This study assesses the economic viability of utilizing porous asphalt concrete in comparison to crushed-mastic asphalt concrete, both of which share similar applications and use cases. Key differentiators affecting costs between these two asphalt concrete types are identified, including fuel consumption during production, material expenses, and overall mixture costs. Methodologies encompassing technical specifications and experimental investigations are applied, employing analytical and comparative techniques.A comprehensive technical and economic evaluation of porous and crushed-mastic asphalt concrete is conducted, factoring in identified cost variables. To determine comparative economic efficiency, industry-standard resource consumption metrics, material utilization norms, recommendations, and laboratory analyses are incorporated. Estimates are derived using aggregated data and the price calculator provided by the State Enterprise "DerzhdorNDI SE," referencing June 2023 data from Ukraine's infrastructure restoration and development services. Analysis reveals that, when assessing material, production, and installation costs exclusively, porous asphalt concrete demonstrates superior economic advantages. Furthermore, the study establishes that the implementation of porous asphalt concrete has the potential to reduce road accidents substantially. This reduction in accidents yields significant economic benefits by mitigating overall socio-economic losses stemming from traffic incidents, thus counterbalancing expenses associated with specific challenges linked to winter maintenance and the cleaning of asphalt pores.


Clean Energy including natural gas, hydropower, and nuclear energy, as well as fossil energy including petroleum and coal are the most important energy consumption in China. Although important, the research on the relationship between clean/fossil energy consumption and sustainable development has only been done limitedly. Some papers have used Granger causality and employed panel co-integration test and panel error correction model to study the related topic. Thus, this paper expects to examine the causal relationship of clean/fossil energy consumption with economic growth, environmental issues, and social problems.


ABSTRACT The current report is part of a larger study on the perceptions of emerging adults who accessed residential treatment during adolescence. Interviews with a subsample of participants who self-identified as socially isolated were analyzed to explore social development and emotional health. The findings of this study include three themes regarding social difficulties: problems trusting other people, general dislike of other people, and problems in social interactions. Concerns with emotional health such as difficulty managing symptoms of depression and anxiety were reported. The ongoing struggles perceived by socially isolated emerging adults contribute to previous research on the enduring symptoms of mental health disorder.


The SEG Constitution states in Article II that "the objectives of this Society shall be to promote the science of geophysics, especially as it relates to exploration and research, to foster the common scientific interests of geophysicists, and to maintain a high professional standing among its members." One mechanism for accomplishing SEG's primary objective is through the development and promotion of technical sections. A technical section is defined as a formally organized group sharing a common interest in subdiscipline or a specific area of interest within applied geophysics. Currently, the formation of technical sections is allowed by the SEG Constitution and Bylaws. Article IX, Section 1, of the Bylaws states "upon petition of 20 Active Members of the Society in good standing residing within appropriate distance of a central point or sharing a common interest or problem, the Council may authorize the formation of a Section or Associated Society." In this construct, technical sections are treated as ...


It is necessary to understand the efficiency of selection criterion for identifying hazardous locations or blackspots adequately. In this paper, the degree to which the accident rate-and-number method is successful in identifying hazardous locations through periodic selections is examined. Simulation model developed for this purpose is applied. In the first part of this paper, the concept of identifying the hazardous locations and the measures of efficiency for site selection are described. The second part is devoted to the development of the simulation model. Finally, the performance of some feasible procedures through periodic selections using accident data is discussed.


BACKGROUND
Students consider end-of-life care content in their nursing curricula to be inadequate and deficient in promoting the development of the necessary attitudes to care for dying patients. Research identifies simulation as an effective teaching strategy to examine nursing students' attitudes toward end-of-life care.

METHOD
An end-of-life care simulation was developed, implemented, and evaluated. Attitudes toward caring for dying patients were measured pre- and postsimulation on a convenience sample of 57 sophomore nursing students using the Frommelt Attitudes Toward Care of the Dying Scale-Form B. Repeated measures of ANOVA on outcome variables evaluated student attitudes toward end-of-life care.

RESULTS
Participation in an end-of-life care simulation resulted in more positive student attitudes toward caring for dying patients (p < .001).

CONCLUSION
Simulation is an active learning strategy to incorporate end-of-life care in nursing curricula and improve student attitudes toward caring for dying patients. [J Nurs Educ. 2016;55(12):701-705.].


Numerous preclinical animal studies have shown beneficial effects of cell therapies after stroke, including reduction of functional deficits and lesion size. Early stage clinical studies currently aim to confirm this therapeutic potential. Despite the progress in translating cell therapy for stroke, true cell replacement and stem cell-based tissue regrowth have not been achieved yet. Multimodal regeneration improving effects, such as immunomodulation or paracrine growth factor support, are considered the primary mechanisms of action in cell therapies. This is not surprising for systemically administered adult progenitor or mixed populations, which typically do not enter brain tissue. However, even brain tissue-derived cells that, in principle, have the ability to give rise to neurons and glia are thought to exert their therapeutic benefits mainly via multimodal regeneration improving effects. Current clinical trials are designed to reflect this supportive role of cell therapy rather than tissue reconstruction. Our increasing understanding of brain development on the one hand and poststroke pathophysiology on the other illustrate the challenges in true tissue restoration. First, tissue replacement requires a perfect synchronization between participating cells and the host tissue in spatial, temporal, and functional dimensions. Second, anatomic cues being decisive for brain tissue growth during embryo/fetogenesis rapidly decline in postnatal brain maturation. Third, major brain lesions cause a hostile local environment that detrimentally impacts graft survival and integration. Fourth, restoring brain tissue requires an adequate blood supply, posing a major challenge in larger lesions and bigger brains. Fifth, lack of adequate functional interaction between host tissue and the graft leads to tissue restoration failure. To go beyond multimodal regeneration improving effects, a careful orchestration of therapeutic approaches relying on and promoting endogenous (eg, neurogenesis-based) or exogenous (eg, stem cell transplantation-based) tissue restoration need to be established. Selection of appropriate, restorationpermissive target lesions will also be required to enhance chances for successful tissue regeneration. Herein, we propose a 4-component in vivo research strategy with the potential to foster tissue repair and replacement in stroke. Component 1: Selection of Restoration-Permissive Stroke Models Large Territorial Ischemic Lesions Preclinical research and clinical studies focus on large territorial lesions. These represent a major proportion of strokes in patients and exhibit salvageable tissue for acute neuroprotective interventions. However, exactly this lesion type may be the hardest to repopulate because of the large volume, a hostile intraand perilesional microenvironment, and massively disturbed local blood supply. Consequently, tissue restoration was hardly observed in animal models of large territorial lesions, even when graft differentiation and integration were initially successful. More specialized stroke models may mimic clinical stroke subtypes and cofactor profiles being less challenging or even supportive of tissue restoration.


Introduction This retrieval analysis study consisted of two goals. The first goal was to determine if there was a difference in the corrosion and fretting damage along the taper interface between large femoral heads in comparison to monopolar hemiarthroplasty heads. The second goal was to examine if the diameter of monopolar hemiarthroplasty heads can influence corrosion and fretting damage along the taper interface. Patients and Methods This retrieval analysis compared the corrosion and fretting behaviour of 40 mm femoral heads (n = 13) to monopolar hemiarthroplasty heads (n = 17 for a diameter The Mann Whitney U test and the Kruskal-Wallis test were performed for identifying significant differences for corrosion and fretting scores that were not normally distributed (α = 0.05). An unpaired student9s t-test was conducted for comparing the head corrosion scores for the two head size groups of monopolar hemiarthroplasty implants since these scores were normally distributed. Results As shown in Table 3, the 40 mm heads had an average head corrosion score of 6.4 ± 9.9 whereas the monopolar hemiarthroplasty heads had an average score of 13.8 ± 13.4 resulting in a significant statistical difference (p = 0.049). In regards to head fretting, the scores were 1.3 ± 1.9 for the 40 mm heads and 10.5 ± 18.2 for the monopolar hemiarthroplasty implants, but the difference was not statistically significant (p = 0.058). There were no significant statistical differences in the corrosion and fretting scores between the four manufacturers. A significant statistical difference was found for the head corrosion scores of the two monopolar hemiarthroplasty head size groups. Monopolar hemiarthroplasty heads with a diameter Discussion/Conclusion Monopolar hemiarthroplasty heads exhibit more corrosion damage along the taper interface than 40 mm heads. This study also revealed that monopolar hemiarthroplasty implants exhibit more corrosion damage with a larger diameter. This supports the argument that a greater head diameter increases the torque acting along the head-stem taper interface. This would increase the micromotion, which can deteriorate the protective oxide layer, and make the taper interface more vulnerable to crevice corrosion.


AbstractTreatability of phenolic wastewater in an anaerobic immobilized fluidized bed reactor (AIFBR) in consequence of stepwise increment in phenolic load as well as decrease in hydraulic retention time (HRT) was investigated. The experimental data indicated that high degradation efficiencies of phenol and COD in the bioreactor at low HRTs and high organic loading rates were obtained. At constant HRT of 16 h with increase in influent phenol concentration from 98 to 630 mg/l, the average phenol and COD removals were 96 and 88%, respectively. However, further increase in phenol concentration in the feed stream to 995 mg/l resulted in decrease in phenol and COD removal efficiencies to 84 and 79%, respectively. For influent phenol concentration of 995 mg/l, the biogas production rate of 4.55 l/l.d was obtained. As HRT decreased from 3 to 0.15 day, the system showed high stability; influent phenol and COD were removed and reached to average values of 17 and 173 mg/l correspond to the removal efficiencies of a...


