The report contains a description of the uniform reporting system for the urban mass transit industry designed and tested in Project FARE. It is presented in five volumes. Volume I contains a description of how Task IV was accomplished and the conclusions and recommendations reached at the end of the task. It also contains a summary of the conduct of the entire project.


Background: To assess the level of knowledge and preparedness that the dental practitioners of Maharashtra, India posses in terms of identifying, analyzing, treating and supporting a potential victim of gender based violence (GBV). This study also aims to analyse the present level of confidence the dental fraternity has in the educational, legal and law enforcement systems of India in terms of dealing with GBV issues. Methods:  A descriptive cross sectional study involving an anonymous electronic survey of a sample of 156 dental practitioners practicing in Maharashtra India. The survey was designed with two sections. The first section of the survey was designed to collect the demographic data of the respondents and information about their professional background. The second section comprised of 20 questions analysing the respondents level of understanding of the concept of GBV, their familiarity with GBV in practice, their opinion of current education and legal system concerning to GBV issue and their intent to further study in the subject. Results:  The response rate was 75.6% and 118 responses were received. Out of the 118 responses, 17 were incomplete and were excluded from the study. Thus only 101 responses were used for analysis. More than 35% of the respondents were aware of the concept of GBV where as almost 20% were completely new to the subject. More than 75% agreed that GBV affects both genders and affects primarily females. More than 80% responded that the victims generally do not tend to disclose who abused them. Majority agreed on the fact that the victims tend to confide with their family and friends other than any other option when affected by GBV. 50% of respondents were confident that they could handle a case of GBV in their clinic effectively. 72.7% responded that they were not aware of the Guidelines & Protocols, Medico-legal care for survivors/ victims of sexual violence, Ministry of health and family welfare, Government of India. More than 40% logged an increase in understanding of GBV after reading the snapshot of Guidelines & Protocols provided with the survey and expressed interest to learn more. 64.6% noted that they were not properly equipped for handling a GBV case but hope to do better with proper trainings. Regarding the present legal system, 54.3% of the respondents categorised it as mature but non-prompt. More than 80% agreed that there should be incorporation of modules on GBV in the academic curriculum and 96% logged interest in having more information on GBV sent to them. Conclusions:  Even though there was a consensus among the respondents that females were the primary victims of gender based violence, the study showed that there is only moderate awareness regarding Gender Based Violence amongst the dental practitioners in the state of Maharashtra. Even though a majority of the respondents were not aware of the proper guidelines and protocols for handling a case of GBV, a little over 50% were convinced that they would be able to handle a case of GBV in their practice. A need to update the curriculum and provide the currently practicing dentists with proper training was also identified.


Abstract. This study aimed to determine the relationships between emotional maturity, self-confidence and the anxiety to face retirees. Subjects were 60 civil servants who are resident residing in the Territory Housing Complex Tandes. Data retrieval tool used is the scale emotional maturity, self-confidence scale and face the anxiety scale pension. Data were analyzed by using multiple reggression. The results showed: first, there was a negative relationship between emotional maturity and anxiety civil servants. It showed when one's emotional maturity is high, then the anxiety state employees retirement will decrease. Second, showed that there was a negative relationships between self-confidence and anxiety civil servants. when  self-confidence is high, then the anxiety state employees retire-ment will decrease. Key Words : emotional maturity, self-confidence and employee's anxiety in  fa-cing the future pension.


Three-dimensional (3D) halide perovskites as CH3NH3PbI3 (3D-MAPI) have shown high performance in the perovskite solar cells. However, deep defects due to lattice disorders in the 3D halide perovskite cause to limit the performance of the halide perovskite solar cells. We have numerically simulated and investigated the optimum deep defect density of the 3D-MAPI layer of the p-i-n solar cell model with the structure of Glass/ITO(TCO)/PEDOT: PSS(HTM)/i-2D-MAPI/i-3D-MAPI/i-2D-MAPI/PCBM(ETM)/Ag. Due to the degradation of the organic components under some environmental conditions, the Pb-based organic perovskite solar cells need protective films. This 2D-3D-2D perovskite solar cell has been modeled as a stable perovskite solar cell, by inserting thin 2D-MAPI layers on both sides of the 3D-MAPI to reduce the degradation and moisture issues. Using SCAPS-1D solar cell simulation software, the deep defect density in the 3D halide perovskite layer was optimized to obtain the best performance of the cell model. Our simulation results have indicated that the deep defect density of the 3D-MAPI layer should not exceed 1012cm−3 for high performance. Also, low dark saturation current density and low Shockley-Read-Hall (SRH) recombination current density were observed at the low deep defect density in the 3D-MAPI layer.


In November 2001 the UK Government issued a statement on the future management of public sector nuclear liabilities and in its white paper "Managing the nuclear legacy" proposed the establishment of a Liabilities Management Authority, or the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) as it is now called. With the advent of the NDA, whose aim will be to safely and cost effectively reduce nuclear liabilities, and existing Government Policy which requires systematic and progressive reduction in hazard, there is a need for some form of index to demonstrate progress. Although there are many indices in use, mainly within the chemical industry, none of these are considered suitable for this purpose. A Waste Conversion Index is currently being developed to satisfy these needs. The Waste Conversion Index will reflect an emphasis on passive safety rather than the more traditional safety analysis which focuses on risk. It is intended to be applicable across all UK civil nuclear sites and may act as one of a number of long-term performance indicators. This paper describes how the index is formulated, and the various factors used in the calculation together with its main uses including its use as a predictive tool to demonstrate progressive hazard reduction as nuclear liabilities are reduced. In addition the paper warns against the misuse of the index as a sole means of decision making in developing hazard reduction strategies, prioritising projects and allocating funding. Finally, some examples are given of its application to existing facilities.Copyright © 2003 by ASME


It has probably occurred to my readers tllat tlle various classes into which I lhave divided the cases run into one another and that tlle boundary line must often have been indefinite. This was so, and on that account the actual figures must not be taken too seriously. If there has been bias in the process of classifying I have tried to direct it towards the swelling of Class II-cases in wlich the first diagnosis was confirmed-and Classes III and IV a-in which thle diagnosis was added to or made more accurate, rather than towards Class VI, in which the diagnosis was alter-ed. In the followina table some of the classes are thrown togetlher to obtain a general view.


The graph model for conflict resolution (GMCR) methodology was enhanced in this research for addressing cross-basin water pollution conflicts involving heterogeneous sanctions, as a more intuitive and straightforward definition for mixed unilateral improvements was proposed, followed by an integrated procedure for performing mixed stability analyses. Furthermore, the cross-border water pollution dispute that occurred in 2018 in Hongze Lake, China, is systematically modeled and strategically analyzed for the first time, using the improved GMCR method. In addition, an evolution analysis was carried out within the framework of GMCR for verifying the applicability of the eco-compensation mechanism in addressing cross-basin water pollution disputes. This case study demonstrates that the heterogeneity of sanctioning opponents could influence equilibrium outcomes and even change the evolution of conflict situations. Moreover, the developed novel approach is able to accurately predict the equilibrium outcomes of the conflict and provide more strategic insights and valuable findings in making effective conflict resolutions for solving cross-basin water pollution conflicts.


BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES
This study estimated years of life lost (YLL) among US Latinx individuals during the most recent wave of drug overdose deaths.

METHODS
A serial cross-sectional study of YLL (life expectancy minus age at death) from death certificate records of Latinx individuals who died from drug overdoses from 2015 to mid-2022.

RESULTS
Over the study period, 58,209 Latinx individuals aged 15-64 years died from drug overdoses resulting in 2,266,784 YLL. Age-group YLL differences remained stable, but gender YLL trajectories diverged.

CONCLUSIONS AND SCIENTIFIC SIGNIFICANCE
This study extends our understanding of the immense loss to Latinx communities from preventable drug deaths.


A popular nineteenth-century spiritual barometer displays the steps one might take in the Christian life to bring oneself closer to either 'glory' or 'perdition'. Near the top of the barometer, nearing 'glory' is the bearing of painful tribulations, connected to the cross of Christ. Whilst pain was undeniably an undesired presence in life, it was also a hallmark of spiritual progress. The denouement of Christian health, therefore, was often to be in pain. Looking at pain narratives of six evangelical Dissenters, this article explores how pain was perceived by these individuals through the lens of the atonement. As the atonement was a loving aspect of God's providence, so too was pain in the Christian life a quotidian display of divine love. The meaning and purpose of pain was sanctification, understood as a retributive, though mainly redemptive, implement of God's fatherly love. Whilst sharing a common framework of atonement, case studies from different denominations display nuanced differences in their pain narratives: the Baptists and Congregationalists examined here emphasized the sin that required the atonement, whereas the Quakers emphasized suffering with or alongside Christ.


A series of novel piperazine urea derivatives with thiadiazole moieties were designed, synthesized, and investigated for their inhibition potential against human fatty acid amide hydrolase (hFAAH). The urea derivatives possessing p‐chlorophenylthiadiazole and benzylpiperazine fragments (19–22) were effective inhibitors of hFAAH. Notably, compounds with 4‐chlorobenzyl (19) and 4‐fluorobenzyl (20) tails at the piperazine side were identified as the most active inhibitors with IC50 values of 0.13 and 0.22 µM, respectively. The preincubation test of 19 was in agreement with the irreversible binding mechanism. Molecular docking was performed to explore the potential binding interactions with key amino acid residues at the FAAH active site. These newly identified inhibitors could serve as leads for the further development of potent and selective FAAH inhibitors for FAAH‐associated diseases.


