Purpose Peritoneal metastasis (PM) is usually considered an incurable factor of gastric cancer (GC) and not fit for surgery. The aim of this study is to develop and validate an 18F-FDG PET/CT-derived radiomics model combining with clinical risk factors for predicting PM of GC. Method In this retrospective study, 410 GC patients (PM − = 281, PM + = 129) who underwent preoperative 18F-FDG PET/CT images from January 2015 to October 2021 were analyzed. The patients were randomly divided into a training cohort (n = 288) and a validation cohort (n = 122). The maximum relevance and minimum redundancy (mRMR) and the least shrinkage and selection operator method were applied to select feature. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was preformed to develop the predicting model. Discrimination, calibration, and clinical usefulness were used to evaluate the performance of the nomogram. Result Fourteen radiomics feature parameters were selected to construct radiomics model. The area under the curve (AUC) of the radiomics model were 0.86 [95% confidence interval (CI), 0.81–0.90] in the training cohort and 0.85 (95% CI, 0.78–0.92) in the validation cohort. After multivariable logistic regression, peritoneal effusion, mean standardized uptake value (SUVmean), carbohydrate antigen 125 (CA125) and radiomics signature showed statistically significant differences between different PM status patients(P < 0.05). They were chosen to construct the comprehensive predicting model which showed a performance with an AUC of 0.92 (95% CI, 0.89–0.95) in the training cohort and 0.92 (95% CI, 0.86–0.98) in the validation cohort, respectively. Conclusion The nomogram based on 18F-FDG PET/CT radiomics features and clinical risk factors can be potentially applied in individualized treatment strategy-making for GC patients before the surgery.


X-ray tomography has been established as a nondestructive three-dimensional analysis tool, commercially offered by industrial vendors. Typical applications cover shape control and failure detection (voids, cracks) deep inside of complicated bulk pieces like engine blocks, bearings, turbine blades etc.. We evaluated the applicability of the process for superconducting radio frequency cavities, in particular a generic 1.3 GHz single test cell cavity, the 1.4-cell 1.3 GHz bERLinPro electron gun cavity and the 1.5 GHz VSR-1-cell-prototype cavity. The gun cavity experienced severe shape modifications during its tuning process and features a complicated internal stiffening construction. Thus it is a challenge to measure its actual internal cavity surface shape after the complete preparation process with a resolution, sufficiently high (better than 0.2 mm) to serve as input for meaningful comparative field simulations. First tests with a vendor's on-site X-ray source, operating at X-ray energies up to 590 keV revealed an insufficient resolution of the inner surface, attributed to the unfavorable X-ray damping characteristics of niobium. This was overcome with the aid of an accelerator-based source (X-ray spectrum up to 7.5 MeV), operated by Fraunhofer IISEZRT, Fürth, Germany. Results show significant, while understood, shape changes and indicate partial inner surface modifications of the gun cavity. Further, the data evaluation process, which was needed to provide input for field simulations, raised issues because of data set size and complexity and illustrated further some typical artefacts, which are discussed in the paper.


Moment Tensors of hydraulically induced AEs: Hydraulic fracturing is an important technique in the development of enhanced geothermal systems and unconventional resources. Although the fracture modes induced by hydraulic fracturing influence the recovery efficiency of the resources, the current understanding of this relationship is insufficient. In this study, we considered the acoustic emissions (AEs) induced during hydraulic fracturing under uniaxial loading conditions in the laboratory, and applied a moment tensor analysis by carefully correcting the coupling condition and directivity of AE transducers. Experiments were conducted for two types of Kurokami–jima granite samples: those with a rift plane perpendicular (Type H) or parallel (Type V) to the expected direction of fracture propagation (i.e. along the loading axis). In the experiments, both sample types experienced a significant number of shear, tensile and compressive events. The dominant fracture mode for Type H samples is found to be tensile events in which the fracture plane is parallel to the loading axis, whereas for Type V samples, shear events are dominant. This difference suggests that the dominant fracture modes induced by hydraulic fracturing are highly dependent on the relationship between the direction of fracture propagation and orientation of pre-existing weak planes.


The dibutyltin 3,4-dimethoxybenzotate compound {[(3,4-(CH3O)2C6H3COO) Sn(Bu-n)2]2O}2 has been synthesized by the reaction of dibutyltin oxide with 3,4-dimethoxybenzoic acid. Its structure was determined by X-ray single-crystal diffraction. The crystal belongs to the triclinic system,space group P1 with a = 1.2003(2),b = 1.2821(3),c = 1.3666(3) nm,α = 80.50(3),β = 65.56(3),γ = 73.36(3)°,Z = 2,V = 1.8318(6) nm3,Dc = 1.530 Mg·m-3,μ(MoKa) = 1.413 mm-1,F(000) = 860,R = 0.0554 and wR = 0.1092. In the complex,each tin atom adopts a distorted tigonal bipyramidal structure,and the dimer structure is shaped by one Sn2O2 planar four-membered ring. The stabilities of the title complex,along with its orbital energies and composition characteristics of some frontier molecular orbitals have been investigated by means of quantum chemistry calculation methods.


In November 2001, October and November 2002, the concentrations of Hg, Cd, Pb, Cr, Cu, Zn and Ni were determined in four localities of the lower course of the Jihlava River (Czech Republic). The river water, sediments of the riverbed, zoobenthos and tissues of the fish (gill, gonad, skin, dorsal muscle) were analysed. The chub (Leuciscus cephalus) was used as the ichthyo-indicator. At the same time, the stability of the fish community was evaluated using electrofishing and applying basic ichthyological methods. The work links up with previous investigation of the upper course of the Jihlava River (three localities) carried out by the authors in the same way in 1999. The aim of present study was the completion of previous investigation in the whole longitudinal river profile by monitoring selected heavy metals. The highest Cr (14.290 – 77.070 mg/kg), Zn (13.600 – 92.930 mg/kg) and Ni concentrations (12.290 – 36.680 mg/kg) were found in sediments and their highest loading by all of the monitored metals (without Ni) was detected in the last downstream locality (Pohořelice). Zoobenthos was most contaminated by Zn and Cu (7.480 – 62.690 and 8.050 – 21.810 mg/kg). In the body tissues of the chubs, the highest concentrations of Cd, Hg, Cu, Zn and Ni were determined in the gills, while Pb was also high in gills but also in gonads, the skin and in the muscle tissue. Concentrations of the analysed metals in the chub muscle were (in mg/kg): Hg 0.040 ± 0.014 – 0.133 ± 0.063, Cd 0.003 ± 0.002 – 0.010 ± 0.004, Pb 0.045 ± 0.038 – 0.768 ± 0.038, Cr 0.046 ± 0.023 – 0.106 ± 0.092, Cu 0.203 ± 0.123 – 0.634 ± 0.194, Zn 4.25 ± 0.84 – 6.69 ± 2.95 and Ni 0.062 ± 0.018 – 0.103 ± 0.030. Significant differences in the chub muscle were found concerning Hg, Pb, Cu (P < 0.01) and Cd (P < 0.05). Taking into consideration the actually valid FAO/WHO limits for human consumption of chub muscle from the investigated river section, only Hg (PTWI 2.3 kg in locality 7) and Pb (PTWI 2.0 kg in locality 4) could constitute some risk for human health. The index of diversity of the fish community was 0.825 – 2.110, equitability index 0.380 – 0.793, abundance 312.6 – 2,106.5 fish/ha and biomass 46.7 – 451.5 kg/ha. The water quality was characterized as betamesosaprobic (saprobity index 1.77 – 2.18). The results of the study reveal detailed ecological data concerning heavy metals contamination of the whole Jihlava River ecosystem (water, sediment, zoobenthos, fish). The outcome of this study extends our knowledge about metals accumulation in different fish tissues (gill, gonad, skin and muscle). Stream environment, residual metal pollution, zoobenthos, fish tissues, chub (Leuciscus cephalus)


AbstractThis study proposes a dynamical performance-ranking method (called the Du–Zhou ranking method) to predict the relative performance of individual ensemble members by assuming the ensemble mean is a good estimation of the truth. The results show that the method 1) generally works well, especially for shorter ranges such as a 1-day forecast; 2) has less error in predicting the extreme (best and worst) performers than the intermediate performers; 3) works better when the variation in performance among ensemble members is large; 4) works better when the model bias is small; 5) works better in a multimodel than in a single-model ensemble environment; and 6) works best when using the magnitude difference between a member and its ensemble mean as the "distance" measure in ranking members. The ensemble mean and median generally perform similarly to each other.This method was applied to a weighted ensemble average to see if it can improve the ensemble mean forecast over a commonly used, simple equally weigh...


2038Background: Ependymoma is a subtype of glioma that is rare in adults. Its classification has remained entirely morphological until recently, and surgery and radiotherapy remain the mainstays of...


Comparing with buck-boost converter, flyback converter has positive output voltage in switching mode converters, therefore, flyback converter is easier to supply voltage for the rear-end application circuit. The delta-sigma modulator takes important advantage of the noise-shaping and oversampling properties to eliminate the spike in DC-DC flyback converter. Also, comparing with pulse width modulation (PWM), the proposed two-order delta-sigma (ΔΣ) modulator has strong ability of improving the noise rejection in switch-mode converters. It supplies more steady energy to sensitive circuits such as audio amplifier or power amplifier. Because of low-voltage design, the inverter-based operational amplifier is proposed in this work, which can keep operational amplifier good performance. The input voltage of the proposed circuit is 1.5V, and the range of output voltage is from 1V to 3.3V. The chip area is 2.24 × 2.24 mm2.


This thesis applies a panel data approach with more than 100 countries to analyse the relation between aid and Foreign Direct Investments (FDI). While research on the effects of official development aid (ODA) as a whole is abundantly available, this thesis distinguishes itself by analysing the effects of aid flows that are intended for human capital, infrastructure or physical capital. Economic theory predicts a positive relation between human capital, infrastructure and FDI, and a negative relation between physical capital and FDI. It appears from the empirical analysis that the general relation between aid flows and FDI is not convincing. By dividing the sample into sub-samples according to income or location, it appears that the relation is strong in some specifications. This gives use to the conclusion that the aid-FDI relation is present in some cases and not in others, which means that local characteristics have a decisive influence on this relation.


