Transgenic Bt maize cultivars are widely used in U.S. agriculture. Control of target pests by these cultivars is not complete, and non-target pests are usually tolerant of the toxic activity of these cultivars. Sublethally intoxicated pest individuals may become hosts for parasitoids, but their quality as hosts may be affected as a result of intoxication. This study addresses the effects on various fitness parameters in parasitoids that develop on intoxicated hosts. The parasitoid used in this study was Parallorhogas pyralophagus (Marsh), a gregarious, external idiobiont, and the host was Eoreuma loftini Dyar, a subtropical stemborer. Results showed that ingestion of Bt maize tissue by E. loftini larvae negatively affected some fitness components in P. pyralophagus, whereas other components were not affected. Specifically, immature stage developmental mortality was greater, adult longevity was approximately 1 d shorter in females, and developmental times were approximately 2 d longer in both males and fem...


Grazing-incidence electron diffraction at 50–60 kV shows the surface structure of smooth electropolished Cu (110) faces and of the epitaxial Ni deposits on them from the bath: Ni(SO3· NH2)2· 4H2O 350 g/l., NiCl2· 6H2O 5g/l., H3BO3 35 g/l.The Ni deposits were all f.c.c. The effects of c.d. (up to 600 mA/cm2), thickness (100–60 000 A), temperature (50 and 20°C), and vigorous stirring, are shown in detail. The effects of codeposition of Ni(OH)2 at high c.d. are also shown.Special points of interest are: (1) at 50°C although {111} twinning of the "parallel" epitaxial Ni was strong near the interface (100–200 A Ni deposits) at up to ∼150 mA/cm2, it was weaker at 200 and absent at 300–600 mA/cm2(at least up to thousands of A thickness), and this is similar to our results for Ni on (100) and (111) Cu; (2) at up to ∼150 mA/cm2 at 50°C with unstirred bath the strongly twinned Ni at up to 1000 A thickness showed no "directed disorientation" though accompanied by an extremely small trace of widely disoriented (random?) Ni, possibly associated with the epitaxial misfit and contacting crystal nuclei; (3) at 10 000 A or more, at up to ∼150 mA/cm2 at 50°C with unstirred bath, additional weak arcs showed a small amount of {100} Ni, and at 30 000–60 000 A these arcs became strong and showed a {100} Ni orientation but limited to azimuths associated with those of the {111} twins of the "parallel" Ni, arising from the twins by a "directed disorientation"(a range of rotation round the horizontal [10] Ni direction, presumably due to contacts between the twins, as they grow, with misfit stresses and strains at their interface), followed by cube face development leading to preferred growth of crystals in {100} orientation.


THE first problems confronting the early endoscopists were mostly technical. The gross anatomy of the organs they wanted to examine from within was known but their physiological reactions to internal examination were not. But even the anatomy of the "living" organ was somewhat of a puzzle to the first endoscopists. Progress in chest-surgery required more precise information from the endoscopist and radiologist. As a result they worked together to obtain a better and more accurate knowledge of the tracheo-bronchial tree. This renewed interest in the real anatomy of the bronchi was extremely beneficial to the pneumonologists whose interpretations were transformed by such important factors as generalized or segmentary edema, partial or complete obstruction, narrowed bronchial lumen, localized hypoventilation, stagnation of thickened secretions, localized impairment of ciliary motion, etc. The recognition of all these factors cleared up many false conceptions about lung-pathology. Unfortunately the sounder knowledge of the real anatomy of the tracheo-bronchial tree led to a great confusion of terminology. The general desire of more comprehensive uniformity led to an International conference held in London in 1949, under the chairmanship of Negus. Although endowed with no official power, this international committee of fourteen members came to an agreement concerning the nomenclature of broncho-pulmonary anatomy and made recommendations which are gradually accepted throughout the world. The first attempts to examine internally were very cautious and tentative. Twentyfive years later the technical problems had been disposed of, perfectly adapted instruments had been created and since then only minor improvements have been added to our knowledge. Outstanding names in this pioneer era are Kirstein, Killian, Guisez, Chevalier Jackson, Negus, Haslinger. Nevertheless, some technical problems still face us, besides the very large field of pathological problems endoscopy has opened before us. One example of this combination of problems consists in the early diagnosis of bronchial or lung tumours.


Nowadays, increasing use of digital technology, availability of economical image capturing devices like mobile phones, digital cameras, etc. and need of powerful technology to aid blind or visually impaired people, attracting researchers to the problem of recognizing text in images. Detecting text from scene image is more difficult as compared to that from printed documents. Lots of research has been done on detecting scene text to overcome certain challenges like perspective distortion, aspect ratio, font size, etc. Speed, complexity, cost and accuracy are important parameters must be taken into consideration while designing such systems. Computer vision is one of the emerging technologies that can be used to aid visually impaired people for navigation (both indoor and outdoor), accessing printed material, etc. This paper describes an approach to extract and recognize text from scene images effectively using computer vision technology and to convert recognized text into speech so that it can be incorporated with hardware to develop Electronic travel aid for visually impaired people in future.


In this paper, hybrid ordered hole-random hole optical fibers are proposed and presented for the first time. In normal PBF and MOF, the fibers consist of a composite of air (the ordered hole phase) and fused silica glass. Since these fibers are made with the tube stack and draw method, control of the refractive index inside the holes has not been feasible (unless a substance is infiltrated into the holes after fiber fabrication). Recent demonstration of the process to produce random hole optical fibers has opened up the potential for modulation of the refractive index inside the ordered hole region. By filling the tubes with the gas producing agent used in the random hole fiber, a new generation of fibers is now possible. The space which was originally air in the ordered holes of the fiber, can now be filled with a random hole region. Therefore, the average refractive index of the hole region can now be controlled over a wide range from essentially the refractive index of air to that of fused silica (hole completely filled). This allows a new range of fibers to be designed with the ability to tailor the refractive index of the hole region, and yet still maintain a pure silica glass fiber


Objective To investigate whether the electrocardiography(ECG) parameters can be used to predict the myocardial reperfusion level after emergency percutaneous coronary intervention(PCI).Methods Clinical and angiographic data of 65 patients who underwent primary PCI for ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction(STEMI) were retrospectively analyzed.The relationship between the pre-PCI ECG parameters and the myocardial reperfusion level was analyzed.The independent risk factors of no-reflow were selected by multiple stepwise logistic regression analysis.Results No re-flow occurred in 17 of 65 patients(26.2%) who underwent emergency primary PCI.ST-segment elevation pattern was statistically significant between no-reflow group and reflow group,no re-flow rate(34.8%) was more in the patients with type C ST elevation(P0.05).Multiple stepwise logistic regression analysis demonstrated that type C ST-segment elevation was the only independent risk factor for no-reflow phenomenon after primary PCI(OR=8.956,95% CI=1.189 to 67.456,P=0.033).Conclusion ST-segment elevation pattern(type C) can predict coronary no-reflow phenomenon after primary PCI in patients with STEMI.


Retaining teachers in their work stations is influenced by many factors which are contextually explained. Teachers' retention practices in Tanzania and most Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries have been ineffective partly because of being monetary based. While 'voicing' is regarded as a more feasible strategy for retaining teachers in these countries, conditions which favour voicing over exiting a remote school particularly in the Tanzanian context have been not systematically mapped out. This article presents and discusses seven conditions, to include: empowering, listening and cooperative leadership; habitability; friendliness outside school environment; investment potentialities; a supportive and peaceful school working environment; life as a "challenge" mindset; as well as patriotism and profession commitment, which were found to favour voicing over exiting a remote school. The findings imply that there is a need to empower teachers to influence change and reforms that matter to them, increasing teachers sense of investment in schools they are posted and in the profession (social and financial capital), checking 'who goes into the teaching profession and with what level of struggle'; improving school-level relationships including justice practices from leaders and management, positive co-workers exchanges; training teachers to become patriotic to the nation and be committed to the teaching profession; and the need to improve cooperation and understanding between schools and their surrounding communities.


The study at hand investigates innovation systems at small and medium enterprises (SMEs) focusing on innovation culture, organization and company goals at the early stages of innovation process. Past research studies suggest the early stages of innovation process are critical for the overall innovation ability, however, there is a lack of literature on the specifics of innovation systems at SMEs. Case studies of 3 companies provide an overview of characteristics of innovation systems at a typical SME as well as a solid basis for drawing business implications relevant for establishing or improving its innovation system. Furthermore, the findings reveal that people management at the early stages of innovation process is missing, and that a foreign subsidiary of an international SME is relevant for an effective corporate innovation process. Implications for further research on the topic are also discussed.


Meat is a food of animal origin that has high nutritional value, because meat contains several nutrients including protein, fat, minerals and vitamins. This study aims to determine the physical and organoleptic quality of beef meatballs using giblets. The materials used in this study were beef, giblets, tapioca flour, garlic, salt, flavourings, and ice cubes. This study used a completely randomized design consisting of 4 treatments and 4 replications P0 (100%) beef without giblets, P1 (80%) beef + 20% liver, P2 (80%) beef + 20% gizzard, P3 ( 80) beef + 20% heart. The parameters measured in this study were pH, cooking loss, yield, shape, aroma, color, texture, taste, elasticity and general acceptance. The results of this study indicate that the addition of giblets to chicken meatballs. beef meatballs. However, it did not have a significant effect (P>0.05) on the organoleptic test of beef meatballs, especially on the variables of shape, aroma, texture, taste, and general acceptance


What does it mean to engage in a "reasonable interpretation" of a board's ends policies? Is there a particular process a CEO should go through? What's the best way to make sure that the interpretation is indeed reasonable and that it is meaningful and detailed enough to allow the CEO and the staff to get on with the business of making the ends actually happen? To help address these questions, Michael Conduff, a consultant and city manager in Bryan, Texas, and Denise Paszkiewicz, director of program development at People Inc., describe the process their organizations use and why.


