The purpose of this study is to examine to what extent the senior level Swedish school can be viewed as supporting, or counteracting, a colonial discourse that legitimizes global and national injustices. The study is executed through a discourse analysis of five textbooks in social science for senior level Swedish schools.

Using elements from Foucault and Edward Said a theoretical framework is constructed, in which a colonial discourse is perceived as structured around four clusters of ideas, namely (i) the use of dichotomies, (ii) the concept of progress and civilization, (iii) the construction of -we- as synonymous with (ii), and (iv) the construction of -the others- as the opposite of (ii) and, therefore, the opposite of -us-.

The results show that a colonial discourse is still highly present in the textbooks, in that the texts are structured around dichotomies such as tradition/modernity and democracy/dictatorship. Sweden and the Western world are perceived as closely associated with democracy, freedom, and modernity, whereas -the others- of the world are being associated with e.g. poverty, conflict, tradition, and ignorance. -The others- within Sweden, i.e. people of foreign background in this case, are constructed as traditional, male oppressors, unemployed, criminal, and nondemocratic.


The paper investigated the distribution of seven indicative polychlorinated biphenyls(PCBs)in the surface sediments from 10 samples of Fuyang-Hangzhou section,Qiantang River.It was shown that most of PCBs for seven indicative congeners(PCB28,101,118,138,153,180) were detectable in the sediment samples and the concentration of PCB118 was the highest.Total concentration of seven PCB congeners varied from 2.78 to 16.54 μg/kg,with the average concentration of 7.29 μg/kg.The highest concentration of PCBs was found in the south of Lingqiao(D3)and the lowest in the south of Jiuxi waterworks(D5).Prominent correlation between PCB congeners such as PCB118,PCB52 and PCB28 and total organic carbon suggested that at the serious pollution section there is the point source of PCBs from the industrial discharge.Based on the sediment risk criteria,it is necessary that potential hazard risk assessment in sediments of Fuyang section of Qiantang River be further made.


This paper stresses the importance of the installation of wave breakers to protect the shores of countries from the destructive effects that high water waves might have. In a first step towards understanding the actions of these waves, a wave tank experiment, containing a wave breaker was set up. The facility is described and special arrangements are out lined to yield a partial section in which two-dimensional waves could be studied by laser Doppler anemometry (LDA). Two-dimensional LDA measurements were performed, yielding information on the complex motion in the waves. Phase average properties of the mean velocity field were recorded as well as phase average r.m.s. values of the velocity fluctuations. The results are presented at 33 x-locations. The data provide an insight into the complex fluid motion that occurs when a wave approaches the installed two-dimensional wave breaker. Examples of the final results are provided in the form of diagrams. A complete set of results is available under request and in an Appendix instructions to access the data are given.


OF THE DISSERTATION RISK FILTERING AND RISK-AVERSE CONTROL OF PARTIALLY OBSERVABLE MARKOV JUMP PROCESSES by Ruofan Yan Dissertation Director: Paul Feehan and Andrzej Ruszczyński In this dissertation, we provide a theory of time-consistent dynamic risk measures for partially observable Markov jump processes in continuous time. By introducing risk filters, which are new two-stage risk measures, we show that the risk measure of a partially observable system can be represented as a risk measure of a fully observable system that is defined by a g-evaluation. The innovation process of the original system is the Brownian Motion driving the new fully observable system. Furthermore, we introduce a risk-averse control problem for the partially observable system and we derive a risk-averse dynamic programming equation.


Mild Steel is well known for its various applications in different fields. Mill scale on mild steel sheet components are usually removed by chemical cleaning, pickling etc. In the present study, mild steel sheet (Table-1) (25mm x 25mm x 3mm) and 2M H2SO4 solution has been selected as chemical cleaning solution of 1M to 2M H2SO4 is normally used in industries. Weight loss and Potentiodynamic polarization method have been carried out. Organic additives containing S and N like thiourea and quinoline as well as some of their derivatives were used for inhibiting/minimizing the dissolution rate of mild steel at various temperatures. Concentrations of the additives were varied. It was observed that 200 ppm of respective additives show superior inhibition/minimization of corrosion and low rate of dissolution at all the temperatures used in the experimentations.


Sovereign immunity — Foreign State — Whether immunity absolute — Onus of establishing the claim to immunity — Whether on the foreign State — Whether immunity available in commercial transactions — Whether immunity available in an action in revendication — The law of Canada


Excerpt Antibiotic agents are thought to diffuse freely through the cell wall of gram-positive bacteria. However, in gram-negative bacteria the diffusion of a given antibiotic agent depends on the ...


The growth of industrial activity in Britain in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries created a demandfor a new type of accounting, viz. "industrial accounting ", to satisfy the changing internal information requirements of business owners/managers. Recent research into the accounting records of a number of iron companies covering this period has suggested that, despite the paucity of the contemporary British literature on industrial accounting, new accounting techniques and new ideas concerning the potentialities of accounting were developed. Building on these advances, this paper employs the notion of "change agents" to explore the mechanism through which new techniques and ideas were disseminated within the basic metal mining and smelting industries of Wales. Within this context, particular attention is given to the type of person responsible for carrying out the internal accounting function.


Abstract.For the implementation of environmental health services in the Public health center need to be analyzed human resources, funding sources, implementation activities, and infrastructure facilities. The purpose of this research is to determine the implementation of environmental health services. Research is conducted throughout the public health center of Denpasar City, by providing an overview, description and analysis of the implementation of environmental health services. The results showed human resources showed a 100% good figure, all respondents of 100% expressed the importance of funding sources, as many as 5 public health centers carry out environmental health services every day, and the remaining 6 public health centers carry out according to the schedule. Facilities and infrastructures at the Public health center of Denpasar City there are still less like environmental health laboratories, environmental quality gauges and tool repair tools. Thus it is advised that the public health center that facilities and infrastructure is still lacking to be equipped and to the Public health center that carries out the activities of environmental health services on a schedule/not daily to review to the implementation of environmental health services


The modern automobile's symbol is represents an automobile enterprise, the automobile culture and the automobile product visual mark, and penetrates the totem culture to transmit the symbol for the populace the intrinsic information, has manifested the brand energetic makings and the idea recognition, achievement unique Che Xi the faction and the brand culture.


Review of the paper entitled "Drastic shrinking of the Hadley circulation during the midCretaceous supergreenhouse by H. Hasegawa, R. Tada, X. Jiang, Y. Suganuma, S. Imsamut, P. Charusiri, N. Ichinnorov, and Y. Khand. General comment This paper deals with an important and unsolved question: the cause of a flatter meridional gradient of temperature from Equator to Pole during Mid-Cretaceous. Indeed, there are now some evidences of diagenesis in O18 of carbonate that could provide wrong temperature reconstructions, these new informations are given by the O18 of apatite (PO4) which may be more reliable to reconstruct temperature (Puceat, 2007).


This article applies a comparative approach to the oil sector governance in two petroleum-rich countries in the Middle East: Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). More explicitly, it examines the factors which best explain variation in the strategies they have been pursuing in the upstream sector since the establishment of their national oil companies (NOCs). By drawing on the expropriation/ privatization literature in the field of Energy Studies, this paper proposes a theoretical framework to analyze the logics behind different forms of exploration and production strategies in the petroleum sector. Theoretically, this research aims at advancing an analytical toolkit to better address and understand the actual determinants of the decision-making process in the upstream. Empirically, the model is tested on the divergent cases of Saudi Arabia and the UAE, and a number of lessons are drawn. Ultimately, this paper should raise awareness among scholars and policymakers alike about the little knowledge we have on the domestic mechanisms driving the upstream strategies in oil producer states.


This study was conducted to evaluate the use of emergency vaccination to control DVH in ducks. Five liver samples were collected from Pekin ducks showing clinical symptoms of DVH from Kalubia province in summer 2016. The virus was isolated in specific pathogenic free (SPF) embryonated chicken eggs (ECES). The clinical sampleswereexamined by generic RT-PCR followed by partial sequencing of the 3D gene; the results revealed that the isolate was characterized as Duck hepatitis A virus resembling the recent Egyptian virus DHV/Duck/Egypt/AL-Gharbia/2014 belonging to serotype-1 with highest percent identity of (97.9%), and with Duck hepatitis–A virus vaccine with (79.4%) identity . The results obtained from emergency vaccination experiment indicated that emergency vaccination against DVH in young duckling in the experimentally infected and emergently vaccinated group gave good protection against infection with no deaths after emergency vaccination till the end of the experiment (40 days). In contrast, the second group (experimentally infected and not emergently vaccinated) showed deaths reached up to 40% of the ducklings and the lesions in dead and survived ducklings were severe. Therefore, emergency vaccination can be used effectively to face DVH outbreaks as a tool to control the disease.


Resistive random access memory (RRAM) has been extensively investigated due to its great potential in synaptic and neuromorphic computing applications. In the crossbar array of RRAM architecture, threshold switching selector devices are one of the crucial components to cut off the sneak current path of the unselected cells. In this paper, we report the first observation of threshold and resistive switching behaviors in epitaxially regrown vertical GaN p-n diodes. This mechanism was ascribed to the conductive path formed by traps in the insulating layer at the regrowth interface after soft breakdown. The device can reliably switch more than 1000 cycles at both room temperature and 300 °C with small fluctuation on the set and reset voltage. The set voltage increased with the increasing temperature due to the enhanced thermal detrapping effect that made it harder to form conductive path at high temperatures. The device showed memory behaviors when the reset voltage was higher than 4.4 V. These devices can be integrated with mature III-nitride high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs) technology and facilitate the development of GaN-based integrated circuits, especially for harsh environments such as high temperature and radiation environments.