In this paper we prove existence and uniqueness of classical solu- tions for the non-autonomous inhomogeneous Cauchy problem d dt u(t) = A(t)u(t) + f(t), 0 s t T, L(t)u(t) = ( t)u(t) + g(t), 0 s t T, u(s) = x. The solution to this problem is obtained by a variation of constants formula.


The objective of this study was to analyze six essential oils from Zanthoxylum genus (family Rutaceae) in China and evaluate their repellent activities against Tribolium castaneum and Lasioderma serricorne adults. Six essential oils from Zanthoxylum genus, including Z. armatum, Z. dimorphophyllum, Z. dimorphophyllum var. spinifolium, Z. piasezkii, Z. stenophyllum, and Z. dissitum, were obtained by hydrodistillation and their yields were ranging from 0.02% to 0.53%. Totally, there were 39 chemical components revealed by GC-MS. Among them, some components with high relative content existed in more than three Zanthoxylum species. For instance, both -cadinene (1.21%–17.15%) and spathulenol (0.36%–10.19%) appeared in essential oils of Z. dimorphophyllum, Z. piasezkii, Z. stenophyllum, and Z. dissitum which were found to have higher content of sesquiterpenoids. The repellent activities of six essential oil samples against T. castaneum and L. serricorne adults were investigated for the first time. Data demonstrated that six Zanthoxylum species had much stronger repellent activities against T. castaneum than L. serricorne adults, especially in 2 hours after exposure. The results indicate that these six essential oils from Zanthoxylum have significant potential to be developed into natural repellents to control insects in grains, food, and traditional Chinese medicinal materials.


A new species of Neurostigma, collected in an area of Atlantic Rainforest, in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais, is described and illustrated, namely: Neurostigma atlanticum sp. nov. The first record of Neurostigma garcialdretei Mendivil-Nieto, Gonzalez-Obando & Carrejo-Gironza, 2020, from Brazil was made.


Building Information Modelling (BIM) has been indicated as the right tool to provide the construction industry with the productivity boost that has been lacking in the last 40 years. This momentum finds its highest fulfilment in the support provided by BIM models to knowledge management and the automation of process. However, the management of information flow is still far from its automation breakthrough and, as far as operation and maintenance are concerned, knowledge about procedures is often incomplete. Moreover, processes are often do not undergo optimisation and the individual steps to be performed are not communicated, but in facility management (FM) the transmission of know-how is fundamental particularly because some operations are dangerous or risky. In this framework, Mixed Reality (MR) represents a powerful means to communicate the correct data concerning both geometric features to be considered and the standard procedure to be followed. The aim of this paper is to investigate the possibility of exploiting the benefits provided by these technologies to achieve automation in the transmission of information and optimisation of procedures, improving efficiency and productivity thanks to a better understanding of the operations to be carried out and the reduction of errors. With the support of a head-mounted display (HDM) device with a see-through screen capable of presenting 3D virtual objects, this research tries to combine information from a BIM model with reality to study the benefits for maintenance personnel.


A search for information on the thermal, radiation, and chemical stability of sulfur dioxide was made. Although sulfur dioxide has a very high thermal stability it is very reactive with carbon, especially at temperatures above 500 to 800 deg C. The radiation stability is not promising. (D.L.C.)


OBJECTIVE: To understand how pharmacy spending varies across the VA Medical Centers in the United States. Pharmacy costs continue to rise. From 1990 to 1994 pharmacy expenditures were reported to be 6% of the total Veteran's Health Association (VHA) budget. In 1995 and 1996 it was 7%. In 1997 it was 8% and in 1998 it was 9%. Then in 1999 it went to 11%. Future projections are for a continued increase in budget spending. METHODS: Ratios of yearly Pharmacy to Medical Center expenditures were compared. These ratios were ranked and compared with geographical location. The years of 1997 and 1998 were studied. RESULTS: The majority of the highest ratios were located in the Midwest, Soutwest, and Southern regions of the United States. CONCLUSIONS: Financial ratios can demonstrate variations in expenditures and identify areas that may require further inquiry.


In order to investigate the behavior of wire rope under the dynamic load, we experimented with a drop hammer type impact tester, which was of our own design, and discussion was made on the impact breaking strength and the absorption of energy of wire ropes, comparing with those obtained by static tests.In this paper we report how the breaking strength and absorption of energy are influenced by the impact speed and the length of wire rope. The results can be summarized as follows:Under the test conditions:Length of wire rope varying from 500mm to 2000mm, Impact speed varying from 3.8m/s to 6.9m/s, 1) As the impact speed is increased or as the specimen becomes shorter, the breaking strength increases.2) As the impact speed is increased or as the specimen becomes shorter, the inclination of stress-strain diagram augments, and absorption of energy decreases.3) Absorption of energy is not so markedly influenced by the impact speed within the range of this experiments, but when the rope is extremely short, then it decreases very rapidly.


The objective of this research is the creation of a testing bench prototype for comparing different types of heart valves, taking into account the variability of some important parameters involved in cardiovascular events. Thanks to performed tests and to obtained data, the comparison between the different valves allows physicians to make the most appropriate choice of heart valve for each patient. The study is still in preliminary stage: it is necessary to do many tests in order to obtain a large amount of data with which it is possible to proceed with the development and implementation of a testing bench stable and easily programmable.


High voltage compact devices of energy compression of sub-nanosecond time range were developed and tested. The devices consist of high-impedance (HL) and forming (FL) lines, which operate in the traveling wave mode. High-pressure gas dischargers were used as the switches. In contrast to previous units the FL with impedance, which is not equal to initial generator impedance and with lower value was used in the new devices to increase an output voltage. In an experiment the devices allowed to convert pulse with amplitude -145 kV across 45 Ohm load with 4 ns duration and 1.5 ns rise time to nanosecond pulse with voltage amplitude up to -243 kV. Rise time of the pulses amounted 0.2-0.5 ns under pulse duration ~ 0.7 ns. Peak power was increased in 2.8 times. The devices were tested in the batch mode at 500 pulses in packet with repetition rate up to 100 pps. (4 pages)


The results are described for a study of time-optimal rendezvous in three dimensions with bounds on the rocket thrust and limitations on the available propellant. The equations of motion are linearized and Neustadt's method is used to solve the two-point boundary-value problem in the seven-dimensional state space. Three convergence acceleration schemes are studied. Fletcher and Powell's modification of Davidon's method was superior to both Powell's method and a modified method of steepest ascent. Examples of terminal rendezvous paths are presented and discussed in terms of the magnitudes of the bounds on thrust and fuel. The dependence of terminal errors on initial measurement errors in position and velocity is also discussed.


This article reviews recent changes in the business environment and considers how these impact upon auditing. It presents a view of the drivers of quality in auditing and assesses how these may be impacted by changes in the rules on the independence of auditors.


: This article presents a case study examining how a notion of safety provision must come to be considered by Bulgarian municipal cemetery managers in relation to memorial structures. It aims in assisting analysis of the primary processes by which safety guidance is discussed and integrated within the authorities in management of the memorial parks environment. A case of death from compression of a woman's body by a memorial structure and consecutive forensic medical examination at the Department of Forensic Medicine at University Hospital is presented. Consideration of literature references on the topic of policy and law impositions in Bulgaria and the European Union member states are also taken into account. In conclusion, the article implies that a simple proclamation of rules and guidance concerning memorial safety should be negotiated and accepted by public authorities as good practice


NO⌫A, the NuMI O↵-Axis ⌫e Appearance experiment will study ⌫μ ! ⌫e oscillations, characterized by the mixing angle ✓13. A complementary pair of detectors will be constructed ⇠14 mrad o↵ beam axis to optimize the energy profile of the neutrinos. This system consists of a surface based 14 kTon liquid scintillatior tracking volume located 810 km from the main injector source (NuMI) in Ash River, Minnesota and a smaller underground 222 Ton near detector at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (FNAL). The first neutrino signals at the Ash River site are expected soon after the completion of 2012 Fermilab accelerator upgrades. In the meantime, a near detector surface prototype has been completed and neutrinos from two sources at FNAL have been observed using the same highly segmented PVC and liquid scintillator detector system that will be deployed in the full scale experiment. With the recent measurements of ✓13 as input, updated sensitivities of NO⌫A's capability to ultimately determine the ordering of the neutrino masses and measure CP violation in neutrino oscillations will be provided. Additionally, design and initial performance characteristics of the surface prototype system along with implications for the full NO⌫Aprogram will be presented.


Formation of manufacturing cell, determination of cell layout and intracellular machine layout are th ree basic steps in the design of CMS. It is important a nd more practical to integrate the above factors simultaneously in the design of CMS. However, very little researches have been done on CFP to integrat e cell formation, cell layout, and intracellular mach ine layout simultaneously. Hence, we propose a two-stag e approach to address these issues. Two mathematical models are developed for the first and second stage , respectively. As problems in the two stages are NPhard, tabu search (TS) approach is employed in both stages. Several test instances from the literature are employed to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed solution algorithm. Computational experiences from test problems show that the proposed approach is extremely effective and efficient. When compared with the mathematical programming approach which took 34 hours to solve problems, the proposed algorithm is able to produce optimal solutions in less than 1 second. These comparisons show that the proposed approach is very effective, efficient and practical.


Protons from /sup 252/Cf fission have been studied to determine their origin by using a ..delta..E, E detector particle telescope. Both fission- and nonfission-related events are discussed as possible sources of the observed proton energy spectrum. The increased yield of low-energy protons, which peak at approximately 3.2 MeV, seems to be due mainly to background (..cap alpha..,p) reactions. Evidence of polar proton emission is discussed and gives an estimated polar proton emission yield of 2.83 +- 0.18 x 10/sup -5/ per fission, with a most probable energy of 10.0 +- 0.2 MeV and full-width at half-maximum (FWHM) of 7.6 +- 0.2 MeV. The yield of tripartition fission-related protons was then estimated to be 3.50 +- 0.20 x 10/sup -5/ per fission, with a most probable energy of 6.6 +- 0.2 MeV and an FWHM of 7.0 +- 0.2 MeV.


