About one third of Swedish buildings were built before 1945 and they constitute an important part of our built heritage. But these buildings also stand for a significant part of the Swedish energy use. This paper is part of the research project 'Potential and policies for energy efficiency in buildings built before 1945' that assess the capacity for energy saving in buildings built before 1945 with regard to historic values in the buildings. The purpose of this paper is to assess energy saving measures that will reduce the energy use by 20, 50 and 70 % respectively in a typical single family wooden house from the 1920s. Primarily, this paper focuses on moisture safety. It also aims to highlight the difficulty of significantly reducing the building energy use without altering the building's character and historic value. The work includes assessing the existing energy use in a fictitious 1920s building and identifies three packages of measures that reduce the building's energy use significantly at an optimal life cycle cost while considering conservation aspects. This is done using a methodology and a tool, OPERA–MILP,developed by the research project. The proposed energy saving measures, on both the building envelope and the building services, are then assessed from a hygrothermal performance perspective using the ByggaF methodology.


The objective of this work was to compare the effect of different concentrations of growth regulators for callus induction in ovaries of this species, aiming to contribute to the establishment of a micropropagation protocol. R


Multiple myeloma is an incurable malignancy of plasma cells homing to the bone marrow. Myeloma cells are dependent on factors in their microenvironment for survival and expansion. HGF may be produced both by myeloma cells and the bone marrow microenvironment and serum levels of HGF are known to be a prognostic factor in multiple myeloma. Both IL-6 and IGF-1 are known growth factors for myeloma cells. In the human myeloma cell line (HMCL) INA-6, HGF alone had low effect, but together with IL-6 and IGF-1 it became a potent growth factor increasing thymidin incorporation two- to three-fold above the levels obtained with IL-6 or IGF-1 alone. Similar results were obtained for the myeloma cell line OH-2. The ANBL-6 cell line harbours an autocrine growth promoting HGF-loop. When inhibiting this autocrine HGF loop with a specific c-Met receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor (PHA-665752), IL-6- and IGF-1-induced proliferation was reduced by 80% and 50% respectively. Thus, in the prescence of HGF, both IL-6 and IGF-1 are dependent on the HGF-receptor c-Met for full effect on cell proliferation. There seems to be two interconnected explanations for the synergy between HGF- and either IL-6- or IGF-1-signalling in myeloma cells. IL-6 and IGF-1 treatment increased the expression of c-Met in INA-6 cells Secondly, we found that HGF was unique among the three growth factors in activating both Ras and p44/42 MAPK in INA-6 cells. Also in ANBL-6 cells, IGF and IL-6 was dependent on functional c-Met signalling to fully activate this pathway. Thus, the reason for synergy between HGF and IL-6 or IGF-1 seemed to be that full activation of the Ras-Mapk pathway through Gab1 and SHP-2 by these cytokines was dependent on operating c-Met signalling. Taken together, HGF and c-Met signalling would be attractive targets for therapy of multiple myeloma.


Work functions of the (110), (211), (100), and (111) regions of a thermally annealed tungsten field emitter were measured as a function of potassium coverage. Immobilely adsorbed layers yielded absolute dipole moments, permitting estimates of adsorbate charge. The results at low coverage are μ110=15.7 D, μ211=13.6 D, μ100=11.5 D, μ111=9.5 D, with μ defined as 2qd0=Δφ/2πn. At coverages θ≳0.6 there is evidence of higher layer formation and field enhancement. Work functions after thermal equilibration in combination with φ‐vs‐n data for immobilely adsorbed deposits yielded coverage anisotropies under equilibrium conditions. At θ≈0 n110/n=40,n211/n=0.35,n111/n<0.04,n100/n<0.01. As θ increases the anisotropies decrease, and for θ≳0.5 the ratios n→1 for all regions except 100. The corresponding differences in heats of adsorption at θ≈0 are less than 0.4 eV for all regions except possibly 100, with binding strongest on 110. A quantum‐mechanical model is briefly sketched, and a quasistatistical treatment ...


The effect of various treatments on shoot organogenesis from seedling epicotyl explants from various scion and rootstock polyembryonic citrus types was determined. Treatments included water source, gelling agent, explant insertion, seed size, light intensity, malachite green, nonionic surfactants, and sodium sulphate. Tap water, with the highest levels of SO4 2-, Ca2+, K+, Mg2+, and Na+, resulted in the most shoots compared to the other 5 sources, suggesting a mineral nutrient effect. Carrageenan produced fewer shoots than agar and gellan gum. Explants inserted into the medium produced more shoots than those cultured on the surface, presumably because of better exposure to water and nutrients. Seed size, light intensity, malachite green, and sodium sulphate had no effect on the number of shoots


This work discusses repertory grid analysis as a tool for investigating the structures of students' representations of biological concepts. Repertory grid analysis provides the researcher with a variety of techniques that are not associated with standard methods of concept mapping for investigating conceptual structures. It can provide valuable insights into the learning process, and can be used as a diagnostic tool in identifying problems that students have in understanding biological concepts. The biological concepts examined in this work are 'natural kinds': a technical class of concepts which 'appear' to have invisible 'essences' meaning carrying more perceptual weight than being perceptually similar. Because children givemore weight to natural-kind membership when reasoning about traits, it would seem pertinent to apply such knowledge to deep-level research into how children reason in biology. The concept of natural kinds has a particular resonance with biology since biological kinds hold the distinction of being almost all natural kinds, such as when the same 'stuff or thing' takes many different forms. We have conducted a range of studies using a diversity of biological natural kinds, but in this paper, we wish to explore some of the theoretical underpinnings in more detail. To afford this exploration, we outline one case-study in a small group of secondary school students exploring the concept of 'equine' – that is, what is an equine? Five positive examples were chosen to engaged with by the students and one 'outlier' with which to compare the construction process. Recommendations are offered in applying this approach to biological education research.


The effects of seasonal temperature variation on sound speed contrasts at the seafloor are usually considered negligible in the analysis of seismic data but may be significant at large incidence angles (offsets) important for inversion of sediment elastic properties, or long‐range acoustic transmission. In coastal areas, the maximum annual seafloor temperature variation can be several degrees Celsius or more, corresponding to a sound speed variation of 30 m/s or more. Thermal pulses propagate via conduction several meters into the seafloor resulting in a damped quasi‐sinusoidal temperature profile with predictable wave number characteristics. The oscillating seasonal and spatial character of this signal creates a time‐ and frequency‐dependent effect on the elastic seafloor reflectivity. Results of numerical simulations show that the expected temperature profile for most sediment types and porosities will have the strongest affect on frequencies between about 60 and 600 Hz, at incidence angles greater than about 50°.


This paper consists of four parts. In the first part, we explain what eigenvalues we are interested in and show the difficulties of the study on the first (non-trivial) eigenvalue through examples. In the second part, we present some (dual) variational formulas and explicit bounds for the first eigenvalue of Laplacian on Riemannian manifolds or Jacobi matrices (Markov chains). Here, a probabilistic approach—the coupling methods is adopted. In the third part, we introduce recent lower bounds of several basic inequalities; these are based on a generalization of Cheeger's approach which comes from Riemannian geometry. In the last part, a diagram of nine different types of ergodicity and a table of explicit criteria for them are presented. These criteria are motivated by the weighted Hardy inequality which comes from Harmonic analysis.


ABSTRACT Resident non-participation is a major contemporary issue for the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center (Udvar-Hazy Center), a recently opened companion facility to the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum on the National Mall. The current study investigates the motivations and characteristics of local non-visitors. Residents from three surrounding counties comprised the study population and, as part of the larger study, responded to statements pertaining to reasons for non-visitation to the Udvar-Hazy Center, derived and modified for a museum context from the leisure constraints literature. Analysis of non-visitors, about one-half of the sample, resulted in the identification of relatively homogenous minimally-constrained, awareness-constrained, time-constrained, and access-constrained clusters. Managerial implications of these findings are considered.


This paper presents a model-based outdoor air flow rate optimal control strategy for multi-zone variable air volume air-conditioning systems with the primary air-handling units. An adaptive optimisation algorithm is adopted for optimising the set point of the outdoor air flow rate to minimise the energy cost, which could compromise the energy consumption of the primary fan and the cooling energy saving by the cold outdoor air. The primary fan energy consumption can be predicted using a simplified incremental fan model and the main parameters of this model are identified online. The cooling energy saving by the outdoor air is estimated online using the enthalpies of the air streams. The lower limit of the outdoor air flow rate is determined by a CO2-based adaptive demand-controlled ventilation strategy using the dynamic multi-space equation to maintain the satisfied indoor air quality (IAQ). Tests were conducted to evaluate the performance of the control strategy applied to a practical building system in simulation environment. The results show that the proposed optimal control strategy can reduce energy consumption significantly, while maintaining a satisfactory IAQ.


Objective:To study th e effects of different pHs, intense light and high temperature on the stability o f Sodium Ferulate Injection. The accelaration experiment was adopted in this stu dy. Methods:Sodium Ferulate Injection of different pHs stayed a t 100℃ for 30 min. The rate of degradation following time was observed. Its app ropriate attributes changes were observed at 4 500 lx and 40℃、60℃ storage con ditions for ten days, and the accelerated testing stability was studied at 30℃ under storage conditions for three months. Results:The studies showed that degradation was increased with the pH value raised. Its pH value, co ntent and related substances changed when stored under intense light and high te mperature condition. The Accelerated testing indicated that concentration of Sod ium Ferulate Injection was obviously changed. Conclusion:Sodium Ferulate Injection is sensitive to heat and light, and it must be stored at low temperature and protected from light.


