The thiazolidinones are five-membered heterocyclic compounds that show a diverse range of biological activities 1 , for example, as antitumor 2 , antidiabetes 3 , antitubercular 4 and anti-hepatitis C virus 5 . The main synthetic routes to thiazolidin-4ones involves a three component reaction (an aldehyde or ketone, a primary amine or hydrazine and the mercaptoacetic acid) either in an oneor two-step process. 6 This work has as objective, report the synthesis of new thiazolidinones 4a-r arising from the reaction of 3,4-(methylenedioxy)aniline 1 with substituted arenealdehydes 2a-r and mercaptoacetic acid 3.


Abstract : Response surface designs are often compared by optimal design theory criteria, such as the D- and G-efficiencies. For designs over spherical regions such criteria are calculated after scaling the designs to have the same diameter. But in practice designs are applied by scaling the coded factor ranges (not the diameter) to the ranges of the experimental factors. The result of this discrepancy between theory and practice is that the mathematical efficiencies may apply to regions of varying sizes. Further, there are practical objectives, such as minimizing the number of runs or testing for lack of fit, that are ignored by optimal design theory. Two examples were given to show the limitations of optimal design theory comparisons. For many symmetric second- order designs, a table giving the following items was provided: number of noncentral design points, number of levels, number of orthogonal blocks, diameter/range ratio, and G-efficiency. Box-Behnken design, Simplicial shell design, Uniform shell design, Central composite design.


Residuals and inception are two commonly used module that makes the network deeper and wider to achieve better performance. And the combination of these two modules which is usually referred to as inception-resnet can get a better result. In this paper, we propose a new type of combination to give full play to the role of residuals and inception, making network learning more abundant features. The new proposed module is called Residual Inception (RI) which enjoys the same width as the inception module in GoogLeNet. In RI, each parallel cascade structure is replaced by a densely block or a modified residual block for gaining a better performance and a lower computational cost. Finally, we evaluate our proposed network on three highly competitive datasets and the results demonstrate its superiority in comparison with the state-of-the-art.


Definitions and methods of designing interval type-2 fuzzy sets in fuzzy inference systems for control problems of complex technical objects in conditions of uncertainty are considered. The main types of uncertainties, that arise when designing fuzzy inference systems and depend on the number of expert assessments, are described. Methods for assessing intra-uncertainty and inter-uncertainty are proposed, taking into account the different number of expert assessments at the stage of determining the types and number of membership functions. Factors influencing the parameters and properties of interval type-2 fuzzy during experimental studies are determined. Such factors include the number of experiments performed, external factors, technical parameters of the control object, and the reliability of the components of the computer system decision support system. The properties of the lower and upper membership functions of interval type-2 fuzzy sets are investigated on the example of the Gaussian membership function, which is one of the most used in the problems of fuzzy inference systems design. The main features and differences in the methods of determining the lower and upper membership functions of interval type-2 fuzzy sets for different types of uncertainties are taken into account. Methods for determining the footprint of uncertainty, as well as the dependence of its size on the number of expert assessments, are considered. The footprint of uncertainty is characterized by the lower and upper membership functions, and its size directly affects the accuracy of the obtained solutions. Methods for determining interval type-2 fuzzy sets using regulation factors of membership function parameters for intra-uncertainty and weighting factors of membership functions for inter-uncertainties have been developed. The regulation factor of the function parameters can be used to describe the lower and upper membership functions while determining the size of the footprint of uncertainty. Complex interval type-2 sets are determined to take into account inter-uncertainties in the problems of fuzzy inference systems design.


The topic "crisis" in our country is apparently a simple and undeniable one considering all the economic, politic and social aspects around us are very complex. This essay offers an option far from the common explanation, regarding Colombia's present and future. It initially frames the situation in three different ways, the political, the economic, and the social one; all of them should be taken into account in order to understand the crisis. And they become changeable and guiding conditions for proposals to be used in the planning of Colombia's future.


Purpose: Different adjuvants have been used to improve the quality and increase the duration of local anesthetics during various nerve block techniques. The aim of the present work is to evaluate the effect of preemptive dexamethasone added to bupivacaine on postoperative pain in patients receiving transversus abdominis plain block (TAPB) guided with ultrasound for inguinal hernia repair as regard the time of the first request for additional analgesia, Pain scores, total analgesic consumption and analgesic efficacy. Patients and Methods the present study was carried out in the Main Alexandria University Hospital on 50 adult male patients aged 20 to 60 years, American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) class I or II. patients were randomly allocated to receive TAP block with ultrasonography in. using 20 mL of bupivacaine hydrochloride 0.5% + 2 mL saline 0.9% (control group, n=25) or 20 mL of bupivacaine hydrochloride 0.5% + 2 mL dexamethasone "8 mg" (dexamethasone group, n=25). The primary outcome was postoperative pain, as evaluated by visual analog scale (VAS) for pain scoring at 1, 2,,3, 4, ,12, 16,20and24 hr postoperatively, whereas the secondary outcomes were time to duration of analgesia , first analgesia (TFA), morphine consumption and the occurrence of nausea, vomiting. Results: The pain VAS score was significantly lower at the postoperative 4 h (4.72± 0.84vs. 2.96 ± 0.45, P=<0.001), 8h (5.0 ± 0.58vs. 3.56 ± 0.65, P=0.001), 12 h (5.20vs. 4.24 ± 0.83, P=0.001), 16h (5.32 ± 0.69vs. 4.84 ± 0.55, P=0.009) and20 (5.40 ± 0.76vs. 4.96± 0.61, P=0.037). Furthermore, TFA was significantly longer in the dexamethasone group (438.2 ± 24.95 min vs. 272.04 ± 37.51 min, P=0.002), with lesser nalbuphine requirements in the postoperative24 h (15.20 ± 4.16 vs. 24 ± 4.16 mg nalbuphine, P <0.001) and lower incidence of nausea and vomiting (2 vs. 8, P=0.034). No complications attributed to the block were recorded. Conclusion: Addition of Preemptive dexamethasone to bupivacaine in patients receiving transversus abdominis plain block (TAPB) guided with ultrasound for inguinal hernia repair result in ,longer time till first opioids requirement , prolonged the duration of the block, less requirement for opioids, patients more satisfied and decreased the incidence of nausea and vomiting. {Citation: Hisham Ahmed Fouad, Amal Mohammed Sabry Ahmed, Yasser Mohammed Mohammed Osman, Gamal Mohammed Taha Abouelmagd. Efficacy of preemptive dexamethasone added to bupivacaine in ultrasound guided transversus abdominus plain block for postoperative analgesia after inguinal herniorraphy. American Journal of Research Communication, 2016, 4(5): 27-42} www.usa-journals.com, ISSN: 2325-4076. American Journal of Research Communication www.usa-journals.com Fouad, et al., 2016: Vol 4(5) 28 INTRODUCTION Inguinal hernia considered the third common disease in surgeries for adult after acute appendicitis and proctologic disorder. Inguinal hernia incidence shows a bimodal peaking prevalence at early childhood and old age especially after age 55. It estimated that 20 millions of inguinal hernia repairs are performed globally every year. (1) Inguinal herniorrhaphy can be performed under different anesthetic techniques as general anesthesia and regional anesthesia which is frequently associated with persistent postoperative pain. A significant proportion of pain experienced by patients undergoing abdominal surgeries is related to somatic pain signals derived from the abdominal wall. The anterior abdominal wall components are supplied by sensory neurons derived from the anterior rami of spinal nerves T6 to L1, which include intercostal nerves (T6 to T11), subcostal nerve (T12) and ilioinguinal and iliohypogastric nerves (L1).These neurons traverse through the neurofascial plane between the internal oblique and the transversus abdominis muscles. Post-operative pain after inguinal hernia lead to the increased consumption of analgesics, delayed bowel function and increase the requirement for rescue analgesics which raises the risk of adverse effects especially respiratory depression, emesis and sedation, which can lead to increased duration of hospital stay and thereby reduce the advantages of fast-track surgery. Appropriate pain treatment protocols to reduce postoperative morbidity, improve the results of the surgery and decrease hospital costs. Adequate postoperative pain relief is associated with positive long-term effects for patients such as; reduced postoperative cognitive changes, better quality of life and reduced risk of chronic or persistent postoperative pain. Treatment for postoperative pain after abdominal surgical procedure (inguinal herniorrhaphy) based on conventional drugs with pain escape (consisting of maximal does of paracetamol, non-steroidal ant inflammatory drugs, and oral or intravenous opioid). Nonetheless, this is associated with adverse effects, such as nausea, sedation hypotension, reduced hung capacity increased cardiac load. All these effects impede rehabilitation and early discharge. Here appear the role of transversus abdominis plane block (TAPB) with local anesthetic and adjuvants may also added to it for postoperative pain relief . 10) Transversus abdominis plane block (TAP block) was firstly described by Rafi in 2001. It enables pain control through blocking sensory nerves by injecting local anesthetics into abdominal muscle. This blinded technique may cause an inappropriate block since the location of the needle may not precise. Fatal complications such as bowl puncture and liver injury have been also reported. Recently, ultrasound guided technique TAP block have been used successfully to avoid the problem of the blind technique and provided better control of a variety of postoperative pain after cholecystectomy, cesarean section, or hernia repair. 16) Now it is more frequently used as an alternative modality in lower abdomen surgery. Bupivacaine Hydrochloride is used as a local anesthetic and is available in sterile isotonic solutions for injection via local infiltration, peripheral nerve block, caudal, lumbar epidural blocks and TAP block. Continuous research is being done to identify the effect of various adjuvants in improving the quality and increase the duration of the local anesthetic action in different peripheral nerves and regional block techniques. The addition of adjuvant substances as Alpha2 adrenoreceptor agonists (clonidine, Dexmedetomidine), adrenaline, tramadol, midazolam, ketamine, opioids, adenosine, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory and steroid to the local anesthetic drugs in TAPB and their efficiency have been studied. The analgesic effects of spinal and systemic corticosteroids in combination with local anesthetics have been approved in human studies. American Journal of Research Communication www.usa-journals.com Fouad, et al., 2016: Vol 4(5) 29 Methyl prednisolone addition to local anesthetic has increased the duration of axillary brachial plexus block, whereas dexamethasone microspheres have increased the block duration in both human and animal studies. Furthermore, Dexamethasone has a long and efficient glucocorticoid structure and also offers anti-inflammatory properties. When added to local anesthetics as an adjuvant in peripheral blocks, it increases the action time. It may also prolong the analgesia time and contribute to the TAP block.