The European Space Agency funded programme into the research and development of European radioisotope power systems (RPSs) began in 2008. Three RPS technologies are under development, namely, radioisotope heater units, radioisotope thermoelectric generators, and Stirling generators. Americium (241Am) was selected as the 'fuel', which provides radiogenic heat to the RPSs. An essential aspect of the programme is the ability to create an americium oxide fuel form, namely discs or pellets, that meet a range of requirements e.g. intact bodies with relatively high relative densities that allow for He-outgassing. Research with surrogates for americium oxides is essential for investigating the range of variables that influence the ability to achieve this whilst limiting the research with the highly radioactive material. In this study, americium oxide surrogates (e.g. Nd2O3) have been created using two different techniques (continuous oxalate precipitation and calcination, and sol-gel and calcination) with the objective of creating particles with differing morphology. Owing to the polymorphism of Nd2O3, X-ray diffraction is conducted to assess crystal structure phase changes in the powder material to inform sintering studies. The surrogate powders are cold-pressed and sintered to assess the impact on pellet properties e.g. density and integrity. The surrogate fuel study highlights the importance of assessing the impact of particle shape and crystal structure on the ability to meet fuel form requirements, and will inform future research with the americium oxide fuel.


1. From Guidance Worker to Professional School Counselor. 2. The Professional School Counselor and Legal and Ethical Issues. 3. The Culturally Sensitive Professional School Counselor. 4. Students with Special Needs. 5. The Developmental, Comprehensive School Counselor Program. 6. The Professional School Counselor and Accountability. 7. The Professional School Counselor's Role in Career Development. 8. The Professional School Counselor's Role in Testing and Assessment. 9. The Internet's Influence on the School Counseling Profession. 10. Crisis Counseling and Critical Incident Management. 11. The School Counselor and Family Partnership. 12. Planning and Implementing Group Work in the Schools. 13. Expressive Arts in Counseling Children and Adolescents. 14. The Supervision Process and the Professional School Counselor as a Consultant.


The basic equation of the rate constant of a two‐body reaction, κ= ∫ vg ∫ vi fgas(vg)fion(vi)vrσ(vr)dvidvg, is used to infer the cross section from the rate constant of ion—molecule reactions measured in drift tubes as a function of E/p0, κ, vr, and σ are the rate constant, relative speed, and cross section, respectively. The Maxwellian distribution at gas temperature is used for fgas. A displaced Maxwellian, having a temperature parameter defined by the diffusion coefficients, and a displacement defined by 〈 vz〉=vd, is used for fion. vd is the drift velocity. Justifications are given. The advantage of this approach is in the interpretation of rate constants of endothermic reactions. Qualitative and quantitative examples are considered. Very good agreements with experimental results are obtained. A way for calculating the rate constant of ion—molecule reactions under thermal equilibrium conditions is proposed. Its limitations are discussed. The importance of endothermic reactions to ionospheric model calc...


The article compares the forecasts concerning trends in world politics of the early 21st century created by Francis Fukuyama, Samuel Huntington and Immanuel Wallerstein. Though none of the forecasts was completely accurate, all of them spoke of the tendencies that could be later observed in world politics. Despite many experts criticized Fukuyama's concept of the 'end of history', Western elites had been making foreign policies of their countries in accordance with the concept until recently. The article explains how such policies came to contradict contemporary state of affairs. In accordance with Huntington's expectations, the role of civilizational factor in world politics of the early 21st century signifi cantly grew compared to previous periods. However, the character of civilizational factor's infl uence on political processes appeared to be different compared to what Huntington expected. The article underlines the accuracy of Wallerstein's forecast concerning the consequences of mass South-North migration. At the same time, the article concludes, his forecast, likewise the other two, also requires adaptation to contemporary situation in societal development.


The objective of the third edition of Game Theory: A Nontechnical Introduction to the Analysis of Strategy is to introduce the ideas of game theory in a way that is approachable, intuitive, and interdisciplinary. Relying on the Karplus Learning Cycle, the book is intended to teach by example. Noncooperative equilibrium concepts such as Nash equilibrium play the central role. In this third edition, increased stress is placed on the concept of rationalizable strategies, which has proven in teaching practice to assist students in making the bridge from intuitive to more formal concepts of noncooperative equilibrium. The Instructor Manual and PowerPoint Slides for the book are available upon request for all instructors who adopt this book as a course text. Please send your request to email@example.com . Contents: Conflict, Strategy, and Games Some Foundations Dominant Strategies and Social Dilemmas Nash Equilibrium and Rationalizable Strategies Games with Two or More Nash Equilibria Duopoly Strategies and Prices Three-Person Games Probability and Game Theory Mixed Strategy Nash Equilibria N -Person Games Further Topics on Games in Normal Form Sequential Games Imbedded Games Repeated Play Indefinitely Repeated Play Elements of Cooperative Games Bargaining Readership: Undergraduates and graduates studying game theory or those interested in knowing more about game theory.


Palladium-catalyzed coupling reactions have become an effective tool for advanced organic synthesis in both academic and industrial laboratories. 2] In particular, homogeneous palladium complexes allow for the reliable construction of all kinds of C C and C X bonds (X = O, N, S) from aryl and heteroaryl halides. Among the multitude of palladium complexes available for modern coupling reactions, bulky electron-rich phosphanes have become a privileged class of ligands, 4] which in addition to established coupling processes also enable more challenging reactions with water, alcohols, ammonia, fluoride, and synthesis gas. The drawbacks of these sophisticated ligands are their multistep preparation and costs, which are often price determining for the respective catalyst system. Hence, recycling these ligands still constitutes a major challenge. Common concepts for the recycling of palladium catalysts involved in coupling reactions include heterogenization of ligands on polymeric supports and palladium-supported heterogeneous catalysts. Recently, Jin and Lee also fixed homogeneous palladium catalysts onto nanoparticles to combine the advantages of homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysis. 13] On the basis of the development of liquid– liquid biphasic catalysis and the immobilization of molecular catalysts on solid surfaces, elegant concepts for catalyst recycling have been realized in the last decade. For example, Wasserscheid and co-workers demonstrated the feasibility of supported ionic liquid phases as a catalyst support (SILP) in Fischer–Tropsch and hydrogenation reactions. Despite all these developments, to date there exist no examples of the recycling of ligands and palladium catalysts in difficult coupling reactions. In this respect, we describe a general and facile generation of novel sterically hindered, nucleophilic phosphane ligands, which allow for easy recycling and direct reuse in palladium-catalyzed C O, C N, and C C bond-forming reactions.


Polymerization of vinyl acetate (VOAc) was carried out using CCl4 as the initiator in the presence of the Fe(OAc)2/PMDETA (PMDETA = N,N,N',N'',N''-pentamethyldiethylenetriamine) complex. Poly(vinyl acetate) with a wide range of molecular weights was synthesized in a predictable fashion in high yields (ca. 70%) by varying the ratio of the initial concentrations of monomer and initiator. The resulting poly(vinyl acetate) (Mn = 3600 and Mw/Mn = 1.81) was used as an efficient macroinitiator for the synthesis of block copolymers with n-butyl acrylate (Mn = 11 000 and Mw/Mn = 1.41) and styrene (Mn = 24 300 and Mw/Mn = 1.42) using typical atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) catalytic systems. However, more detailed kinetic studies revealed that the VOAc polymerization did not obey ATRP behavior but was a redox-initiated radical telomerization with CCl4 acting as both the initiator and the main-chain transfer agent. Block copolymerization was due to the chain extension with the trichloromethyl end groups.


We define Quillen model structures on a family of presheaf toposes arising from tree unravellings of Kripke models, leading to a homotopy theory for modal logic. Modal preservation theorems and the Hennessy-Milner property are revisited from a homotopical perspective.


This project lies somewhere between the two previous precedents. The form is very clear, yet innovative, and responds to the site in which it was built. This circulation of the building could be related to the circulation on a train, in that the circulation takes place on a single line and the other spaces (the cars) are on either side of that line. This is obviously a modification of that connection, but that element was reminiscent of the railroad that shaped Ogden. In this building, all the programmatic elements are given equal wait regards of their importance, the support space are in the same ovals as the community spaces. This was an idea that was considered in the project, but ultimately, goal and organization of the previous precedents better fit what this project set out to accomplish. This project lies somewhere between the two previous precedents. The form is very clear, yet innovative, and responds to the site in which it was built. This circulation of the building could be related to the circulation on a train, in that the circulation takes place on a single line and the other spaces (the cars) are on either side of that line. This is obviously a modification of that connection, but that element was reminiscent of the railroad that shaped Ogden. In this building, all the programmatic elements are given equal wait regards of their importance, the support space are in the same ovals as the community spaces. This was an idea that was considered in the project, but ultimately, goal and organization of the previous precedents better fit what this project set out to accomplish.


The short hairpin RNA interference sequences targeting CP gene of red-spotted grouper nervous necrosis virus were designed by using online designing software of Invitrogen Co.,Ltd.The structure consisted of 19 nt sense strand,-4 nt loop and-19 nt antisense strand.These sequences are synthesized,annealed,and cloned into pENTRTM/U6 to construct the shRNA interference vectors named pshRNA-124,pshRNA-896 and pshRNA-NNV,respectively.Then the expression vector of pEGFP-CP and each of the three shRNA interference vectors are co-transfected into FHM cells by using Lipofectamine 2000.Then the expression and inhibition of EGFP are observed by using fluorescent microscope.The mRNA expression level of CP gene is anaylised by using real time RT-PCR.The result shows that pshRNA-124,pshRNA-896 and pshRNA-NNV all suppress the EGFP expression with inhibitory efficiency of 47%,68% and 51%,respectively.The pEGFP-CP gene silencing efficiencies of pshRNA-124,pshRNA-896 and pshRNA-NNV at mRNA level are 60%,96% and 55%,respectively,significantly higher than that of control(P0.05).It demonstrates that all of the three shRNAi vectors have interference effects and can interfere with the expression of EGFP,of which pshRNA-896 is the best one.The result above suggests that shRNAi vectors targeting CP gene of red-spotted grouper nervous necrosis virus has been successfully constructed,which will be a basis for further study of the function of CP gene with RNAi technique.