In this paper we discuss a discrete time independent Schroedinger equation defined on graphs. We show under appropriate hypotheses that Dirichlet, Neumann and Robin problems all have solutions. We then consider the inverse problem in recovering a potential function defined on the vertices of the graph from the Dirichlet to Neumann map. We show that we can always do this in critical circular planar graphs.


Author(s): Bricker, Brianna Lynn | Advisor(s): Yegul, Fikret K | Abstract: The period of Roman rule is marked by the stark transformation of cities across the Mediterranean. Aqueducts, baths, and fountains sprouted up from the prosperous conditions of the high imperial period, and with the introduction of urban forms and practices emerged a shared cultural community out of diverse peoples. Local variation of course persisted, and my dissertation project interrogates the specificity of place in this process. I examine the transformation of the cities of Asia Minor over the course of Roman rule (133 BCE – 620 CE) through the lens of topography and water management, asking how local culture and sense of place profoundly affected the form and the extent to which resources and technologies of empire brought change.I focus on the interconnection of topography, infrastructure, and urban image in four cities: Side, Aizanoi, Arykanda, and Rhodiapolis, which represent a range of topographical situations and a shared entanglement with Roman technology and culture. I first use the evidence of topographical, archaeological, and textual records to analyze the influence and role of water in shaping the city physically, culturally, and perceptually. I next look at the forces that spurred the intensification or reconfiguration of water management and use, arguing that homogeneity in infrastructural elements was only one aspect that contributed to urban character; their urban context and the histories allowing for their creation brought an inherently local quality to empire-wide forms. Lastly I examine how socio-political structures altered the way water was exploited and made available, considering the physical effects of water on the social body, and how seemingly ordinary encounters with the urban water network signaled deeper, more complex systems of power. My study shows how the power of place shaped the nature of this interaction more deeply than previously considered. I call for a change in the way one thinks about regional cities and urban transformation under Roman rule. Roman forms altered the existing urban character and created forms and practices shared across the empire. However, these forms were perceived differently based on topographic and cultural landscape upon which they were imprinted; locale and locals changed the meanings.


This paper discusses and evaluates different approaches to the nuclear stress (NS) algorithm in light of the variability in stress pattern observed for certain constructions in German and English in wide focus contexts ("unmarked" stress patterns), in opposition to the rigid (right-most) nature of NS in Spanish/Italian. The paper also briefly discusses the case of nuclear stress in narrow focus contexts ("marked" stress patterns), and points to recent research that suggests that "unmarked" and "marked" stress patterns originate through distinct mechanisms.


Problem-based learning is an integrated learning model and instructional media. The purpose of this research is to know the effect of problem based learning model (PBM) with multimedia and academic ability towards students' critical thinking ability. This research is a quasi experiment with non-equivalent pretest-posttest control group design. The population of this study was students at the first grade of SMPN 2 Mataram in academic year 2017/2018, and sample determination was done with Haphazard Sampling . The samples of this study were 4 (four) classes of students at the first grade of SMPN 2 Mataram. The instruments used to measure students' critical thinking ability are observation sheets of lesson plan implementation and description test. The data were analyzed using two way Anova test (Two Way Anova). The results showed that: (1) Problem-based learning model significantly influences the students' critical thinking ability; (2) The academic ability does affect the students' critical thinking ability; (3) There is no interaction between problem-based learning model and academic ability in critical thinking ability.


Climatological reports demonstrate a clear trend of more frequent occurrence of extreme weathers. Flooding caused by heavy rains severely affects highway pavement performance in many coastal regions. As the trend of climate change continues, highway pavements in these regions will become more vulnerable to flooding. At present, however, pavement design is usually based on historical climatological data and seldom considers future climate changes. Moreover, traditional pavement analysis rarely considers the stochastic nature of weather. This study develops a life-cycle cost optimization model and adopts a stochastic approach to analyzing the effect of climate change. Pavement structure design is optimized by incorporating the flooding effect in the model. As a case study, hourly climate data in the past century in Hong Kong is analyzed to investigate changes in rainfall intensity, and the trends are used to optimize pavement design.


The author concentrates on the control and instrumentation aspects of FGD as retrofitted to a 4*500 MW coal fired power station using the limestone/gypsum process. The author describes the process and the associated equipment. The parameters to be monitored and controlled are listed. The control positions for each process are discussed and the use of a SCADA system described. The chemical monitoring instrumentation is also discussed.


The invention describes a process for the preparation of unsaturated carboxylic acid anhydrides, in particular, the reaction of an unsaturated carboxylic acid with a low molecular weight aliphatic carboxylic acid anhydride, in particular a method for preparing methacrylic anhydride by reacting methacrylic acid and acetic anhydride in the presence of a catalyst and a stabilizer. DOLLAR A The process of the invention is characterized in DOLLAR A that a metal salt is used as catalyst, DOLLAR A that as the cation in the metal salt of Cr, Zn, Cu, Ca, Zr, Ti, Na, La or Hf be used singly or as a mixed salt, DOLLAR a that the anion is an organic compound having at least one carboxyl group, DOLLAR a that, individually and organic anions carboxylic acids, dicarboxylic acids, beta-Ketoncarbonsauren, beta-diketones or be used in mixtures and DOLLAR a that the catalyst used in particular chromium acetate, zirconium acetylacetonate or titanium acetylacetonate is used.


A liquid pretreatment means (102) is controlled via a conditioning unit (23) to the print carrier (20) is applied. One or more color separations (108, 112) are printed on the carrier material (20). After application of the pretreatment agent (102) a gas for drying the applied pretreatment agent (102) is applied prior to printing the color separation (108).


My goal here is to address just one corner of the larger question whether there is a justified principle of free speech distinct from and more stringent than the general principle of liberty that is the hallmark of most liberal societies. The particular corner I explore is whether the negative consequences of a certain category of acts are sufficiently different in kind or degree to justify treating those consequences differently from the way in which seemingly similar consequences are treated. To put it more directly, although possibly misleadingly, I will inquire into whether the harms caused by speech are lesser in degree than other harms, or mediated differently from other harms.


The aim of this study is to investigate the influence of temperature, initiator concentration, and vinyl monomer on silk yellowing during grafting. A series of silk fabrics was treated at four different temperatures (70, 75, 80, and 88°C), with different concentrations of initiator in the range 1–4% owf, with and without methacrylamide (MAA) or 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA). By treating silk with ammonium persulphate (APS), in the absence of a monomer, the degree of silk yellowing increased linearly with increasing both initiator concentration and treatment temperature, indicating that the initiator plays a specific role in enhancing silk yellowing through macroradical formation. The graft copolymerization of MAA (with APS as the initiator) caused only slight changes in the intensity of silk yellowing compared to blank-treated fabrics. On the other hand, the use of HEMA resulted in a deeper yellowing of silk fabrics, especially in the 70–80°C temperature range, due to its higher reactivity and to the tendency to form a homopolymer, leaving unreacted macroradicals on silk fibroin backbone. Compared to APS, other initiators, such as 2,2′-azobis(isobutyronitrile) (AIBN) and 2–2′-azobis-(2-amidino propane) dihydrochloride (ADC), caused a significantly lower degree of silk yellowing when tested in the absebce of a monomer. The yellowness of silk fabrics tended to increase by grafting with HEMA, while decreased by grafting with MAA. The use of variable amounts of monomer (25–150% owf) did not influence the degree of yellowing with ADC as the initiator. The results reported in this study show that the extent of yellowing induced on silk fabrics by grafting MAA and HEMA with APS as the initiator can be limited by a suitable selection of the processing parameters (initiator concentration, temperature). Moreover, the use of both AIBN and ADC appears promising, owing to their negligible effect on silk yellowing. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 69: 239–246, 1998


. For floating wind farms in areas like in Mediterranean Sea where waves with short periods occur, it is important to make sure that the Crew Transfer Vessel main deck does not get flooded.


Simple half-duplex repetition-based relaying protocols can achieve spatial diversity at the expense of additional relaying signals in the time domain. In this paper, a linear unitary precoder based on a singular vector for cooperative systems with the amplify-and-forward (AF) relaying protocol is proposed in order to improve spectral efficiency. An exact expression of the precoder design is first derived for the case of equal power allocation. Then, water-filling power allocation is used in conjunction with the precoder to further increase the system capacity, where the precoder matrix is generated with an iterative process. From the implementation point of view, the channel state information (CSI) has to be estimated and quantized in systems, the detail of which is described in the sequel. The adaptive modulation and coding (AMC) technique with the proposed precoder is also discussed to achieve high throughput performance. Finally, numerical and simulation results are presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed technique in improving capacity and throughput.


Omega‐3 (n‐3) polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) levels have been inversely associated with cardiovascular (CVD) mortality. Chronic hemodialysis patients (HP), who suffer from extremely high rates of CVD, may be at risk for inadequate n‐3 consumption. This study was designed to determine n‐3 status in a hemodialysis population by comparing their PUFA levels to those of a healthy control group. Fasting plasma and red blood cell (RBC) fatty acid levels were measured in 75 HP and 25 control subjects (CS). The HP were more likely to have diabetes mellitus (43% vs. 20%), hypertension (91% vs. 36%), and less formal education. CS had significantly higher levels of plasma eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) (mean wt % ± SD) (0.42 ± 0.13 vs. 0.35 ± 0.32, p<0.001), docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) (1.51 ± 0.36 vs. 1.33 ± 0.38, p=0.03), long chain (LC) (2.44 ± 0.50 vs. 2.11 ± 0.56, p=0.005) and total (3.12 ± 0.49 vs. 2.76 ± 0.58, p=0.007)) n‐3 levels. Though RBC EPA levels were not significantly different, HP had higher DHA levels (4.65 ± 0.92 vs. 3.16 ± 1.15, p<0.0001), LC (7.32 ± 1.05 vs. 5.07 ± 1.73, p<0.0001) and total n‐3 (7.61 ± 1.21 vs. 5.20 ± 1.75, p<0.001). Plasma findings suggest that short‐term fish consumption was greater in CS. The fact that RBC DHA levels and LC n‐3 PUFA were higher in HP (while EPA levels were not different) raises the possibility that the uremic milieu upregulates the Sprecher pathway or reduces DHA retroconversion to EPA. The relatively modest amount of fish oil‐associated n‐3 PUFA (i.e. EPA + DHA) in HP suggest they may benefit from fish oil supplementation.