The reaction kinetics of MC polyamide 6 and MC polyamide 6/Kevlar fiber composites was obtained by differential equations of nonisothermal kinetics and modified by considering the temperature field.The reaction activation energy of MC polyamide 6 and MC polyamide 6/ Kevlar fiber composites changed from(90.3 kJ/mol) and(102.4 kJ/mol) to(72.9 kJ/mol) and(80.1 kJ/mol) after modified,the frequency factor changed from 1.76×10~9 and 4.02×10~(10) to 1.26×10~7 and 9.18×10~7 accordingly,both of the treating activation energy and frequency factor were closer to the real system.KF could increase the value of activation energy and frequency factor for MC polyamide 6.The reaction orders of MC polyamide 6 and MC polyamide 6/ Kevlar fiber composites are approximately first-class.


Author(s): Leonardsen, Andreas Daugstad | Abstract: This thesis explores the array of fragmented histories surrounding the ancient instrument known as the jews harp, and the consequent translation of this research into a cinematic form. It seeks to enunciate the instruments basic potential for connecting seemingly disparate cultures across the world through a shared ancestry, and discusses the formal decisions employed to illustrate this potential in a visual form. The cinematic iteration engages Norway and India through a mode of observation that seeks to generate a mythical dimension of reality. Through such mechanisms as highly constructed and minimalist shots, what is arguably an ethnographic modality of documenting culture is pushed to its very limits, consequently problematizing the operation of the ethnographic gaze itself


To investigate whether resveratrol could restore the lysophosphatidylcholine (LPC)‐induced loss of endothelium‐dependent relaxation in in vitro cultured rat aorta tissue, first the effect of resveratrol on the loss of EDR was examined in this preparation. The results showed that resveratrol effectively attenuated the inhibition of LPC (10 μm) on both endothelium‐derived relaxing factor (EDRF) and endothelium‐derived hyperpolarizing factor (EDHF) in a concentration‐dependent manner (1, 10, 100 μm). In addition, resveratrol inhibited elevated K+‐induced vascular contracture, but had no significant effects on ACh (1 μm)‐induced endothelium‐dependent relaxation (EDR). A similar tendency was also observed with PD 98059 (30 μm), a selective inhibitor of ERK. When the cells were exposed to LPC (20 μm) the mRNA expression of eNOS and COX‐1 mRNA were down‐regulated, followed by a local induction of iNOS and COX‐2. Resveratrol and PD 98059 successfully reversed the effects of LPC on relative mRNA expressions. Both resveratrol and PD 98059 inhibited the activation of ERK induced by LPC. These findings demonstrate that resveratrol can restore the LPC‐induced loss of EDR in rat aorta and protect the endothelium against LPC‐induced injuries via the inhibition of the inflammation‐like response. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


To advance the research agenda in the mechanization of oil palm production, some plantations were selected in each of the palm growing regions of Colombia (East, Central, West and North). These plantations had to meet the following criteria: large plantation (> 500 ha) and with some degree of mechanization in certain activities of the productive process. Once selected, visits guided by agronomic managers, or their assistants, were conducted in each plantation; a photographic record was taken and a survey form related to previously defined research lines was filled out. Emphasis was placed on the equipment used, the relative frequency of the technologies and the performance of the mechanized operations. This study concludes that there is a heavy reliance on manual labor and poor labor performance, which directly affect production costs.


Spinal arachnoid cyst presents a di agnosti c challenge to c linical neurologists as well as radiologists. Although not an infrequent cause of progress ive spasti c paraparesi s in the young and middle-aged , it is often overlooked in the differential diagnosis of progressive myelopathy. This is of concern in that early diagnosis and resection of these ben ign lesions could prevent progressive and irreversi ble damage to the spinal cord . Diagnostic evaluation of spinal arachnoid cysts has evolved with advent of newer technologies. Currently, watersoluble myelography is widely advocated , yielding less morbidity from arachnoidal scarring , which has often been associated with oily contrast mediaespec ially when trapped by or within the cyst [1 ]. Vonofakos et al. [2], however, argue in favor of oily contrast materi al , contending that metrizamide myelography could fail to demonstrate an arachnoid cyst owing to the homogeneous dilution of the contrast medium within the cyst and the subarachnoid space. Along with others, they emphasized the efficacy of oily contrast material with use of prone, supine, and erect positions [3, 4]. We report a case in whi ch both Pantopaque and metrizamide myelograms failed to demonstrate a spinal arachnoid cyst that was subsequently delineated by metrizamide computed tomography (CT). Metrizamide CT appears to be the most sensitive method for evaluating the spinal arachnoid cysts.


VOD is a "user-independent" interactive multi-media video program on request system.This article put forwards the design and realization method of agricultural science and technology VOD system,which is based on Windows Media Service.The writer also provides the solution to the upload and management of large capacity media documents.


At present, Chinese BeiDou satellite navigation system has launched sixteen satellites, BeiDou has been capable of regional navigation and positioning. By providing information such as position, direction and speed and so on, BeiDou can be used for navigation , positioning and timing. For the satellite navigation signal is LOS propagation,in some environments such as urban high buildings, canyon and dense trees, the satellite navigation signal may be blocked. And the positioning error of BeiDou navigation receiver may become large. The positioning availability may decrease. It will affect the efficiency of any application based on BeiDou system Assessing BeiDou signal quality such as availability and accuracy is important before implementing any application in certain area.A method has been proposed for assessing the availability and accuracy of BeiDou satellite navigation system. The mentioned characteristics of BeiDou signal are addressed. Some methods evaluating the availability and accuracy of BeiDou signal are given in detail. In order to collect data and analysis the performance of BeiDou signal, BeiDou signal evaluation platform based on LabVIEW is designed. Some field data are recorded by the platform. Based on the collected data, some parameters,such as satellite visibility, positioning avalibility and dilution of precision (DOP) of BeiDou were analyzed. A GUI(Graphical User Interface) was created using LabVIEW to read BeiDou data and analysis the data. The prototype of the system being implemented in LabVlEW, theoretical and experimental investigations are discussed and provided.


We study a parallel batch-scheduling problem that involves the constraints of different job release times, non-identical job sizes, and incompatible job families, is addressed. Mixed integer programming and constraint programming (CP) models are proposed and tested on a set of common problem instances from a paper in the literature. Then, we compare the performance of the models with that of a variable neighborhood search (VNS) heuristic from the same paper. Computational results show that CP outperforms VNS with respect to solution quality and run time by 3.4%–6.8% and 47%–91%, respectively. When compared to optimal solutions, the results demonstrate CP is capable of generating a near optimal solution in a short amount of time.


Surface coordinates of face-milled spiral-bevel gear teeth computed by method involving numerical solution of governing equations. Needed to generate mathematical models of tooth surfaces for use in finite-element analyses of stresses, strains, and vibrations in meshing spiral-bevel gears.


MICHAELS, RONDA DEE. Benefits of Physical Activity for Children with Chronic Health Conditions. (Under the direction of Dr. Judy Peel). It has long been proven that adults experience many benefits from regular physical activity, exercise and/or sport. Over the last ten years there has been an increase in research regarding the specific physical and psychosocial benefits of physical activity in adults and children. However, few research studies have examined both the physical and psychosocial benefits of an ongoing structured physical activity program for children with a chronic health condition. Chronic health conditions including various cancers, congenital heart disease, lupus, diabetes, cystic fibrosis, renal disease, asthma, spina bifida, cerebral palsy, visual and auditory impairments, learning disabilities, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and mental retardation affect approximately 10-20% of children aged 4-17 (Lanphear, Liptak & Weitzman, 1995; Cooper et al., 1999). There are approximately 45,000 children with a chronic health condition in North Carolina alone (Benedict, Farel & Howell, 1999). Because of the proven importance of physical activity and the increasing numbers of children with chronic health conditions, it is important to explore the physical and psychosocial benefits of physical activity for these children. The purpose of this study was to determine if children with chronic health conditions, specifically those with a brain tumor, cancer and/or leukemia participating in Hoop Dreams Basketball Academy would score higher in physical self efficacy and the health-related physical fitness components than children with cancer that do not participate in Hoop Dreams Basketball Academy. The Physical Self-Efficacy Scale (Ryckman et al., 1982) and The Brockport Physical Fitness Test (Winnick & Short, 1999) were used to investigate the physical self-efficacy and health-related physical fitness of a sample of children with cancer that were involved in Hoop Dreams Basketball Academy compared to a sample of children with cancer that did not participate in the physical activity programs provided by Hoop Dreams Basketball Academy. A t-test for Equality of Means was used to test the significance of the relationships between the control group and the experimental group. No statistically significant difference in the means of physical self-efficacy or the various health-related fitness components were found. The small sample size made it difficult to conduct an in-depth statistical analysis. BENEFITS OF PHYSICAL ACTIVITY FOR CHILDREN WITH CHRONIC HEALTH CONDITIONS by RONDA DEE MICHAELS A thesis submitted to the Graduate Faculty of North Carolina State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Science PARKS, RECREATION, AND TOURISM MANAGEMENT


Various forms of refractive surgery for vision correction have come into clinical practice in which the corneal tissue is either incised, removed, added to, or redistributed. The outcomes of these procedures must be to a large extent determined by the intrinsic mechanical properties of the major structural layer of the cornea, the stroma1. If these mechanical properties, principally the Young's modulus and shear modulus, are established for the human cornea, it will be possible to include them in a finite element model of the stroma that can help predict the outcome of keratorefractive procedures. In this study an opto-mechanical testing device was developed to measure the contour of a cornea deformed in situ by a mechanical probe. A nonlinear finite element model of the cornea was then constructed to simulate the experiment for use in inverse estimation of the in vivo Young's and shear moduli of an individual eye.