This article focuses on a journey of resilience in the wake of historical trauma through a reading of Palavras cruzadas (2015) by Guiomar de Grammont, a novel that unearths the shadows and clandestine phantoms of the Araguaia guerrilla, not only to remove them from silence but also to restore them in the individual and collective memory. Alternating narrative voices with distinct historical temporalities, the narrative is permeated by the conviction that the past that is not past jeopardizes the mourning process and riddles the present with unresolved guilt. The quest undertaken by the disappeared's sister to exorcise the pain of his disappearance revives his journey to the heart of the verdant fortress and reveals his utopian ideal in the face of the contradictions of the armed struggle and the tragic fate of the guerrillas.


The energy characteristics of a neodymium-yag laser are improved by use of higher-power, more efficient semiconductor pumps. These provide high external quantum yield and low series resistance.


Sir, We herein present a case of successful treatment of a penetrating pulmonary artery injury caused by a Japanese sword (katana) in a patient transported by a physician-staffed helicopter. A 91-year-old male stabbed his chest and abdomen and cut his head with a katana and was found in a coma by his family. His history included dementia, schizophrenia, hypertension, and diabetes mellitus. A physician transported by a helicopter checked the patient at a rendezvous point in an ambulance and found that the katana had penetrated the patient's body from the fourth intercostal of the left anterior chest to the back [Figure 1]. The patient was in a deep coma and also a state of severe hemorrhagic shock. His venous route and airway were secured, and he was transported to our hospital. He remained in a coma with shock and demonstrated left pneumoderma in the left chest; therefore, he underwent placement of an indwelling chest tube, followed by drainage of 500 ml of hemorrhagic fluid. Permissive hypotensive therapy to maintain the systolic blood pressure from 60 to 80 mmHg was selected with transfusion of blood type O, and emergency thoracotomy was performed in the operating room. The patient temporally exhibited pulseless electrical activity due to massive hemorrhage, and fluid resuscitation resulted in spontaneous circulation. Injuries of the lingual, left pulmonary artery, and diaphragm were found, and primary closure of the pulmonary artery with clamping of the pulmonary hilum, primary closure of the diaphragm, and lobectomy of the lingual region were performed. The abdominal stab wound did not reach the intra-abdominal cavity and was also closed. After the operation, the patient developed pyothorax and was treated with antibiotics. He achieved a full somatic recovery and was transferred to a psychiatric hospital. The patient was successfully treated, despite his advanced age and severe shock state resulting from injury of major thoracic vessels.[1-4] The key to success was a multidisciplinary approach, including early medical intervention, transportation using a physician-staffed helicopter, and the administration of permissive hypotensive treatment and emergency thoracotomy with clamping of the pulmonary hilum.


Hard coil rod structural determines hard coil rod's technological functions,set up a claim to the regular,fine and high content sorbite for hard coil rod is used for drawing or draw failure and brittle failure will happen.


The confidence evaluation of a blind analysis for a hybrid modulation scheme combining binary phase shift keying (BPSK) with linear frequency modulation (LFM) signals is derived herein to statistically decide whether an individual processing result is correct by using only the observed signal and analysis results, including modulation identification and corresponding parameter estimations. They formulate the problem using a binary hypothesis, where the null hypothesis states that modulation recognition is correct, and the errors of parameter estimates are all less than some particular metrics (i.e. the analysis result is confident). An auxiliary signal is constructed by using the identified modulation model and corresponding estimated parameters. The modified correlation spectrum between the observed and auxiliary signals is computed accordingly. The spectrum does not exhibit any peaks under the null hypothesis (
 H
 0
) but does under the alternative hypothesis. This provides the basis of a useful discriminating feature for verifying the confidence of the analysis result. They prove that the extreme values of the modified correlation spectrum under H
 0
 have a Gumbel distribution. A goodness-of-fit test based on the Kolmogorov-Smirnov is used to perform a confidence evaluation of the analysis result of the LFM/BPSK signal. The effectiveness of the algorithm is demonstrated in extensive joint simulation experiments.


Energies of [Kr]4d94f2, [Kr]4d94f5l, and [Kr]4d95l5l′ states (with l = s, p, d, f) for Ag-like ions with Z = 50–100 are evaluated to second order in relativistic many-body perturbation theory (RMBPT) starting from a Pd-like Dirac–Fock potential ([Kr]4d10). Second-order Coulomb and Breit–Coulomb interactions are included. Correction for the frequency dependence of the Breit interaction is taken into account in lowest order. The Lamb-shift correction to energies is also included in lowest order. Intrinsic particle–particle–hole contributions to energies are found to be 20–30% of the sum of the one- and two-body contributions. Transition rates and line strengths are calculated for the 4d–4f and 4d–5l electric-dipole (E1) transitions in Ag-like ions with nuclear charge Z = 50–100. RMBPT including the Breit interaction is used to evaluate retarded E1 matrix elements in length and velocity forms. First-order RMBPT is used to obtain intermediate coupling coefficients and second-order RMBPT is used to calculate t...


This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of thiopental sodium and ketamine hydrochloride on rectal temperature, pulse and respiratory rates, anaesthetic duration/recovery time indogs during the maintenance of general anaesthesia post-induction with thiopental sodium. Ten apparently healthy male and female dogs, aged 12-30 months, weighing 7-14 kg were divided into two groups of 5dogs each. Atropine (0.02 mg/kg) and chlorpromazine (4 mg/kg) were used for premedication. Thiopental sodium (20 mg/kg) was used for induction and maintenance in group A while dogs in group B were given thiopental sodium (20 mg/kg) for induction and ketamine hydrochloride (20 mg/kg) for maintenance. Duration of anaesthesia to recovery time, and vital parameters were monitored and recorded accordingly. Results revealed group A had significantly (p<0.001) prolonged duration of anaesthesia to recovery time (400 minutes) when compared to group B (200 minutes). Significant decrease was however observed in rectal temperature of group A at 50 minutes (p< 0.05), 60-90 minutes (p<0.01) and100-110 minutes (p<0.001) when compared to group B. Similarly, the respiratory rates of dogs in group A showed significant decrease at 50 minutes (p< 0.01), 60-110 minutes (p< 0.001) when compared to group B. There was no significant (p> 0.05) effect in the pulse rates of either group. It was concluded that a relative shorter recovery time, stability in rectal temperature, pulse and respiratory rates in the group maintained with ketamine hydrochloride were observed when compared to the group induced and maintained with thiopental sodium.


The structure of reverberation acoustic chamber stands as a critical development parameter for the account of guaranty on the full frequency response coverage. That is because the chamber itself is a subset of the test system which is too stimulating the greater number of mode. Considering the launching environment is generating extreme acoustic pressure intensity process in the launch vehicle's nosecone. Defining the control channel or mode for the system is significant. Each reverberation space has its specific boundary form due to the size, shape, and volume of the chamber. Understanding the ability, performance, limitation and acoustic response stay crucial to gather all information on the chamber characteristic. Assessment characteristic deliberates functionality of the chamber in ANGKASA compared to other facilities in space acoustic testing. The relative results shall give more information on whether ANGKASA's facility is capable of delivering the same scale of testing with the existing acoustic chamber on the small and medium space object. Future enhance assessment shall be carried on to prove the performance of ANGKASA's facility it fit for purposes and knowing the chamber is a compliment to each other. Key-Words: Characterization, Acoustic, Frequency, Noise, Density, Spacing


Many catalogers are familiar with the differences between AACR2(Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules, Second edition) and RDA(Resource Description and Access), but there are also significant similarities between the two standards, Areas of change and continuity many seen arbitrary and often difficult to remember without knowing the context behind them. This article was comparatively analyzed on the access points of AACR2 and RDA. First, ACCR2 is based on the Paris Principles and ISBD, but RDA is based on the Statement of International Cataloguing Principles and the conceptual model FRBR. Second, although many AACR2 concepts were carried over into RDA, terminology was changed. For example, the term 'heading', 'uniform title', 'see reference', 'see also reference', etc. were changed 'authorized access point', 'preferred title' for the work or expression, 'variant access point', 'authorized access point for related entity', etc. Third, if an authorized access point for the work is constructed, it always includes the name of the first named principal author. This is clear evidence that the concept of AACR2"s main entry remains at RDA. Forth, RDA places a greater emphasis on relationships between a resource and other entities associated with it than AACR2 did. RDA are devoted to providing instructions for recording various types of relationships and provides instructions on recording relationship designators that clarify the nature of the relationship. Substantially, RDA accepts most of provisions on AACR2"s added entries through the recording relationships. Fifth, AACR2"s 'rule of three' was not carried over into RDA. In RDA, catalogers have the option og recording only the first named principal author or contributor, or they can record as many of the other authors as they choose, regardless of the number.


The traditional methods of urban landscape planning and design cannot integrate designs into the entire planning scenes planning processes, and cannot efficiently, intuitively and coordinately express planning effects of multiple schemes and large scenes. With the development of computer science and technology, virtual reality (VR) technology, which is based on similar theory, mathematical theory, control theory, and graphics processing theory, is playing an important role in many aspects of urban landscape planning and design. On the basis of summarizing and analyzing previous research works, this article expounded the research status and significances of three-dimensional (3D) visualized urban landscape planning and design, elaborated the development background, current status and future challenges of VR technology, introduced the methods and principles of spatial roaming sorting algorithm and evaluation indicator screening and system construction, established 3D database and virtual scene model of urban landscapes, performed 3D visualized urban landscape modeling, realized 3D presentation of virtual scene landscape, discussed the integration and optimization of landscape design schemes, analyzed the 3D modeling and interactive adjustment of the landscape planning and design schemes, and finally conducted simulation experiment and its result analysis. The results show that the VR technology provides designer with realistic information processing effects through intelligent drawing, full display and timely information, which greatly improves design efficiency and effectively promotes design quality; the 3D visualized technology can transmit a large number of information through graphics in a short time, enabling professionals to intuitively and quickly observe test results or interactively process these results.