There is a general consensus in language teaching that the use of authentic materials is beneficial to students' communicative competence. However, many problems arise in the learning process, among which the difficulty of authentic materials ranks first. The solution to it lies with the teacher. In order to make full use of authentic materials, interesting materials, materials of different topics and up to date materials should be selected.


Background: Severe trauma and hemorrhage leads to an acute coagulopathy as exemplified by a rise in prothrombin time, and a fall in clotting firmness and platelet aggregation. Because platelets contribute 70-80% of the clot strength, evaluating the intracellular mechanisms that regulate aggregation may lead to strategies to mitigate the development of coagulopathy. Platelet aggregation requires energy, and energy stores may be depleted after hemorrhagic shock and tissue trauma. Also, aggregation is initiated by elevations in inositol trisphosphate and calcium, and inhibited by elevations in cyclic adenosine and guanosine monophosphates. Platelet dysfunction after trauma may involve one or more of these intracellular intermediates. Objective: To measure intracellular levels of mono- and tri-phosphates in platelets from rats subjected to polytrauma and hemorrhagic shock. Methods: Polytrauma was induced in isoflurane anesthetized Sprague-Dawley rats (n=10 per group) by damage to the small intestines, right and medial lobes of the liver, the right leg skeletal muscle, and by fracturing the right femur. 40% hemorrhage was then performed immediately after trauma. Blood samples were taken before, immediately after trauma, and at 2 and 4hrs. Platelet rich plasma PRP was generated by centrifugation of whole blood at 200g for 10min, no brakes. Cyclic AMP and cGMP were extracted from 100μl of PRP after adding to 1ml of EtOH, 10mM ammonium formate, with 10μg/ml cGMP-Br as an internal control. Triphosphates were extracted from another 100μl PRP by addition of 50% EtOH, 500mM Formic Acid with 10μg/ml ATP-C10 as an internal control. Samples were centrifuged at 20K g for 10min, and supernatant dried. All Samples were brought up in 200ul of 0.1% formic acid for analysis by LC-MS/MS. Results: In platelets, the intracellular levels of Adenosine Triphosphate (ATP), Guanosine Triphosphate (GTP) and Inositol Trisphosphate (IP3) all fell significantly by 4hrs after polytrauma and hemorrhage (ATP: 5.8±0.9 vs. 0.9±0.7μg/ml, GTP: 1.23±0.22 vs 0.01±0.01 μg/ml and IP3: 625±310 vs 125±36 ng/ml). Cyclic AMP was significantly elevated over baseline (10.4±0.7 vs 15.1±1.63ng/ml), however cGMP was down (1.17±0.39 vs 0.10±0.12 ng/ml). Conclusion: The platelet dysfunction that accompanies polytrauma and hemorrhagic shock may be a result of falling energy stores (ATP, GTP), a loss of IP3 mediation of Ca dependent aggregation, and a rise in the inhibitory mediator cAMP. These results suggest that the addition of metabolic substrates to standard resuscitation fluids may help restore platelet function after trauma and hemorrhage. Disclosures No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.


We present the simulation methodologies used in the design of automated material handling systems (AMHS) at the Intel wafer fabs. The models used in AMHS design can be categorized as AMHS models and production models. The AMHS models support the design of Interbay and Intrabay systems. The Interbay systems handle the material flow between different bays (production centers). The systems handle the material flow within the bays. The production models compliment the AMHS models. We review the general model structures and simulation examples under these categories used in actual system implementations.


The paper briefly studies the core function: γ(n) = πω i-1 pi, n > 1, γ(1) = 1, where n = πω i=1 p i ci and then provides characterizations of number theoretic functions based on convolutions involving this function.


In this paper an optimal programming model is studied for the multi-project planning of the regional development.Since the regional planning includes various development projects, it is requested for planners to make the multi-project planning being effective and attractive for the regional development.First, to satisfy this request the model is formulated as the multi-project planning model under such restrictions as the budgeting restriction and the sequential restriction by the predetermined project undergoing and payment returning. There are 2 types of the sequential restriction, project undergoing sequence and payment returning sequence. It is very difficult to solve the optimal solution. However, in this paper, the algorithm that gives the optimal solution under such kind of sequential restriction is presented by the methematical way.Second, the algorithm to obtain an optimal solution of multi-project planning under the 2 types sequential restriction is developed in the same style as network planning and scheduling algorithm with the resource allocation problem under the resource restriction. The feature of the developed algorithm is, 1) The original network - the project undergoing network and the payment returning network - is divided to the groups that is consisted by the projects that can be undergone at the same time. This is called as "Cuts". The original network can be reformed as the cuts sequence. This is called as "Cuts network".2) The schedule of projects can be obtained by checking feasibility of each resource allocation step by step using cuts and cuts sequence.3) Two mathematical tools are used. The optimization in each cut is regarded as the knapsack problem. And the optimization in the cut network is regarded as to find the optimal path in the cut network. This can be solved by using the dynamic programming.At last, the model developed here is applied to practical regional development project planning problem in which 14 main projects are planned individually and the request to planner is to obtain optimal total schedule of 14 projects. It is confirmed that the model works well to obtain an optimal solution of the targed problem.


Structural information such as domain sizes and orientation directions in ordered assembled nanoparticles can be simultaneously obtained by using generated electron Moiré fringes, without direct observation of the nanoparticles.


Steatorrhoea has interested workers in several specialties, including gastro-enterology, haematology, nutrition, and radiology, and it is now possible that interest may spread to the field of genetics. In this issue of the Journal two papers appear in which the family incidence of this condition is considered. They also raise questions of definition and diagnosis. Steatorrhoea is the passage of amounts of fat in the stool that are excessive for the amounts of fat consumed. In severe steatorrhoea the stool is pale, greasy, and bulky, with a peculiar and penetrating odour ; in such cases the stool can be normal when the intake of fat is low. In less severe cases, as in Dr. C. W. Bartley's Case 2, a patient may develop anaemia and other deficiencies due to steatorrhoea without any intestinal symptoms. The percentage of fat in the stool may fall within the wide normal variation, and only a fat-balance test then reveals the deficient absorption. When the biochemical lesion of faulty fat absorption has been demonstrated, the anatomical and pathological diagnoses remain to be made. Cases fall into two broad groups of pancreatic and intestinal deficiency; the latter includes coeliac disease, idiopathic steatorrhoea, tropical sprue, and symptomatic steatorrhoea-of which Professor L. S. P. Davidson and Dr. J. R. Fountain give examples in the opening pages of this issue. In pancreatic steatorrhoea there is a lack of trypsin. This can be shown directly by duodenal intubation, or, at least in children, by testing the stools for tryptic activity (if trypsin is present a drop of stool digests the gelatin of an x-ray film). Indirectly, but more reliably, an excess of unabsorbed nitrogen in the faeces reveals the lack of trypsin. Glucose absorption is not affected. In intestinal deficiency, on the other hand, nitrogen absorption is normal but glucose absorption is usually poor. It is possible that, as Dr. Bartley implies, the five patients he found in one family might have had pancreatic steatorrhoea; where tested, tryptic activity was low or absent, and none of the blood-glucose curves were low, though in two cases, when the fasting blood sugar was abnormally high, the values did not rise much higher after giving glucose. It might be added that an enlarged spleen, found in one of the patients, is


An automatic approach for the calibration of an omni-directional camera with a laser rangefinder(LRF) on a mobile robot is presented. We improve the current calibration approach to make it adjust to the omni-directional camera with LRF. Then we focus on building the static-map for the dynamic scene using a mobile robot equipped our camera-LRF system. In this work, we propose a novel approach for updating 3D color map with a Guassian mixture model. Dynamic obstacles are detected combined with 3D and color feature using this model. In the experiment, on one hand, the robustness of our calibration approach is tested by the reconstruction of the omni-directional scenes with color and 3D feature. On the other hand, our map model for dynamic scenes was tested on our system and KITTI dataset, the result shows our approach can reconstruct static map and remove almost dynamic obstacles.


In this essay, I analyze the value presuppositions implicit in Lev Vygotsky's sociocultural perspective on learning and development, and thus explore what might be called Vygotsky's "'hidden curicu1um"-the unstated goals and messages of his educational-developmental psychology. I do so by bringing Vygotsky's work into dialogue with that of Nei Noddings, who articulated an approach to ethics and moral education that highlights the centrality of care and caring in human life. I argue, ultimately, that the value assumptions and presuppositions embedded in Vygotsky's psychology—in both its original and its contemporay forms—are similar to those that inform Noddings' conception of care and caring pedagogy, and thus that Vygotsky and Noddings share common moral concerns and commitments, particularly with respect to the characteristics of positive learning experiences.