We have investigated the hyperfine coupling between Cs and Cr on the S = 3/2 equilateral triangular spin tube CsCrF4, utilizing 133Cs-NMR. At paramagnetic state above 80 K, we have obtained spectra containing a single peak, which reflects the single crystallographic Cs site. From the temperature dependence of the peak shift and peak width, we evaluated effective values of the isotropic and the anisotropic part of hyperfine coupling. The latter was compared with the calculated dipole contribution. Using obtained parameters with assumed spin structure, we tried to reproduce the broadened spectrum in the ordered state at 2.0 K. The preliminary analysis shows the 120-degree structure does not accord with the observed spectra at the ordered state.


Soft tissue tumours, also known as STTs, are a kind of sarcoma that form in tissues that surround, support, and come into touch with physiological systems. When observed by magnetic resonance imaging, they seem to be heterogeneous owing to their modest recurrence throughout the body and their astonishing variety. They are often mistaken with other disorders, such as lymphadenopathy, struma nodosa, and fibro adenoma mammae, and these suggestive mistakes have a major unfavourable impact on the clinical treatment cycle of patients. In an effort to define malignancies, analysts have developed a variety of AI models, however, none of these models have effectively addressed the issue of inaccurate diagnosis. Comparative studies that have offered strategies for assessing these tumours, on the other hand, often leave out the variety and amount of the information that is available. We present a strategy that is based on machine learning and that includes preprocessing the data for feature modification, resampling strategies to minimise bias and instability, and classifier testing based on the SVM and DT algorithms. All of these components are included in the approach. Before the data is analysed, each of these procedures must first be completed. Resampling, resampling, and more resampling are all part of this strategy for reducing the effects of bias and instability. The new data preparation is for the purpose of making changes to the characteristics. The results lend credence to the hypothesis that methods of machine learning might provide the STT diagnostics' autonomous decision-making algorithms some tools that are not only valuable but also practically applicable.


The Chinese Christian literature existence's value significance is restrained to a great extent right the cultural strategy,literature idea as well as spirit dimension which are manifested by processing two kinds of relations of "Christ" and "China","the religion" and "the literature".The Chinese Christian literature faces directly the challenge bravely,and attempts to make the positive reply through its own literary production practice,namely "Christ" and "China" are not complete oppositions,but two kinds of energetic pulsations roaming in it.The divine nature is the poetic sentiment marrow;the sacred dimension of surmounting life plane is the beam column of the poem nature space,the divine nature and the poem nature are dual dimensions of the Chinese Christianity literature indispensable.


We investigate the problem of a single ion in a radio-frequency trap immersed in an ultracold Bose gas in either a condensed or a noncondensed phase. We develop a master-equation formalism describing the sympathetic cooling, and we determine the cooling rates of ions. We show that the cold atomic reservoir modifies the stability diagram of the ion in the Paul trap, creating regions where the ion is either cooled or heated due to the energy quanta exchanged with the time-dependent potential.


Adult learners and career change students are increasingly common in prosthetic and orthotic education. This may be attributed to the relative obscurity of the profession within the allied health arena. Potential students are often introduced to the field through personal experience. The student may know someone in need of services, have obtained services themselves, have had professional or personal contact with a prosthetist-orthotist, or have had other casual circumstances with someone involved in prosthetics or orthotics. (J Prosthet Orthot. 2002;14:71–74.) KEY INDEXING TERMS: Adult learner, prosthetic and orthotic education, web based resources, learning styles, teaching


Socio-economic is one of the factors that determines the feasibility of wetland expansion. Survey of socio-economic characteristics of prospective farmers is done on prospective location of rice field extension in Tulang Bawang district spread in six villages in four subdistricts. Data collection was conducted using questionnaires, and deepened with Focus Group Discussion (FGD) approaches, in-depth interviews, and field observations. The results showed that the age of prospective farmers was below 50 years old (77.02%), elementary school 31.36%, junior high 27.62% and high school 27.35%, mostly farmers (83.95%), Land of 2 hectares per farmer, and most willing to paddy (96,80%). Economically, wetland expansion program can improve farmer's welfare because the location candidate is not economically utilized swamp land, while social factor that hamper rice expansion program is land ownership conflict as happened in Andalas Village Cermin Subdistrict Rawa Pitu.


OBJECTIVE:To establish an HPLC method for the determination of enantioners in entecavir dispersible tablets.METHODS:The determination was performed on Chiralpak AD-H chiral column with the column temperature maintained at 30 ℃,and the mobile phase was n-heptane-ethanol-methanol-triethylamine (55∶42.5∶2.5∶0.1).The detection wavelength was set at 254 nm,the flow rate was 0.6 mL·min-1 and the injection volume was 20 μL.RESULTS:Entecavir and its enantiomer were well-separated on the chiral column and the resolution between two adjacent constituents stood at 1.9,1.9 and 4.0,respectively,which were up to the standard.CONCLUSION:This method is simple and suitable for the determination of enantiomer in entecavir dispersible tablets.


An important collection of essays by Professor Ernest Best, author of the new commentary on Ephesians for the International Critical Commentary series.His subjects include, for example, the use of traditional material, the view of the ministry as expressed in Ephesians, Paul's apostolic authority.These essays represent a valuable companion and supplement to the commentary.


outcomes for prisoners and reduce reconviction rates. The new approach forms part of the Ministry of Justice's Payment by Results pilots whereby service providers will be paid on the basis of the results they achieve. The work at Doncaster is innovative in many ways; it brings together private and not for profit organisations who have jointly designed a solution strongly influenced by a commitment to the importance of building effective and professional relationships between offenders and practitioners, and in ensuring the environment in which the services are provided is conducive to bringing about lasting changes in behaviour.


Many hearing aid users complain about a reduced intelligibility of speech in noisy environments. Directional systems are a successful approach for noise reductions in hearing aids. These systems transmit signals from acoustic sources lying in front of the hearing aid user while suppressing signals from other directions, which are assumed to be noise. Several methods are known to obtain directivity. One is to use directional microphones, another is digital postprocessing of several microphone signals. In this letter, the combination of directional microphones with the adaptive beamformer, a directional signal processing approach, is discussed. Intelligibility tests with both normal‐hearing and hearing‐impaired subjects are presented. It is shown that the combination of directional microphones with digital postprocessing is able to improve the intelligibility of speech in a noisy environment significantly, when compared to any one of these two approaches by itself.


The recorded red tide has happened 7 times in Haizhou Bay from 2004 to 2006 years,involving nearly 2,000 square kilometers of sea areas,the marine environment is seriously threatened.Based on the occurrence situation and correlative information of red tides in recent years,the paper summarizes the occurrence,the Algal species and its infection of red tides in coastal waters of HaiZhou Bay.And it analyzes and discusses the causes of the occurrence of red tide from the perspective of physics,chemistry,climate,biological,and other environmental factors,and proposes the correspondingly preventing and controlling measures:(1) strengthening the red tides research,(2) controlling the land-based pollutants to enter into the sea for preventing water's eutrophication,(3) strengthening the monitor of red tides.


Objective Analysis of the epidemiological characteristics and epidemic factors of disease in huangpu District of Guangzhou City,hand foot mouth,provide scientific basis for effective prevention and control measures. Methods To Collect the national information system for disease surveillance and the public health emergency monitoring and early warning information system in guangzhou,guangzhou huangpu district in 2009~2012,foot and mouth diseases,descriptive epidemiological method was analyzed. Results Hand,foot and mouth disease in huangpu district guangzhou city from 2009 to 2012 reported cases 7389,the average annual incidence of 434.39/10,no deaths,the reported 2 cases of serious case of illness,severe rate was 0.03%;Incidence appeared bimodal characteristics,the main peak is from April to July,peak time for 9~10 month;The streets were onset in this district,huangpu street,the maximum number of reported cases in 1327 cases,the highest incidence of guangzhou east,as of 740.41/10; 4 years of reported cases is given priority to with children under the age of five,a total of 7021 cases,accounting for 95.02%,men's and women's gender incidence ratio of 1.15:1,the incidence is given priority to with scattered children and kindergarten children;Specimens of 251 cases of hand,foot and mouth disease detection,intestinal virus EV71 positive rate were 70.92%,CoxA16 25.90%,positive rate of 24.30%; Other intestinal virus positive rate 19.92%; Hand,foot and mouth disease outbreak of clustering in total report 199,mainly in the kindergarten, accounted for 88.44%. sampling 73 cases of epidemic,60 on intestinal virus positive,including EV71 were 32.88%,CoxA16 positive rate was 28.77%. Conclusions 2009~2012 Guangzhou Huangpu District,foot and mouth disease is in a high state,incidence obvious seasonal and population characteristics,nursery occurred aggregation of the epidemic the main place; CoxA16 and EV71 enteroviruses are caused by Huangpu District major pathogens of HFMD. The government should strengthen the leading,department cooperation,the HFMD epidemic monitoring and surveillance work at the same time,at the same time vigorously carry out publicity and education.