To the Editor:— Not only do patients at home find difficulty in cleaning urinal tubes in cases of suprapubic fistulas of the incrustations caused by phosphates, but I have noticed also in hospitals the same lack of proper procedure. The urinals never get properly clear. The tubes used for the drainage of the urine are boiled sometimes but the whitish deposits remain. I saw Pezzer catheters ready to be inserted with the grayish stonelike crystals in their heads. The deposits are not easy to remove mechanically; rubbing and scratching has some effect but take time and do not give satisfactory results. There is a simple means to get excellent results: Catheters are put into a 5 per cent solution of muriatic acid; urinals, india rubber tubes, connecting glass tubes are treated with an 8 to 10 per cent solution and in a short time they are cleaned and clear. If


In this reflection on the 40th volume of Management Learning I offer some thoughts about its special character. This, I suggest, consists in part in the provision of a forum for relatively unconventional work, including speculative essays. To create and sustain such a forum requires not only intellectual courage but also a willingness to confront the proliferation of ranking systems for journals, which tend to promote conformity. Given that the pressure of such systems is increasing, the 'thought leadership' that can come from less conventional writing is ever more difficult to sustain, and it is to the credit of the journal that it continues to provide a home for such work.


Based on the measurement of male youngsters' figures in the Northeast part of China, a dress form for them is established. The shear deformation method is used to analyze the deforming direction and quantity at the significantly deforming parts of man's upper garment according to several standard figures selected. Consequently, all relaxations of the main parts of man's upper wear that are needed by normal body action are obtained.


The expressions are submitted, allowing one to make transformation E-plane waveguide for the tasks containing 5 components of an electromagnetic field (for example H/sub x/, H/sub y/, H/sub z/, E/sub y/, E/sub z/), to the scalar 2D task containing 3 unequal zero components of an electromagnetic field (H/sub x/, E/sub y/, E/sub z/). At such transformation the magnitude appropriate to magnetic permeability becomes frequency dependent. It corresponds to dielectric permeability of plasma, if plasma frequency corresponds to cutoff frequency of a wave H/sub m0/. This fact has allowed use for the analysis in time domain E plane waveguide facility earlier developed for effective programs in 2D electromagnetic analysis. The example of the analysis in time domain of the filter constructed on the basis of a rectangular waveguide with variations of the geometrical sizes in E plane is given.


Summary We present dingo, a Python package that supports a variety of methods to sample from the flux space of metabolic models, based on state-of-the-art random walks and rounding methods. For uniform sampling dingo's implementation of the Multiphase Monte Carlo Sampling algorithm, provides a significant speed-up and outperforms existing software. Indicatively, dingo can sample from the flux space of the largest metabolic model up to now (Recon3D) in less than 30 hours using a personal computer, under several statistical guarantees; this computation is out of reach for other similar software. In addition, supports common analysis methods, such as Flux Balance Analysis (FBA) and Flux Variability Analysis (FVA), and visualization components. dingo contributes to the arsenal of tools in metabolic modeling by enabling flux sampling in high dimensions (in the order of thousands). Availability and implementation https://github.com/GeomScale/dingo Contact firstname.lastname@example.com, email@example.com


This article presents an analysis of the activities of ten new European parties that do not yet have official registration in the European Union: the Europe-Democracy-Esperanto, the New Europeans, European Party of Individual Freedoms, the European Pirate Party, the European Party for Animal Rights, the European Federalist Party, Volt Europe, the Movement for Democracy in Europe 2025, and Now the People, which have appeared on the European political arena in the last 15-20 years, do not yet have official recognition, Nevertheless, their representatives participate in pan-European and national elections, sometimes quite successfully. A brief historical overview of the emergence and formation of each of these parties is given, their ideological platforms and membership base are presented. The results of their participation in the European elections are considered and it is noted with which factions of European parties in the European Parliament the MEPs elected from these parties cooperate. In conclusion, an analysis of the future prospects for the development of these parties is presented.


A mode-locked femtosecond laser is used to physically map the laser frequency comb into the velocity comb of the excited Rb atoms at room temperature. Upon resonant excitation by discrete optical frequencies the velocity distribution of the excited Rb atoms shows comblike structure. Simultaneously, velocity-selective population transfer occurs between ground-state hyperfine levels. Both facts are observed by modified direct frequency comb spectroscopy and verified by a detailed density matrix treatment of the multilevel system in resonant field.


.Objective To explore the mechanism of mesenchymal stem cells transplantation cultivated by Gukang medicated serum accelerating the healing of osteoporotic fracture. Methods Drug-containing serum and cultured neonatal rat mesenchymal stem cells were prepared for the transplantation to the fracture site.DR was used to observe of the fracture parts of callus growth. Results The third passage adipose derived stem cells (ADSCs) were positive for CD90, but negative for CD34 and CD49.DR examination revealed that in the first two weeks ,no significant difference in three groups;in the fourth week,the intervention group fracture had completely healed ,stump edge disappeared,the local density of the fracture line increased, and stump shaping transformation was significantly earlier than other groups. In the control group, fracture had more callus formation, but the stump edge was still visible, and paler in the local density of the fracture line. For the blank group, the fracture line was blurred, with visible callus formation, broken end edges were clearly visible, and holistic healing is not as good as intervention group and control group.The differences between intervention group, control group and the blank group were significantly different (P0.05). Conclusion Gukang serum containing cultured mesenchymal stem cells transplantation can be effective in promoting fracture healing.


The entanglement of atomic system consisting of two atoms interacting with a deformed cavity mode is quantified by the means of Bloch vectors and the cross dyadic of the traveling state inside the cavity. For large value of the deformation, the amplitude of Bloch vectors decrease very fast and consequently, the traveling state turns into mixed state quickly. The generated entangled state is used as quantum channel to implement quantum teleportation protocol. It is shown that both the deformed parameter and the number of photons inside the cavity play a central role in controlling the fidelity of the transmitted information.


The aim of my thesis is to determine the value of Zemědělske družstvo Haňovice at 1.1. 2012 using yield valuation methods. This thesis consists of theoretical part and practical part. In the theoretical part describes the fundamentals of company valuation, then the time factor and the risk, how to evaluate company and different valuation methods. In the practical part, I first characterized Zemědělske družstvo Haňovice and I made a strategic and financial analysis. In the following paragraph of practical part, I created a financial plan. In conclusion, the practical part, I set the cost of capital and made valuation using yield valuation methods.


A systematic approach to managing knowledge is an essential pre-requisite to enable learners and knowledge seekers to access relevant material as and when required in the current Internet era. To enable effective e-learning, ontologies can play a crucial role in the management of knowledge with respect to various learning strategies. While ontologies and the semantic web, which provide for semantic links, are increasingly used in business and research, their acceptance in e-learning is still at the preliminary stage. This paper reviews the relevant literature for identification of critical ontology factors supporting various learning strategies, based on which it proposes a comprehensive model to enable efficient reuse and sharing of knowledge in an e-learning environment.


Manipulator tasks such as assembly and disassembly can generally be divided into several motion primitives. We call these "skills" and explain how most manipulator tasks can be composed of skill sequences. Skills are also used to compensate for errors both in the geometric model and in manipulator motions. There are dispensable data in the shapes, positions and orientations of objects when achieving skill motions in a task Therefore, we can derive simplified geometric models by considering both dispensable and indispensable data in a skill motion. We call such robust and simplified models "false models." This paper describes our definition of false models in planning and visual sensing and shows the effectiveness of our method using examples.


Summary Korean interface has been widely researched to provide a convenient and smart user interface in the Internet shopping mall area. Existing Korean interface systems have used only a morphological and/or a syntactic knowledge without considering semantics. Therefore, the system users must make a query with a complete Korean sentence without an ellipsis and an anaphora. For more natural interface, the system must be able to handle dialogical sentences using a situational knowledge. In this paper, we suggest Korean Interface that uses domain specific semantic information based on Sowa's Conceptual Structure: conceptual patterns, relational definitions, semantic structure conversion rules, and actors etc. First, we explain the roles of the information. And, we will show a methodology that translates several kinds of Korean sentences having same meaning into one semantic structure using the information. Also, we will show a method that transforms an incomplete Korean sentence into a complete semantic structure. The advantage of the suggested system can provide user with Korean interface kindly by processing a dialogical query sentence using a situational knowledge.


Acquired arteriovenous fistulas, which are caused by arterial or venous puncture, are common in patients with a history of hospitalization in the intensive care unit for a long time. A four-month-old girl, who was born at 25 weeks and treated in the neonatal intensive care unit for one month due to respiratory distress, was admitted to our clinic with complaints of swelling and bruising on the right arm. Doppler ultrasound revealed an arteriovenous fistula located between the basilic vein and brachial artery, which was surgically treated. Unlike adults, fistulas during infancy may lead to a variety of morbidity, including heart failure, if left untreated. Herein, we report a rare pediatric case of an arteriovenous fistula and discuss our clinical approach.


Abstract Introduction of the triisopropylsilyl protecting group to the 3′-position of 5′-O-aroyl-2′-deoxyribonucleosides wa effectively performed by the use of triisopropylsilyl chlor ide in DMF in the presence of pyridine and lead(II) nitrate the latter was substituted in this reaction for silver nitr ate. Simple treatment of the resulting triisopropylsilyl ethers with sodium methoxide in THF gave 2′-deoxy-3′-O-tri-isopropylsilylribonucleosides in excellent yields.


Calculations of the extinction and polarization pro- files in the wavelength range 2.7-22 m have been per- formed for silicate core - icy mantle spheroidal grains using the exact solution to the light scattering problem and the Rayleigh approximation. It is concluded that the 10% accuracy of the Rayleigh approximation is guaranteed in the case of extinction (polarization) if the particle size does not exceed r < 1:15 m(1:10 m);0:85 m(0:35 m);0:25 m(0:15 m) within the 18 m ,1 0m and 3 m bands respectively, where r is the radius of a sphere with the same volume as a spheroid.