1. The power supply system on the basis of the battery power supply for an electronic device, comprising: one main rechargeable battery; ! one additional battery, comprising at least one primary or current source or at least one rechargeable power source; and! a reversible charge controller regulates current flow between said additional battery and said rechargeable battery. ! 2. The power supply system on the basis of battery of claim 1, wherein said bidirectional charge controller controls current flow from said additional battery to said rechargeable battery. ! 3. The power supply system on the basis of battery of claim 1, wherein said bidirectional charge controller controls current flow from said rechargeable battery to said additional battery. ! 4. The power supply system on the basis of the battery according to any one of claims 1-3, wherein said additional battery has a first terminal at the nominal voltage, and said rechargeable battery has a second terminal at the nominal voltage, and said bidirectional charge controller converts current flowing from said additional battery at said first nominal voltage on the terminals to said second voltage for powering said device. ! 5. The power supply system on the basis of the battery according to any one of claims 1-3, wherein said additional battery has a first nominal voltage at the terminals, and said rechargeable battery has a second nominal voltage at the terminals, and said bidirectional charge controller converts current flowing from said complement


Summary. Transportation systems in USA are an integral part of the current infrastructure systems and involves a huge investment as part of the government and taxpayers. Therefore, transportation systems have economic, social and vital importance for the U.S. Security and safety of transportation systems and infrastructures in case of any possible future disasters and hazards are crucial for state transportation agencies. The objective of this paper is to develop and implement a comprehensive emergency management strategy for transportation systems in the U.S. in case of any disaster and hazards. In this paper, recommendations are provided to define best deployment of updated emergency response into practice. Practical issues are detailed affecting potential implementation of the strategy. Possible actions to address management issues and tools are investigated; and methods of identifying and measuring the impacts associated with implementation of the strategy are explained.


The article assumes social well-being must be grounded in adequate housing, medical care, and similar social or economic preconditions. Until recently, efforts to ensure the fundamental requirements of a decent life have been made primarily through political means. The article assesses the role of the courts in improving social well-being through their responses to issues raised under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (1982). The paper applies five guidelines to case law decided under the Charter: (a) the self-imposed role of the courts as custodians of constitutionality rather than as policy makers; (b) the nature of the Charter as a political rather than an economic document; (c) the significance of the way in which an issue is characterized; (d) the courts' treatment of "social legislation" as a policy concern; and (e) the courts' limited remedial jurisdiction. The article concludes that the extent to which the courts will act as policy makers will be determined by the way in which the person...


Nurses should sit at a patient's bedside when performing tasks such as passing a catheter or taking a blood sample.


Salinization of irrigated lands is a common phenomenon wherever irrigation is practised under arid or semi-arid conditions. In arid land,salinization has affected the sustainability of irrigation systems often resulting in significant soil resources degradation. In this paper,a case study was carried out in Yutian Oasis of the Keriya River basin to reveal the characteristics of total salt in the topsoil of different soil types( irrigation desert soil,brown desert soil,saline soil and aeolian sandy soil),and the path coefficient between total salt and its affecting factors.The results indicated that the total salt content in the topsoil presented a trend of soil salt accumulation. The total salt content in the topsoil of saline-alkali land was the highest among all soil types,with the value reached up to60. 62 g·kg- 1. The order of the total salt content in the topsoil was: saline soil brown desert soil aeolian sandy soil irrigation desert soils. The main compositions of total salt content were SO2-4,Cl-and Na+. Path analysis showed that among all factors the groundwater depth had the biggest contribution to salt accumulation in the topsoil,and the path coefficients between the total salt content of soil surface and the groundwater depth under different soil types were:- 1. 472,- 1. 018,- 0. 865 and- 0. 948. The soil moisture and HCO-3were more significant to the total salt content of oasis soil,soil bulk density to that of brown desert soil,and HCO-3to that of aeolian sandy soil.


Background: India has the highest burden of tuberculosis (TB) accounting for one-fifth of the global incidence and is 17th among 22 high-TB burden countries in terms of incidence rate of TB.

Objective: To know the sociodemographic profile of patients with TB and to assess knowledge and awareness regarding TB among patients with TB.

Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out including all TB treatment units of GMERS Medical College and Hospital Dharpur, Patan, Gujarat, India, for 3 months from June to August 2014. Total 151 registered patients of all age groups during June to August 2014 were selected by purposive sampling. After taking verbal consent, all patients were interviewed on the basis of predesigned, pretested pro forma. Information was collected regarding their health status, DOTS (directly observed treatment short course) therapy, and their awareness regarding TB. The data were statistically analyzed using SPSS software.

Result: Of 151 patients, 104 (68.8%) were male aged from 14 to 80 years; 147 (97.3%) were from rural area, 63 (41.7%) were illiterate, 130 (86%) belonged to joint family, and 118 (78.1%) had less than Rs. 500 per capita income. More than 50% patients with TB were aware of person-to-person transmission of TB. About 62 (41.05%) patients of TB knew mode of spread of TB and 95 (62.91%) correctly answered that cough was the most common symptom. About 91 (60.26%) patients said that TB can be prevented by BCG vaccine, 99 (65.56%) knew about DOTS clinic, 40 (26.9%) knew about TB from doctor, and only 90 (59.6%) believed that TB was curable.

Conclusion: Apart from pharmacological treatment, poor knowledge regarding TB among patients of TB also needs great attention.


This study investigates the relationship in L2 writing between raters' judgments of communicative adequacy and linguistic complexity by means of six-point Likert scales, and general measures of linguistic performance. The participants were 39 learners of Italian and 32 of Dutch, who wrote two short argumentative essays. The same writing tasks were administered to a control group of 18 native writers of Italian and 17 of Dutch. During a panel discussion raters were asked to verbalize for which reasons they assigned a text to a particular rating level. The results show that although raters' judgements of communicative adequacy largely corresponded to their judgments of linguistic complexity, the findings for L2 and L1 turned out to be different. In L2 overall ratings of linguistic complexity were correlated with lexical diversity and accuracy, but not with syntactic complexity. In L1 hardly any correlations between raters' judgements and general measures of syntactic complexity and lexical diversity were found. Furthermore, raters used different strategies when assessing high- and low-proficiency L2 writers or native writers, and seemed to attach more importance to textual features connected to communicative adequacy than to linguistic complexity and accuracy.


A good software design framework can effectively clear up the structure of a certain system, reduce its complexity. Struts framework, is a good choice for the development of a complex system. Combined with the practice of developing Assets Management system, firstly this article introduces the concept of Struts, and then it describes how to put Struts into practice by giving an example built on Struts Framework. It also reveals that Struts is a deployable and extendible framework, besides it emphasizes this framework's advantage in large-scale Web applications.


Numerical calculations of field line trajectories and drift orbits show that small field perturbations can destroy the single particle confinement in bumpy tori. Criteria are derived for tolerable field errors assuming neoclassical diffusion.


With the popularity and rapid development of the Internet, online video has played a very important role in promoting film and television communication. On the basis of online video, the rise of the short video industry has also brought about a huge change in people's movie habits. The fragmented aesthetics of movies are increasingly prominent under the influence of digital technology. The effects stemming from market forces are particularly profound. Marketization requires film production to take into account the types of audiences and to take care of the audience's spiritual fragments, and to be dominated by the aesthetic tastes of younger audiences, film co-production and distribution cross-border market operations, the integration of market awareness and national awareness, and the generalization of films. As well as the market-driven technology and the impact of technology on film narratives, these are all concrete manifestations of the market's impact on the fragmented aesthetics of films. The fragmented aesthetics of films not only liberates the creativity of the public, injects vitality into the market, but also weakens the artistry of films.


The present invention is directed to apparatus for operating a clutch to methods and hydraulic unit for operating at least one clutch (5, 6) in the hydraulic circuit for the axle drive of a vehicle, traveling conditions in a simple manner in order to close at least one clutch independently in a short time and, in the clutch, to provide a pressure necessary an appropriate amount of the working fluid.


.  ABSTRACT This work focus on studying the mechanical characteristics of polypropylene and carbon fiber reinforced no fine aggregate concrete, containing different percentages of fiber. This work was carried out using several tests. These tests were workability fresh and hardened density, compressive strength, splitting tensile strength and modulus of rupture. Tests were performed for specimens at ages of (7, 28) days. The test results indicated that the inclusion of fiber to the pervious concrete mixes did not affect the compressive strength significantly, while the splitting tensile strength and the modulus of rupture were improved significantly. Test results indicated that, the modulus of rupture of (5%) carbon fiber pervious concrete specimens are three times that of the control specimens, while the modulus of rupture of (5%) polypropylene fiber pervious concrete specimens are two times that of the control specimens. The percentage increase in tensile strength for polypropylene mixes containing fiber by volume fraction of (1%, 3%, 5%) were (93%, 101% and 129%) respectively and the percentage increase in tensile strength for carbon mixes containing fiber by volume fraction of (1%, 3%, 5%) were (170%, 177% and 220%) respectively.