At present, relatively little is known about the relationship between bank credit allocation and economic growth. It seems clear that the structural characteristics of the banking system are significant factors influencing long-run allocation of credit across real sectors of the economy as well as across financial institutions. The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between changes in credit allocation across sectors and economic growth in a long-term perspective. In addition, this study addresses changes appeared in the loanable funds among the different types of financial institutions for a number of long-run periods. During these periods, there were a number of waves of credit allocation as a result of economic transformation and high priorities were given by the major banks. During the periods under research, in reallocating their available funds, banks all affected almost by financial, monetary, and economic conditions in the country. Banking history in Denmark suggests that this study can contribute to fruitful field of inquiry for understanding bank credit allocation in relation to economic changes. Particular emphasis will be given in this paper to the contribution of savings banks, commercial banks, and mortgage institutions to the various sectors of the economy.


This study investigated the role of the Youth Empowerment Scheme (Project YES) of Niger State, Nigeria as a non-governmental organization in poverty alleviation through skills acquisition. The study was carried out to determine the impact of Project YES in poverty alleviation in the State and also to determine whether the scheme has succeeded in empowering its beneficiaries in terms of skill acquisition for selfempowerment. A survey design was adopted for the study. The study revealed that the Scheme has succeeded in empowering its beneficiaries by way of vocational skills acquisition hence contributing to a change in their socio-economic status. Based on the findings, the study recommends among others the urgent need to introduce the scheme at the Local Government Area levels to cater for the poverty stricken rural dwellers, and also the need for government at all levels to encourage individuals, philanthropists and philanthropic organizations to set up poverty alleviation related NGOs to supplement her effort in fighting the scourge of poverty in Nigeria.


Rather than applying collagen topically or injecting it into the skin, inducing new collagen production in the skin is being explored as an alternative.


The task of providing different access paths to the same set of data simultaneously was successfully addressed by ModelView-Controller (MVC) design pattern. While MVC provides a highly organized and uniform decomposition of the tasks performed by an application in the form of Model, View, and Controller, the close relationship between them leads to poor scalability and maintainability. Every framework based on MVC has implemented it differently; trying to minimize the coupling between its components. As MVC was not explicitly designed for web application and no enough study has been done on implementation guideline, this often results in misapplication of the pattern in web development environment. To address these issues, we propose an evolution of MVC pattern called MVC-web. MVC-web can be a way to reach loose coupling among different components and can also be used as a general guideline while implementing MVC for web based application.


administration of gefi tinib was then started. A good response was observed but with a grade 1–2 skin adverse toxicity ( table 1 , period A). Two months later she complained of severe fatigue, and electrocardiography (ECG) revealed ischemic changes ( table 1 , period B). She was diagnosed with acute myocardial infarction. Therefore, the administration of gefi tinib was halted. On admission day, ECG revealed sinus rhythm with an ST elevation in leads V 1–3 and a T wave inversion in leads V 3–6 ( fi g. 1 ). However, there were neither changes in ECG fi ndings nor abnormalities in laboratory tests over the next 24 h ( table 1 , period C). On the other hand, echocardiographic fi ndings were consistent with a diagnosis of myocardial infarction in the left anterior descending area. After 2 weeks' observation, the administration of gefi tinib was restarted under the continued treatment with aspirin ( table 1 , period D). Following about 2 weeks' administration of gefi tinib, a minor response of the lung cancer was observed. An analysis of platelet aggregation, stimulated by ADP or collagen before and after 2 weeks of receiving gefi tinib, was performed. Both ADP and collagen-induced aggregations were suppressed before the restart of gefi tinib. However, both the aggregations exhibited a tendency towards enhancement after the restart of gefi tinib.


Ceftriaxone is a commonly used third‐generation cephalosporin that has antimicrobial activity against many gram‐positive and gram‐negative organisms. Generally, ceftriaxone is a safe antibiotic; however, symptomatic biliary sludge has been reported in rare instances, most of which have involved children. It is uncommon for ceftriaxone to cause increases in laboratory indexes, such as bilirubin levels. We describe the case of a 53‐year‐old man who was treated with intravenous ceftriaxone 2 g every 12 hours. After 7 days of therapy, the patient's liver function test results, including total, direct, and indirect bilirubin levels, increased significantly from baseline, and the patient became jaundiced. A right upper quadrant ultrasound examination revealed biliary sludge and cholelithiasis without sonographic evidence of cholecystitis. Ceftriaxone was thought to be the responsible agent, and it was discontinued. The patient's jaundice subsided, and his liver function test results improved, returning to baseline within 14 days. Clinicians need to be aware of the association of ceftriaxone and biliary pseudolithiasis and hyperbilirubinemia, and monitor accordingly.


The produced mechanism and harm of phosphate residues were studied,and the settlement characteristics of them in the phosphating solution was analyzed.On the basis,and accoriding to the company's painting shop,a new type of phosphate residues removal device system and their management techniques were proposed.


Synopsis : Effect of heat treatment on bonding characteristics and interfacial microstructures in explosively welded titanium/SUS430 ferritic stainless steel clad was investigated. The average shear strength of the clad annealed at 1073K for 3.6 ks was 338 MPa and was equivalent to about 60% of that of an as-welded clad. The strength of the clad annealed at 1073K gradually decreased to 242 MPa with increasing holding time up to 360 ks. The same tendency was obtained from the clad annealed at 1173K. On the other hand, the strength of the clad annealed at 1273K drastically decreased to 107 MPa with increasing holding time up to 360 ks. The clad annealed at 1073 and 1173K yielded TiC layer at the bonding interface, while the reaction layer in the clad annealed 1273K consisted of TiC, FeTi, Fe,Ti and x (Fe29Cr13Ti8) from titanium side. It was noted that chromium existed in the Fe,Ti , which has wide solubility limit for chromium, and x compounds formed at the SUS430 side. The TiC layer in the former clads acts as a barrier for diffusion of titanium, iron and chromium across the bonding interface and prevents the growth of intermetallic compounds. The clad formed TiC layer at the bonding interface preserved high bonding strength even after prolonged annealing.


Recently, many data of various types is gained with development of computer in many fields. Especially, web log data generating in web site furnish beneficial information on an organization. The enterprise's destiny is swayed by according as how these information gaining from the web site utilize. In this paper, for the purpose of obtaining useful information, we present a tool is called WebBizi for web log analysis. This will be helpful to enterprise working the web site.


The invention discloses a special insecticide-fertilizer for preventing and treating anthracnose of a Chinese wampee fruit. The special insecticide-fertilizer comprises the following components in parts by weight: 20-25 parts of chicken manure, 5-10 parts of candy pomace, 10-15 parts of sugarcane stalks, 10-15 parts of amino acid, 15-20 parts of urea, 8-10 parts of potassium chloride, 1-2 parts of a boric fertilizer, 5-8 parts of bone meal, 1-2 parts of biological fungi, 1 part of a binding agent and 1-2 parts of resistant substances. The special insecticide-fertilizer disclosed by the invention is reasonable in proportion in parts by weight; the growth of the Chinese wampee fruit is promoted; the anthracnose is prevented and treated; through fertilization of the special insecticide-fertilizer in soil, the branches and leaves and the fruits are free of drug residues; the pollution is not caused; the resistant substances are added; the immunization of the Chinese wampee fruit is improved; and the special insecticide-fertilizer has the increase production effect.


A desktop method is presented to analyze or size detention ponds and outlet facilities. Different initial conditions are allowed. When used for design purposes, the method determines the size of the outlet facility for a given pond. However, if the pond is inadequate to meet the design criteria set, the method determines the required stage‐storage relationship. The method is based on the usual reservoir‐routing technique that couples the hydrologic‐storage equation with an expression describing the flow through the outlet structure. The equations are rearranged in terms of several dimensionless parameters. A computer model is used to solve the governing equation using a finite difference scheme. The numerical results obtained in terms of systematically chosen combinations of the governing dimensionless parameters are generalized based on the concept of similarity. The generalized results are presented in chart form. Sample applications of these charts are illustrated.


The invention relates to an insecticidal composition containing tolfenpyrad and fenvalerate. The tolfenpyrad and the fenvalerate are mixed at the weight ratio of (1-30) to (1-60) and have an obvious synergistic effect. The insecticidal composition provided by the invention is suitable for preventing and treating injurious insects including beet armyworms, diamondback moths, cabbage caterpillars, carposina niponensis walsingham, aphids or cotton bollworms and the like of crops; and meanwhile, the insecticidal composition also has good effects of preventing and treating injurious insects including lepidoptera, homoptera, orthoptera, hemiptera and the like on vegetables and fruit trees. Compared with a single dosage, the quick acting effect and the persistence of the insecticidal composition are better, and the utilization dosage and the drug cost of pesticides are reduced; and comprehensive management of environmental protection and agricultural destructive insects is facilitated.


Recent years have seen a surge of interest in learning the structure of Statistical Relational Learning (SRL) models that combine logic with probabilities. Most of these models apply the closed-world assumption i.e., whatever is not observed is false in the world. In this work, we consider the problem of learning the structure of SRL models in the presence of hidden data i.e. we open the closed-world assumption. We develop a functional-gradient boosting algorithm based on EM to learn the structure and parameters of the models simultaneously and apply it to learn different kinds of models – Relational Dependency Networks, Markov Logic Networks and relational policies. Our results in a variety of domains demonstrate that the algorithms can effectively learn with missing data.