Buns are a type of steamed dough fermented food invented by the Chinese.They have distinct cultural characteristics.But their production has not fully achieved industrialization and modernization.China should strengthen its cultural choices,stress its national characteristics,persist in the nation's traditional food culture centering on buns as one of the staple foods and develop safer,healthier and more nutritious staple food system.Developing buns as staple food must be based on the social-economic development needs and strengthen independent scientific and technological innovation.The application of high-tech tools to studying food consumption patterns will guide technology and equipment research and development.


Several models are developed for the estimation of the rate of exponential die-off from decontamination data. Calculations with illustrative data are reported which indicate that the estima- tion of this rate and its variance are sensitive to changes in modelling assumptions. Since extrapolation using this estimated rate is used in the specification of planetary quarantine standards, special care should be taken in the selection of an appropriate model and corresponding estimation procedure for the analysis of each set of decontamination data to be used for this purpose.


Capacitive micro accelerometer, as one of promising micro devices, utilizes the parallel-plate capacitor arrays to covert input acceleration into differential capacitance, so its characteristics highly depend on an accurate capacitance evaluation. The traditional capacitance formula used in macro-scale systems design could not meet the requirement of micro-scale field because the fringe effects of capacitors have great contribution to the total measured capacitance under a few millimeters of separation distance. In this paper, the theoretical equation of capacitance with fringe effects is utilized to design the sensitivity and nonlinearity of a capacitive micro accelerometer. The proposed analytical method provides a quantitative evaluation of sensing capacitance of micro accelerometers. Experimental results indicate that the theoretical design with fringe effects has a better agreement with experiments than ideal parallel-plate capacitor principle.


A continuing dilemma of exhibition design is how to convey coherent content through a medium that is engaged in a unique and different way by each individual exhibition viewer. This dilemma is exacerbated by a lack of critical study of the exhibition design process and the lack of a rich critical literature of exhibition critiques, although in recent years there has been an increased interest in understanding the special nature of the medium of exhibitions. David Dernie's Exhibition Design is a thoughtful addition to the critical literature of exhibition design in which he attempts to articulate several approaches to the use of exhibition space: "narrative space," "performative space," and "simulated experience." His approaches are of special interest to designers of science and technology exhibitions. Dernie's critical framework and his use of a large number of case studies provide a provocative addition to the literature of exhibition design.


Child sexual abuse and the criminogenesis thereof are notably not perpetrated in isolation from physical and emotional abuse – although empirical evidence suggests that the most profound impact thereof revolves around a desire to escape (as a coping mechanism) into a world of deviant sexual fantasy, rape and murder. The article explores a phenomenological case study analysis of a serial rapist and murderer from birth to early adulthood, prior to incarceration – and it depicts an existence driven by fatal sadistic sexual desires, hate and lethal intent. The researchers conducted face-to-face interviews with the participant comprising of three one-hour interviews, with the aid of a semi-structured interview schedule. The study highlighted the need for a proactive response in rendering psychosocial services to the abused child.


A chlorine gas online detect instrument was developed.Adopting MSP430 processor and constant electric potential electrolytic gas sensor,it could measure the concentration of chlorine gas in the air,give an alarm when the concentration of chlorine gas is out of range and communicate with the control center by GPRS.The measurement range of the instrument is 0~20 ppm,response time is less than 30 sec and the detecting error is less than 2%.This design is feasible and can meet the real application in papermaking industry,textile industry,pharmacy and water treatment industry.


The evaporations of Primordial Black Holes (PBH) (via Hawking radiation) can produce electrons/positrons ( e − /e + ) in the Galactic Centre (GC) region which under the influence of the magnetic field of Centre region can emit synchrotron radiation. These e − /e + can also induce Inverse Compton radiation due to the scattering with ambient photons. In this work three different PBH mass distributions namely, monochromatic, power law and lognormal distributions are considered to calculate such radiation fluxes. On the other hand, annihilation or decay of dark matter in the Galactic Centre region can also yield e − /e + as the end product which again may emit synchrotron radiation in the Galactic magnetic field and also induce Inverse Compton scattering. In this work a comparative study is made for these radiation fluxes from both PBH evaporations and from dark matter origins and their detectabilities are addressed in various ongoing and other telescopes as well as in upcoming telescopes such as SKA. Moreover, constraints on the model parameters are obtained from these experimental predictions. The variations of these radiation fluxes with the distance from the Galactic Centre are also computed and it is found that such variations could be a useful probe to determine the mass of PBH or the mass of dark matter.


Abstract Recently, reinforcing materials in 3-D forms are getting more attention in the construction of reinforced soil structures. For the safe design and construction of these structures, it is essential to understand the interaction mechanism and behaviour of soil reinforced with 3-D reinforcements. In the present investigation, geogrid in 3-D form is used as the reinforcing material. Large-scale direct shear tests were conducted to study the interaction between sand and 3-D geogrid under direct shear mode. The medium and fine fraction of clean dried river sand was used in the study. Planar geogrids were also used to compare the effect of reinforcement form on the shear strength of reinforced sand. From the results obtained, it is observed that the interface shear strength of geosynthetic-reinforced sand greatly depends on the form in which it is used. Compared to planar geogrid, 16 and 22% improvement in interface shear strength was provided by medium sand reinforced with 3-D geogrids of triangular and rectangular pattern, respectively. The interface shear strength coefficient of 3-D geogrid-reinforced fine sand was less compared to 3-D geogrid-reinforced medium sand. However, provision of 3-D geogrid in fine sand gives an interface shear strength coefficient of 1.10 and 1.14 with triangular and rectangular pattern, respectively.


A single longitudinal mode laser has been produced using a two-dimensional-lattice distributed reflector grating. The device exhibits singlemode suppression ratios of > 27 dB with a small signal bandwidth of 11 GHz and stable spectra under modulation at 10 Gbit/s.


The incorporation of new technologies of information and communication in education is stimulating new teaching methodologies such as blended learning. This paper shows the results of a blended learning experience in the General Accounting subject offered by the University of Granada, for the first year undergraduate courses (in Business Administration and Management, in Economics, in Business Studies and in the double course, Business Administration/Law) with 1431 students in the academic year 2009-2010. This research uses objective and subjective measures of performance of students. We have considered the final mark as an objective measure. As a subjective measure we use the students' perception of the usefulness, motivation and satisfaction from the experience of blended learning carried out in the different degrees. We designed a questionnaire to collect subjective data and we obtained 985 valid responses. The results showed that the use of blended learning has a positive effect in reducing the dropout rate of the subject and in improving the exam marks. In addition, students are satisfied with blended learning, find it useful and motivating and perceptions of the students are related between them. There are differences, depending on the degree, in the variables that affect students' final marks in each degree. However, in general, final marks depend on background and class attendance rate.


Energy waste generated as a result of fuel combustion is a significant environmental problem, due to its physicochemical properties and a large amount of this waste. Fly ash and bottom ash from lignite and coal combustion are used in various fields of the economy. Ashes from biomass combustion, due to their properties, have not yet found such wide application. The article discusses the preliminary experiments related to the assessment of the properties of fluidized ashes from biomass combustion in terms of their natural use.


For a local field of characteristic 0, the functional equations of zeta distributions of prehomogeneous vector spaces have been obtained by M. Sato, Shintani, Igusa, F. Sato and Gyoja. In this paper, we shall consider the case of local fields of characteristic p > 0.


Cookie samples were prepared with pomegranate powder (PP) substituted for 0%, 5%, 10%, 15%, and 20% of the wheat flour. The effect of increased levels of PP on the physicochemical properties and consumer acceptance of cookies was investigated. With the addition of PP, the pH and moisture content of both cookie dough and cookies decreased while the soluble solids content increased significantly (p < 0.05). Also lightness (L) decreased and redness (a) increased significantly with increasing amounts of PP in the cookies (p < 0.05). Hardness increased from 14.05 N for the control to 22.44 N for 20% PP (p < 0.05). In general, the total polyphenol content (TPC) of the cookies increased significantly with the addition of PP (p < 0.05). Acceptability ratings indicated that 10% PP content provided the optimum supplementation level for the highest consumer acceptability of the fortified cookies.


This review seeks to recover the humanist ideals and approaches which sometimes get lost in our modern strivings for scientific rigor. In the Renaissance, human character, state forms, and international institutions were recognized as artistic constructions. There emerged new, complementary conceptions of science and the humanities-the latter seen as critical, interpretive, lesson-drawing disciplines centered around grammar, rhetoric, history, and moral philosophy. Niccol6 Machiavelli's republican humanism, his prescriptions for state conduct and imperial glory, and Bartolome de las Casas' defenses of the Indians against


The kinetics of the benzaldehyde phenylhydrazone formation has been investigated by a spectrophotometric method in a moderately strong acidic medium. Kinetic effects of hydrochloric, nitric, perchloric and formic acid were analysed and both catalytic constants, at various temperatures, and related activation parameters have been evaluated. The influence of the solvent medium (aqueous ethanol) was also investigated : A linear correlation between the second order rate constants and the reciprocal of the viscosity has been obtained.


The demand for broadband underwater communications is being pushed by the increasing use of Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUV) in underwater missions. IEEE 802.11, already used in AUV for above water communications, can also be employed underwater to enable cost-effective, high bandwidth, short range communications. However, the high RF attenuation underwater induces high variations of received power, which may affect the performance of existing rate adaptation algorithms designed for over-the-air networks. This paper evaluates the most relevant state-of-the-art IEEE 802.11 rate adaptation algorithms in underwater environment. Simulation results show the AARF algorithm outperforms the widely used Minstrel algorithm, as well as the CARA, RRAA and ONOE algorithms.