Using the FRANK and the TAKAYASU lead systems, 102 clinically and electrocardiographically normal subjects and 10S subjects with left ventricvlar hypertrophy were each quantitated in a series of thirteen instantaneous vectors both in the depolarization and the repolarization phases. Eight instantaneous vectors were determined at time intervals of 0.01 second from the beginning of the QRS complex. While in the QTC Vectors, five instantaneous vectors were fixed at time intervals of 0.01 second from the beginning of the Q wave and normalized in time by the formula of TAKAHASHI20 Significant observations in this study were as follows : (1) Both planer and spatial QRS-T angles in left ventricular hypertrophy had wider or larger mean values than in the normal. The T/QRS ratio in the LVH group was significantly smaller than in the normal. (2) In spatial amplitude and orientation in the depolarization phase in the present series, the 0.04 sec QRS vector served to separate the normal from left ventricular hypertrophy by comparing the vectors preceding and following this prominent vector (0.04 sec QRS vector). (3) Also in the repolarization phase, the 0.30 sec QTC Vector served to separate the normal from the LVH, by comparing the preceding and the following vectors of the 0.30 QTC vector. (4) Between the two orthogonal lead systems, the FRANK and the TAKAYASU, there was no remarkable difference in the spatial orientation (azimuth and elevation) in the series of the instantaneous vectors. But, in magnitude, the latter lead system showed larger values, and this was advantageous for analyzing the smaller loops and the zero point of the vectorcardiogram.


Podcasts offer a unique tool in making science learning informative, engaging, and entertaining. They provide an excellent way to incorporate storytelling in science instruction. Podcasts can be accessed easily and free of cost on any internet-enabled device. Recording podcasts is also easy and inexpensive, making them useful to record lesson summaries and other content for revision. This article outlines different ways of using podcasts in the teaching and learning process. To support informal learning, podcasts typically cover cross-disciplinary issues that are relevant to present times as well as those important to local communities. They also feature interviews with researchers who walk through the scientific process of their discoveries. All of these things add value to a physics unit beyond textbook content. In a subject where assessments are dominated by mathematical equations, student-recorded podcasts offer an opportunity for students to string together spoken-word narratives of physics phenomena. In this article, we outline an example lesson centered around the NPR Short Wave podcast.


Chilaiditi syndrome, is the interposition of the right colon between the liver and the right hemi diaphragm. Generally patients are asymptomatic but non-specific symptoms such as abdominal pain, distension, nausea, vomiting and constipation can be presented. The rare syndrome should be avoided confusion with more serious abnormalities such as perforated viscus, pneumoperitoneum and suphrenic abscess. Recognisation of Chilaiditi syndrome is important because this rare entity can be misleading to the surgeons and mistaken for more serious abnormalities, which may lead to unnecessary surgical interventions. We presented two cases with Chilaiditi syndrome diagnosed from chest roentgenograms and abdominal computed tomography(CT) findings.


It would be foolish to presume that theory will ever manage to
describe precisely how an artistic picture of reality comes to
existence – i.e. to analyse in detail the cerebral functions
through which the process of creation takes place. It is
probable that creation will always be veiled in certain
mystery. Neurophysiologic functions of the brain are very
complicated. They are a subject matter of medical researches
that differentiate between normality and abnormality, monitor
the cerebral functions according to exact criteria that can be
measured by apparatuses. However these researches say very
little, if anything at all, about certain mysteries concerning
the functions of the brain that are mirrored in artistic
creativity. Some manifestations of the cerebral activity
mirrored in the visualization of human imagination can hardly
be precisely classified and described in spite of all medical
researches. Visual expressions produced by people suffering
from dysfunctions of cerebral tissues and organs manifest that
the brain contains an inexhaustible amount of visual
information and that it is very difficult to precisely analyse
all processes that influence this recording.


We studied polarized fluorescence in biological coenzyme NADH in water-methanol solutions upon two-photon excitation with femtosecond laser pulses at 720 nm. The polarized fluorescence decay was recorded by a time correlated single photon counting (TCSPC) system. Fluorescence decay times, rotational diffusion time, fluorescence anisotropy, and the ratio of two pre-exponential factors have been determined and studied as a function of methanol concentration. The results obtained were interpreted on the basis of a model of NADH denaturation processes in solutions and can be used for modeling of NADH binding with various dehydrogenases in living cells.


The phoswich detector is generally used for the detection of Pu and 241Am in lungs. But it's detection limit for Pu in lungs is insufficient for the purpose of radiation protection. Recently, the high-purity Ge detector for low energy photons became available. The validity of Ge detector for measuring the low energy photons from lungs was examined using Livermore phantom which validity was recently established. The two arrays, each of them consisted of four 2" Ge detectors, were assumed to be appropriate for covering the most efficient region of chest for X-rays from lungs. This arrangement was almost the same as that for two 5" phoswich detector system. From this study, Ge detector proved insufficient for detecting X-rays of Pu from lungs, but sufficient for Ygamma;-ray of 241Am from lungs.


Offering service continuity is about providing customers with ubiquitous, uninterrupted, and transparent access to personalized content and services, both when they move between various access networks and when it is desirable to continue a session on another terminal at any time. The novelty does not only lie in new functional implementation, but in new business and distribution models as well. To make this vision a reality, the merchant and the architect must work jointly. Service continuity thus strives to eliminate barriers created by access conditions and user terminals, in response to generalization of the user-centric paradigm. The variety of existing technical environments, however, involves constraints that raise new operational challenges for the realization of communication and media service continuity. Moreover, bringing service continuity to the market depends on forward-looking business models based on interplay among actors in the market.


Studies have examined the relationship between positive and negative emotions with self-efficacy, but we consider that some theoretical and methodological aspects are missing. In this study, the difficulties in participants' emotional regulation were included as a co-variable. We analyzed factors undergoing the absence of affective congruity. An experimental design taking the type of induced emotions (positive vs. negative) as independent variable was carried out. The manipulation of this variable was effected with the combined exhibition of movie/music. The results suggest that the induction of positive and negative mood states increases and decreases respectively, the levels of self-efficacy. This was only observed in participants in a condition of intense or raised mood and in atypical or slightly accurate items of character. We concluded that the induction of positive and negative mood states increases and decreases respectively the levels of academic self-efficacy in college students and that the difficulty in the emotional regulation modulates the effect of inductions of mood states. © 2016 Colegio Oficial de Psicólogos de Madrid. Published by Elsevier España, S.L.U. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Los efectos de la inducción de estados emocionales positivos y negativos sobre las creencias de autoeficacia académica de estudiantes universitarios


Various students of Southeast Asian agriculture have been at a loss to explain the peculiar distribution of glutinous rice as a staple crop throughout northern and northeastern Thailand, Laos, and neighbouring regions of Yunnan, Burma, Vietnam and Cambodia (see map).1 Moerman has observed that, "Although this crop … helps to define and isolate a continuous culture area of about 200,000 square miles, it is given scant and inaccurate mention in the literature on rice."2 He goes on to suggest that certain "environmental factors" have probably played an important role in establishing glutinous rice in this area.3 This environmental explanation of origins is echoed with equally little elaboration by Watabe,4 but the latter denies that physical geography alone can account for the continuing preference for glutinous rice over modern non-glutinous varieties of comparable suitability. He contends that the persistent cultivation of glutinous rice, "is primarily due to an acquired preference of traditional use in the local diet." Moerman5 and others have recognized the inadequacy of dietary preference as a sole explanation for persistence, but have so far refused to proceed beyond environmental speculations, even though they have provided a wealth of relevant ethnographic data.


The development, implementation, and evaluation of parallel algorithms for solving set covering and set partitioning problems are described. Existing algorithms for these NP-complete problems cannot always determine an optimal solution for a problem instance in a reasonable amount of time. While the use of parallel processing is not expected to alleviate the suspected intractability of these problems, it is hoped that it will be possible to obtain optimal solutions to many more real world problems as the result of parallel processing. The computational results that were obtained using a 32-node Intel iPSC/2 hypercube system are described.<<ETX>>


With reduced functionality dysarthria by preventing exhalation leakage from nostrils by closing the nostrils, to provide a hard nostril plugs discomfort (A1) in use. A suppressing nostril plug leakage breath from the nose is inserted into the nostril (A1), and inhibits valve unit only passage of exhalation in breathing (14), the valve unit (14) is mounted support of the valve unit arranged in the nostrils (14) (11, 12) and a nostril plug (A1) having a. Support (11, 12) is a tubular body inscribed in the nostril, the valve unit (14) is removably attached to the support (11, 12) within. The valve unit (14), when the pressure inside the nostril is equal to or greater than a predetermined pressure by the exhalation, and detachable from the support by the pressure (11, 12).


TBD (Track-Before-Detect) algorithms allow the detection and tracking of objects of which the signal is lost in the background noise. The use of convolutional neural networks (ConvNN) allows to obtain more effective algorithms than the previous, because it is possible to take into account the background as well as the spatial and temporal characteristics of the tracked object signal. The article presents solutions for taking into account the motion with variable trajectory and speed through segmental interpolation and rectification of the trajectory, which allows the effective convolutional implementation of the TBD algorithm. The boundary of object detection was determined depending on the number of pixels of the object in relation to the number of pixels of the image stack and signal strength for the simplest neural network, so it is possible to analyse and compare more complex solutions with the proposed reference.


Fighting global climate change has become a common understanding by the political leaders of various countries all over the world;however,there are great inequalities in slowing down and adapting to the climate change trend between developed countries,developing countries and least developed countries. China,as the largest coal consumer and sulfur dioxide emitter and the second largest energy consumer and carbon dioxide emitter in the world,and one of the countries impacted most significantly by climate change,has a bounden duty to address the issue of global climate change. China,facing the selection of multiple strategies,should actively participate in the international cooperation for fighting climate change and take part in the international negotiations for climate,and give clear emission reduction commitment,so as to realize sustainable and green development of domestic economy and society,to assume the duties to drive the establishment of a harmonic world,which should take a large responsibility,and to become the leader for fighting global climate change.


