As three-dimensional (3D) printing technology is widely used, security issues have arisen, especially in the terminal parts of automobiles, aircraft, and 3D-printed military equipment. If the original design models or the STL (stereolithography) files are hacked or tampered, severe consequences can be anticipated. In this paper, we propose a demonstration to use a high-throughput blockchain to store the "fingerprints" of the 3D model and verify the "fingerprints" before printing to prevent illegal tampering. Relying on the tamper-resistant features of blockchain, the security of the model and the credibility of the terminal components can be ensured. The combination of blockchain and 3D printing will help people to build a trusted manufacturing environment and realize a more flexible manufacturing for future industry.


There are a number of many-body systems which exhibit quantum effects on a macroscopic scale. These include liquid and crystal states of both He-3 and He-4, the electron gas, and neutron matter which probably constitutes the interior of pulsors. In addition, nuclear matter - a hypothetical extensive system of nucleons has been studied for the insight one may gain into the nature of finite nuclei. The theoretical studies of these systems have by now a long history but are by no means concluded. In the last few years, significant advances have been made. This has come in part from the maturity of and gradual unification of many-body theory, in part from the development and application of powerful new expansion procedures, especially varieties of hypernetted-chain equations, and finally to the growing power of computer simulation methods for quantum systems. This article is intended as a review of some recent development in computational methods for extensive quantum systems, and of the relation between results so obtained to the evolution of other theoretical work.


The effects of some hydrocarbons on the head/disk interface were studied, with a new test system. Vapors of the contaminating hydrocarbons at the desired concentration and relative, humidity were continuously introduced into the test enclosure and the head/disk interfaces were subjected to accelerated start/stop tests. Tests with Mn-Zn ferrite heads and thin-film disks showed that diethylhexylphthalate (DEHP) induced high stiction/friction at the interface after 3500 start/stops. When palmitic acid vapors were introduced along with DEHP, the detrimental effects of DEHP were completely reduced. Presented as a Society of Tribologists and Lubrication Engineers paper at the STLE/ASME Tribology Conference in New Orleans, Louisiana, October 24–27, 1993


Focusing on the color image fusion problem of the left focus image and right focus image,the color multi-focus image fusion algorithm based on edge detection was designed.First the color image was converted to NTSC image,second the luminance information image was detected best edges using the Canny method,third the edge portions was used the average method and the rest portions were used the correlation coefficient weights method for the luminance information image fusion,finally the color image was converted by the saturation fusion image,the luminance fusion image and the tone fusion image.From the fusion effect,the algorithm can fuse into a full information content and clear single focus color image from two-focus color image.The experimental results and objective evaluation of the information entropy demonstrate that the desinged algorithm is superior with 2.13% to 2.51% improvement of information entropy.


Japanese infrastructure was constructed by the large-scale urban developments both, in the post-war reconstruction period (1945-1954) and in the high economic growth period (1955-1972). Landscapes of nature and of the history have been lost while convenient cityscapes were formed by the urban developments. For this problem, a law was established to support urban design to make use of local culture and history. On the other hand, landscape simulations have been becoming easy-to-use for persons concerned by evolution of geo-spatial information technology. Moreover, the scheme of the beautiful country creation policy summarized in 2003 has the main object which changed landscape are compared analyzed by simulations using the Geographic Information System. was made by the technical skills of landscape engineering a field of vision, a view points, levels and so on. The authors classified the levels to create three-dimensional model which control the data volume. The authors made three pictures. First was the picture written by Sadanobu Hasegawa in Naniwa Hyakkei pictures. In this picture, it is cleared that the relation between the place of mountain and tower are different of real space. Second picture is by Utagawa. It is compared with the contemporary space.Third is the tower and the Shitennoji temple in the foregraund. The analysis between in Naniwa City is simulated by the using geo-information technologies. In this study, the landscape of Naniwa was clear using landscape simulation by three-dimensional urban models. The landscape transition was understood by landscape simulation from the same viewpoint. The authors continue landscape restoration because it was not sufficient landscapes of Naniwa.


Focusing on the problems like platform displacement and damage of riser that may arise in deepwater drilling under the presence of internal waves, the paper analyzes the regular characteristics of internal waves in the South China Sea and establishes an early warning system based on the impacts of internal waves on the drilling platform, the riser, and the subsea wellhead safety through Doppler acoustic marine speedometer and conductivity bathythermograph. With consideration to field operations, a technical solution for the drilling platform to adress internal waves is developed and suggestions on follow-up research on internal waves in the South China Sea are provided.


A fast method for evaluating contingencies either in real time in an actual emergency or for security monitoring is introduced. This method begins with treating the system or a piece of it (a float) as electrically rigid and then gradually relaxing the results tier by tier to account for the actual flexibility of the transmission. The diagonally dominant or dispersive nature of the power system is utilized. Speed of computation is derived from this exploitation of the structure of the problem which also allows explicit solutions for the intermediate steps. Solutions can be obtained in the vicinity of the contingency or at secondary sites like weak cutsets within the system. Computer illustrations of the method are provided and the convergence of the proposed algorithms is proven. No "equivalent" network is used.


Bridge evaluation has become more and more important in recent years and the key of it is to ascertain the index weight objectively. Although the uncertain hierarchy analysis can reflect the uncertainty and fuzziness of the assessment, the region weight can not be used directly to assess the bridge state. In this paper, a new method based on the principle of deviation degree was proposed to calculate the indexes weight, which is used to set up an objective optimized model for the unknown indexes weight among the judgment matrix of uncertain hierarchy analysis. Then, the optimal model was transformed to the nonrestrictive optimal function by the approach of real genetic algorithm (RGA). The result of the indexes optimal weights were obtained by the operation of copy, chiasm and aberrance to global optimal search. At last, two examples were employed to test the validity of the proposed method. According to the uncertain judgment of the indexes, some different methods were carried out and the calculated data were analyzed and compared. The results verified the feasibility of the new method presented in this study.


A Thesis submitted to the Department of Pharmacology, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Pharmacy, 2004


Objective: The aim of our study to investigate the role of ambroxol for reducing the symptoms of viral upper respiratory infection (URTI) and the prevention of complications in children with 6 months-6 years of old. Material and Methods: Previously healthy 144 children with viral URTI were enrolled in this study. Patients were divided in two groups: in control group; symptomatic treatment was given in 69 patients and the study group; ambroxol given for five days in 75 patients. Patients were evaluated with a standard symptom scores with admission and fifth day. The results of physical examination were noted for complications in follow-up. Results: Compared to the first signs and the first evaluation of the study group, clinical improvement in cough, night cough, runny nose and stuffiness symptom scores was statistically significant. However, the second evaluation did not differ between the two groups and there was no statistically significant difference for these complications. Conclusion: The use of ambroxol may be suggested, without any serious side effects, because of acceleration to the symptomatic improvement. However it is not efficient to prevent the complications of viral URTI.


Cardiovascular disease is a highly common complication in patients with end stage renal disease (ESRD) on maintenance hemodialysis. In the ESRD patient population, cardiovascular mortality is 20 times higher compared to the general population. The strong relationship of both illnesses can be explained through cardiorenal syndrome (CRS). CRS encompasses a spectrum of disorders involving both the heart and kidneys in which acute or chronic dysfunction in one organ may induce similar effect in the other organ. The diagnosis, prognosis and risk stratification of CRS is poorly understood. Current literature reveals that inflammation and thrombosis are integral to CRS development and key cardiac and renal biomarkers are elevated in CRS patients. Hence, this study aims to demonstrate that thrombo-inflammatory biomarkers and laboratory parameters give a telling narrative of ESRD progression to CRS.

 Plasma samples were collected from 95 ESRD patients which were recruited with an approved IRB protocol at Loyola University Medical Center hemodialysis unit. Normal human plasma (NHP) was obtained from a commercial source (George King Biomedical, Overland Park, KS). Thrombo-inflammatory biomarkers, including Annexin V, MPO, Troponin, L-FABP, VEGF, D-dimer, TNF-alpha, IL-6, CRP, eNOS, Nitrotyrosine, MDA, NEFA, NO, vWF and MCP-1 were measured using commercially available ELISA methods. Cardiovascular comorbidities and laboratory parameters were obtained from EPIC chart analysis. Results were then statistically analyzed using GraphPad Prism v.9; the results were compiled into mean ± SEM, percent change comparison to NHP, analyzed for significance.

 Several cardiovascular comorbidities were seen in the 95 ESRD patient samples including AF (22%), PAD (29%), HF (24%), CAD (22%), DVT (15%), COPD (6.5%), and PE (5.3%). Overall, 25% of the ESRD patients have CRS. Laboratory parameters, ferratin (521.99 ±289.33) and PTH (442.91 ± 1.50) were elevated in ESRD patients. Most of the thrombo-inflammatory CRS biomarkers were elevated in ESRD patients. Biomarkers including Annexin V (ESRD 7.57 ± 5.24, 23.64% vs. 6.125 ± 8.29, p< 0.001), L-FABP (106599.43 ± 176728.97, 1983% vs. 5116.33 ± 1767.88, p<0.0001), D-dimer (ESRD 1447.01 ± 2103, 650.53% vs. 192.8 ± 212.9, p<0.0001), TNF-alpha (ESRD 2.52 ± 1.06, 35.87% vs. 1.85 ± 1.20, p<0.0001), IL-6 (ESRD 5.211 ± 10.36, 317.21% vs. 1.25 ± 1.24, p <0.0001), CRP (ESRD 14.53 ± 14.11, 2214.43% vs. 0.63 ± 0.99, p< 0.0001), NO (ESRD 34.74 ± 19.74, 151.74% vs. 13.8 ± 5.60, p<0.0001), vWF (ESRD 200.7 ± 25.89, 183.03% vs. 70.91 ± 23.13 p< 0.0001) and MCP-1 (148.4 ± 56.09, 67.49% vs. 88.6 ± 27.25, p<0.0001) showed significant increase when compared to NHP.