Ammonia nitrogen(NH4 +-N) removal is not satisfactory in the existing tannery wastewater treatment processes.In order to solve the problem,a multi-stage anoxic/oxic process(MAOP) was introduced as a secondary biological treatment unit to treat tannery wastewater deeply.The MAOP was a four-stage anoxic/oxic process and the influence of step-feeding,hydraulic retention time(HRT) and sludge return rate(R) on its simultaneous removal efficiency of chemical oxygen demand(COD) and NH+ 4-N was investigated.The results showed that the MAOP was effective in COD removal.Whatever the step-feeding was carried out,the effluent COD was less than 300mg/L with HRT 24h and solid residence time(SRT) 18d,coming up to the secondary emission standards of GB8978-1996.With the same HRT and SRT,the NH4 +-N removal was up to 97.7% when the inflow distribution ratio and R were 4:3:2:1and 100% respectively.The effluent NH4 +-N about 3.6mg/L met the primary emission standards of GB8978-1996.A multiple mechanism of denitrification,shortcut nitrification,simultaneous nitrification and denitrification could be occur in the MAOP.It was suggested that MAOP was a promising biological denitrification process for tannery wastewater treatment.


The inverter, which is composed of IGBT's (Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor's) and transformer, etc., is being applied for a wide range of home appliances, industry automations, etc. due to its high efficiency, high reliability, accurate speed control, and small size. The IGBT combines the advantages of s power MOSFET (Metal-Oxide Semiconductor Field Effect Transistor) and a bipolar power transistor. As the power of an inverter increases, the higher the reliability and power density are required especially in a power module and gate driver design. In this paper, the electrical characteristics including the power losses for variations of inductance are studied through simulations by P-SIM.


Quantifying terrestrial carbon (C) stocks in vineyards represents an important opportunity for estimating C sequestration in perennial cropping systems. Considering ~230,000 ha in California (8.2% of total land cultivated in CA) are dedicated to wine grape production, annual C capture and storage in woody biomass is substantial. In this study, destructive sampling was used to measure C stocks in the woody biomass of a 15-year-old Cabernet Sauvignon vines from a California Northern San Joaquin Valley vineyard. The objectives were to characterize C stocks in terms of allometric variation between biomass fractions of roots, aboveground wood, canes, leaves and fruit, and then test correlations between easy-to-measure variables such as trunk diameter, pruning weights and harvest index to vine biomass fractions. Carbon stocks were also estimated from the volume of biomass in mounds generated during vineyard removal, and compared with previous estimates of standing biomass.Total vine C was estimated at 12.3 Mg C/ha, of which 8.9 Mg C/ha came from perennial vine biomass, whereas annual biomass was estimated at 1.7 Mg C/ha from leaves and canes and 1.7 Mg C/ha from fruit. High positive correlations were found between the diameter of the trunk and overall woody C stocks (r2 = 0.84), pruning weights and annual C stocks (r2 = 0.93), and between fruit weight and annual C stocks (r2 = 0.95). Carbon estimates in the mounds of vine biomass fractions wood, root and canes (10.25 Mg C/ha) were not significantly different than for individually measured vines (10.02 Mg C/ha).This research demonstrates that allometric equations represent strong predictive power for C estimations due to high correlations and low error between these simple measurements and C stocks. Such equations, using information collected from vineyard management practices, could enable growers to estimate C stocks more easily and would facilitate managing C at a vineyard level. This might also provide the basis to calculate future C stock estimations, especially important considering the significance that C sequestration is taking in the production function of agro-ecosystems.


A one-dimensional generalized thermoelasticity is presented based on Lord and Shulman's Theory which involves one relaxation time of the thermoelastic process. This theory has been developed in an attempt to eliminate the paradox of an infinite velocity of thermoelastic propagation inherent in the classical one. The analytical object of this paper is an infinite body with a circular cylindrical hole. The boundary condition is that a constant heat flux is flowing into the infinite body so that the displacement at a circular cylindrical hole is constrained. An approximate analysis for short times is carried out because it is very difficult to obtain an exact solution. The numerical results of the effect of the relaxation time on displacement, temperature and stress distributions are shown.


This note is prompted by research findings that reveal perturbing differences amongst Sydney suburbs in the levels of achievement and rates of participation of school students (Badcock, 1976).' Quter, western suburbs such as Penrith Mt. Druitt, Merrylands, Cabramatta Mt. Pritchard and LiverpoolGreen Valley, and the inner city suburbs with sizable migrant populations (Canterbury, Marrickville-Sydenham, Leichhardt, Glebe-Ultimo, and Redfern-Waterloo), have very low scores on the two indicators. The North Shore 'bloc', Woollahra-Dover Heights, Kogarah-Peakhurst, and parts of Sutherlandshire, have much higher scores. Although educationalists continue to debate the causal nexus (cf. Keeves, 1972: 25-27), part of the spatial variation in the two indicators is due to inequalities in educational opportunity. The notion that in the case of a public good such as education,


The present work aims to present an analysis of representations about border identity in the city of Oiapoque, a border between Brazil and French Guiana, taking as its starting point the idea that national identities, in border regions, can hybrid and often assimilate traits of the neighboring culture. Thus, inserted in the scope of Sociolinguistics, the research is supported by theoretical and methodological studies of representation (JODELET, 2001; BOUDREAU, 2009; CASTELOTTI; MOORE, 2002), of identity (CANDAU, 2002; HALL, 2006) and linguistic frontier, (VIAUT, 2004; DAY, 2013). The work obeys the principles of descriptive, qualitative and interpretive field research. The data were obtained through field notes, questionnaires and semi-structured interviews conducted in the municipality of Oiapoque. The study involved 39 informants, between men and women, aged between 18 and 60 years, living in the municipality, who carry out various commercial activities. The analyzed data presented identity aspects aimed at a frequent redefinition, in which national identity conflicts with the environment, and the representations are conditioned to intergroup interrelations, supporting new representative imagery. Entradas para indexação PALAVRAS-CHAVE: Representação. Identidade. Fronteira franco-brasileira.


The emergence of terms such as active citizenship and effective citizens, they point to a new generation of young people are expected to participate, there is action, as well as practice, citizens, these citizens are often the idea of the general goals of General Education. Service Learning is the concept of civic awareness and community service obligations and responsibilities, stressed the combination of knowledge and action of citizens. This course will focus on "Exploring Community~Service Learning Action Plan" theme in the teaching and curriculum design, combined with the community, teaching contents include strengthening the management of knowledge (cognitive), the development of community care (affective) and the service learning action (ability), etc. a practical framework for curriculum. In other words, instructional design is based on real life student-centered community issues, and community service learning as a field, so they learned to the classroom and the community as evidenced by life experiences, building their community governance and service learning community knowledge, attitudes and actions.


A series of basicity-tunable ionic liquids with carboxylate and sulfonate anion were designed, prepared, and applied in NO capture. Both high absorption capacity and low desorption residue were ach...


Much of the conversation around the Internet of Things focuses on data protection issues. Here, however, Claire Milne, Visiting Senior Fellow at LSE's Department of Media and Communications, focuses on questions of safety and liability around 'smart' devices.


The residents of media and small sized apartments and their characteristics are analyzed.Matters deserving attentions in design of media and small sized apartments are mainly discussed,at the same time principles should be followed integrated design of this kind of houses are presented,in order to provide more selections for different groups to increase the flexibility of spatial placement as well as space utilization ratio.


LPG plays important role in Indonesia as household fuel. With the rapid growth of LPG usage, its handling facility is built across the country. The handling of LPG requires various activity prior to supporting its supply chain. One of the vital facility is Terminal LPG (or on this case Terminal LPG Semarang) which serve as a hub in LPG distribution because it handles a relatively huge amount of LPG. It is exposed to operational risk especially fire risk. This paper is intended to assess the risk of LPG Terminal by using combined both qualitative and quantitative methods. The initial step is to identify the hazard by using HAZOP Study. The next step is to determine the likelihood of the risk by using FTA and ETA resulted in event frequency. The severity level is determined using consequences analysis which involved fire modeling of the intended scenarios. The result from both frequency and consequences will be presented in the risk matrix to determine the unacceptable risk scenario to develop a mitigation plan by using Fire Risk Card to assess the capability of the Terminal firefighting equipment.


Abstract : The energy absorbed by aluminum, carbon, or tissue-equivalent (TE) material when exposed to gamma rays, fast neutrons, or 900-Mev alpha particles was measured with a microcalorimeter. The instrument has an ethylene glycol bath in stead of water. Spaced mylar sheets about 6-1/2 in. in diameter were mounted on one side of the absorber inside the evacuated cylindrical chamber in order that the detector could be thermally insulated in the direction beam without the presence of bath solution. Gamma-ray absorbed dose rates as low as 2 rads/ min were measured with the instrument. The dose rates obtained from the exposures to Co-60 and Cs-137 sources at this Laboratory (NRDL) agreed with the output of the sources as measured with a National Bureau of Standards secondary standard cavity ionization chamber. Thirteen 10-min exposures of the TE absorber in the microcalorimeter to fast neutrons from a 60-in cyclotron resulted in absorbed dose measurements varying from 24 to 40 rads. The average absorbed dose value was 5% higher than the NRDL determination based on flux and spectrum measurements. Microcalorimeter exposures to the 900-Mev alpha particle beam from a 184-in. synchro-cyclotron gave absorbed doses that agreed reasonably well with ionization chamber determinations.


The aim of this thesis is to create project to improve actual marketing communication in selected company. This thesis is composed into three main parts theoretical part, analytic part and project part. Theoretical part of this thesis is composed of information which were obtained in literature research of available sources on marketing communication, comunication mic and internet marketing. The analytical part deals with the brief introduction of the selected company, its strategies and communication activities. This part also analysis its internal and external environment. Project part is based on information which were obtained from analytical part and based on this knowledge is created project to improve marketing communication mix of this company in the period since June 2018 to June 2019. This project is subjected to cost, time and risk analysis.