High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) has been widely used to encode video sequences and output streams for its outstanding performance on compression. However, the lossy compression process still results in blocking, blurring and ring effects, which are quite significant at low bit-rates. In this paper, we propose a post-processing method based on a residual convolutional neural network (CNN) to effectively improve the visual quality of the decoded intra frames of HEVC. By learning the spatial mapping between high and low quality image patches, our approach can effectively predict lost image details. Since the proposed approach only works on decoded frames, it does not require to modify the original HEVC, i.e., the enhancement can be done in parallel with HEVC baseline, which makes it flexible to be included into a decoding system. Experimental results show that the proposed approach outperforms the state-of-the-arts by a large margin and makes a 5.5% bit-rate reduction on average compared to HEVC baseline. Furthermore, the PSNR measures of intra frames increase about 0.395 dB when encoded at high quality parameters (QP).


The purpose of this article was to determine the macroeconomic and investment situation in 2018-2020 in the Member States of the European Union. The work also deals with the division of the European Union into three parts: the core, the periphery, and  Central and Eastern Europe. A critical analysis of the scientific literature was used to present the economic consequences of the pandemic. Ward's method was used to create a few clusters of European Union Member States that are most similar to each other in terms of macroeconomic situation and investments. During the pandemic, the macroeconomic and investment situation worsened. Moreover, there are three groups of member states in the European Union, which indicates that there are still significant development and economic disproportions between the groups in the EU.


The objective of this study is for knowing the effect of (1) Learning strategi using elaboration and conventional (2) Social inetraction , i.e. high and low (3) The Sosial interaction between learning Strategi and social inetraction towards learning achievement of PKnS.
The result of this study revealed that (1) there is a significant difference between the achievement of PKnS by using elaboration Strategi and conventional (F = 7.461 > Ftable = 7.19; x Al = 26.038 > x A2 = 25.808), (2) there is a significant difference between the achievement of PKnS with low and high of sosial interaction (F = 190.265 > Ftable = 7.19; x B1 = 35.231 > :7 B2=19.654) (3) there was an interaction effect found between learning Strategi and Sosial interaction that made differences for achievement of PKnS (F = 48,075 > Ftable =7.19).
Analysis using Tuckey revealed that (1) Learners with social interaction base and received elaboration Strategi have higher achievement of PKnS than learners with high social inetraction and received conventional Strategi (Q = 4,249 > Qtable = 3,791; .37 A1B1 = 37.115 > x A2B1 = 33.577), (2) Learners with low social inetraction and received elaboration Strategi have no different achievement of PKnS than learners with low social inetraction and received conventional Strategi (Q = 3.477 x A2B2= 18.577), (3) Learners with high social inetraction and received elaboration Strategi have higher achievement of PKnS than learners with low social inetraction and received the same Strategi (Q = 19.893 > Qtable = 3.791; 5C A1B1 =37.115 > x A1B2 = 20.731), (4) Learners with high social inetraction and received conventional Strategi have higher achievement of PKnS than learners with low social inetraction and received the same Strategi (Q = 19.121 > Qtable = 3.791; 3c- A2B1 = 33.577 > x A2B2 = 18.577), (5) Learners with low social inetraction and received elaboration Strategi have lower achievement of PKnS than learners with high social inetraction and received the conventional Strategi (Q = 16.644 > Qtable = 3.791; x A1B2 = 20.731 > x A2131=33.577) (6) Learners with high social inetraction and received elaboration Strategi have higher achievement of PKnS than learners with low social inetraction and received the conventional Strategi (Q = 23.370 > Qtable = 3.791; x A1B1 = 37.115 > x A2B 2 = 18.577).
Based on the research above it was showing that learning Strategi and social inetraction influenced to learners achievement of PKnS at SMK Sinar Husni Medan. The research expected to give an well input to learners and teachers.


The part played in the incidence of typhoid fever in Massachusetts by typhoid bacilli carriers is unknown, but the number of typhoid bacilli carriers found each year is increasing, although typhoid cases reported annually in the state are decreasing in number. The axiom of "once a carrier, always a carrier,,, is a good one for health officials to stand by. A series of negative fecal and urinary examinations for the typhoid bacillus should mean nothing to a board of health who are safeguarding the public health, if typhoid bacilli have been found in the excreta of a person three months or more after having had typhoid fever. It is true that occasionally the removal of a gallbladder results in negative findings. However, the mere fact that it is not true in all instances indicates that there is a chance that the


Natural hydraulic and aerial lime mortars are used extensively for restoration works due to their good compatibility with the substrate material in historical masonry construction. Recently, the study of the influence of loading rate of such materials is getting more attention due to the fact that many historic masonry structures are situated in zones of seismic activity. However, the references are still scarce in comparison to that of steel and concrete and the studies focused on the measurement of the influence of loading rate on the fracture energy are limited, although it is an important parameter to characterize the ductility and the fracture behaviour of the material. Thus, in the paper, an aerial and a natural hydraulic lime mortar specimens were tested at various loading rates (loading-point displacement rates) from the quasi-static one, 5.0 × 10 -4 mm/s, to rate sensitive ones, 5.0 × 10 -1 mm/s and 1.6 × 10 1 mm/s. For this purpose, it was used a servo-hydraulic testing machine up to its maximum range of velocities. The results show that the fracture energy and the peak load of both lime mortars are rate sensitive. The maximum dynamic increase factors of the fracture energy are 1.9 for both mortars, while 1.4 and 1.6 for the natural hydraulic and the aerial lime mortars, respectively, in the peak load. This behaviour is related to viscous effects of free water in the mortar.


Subcorneal pustular dermatosis (SPD), first described by Sneddon and Wilkinson, represents a rare chronic and relapsing sterile pustular eruptions generally involving the trunk and flexor aspect of limbs. Usually, it affects middle-aged or elderly women. Histologically, it is characterized by the accumulation of subcorneal neutrophils with an absence of spongiosis and acantholysis. Here, we are reporting a rare case of SPD in the pediatric age group, which was diagnosed based on clinical and histological findings. We gave dapsone in treatment with a positive outcome. To the best of our knowledge, there has not been any case report in the pediatric age group from India so far.


Medial epicondylalgia is a repetitive stress condition. The aim of this study was to assess whether Kinesio taping offers any superiority over athletic taping for chronic medial epicondylalgia management. The results show statistically significant differences in isokinetic and patient self-reported variables between each group: (a) Group A: Kinesio tape with rehabilitation; (b) Group B: athletic taping with rehabilitation; and (c) group C: only rehabilitation. Although no significant differences in preintervention group assessments (p > .05) were found, only Group (A) showed statistically significant posttreatment improvements. Kinesio taping over athletic taping appears effective for treating chronic medial epicondylalgia and facilitating pain reduction and isokinetic improvements.


Music exerts powerful effects on human performance, behavior, and experience, yet very little is understood about how they are affected by game music. This paper describes a works-in-progress study examining the effects of music and music tempo on game play performance, behavior, and experience in a cognitive game. We found that music influenced mouse activity not directly related to game play, and increased players' feelings of flow.


A theory has been developed for the average bending deformation of fibers in an assembly subjected to compression. It is shown that the maximum average bending deformation of the fibers does not exceed 17°, implying that the method of bulk resilience cannot be used as an indicator of elastic recovery of fibers for any precision measurements.


Certain problems of quantum physics (for example, the Aharonov-Bohm effect) lead to the eigenvalue problem for a Schrodinger operator with wave multifunctions. For a multiply-connected configuration space with a simplest topology (for example, for a n-dimensional torus) this problem was considered by several authors. In the present paper, by using rigorous mathematical methods we investigate this problem on an arbitrary multi-dimensional smooth manifold (possibly, with a boundary). We carefully define the concept of multifunctions, then we introduce spaces of these objects similar to L2 and H01. Finally, we present a spectral theorem on the existence of a self-adjoint extension of a Schrodinger operator in the introduced spaces which implies the completeness of the system of eigenfunctions of this operator in the considered functional spaces.


Semiconductor serves as the base for the Artificial Intelligence Society. We are interested in detecting technology trends and changes in the semiconductor industry because there are some large resource allocation and organization restructure in this industry recently. In this study, we narrowed our research boundary into the U.S. and Japan. We extracted patent information related with semiconductor and made a citation network. We used Louvain method to cluster the maximum connected component and considered several largest clusters. Results show that the technology portfolios among the two countries are different. We used "tf-idf" to detect keywords and features of these unbalanced clusters. In the future, we will link the applicant information in a patent database with mergers and acquisitions (M&A) information in a company database. We will compare and integrate findings from different sources, such as investment, M&A, technology features and industrial policies in order to have a comprehensive understanding.


In this study are presented the results of our ongoing research on an original concept for visualizing and tracking the state of the urinary bladder. We have developed a measuring device based on electrical impedance tomography (EIT). Using electrical current stimulation and measuring the resulting voltages on a patient's body surface, we can visualize the bladder's position and shape, allowing us to analyze its filling level. The project also involves the development of diagnostic methods for functional disorders of the lower urinary tract. In addition, the device will measure muscle tension by electromyography, with the possibility of incorporating electrostimulation therapy. This approach can be used to monitor and support the treatment of patients with various health conditions related to the urinary bladder.


Dislocation loops and precipitates in an arsenic‐rich GaAs crystal have been studied by transmission electron microscopy to investigate their formation mechanism and establish their relationship to point defects. The precipitates are identified to be hexagonal arsenic phases having a simple orientation relationship with the GaAs matrix. Detailed analyses of the loops indicate that they are composed of two separate defects lying on (111) planes: a faulted loop and a perfect loop. It is proposed that the loops are formed by condensation of excess arsenic interstitials followed by clustering of excess Ga vacancies and subsequent generation and movement of Shockley partial dislocation(s). The faulted loop is interpreted as an hcp arrangement of arsenic atoms. This model supports the hypothesis that arsenic interstitials and Ga vacancies coexist in GaAs at high temperatures although arsenic interstitials initiate the formation of arsenic‐related dislocation loops. Implications concerning the formation process ...