With the rapid development of robot technology, the scope of application of robots is becoming wider and wider, changing people's life and working style. In this study, we developed a stair climbing robot, without changing McKenna's wheel under the premise of omnidirectional mobile chassis movement way, the fork lift scissors mechanism to complete the climb the steps of the robot movement, with the help of dynamic simulation and finite element analysis tool to optimize the robot mechanical structure, improve the performance of the robot, and in physical test proved the feasibility of the design. We expect this stair climbing robot to expand the range of indoor robot operations at the lowest cost.


The evaluati on process is one of the important factors that eff ecti vely uncover the hidden curriculum. In this study, it is aimed to identi fy the latent infl uences of evaluati on process on students and to fi nd out diff erent interpretati ons about evaluati on process. This qualitati ve research was organized as a case study. Embedded single-case design which is one of the case study designs was employed for the purpose of the study. Method and data triangulati on were used for strengthening the methodology. Observati on and interviewing were used for the method triangulati on. "Observed classrooms" and "interviewees" were used as diff erent data sources for data triangulati on as well. The study was conducted in the Department of Classroom Teaching at Hacett epe University School of Educati on. The data gathered through "classroom observati on form", "academic staff interviewing form", and "student focus group interviewing form" were analyzed by using content analysis technique. Students' experience in evaluati on process causes them to perceive that the student involvement and eff orts in teaching-learning process are unimportant and rote-learning is adequate for being successful. It has been found that students develop some tacti cs as behaving selecti vely and getti ng into instructors' good grace for being successful.


A new method is developed for the calculation of wave forces on multiple leg platforms which takes into account the full hydrodynamic interactions among the legs. This method eliminates the need for large scale diffraction computations when the structure to be analysed is made up of many individual legs, and should be a valuable tool in early design of multiple leg platforms. Simple approximate formulae for the wave exciting forces, hydrodynamic coefficients as well as the drift forces are also presented using the wide-spacing and the low-scattering approximations. These hand-calculation formulas compare well with exact solutions and may be useful for a quick estimate of the performance of multiple leg platforms.


Cast nephropathy, as a result of hypersecretion and urinary excretion of monoclonal light chains (LC), is the main cause of renal failure (RF) in patient with multiple myeloma (MM). The aim of the study was to evaluate the efficiency of extracorporeal methods for LC elimination in MM patients with RF. The study has been carried out in 5 hemodialysis patients with MM. Plasmapheresis has been carried out in 1 patient, hemodiafiltration in 2, and hemodialysis with high-off dialysers in 2 patients. Serum concentrations of LC were measured before and after extracorporeal methods by nefelometry. Plasmapheresis and hemodialysis with high-off dialysers are effective extracorporeal methods for LC elimination. The advantages of hemodialysis with high-off dialysers in the treatment of acute RF in MM patients consist in the possibility of long application without loss of high-molecular substances.


Abstract This qualitative study of 400 responses from students enrolled in 72 online courses offered by 15 different institutions examined students' attitudes to online teaching and learning. Results suggest that students emphasized the importance of flexibility, good communication, and interaction. Students tended to differ in their attitudes toward asynchronous communications with some highly appreciative of the time it offers for thoughtful communication and the ability for all to voice opinions; others miss the immediacy of face-to-face communication. Students in the virtual classroom responded positively to active learning, excellent interaction amongst students, and a knowledgeable faculty member who was actively involved with students and provided constructive and timely feedback to their work. The implications of this study involve faculty time management and the cost of delivering online courses. Introduction A recent article in The Chronicle of Higher Education (Carr, 2000) entitled, "Psych Students Learn More Through Distance Ed But Are Less Satisfied" became one more entry into the ongoing debate over the quality and efficacy of online learning. This debate escalated in 1999 with the publication of Russell's No Significant Difference and Merisotis and Phipps (1999) critique of Russell's findings. This qualitative study attempts to respond to at least one of Merisotis and Phipps' (1999) critiques of distance education research. It is not based on the analysis of one individual course, but of student evaluations from 72 courses offered by 15 colleges and universities who are members of the Connecticut Distance Learning Consortium. The Connecticut Distance Learning Consortium (CTDLC) was founded in 1997 to promote online learning and teaching. Currently 32 of Connecticut's institutions of higher education belong to the Consortium and in fall 2000 offered over 140 online courses to approximately 2,500 students. Twenty-three online programs at the Associate's, Bachelor's, and Master's degree levels are either approved or under construction. Since its first four courses were offered in the Spring of 1998, the CTDLC has asked faculty to have their students complete an online survey instrument which serves as a course evaluation, a means of tracking online student demographics, and an examination of students' reasons for taking and opinions about online classes. The survey also has an open-ended comment section providing a rich additional source of information about students' attitudes toward online teaching and learning. While students comment specifically on one class, when analyzed in the aggregate, these statements cross institutions and courses and paint a more comprehensive picture of attitudes toward online courses, online learning, and online teaching. What these comments demonstrate is that teachers can and do create an online teaching environment which favors thoughtful communication, requires the active participation of teachers and students, and above all promotes learning. Method This study is based on an analysis of 400 responses to the student survey for the Fall 2000 semester. This represents approximately 20% of the students who registered for online courses offered by CTDLC members that semester. As the evaluation is given at the end of the class, those students who withdraw or fail to complete the class generally do not complete it, and therefore the actual return rate may be slightly larger than 20%. In the Fall 2000 survey students were asked to respond to three open-ended questions: 1) "Is there anything about the online classroom that has made it easier for you to learn, achieve your academic goals, or participate in class discussions (as compared to an on-ground classroom)"; 2) "Is there anything that has made it harder?" 3) "We'd appreciate any other comments about your experience with this online course. Any observations, suggestions or criticisms about the strengths or weaknesses of online learning in particular would be welcome? …


While language anxiety is known to be a strong predictor of the second language (L2) achievement for decades, there has been a relative lack of empirical attention to establishing which one – anxiety or achievement – influences the other. The present study, based on a cross-lagged panel analysis, examined the causal relationships between language anxiety and L2 achievement, each of which was measured at three times points across 17 weeks. The results supported the directional relationship from L2 achievement at Time 2 to language anxiety at Time 3 while the opposite directional relationship from language anxiety at Time 2 to L2 achievement at Time 3 was not supported. Thus, our results suggest that language achievement precedes anxiety and not the other way round. The moderation analysis further sheds light on the importance of the earlier L2 achievement in the development of anxiety later on, by understanding learners' motivational profiles. That is, learners with high autonomous motivation and high achievement at Time 1 exhibited a further decrease in anxiety at Time 3. On the other hand, learners with high autonomous motivation but low achievement showed a higher level of anxiety at Time 3. Overall, the present study makes a noteworthy contribution to one of the most debatable issues in the field and concludes with some practical implications for L2 educators.


The toxicity of three different isolates of Egyptian baculovirus namely NPVGiza, NPVCairo and NPVAlex to Spodoptera littoralis larvae and their effects on some biological aspects of adults were studied. The second and fourth larval instars were highly susceptible to NPVCairo than to the other isolates. The second larval instar was highly susceptible than the fourth larval instar. NPVCairo induced larval, pupal and adult malformations. It was found that the three NPV's decreased the moth longevity, fecundity, egg hatchability and altered the sex ratio.


The selection of fixation targets involves a combination of top-down and bottom-up processing. The role of bottom-up processing can be enhanced by using multistable stimuli because their constantly changing appearance seems to depend predominantly on stimulusdriven factors. We used this approach to investigate whether visual processing models based on V1 need to be extended to incorporate specific computations attributed to V4. Eye movements of 8 subjects were recorded during free viewing of the Marroquin pattern in which illusory circles appear and disappear. Fixations were concentrated on features arranged in concentric rings within the pattern. Comparison with simulated fixation data demonstrated that the saliency of these features can be predicted with appropriate weighting of lateral connections in existing V1 models.


A simplified version of moire deflectometry for flow visualization is presented. The modification comprises replacement of the second grating, the ground glass screen, and the camera with a plate film holder to obtain a shadow picture. Postanalysis proceeds by placing a grid transparency of the same periodicity of the remaining glass grating on the negative for projection viewing. The rotational angle between the grating and the plate alters the moire fringe periodicity. Use of the method in studying flows is predicted to reveal weak density gradient areas and shocks.


Forests contribute to the carbon balance as the largest vegetative sink for atmospheric carbon (CO2). Anthropogenic emissions are counteracted by carbon sequestration in trees, but nutrients could be limiting photosynthesis and the effect could possibly be not as large as believed. In tropical forests, phosphorus (P) is only available from weathered bedrock and is thereby in an imbalance with the rising levels of carbon and nitrogen in the atmosphere. If P is limiting carbon uptake in tropical forests, global carbon cycle models are likely overestimating uptake by forests. Another overestimation might be to only conduct photosynthesis measurements on sunlit leaves of the canopy and take this as an overall canopy average, whilst a vertical profile in photosynthesis is very likely. Our study was conducted on two sites of the Amazonian rain forest in French Guiana. Photosynthesis and dark respiration (Rd) was measured of 120 trees in 12 plots per site. The plots were situated along a geographical gradient (at top, slope and bottom) to cover a large variety in soil P concentration. We derived the photosynthetic parameters Vcmax and Jmax from the photosynthesis measurements using the Farquhar model (Farquhar et al., 1980). The measurements were performed at two different height levels in the canopy to investigate the vertical profile. In this study we aimed to relate the spatial and vertical variability to parameters such as leaf P concentration, leaf height, light availability, the specific leaf area and the chlorophyll content (SPAD). Soil P concentrations were correlated with the leaf P concentrations, which indicates P uptake from the soil is limited. There were significant vertical differences in the leaves in Vcmax, Jmax, Rd and leaf P concentrations. We conclude that P limits the photosynthetic capacity in our study areas and vertical profiles of photosynthesis should be taken into account when estimating carbon uptake by a tropical forest ecosystem.


