In this paper, we study a cognitive radio network comprising a pair of sources and multiple relays operating in non-overlapping bands in the radio spectrum. We address the problem of deciding the transmission powers of the sources and relays so that the sum of the sources' transmission capacities is maximized. Due to the non-overlapping nature of the relays' signals, the problem can be represented as a constrained optimization over two variables, but such formulation results in a non-convex optimization. We transform this problem to an equivalent optimization problem over three variables for which the monotonic optimization (MO) can be employed. We discuss an algorithm that is guaranteed to terminate with an ε-optimal solution.


A simple and regioselective synthesis of 2-chloro-3-formylquinoline [1] by the cyclisation of N-aryacetamide has been reported by the Vilsmeier Haack reaction/cyclisation. 2-Chloro-3-formylquinoline, the formyl group shows condensation with variety of haloanilines & hydrazones and forming schiff bases N-[(E)-(2-chloroquinolin-3yl)methylidene]anilides [2a-e] which are further subjected to fluorescence study.


Character building is the main focus of Curriculum 2013. However, this effort is almost replaced by the program of mental revolution "relaunched" by Joko Widodo in his campaign and it has been one of his programs today. Arts education is often underestimated; in fact, it has a major role in shaping the character of the nation. Therefore, this research aims to identify problems in character building of Indonesia's human resource through arts education. Research findings show that teachers' concept on art education in elementary schools is one of the factors that influence the success of the Cultural Arts learning at the elementary level. Currently, most teachers view that art education includes activities to make students sing, draw, and/or make crafts at early age. This understanding is needed to be revolutionized as Curriculum 2013 mandates changes in concepts and patterns of learning for the good characters of the next generation, such as independent, good natured, and ready to face the future. Furthermore, it describes and identified the problems encountered in learning the art of music in elementary school, which underlies the need for arts education in mental revolution of the young generation as a potential future leaders. Keywords: art education problems, character building, elementary school, Curriculum 2013


Abstract. Urban residential district landscape water pollution status and pollution reasons are discussed in this paper. Against the features of small area, easy pollution, limited self-purification capacity of residential district landscape water, a series of prevention and control of water pollution of the water body are described. The management and protection measures, the treatment technology of slightly polluted water and the control technology of heavy pollution are advanced in detail.


Michael Reynolds' impressive new study recounts the grinding Russo-Ottoman struggle in Anatolia and the Caucasus during the Great War that ultimately contributed to both empires' collapse. More important, Reynolds's account reframes radically and persuasively many longstanding assumptions about the relationship between the war and imperial collapse. Questioning the longstanding axiom that both states fell victim to modern nationalisms that sundered outdated imperial regimes, he traces their "...


Although a considerable amount of ecological information is known about interactions between Depressaria species and their apiaceous/asteraceous host plants, this information has lacked a phylogenetic context; such a context is important in understanding the evolutionary history and phylogenetic trajectory of plant/insect interactions in general. Accordingly, we undertook an examination of the generic phylogeny of North American Depressariinae, using morphological characters of the larvae, pupae, and adults. Two different parsimony analyses yielded the same tree topology, with a consistency index over 88 and retention index between 90 and 91. This tree provided no evidence of congruent cladogenesis in this group. Host shifts between unrelated host plant families, particularly reversions to ancestral host plant groups, are abundant. Association with plants in Apiaceae and Asteraceae has apparently led to rapid speciation; the two most species-rich taxa, Depressaria Haworth and Agonopterix HA¼bner, are dominated by species that feed on these families. Because Agonopterix and Depressaria are not sister groups, the Apiaceae must have been colonized independently at least twice by Depressariinae. The best explanation for the pattern of host association seen for genera of depressariine elachistids is that of sequential colonization of related plant groups. This finding is consistent with other findings to date—that congruent cladogenesis is a phenomenon most likely to occur within genera, not at the family or subfamily level


In the 1980s, most of the rigorous work in information security was focused on operating systems, but the 1990s saw a strong trend toward network and distributed system security. The difficulty of having an impact in securing operating systems was part of the motivation for this trend. There were two major obstacles. First, the only operating systems with significant deployment were large proprietary systems. Superimposing a security model and gaining assurance that the implementation enforced the model seemed intractable [6]. Second, the prime security model [2] was oriented toward preventing disclosure in multi-level secure systems [1], and this required ensuring that even Trojan horse software exploiting covert channels in the system's implementation could compromise information only at a negligible rate. This was ultimately found to be unachievable [10]. These obstacles seem more tractable now. Open-source secure operating systems are now available, which are compatible with existing applications software, and hence attractive for organizations wanting more secure platforms for publicly accessible servers. Security Enhanced Linux (SELinux) in particular offers well thought out security services [4, 5]. Moreover, a less stringent model of security, not focused on covert channels, is now relevant. Commonly, a network server must service unauthenticated clients (as in retail electronic commerce), or must provide its own authentication and access control for its clients (as in a database server). Sensitive resources must reside on the same server so that transactions can complete. The programs manipulating the resources directly must be trustworthy; direct manipulation by Trojan horses is not our concern. The core goals are protecting the confidentiality and integrity of these resources. To preserve integrity, each causal chain of interactions leading from untrusted sources to sensitive destinations must traverse a program considered trusted to filter transactions. Dually, to preserve confidentiality, causal chains leading from sensitive sources to untrusted destinations must traverse a program trusted to filter outbound data. The trustworthy program determines what data can be released to the untrusted destination. In both cases, the security goal is an information flow goal. Each says that information flowing between particular


In this paper we prove strong convergence theorems for approximating the xed point of Lipschitzian semigroup and innite family of nonexpansive mappings with respect to nite family of sequence { i;n} m; 1 i=1;n=1 of left strong regular invariant means and Meir-Keeler type contraction in uniformly convex and smooth Banach spaces. Our result extend and improve many recent results.


In this paper, a gas sensing technique based on quartz-crystal-tuning-fork-enhanced spectroscopy (QCTFES) and wavelength modulation spectroscopy (WMS) is reported. To explore the capabilities of this technique, a near-infrared (NIR) diode laser emitting at 1,653 nm and a QCTF-based photoelectric detector are developed for measuring trace methane (CH4). For signal processing, a fast and effective signal analysis method based on the fast Fourier transform (FFT) algorithm is proposed for extracting the absorption intensity signal of the QCTFES-WMS, instead of a lock-in amplifier used for harmonic signal demodulation in traditional QCTF-based detection techniques. Primary laboratory results indicate that an excellent linearity response of CH4 concentration and optical power levels are founded, and a detection limit of 64 ppm is achieved with a 1-s averaging time, which can be further improved to 9 ppm at an optimal integral time of 250 s. Improvements in sensitivity and detectivity can be significantly achieved by using laser sources with higher output power. Compared to traditional WMS technique-based semiconductor photodetectors, the room-temperature QCTF-based WMS shows significant advantages of super-broadband wavelength response, much cheap and tiny.


We study the LP Dirichlet problem for the Stokes system in Lipschitz domains. Optimal estimates are obtained when the dimension n = 3. In the case of n > 4, we establish a weak estimate of solutions for certain range of p.


The financial markets of the lesser developed countries of the world offer attractive investment opportunities for pension plans, mutual funds and other institutional investors. Here is the first book to describe how to manage a portfolio of emerging market securities for appropriate risk-adjusted returns. Topics include: Valuation; Measures of volatility; Risk management using local derivatives.


According to the severe service conditions of landing gear on carrier based aircraft, a concept and a test method of corrosion impact fatigue were described The corrosion impact fatigue behaviors of AF1410 steel and 300M steel were experimentally investigated, including impact fatigue life, fatigue crack initiation and fatigue crack propagation The decrease in impact fatigue life of 300M steel in 3 5%NaCl solution is greater than that of AF1410 steel, even though they have almost equal impact fatigue life in air The process of fatigue crack initiation and fatigue crack propagation in 300M steel are promoted in saltwater by a localized hydrogen embrittlement mechanism Fatigue crack initiation in AF1410 steel is assisted in the aggressive environment by pitting corrosion occurring at the localized plastic deformation zone Fatigue crack propagation rate of AF1410 steel is not affected by salt aqueous


In this paper we continue to investigate the effective Hamiltonians for the C4v and D2d molecules and consider the case of Z-resonances. There exist C4v and D2d molecules having strong Coriolis resonances between their fundamental bands. These Coriolis resonances can be classified according to the component of angular momentum in Coriolis interaction operator. It is usual practice to take the main symmetry axis as z-axis of molecular- fixed frame. In this case Z-resonances take place between degenerate or nondegenerate vibrational levels.


The economic landscape has changed for the industrialized nations of the world. The most mature nations on the planet have transitioned from agriculture and manufacturing economies to service-based economies. Services constitute more than 75% of industrialized nations' economies. These services are dependent on Information & Communication Technology that is supported by local and global information technology functions or the combination of both. In this paper, we review the modern methods and standards of information technology service management, such as ISO/IEC 20000; emerging pedagogical developments; and alternative approaches to ITSM research.