To the Editor.— The editorial by Dr Sell and Mr Krause referred to children born out of wedlock as illegitimate. Although the purpose of the editorial is laudable, the term "illegitimate" to refer to such children is both inaccurate and prejudicial. These children are born by the same legitimate process as are all children. Children have no choice as to the circumstance of their birth. Pearl Buck wrote years ago, There is no such person as an illegitimate child and this has often been truly said. He [or she] appears according to the laws of nature. What is illegitimate is the condemning environment into which he [or she] is born. 1 Let's continue to work to improve that environment.


With a heightened interest in the aggression that is occurring on roadways, this study dealt with the road rage perceptions and driving practices of drivers in Alabama. A total of 500 licensed drivers aged 16 and older of central Alabama completed a 32-item survey. Respondents indicated that road rage is an important issue. With the exception of those in the 75 and over age group, participants indicated that they had witnessed road rage on Alabama's roadways. However, the majority of respondents indicated that they had not been a victim of road rage. Participants favored strong enforcement of traffic laws to reduce road rage and also felt that aggressive driving goes unpunished. Most participants were undecided in response to whom is most often targeted by aggressive male and female drivers. However, there was little support that males targeted females and females targeted males with their aggression. A slightly higher number felt that females targeted other females.


Internal abdominal hernias are a rare cause of intestinal obstruction (0.2-0.9%). Transmesenteric hernia is a rare type of internal hernia and usually in adult people is acquired. We report the case of a 44 year-old caucasian female with a small bowel occlusion after right nephrectomy for clear cell renal carcinoma caused by an acquired transmesenteric hernia. We emphasize the role of CT scanning for a prompt diagnosis and a quick surgical treatment in order to avoid intestinal gangrene.


Gasification of solid fuels is an alternative process for energy production using conventional and renewable fuels. Apart from desired compounds, i.e. carbon oxide, hydrogen and methane, the produced gas contains complex organic (tars) and inorganic (carbonizate, ammonia) contaminants. Those substances, together with water vapor, condensate during cooling of the process gas, what results in the formation of aqueoustar condensate, which requires proper methods of utilization. The management of this stream is crucial for commercialization and application of the gasification technology. In the paper the treatment of aqueous-tar condensates formed during biomass gasification process is discussed. The removal of tars from the stream was based on their spontaneous separation. The aqueous stream was subjected to ultrafiltration operated at different pressures. Such a treatment configuration enabled to obtain highly concentrated retentate, which could be recycled to the gasifier, and filtrate, which could be subjected to further treatment.


A 49-year-old man was evaluated for dysphagia. Double-contrast examination showed esophageal lumen narrowing, and histologic assessment of the endoscopically obtained biopsy specimen revealed esophageal carcinoma. To plan the therapy strategy and stage tumors, CT and F-18 fluorodeoxyglucose whole-body positron emission tomography (PET) were performed. Surprisingly, the PET scan revealed a bone metastasis in the spine (T3), which showed no morphologic correlate on the CT. To clarify this discrepancy, MRI was performed and confirmed a metastasis of the third thoracic vertebrae. Infiltration of the bone marrow occurred with malignant cells but without any morphologic changes of the osseous structure. This case indicates that PET may be important for tumor staging.


ABSTRACT This report describes an analytical approach to the problem of defining changes in the water levels of two lakes or reservoirs connected by a channel subjected to flow blockages or retardations due to ice. Routing equations for this purpose were derived for Lakes Michigan-Huron and Erie which form a portion of the Great Lakes system. Procedures were developed for computing the monthly winter flow retardation due to ice in the St. Clair River, the outlet channel for Lake Michigan-Huron. An examination of these flow retardations, 1899–1969, indicated that the degree of retardation has progressively diminished since 1920. Utilizing the routing equations derived, the effects of these reductions in the retardations were computed to have lowered the levels of Lake Michigan-Huron by 0·50 ft. Investigation of factors responsible for the reduction in the winter flow retardations lead to the conclusion that the major factor was man-made channel enlargements in the St. Clair River.


We have much pleasure in announcing that the lis. 100 prize offered by Messrs. Thacker, ?Spink & Co., for the best essay on 'How Plague is spread,' has been awarded to Major S. Browning Smith, I.M.S., Plague Medical Officer, Punjab, for his paper on 'The Spread of Plague' which appeared in our July number. We have to thank Colonel Lukis, Principal of the Medical College, Calcutta, for kindly judging the papers received and would congratulate Major Browning Smith on the excellent essay sent in. Several of the other papers sent in


The ongoing work at DLR with respect to a so-called smart antenna for satellite navigation applications was explained. The antenna design is completely different in comparison to analogue antennas. The antenna characteristics are realized digitally in a processor, which may also be part of the following receiver components.


In a survey of 3600 women from southern Indias Kamataka State 23% reported symptoms of anemia 17% reported lower reproductive tract infection 7% had menstruation-related problems and 5% described symptoms consistent with pelvic inflammatory disease. Those most likely to report such problems were women who had obstetric problems during their last birth women who had been sterilized rural residents and those who had delivered their last child at home or in a government institution. All respondents had at least one child under five years of age; 59% had obstetric problems such as excessive bleeding or postpartum lower abdominal pain associated with that birth. 58% were not using contraception and 35% were sterilized. 43-56% of respondents had sought medical treatment for their self-reported health problems generally from private sources of care. The causation of this high maternal morbidity is unclear. It is speculated however that women who are sterilized and those who receive obstetric care at a government hospital are often exposed to unsanitary conditions and thus the risk of infection.


Four solid complexes of rare earth with 3-thiopheneacetic acid and 1,10-phenanthroline were synthesized,and the general formula of these complexes was proved to be REY32H2O and REY3phen(RE=Eu,Sm;Th=3-Thiopheneacetic acid,phen= Phenanthroline)by element analyse and titration analyse.These complexes were characterized by IR spectroscopy,UV-spectroscopy,Fluorescent spectrum and TG-DTG.The results showed that RETh3phen had better thermal stability than REY32H2O,and that adding the second ligand could enhance Eu3+ or Sm3+ ion fluorescence intensity.


This research analyzes the impact of offensive and defensive punitive tactics in two-party bargaining. The basic predictions are that defensive use of punitive tactics produces a lower rate of damaging action by another than does offensive use of punitive tactics, and that higher-power actors use punitive tactics offensively, whereas lower-power actors use them defensively. These predictions were tested in a two-party bargaining setting that allowed parties to exchange offers and counteroffers and to take punitive action against each other. The results generally support the implications of bilateral deterrence; parties facing opponents who took strong offensive measures used more punitive tactics than those who did not, whereas parties facing opponents who took strong retaliatory measures combined with weak offensive measures used fewer punitive tactics


BACKGROUND
Variation in the posterior cord of the brachial plexus is complicated and creates a risky relationship with the neighbouring structures. This is of importance to the surgeons, anaesthetists who must deal with the region in surgeries and procedures. Moreover, any benign tumour like Schwannoma is rare in the plexus comprising 5 % of total head and neck schwannomas.

METHODS
We present a case of Schwannoma of the brachial plexus in a cadaver during routine anatomy dissection for the medical students. The origin and order of branching of the posterior cord were recorded and photographs were taken. The tumour was present in an accessory branch of the posterior cord and removal was made in-toto. An immunohistochemistry study was done for confirmation of diagnosis.

RESULTS
The classical branching of the posterior cord was present. Additionally, a branch existed that was supplying the triceps muscle and emerged directly from the posterior cord. Tumour having the dimension of 2 x 1.8x 0.5 cm was present.

CONCLUSIONS
Schwannomas are indolent but may cause compression of the nerve and resulting neurological symptoms. They might mimic nodules of supraclavicular fossa in breast carcinoma. Variations of the brachial plexus can also make the surgeons confused during surgery due to which anatomical knowledge of the possible variations is important. Pre- and Post-operative complications can be easily predicted from it. Follow-up of the tumour is essential to track its progress and differentiation.


Mass spectral and 1H n.m.r. evidence, coupled with degradation of bufotalin to 3β-acetoxybufotalien (II), in turn prepared by total synthesis, provide unequivocal support for the assignment of structure (I) to bufotalin.


Electronic media is the fastest-growing technology of the modern era. Our society is relying on technological powers and lighting the fast speed of the internet to get maximum information about everything anywhere in the world. It plays a significant role in providing various facilities to the users but at the same time, personal privacy and cyberstalking issues must face. Cyberstalking is considering a major arising challenge to the modern world currently. Modification of technologies has a direct relationship with increase crimes of cyberstalking. This article represents a glimpse of unexpected activities like ethical dimensions of privacy, cyberstalking, and cyber harassment in Pakistan. Furthermore, the strategies associated with cyberstalking crimes, judicial involvement measures, and preventative proposals are also reported minimizing this emerging global crime.


O lena Bismak Carpal tunnel syndrome is the most common form of compression-ischemic neuropathy, found in clinical practice. Purpose: to evaluate functional disorders of the upper limb in individuals with carpal tunnel syndrome using the Boston questionnaire (Boston Carpal Tunnel Questionnaire, BCTQ). Material & Methods : analysis and synthesis of data from scientific and methodological literature and the Internet information network were used; survey, medical history, mathematical methods. To assess the functional state of the affected upper limb during the initial examination, we used the Boston Carpal Tunnel Questionnaire (BCTQ), which consists of two scales: the Symptom Severity Scale (SSS) and the Function Status Scale (FSS), which was filled by the patient on his own. The study was conducted on the basis of the Kiev City Clinical Hospital No. 4 in the period from 2017 to 2018. The study involved 37 patients with CTS, of which 21 – women (56,8%) people, 16 – men (43,2%) people. Results : analyzed pain and sensory disorders on the scale of symptom severity (Symptom Severity Scale, SSS) and functional disorders on the scale (Function Status Scale, FSS) of the Boston questionnaire. During the initial examination of patients with CTS, we found that mainly moderate (24,3%) and severe pain (37,8%) in the affected upper limb prevailed in patients, which over the past 2 weeks led patients to wake up at night: 1 time – 32,4% of patients, 2–3 times – 29,7% of people. During the day, 29,7% of patients complained of moderate pain in the arm and 43,3% of people were worried about severe pain. Most patients (48,7%) indicated that pain lasts from 10 minutes to 60 minutes. For functional disorders, the greatest difficulties for patients occurred when fastening buttons on clothes – 83,8%, opening a bottle – 86,5% and doing homework – 79,9% of people. Conclusion : an initial examination of patients with carpal tunnel syndrome indicated pain in the affected limb, numbness, decreased sensitivity, muscle weakness on the severity scale of the symptoms of the Boston questionnaire were observed. On the scale of functional impairment, we found difficulties that arose in patients performing everyday activities and self-care.