INJURY to the recurrent laryngeal nerve is one of the chief hazards of thyroid surgery. An accurate, anatomic knowledge of the course and variations of this nerve is essential if vocal cord palsy is to be avoided. Berlin 1 has stated that it is "the variability rather than the vulnerability" of this nerve which is responsible for the frequency of serious injury. Clinical improvement in vocal cord paralysis following electrical stimulation therapy 2 led Weeks and Hinton 3 to the hypothesis that many nerves had extralaryngeal divisions and that the nerve supply to the laryngeal muscles on the affected side was frequently not completely interrupted but rather so reduced by the division of one branch that only when assisted by artificial stimulation could it regain motor control over the injured muscles. To explore this possibility, these investigators dissected 28 cadavers and found that 78 per cent, or 43, of the


This paper provides a comprehensive examination of the relationship between deprivation and the electoral geography of Brexit, using the most granular referendum data and the most detailed deprivation data currently available. Using rank-based statistics we demonstrate that geographic deprivation is positively associated with Leave voting. However, this relationship is neither strong nor straightforward: educational deprivation drives the association, and once higher educational attainment or occupational composition are controlled for the association becomes negative. This has important implications for narratives that assume a causal mechanism connecting multi-dimensional deprivation with the geography of Brexit.


Entrepreneurship researchers have called for more investigation on the contribution of context in advancing entrepreneurship theory. The aim of the paper is to analyse the agribusiness enterprise performance by introducing collaborativeness as a dimension of entrepreneurial orientation. Agribusiness is a key regional sector representing a crucial ratio of employment, economic production. and future growth. Due to the sector`s importance and the many challenges it faces, the impact of a synergy approach entrepreneurial orientation model on agribusiness performance is tested.Structural equation modelling is used to test data collected from 120 agribusinesses located in Albania. Study results show collaborativeness as a dimension of the extracted entrepreneurial orientation model which provides a synergy between the actors of entrepreneurial value creation and has a significant direct contribution to enterprise performance.Implications for Central European audience: Even though the results are related to agribusinesses in Albania, the findings of this research may advocate that to enhance enterprise performance in fragile sectors and emerging economy markets, the synergy among the value creation actors of the entrepreneurial process is a necessity. Besides the theoretical implications, this study has also some practical implications for policymakers, entrepreneurs and researchers.


Background: Guided lung biopsies and Fine needle aspiration cytologies (FNAC) have been used for diagnosis of peripheral lung lesions and both have advantages and disadvantages. In our institution, core needle biopsies of lung are done from Computed tomography (CT) and thoracoscopic guided procedures. Methods: The histopathological records of our General Hospital were retrospectively reviewed forcore needle biopsies of lung lesions between July 2018 to June 2019 (1 year). There were 89 cases during this period. Results: There were a total of 89 cases (66 males and 23 females) during the study period of one year . The specimens received were linear bits and average size was 0.5cm in length. Non-neoplastic lesions were 24(26.9%) and neoplasms contributed to 65 cases (73.03%). Maximum number of cases (47 cases) were reported in the age group of 41-60 years (47 cases) with male preponderance. In all the.age groups, malignant lesions were more common in which Adenocarcinoma was predominant. Conclusion: To conclude, in our study malignancies predominated over non neoplastic lesions. The most common histological cell type encountered in this study was an Adenocarcinoma.


The simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) technique is an important research direction in robotics. Although the traditional SLAM has reached a high level of real-time performance, major shortcomings still remain in its positioning accuracy and robustness. Using traditional SLAM, a geometric environment map can be constructed that can satisfy the pose estimation of robots. However, the interactive performance of this map is insufficient to support a robot in completing self-navigation and obstacle avoidance. One popular practical application of SLAM is to add semantic information by combining deep learning methods with SLAM. Systems that introduce environmental semantic information belong to semantic SLAM systems. Introduction of semantic information is of great significance for improving the positioning performance of a robot, optimizing the robustness of the robot system, and improving the scene-understanding ability of the robot. Semantic information improves recognition accuracy in complex scenes, which brings more optimization conditions for an odometer, pose estimation, and loop detection, etc. Therefore, positioning accuracy and robustness is improved. Moreover, semantic information aids in the promotion of data association from the traditional pixel level to the object level so that the perceived geometric environmental information can be assigned with semantic tags to obtain a high-level semantic map. This then aids a robot in understanding an autonomous environment and human–computer interaction. This paper summarized the latest researches that apply semantic information to SLAM. The prominent achievements of semantics combined with the traditional visual SLAM of localization and mapping were also discussed. In addition, the semantic SLAM was compared with the traditional SLAM in detail. Finally, future research topics of advanced semantic SLAM were explored. This study aims to serve as a guide for future researchers in applying semantic information to tackle localization and mapping problems.


Chinese sumac (Ailanthus altissima (Mill.) Swingle) is one of the most invasive alien species in Europe, and also in Slovenia. Due to its great renewal power the species is spreading rapidly, especially in abandoned agricultural and forest areas and along the traffic routes. It is botanically different from the European ash (Fraxinus excelsior L.), but it has similar tree habitus as well as similar structural characteristics of the wood. For this reason, we analysed the visual, anatomical and some physical and mechanical properties of both wood species. In all anatomical planes, the typical visual and colorimetric similarity of both studied woods was confirmed. Anatomically both ring porous wood species differ mainly in size and distribution of vessels, axial parenchyma and ray tissue. Wood of both species has a similar density as well, but the Chinese sumac has greater shrinkage. Some of the mechanical properties are comparable, although Chinese sumac wood has a lower modulus of elasticity and hardness and greater shear strength than ash wood. We can recommend that the wood of Chinese sumac can be used for production of pulp and paper, various panels and partly for less loaded constructions, which are not exposed to drastic climatic variability.


The roundness error of the profile of the rotating parts can be viewed as a periodic function. Therefore, Discrete Fourier Transform can be applied to the data points we obtained by dividing the trace of the profile at equally spaced angles. By studying the data series of the trace with FFT, we can find various frequency components hidden in the signal of the roundness error. The article first gives a brief introduction to the mathematical model of roundness error. Then it focuses on how the various frequency components contribute to the roundness error. Finally, a new approach of evaluating roundness error is provided. Since the data points contain all the information of the roundness error, we can obtain the series of the roundness errors by eliminating the unwanted components in the frequency domain with FFT and changing back to the time domain with IFFT.


Advertising is one of the most important discourse genres of modern communication. There are various types of linguistic and non-linguistic means. The aim of advertising is to influence our perception of the world and thus our value system. In the theoretical part of this book I will deal with advertising discourse and its problems. I will discuss a variety of communication methods and linguistic means that can be found in advertising. Further I will discuss the issue of gender problems. In the practical part I will deal with analyses of speech acts. The bases of this research are print advertisements that appeared in contemporary British and American magazines. There will be a specific focus on the target groups in terms of their gender, frequency of occurrence and product focus.


of the problems of contemporary Ibsen criticism concerns the nature and extent of tragic implications in the so-called "social" play. I have chosen to re-examine Rosmersholm (1886) in terms of tragedy and myth, because I believe that the latter has particular relevance to this drama. The moral issues underlying its theme belong to the larger ethical framework of Ibsen's early great tragedies, particularly Emperor and Galilean, and of his last four plays. The significance of the play lies in its tragic and symbolic implications. Before I turn to this matter, however, it may be helpful to make a few observations concerning the nature of tragedy and the tragic hero.


Objective. The objective of the article is to highlight the key trends in the development of foreign trade in services related to tourism and travel in the EU countries.

Methods. To achieve the set tasks and goals, the following research methods are used in the work: systematic and complex analysis, computational and analytical (to identify key trends in the development of foreign trade in services related to tourism and travel in the EU), graphic and tabular methods (for visualization of statistical material).

Results. The main principles of the EU tourism policy are outlined, aimed at maintaining Europe's position as a leading tourist destination while maximizing the industry's contribution to growth and employment, as well as promoting cooperation between EU countries, in particular through the exchange of best practices. The analysis of foreign trade in services related to tourism and travel in 2016–2018 in the EU countries, using the data of the UN Conference on Trade and Development, the World Trade Organization, the World Tourism Organization, revealed the key trends, namely: 1) key exporters of services related to tourism and travel in the EU are Spain, France, Great Britain, Italy, and Germany; 2) the largest increase in the volume of exports of services related to tourism and travel in the EU countries was recorded in Romania, Portugal, Finland, Slovenia, and Poland; 3) the leaders among the countries-importers of services related to tourism and travel in the EU are Germany, Great Britain, France, Italy, and Spain; 4) the largest increase in the volume of imports of services related to tourism and travel in the EU countries was recorded in Romania, Croatia, Bulgaria, Spain, and Cyprus; 5) EU countries that dominate in foreign trade turnover of services related to tourism and travel are Germany, Great Britain, France, Spain, Italy; 6) the largest positive balance of foreign trade in services related to tourism and travel among the EU countries was recorded in Spain, Italy, France, Portugal, and Austria; 7) the largest negative balance of foreign trade in services related to tourism and travel among the EU countries was recorded in Sweden, the Netherlands, Belgium, the United Kingdom, and Germany.


The purpose of this paper is to present a proposed form, the Refresher Training Requirements Rating Form (RTRRF), which is believed to be capable of assisting training professionals in determining which tasks to include in a refresher training program. This form is based on the literature on skill retention and degradation. The variables included in the rating scale are those that have been consistently found to have either some direct effect on the retention of tasks, or a major impact on the decision to regularly retrain a task. Additional applications of the rating scale are also discussed.