THE EFFECT ON TYPE OF SERVICES AND SERVICE FACILITIES THAT MUST BE PROVIDED TO SATISFY THE DESIRES AND DEMANDS OF THE DRIVERS OF INTERSTATE AND INTRASTATE TRUCKS ON THE INTERSTATE HIGHWAY SYSTEM IN ARIZONA IS ANALYZED. DATA AND INFORMATION GATHERED FOR THIS STUDY SUPPORT THE PREMISE THAT ALL NECESSARY SERVICES FOR THE TRUCKING INDUSTRY SHOULD BE PROVIDED AT ONE PLACE, UNDER ONE OPERATION. TO INCORPORATE A TRUCK STOP WITH CAFES, RESTAURANT FACILITIES AND OTHER NEEDS OR WANTS OF TRUCKERS IS PURELY AN ECONOMIC MOVE SO THAT ALL THE FACILITIES USE ONE PARKING AREA AND RELATED MANEUVERING ROOM RATHER SEPARATE ONES FOR EACH. TRUCK STOPS WERE SURVEYED AND THE FOUR-DAY INTERVIEW WAS CONDUCTED OF TRUCK DRIVERS AT TWO INSPECTION STATIONS. A QUESTIONNAIRE WAS SENT TO THE MAJOR CARRIERS. PRODUCT PREFERENCE IN TERMS OF A SHARE OF MARKET ANALYSIS WAS ANALYZED FOR THREE TRUCK STOP MARKETS IN TERMS OF GALLONAGE.


This study aims to develop electronic-based module teaching materials on K3LH material and Industrial Work Culture for light vehicle engineering competency competencies in Vocational High Schools by using the Flip PDF Corporate Edition application. This research method was carried out using the Research and Development method using the ADDIE development model, which went through the stages namely: 1) Analysis, 2) Design, 3) Development, 4) Implementation, 5) Evaluation. This stage of testing the feasibility quality of the electronic module was validated by material experts with a percentage value of 94% and media experts at 89%, and reinforced from supporting data for student evaluation of 89%, so that electronic modules were categorized as very suitable for use as learning modules in schools. This effectiveness test is carried out to determine the effect of using the module, then obtained the average pretest test results of 65.47 and 73.00 posttest so that there is an increase in the average value after the treatment is carried out and it is effective. The results lead to the conclusion that there is a difference between the use of electronic modules established with the PDF Corporate Edition flip application on K3LH material and Industrial Work Culture before and after treatment.


A rapid method is described to enable farmers to measure the NO3-N levels in a field simply and cheaply. It involves taking soil cores from the field, kneading them with water in polythene bags, adding the resulting suspensions to test strips of reagent impregnated paper and estimating the intensity of colour that develops. A formula to relate the errors incurred at each step to the overall error of the method was derived. These components of error were estimated and their substitution into the formula enabled the overall errors in using the method to assess nitrate concentrations in different fields to be calculated. The largest component of error was the variation in NO3-N from core to core within a field. The median value over a range of sites was 57%. For a soil with this value the overall standard error in estimating NO3-N concentration was 22% which is similar to that found with the methods of soil analysis currently used for advisory purposes. The increased number of determinations in the rapid method compensated for larger errors in each individual measurement so that the overall error in estimation by rapid and standard methods were both dominated by core to core variability. Measurements of NO3-N concentration in each of 18 different fields by the rapid method were in reasonably good agreement with those made entirely independently by a laboratory procedure.


We investigate the electronic and optical properties of InAs double quantum dots grown on GaAs (001) and laterally aligned along the [110] crystal direction. The emission spectrum has been investigated as a function of a lateral electric field applied along the quantum dot pair mutual axis. The number of confined electrons can be controlled with the external bias leading to clear Coulomb blockade features which we use to identify the emission from neutral and charged exciton complexes. Quantum tunneling of these electrons is proposed to explain the reversed ordering of the trion emission lines as compared to that of excitons in our system.


This paper addresses the problem of estimating the Euclidean transformation relating two rigidly attached reference frames from motion measurements: a problem that is commonly referred to as the Hand-Eye calibration. The motion measurements are often affected by synchronization issues and hardware malfunctions. When using pose sensors, such as Electromagnetic or Inertial Measurement Units, the measurements are often less reliable than those obtained by a traditional robot-link and camera pair. Corrupt measurements, whether due to disturbances, large synchronization mismatches or malfunctions, are considered outliers that ought to be filtered out of the estimation process. While this may be achieved non-deterministically by using Random Sample Consensus, we propose a deterministic, robust and accurate method for solving the Hand-Eye calibration problem despite the presence of large amounts of outliers and high levels of measurement noise. The proposed method is based on a reformulation of this estimation problem as a rank-constrained semi-definite programming problem allowing for robustness to be enforced via an iteratively re-weighted optimization approach.


Objective To investigate the CT image features of lumbar posterior marginal cartilaginous nodes(LPMN).Methods Clinical data of CT images of 85 patients with LPMN in our hospital were retrospectively analyzed.Results Clinical manifestations of 85 patients were lumbar and leg pain,numbness and weakness in both lower extremities including 56 cases of intermittent claudication.By the first CT examination 79 patients were diagnosed as having LPMN,and 6 patients were first misdiagnosed and then were confirmed by rechecking CT or rereading of the film.The herniated nucleus pulposus and bone mass in these patients were excised,and histopathologic findings confirmed the diagnosis of LPMN.Conclusion The main causes of misdiagnosis are irrelevant scanning technology and insufficient understanding of LPMN.To fully understand the specific CT manifestation of LPMN may minimize misdiagnosis rate.


School development planning (SDP) is one outcome of education being managed by modes of management that originate in the corporate world of private enterprise. While the rhetoric indicates strongly that modes of management such as SDP are supportive of efficiency, effectiveness and public accountability, empirical evidence is slight. Provides a case study of SDP in a small rural disadvantaged primary school called Meiki in which SDP has proved to be a rewarding process for staff and has had a positive impact on student outcomes. However, it raises serious questions about the connection between SDP and claims for enhanced efficiency.


Let f(t) = h(t)ebt be a function of critical growth. Under a
suitable assumptionon h, we prove that

 -Au = f(u) in B(R) C R2,
 u= 0 on aB(R),

does not admit a radial solution which changessign for sufficientlysmall R


Recently, some group key transfer protocols are proposed using Shamir's secret sharing, which are claimed to be secure to resist the insider attack and the outsider attack. In fact, some claims are not really true. In this paper, we review the recently proposed protocol by Yuan et al. and the cryptanalysis presented by Olimid, then give the improved version to guarantee the security and low communication cost. Especially, we analyze why the insider adversary can deduce other's long term secret, and give the solution to avoid the insider attack.


The bullwhip effect in a supply chain seriously decreases the operation efficiency of the supply chain. The bullwhip effect can be understood in terms of amplification of information distortion and time lag. The causes are analyzed systemically. Information sharing is an effective countermeasure to depress the bullwhip effect.


To solve the multi-ship interaction problem under the scenario of multi-modal ships, this paper designed a ship Mobile Ad hoc Network (MANET) dominated by an autonomous ship. Foremost, we discussed the development and status of autonomous ships, proposed the inevitability of multi-modal ship scenarios, and analyzed the applicability of ad hoc networks in maritime communication. After that, a ship MANET under the guidance of an autonomous ship was designed, including the system composition, network mode, and network management method. We built the ship MANET connectivity model and analyzed its attributes. In addition, the transmission capacity of the ship as a network node is also analyzed. In conclusion, we believe that the ship MANET is feasible and effective in the scenario of multi-modal ships.


Abstract A laboratory test procedure is described in which the material properties influencing weld heat-affected zone stress-relief cracking are identified. Several 0.5Cr-Mo-V and 2Cr-Mo steels containing known quantities of trace elements are compared using this test procedure and new criteria are developed to assess the experimental data in terms of material susceptibility to cracking. It is shown that trace elements can adversely affect the properties of Cr-Mo- V steels, and this finding is supported by reference to other work. In contrast, 2Cr-Mo steels have a higher general ductility and a faster tempering response than Cr-Mo- V steels and prove to be more tolerant to the presence of impurities. It is concluded that 2Cr-Mo is less susceptible than Cr-Mo- V to weld heat-affected zone stressrelief cracking.


We evaluated storage I/O response time with the SSD tier method and the SSD cache method on a tiered storage having SSD and HDD. The simulation result shows the SSD tier method improves the storage performance in write-intensive and low I/O locality workload with small SSD capacity. The SSD cache method is effective in read-intensive and high I/O locality workload with large SSD capacity. Utilizing both methods simultaneously is effective with write-intensive workload. The storage I/O response time is reduced by up to 28% utilizing both methods simultaneously compared to using the SSD tier method or the SSD cache method separately.


In this paper probe-fed linearly-polarized microstrip antennas on FR4 substrates, designed according to a new efficient strategy, are analyzed. Results for radiation patterns, reflection coefficient magnitude and cross-polarization level are presented and discussed. Comparisons are made with simulated and experimental results for a rectangular microstrip antenna.


Even though cancer is the second leading cause of death globally, a number of open issues persist in cancer treatment, despite the achievements of the field. This review aims at discussing the fundamental role of Imidazolidine derivatives in the industry of cancer treatment. Compelling data from 1996 to 2021 will introduce Imidazolidine derivatives as a relevant tool to modulate cancer progression.


Electrocatalytic oxidation and electrochemical kinetics of simvastatin(SMV) were investigated at sodium dodecyl benzenesulfonate(SDBS) self-assembled monolayers and graphene(RGO) modified carbon paste electrode(SDBS-RGO / CPE).The experimental results showed that SDBS-RGO / CPE showed an excellent electrocatalytic activity towards SMV electrochemical oxidation.The electrochemical kinetic parameters were also determined by cyclic voltammetry(CV) and chronoamperometry(CA).The oxidation peak current of catalytic oxidation of SMV versus its concentration had a good linear relationship in the concentration range of 6.0 × 10-5mol·L-1~ 4.5 × 10-4mol·L-1and the detection limit of 5.0 × 10-6mol·L-1(S/N=3) by square wave voltammetry(SWV).At the same time the supposed method have been applied in the electrochemical quantitative determination of SMV content in commercial tablet samples and the determination results meet the requirement of the quantitative determination.