Objective
To explore the diagnostic cutoff value of the Silverman Anderson score(SA) predict to preterm infant with respiratory failure(RF).

Methods
From January 2013 to December 2013, 160 cases of the preterm infants with RF who needed for oxygen therapy were randomly selected from the Huaian Maternity and Child Healthcare Hospital.SA scores of all preterm infants at admission were respectively recorded, while extracting radial arterial for blood gas analysis. The diagnosis of RF were determined by comprehensive analysis. The diagnostic cutoff of the SA predicting preterm RF were confirmed by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve.

Results
RF rate was 63.8%.SA score was 5.24±1.22. The area under the ROC curve was 0.91, area of the standard error was 0.023. 95% confidence interval area was 0.866-0.955.There was statistically significance in SA value for the diagnosis of preterm RF(P=0.000). The higher value of SA was, the greater the likelihood of preterm RF was. When the dangers of missed diagnosis rate is equal to that of misdiagnosis rate, the optimal SA diagnostic cutoff value was 5.5, the sensitivity was 67.6%, misdiagnosis rate was 3.4% and missed diagnosis rate was 37.1%.When sensitivity and misdiagnosis were rate dominant, the optimal SA diagnostic cutoff value was 4.5, the sensitivity was 93.1%, misdiagnosis rate was 31.0% and missed diagnosis rate was 14.9%.

Conclusions
The SA score can early predict preterm RF. It might help the clinicians to rapidly assess the severity extent of preterm infants with RF and give appropriate measures to the preterm infants at the bedside.Therefore, it might improve the quality of treatment of the preterm infants with RF.

Key words:
Infant, Premature; Respiratory insufficiency; Silverman Anderson score


The use of hyperspectral imaging for medical applications is becoming more common in recent years. One of the main obstacles that researchers find when developing hyperspectral algorithms for medical applications is the lack of specific, publicly available, and hyperspectral medical data. The work described in this paper was developed within the framework of the European project HELICoiD (HypErspectraL Imaging Cancer Detection), which had as a main goal the application of hyperspectral imaging to the delineation of brain tumors in real-time during neurosurgical operations. In this paper, the methodology followed to generate the first hyperspectral database of in-vivo human brain tissues is presented. Data was acquired employing a customized hyperspectral acquisition system capable of capturing information in the Visual and Near InfraRed (VNIR) range from 400 to 1000 nm. Repeatability was assessed for the cases where two images of the same scene were captured consecutively. The analysis reveals that the system works more efficiently in the spectral range between 450 and 900 nm. A total of 36 hyperspectral images from 22 different patients were obtained. From these data, more than 300 000 spectral signatures were labeled employing a semi-automatic methodology based on the spectral angle mapper algorithm. Four different classes were defined: normal tissue, tumor tissue, blood vessel, and background elements. All the hyperspectral data has been made available in a public repository.


An initial survey inside the Hinatuan Enchanted River Underwater Cave System (HERUCS) and its connecting river system was done by scientists and technical/cave divers to collect baseline information on species composition of a unique underwater cave system found in Surigao del Sur, Southern Philippines. HERUCS is a deep cave system with freshwater outflow that courses through a short river before opening out into the sea. Tidal influence has created a unique salinity profile inside and outside of the cave, which is evidenced by the presence of both marine and freshwater/brackish organisms in the area. The survey covered macrofauna collection and determination of physico-chemical factors in the water. Sites were established within the cave system and the upstream and midstream areas of the river. The initial survey identified 5 species of marine invertebrates inside the underwater cave system, belonging to Families Isognomonidae (bivalve), Cassiopeidae (jellyfish) and Asterinidae (starfish) and Sabellidae (polychaete). Forty-three (43) organisms comprising 15 species were collected along the upstream and midstream river system. Despite the predominantly freshwater nature inside the cave, all of the organisms spotted and caught inside HERUCS were marine while all those collected in the river stations were strictly marine dwellers except for three neritids and one terrestrial hermit crab. Although the current list of specimens may represent new records for the area, the prospect of discovering new species inside the underwater cave system is high. The increasing economic activities (i.e. the influx of tourists) around HERUCS call for a drafting of conservation management plans by the local government unit to ensure the sustainable use of these resources.


The Grain for Green Project (GGP) encompasses most desertification areas in northern China where fragile soils are susceptible to erosion given the arid and semi-arid climate, low vegetation cover, and strong winds. We collected relevant data through ecological surveys and literature review to quantify total sand fixation and dust retention in 2015 based on different restoration methods, forest types, ecological function zones, and key desertification areas. Our results showed that cropland and wasteland afforestation increased sand fixation and dust retention, whereas facilitate afforestation was less effective in doing so. Further, sand fixation and dust retention values were higher in ecological and shrub forests compared with economic forests, as well as in wind erosion zones compared with wind-water erosion and water erosion zones. Moreover, 43.28% and 44.75% of total sand fixation and dust retention, respectively, were concentrated in important windbreak and sand fixation areas. Similarly, 60% and 30% of total sand fixation and dust retention, respectively, occurred in sandstorm paths and sources. Lastly, policy factors primarily influenced the spatial distribution patterns of both sand fixation and dust retention. Based on these results, enhancement of GGP efficacy into the future will rely on increased restoration efforts specifically aimed at planting more drought-resistant shrubs and native vegetation as doing so will enhance sand fixation, dust retention, and thus, the ecological integrity of these valuable and fragile desert ecosystems in northern China.


Introduction Operating suites are multidisciplinary units par excellence, and mostly they are the most expensive units in hospitals. Interdisciplinary workflow and efficiency are therefore crucial, which is influenced by floor plans varying from hospital to hospital. Most operating rooms are equipped with adjacent induction rooms, allowing preparation and anesthesia induction of the next patient, while the previous patient is still in the operating room. Parallelizing the working steps is thought to improve turn-over time, thus increasing throughput, number of cases and finally revenue. However, this assumption has never been challenged. Methods We analyzed workflow during regular working hours in an operating suite equipped with a mixture of operating rooms (OR) with next door induction rooms and operating rooms without induction rooms. This allows a direct comparison of both structural elements for efficiency using utilization data over a 24-months period. Both settings were used for gynecological operations. Results Key result is that induction rooms do not improve perioperative workflow including turn-over time. Instead, ORs without adjacent induction rooms have a significantly shorter turn-over time and OR occupancy duration per case, although surgical time and staffing were similar. Discussion Adjacent induction rooms require extra space, funding, and high maintenance costs, but they do not speed up peri-operative processes. Modern anesthetic techniques allow for fast induction of and emergence from anesthesia. Induction rooms adjacent to the OR are no longer needed if general anesthesia without extended monitoring is used for the majority of cases.


The invention discloses an intelligent household control system. The system comprises a household control center and a control terminal which can carry out data interaction. An intelligent household control module and a routing module in the household control center can carry out data interaction. And intelligent household electrical appliances and the routing module can carry out data interaction. After receiving a control instruction, the routing module sends the control instruction to an intelligent household control module. The intelligent household control module determines a target household electrical appliance and processes the received control instruction into a household electrical appliance control signal matching with the target household electrical appliance. After the intelligent household control module sends the household electrical appliance control instruction and a household electrical appliance equipment identification of the target household electrical appliance to the routing module, the routing module sends the household electrical appliance control instruction to the intelligent household electrical appliance represented by the household electrical appliance equipment identification, which means that the household electrical appliance control instruction is sent to the target household electrical appliance and control of the intelligent household electrical appliance is realized.


On-demand station-based one-way carsharing is widely adopted for battery electric vehicle sharing systems, which is regarded as a supplement of urban mobility and a promising approach to the utilization of green energy vehicles. The service model of these carsharing systems allows users to select vehicles based on their own judgment on vehicle battery endurance, while users tend to pick up vehicles with the longest endurance distances. This phenomenon makes instant-access systems lose efficiency on matching available vehicles with diverse user requests and limits carsharing systems for higher capacity. We proposed a vehicle assignment method to allocate vehicles to users that maximize the utility of battery, which requires the system to enable short-term reservation rather than instant access. The methodology is developed from an agent-based discrete event simulation framework with a first-come-first-serve logic module for instant access mode and a resource matching optimization module for short-term reservation mode. Results show that the short-term reservation mode can at most serve 20% more users and create 47% more revenue than instant access mode under the scenario of this research. This paper also points out the equilibrium between satisfying more users by efficiently allocating vehicles and distracting users by disabling instant access and suggests that the reservation time could be 15 minutes.


Ag 15 Cu 85 binary alloy ribbon, as the precursor, was executed high-temperature oxidation at 650 ℃ and dealloying with different durations to fabricate nanoporous silver at different stages. The HER electrocatalytic performance of nanoporous silver at different stage was tested using open circuit potential (OCP), linear sweep voltammetry (LSV), and potential polarization curve. The results show that the nonporous silver electrode in the B1 stage has the best anti-toxic performance, Ecorr is -0.088V, and the icorr is 1.2×10 -7 A/cm 2 ; the nanoporous silver electrode in the A2 stage shows the lowest Tafel slope (45.8 mV dec -1 ); at a current density of 10 mA/cm 2 , the hydrogen evolution overpotential of the nanoporous silver electrode in the B3 stage is 37.6 mV. From all those electrochemical tests, the nanoporous silver electrode in the B1 stage exhibited the best comprehensive HER performance.