 This study suggests that thrombo-inflammatory biomarkers and laboratory parameters may be helpful in indicating CRS in ESRD patients. Ultimately, these biomarkers can now be readily used to correlate against other biomarker findings and studied further to determine their accuracy in prognosis and diagnosis of CRS.


Objective To explore the repaired effects of autotransplantation of bone marrow-derived neural stem cells (BMSCs) on hippocampus of epilepsy rats.Methods Male SD rats were randomly divided into groups normal control (NC),graft and non-graft .Under sterile condition, the BMSCs of rats were isolated, and under specific condition the BMSCs were cultured to induce and differentiate into neural stem cells(NSCs). Then the models of temporal lobe epilepsy were established in groups graft and non-graft , and the NSCs were autotransplanted into the right hippocampus of rats of graft group. The morphological changes of the hippocampus were observed at 1,2 ,4,8,16 weeks after the transplantation respectively.Results The number of hippocampal CA3 pyramid cells of groups non-graft and graft significantly decreased than that in NC group(all P0.01),and compared with non-graft group, there were significantly increased in 2~16 weeks after the transplantation in graft group (all P0.01). There were significant differences among different phases in graft group (all P0.01). Compared with NC group, the Timm staining scores of the injured hippocampus in groups graft and non-graft significantly increased (all P0.01).Compared with non-graft group, the scores of different phases in graft group decreased significantly since 2 weeks after the transplantation (all P0.01). The scores in non-graft group increased gradually with the time going on. MRI testing showed that low signal region was a little localized since 1 and 2 weeks after the transplantation, while it spread more widely with the time going on.Conclusions When the bone marrow-derived NSCs are transplanted into hippocampus of the epilepsy rats, they can survive and migrate. They may relieve CA3 pyramid cells loss and inhibit mossy fibers sprouting leaded by kainic acid for repaired effect.


AbstractThe use of side grooves in determining critical crack opening displacement values in small notch bend specimens is discussed. The critical crack opening displacement for fully ductile behaviour δmax. is seen to decrease to a constant value with increasing side-groove depth. This value of δmax. is found to coincide with the crack opening displacement for the initiation of fibrous fracture δ1 determined on non-side-grooved specimens. The effect of deep side grooving is considered to be one of promoting through-thickness plane strain conditions in specimens normally too thin for this behaviour to be observed. The use of appropriately side-grooved specimens is considered to be a reliable and effective method of determining δ1.


Variable delay elements are often used in different types of high-speed integrated circuits, mainly intended for delay compensation, skew equalization, etc. These circuits are normally realized as hybrid, composed of digital and analog controlled parts. The digital part is used for coarse-grain, while the analog for fine-grain delay variation. Efficient analog delay element architecture is proposed in this paper. The proposal is based on modification of the standard current starved delay element solution. An analytical equation that corresponds to the delay of the circuit is given also. In terms of control voltage, the proposed circuit has a linear delay transfer function in the whole range of regulation. Improvement is achieved at a cost of small hardware overhead in respect to the standard solution. Delay linearity error is less than 1% and the agreement between analytical model and simulation results is good, i.e. the error is less than 5%.


Abstract The widespread argument that Rashi sometimes criticized the way in which Targum Onkelos translated the Hebrew verses is fundamentally wrong. Rather, Rashi was aware that Targum Onkelos did not always translate literally. Rashi saw a connection between the character of the Targum and its origin and addressees. This article compares the place of Targum Onkelos in Rashi's exegesis with that of other sources he used and examines specific items from his commentary to the Bible and the Talmud. It shows that the place of Targum Onkelos in Rashi's exegetical consciousness influenced other commentators in the medieval period.


The willingness-to-accept (WTA) measure of value is often subject to a systematic, large bias, making it unsuitable for use in contingent valuation studies. However, for the valuation of environmental goods, in many cases WTA rather than the willingness-to-pay (WTP) is the relevant measure. The paper proposes that, by using a composite-error model for the estimation of the valuation function, a correction can be made for the bias in reported WTA. To illustrate the proposed methodology, it is applied to the data of the Brookshire-Coursey (1987) study of alternative tree density in Troutman Park, Fort Collins. Copyright 2001, Oxford University Press.


Abstract : Signal transducer and activator of transcription 5b (STAT5b) is a transcription factor which promotes growth and survival of a number of cancers, including breast cancer. The objective of this work was to elucidate the role of STAT5b in breast cancer cell migration. Through siRNA knockdown technology, the necessity of STAT5b for migration of two highly aggressive, highly migratory, breast cancer cell lines (BT-549 and MDA-MB-231), was explored. Knockdown of STAT5b inhibited migration of both cell lines by 60-80%. More specifically, STAT5b knockdown suppressed migration of these cells to the extracellular matrix component fibronectin, suggesting that STAT5b is an important signaling component in beta1 integrin-mediated migration of breast cancer cells. Inhibition of migration upon STAT5b knockdown was rescued by wild-type STAT5b as well as transcriptionally inactive Y699F- and dominant-negative forms of STAT5b. In contrast, an SH2 domain defective R618K-STAT5b did not rescue migration. These data indicate that STAT5b-mediated transcription is not required for promoting migration, but SH2 domain interactions are necessary. Upon spreading, STAT5b knockdown cells adopted a striking phenotype characterized by the formation of multiple, highly contractile protrusions. In accordance with these findings, knockdown cells exhibited high levels of myosin light chain phosphorylation, independent of attachment. Additionally, knockdown of STAT5b correlated with loss of polarity, resulting in lack of directionality during wound closure. In summary, the data presented here identifies a novel, SH2- dependent function of STAT5b in regulating beta1 integrin-mediated migration of highly aggressive


Quantum dot structures in the form of coherent 3-dimensional islands can be grown in-situ by "self-assembling". The specifics of self assembling is that strain in a critically thick 2-dimensional wetting layer acts as the driving force for a transition towards an energetically favoured 2-dimensional (wetting)+ 3-dimensional (island) Stranski-Krastanow morphology. The initiation mechanism of the 2D-3D transition is a nucleation step, followed by growth and reorganization of material (redistribution of material from the wetting layer, ripening processes). As a consequence, for a given misfit between substrate and epilayer, densities and sizes of self-assembled 3D islands are mostly affected by the actual deposition conditions. In the following we will show to which extent densities and sizes of 3D islands deliberately can be manipulated by varying the deposition parameters Q (deposited amount), T (deposition temperature) and R (deposition rate). The chosen materials system for


Background Influences of microbial pathogens are crucial for the maturation of the immune system. Caspase‐recruitment domain containing protein 15 (CARD15) is a cytosolic receptor involved in bacterial recognition by antigen‐presenting cells. CARD15 polymorphisms have been associated with Crohn's disease. Recently, associations with atopic phenotypes have been reported in children.


A machining center using a turntable type tool magazine comprises a tool body, a tool saddle, a column, a machine head, a worktable, a spindle, a tool magazine moving guide rail, a tool magazine installing plate, a tool and a driving device. The tool saddle and the worktable are installed on the tool body, and the column is installed on the tool saddle. The machine head is installed on the column. The spindle is installed on the machine head. The tool magazine moving guide rail is installed on the tool body. The tool magazine installing plate is installed on the tool magazine moving guide rail, the tool is installed on the tool magazine installing plate, and the driving device drives the tool magazine installing plate to move on the tool magazine moving guide rail. The tool magazine moving guide rail and the driving device are added to enable the length of the worktable of the machining center to be the same as the X-axis stroke of the machining center, tool change and machining are not mutually influenced without an additionally-added tool change stroke or length increase of the worktable, the stroke of the machining center is saved, occupied area of a device is decreased, manufacturing cost is reduced, and the application range of the whole machining center is widened.


The sodium dodecyl sulfate is purified by means of recrystallization from water solution after treating it with aether. Its mass fraction increases from 88. 6% to 99. 3% after purification. Its temperature of the extrapolated onset is 190℃ with differential scanning calorimetry(DSC), its critical micelle concentration is 8. 50×10-3mol·L-1at temperature of 40℃ after purification


This paper contributes with a new formal method of spatial discretization of a class of nonlinear distributed parameter systems that allow a port-Hamiltonian representation over a one dimensional manifold. A specific finite dimensional port-Hamiltonian element is defined that enables a structure preserving discretization of the infinite dimensional model that inherits the Dirac structure, the underlying energy balance and matches the Hamiltonian function on any, possibly nonuniform mesh of the spatial geometry.


Relations between drag coefficients CD and bubble shapes are investigated by comparing our experimental results with both analytical [Moore, J. Fluid Mech., 23, 749-766 (1965)] and numerical results [Blanco & Magnaudet, Phys. Fluids, 7(6), 1265-1274(1995)] on ellipsoidal bubbles rising in a quiescent clean liquid. We clarify that the analytically obtained CD overestimates the experimental results especially in the case of either high aspect ratio or low Reynolds number, and that numerically obtained results for ellipsoidal bubbles well predict our experimental results. We also show that the effect of the deviation in the shape from the ellipsoid, i.e., fore-aft asymmetry, on CD is negligible; CD for fore-aft asymmetry bubbles is in good agreement with the numerically obtained CD for ellipsoidal bubbles.