We compare the performance of extremal optimization (EO), flat-histogram and equal-hit algorithms for finding spin–glass ground states. The first-passage-times to a ground state are computed. At optimal parameter of τ=1.15, EO outperforms other methods for small system sizes, but equal-hit algorithm is competitive to EO, particularly for large systems. Flat-histogram and equal-hit algorithms offer additional advantage that they can be used for equilibrium thermodynamic calculations. We also propose a method to turn EO into a useful algorithm for equilibrium calculations.


Since the first stethoscope based on wood was invented by a Frenchman named Laenec in 1816, medical doctors had collected much more information of patients and saved many lives. In this paper, a novel prototype of stethoscope based on silicon flexible skins and the process flow of fabrication by classical MEMS technology have been proposed. This novel approach enables embedding of the sensors into textiles without compromising the flexibility and wearability of the textiles, and the doctor can study the state of an illness continually in door using wireless communication. A piezoelectric cantilever is designed to consist of materials such as Si3N4, Ti/Pt, PZT, Ni-Cr, Au layers that may transform sound energy into volt signal is fabricated on a silicon wafer using micromachining techniques. Using sol-gel techniques, Pb(Zrx,Ti1 - x)O3, a PZT thin film, which is considered as an excellent piezoelectric material is deposited and pattered on a supporting layer of low-stress silicon nitride. The 500 times 200 times 1 mum3 PZT cantilever beam is patterned using a HF/HCl escharotics system. The backside of the wafer is dry etched with plasma in order to eliminate the stress concentrated, and then each sensor is isolated, namely silicon island. Finally, the wafer is coated with polymer both sides to protect the sensors and make sure the sensor array flexible. In addition, FEA software has been used to obtain modal and harmonic of the piezoelectric micro cantilever and stress of the silicon island simulation results


In the uncertainty environment of globalization and customization, agile responding capacity is the important aspect of competitive advantage of supply chain. The paper treats the response time of supply chain as an assignable resource, and provides an effective approach of coordinated planning, to assign production time and logistic time rationally between the node enterprises of supply chain. On the base of the coordinated mechanism of supply chain planning, considering the core enterprise as a collaborate center and the benefit of node enterprises, we use bilevel programming approach to modeling the multistage response time. Finally, the model is tested and verified by analysing a practical case.


Effect of different tillage methods on the performance and yield of some cocoyam varieties was investigated at the research farm of the National Root Crops Research Institute Umudike during the 2006 and 2007 cropping seasons. The two-year trial was a 3 x 6 factorial laid out in randomized complete block design (RCBD) replicated three times. Results showed that among the Xanthosoma spp NXs 001 yielded significantly (P<0.05) higher than NXs 002 in terms of total yield. Also NXs 001 performed better in the three tillage methods than NXs 002. Neither tillage nor variety and tillage interactions were significant in 2006. The study, however, revealed that tillage methods did not significantly (P<0.05) influence total yield among Colocassia spp, in 2006. However, NCe 005 performed best in the three tillage methods followed by NCe 006 and NCe 001 in 2007. Concluding from the above results NCe 005 (Colocassisa spp.) and NXs 001 (Xanthosoma spp.) can be established using any of the three methods for cocoyam production.


Preface Introduction 1. The use of compound words in Aeschylus 2. Rare and epic words 3. Epithets Excursus A. The style of the Supplices Excursus B. Conventional ornament Excursus C. Aeschylus and Euripides 4. Structure of sentences 5. Metaphors 6. Some qualities of Aeschylus Conclusion Postscript.


In research concerning quantum networks, it is often assumed that the parties can classically communicate with each other. However, classical communication might introduce substantial delay to the network, especially if it is large. As the latency of a network is one of its most important characteristics, it is interesting to consider quantum networks in which parties cannot communicate classically and ask what limitations this assumption imposes on the possibility of preparing multipartite states in such networks. We show that graph states of arbitrary prime local dimension known for their numerous applications in quantum information cannot be generated in a quantum network in which parties are connected via sources of bipartite quantum states and the classical communication is replaced by some pre-shared classical correlations. We then generalise our result to arbitrary quantum states that are sufficiently close to graph states.


The purpose of this work is to present some of the general ideas surrounding the National Association of Universities and Higher Education Institutions (Spanish acronym ANUIES) regarding the celebration of 65 years of its existence. This paper depicts the ANUIES under three imaginary representations: the first one faces the Mexican State against the ANUIES in some sort of picture that tries to explain the way their relationship has evolved. The second depiction confronts the ANUIES with itself, while the third representation addresses the State, the ANUIES and the postgraduate studies in Mexico. This text allows the inference of certain elements that outstand departing from these three depictions throughout the 65 years of existence of the ANUIES, so the reader shall have certain insights on the portrayal of the dynamics changing amongst these three actors.


An increasing number of new compounds are being introduced into pharmaceutical pilot plants.The knowledge base for these compounds regarding their toxicities, physical handling, and cleaning is limited.The authors examine various approaches for addressing the cleaning validation of new compounds and discuss the role of determining appropriate visible residue limits.


This Article demonstrates the implementation of Frequency Division Multiplexing (FDM) by using Verilog Hardware Description Language (VERILOG HDL) in Xilinx software. Our primary objective specifies that in a communication medium, all the signals from different channels are merged and delivered across a single channel. After the transmission to the receiver end, each signal is separated into its specific channel. To execute it we use frequency division multiplexing, which splits the higher bandwidth communication channel's frequency spectrum into numerous smaller bandwidth communication channels. These channels broadcast signals simultaneously, using various carrier frequencies. To maintain specific channel width between the frequencies, Guard band is required. This concept has been implemented in Xilinx vivado software by using VERILOG HDL. After execution of the main code, inputs to the test bench code are given, for testing purposes. The code is implemented in dataflow method as it specifies that any digital circuit can be implemented in vivado by using VERILOG HDL.


We report the one-step synthesis of a highly active hierarchical Fe/ZSM-5 zeolite catalyst with a strongly improved lifetime in the selective hydroxylation of benzene to phenol with nitrous oxide; compared to the best Fe/ZSM-5 catalyst, the turnover number after 24 h on stream is almost four times higher. Phenol is an important industrial intermediate for the production of various chemicals such as bisphenol A, phenolic resins, caprolactam, alkylphenols and adipic acid. The cumene hydroperoxide process is the currently used industrial method to produce phenol. 1 Its environmentally stressing aspects have spurred research to replace this process with more benign approaches such as the direct oxidation of benzene to phenol with nitrous oxide. 2 In Solutia's AlphOx technology, the nitrous oxide by-product of the manufacture of adipic acid has been considered as a cheap source, because otherwise it has to be treated as waste. 3 The most active and selective catalyst is Fe/ZSM-5 zeolite, 2–11 but the strong catalyst deactivation due to formation of carbonaceous side-products remains an obstacle in its commercialization. 2,3,7–9 As these deposits can be easily removed by calcination, 7,8 the process can be operated in a cyclic manner. Yet, the economic viability is hampered by the relatively strong deactivation of the catalyst. 1 Thus, increasing the catalytic activity or decreasing the rate of deactivation remains a research goal. Steam-calcination of Fe/ZSM-5 substantially improves the catalytic activity and the lifetime before regeneration is required. 10 The effect of steaming is understood in terms of an increased number of active Fe sites. The creation of mesoporosity in ordinary zeolite crystals strongly improves the catalytic performance in reactions that tend to suffer from diffusion limitations. A relevant example is the creation of mesoporosity in HZSM-5 with trace amounts of iron by desilication. 17 Such a catalyst has a lower activity than Fe/ZSM-5 materials. Herein, we report that a hierarchical Fe/ZSM-5 catalyst outperforms an optimized steam-calcined Fe/ZSM-5 zeolite catalyst: the turnover number to phenol of the hierarchical zeolite is almost four times higher after 24 h on stream. The high accessibility of the small microporous domains renders the zeolite more resistant to deactivation by coke deposits. In our approach, we added


Ultrafiltration becomes more popular in drinking and wastewater treatment today. It used individually or as a pretreatment for reverse osmosis. Practical experience has shown a high efficiency of suspended particles and microbial contamination removal with ultrafiltration method, in contrast to the removal of organic substances that is usually below the stated. It is an essential problem for water treatment of rivers of Dnieper basin. Their main characteristic and problem as well is high content of humic substances (HS) (5-16 mg O 2 /l). Water with high level of HS is unfit for using in manufacturing processes and for drinking purposes without any treatment. It has shown that membrane surface modification and combination of physical-chemical methods with ultrafiltration can increase the efficacy of HS removal and reduce their negative impact on the membrane surface.


ObjectiveTo observe ambulatory blood pressure changes of essential hypertension patients treated with benazepril hydrochloride(lotension).MethodSeventy-two cases with essential hypertension were treated with lotensin(5~20 mg/day) for 3 weeks,and ambulatory blood pressure monitoring was conducted before and after treatment.ResultsTreatment with lotension resulted in a decrease in T∶P ratio,both systolic pressure and diastolic pressure respectively 50%.Lotension didn′t influence the circadian rhythm,and the incidence of adverse effect was low.ConclusionLotension can steadily control 24h blood pressure,result in significant BP reductions and efficiently protect the functions of heart,brain and kidney.