1. The history of US–Indian relations 1.1 1947-1990: The Cold War era US–Indian economic relations were never insignificant following India's independence, but mutual understanding was lost during the Cold War system, resulting in suppressed progress in the bilateral economic relationship. As a result of India's adoption of a parliamentary democracy after independence, the US assumed that as a country with the same values, India would naturally adopt an economic policy encouraging free development of corporate activities. As a result, the US had high hopes that India would be one of the powerful countries of the free world under the Cold War system, and provided India with generous support. By contrast, India was concerned about the intensification of tensions under the Cold War system, and upheld the banner of non-alignment outside of both the Eastern and Western blocs, in addition to domestically adopting a state-led development model. To the US mindset, which believes in clearly defining black and white, India's external posture of accepting aid from both the US and the USSR as well as its economic policy that was rather controlled were very difficult to understand. From India's point of view, by contrast, US foreign policy was very intrusive and American capitalism valued materialism above all else, and thus they were not easily assented to. The Indo–Pakistani hostility led to a still wider gap between India and the US. The US deployed an equidistant diplomacy to India and Pakistan, and at the same time leveraged Pakistan as an anti-Communist bastion. When the Indo–Pakistani War of 1965 broke out, the US, which had maintained amicable relations with Pakistan, temporarily suspended aid to India. Furthermore, at the time of the Indo–Pakistani War of 1971, the US deployed the USS Enterprise, a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, to the Bay of Bengal to check India. Amidst the Sino-Soviet split and Sino-Indian hostility, the US position of proximity to Pakistan inevitably tilted India towards the USSR. In 1971, the Indo-Soviet Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation was signed, which strayed far from the principles of non-aligned diplomacy. Furthermore, when India set boldly forth with its first nuclear test in 1974, the US formed the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), implementing measures restricting the export of nuclear technology and related equipment to non-signatories to the Nuclear


OBJECTIVE Diabetes treatment should be effective and cost-effective. HbA1c-associated complications are costly. Would patient-centered care be more (cost-) effective if it was targeted to patients within specific HbA1c ranges? RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS This prospective, cluster-randomized, controlled trial involved 13 hospitals (clusters) in the Netherlands and 506 patients with type 2 diabetes randomized to patient-centered (n = 237) or usual care (controls) (n = 269). Primary outcomes were change in HbA1c and quality-adjusted life years (QALYs); costs and incremental costs (USD) after 1 year were secondary outcomes. We applied nonparametric bootstrapping and probabilistic modeling over a lifetime using a validated Dutch model. The baseline HbA1c strata were <7.0% (53 mmol/mol), 7.0–8.5%, and >8.5% (69 mmol/mol). RESULTS Patient-centered care was most effective and cost-effective in those with baseline HbA1c >8.5% (69 mmol/mol). After 1 year, the HbA1c reduction was 0.83% (95% CI 0.81–0.84%) (6.7 mmol/mol [6.5–6.8]), and the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) was 261 USD (235–288) per QALY. Over a lifetime, 0.54 QALYs (0.30–0.78) were gained at a cost of 3,482 USD (2,706–4,258); ICER 6,443 USD/QALY (3,199–9,686). For baseline HbA1c 7.0–8.5% (53–69 mmol/mol), 0.24 QALY (0.07–0.41) was gained at a cost of 4,731 USD (4,259–5,205); ICER 20,086 USD (5,979–34,193). Care was not cost-effective for patients at a baseline HbA1c <7.0% (53 mmol/mol). CONCLUSIONS Patient-centered care is more valuable when targeted to patients with HbA1c >8.5% (69 mmol/mol), confirming clinical intuition. The findings support treatment in those with baseline HbA1c 7–8.5% (53–69 mmol/mol) and demonstrate little to no benefit among those with HbA1c <7% (53 mmol/mol). Further studies should assess different HbA1c strata and additional risk profiles to account for heterogeneity among patients.


Use of an acyl derivative of a pyrimidine nucleoside unmethylated for the manufacture of a medicament for the prevention or reduction of toxic effects of cytoreductive therapy, wherein said medicament is administered in a therapy comprising: (a) administering 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) to a human in a dose of 1000-1600 mg / m2 of the human; and (b) administering a pharmaceutically effective amount of an acyl derivative of a pyrimidine nucleoside unmethylated.


COVID-19 has become a global public health problem. This study aimed to explore the relationship between ambient air pollutants and the infection caused by the novel coronavirus. Daily confirmed cases, of air pollution concentration, in 43 cities were obtained from January 23, 2020, to February 20, 2020, in China. I applied a generalized logit model to investigate the associations of six air pollutants (PM2.5, PM10, SO2, CO, NO2 , and O3) with COVID-19 confirmed cases. After generating the model and checking the p-value, I found that PM2.5, PM10, and O3 are correlated with the increase in covid cases.


Teaching reform of the chemistry and physics of fiber course was introduced basing on briefing and renewing curriculum content,leading result of scientific research into teaching,combining the multimedia teaching with traditional teaching methods and linking up the content of the course and other courses.Then good teaching effect was reached.


The lower esophageal sphincter (LES) and its surrounding structures normaly act as a reflux barrier between the esophagus and the stomach preventing the abnormal exposure of the gullet to the gastric contents. Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) is common and is apparently being detected at an ever-increasing rate in the western world. Symptoms of GERD affect 19% of adults in the US on a weekly basis and have a significant negative impact on patient's QoL. To date, transient lower esophageal sphincter relaxations (TLESRs) triggered by gastric distension and mediated by a vagovagal reflex are considered the most important mechanism for reflux in up to 80% of the cases of normal and GERD patients. In the most severe cases (<20%) the LES pressure is low or absent and demonstrates little resistance to reflux. Reflux and its concequences may be further aggravated in the presence of a large hiatal hernia that is associated with increased frequency of TLESRs and impaired esophageal clearance.


In this paper, the interpolating moving least-squares (IMLS) method based on a nonsingular weight function is applied to obtain the approximation function. The penalty method is applied to impose the displacement boundary condition, and Galerkin weak form of elastic large deformation problems based on total Lagrange formulation is used to form the final equations which is solved with the Newton–Raphson iteration method, then the improved element-free Galerkin (IEFG) method based on a nonsingular weight function for elastic large deformation problems is presented. The IMLS method can overcome the disadvantage of singular weight functions in the traditional MLS method, then the IEFG method in this paper has high computational accuracy and efficiency, which are shown by numerical examples of elastic large deformation problems. And the influences of the weight functions, scale parameter of influence domain, step number and penalty factor on the numerical results are discussed.


Purpose : To evaluate the efficacy of pars plana vitrectomy on the retinal reattachment for the patients who have suffered from recurrent or remained retinal detachment (RD) although they had undergone scleral buckling procedures for their rhegmatogenous retinal detachment. Methods : With retrospective chart review of 14 patients with recurrent or persisted RD who underwent pars plana vitrectomy, the authors checked the reattachment rate, their visual recovery state, and complicated disorders during and after the surgeries. All eyes had undergone scleral buckling procedure during primary repair. Results : Anatomic success was achieved after the initial reoperation in 10 (71.5%) eyes. With further surgery, the overall success rate was 85.1% (12 eyes). Visual acuity was improved in 4 eyes, worse in 8 eyes. Conclusions : These results suggest that pars plana vitrectomy may be an efficient surgical procedure for retinal reattachment in cases of recurrent or persisted RD after primary scleral buckle.


This study aims to analyze the needs of Tarakanita Solo Baru Junior High School students towards the development of the Flip Page-based 3D Science ebook. The research method used is the descriptive analysis by analyzing the needs of students towards the development of the ebook using a questionnaire. The results of the questionnaire research based on the analysis of student needs were 56% answering requiring 3D Flip Page based teaching materials so that learning was more enjoyable, efficient and effective. The Flip Page 3D ebook is one of the technology-based learning media that can facilitate teachers in simplifying abstract material that is difficult for students to understand. 3D Page Flip based ebook can be an effort to overcome various gaps that occur in science learning, especially in class VII Tarakanita Solo Junior High School. Besides that, the 3D Page Flip based e-book is also expected to be a solution that can provide stimulation for students to focus more on the subject, have more interest in science lessons, to improve their critical thinking skills.


Software quality comprises different and interrelated aspects. One of them is maintainability, which in turn is made up of measurable attributes. Previous studies have shown that documentation, by contributing to the comprehensibility of software, may have a positive effect on maintainability and, hence, software quality. This paper presents a study in which we analyzed Javadoc comments from 163 different open-source projects. Javadoc is the de facto standard for documenting source code files in Java projects, and although its syntax is less strict than in other (programming) languages, documentation written with Javadoc may contain violations. Our study focuses on the detection of different types of Javadoc violations as well as the source code elements affected by them. Also, by utilizing software repository mining techniques, we examined the history of the subject systems to gain further insights into the evolution of Javadoc violations. According to our results, about half of the source code elements have no Javadoc whatsoever. Among the different components of Javadoc comments (if present), the description of exceptions, by far, has the highest average ratio of violations. With regard to the types of affected elements, constructors and methods show very high average ratios. Also, we found that, on average, violations live more than two years.Nowadays, most integrated development environments (IDEs) for Java are capable of detecting missing Javadoc comments as well as comments with syntactic errors. However, our results indicate that the documentation of source code might be considered less important to developers or that these tools alone may not be sufficient for maintaining consistent documentation.