A light-trapping structure of the thin-film GaAs p-i-n single-junction solar cell with InGaAs/GaAsP multiple quantum wells (MQWs) was successfully demonstrated. Using a nanoimprinting method with ultraviolet curing resin, the submicron light-scattering dielectric array was fabricated on the back surface of the cell for enhanced optical absorption in the MQWs. The epitaxially grown photovoltaic active layer approximately 2.5 μm in thickness was successfully transferred to the stainless steel support substrate with backside light-scattering structure from the GaAs growth substrate. The light-trapping pattern-induced sample showed improved absorption in MQWs and resulted in 1.7 times larger quantum efficiency than the cell without the backside pattern.


The frequency-response (FR) technique has been used to study the kinetics of ammonia adsorption–desorption processes and to characterise the acidic sites in two different, well characterized H-ZSM-5 catalysts. The FR method has been shown to be capable of distinguishing the different strengths and concentrations of acid sites using sorbate pressures close to those applied under real reaction conditions. The method, therefore, has advantages over techniques which require high vacuum or low probe molecule pressures to obtain relevant information. The FR observations were in agreement with the results of other examinations. Although in the range of this study the direct interaction between ammonia and the acidic sites can be detected most probably only above 623 K, the rate spectra of hydrogen-bonded ammonia sorption on ammonium ions seems to be characteristic for acidic catalysts. Adspecies detected by the FR technique must also play a role in any dynamic system of practical interest. Combination of the technique with other methods is suggested to obtain a more complete description of zeolitic acid sites.


The subject of bachelor thesis "The optimization of enterprise processes by use of software tools" is analysis of the current solution of wholesale orders at a selected company with emphasis on it's weaknesses, followed by designing and implementing a new solution. Theoretical part of the thesis contains definitions of basic economic and technical knowledge related to the order form that are consequently used to analyse the original solution and to design and introduce created order form.


AlSb is a promising material for optical devices, particularly for high-frequency and nonlinear-optical applications. We report the effect of growth temperature on structural properties of AlSb grown on GaAs substrate. In particular we studied the surface of AlSb with the growth temperature by atomic force microscopy, and concluded that optimized growth temperature of AlSb is 530oC. We also show the result of real-time monitoring of AlSb growth by in situ ellipsometry. The results of the structural study are good agreement with the previous reported ellipsometric data.


Background: Performance management system (PMS) is the process of quantifying action which leads to organizational efficiency, competitiveness and g rowth. Performance measurement is the vital element of quality management system (QMS). Innovative companies have a strong culture, clear sense of mission and purpos e, a well thought out strategy and business philosophy of con tinuous improvement, driven by QMS. Implementation of QMS ISO9001 standards has encouraged many organizations to develop and implement performance management system. Statement of quality objectives and Measurement, an alysis and improvement as a part of QMS which leads to continual improvement is a vital part of success of company. Therefore PMS influence on sale, distribution and l ogistics companies with a complex processes and great number of subjects in supply chain are of great importance for thei r success. Methods: In our research we analyse measures and measurement approaches and frameworks that exist in logistic management and based on that we present results fro m one SME from eastern European country. We use case study research and therefore we conduct interviews with managers, employees and QMS/PMS implementation staff in sale and distribution company. Results: The aim of this study was to estimate the value of various metrics of the evaluation of QMS implementation. The study was based on case study in one Serbian sa le and distribution company specifically in measure ment part and metrics that are essential for their business and t o compare them with approaches existed in literatur e. We reveal some obstacles in collecting data for measurement and be nchmarking in Serbian market. Different metrics for efficient management of company are implemented in this company based on sales results and customer satisfaction . Conclusion: The importance of the research is in the fact that implementation of QMS reveal the need for PMS implementation and therefore results in certain per formance measures implementation and further continuous tracking of these parameters. We made conclusion that higher business results were reached after PMS implementation and that after implementation of QMS and PMS top managers understand the importance of implementation. We reveal also the fact that in former eastern European socialism countries like Serbia, exist resistance of performance measu rement implementation and publication of these data as wel l as the implementation of benchmarking among companies.


This paper investigates Routing and Wavelength Assignment (RWA) problem in Optical Networks. Optical Networks are critical for handling increased bandwidth demands; and it is difficult to manage lightpath requests due to the lack of network resources. To overcome this challenge, a queuing theory based framework for Optical Networks is proposed with Software-Defined Networking (SDN) paradigm. Here, traffic management is controlled by a centralized controller. More specifically, in the considered scenario, a controller is modeled with a queuing approach, and lightpath requests between source and destination node pairs are scheduled. The thorough evaluations show that the assigned lightpath can be increased with the proposed queuing based SDN model in Optical Networks.


We have characterized the absorbing film assisted transfer of Trichoderma longibrachiatum conidia using a synchronized laser for illumination. The transfer laser used was a KrF excimer laser (λ = 248 nm, FWHM = 30 ns) and the ejected material was illuminated parallel to the quartz plate by a nitrogen laser pumped Coumarine 153 dye laser beam (λ = 453 nm, FWHM = 1 ns) electronically delayed relative to the transfer UV pulse. Our time-resolved investigations determined that the ejection velocity front of the conidia plume from the donor surface during the transfer procedure was 1150 m s−1 at 355 mJ cm−2 applied laser fluence. On the basis of the measured data, the acceleration of the emitted conidia at the plume front was approximately 109 × g. The conidia survived the absorbing film assisted forward transfer and associated mechanical shear without significant damages suggesting that the technique might be applicable to other more fragile types of biological objects and applications.


In teaching, reflection about pedagogical action and the interdisciplinary integration is done in order to encourage understanding and learning of new knowledge and to develop abstract structures inherent to mathematics. The importance of cognitive processes and its relation to the teaching of mathematics has been shown (Pozo, 2006; D'Amore, 2006). The present study explores the actions of mathematics teachers to improve cognitive processes. It is a qualitative study framed in the Grounded theory. The sample included mathematics teachers. The categories that emerged from findings were: teaching strategies and didactic elements showed the predominance of memorization, questioning, teacher explanation, and the use of the blackboard. Also, the use of exemplification, analogies, and problem solving from everyday situations emerged as structures of important significance.


Abstract The homogeneous hydroformylation of 1-pentene under synthesis gas experimental conditions was studied using Wilkinson's catalyst and Co2(CO)8 modified by different triarylstibines. The stibine ligands SbR3 (where R = 2,4,6-mesityl, p-tolyl and o-tolyl), have been tested with Wilkinson's catalyst and Co2(CO)8 These catalysts have also been studied separately with PPh3 for comparison, under the same hydroformylation conditions. It is interesting to note that 1:1 addition of these stibine ligands to the catalysts, extraordinarily increases the yields of aldehydes with appreciable n:iso ratio. The maximum yield of aldehydes obtained were 98.6% with n/iso = 2.4 when RhCl(PPh3)3 + trimesityl stibine system was used and 85.0% with n/iso = 3.4 when Co2(CO)8 + trimesityl stibine system was studied.


Background and Purpose— Secondary intracerebral hemorrhage (sICH) is a potentially serious complication of ischemic stroke, in particular under concomitant oral anticoagulation. Previous studies in murine stroke models defined a novel vascular repair function of hematogenous monocytes/macrophages (MO/MP), which proved essential for the prevention of oral anticoagulation–associated sICH. Here, we addressed the question whether hyperglycemia as a clinically relevant prohemorrhagic risk factor and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPAR&ggr;) activation affect MO/MP differentiation and the risk of sICH after ischemic stroke. Methods— Oral anticoagulation–associated sICH was induced by phenprocoumon feeding to mice undergoing transient middle cerebral artery occlusion. Hyperglycemia was induced by streptozotocin treatment. The role of PPAR&ggr;-dependent MO/MP differentiation was addressed in mice with myeloid cell–specific PPAR&ggr;-knockout (LysM-PPAR&ggr;(KO)). Pharmacological PPAR&ggr; activation via pioglitazone was tested as a treatment option. Results— Hyperglycemic mice and normoglycemic LysM-PPAR&ggr;(KO) mice exhibited abnormal proinflammatory skewing of their hematogenous MO/MP response and abnormal vascular remodeling in the infarct border zone, leading to an increased rate of oral anticoagulation–associated sICH. Pharmacological PPAR&ggr; activation in hyperglycemic mice corrected the inflammatory response toward an anti-inflammatory profile, stabilized neovessels in the infarct border zone, and reduced the rate of sICH. This preventive effect was dependent on the presence of macrophages, but independent from effects on blood glucose levels. Conclusions— Hyperglycemia and macrophage-specific PPAR&ggr; activation exert opposing effects on MO/MP polarization in ischemic stroke lesions and, thereby, critically determine the risk of hemorrhagic infarct transformation.


As a fundamental component, hollow cathodes have been widely used in electric thruster applications. Krypton has become one of the ideal alternative propellants for hollow cathode due to its economy, thus it is vital to understand the basic physical process of the discharge of krypton-fed hollow cathode. This study sets out to establish a two-dimensional fluid model coupled with the equations for gas flow and heat transfer allowing to obtain a self-consistent description of the cathode discharge. The anomalous collision term based on the formulations of Sagdeev and Galeev is considered in this model. The model is validated by comparing the simulated and measured plasma characteristic parameters and reasonable agreement is reached. The findings show that the discharge of the krypton-fed hollow cathode is characterized by the lower plasma density, higher electron temperature, and higher spatial electric potential compared to that of the xenon-fed hollow cathode and tends to present a higher plasma density in the cathode plume region when it is operating with the diode configuration. The double layer formed at the keeper orifice is an important factor for the low electron temperature distribution, which is greatly affected by the keeper current. These findings add to our understanding of plasma behavior in the discharge of a low current krypton-fed hollow cathode and support further development of credible krypton-fed hollow cathode.