The chapter describes selected aspects of the combustion of energetic materials. They are in detail:
1. Influence of the Particle Size on Reactions of Energetic Materials
2. Defects of Explosive Particles and Sensitivity of Cast Formulations
3. A New, Small-Scale Test for Characterizing Explosive Performance
4. Diagnostics of Shock Wave Processes in Energetic Materials
5. Diagnostics for the Combustion of Particle Containing Solid Fuels with Regard to Ramjet relevant Conditions


Traumatic attacks from large feline predators cause a small yet significant burden of disease in rural populations, are increasing in frequency, cause complex injuries and worsen human–wildlife conflicts. Data on the traumatic injury pattern found in victims of these animals is sparse, and this study aimed to collate and synthesise patterns of injury to inform the care and management of these patients. A multi-ethnographic literature search (PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, Google Scholar, and other sources) was performed on 12/1/21 to capture all available data describing anatomical injury and the mechanism of injury sustained by humans from attacks by lions, leopards and tigers. Quality and bias assessment was performed using the Joanna Briggs Critical Evaluation tools. Of 5110 studies identified, 42 were included in this review totalling 84 individual patient cases. A total of 85% of fatal injuries were due to exsanguination combined with neuroaxis injury of the neck. All wounds were susceptible to tissue loss, infection and long-term neuro-vascular complications. Leopards injured anterior-midline structures of the neck more often than did lions and tigers, while the latter caused high-energy fractures. Time lag to treatment for survivors of wild attacks extended to multiple days, and occult injury was common. In addition to the primary finding of complex neck injury, this study generated specific patterns of injury seen from the included species and highlighted occult injury and healthcare disparity as challenges in providing patient care.


Abstract Phenolic compounds, such as phenolic acids, flavonoids, flavonoid glycosides, and resveratrol, were chromatographed on thin‐layers of silica in various eluent systems. Systems with the highest selectivity were chosen. Also, reversed‐phase HPLC systems were optimized for the separation of investigated compounds and most the selective system was applied for the separation of two phenolic extracts – Polygonum avicularis and Polygonum hydropiper. Partly separated fractions were evaporated and dissolved in methanol. Fractions with partly separated phenolic compounds were spotted onto the silica layer and developed in an appropriate eluent system. After drying, the plate was derivatised with the Naturstoff reagent and videoscanned. Several phenolic compounds were identified, according to their retention coefficients in both systems.


The fit between individuals and their work environments has received decades of theoretical and empirical attention. This study investigated two antecedents to individuals' perceptions of fit: vocational interests and personality. More specifically, the authors hypothesized that vocational interests assessed in terms of the Career Occupational Preference System Interest Inventory—Professional Level taxonomy predict perceived fit with occupations (person-vocation fit) and personality assessed in terms of the Five-Factor Model predicts perceived fit with job characteristics (person-job fit). Results indicated that vocational interests were better predictors of both perceived person-job and perceived person-vocation fit than personality. These results are discussed in terms of their implications for researchers and practitioners.


Equipment has been developed to make automatic measurements of temperature, wet-bulb depression, rainfall, duration of surface wetness and run of wind and to give warning of the probable development of a number of crop diseases. Field trials of the battery-powered microprocessor-controlled instrument have shown it to be reliable and simple to use.


Convergecast is the transmission paradigm used by data gathering applications in wireless sensor networks (WSNs). For efficiency reasons, a collision-free slotted medium access is typically used: time slots are assigned to non-conflicting transmitters. Furthermore, in any slot, only the transmitters and the corresponding receivers are awake, the other nodes sleeping in order to save energy. Since a multichannel network increases the throughput available to the application and reduces interference, multichannel slot assignment is an emerging research domain in WSNs. First, we focus on a multichannel time slot assignment that minimizes the data gathering delays. We compute the optimal time needed for a raw data convergecast in various multichannel topologies. Then, we focus on how to adapt such an assignment to dynamic demands of transmissions (e.g., alarms, temporary additional application needs and retransmissions). We formalize the problem using linear programming, and we propose an incremental technique that operates on an optimized primary schedule to provide bonus slots to meet new transmission needs. We propose AMSA, an Adaptive Multichannel Slot Assignment algorithm, which takes advantage of bandwidth spatial reuse, and we evaluate its performances in terms of the number of slots required, slot reuse, throughput and the number of radio state switches.


Objective To study reliability and volidity of the Chinese Nursing Stressor Scale(CNSS). Methods The 476 nurses in a hospital in Kunming were investigated by CNSS and Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI). 50 nurses were sampled rondomly to be retested after 2 weeks. The reliability and validity were examined. Results There were 5 dimensions consisting of 35 items in the CNSS. The factor analysis confirmed the construct validity for CNSS. Conclusions The validity and the reliability of CNSS are acceptable and it can be used to assess the job stressors of Chinese nurses.


Chronic renal failure (CRF) is a progressive, irreversible deterioration of kidney function that leads to complete loss of kidney function and the need for dialysis treatment. Bone disease is a chronic complication in the CRF and poses a significant problem in hemodialysis patients. The aim of our study was to assess the influence of peritoneal dialysis treatment on biochemical parameters of mineral and bone metabolism in hemodialysis patients, and identify the most important parameters for the monitoring of this disorder. The research involved 172 patients, mean age 58.69±12:54, divided into groups in respect to the length of dialysis treatment (group I 5 years, group II 5-10 years and group III over 10 years). Serum phosphorus in all the patients was increased, but the values increased with duration of dialysis (I: 1.77±0.58, II: 1.97±0.66, III: 1.92±0.82), with no statistical differences (p>0.05). Calcemia values were significantly increased (I vs. II. and I vs. III, p<0.0001), as well as the values of Ca x P (I vs. II., p<0.001, II vs. III., p<0.01), primarily on the account of the increased calcium value. The values of alkaline phosphatase (I: 105.12±65.60; II: 125.27±96.79, III: 172.43±163.99) were significantly higher in group III compared to other groups (p <0.05). Also, the values of PTH (I: 234.21±18.74; II: 273.09±247.98; III: 489.46±468.49) were significantly higher in group III compared to other groups (p<0.001). In the group of patients with duration of dialysis up to 5 years, the values of phosphorus were increased, the values of calcemia were decreased, with mild elevation of AF and PTH values, which best corresponds to the bone disease with rapid turnover. In the P group, there is a significant increase in calcemia in respect to phosphorus, alkaline phosphatase, and PTH. The most reliable marker for clinical monitoring of bone disease in dialysis patients is PTH, which correlates well with the values of alkaline phosphatase and calcium. The values of calcium and phosphorus are highly variable and not the most reliable markers for bone disease monitoring. Acta Medica Medianae 2011;50(1):32-37.


The development from C 60 and C 70 to an infinitely long tube is studied by changing the carbon number N. The extended Su-Schrieffer-Heeger Hamiltonian is applied to various geometrical structures and solved for the half-filling case of π electrons. For finite N (∼100), appreciable dimerizations (∼0.01 A) exist, and a fairly large gap (∼0.1-1 eV) remains. The solution, which includes the perfect Kekule structure, always gives the lowest energy. Other solutions, where there are deviations from the Kekule structure, have higher energies


With the growing popularity of micro-credit,the analysis methods are being matured,but they are still insufficient.This paper applied micro-credit evaluation fuzzy analytic hierarchy process to determine the index weight in the hierarchy.It gave five standard fuzzy state vectors for micro credit rating to construct a micro-credit rating model for banks and other financial institutions,which provided a scientific basis for them.The example showed the effectiveness of the method.


an annotated statute on criminal matters Act 2001 (Act 621) the issue states the law as at 15 May 2019


Anion exchange membranes with viologen moiety containing line particles of anatase-TiO 2 were prepared by the casting method and photovoltage generation was examined by photoirradiation to one surface of the membrane after assembling the photocell [clamping the membrane swollen with ethylene glycol between two indium-tin oxide (ITO) electrodes]. Higher photovoltage (175 mV, load resistance, 200 k Ω) rapidly generated compared with the membrane without TiO 2 (105.7 mV). However, the photovoltage was anisotropic concerning the direction of the membrane surfaces due to heterogeneous distribution of the TiO 2 particles across the membrane. Thus, the photocell was examined by assembling the cell composed of the anion exchange membrane with a viologen moiety (without TiO 2 ) swollen with ethylene glycol or triethylene glycol and an n-type semiconductor (CdS, rutile-TiO 2 , and anatase-TiO 2 ) layer. A photovoltage of more than 350 mV was observed by photoirradiation to the semiconductor layer side. This was due mainly to electrons generated from excited n-type semiconductor, which were collected at the ITO electrode, and due to reduction of the viologen moiety of the membrane at the dark side by the electrons via a load resistance. The formed hole on the semiconductor is thought to migrate through the membrane to the dark side via the solvent by a hopping mechanism and then oxidize reduced viologen moiety at the dark side. A thicker layer rapidly generated higher photovoltage (the highest photovoltage, 617 mV). Electrons from exited TiO 2 significantly contributed to the photovoltage compared with electrons released from the viologen moiety.


Provisional Infantry DemonWhen Pvt. Ro SacojCompany, Mter stration Detachment. Sha monon ny, Sbool Tr Field, area, v']ics' has been fantry School, re lheir temporary home. young daughter seas sergeant be Unit .No. 1-since redesignated' cally ill-he qt Unit No. 3-was composed oforis offer his or mer members of the 3rd and 4th overseas assigi Infantry Regiments who had been place the "sergea transferred to School Troops could return wher that organization was actidaughter. sated. This unit, under the direcWhen Lt. Alfr


This paper proposes a new brain portion extraction method for coronal T1-W Magnetic Resonance Images (MRI) of human head scans. In the proposed scheme we first find a rough brain portion using an existing method. This method is based on image diffusion, intensity thresholding, largest connected component analysis and morphological operations. After obtaining the brain portion we expand the brain boundary by few pixels. The brain region enclosed in the expanded boundary is then processed using intensity thresholding, and morphological operations. Application of this method on a coronal T1-W dataset from Internet Brain Service Repository (IBSR). The performance of the method is evaluated by computing Jaccard and Dice coefficients.