The fascist anti-Jewish legislation in the European contextThis paper examines the anti-Jewish legislation enacted by the Fascist regime between 1938 and 1943 by situating it in the context of the anti-Semitic legislation of the era and offers a comparative perspective. The paper describes and analyzes certain shared characteristics and differences with regards to the legislation's initial phase, which ended in roughly 1939. Among other points, the paper gives particular attention to the possible influence of Hitler's Germany on Mussolini's Italy, the comparison of different definitions of the word "Jew" and the ban on "mixed race" marriages that was listed in the different pieces of legislation.


The acute and subacute toxicities of trichlorfon were evaluated in blacktetras (Gymnocorymbus ternetzi). Dipping of fishes for acute toxicity was performed for a period of 24 hrs, and TLm 24h value (median tolerance limit=LC 50 ) was 12 ppm. Severe damages were observed in various organs and among them, edema and hyperplasia of gill lamellas, and epithelial edema of renal tubules were relatively prominent. The most significant change was mild epithelial deema of renal tubules in subacute toxicity test which fishes were exposed to 1.2ppm of trichlorfon for 1 week.


Summary Sustainability and management issues are discussed for eight fishery production systems (FPS) in the state of Parana´ , Brazil, from an interdisciplinary perspective. FPS were defined after a set of multidisciplinary classification criteria, in an attempt to conceive fishing activities as a new level of integration between natural and social systems. Systems were compared using the Rapid Appraisal of Fisheries Status (RAPFISH) methodology, with 48 scored attributes, grouped in five evaluation fields (ecological, economic, social, technological and political). Systems were also analyzed for a subset of 14 attributes selected as sustainability indicators. All systems from Parana´ showed a poor sustainability profile, yet for different reasons. Two groups of systems proved consistent: traditional systems, and the motorized shrimp trawl systems on the coastal shelf. The traditional systems are historically ancient, employ little technology, show a large diversity of fishing practices, and preserve traditional management. The second is a modern group of systems, with a gradient of technological intensification from motor pirogues or canoes to entrepreneurial trawlers; these systems are market-oriented, intensive and ecologically aggressive, but their fishermen have better living conditions. The methodology showed a great potential for offering interdisciplinary interpretations of fishery dynamics, especially in situations of scant information and several systems to compare. Yet, the analysis of sustainability proved strongly affected by the choice of attributes, which necessarily constitute a small, oversimplified fraction of reality. Management should seek a broader consideration of the complexity of socioeconomic and natural processes that govern fisheries in order to recognize differences among systems and adequately address particular development issues and critical points. A viable way to do this could be the consideration of the fishery system as a management unit, with greater participation of stakeholders to better understand the specificities and particular needs of the systems.


We compare three-dimensional electrostatics of semiconductor structures with graphene-like lattices of quantum dots and antidots formed in the plane of the two dimensional electron gas. With lattice constant fixed, the shape of the potential may be tuned so that both lattices have minband spectrum where the second Dirac feature is pronounced and not overlaid by the other states. We show that the lattice of quantum dots is more sensitive to fabrication imperfections, because sources of the disorder are located directly above the electronic channels. Thus the lattices of antidots should be preferred semiconductor artificial graphene candidates.


AIM
To study the anti-tumor effect of resveratrol alone and the synergistic effects of resveratrol with 5-FU on the growth of H22 cells line in vitro.

METHODS
The number of cells was measured by MTT method the morphological changes of H22 cells were investigated under microscopy and electron microscopy examination.

RESULTS
Resveratrol inhibited the growth of hepatoma cells line H22 in a dose- and time-dependent manner, IC50 of the resveratrol on H22 cells was 6.57mg x L(-1),The synergistic anti-tumor effects of resveratrol with 5-FU increased to a greater extent than for H22 cells treated with 5-FU alone (70.2% vs 28.4%) P<0.05 .Under microscope and electron microscope, characteristics of apoptosis such as typical apoptotic bodies were commonly found in tumor cells in the drug-treated groups.

CONCLUSION
Resveratrol can suppresses the growth of H22 cells in vitro,its anti-tumor activity may occur through the induction of apoptosis.


In order to improve convergence speed and reconstruction precision of IRLS shrinkage algorithm (SIRLS), an improved iteratively reweighted least squares shrinkage algorithm (I-SIRLS) is proposed in this paper. A Shrinkage factor is brought in each iteration process of SIRLS to adjust the weight coefficient to approximate the optimal Lagrange Multiplier gradually. Put simply, the convergence speed is accelerated. The proposed algorithm needs less measurements. It can also get rid of falling into local optimal solution easily and the dependence on sparsity level. Simulations show that the I-SIRLS algorithm has faster convergence speed and higher reconstruction precision compared to the SIRLS.


A call to action for governments, institutions, corporations, and individuals worldwide to reduce the deadly effects of indoor air pollution (IAP) in developing countries was published in this journal 6 years ago (Indoor Air 16, 2–3, 2006), and the issue is no less urgent today. Nearly half the world s population still depends on solid fuels to meet their basic household energy needs. Exposure to pollutants from inefficient burning of solid fuel indoors for cooking, heating, and lighting accounts for a significant proportion of the global burden of disease. The World Health Organization estimates that nearly 2 million people die prematurely each year from exposure to IAP. Women and young children disproportionately shoulder the burden of adverse health effects. Unless swift and effective action is taken, the health risks associated with IAP are projected to rise as the number of people using these fuels increases. Has progress been made in the 6 years since the call to action was published in this journal? Promisingly, the answer is yes! Many regional, national, and international organizations and governments have initiated intervention efforts focused on improving cookstove design and performance. For example, in 2010 the United Nations Foundation launched the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves, a public– private initiative with the goal of getting 100 million homes to adopt clean cookstoves and fuels by 2020. However, it is important to acknowledge that improved cookstove dissemination programs have historically achieved mixed results, in part because there are both technical and social complexities associated with efforts aimed at successful adoption of clean cookstoves in developing countries. There remains a significant need for interdisciplinary research on intervention studies to address cookstoves as agents of public health risk and global climate change. To bring greater attention to this topic in the indoor air research community and to encourage a new generation of young researchers to enter this field, we, students at the University of Texas at Austin, initiated, managed, and ran a symposium on IAP in developing countries at the Indoor Air 2011 conference in Austin, TX, USA, on June 6–7, 2011. The symposium was supported by the US National Science Foundation s IGERT program, which allowed us to fund the attendance of nearly 30 students from a variety of disciplines. We sought to organize the symposium so that it would break new ground with several specific goals: (i) to forge connections between new and established researchers to accelerate new researchers entry into the field; (ii) to clarify the role of researchers within new cookstove dissemination programs and frameworks; and (iii) to redefine opportunities for future interdisciplinary research to help academic, nonprofit, and governmental agencies work together. Ultimately, the symposium provided substantial opportunities for exchange between new and established researchers, which is important for growth in any field. A student discussion panel focused on the experiences of working on IAP research in developing countries and highlighted the diversity of students engaged on this topic. It also revealed insights regarding best practices for introducing young researchers to the field and provided opportunities for engaging and assembling future research teams. A series of group and panel discussions provided an opportunity for networking with established professionals, who could provide young researchers with guidance and mentorship and also critically discuss the role of researchers in this field. Presentations from representatives from the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves and the US Environmental Protection Agency identified key issues for successful cookstove dissemination programs and enumerated roles for future researchers from the perspective of public agencies. Technical presentations (many of which were given by graduate and undergraduate students) provided a promising view of some exciting current developments in cookstove and IAP research in developing countries. Invited presentations provided a forum to discuss future directions for research and implementation. Discussions at the symposium identified many unique challenges that this field faces. For example, balancing the goal of obtaining new research data regarding specific stoves and interventions against the demonstrated need for early intervention must be considered and constantly reevaluated. The absence of field-ready, standardized stove test methods to complement wide-scale dissemination of cookstove infrastructure makes evaluation and comparison of Indoor Air 2012; 22: 1–2 wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/ina Printed in Singapore. All rights reserved 2012 John Wiley & Sons A/S


This study examines the multiple collective identity of contemporary social movements and its mobilising structures in contemporary Latin American societies post-1980. This study debates 'who they are' in the contexts of many arguments about the concept of collective identity based on the US and European social movement studies. Compared to the advanced countries, for Latin American social movement, it is not easy to demarcate the correct line between old and new forms of collective identity in the formation of social movement. Thus, beyond these complicated debates, this article scrutinizes more structural factors for confirming the existing multiple collective identity within social movements under the questions of: 'why they mobilise', such as social exclusion based on the socio-economic structure (poverty, unemployment, growing informal sectors, lack of an adequate social safety system); 'how and what for' the activities have organised themselves into multiple identity of collective actions. Central issues here are: (ⅰ) historically, review the development of 'old' and 'new' forms of social movement involved with traditional labour-rural movements and new social movements in Latin American societies; (ⅱ) discovering the existing 'multiple collective identity' under conditions of changed moblising structures (socio-economic, socio-political and sociocultural dimensions) post-1980; (ⅲ) identifying their social demands (bread and butter, urban services, other resources), and finally ⅳ) asking contemporary meanings of democracy (establishing citizenship rights) and social change with them. Given multiple actors in the transformed mobilising structures, the contemporary social movements demonstrate a potential for creating more vibrant democratic societies and activities of this kind must surely be part of any attempt at democratic 'deepening'.