Objective To study the features of electrophysiological examination in the carpal tunnel syndrome( CTS). Methods The result of electrophysiological examination of 60 cases of CTS and 60 normal controls were analyzed. Results In the 98 abductor pollicis brevis of affected side in 60 cases of CTS group,39 of which were neurogenic damaded. The sensory and motor conduction of 98 median nerves of affected side in 60 cases of CTS group were all abnormal. Compared with normal control group,the latency of sensory nerve action potentials( SNAP) was prolonged,the amplitude of SNAP was decreased,and the conduction velocity of SNAP was slowed in median nerves of CTS group; and the distal latency of motor conduction was prolonged,the amplitude of compound muscle action potentials was decreased in median nerves of CTS group( all P 0. 05). Conclusion The electrophysiological features of CTS are the slowing of the conduction velocityy of SNAP,the decrease of the amplitude of SNAP and the prolong of the distal motor latency in median nerves,and the neurogrnic damage of abductor pollicis brevis.


Uric acid, cysteine, and glutathione suppressed the oxidations of methyl linoleate, soybean phosphatidylcholine, and erythrocyte ghosts in aqueous dispersions initiated with a water-soluble azo initiator. It was suggested that these compounds might function as a chain breaking antioxidant in vivo by scavenging oxygen radicals in an aqueous phase.


Over the past decades, quality of life (QOL) and more specifically, quality of urban life, has become a central issue for those who plan and study cities or places where people live in response to growing pressures on urban communities, concern about the impacts of urbanisation and the effects of this on the wellbeing of residents. Although QOL is an elusive concept, it can be accepted as the state of social wellbeing of an individual or group, either perceived or as identified by observable indicators (Pacione, 2005: p. 673). Considering the quality of life at the city scale, Mulligan et al. (2004) provide a more appropriate interpretation. They define QOL as the satisfaction that a person receives from surrounding human and physical conditions, conditions that are scaledependent and can affect the behaviour of individual people, groups such as households and economic units such as firms.


Abstract Rossmanite is a new tourmaline species from near Rožná, western Moravia, Czech Republic. It forms pale pink columnar crystals about 25 mm long and 5 mm thick, elongaten along c with striations parallel to c on the prism faces. It is brittle, H= 7, Dmeas = 3.00 g/cm3, Dcalc = 3.06 g/cm3. In plane-polarized light, it is colorless. Rossmanite is uniaxial negative, to = 1.645(1), e = 1.624(1), trigonal, space group R3m, in the hexagonal setting a = 15.770(2), c = 7.085(1) Å, V = 1525.8(4) Å3, Z= 3. The strongest six X-ray diffraction lines in the powder pattern are at d = 3.950 Å with I = 100% for (hkl) = (220); 2.552 Å, 93%, (051); 1.898 Å, 72%, (342); 4.181 Å, 58%, (211); 2.924 Å, 56%, (122); and 3.434 Å, 53%, (012). Analysis by a combination of electron microprobe, SIMS, H-line extraction, and crystal-structure refinement gave SiO2 38.10 wt%, Al2O3 44.60, Na2O 1.43, Li2O = 1.13, B2O3 = 10.88, H2O = 3.70, F = 0.20, O ≡ F 0.08, sum = 99.96 wt%, Fe, Mg, Ca, Mn, Ti, F, K not detected. The formula unit (31 anions) is x(⃞57Na0.43)Y(Li0.71Al2.17)zAl6(Si5.92O18) (B2.92O9)(OH)3.83F0.10O0.07, with the ideal end-member formula ⃞(LiAl2)Al6(Si6O18)(BO3)3(OH)4; thus rossmanite can be derived from elbaite [Na(Al1.5Li1.5)(Si6O18)(BO3)3(OH)4] by the substitution x⃞2 + YAl → xNa2 + YLi, where ⃞ = vacancy. The crystal structure of rossmanite was refined to an R index of 1.7% using 1094 observed (5σ) reflections collected with MoKα X-radiation from a single crystal. The structure refinement confirmed the low occupancy of the X site and the presence of Li at the Y site. There is considerable positional disorder at the O1 and O2 sites induced by the local variations in bond-valence distribution associated with ⃞-Na disorder at X and Li-Al disorder at Y.


The analysis of periodicals can provide important insights into the changing nature and dynamics of academic disciplines and fields of study. The Journal of Educational Administration (JEA) has for the past 25 years grown up alongside the field which it seeks both to represent and develop, and it is thus of considerable interest to look at the contents of the JEA in light of this role. A study was made of all the articles published in the JEA during the period 1963‐87 with a view to establishing authorship patterns; the types of papers which have been published; the common themes and the range of topics addressed; the nature of empirical research; and changes in both substantive and methodological orientations over the past 25 years. The analysis and discussion looked at the JEA as offering a window into the "world" of educational administration, but noted that a journal can only ever mirror that which is held up to it and ultimately to its readership.


This case requires students to collect financial and operational data from Southwest Airlines' 2003–2006 annual reports and to use that data to conduct a strategic profitability analysis of the firm's changes in operating income. As described in Horngren et al. (2006), this analysis decomposes changes in a firm's operating income into components related to growth, price recovery, and productivity. Similar to other studies (e.g., Dikolli and Sedatole 2004), this case uses publicly available data to link textbook concepts to ''real world'' applications. Linking strategy with profitability allows students to see how firms manage inputs in order to compete, grow, and profit in output markets.


The propagation of large amplitude ion-acoustic solitary waves (IASWs) in a fully relativistic plasma consisting of cold ions and ultra-relativistic hot electrons and positrons is investigated using the Sagdeev pseudopotential method in a relativistic hydrodynamics model. The effects of streaming speed of the plasma fluid, thermal energy, positron density, and positron temperature on large amplitude IASWs are studied by analysis of the pseudopotential structure. It is found that in regions in which the streaming speed of the plasma fluid is larger than that of the solitary wave, by increasing the streaming speed of the plasma fluid, the depth and width of the potential well increase, resulting in narrower solitons with larger amplitude. This behavior is opposite to the case where the streaming speed of the plasma fluid is less than that of the solitary wave. On the other hand, an increase in the thermal energy results in wider solitons with smaller amplitude, because the depth and width of the potential well decrease in that case. Additionally, the maximum soliton amplitude in- creases and the width becomes narrower as a result of an increase in positron density. It is shown that varying the positron temperature does not have a considerable effect on the width and amplitude of IASWs. The existence of stationary soli- ton-like arbitary amplitude waves is also predicted in fully relativistic electron-positron-ion (EPI) plasmas. The effects of streaming speed of the plasma fluid, thermal energy, positron density, and positron temperature on these kinds of solitons are the same for large amplitude IASWs.


1. The thallus of Symphyogyna aspera has a central strand of greatly elongated cells which taper at both ends. The walls of these cells have narrow pores which are spirally arranged. 2. Like the other species of the genus, S. aspera is dioicous. The plants bearing antheridia are more slender and less freely branched than the plants bearing archegonia. 3. The antheridia are scattered over the thickened part of the thallus on the dorsal side. Each antheridium is surrounded by a scale. 4. The archegonia are in groups on the dorsal side of the thallus. Each group is on a padlike extension of the thallus and is surrounded by an involucre. 5. More than one embryo may be formed in a group, but so far only one has been found to reach maturity. 6. As the embryo elongates, the calyptra and pad also elongate and the old archegonia are left in the tip of the calyptra. 7. The young embryo develops by segmentation similar to that formed by a dolabrate apical cell. 8. The sporogenous tissue is differentiated relatively late in the history of the sporophyte. 9. The cells which are to form elaters may early be distinguished from the cells which are ultimately to give rise to the spore mother cells. The former cells elongate without further division, while the latter cells undergo several divisions. 10. The walls of the sporogenous mass of cells become gelatinized, and the protoplasts are potentially free in the gelatinous substance. 11. The spore mother cells attain their lobing by a slow amoeboid change of the protoplast, and in this movement vacuoles seem to play an important part. The examination of the living sporogenous tissue of other Jungermanniales verifies the occurrence of this phase in them also. 12. Spores with two nuclei have been found, though this is not a usual condition.


Rates of chemical dissolution (r) of anodic oxide films on Sb, W, Al, Ti, Zr and Hf were studied as a function of the energy of defect formation (Ef) in the respective oxide. The value of r was estimated from capacitance measurements. The relation between ln r and Ef is linear. The average value of the symmetry factor (α) for the dissolution reaction is 0.12. The deviation of α from 0.5 indicates that intrinsic defects play an asymmetrical role; in the present case their constructive action is about 7 times their destructive action.


Abstract The dust grains flowing out of the stars are most likely non-spherical and inhomogeneous; viz. porous, fluffy and composites of many very small particles glued together. We calculate the scattering, absorption and extinction efficiencies of such composite grains. The composite grains consist of host silicate spheroid and inclusions of PAHs. We study the extinction as a function of the volume fraction of the inclusions. In particular, we study the variation in the absorption peak, at the wavelength '4430Å' with the volume fraction of the PAH inclusions. We present the composite grain models and discuss the results.


The present invention discloses a video decoding apparatus and method for controlling a buffer, the buffer means comprises a control module, the reference frame acquisition control module, the control module stores the decoded frame, the display frame acquisition control module, a display control module, wherein the said buffer control module for calculating a current decoded image storage address is obtained, the current address of the reference image, display image address, and the above addresses are transmitted to the reference frame corresponding to acquisition control module, the control module stores the decoded frame, the display frame acquisition control module ; the present invention achieve synergy management decoded image, the reference image and the display image buffer by a small capacity, coordinated control of the decoded video display without occupying a large amount of RAM space thereby reducing the cost of the decoder chip.


AbstractA new relationship for estimating the in situ at-rest lateral stress coefficient (K0) in sands consisting predominantly of silica particles is derived in this technical note using the calibration chamber test results reported in the literature. Variables in the relationship, in order of significance, are overconsolidation ratio, dilatometer horizontal stress index, and normalized cone tip resistance. Values of in situ K0 estimated with the new relationship generally compare well with K0 determined from self-boring pressuremeter tests. Estimates of K0 in Pleistocene sands are, on average, about 10% higher than in Holocene sands.