Even though attention-based end-to-end (E2E) automatic speech recognition (ASR) models have been yielding state-of-the-art recognition accuracy, they still fall behind many of the ASR models deployed in the industry in some crucial functionalities such as online processing and precise timestamps generating. This weakness prevents attention-based E2E ASR models from being applied in several essential speech tasks, such as online speech recognition and keyword searching (KWS). In this paper, we describe our proposed unified attention-based E2E ASR and KWS architecture–ETEH, which supports, in one model, both online and offline ASR decoding modes, thus allowing for precise and reliable KWS. "ETE" stands for attention-based E2E modeling, whereas "H" represents the hybrid gaussian mixture model and hidden Markov model (GMM-HMM). As a combination of both, ETEH is an attention-based E2E ASR architecture which utilizes the frame-wise time alignment (FTA) generated by GMM-HMM ASR models. This FTA is used to better the model in two ways: first, it helps the monotonic attentions of ETEH models to capture more accurate word time stamps, thus resulting in lower latency for online decoding; second, it helps ETEH models to provide accurate and reliable KWS results. Furthermore, we are able to combine both offline and online modes in one ETEH model and establish a concise system by adopt the universal training strategy. ETEH is functional and unique, and to the best of our knowledge, we can hardly find a comparable single attention-based E2E ASR system as the baseline. To evaluate ASR accuracy and latency for ETEH, we use our previously proposed monotonic truncated attention (MTA) based online CTC/attention (OCA) ASR models as baselines. Experimental results show that ETEH ASR models gain significant improvement in ASR latency compared to the baseline. To evaluate KWS performance, we compare ETEH models with CTC-based KWS models. Results demonstrate that our ETEH models achieve significantly better KWS performance compared to the CTC baselines.


In Ireland, the rule of law which required an individual to seal a deed to ensure its valid execution was abolished by s.64(1)(a) of the Land and Conveyancing Law Reform Act 2009 (the "2009 Act").1 From December 1, 2009 a deed shall be validly executed provided it is signed by the individual in the presence of a witness; or it is signed by a person at the individual's direction, given in the presence of a witness; or the individual's signature is acknowledged by him or her in the presence of a witness. The witness must also attest that signature.2 As these new formalities operate only from the commencement date, an interesting question arises in relation to the validity of thousands of deeds executed before December 1, 2009. Many deeds executed since the 1970s bear no obvious evidence of having been sealed (such as a red sticker next to the signature of the grantor) and it could be argued that they have not been validly executed and are therefore legally ineffective. It is perhaps unfortunate, although not in this writer's view critical, that the drafters of the 2009 Act did not take the opportunity, in this particular context, to retrospectively clarify the effectiveness of such deeds. Such an approach was taken by s.64(4) of the 2009 Act, which provides that a deed, "whenever created", has the effect of an indenture, although not indented or expressed to be an indenture. A retrospective curative approach was taken in relation to deeds which did not comply with certain technical requirements which the 2009 Act abolished. For example, s.67(4) provides that a conveyance of unregistered land without words of limitation "executed before commencement" passes the fee simple or the largest estate or interest which the grantor had the power to convey. Also, the abolition of the rule against perpetuities is stated to apply to any interest in property "whenever created". Although these changes in the law operate in respect of older deeds, this retrospectivity is subject to certain limitations designed to protect a person who has relied on the defect in the deed to their detriment, or where an interest was disposed of or acquired as a result of the defect.3 An equivalent position could have been adopted to cure any perceived defect in deeds executed before December 1, 2009 arising from the absence of evidence that they had been sealed at the time of execution. In the absence of such a statutory provision, this article examines whether such


Mobile technologies are reshaping the global economic landscape, enhancing speed and comfort of communication and information exchange. Existing studies on the economic impact of mobile technologies taking a socio-technical system perspective are scarce. Our study shortly describes an integrative approach for such systems, which is in detail described in Högler et al. (2015), and specifically constructs the first activity in the integrative approach, i.e. defining the target objectives of the mobile system; it provides a case study at an SME to show this step's applicability and validity. In defining the target system the Analytical Hierarchy Processing technique is extended. It encompasses a) the identification of objectives, and b) the determination of the hierarchy of objectives, c) the determination of the dependencies between objectives, d) the identification of strengths of the dependencies, and e) their likeliness of appearance, a f) prioritisation and g) a consolidation of all previous sub-steps. The case study confirms the validity and applicability and provides reasons for generalisation.


This project, commissioned by the National Cancer Action Team, developed and pilotted a suite of nurse sensitive indicators for ambulatory chemotherapy that contributed to the effective monitoring of these services.


Purpose: To investigate the mediating roles of just world beliefs and subjective well-being between social exclusion and mobile phone addiction. Methods: The Social Exclusion Questionnaire for College Students, the Just World Belief Scale for College Students, the Happiness Index Scale, and the Smartphone Addiction Scale for College Students were used to measure 547 college students in Guangdong Province. Results: (1)Social exclusion and mobile phone addiction were significantly positively correlated. (2)Justice world beliefs partially mediated the effect of social exclusion on college students' mobile phone addiction. (3)Subjective well-being partially mediated the effect of social exclusion on mobile phone addiction among college students. (4)Just world beliefs and subjective well-being play a chain mediating role in the influence of social exclusion on college students' mobile phone addiction. Conclusion: Social exclusion can directly affect college students' mobile phone addiction behaviour, and can also indirectly affect college students' mobile phone addiction behaviour through just world beliefs and subjective happiness.


The two-players N strategies games quantized according to the EisertLewenstein-Wilkens scheme (Phys. Rev. Lett. 83 (1999), 3077) are considered. Group theoretical methods are applied to the problem of finding a general form of gate operators (entanglers) under the assumption that the set of classical pure strategies is contained in the set of pure quantum ones. The role of the stability group of the initial state of the game is stressed. As an example, it is shown that the maximally entangled games do not admit nontrivial pure Nash strategies. The general arguments are supported by explicit computations performed in the three strategies case.


This paper presents data to show that arthrobacterial morphology depends upon the nature of nutrients in the culture media and the age of the cultures. Biotin has been shown to be a key nutrient affecting morphogenesis. Angular growth due to subpolar and bipolar germination and germination of two adjacent cocci have been indicated as the cause for the appearance of 'V' forms in Arthrobacter. n. sp. has been photomicrographically illustrated.


Fifteen species of primates from different geographic areas are living in captivity at the National Zoological Gardens of Sri Lanka. As a result of limited space in the Zoo and ever increasing visitors, there is a possibility to increase the incidence of human animal contact. Therefore, it is important to identify potential parasitic infections that can be transferred from humans to animals and vise versa. In the present study, the primates were investigated for the gastrointestinal parasites. Total of 85 fecal samples were collected from all the species and examined for the presence of helminthes and protozoa. Balantidium sp., Entamoeba coli, Giardia sp., Blastocystis sp. and coccidial oocytes including Cryptosporidium sp. oocysts were identified. Furthermore, Nematodes and Cestodes were also recorded.


A Shaft horsepower testing instrument. Viz an apparatus on which the Comprehensive experiment in mechanieal measuring can be carried out under the laboratorial conditions is introduced in this pape. This apparatus consists of an integrated mechanical system freely adjusting loads, and it can beused for mechanical calibrating. Eguiped with convenlional electrical measuring instrument, a diagram of shaft horsepower could be obtained using it for the purpose of data processing and error analyzing. It can also be applied to signal identification and stochastic signal analiysis if it is used with taperecorder or dynamic anlayser.


Overlap and conflict are inevitable in any legal system in which a federal government and state governments both have authority to enact laws. In our federal system, the Constitution's Supremacy Clause identifies federal law as preeminent in case of conflict.1 When conflict develops and litigation is required to determine whether state or federal law controls the issue at hand, our system analyzes the problem using the term preemption as a basis for analysis. That we must resort to litigation to resolve some preemption issues probably is inevitable under our system. Often Congress does not make clear the breadth of its legislation, and even where it attempts to do so, cases arise around the fringes of the federal legislation concerning the permissible scope of state control. On the other hand, a careful and attentive legislative process is likely to reduce the uncertainty produced by preemption issues and make unnecessary some costly litigation. Because many preemption issues are predictable, multi-faceted, and can have implications far beyond the parties to litigation, such issues should be identified and decided within the legislative process, when possible. Courts are not as well equipped institutionally as is Congress to decide the breadth and balance of state and federal law.


Abstract: Background: Noise, is one of the most common sources of occupational diseases, which has a physical nature studied in various forms. Since few studies have been conducted on some of these forms, such as the calculation of sound spectrum level, the present study was done to assess the balance of spectrum in Crepenaz textile factory. Methods: In this study, first, Pykanol Hall in Crepenaz factory, which is the most important location in terms of noise production, was set up into 286 sound stations with 6 in 6 meters wide for each one. In addition, noise levels have also been studied. The sound pressure is measured using a sound level meter and subsequently frequency analysis was performed in the stations with the level of noise more than 85 dB. In the third step, with calculation of the balance of spectrum in these stations, an opportunity was provided to facilitate the comparison of the extent of the risk exposure in the stations. Results: Of 286 sound stations, only 73 were active. In seven stations, the sound pressure level was more than 85 dB. A comparison between sound levels was subsequently provided and carried out. Conclusion: The present study demonstrated a distribution of sound pressure levels in the different parts of the factory. The sound control in this work place was provided through determining the stations with high sound levels and calculating the sound levels.  Key words: analysis of the frequency, sound spectrum levels, sound pressure level, Crepenaz factory


This article reviews one of the most intriguing properties of black hole spacetimes known in the literaturegravitational memory effect, and its connection with asymptotic symmetries, also termed as Bondi-van der Burg-Metzner-Sachs (BMS) symmetries, emerging near the horizon of black holes. Gravitational memory is a non-oscillatory part of the gravitational wave amplitude which generates a permanent displacement for freely falling test particles or test detectors. We highlight a model scenario where asymptotic symmetries appear as a soldering freedom in the context of stitching of two black hole spacetimes, and examine the impact of the interaction between test detectors and horizon shells. Further, we provide a more realistic approach of computing displacement memory for near-horizon asymptotic symmetries which is analogous to the conventional memory originally obtained at asymptotic null infinity.