Various parameters affect the performance of natural ventilation of buildings. The most time-consuming parameter to estimate prior to a performance simulation of natural ventilation for a certain building geometry is wind pressure coefficients on the building façade. This time consumption is critical in the early stages of the building design process where building geometry (and consequently the wind pressure coefficients) may change rapidly. This paper therefore presents an analysis of the effect of building geometry on wind pressure coefficients and, consequently, the building performance. The results indicated that overall building geometry and neighbor surroundings have a significant impact on the wind pressure coefficient whereas façade roughness has low impact. Building designers can therefore use the same wind pressure coefficients to evaluate several façade proposals in the early design stage – as long as the overall building geometry and neighbor surroundings are kept constant. This realization will save time in the design process and enables designers to focus on developing parameters most sensitive to performance when evaluating and adjusting design proposals.


There is increasing evidence that Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD), a severe neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by abnormal behavioral symptoms (Vuong & Hsiao 2017), is associated with gastrointestinal symptoms (Fulceri et al. 2016). Recent studies have have shown that changes in gut microbiota can modulate the gastrointestinal physiology (Powell et al. 2017; Sharon et el. 2016). Thus, in microbiome research the potential role of the gut microbial composition in promoting and reflecting ASD symptoms has become an active line of research (Sharon et al. 2019, Tomova et al. 2020, Li et al. 2019). Along this line, it was found that the gut microbiome of individuals with ASD is different from the gut microbiome of typically developing (TD) individuals (Liu et al. 2019, Coretti et al. 2018, Kushak et al. 2017).


The closure works for offshore dykes are different from the closure works for a river. Some principles for designing of closure construction schemes are proposed in this paper.This paper also puts forward the technical points that should be attached importance to when choosing the final closing position,deciding the final gap width and formulating the closing operation procedures.An example of closure construction for Section Se of southern training dyke in the first phase of the Yangtze Estuary deepwater channel improvement project is also presented.


The authors offer information about a national student affairs organization that has developed a methodology for gathering and sharing data designed to evaluate student outcomes while assessing the impact and effectiveness of campus recreation programs.


Rural SMEs have often been associated with superior performance and also offering some resilience to negative economic trends. Literature has often cited a number of potential reasons for such behaviour. A focus of opinion centring on the idea, that a developed innovative psyche, along with a set of entrepreneurial characteristics, rather than one single trait may hold the answer. This paper aims to examine the characteristics/traits approach of entrepreneurial values, debating the areas of opportunity spotting, risk taking, charisma, creativity and vision, as these are often cited as key areas of entrepreneurial value. Further testing of these areas was carried out against 25 rural and remote rural SMEs to see if the sample exhibits the same or enhanced values of entrepreneurial awareness depending upon geographical location, therefore it could be established that their level of innovative ability had changed. A differentiation score could then be identified against levels of innovative activity taken from the initial survey to the one taken for this research project.


The density Hales–Jewett numbers are central numerical invariants in Ramsey theory. We discuss what is known about these invariants and how they are related with other results in the area. We also make a conjecture about their asymptotic behavior.


Information resources are important spiritual and cultural resources to colleges,playing an important role in construction of campus culture and determining the specifications and taste of the campus culture.This article explains the relationship between literature resources and the construction of campus culture and also proposes the construction of literature resources should meet the needs of the campus culture.


As compared as a heart of modern universities, the laboratory's importance was explicated from the labs development at home and abroad. The key to establish lab, the labs teaching reform, the labs personnel and the labs future were further discussed.


OBJECTIVE To determine the effects of original and purified oiliness extracts from rose family plant fruit core against Helicobacter pylori in vitro and in vivo.METHODS Clinical H.pylori strains were isolated from gastric biopsy specimens of patients with gastritis and/or peptic ulcer.Doubling agar dilution method and test tube method were applied to detect the MIC and MBC of the original and purified oiliness extracts against the isolates of H.pylori.H.pylori infection mouse model was established to detect the activities of the original and purified oiliness extracts against the microbe in vivo. RESULTS 96 strains of H.pylori were obtained from the patients' gastric biopsy specimens.MIC_(90) values of the original and purified oiliness extracts against the 96 strains of H.pylori were 0.16% and 0.32% at volume fraction,respectively.H.pylori strain NCTC11637 and its clinical strains 75b and 81a were killed after treated with volume fraction 0.16% of the original oiliness extract for 5 min and volume fraction 0.16% of the purified oiliness extract for 15 min.All the gastric antrum tissue samples from the infected mice were positive for H.pylori strain SS1.After the H.pylori strain SS1 infected mice were orally taken with volume fraction 0.5% of the original or purified oiliness extract,all the gastric antrum tissue samples from the mice were negative for H.pylori strain SS1 isolation.CONCLUSION Relatively low concentrations of the original and purified oiliness extracts from rose family plant fruit core show remarkable activities to inhibit and kill H.pylori in vitro and in vivo.The oiliness extracts have an value for further developing an anti-H.pylori oral-taken medicine.


In recent years there has been an increase in interest in the analysis of economics discourse by both applied linguists and economists. This paper briefly discusses some of the main protagonists in the debate between economists about their own discourse, and brings together and reviews the significant studies by applied linguists in this area. It suggests that the studies by applied linguists may be grouped according to the categories Micro-studies, Macro-studies, and Educational Studies, and indicates areas of developing interest. It also suggests the need to account for other aspects of economics discourse, areas which seem to be largely ignored in the literature. This paper is of interest to those attempting to analyse economics discourse or the discourse of other social science disciplines in particular, and for those who are interested in discourse analysis in general.


A retrospective review of notes and radiographs to assess the clinical outcome for two groups of patients undergoing acetabular revision with impacted morsellised allograft bone, was carried out. One group received fresh frozen allograft bone (20 patients, 22 joints), and the other fresh frozen irradiated allograft bone (18 patients, 20 joints). The extent and type of graft used was recorded. Graft performance was assessed radiologically by observing evidence of collapse, incorporation, lucent lines at the site of grafting and component migration. This assessment was repeated by an independent observer. The average follow-up was thirty months for the non-irradiated grafts and fifteen months for the irradiated grafts at the time of this review. The average time taken for the grafts to show signs of incorporation was seven months for non-irradiated grafts and six months for irradiated grafts. The average time for the grafts to show physiological remodelling was similar between groups at sixteen and thirteen months respectively. There was one case of infection after a direct cup exchange with irradiated bone graft. This analysis demonstrated no obvious difference in the clinical performance of irradiated and non-irradiated morsellised bone grafts.


The effect of suction and blowing in the study of flow and heat transfer of a viscous incompressible fluid between two vertically eccentric rotating spheres is presented when the spheres are maintained at different temperatures and rotating about a common axis while the angular velocities of the spheres are arbitrary functions of time. The resulting flow pattern, temperature distribution, and heat transfer characteristics are presented for the various cases including exponential and sinusoidal angular velocities. These presentations are for various values of the flow parameters including rotational Reynolds number Re, and the blowing/suction Reynolds number Re w . The effects of transpiration and eccentricity on viscous torques at the inner and outer spheres are studied, too. As the eccentricity increases and the gap between the spheres decreases the viscous torque remains nearly unchanged. Results for special case of concentric spheres are obtained by letting eccentricity tend to zero.


Monitoring the execution of large enterprise systems is needed to ensure that such complex systems are performing as expected. However, common techniques for monitoring, such as code instrumentation and profiling have significant performance overhead, and require access to the source code and to system experts. In this paper, we propose using execution logs to monitor the execution of applications. Unfortunately, execution logs are not designed for monitoring purposes. Each occurrence of an execution event results in a different log line, since a log line contains dynamic information which varies for each occurrence of the event. We propose an approach which abstracts log lines to a set of execution events. Our approach can handle log lines without having strict requirements on the format of a log line. Through a case study on a large enterprise application, we demonstrate that our approach performs well when abstracting execution logs for large enterprise applications. We compare our approach against the SLCT tool which is commonly used to find line patterns in logs.


Test results are given for the phosphorus isotope metabolism balance and irradiation effects on seeds. A phosphorus-base fertilizer proved to be effective for corn, soybeans, and wheat. The proper time for applying phosphorus fertilizer to young plants is when the plants start to develop. The absorption of phosphorus is more active in the young cell of the plant than the old cell. In the soybean plant, the phosphorus observed in the day time returned to the soil during the night. Properly gamma -irradiated corn increased its production by 10%. Similar results were obtained with gamma -irradiated turnip seeds, and turnip seeds washed in an isotope solution. (OlD)


The ancient Ukrainian zoonym "shchur", which has long been used for various animals, but most often for large burrowing rodents represented in the aboriginal fauna of Ukraine by the genus Arvicola, is considered. At the same time, this name is also used as a synonym for the word "krysa" (= rat), and in this sense is often identified with the genus Rattus ("patsiuk" = rat) to denote various large rodents from distant lands following a principle " the small = mice, the large = rats". Therefore, the name "shchur" is often considered ambiguous and thus worth either forgetting or using only for the alien species. Etymological hypotheses are considered, of which the most relevant to zoological specifics is the one that explains the connection with burrows, ground, and night. This set of features determines the general ecomorphological type: large long-tailed underground mouse-like rodents with expressed nocturnal activity, which appearance in human economies is undesirable. The history of use of the name "shchur" in the special literature, mainly in zoological reviews and other zoological studies, in the period from 1874 to 2020 is analysed. The widespread use of the nomen to denote different groups of animals, and especially rodents of the ecomorphological type "large mice", which are representatives of the genera Arvicola and Rattus, is shown. Analysis of old sources showed that the name "shchur" was originally used as a common "generic" name for all species as well as some intraspecific forms of both genera, with the definition of semantic differences in the species modifier: water, common, ground, nomadic, basement, black, ship, mill, and so on "shchur". Unambiguous fixation of Ukrainian generic names as equivalents to scientific generic names required the typification of all names, which took place in the Ukrainian scientific nomenclature in the late XIX and early XX centuries. As a result, the name "rat" is proposed to be assigned to the genus Arvicola, and for the genus Rattus to be recorded as the Ukrainian equivalent of the nomen "patsiuk" ("rat"). Arguments are presented to recognise the antiquity of the zoonym "shchur" and therefore to recognise its importance for the designation of aboriginal rodent species, and especially of "water shchur" (water vole, Arvicola amphibius) voles of the genus Arvicola in general. The practice of traditional naming of laboratory rats as "shchur", as well as the use of the name "shchur" with appropriate definitions to refer to other genera, including muskrats ("musk shchur" or  "musk rat"), nutria ("marsh shchur" or "marsh rat") and various representatives of distant faunas (bamboo or spiny tree-rats, etc.) in the Ukrainian zoonymics should be abolished.