We examine the impact of different degrees of fiscal feedback on debt in an economy with nominal rigidities where monetary policy is optimal. We look at the extent to which different degrees of fiscal feedback enhances or detracts from the ability of the monetary authorities to stabilise output and inflation. Using an objective function derived from utility, we find the optimal level of fiscal feedback to be small. There is a clear discontinuity in the behaviour of monetary policy and welfare either side of this optimal level. As the extent of fiscal feedback increases, optimal monetary policy becomes less active because fiscal feedback tends to deflate inflationary shocks. However this fiscal stabilisation is less efficient than monetary policy, and so welfare declines. In contrast, if fiscal feedback falls below some critical value, either the model becomes indeterminate, or optimal monetary policy becomes strongly passive, and this passive monetary policy leads to a sharp deterioration in welfare.


"South Georgia willbe remembered as journey's end for a great British polar ex? plorer, Sir Ernest Shackleton; and that alone is enough to assure it of a place in history. His grave, marked by a rectangular headstone of rough granite, lies in the cemetery near the head of King Edward Cove on the south-west side: the Cairn and Cross, a memorial tribute set up by his former comrades, stands on the tussocky nub of Hope Point at the mouth of the Cove on the north-east side. And on a calm clear summer}s day?when the water shows blue and the tussock green, when scree and crag look sandyhot in the sun and the high tops are dazzlingly free of cloud, when perhaps the only proof of latitude and longitude is a wisp of brash ice in the bay and the 'quark' of a penguin?no environment could be more peaceful, and few more beautiful. But that is a misleading impression: the Island is in siesta." The Times, 30 July 1954.


The first time I met Bruno Pontecorvo was in 1964 at Dubna where the International High Energy Physics Conference was held. Never before the USSR allowed physicists from USSR to go and visit their colleagues in the East and vice versa. It was a great event (see Fig. 1), Bruno Pontecorvo having played a vital role for its establishment. He was eager to interact with the young fellows engaged in the physics frontiers of the time. During the conference, Cronin presented the discovery of CP violation in K-meson physics. Ten years before the celebrated invariance Laws of Charge Conjugation, C, and Parity, P, were proved to be violated. A theoretical proposal in 1957 by Landau on the conservation of CP invariance appeared to be the solution. On the same year Lee, Oehme and Yang proved that the existence of two neutral K-states K 1 and K 0 2 was not the proof of CP invariance. This paper was neglected by nearly all physicists but Bruno Pontecorvo. At CERN only John Bell and Victor Weisskopf knew this paper and were supporting the proposal to check CP invariance in K decays. Had Bruno Pontecorvo been the then CERN Research Director, the experiment would have been performed at CERN. It should be noticed that the experiment of Christenson et al. was not planned to search for the 2π


The constituent elements of the Roman Mosaic from Constanta are damaged under the activities of microorganisms present both on surfaces and in the airborne microbes. The predominance of microorganisms on the different surfaces of the edifice has led to multiple damage such as discoloration, pigmentation, wall degradation and exposed ceramic objects. Through this study we aimed to invest the diversity of microorganisms on the various substrates and levels as well as microclimate conditions. From the samples collected there were isolated and identified microorganisms, many of them with pathogenicity risks for staff and visitors. Thus, for the improvement of the surrounding conditions of the Roman Mosaic exhibition room, the need for management is aimed at reducing the microbial contaminations, based on understanding the changing conditions in the microclimate and decreasing the damage biofilm. Our study can be seen in a broader procedural in the current COVID-19 pandemic conditions.


It is shown that formation of ultrafine-grained structure in EK61 superalloy up to grain sizes less than 1 μm provides to realize superplastic properties. The influence of deformation in the temperature range 600-1100 °C and strain rate range 10-4s-1– 10-3s-1 on the microstructure and properties of ultrafine-grained nickel-based alloy EK61 is studied. It is established that in temperature range 750-900 °C the alloy demonstrates superplasticity (SP) characteristics: strain rate sensitivity factor "m" correspond to 0.39-0.59, stable structure and low changes in the form and size of grains. The maximum SP is displayed at temperatures of 800 °C, wherein the elongation is 1431 %. It has been experimentally confirmed that the use of low-temperature superplasticity is a promising for processing sound solid phase joints by pressure welding of similar and dissimilar Ni-based superalloys.


Waste electronic products and equipments are a severe environmental problem in China, because of the massive number of the waste produced everyday. The design for disassembly is an effective way to deal with this problem. This article discussed the principles and general process of disassembly and looked over some effective methods that can be applied in the design for disassembly.


Analyzing massive, noisy and short microblogs is a very challenging task where traditional sentiment analysis and classification methods are not easily applicable due to inherent characteristics such social media content. Sentiment analysis, also known as opinion mining, is a mechanism for understanding the natural disposition that people possess towards a specific topic. Therefore, it is very important to consider the user context that usually indicates that microblogs posted by the same person tend to have the same sentiment label. One of the main research issue is how to predict twitter sentiment as regards a topic on social media? In this paper, we propose a sentiment mining approach based on sentiment analysis and supervised machine learning principles to the tweets extracted from Twitter. The originality of the suggested approach is that classification does not rely on tweet text to detect polarity, but it depends on users' past text content. Experimental validation is conducted on a tweet corpus taken from data of SemEval 2016. These tweets talk about several topics, and are annotated in advance at the level of sentiment polarity. We have collected the past tweets of each author of the collection tweets. As an initial experiment in the prediction of user sentiment on a topic, based on his past, the results obtained seem acceptable, and could be improved in future work.


(approximately) one of the 360 degrees of the circle of the ecliptic (cf. Simpl. In Cael. ii. 7, p . 444 Heiberg: S«i rrjv rod r/Xlov TTJS /xia? fiolpas eTriKivrjoiv). Hipparchus, in the second century B.C., is the earliest Greek known to have divided the circle into 360 degrees, and it seems to have taken a long time for his usage to become common practice (cf. D. R. Dicks, The Geographical Fragments of Hipparchus, pp. 148 f., who points out that it was not the usage of Posidonius and was only occasionally adopted by Strabo). And that Thesleff's dating of the Ilepl i/wx&s KOO\IAO is too early is confirmed by the metaphor in eKTuiU'cro-ei: the spiral which the sun describes by the combination of its annual with its diurnal motion through the heavens is equated with the spiral which the male screw makes when it engages with, and turns past, the knob (TVXOS) in the female screw. But the female screw was only invented about the turn of the era (cf. G. S. Kirk, Heraclitus: The Cosmic Fragments, pp. 98 f.), and some time would have to be allowed, for an invention to pass into common knowledge before it could become a metaphor. (This has implications for the Alexandra too, if the same metaphor is used there—alvLy^drwv ot/ia? rvXiaacov (10 f.).) But whatever reservations we may have about his suggested chronology, Thesleffwill win the gratitude of many students of ancient philosophy for this useful guide.


Contents: Chopin - Music - The Rule of Saint Benedict - Monasticism - Spirituality - Everyday life - Mysticism - Music - Affinity, emotions and relationships, - Melody - Theology.


It is commonly agreed that learner target language output and spoken interaction are essential to communicative language learning. This video-based classroom observation study of five lower secondary schools in Norway investigated how second language (L2) English and third language (L3) French teachers responded to their students when they spoke the target language in class. Using categories and functions from classroom interaction research and corrective feedback research, L2 English and L3 French teachers' response patterns to learner target language output were identified and compared. Findings indicated that L2 English teachers taught in a meaning- and fluency-oriented context, frequently ignoring errors and providing ample content-related responses, while L3 French teachers taught in a form-and-accuracy context, using varied strategies to correct errors and rarely engaging with the content of the learners' utterances. The article discusses some consequences of this lack of context shifts within subjects and recommends an increased focus on contextual differences to facilitate mutual transfer of successful practices between contexts.


In studies on the nutritional requirements of Bacillus subtilis during mycobacillin formation in complex media, it was observed that the addition of a mixture of salts (KH2PO4, MgSO4, FeSO4, and MInSO4) to a casein hydrolyzateglucose medium greatly enhanced mycobacillin formation (AIajumdar and Bose, 1959). Reports by a number of workers (Jansen and Hirschman, 1944; Hendlin, 1949) indicate that elements (K, Fe, MIg, Ain, etc.) possess a special role in the formation of the two antibacterial antibiotics bacitracin and subtilin by B. subtilis in a defined medium. The present communication deals with a study to assess the individual role played by trace elements in the biosynthesis of mycobacillin.