Mesozoic sandstone-type copper deposit in Central Yunnan region is of zoning order of chalcocite-bornite-chalcopyrite-pyrite.The classical theory suggests that such a sequence of sub-zoning is mainly controlled by the Eh value.According to ore-forming temperature(323.8 k),combined with the isotope and generating thermodynamic Eh-pH diagram,the zonation of Dayao copper deposit is mainly controlled by pH value in reduction conditions(Eh0.314).The enrichment belt of chalcocite occurred as the main ore minerals forms in the alkaline environment(pH6.23).Theoretical analysis is consistent with the analysis of the cement component in practical mineral zoning,namely the mineral is rich in alkaline cement(carbonate cement),which is significant for the future prospecting in Dayao copper deposit.


The sewage heat energy is clear and regenerated energy source. The development state of sewage source heat pump in overseas countries and china was introduced. The problems are pointed out and the suggestions were put forward.


This paper is discussed about students' problems in learning conjunction. Conjunction is one of the topic in part of speech that should be learnt by the students. The srtudents faced problems in identifying the types of conjunction and how to use it in sentence.


New dynamic benchmarks are developed as performance metrics for operational activities in the ingot mill of an aluminium smelter. This new type of high-level performance measure enables both a systematic and a holistic appraisal of operations performance that is not possible at present. The benchmarks also allow changes in performance of each distinct resource group to be clearly identified. The method for computing such measures is based on a wide range of shop-floor data, and possibility theory is used to model the soft characteristics of much of the input. Fuzzy performance estimates are dynamically updated with special attention to combining the different forms of uncertainty that exist in the input information. Although these procedures are site specific, the methodology is applicable to other types of manufacturing systems.


SINCE therefore he could find no satisfaction with any theory of development whatsoever, in 1907 Tyrrell admitted that he was returning to what he considered a patristic view, namely, to 'the unchanging, unprogressive character of the Apostolic revelation'r'" Dogmatic decisions do not add to, nor amplify the revelation which they safeguard. The very notion of dogmatic development and the multiplication of dogmas are rejected in so far as Tyrrell now defines a dogma as a religious truth imposed authoritatively as the Word of God, not as a conclusion to a theological reflection. Having reflected more deeply on the reasons for his rejection of the conservative theory of development, he now argued that, according to this theory, the apostolic revelation is considered to be a divinely authorised, though rudimentary, theological system, from which the whole doctrinal corpus is deduced dialectically. Part of this deduction has received the ecumenical approbation of the Church. The present is thus subjected to the past. Both the original revelation and the later deductions, knitted syllogistically together, are considered as organic parts of the entire theological system, with the result that all deductions which have received ecumenical approbation must be accepted under pain of accusation of heresy. Because of this vast, closely knit, theological system, and because theology and all other fields of human knowledge form one even vaster system, the authority of revelation extends indirectly beyond the theological and into the fields of science and history. This extension of revelation's authority results from the fact that Scripture and ecclesiastical dogmas endow with divine authority certain philosophical and scientific categories, together


The "associated‐periodicity" extension of Fourier analysis is used to obtain an exact solution of the classical, three‐dimensional elasticity problem of free vibration of the rectangular parallelepiped. This problem has been completely stated for more than a century and has been solved for only a very few special cases. The characteristic determinant yielding the eigenvalues is formulated for the completely free, rectangular parallelepiped, although the method of associated periodicity can be straightforwardly applied to arbitrary boundary conditions. Modes are classified into eight mutually exclusive and collectively exhaustive symmetry classes. Numerical results are presented for the frequency spectrum of plane‐strain vibrations of completely free rectangles according to two‐dimensional elasticity and are compared with classical Bernoulli‐Euler beam theory and Timoshenko beam theory (including the effects of shear deformation and rotary inertia).


The investigation of different supercharging systems on a small high-speed direct injection diesel engine is described. On this engine of 2,5 dm cube capacity, exhaust gas turbocharging and the use of mechanical superchargers, pressure wave superchargers and a resonant charging system in combination with exhaust gas turbocharging were investigated. A new resonant charging system in combination with a turbocharger is introduced and the results compared with the other supercharging systems. On a 4-cylinder engine with the new turbocharging system a torque back-up of almost 50 per cent could be realised. (Author/TRRL)


The article consist of two parts. The first is a summary of the treaty in which the main ideas about diseases analysed by the doctor Peset and Vidal are presented. The second part is a comparative analysis of the text for which the author has consulted many books and other material of those days, as well as medical dictionaries. As a result of it, the author presents the "gastralgia" as a digestive neurosis.


Objective: The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the bio-degradation effect of two collagen membrane which experimentally exposed to the oral environment of study animals,so as to provide some references for the clinical application.Methods: The animal model was established by operating on palate with two surgical process in 8 healthy adult Japanese white rabbits,which weighted 3.5~4.0kg,either male or female.Method1: Using 3mm gum ring cutter,creating circular mucosal perforations bilaterally symmetrical along the palatal midline,sneak separating the mucosal tissues with 2 mm around the hole.Bio-Gide collagen membrane and Heal-All collagen membrane discs with 5 mm diameters were placed under the perforations.Method2: Creating angular mucosal flap with 5 mm side length,sneak separating the mucosal tissues with 2 mm around the flap.The two collagen membranes were placed under the mucosal flap,replaced the mucosal flap and tightly sutured using absorbable sutures.Creating 6 perforations on palate in each animal with above methods,therefore 48 perforations totally.According to the principle of randomization,the two kinds of collagen membrane were divided into 4 groups for the 12 samples each by exposed and non-exposed.The change of both membrane materials were evaluated by gross observation,histological study and computer graphic analysis in the 7th,28th days after four animals were sacrificed.Results: 1)The gross observation showed that the non-exposed group of two membranes had almost healed and the exposed group showed depression-like healing in the 7th days after operation.Each group had almost healed and showed no signal of inflammation on the surface in the 28th days.2)The histological observation showed that lots of inflammatory cells were found in two membranes in both groups,but the inflammatory reaction in the non-exposed group was milder than the inflammatory reaction in exposed group,the fibroblast invasion existed in different treatment conditions in the 7th days after operation;after 28 days,inflammatory cells in the exposed group of two membrane decreased,the number of fibroblasts increased.The non-exposed group of two membranes had many inflammatory cells and capillary invaded,the number of fibroblasts increased than the 7th days group.3) Bio-Gide collagen membrane and Heal-All collagen membrane showed no significant differences in degradation in the two conditions(P0.05),but the extent of degradation of the exposed group in the two membranes were higher than the non-exposed group under the conditions of degradation(P0.05).Conclusions: 1) In guided bone regeneration (GBR) technique,the early exposure of collagen membranes will lead to the acceleration of degradation.The integrity of collagen membranes will be destructed.The amount of new bone tissue will indirectly reduce.So how to avoid the dehiscence of the soft tissue flap and the exposure of membranes is the key to the success of guided bone regeneration.2) Bio-Gide collagen membrane and Heal-All collagen membrane have approximately the same good effect in guided bone regeneration.[


Abstract It was only 2 years ago that "Collagen and Gelatin in the Solid State" was discussed by Yannas [1] in this Journal. That another review follows so soon is a reflection of the breadth of the subject and the accelerating interests in this field. Unlike other biological macromolecules which have specific genetic or metabolic activities, collagen belongs to a class of structural proteins. It is ubiquitous in the animal kingdom, contributing 20 to 30% of total body proteins in vertebrate. It is present throughout the body but is in high concentration in skin, tendon, and bone. As the characteristic extracellular component of the mesodermal tissue, collagen occupies a key position in the molecular architecture of higher animals which enables it to be the main agent controlling the distribution of both external and internal forces. For these reasons, collagen research has brought together biologists, physiologists, chemists, physicists, and engineers in an interdisciplinary endeavor.


A medium pulse repetition frequency (PRF) gives rise to ambiguities in both range and velocity. Medium PRF is the general case; special simplifying cases arise for low PRF, in which range is unambiguous, and high PRF, in which velocity is unambiguous.


Mental health awareness is something that is sorely lacking in India and the stigma associated with it causes people not to seek out help when they really need it. Therefore, this small web application will seek to create a safe outlet for relieving stress and other psychological factors that are affecting users through interactive features.


A general quasi-phenomenological theory that describes phases and phase transitions of ferromagnetic superconductors with spin-triplet electron Cooper pairing is presented. The theory is based on extended Ginzburg-Landau expansion in powers of superconducting and ferromagnetic order parameters. A simple form for the dependence of theory parameters on the pressure en- sures a correct theoretical outline of the temperature-pre ssure phase diagram where a stable phase of coexistence of p-wave superconductivity and itinerant ferromagnetism appears. This new theory is in an excellent agreement with the experimental data for intermetallic compounds, for example, UGe2, URhGe, UCoGe, and UIr that are experimentally proven to be itinerant ferromagnets ex- hibiting spin-triplet superconductivity. The mechanism of appearance of super- conductivity due to itinerant ferromagnetism (M -trigger effect) is established and demonstrated. On the basis of the same theory, basic features of quantum phase transitions in this type of ferromagnetic superconductors are explained in agreement with the experimental data. The theory allows for a classification of the spin-triplet ferromagnetic superconductors in two different types: type I and type II. The classification is based on quantitative criteri a, i.e., on simple rela- tions between theory parameters. Both theory and experiment indicate that the two types of p-wave ferromagnetic superconductors are well distinguished by essential differences in their physical properties.