Researchers have posited that larger, denser metropolitan areas have important consumption advantages. We examine this using Cragg two-part hurdle and ordinary least square (OLS) regression models employing data from the American Time Use Survey. We test whether: 1) large metropolitan area residents participate in more out-of-home activities because these activities are more plentiful, richer, and/or easier to access, 2) large metropolitan areas have lower travel times because of higher densities, and 3) activities in larger metropolitan areas have more positive associations with subjective well-being than those in smaller places. We reject all three hypotheses. Metropolitan area population size is largely unrelated to time spent outside the home, excluding travel. Large-metropolitan-area residents participate in more arts and entertainment activities and eat and drink out more often, but they socialize, volunteer, and care for others outside the home less. Larger metropolitan areas are associated with dramatically more travel time. We find no evidence that large metropolitan area activities contribute any more or less to life satisfaction or affect than activities in smaller places. We also find that life satisfaction does not covary with metropolitan area size. In sum, living in a large metropolitan area may primarily involve a tradeoff of (travel) time for money (higher wages), with little net change in welfare.


This article adds the Spanish grid code to the previously published works about the comparison of international regulations for connection of wind turbines to the network. Specifically, is focused on the reactive power generated by wind turbines when they are submitted to a voltage dip. Taken advantage of the voltage dips field tests carried out to the GAMESA G80 wind turbines, several definitions of reactive power are calculated and the results obtained for two representative voltage dip tests are presented: a three-phase and a phase-to-phase voltage dip


The goal of the Framework Convention on Climate Change is to stabilize the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere at levels which avoid dangerous an thropogenic interference with the climate (United Nations, 1992). No consensus currently exists with regard to a concentration that can be regarded as "safe," and the issue remains subject to debate, fuelled at least in part by the enormous difficulties in predicting and valuing the consequences of climate change. The attraction of efficient instruments for achieving atmospheric stabilization is great, and most of the analysis to date has focused on either tradable permits or taxes as the instruments of implementation (Hourcade et al., 1996). Clearly, efficient instruments are a first-best alternative for achieving any emissions mitigation objective. But efficient instruments have their own difficulties, not the least of which is the income distribution problem. The purpose of this paper is to examine the performance and cost characteristics of an alternative, technology based, policy instrument, which might serve as a "backstop" in the event that efficient policy instruments could not be employed. Such instruments are of interest because they potentially offer a strategy for stabilizing the atmosphere, while requiring relatively minor financial transfers and allowing economic development to proceed. They accomplish these goals at the expense of economic efficiency, although our study shows the effect of the economic inefficiency is limited to approximately 30%. On the other hand, a technology strategy approach can offer wide technological flexibility in meeting the performance standard. The backstop protocol we study here requires new powerplant and coal-based synthetic fuels capacity to scrub carbon from the waste gas stream in Annex I nations, and provides a mechanism by which non-Annex I nations can graduate into obligations. We examine this protocol under two alternative reference energy futures: one dominated by coal and the other dominated by unconventional oil and gas.


To solve the security control problem when extraneous personnel maintains the substation, this paper summarizes the weakness of present situation in substation maintenance, and puts forward a new technical solution. It develops a device that limits IP and ports through which the laptop accesses network by in-built firewall, and captures screen information with the display interface. This paper analyzes the feasibility of the scheme, explores modules of apparatus which the newmethod required, and expounds function principles.We draw a conclusion from experiments that the apparatus is able to block unauthorized access, and has high compatibility to the maintenance of various intelligent devices in substation.


The purpose of article is to pay attention of experts in defectology, first of all the teachers-logopedists, and school psychologists and experts in the psychological-pedagogical centers of help and correction, on necessity of socionical knowledge for achievement of more comfortable and productive training on the program inclusive education. Article is devoted to diagnostics problems, including socionical, at children with the limited possibilities of health.


Over the last several decades, digital communications technologies combined with integrated circuit scaling trends have enabled the microelectronic industry to dramatically scale the bandwidth of high-loss networks such as DSL and Ethernet. These channel-limited applications depend on sophisticated equalization techniques to push well beyond the uncompensated bandwidth of the system. And in the last two decades, short-distance wireline links used for chip-to-chip communication applications have enjoyed equally impressive data rate scaling??from a few hundred megabits per second per lane to multigigabits per second in products with volumes in the billions of units.


For over twenty years the Road Safety and Motor Vehicle Regulation Directorate of Transport Canada has maintained a national network of university-based teams. These teams conduct investigations of real-world collisions in support of the Directorate's safety programmes. Recently, the work required of these teams has been redefined to create a programme of directed studies which are focused on specific safety issues. Currently, three directed studies are in progress: collisions involving air bag deployments, moderately-severe side impacts, and heavy truck crashes. The conduct of these studies is discussed in the light of Transport Canada's policies, and potential changes to the motor vehicle safety standards. (A)


A common strategy in economic modeling is to try to manipulate Bellman equations into advantageous forms without breaking their link to optimality. In this paper we provide a theoretical framework and a set of results that transform this art into a science. In particular, we (a) clarify the link between such manipulations and optimality of the resulting policies, including when this link breaks down, (b) establish a connection between contractivity of the modified Bellman operators and Bellman's principle of optimality, (c) use manipulations of the Bellman equation to extend the set of algorithms for obtaining optimal policies, (d) extend the set of models that can be transformed to include recursive preferences and other forms of nonseparability, (e) find new applications of these manipulations and use them to obtain new results, and (f) use these methods to simplify the Bellman equation in a range of recent applications.


Compared to the traditional thermal spray and other coating fabrication techniques,cold spray has some unique characteristics that sprayed coatings can retain the initial powder microstructure.In cold spray process,the kinematics parameters of the particles are difficult to observe and analyze,because they can attain a super high velocity in the nozzle,in addition with their low temperature and small size.The simulation models of the propellant gas and the particles properties in the nozzle are summarized.It is pointed out that employing mathematical simulation methods to create models about the interaction between the particles and propellant gas can be used to design the geo-metry structure of the nozzle and optimize the spraying parameters.It is considered as a valuable supplementary tool to illustrate the deposition mechanism as well as decrease the experiment cost and promote the coating quality.


Literary study is undergoing a silent revolution, with its objectives, subjects, approaches being challenged and redefined. This article, in four different sections, reviews and assesses these changes to evaluate the impacts they have made on the literary studies in Taiwan. In Section one, I try to comprehend the recent turn taken by American comparatists and Americanists towards either World Literature or Transnationalism as an effort simply to resolve disciplinary crises. In Section two, I review the propositions made by postcolonial scholars, specifically Edward Said, Homi Bhabha, and Gayatri Spivak, as they embraced or proposed such concepts as worldliness, the "worldly," the "planetary" in an attempt to flesh out their collective desire to put into practice an ethical vision of the aporetic "yet-to-come." With this notion of the "yet-to-come" in mind, I then analyze, in the final section, the ambivalence embedded within the rhetorical structure of two contemporary novels of (un)growth to substantiate my argument that the recent turn towards "world literature" is about conjuring a world that is yet-to-come, uncertain and hesitant as it is, through a "worlding" project in the sense defined by Spivak. Less canon-making than a practice of close reading, the "worlding" of literary studies demands us to read, translate, and retranscribe those difficult moments in the text closely and attentively so that, through this encounter with the "double-bind" in which aesthetics and politics are trapped, we may come to recognize ourselves otherwise, while bring into presence a newness of the world.


Teacher competency standards are the main guidelines for assessing the initial academic qualification of teachers. The basis for the assessment of teacher performance is the sustainable development of their professional career. This research reassesses teachers' competency standards in vocational high schools (VHSs) to sufficiently explain the competence in teaching tailored to the needs of the industrial world. This research aims at an assessment structure established on the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) to assess such competency standards for VHS teachers steadily to assess such competency standards for VHS teachers. The assessment model is classified into four critical criteria, namely: 1) pedagogical competency, 2) professional competency, 3) vocational competency, and 4) technological competency. These criteria are further accumulated into 21 sub-criteria to gauge the efficacy of teacher competency standards. This finding shows that the pedagogical competencies are the most important in this research. Thus, this study's novelty is seen in developing two key aspects: a more detailed explanation of sub-competencies and competencies to enhance Indonesia's skilled teachers' competency levels.


The projection operator method developed in I to discuss the dangling bond states is used to give a rigorous argument on the energy bounds for the electronic states of hydrogenated bonds in amorphous silicon. Two types of model for a-Si:H are considered: In the first model, each dangling bond is terminated by connecting single hydrogen atom (SiH model), and in the second model a broken bond at random is filled by two hydrogen atoms (SiHHSi model). For both models, it is concluded from analysis of energy bounds that the energy gap is always increased due to the passivation of dangling bond by hydrogenation.


his research is a result of the GEOFIRE (CGL2012-38655-C04-01) and POSTFire (CGL2013-47862-C2-1-R) projects, funded by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness.


The inability to convey contextual knowledge has proven to be harmful to the development of trust in virtual teams. Awareness systems have been offered as a way to provide contextual information and promote trust. However, awareness systems allow both team members and supervisors the ability to monitor virtual team members. Monitoring is a form of control and the relationship between trust and control is not well understood. Prior literature indicates that control can both impact the development of trust and alter the effects of trust. In some cases, control helps, hurts, or has no effect on the development and influence of trust. This position paper argues that a clear understanding of control and trust is needed to fully comprehend the implications of awareness systems. Author


Over the years since the discovery of the virus, and in many occasions, experts have changed their minds about their identity. At first they were considered ...


Physically separating a mobile phone device having various application processing functions and network data processing device and the application data processing device. This puts the small and light terminal processing unit for processing a voice call and data call, and a higher user interface and high-level specification application the application data processing unit required to configure a physically separate terminal Te, it defines the communication between them.


This paper deals with the problem of provisioning arms and ammunition by the Spanish state during the XvII and XvIII centuries according to the types of entrepreneur (the asentista or contractor) involved and the characteristics of the organisation developed. First, there is a formal description of the arms industrial sector (cannons, ammunition, muskets), touching such aspects as industrial organisation and the technology implied. The body of the paper goes on the figure of the asentista in each subsector: who were them, if they had other business, what were the characteristics of the contracts and the real relation with the Administration, if they developed family links in their business, and so on. Up to 1760, contracting by the state was dominant, but afterwards the policy was changed in several sectors so the state became a manufacturer state, owner of his factories. The last part of the paper focuses on this period, looking at the circumstances and consequences of that change of policy on provisioning and on the entrepreneurs.