This paper discusses design procedure and 3-D numerical simulation of a 140GHz spatial-harmonic magnetron (SHM). The well known scaling laws and an approximate approach based on single harmonic analysis are used to determine the interaction space dimensions and the optimum geometrical parameters of the side resonators. Numerical simulations of the SHM were performed using CST-Particle Studio. Since the simulations are not based on artiflcial RF priming or assuming restrictive assumptions on the mode of operation or on the number of harmonics to be considered, electromagnetic oscillations grow naturally from noise. The presented SHM shows stable operation in the …=2 i 1-mode at 140GHz over a range of DC anode voltages extending from 11.3kV to 11.5kV and for an axial magnetic ∞ux density equal to 0.79T. Output power of the SHM varies from 2kW to 11kW over these voltages with a maximum e-ciency of about 6.8%.


Abstract The paper explores two examples of electronic media, the webinar (virtual classroom) and audio feedback. It is argued that both can enhance teaching and learning and contribute effectively to an internationalisation agenda. Real-time webinars using Wimba virtual classroom software are especially suited to widely distributed or international cohorts. The live quality of this approach and its capacity for archiving make it especially attractive to all students. There are also particular benefits to non-native speakers (NNS) as they can listen repeatedly. The use of MP3 files and podcasts is a useful enhancement to the virtual learning environment (VLE), but audio feedback on essays is of specific benefit to individual students, providing rich and detailed commentary on their work. Audio files can be extended to all kinds of tutor-student communication, enriching the possibilities for review and dialogue in the provision of formative as well as summative feedback. The paper concludes that regular application of such technologies can make a vital contribution to institutional competitiveness, improve the learning and teaching experience and meet students' growing expectations of improved use of ICT. Such initiatives are therefore a key part of the internationalisation agenda.


Abstract : Thin films (approximately 25 microns) formed by melt-extruding polypropylene resin after it had been briefly exposed to a low-pressure, low- temperature, CF4/02 gas plasma had significantly increased dielectric breakdown strengths with very-little accompanying changes in dielectric properties.


The response of the European Union to the Covid 19 pandemia (Next Generation EU) has been decisive. The Union has shown a "silent" constitunalisation, expanded along its history from 1957. It´s impossible to separate the national law from the european law.It´s impossible to separate the economic and monetary politics of European Union and member states. We expect the same trend in the Conference for the future of Europe.


yearling males than older males in 1989 and for combined years. Perhaps younger males are a more risky choice for females in that their behavior is not as consistent as older males. The F-test requires that the data come from populations with normal distributions and is sensitive to deviations from this assumption (Zar 1984). Whether the normality assumption is violated in this case is unknown. Therefore, these results should be tentatively accepted. Nonetheless, the results are interesting in that they indicate an additional hypothesis for mate choice by female American Redstarts. Dismissing the provisioning hypothesis is premature given the low power of the analyses performed by Omland and Sherry and evidence of differences in variability of the provisioning behavior of the two age groups. Collection of additional data would enhance the power of the analysis and place conclusions regarding this hypothesis on sounder ground.


lization of the spine with segmental fixation, fixed axis screws, and large diameter rods creates a mechanical environment that is associated with higher fusion rates than noninstrumented or semirigid constructs. 2–4 However, rigid segmental fixation may have significant adverse effects including an increase in the stress on adjacent mobile segments, and stress shielding the bone graft material within the regenerate. 5–8 Dynamic stabilization of a painful motion segment is an alternative to rigid internal fixation that may be useful in improving rates of fusion, or in providing an alternative approach to the surgical management of a painful motion segment without arthrodesis. Techniques of dynamic stabilization have been developed and evaluated for the treatment of degenerative conditions of the cervical and lumbar spine, and for thoracolumbar trauma and deformity. The purpose of this article is to review and assess the evidence in the literature on the efficacy of dynamic stabilization techniques in the management of spinal disorders. Dynamic stabilization of the spine is a mechanical constraint of spinal motion that allows selective motion of the functional spinal unit. Dynamic stabilization in the cervical spine with a dynamic plating system is intended to limit motion to compression without translation. Selective compression may improve interbody healing and fusion mass formation. 9 In the lumbar spine, posterior dynamic stabilization devices may provide segmental distraction without fusion, or may limit the motion of an unstable motion segment. When not used for fusion, these devices are designed to be load sharing with the spinal segment, selectively reducing translatory stresses and potentially modifying axial pain. Dynamic stabilization encompasses motion-sparing options for spinal instrumentation. Total disc arthroplasty devices have limited constraint in flexion, extension, and rotation compared with the normal motion segment. Rigid fixation of a motion segment causes changes in motion segment kinematics in the adjacent segments and increases in the area of center axis of rotation and intradiscal pressure. Less constrained motion-sparing options, including total disc arthroplasty in the cervical and lumbar spine, may reduce the effect of instrumentation on adjacent segments. 10 The association of adjacent segment degeneration and disease with altered segmental kinematics remains controversial. The efficacy of restoring kinemetics of the adjacent segment with motionsparing devices on reducing adjacent segment


Diversity has been an unavoidable reality. People live with other people of different religions, tribes, or races. The falling of old ideological and political structures in the world has played a great role in making this happen. To replace the old ideological and political structures, populism tends to be widely accepted by people who want to erect great wall in order to avoid immigrants. In Indonesia, populism manifests in the ideas and attitudes that alienate others based on religions and ethnic groups. The author introduces the views of Carlo Maria Martini, who, as a Catholic bishop, has promoted the idea of creating a society that supports diversity to be a new world order. Martini based his ideas on a biblical analysis, mainly on the Old Testament books such as Genesis, Exodus, and Deuteronomy. In order to find inspiration of Martini's views for the context of Indonesia, the author relates them to Anthony Giddens and Raimon Panikkar, and finds how Martini's ideas can be practised not only by inclusivists and pluralists, but also by exclusivists.


We consider the tension-induced non-linearities of mechanical resonators, and derive the Hamiltonian of the flexural modes up to the fourth order in the position operators. This tension can be controlled by a nearby gate voltage. We focus on systems which allow large deformations $u(x)\gg h$ compared to the thickness $h$ of the resonator and show that in this case the third-order coupling can become non-zero due to the induced dc deformation and offers the possibility to realize equations of motion encountered in optomechanics. The fourth-order coupling is relevant especially for relatively low voltages. It can be detected by accessing the Duffing regime, and by measuring frequency shifts due to mode-mode coupling.


An agricultural vehicle (10) having an operator space (12) within which are provided user operable control devices (14) for operation of the vehicle. The vehicle is operably connectable to two or more agricultural implements (16, 18) and has connection means (20) connectable to each such implement, with the operator space comprising one or more control devices for control of a connected implement provided in a detachable control module (16M, 18M). Connection means in the operator space are configured to receive the control module(16M, 18M)and operationally connect it to an attached implement. (Figure 1)


Abstract. A technique has been developed for imaging the wind field over offshore areas being considered for wind farming. This is accomplished with an eye-safe 2-μm wavelength coherent Doppler lidar installed in an aircraft. By raster scanning the aircraft over the wind energy area (WEA), a three-dimensional map of the wind vector can be made. This technique was evaluated in 11 flights over the Virginia and Maryland offshore WEAs. Heights above the ocean surface planned for wind turbines are shown to be within the marine boundary layer, and the wind vector is seen to show variation across the geographical area of interest at turbine heights.


A major problem in an isolated DC/DC converters operating at high switching frequencies is the attendant switching losses in the semiconductor devices. This can be reduced by introducing either zero-voltage switching (ZVS) or zero-current switching (ZCS) of the semiconductor switches. This paper deals with the simulation, design, fabrication and experimental evaluation of a novel soft-switching full bridge transformer isolated step up/down dc-dc converter. The output voltage of the converter can be set to be higher or lower than the DC input voltage, depending on the selected duty ratio, representing width modulation. Galvanic isolation between the source and load is also achieved in this configuration. The configuration achieves soft switching of all the semiconductor devices in the power circuit, resulting in higher overall efficiency. The system was extended for covering closed loop operation, wherein for a range of values for the set voltage, the ability of the system to maintain the same output voltage the context of variable DC input voltage and/or variable load is verified


Due to natural and human disturbances (e.g. urban expansion), ecosystems have been changed dramatically on time scales ranging from years to decades. Especially in recent years, the ecohydrological system in northern China (including Inner Mongolia and around the Beijing area) has faced several environmental issues such as the shrinking of wetlands, water table decline, water quality deterioration, grassland degradation, dune expansion and the urban heat island effect. These merging issues make it necessary to consider the social context of interactive processes linking hydrology and ecology; hence the need for the Ecohydrology Approach. This transdisciplinary challenge requires an integration of various types of information, knowledge and techniques referred to as hydroinformatics for ecologically-sustainable development. In this study, the current conditions and problems of ecohydrology in northern China are reviewed. A transdisciplinary ecohydrological framework is proposed for future research, which incorporates remote sensing, geographic information systems and geographic positioning systems to extract hydro-ecological information for coupling ecohydrological models of different scale and resolution to simulate regional environmental change over time under various climate, land-use and environment management scenarios. The remote sensing (RS) monitoring of resources and the eco-environment around the Beijing area are also introduced. The large-scale remote sensing data processing system CASMImageInfo can be used to fast process hydro-ecological elements monitored by RS for the system. The proposed research plan is to study long-term regional hydrological change in the metropolitan and surrounding areas, and to determine the functionality and water cycle changes under controlled environment conditions in response to vegetation growth. The framework provides an opportunity for linking hydrology and ecology, as well as integration with modem information technology, leading to ecologically sustainable development of the region.


Background : Nutrition is one of the important factors in achieving health status. Indonesia is currently experiencing an increase in life expectancy and an increase in the number of elderly people. Therefore, elderly health needs to get special attention in giving nutrition. The importance of the role of families with the elderly, one of which is nutrition. Objective : to find out the relationship between the level of family knowledge in providing nutritious food to the elderly with nutritional status of the elderly. M ethods : This research is analytical descriptive with cross sectional approach. The population is all families who live with the elderly, taking samples with purposive random sampling, obtained 43 respondents. The instrument uses questionnaires containing knowledge of nutrition and anthropometry to determine nutritional status. Univariate and bivariate data analysis with Chi Square test. Results : Of the 43 families with the elderly, the junior high school education level was 42%, the level of family knowledge in providing nutrition to the elderly with knowledge of the turtle was 46% and the nutritional status of the elderly was 42% obese. Based on the results of the Chi Square statistic test, the p value of 0.003 <0.05 means that there is a significant relationship between the level of family knowledge in providing nutrition for the elderly and nutritional status. The higher the level of knowledge of the family, the better the nutritional status. Conclusion : There is a significant relationship between family knowledge about providing nutrition with the nutritional status of the elderly.