Industrial transfer, as a significant economic phenomenon occurring during the process of globalization, has had a profound and far-reaching impact on China's economy since the beginning of the reform and opening-up. In recent years, the substantial relocation of industries from China has caused some concerns about economic downturn. This paper explores the influencing mechanisms of industrial transfer and the development trends of China's industrial transfer. Based on the two major factors affecting the industrial transfer process—real costs for enterprises and local administrative elements—the paper proposes suggestions for how the government and enterprises can maximize economic benefits through the cross-space flow of economic factors facilitated by industrial transfer. Ultimately, industrial transfer optimizes the regional development layout, accelerates the updating and iteration of industrial technology, and achieves high-quality economic development.


: Long-lasting Sr 4 Al 14 O 25 :Eu 2+ ,Dy 3+ phosphor beads were prepared with inorganic sodium silicate binders and coated to support Ag-doped TiO 2 catalyst by the sol–gel coating method. Energy dispersive spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy confirmed that Ag and TiO 2 were loaded on the bead surface. Photocatalytic degradation of toluene volatile organic compound was evaluated under ultraviolet and visible light through 410 nm filters. The photocata-lyst/phosphor beads of Ag-TiO 2 /Sr 4 Al 14 O 25 :Eu 2+ ,Dy 3+ decorated with 0.035 M Ag in N 2 and N 2 -H 2 atmospheres exhibited higher photocatalytic efficiencies compared with beads heat treated in air. A low amount of Ag impregnation and the reducing atmosphere of N 2 /N 2 -H 2 were beneficial for enhancing photocatalytic efficiency because Ag-doping in TiO 2 imparted low energy levels for visible light sensitization. The synthesized powder-free beads possess compressive strength for possible applications, and easy recovery of the photocatalysts is beneficial for preventing any sec-ondary pollution of nano-powders.


Severe bleeding at childbirth or postpartum hemorrhage (PPH) is the leading cause of maternal death worldwide. Anemia is purported to contribute to PPH, however, the relationship between blood loss and maternal anemia has not been examined. A study of these relationships requires a reliable, valid technique to measure blood loss and a setting where maternal anemia is prevalent. The study objectives were to quantify blood loss at childbirth and 24‐hours postpartum and to evaluate determinants of blood loss. This study was nested within a community‐based trial evaluating treatments to prevent severe anemia. Participants from antenatal clinics provided prenatal blood draws and presented for childbirth at a government hospital. We quantified blood loss using the alkaline hematin method. Approximately 61% of women were anemic during pregnancy. Our blood loss estimates, median (5th‐ 95th percentiles) for delivery, postpartum and in total were 153 mL, (21 – 416), 112 mL (43 – 242), and 286 mL (97 – 579). Moderate to severely anemic women had greater blood loss, (91 mL), than non‐anemic women (p < 0.01). These findings have implications for treatment strategies alleviating maternal anemia. Future research may extend the alkaline hematin technique to elucidate risk factors for blood loss in home deliveries and to evaluate methods for the reduction of blood loss and prevention of postpartum hemorrhage.


Using the relationship between the physical and geometrical design variables of the inclusions, the dispersion, and loss limitation were studied. It was shown that while a design exhibits either broader frequency range or lower value with negative permeability, it suffers from higher dispersion and loss. This study quantifies the challenge of decreasing the loss and dispersion for negative permeability AMMs. The relationships presented helps designers of artificial magnetic material achieve designs with minimal loss while achieving desired permeability values.


Cascadable nine level inverter uses two PUC5 (Packed U Cell) Inverter topology which have simple controller and better performance, which make use of a new self-voltage-balancing technique for capacitor without any current or voltage sensors. The capacitor voltage balances to its desired value even if the load changes. This self-voltage balancing technique is integrated in the multi-carrier pulse width modulation (PWM). Therefore, it does not require any complicated controllers. Since the capacitor voltage is kept constant at desired level, the output voltage waveform would have symmetrical nine levels with less harmonic distortion even if change in voltage occurs. Simulation is done with MATLAB/Simulink. Hardware of 5 level inverter is done and verified the output.


Topological Indices are the graph invariants, a real number obtained from a network (graph), used to characterize the structural properties of a network. In this paper, the general expression for Symmetric Division Degree index & Inverse Sum Index of the transformation networks of a network are obtained. Moreover, we find the expression for Symmetric Division Degree index & Inverse Sum Index of complement of transformation networks.


A pressure sensing device according to the present invention may comprise: an electrode; a driving unit for applying a driving signal to the electrode; a sensing unit for receiving, through the electrode, a reception signal including information on a capacitance between the electrode and a reference potential layer, which changes according to a relative distance between the electrode and the reference potential layer spaced from the electrode; a first impedance between the driving unit and the electrode; and a second impedance between the sensing unit and the electrode.


We conducted multi-cycle combustion experiments of a coaxial-rotary-valve pulse detonation engine (PDE) system. This PDE system showed a stable operation at the valve rotating frequencies of 5.0, 10, 15, 20, and 33 Hz. We successfully measured propellant mass flow rates, thrusts, and specific impulses in the 2-sec operation duration. The maximum thrust was 32 N at the operation frequency of 33 Hz and at the supply pressure of 0.98 MPa. The maximum specific impulse was 250 sec at the operation frequency of 33 Hz and at the supply pressure of 0.69 MPa. The partial fill ratio was varied from 0.07 to 1.14. The partial fill effect was almost identical to the previous model calculations.


In this document the network is performed via the horizontal network associated with the vertical network.Also,the correlative theory of optimization of engneering is used in the performance.The control networks computer aided optimization of the horizontal network is applyied according to facts.After obtaining the most fit networks,the author optimizes the observation tast according to reliability gene as a quality index.At last,we obtain the most fit performance method that meets reqiurements of the accuracy and the reliability of the control networks.


In the article the technique of an estimation of economic damages from the losses of supply is offered, powering up account of reliability indexes of schemes of an electric-power supply and the generalized technique constructed on typification of aftereffects of violations on technological installations of the gas enterprises and allowing to expect statistical, single and mid-annual expected damages.


Students are more likely to obtain correct solutions in solving derivative problems. Even though students can complete it correctly, they may not necessarily be able to explain the solution well. Cognition and communication by the students will greatly affect the subsequent learning process. The aim of this study is to describe students' commognition of routine aspects in understanding derivative tasks for heterogeneous groups of cognitive styles-field dependent and independent. This qualitative study involved six third-semester mathematics education students in the city of Palu, Indonesia. We divided the subjects into two groups with field-independent (FI) and field-dependent (FD) cognitive styles. The first group consisted of two FI students and one FD student, and the second group consisted of two FD students and one FI student. Moreover, the subjects also have relatively the same mathematical ability and feminine gender. Data was collected through task-based observations, focused group discussions, and interviews. We conducted data analysis in 3 stages, namely data condensation, data display, and conclusion drawing-verification. The results showed that the subjects were more likely to use routine ritual discourse, namely flexibility on the exemplifying category, by whom the routine is performed on classifying and summarizing categories, applicability on inferring category, and closing conditional on explaining category. The result of ritual routine is a process-oriented routine through individualizing. This result implies that solving the questions is not only oriented towards the correct answers or only being able to answer, but also students need to explain it well.


Introduction A clinician's skill in interpersonal communication and relationships is a component of health care so important that patients may both seek and select health care practitioners on the basis of this skill. Findings published in the medical literature illustrate the importance of good communication and interpersonal skills for achieving effective, satisfying health care encounters and episodes of care. Humaneness is the first patient priority for general practice care, and patients rated communication in the top three out of seven aspects of patient care. Patients' rates of adherence to recommended treatments were increased 2.6-fold when a physician's knowledge of a patient "as a whole person" was strongest. The trust level between patient and physician predicted self-reported adherence at six months. In addition, higher patient satisfaction occurred when patients received any one of three nontechnical interventions—education, stress counseling, or negotiation—as part of the medical care. Meeting patient expectations for diagnostic tests did not have an important effect on satisfaction. A patient's perception of a clinician's humanity did correlate with satisfaction. Of five distinct communication patterns in primary care practice, patients were most satisfied with the psychosocial pattern (inclusion of psychologic, social, and personal questions and information). A review article on communication and health outcomes concluded that "most of the studies ... demonstrated a correlation between effective physicianpatient communication and improved patient health outcomes." The outcomes most affected were patients' emotional health, symptom resolution, functional status, physiologic measures, and pain control.


The lupus susceptibility interval Sle3/5 confers responsiveness to prolactin in C57BL/6 (B6) mice and hyperprolactinaemia induces a lupus‐like phenotype in B6.Sel3/5 mice. In this study, the immunostimulatory effects of prolactin in B6 mice containing the Sle3 portion of the Sel3/5 interval (B6.Sle3 mice) were dissected. Because of the Sle3 interval's involvement in activation of myeloid cells, the effect of dendritic cells (DCs) from prolactin‐treated B6.Sle3 mice on the phenotype of B6 mice was also evaluated. B cells from prolactin‐treated B6 and B6.Sle3 mice and from B6 recipients of prolactin‐modulated DCs from B6.Sle3 mice were tested for DNA‐reactivity and resistance to B cell receptor (BCR)‐mediated apoptosis. The expression of co‐stimulatory molecules on lymphocytes and myeloid cells was also evaluated. In prolactin‐treated B6.Sle3 mice, transitional type 2 B cells increased while type 1 B cells decreased as a consequence of prolactin‐induced resistance to BCR‐mediated apoptosis leading to the survival of DNA‐reactive B cells. Follicular B cells from prolactin‐treated mice expressed increased levels of CD40, B7·2 and IAb, and DCs and monocytes had higher levels of CD44 and B7·2 than placebo‐treated mice. Adoptive transfer of DCs from prolactin‐treated B6.Sle3 mice to B6 recipients demonstrated the intrinsic ability of prolactin‐modulated DCs to induce a development of lupus‐like characteristics in B6 mice. Based on these results, prolactin accelerates the breakdown of immune tolerance in B6.Sle3 mice by promoting the survival, maturation and activation of autoreactive B cells, DCs and macrophages.