A West Indian woman aged 23 presented with a history of lower abdominal pain of 24 hours' duration, together with vaginal bleeding. She was accompanied to the hospital by her own doctor, who brought a polyethylene bag containing a quantity of soft tissue. The patient claimed that her doctor had removed this from her vagina on two separate occasions-namely, 24 hours and 1 hour before admission. It appeared to be small bowel devoid of mesentery, measuring 360 cm. in total length (Fig. 1). It was thought possible


Unlike many other public services, the NHS is not subject to local democratic control. In this post – an extract from a new Democratic Audit ebook – Sally Ruane explores the recent history of patient and public involvement in the NHS, including the impact of the coalition government's reforms.


PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To achieve a variable gain amplifier circuit varying a gain without breaking down the impedance matching of input. SOLUTION: Negative feedback resistances 102 and 103 and a switch circuit 104 are provided between the input/output edges of a variable gain amplifier 101 whose gain is varied based on a gain control signal. The switch circuit 104 is switched by a control part 106, and when the gain control of the variable gain amplifier 101 is not carried out, the impedance matching of input is established by the negative feedback resistances 102 and 103. When the gain control of the variable gain amplifier 101 is carried out based on a gain control signal CT, the negative feedback path comprising the negative feedback resistances is disconnected, and the impedance matching of input is established based on the first resistance 102 with resistance value equal or almost equal to an input signal source impedance Rg. COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT


The discovery of visible luminescence from porous silicon has generated significant interest, in view of the fact that bulk silicon does not emit light in the visible part of the spectrum. This material differs from bulk silicon in one important way, that is, it consists of interconnected silicon structures, which in some cases are on the order of several nanometers, having a very large surface to volume ratios, Thus, in a material such as this, both the effect of particle size and surfaces must be examined in order to determine the optical behavior of this system. The mechanism leading to intense room temperature visible photoluminescence (PL) exhibited by porous silicon (PoSi) is still a source of controversy. Although significant data on PoSi exist, no single model has been able to consistently explain all the results. The authors discuss the competing models for the source of the luminescence.


The SwissFEL C-band Linac will have 26 RF modules, each one consisting of a solid-state modulator and a 50 MW klystron that feeds a pulse compressor and four two meters long accelerating structures. The pulse compressor is of the Barrel Open Cavity type (BOC). A first prototype was successfully produced and high-power tested, reaching for full power klystron operation a peak power of 300 MW. For testing this BOC at maximum RF power, a broadband load was designed and built, based on a ridge waveguide design and high permeability stainless steel. Based on the experience gained at CERN for CLIC X-band high power loads, the RF design of the load was optimized to ensure high losses for a quite large range of magnetic steels. Test pieces were realized in three different magnetic steels to choose the best suited material commercially available. This paper reports about the RF design, material study, production and impressive high power results of this Cband load.


The coding of stimulus speed has been accepted to be an important component of motion processing in the visual system. How this coding is implemented, however, is still not entirely clear. In terms of its relationship with spatial and temporal contents of moving targets, speed processing is often modeled as a two-stage process (e.g. Heeger, 1990; Smith & Edgar, 1994). In the first stage, initial speed estimates are generated within individual spatial- and temporal-frequency-tuned mechanism. In the second stage, the outputs of multiple spatio-temporal frequency mechanisms from the first stage are combined to produce the speed codes that are then invariant with respect to spatial frequency. This descriptive model for speed coding makes sense from both functional and experimental perspectives. Functionally, speed coding in the visual system should not vary with respect to spatial frequency; otherwise, non-identical speed coding among spatial frequency mechanisms would perceptually make the different spatial frequency components of a single target appear to move incoherently. Experimentally, it has been demonstrated that whereas the responses of neurons at early stages, such as in VI, are spatial-frequency-tuned, the responses of some neurons at later stages, such as in MT, have broader spatial frequency bandwidths (Newsome, Gizzi & Movshon, 1983), which presumably represent the combination of inputs from several lower-level spatial frequency mechanisms.


Psoriasis is a distressing chronic skin disease. Its exact pathogenesis is still unclear, as many factors interplay in its occurrence.


The long-term accumulated brand notability of fresh food e-commerce platforms has brought the advantages of fresh product and customer resources to the platform-based fresh e-commerce supply chain, effectively solving the problem of unsmooth connection between production and sales in China's traditional fresh food industry. However, the unique freshness activity, and perishability of fresh products as well as the complex dynamics of supply chain make the platform-based fresh food e-commerce supply chain face uncertain risks and restrict the operation of the supply chain. On the basis of consulting related literature, this paper summarizes the supply chain risks as quality risk, logistics risk, information risk, cooperation risk and after-sales risk, uses analytic hierarchy process to carry out risk assessment, and finally puts forward corresponding control countermeasures to effectively prevent and avoid the above risks.


Local runoff from the catchments in the Mount Lofty Ranges watershed provides a major source (up to 60%) of drinking water for the city of Adelaide, South Australia, Australia. In this study two major land uses (apples and cherries) in the Mount Lofty Ranges were monitored for off-site transport of pesticides over approximately 30 months. The pathways of off-site transport (soluble or colloidal) of pesticides were also monitored. There were several pesticides detected in surface drainage water from the apples site but two pesticides (chlorpyrifos and fenarimol) were of particular concern. The average chlorpyrifos concentrations were 0.12 and 0.15 µg/L in 2007 and 2009, respectively, which are more than ten times the Australian environmental guideline value, suggesting potential deleterious effects on aquatic organisms downstream of the apple site. The form in which chlorpyrifos was transported off-site varied throughout the season but over time a greater proportion moved in the soluble (<1.2 µm) phase.


The scattering of free drift waves by drift vortices is investigated analytically in the Born and eikonal approximations. Scattering amplitudes and scattering cross-section are found for a wide range of parameters of the vortex and wave. It is shown that under certain conditions the wave–vortex interaction becomes very strong; that is, the scattering cross-section is much more than the vortex radius.


The ACODE benchmarks have been developed to assist institutions in their practice of delivering a quality technology enhanced learning experience for their students and staff (recognising that some institutions refer to their practice with terms such as e-learning, online or flexible learning, blended, etc.). There are eight benchmarks, each of which can be used as a standalone indicator, or used collectively to provide a whole of institution perspective. However, where these benchmarks become even more powerful is when they are used in association with other institutions, as part of a collaborative benchmarking exercise. This is where one or more institutions are willing to share their practice and journey in technology enhanced learning with others, based on the outcomes of their own internal benchmarking activity. The benchmarks were originally developed as part of an ACODE funded project, initiated by Christine Goodacre and Angela Bridgland in 2007. They were developed collaboratively by representatives of a number of ACODE member universities and at the time were independently reviewed by Professor Paul Bacsich, a UK consultant specialising in benchmarking and historical aspects of e-learning. More recently (2014) the Benchmarks have undergone a major review to ensure they are now both current and forward looking. A team of six ACODE representatives worked on this project and have developed the following suite of Benchmarks to assist any institution, not just ACODE member institutions, in monitoring their capacity to provide the best possible technology enhanced learning experience for their students and staff.


catheterization of the umbilical vein provides a quick vascular access in neonates. It is a relatively easy procedure routinely performed in neonatal intensive care units. However, this procedure may come with lots of complications. We report a rare complication of bowel evisceration from the umbilicus following an attempt to catheterize the umbilical vein. This complication may be prevented by meticulous dissection and avoidance of probing of the umbilical vein during umbilical vein catheterization.


Simple lattice dynamical models have been fitted to the experimental phonon dispersion curves of niobium, molybdenum, and their alloys. The 'best-fit' parameters are used to compute the phonon dist...