The objectives of the Seasonal Thermal Energy Storage (STES) Program is to demonstrate the economic storage and retrieval of energy on a seasonal basis, using heat or cold available from waste sources or other sources during a surplus period to reduce peak period demand, reduce electric utilities peaking problems, and contribute to the establishment of favorable economics for district heating and cooling systems for commercialization of the technology. Aquifers, ponds, earth, and lakes have potential for seasonal storage. The initial thrust of the STES Program is toward utilization of ground-water systems (aquifers) for thermal energy storage. Program plans for meeting these objectives, the development of demonstration programs, and progress in assessing the technical, economic, legal, and environmental impacts of thermal energy storage are described. (LCL)


We give a construction of quantum LDPC codes of dimension <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\Theta (\log N)$ </tex-math></inline-formula> and distance <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\Theta (N/\log N)$ </tex-math></inline-formula> as the code length <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$N\to \infty $ </tex-math></inline-formula>. Using a product of chain complexes this construction also provides a family of quantum LDPC codes of distance <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\Omega (N^{1-\alpha /2}/\log N)$ </tex-math></inline-formula> and dimension <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\Omega (N^\alpha \log N)$ </tex-math></inline-formula>, where <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$0 \le \alpha < 1$ </tex-math></inline-formula>. We also introduce and study a new operation called lifted product, which naturally generalizes the product operations for quantum codes and chain complexes. Moreover, as a simple byproduct of our results on quantum codes, we obtain a new result on classical codes. We show that for any fixed <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$R < 1$ </tex-math></inline-formula> there exists an asymptotically good family of classical quasi-cyclic LDPC codes of rate at least <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$R$ </tex-math></inline-formula> with, in some sense, optimal circulant size <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\Omega (N/\log N)$ </tex-math></inline-formula> as the code length <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$N\to \infty $ </tex-math></inline-formula>.


The most common representation in evolutionary computation are bit strings. This is ideal to model binary decision variables, but less useful for variables taking more values. With very little theoretical work existing on how to use evolutionary algorithms for such optimization problems, we study the run time of simple evolutionary algorithms on some OneMax-like functions defined over Ω = {0, 1, ..., r-1}n. More precisely, we regard a variety of problem classes requesting the component-wise minimization of the distance to an unknown target vector z ∈ Ω. For such problems we see a crucial difference in how we extend the standard-bit mutation operator to these multi-valued domains. While it is natural to select each position of the solution vector to be changed independently with probability 1/n, there are various ways to then change such a position. If we change each selected position to a random value different from the original one, we obtain an expected run time of Θ(nr log n). If we change each selected position by either +1 or -1 (random choice), the optimization time reduces to Θ(nr + n log n). If we use a random mutation strength i ∈ {0,1,...,r-1}n with probability inversely proportional to i and change the selected position by either +i or -i (random choice), then the optimization time becomes Θ(n log(r)(log(n)+log(r))), bringing down the dependence on $r$ from linear to polylogarithmic. One of our results depends on a new variant of the lower bounding multiplicative drift theorem.


This is an open access title available under the terms of a CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 International licence. It is free to read at Oxford Scholarship Online and offered as a free PDF download from OUP and selected open access locations. The financial crisis triggered a global debate on the taxation of the financial sector. A number of international policy initiatives, most notably by the G-20, have called for major changes to the tax treatment of financial institutions and transactions, as well as to working practice within the financial sector. This book examines how tax policies contributed to the financial crisis and whether taxation can play a role in the reform efforts to establish a sounder and safer financial system. It looks at the pros and cons of various tax initiatives including limiting the tax advantages to debt financing; special taxes on the financial sector; and financial transactions taxes. It examines policy concerns such as: the manner in which the financial sector should "pay" for its bailout and the role of accumulated tax losses on financial institutions' behaviour; the role that taxes may play in correcting the systemic externalities associated with "too big to fail"; the types of tax that are most appropriate for financial institutions and markets ("excess profits" versus "financial transactions taxes"); the interaction between taxes and the regulation of the financial sector; and the role of taxation in countercyclical and macroeconomic policies. Contributors to this volume - Julian S. Alworth, European Investment Consulting Giampaolo Arachi, University of Salento Katarzyna Anna Bilicka, Oxford University Centre for Business Taxation Vieri Ceriani, Banca d'Italia Michael P. Devereux, Oxford University Centre for Business Taxation Clemens Fuest, Oxford University Centre for Business Taxation Thomas Hemmelgarn, European Commission Michael Keen, International Monetary Fund Alexander Klemm, International Monetary Fund Geoff Lloyd, OECD Centre for Tax Policy and Administration Robert McCauley, Bank for International Settlements Stefano Manestra, Banca d'Italia Donato Masciandaro, Bocconi University Gaetan Nicodeme, European Commission Francesco Passarelli, University of Teramo Victoria Perry, International Monetary Fund Giacomo Ricotti, Banca d'Italia Raffaele Russo, OECD Centre for Tax Policy and Administration Alessandra Sanelli, Banca d'Italia Douglas A. Shackelford, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill Daniel N. Shaviro, NYU Law School Joel Slemrod, University of Michigan Kazuo Ueda, University of Tokyo Ernesto Zangari, Banca d'Italia


Globalisation can give positive and negative impacts. The positive impacts of globalisation are to facilitate the entry of news and information. Meanwhile, the negative impacts can't be avoided like destruction of the values of akhlaq education as a result of the inclusion of bad effects from globalisation which can't be dammed. To overcome the negative effect, we need countermeasures to prevent it, i.e. education that can reduce the negative impact and provide positive impact. Movies have been used as educational tools for many years. In the movie Assalamualaikum Beijing, there are many values of akhlaq which are very useful for life in society. Those values are such as sincerity, forfeit, struggle, loyalty etc.
This type of research is library research which has the descriptive qualitative method. The data analysis which is used in this study is content analysis, i.e.bywatch and learn whole movie, classify the values of akhlaq, codification, describe the data and then make conclusion.
From the result of research, the writer finds a lot of values of akhlaq to other human beings on Assalamualaikum Beijing. The values of akhlaq to other human beings on the movie Assalamualaikum Beijing i.e.: honesty, wisdom, empathy, respectful, apologetic, forgiveness, optimistic, generous, helpful etc


The dual-actuator structure for hard disk drives (HDDs) allows faster data access with relatively slower spindle speed. However, the mechanical interaction between the actuators tends to degrade the head positioning accuracy and thus decreases the track density performance. In this paper, the dual-actuator structure is formulated as a dual-input dual-output (DIDO) model and the parameters of the model are identified by least square estimation algorithm in frequency domain. The loop shaping control designs are presented to deal with the narrow-band disturbance due to interaction generated by the other actuator doing random-seeking. Experimental results on a prototype demonstrate that the position error signal (PES) value due to interaction disturbance is reduced by 16% with a notch filter and 64% with a peak filter based on the lead-lag feedback controller.


In this study, we investigated the ability of curcumin alone or in combination with GLUT1 siRNA to radiosensitize laryngeal carcinoma (LC) through the induction of autophagy. Protein levels in tumour tissues and LC cells were measured by immunohistochemistry and Western blotting. In vitro, cell proliferation, colony formation assays, cell death and autophagy were detected. A nude mouse xenograft model was established through the injection of Tu212 cells. We found that GLUT1 was highly expressed and negatively associated with autophagy‐related proteins in LC and that curcumin suppressed radiation‐mediated GLUT1 overexpression in Tu212 cells. Treatment with curcumin, GLUT1 siRNA, or the combination of the two promoted autophagy. Inhibition of autophagy using 6‐amino‐3‐methypourine (3‐MA) promoted apoptosis after irradiation or treatment of cells with curcumin and GLUT1 siRNA. 3‐MA inhibited curcumin and GLUT1 siRNA‐mediated non‐apoptotic programmed cell death. The combination of curcumin, GLUT1 siRNA and 3‐MA provided the strongest sensitization in vivo. We also found that autophagy induction after curcumin or GLUT1 siRNA treatment implicated in the AMP‐activated protein kinase‐mTOR‐serine/threonine‐protein kinase‐Beclin1 signalling pathway. Irradiation primarily caused apoptosis, and when combined with curcumin and GLUT1 siRNA treatment, the increased radiosensitivity of LC occurred through the concurrent induction of apoptosis and autophagy.


A device and a method for generating mobile terminal information are provided to minimize system usage and maximize system use by grouping schema information needed for generating the terminal information to each component, recording the schema information to a memory, and generating the terminal information after generating attribute in each component based on the information stored in the memory. A terminal information database(202) stores a UAP(User Agent Profile) of a plurality of mobile terminals. A synchronizing module(204) extracts the schema information, which is the information of the mobile terminal, from the terminal information database by responding to a terminal information request of the mobile terminal from a content providing server. An information calling module(206) parses/groups the extracted schema information into each computer, stores the schema information by each component, and provides the information stored in the memory(210) according to an external request. A component forming module(212) forms component attribute based on the information received from the information calling module. A terminal information generating module(208) generates the terminal information by using the components formed by the component forming module.


By the standards of political memoirs, this is an unusual book, and the reviewer's grouping of themes differs a little from those adopted by the author. Its first part is mainstream autobiography, dealing with youth, Saskatchewan, Oxford, marriage. This leads into career, and the first decade in Ottawa. Gordon Robertson joined the Canadian civil service during the Second World War. In 1945, he moved to the Prime Minister's Office, to become right-hand bureaucrat first to Mackenzie King and then to Louis St Laurent. Although Robertson admired King and ostensibly defends him against his detractors, he also subtly paints a negative picture of petty petulance, in contrast to his unrestrained admiration for St Laurent. The book's third narrative focuses upon the Canadian North, which Robertson ran during the decade from 1953. Section four sees Robertson at the heart of government, the innocuous title of Clerk to the Privy Council cloaking a classic Sir Humphrey role, first for Pearson and then, until 1979, with Trudeau. Finally, we see Robertson as a concerned private citizen, campaigning for the Meech Lake Accord and working to safeguard Canada's future. The combined result is an amalgam of several different books, itself a reflection of an influential life. One consistent theme is the difficulty of distancing administrative decision-making from raw politics. It is striking to learn that Robertson was present, and even commented, during a discussion of the 1968 election date ('even public servants are entitled to opinions') and that he counselled Pierre Trudeau not to revoke his announced retirement from politics in 1979 – although, in this case, Robertson was within days of clearing his own desk for the last time. Trudeau emerges as the central figure of the second half of the book. Robertson confirms the importance of Trudeau's brief experience as an Ottawa civil servant from 1949 to 1951 as a foundation for later relationships. He conveys something of the excitement of Trudeaumania of the late 1960s, with more than a hint of the problems that his philosopher-king style caused for the bureaucracy. It is possible to suspect that the flower-power Trudeau is so favourably portrayed partly to point up Robertson's disillusionment with the way his one-time subordinate and eventual boss monstered the attempt to change his 1982 constitution through the Meech Lake amendments. Yet, although roundly condemned, Trudeau remains the lost leader. The books closes with a poignant expression of hope that 'in spite of all that has passed, Pierre Trudeau, the statesman' might make 'a supreme final act of leadership' to solve Canada's regional and cultural tensions through constitutional change. Alas, Trudeau was already gravely ill and died soon afterwards.