This paper examines key stakeholders evaluations of the Technical, Vocational, Education and Training (TVET) processes in Kenya. The paper responds to on-going debate in the business community, media and training practitioners to the perceived mismatch of the skills required in the industry and those produced by the TVET program. Data for this paper were collected from government documents, previous research papers, and business reports and editorials. In addition, primary data were collected by using semi-structured questionnaires, focus group discussions and observations. Respondents included education officers, business employers and employee and trainers and trainees of four TVET institutions. Findings: Most stakeholders were happy with TVET objectives and its contribution in furnishing the industry with requisite skills. However, they enumerated various challenges that make it difficult for TVET to respond adequately to the industry ' s skill needs. Discussion was guided by the Kirkpatrick ' s evaluation model that has four levels: reaction, learning, behaviour and results Recommendations: Addressing the mismatch of skills in TVET institutions: through a current skills ' inventory, tracer studies of TVET graduates, regular program evaluation, creating linkages with the industry, enhancing industrial attachments and a flexible TVET curriculum. Quality of training: Accredit Business owners as trainers, introduce short trainer competency courses and TVET institutions equally. Recognition of prior learning : recognise prior learning methods, create validation mechanisms, integrate of formal and informal trainings and addressing numerous certificates and training levels. Funding TVET:  Offer training loans to TVET students, introduce a training levy to businesses Getting value for money. Analyse all training inputs and judge whether the training is worthwhile. Enhancing the status of TVET. Enhance workplace competencies for survival in self-employment and communicate the benefits and successes of TVET training.


The Nigerian history is dotted with stories of violence, and many share the notion that the Nigerian people are resilient to have continued to remain in one country despite the violence menace that has been threatening the corporate existence of the country and her people. Going by the annals of records, different nature of violence ranging from ethno-religious conflicts to indigenes-settlers conflicts, Niger Delta resource-based conflict to Boko Haram violence menace, and communal mayhem over land dispute to farmers/cattle-rearers conflicts, as well as gender, school-based violence and electoral cum political violence among others, have at various extent affected the progress and peaceful co-existence of the good people of Nigeria. Worst of all the violence in recent time, is the Boko Haram suicide bombing campaign in the north-eastern part of the country. In her attempt to present a clear picture of things in this regards, this paper sets to examine the nature and extent of violence in Nigeria.


Critical Infrastructures (CIs) are commonly designed, built and maintained based on rigorous standards in order to withstand the climate and weather-related pressures. However, shifts in climate characteristics may result in increases of the magnitude and frequency of potential risks, or expose specific CI to new or increased risks not previously considered. As vital components of the normal functioning of modern societies, their resilience encompasses the operational elements, their structural integrity and the capacity to maximize business output under climate stressors. In this work, we propose an integrated and participatory methodological approach to assess the risk and enhance the resilience of interconnected CIs to urban flooding under climate change. The proposed methodology has been applied to the Torbay case study in the EU-CIRCLE project that is also presented in the paper.


Nd:YAG laser of 500-W power, continuous wave or pulsed at 10-800 Hz repetition rates with duty cycle from 0.1 up to 0.8 was Q-switched by two different ways. In the first frustrated total internal reflection (FTIR); in the second tunable, small base Fabry-Perot (TFP) was used for switching. In both cases piezoceramies served for the displacement of the switching optical elements. Between 50 and 150 kHz, the measured amplitudephase characteristics have shown resonance at Q ≈ 5, which limit the applicability of these modulators above resonance. Special attention was paid to damp the mechanical resonances up to 200 kHz, using an electro-mechanical model calculation with strong electrical damping parameter. The damped and undamped characteristics are given.


Infrared small target detection technology is one of the key technologies in the field of computer vision. In recent years, several methods have been proposed for detecting small infrared targets. However, the existing methods are highly sensitive to challenging heterogeneous backgrounds, which are mainly due to: 1) infrared images containing mostly heavy clouds and chaotic sea backgrounds and 2) the inefficiency of utilizing the structural prior knowledge of the target. In this article, we propose a novel approach for infrared small target detection in order to take both the structural prior knowledge of the target and the self-correlation of the background into account. First, we construct a tensor model for the high-dimensional structural characteristics of multiframe infrared images. Second, inspired by the low-rank background and morphological operator, a novel method based on low-rank tensor completion with top-hat regularization is proposed, which integrates low-rank tensor completion and a ring top-hat regularization into our model. Third, a closed solution to the optimization algorithm is given to solve the proposed tensor model. Furthermore, the experimental results from seven real infrared sequences demonstrate the superiority of the proposed small target detection method. Compared with traditional baseline methods, the proposed method can not only achieve an improvement in the signal-to-clutter ratio gain and background suppression factor but also provide a more robust detection model in situations with low false–positive rates.


Aim: The aim of this study was to determine the effect of chromium picolinate (CrPic) on the differential expression of the known microRNAs (miRNAs) in broiler skeletal muscle. Methods and Results: A total of 288 1-day-old male Arbor Acres broilers were randomly assigned to one of four dietary treatments supplemented with 0, 0.4, 2.0, or 10.0 mg·kg-1 CrPic, respectively. Dietary CrPic supplementation at 10.0 mg·kg-1 increased the average daily feed intake in broilers (p < 0.05). On day 42, the serum total protein level was highest in animals treated with 2.0 mg·kg-1 (p < 0.05) and 10.0 mg·kg-1 CrPic (p < 0.05). Dietary supplementation with 10.0 mg·kg-1 CrPic decreased the levels of serum glucose (p < 0.05) on day 42 and of serum triglyceride (p < 0.05) on days 21 and 42. To further identify miRNAs from broiler skeletal muscles, we sequenced two small RNA libraries using the Solexa sequencing approach, and 57 miRNAs were found to be significantly differentially expressed (p < 0.05). Among them, 6 upregulated and 2 downregulated miRNAs were validated by real-time qPCR (p < 0.05). Conclusions: The results of the present study provide a valuable clue regarding the role of miRNA target genes in the mechanism of the dietary CrPic effect on protein synthesis in skeletal muscles of broilers.


The invention provides an H-shaped tubular mold, which comprises a web, wherein the center of the web of the working wall of the H-shaped tubular mold is provided with a covering layer, and the covering layer is formed by cermet material or metal material, which can resist high temperature and corrosion and the thermal conductivity of which is less than the thermal conductivity of the a material formed into the H-shaped tubular mold. The H-shaped tubular mold not only can prevent the web of a solidified shell from being affected and damaged by the stress produced by rapid chilling, but also can prevent the defect that thermal resistance is uncontrollably increased as the result of ununiform nonuniform air gaps formed by the earlier shrinkage of the initial solidified shell to affect the uniform growth of the solidified shell, so that the heat of the web of the solidified shell can be uniformly dissipated, and thereby therefore the H-shaped tubular mold increases the quality of solidification and prevents severe quality problems, such as cracks.


As the ESD stress is becoming more and more important for integrated circuits (ICs), the ability to predict IC failures becomes critical. In this paper, an 18 MHz D flip-flop IC is characterized and its behavioral model is presented. The resulting IC model is validated in the setup according to the ISO 10605 standard. A complete model of the setup combining the IC behavioral model and the passive parts of the setup is built to estimate the failure prediction accuracy in a totally simulated environment. The results show that the model can predict the triggering level with the error of less than 20%.


Introduction: Cytomegalovirus disease affecting the gastrointestinal tract is a rare but severe disease presenting particularly in people under immunosuppression, solid organ transplant recipients and AIDS patients with CD4 count under 100/mm3. When colon or small intestine are affected, the disease may be complicated by severe bleeding. CMV therapy includes antivirals and, in case of bleeding, methods of therapeutic endoscopy or interventional radiology. Case description: We present a case of a 74-year-old woman 3 years after kidney transplantation owing to vascular nephrosclerosis, treated with belatacept, mycophenolate mophetile and prednisone. She was admitted to hospital for acute dyspnoea. During hospitalisation, she presented with intestinal bleeding, but the endoscopic intervention at the first colonoscopy was not successful. She was referred to the Department of Hepatogastroenterology of the Institute of Clinical and Experimental Medicine and subsequent colonoscopy revealed a 15 cm long part of ileum with ulcerations as the source of bleeding. The histological assessment described a severe CMV enteritis. The CMV DNA blood level established by PCR was higher than 10 000 000 U/ml. The patient was treated with intravenous ganciclovir and she underwent selective embolization of the inferior mesenteric artery with an excellent clinical effect. Conclusions: CMV enteritis may be associated with a high mortality. The approach to therapy is multidisciplinary and needs collaboration of gastroenterologist, endoscopist and interventional radiologist. Key words: CMV – GIT bleeding – immunosuppression – transplantation


A theoretical model was developed which describes the farfield reflection from various absorbent terminations of an acoustic duct with rigid walls. The absorbent termination is utilized to reduce the reflected sound from the ends of ducts and pipes. Such sound absorbing terminations can be used to minimize the shock wave (water hammer) travel in water pipes, reduce the flow noise at flow‐through pressure valves and at stations along the hydraulic lines where cross‐sectional changes occur. A parametric study of the terminations's geometry and material properties revealed the effects of longitudinal and shear wave resonances inside the termination on the frequency response of the reflection. A partially cemented lower boundary achieves much greater echo reduction than a uniform rigidly attached or stress‐free boundary. Peaks in the frequency response result not only from compressional thickness resonances, but also from shear and lateral compressional resonances induced by the discontinuity. A slight impeda...


The book contains the proceedings of the 8th International Conference on Computer Ethics: Philosophical Enquiry 2009, which was held in Corfu Greece. Within it no less than fifty seven papers are published, covering the wider area of information and computer ethics and also, law.


Beyond taste or fashion, there exists a lasting and common consensus for a perception of beauty linked to weight or weightlessness. This essay attempts to develop an understanding of different approaches to the issue of weight and weightlessness in architecture and civil engineering. In complex urban and programmatic settings, however, the question of gravity has to be integrated with many other issues, as exemplified by Albini and HeIg's La Rinascente department store in Rome.


【Task】 A segmented NiMH battery system includes a hydrogen storage segment (130), a battery segment (120) in the intake built segment fluid communication with. Battery segment includes a plurality of electrochemical cells, each electrochemical cell includes a collector plate (104), and a plastic sealing element provided around the peripheral end portion of the collector plate (104). Plastic sealing element can be attached to the current collector plates in a variety of ways, preferably injection molded around the periphery of the collector plate. Then, it is possible to stack the subassemblies of the current collector plate / seal segment, complete seal is formed between the sealing element is bonded. Electrode and the separator is disposed between the collector plate prior to bonding. Preferably, the electrode and the separator are formed as a bipolar cell structure.