The notion of Brand Reality marks a qualitative break in thinking about branding. Companies successfully applying the concept will discover that in comparison, former approaches to branding were but pale shadows of the real thing. But to do so they must clear two major hurdles. They must unlearn some deep assumptions about brands and branding, including how strong brands are built, how they add value, and what it means to get 'close' to customers. And they must allow the light of new brand thinking to penetrate new areas of their business.


The present invention provides a bellows punch cutting apparatus, comprising a feeder mounted on the base, a guide, a punch, and the axial split off, further comprising a control mechanism and a discharge feeder. This puncturing means integrated bellows, axial division multiple functions on and off, high production efficiency, Jian Jie structure, and exchange refueling convenient type, suitable for different diameters of corrugated tube processing.


Abstract Normalised pattern (DB‐5 capillary column) of polychlorinated naphthalenes (PCNs; CNs) for all seven technical Halowax formulations and mass percent contribution (CN %) for an equivalent mixture of Halowax 1031, 1000, 1001, 1099, 1013, 1014 and 1051 (Equi‐Halowax) is presented. 2,3‐DiCN (PCN no. 10), 1,6,7‐and 2,3,6‐TrCNs (PCNs nos 25 and 26) and probably also 1,3,5‐TrCN (PCN no. 19), 1,3,6,7‐, 1,2,3,6‐and 1,2,3,8‐TeCN (PCNs nos. 44, 29 and 31), and 1,2,3,6,7,8‐HxCN (PCN no. 70) were absent in commercial PCNs formulations. The congeners such as 1,2,3‐TrCN (PCN no. 13), 1,3,8‐TrCN (PCN no. 22) and 1,2,3,6,7‐PeCN (PCN no. 54) were present in the mixtures at very low concentrations. The congeners most abundant in Halowax mixtures are usually chlorinated at α‐positions (1, 4, 5, 8‐positions) of the naphthalene nuclei. Because of some unresolved peaks observed on the chromatograms due to insufficient separation power of DB‐5, and also of many other liquid phases used in capillary gas Chromatographie separation of PCNs even when mass spectrometric detection was used, a perfect isomer and congener composition of PCN mixtures still has to be elucidated.


In Belgium, a voluntary code of conduct intended to prevent introduction of invasive plants through the horticultural trade has been implemented since 2009. European Regulation 1143/2014 that imposes legal bans on a number of plant taxa entered into force in 2015. However, studies regarding the presence of invasive plants in the Belgian horticultural trade remained scarce. In 2016–2017 and in 2020, we surveyed a total of 11 garden centres specialized in water gardening and compiled a list of 285 aquatic plant taxa that were being traded. In 2020, four Belgian Consensus List species and one Communication List species were still offered for sale. Also, three species of Union Concern were still being sold in 2020. The plants of the Belgian Lists that were still being sold in 2020 and all except one of the European Union List plants were mislabelled, either because of misidentification or because a taxonomic synonym was used. Mislabelling may explain why some prohibited plants were still in trade. Therefore, retailers and plant producers should be encouraged to correctly identify the plants that are being traded. Our study illustrates that regular surveys are essential to assess the effectiveness of voluntary codes of conduct and legal trade bans.


Development here may be considered improvement along different lines, as usually relates to the progress of a group of people educationally, economically and spiritually. In the first place, the African Negro has a better spiritual background than the American Negro: that is, dating back from the advent of the American Negro into America when he lost his African contact. While the Negroes ' two hundred and fifty years in America has seTved to give them training in education and industry, and helped them to accumulate considerable property, yet this hiatus in his African and American existence has served to develop a certain inferiority complex that differentiates the American Negro from the African. The African seems to feel himself equal to any other man on earth, and brooks no superior. He shows this in his actions and in his talk while the American Negro has had instilled into him a subserviency that has almost made of him a defeatist who by his acts and talk does not consider himself the equal of other men. The American Negro, however, is an equal among his fellows and brooks no superior among them. He accepts much from the white man that he will not accept from one of his own race. Bad treatment from a white man may be constantly imposed and soon forgotten while the same treatment from a colored man would be instantly resented and long remembered. Statistics show that the Negroes of Atlanta and other Negro centers of population commit 80% of the murders; and 70% of these murders are killings of Negroes by Negroes. The American Negro, along economic lines, has developed a hostility to his compatriots of color to the extent that he reluctantly gives him his patronage in business or in the trades and professions. The Negro * Au address delivered at the Annual Meeting of the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History in Atlanta, Georgia, November 16, 1932.


Biomagnifications of aqueous bodies as a result of discharged herbicides from agricultural and industrial sources is counted among serious health hazards for the water inhabiting organisms. In due fascination in this context scientific community is eager to know the related toxic reactions in aquatic biota especially fish. In the present study, an attempt has been made to examine the sub-lethal and lethal toxic effects of Atrazine, an organophosphate herbicide, on biochemical parameters viz, glucose, protein and cholesterol in Channa punctatus, a commonly known fish in Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh-India. A set of twelve fishes of this class were exposed to 0, 25, 30, 35, 40, 45 and 50 mg/L concentration of Atrazine. The lethal concentration (LC 50 ) value of Atrazine was 40 mg/L for 96 hours of exposure. C. punctatus were exposed to three sub lethal concentrations of Atrazine (5 mg/L, 10 mg/L, 15 mg/L) for 15 and 30 days respectively. The serum protein and cholesterol level was observed to be declined, while serum glucose level was detected to be inclined after Atrazine treatment. From the study, it has been established that the increasing level of glucose and decline in other biochemical parameters are apparently indicators of fish's response to the stress caused by the pollutant (target herbicide).


The N-phenyl methyl esters 4 of glycine, alanine, valine, leucine, isoleucine, phenylalanine, methionine, proline, serine, threonine, tyrosine, aspartic acid, and glutamic acid have been synthesized in good to excellent yields using diphenyliodonium bromide, AgNO3, and a catalytic amount of CuBr starting from the relevant amino acid ester. The chiral integrity of the amino acids 5 was maintained during these reactions, which were confirmed by the synthesis of dipeptide for each N-phenyl amino acid. The structures of the new compounds were confirmed by the analysis of their IR, 1H, and 13C NMR spectra in addition to CHN microanalysis or high-resolution mass spectrometry for the new N-phenyl amino acids 5 and the esters 4.


This paper aims to ameliorate the contribution capability of doubly fed induction generator to damp the frequency and output power deviation of stand‐alone hybrid microgrid system. Skyrocketing progress in converter‐interfaced renewable energy sources leads to weakness of islanded microgrids' inertia which imposes some problems in the frequency control and hybrid system stability. This problem can be effectively solved by utilizing renewable resources with high harvestable energy such as doubly fed induction generator‐wind turbine. Furthermore, the alternative energy resources have been taken into account to participate in strength of weak inertia of the microgrid. Since the conventional controller like proportional integral derivative droop controller cannot present efficient damping term because of their slow controlling action in order to diminish the frequency and output power deviation. In this regard, a fractional‐order adaptive neuro fuzzy inference system droop is here introduced to stabilize the frequency within a satisfactory secure range with low fluctuation over the conventional droop controllers. To attain an accurate control action, multi‐objective sine cosine algorithm is used to optimize the parameters of based on multi‐criterion objective functions. To verify the performance of proposed droop controller, it has been tested under different scenarios. At last, the simulation results reveal that sine cosine algorithm‐based proposed droop controller can significantly enhance the microgrids' inertia and diminish the frequency and output power deviation.


In many countries around the world, including Brazi l, there is a tendency to invite external non-educational actors to participate in the educat ion l process in school. The discourse regarding education in the new century reveals key words such as community learning and school networks . Many programs in which outside actors have been i ntegrated into the educational processes have recorded positive result s. However, there are tangible challenges to creating schools that successfully implement inp ut from the community. Our primary objective was to present a picture of the relations hip between four Brazilian primary schools and their social environment, describing and analyz ing how these links with external noneducational actors are established, why and what fo r. In order to do so, we explore also their circumstances, conditions, motives. In the majority of cases, we conducted semi-structural interviews with the school communities and in some cases we distribute semi-structural questionnaires. Our research also included observat ions noted during our visits to the four schools. During some of these visits, we witnessed external actors participating in special school events. Following these events, we interview ed some of the internal players to gain their perspectives on the extent of the external in flue ces. The key question was whether the relationship can be considered symbiotic, referred to structural couplement –a technical term borrowed from the Theory of Autopoiese. Our interes t in this connection arises out of the Theoretical Model of Structural Couplement which co n ludes that the process of steering itself depends upon this relationship. In the study that covered four primary schools located in Salvador, Bahia State of Brazil, selected from a na tio l survey research, we analyzed the schools to investigate if their relationships with non educational actors manifested seven typical characteristics of structural complement. T he results were contrasted between the schools by following the clusters: localization nea r or distant to the center of the city Salvador, private or public school, high or low pup il performance and an internally unequal or equal dispersion of pupil attainments. Our case stu dy has implications both for steering practice in school, but also for public steering pr actice over all. First, it may help directors and governing agents to understand the influence of par tnerships on the steering process by providing a new theoretical framework taken from th e Theory of Autopoiese and the Theoretical Model of Structural Couplement. Second, it reveals the disadvantaged conditions for succeeded partnerships, like, the lake of trans p rent communication, the lake of a clear objectives and aims and the lake of pedagogical lon g term planning in cooperation with the external school-partners, which indicate why these relationships do not become structural couplements. Considering the theoretical constructi on of the grammar of school we recommend completing this construction with a pragm linguistic vision which shows the difficulties schools in communicating with their so cial environment.