In this study, the effects of 1/10 and 1/20 96 h LC50 of copper and lead on ectoparasitic infested Oreochromis niloticus (O. niloticus) were evaluated by measuring its impact on the intensity and vitality of Cichlidogyrus and Trichodina species. In addition, copper and lead effects on hematological, biochemical parameters and histopathological findings of infested O. niloticus gills were evaluated. Three hundred naturally infested O. niloticus with Cichlidogyrusand Trichodina species were divided into five equal groups, each with three replicates (20 fish/ replicate). The infested fish of the first group were kept as control. While, infested fish of the second and third groups were exposed to 1/10 (0.43 mg/L) and 1/20 (0.21 mg/L) of 96 h LC50of copper sulphate, respectively. Fish of fourth and fifth group were exposed to 1/10 (20.2 mg/L) and 1/20 (10.1 mg/L) of 96 h LC50 of lead acetate, respectively. The results revealed an inverse relationship between the different concentrations of copper and lead (1/10 and 1/20 96 h LC50) and the intensity of external parasites in the gills of fish where the increase of copper and lead concentrations resulted in decrease in the intensity and vitality of ectoparasites during the experimental period (30 days). Red blood cell count, platelets, mean corpuscular volume, mean corpuscular hemoglobin, lymphocyte, neutrophil, esinophil, Aspertate Transminase; Alanine Transferase, urea and creatinine showed the lowest significant value in groups 2 and 4 in comparison to group 1, besides, histopathological alterations, such as; congestion of blood vessels and fusion of secondary lamellae and complete absence of secondary lamellae in gills of the experimental groups. It could be concluded that, fish ectoparasites (Cichlidogyrus and Trichodina species) are considered as a biomarker for environmental pollution (copper and lead pollution).


Context: One of the challenges in the fiercely competitive space of health organizations is responding to customers and building trust and satisfaction in them in the shortest time, with best quality and highest productivity. Hence the aim of this study is to survey the impact of customer relationship management (CRM) on organizational productivity, customer loyalty, satisfaction and trust in selected hospitals of Isfahan (in Iran). Materials and Methods: This study is a correlation descriptive research. Study population was the nurses in selected hospitals of Isfahan and the sampling has been conducted using stratified random method. Data collection tool is a researcher-made questionnaire of CRM and its effects (organizational productivity, customer loyalty, satisfaction and trust) which its validity and reliability has been confirmed by researchers. Structural equation method was used to determine the impact of variables. Data analysis method was structural equation modeling and the software used was SPSS version 16 (IBM, SPSS, 2007 Microsoft Corp., Bristol, UK) and AMOS version 18 (IBM, SPSS, 2010 Microsoft Corp, Bristol, UK). Results: Among the dimensions of CRM, diversification had the highest impact (0.83) and customer acquisition had the lowest (0.57) CRM, had the lowest impact on productivity (0.59) and the highest effect on customer satisfaction (0.83). Conclusions: For the implementation of CRM, it is necessary that the studied hospitals improve strategies of acquiring information about new customers, attracting new customers and keeping them and communication with patients outside the hospital and improve the system of measuring patient satisfaction and loyalty.


. Bouyiouklis Ρ, Lekkas S, I and Iordanidis P. : Evaluation of the best vaccination regimen against Gumboro disease, based on the histopathologic lesions of bursa of Fabricius, in broilers. Journal of the Hellenic Veterinary Medical Society 2001, 52(2):135-139. For the evaluation of the best vaccination regimen against Gumboro of Gumboro disease virus, while those of E remained unvaccinated and uninfected as a control group. After 10 days, all chicks were killed and their bursae examined histological. It was established that the histopathologic lesions to the bursae of group C chicks were of a slighter degree than those of all the other challenged groups and therefore the protection to bursa of Fabricius against the disease is better with this vaccination regimen.


Background: The prevalence and consequences of additional weight gain among already obese individuals in middle age is unknown. Studies assessing the consequences of obesity and weight gain often f...


In this paper, we prove sufficient conditions on pairs of weights (u,v) (scalar, matrix or operator valued) so that the Hilbert transform
H f(x) = p.v. ? [f(y) / x - y] dy,
is bounded from L2(u) to L2(v).


includes experimental modalities of treat ment. In the past, these were distinguished as therapeutic and nontherapeutic. But the National Commission for the Protection of Human Subjects saw some years ago that this distinction was too facile, especially as different sets of moral obligations flowed from therapeutic as compared with non therapeutic research.' Briefly, the former couldbe seenas governedby themoral rules arising from the fiduciary trust be tween physicianand patient,2 the latter as governed by the moral rules arising from a scientific experimenter-subject relation ship.3 However, descriptive studies con vinced many that patients did not make this distinction—that is, that they preferred to consent, even to nontherapeutic research, on grounds of personal trust in their phy sician.@Furthermore, much research, es pecially in oncology, combines therapeutic and nontherapeutic aims. The current prac tice of distinguishing experimental designs in medicine on the basis of standard versus


Since 1998 every form of regulation in the inland shipping market has been ruled out. As a result of years of setting minimum prices and dividing cargoÂ's a situation of over-capacity has occurred. The situation of over-capacity still exists but now in a free market. This situation has some interesting implications.


The invention discloses a group information synchronization method. The method uses a double linked list to configure a synchronization queue; each node in the synchronization queue is corresponding to a terminal to be synchronized, wherein nodes with different priorities are arranged in a sequence of from high to low according to the priority, and the terminals with an identical priority are arranged according to a first in first out principle; and the network device performs group information synchronization on the corresponding terminals according to the synchronization queue. The invention also discloses a network device. The technical scheme of the method and the device can solve the problem that temporary group terminals cannot perform a group information synchronization operation due to that the temporary group terminals is not prior to common group terminals.


In recent years, Intranet continue rapid development, resulting in a huge amount of information tended. So how to allow users to find the information they want to become a problem Intranet search engine. On this issue, it will be for several classic Intranet search ranking algorithm analysis and comparison. I hope in the future development can use it as a reference, improved correlation algorithm, as much as possible so that the algorithm is closer to perfection, so that the search results better meet the needs of users.


A successful solution of any problem including the most complex and unusual one is directly proportional to deeper and more profound study and comprehension of factors and causes that determine operation of the object under study. This truth requires no further arguments. But it is worth repeating when EKO addresses questions of maintaining stable and effective operation of heat supply systems in Russian cities. The present issue of the journal reviews the problems of actual conditions of such systems through examples of Novosibirsk (the paper by S.A. Bukharov and A.P. Shibanov) although most of them are common for most towns and cities of our country. In order to better understand today's problems one must learn how these systems appeared and how they managed to achieve required goals and objectives. Thus, in Novosibirsk, heat supply appeared ... "in 1936 … from the Thermal Power Plant on the right bank with a heat turbine 'Womag' with capacity of 6000 kV and maximum steam volume of 47 ton/hour… the objects of heat supply are houses, public buildings and municipal services (public baths, laundries, etc.) … Later on, heat will be supplied by several urban TPPs… Novosibirsk TPPs might use as fuel… "1) peat deposits of Novosibirsk district; 2) produced coal and char gas; 3) raw coal and production waste of coal enrichment plants of Kuzbass" 1 . Beside the technical side of deploying the heat supply, quite significant was the system of social relations and interactions of parties that produced and implemented corresponding decisions. Although the new institutional economy admits that it is necessary to take into consideration the past experience and decisions in the framework of path dependence 2 , the author of this passage thinks that it is appropriate to deal with this issues in terms of Marxist-Leninist philosophy – namely, as basis and superstructure. This approach is broader, it addresses the problem area directly in order to resolve a seemingly technical engineering task, which is modernizing (renovation) of heat supply in a post-Soviet city. In the years of Soviet power, centralized planning and management with its inherent resource oversupply (also aimed at successful achievement of mobilization targets) created the system of heat and electricity supply driven to 'deliver' energy in a most economic way. This way of 'the economy of scale' consisted in combining most powerful sources and their complexation (cogeneration – simultaneous generation of heating and electricity). At the stage of generation both economy and economics were fine, which cannot be said about the consumption stage that used to (and still does) abound in network losses and low level of final useful consumption of received energy. The pros and cons of such a system were balanced out by the economic system's capacity of centralized resource redistribution. This being said, priority as a rule was given to new objects, whereas those introduced earlier were reconstructed and modernized with a major lag behind the normative lifetime of equipment and grid. However, necessary production facilities for repair and modernization purposes had been installed and they were fully operational (the comments of V.G. Tomilov). While changing the superstructure and transiting to the economy based on principles of market coordination, the 'margin of strength' of the Soviet period allowed not only to 'improve' initial financial and economic indicators of earlier implemented operating projects but also gave substantial benefits to those who came first to take plots for high-rise development. Alas, this was a brief period. Over time, problems of worn out grids, loss of heat, lower efficiency became rampant (also because it became impossible to maintain the co-generation mode in its initial form), etc. Now there are new factors and circumstances related to changed motivation of consumers (heat costing and saving on it, setup of own non-system sources of generation) as well as new technical opportunities of remote monitoring and control over processes of generation and distribution. All of these drove the demand for heating down. Today it is not possible to resolve the glaring problems in a manner traditional for new economic relations – by including all costs (from renovation of the grid to modernization of heating sources) into the heating tariff for consumers – due to huge sums of required investments and low paying potential of most households. That is why the principle route of modernizing heat supply systems of post-soviet cities may be a combination of selective and incremental approaches. Thus, in districts of new housing development local heating grids may be installed on generally accepted principles and approaches of new economic relations (the interview of V.V. Golovkin). This requires careful, stage by stage sequential implementation of steps connected to modernization and renovation of previously laid 'foundation', which is impossible to do without a system of corresponding rules of interaction for all participants (the paper by A.S. Grigoriev and A.V. Kolmakov). Renewal and reconfiguration of the grid as well as changing the type and makeup of generation sources (including the use of modern unmanned technologies) will eventually transform the basis of heat supply system. Its distinguishing feature will probably be a high degree of decentralization of all processes of generation and distribution of energy. Naturally, it is necessary to replace the 'superstructure' as well, which constitutes not only sales procedures but collective participation of all interested parties in effective and mutually acceptable solution of all arising technical and financial economic issues. Businesses (small and big players), authorities and consumers need to have a say in resolving similar questions. As for the authorities (especially municipal one), their real participation may not be possible unless they have more power in the tax and budget sphere. In current circumstances, it is the acute lack of financial resources that prevents the authorities 'to be open for dialodue' (the paper by S.V. Bukharov and A.P. Shibanov). People created and applied efficient technical solutions for separate problems and issues of operation and development of heat supply systems. At the same time, with a 'multitude of technical systems, economic agents and their multidirectional interests' it is extremely challenging to find their acceptable mix (see the paper by P.A. Shchinnikov). One may only reach a result following the process of interaction of all interested parties – consumers, authorities and business. Creating participation procedures may turn out to be the most difficult problem yet. But it is efficient interaction that is the first and foremost foundation for stable streams of heating in big cities and small towns of Russia. 1 Socialist reconstruction of Novosibirsk / the sector of planning special reconstruction of cities within the Supreme Council of National Economy and the Novosibirsk city council. Edited by F.V. Popov, S.A. Menshenin, A.M. Borschevsky.. М.: Soviet power publishers under the jurisdiction of the presidium of the Central executive committee. 1936. 167 p. [P. 42–44] . 2  Institutions and Economic Development. Growth and Governance in Less Developed and Post-Socialist Countries/Edited by Christopher Clague. Baltimore and London: The Johns Hopkins University Press. 1997. 390 p.