The Federal Highway Administration (FWHA) and state Departments of Transportation (DOTs) are working to call attention to pavement preservation for high-volume, high-level highways. With the help of a Strategic Highway Research Program 2 (SHRP2) project, FHWA is highlighting pavement preservation treatments for these roads, with the goal to extend their service life. Publications by the project have been distributed to help agencies apply preservation techniques to their high-volume highways. The preservation of these roads is important because it provides safer and smoother roads, saves money for highway agencies, and can be implemented more quickly than rehabilitation.


The paper analyzes the key risks that accompany the company during the preparation and direct placement of its shares on the exchange through IPO, are offered the most effective methods of influence\effects on various risk groups and examples of evaluating the economic efficiency of measures designed to manage risk.


Permanent plot observations ascertain successional changes in lichen vegetation on cut surfaces of Scots pines. After about 11 years the pioneer community of Hypogymnia physodes and Evernia prunastri is succeeded by the Cladonietum glaucae Daniels1983. The succesion is considered directional. In the course of the time wood decay increases


The study attempts to investigate the effects of design on branding strategy-performance of furniture companies in Malaysia. The study focuses on furniture companies that participate as exhibitors in the 2012 Malaysian international furniture fair. The reason lies in the fact that Malaysian international furniture fair is the most distinguished and influential furniture fair in Asia where it draws participation by both big and small Malaysian furniture exporters who are known to have excellent track record and products with good quality. The results provide solutions that will regenerate the interest of the furniture economy level in years to come. It would benefit the government to properly allocate fund to the right channels where need arises and to keep track of other issues to prevent derailing. By resolving this common concern, it is possible to escalate the Malaysian furniture entrepreneurs to be head to head not only with the locals but also with the global market. Not only that, it is also to formulate new strategies, formulations, solutions, recommendations to uplift the socioeconomic contributions of the furniture entrepreneurs to the country's export of furniture's income. This study is perhaps one of the first to address the effects of design on the Malaysian furniture company's branding strategy.


Self-assembled donor–acceptor chromophores have extensive applications in photofunctional devices owing to their unique charge transport properties. To explore the possibility of improving nonlinear optical (NLO) properties by self-assembly to multilayer complexes, we theoretically investigated the geometric and electronic structures, interlayer weak interactions, absorption spectra, charge transfer properties, polarizabilities (α), and first hyperpolarizabilities (β) of naphthalimide, -phenyl, and -naphthyl monomers, dimers, and trimers by increasing the layer number n (n = 1, 2, 3). Different stacking patterns of their dimers were also taken into account. These show that parallel stacking patterns are conducive to maximizing overlap with respect to antiparallel ones due to the concept of optimal π-orbital overlap is more vast than purely maximizing cofacial overlap to improve charge transport. The decreases in band gap for the di/trimeric versus monomeric naphthalimide, -phenyl, and -naphthyl monomers i...


* Education Officer, Labor Council of New South Wales, Sydney, N.S.W. 2000. DURING 1977 the Australian trade unions faced their third year of record postwar unemployment. They were also operating in a context of firmly-enforced wage indexation: Despite the hostility of the conservative Federal government there was no massive confrontation in 1977 between unions and government. In fact when it came to strike statistics, decisions of the Biennial ACTU Congress or the role of ACTU President Mr Bob Hawke, the tone of the year was one of moderation.. &dquo;


7070Background: Cxcl8 is an angiogenic chemokine that is highly expressed in a subset of patients with MPN or clonal hematopoiesis of indeterminate potential (CHIP), a finding which is associated w...


Nearly 42 million Americans (13.1 percent of the U.S. population) lived below the Federal poverty line in 2018. Just as being poor presents individuals with challenges, such as difficulty in achieving food security and housing stability, areas where a large share of the population is poor face additional socioeconomic challenges. In 2018, there were 664 high poverty counties in which an average of 20 percent or more of the population had lived below the Federal poverty level since 2014. The majority were rural (78.9 percent).


This technical note is concerned with stability analysis of aperiodic sampled-data systems. The stability problem is tackled from a pure discrete-time point of view, where the at-sampling behavior of the system is modelled as the response of a nominal discrete-time LTI system in feedback interconnection with a structured uncertainty. Conditions under which the uncertainty is positive real (PR) are identified. Based on the PR property, a number of integral quadratic constraints (IQC) are derived and the IQC theory is applied to derive stability conditions. Numerical examples are given to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach.


In Wordsworth's early poetry, a description of natural tranquillity often follows a narration of human suffering. The most notable instance of this is the Pedlar's spear grass vision at the conclusion of The Ruined Cottage. This pattern of calm following suffering is not an attempt to evade the metaphysical questions provoked by evil and human misery; rather it represents a bona fide response which Wordsworth's imagination makes to the fictional representation of suffering. The poet contemplates the pathetic, as he does images of nature and memory, in order to provide himself with the excitement necessary to achieve the transcendental state he calls "calm." This natural calm is Wordsworth's version of a significant and familiar response to fictive suffering, the psychological mechanism of catharsis.


Posterior ankle arthroscopy is a useful tool for evaluating and treating the pathologic posterior aspect of the ankle joint and related structures. Increased awareness and understanding of the issues in the posterior aspect of the ankle joint have led to the development of newer techniques for treatment of this pathologic condition. In this paper, we review the current understanding of pathologic posterior ankle and the application of posterior ankle arthroscopy as a treatment option.


This book critically reflects on Singapore's 50 years of independence. Contributors interrogate a selected range of topics on Singapore's history, culture and society – including the constitution, education, religion and race – and thereby facilitate a better understanding of its shared national past. Central to this book is an examination of how Singaporeans have learnt to adapt and change through PAP government policies since independence in 1965. All chapters begin their histories from that point in time and each contribution focuses either on an area that has been neglected in Singapore's modern history or offer new perspectives on the past. Using a multi-disciplinary approach, it presents an independent and critical take on Singapore's post-1965 history.


Abstract This paper briefly discusses the nature, the causes and the role of predictive uncertainty in flood forecasting and proposes a novel approach to its estimation. Following the definition of predictive uncertainty, its importance in the decision process is highlighted in relation to the different sources of errors (model, parameter, observations, boundary conditions) that affect flood forecasting. Moreover, the paper briefly analyses the importance of using a full predictive uncertainty, obtained by marginalising the parameter uncertainty, instead of the predictive uncertainty conditional to a single parameter set. Finally, a new Model Conditional Processor (MCP) for the assessment of predictive uncertainty is then proposed as an alternative to the Hydrologic Uncertainty Processor (HUP) introduced by Krzysztofowicz as well as to the Bayesian Model Averaging (BMA) approach due to Raftery et al. The new MCP approach, which aims at assessing, and possibly reducing, predictive uncertainty, allows combination of the observations with one or several models' forecasts in a multi‐Normal space, by transforming observations and model forecasts in a multivariate Normal space by means of the Normal Quantile Transform. The results of the new approach are shown for the case of the River Po in Italy, and compared with the results obtainable both with the HUP and the BMA.


Abstract Experimental temperature distributions on the external walls of a heated flat microchannel contain information on the temperature and velocity fields in the cross-section of the dynamically developed internal flow. The relationship between the heat source surface distribution on the external wall and the temperature field on the same or opposite face is derived using Fourier transforms of the temperature distribution in the direction of the water flow. The corresponding transfer function depends analytically on the velocity distribution. A sensitivity analysis of the temperature distribution to the velocity profile is implemented for different Péclet numbers in order to design a corresponding bench.


Objective: To compare insulin resistance between hypertensive and non-hypertensive subjects. Methodology: It is a comparative cross-sectional study which was carried out between April 2004 to March 2006 at department of chemical pathology and endocrinology, Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, Rawalpindi. A total of sixty-three subjects with metabolic syndrome were selected as per the criteria of National Cholesterol Education Program, Adult Treatment Panel III (NCEP, ATP III) from a target population diagnosed to have impaired glucose regulation at AFIP, along with forty-seven age and sex-matched controls. Insulin resistance was calculated by the method of HOMA-IR, using the formula of Mathew's et al. Blood pressure was measured as per recommendations of JNC7 report on prevention, detection, evaluation and treatment of high blood pressure. Results: The difference for hypertension for diastolic blood pressure between subjects with and without metabolic syndrome were found to be significant [Metabolic syndrome: 86.79 mm of Hg (95 % CI: 83.75-89.84), Age and sex matched controls: 80.21(95 % CI: 76.80-83.62) (p<0.05). However the difference for systolic blood pressure were not found to be significant between the two groups (p=0.860).Hypertensive individuals had higher HOMA-IR [(n=33): 2.87 (95 % CI: 2.373.05)] than non-hypertensive [(n=30): 1.76(95 % CI: 1.53-2.05)] (p<0.05).The effect of obesity as determined by waist circumference between patients with and without hypertension remained significant (p=< 0.05) Conclusion: Hypertensive individuals have higher insulin resistance than subjects without hypertension. Thus it is recommended that vigorous search be made to diagnose insulin resistance in subjects diagnosed to have hypertension, and to demonstrate other components of metabolic syndrome.


Microfluidic chip is mainly driven electrically by external electrode and array electrode, but there are certain disadvantages in both of ways, which affect the promotion and application of microfluidic technology. This paper discusses a scheme that uses the conductive solution in a microchannel made by PDMS, replacing electrodes and the way of dielectric breakdown to achieve microfluidic chip driver. It could reduce the driving voltage and simplify the chip production process. To prove the feasibility of this method, we produced a microfluidic chip used in PDMS material with the lithography technology and experimented it. The results showed that using the dielectric breakdown to achieve microfluidic chip driver is feasible, and it has certain application prospect.


Analytic, one-dimensional studies of the microscale catalytic and thermal decomposition of hydrogen peroxide and the lean, catalytic combustion of ethanol are presented. The models include basic conservation laws, droplet heating and evaporation, droplet dynamics, and diusion-limited decomposition kinetics. Simplifying assumptions are made that allow the explicit solution of distinct transient processes, providing a basic method for sizing microscale reaction chambers. Results are implemented in the detailed design of a Giard injector-pumped microrocket engine.