Immune response is critical in septic wound healing. The aberrant and imbalanced signaling dynamics primarily cause a dysfunctional innate immune response, exacerbating pathogen invasion of injured tissue and further stalling the healing process. To design biological controllers that regulate the critical divergence of the immune response during septicemia, we need to understand the intricate differences in immune cell dynamics and coordinated molecular signals of healthy and sepsis injury. Here, we deployed an ordinary differential equation (ODE)-based model to capture the hyper and hypo-inflammatory phases of sepsis wound healing. Our results indicate that impaired macrophage polarization leads to a high abundance of monocytes, M1, and M2 macrophage phenotypes, resulting in immune paralysis. Using a model-based analysis framework, we designed a biological controller which successfully regulates macrophage dysregulation observed in septic wounds. Our model describes a systems biology approach to predict and explore critical parameters as potential therapeutic targets capable of transitioning septic wound inflammation toward a healthy, wound-healing state.


with severe infarction, the rate being34·6% in 1963-1967, 21·2% in 1969-1970 and 10·5% in1974-1975. The mortality for patientswith cardiogenic shock or cardiac arrestprior to admission did not change, but the total number of patients admitted with cardiogenic shock was reduced by half in the most recent group. Dataarepresentedwhich indicatethat the patients in the three groups were comparablein most respects. Although there were some differences between groups in the frequency of past historyof coronaryevents, these were not sufficient to explain the differences in mortality. How are these findings to be explained? One major influence on prognosis not studied by the authorswas the sensitivity of diagnosisof infarction: the wider availability and more frequent use of sensitive enzyme tests to detect myocardial necrosis, increased awareness of the need for careful valuationof persons with chest pain, and the increased availability of acute coronary beds may have resulted in the admission of patientswith minor degrees ofinfarction in the latter years. Nevertheless, the reductionin mortality in somesubgroupswas sostriking that alternativeexplanationsmust be considered. Progressiveimprovementin the techniques of coronarycare hasundoubtedlyoccurredin the past 12 years, but this also is an insufficientexplanationfor all of the findings. Although it is now acceptedin most coronarycare units that death due to ventricularfibrillation after an uncomplicatedinfarct simply should not occur, the techniques of intensive and aggressive antiarrhythmiatherapy did not changesubstantiallybetween 1969-1970and 1974-1975, the period when the major fall in mortality in mild cases was observed at the Royal Melbourne Hospital. Nor does successful antiarrhythmiatherapy entirely account for areduction in mortality in patientswith severe infarction, even less for a halving of thenumberof patients who developedcardiogenicshock. This raises the intriguing possibilitythat in some way the severity of infarction has changedover the years, either as a result ofcoronarycaremanagement, or spontaneously. Recent experimental work has shown that myocardialnecrosis is not an instantaneousevent, but progresses in stepwise fashion and that in experimental(canine)coronaryocclusion the eventual extent of necrosis can be modified by a variety of interventions. 2


Since the reform and opening up,China's economy has been developing very fast and its traditional development concept has showed its limitation.On the basis of our party's ever-deepening understanding of the socialist modernization constrction,the 16th CPC Central Committee put forward a complete "Scientific Development View" in October.This Scientific Development View is in consistency with Marxist Theory on Division of Labor.From the scientific point of view,Marx explained the mutual relationship between division of labor and productivity,relations of production,resources and environment and so on.This will help us better implement the scientific concept of development.


Recent works on Information Centric Networking enable the exploitation of the caching resources in the new generation of routers (Content Routers or CR). So far, only a basic Least Recently Used (LRU) strategy implemented on every CR has been proposed. More generally, the research community lacks methods for analyzing and evaluating caching policies (other than LRU) in generic multi-cache topologies. In this paper, we provide a model that approximates the hit-ratios of any multi-cache topology for the Least Recently/Frequently Used (LRFU) caching policies, which consist of a spectrum of policies based on a trade-off between recency and frequency. We also present a way to approximate the performances of the network of caches when the input traffic changes. The approximation results can be used to decide suitable policy for CR at different positions in the network topology. With appropriate policy for each single CR, we are able to improve the performance of the whole in-network caching system.


Relinquishing a nonhuman animal to a shelter is a complex decision that, it is often believed, ultimately may represent a breakdown of the human-animal bond. The result of such a breakdown is an animal companion surplus in the United States, which is no better evidenced than by the statistics documenting the millions of animals euthanized at shelters every year. This research examined the companion animals who are relinquished by their owners to shelters for adoption and compared them specifically to those relinquished for euthanasia. The study also compared the owner characteristics of the animals in these two groups. Although the majority of dogs and cats relinquished are clearly adoptable, a sizable number of these pets presented to shelters for euthanasia have problems precluding their adoptability: old age, illness, and refractory behavior.


The system-on-chip(SoC) design process encounters various challenges of communication between one to another module. Thus, the Bus interconnection plays a significant role in improving the system performance on a single chip. The traditional bus interconnections cease its applicability to meet the requirements of future generation SoC. This paper proposes an efficient design of the AXI-4 protocol to achieve high-speed data transfer in the SoC application. The proposed AXI-4 Interface protocol includes the Master and Slave module, which are designed using state flow and state diagrams. Both the Master and Slave module operations support burst based transactions and perform the five different channel transactions that include "write address," "write data," "write a response," "read address," "read data" along with "read response." The simulation results of the AXI-4 interface and its FPGA realization on Artix-7 illustrate lower resource utilization, and the performance benchmarking between proposed AXI-4 with traditional AHB and Wishbone bus modules illustrates an average minimization in area and increase in frequency by 40% and 41% respectively.


In this study, the RDII predictions were compared using two methodologies, i.e., the RTK-based and regression methods. Long-term (1/1/2011~12/31/2011) monitoring data, which consists of 10-min interval streamflow and the amount of precipitation, were collected at the domestic study area (1.36 km2 located in H county), and used for the construction of the RDII prediction models. The RTK method employs super position of tri-triangles, and each triangle (called, unit hydrograph) is defined by three parameters (i.e., R, T and K) determined/optimized using Genetic Algorithm (GA). In regression method, the MovingAverage (MA) filtering was used for data processing. Accuracies of RDII predictions from these two approaches were evaluated by comparing the root mean square error (RMSE) values from each model, in which the values were calculated to 320.613 (RTK method) and 420.653 (regression method), respectively. As a results, the RTK method was found to be more suitable for RDII prediction during extreme rainfall event, than the regression method.


Modulating appetite and energy intake at an individual level is key to successful weight loss interventions. Given the high individual variability to weight loss diets, large scale and high-precision studies are needed to formulate a personalized approach. The PREDICT 1 study (NCT03479866) examined the impact of rises and dips in postprandial glucose on subsequent appetite and energy intake.

 A dietary intervention study of 1102 healthy individuals from the US and UK assessed glycemic responses to standardized meals of different macronutrient content and self-selected meals (>100,000) over a 13-d period at home using a continuous glucose monitor. Glucose responses were defined as; baseline (0 to −30 min pre-meal average), rise (max % increase above baseline 0–2 h) and dip (max % dip below baseline 2–3 h). Hunger was recorded using visual analogue scales and energy intake was measured using weighed food records, barcoding and photographs via a mobile app.

 Glucose dips (compared to rises) were more closely correlated with the increase in hunger, reduced time until next meal, and increased energy consumption (at the next meal and over 24 hrs). Following 8522 standardised breakfasts (n = 1070), individuals with the largest dips in glucose (Q4; 18%) vs. those with the smallest dips (Q1; 0%), had a higher subsequent glucose rise (mean; 95%CI) (6%; 3, 9); reported greater hunger 2–3 hrs post meal (9%; 6, 12); chose to eat earlier (–18 mins; 10, 26) and consumed more energy at both the next meal (57 kcal; 33, 81) and over the next 24 hrs (288 kcal; 215, 361); all P < 0.001. Glucose dips were a common phenomenon, occurring in 40% of individual's (following 1812 home meals ranging 400–600 kcal and 30–60% energy from carbs). However, the timing and size of the dip was differentially associated with insulin sensitivity and BMI; late dippers (4 h dip) were less insulin sensitive and had higher BMI compared with early dippers (2 h dip).

 In the most comprehensive study to date, we demonstrated that postprandial glucose dips occur frequently and are associated with hunger, energy consumption and insulin sensitivity in real world conditions. Therefore, targeting susceptible individuals to reduce their glucose dips may enable optimal weight control by reducing postprandial appetite and energy intake.

 NIHR, Wellcome Trust, Zoe Global Ltd.


Objectives Premature infants are at higher risk of developing serious bacterial infections (SBI). However, the incidence of SBI in ex-premature infants presenting to the emergency department (ED) remains undetermined. The objective of this study is to examine the incidence of SBI in ex-premature infants with a postconceptional age of less than 48 weeks presenting to a pediatric ED. Methods A retrospective medical record review was conducted on 141 ex-premature infants with a postconceptional age of less than 48 weeks who had a full or partial septic work up completed in a pediatric ED between January 1, 1998 and March 31, 2005. Results The overall median gestational age at birth was 35 weeks (IQR 33–36 week) and the overall median postconceptional age at ED presentation was 40 weeks (IQR 37–42 weeks). Thirteen (9.2%) infants were found to have a SBI. Five subjects had pneumonia, four with bacteremia, two with pyelonephritis, and two with a concomitant infection of meningitis/pneumonia and bacteremia/pyelonephritis. Conclusion The results of this study reveal that the incidence of SBI in ex-premature infants with a postconceptional age of less than 48 weeks is similar to in-term infants (9.2%) and is consistent with previously published incidence rates in-term infants (10%).


Varma [1,2] entropy has attracted attention for a new class of non-linear integer programming problems that arise during the course of discussion.  Our focus in this communication is to explore the techniques of dynamic programming. This process requires splitting any optimization event into a finite number of subcomponents for any occurrence of a finite generalized problem. The capacity plan should be partitioned in such a way that the expression can be optimized.


that Darwin's view of evolution is degenerative because creationists have abandoned the central notions of the Origin of Species for those in the Bible. The analogy may seem a bit strong perhaps, but it is useful if only to dramatize the serious problem inherent in the view that refutations of an intellectual tradition's central notions are signs of its degeneration. Why, for example, should Marxism be viewed as degenerative simply because so-called cultural Marxists have rejected economic determinism? T o be compelling, any argument seeking to demonstrate the degenerative character of Marxism needs to satisfy at least two conditions: (1) that the particular brand of Marxism under question be shown to be truly representative of the Marxist intellectual tradition and (2) that the signs of degeneration be shown to be truly tied to Marxism itself and not merely to the particular brands of Marxism that claim to represent it. Unfortunately, Strike satisfies neither one. Although Strike uses classical Marxism to compare to Rawlsian liberalism, he never actually attributes a degenerative trait to it. He settles instead for a proxy and selects cultural Marxism, without questioning its origins or status within the Marxist intellectual tradition. But why should we take so-called cultural Marxism to be a credible proxy of classical Marxism? May we not in cultural Marxism be looking instead at an outgrowth of liberalism, a disenchantment perhaps with classical liberal notions of individualism and community? If so, would not the degenerative trait be more appropriately attributable to liberalism in stead? Determining the true source of cultural Marxism is no trivial matter to be simply assumed, for it makes a difference in the attribution of degeneration. More importantly, it may begin to tell us something about the true character of cultural Marxism as a political philosophy. I raise these questions not because I am a Marxist and disagree with Strike, but because the answers to them would have made for a more convincing book. In the dispute between liberalism and Marxism, one needs to go beyond being interesting and provocative, and be convincing as well.