Intellectual capital has become a key resource for enterprises, but its measurement and reporting represents a major challenge for managers and researchers. The aim of this article was to establish the possibilities for using the Value-Added Intellectual Coefficient (VAIC TM) method to report intellectual capital of companies included in the WIG 20 index of the Warsaw Stock Exchange. This study also identified opportunities and threats arising from its use. The data necessary to perform the calculations in accordance with the VAIC method came from balance sheets and profit and loss accounts for the period 2010-2013. The VAIC method provides the means to measure intellectual capital and the efficiency of its individual components, allowing management intervention in those business areas open to objective statistical analysis.


The purpose of this study is to estimate a higher-order confirmatory factor model of communities of faith that consists of two tiers. Seven dimensions of church-based social support make up the first tier including emotional support received from rank-and-file church members as well as emotional support received from a pastor. It is hypothesized that these first-order constructs are driven by a higher-order latent variable that denotes a community of faith. The data reveal that emotional support represents the way in which a community of faith is most likely to be manifest while tangible support is a less critical component.


I will present our latest advances in label-free quantitative imaging flow cytometry for cancer cell classification using external and portable interferometric modules, where the metastatic potential of the cells is detected. © 2019 The Author(s)


The ISO 18000-6C protocol (GEN2 protocol) transmits EPC bits to the Reader in the Inventory to reveal its identity, but this data can be sniffed by any malicious readers nearby very easily. Also the GEN2 protocol does not have any technique to authenticate the Reader before it gives the access to the Tag's memory. In this paper, we present a Secure Identification and Mutual Authentication protocol, to secure the communication between a tag and a reader, and its implementation. The protocol uses lightweight ciphers like Hummingbird (HB), PRESENT and Extended Tiny Encryption Algorithm (XTEA) to encrypt the data. The GEN2 protocol along with the Secure Identification and Mutual Authentication protocol is implemented targeting a Xilinx FPGA device for each of the above three algorithms. The implementations are then compared to see what algorithm is best suited for passive RFID tag devices.


We propose a technique for gait recognition from motion capture data based on two successive stages of principal component analysis (PCA) on kinematic data. The first stage of PCA provides a low dimensional representation of gait. Components of this representation closely correspond to particular spatiotemporal features of gait that we have shown to be important for visual recognition of gait in a separate psychophysical study. A second stage of PCA captures the shape of the trajectory within the low dimensional space during a given gait cycle across different individuals or gaits. The projection space of the second stage of PCA has distinguishable clusters corresponding to the individual identity and type of gait. Despite the simple eigen-analysis based approach, promising recognition performance is obtained.


Electromagnetic exciting force and the structural dynamic response of motor are two key factors to influence the electromagnetic noise. The research to reduce electromagnetic noise after the permanent magnetic DC motor is power off was based both on electromagnetic exciting force and structural dynamic response by means of ANSYS and ANSOFT in this paper. The results show the following conclusions. First, the orders of electromagnetic exciting force harmonics were greatly increased and the resonance speed was decreased by cutting assistant slot on its rotor tooth. So it is a good way to reduce electromagnetic noise after the permanent magnetic DC motor power is off. Second, the reasonable position relationship between the motor bracket and permanent magnet can also greatly reduce electromagnetic noise or vibration.


(1) Previous work suggests that there are two types or degrees of foetal atrophy. In one case, so far only reported in rats, the atrophy extends to all members of a litter and produces complete sterility. This has been shown to be connected with a pathological condition of the uterine tissues brought about by the absence of vitamin E. Even when vitamin E is in optimum supply, however, there remains a certain amount of foetal degeneration ranging from 7 to 14 per cent, which must arise from causes other than vitamin E starvation. In the second case a partial degree of foetal atrophy has been widely observed by different workers to occur in many different classes of mammals. Average figures for this type quoted for the pig vary from about 2 to about 20 per cent, and the residual degeneration just referred to in the rat appears to be of this nature. The present investigation was carried out to determine the effect on this second type of a deficiency in the diet of protein and of calcium. Evidence is submitted to support the conclusions which follow. (2) Partial foetal atrophy in sows is not due to a deficiency of protein in the ration. (3) Calcium deficiency is not the major factor in producing this type of foetal atrophy though it may be a contributory cause.


Electrical effects of laser cutting The miniaturization trend in electronics has enormous effects on the printed circuit board. On the one hand, the density of components has increased significantly. On the other hand, the highly integrated components have become both considerably more compact and more powerful. With the significant increase in components on a board, the number of connections has increased dramatically.


Abstract Australian English is traditionally regarded as having been non-rhotic throughout its history, but a recent study by Trudgill and Gordon (2006) has found rhoticity levels of 1% to 20% in audio recordings of six Australian men born near the end of the 19th century, suggesting that Australian English was once a rhotic dialect. The present study re-examines the three most rhotic speakers in the Trudgill and Gordon dataset, as well as archival recordings from an additional seven speakers, to further investigate the presence of rhoticity in Australian English around the turn of the 20 century. Approximately 30 minutes of audio interview data from each speaker was examined impressionistically for the presence of non-prevocalic /r/. Other postvocalic instances of /r/ were also identified in order to explore the relationship between non-prevocalic /r/, linking /r/ and intrusive /r/. On re-examination, the three subjects from Trudgill and Gordon (2006) were found to exhibit little or no rhoticity according to our criteria. Analysis of the additional seven speakers further weakens the argument for rhoticity in Australia at the end of the nineteenth century. Some speakers do, however, have traces of rhoticity, and only one shows consistent use of linking /r/. In this paper, we will explore the phonetic conditioning environments for the vestigial rhoticity in historical Australian English and will discuss some implications for phonological theory.


IN 19 1 1 an account was published of the vegetative mitoses in Vicia Faba (4), in which it was shown that, alike in the sporophytic and gametophytic divisions, longitudinal fission takes place in the telophase and persists through the resting stages till it is completed on the spindle of the following division. In the last premeiotic telophase (that is to say, in the initiation of the spore mother nucleus), as in those of other vegetative divisions, longitudinal fission of the daughter chromosomes occurs, and it has appeared worth while to connect this division with the mitoses already studied in the pollen grain, by tracing the longitudinal fission through the meiotic phase. The great simplicity of some of the stages in the Bean, serving, as it does, as clear and easily obtainable demonstration material, may further justify an account of this often investigated stage. Plants of Carter's ' Monarch' were grown in the summer of 1910 by my former colleague, Mr. Snell, in a garden at Penge, and in 1911 at the Chelsea Physic Garden, under the direction of Mr. W. Hales, whom I desire to thank for his care in this connexion. The buds were fixed between 11 a.m. and 2.30 p.m., mainly on sunny days. Various media were used, of which Flemming's strong fluid, diluted with an equal quantity of water, proved the most successful. Sections were cut from 5 /oi to 1 5 /x in thickness, and were stained for the most part with the combination of Breinl, which gives excellent results on this material. Development was studied both in the microand in the megasporangium, and while, for the sake of uniformity, it has seemed preferable to restrict the figures and description to the former, it may be noted that the main facts have been confirmed in the latter also.


The article reviews the book "The Making of Global City Regions: Johannesburg, Mumbai/Bombay, Sao Paulo and Shanghai," edited by Klaus Segbers.


ABSTRACT We show that there exists no CR-regular embedding of the 5-sphere into . We also obtain analogous results for embeddings of higher dimensional spheres.


Copper (I) chloride (CuCl) is a potential candidate for ultra violet optoelectronics due to the fact that it is closely lattice matched with silicon, which makes it readily integrable with silicon device technology. The structural and optoelectronic properties of CuCl thin films deposited by RF magnetron sputtering are investigated. The crystallinity is studied using X-ray diffraction which confirms the growth of CuCl thin films with cubic zinc blende structure predominantly orientated in direction. Excitonic transitions in the thin films were thoroughly investigated using optical absorbance and luminescence spectroscopies. Room temperature absorption spectroscopic analysis confirms the existence of two exciton peaks namely Z12 and Z3 at 372 and 380 nm respectively. A strong UV emission is observed at room temperature in cathodoluminescence and photoluminescence spectra due to the recombination of Z3 exciton at approximately 384 nm. In the low temperature photoluminescence spectrum, a free exciton (Z3) and a bound exciton (I1) are observed. A variation of 1.3 nm to 10 nm was observed in the Z3 exciton line width from 10 K to 300 K.


An X-band bandpass filter based on quarter-mode comb substrate integrated waveguide (QMCSIW) is proposed in this paper. In order to reduce the size and realize the miniaturization for the substrate integrated waveguide (SIW) filter, the comb substrate integrated waveguide (CSIW) and quarter-mode substrate integrated waveguide (QMSIW) are effectively combined together. At the same time, the capacitive loading is added to the resonator so that the resonant frequency can be reduced while its volume can be kept unchanged. Simulation results show that the filter has a bandwidth of 7.46−10.18 GHz with a center frequency of 9.0 GHz, and its size has been reduced by 71.97% relative to the full-mode SIW.


Gray recently observed seven stars on or slightly above the main sequence in the spectral region between F2 and F8, looking at the Fourier transforms of their line profiles. His observations show no or very small differential rotation in the examined stars, contradicting the theoretical predictions of Belvedere et al. However, in the spectral range examined by Gray, only an F5 V model was computed, adopting for it the standard equatorial velocity of 30 km s/sup -1/, thus guessing the differential rotation behavior of main-sequence stars between F5 and G2 (Sun) by simply connecting these two models with a convenient curve.


Using standardised firm data a comparative analysis of the determinants of product and process innovation in manufacturing and services is performed. Results show that in services there are significant differences in innovation behaviour, in terms of intramural and extramural R&D. It is also found that size matters less in services than in manufacturing. Although youth has a positive effect in both cases, young service firms are more likely than young manufacturing of being pioneer innovators. The results reveal the importance of learning by doing in service process innovations, as young service firms are less likely to introduce process innovations.