Out of three analytical procedures for estimation of sulphate-sulphur in solution, a colorimetric method using barium chromate with certain modifications introduced was found to give high values of recovery and reproducibility than the two turbidimetric techniques. The modified colorimetric method has been found to be quite rapid, free from most of the interferences and can be suitably adopted in routine soil testing programme.


The fluvial dynamics corresponds to the natural changes of river channels that can influence the water energy, type and morphology of the gutter, geological structure and soil types. In this context, the type of soil present on the banks of the rivers stands out, which due to their morphological, physical and chemical characteristics, will offer greater or less resistance to marginal erosive processes. Whit this study, we aim to verify the contribution of soil morphological, physical and chemical attributes in the natural dynamics of the right bank of the Paraguay River. The studied area is located in the Pantanal Matogrossense, sub-region of Caceres, and comprises the right bank of the Paraguay River, in the region of Baia da Campina, approximately 10 km away from the municipality of Caceres, Mato Grosso, Brazil. We carry out morphological, granulometric and chemical description of the soil. The data were tabulated in a spreadsheet, being subsequently analyzed and discussed. The vegetation occurring in the study area is of the seasonal / cerrado and alluvial forests type, with the presence of low and semi-shrub vegetation. We classified the soil profile in the section studied as Fluvic Tb Endoeutrophic Neosol, presenting medium texture and, in general, high levels of sand and low levels of clay. The values referring to the effective cation exchange capacity (CTC) obtained in this study, were classified from low to very good, a characteristic that allows the existence of low and semi-shrubby vegetation, which contributes to the resistance to erosive processes, even that the soil has a low presenting resistance physical structure.


ALARC PC, a new oxygen injection technique for post-combustion of off-gases in an electric arc furnace provides reductions in power-on to tap times of 8 to 15% together with electrical power savings of 25 to 50 kwhr/tonne. Control and optimization of oxygen flow rate is based on continuous off-gas analysis to meet the very variable CO and H{sub 2} contents experienced during the progress of a heat.


A solution for realization of QPSK modulator with FPGA is presented. QPSK modulating process in FPGA and design of peripheral circuit are introduced in detail. The feasibility of the modulating scheme brought forward in this paper has proved in practical test. Because main modulating algorithms are all implemented by FPGA, this scheme has flexible design and is easy to debug and upgrade.


The case of a quantum two-level system coupled to a time variable magnetic field is investigated. The Schrodinger equation pertaining to the system is reduced to a second order linear equation in time and its solutions are sought by an integrating factor technique. A differential equation for the integrating factor and, therefrom, a criterion for fields leading to exact solutions are derived. The formalism is capable of giving a wide variety of closed form radio frequency (RF) wave forms for which Schrodinger's equation is exactly solvable.


I remember an extremely enlightening episode of BBC Thinking Allowed (which I'm sure I must have shared somewhere at the time). Basically, a study found


Cerebral Palsy (CP) is a neurodevelopment disorder caused by improper brain development or harm to the developing brain and is the underlying cause of the most common motor disability in children. The clinical symptoms vary between subjects because the etiology is complex and can affect a variety of anatomical structures and each of these can lead to a different symptom. The motor dysfunction is often associated with sensory, perceptual, cognitive, communication and behaviour impairments as well as epilepsy and secondary musculoskeletal disorders which have a significant influence on the child's quality of life, activity, and participation. The risk of developing CP is present in infants born preterm, but these children sum up less than 50% of cases. The factors that cause CP in children born at term are grouped in antenatal, perinatal, neonatal, some of them can be modified like alcohol consumption, maternal smoking, infections, but others like genetic factor cannot be modified. CP can be classified in different ways depending on the clinical manifestation. Throughout time classification was based on the type and distribution of motor anomalies, which often corresponded to the area of injury. Spastic subtypes, dyskinetic subtypes, and ataxic subtypes are the three basic forms of motor dysfunction. The most common conditions associated with CP are pain, intellectual disability, speech disorder, bladder control problems, epilepsy, and behaviour disorders. Early intervention is thought to be the most effective treatment for CP. As soon as the diagnosis is determined, rehabilitation treatment should begin. The earlier a rehabilitation intervention begins, the better the prospects of improving the child's functional abilities and independence.


The utility model relates to a male condom with assisted function comprising a condom body made of bursting disk and a semen assembler, wherein the semen assembler is provided in the front condom and formed into a air-tight end, the back condom is the opening end, a crown groove resiliency dead ring of the bottom front- tilted and the top back- tilted type is provided in the outer top condom to corresponding with the crown groove which is in the back of the male glans penis, a penis resiliency dead ring and a penis root resiliency dead ring are separately provided in the center condom and the opening condom, a crown groove resiliency dead ring which is integrated with the condom is added in the condom, the run resist effect is better, the impotency and premature ejaculation can be effectively auxiliary treated, a direct stimulation to female appropriate body can be improved in the sex process by the projecting crown groove resiliency dead ring and penis resiliency dead ring, thereby, the moderate sex life can be realized.


The population of wild Asian elephants Elephas maximus is declining worldwide; therefore, understanding the dynamics of the remaining population is critical for effective conser- vation. We monitored the population and distribution of elephants in Salakpra Wildlife Sanctuary, Thailand between May 2010 and March 2011. Using 32 camera trap locations and 1391 trap nights, we recorded 882 elephant photos. A total of 180 individuals were identified in the photos and classified as follows: 55 adult males, 60 adult females, 11 sub-adult males, 17 sub-adult females, 18 juveniles, and 19 calves. The age structure ratio (based on adult females) was 0.9 : 1.0 : 0.2 : 0.3 : 0.3 : 0.4, and the ratio of reproductive ability between adult females, juveniles, and calves was 1.0 : 0.3 : 0.3. The ratio between adult females and infants was highest in areas con- taining a high concentration of salt licks, which could indicate that salt licks are a keystone resource for wild Asian elephants.


The Uncertainty of the prediction factors which influenced the crop yield under natural conditions was one of the key issues which determined the veracity of the crop yield prediction.Based on set pair analysis and aimed at the characteristics of crop yield prediction,the crop yield prediction model was built.The prediction factors were divided into four categories,such as feasible,not significant influencing,not feasible and yield reduction,by introducing the connection degree.Taken the wheat yield prediction in Xinchang County as an example,the prediction model was validated.The results showed that the feasibility of the prediction factors and the accuracy of the wheat yield prediction were improved by using connection degree.


This paper is about subdividing of women's breasts based on 3D interactive anthropometric scanning technology. 270 young ladies, aged between 18 to 30 years old, were measured by 3D interactive anthropometric scanner. 11 Characteristic indexes such as breast midriff girth, breast girth items of females' bosom are extracted from 35 variables, which are the decisive factors to determine the tight fashions' fitness and comfort properties, by analyzing the anthropometric data using SPSS. Finally, 9 types of breasts were obtained by K-means clustering method that can be benefit to the future tight fashions pattern making, female's torso digital modeling process and breasts rehabilitation remedies.


Argyris C, Schon D (1978) Theory in practice: increasing personal effectiveness. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Barr E (1980) A study of clinical practice. British Journal of Occupational Therapy, 43(12), 390-97. Boud D, Keogh R, Walker D, eds (1985) Reflection: turning experience into learning. London: Kogan Page. Christie BA, Joyce PC, Moeller PL (1985) Fieldwork experience, part 1: impact on practice preference. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 39(10), 671-74. Cohn ES (1989) Fieldwork education: shaping a foundation for clinical reasoning. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 43(4), 240-44. DeweyJ (1933) How we think. Chicago: Henry Regency. Fish D (1989) Learning through practice in initipl teacher training: a challenge for the partners. London: Kogan Page. Rsh D, Twinn S, Purr B (1991) Promoting reflection: improving the supervision of practice in health visiting and initial teacher training. Report Number 2. Isleworth, Middx: West London Institute of Higher Education. Fleming M (1991) The therapist with the three-track mind. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 45(11), 1007-14.


7583 Background: Early concurrent twice-daily (BD) chemo-radiotherapy (BDRT) is a standard of care for LS-SCLC (1) but logistical issues and high grade 3+ esophagitis rate of 32% have impeded widespread adoption. Toxicity of BDRT (45 Gy in 30 fractions BD) may be less with modern radiotherapy (RT) techniques. ODRT (66 Gy in 33 daily fractions) may also be less toxic with better local control. As an international randomized phase III trial of BDRT versus ODRT (CONVERT C17052/A8152) starts in Europe we report on phase II feasibility and toxicity data for these regimens. Methods: Patients (pts) with LS-SCLC, PS 0–1 and suitable for radical radiotherapy received cisplatin (P), 60 mg/m2 IV d1 with etoposide (E) 120 mg/m2 IV d1–3, q3 wks x 4 cycles with concurrent RT (3D conformal without elective nodal irradiation) from cycle 2. A pilot study of BDRT enrolled 6 pts and then a phase II trial randomized 21 pts to BDRT or ODRT. Common toxicity criteria 3.0 was used. Results: For 27 patients (ODRT n=11; BDRT n=16)...