In the Classical Era in Greece, pilgrims from throughout the Mediterranean region wended their way to the oracle at Delphi in order to learn their fate from the High Priestess, the Pythia. Ironically, engraved above the portal of the temple was the inscription "Know thyself." The underlying message was that individuals had more agency than they realized, and did not need to rely on third parties to ascertain their fate. Similarly, the foundational strategy to address the HIV epidemic is maximizing HIV serostatus awareness. Since the advent of the epidemic, more than 75 million people have been infected with the virus, with approximately half still alive. Of these, more than 10 million people, or almost one-third, are still unaware of their HIV status. This includes many of the 1.8 million people who are newly infected each year, and also a fair number of individuals who are asymptomatic and are unaware that they carry an infection that can be treated and rendered non-infectious to partners with adequate therapy [1]. When HIV was first elucidated as the etiologic agent causing AIDS in the early 1980s, there were some who were agnostic about telling people about their serostatus, due in part to concerns about providing information to patients without ensuring a full understanding of what it meant to test HIV antibody positive in the absence of effective therapy. Over the past three decades, much has changed. Medical research has led to a detailed understanding of the natural history of HIV that can provide useful prognostic information for newly diagnosed individuals. Monitoring CD4 counts and plasma HIV RNA levels enables clinicians to stage the infection and assess the response to antiretroviral therapy. There are now close to 30 active antiretroviral medications on the market, with multiple combinations that can provide safe, effective and well-tolerated chronic antiretroviral therapy. Many studies have shown that those who are aware that they are living with HIV are far less likely to transmit the infection to their partners. Moreover, studies such as START [2] and TEMPRANO [3] have indicated that individuals benefit from initiating treatment as soon as they are diagnosed. HPTN 052 [4], the PARTNERS study [5,6] and Opposites Attract [7] have demonstrated that individuals on effective treatment do not transmit HIV to their partners. Additionally, the use of tenofovir co-formulated with emtricitabine for pre-exposure prophylaxis adds to the armamentarium of prevention technologies enabling individuals to avoid becoming infected. Thus, there are many incentives for people to be aware of their HIV status, to access effective treatment or chemoprophylaxis and to receive ongoing monitoring and support. There are multiple reasons why people may be unaware of their HIV status. In many parts of the world, HIV remains highly stigmatized. Given the long period where individuals may be asymptomatic, it may be easier for some not to think about risk, rather than to receive a diagnosis that could lead to social exclusion. As many of the individuals at greatest risk for HIV infection belong to stigmatized populations, they may already engage in avoidant health behaviours because of anticipated healthcare system discrimination. Therefore, it is incumbent upon us to delineate the existing local barriers to serostatus awareness, and to work with local stakeholders to address these barriers in accessing testing and care to ensure effective HIV treatment and prevention for all who could benefit. In the current era, there are multiple ways in which individuals can learn about their HIV serostatus, including home self-testing and community-based testing. The first step towards serostatus awareness no longer requires mandatory engagement with healthcare providers. However, given that HIV infection is now a chronic and manageable medical condition, and that access to HIV prevention strategies and technologies requires continuous efforts to inform and educate, global strategies to promote serostatus knowledge must also include addressing health disparities that exist across different countries and regions. On this World AIDS Day 2018, let us join together to reflect on how we each can play a role in decreasing existing Mayer KH et al. Journal of the International AIDS Society 2018, 21:e25217 http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/jia2.25217/full | https://doi.org/10.1002/jia2.25217


Simulations on magnetization dynamics are of great interest on current research. Unlike computational fluid dynamics, magnetization dynamics has not received much attention from the visualization c ...


[Objective:] This study examines whether paternal part-time employment is related to greater involvement by fathers in child care and housework, both while fathers are working part-time and after they return to full-time employment. [Background:] The study draws on four strands of theory—time availability, bargaining, gender ideology, and gender construction. It studies couples' division of labor in Germany, where policies increasingly support a dual-earner, dual-carer model. [Method:] The study uses data from the German Socio-Economic Panel from 1991 to 2015 on employed adult fathers living together with at least one child younger than age 17 and the mother. The analytic sample comprises 51,230 observations on 8,915 fathers. Fixed effects regression techniques are used to estimate the effect of (previous) part-time employment on fathers' child-care hours, housework hours, and share of child care and housework. [Results:] Fathers did more child care and housework while they worked part time. Yet, most fathers reverted to previous levels of involvement after returning to full-time work. The only exception was fathers with partners in full-time employment, who spent more time doing child care and took on a greater share of housework after part-time employment than before. [Conclusion:] The findings are largely consistent with the time availability perspective, although the results for fathers with full-time employed partners indicate that the relative resources and gender ideology perspectives have some explanatory power as well.


For many years the gender gap has been a complex reality having economic implications and social decisiveness. No matter the percentage recently decreased, we still confront with social discriminations. In this paper we focused on the UK labour market so we developed a case study for a logistics company, using classification of the employees in different pay bands. Based on this study we created a state of the art human resource tool that can be applied worldwide and that help firms to analyse the root causes and to reduce the gender gap.


Nucleon-deuteron scattering is cast into the form of an optical potential formalism. Two forms of an optical potential are given. The resulting integral equations for the optical potentials are approximated by the first two leading terms. Our numerical results demonstrate that even at intermediate energies these approximations are insufficient to cover all of the angular range. Rescattering terms of higher order in the nucleon-nucleon (NN) t matrix are needed. If one focuses on forward scattering, low-order approximations in the NN t matrix can be sufficient, depending on energy, and observable. {copyright} {ital 1997} {ital The American Physical Society}


In the United States of America, the State of Maryland, in response to rising expectations for educational results from the public education system, has developed a school reform program centred on high standards and accountability for student and school performance. A new High School Assessment Program is in development and a defining feature of this new program is 'Skills for success' (SFS), a program component focusing on general skills. This chapter explores some of the unique features of the SFS as well as reviewing similarities and differences with nationally recognised workplace readiness skills.


This paper presents the feasibility of using gamma ray computerized tomography (CT) to inspect reinforced concrete specimens. An objective was to verify the CT resolution in determining the size and location of voids and reinforcing bars. It is described how the efficiency of CT in determining large voids was assessed, and how the efficiency of CT in establishing the location of reinforcing bars was evaluated. Study results show that CT was able to resolve the many different phases in reinforced concrete with great accuracy.


International competitiveness is often regarded as crucial for the attainment of gains from trade, which may lead policy makers to subsidize exports. This view is based on confusion between the concepts of competitive and comparative advantage. The paper argues that when comparative advantage is defined and measured appropriately, not limiting it to the Ricardian and Heckscher-Ohlin models, it becomes a necessary condition for the attainment of gains from trade and it applies to all forms of trade that lead to economy-wide gains. The paper proceeds by reviewing first the concepts and measurements of comparative and competitive advantage. It shows that in order to result in economy-wide benefits, known as gains from trade, trade needs to be based on comparative advantage. It also points to implications for the design of trade and industrial policies.


Location of the client device may be obscured by the use of sets of generated random offset and / or regions. In one implementation, using a first random offset and the second random offset, it is possible to obscure the location of the client device. Pseudo location can be determined based on the location of the client device, a first random offset, and a second random offset. Pseudo location may be sent to a third party for location-based services. In another implementation, using the first set of random offset and the region, it is possible to obscure the location of the client device. Intermediate location can be determined based on the location of the client device, in a first random offset. Region of the set of regions may be determined based on the intermediate location. Pseudo location, based on the determined area, for location-based services can be sent to the third party.


Politically sensitive merger operations have traditionally been subject to selective state intervention. This is due to the fact that governments consider that industrial reorganization and change of control over strategic undertakings sometimes interfere with national interests. Therefore, providing legal grounds for state intervention in both domestic and EU merger control is justified by the privilege of democratically elected governments to protect legitimate public interests, which competition rules fail to take into account. However, due to the normative nature of these public interests, the legal grounds for state intervention in merger control can become vulnerable to unjustified political goals. The need for an effective legal framework for addressing unjustified state intervention in merger control is grounded in the observation that EU Member State governments have repeatedly shown favoritism towards national undertakings, and have often relied on state intervention grounds to influence merger operations with the aim to prevent foreign takeovers of strategic companies, therefore facilitating so-called 'national champions'. This paper aims to reassess the effectiveness of the legal framework addressing the problem of protectionist state intervention under domestic and EU merger control.