This study explores the main theories with incidence in describing, explaining and predicting behavior of touristic services consumer's. The research method is of meta-analysis type. Our study assumes that consumers' perceptions and beliefs play an important role in the decision to become a beneficiary of a tourist service offered by a travel company or by a touristic services intermediary. The literature retains several models that explain the relationship between consumers' behavior and information promotion of touristic product. There are four theories underlying the action of implementing these models subsequent to the idea of consumer's behavior: Selective Attention Theory, Congruity Principle Balance Theory, Cognitive Dissonance Theory. After exploring the potential of these theories in order to generate a competitive advantage for tourism service providers it is concluded that the convergent use of these four theories of planning, organizing, implementing, managing and controlling the marketing touristic activities is the method with the most significant impact on the behavior of travel services consumer.


Objective: As a common malignant tumor, esophageal carcinoma lacked specific clinical symptoms, leading to distal metastasis at terminal stage. Cisplatin is the first-line chemotherapy drug for the treatment of esophageal cancer. Identification of sensitive molecular marker is thus of critical importance for individualized treatment of cancer. This study analysed polymorphism of GSTP1, XPD and XRCC1 genes, aiming to illustrate its correlation with treatment efficacy of cisplatin on esophageal cancer, in order to provide evidences for individualized treatment effect.
Methods: A total of 104 esophageal carcinoma patients were recruited for follow-ups. Using Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumor (RECIST), treatment efficacy was evaluated. PCR-RFLP was employed for detecting gene polymorphism.
Results: Frequency distribution of XRCC1 Arg399Gln, XPD Lys751Gln and GSTP1 Ile105Val all fitted Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium (p>0.05). Both one-factor and multi-factor analysis showed higher effective rate and survival time of patients with XRCC1 Arg399Gln GA+AA genotype after receiving cisplatin treatment compared to those patients with GG genotype (p 0.05).
Conclusions: Esophageal carcinoma patients with XRCC1 Arg399Gln GA+AA genotype and GSTP1 Il3105Val AG+GG genotype are more sensitive to cisplatin treatment.


is a 4-aminoquinoline drug which has been used in the prevention or treatment of malaria since 1930s. However, despite being originally cheap, safe and effective, its efficacy has declined gradually owing to the emergence and spread of chloroquine-resistant Plasmodium falciparum malaria parasites such that in some areas of the world the drug is totally ineffective and the main toxic effects of chloroquine are related to its quinidine - like (membrane stabilizing) actions on the heart and severe gastrointestinal irritation. This showed way for the synthesis of such bioconjugates of chloroquine which are lesser gastric irritant and has better efficacy against plasmodium species. Recent evidence suggests that 4-aminoquinolines derivatives of altered side chain show potential leads for the development of new effective drugs.


The eradication of poverty requires preventing the impoverishment which can otherwise cancel out the benefits of economic and social policies which help people out of extreme poverty. The policy agenda for poverty eradication is quite broad, includes critical social policy measures; and some of it is context specific. To stop impoverishment the social protection, education, pro-poorest growth policies and sexual and reproductive health policies need context specific support from conflict prevention, disaster risk management, progress towards universal health coverage, and insurance against other risks. Among poverty eradication policy areas disaster risk management, land policy and sexual and reproductive health services are highlighted because they offer opportunities for achieving economic, social and environmental outcomes (a theme of this EGM).


Stanley introduced in 1986 the order polytope and the chain polytope for a given finite poset. These polytopes contain much information about the poset and have given rise to important examples in polyhedral geometry. In 1993, Reiner introduced signed posets as natural type-B analogues of posets. We define and study signed order and chain polytopes. Our results include convex-hull and halfspace descriptions, unimodular triangulations, Ehrhart $h^*$-polynomials and their relations to signed permutation statistics, and a Gorenstein characterization of signed order and chain polytopes.


Correlation coefficient between renewable energy generation based on wind or solar and electricity consumption across the entire Polish Power System, industrial customers and typical household in Poland, enables estimating the volume of electricity, which can be directly transferred to customers, to supply energy consumption needs and the volume of electricity, which should be stored to secure continuous supply. This volume gives indication of the energy storage capacity required for different type of customers.


The primary aim of this paper is to develop an automated welding system capable of adapting to variation in the weld seam center in order to allow higher welding speeds and improved welding quality by using a laser vision sensor. The system is designed to compensate for production problems such as pipe ovality, variation in bevel geometry and track misalignment.


In the focal article, the pandemic is predominantly treated as a moderating factor that changes the environmental context for employees and organizations (a notable exception is the dynamic treatment of stress during the pandemic);the term adaptation was mentioned only once in the entire manuscript (regarding the effect of paid leave on family adaptation) [ ]to complement their proposal and advance understanding of the influence of COVID-19 and potential future pandemics on organizational behavior, we suggest that researchers adopt a more temporal lens, conceptualizing pandemics as major change events to which entities must adapt Adaptation has been defined in terms of cognitive, affective, motivational, and behavioral modifications that are made in response to the demands of a new or changing environment or event (Baard etal , 2014) [ ]adaptation refers to the process of adjusting to challenges, whereas adaptability is used to refer to the inherent ability of an entity to adjust, and adaptive outcomes refer to the consequences of adaptation—for instance, in terms of performance or well-being (Maynard etal , 2015) [ ]this complexity is likely to change over time both due to exogenous forces as well as in response to actions taken by the entity itself, which may reduce or increase the complexity it faces (Hærem etal , 2015) [ ]we want to point out that disruptive events also provide opportunities for innovation and changing the status quo


This essay focuses on two key figures of the paradigm shift of contemporary Anglophone theology, namely on the founder of modern Ressourcement theology, Henri de Lubac SJ, and his disciple Michel de Certeau SJ, who (as a later disciple of Jacques Lacan) developed one of the first theologically profound responses to the challenges of post-modernity and the accompanying philosophical debates of post-structuralism (Derrida, Foucault, Lacan etc.). To begin with the essay outlines the similarities and differences between Lubac and Certeau and argues that Certeau's post-Vatican II attempts to mediate between the Catholic tradition and the secular space of postmoderne culture was inevitably accompanied by a deconstruction of the modern institutionalisation and confessionalisation of Christianity. The last point sheds light on Certeau's conflict with his teacher Lubac, who was to a certain extent still attached to the modern dualism between a 'sacred' and a 'secular' space. However, Certeau's justified deconstruction of modern Christianity fails to do justice to the pre-modern roots of Lubac's concept of the Church as 'body of Christ', as it is the case with many of his readers who tend to read Lubac's landmark book Corpus mysticum through the lenses of Certeau (including John Milbank and Catherine Pickstock). This essay provides a significant contribution to the genealogy of the contemporary paradigm shift both in terms of its philosophical, cultural and ecclesial context and in terms of the pre-modern legacy it has started to recover subsequent to the groundbreaking work of Henri de Lubac.


This work is regarding the concept and implementation of pre- and post-distortion schemes idealized for radio-over-fiber (RoF) systems. Analog RoF systems have been considered potential to increase the capillarity of future mobile networks. However, the integration of the radiofrequency (RF) and optical systems might introduce nonlinearities that increase the in-band and out-band interferences. The proposed schemes employ a multi-layer perceptron (MLP) artificial neural network (ANN) linearization for reducing the signal distortions. We have applied our linearization schemes to orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) signals for investigating its performance, in terms of root mean square error vector magnitude (EVMRMS), normalized mean square error (NMSE) and adjacent channel leakage ratio (ACLR). Numerical results demonstrate promising linearization performance, since the EVMRMS has been kept as low as 3%, attaining NMSE and ACLR lower than below −30 dB and −35 dB, for input RF power up to 23 dBm.


The Mixed Economy Company in Algerian Law means a company formed between a Socialist Enterprise and a foreign enterprise. The Socialist Enterprise is invariably a corporate entity. The foreign enterprise may be a corporate entity or an individual (Art. 1/1).1 The Socialist Enterprise must be a National Socialist Enterprise (Art. 33. Thus a Regional (de wilaya) or local (communale) Socialist Enterprise cannot participate in the formation of a Mixed Economy Company,2 nor can a private sector Algerian firm. The Mixed Economy Company is a joint stock company governed by the Commercial Coden subject to Law No. 82-13 as amended by Law No. 8g13 (the Law), relating to the Organisation and Operation of MLxed Economy Companies (Art. 1/2). The Law does not apply to unincorporated associations, as the Mlxed Economy Company is, by definition) a corporate entity (Art. 20).3 In this line, the Law states expressly that it is not applicable to the "associations en participation" formed under Ordinance No. 71-22 relating to foreign companies which operate in the field of exploration and exploitation of liquid hydrocarbons (Art. 2/2). Only the SociaIist Enterprises may fonn among themselves "societes ert perticipation" (Art. 796 C.C.) Moreover, the Law is not applicable to the Mixed Economy Companies whose registered offices are located outside Algeria (Art. 2/3). Usually such companies are governed by the laws of their registered offices. Furthermore) the Law does not apply to the Mixed Economy Companies formed by International Conventions (Art. 2/1). IJsually) the provisions of International Conventions prevail over the provisions of Municipal Laws. The Law, as a general rule) has no retrospective effect, and does not apply to the existing Algerian companies which are controlled by foreign partners (individuals of


Give comparison and analysis on valve pressure test specification of national and international standards in the aspect of shell test,seal test,back seal test and air pressure test.


National charity Family Links trains health, social and early years professionals to facilitate parenting programmes across the UK. The antenatal Welcome to the World programme supports parents during pregnancy and the transition to parenthood.


The invention discloses a method for evaluating ageing state of paper oil insulation. The method is characterized by comprising the following steps of: 1, measuring a relative dielectric constant and a dielectric loss factor of a paper oil insulation test product by adopting a frequency domain dielectric spectroscopy method; 2, establishing a composite exponential function relational expression of the relative dielectric constant and insulation paper polymerization of the paper oil insulation test product, and a composite exponential function relational expression of the dielectric loss factor and the insulation paper polymerization of the paper oil insulation test product; and 3, evaluating the ageing state of a paper oil insulation system by using the relational expressions. A device provided by the invention is simple in structure, is easily implemented, and is greatly improved in accuracy.