Prevalence of urinary schistosomiasis in apparently healthy school pupils in EzzaNorth Local Government Area was studied. Three hundred and twenty five (325) samples of urine were analysed.Ordinary centrifugal sedimentation technique was used and the deposits were examined microscopically. Out of the 325 urine samples analysed, 57 were found to be positive for Schistosoma haematobium giving a prevalence of 17.5%. Analysis of the result from the schools studied showed that 30 out of 120 from Ogharugo primary school had S. haematobium in their urine while 18 out of 100 from Okposi Primary school and 9 out of 105 from Umuezeoka primary school were positive for S. haematobium. This gives a prevalence of 25.0%, 18.0% and 8.6% respectively. From the result, it was found out that 24.3% of the males had S. haematobium as against 12.4% of the females. The pupils below the ages of 10 years had a prevalence of 7.7% while those of the 10-16 years had that of 24.1%. K e y w o r d s


Bioretention is a structure which captures runoff from small catchments and stores it in porous vegetated areas with the intent of infiltrating all or a large fraction of the annual runoff volume. The effects of bioretention on potential groundwater recharge are oftentimes unknown because of variable infiltration rates. This study examined the performance of a field site on the University of Utah campus in Salt Lake City, Utah. Data were collected between March, 2012 and November, 2012. The site demonstrated improvement in volume retention and infiltration over the preexisting conditions. The average storm event produced 5.6 mm (0.22 in) of precipitation. For all storm events examined, nearly all inflow volume was retained and either infiltrated, lost through evapotranspiration, or utilized by plants. Average vertical and horizontal infiltration rates ranged between 0.5 cm/hr and 20 cm/hr for the sandy loam subsoils. The wetting front took 1 to 2 days (24 to 48 hrs) to reach the 1.8 m (6 ft) depth and 7 to 14 days to reach the 3.7 m (12 ft) depth depending on the spatial location. At depths of 1.8 m (6 ft), 3.7 m (12 ft) and 4.6 m (15 ft) outside the basin, the wetting front progressed at least 3 m (10 ft) laterally in three days (72 hrs), but without additional sensors located at larger lateral distances, it remains unclear exactly where the lateral extent of the wetting front ceases. Without additional engineering to protect infrastructure such as building foundations and retaining walls, it is recommended that bioretention cells constructed in semiarid climates and with similar subsoils be located at least 6.1 m (20 ft) from infrastructure. Overall, this research indicates that bioretention is a viable stormwater best management practice in Utah. It was shown that with proper design and sizing, nearly all annual runoff volume can be controlled on site and either infiltrated or utilized by native plant species. As measured infiltration data were limited to the vadose zone, the infiltrated volume was considered potential recharge; future work may include modeling and installation of deeper sensors as a means of approximating recharge.


Considering the reduction of egg amount of the critical species(four domestic carps) in the middle reaches of Hanjiang River and its influence on the ecosystem,a new method for integrating the hydrology,hydraulics and ecology is put forward,which includes choosing critical species,crucial eco-hydrological variables and calculating the medium ecological water requirement by cross-section data and historical hydrological data at the river station.By applying this to three hydrological station located at the middle reaches of Hanjiang River,we got satisfying ecological water requirement for spawning of four major Chinese carps.The results has a certain reference value for proper water resources allocation and the reasonable control of the Danjiangkou reservoir in the middle reaches of Hanjiang river when South-to-North Water Transfer Project is finished.


This chapter addresses international environmental law in the courts of Oceania. The Oceania region stretches across Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia, embracing fourteen independent states, two states in free association with New Zealand, and offshore territories of three other states. The states of Oceania have generally been strong advocates for international environmental law and have adopted notable regional environmental treaties. A range of topics of international environmental law has been canvassed in Oceania courts, from sustainable fisheries management to the protection of world heritage. Reflecting the major threat that global warming poses to Oceania, cases addressing climate issues represent a growing proportion of this region's environmental jurisprudence. However, the primary barrier to greater application of international environmental law in Oceania courts is the incomplete implementation of environmental treaty commitments in domestic law.


Short stature has been associated with increased various disease and all-cause death, but 13 no reliable data exist the association between height and end-stage renal disease (ESRD) in diabetic 14 patients. We investigated the relationship between short stature, development of ESRD, and 15 mortality in type 2 diabetes. This study analyzed clinical data using the National Health Insurance 16 Database in Korea. Height was stratified by five groups according to age and sex. Risk of ESRD and 17 all-cause mortality was analyzed with Cox proportional hazards models. During a 6.9-year 18 follow-up period, 220,457 subjects (8.4%) died and 28,704 subjects (1.1%) started dialysis. Short 19 stature significantly increased the incidence of ESRD and all-cause mortality in the overall cohort 20 analysis. In multivariable analysis, hazard ratios (HR) for development of ESRD comparing the 21 highest versus lowest quartiles of adult height were 0.86 (95% confidence interval (CI), 0.83–0.89). 22 All-cause mortality also decreased with highest height compared to patients with lowest height 23 after fully adjusting for confounding variables (HR 0.79, 95% CI, 0.78–0.81). Adult height had an 24 inverse relationship with newly diagnosed ESRD and all-cause in both males and females. Short 25 stature is strongly associated with an increased risk of ESRD and all-cause mortality in type 2 26 diabetes. 27


Concise enantioselective total syntheses of naturally occurring 2-azaspiro[5,5]undecan-7-ol (Nitraria) alkaloids viz. (–)-isonitramine, (–)-sibirine, and (+)-nitramine are accomplished in 42, 38, and 25 % overall yield, respectively, in six steps starting from enantiomerically pure (S)-methyl 3-allyl-2-oxo-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine-3-carboxylate (>99 % ee). The key feature of the syntheses involves diastereoselective Hosomi–Sakurai allylation followed by ring-closing metathesis.


This paper addresses the flexibility of ANSI 136, it's RTT proponent UWC 136 and it's application to dual frequency band operation within the same market and with the ability to provide differentiated access and incremental capacity augmentation. This paper is based upon real implementation experience using parameters within ANSI 136 and hierarchical cell structures in Toronto, Canada.


ABSTRACT In 21st-century Arabic literature of migration, modernist and earlier postcolonial discourses on exile and migration have been giving way to writings that grapple with subjectivities born of mass migration and the encounter with borders and borderlands. This article puts contemporary Arabic literature of forced or precarious migration to Europe in conversation with postcolonial studies, Arabic literary studies, and border studies. Though Arabic literature and postcolonial literary theory have not been adequately co-theorized, we can draw on approaches from postcolonial studies. The article suggests that the most urgent anti-hegemonic critiques in contemporary migration literature pertain to borders, citizenship, belonging within the kinds of precarity created in contemporary contexts of migration. In border studies, we find multiple approaches to querying borders and borderlands: as barriers that uphold global inequalities, sites of transformations, and liminal spaces from which meanings can be re-imagined.


Abstract A meta-analysis of experiments assessing the dependency–helping relationship revealed that across all studies in this area, increased victim dependency is associated with increased willingness to help on the part of others. The dependency–helping relationship is stronger for male victims than for female victims, although subject gender does not appear to mediate the dependency–helping relationship. Several methodological and situational variables mediate the dependency–helping relationship, including type of helping measure used, type of dependency manipulation employed, whether or not observers were present, degree of contact between subject and victim, and setting in which the study was conducted. The implications of these findings for theoretical models of the dependency–helping relationship are discussed. In addition, these findings are discussed with respect to studies that conceptualize dependency as an individual difference variable rather than as a social cue.


We present the first broadcasting protocol that can alter the number of channels allocated to a given video without inconveniencing the viewer and without causing any temporary bandwidth surge. Our variable bandwidth broadcasting (VBB) protocol assigns to each video a minimum number of channels whose bandwidths are all equal to the video consumption rate. Additional channels can be assigned to the video at any time to reduce the customer waiting time or retaken to free server bandwidth. The cost of this additional flexibility is quite reasonable as the bandwidth requirements of our VBB fall between those of the fast broadcasting protocol and the new pagoda broadcasting protocol.


A comprehensive research program was initiated at Quintette in 1986. Research trials ranging from site preparation treatments to native species selection and establishment methods were implemented and assessed. Results of many of the trials are now being applied operationally.


MINOR MEDICINE. A Treatise on the Nature and Treatment of Common Ailments. By Dr. WaIter Essex Wynter. London: Sydney Appleton, 1907. Price 6s. net. "For who hath despised the day of small things? "-Zechariah iv., 10. This is a book of 275 pp., devoted to the description and treatment of such common complaints as "a Bilious Attack, Pyorrhma Alveolaris, Toothache, Baldness, the Harvest Bug, Chilblains," and suchlike subjects in the sphere of minor medicine. It may be recommended as giving a thoroughly practical description of these ailments and their treatment .


Low-Emissivity Insulation has enclosed reflective air spaces between aluminum foils that have very low emissivity. The reflective air spaces are composed of optimum-sized air cells, which are enclosed by polyethylene foam. The critical difference between Low-Emissivity Insulation and conventional reflective insulation is the presence of a honeycomb structure formed from polyethylene that serves as the core material. Low-Emissivity Insulation has a foil surface emissivity of 0.04 with enclosed air cells between foils. Its core material is polyethylene foam with 35 times expansion, which is expanded to make air cells. The enclosed air cells with foil reduce convective and radiative heat transfer. To verify the high efficiency of Low-Emissivity Insulation, it was tested by an accredited laboratory designated by the Korean government. Comprehensive thermal transmittance tests were conducted for the Low-Emissivity Insulation of specimens of various thicknesses. The thicknesses of the specimens were 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 80, and 100mm. Based on the test results, its insulation-affecting factors were investigated using a trial-and-error method.


The Institute of Waste Management of Southern Africa (IWMSA) held its quarterly council meeting on 18 November 2015. I am pleased to report back on key developments within the organisation.


A phenomenon was found in electrophoretic deposition (EPD) of Au nanoparticles: the ordered two-dimensional (2D) assembly of Au nanoparticles can take place not only on the surface of electrode, but also in the bulk hydrosol. Cu2+ generated from copper anode during EPD has a major effect on the assembly in sol of Au nanoparticles. (c) 2007 The Electrochemical Society.


Abstract We measured the fractionation of stable nitrogen (δ15N) and carbon (δ13C) isotopes in the breast and primary feathers of 11 Common Murres (Uria aalge) maintained on a diet of capelin (Mallotus villosus). Diet–feather δ15N fractionation from delipidated capelin muscle to murre feathers was 3.6‰ ± 0.2‰ in breast feathers and 3.7‰ ± 0.2‰ in primary feathers. Fractionation of δ13C was 2.5‰ ± 0.2‰ in breast feathers and 1.9‰ ± 0.3‰ in primary feathers. Prey–feather fractionation (for delipidated, muscle-only prey samples) for nine other species of seabirds ranged from 3.0‰ to 4.6‰ for δ15N and 0.1‰ to 2.5‰ for δ13C. Studies that did not remove lipids from prey samples showed higher δ15N and δ13C fractionation, and those that used whole prey items rather than muscle tissue alone showed higher δ15N fractionation. We suggest that: (1) prey samples be delipidated to facilitate interpretation of δ13C fractionation, (2) high interstudy and interspecific variation in δ13C makes species-specific studies essential, and (3) use of muscle tissue rather than whole bodies of fish will minimize unexplained variation in δ15N fractionation.