In semi-arid Mediterranean areas, there is a growing interest in adopting conservation tillage practices for their advantages in improving soils fertility, reducing production costs, and stabilizing crop yields. The aim of this study conducted in the 2019 and 2020 seasons was to investigate the effect of three tillage systems—conventional tillage (CT), minimum tillage (MT), and no-tillage (NT)—on grain yield, yield components, and quality indices of a durum wheat crop (Triticum durum Desf. cv. Simeto) grown in monoculture in semi-arid conditions of Northern Algeria. Tillage systems had a significant effect on the average yield of the 2 years, with NT being 28% and 35% higher than CT and MT, respectively—a trend even more evident in the second year under observation. The superiority of NT (p < 0.001) in the second year (2020) is mainly due to the increased spikes density (318.93 spikes m2 under NT vs. 225.07 and 215.20 spikes m2 under MT and CT, respectively). Yield components and quality parameters were more affected by climatic conditions than by tillage treatments. The number of kernels per spike being the most affected by water and heat stresses occurred in 2020 season. A decrease of 51% is noted regardless of the tillage treatment, which negatively affected the grain yield in that year (1.9 vs. 1.3 t ha−1 in 2019 and 2020, respectively). This stress also induced an increase in grain protein content, but a reduction of its weight. The results of this study conducted in the early transition from conventional to conservation tillage show that durum wheat grown under NT results in higher grain yield than the other systems in the specific operative conditions of the study region, providing better seed emergence and better spikes density, especially in the dry years. Moreover, the quality parameters are more affected by weather conditions than by the tillage system—with an interaction year × tillage system significant only for the grain.


The present invention provides a 3D display device and a 3D display method, relates to the field of display technology, for solving the viewer can not freely adjust the viewing position when watching a conventional auto-stereoscopic 3D display apparatus problems. Wherein the 3D display apparatus comprising: a display screen including a plurality of pixels; superimposed with the display screen a grating comprising a plurality of grating elements, the grating elements can be turned on or off; location tracking module configured to detect a viewer position; and a control module are position tracking module, and a display screen coupled to the grating, according to the viewer's position, the control part of the left-eye pixel displays an image display, another portion of the pixel displays a right eye image, and the control portion of the grating grating elements forming the lighting light grating elements, the grating part of another unit closes a dark grating elements, the left-eye image and right eye image at the position to see the premises crosstalk occurs. The 3D display device for displaying a 3D image.


According to Moral Foundations Theory (MFT), ideologues' moral judgments fundamentally diverge. Liberals resonate more with individual appeals (to issues of harm or fairness), while conservatives are more responsive to plights of the in-group. Extant literature, however, has produced mixed evidence for the role emotion plays in skewing partisan morality. Terror management theorists, for example, find that threatened ideologues entrench themselves in their own worldviews, while motivated social cognition theorists argue that, when threatened, ideologues' policy preferences shift right. In the present research, I attempt to unite each approach with a laboratory-controlled experiment (N=142). Using answers to moral relevance items as a key dependent variable, I find no statistical differences between how threatened liberals and conservatives evaluate group appeals. Their threatened preferences, however, diverge along individual dimensions, suggesting that liberal and conservative differences may relate more to emotion (and threat) than moral differences.


Seawater quality is importantly used in salt production, but it could be contaminated due to input of anthropogenic wastewater. This study aims to understand the quality of the water and the content of Pb in seawater, which will be used as raw material for salt production. Descriptive research methods and purposive sampling methods were used for the research method and the determination of the sampling respectively. Sampling of seawater was carried out water sampler, followed by analysis of heavy metal Pb based on APHA 1998 using Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometry (AAS). The concentration of Pb on the surface ranged from 0.6332 to 1.0815 mg/L, in the water column from 0.5842 to 1.0516 mg/L, and in the bottom waters from 0.5571 to 0.9375 mg/L, according to the findings. The horizontal distribution of the Pb showed an increasing trend towards the sea with concentrations ranging from 0.6332 to 1.0815 mg/L. Meanwhile, the concentrations of Pb in surface waters increased vertically, ranging from 0.5571 to 1.0815 mg/L. The horizontal distribution is higher towards open sea, while vertical distribution is higher towards the water surface. Seawater in vicinity of study area is still probably used although caution must be observed regarding to the Pb content.


Introduction: Recently, much attention has been paid to the biosynthesis of nanoparticles (NPs) due to their ecofriendly, cost-effective, and easily applied nature. This study aimed to synthesize zinc oxide (ZnO) NPs using Eriobotrya Japonica seed aqueous extract. Moreover, it was attempted to evaluate their antioxidant and antibacterial activities. Materials & Methods: Initially, the Eriobotrya Japonica seed aqueous extract was prepared, and the total phenolic and flavonoid contents were measured in this study. After the preparation of ZnO NPs by the extract, the antioxidant activity of ZnO NPs was evaluated using DPPH (2,2diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl) free radical scavenging method. In addition, the antibacterial activities of the extract and NPs were determined using a disc diffusion method against Staphylococcus aureus gram-positive bacteria and Escherichia coli gram-negative bacteria. Ethics code: Ir.ausmt.rec.1398.11.33 Findings: The results showed that aqueous extract had a specific amount of phenolic and flavonoids (9.86 mg/g and 27 mg/g dry weight of extract, respectively). Moreover, the synthesized ZnO NPs were <30 nm in diameter with a good absorption rate at 349 nm. In addition, the antioxidant activity of the extract and NPs indicated an increase in the antioxidant activity following an increase in the concentration. Furthermore, the anti-bactericidal activity results demonstrated an appropriate antibacterial activity against S. aureus, whereas the aqueous extract had no antibacterial activities. Discussions & Conclusions: The findings revealed that the biosynthesized ZnO NPs had appropriate antioxidant and bactericidal activities. This suggests that the NPs can be used in various sectors, such as cosmetic products and food packaging, as a potential alternative to synthetic antibiotics.


This presentation addresses how data analytics in all its forms, from machine learning to statistical correlation and visualisation, can offer some help in developing applications which support people with dementia and their carers. We specifically look at technology support for reminiscence therapy and describe three systems we have developed, deployed and are testing. Two of these use data analytics at their core while the third does not. Thus the takeaway message from the presentation is that data analytics is not always a panacea for all problems.


Malonic acid, propionic acid, glycine, n-butylamine, and urea were added to the preparation of aluminum phosphate from aluminum nitrate and phosphoric acid solutions. These additives were selected from a viewpoint of the functional groups, in short, both acidic sites, one-sided acidic site, acidic and basic sites, onesided basic site, and both basic sites. All additives were taken into aluminum phosphate particles. Especially, glycine was easy to be included in precipitate. Specific surface area of aluminum phosphate increased by the addition of propionic acid and urea.


Acute heart failure (AHF) is a life threatening clinical syndrome with a progressively increasing incidence in general population. Turkey is a country with a high cardiovascular mortality and recent national statistics show that the population structure has turned to an 'aged' population. As a consequence, AHF has become one of the main reasons of admission to cardiology clinics. This consensus report summarizes clinical and prognostic classification of AHF, its worldwide and national epidemiology, diagnostic work-up, principles of approach in emergency department, intensive care unit and ward, treatment in different clinical scenarios and approach in special conditions and how to plan hospital discharge.


Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) has become increasingly important in meeting the needs of the global workforce. The objective is to examine some activities that promote quality assurance in TVET institutions and recommend solutions to any challenges. A hundred and fifty questionnaires were administered only 50 responses were returned. Descriptive statistics was used to analyse the data collected. Results showed that the National Board for Technical Education curriculum is not reviewed regularly and the time span for the review varies from department to department. Also, local content is integrated into the NBTE curriculum. TVET institutions take accreditation seriously, all programmes for departments surveyed are accredited. 96% of the academic staff give feedback to students after continuous assessment and examination. Some equipment for students' practical are obsolete. TVET trainers do not attend conferences/workshops/seminars as regularly as expected due to lack of sponsorship. Most departments do not conduct industry needs assessment and about 90% are not in partnership with any industry for curriculum enhancement nor job placement. The study concludes, curriculum review should be done at least once in two academic sessions with more emphasis on local content. For quality assurance the accreditation pattern should be improved upon. Also, feedback mechanism must be improved. The obsolete equipment needs to be replaced through increased funding for TVET institutions. For continuous professional development, conspicuous allowance should be provided for TVET trainers for conferences/workshops/seminars. Invariably, ccollaborative curriculum development with the industries is a key to entrepreneurship, and relevance in the work environment.


Mediator: An Integrated Approach to Information Retrieval
 The Mediator is a pseudo intelligent software controller which accomplishes two ends. First, it -&-ldquo;mediates-&-rdquo; between an Information Retrieval System and its end-user. On the assumption that the user of such a system will have at best a minimal knowledge of the operations of computers, it hides from him the internal complexities of the system, and presents to him a simplified -&-ldquo;abstract-&-rdquo; of the operations of the system. The Mediator allows the end-user to communicate with any application program in his own terms and to carry out operations of any degree of complexity which can be defined within those terms. Secondly, the controller enables a single system to extract unified information from data-banks of both data base management and textual environments. The Mediator is driven by a combination of hierarchically structured internal and external tables. The external tables contain a vocabulary selected by the user for his personal communication with the system; the internal tables contain directives which determine the appropriate path to be followed by the retrieval system in accomplishing the user's request.


The existence and the smoothness of density of random variables which are solutions of the canonical stochastic differential equation can be proved by simpler conditions in the Malliavin-Bismut method.


The article questions the contention that, in the process of partition and the delimitation of borders in Africa, no account was taken of local conditions. The possibility of indirect African influence on the process is examined. At least some of the treaties concluded between Europeans and African rulers were genuine, and regarded as a contractual obligation by both sides. There were cases of African rulers seeking to promote their political interests by entering into an alliance with Europeans. Such treaties were sometimes utilized by European powers in their negotiations with rivals, to support their territorial claims. There were some attempts to define colonial borders so that they coincided with the frontiers of traditional African politics. Thus, treaties between African rulers and Europeans played a role in the process of the partition. In this connexion, it is important to remember that traditional African polities were often polyethnic, or encompassed only a segment of an ethnic group, and did not correspond to the modern European concept of 'nation states'. There were also occasions in which questions regarding the local economy and communications were considered when borders were delimited. The considerations employed may have been wrong. But it seems necessary to modify the generalization that local circumstances were disregarded in the border-making process.