Load-extension and elastic recovery results are given for some sixty fibre samples tested under three conditions-air dry, immersed in cold water, and immersed in hot water. Fifteen chemical classes of man-made fibre are represented, with some natural fibres for comparison. The effect of a pretreatment in hot water on the tensile behaviour of the fibres in air is also examined. Some of the synthetic-polymer fibres contract greatly on treatment and their extensometric properties are much modified. Wetting tends to eliminate the initial, high modulus, region of the load-extension curve and temperature rise may cause a similar change. In general, these two factors also affect elastic recovery In the same way, bringing about an increase of recovery from imposed strain.


Hashimoto's thyroiditis, the commonest cause of hypothyroidism has been proposed as a risk factor for atherosclerosis independent of thyroid function. The aim of this study was to investigate whether Hashimoto's thyroiditis validated by their anti-TPO positivity have any effect on hyperlipidemia, Hemoglobin, vitamin D independent of thyroid function in newly diagnosed subclinical hypothyroid patients (SCH) subjects with TSH < 10μIU/ml. 40 newly diagnosed SCH and 40 healthy euthyroid controls were included in this study. Based on anti-TPO status, the SCH subjects was divided into TPO positive and negative groups. Serum lipid, hemoglobin and vitamin D levels were determined and compared between among the TPO positive and negative SCH subjects. Subjects with and without anti-TPO had significant differences in levels of low-density lipoprotein, total cholesterol, and nonHDL cholesterol. In correlation analysis, anti-TPO showed statistically significant association with Hb, LDL and vitamin D. Subclinical hypothyroidism with thyroid autoimmunity is associated with a marginal decrease in hemoglobin and elevation in LDL. Whether this holds, any bearing on promoting cardiovascular risk needs to be considered further


Background: Weed populations reduce crop yields by influencing the pattern of crop growth and development throughout the season and by directly competing with the crop for limiting precious resources, like light, water or nutrients. A number of the factors that influence magnitude of crop yield losses from weed interference include the timing of weed emergence relative to the crop, weed density, pattern of weed growth and development. Weed management is one among the foremost critical factors influencing crop yield. By providing a window of weed-free growth early within the season, the size advantage that crop seedlings have over weeds can be utilized to reduce the intensity of direct competition for resources at the stages of crop development when yield is being determined. Weeds are identified as a significance drawback since they create biotic stress in realizing the genetic yield potential of this valuable crop.Methods: A field experiment was carried out during the rabi season of 2010-11 to 2014-15 at ICAR- National Research Centre on Seed Spices, Ajmer, Rajasthan to estimate the yield losses because of weed infestation and to work out the critical period for weed control (CPWC) in fenugreek (Trigonella foenum-graecum L.). There were 14 treatments comprising of initial weedy periods of 15, 30, 45, 60, 75, 90 days after sowing (DAS) and weed free period upto 15, 30, 45, 60, 75, 90 DAS along with weedy till harvest (un-weeded check) and weed free till harvest (weed free check). The treatments were replicated three times in a randomized block design.Result: Maximum pod length (cm), number of pods/plant, number of seed/pod, test weight (g), seed yield (kg/ha), straw yield (kg/ha) and harvesting index (%) to the tune of 9.47, 41.2, 16.67, 12.60, 2297, 4954 and 31.73 were recorded at weed free throughout growth period. Weed infestation up to 30, 45, 60, 75, 90 DAS and weedy throughout growth period reduced the seed yield significantly to the magnitude of 567.3, 801.7, 913.3, 1253.3, 1393.7 and 1736.3 kg/ha. Yield losses in fenugreek increase from 2.95 kg/ha/day at 15 days weed infestation to 12.31 kg/ha/day at 135 days weed infestation. Maximum gross return (`104248/ha), net return (`67018/ha) were obtained at weed free throughout growth period with the B:C ratio 2.80 among the weed free treatments. The employment of response curves with weed free or weed competition period showed that seed yield of fenugreek were the highest with the field free from weeds throughout the growth period and the critical period of weed/fenugreek competition was 32 days after sowing and lies between 30-45 days after sowing. In regression approach for fenugreek seed yield and weed free or weed competition period the quadratic function was fitted to estimate the expected yields which had the high significant with the data recorded and have the highest values of R2. If we predict the seed yield losses based on the quadratic model for weed free period model, it declined from 42.04 at 0 DAS to 0.0% at 135 days. Similarly, weed infestation period model predicted the seed yield losses increased from 0.00 at 0 days weed infestation to 73.42% at 135 days. Critical period for weed competition in fenugreek was found to be 32 days after sowing. The CPWC is helpful for making decisions on the necessity for and timing of weed control.


Based upon historical facts during the Hundred Days' Reform in 1898,this article analyses the attitudes of almost all of the powerful officials from both central government and local governments,towards the reform;concludes that the conservatives' influence was not as powerful in the Hundred Days' Reform,and raise a query against the traditional view of which the powerful conservatives' impact led to the failure of the Hundred Days' Reform.


Abstract The structures of the metallic carbides and nitrides of the type MX with the sodium chloride structure are discussed. The view that this structure is formed in order to provide the non-metallic atom with an octahedral interstice is shown to be improbable or only part of the truth and it is considered that the face-centred cubic arrangement with the metal atoms is favoured mainly because it provides the metallic atoms with mutually perpendicular bonds to six neighbours. The melting points are discussed, and the need for further work on the electrical properties of these compounds is emphasized.


The pharmacokinetic processes of drugs, i.e. absorption, distribution, metabolization and elimination, differ between birds and mammals. For instance, the clearance and volume of the distribution of aminoglycosides are lower in birds than in mammals. These pharmacokinetic differences are caused by differences in anatomy, biochemistry and physiology between birds and mammals. The species differences in pharmacokinetics and differences in the observed and predicted pharmacokinetic parameters of some drugs in birds after extrapolation from mammals (e.g. clearance of enrofloxacin, salicylic acid, meloxicam and flunixin), show that pharmacokinetic data on mammals can hardly be extrapolated to birds as such. Furthermore, differences in pharmacokinetic behavior between bird species exist as well. Therefore, the selection of an appropriate posology for birds has to be based on pharmacokinetic data of that specific bird species. In absence of these data, dose selection might be done using allometric scaling. The pharmacokinetic data are scaled in correlation to the body weight of a different bird species. In case these data are also not available, dose selection using allometric scaling with pharmacokinetic data from mammals should preferably only be done for drugs with a low toxicity.


Paralleled array processors based on cellular neural networks (CNNs) are very useful in high-speed, real-time signal and image processing because of its simplicity for problem mapping and high potential computational bandwidth. Local interconnection and simple synaptic operators are the most attractive features of the cellular neural network (CNN) for VLSI implementation. A computing architecture for CNN processing engine which can be applied for several challenging VLSI hardware design problems, such as CNN accelerator design for heterogeneous computing, is presented. This continuous-time CNN processing engine with digital-programmable synapses and flexible digital interface is designed and prototyped using the current-mode CMOS circuits. A prototyping 5/spl times/5 array processor chip is designed and fabricated in 2.0 /spl mu/m CMOS technology. Measurement results of this prototype chip and its building blocks for array processor design are presented. Experimental results of edge detection operation of this prototype chip are also given.


Ankle dorsiflexion function during swing phase of the gait cycle contributes to foot clearance and plays an important role in walking ability post-stroke. Commonly used biomechanical measures such as foot clearance and ankle joint excursion have limited ability to accurately evaluate dorsiflexor function in stroke gait. We retrospectively evaluated ankle angular velocity and ankle angular acceleration as direct measures for swing phase dorsiflexor function in post-stroke gait of 61 chronic stroke survivors. Our linear regression models revealed that peak ankle angular velocity (AAVP), peak ankle angular acceleration (AAAP), peak dorsiflexion angle (DFAP) and peak foot clearance (FCLP) during swing had a significant relationship (p < 0.05) with impaired dorsiflexion function. AAAP and DFAP accounted for the most variance of dorsiflexion function. Additionally, AAVP, AAAP, FCLP during swing, correlated significantly with all clinical outcome measures of walking ability. DFAP during swing had a positive correlation only with FMA-LE. Post-hoc William's t-tests, used to compare the magnitude of difference between two non-independent correlations, revealed that the correlation between all clinical measures and DFAP were significantly weaker than with AAVP and AAAP. We also found that correlation between FMA-LE and FCLP was weaker than with AAVP and AAAP. We found an excellent test-retest reliability for both AAVP (ICC = 0.968) and AAAP (ICC = 0.947). These results suggest that DFAP may only be associated with non-task specific isolated dorsiflexion movement, but not during walking. FCLP is associated with dorsiflexion function and walking ability measures but not as strongly as AAVP and AAAP possibly because FCLP is influenced by contribution from hip and knee joint movements during walking. Therefore, we believe that AAVP and AAAP both can be used as reliable measures of impaired dorsiflexion function in post-stroke gait.


If for a given endogenous growth model, there exists a continuum of equilibria in a small neighborhood of a balanced growth path (BGP) that continues to stay in this neighborhood, it is said that equilibrium is locally indeterminate. Here a small neighborhood of a BGP means the region in which results based on linear approximations of equilibrium dynamics on the BGP are qualitatively valid.


The authors have spent careers preventing and transforming violence, as a lawyer for public schools, treatment leader for repeat violent juvenile offenders, victim offender mediator, and an army colonel. Here they share the field-tested insights they have gained over a combined 50 plus years of service. They also elaborate Gandhi's nonviolence (actual and envisioned) so that readers will start to fully appreciate what is required for sustainable nonviolence. He offered several practices, tools, and ideas that have significant potential to help the contemporary world embrace nonviolence as a complex growth-filled way of living, one that promises to help the human race sustain and enrich their civilization(s). This updated chapter will include reflections about preventing and reducing violence with a particular focus on the increased and tragic violence in the United States under the Trump administration.


Digital power plant has been practiced in Sudan petroleum coke power station project.The plant-wide control,the numerical structure design,and the analysis and optimization process of information management system have been introduced.Various systems have been combined to guide and improve the operation,management and maintenance in the power station at an integrated mode.