$\mu\mathrm{PMUs}$ are a promising monitoring device for monitoring and smarting the distribution grid by providing a synchronized phasor measurement of bus voltages and branch phasor currents besides sequence components, frequency, and harmonics content. They are designed with high accuracy level to withstand the distribution grid challenges. Understanding μ PMUs behavior and error sources under different operation conditions are essential to address the desired quality standard. This paper presents a MATLAB/SIMULINK $\mu\mathrm{PMU}$ model, which addressed the analog filter, GPS uncertainty, and off-nominal operation errors and the elimination methods of these errors. The proposed model is tested using a standard input wave with unit step frequency change. Moreover, the model performance is evaluated for unbalanced distribution grid feeders with random load change. The model showed accurate estimation of phasors magnitude, angles, sequence components, frequency, and harmonics content.


It is shown that a relatively weak initial shock introduced into an otherwise isentropic hollowshell implosion can cause central fuel ignition, the bulk of the fuel undergoing little increase in entropy. The imploded-state fuel configuration is analysed at the threshold of ignition, and it is found that electron heat conduction is the predominant cooling mechanism opposing fuel ignition. Approximate temperature-dependent ρR requirements are presented for the conduction-limited ignition of thin DT shells, and for the equality of electron heat conduction and α-particle transport in thermonuclear burn propagation.


ranks of what less charitable cliometricians have been pleased to call traditional history. Serious problems still remain for those concerned with the historical investigation of the evolution of technological processes. While it would appear that David has scuttled the neoclassical apparatus for the evolutionary approach, old theoretical artifices are hard to part company with. The homiletical metaphor — the theorist's device to truncate further investigation into the domain of possible causes — remains prominent even in David's newest effort. Unimpeded non-stationary random walks (71), elastic barriers (75), and quasi-neutrality (84) will probably not help much with the problem of explaining how two economies become economically and technologically differentiated in the first instance, rather than accounting for the persistence of differentiation (or increasing differentiation) once its emergence has been presumed to have occurred. After nearly a decade and a half of analytical interpretation, largely along neoclassical lines, it would appear that it is time to pass the baton to "good, old" traditional history.


Virtual reference services, including e-mail, chat or IM, and for some, text messaging, are widespread and increasingly imperative in academic libraries. These services provide a method of contact for users who either physically cannot come to the library or are simply more comfortable requesting help via virtual means. As virtual reference is incorporated into the menu of reference services, it is important to consider how the role of instruction in reference translates to the virtual medium. Although virtual reference interactions possess inherent challenges and barriers between the librarian and user, technology is increasingly available to not only combat these challenges and break down these barriers, but also to help make the most of teachable moments, liven and enhance virtual reference interactions, and foster an instructional experience that accommodates multiple learning styles.


In stressed power systems nonlinear effects are of great importance for capturing infrequent phenomena. The authors investigate the bistable behavior of a power system which is due to nonlinearity of the system. The results obtained reveal the existence of two stable states (one is steady-state and the other is periodic) under the fixed parameter of interest. Depending on the perturbation, the system operating condition will be attracted to either fixed point or periodic.<<ETX>>


The 1996 edition of the National Electrical Code contains a new Article 625 that covers electric vehicle charging systems. One of the provisions of this article specifies that equipment/charging systems for electric vehicles will be required to provide protection against electric shock due to ground faults. This report outlines the findings of Underwriters Laboratories Inc. during the field test and evaluation of Charging Circuit Interruption Devices (CCIDs) that are part of fully operational Electric Vehicle Charging Systems. The work associated with this report is directly related to the Technical Proposal for RFP4856-05 respectfully submitted to EPRI by UL on October 30, 1996. The work plan developed by Underwriters Laboratories to conduct its analysis and to conduct the field evaluation of CCIDs is described in the technical proposal. Additional technical reference is contained in this document and UL-2231: Outline of Investigation for Personnel Protection Systems for Electric Vehicle Supply Circuits. This report is comprised of the information contained in the three preliminary site reports, a Summary and a Conclusion. The preliminary reports have been updated and edited to expand data previously stated. Testing as described in this report was performed at each of three sites located in Detroit, MI, Phoenix, AZmore » and Los Angeles, CA. One of the main objectives was to provide field data to improve the Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment (EVSE) boxes which contained the CCIDs. In addition, the authors set out to determine if the CCIDs would operate as intended under different climatic conditions. It was concluded by the Personnel Protection Subcommittee of the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Working Council (IWC) that the objectives were met.« less


Theoretical considerations are given for the design of an ultrasonic pulsing system for noncohesive dusts. In addition, measurements of less than one percent error of sonic velocity were made in volcanic rocks of different textures. Pumice containing elongate vesicles exhibits marked sonic anisotropy. In contrast, basaltic scoria with approximately equidimensional vesicles exhibits sonic isotropy. These anisotropy contrasts may be significant in interpreting Surveyor return data and in evaluating lunar base requirements. Sonic velocity with a simultaneous recording of porosity in rock dusts under ambient conditions ranges from 150 m/sec (500 ft/sec) to 700 m/sec (2,100 ft/sec). Absolute measurements of shear strength, using the vane‐type shear tester, were made at critical density obtained by vibrating the simulated lunar dust samples for specified time periods. Relative shear strengths were also compared at maximum density obtained by long‐period vibration of dust samples. Comparson of stress curves of d...


In the retail industry in Europe there is an ongoing trend of market consolidation by rapid growth of the large international retail companies. Undergoing process of retail market concentration is bringing new challenges to all market participants: suppliers (such as: production industry, wholesalers and logistic companies), existing retailers and customers. In this paper we will discuss types of concentrations in retail industry and the reached level of the retail market concentration. We will address the impact of concentration process on retail market structure. In addition, we will explain the requisite of state legislation in this area via competition law.


New management measures introduced by the Chairman and president which helped turn the Harley Davidson Company truly competitive here and abroad are described. This was mainly the result of a visit to Japanese motorcycle factories and led to such innovations as statistical process control and quality control circles. It was found that the secret lay not in robotics or high-tech systems but in the intelligent, efficient organization of the company's employees and production systems. Diversification was another new emphasis: the company now manufactures rocket engines for target drones and casings for artillery shells. Replacement parts and licensed gear also contribute to the bottom line. The company has trained 800 of its 2,400 workers to sample and analyze data they observe on the job. Programs have been initiated that vary from plant to plant, involve 30 to 40 hours of classes, and are related to problem-solving skills learned in quality circles throughout the organization. One of the biggest changes was in plant management structure: the traditional hierarchy of responsibilities was replaced with a system in which each employee from the line up has "ownership" in running an efficient operation. Staff functions were eliminated to obtain a shallower organizational chart and huge savings. A Materials As Needed (NAN) pilot program has been started after the success of similar programs in Japan. The human resources department's attempts to develop a participative and more humane environment are also described.


The continuity of the SPOT/VGT and PROBA-V time series is important for a wide range of users. In order to assess the possible extension of the SPOT/VGT―PROBA-V data with Sentinel-3, the consistency between PROBA-V and Sentinel-3 Synergy products is evaluated. This analysis is based on intermediate Sentinel-3 Level 2 synergy products, made available to expert users in 2017. Preliminary consistency checks on S3A_SY_2_ VGP and PROBA-V Level 2A shows a relatively good consistency for Blue, Red and NIR, but bad consistency for SWIR, with systematic differences up to 17%, depending on the segment.


ContextSexual self-efficacy (SSE) is a key concept in sexual behavior and sexual health. The overall purpose of this research was to review of the factors related to the sexual self-efficacy.Evidence AcquisitionAn extensive literature search was performed using PubMed, Web of Science, Social Science Research Network, CINAHL, Psych INFO, Magiran, Iran Medex, Iran Doc, SID and Google Scholar. This review study was conducted according to the PRISMA checklist. Eligible studies were identified from English and Persian databases, published between 1990 and 2018. Studies were screened independently by two researchers who performed the data extraction.ResultsOf 128 studies identified, 25 studies met our inclusion criteria. Factors related to SSE were summarized into 4 groups: sociodemographic factors (e.g. age, race, socioeconomic status, parental support, social support, religious obligations, negotiation skills, addicts, working hours, history of delivery, physical problem), marital status factors (e.g., failure in marriage, marital satisfaction, marital quality, marriage duration, intimacy), sexual history factors (e.g. sexual self-concept, sexual experience, confidence in sexual relationships, sexual activity, sexual self-schema, sexual adjustment, childhood sexual abuse, sexual disorders, sexual risk cognition, experiences of abuse or violence, partner's belief, experiences of sex-therapy training), psychological factors (e.g. obsession, psychosis, anxiety, depression, paranoia, phobia, individual sensitivity, aggression).ConclusionsWith regards to the important role of SSE in sexual health, deeper perception factors related to SSE are needed. More comprehension of these agents can acquaint targeted approaches in order to improve SSE and reduce the sexual problems.


1. The volume relation of molecular or specific fluidity holds good even when the viscosity changes remarkably with pressure.2. The volume and temperature relations give results which agree well with each other in all respects.3. From the two sorts of relations concerning the viscosity, the following equation was obtained,(Remark: Graphics omitted.)\oindentwhich was found to hold with good accuracy.