While we have long appreciated native arts that feed our hunger for the pristine, the alien, and the sacred—qualities that are in short supply in modern industrial society—it is only recently that art historians have taken up serious study of those arts in which indigenous peoples expose our imperialist activities. On this topic we lag behind our colleagues in other disciplines; moreover, most scholars have until recently avoided a political or social-historical analysis of Native American artworks, focusing instead on traditional topics of style and iconography.


The electrochemicl adsorption kinetics and isothermal adsorption of lead on silicone oil graphite carbon paste electrode surface was designed and simulated by cellular automata technique with SCILAB mathematical software.The adsorption follows the Langmuir single molecular adsorption layer mechanisms with the adsorption first rate constant being accord well with the experimental value.The simulation result offers a basic theoretical evidence for the experimental results.


The particles, suspended in the electrolyte, can be co-deposited with metal. The co-deposition behaviors of WC and Co-coated WC particles on nickel matrix were investigated. Many operating parameters that influence on the quantity of incorporated particles, including current density, bath agitation and electrolyte composition were investigated. The co-deposition of particles during electroplating depends on the rate of metal deposition and on the flux of particles to the film surface. The growth rate of the metal film is determined by the current density, whereas the flux of particles to the electrode surface is dependent on the particle size, particle concentration in solution, the electrode rotation rate, the particle diffusion coefficient, and the electrode geometry. The kinetic parameters in the co-deposition were calculated from the experimental results. Co-coated WC particles were easily incorporated in the matrix than WC particles from the calculated and experimental results.


This paper proposes a set of design of computer wargame system based on HLA. This system can process the time sequence and logic sequence of command better than existing wargame system. The system simplifies the calculation of the logical process which is used to calculate war results. KeywordsWargame ; HLA; combat simulation; Command Training Simulation System


Objective To express human β-nerve growth factor(β-NGF)in E. coli, purify the expressed product and deter-mine its biological activity. Methods β-NGF gene fragment was amplified by PCR using human peripheral blood genomic DNA as a template, then cloned, sequenced and inserted into expression vector pET-28a(+). The constructed recombinant plasmid pET-28a-β-NGF was transformed to E. coli BL21(DE3)for expression under induction of IPTG. The expressed product was purified by molecular sieve chromatography, then re-naturalized and determined for biological activity by chick embryo dorsal root ganglion culture test. Results Restriction analysis and sequencing proved that the gene fragment encoding human β-NGF mature peptide was amplified by PCR. The expressed product mainly existed in a form of inclusion body, contained about 23. 5% of total somatic protein, reached a purity of more than 90% after purification and promoted the growth of tubercle of chick embryo dorsal root ganglion significantly. The expression level of target protein was 4. 8 mg / L bacterial liquid. Conclusion Human β-NGF was successfully expressed in E. coli and showed high biological activity after purification.


OBJECTIVE
The main concern about measuring the concentration of rivaroxaban by anti-Xa assay in some laboratories is the lack of a commercial specific calibrator in emergencies. Therefore, this study aimed at providing a homemade anti-Xa calibrator and commercial low molecular weight heparin (LMWH) anti-Xa calibrator.

METHODS
The anti-Xa plasma concentration of rivaroxaban was measured in 70 patients using a commercial specific anti-Xa calibrator, a commercial LMWH anti-Xa calibrator, and a homemade anti-Xa calibrator.

RESULTS
We demonstrated a significant correlation and agreement (P < .001) between LMWH-calibrated anti-Xa and the commercial specific calibrator. A significant correlation (P < .001) was found between homemade calibrated anti-Xa made by normal pooled plasma and that calibrated with a commercial specific drug. The nonspecific homemade and LMWH calibrators had excellent agreement (P < .001) and can be used interchangeably.

CONCLUSION
Our data showed that for estimating rivaroxaban concentrations, the LMWH calibrator could be used as an alternative calibrator in the anti-Xa assay.


e20514 Background: Radiotherapy improves local control after limb-sparing surgery for soft tissue sarcomas (STS). IMRT can optimize treatment dose conformity compared to standard conformal therapy. At the Northern Centre for Cancer Care we prescribe 60Gy. Until 2009 this was delivered using conventional Linac-based 3D conformal RT. Since installation of a tomotherapy unit, because of the potential long- term clinical advantages, selected sarcoma patients have been treated with postoperative IMRT. Tomotherapy necessitates longer planning, verification, and treatment times. These have been analysed to assess impact on resources. Methods: Six such patients have now been treated with IMRT. Tomotherapy planning requires more volume definition of organs at risk and "help structures" and processing for dose optimization. Times have been recorded within the implementation phase. Conventional Linac verification uses portal imaging daily for three days. Shifts are made to exclude systematic error, if tolerance is e...


Germination of half-sib progenies of Euterpe oleracea Mart., promising for palm heart production were studied. A cluster with seeds of each progenie was selected at Embrapa Experimental Sation placed in Eastern Amazonia. Fruits were immersed in warm water and the chosen seeds were sown immediately. Randomized blocks design with 25 treatments (progenies), three repetitions and parcels of 100 seeds were utilized. Evaluation of the following characters were made: days for beginning (IG) and end (FG), average time (TM) and percentage (PG) of germination. Progenies presented genetic differences for germination characters. Beginning of germination (IG) and the average time (TM) showed the biggest estimates of heritability related to b index.


Objective:To evaluate the periodontal status in relation to the periodotopathogensPorphyromonasgingivalis (Pg) and Tannerellaforsythensis (Tf) in the three main ethnic groups in Malaysia. Materials and Methods: A total of 44 adult subjects (16 Malays, 16 Indians and 12 Chinese) aged 35-65 years were selected. Periodontitis patients (PP) were associated with pocket depth of ≥ 6mm at ≥ 4 sites. Healthy subjects (HS) had probing depths ≤ 3mm and no evidence of attachment loss clinically or bone loss radiographically. Subgingival plaque samples were taken from the deepest pockets ≥ 6mm in the periodontitis subjects and from areas without bleeding upon probing in the healthy subjects. Clinical parameters included plaque index, gingivitis index, bleeding on probing, probing pocket depth, clinical attachment level, and number of missing teeth were measured.The presence of Pg&Tf was assessed by polymerase chain reaction. Results: The prevalence of Pgand Tfin the Indians was highest (Pg 75%, Tf 62.5%), followed by the Chinese (Pg53.8%, Tf 50%) and the Malays (Pg 43.8%, Tf 50%). The differences among PP were


The family Ericaceae (azalea) is the kind of important decorative plants which is one of the four famous flowers of Southwest in China. Chongqing is a region rich in the nature resources of Ericaceae. Based on field and reading reference, there are 7 genera 73 species (including cultivated species) in Chongqing ,China which make up 41.18% and 10.43% of the total genera and species respectively. The genus Rhododendron has 50 species ,18 of them which live under 1 000m can be cultivated.


We examined the relationships existing between serum cytokine levels and bone mineral density (BMD) in women of premenopausal age affected by Graves' disease with subclinical hyperthyroidism. The study population consisted of 21 women with untreated hyperthyroid Graves' disease (group H) (age, 36 ± 2 years), eight women with untreated subclinical hyperthyroid status (group SH) (age, 33 ± 5 years) and 10 healthy women (group N) (age, 35 ± 3 years). The following measurements were made in all patients: free T4 (f T4), free T3 (f T3), thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH), TSH receptor antibody (TRab), anti‐thyroid peroxidase antibody (anti‐TPO), anti‐thyroglobulin antibody (anti‐Tg), interleukin‐2 receptor (IL‐2r), interleukin‐4 (IL‐4), interleukin‐8 (IL‐8) and interleukin‐13 (IL‐13). IL‐2r and IL‐8 levels significantly increased in group H compared with group SH ( p < 0.01 and p = 0.05, respectively) and group N ( p < 0.001 and p = 0.02, respectively). IL‐4 and IL‐13 levels tended to be lower in groups H and SH compared with group N, although this difference did not reach statistical significance. Bone mineral density was significantly reduced in only two areas of the femur in group H compared with group N. There was no difference in BMD between groups SH and N. There was no correlation between thyroid hormones, serum cytokine levels and BMD in either group. In conclusion, these results suggest that there were no relationships existing between the serum level of these cytokines and BMD in women of premenopausal age affected by Graves' disease with subclinical hyperthyroidism.


The University of Melbourne introduced Australia's first studies in architecture in the ]860s. In 1927 it established the first full-time architecture course. Since then, courses in other disciplines of the built and natural environment have followed. Today, the Faculty of Architecture and Planning trains architects, builders, quantity surveyors, facility planners and managers, environmentalists, landscape architects and urban planners. The Faculty aims to produce professionals skilled in investigation, analysis, problem-solving and communication and motivated to contribute significantiy to professional and community life. As the first part of their training, students undertake the Bachelor of Planning and Design (BPD) degree course, a three-year (minimum) pre-professional program. An honours program in fourth year is offered (except for architecture) to students who have done particularly well in the BPD. The courses are normally offered only on a full-time basis. Students enter only one of the foUowing courses: BPD (Architecture) , BPD (Building), or BPD (Planning). The planning program offers three streams of study: environmental studies, landscape architecture, and urban planning. Students of planning must choose to major in one of these streams in the second year of their course. Most of the subjects taken alBPD level in architecture and building are compulsory. The planning course, however, offers more scope for elective studies. A combined course of Bachelor of Arts/BPD (Planning) is also offered. Students of planning may obtain the two degrees in five fulltime years of study. (Normally, each degree requires three years of study.) The combined course requirements are set out in the section following the BPD (Planning) program. The BPD provides students with foundation studies in their chosen discipline. To gain a professional qualification, graduates of the BPD must continue their studies in an appropriate posl-BPD course at either bachelor or masters degree level. Applications should be made through the Faculty Office. Applications for entry to the posl-BPD professional courses are also accepted from students who have completed studies elsewhere. Architecture applicants are expected to have completed studies equivalent to the BPD at a recognised school of architecture and have appropriate work experience.