Korean meat industry has faced a challenge that it must reduce the fat content in meat carcasses in order to provide nutritious products with decreased wasteful fat, while stimulating fat deposition in loin muscle as marbling, to increase meat flavor, tenderness and consequently palatability. It needs technologies to manipulate fat deposition in body fat tissue depot selectively. Adipose tissue is a multi-sited tissue occurring in a number of locations within the body, some within the abdominal cavity, some under the skin, some between and within the muscles. Numbers of researches have been conducted to characterize the depot specific growth, development and metabolism of adipose tissue. Progress has been made by use of cell culture techniques as specific cell lines are commercially available and adipocyte precursor cells can be isolated from adipose tissue. This approach has allowed identification of possible factors which may regulate adipocyte proliferation, differentiation, lipogenesis and lipolysis and metabolism of adipose tissue depots. Recently, with the advent of powerful biotechnological methods and tools, depot specificity researches are pursued more basically and comprehensively with integrated methods. The factors and mechanisms which influence the depot specific development is going to be applied and developed to life science technologies for medical or animal industrial purposes.


In the paper, the problem of isothermic DNA sequencing by hybridization, without any errors in its input data, is presented and an exact polynomial-time algorithm solving the problem is described. The correctness of the algorithm is confirmed by an enumerative proof.


This piece is about remembrance and forgetting; about shame and forgiveness; about capitalist media and the victimization of vulnerable citizens.


In today's global market environment, a prerequisite for a corporation to align with a practice of corporate social responsibility (CSR) is to have a social contract with its key stakeholders such as society, government, groups, individuals, and other interested parties (Crowther & Aras, 2008). However, there is no agreed-upon definition of CSR, but it can be articulated as a concept whereby commercial and non-commercial entities incorporate social, economic, ecological, and sustainability concerns in their business operations, and that these entities interact ethically with their stakeholders on a voluntary footing (Hamidu, Haron & Amran, 2015). Phillip Morris International (PMI) proclaims that its stance on CSR is strongly correlated with transparency, accountability, and sustainability (PMI, 2017). However, PMI is a corporation that promotes the production of harmful products for human enjoyment and is still seen by society as a controversial corporation (Cohen, 2007). Despite its good intentions, as long as PMI promotes the production of harmful products for consumers, their CSR proclamations will be addressed with skepticism.


Recent debates on the operation of the World Trade Organization's dispute resolution mechanism have focused primarily on the appellate body. We argue that this neglects the first-order issue confronting the rules-based trading system: sustaining the principle of depoliticized conflict resolution that is reflected in the negative consensus rule for the adoption of dispute settlement findings. Improving the quality of the work of panels by appointing a roster of full-time professional adjudicators, complemented by reforms to World Trade Organization working practices that reduce incentives to resort to formal dispute settlement, can resolve the main issues that led to the appellate body crisis. Effective, coherent, and consistent World Trade Organization dispute resolution need not include an appellate body. An appropriately redesigned single-stage process can serve just as well, if not better.


WTO Appellate Body Report: Guatemala–Anti-Dumping Investigation Regarding Portland Cement from Mexico, AB-1998–6, WT/DS60/AB/R (98–4190), adopted by Dispute Settlement Body, 25 November 1998. Guatemala, Appellant; Mexico, Appellee; United States, Third Participant. Division: Lacarte-Muro, Beeby and El-Naggar. Major topics addressed by Appellate Body: relationship of DSU to Anti-Dumping Agreement; requirements for commencement of panel proceedings.


Educational institutions, especially those facilitating vocational education and training (VET), face the challenge of combining social goals, such as the provision of quality education for a large section of the population, with rising economic utility demands. However, we know little about how VET systems institutionalize these different demands and, further, how social and economic goals are actually institutionalized in VET. Our article aims to unpack this puzzle by analysing short-track dual vocational training programmes (short-tracks) in Denmark, Germany and Switzerland. These short-tracks combine on-the-job and school-based training, targeting candidates who face difficulties entering full-length dual programmes. Thus, short-tracks are prime examples of training programmes located at the nexus of economic and social demands. In our comparative institutional analysis, we bridge the political economy of collective skill formation and sociological institutionalism literatures. We find that the institutionalization of goals in VET not only differs between countries but that there is also considerable variation within national VET systems. Our analysis reveals that VET regulations, regional and sectoral standards, and the legitimization of key actors can differ greatly in their institutionalization of social and economic goals.


Building on work in software engineering and in end-user computing, this study developed and assessed a measure of user-developed applications quality. The quality construct comprises eight dimensions: reliability, effectiveness, portability, economy, user-friendliness, understandability, verifiability, and maintainability. In turn, each quality dimension is composed of a set of criteria. Finally, each criterion is measured by a series of items. The instrument was tested by means of a survey involving 110 end-users. Confirmatory factor analysis, using the partial least squares technique, was conducted. The results indicate that the 56-items instrument is reliable and valid, and that it can be a useful tool for researchers and for practitioners alike.<<ETX>>


Significant controversy surrounds the estimation of the translational and rotational entropy of a macromolecule in aqueous solutions. To address this issue, the entropy of intersubunit cross-linking of a complex was determined in this study by comparing the calorimetrically measured unfolding entropies of a synthetic two-stranded α-helical coiled-coil both with and without a disulfide bond between the two polypeptide chains. The experimental cross-linking enthalpy and entropy are equivalent. In contrast, ideal gas statistics predict that the translational and rotational enthalpy and entropy differ by an order of magnitude. After the vibrational component is subtracted from the experimental cross-linking entropy, the resultant translation and rotational entropy is 5 ± 8 eu (1 eu = 1 cal·K-1mol-1 = 4.184 J·K-1mol-1) at a standard state concentration of 1 M. This value is more than an order of magnitude smaller than estimates in the literature based on statistical mechanics of ideal gas models, which are 90−...


Introduction: Spirituality plays an essential role in the care of heart failure (HF) patients. However, little is known about whether a patients' spiritual needs have been met during hospitalization. This study aimed to explore the experience of HF patients in meeting spiritual needs during hospitalization.Methods: The study was conducted at a governmental hospital in East Java, Indonesia, using a descriptive exploratory design with a qualitative approach. The population of this study was patients with HF who were obtained through a purposive sampling technique. The data were collected from fifteen participants through interviews and field notes.Results: The thematic analysis resulted in six big themes, which are perception about spirituality, the form of spirituality, the importance of spirituality for patients, obstacles in meeting spiritual needs, patient's perception of the nurse's role, and patients' hope.Conclusion: Muslim HF patients perceived that spirituality and religiosity were an integral part. Nurses should help patients meet spiritual needs by reminding and facilitating worship as a form of HF Muslim spirituality.