The text presents and des- cribes the Argentinian Legal Digest, a work which deals with the compilation of all Argentinian Law presently in force, and which is divided into 26 subject matters. The work was divided into two parts: the first of which was the drawing up of a Legislative Drafting Handbook, whose aim is to regulate the making of norms; the second, the revision of all normative texts since the Constitution of 1853, which is aimed at a) eliminating explicit abrogations; b) eliminating contradictory norms with subsequently created norms (that is to say, tacitly abrogated provisions) and c) eliminating norms whose aim was already achieved or out of date.


Laminar flow is increasingly important area of study as it dominates microscale and milliscale applications in devices such as microvalves, pumps, and turbines and in biomedical applications such as stents and biological flows. Studies of pressure losses in junctions have mostly been focused on turbulent flow conditions that exist in larger scale piping systems. There is a need for laminar flow studies of energy losses in junctions so that engineers can better predict, design, and analyze flow in microscale and other small scale systems. Unlike in the turbulent regime, Reynolds number plays a dominant role in energy losses for laminar flow, so new studies should document the effects of Reynolds number. This paper documents laminar flow experiments in a milliscale junction. This work builds on previous experience of the authors in computational fluids dynamics simulations of junctions. The planar junction under study consists of a circular tubes with two outlets and one inlet. A general technique has been developed to produce computer and physical models of junctions in which the inlet tube size is set, but the outlets are allowed to vary in size and angle relative to the inlet tube. A generalized algorithm has been implemented to create three-dimensional models of the junctions for both computational and experimental studies. The junction test sections for experiments are milled from cast acrylic in two pieces to match three-dimensional computer models. The test sections are placed in a system that provides steady-state flow of water to test sections and has been designed to measure pressure losses and flow rates through the test section.Copyright © 2010 by ASME


We compare the efficiency of Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and nonlinear learning manifold algorithms (ISOMAP and Diffusion maps) for classifying brain maps between groups of schizophrenia patients and healthy from fMRI scans during a resting-state experiment. After a standard pre-processing pipeline, we applied spatial Independent component analysis (ICA) to reduce (a) noise and (b) spatial-temporal dimensionality of fMRI maps. On the cross-correlation matrix of the ICA components, we applied PCA, ISOMAP and Diffusion Maps to find an embedded low-dimensional space. Finally, support-vector-machines (SVM) and k-NN algorithms were used to evaluate the performance of the algorithms in classifying between the two groups.We compare the efficiency of Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and nonlinear learning manifold algorithms (ISOMAP and Diffusion maps) for classifying brain maps between groups of schizophrenia patients and healthy from fMRI scans during a resting-state experiment. After a standard pre-processing pipeline, we applied spatial Independent component analysis (ICA) to reduce (a) noise and (b) spatial-temporal dimensionality of fMRI maps. On the cross-correlation matrix of the ICA components, we applied PCA, ISOMAP and Diffusion Maps to find an embedded low-dimensional space. Finally, support-vector-machines (SVM) and k-NN algorithms were used to evaluate the performance of the algorithms in classifying between the two groups.


Text Segmentation of text from degraded document images is a very complex task due to high mutation between the document background and foreground region. Automatic text extraction is one of the basic feature required for content-based video indexing, automated indexing, automated annotation, structuring and retrieval tasks. Text detection from videos demands conversion of entire video into smaller framesets. Further the framesets are binarized to ease the extraction procedure. This in turn is followed by application of detection procedure on the static frames generated from the video. Text detection can lead to extraction of both superficial and embedded text. Embedded text will be the focus of this research paper because a part of the information depicted in the superficial text is already present in the embedded region. The cycle would start from conversion of dynamic video into static frames, followed by application of filters for noise removal, use of basic morphological operation like dilation and erosion, creation of bounding boxes around the textual content and finally removal of the non text region in such a manner that only the textual region in enhanced. The enhanced textual region is retained while the non textual content is eliminated.


Introduction: stevens–Johnson syndrome is a rare complication of ipilimumab therapy. A brief review of literature on the dermatologic adverse effects of ipilimumab is presented. this paper aims to heighten awareness of the significant risk and potential severity of cutaneous adverse effects associated with the use of ipilimumab. case report: A case of 71-year-old woman being treated with ipilimumab for stage IV choroidal melanoma who presented with stevens–Johnson syndrome 2.5 weeks after her last ipilimumab infusion. conclusion: Delayed diagnosis of stevens–Johnsons syndrome in patients receiving ipilimumab therapy can lead to devastating outcomes.


The present work constitutes a descriptive study of the pedagogical models in the initial education, of the Rosario de Alcazar School of the Initial Level Two. The main problem that gave rise to the approach of the research is that "a pedagogical model for initial education has not been consolidated", which promotes integral development and a specific education for this level. The general objective for the research carried out was: Know the pedagogical models that are applied in the Initial Level Two of the Rosario de Alcazar School located in the Parish of Conocoto, Province of Pichincha. For the present investigation, the methodology of qualitative type was used, which allowed to collect data, in the group of children of Initial Level Two. To obtain the data, three instruments were designed: the interview with the school principal, the surveys of the teachers at the initial level and the field diaries of each class that was observed. Finally, it was concluded that in the Initial Level Two of the Rosario de Alcazar School it uses the constructivist pedagogical model and the method of Maria Montessori, starting from the previous knowledge of the children so that they can build their own knowledge from their experiences, through the game methodology -work where the skills and abilities of each student are developed with the manipulation of toys and didactic materials.


Abstract Weightlifting is associated with a significant risk of shoulder injury. We used the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS) database to identify patients presenting to U.S. emergency departments between 2000 and 2017 with weightlifting-associated shoulder injuries to determine how the health burden and demographic characteristics of these patients have changed over time. Our analyses demonstrated a significant increase in the national estimate of weightlifting-associated shoulder injuries between 2000 (N=8.073; C.I. 6.309–9.836) and 2017 (N=14.612; C.I. 12.293–16.930) (p<0.001), with linear regression (R2=0.87, P<0.001) projecting 22.691 national cases by 2030. Patients were most often males (83.3%; C.I. 81.5–85.2%) between 20–29 years of age (30.5%; C.I. 28.2%–32.8%) sustaining a sprain, strain, or muscle tear (65.1%; C.I. 60.4–69.8%). Additionally, the average age of injury (34.33 years; C.I. 33.43–35.23 years) in the 2012–2017 period was significantly higher than in prior periods (p<0.001). We postulated these findings may reflect older individuals more frequently participating in resistance training than in the past, and considered that contemporary fitness trends such as CrossFit might have higher injury rates. We believe increased awareness of this burden, coupled with focus on injury prevention strategies, could yield substantial national health and cost savings.


A knowledge of the viruses of the vervet monkey has been essential in the production and safety testing of poliovirus vaccine in South Africa.


Over the last 15 years numerous studies, both fundamental and applied, have ensured for gibberellic acid (GA3) a firm place in the routine commercial malting of barley and the production of fruits. A large number of the thirty-eight gibberellins so far characterized occur naturally, e.g. gibberellic acid in germinating barley. Commercial application of gibberellic acid during malting therefore supplements the natural endogenous levels of this hormone. Small additions of gibberellic acid accelerate the production and release into the endosperm of enzymes which degrade the hemicellulosic-protein-starch complex into essential brewing materials such as sugar, peptides and amino acids.

A combination of abrasion with gibberellic acid application results in further acceleration of the malting process. Abrasion of the pericarp at the distal end of barley grains allows them, in the presence of normal levels of gibberellic acid, to malt simultaneously from both their embryo and non-embryo ends: malting time is drastically reduced and soluble malt extract is increased.

In spite of the widespread industrial use of gibberellic acid, the cellular mechanisms through which gibberellic acid elicits its various actions on plant growth and development are not yet known; however, with barley aleurone cells gibberellic acid can induce drastic reorganization and synthesis of subcellular organelles. The net result of gibberellin treatment may be vigorous production and secretion of hydrolytic enzymes or, in other circumstances a rapid acceleration of growth and development. It is as yet unknown whether these apparently diverse expressions of gibberellin action have a similar biochemical basis.


The end of the Cold War, and the collapse of the Soviet Union had shown its impact on the Black Sea region as well. The emergence of the new states, and the changing maps had also changed the geostrategical balance in the region. Besides these changes, due to varying facts, the Black Sea had become a region which gains importance and which attracted the attention of international powers. Today, the Black Sea is an important issue of the international security agenda. The security of the Black Sea, which has gone beyond regional level and gained an international and global identity, has an important place in Turkey's foreign and security policy. In the Cold War era, in order to ensure the


Abstract Aim/objective: Corneal kindling mouse test is a model of decreasing the seizure threshold after repetitive subchronical electrical stimuli. Ketogenic diet (KD) is used for the treatment of children with pharmacoresistant epilepsy since more than 100 years. Surprisingly, very few studies testing the effect of the KD in corneal kindling test were published. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of the KD on the seizure activity in corneal kindling mouse model. Methods: 50 adult male ICR mice (25-35 g) were randomly distributed in four groups, as follows: group 1 – standard diet (SD) treated controls (n = 10); group 2 – KD treated (n = 10), group 3 – kindled mice on SD treatment (n = 15); group 4 – kindled mice on KD treatment (n = 15). The diet was started at day one, one week before the start of the kindling and it continued for four weeks. At the end of the experiment, kindled mice were challenged with 6-Hz test and their behavior was assessed. Results: In kindled mice on SD the seizure latency time significantly decreased at days 14, 21 and 28. Mice on KD displayed relatively constant seizure latency during the experiment. At day 28 the duration of provoked seizures was statistically higher as compared with mice on KD (median values 101 vs 2 sec, p < 0.05). Blood ketone levels were statistically higher (p < 0.05), and blood glucose level was statistically lower (p < 0.05) in the KD treated group, as compared with SD treated mice. Conclusion: KD effectively suppressed the seizure activity in corneal kindling test. Further studies are needed for elucidating the molecular mechanisms which can explain this effect.