This lecture presents the comparison between the dislocation syndrome stages and scores of Coma Glasgow Scale at patients with supratentorial brain compression in the case of severe head injury (HI). The significantly more high probability of dislocation signs increase in dynamics at patients with more expressed stages of dislocation syndrome observed at the moment of initial examination was detected. Some features of treatment strategy at patients with supratentorial brain compression are discussed.


The present study focuses on the analysis of the professional identity and the gender identity of the workers of a traditional industry. The main objective is to demonstrate that the participation of the subjects in certain productive processes generates in them a specific identity that is manifested in its daily social reality, through some shared cultural features such as professional jargon, the perception of the time, specific knowledge, skills, the form of interpreting part of their world, work relations, etc.. Also it is confirmed, through a case of empirical study, how the ideological representations in relation to the gender in our society make up the identity of the female gender, at the same time as they become one of the fundamental factors in the structuring of this production process. PALABRAS CLAVE | KEYWORDS profesion | sexo | genero sexual y social | ideologia femimista | professional identity | gender and society | women's gender | feminism


The purpose of this tutorial is to introduce the basic concepts of simulation, specifically discrete event simulation. Reasons for using simulation as a tool for decision making are presented, along with the process of conducting a simulation study. Types of available simulation software and statistical problems and considerations in simulation are also reviewed.


The clinical effectiveness of oseltamivir for the prevention of influenza in residents of long-term care facilities compared to no prophylaxis is unclear. The evidence we identified is inconclusive due to limitations in the quality of studies.
We did not find any evidence on the safety of oseltamivir for preventing influenza in long-term care facilities.
We did not find any studies on the clinical effectiveness or safety of oseltamivir prophylaxis in long-term care facilities compared to placebo.


Objective:To investigate the effect of chimeric anti-CD20 antibody Fab′fragment on apoptosis, apoptosis related genes expression, and intracellular Ca 2+ concentration of B lymphoma cells. Methods: The proliferation of human B lymphoma cell line Raji was measured by MTT assay. The release of cytochrome c and expression of bcl-2/bax was detected by Western blotting. Apoptosis of Raji cells was determined by FACS analysis. Intracellular calcium concentration was measured by fluorescence method. Results:Chimeric anti-CD20 antibody Fab′fragment inhibited proliferation of Raji cells in a dose-dependent!manner, slightly down-regulated bcl-2 protein expression, but significantly up-regulated bax expression. Cytochrome c was released and intracellular Ca 2+ concentration was increased. Conclusion:Chimeric anti-CD20 antibody Fab′ fragment induced apoptosis of Raji cells which was related with changes of bcl-2/bax, release of cytochrome c, and increase in intracellular Ca 2+ concentration.


We have proposed a 2-bit/cell split gate flash memory device with double gate structure. As well as the separation of the charge storage nodes physically, a supplementary select gate is appended to enhance the programming efficiency by the source-side injection (SSI). Conventional split gate device operation requires 3 gates. In this paper, we show that a device which requires only 2 gates is able to perfectly behave like common split gate, by using a numerical simulator.


The present invention relates to a low shrinkage industrial yarn and a process for preparing a polyester creep, creep Preparation of polyester chips viscous creep and low shrinkage polyester industrial yarn comprising; polyester by solid-phase polycondensation tackifier, and then blended with the fluorine-containing epoxy compound obtained by reacting the high viscosity polyester chips creep; creep resulting polyester chips metered viscous, extruded, cooled, oiled, stretching, heat-setting and winding creep made of low shrinkage polyester industrial yarn. The resulting creep low shrinkage polyester industrial yarn having a certain creep resistance, hydrolysis resistance and performance stability, prolonged use in high temperature and high humidity environment, plastic packaging, waterproof fabric, ropes, cables, and there are great prospects for marine areas with fiber.


Greenhouse gaseous (GHG) emissions increment is driven by economic and population growth which are getting higher. This has led to the increase of atmospheric concentration of CO2. Due to this situation, carbon capture utilisation and storage (CCUS) seems to be promising approach to reduce emission of CO2. Among all the carbon utilisation strategies available, methanation is promising. In the perspective of integrated power plant with methanation, the process is appropriate and relatively simpler due to availability of hydrogen as its main constituent. Prior to the goal of abatement of greenhouse gases emission, hydrogen production by using renewable energy technology which is electrolysis seems to be one of the solution towards future energy security. This study performed a techno economic assessment of integrated power plant with methanation with a case study in Iskandar Malaysia. From the economic assessment results, highest profit is generated when PEM is used in electrolysis process and CIS is used as solar panel due to its high efficiency and low capital expenditure (CAPEX). This cost competitiveness can be enhanced selling O2 by product produced from electrolysis process and recycling the catalyst for methanation process. Further studies can be extended by including variation of parameter for a better optimisation superstructure.


This article investigates the trajectories of a small group of Albanian veterans of the Spanish Civil War after leaving Spain, in early 1939. By focusing on the way in which Albanian veterans reached the European resistance movements between 1941 and 1943, we both enhance and problematize our understanding of the European resistance movement as a transnational phenomenon with its roots in the Spanish Civil War. This article aims to contribute further to a better understanding of the longue durée of the anti-fascist fight between 1936 and the end of the Second World War.


TSP modelis widely used,its solution strategy research is significant in theory and practice.Based on the characteristics of TSP and the minimum spanning tree generation process on undirected complete graph,a heuristic algorithm is designed to solve TSP.The basic idea of the heuristic algorithms is to construct closed loop base on the different minimum spanning tree on undirected complete graph with heuristic methods,the last to take the shortest closed loop as the optimal solution.Use C language to design the algorithm,and analyze the performance,time complexity,at the same time,a great deal case is tested.The simulation results show that the algorithm designed can effectively obtain the optimal solution of TSP.


Treatment and disposal options by Shell Offshore Inc. were shown to reduce effectively NORM waste volumes. Options included scale prediction and inhibition programs, chemical dissolver treatments, minimization through dewatering, waste stream segregation, and on-line vessel cleaning operations. Offshore subsurface injection of NORM waste by the producing operator has been demonstrated for the past four years to be a cost-effective alternative to commercial-site disposal.


High-speed time-interleaved analog-to-digital converters (TI-ADCs) are sensitive to timing skew mismatch. Autocorrelation-based background timing skew calibration techniques require small hardware overhead as they rely on the TI-ADC input signal for calibration. However, such techniques suffer from a very long convergence time. This paper proposes a new correlation-based technique that boosts convergence speed by orders of magnitude compared to existing autocorrelation-based techniques. The technique uses a digital window detector and calculates the signal correlation funnction around zero-crossings only. Practical design considerations including thermal noise, clock jitter, quantization and offset mismatch are discussed. Behavioral simulation results for two TI-ADCs with different speeds, resolutions and interleaving factors are presented.


French cooking has been seen as the pinnacle of gastronomy. Food Culture in France provides an accessible tour of haute cuisine but also mainly the everyday food culture that sustains the populace. It illuminates the French way of life as well as showing what the popular cooking shows, such as Julia Child's, were based on. Readers will find the basics discussed in narrative chapters on food history, major foods and ingredients, cooking, typical meals, eating out, and diet and health. The information-packed volume is also indispensable for learning about regional cultivation and specialties that France is so famous for. The French appreciation for seasonal food is illuminated in descriptions of shopping, cooking, and eating habits. All students of French culture and language and Francophiles will benefit from the overview presented here.


Performance and analysis of the bridge and bridgeless type of power factor improvement method of boost converter has been presented in this paper. Conventional type of converter has higher switching and conduction losses, low power factor, high THD, and less efficiency. A bridgeless Boost converter with PFC improves power quality and has higher efficiency than other traditional, bridge boost PFC converter. Passive filters used in a bridgeless PFC boost rectifier help in reducing THD and increasing a Power factor at the source. Complete analysis of Boost full-bridge converter is done in this paper. Bridgeless type of PFC boost converter has low line current flows from source to load, one semiconductor device, improving efficiency and reduces losses in comparison to the conventional bridge type of boost converter. MATLAB simulation result has been presented which indicate that Power Factor is nearer to unity.


The potential of big data has exceeded the expectations of most organisations. However, despite its vast importance and application, some important aspects of big data remain the subject of debate. One of the most sensitive and worrisome issues for big data is the privacy of personal information. The purpose of this paper is to explore how the major theories of philosophical ethics may be used as a referential framework for conceptualising the evolution of the concept of privacy of personal information in the big data era. We identify a gap in big data research and suggest that while privacy has been extensively explored in different settings, it has not been sufficiently studied relative to the social and technological changes in the big data era. We attempt to fill this gap by proposing that the study of privacy be closely tied to the evolution of the social structure.