A compound methoxyphenamine capsule applied to the field of pharmaceutical preparation and a preparation method thereof. The preparation is composed of main medicines and accessories. The main medicines include methoxyphenamine hydrochloride, narcotine, aminophylline and chlorpheniramine maleate; and the accessories include a diluent, a disintegrant, a lubricant, an antioxidant, a surface active agent and other auxiliary materials; the diluent is magnesium oxide, the amount of the diluent magnesium oxide is 0.1-5 times, 0.1-4.5 times, 0.5-3.5 times, 0.7-3.0 times and 1.2-1.5 times of the main medicines. The invention uses magnesium oxide with moistureproof effect as the diluent, which is supplemented with disintegrant, lubricant, antioxidant, surface active agent and other auxiliary materials, so as to significantly reduce hygroscopicity and improve the stability of the preparation. The dry granulation process solves the problem of slow disintegration and ensures the release characteristics of the preparation.


Abstrak: Character of responsibility is not something that is automatic in the learners, we have to understand is that the potential positive and negative is always there in every individual human being grows and develops. The attitude and behaviour of responsibility need to be built and conditioned as necessities of life to complement its growth and development of individuals reach maturity its fullest potential. This paper attempted to examine the responsibility as an attitude and behavior that became part of the character of learners. Cultivate and develop the attitudes and behaviors of liability is part of character education are continually strived and developed the character to be attached to the individual. In turn, it is expected they will have a positive winning character as future generations of people. Keywords; Attitude, Responsibility, Character, Aspects Of  Development


The microhabitat utilization and niche characteristics of Peromyscus leucopus, Ochrotomys nuttalli, and Blarina brevicauda were examined within a pine plantation on the Oak Ridge National Environmental Research Park (NERP) in East Tennessee. Although general microhabitat utilization was the same, niche parameters (such as niche breadth) for each species varied between two study grids, apparently in response to differing understory density. Specialization is thus proposed to be a function of local microhabitat structure. Removal of the generalist species, P. leucopus, from one grid while maintaining the other as a control elicited a significant microhabitat shift and increase in niche breadth by O. nuttalli. B. brevicauda displayed a slight but nonsignificant microhabitat shift and increased niche breadth. These results are a counter example to the hypothesis that generalist species are poor competitors. Spatial microhabitat heterogeneity created by plant secondary succession and extrinsic disturbances such as tree blow-down is suggested to allow coexistence of these species by altering competitive abilities or microhabitat selection at a small spatial scale. Since interspecific competition affects small mammal niche characteristics, two hypotheses to explain the relative abundances of coexisting animal species are examined. Analysis of the small mammal fauna of the Oak Ridge NERP indicates that habitatmore » availability, not niche breadth, is a good predictor of abundance. This result is discussed in the context of habitat dynamics and the evolutionary history of the species. 103 references, 10 figures, 10 tables.« less


On the questionnaire of 250 high school students'"Solution types"and "Parent-child relationship",the paper had drawn a conclusion: there exist the positive relationships between the solutions such as active overcoming,recourse and releasing between parent's spiritual supports and life-reviews and thinking and gratefulness and affection;there exists a positive relationship between the solutions such as active overcoming,active recourse,admitting,pouring,transferring,diary writing and the spiritual independence away parents;there exists a positive relationship between the solutions such as enduring,passive releasing and the spiritual pressure from parents;there exists a negative relationship between the solutions of fantasy and the life model parents behave.As far as the paper is concerned,while having the psychological education in the high school,the family's role of the influence of parents' behaviors should be paid great attention to.


In view of the contemporary emphasis on specific research techniques, it is interesting to note how little attention has been directed toward the more general problem of methodology in management t...


Objective Investigate changes and significance of the plasma levels of hydrogen sulfide( H2S) and cystathionine-beta-synthase( CBS) on cerebral infarction. Methods Spectrophotometry,ELISA kits detected serum H2S and CBS content of 167 cases of patients with CI and 108 healthy control group,and analysis of the relationship of serum H2S and CBS content differences with cerebral infarction risk factors. Results Plasma H2S and CBS content of cerebral infarction were significantly lower than those of the healthy control group( P 0. 01) ; in 167 patients with cerebral infarction,the content of H2S with massive cerebral infarction was significantly higher than in the area and lacunar patients with cerebral infarction( P 0. 01) ,the content of CBS was significantly lower than patients with lacunar infarction( P 0. 01) . Conclusion Changes of the content of H2S and CBS may be involved in the pathogenesis of cerebral infarction.


The supply of electrical power to small, remote situations is usually carried out by means of a two-wire, single-phase connection. Frequently, this remote situation is developed and the electrical power consumption increases significantly. Not only is there an increased overall demand on this service, but the provision of three-phase supplies to run electric motors also becomes highly desirable. The considerable expense of laying extra lines to carry the three phases could be avoided if a single to three-phase conversion system were readily available. This paper describes such a conversion system using silicon controlled rectifiers in straightforward switching roles. Test results on laboratory induction motors indicate that there is little difference in performance when fed from this system and when fed from the appropriate sinusoidal supplies. Data for the construction of a harmonic filter are included for applications when the raw, switched voltage waveform may be unacceptable.


Myths and speculation concerning hypersplenism and splenectoniv are of great antiquity. An olcl Elnglish translation of Pliny1 states: T rlhis memiiber (the spleen ) lhath a propiete by itself sometimiies to hincler a miani's runningr; whereupon professed runners . . that be troublecl x ith the splene have a devise to burn and wvaste it xith a hot v-ron. .Fhey say that the splene may be taken out


: Remote sensing is an approach to study remote area via images. But the limitation of remote sensed images is that they lack in giving complete information of the area. Therefore, the remote sensing is combined with image fusion by virtue of which the images are combined to get the hidden information. The image fusion is a technique that extracts relevant information from two or more source images of same scenes into single image. There is need of image fusion, for high resolution on panchromatic and multispectral images or real world images for better vision. The aim of image fusion (IF) is to coordinate complementary multi-temporal and multisensory data into one new image containing information, the quality of which cannot be achieved otherwise. The keyword quality definition and measurement is based on the specific applications. This paper provides a literature review on the techniques of image fusion like simple average, maximum, Principal Component Analysis (PCA) , Discrete Wavelet Transform (DWT ), etc. Image fusion is done to get a more enhanced and informative and more quality image from two or more images that are taken from completely different views and sensing element. The application areas of image fusion include both military and domestic functions and even medical functions.


The invention discloses a rotor wing quick detaching type unmanned aerial vehicle and belongs to the technical field of unmanned aerial vehicles. The rotor wing quick detaching type unmanned aerial vehicle comprises a fuselage which comprises a vehicle shell, a vehicle body, second detaching assemblies, a signal positioning assembly, rotor wing power assemblies and a quick detaching assembly. The interior of the vehicle body is of a hollow structure, and the vehicle body is provided with at least one installation opening; the vehicle shell is detachably connected to the vehicle body through the second detaching assemblies, and the installation openings are covered with the vehicle shell; the signal positioning assembly is fixed to the vehicle shell; the rotor wing power assemblies are fixed to rotor wing shafts, and each rotor wing power assembly at least comprises one electronic speed controller; and a first rotor wing is rotationally fixed to the corresponding rotor wing power assembly through the quick detaching assembly. By the adoption of the rotor wing quick detaching type unmanned aerial vehicle, the technical defects that operation is complex, efficiency is low, and a cradle head is likely to be impacted when a device to be installed in a fuselage is replaced or maintained in the prior art are overcome.


Abstract: In his two interviews with Emma Schroeder, Robert House shares his memories about the Eagle Heights Community Garden during the 1960s when he and his wife were graduate students at UW. House recalls his memories advocating for new land grants for the gardens, growing a variety of crops, irrigation, the relevance of community garden projects to various communities, canning vegetables, the use of fertilizers and pesticides, raising children in the Eagle Heights community, and relationships with other residents.

Keywords: Eagle Heights; Eagle Heights Community Gardens; School of Agriculture [now CALS]; Glenn Pound; University Houses; Environmental History.


|In this paper, the authors propose a small substrate integrated waveguide (SIW) slot antenna for future (cid:12)fth generation (5G) communication systems. It works at 28 and 38 GHz. The proposed geometry consists of horizontal and vertical vias as well as a central circular ring. The cut slots in the etched center circular ring create a signi(cid:12)cant capacitive loading effect, lowering the lower resonating mode. Further, the introduced circular ring slot resonates on TE 101 and TE 102 modes at 28 and 38 GHz, respectively. The measured impedance bandwidths are 27.77{28.02 GHz and 37.99{ 38.10 GHz. Peak gains in the lower and upper bands are measured to be 6.96{7.15 dBi and 8.10{8.22 dBi, respectively. At 28 and 38 GHz, the observed half-power beam-widths (HPBWs) are 74 : 5 ◦ and 79 : 2 ◦ , respectively. Considering these performance results, such as single-layer dual-bands, high gain, small size, and good radiation efficiency, the designed SIW slot antenna is suitable for future millimeter-wave 5G applications.


rif contains 5 community contributed commands that aim to facilitate the use of recentered influence functions as a statistical tool for statistical inference regarding distributional statistics, as well as the estimation of RIF-Regressions and RIF-Decompositions. The first program, _grifvar.do adds additional extensions to egen to create RIF's for a large set of distributional statistics. rifhdreg.ado can be used for the estimation of RIF-regressions allowing for high dimensional fixed effects. It can also be used for the estimation of treatment effects on distribution statistics. oaxaca_rif.ado can be used to implement Oaxaca-Blinder type of decompositions using RIF's as dependent variables. surifreg.ado can be used for the estimation of simultaneous unconditional quantile regressions across selected quantiles. uqreg.ado can be used for the estimation of unconditional quantile regression with other models including binomial models. A template program named _ghvar.ado is also included to be able to write egen extensions that can be used to extend the use of rifhdreg and oaxaca_rif to statistics not currently available in rifvar.