A vehicle includes an internal combustion engine, an engine control module (ECM) programmed to estimate engine torque as a function of throttle request, and a transmission assembly. The transmission assembly includes a plurality of gear sets and clutches, including an offgoing clutch and an oncoming clutch for a power downshift, and a transmission control module (TCM). The TCM includes a processor and memory on which is recorded a shift line for the downshift, and instructions for executing the downshift. The TCM communicates an estimated throttle level at the shift line to the ECM, receives an estimated engine torque for the estimated throttle level at the shift line from the ECM, and decreases offgoing pressure to the offgoing clutch to a threshold pressure level prior to executing the downshift. The TCM then decreases the offgoing clutch pressure to a calibrated pressure at the shift line to execute the downshift.


This chapter addresses ITA costs by initially exploring normative reasons for taking costs seriously and reviewing the doctrine underpinning cost assessments, including the pay-your-own-way, loser-pays, and factor-based approaches. It then tests conventional wisdom about costs by offering basic descriptive information, including when tribunals addressed costs, core fiscal exposure from parties' legal costs (PLC) and tribunal costs, and whether fiscal costs changed over time, and offering alternative baselines to understand ITA costs. It then tests the conventional wisdom about tribunals' "traditional" approach on cost-shifting noting, while the "pay-your-own-way" remained dominant, winning investors were reliably more likely to benefit from the "loser-pays" approach compared to winning states. The chapter then explores percentages and dollar amounts shifted by tribunals and changes in proportions shifted over time. While many cost elements were relatively stable, only when comparing the oldest cases with the most recent cases was it revealed that the amount of PLC shifted had meaningfully increased.


We propose a novel joint optical signal noise ratio (OSNR) and interchannel nonlinearity (NL) estimation method by fractional Fourier transformation of linear-frequency modulation (LFM) signal. In our method, LFM signal acts as time domain pilot in front of the payload. Our method of OSNR estimation is insensitive to nonlinear noise of optical fiber. Lower OSNR estimation error is also achieved in comparison with differential pilot method. The interchannel NL measurement procedures are also simplified compared with previous work. We also provide a scientific way to calculate the reference interchannel NL. The interchannel NL estimation error of our method is lower than 1 dB for 9 channels transmission after 10 spans with launch power from 10 to 14 dBm.


Electrically addressed spatial light modulators (SLM) are widely used in optical image processors to display not only input images but also a huge variety of optical components such as lenses, complex filters and other diffractive elements. These components are fully programmable and dynamically controllable by computer thus bringing flexibility and new degrees of freedom to current optical and digital image processors. A good characterization is the most important step in the SLM initialization. The quality and effectiveness of the optical component addressed to the SLM strongly depends on the knowledge of the device response. This work deals with the spatial and temporal characterizations of reflective zerotwist liquid-crystal on silicon (LCoS) SLM. The signal is spatially modified before addressing it to the LCoS SLM to compensate for the distortions internally introduced by the device. For time varying optical components, the signal is also modified before addressing it to the LCoS SLM to compensate for the distortions internally introduced by the device when phase variations of 2π are required at high rate. Experimental results and applications in image processing are shown.


Different students who learn English as the second language has various problems and strategies to overcome. A case study on an international student who learns English as a second language in an English speaking country raised some problems he had and offered some strategies he used during the process of learning. The progress of learning from the first time coming and studying at a college in Australia was mainly the core data collected on this study. The data copes from his formal academic learning experience and also from informal situation that he met at his everyday life. This study applied qualitative research method and use interview and recording as the instruments. The data were analized through three stages: data reduction, data display, and conclusion drawing. The results of the study show that the learner experiences a range of English learning problems which happened after his coming to Australia and some strategies he used to overcome.


Serious mental illness is associated with substantial personal and interpersonal distress and life disruption for the sufferer and for his/her family. A common response to having and caring for a family member with a serious mental illness is feeling loss and grief. This paper presents a representative narrative that attempts to capture the essence of the experience as conveyed by 22 parents of adult children with a serious mental illness. The implication of the narrative is examined.


I N 1960 HOWARD TEMIN finished a postdoctoral year at Caltech and moved to the University of Wisconsin. His brilliance was evident to his Caltech associates, but as to promise he got mixed reviews. GEORGE BEADLE and RAY OWEN both recognized HOWARD'S ability but differed in their assessment of his future. RAY was confident, BEETS not so sure. They decided to bet a fifth of whiskey on whether HOWARD would o something important within five years of graduation. After five years he had a publication record that was respectable but not unusual, and he had kept plugging away at an heretical idea. RAY was particularly impressed by one of HOWARD'S papers and thought his accumulated work good enough to win the bet, but BEETS demurred. A few years later he reluctantly conceded and the bet was paid off (a bottle of Old Crow, we are told). Of course, if they had waited until the discovery of reverse transcriptase in 1970, there would have been no question. HOWARD was honest, strongly individual, and willing to state and stand by his convictions. These traits were evidenced at his graduation from Swarthmore, where he had had a disagreement with a college policy and refused to dress for the graduation ceremony. (Years later, after he became famous, Swarthmore awarded him an honorary degree; this time he donned cap and gown.) His outspokenness was also evident at the 1975 Nobel Prize banquet in Stockholm, when he shocked the audience by expressing his outrage that the one known major cause of cancer, cigarette smoking, was so blithely overlooked, even at the event itself. At a gathering of Nobel laureates in 1991, one speaker said that if the world were more loving, many social problems would be solved and world tensions lessened. HOWARD, with AIDS in mind, used his turn to shock an international television audience by saying, "If you love, use a condom." Perhaps the most characteristic example was his steady belief in and defense of the provirus theory during a time when the transfer of information from RNA to DNA was unthinkable. HOWARD MARTIN TEMIN was born on December 10, 1934, in Philadelphia. He was bracketed by two broth-


adult testicular volume is more a refl ection of the total number of Sertoli cells, being nurse cells supporting clones of developing germ cells [2] . Sertoli cells are the fi rst cells observed in the primitive gonad defi ning a male route at sex determination. They proliferate and aggregate to form the seminiferous chords later developing into the seminiferous tubules where spermatogenesis occurs. Sertoli cell proliferation ceases at late puberty and their numbers in the adult testis are well correlated to sperm production and thus the volume of the testis [2] . FSH is thought to be the main mitogenic drive for the developing Sertoli cells [3], but other growth factors are also important [4, 5] .


Samples of Bi4Ca x V2− x O11−(3 x /2)−δ in the composition range 0.07 ≤ x ≤ 0.30 were prepared by conventional solid state reactions. The stability of different phases as a function of composition was analysed by X-ray powder diffraction, FT-IR spectra, differential thermal analysis and AC impedance spectroscopy. For the compositions x ≤ 0.10, monoclinic α-phase structure is retained at room temperature. For x = 0.13, orthorhombic β-phase is observed, whereas for x ≥ 0.17, high O2−conducting tetragonal γ-phase is stabilised. However, the highest ionic conductivity σ300°C = 3.27 × 10−4 S cm−1 was observed for x = 0.17. This higher value of conductivity of the substituted compound as compared to the parent compound can be attributed to the increased oxygen ion vacancies generated as a result of cation doping. AC impedance spectroscopy reveals the fact that this ionic conductivity is mainly due to the grain contribution.


Hainan government had focused on sustainable tourism development by governance in environmental protection. However, phenomenon that Hainan officials paid much attention to economic growth while they ignored environmental protection is still common, which has a negative impact on sustainable development of Hainan tourism industry. The article focuses on the threats to sustainable development of Hainan tourism industry, the governance in environmental protection, etc. Furthermore, we conclude that effective intervention of Hainan Government is crucial to Hainan sustainable tourism based on environmental protection, especially, effective governance in environmental protection. Hainan may realize sustainable development of tourism industry by governance in environmental protection, such as, building, adapting and innovating "green" institution, strengthening regulation and promoting the reform of property right system.


A 67-year old man with a hemodynamically significant type secundum atrial septal defect (ASD), large patent foramen ovale (PFO) and significant septal aneurism presented with shortness of breath and limited exercise tolerance. There was no evidence of additional structural abnormalities nor significant coronary artery disease. Simultaneous percutaneous closure of both defects was planned. Since the wire could have been passed only through PFO and the second wire not through the ASD, only PFO was closed with 35 mm Amplatz PFO occluder. After 3 months, which served for tissue ingrowth of Amplatz PFO occluder and aneurism stabilization, ASD located in posterior-inferior part of fossa ovalis documented by three-dimensional transesophageal echocardiography (3D-TEE) was easily crossed and successfully closed with a 12 mm Amplatz ASD occluder. Stable position without unwanted interference between the devices was obtained. There was noresidual shunting on color Doppler and no bubble shunting during Valsalva maneuver.  Within 6 months after the procedure, symptoms significantly improved and right heart chambers decreased. 3D-TEE revealed both devices in good position with only trivial shunting through PFO occluder documented by color Doppler.


Stochastic finite-fault method is an important tool for predicting ground motions near the rupture of large earthquakes.Based on dynamic corner frequency,this paper simulated the ground motions at LSA station for Damxung earthquake,Tibet on 6 October 2008by using the focal shock parameters gained from my previous moment tensor inversion study and the stochastic finite-fault technique of the algorithm EXSIM proposed by Motazedian(2009).Then the simulated results were compared with the observed records.The results show that the simulated results accord well with the observed acceleration response spectra.Therefore,it is concluded that the stochastic finite-fault method and the simulated results are of reference value for the location of significant projects and the evaluation of the damages resulted from earthquake.