Lev Ozerov (1914–1996) was born in Kiev. He studied in Moscow, then worked as a frontline journalist after the German invasion. After the liberation of Kiev in 1943, Ilya Ehrenburg commissioned him to write an article for The Black Book (a planned documentary account of the Shoah on Soviet soil) about the massacre at Babi Yar, a ravine just outside the city. In the course of six months, the Nazis shot a hundred thousand people, nearly all of them Jews. Ozerov also wrote a long poem about Babi Yar, published in early 1946. Beginning in 1943, Ozerov taught in the Translation Faculty at the Gorky Literary Institute, himself translating poetry from Yiddish, Hebrew, and Ukrainian (languages he knew well), Lithuanian (which he could read), and from other languages of the Soviet Union with the help of a crib. He also wrote many books of literary criticism and did much to enable the publication of writers who had suffered or perished under Stalin. He was the first editor to publish Zabolotsky (his translation of The Lay of Igor's Campaign) on his return from the Gulag in 1946. Ozerov has yet to win due recognition. His finest book, Portraits without Frames (published after his death) comprises fifty accounts, told in a variety of tones and with deceptive simplicity, of meetings with important figures, many—though not all—from the literary world. One poem tells how Yevgenia Taratuta, an editor of children's literature, kept her sanity during brutal interrogations by reciting Pushkin and Mayakovsky to herself. A second describes Ozerov's first meeting with Zabolotsky on his return from the Gulag. The poem ends with Zabolotsky's daughter telling Ozerov, decades later, how later that day her father had said to her: "I had thought I was forgotten, but people still seem to remember me." Remarkably, Ozerov is able to write with compassion not only about gifted and heroic poets like Zabolotsky but also about such writers as Fadeyev, a Soviet literary boss who shot himself when Stalin's crimes, and his own complicity, began to be exposed under Khrushchev. Among the subjects of other "portraits" are Babel; Platonov; Shostakovich; Tatlin; the ballet dancer Galina Ulanova; and Kovpak, a Ukrainian partisan leader. One poem tells of Slutsky's generosity in making his room available to couples who had nowhere to sleep together; one evening he returns home to find a note: "Boris, /you are a great humanist, / and the heavenly powers /will reward you. The sins of others, /sins that are not yours, /will bring you blessings."


An experimental study to find the effect of processing parameters for self-healing microcapules is performed. These microcapsules can be applied to accomplish the healing of delamination damage in woven E-glass/epoxy composites. This paper introduces the self-healing concept and presents a method for solving the microcapsule size and shape. Additionally, processing parameters are varied during the formation of microcapsules and these capsules are observed through optical microscope. To obtain thermogravimetric(TG) curve for the manufactured microcapsules, TGA tests are executed. From these results, the best processing conditions for the formation of capsules are found as follows: (1) temperature of solution , (2) potential of hytdrogen(pH) 3.5ppm, and (3) agitation 500~600rpm.


In a multicentre phase III trial 146 previously untreated patients with high grade non‐Hodgkin's lymphomas stage II–IV were randomized to receive either four cycles of CHOEP (cyclophosphamide 750 mg/m2 iv d 1, doxorubicin 50 mg/m2 iv d 1, vincristine 2 mg iv d 1, etoposide 100 mg/m2 iv d 3–5, prednisolone 100 mg po d 1–5) (treatment arm A), or four cycles of chemotherapy with hCHOP (cyclophosphamide 1200 mg/m2 iv d 1, doxorubicin 40 mg/m2 iv d 1 + 2, vincristine 2 mg iv d 1, prednisolone 100 mg po d 1–5) alternating with IVEP (ifosfamide 1500 mg/m2 iv d 1–5, vindesine 3 mg/m2 iv d 1, etoposide 120 mg/m2 iv d 3–5, prednisolone 100 mg po d 1–5) (treatment arm B). After four cycles of chemotherapy an involved field irradiation with a total dose of 35 Gy was given to all patients in complete or partial remission without persisting extranodal disease. A complete response (CR) was seen in 124/146 patients (86 per cent) with 87 per cent CR in arm A versus 83 per cent CR in arm B. During a median follow‐up of 17 months (range 2–40) 30 patients relapsed (16 patients arm A, 14 patients arm B). The overall survival at 40 months is projected to be 71 per cent versus 70 per cent for arm A and B, respectively. Disease‐free survival is projected to be 68 per cent in arm A and 59 per cent in arm B at 40 months. So far, the differences in CR, survival and disease‐free survival are not statistically significant. Toxicity of all regimens was acceptable, however, with a significant morbidity and one treatment‐related death in patients > 70 years after hCHOP. Main side effects were mild nausea/vomiting, leukopenia and fever/infection associated with leukopenia.


Anthropogenic load on aquatic ecosystems leads to increased inputs of heavy metals, which can have a toxic effect on aquatic organisms. Some of the most appropriate objects for research are short-cycle fish species. This article considers the results of studies on the adaptive reactions of the stone moroko Pseudorasbora parva (Temminck et Schlegel, 1846) to Mn, Pb, Ni heavy metal ions, which exceeded the reference values in the reservoir by 1.7, 1.5 and 2.0 times, respectively. Changes in morphological parameters of the blood and histocytological pattern of the hepatopancreas of the experimental species under the influence of toxicants, as well as changes in biochemical parameters, were determined. It was noted that the influence of Mn caused pathological changes in the form of poikilocytosis. The morphometric parameters of erythrocytes (the cell area and the nuclear area) reached 67.48 ± 0.67 and 13.97 ± 0.22 µm2 respectively (4.0% and 13.8% less compared to the control). The influence of Ni resulted in an increased number of leukocytes and immature forms of erythrocytes. The area of erythrocytes was 0.9% smaller than that of the control group, and the area of the nucleus was 4.5% smaller than in the control. The effect of Pb as well as Mn consisted in poikilocytosis. The area of red blood cells and nuclei was smaller by 6.5% and 8.3%, respectively, compared to the control. The percentage of white blood cells in fish exposed to Ni and Pb tended to increase. In the experiment with nickel, the percentage of white blood cells was 10.2% of the number of formed elements; in the experiment with lead – 11.3%; with manganese – 6.1%, while in the control, the number of white blood cells compared to the total number of formed elements of fish was only 1.2%. Cytometric studies have revealed that there are significant differences in the shape, size, and location of hepatocytes in different experimental fish. The structural components of the liver for histological specimens were stained differentially with different intensities and different colours. The hepatocytes on histological specimens of the liver of the stone moroko exposed to Ni and Mn ions did not have clearly defined boundaries, there was a large number of destroyed cells, which indicates the toxic effect of these heavy metals. The hepatocytes exposed to Pb had the largest area of cells and nuclei and the highest nuclear-cytoplasmic ratio is typical for hepatocytes under the influence of Mn. The nuclei had the largest size and occupied 12.7% of the internal contents of the cells. It is shown that under the impact of the studied concentrations of Mn, Ni and Pb, lactate dehydrogenase activity increased by 1.22, 1.14 and 1.48 times compared to the control, respectively. In contrast, there was a 3.27-fold decrease in succinate dehydrogenase activity under the impact of Mn. Besides that, the activity of the enzyme decreased by 1.48 and 1.68 times under the action of Ni and Pb. Subsequently, we found an increase in the activity of alkaline phosphatase in muscle tissue by 3.25–3.94 times under the influence of the studied toxicants. Muscle protein levels under the impact of Mn were 1.14 times lower than in the control, the most distinct decrease in protein was found under the impact of Ni (1.53 times). The obtained data of physiological and biochemical reactions of the stone moroko to the influence of heavy metals provide an opportunity to predict changes in the species composition of fish fauna under conditions of excessive toxic pollution of ecosystems.


A pot experiment was conducted during the winter season of 2006, on 2 cvs. of periwinkle (Catharanthus roseus L.), namely "rosea" (Pink) and "alba" (White), to investigate their performance in terms of growth, yield, and alkaloid production, as well as other physiological and biochemical attributes. The plants were harvested at 60, 90, and 150 days after planting (DAP) and the yield was recorded at 210 DAP. The results showed that "rosea" was superior to "alba" in plant height, total and individual leaf area, and fresh and dry weights at 90 DAP. Net photosynthetic rate, stomatal conductance, carbonic anhydrase activity and nitrate reductase activity were also higher in "rosea" than in "alba" at 60 and 90 DAP. Likewise, nitrogen content in leaf was also higher in "rosea". At harvest, "rosea" registered higher number of pods, number of seeds, and seed-yield per plant than did "alba". Furthermore, alkaloid content was found to be maximum in leaves at 90 DAP and in roots at 60, 90, and 150 DAP in "rosea" compared to "alba". The contents of alkaloids, viz., vincristine and vinblastine, were also found to be maximum at 90 DAP in both cultivars. Thus, "rosea" excelled over "alba" in the overall performance of the plant.


Phragmites communis leaf (PCL) is anisotropic, superhydrophobic and shows a self-cleaning effect. The water contact angle (WCA) values along the vertical and parallel vein directions on PCL are 153° ± 2° and 148° ± 2°, respectively. In contrast, the water sliding angle (WSA) values along the vertical and parallel vein directions for PCL are 12° ± 2° and 7° ± 2°, respectively. The epidermal wax makes the leaves intrinsically hydrophobic. The microstructure of the PCL surface shows sub-millimetre-, micron- and nanometre-scale structures. The sub-millimetre ridge structure is the main reason for the anisotropy of the leaves. The micron-scale papillae structure has a strong hydrophobic enhancement effect, and the nanoscale sheet structure is the key factor in achieving a stable Cassie state, as well as superhydrophobicity and self-cleaning activities. PCL-like polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) samples fabricated by template transfer technology exhibited the sub-millimetre ridge structure and micron-scale papillae from the natural PCL; they also show obvious anisotropy and strong hydrophobicity and have a certain self-cleaning effect. The WCA and WSA values along the vertical and parallel vein directions on PCL are 146° ± 2°, 23° ± 2°, 142° ± 2° and 19° ± 2°, respectively. The preparation of a biomimetic PCL surface has broad application prospects in micro-fluidic control and the non-destructive transmission of liquids.


Described the problems of the wiring method in traditional allotment net and the line-concentrating method's advantage. Introduced the way of judging user corresponding cable by leaking electricity level over outer wiring method without entering house.