The Deplorable Standard of Living Faced by Farmed Animals in America's Meat Industry and How to Improve Conditions by Eliminating the Corporate Farm By Robyn Mallon INTRODUCTION It's a Jungle out there. After Upton Sinclair's landmark 1906 book, The Jungle, exposed the poor sanitation and deception of the meat industry, lawmakers took note. Revolutionary statutes were created that theoretically protected American meat consumers and meat industry workers. Since this was in the early 1900s and technology has improved exponentially since then, the U.S. meat supply should be among the safest and most sanitary in the world. Unfortunately, this is not the case today and unsuspecting Americans and other consumers are ingesting meat that can more properly be labeled a biohazard. In fact, the meat industry has taken steps backwards and now consumers are more at risk than ever for pathogen poisoning or even the human form of mad cow disease. When it comes to meat consumption, one union official with twenty-four years of experience in the meatpacking industry states that "[w]hat the public sees is fancy labels." Sinclair's book described the slaughterhouse as a world where workers relieve themselves on the slaughterhouse floor which is where meat falls, and the meat then gets put back on the conveyor belt. Meat with rats in it was also commonplace. 3 Furthermore, the smell of rotten meat was disguised by the use of Borax on the meat. This kind of contamination unbelievably continues today. A Perdue chicken meatpacking plant worker gave Congressional testimony of her experience as a worker,


This chapter provides an analysis of the political and economic conditions under which Mexico's Progresa (later renamed as Oportunidades, and more recently as Prospera) was introduced to prelude the rise of social assistance in Latin America. The chapter identifies four distinctive features of the programme that were revolutionary in their own right. First, Progresa-Oportunidades-Prospera embraced a multidimensional approach to poverty, linking income transfers with simultaneous interventions in health, education, and nutrition. Second, the programme focused on the poor, in clear contrast to generalized food subsidies that dominated previous antipoverty interventions. Third, the programme followed a complex system of identification and selection of beneficiaries explicitly designed to prevent its political manipulation. Finally, an independent impact evaluation protocol proved to be crucial in strengthening the programme's legitimacy across different political factions during unprecedented democratic transitions in the country.


The aim of this study is to realized an application of PBL with ESD context in improving learning outcomes and sustainability awareness of class X learners at Labschool Unesa 1 Secondary School. The design of the study is to use quasi-experiments with pre-post test types of research. The results showed that there was a significant difference in the learning outcomes of learners after the application of the model. Based on the results of the t test statistics, the value F calculates 1.492 with a value of p 0.000 < 0.05 which means Ho is rejected or hypothesis zero is rejected while the alternative hypothesis is accepted. Then there are differences in the learning outcomes of conventional model groups with ESD context PBL groups. This difference is reinforced by the data on the acquisition of the mean of each group, where for the experimental group (ESD context PBL model) obtained a mean result of 89.60. While the control group (conventional model) obtained a mean result of 78.00. Formed on the aftereffect of the examination that the experimental group (ESD context PBL model) obtained higher results than the control group (conventional model) with a significant difference of 11.6. Then for the sustainability awareness profile of learners are in the high category with a mean of 71% and the highest mean value lies in the category of emotional awareness of 98%.


Among the complete family of sensors for automotive safety, consumer and industrial application, speed sensors stand out as one of the most important. Actually, speed sensors have the diversity to be used in a broad range of applications. In today's automotive industry, such sensors are used in the antilock braking system, the traction control system and the electronic stability program. Also, typical applications are cam and crank shaft position/speed and wheel and turbo shaft speed measurement. In addition, they are used to control a variety of functions, including fuel injection, ignition timing in engines, and so on. However, some types of speed sensors cannot respond to very low speeds for different reasons. What is more, the main reason why such sensors are not good at detecting very low speeds is that they are more susceptible to noise when the speed of the target is low. In short, they suffer from noise and generally only work at medium to high speeds. This is one of the drawbacks of the inductive (magnetic reluctance) speed sensors and is the case under study. Furthermore, there are other speed sensors like the differential Hall Effect sensors that are relatively immune to interference and noise, but they cannot detect static fields. This limits their operations to speeds which give a switching frequency greater than a minimum operating frequency. In short, this research is focused on improving the performance of a variable reluctance speed sensor placed in a car under performance tests by using a recursive least-squares (RLS) lattice algorithm. Such an algorithm is situated in an adaptive noise canceller and carries out an optimal estimation of the relevant signal coming from the sensor, which is buried in a broad-band noise background where we have little knowledge of the noise characteristics. The experimental results are satisfactory and show a significant improvement in the signal-to-noise ratio at the system output.


In general, residual flux density produces a detrimental effect on a measurement instrument. This report studies the following issues: (1) Analysis of residual flux distribution by the finite element method, taking hysteresis into account. (2) Demagnetizing conditions of mild steel and the demagnetizing method. The demagnetizing conditions and method were confirmed experimentally and the following experiments on demagnetization were made: (a) gradient, (b) frequency, and (c) magnitude.


SiO_2 nanoparticles were surface-capped by polystyrene(denoted as PS) so as to improve their dispersibility and wettability in fluorocarbon paint thereby improving the performance of the fluorocarbon paint.Resultant surface- capped SiO_2nanoparticles were then introduced into polychlorotrifluoroethylene(denoted as FEVE) fluorocarbon paint affording composite paint.As-obtained composite fluorocarbon paint was coated onto tinplate or glass substrate providing the composite coating.The chemical structure and microstructure of SiO_2 nanoparticles before and after surface-capping with PS were analyzed by Fourier transform infrared spectrometry and transmission electron microscopy,and the microstructure and properties of as- prepared FEVE composite coating were investigated with an ultraviolet spectrophotometer,a contact angle meter,and an electrochemical workstation.Results indicated that SiO_2 nanoparticles were successfully encapsulated by PS,and resultant surface-capped SiO_2 nanoparticles exhibited uniform size.As compared with the FEVE fluorocarbon coating,the one containing 3%(mass fraction) SiC nanoparticles exhibited much better corrosion resistance,ultraviolet resistance,resistance to acid and alkaline,adhesion to substrate and other physical properties.Moreover,the FEVE composite coating doped with surface- capped SiO,exhibited hydrophobicity and good self-cleaning ability.


Vanilla is an orchid plant and the pod (fruit) is commercially used to make vanilla flavoring in foods, drinks, cosmetics, and perfume. The main species cultured for pod production is Vanilla planifolia . Vanilla is propagated by stem cutting from nature vines, but this method produces only limited cutting materials and takes a long time. Moreover, the process of stem cutting poses a high risk of infection from many pathogens, including viruses, fungi, and bacteria. This article describes tissue culture techniques as an alternative propagation method having potential to produce disease-free vanilla in quantity. There are two approaches in micro-propagation techniques; in vitro seed culture in which seeds should be taken from 6-7 month old pods and washed in 95% ethanol to eliminate lipid coated on the seed surface. Seeds germination is done in Murashige and Skoog (MS) media supplemented with amino acid (tryptone) and cytokinin (BAP and kinetin) with a condition of 32 o C in darkness: in vitro tissue culture includes 3 steps; the shoot induction, shoot proliferation, and plantlets formation. The explants (shoot tip, node, and axillary bud) are cultured in media supplemented with cytokinin (BAP, kinetin, zeatin, and TDZ), or cyotokinin precursor (adenine sulfate), or organic substances, such as coconut water. These substances promote cell division, induce new shoots, and enhance shoot proliferation. Each shoot is well rooted on medium with or without auxin. The survival rate of plantlets is 85-95 % after planting in natural conditions.


The issue of female participation in the field of science and research has been researched and discussed in several studies, most noticeably in ´She figures 2009´. The latest research in Slovakia was conducted by Tatiana Sedová in 2009 and focused upon female students at two faculties within two different universities (Comenius Universtity - The Faculty of Mathematics, Physics and Informatics and the Slovak University of Technology – The Faculty of Electrotechnics and Informatics). The study´s results highlighted the presence of gender role stereotypes, but also a high and long established interest of female students in natural science subjects. Therefore, not only the topic of participation of women in science and research, but also the issue of women in managerial positions is worthy of investigation over an extended period of time. However, the statistics show a relatively low proportion of women in professor position at universities and a low number of women in top positions. The authors of this article will argue that the reasons for this long-time trend are not only based on stereotypes in thinking about gender equality. To be able to identify the next set of factors, it is necessary to carry out research over a long time period that also includes the women's domestic and working environment. Until now, in Slovakia such a complex study has not been carried out. The article however, contains the starting point facts from the areas of participating women in science and research and in top management positions from the available statistics, relating to researches and area specifications for the future research. Finally, the authors would like to share their experience in this area obtained from UNDP (United Nations Development Programme) and from the active involvement in the Seventh Framework Programme: "Improving gender diversity management in materials research institutions" with the acronym Diversity, supported by the European Union.


This paper investigated seismic design methods in consideration of earthquake-induced repetitive pounding in adjacent railway RC viaducts. Detailed pounding simulation revealed that when the over-hanging slab pounding occurs, the coefficient of restitution decreases by about 0.2 due to the conversion to the wave energy propagation into superstructures, and decreases by about 0.6 at the maximum due to the conversion to the energy consumption derived from the material nonlinear hysteresis. A simple contact model has been developed for evaluating the wave energy propagation component and the hysteresis energy component by a dashpot and a nonlinear spring, respectively. Overall analyses using this contact model showed that the response displacement of the structure may increase up to 70% at the maximum. Based on the findings, three methods were proposed for estimating response increases and the gap be-tween structures: a simplified formula, pounding energy method, and simple contact model.