This report presents a survey of methods for the Distributed Parameter System Identification Problem. Fundamental concepts such as ' System Identification ' and ' Distributed Parameter Systems ' are briefly summarized in order to make precise what kind of problem will be considered here. The various identification methods are grouped into three disjoint classes, namely : ' Direct Method ', ' Reduction to a Lumped Parameter System ' and ' Reduction to an Algebraic Equation '. Under this classification we give a general survey of the main approaches to the problem of identification in distributed systems


Isothermal phase diagrams at various oxygen pressures were studied by powder diffraction and chemical analytical methods. The components, Y, Ba, Cu, and O (specifically O2, O2-, and O2 sup 2-) are treated, together with C (specifically CO2 and CO2 sup 2-), alkaline metals, Mg, alkaline earths, Sc, 3-d and 4-f elements. Effects of the substitutions at the structural sites of YBa2Cu3O(9-delta) on T sub c are discussed with respect to changes in crystallochemical characteristics of the substituted phase and to the nature of the substituents.


Human societies are in a state of constant change and therefore they are ‹ living societies ›, where the ethical and behavioral standards, the virtues to be praised, the duties or norms are rapidly changing and never ever remain unaltered. The virtues we praise and the emphasis we lay on moral values also quickly change in accordance with the constantly changing social conditions. This paper examines these ‹ virtues › from the viewpoint of ‹ dynamic ethics ›.


The Eclipse Layout Kernel (ELK) is a collection of graph drawing algorithms that supports compound graph layout and ports as explicit anchor points of edges. It is available as open-source library under an EPL license. Since its beginning, ELK has served both as a research vehicle for graph drawing algorithms, and as a practical tool for solving real-world problems. ELK and its transpiled JavaScript cousin elkjs are now included in numerous academic and commercial projects. Most of the algorithms realized in ELK are described in a series of publications. In this paper, the technical description concentrates on the key features of the flag-ship algorithm ELK Layered, the algorithm architecture, and usage. However, the main purpose of this paper is to give the broader view that is typically left unpublished. Specifically, we review its history, give a brief overview of technical papers, discuss lessons learned over the past fifteen years, and present example usages. Finally, we reflect on potential threats to open-source graph drawing libraries.


Several options are available for the approximating of color images in hardware, both in terms of the type of transformation (e.g., quantization, dithering) as well as in terms of where the approximation takes place (e.g., graphics controller, frame buffer, LCD controller). In this work, we propose a color approximation approach, orthogonal to other color simplification schemes, which is done during the digital transmission of the color data to the LCD. The proposed technique targets a specific digital standard (namely, DVI) and its serial protocols TMDS, to provide a 45-66% savings in the number of bit transitions on the LCD bus (which translate to a corresponding saving of energy), depending on the allowed degradation of image quality


Knowledge in medicine has progressed from the management of symptoms to the discovery of gross and microscopic anatomic pathology, and more recently to the elucidation of physiological and biochemical abnormalities. Remarkable discoveries regarding complex physiological mechanisms have been made, and much of human pathophysiology is now well understood. With presently available technology, the rate of progress in our understanding of physiology seems to be ever increasing. It is therefore important for the modern physician to be aware of the many complex physiological events which can be easily disturbed by disease, or by surgical manoeuvres. However, a number of the great riddles of physiology have not yet been solved, and many of the details of intuitively simple events, such as gastric emptying, have not been satisfactorily elucidated. Example of such riddles are the complex interactions of the gastric corpus, antrum and pylorus, which are modulated by various mechanical and neurohumoral factors to orchestrate the breakdown and passage of food into the small intestine. As our understanding of foregut motility has improved, it has become clear that gastric physiology is of central importance to the motility of the upper gastrointestinal tract. Alteration in gastric function is relevant to almost every disease process affecting the foregut, including connective tissue disorders, neuropathies, reflux disease, peptic ulcer disease and malabsorption syndromes. Great strides have been made in the understanding of gastric function so that the aetiology of abnormal gastric emptying in many disease processes is at least partially understood. Many important details, however, remain controversial, and the precise role of the pylorus is one of them. The fact that the pylorus is often destroyed or removed during gastrointestinal surgery has made delineation of its physiological role a priority. This has become particularly so since several studies of the dumping syndrome have shown that, regardless of the operation performed, the absence of the pylorus is the common denominator among patients with the syndrome." The stomach is anatomically and functionally distinct from its proximal and distal neighbours in the gastrointestinal tract. It is a saccular storage organ, and its internal environment is not only different from that of the oesophagus and the duodenum but quite hostile to these structures. Physiological barriers at the proximal and distal ends of the stomach are therefore a functional necessity. The stomach can be thought of as a muscular storage pouch with inlet and exit valves, and comprising an agitator and a mill. The corpus of the stomach is for storage and agitation, the antrum is the mill. The lower oesophageal sphincter serves as a midirectional inlet valve. While the lower oesophageal sphincter has a clear-cut function coupled with a somewhat ambiguous anatomy, the pylorus is a clearly defined anatomic structure with a controversial role in gastric function. Intuitively, one would assume that a muscular sphincter at the distal end of the stomach would function as a gatekeeper, screening what leaves the stomach and limiting the rate of gastric emptying. Confirming this intuition with valid research has not been straightforward. Many studies have been performed to evaluate the physiological role of the pylorus, but results have been inconsistent. Most workers feel that the pylorus serves to limit the size of the particles leaving the stomach, but has little to do with the rate of gastric emptying. Meyer et al. demonstrated a sieving function performed by the pylorus which prevents particles larger than 2 mm from leaving the ~ tomach.~ However, removal of the pylorus during ulcer surgery produced no significant change in the rate of gastric emptying in their dogs with chronic duodenal f i~tulae.~ Hinder er al. confirmed, in 1983, that in dogs with diversion of duodenal chyme for measurement of gastric efflux, pylorectomy alone had little impact on the rate of gastric emptying for liquids or solids.s In the present issue of the Journal of Gasnoenterologv and Hepatology, work by Treacy et al. demonstrates that the pylorus may act less as a sieve and more as a gatekeeper after all.6 They have demonstrated, in a recent publication, that isolated contractions of the pylorus are increased in an all-or-nothing manner in response to increased gastric pressure above 11 mmHg.' The increase occurs in synergy with feedback from stimulation of the proximal small bowel with intraluminal nutrients. This implies a gatekeepr role for the pylorus during liquid emptying. They concluded that


The main objective of this paper is to provide an overview of the technologies available for use in unassisted off-hour deliveries (i.e., deliveries made outside of regular business hours without the presence of receiving staff). The focus is on technologies that monitor and provide access, on some level, to the establishment and those that lessen or eliminate the noise created by delivery trucks and equipment. This paper also touches on the costs and benefits to companies that use unassisted off-hour deliveries and, ultimately, the question of who should cover the costs of the technologies. This issue is tied to the discussion of policy implications and how the public sector can help increase the adoption of these delivery programs.


The sudden COVID lockdown has been a challenge for community college faculty in terms of preparation time, restricted mobility and limited resources. On the one hand, the standard faceto-face lab learning outcomes that are used to assess a student's understanding of the uncertainty, the difference between a "y = ax" versus "y = ax + b" data model, the use of graphical intercept to show systematic error, etc. can be adapted to an online setting when given adequate preparation time. On the other hand, the essence of online lab teaching must include the delivery of some level of experiential activity for which there is convincing evidence in the literature on pedagogy of its worthwhile application. Asynchronous delivery of experiential learning could be used for the synchronous delivery of that learning while the reverse application would require major design changes. Numerous lab videos have been posted on YouTube that were created in the pre-lockdown era and the level of experiential learning in terms of "doing a lab" can be evaluated by replacing the tactile measurement performed in a real lab with an audiovisual measurement shown in a video of a real or simulated instrument in operation. Learning experiences involving simulations would broaden lateral thinking. The "real life doing a lab" transference to "remotely doing a lab" would not be easy to assess during lockdown, when faceto-face practical final exams are impracticable to schedule. Assessment would certainly include grading but grading alone would not provide an adequate holistic assessment. The construction of an assessment rubric for the online experiential learning, based on the McGill University faceto-face experiential learning assessment principle concerning content-process mixture, big picture perspective and reflection is presented here. The advances in artificial intelligence software as it pertains to online experiential learning are discussed.