The unsteady laminar flow of an incompressible non-Newtonian micropolar fluid impinging on a permeable flat plate with heat transfer by taking into account the viscous dissipation is investigated. A uniform suction or blowing is applied normal to the plate, which is maintained at a constant temperature. Numerical solution for the governing nonlinearmomentum and energy equations is obtained.The governing partial differential equations are transformed into ordinarydifferential equations.The non linear ordinary differential equations are linearized by using the quasilinearisation technique.The system is then solved by implicit finite difference scheme. The effect of the uniform suction or blowing and the characteristics of the non-Newtonian fluid on both the flow and heat transfer is presented graphically and discussed.


Vulcanization reaction was studied by DSC through the comparison cure states to physical properties and the investegation of chemicals effect on vulcanization. Reaction enthalpy showed a good correlation with physical properties, increased with the increase of sulfur content, and increased with accelerator content, as well, where the ratio of MOR to sulfur was less than 1.0. Reaction temperature was decreased with increasing accelerator content and decreased also with sulfur content where the ratio of MOR to sulfur was more than 1:3. As a result, the cure state and reaction temperature could be controlled effectively with the ratio of accelerator to sulfur in the range of a third to unity.


In this paper we describe the multi-run simulation experiment environment SimEnv and its application in quality assurance matters for computer models. SimEnv has been developed to provide key working techniques for experimenting with complex models. This includes a wide range of simulation and model output evaluation methods in combination with corresponding visualization techniques. The SimEnv framework facilitates the easy execution of multi-run model simulation experiments for standardized, pre-formed experiment types which represent different sampling strategies of the model's input space. Further experiment types may easily be included, making SimEnv an open experimentation system. The coupling of models to the environment is supported by a simple interface, requiring only minimal model source code modifications. Uncertainty and sensitivity analyses are enabled in SimEnv by combining experiments available from the pool of predefined experiment types with interactive post-processing, applying sequences of related operators to both model output and reference data. Use of SimEnv as an experimental framework for models in global change research demonstrates the applicability of the approach to multi-input / multi-output problems with large amounts of spatio-temporal model output and emphasizes the importance of graphical result presentation and evaluation by appropriate visualization techniques.


One of the greatest insights of Karl Marx was his perception of the capitalist system as a self-acting, self-driven and "spontaneous" order. Far from being a malleable system, where intervention by the State could be used for bringing about basic changes in the mode of its functioning, in which case of course the need to go beyond capitalism to a socialist order would never arise, Marx saw the actions of the capitalist State itself as being governed by the dictates of the "spontaneous" economic order underlying it. In short, instead of politics being used to rectify the ills of the economy, the range of possible political interventions was itself determined by the immanent tendencies of the economic realm, from which it followed that "authentic" politics was possible only in a socialist society which had transcended the "spontaneity" of capitalism. Or putting it differently, people's choices with regard to the economic universe they wish to live in, exercised necessarily through the realm of the polity, could acquire any effectiveness only when the spontaneity of the capitalist economic universe was transcended.


We describe a method for estimating human head pose in a color image that contains enough of information to locate the head silhouette and detect non-trivial color edges of individual facial features. The method works by spotting a human head on an arbitrary background, extracting the head outline, and locating facial features necessary to describe the head orientation in the 3D space. It is robust enough to work with both color and gray-level images featuring quasi-frontal views of a human head under variable lighting conditions.


This is one of a series of papers of the author's dealing with Hong-Iou Meng (Dream of the Red Chamber) from a new angle. The main point of the paper is to refute the"autobiography theory" and to revise the "the sole Cao house theory". The Jia house in the novel is molded after the Li house in Suzhou. The leading character in the novel Jia Bao-yu implies Li Ding, the eldest son of Li Xu who was the director of the Imperial Suzhou Silk Factory in the Qing dynasty. Initially, Li Ding wrote several chapters of Si-Tou Ji. Then Cao Xue-qin took over and rewrote and expanded it. In the original version of Si-Tou Ji created by Li Ding, the characters include several females. Generally they are consided as"several unusual females". After Cao Xue-qin took over and painstakingly rewrote the novel, "the Jingling twelve hairpins (beauties)" were thus created, forming remarkably typical characters in the novel. According to Zi-yan Zhai's (or Li Ding's) annotations, "twelve hairpins (beauties) are from Suzhou"The socalled"twelve Jinling hairpins (beauties)"are really"Suzhou twelve hairpins (beauties)".


Here we describe evaluations for Am isotopes that will be included in the next release of ENDL. Current ENDL99 evaluations for these isotopes are quite outdated and almost entirely undocumented. Because Am is important for several DNT applications, and because quality evaluations are either readily available or easily calculated, the effort to update ENDL seems warranted. Results from good existing evaluations are adopted whenever possible. To this end we devote the next section of this report to a consideration of the availability of evaluations The quality of different evaluations as well as comparisons against experiments are also presented and used to motivate our choice of adopted data sets. Plans for modifying and improving adopted evaluations are also discussed. For {sup 240}Am there are no existing evaluations. To fill this gap, we are providing a new Am evaluation based on calculations with the statistical model reaction codes TALYS and EMPIRE. This evaluation is described below. The ENDF/B-VI formatted file containing this evaluation is given in the appendix.


Slender structural systems susceptible to unstable buckling generally losestability at lower load levels than the linear buckling load of the perfect structure. This is mainly due to the geometric imperfections present in real structures. The objective of this work is to determine the integrity measures, together with the stability of the post-critical solutions of a mechanical system subject to unstable symmetrical buckling, Burtterfly-type bifurcation, using a discrete degree of freedom model. Uncertainties in the order of 10% will be considered in its deterministic parameters, to obtain lower and reliable limits for the project. The proposed uncertainty in the spring stiffness parameters does not change the type of bifurcation and the value of the critical load, only the value of the minimum post-critical of the bifurcation diagrams. The results showed the erosion of the attraction basin and the decrease of the factors of integrity, local and global, for the trivial solutions with the increase of the static load, for the investigated bifurcation.


On routine examination of liver sections our interest has been aroused by the rather frequent occurrence of certain, well characterized cvtoplasmic inclusions. Although easily seen, even with ordinary stains, they seem to have attracted little attention and to have escaped the recognition of experienced pathologists. They are not described in standard textbooks of pathology, histology or cytology. Mallory,1 however, in his classical paper on necroses of the liver (I90I) has accuratelv described and pictured these bodies (Plate XVI, Fig. i. and Plate XVII, Fig. i), and since we have found but one other reference to them his description may be cited in full. "In a majority of the early cases the protoplasm of the liver cells contains numerous small and large vacuoles in which are single small hvaline globules; single, sometimes multiple, coarse, and fine threads; and occasional networks, all of which stain deeply with eosin and with Weigert's fibrin stain. With other stains thev react exactly as fibrin does. The hyaline globules are not threads cut across; whether they really are fibrin is difficult to prove. They often seem to precede the formation of the threads and networks of fibrin." It would seem that MIallory regarded these bodies as an accompaniment of early degeneration, ending in necrosis of the liver cells. We have been able to locate but one other short reference to these structures. Taniguchi 2 (I93i) describes in liver cells three types of cytoplasmic indusions as follows: Type i: Spherical bodies, varying in size from a round mitochondrial granule to that of a nucleus, homogeneous and with sharp contours. They stain deeply with Heidenhain's iron hematoxylin after fixation in Regaud's fluid and can be distinguished, though less clearly, in hematoxylin-eosin preparations. They do not stain with Sudan III. Type 2: More or less elongated oval bodies which are regarded as a modification of Type I. They are infrequently found. * Received for publication March 25, 1936.


PURPOSE: A system and method for managing contents for a wire/wireless Internet integration service is provided for an Internet user to select and collect desired contents and to constitute a personal exclusive page by automatically recognizing a corresponding site without an additional log-in process in each site, restructuring, and editing the contents. CONSTITUTION: A contents editor block(11) recognizes desired collection contents by an Internet user and restructures the contents. When the Internet user wants to watch the contents, the contents editor block(11) displays the contents. When the Internet user uses specific contents, an automatic authentication processing block(12) automatically executes an authentication function for a use. A book marking block(21) stores and manages data collected and restructured in the contents editor block(11). A contents generation block(22) converts data stored in the book marking block(21) to be adapted to the current user terminal(30) of the Internet user. A PC(31), a mobile phone(32), or a PDA(33) used as a user terminal(30).


The wetting properties of coolants are important for tribological systems. In order to optimize the wettability on steel alloys coolants have been modified for decades. Using PVD-coatings for wear and corrosion resistance the thermodynamical interactions between coolant and surface have been changed. The characteristic factor, which affects interfacial interactions such as adsorption, wetting and adhesion, is the surface free energy. The test results are indicating that all PVD hard film systems have much lower surface energies than the uncoated low-alloyed steel. The surface free energy of solids and liquids can be examined by using the drop shape analysis where as spreading a contact angle ofcoolants on metals isn't measurable. In this work a theoretical solution is presented. The wetting behaviour can be calculated and is given as the spreading coefficient S'. Results of these theoretical equations have been proofed and verified by experimental tests.


