusion of agritainment, heritage, culinary and off-farm agritourism enterprises. There has been limited empirical research on the agritourism industry to date. The majority has been somewhat anecdotal, relying primarily on case-studies and startup guides. Brown and Reeder (2007) use national data from the 2004 Agricultural Resource Management Survey to provide summary descriptive information about the extent of the farm recreation industry and the likelihood of farmer involvement in an on-farm recreation business. Carpio et al. (2006) use data from the 2000 National Survey on Recreation to develop a travel cost model to examine the value of the rural landscape. Bernardo et al. (2004) use the same national survey to explore visitor characteristics and various expenditure patterns for enterprises in Kansas; something we also try to address in our study of Colorado. The work of Wilson et al. (2006) focuses on unique characteristics of county-level agritourism data, including natural amenities and other perceived public goods that might add to each county's agritourism revenue stream. The West has experienced growth in tourism planned around agricultural and food enterprises, as well as agricultural heritage sites. Colorado State University (CSU) researchers needed to understand the tastes and preferences of visitors to and within Colorado who participate in agritourism, as well as visitor incidence and travel expenditures to assist agritourism providers. Although this research was targeted at Colorado, the methods and findings will be useful to a broad set of Western researchers, agricultural businesses and regional economic development staff. This paper will summarize CSU's consumer-based research on agritourism by providing the following: an overview of agritourism; a general description of travelers; an explanatory model of visitors' agritourism planning; a model analyzing factors affecting the level of travel party expenditures on agritourism; and a classification of agritourists that will better illustrate the diversity and priorities of those who visit agritourism enterprises.


In recent years Western countries have been facing the impact of demographic change. Due to factors such as a rising lifetime expectancy and a decreasing birth rate, our society is getting older. This development is accompanied by constant lack of nursing staff, which leads to an imbalance of people who need care and professionally trained personnel caring for them. There already is a variety of approaches investigating vision-based action recognition. In this paper novel methods for feature extraction from motion history images are proposed.


Summary We present evidence suggesting that the proof of the Pythagorean theorem widely attributed to Leonardo da Vinci is actually due to J. T. Mayer in the late 18th century.


"Deep in the forest, something stirred. . . " Examining the influence of community on the organizing practices of a festival. Conference or Workshop Item How to cite: Lucas, Mike J. (2012). "Deep in the forest, something stirred. . . " Examining the influence of community on the organizing practices of a festival. In: British Academy of Management Annual Conference, 11-13 Sep 2012, University of Cardiff.


A mathematical model of the global neutral wind system of the lower and middle atmosphere, developed earlier, is utilized to simulate global distributions of the horizontal and vertical wind for conditions of different seasons. Simulations enable to investigate how the horizontal non-uniformity of the atmospheric temperature affects the formation of the atmosphere circulation, in particular, the large-scale circumpolar vortices at levels of middle atmosphere.


This paper introduces a kind of device in which the prohibition of EMI on electric equipments via AC network is realized. The connecting of the device and its functioning mechanism are presented along with experimental results.


During the past decade, Greece faced an unprecedented economic crisis and signed an economic adjustment programme (EAP) that brought about changes and reforms to the
Greek health system. Comprised of three empirical studies, this thesis focuses on the impact of the Greek crisis on the health sector, with a particular interest in the responses to and implications of the crisis across socioeconomic groups. The first paper studies how household spending behaviour and responses towards health care have changed across socioeconomic groups in the face of an economic shock and the relevant health policy measures. Our analysis suggests that the income elasticity of household health expenditure (HHE) is below unity and exhibits a significant increase after the introduction of the EAP. Thus, households exhibit greater health care consumption
responses to changes in their income. Contrary to high socioeconomic status (SES) groups, lower SES households did not become more sensitive to income changes in the post-EAP
period, and have been more "protective" about their health care consumption.

Focusing on the older population, the second study concentrates on the potential changes and implications in terms of financial protection against health payments during the Greek recession. We find that the headcount and overshoot of catastrophic health expenditure (CHE) increased during the crisis, with low-income and households with multimorbid patients being disproportionately affected. Prior to the crisis, CHE was mainly due to inpatient and nursing care. During the recession, however, the contribution of pharmaceutical spending to CHE substantially increased. Our analysis also reveals that
there are widening inequalities in the risk of CHE across socioeconomic groups after the onset of the crisis.