In order for hydrogen polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) technology to be economically competitive, overall system costs still need to be lowered. A key component of cost is the amount (grams) of Pt used in the membrane electrode assembly (MEA). Significant advances in electrocatalyst research, especially focused on the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) for PEMFC cathodes, have thus been made and have led to the development of highly active catalysts capable of delivering target power at reduced Pt loadings.1 Unfortunately, as the Pt loading i.e. electrode roughness factor, decreases, an additional resistance emerges leading to voltage loss. This resistance, associated with phenomena at or near the Pt surface, is poorly understood and has been shown to have the greatest impact on low loaded Pt electrodes ( 1.0 A/cm2). Therefore, an understanding of the kinetic parameters governing the electrochemical reactions, specifically at the cathode, is essential in order to distinguish between voltage losses that are kinetically derived from those originating from other sources. An understanding of the nature and mechanisms of performance losses in PEMFCs is essential in order for industry to best direct R&D resources. Discrepancies observed in theoretical kinetic predictions and real performance polarization curves for low Pt loaded MEAs (>0.1 mg Pt/cm2) have led to alterations in the simple Tafel kinetic model2 by including an additional term related to oxide coverage.3 While the operating cell potential inherently drops as the catalyst loading decreases, oxide-coverage kinetics become increasingly important in modeling performance especially when transitioning between catalyst surfaces with little to no oxide coverage to those with high oxide coverage. Since some kinetic parameter values change considerably when incorporating an oxide coverage term into the simple tafel model, it is important to know how dependent these changes are in regards to catalyst type and support, as well as in how oxide coverage is defined. Because specific oxide species generated at the catalyst surface can differ with changing conditions e.g. Pt-OH (1e- process), Pt-O (2e- process), it is difficult to obtain a unified model which accurately describes oxide formation. Subsurface oxide generation has also been shown to occur,4 which can skew interpretations of oxide measurements. Additionally, oxide formation has been shown to differ substantially among different catalyst surfaces and supports.This work attempts to clarify the impact that oxide species have on kinetic parameters (exchange current density (ios), reaction order (γ), activation energy (EA) etc.) for Pt-based catalysts. Experiments were performed under pure oxygen using a 5cm2 differential cell with MEAs consisting of Pt/V, Pt/HSC, and Pt alloy/HSC at loadings of 0.2 – 0.05 mg Pt/cm2. Sub-ambient system pressures were employed by means of a vacuum panel in order to lower pure oxygen partial pressure while minimizing gas transport effects. An example measurement is shown in Figure 1, with the oxide and transport free surface potential and current region highlighted. Interpretations of oxide measurement techniques as well as the impact of different catalyst surfaces and supports are discussed. As catalyst activity continues to improve, future implications and significance of oxide kinetics are also considered. Figure 1. iR-free potential vs log current density as a function of oxygen partial pressure for Pt/Vu electrocatalyst. The authors would like to acknowledge funding from the U.S. Department of Energy under CRADA #CRD-14-539. References 1. A. Kongkanand and M. F. Mathias, The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters, 7, 1127 (2016). 2. K. C. Neyerlin, W. Gu, J. Jorne and H. A. Gasteiger, Journal of the Electrochemical Society, 153, A1955 (2006). 3. N. Subramanian, T. Greszler, J. Zhang, W. Gu and R. Makharia, Journal of The Electrochemical Society, 159, B531 (2012). 4. B. Conway, B. Barnett, H. Angerstein‐Kozlowska and B. Tilak, The Journal of chemical physics, 93, 8361 (1990). Figure 1


Scouts BSA offers scouts, both boys and girls, the opportunity to earn merit badges. Teaching scouts the Engineering Merit Badge with an optics and photonics emphasis can expose many scouts to a potential optics/photonics career.


With an analysis of the novel narrative,we drew a conclusion that the religion attitude of Water Margin is of neither criticism nor glory,but of practical,which was embodied in the figure characterization,narrative structure and theme expression etc.If we over-interpret the religion meaning of the novel,it would be improper and inaccurate.


Abstract : Fifty-two papers on current or recent research are included under the headings of: Physical and chemical properties of aerosols; Aerosol characterization methods; Tutorial Review--Small needle-shaped filaments based on carbon; Nonlinear interactions at high energy; and Optical Properties of aerosols.


Sympatric congeneric anurans exist together under systems of adjustment to coexistence of their populations, systems that reflect a past history of the populations under allopatry and that also reflect interspecific interactions under subsequent sympatry. Sympatric species may affect one another through mismating even when genetic interchange is barred by hybrid sterility or hybrid inviability. Several isolating mechanisms usually operate to restrict hybridization of any given pair of sympatric anurans, with difference in mating call usually of paramount importance. Some important parameters of the call (viz., frequency and pulse rate) are usually functions of body size, and hence differentiation in these attributes may be a secondary effect of adaptive differentiation in body size. Other parameters of the call appear to have been the subject of selection per se. Ecological isolating mechanisms may represent side-products of adaptation to different ways of life in allopatric populations. Postmating mechanisms of hybrid inviability or sterility reflect different developmental systems which are not necessarily the genetic systems involved in production of the phenotypic characters used in morphological classification. Examination of various allopatric and sympatric species pairs in the anurans indicates that, as known at present, there is no predictable sequence in which the various kinds of isolating mechanisms evolve. However, sympatric species always differ in mating call, and some allopatric populations have been shown to differ enough for the females to discriminate between the calls of their own and foreign males. In general, genetic incompatibility seems to be the last isolating mechanism to evolve. Some sympatric species are interfertile, and some allopatric species are intersterile. Greater differentiation of mating call in the overlap zone of species pairs than in non-overlap areas is taken as evidence for reinforcement of a difference in call through limited hybridization and selection against the hybridizers.


Greedy algorithms have the advantages of low computational complexity and ease of implementation over the linear programming optimization techniques. A few greedy algorithms work on the principle of selecting a single column whereas, in others, multiple columns are selected in each iteration. In this paper, a comparison is performed on the experimental data which is collected using NI WSN test bed, to find out a more efficient algorithm for sparse signal recovery. Algorithms are compared on the basis of peak signal to noise ratio, root mean square error and speed of recovery. Based on the simulation results, ROMP is preferred over OMP in case of sparse signals with enough sparsity.


The US Department of Energy (DOE) Order 5400.1, ``General Environmental Protection Program,`` establishes environmental protection program requirements, authorities, and responsibilities for DOE operations. These mandates require compliance with applicable federal, state, and local environmental protection regulations. During calendar year (CY) 1995 environmental protection and monitoring programs were conducted at the Nevada Test Site (NTS) and other DOE Nevada Operations Office (DOE/NV) managed sites in Nevada and across the United States. A detailed discussion of these environmental protection and monitoring programs, and summary data and assessments for environmental monitoring results at these sites in CY 1995 are provided in the DOE/NV, Annual Site Environmental Report--1995, (ASER) DOE/NV/11718-037. A brief description of the scope of this environmental monitoring is provided below, categorized by ``on-NTS`` and ``off-NTS`` monitoring.


The Global IT revolution is growing rapidly. Government and business have to be ready to meet the increased demand for effective and secure online services. With the E-Government practicing, day-by-day the public demand is also increasing simultaneously. Now this present moment, one of important research part is secure E-Voting for E-Government service, but for this important factor or Government Issue, it needs information privacy for secure information transaction of citizen's opinions and secure authentication. This paper has analyzed several approaches E-voting protocols, those are implemented with many digital signature mechanisms and maintained many types of cryptographic rules, which are main factor for information privacy. In this paper we discussed them with a view to voter anonymity and protection from manipulations. The paper then developed an algorithm designed to guarantee anonymity of the voter and to avoid the risk of manipulation of votes. In this paper the proposed algorithm is based upon the strict separation of voter's registration and submission of votes, which means that certain information has to be stored on a secure storage media. This paper discusses the secure security criteria and possible implementation options for such secure storage.


Potaninia mongolica Maxim is one of ancient and survivor species,belonging to singlespecies Potaninia genus of Rosace family.It has been classified as the national secondary protection species in 1980′s.A summary of the study of Potaninia mongolica about the adaptation of drought, infertility,salt and wind-erosion, endangered causes and protective measurements was made.


External reinforcement of existing structures using FRP has many advantages. High strength, easy application and minimum infringement on the existing clearances are usually important issues when selecting materials for rehabilitating an existing structure. FRP sheet material applied as external reinforcement meets these requirements and, as this case study demonstrates, can be used in ways other than the obvious application of increasing flexural strength of concrete members.


The invention provides an anchoring method for grouting and anchoring a reinforcing steel bar in a corrugated pipe to anchor a precast segmental beam and a parking area stiffening strut. The method comprises the following steps of pre-embedding the corrugated pipe in the segmental beam precasting process; inserting the anchored reinforcing steel bar into the corrugated pipe after the segmental beam is demolded; and casting the stiffening strut after the anchored reinforcing steel bar and the corrugated pipe are grouted and anchored. According to the invention, through applying the reinforcing steel bar anchoring method to a special structure in bridge precast construction, the traditional production process and template do not need to be changed; it is only required to pre-embed the corrugated pipe in the continuously production process; the process is simple while performing the construction of the stiffening strut in the later stage; the anchoring performance is reliable due to the use of non-shrinkage and high-strength grouting materials; and the construction progress is furthest accelerated on the premise of ensuring the construction quality.


This text aims to present the sociological features of the municipal nobility (the gente nobre da governanca) from the town of Horta (island of Faial, Azores) in the 17th and 18th centuries. Besides highlighting ths differences inside the group and the kinship and power relationships, we present the causes of conflict and the relationship with the crown officers, the corregedor and the juiz de fora. Finally, we stress the limits of the reforms that were introduced in 1766, aiming at the control of the peripheries and the power of the municipalities.


The main purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of taskbased training program on the discrimination and production of English vowels. It also examined the extent to which these two levels of pronunciation performance are correlated. The participants, consisting of 66, were selected from the first year English department students at the Faculty of Education Al Azhar University. A test of vowel discrimination and production, made up of two parts, was constructed for the study. The program, comprising 32 tasks recorded by a native speaker teacher of English, was administered in 10 weeks for the experimental group students, including pre and posttests. Results indicated that task-based training proved effective in the discrimination and production of vowels. Results also indicated that discrimination and production are positively correlated. The study called for adopting task-based training and explicit instruction of pronunciation to help learners be aware of the constituent parts of vowel sounds and develop acute discrimination that relates to enhanced production.


There are six main categories of breast cancer be existent. In this paper, we have taken the Type 1 carcinoma cancer to support the decision making. For this, a novel machine learning based cost optimization is applied to make an efficient decision from the samples. Moreover, we have applied our methodology on the real datasets to predict cancer with appropriate parameters using Pearson correlation. This work can be used well on lightweight devices like smartphones or tablets to decide more precisely with primary factors.