Software collaboration graphs for two Open Source software projects written in the Java programming language, the Kowari Metastore and JRDF, were analyzed for fifteen-month periods of development. Collaboration graphs were produced at the package, class and method levels. The collaboration graphs were found to form networks which exhibited approximately scale-free properties at all three levels and during each period analyzed. This finding tends to support claims made by others that software class collaboration graphs approximate scale-free networks and provides new insights that they seem to retain the scale-free properties across different levels of granularity and over the course of their development life cycle. Significant differences between the magnitudes of power law exponents identified and those found in C and C++ applications by previous researchers are noted and discussed. Specifically, only the method-level collaboration graphs were found to have power law exponents in the most common range for scale-free networks (2 < γ < 3).


Bacteria of the genus Leuconostoc have long been known to produce gum or slime in the juices of isugar beets, sugar cane, and other sucros containing fluids (Evans and Hibbert, 1946). The leuconostocs present in Louisiana sugar-cane juiceshave beenstudied intensively by MoCleskey and co-workers; no comparable observations for any other locality have been reported. Alford and McCleskey (1942) showed that leuconostocs found in Louisiana cane juice were heterogeneous and consisted of at least three types on the basis of taxonomy and growth characteristics in sucrose-containing media. McCleskey et al. (1947) showed that the most commonly encountered pecies was Leucomwstoc mewnteroide, and classifled over a hundred strains under four types, designated A, B, D, and F, according to colonial characteristics. Further evidence that these four types represent relatively distinct entities has been provided by their serological behavior (Leivo-Quiros and McCleskey, 1947), nutritional requirements (McCleskey and Barnett, 1949; Bienvenu and McCleskey, 1950), and manner of sucrose utilization (Giglio and McCleskey, 1953). Thirty-five strains representative of the four types of McCleskey et al. (1947) were included among the 135 strains we have cultured recently for isolation and characterization of dextrans (Jeanes et al., 1954). The polysaccharide products from these colonial types had not been characterized previously. It is the purpose of this paper to amine the relationship between the colonial types and the chemical and physical properties of the dextrans. Consideration is given also to the question of whether dextrans from strains of L. mesenteroie8 originating in localities and habitats other than Louisiana sugar-cane juices have properties comparable with those from McCleskey's four types.


Aim: Anemia is defined as a reduction in the red blood cell mass or blood hemoglobin concentration. Complete blood count (CBC) analyses provide comprehensive information with regard to the classification of anemia. We aimed to determine the prevalence and remind the possible etiologies of anemia in our province using CBC analyses. Material and Methods: This retrospective study was conducted in a secondary healthcare center in northern Turkey. A total of 2578 healthy children enrolled. Their sociodemographic features, clinical history, and CBC results were retrospectively reviewed from the hospital records. According to CBC analyses, hemoglobin (HGB), hematocrit (HCT), mean corpuscular volume (MCV), mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration (MCHC), mean corpuscular hemoglobin (MCH) and red cell distribution width (RDW) levels were evaluated. Results: The prevalence of anemia in the whole study population was 27.6% (n=713). When stratified according to the age subgroups of the study, the prevalances varied between 21.3% and 41.2%. Among the anemic patients, 42.9% (n=306) had microcytic, 56.1% (n=400) had normocytic and 1% (n=7) had macrocytic anemia Conclusion: The prevalance of anemia was >20% in all the age groups, revealing that anemia is a significant public health problem in our province. Detailed analysis of the CBC provides comprehensive information regarding the classification of anemia. It saves time and money for well−child follow up by facilitating the direct application of etiologic tests.


Abstract Purpose. To inquire into a reemployment process of older managers in a setting of organizational restructuring, a context in which the dominant answer of organizations consists of stimulating early retirement. Methodology. Fourteen reemployed older managers, and the HR manager in a career counseling role, were interviewed to learn about the quality of the reemployment process during a plant closing. Barriers and facilitators of reempioyment, counseling behaviors of HR and significant contextual factors were identified. Data were analyzed using a combination of theory- and data-driven methodology. A theoretical framework was extended to offer more insight into reemployment processes. Findings. Experiences of job content continuity and relational continuity facilitated the reemployment process. The embeddedness in an organizational culture and the experience of dualities strongly influenced how the reemployment process was experienced. Practical implications. Counseling efforts should focus on finding job content continuity and relational continuity to smooth the reemployment process. HR/career counselors have to guard against the development of too strong and inflexible social identities during careers that hinder career transitions. Diverse forms of job mobility can be stimulated during the whole career. HR/career practitioners should develop the capacity to identify tensions between different 'logics' and handle these tensions constructively by setting up sound dialogues between the parties involved in a reempioyment process. Orisinality/value. Little research has been conducted on reemployment processes of older managers during restruc- turing. The research offers new insights into the dynamics of reemployment processes, and offers research and practice implications for researchers and practitioners. Introduction From both a research and practice perspective the retention and development of older workers will become a very important issue in decades to come (Walker, 1999; Brewington & Nassar-McMillan, 2000; Jepsen, Foden & Hutsebaut, 2002; Collins, 2003; Dychtwald, Erickson & Morison, 2004; Kirk & Belovics, 2005; Armstrong-Stassen & Templer, 2005, 2006; Burke & Ng, 2006; Baruch & Quick, 2007). The convergence of lowered fertility and improved health and longevity has generated growing numbers and proportions of older population throughout most of the world (Kinsella & Velkoff, 2001). Data from the U.S. Census Bureau indicate that between 2005 and 2025 the number of Americans age 25-54 will grow from about 126 million to almost 131 million. At the same time, the number of people age 55 and older will grow at a much faster rate, from about 67 million to nearly 105 million (Purcell, 2005). This growth is for the most part attributed to the aging of the baby boom generation, people born between 1946 and 1964, which begins reaching the normal retirement ages during this decade (Collins, 2003; Dychtwald, Erickson & Morison, 2004). Combined with labor force participation rates beginning to fall after age 55 (Collins, 2003; Purcell, 2005), and actual retirement ages that are often lower than statutory retirement ages in most industrialized countries (Kinsella & Velkoff, 2001), several researchers expect a worker shortage (e.g., Walker, 1999; Jepsen, Foden & Hutsebaut, 2002; Dychtwald, Erickson & Morison, 2004; Kirk & Belovics, 2005; ArmstrongStassen & Templer, 2006; Burke & Ng, 2006): there will not be enough younger workers (1) to replace retiring baby boomers and (2) to pay for the pensions of the retiring baby boomers when life longevity continues to expand. The replacement problem is expected to be severe and chronic by nature due to persistent low birth rates since the late 1970s (Kinsella & Velkoff, 2001; Collins, 2003), leading to "a decline in the size of successive birth cohorts and a corresponding increase in the proportion of older relative to younger population" (Kinsella & Velkoff, 2001, p. …


Buildings are a major consumer of energy. We believe that energy can be saved with the notion of implicit occupancy sensing where existing IT infrastructure can be used to replace and/or supplement explicit dedicated sensors to determine building occupancy and drive building operation. Implicit sensing has the promise to be both lower in cost than explicit sensing based on PIR and ultrasound sensors and to offer additional useful data about the occupants of a building. Our implicit sensing methods are largely based on monitoring IP and MAC addresses in Wi-Fi access points and in routers, and then correlating these addresses to the occupancy of a floor, area, or room of a building. We experimentally evaluate the feasibility of this dual-use of IT infrastructure. We demonstrate an application of implicit sensing to sense the pending occupancy of a user workspace and automatically control the plugged-in devices in the workspace.


Background: Breast cancer (BC) is the most common malignancy in women and now regarded as the commonest cancer overall. Over 2 million new cases were diagnosed in 2018, accounting for almost 25% of cancer cases among women. The main objective of the study is to find the insinuation of extrapolative factors of diagnostic importance in breast cancer patients experiencing thyroid dysfunction. Materials and methods: This correlational study was conducted on Jinnah Hospital patients with the permission of ethical committee of the hospital and consent of the patients. The data was collected from 88 cases and 50 controls. All the patients who had a definite diagnosis of BC along with, hyperthyroidism, hypothyroidism, autoimmune thyroid disease (AITD), or thyroid cancer were included in this study. The study population was divided into three comparative groups: (1) controls (n = 50), (2) BC cases with hypothyroidism (n = 27), and (3) BC cases with hyperthyroidism (n = 61). Results: The mean age was 47.325±4.59 years for controls, 51.59±8.59 years for the hypothyroid cases, and 50.59±5.58 years for the hyperthyroid cases. The mean systolic blood pressure (SBP) for controls, hypothyroid and hyperthyroid was 121.25±6.58 mmHg, 98.259±8.59 mmHg and 129.65±7.59 mmHg respectively. The P-values less than 0.05 were considered to be significant (table 01). The demographic and hematological data of control, hypothyroid and hyperthyroid groups was tabulated. A positive correlation of breast cancer in women with hyperthyroidism and a slightly negative correlation in women with hypothyroidism was found. Conclusion: There appears to be an association between the thyroid function level and breast cancer risk. It can be extrapolated that anxiety associated with hyperthyroidism may play a role in stress induced BC. Therefore, thyroid function should be monitored in patients at risk of BC. Keyword: Breast cancer, Thyroid, Dysfunction, Hypothyroidism, Hyperthyroidism, Anxiety.


Prostate cancer is one of the principal medical problems facing men, with an estimated 180 000 cases and 97 000 deaths occurring in Europe in 2004 [1]. Mortality rates are generally similar throughout Europe; however, incidence rates vary due to national and regional differences in screening procedures (Fig. 1) [2]. Hormonal therapy (HT) constitutes the biggest single area of cancer drug spending and has become the mainstay for the management of advanced prostate cancer [2]. However, more recently there has been increased use of HT in younger men with earlier (i.e. nonmetastatic) stages of disease or recurrent disease after definitive treatment, either as a primary single-agent therapy or as part of a multimodality approach [3].