The third paper mainly focuses on population health status. It studies how economic climate and uncertainty influence fertility decisions and responses across population groups, and further investigates whether economic conditions during pregnancy impact newborn health. Our findings generally suggest that birth weight and pregnancy length are procyclical. We also report heterogeneity in the relationship between economic conditions during pregnancy and newborn health across socioeconomic groups, with the
birth outcomes of high-SES newborns being responsive to economic volatility only in the first trimester of pregnancy. Further, economic adversity during the preconception period increases the probability that women who conceive are highly educated and married. After
accounting for selection, we find that newborns exposed to the crisis while in utero tend to be lighter, with the effect being more detrimental for low-SES children.


NASA has selected three commercial Moon landing service providers that will deliver science and technology payloads under Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) as part of the Artemis program.


Orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) is a method performed in Long Term Evolution (LTE) systems to accommodate various users within a specified  bandwidth .one of the advantage of the OFDM is that, it divides a channel into several  narrow orthogonal bands and also makes them non interfering with each other. Drawback of the OFDM is PAPR.  OFDM signals passes through high power amplifiers there will be some losses that occur which leads to decrease in the efficiency of the system.  To overcome the problem of PAPR we have various methods, partial transmit sequence is one such method for reduction of PAPR. Cyclic Shifted Sequence (CSS) is a method which is an extension to the PTS method. in the CSS, shift value selection plays a major role in the proposed method along with the CSS scheme with shift value(SV) selection we add another block called as Companding as a result we get better results.


The structural, electronic and optical properties of mercury cadmium sulfide (Hg1−xCdxS) alloys with x = 0.0, 0.25, 0.5, 0.75 are studied using density functional theory (DFT) within full-potential linearized augmented plane wave (FPLAPW) method. We used the local density approximation (LDA), the generalized gradient approximation (GGA), Hubbard-corrected functionals (GGA/LDA+U) and the modified Becke–Johnson (LDA/GGA)-mjb hybrid potentials to treat the exchange-correlation functional (Eex). We found that LDA functional predicts better lattice constants than GGA functional. Mercury sulfide (HgS) binary alloy was found to exhibit a semi-metallic behavior using all functional with an inverted band gap close to the experimental value. However, the hybrid functionals were more successful than LDA and GGA functionals to predict the correct electronic structure of Hg1−xCdxS ternary alloys. The results of the electronic and optical band gaps are consistent for Hg1−xCdxS ternary alloys.


The recent report on "viruses acquired abroad" (1) is very interesting. Schmidt-Chanasit et al. noted that "[t]he primary care physician should take a thorough history so that specifically targeted laboratory tests can be ordered as soon as possible (1)." Indeed, disease imported from distant endemic areas has become a major issue in traveler medicine. Many new emerging diseases in Europe and USA have been brought in by travelers, and the problem demands our attention. There are, however, some additional important considerations. First, it should be noted that multiple diseases are often endemic to the same area; thus, patients may be co-infected with two or more diseases, a possibility that is easily overlooked unless explicitly considered. Second, accurate and precise diagnostic testing is essential. The continuing underdiagnosis of some infections such as chikungunya virus infection (2) implies that clinical practice guidelines must be improved to keep up with the emergence of new diseases brought in by travelers in the present era of globalization.


In the dilute limit, the properties of fermionic lattice models with short-range attractive interactions converge to those of a dilute Fermi gas in continuum space. We investigate this connection using mean-field and we show that the existence of a finite lattice spacing has consequences down to very small densities. In particular we show that the reduced translational invariance associated to the lattice periodicity has a pivotal role in the finite-density corrections to the universal zero-density limit.
For a parabolic dispersion with a sharp cut-off, we provide an analytical expression for the leading-order corrections in the whole BCS-BEC crossover. These corrections, which stem only from the unavoidable cut-off, contribute to the leading-order corrections to the relevant observables. In a generic lattice we find a universal power-law behavior $n^{1/3}$ which leads to significant corrections already for small densities. Our results pose strong constraints on lattice extrapolations of dilute Fermi gas properties.


An edited book with a dozen international case studies, exploring the field of mobile learning, i.e. the use of portable devices such as cellphones and personal digital assistants (PDAs) for learning in a range of different contexts. The book includes chapters on pedagogy, technology, usability and accessibility. The Conclusions point to new research directions in this emerging field.


This paper deals with the advances in biodiversity research of Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans.A.ferrooxidans has abundant biodiversity,which was indicated by several factors,e.g.,growth temperature,pH,energy source,capable of standing heavy metal,content of plasmJd.The biodiversity research can provide guidance for adaptation and mutagenic breeding of bacteria,so this study should receive more attentions.