We present the coupling of the torsion scalar T and the trace of energy‐momentum tensor T$\mathcal {T}$ , which produces new modified f(T,T)$f(T,\mathcal {T})$ gravity. Moreover, we consider the functional form f(T,T)=αT+βT2$f(T,\mathcal {T}) =\alpha \mathcal {T}+\beta T^2$ where α and β are free parameters. As an alternative to a cosmological constant, the f(T,T)$f(T,\mathcal {T})$ theory may offer a theoretical explanation of the late‐time acceleration. The recent observational data to the considered model especially the bounds on model parameters is applied in detail. Furthermore, we analyze the cosmological behavior of the deceleration, effective equation of state and total equation of state parameters. However, it is seen that the deceleration parameter depicts the transition from deceleration to acceleration and the effective dark sector shows a quintessence‐like evolution.


In this paper, I studied the relation between narrative construction (especially focusing on motif) and humor mechanism based on binge watching environment. Several motif theories such as B. Tomachevski, Horst and Ingrid Dämmrich and S. Chatman are used as a basic study method in chapter II. In popular sitcom <Friends>, sometimes kernels(according to S. Chatman's term) in certain season's story are changed into satellites(according to S. Chatman's term) in other season's stories. The motif of Ross and Rachel's conflict is a representative example for this switching process. Especially on binge watching environment, as the interval length is much more shortened, viewers tend to reflect their own emotional memory into characters less strongly than segment watching environment. As a result, the possibility 'heavy' stories such as seperation are quickly changed into 'light' humorous matters is increased. This kind of hierarchy variation of repeated motif make the viewers laugh, because they can feel sudden liberating energy by eliminating psychological pressure. It means the characteristics of sitcom's humor on binge watching environment can also be explained by the theory of 'laugh as a eliminating tension', which I. Kant representatively said. ■ keyword :∣Sitcom∣<Friends>∣Binge Watching∣Narrative∣Motif∣Kernels∣Satellites∣Humor∣ 접수일자 : 2019년 10월 28일 수정일자 : 2019년 11월 28일 심사완료일 : 2019년 11월 28일 교신저자 : 서은혜, e-mail : firstname.lastname@example.com 한국콘텐츠학회논문지 '20 Vol. 20 No. 2 142


At revealing of defeat of a liver by an ionizing radiation concentration studying conjugirovaning dyenov and maloning dialdegids, level of antioxidants and sulfgidrining the groups characterizing a metabolism of cages is necessary.


Between 1648 and 1652, Cyrano de Bergerac wrote a small satirical work entitled The Other World, a fictional account of his imaginary epic voyage to the Moon.* The story not only describes &dquo;The States and Empires of the Moon,&dquo; (its subtitle in the original edition), it provides a critical view of his own civilization as well. The narrator's position in his depiction of the radically different, &dquo;other&dquo; entity allows him to maintain opinions which, however whimsical, still include elements of social and philosophical examination. In the early stages of world migration, Europe was beginning to see the Other as a place for the expression, if not the transposition, of its ancient dreams; Cyrano, however, takes a different approach. He looks at ways the Other might be used to gain perspective on the Self. Looking down at Earth from above, he proclaims: &dquo;People, I declare that this moon is not a moon, but a world, and that world


Based on surface daily vapor pressure data of 34 stations in Chongqing from 1966 to 2008,precipitable water datasets were calculated according to empirical formulas for a period of 43 years.The spatial and temporal distribution and climatological trend of precipitable water were analyzed and the relationship between precipitable water and precipitation was also discussed.There is more precipitable water in the west than in the east and more in the south than in the north,but the rainfall rate of precipitable water is higher in the east than in the west.The precipitable water in Chongqing has an increasing trend form 1966 to 2008,and the growth rate is different from season to season.The growth rate over northeast Chongqing and south part of west and central Chongqing is significant.The relationship between precipitable water and precipitation is complex,being significant only in part of its westwen regions.However,the precipitable water is only a necessary condition for precipitation but large precipitable water does not result in heavy rainfall necessarily.In summer and early fall,precipitable water in drought years is much less than that in flood years.


Procedure: White shrimp are to be caught with the aid of the Goby in Copano Bay and transported to the Marine Laboratory to be marked. After marking, shrimp are to be held overnight, transported back to Copano Bay and released. Since only one stain color is available, a group of shrimp in a specific size range is needed to obtain a growth estimate. A "grading device" is to be devel oped to separate shrimp between 72 and 95 mm in length. To insure optimum returns of marked shrimp as many shrimp dealers as possible will be visited.


The use of multi-layered structural asphalt is an extremely appropriate and elegant solution for the rehabilitation of heavily trafficked urban roads both in terms of its inherent qualities and its construction methodology. Compared to other approaches it requires little excavation (so does not involve the relocation of underground services), does not require permanent closure of the affected area during construction, does not require a waterproof chip-seal membrane and does not need a premium quality aggregate sub-base/basecourse (which is an increasingly rare and costly resource in the Auckland region). The deep lift structural asphalt philosophy is to transfer traffic loading to the top pavement layers while reducing the loading impact on the lower weak pavement layers (subgrade and sub-base). The result is a rehabilitation solution that offers major time and cost savings over the short and long term, while providing the resilience required to deal with heavy traffic loads.


Healthcare spending in the United States is dominated by government and insurers, which are collectively called "third-party payers." In 1960, patients controlled how almost 50 cents of each dollar spent on health care was paid. That number is now down to just over 10 cents, with the rest controlled by third-party payers. This separation of payer from consumer is associated with a significant increase in real healthcare spending per capita, with poor quality, and with waste that amounts to about one-third of healthcare spending. However, this result is not a natural economic outcome. Rather, it is the consequence of public policy that can, and should, be amended or reversed.


Asphaltene adsorption at solid surfaces is a ubiquitous phenomenon that begins within the production well and continues through the entire production chain. It is generally an undesirable phenomenon that causes damage within reservoirs, fouling of pipelines and transportation equipment, and fouling of refining and upgrading equipment. However, by virtue of this phenomenon, problematic asphaltenes may also be selectively removed from petroleum streams to produce partially upgraded petroleum, which has significantly improved handling, processing, and upgrading qualities. This review covers many basic aspects regarding the chemical and physical nature of asphaltenes and sorbents related to asphaltene adsorption.


Relevance. The job of Federal Fire-Fighting Service (FFS) officers of the State Fire-Fighting Service of the EMERCOM of Russia is among the global top 10 occupations with evident risk of health functional reserves depletion, prevalence of early occupational diseases, injuries and even death. Traditionally, investigators focus on circulatory diseases and how they affect firefighters' occupational health.The objective is to provide  research-based evidence showing that musculoskeletal and connective tissue parameters provide a reliable estimate of the health status in Russian Federal Fire-Fighting Service officers.Methodology. The authors analyzed the research papers included in the Russian Science Citation Index mostly within the last 10 years and the studies carried out at the Nikiforov Russian Center of Emergency and Radiation Medicine and at the All-Russian Research Institute for Fire Protection of the EMERCOM of Russia. Morbidity was calculated in ppm (‰), industrial injury and primary disability rates were estimated per 10,000 (×104), mortality (deaths) – per 100,000 (×105) people. The indicators dynamics was estimated based on dynamic sets of data applying the 2nd  order polynomial trend; the Pearson correlation coefficient was utilized to verify consistency of the trends.Results and analysis. In 2003–2015 the average annual incidence rate of cases with labor losses (across all ICD-10 chapters of diseases) among the EMERCOM Federal Fire Service officers was (407.0 ± 30.4) ‰ which was statistically significantly lower than among the Russian armed forces officers (508.5 ± 35.6) ‰ (p < 0.05); the number of lost workdays was higher, i.e. (5139 ± 402) and (4174 ± 123) ‰ respectively (p < 0.05). Consistency in the dynamics of case number, rate of lost workdays, and day/incident ratio among firefighters and military officers is low and negative, potentially due to the impact of different factors on lost workdays rate. Assuming the macrosocial factors are identical, organisational  and/or occupational factors could be the key contributors to labor losses. Rates of injuries, poisoning and other external impacts (chapter XIX in ICD-10), as well as musculoskeletal and connective tissue diseases (chapter XIII) play the leading  role in morbidity dynamics among firefighters. The mortality rate among the Russian EMERCOM FFS officers with chapter XIX injuries was 8.5 times lower than that among the Russian male population, although the population cohort was 2.5 times more numerous. Occupational injury rate of (14.66 ± 2.01) • 10–4 of injuries/(firefighter • year) and firefighter fatalities (8.53 ± 0.83) • 10–5 deaths/(firefighter • year) in 2006–2020 were statistically significantly lower than among economically active working male population  in Russia: (22.73 ± 2.8) • 10–4 (p < 0.01) and (13.23 ± 1.12) • 10–5 (p < 0.05) respectively. Considering the work schedule of firefighters, the annual amount of work in extreme environments was carried out within 6 months; whereas the level of industrial traumatism due to fire extinguishing and elimination of other emergency situations calculated for 12 months should be doubled, to say the least. The level of primary disability among Russian Federal Fire Service employees was (15.98 ± 0.99) • 10–4, i.e. statistically reliably lower (p < 0.001) than among the working population of Russia aged 18–44 years (25.51 ± 1.19) • 10–4. On the one hand, the data demonstrates efficient labor set-up and labor protection of the EMERCOM FFS employees, whereas disability rate among the adult population of Russia stays at a high level, on the other hand.Conclusion. Although not entirely eliminated, negative occupational impacts (i.e. diseases, injuries) can be reduced to minimal rates. Preventing the early onset of occupational diseases, especially traumas and musculoskeletal diseases, has a huge health sparing potential to ensure professional longevity of the EMERCOM FFS employees.