War — Enemy Character — Of Corporations — Neutral Shareholders in Enemy — Controlled Corporation. War — Effects of — On Neutral Property — Neutral Shareholders in Enemy-Controlled Corporation — The Law of the United States of America.


This article examines the relationship between religion and news media through a case study of Deepika, a Malayalam-language daily published in the South Indian state of Kerala. We "thickly describe" the practices of mediation and meaning-making processes of this newspaper's editors and readers, most of whom are "Syrian Catholics." Our analysis shows that news functions as, or very similar to, religion for Deepika's partakers. We thus argue that the newspaper and religion are inseparable for a devout Syrian Catholic, and they concurrently mediate the communal and spiritual longings of the believers.


As children and families don bright socks to raise awareness of World Down Syndrome Day, the Government is introducing legislation to improve the lives of people with the condition. Nicole Weinstein asks what support is available and what the future holds


ABSTRACT. Tax incentives have become a popular policy instrument to boost research and experimental development (RD tax incentives; tax deductions1. IntroductionRD that relies on the increasing role of knowledge for competitiveness growth and economic development (Popa et al, 2012).For this reason the governments are in competitiveness to do the best scheme of R&D tax relief.In the EU, R&D tax incentives have become more important in the last years, they are expressed even by the EU 2020 Strategy (R&D is one of two objectives of this Strategy and becoming a smart and sustainable economy are the two priorities of it). …


Fundamental magnetic properties of the R2Fe17 compounds are highly sensitive to the atomic substitutions and interstitial absorption of light elements (nitrogen or hydrogen). In our work, both were combined, and the influence of the substitutions in the R-sublattice and nitrogen absorption on the magnetization behavior of Sm2Fe17 compound in magnetic fields up to 58 T was studied. (Sm,Ho)2Fe17N2.4 nitride was prepared. Magnetisation measurements were carried out on powder samples. Nanopowders of (Sm,Ho)2Fe17N2.4 were obtained by mechanical grinding. The grinding time was varied from 0 to 60 minutes. The strength of the inter-sublattice coupling in all samples is estimated by analyzing high-field magnetization data. In our work is shown that nitrogenation weakens the inter-sublattice exchange interaction in the compounds up to 45 - 50 %. Grinding time and, as a consequence, particle size affects the inter-sublattice exchange interaction. To achieve a ferromagnetic state, fields are needed well in excess of 58 T.


Starting from the recognition that only a 'labour theory of value' is able to provide a measure of the value of the surplus, in this essay we'd like to pose the question of how the labour theory of value must dynamically adjust to the capitalist system and the succession of different modes of accumulation. Specifically, we focus on structural changes that have invested and partially modified the process of enhancing the transition from industrial-Fordist to 'bio-capitalism', at least in that area of the world where this transformation has established itself and is present. It is in this passage that the labour theory of value intended primarily as a theory of value-time work requires a redefinition that is able to grasp the qualitative changes that have overtaken and undermined the traditional theory of value labour. In particular, it will be considered a specific form of value creation: one linked to the concept of affective labour. Finally, in the last and final section, we discuss the hypothesis of the theory of life-value, nodding briefly to the related theoretical problems in view of a future research agenda.


It is difficult these days to avoid hearing about blockchain. Despite the significant potential of blockchain, it is also difficult to find a consistent description of what it really is. This article looks at the basics of blockchain: the individual components, how those components fit together, and what changes might be made to solve some of the problems with blockchain technology.


A few years ago, when I was delivering a workshop on creativity at the London Screenwriters' Festival, three men walked out. As they left, one of them mumbled something along the lines of, 'This is ridiculous ... creativity's got nothing to do with screenwriting.' Maybe it was the way I was pitching it - though I'd only been talking for about five minutes - but creativity and screenwrit ing not connecting? Being creative having nothing to do with screenwriting? Well, actually, this is a view that many people have. But it's wrong. Screenwriting is creative writing. It's perhaps got more of a business slant to it than other kinds of fiction, but it's still creative writing. And it's through developing creativity that a screenwriter can make a film leap from being formulaic to formidable.


Satellite-monitored radio tags were attached to North Atlantic right whales (Eubalaena glacialis) in Grand Manan Basin of the lower Bay of Fundy during the summer and early fall seasons of 1989–1991 and 2000. Monte Carlo tests were used to examine the distribution of the tagged whales in space and time and with respect to a variety of environmental variables to characterize right whale habitat on their northern feeding grounds. These environmental variables included depth, depth gradient, climatological surface and bottom hydrographic properties, and remotely sensed surface temperature, chlorophyll concentration, and their respective horizontal gradients. Site fidelity in the Bay of Fundy was very low during 1989–1991 and high during 2000. When the tagged animals left the Bay, they did not frequently visit the deep basins of the Gulf of Maine and Scotian Shelf, where abundances of their primary copepod prey, Calanus finmarchicus, are thought to be high. Instead, right whales visited areas characterized by...


In this study the results of the numerical analysis of a new design of birefringent microstructured fibers (BMSFs) containing three rings of identical air holes around an elliptical core with different distances between the rings of holes are presented. The first ring contains two pairs of holes, which are more widely spaced than others. The BMSFs were characterized using the finite element method. Confinement losses for fundamental and higher-order modes were calculated in the spectral range of 0.20 to 2.65 microns. Simulation results show that an optimum configuration of the proposed design existed, for which the widest spectral range of single-mode guidance of fibers was obtained: from 0.2 to 2.3 microns.


The Southern Ocean (SO) plays a key role in modulating atmospheric CO 2 via physical and 12 biological processes. However, over much of the SO, biological activity is iron-limited. New 13


A new device of reduction for seismic response using friction force was developed. In this paper, fundamental characteristics of reduction system for seismic response using this device were investigated by excitation experiment using artificial seismic waves. The peak acceleration amplitude on this system has decreased to about 50-90% over the input waves. Although a spectral peak around the frequency of 0.5Hz that is the natural period of this system was identified, the value of a spectral peak was decreased using bearings with the high friction force. This device is useful for reduction of seismic response.


This research was conducted at the company PT. Perkebunan Nusantara III Medan, the purpose of this research is to analyze its influence current ratio, debt to equity ratio and working capital turnover to return on assets at PT. Nusantara III Medan Plantation 2015-2017 Period. The method in this study is a quantitative method using financial statements and the sample of this study is 36 samples, namely from the period 2015-2017 and taken with documentation techniques. This study uses secondary data and hypothesis testing of this study was carried out using multiple linear regression analysis, the test results of the coefficient of determination (adjusted R2) indicate that simultaneous ability current ratio variables, debt to equity ratio and working capital turnover to explain return on assets is 40% while the. remaining 60% is influence by other variabel. On the results of simultaneous research (F test) shows that the current ratio, debt to equity ratio and working capital turnover have a significant and positive effect on return on assets in the company PT. Perkebunan Nusantara III Medan period 2015-2017 and the results of the research partially (T test) show that the current ratio does not have a positive and significant effect on return on assets and while the debt to equity ratio has a positive and significant effect on return on assets but not working capital turnover positive but significant effect.


Prediction of shrinkage stress development within chemically stabilised pavement (CSP) materials is of paramount importance as associated cracking may result in deterioration of the pavement. Shrinkage stress mainly develops due to moisture and heat loss from CSP. In stabilisation of road pavement in-situ, process of moisture and heat diffusion is complicated because the stabilised material can be a mixture of several materials comprising aggregates, stabilisers and pozzolans. The current paper suggests that it is prudent to approach this issue by making use of state-of-the-knowledge developed in both concrete and geotechnology. Accordingly, the paper presents a synthesis of the state-of use of the knowledge gathered on similar materials from other fields including soil and concrete engineering. Concepts of soil water characteristic curve for soil and desorption isotherms for cement concrete are briefly presented. Based on this synthesis, it was established that the modelling of moisture and heat diffusion, the mass transfer of water vapour through chemically stabilised material is essentially a non-linear problem. Some preliminary results using a non-linear numerical finite difference solution procedure are presented. On this basis, a research approach for modelling of the moisture and heat movement and resulting shrinkage cracking as applicable to stabilised road pavements is briefly discussed.


We present the discovery of a super lithium-rich K giant star, G0928+73.2600. This red giant (Teff = 4885 K and log g = 2.65) is a fast rotator with a projected rotational velocity of 8.4 km s−1 and an unusually high lithium abundance of A(Li) = 3.30 dex. Although the lack of a measured parallax precludes knowing the exact evolutionary phase, an isochrone-derived estimate of its luminosity places the star on the Hertzsprung–Russell diagram in a location that is not consistent with either the red bump on the first ascent of the red giant branch or with the second ascent on the asymptotic giant branch, the two evolutionary stages where lithium-rich giant stars tend to cluster. Thus, even among the already unusual group of lithium-rich giant stars, G0928+73.2600 is peculiar. Using 12C/13C as a tracer for mixing—more mixing leads to lower 12C/13C—we find 12C/13C = 28, which is near the expected value for standard first dredge-up mixing. We can therefore conclude that "extra" deep mixing has not occurred. Regardless of the ambiguity of the evolutionary stage, the extremely large lithium abundance and the rotational velocity of this star are unusual, and we speculate that G0928+73.2600 has been enriched in both lithium and angular momentum from a sub-stellar companion.


The moisture content of fresh biomass is typically high, often varying between 50 % and 60 %, depending on the season, weather and type of biomass. Reducing the moisture content provides considerable benefits for combustion and can allow larger amounts of wood to be transported per load. Two systems exist for drying woody biomass: natural and artificial drying. AFORA has conducted several case studies concerning the natural drying process of logs and harvesting residues. This short review presents information concerning artificial drying practice in France that might be useful in some operations in Australia.;