Submitted for the APR07 Meeting of The American Physical Society Quantum Monte Carlo and Neutron Star Matter Superfluidity ALEX GEZERLIS, University of Illinois / Los Alamos National Laboratory, JOE CARLSON, Los Alamos National Laboratory, VIJAY PANDHARIPANDE1, University of Illinois — The equation of state and pairing gap of neutron matter at low densities are important to the structure and cooling of neutron stars, and potentially to the surface properties of neutron-rich nuclei. We find that this system can be well described to significant densities using only the S=L=0 component of a realistic nucleon-nucleon interaction. Diffusion Monte Carlo results are reported for the equation of state and the pairing gap, and compared with BCS calculations and recent Auxiliary Field Diffusion Monte Carlo calculations for neutron matter. 1deceased Alex Gezerlis University of Illinois / Los Alamos National Laboratory Date submitted: 10 Jan 2007 Electronic form version 1.4


Abstract The study compares the great depressions of the twentieth century in Finland from the perspective of labour market adjustment channels. The increase in employment was much more rapid during the rebound from the great depression of the 1930s compared with the recovery from the great slump of the 1990s. There was a moderate decline in real wages in manufacturing industries during the early 1990s, However, the slump of the 1930s brought a severe fall in real wages. The nominal wage adjustment of the Finnish labour markets was entirely dissimilar in these two depressions. During the 1990s nominal wages in the manufacturing industries did not decline at all. This pattern is in sharp contrast to the deep cuts in nominal wages during the 1930s. There was an increase in the level of labour productivity during the great depressions of the twentieth century which is linked to restructuring during the times of economic slowdown.


The following article is an overview of the German literature on the problem of the word-building components status in the German language. Initially these components were the free stems, which were attached to other stems in the act of compounding, but in the course of time they lost a part of their meaning. The article touches upon and systemizes the main conclusions of the works of M. Stepanova, W. Fleischer, L. Ortner etc., and discusses the following concepts: «intermediate zone», young affix, semi-affix, constituent with high frequency.


Essays discuss technology, manufacturing, marketing, finance, capital, government policies, coalitions, competition, and leadership in the global marketplace, and look at specific cases.


V. Petrescu, Engineering Faculty, Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu, Romania, D. Dobrotă, Engineering Faculty, "Constantin Brâncuşi" University of Târgu-Jiu, Romania To achieve metal constructions with high importance, it can be used different steels, but steel OL 52.4k has a very wide use due to technological properties and mechanical they present. Metallographic structure of materials of a welded joint is influenced by conditions that occur in the process of welding. In the researches there have been studied the influence of parameters of welding regime on the system of metallographic structure of materials from a welded joint in corner in "T" form. There was taken into account welding process MAG using three welding regimes and using steel plates from OL 52.4k steel with a thickness of 10 / mm.


Human glutamine phosphoribosylpyrophosphate amidotransferase (amidophosphoribosyltransferase) exhibits a number of allosteric properties. One of these is interconversion between a small form, 133,000 daltons, and a large form, 270,000 daltons, following incubation with phosphoribosylpyrophosphate (PP-ribose-F') and purine ribonucleotides, respectively. The present report has examined the kinetics of this interconversion process and correlated these findings with changes in enzyme activity. At pH 7.4, virtually 100% of the small form of amidophosphoribosyltransferase was converted to the large form following incubation with purine ribonucleotides for less than 5 min at 4". In contrast, essentially none of the large form was converted to the small form following incubation with PP-ribose-P for 30 min at 4". However, incubation with PI'-ribose-P for 5 min at 37" resulted in the conversion of more than 50% of the large to the small form. Hydrogen ion concentration was also shown to influence this interconversion process. The same conditions which produced 100% conversion of the small to the large form at pH 7.4, resulted in less than 50% conversion at pH 8.2. At pH 7.1, essentially none of the large form was converted to the small by the incubation conditions that yielded greater than 50% conversion at pH 7.4. The hydrogen ion concentration did not affect the apparent K,,, for PP-ribose-P, but the percentage inhibition produced by a given concentration of AMP or GMP was approximately twice as great at pH 7.1 as compared to pH 8.2. In addition, it was demonstrated that human amidophosphoribosyltransferase exhibited a lag phase before it attained maximal activity when assayed at 25", and the duration of the lag phase was temperature-dependent. In the absence of purine ribonucleotides no lag phase was demonstrable. The lag phase could be eliminated by preincubation of the enzyme preparation with PP-ribose-P for 5 min at 37". However, preincubation with PP-ribose-P for 30 min at


Their history and development as well as their main functions and technology characteristics are described by author in this paper. 


Donald and Isaacs (1954a and b) and Isaacs and Donald (1955) concluded from electron microscopy that several influenza virus particles may be necessary to produce an infection in chick embryos. Other investigators working with other viruses have shown statistically that a single virus particle may constitute an infectious unit. Parker, in investigating the infectious unit of vaccinia (1938 and 1941) and of myxoma (1940), compared the results of multiple inoculations of viral suspensions with results to be expected from theoretical considerations. The charac-


In recent years social scientists have conducted several quantitative studies examining the linkage between the human rights practices of third world nations and the amounts of bilateral foreign assistance allocated to them by the United States government. As a result of this research an apparent contradiction has emerged; precious little evidence has been found to support the existence of a substantial linkage between human rights and foreign assistance, even though such a relationship is mandated by law.' If quantitative findings paint an accurate picture of reality, then laws which outwardly appear to link foreign aid to countries' human rights practices may represent little more than skillful public relations work on the part of legislators. It is impossible, however, to know how much confidence to place in such findings without a closer examination of the studies which produced them. Therefore, the first purpose of this study will be to review the quantitative literature on the linkage between human rights and foreign assistance and to reveal several methodological problems. Solutions to these problems will then be suggested, and a long-term goal for quantitative research on this linkage will be proposed.


The matrix effects on trapping and degradation of methylal radical cation generated in solid argon, krypton, and xenon doped with an electron scavenger at 16 K were investigated by EPR spectroscopy. A relatively weak characteristic signal from trapped methylal radical cations was recorded in an argon matrix. However, the most intense signals in this matrix result from the products of degradation of the primary cations, mainly methyl and methoxy radicals. A comparatively low gmax value for methoxy radical (g ) 2.032) was explained by formation of a π-complex [CH3O...CH2dOCH3] upon fragmentation of the parent cation in solid argon. In the case of a xenon matrix, the main observed species is the CH3OCHOCH3 radical, which appears to result from proton loss in the primary cation. Both deprotonation and fragmentation products were found in krypton. The matrix effects were attributed to the variations in ionization potentials and polarizability (or basicity) of matrix atoms. Fragmentation predominating in argon was explained by excess energy resulting from highly exothermic positive hole transfer. Deprotonation in xenon is favored by basicity of the matrix atoms. Two possible mechanisms were discussed for the latter case, i.e., thermodynamic effect (deprotonation to matrix) and kinetic effect (catalysis of intramolecular H shift by matrix atoms).


The invention provides a method for determining the activeness of controls and a control processing method and device. The method for determining the activeness of the controls comprises the steps that the application state information of the controls in a client side which is provided with the controls is acquired, wherein the application state information at least comprises the using frequency and/or the using time; the application state information is matched with a preset activeness determining rule, and a matching result is obtained; the activeness of the controls is determined according to the matching result. The method for determining the activeness of the controls solves the problem that in the prior art, the activeness of the controls cannot be determined.


This paper proposes a level-wise exploration of linked and big data guided by controlled vocabularies and folksonomies. We leverage techniques from both Reconstructability Analysis and cataloging and classification research to provide solutions that will structure and store large amounts of metadata, identify links between data, and explore data structures to produce models that will facilitate effective information retrieval.


The basic principles of molecular computing are described and two approaches are outlined: the biological, which seeks to duplicate the powerful information processing capabilities of biological systems; and the digital, which seeks to create a molecular electronics that would lead to a smaller, faster, less-expensive digital computer with increased memory density. The problem of exploiting geometry-recognition capabilities of enzyme to process nontactile input signals, like photons or electric pulses, is examined. Design approaches and simulation tools are discussed. A brief review is given of progress in the supporting technologies, with a discussion of how they might be used to fabricate a tactilizing processor simpler than a biological cell, yet capable of performing useful pattern processing.


The inductive-bead maker consists of induction heating power supply,mechanical system and controlling system.Mechanical system achieved wiggling and rotational movement.The function of control system based on PLC included automatic order,mechanical movement control and closed loop control of outputting current.The testing results show that the induction heating power supply operates at the qussi-resonant or resonant condition,the machine can heat quickly and attain scheduled temperature.Therefore,eligible analyses sample can be attained.


To the Editor: In a recent issue of Critical Care Medicine, Wijdicks et al (1) suggest that the Full Outline of UnResponsiveness (FOUR) score should replace the Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) in multivariate outcome predictive models applied to patients in ICU. Their evidence for this view is not convincing because it is based on an inappropriate comparison. In the model used (which actually tested the Coma Score, not the Full Scale), it was employed as the only clinical index, something which was never intended (2). Remarkably, the model did not incorporate the pupil reflex, a standard component of prognostic models and which is contained in the FOUR score. The extra information that pupil responses can yield can be illustrated by applying the method of analysis used by Wijdicks et al (1) to openly available data collected in a large prospective clinical trial in head-injured patients (3). For the GCS score alone, treated as a continuous measure with a linear effect, the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve for overall interpretation of the study as previously described for regimens containing glycopeptides (5). This work was performed at the 4th Department of Internal Medicine, Athens University School of Medicine, Attikon University General Hospital, Athens, Greece. Dr. Poulakou lectured for Astellas and Merck Sharp & Dohme and received support for travel from Astellas, Gilead, Novartis, and Pfizer. Dr. Bassetti served as a board member, consulted, and lectured for Pfizer. Dr. Tsiodras has disclosed that he does not have any potential conflicts of interest.