1Assistant Professor, Civil Engineering Department, JIT, Davangere, Karnataka, India 2,2,3,4 Assistant Professor, Civil Engineering Department, JIT, Davangere, Karnataka, India ---------------------------------------------------------------------***--------------------------------------------------------------------Abstract For construction of any civil engineering structures, the foundation is very important and has to be strong to support entire structure. In order for foundation to be strong the soil around and below it plays a very important role.Peat soil is said to unsuitable soil for any engineering construction. Hence for any civil engineering construction on peat soil requires either replacement of soil or stabilization.


An Intensity Scale Sensitometer for testing the photographic response of Graphic Arts materials was built and evaluated. The sensitometer utilizes a stepped area diaphragm and a cylindrical lens to produce a stepped illuminance distribution at the film plane. Both tungsten and pulsed xenon lamps are provided. A computer aided study was used to find the optimum lamp position with respect to the reflector. A scanning -aperture type shutter located at the stepped diaphragm and a knife edge aperture located at the lens are used to control exposure duration and intensity. The main advantage of this sensitometer is the production of an intensity scale without interposing a light absorbing step wedge.


The cosmic polarization rotation is introduced as a test of the Einstein equivalence principle, on which general relativity is based. The astrophysical tests of cosmic polarization rotation, which have been made in the past 25 years using the polarization of radio galaxies and of the cosmic microwave background, are briefly reviewed. Current problems and future prospects for cosmic polarization rotation measurements are described.


The reduction of sludge volumes for disposal is a topic of high interest for wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) all over the world. Steadily increasing volumes for disposal create an economic, environmental, legislative and technological challenge. Researchers and process developers try to minimise the sludge during its genesis or in the downstream treatment. Due to rising costs and scarcity of fossil raw materials, the view on sludge streams are about to change. Efforts are made to reuse the valuable components and to put them back into a new lifecycle. Wastewater sludge contains a number of interesting compounds like carbon that can be converted to biogas as an energy carrier, as well as nitrogen and phosphorus that can be recycled as fertilisers.
Anaerobic digestion is a widespread method to stabilise the sludge by decreasing the carbon content in a downstream treatment step at WWTPs. Our studies showed that certain additives can increase the biogas potential. Wastewater sludge contains to a large extent extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) that are formed during the biological treatment steps and that consist of a polymeric network structure of mainly carbohydrates, proteins and humic substances that are interlinked with multivalent metal cations. The addition of a cation-binding agent like sodium citrate extracts the metal ions from this structure and solubilises the EPS. The former inertial compounds that passed the anaerobic digestion almost unchanged become accessible to microbial activity.
A combination of cation-binding agents and hydrolytic enzymes showed that the enzymes were protected from entrapment and deactivation in the sludge matrix. In lab-scale trials, the following factors were varied for the better understanding of the reaction mechanisms: Species and dosage of enzymes and cation-binding agents, total solids, reaction time, temperature and pH. Both the sludge solubilisation and enzymatic hydrolysis were found to increase by 40 % and over 80 % respectively depending on the chosen settings.
In a subsequent development step, this process was tested in industrial scale on two municipal WWTP in different setups. The settings had to be adapted to the industrial surroundings, which meant mainly going from batch to continuous setups, extended experimental times and decreased chemical dosages. The performance of the digesters was observed during the experimental time of several months up to two years. In an initial industrial trial over six months, two glycosodic enzymes were added to one digester in a setup of two. The results were then compared between the treated and the reference digester. In an advanced industrial trial over two years of chemical and enzymatic addition, a set of four hydrolytic enzymes together with sodium citrate as cation-binding agent was added to a complete digestion system in reduced dosages. For the evaluation of the results, the collected data from the year preceding the two-year trial period were selected as references.
In both cases, the biogas production and the sludge dry solids for disposal after the centrifuge were considerably improved. The lab model and the results from the lab-scale trials were confirmed by the experiments in industrial scale.


Objective To investigate changes and significance of NO level in hypertensives with using Vitamin C. Methods In 30 hypertensives, average age 60.3±11.2 years, male 16 cases and female 14 cases, NO Levels were examined before and after a 3g infusion of vitamin C. once daily for 7 days. Result The NO Level after a 3g infusion of vitamin C in hypertenxives are significantly increased then before a 3g infusion of Vitamin C. Conclusion The antioxidant Vitmin C may be having a role of protection endothelial function in patients with hypertension


Aeromonas. adhesion to. sp. to cell lines used as models for intestinal adhesion. 465 Aeromonas. distribution of. phenospeeies and genospeeies among strains isolated from water. foods or from human clinical samples. 39 Amblyomma kebraeum. laboratory reared, and Amblyomma variegatum ticks differ in their susceptibility to infection with Cowdria ruminantium. 345 Amblyomma variegatum, laboratory reared Amblyomma hebraeum and. ticks differ in their susceptibility to infection with Cowdria ruminantium. 345 Antibiotic resistant, control of infection with multiple, bacteria in a hospital renal unit: the value of plasmid characterization. 61


In a laminated material for sliding bearing elements, which has, on a metallic support layer, an anti-friction layer of an almost homogeneous aluminium alloy which contains additions of from 1% to 3% by mass of nickel, from 0.5% to 2.5% by mass of manganese and from 0 to 2% by mass of lead in the aluminium having the usual permissible impurities, there is provided a further addition of bismuth between 0.8% and 1.4% by mass in the aluminium alloy. This bismuth addition improves the machinability of the aluminium alloy. Furthermore, the bismuth addition offers an increase in the sliding ability and an improvement in the emergency running properties of the aluminium alloy, with the latter advantages justifying the bismuth addition to the aluminium alloy when the aluminium alloy is applied in such a way as to make surface machining of the anti-friction layer unnecessary. As a further substantial improvement, there is the possibility of an additional copper addition of between 0.02% and 1.5% by mass to the aluminium alloy. This copper addition increases the hardness, the tensile strength and the fatigue strength of the anti-friction layer formed of aluminium alloy, with good elongation values being retained. The hard particles present in the anti-friction layer should, as in a known anti-friction layer of aluminium-nickel-manganese alloy essentially have particle sizes </= 5 mu m. ... Original abstract incomplete.


Computational experiments of numerical modeling of the UWB pulse signals diffraction on plane-layered media are carried out. First of all, the spectral characteristics of reflected signals are investigated. The values of the electrophysical parameters of the studied structures are chosen on the basis of the practical problem of nondestructive testing of road pavements and building constructions. The GeoVizy software is used for computing experiments. Obtained results allow to optimize GPR pulse parameters. The results analysis also showed the possibility of improving the technique for processing of the signals reflected from plane-layered media.


Over use of nitrogen (N) fertilizer can lead to environmental problems. In China, maize is one of the dominant crops and consumes a great deal of N fertilizer. A considerable proportion of farmers applied superfluous nitrogen fertilizer on maize production, which certainly causes N loss as nitrate leaching. How to reduce nitrate leaching in-situ is a research hotspot on crop production recently. To observe the effect of nitrate leaching under intercropping systems, an experiment was carried out in field with four treatments which were maize monoculture, maize intercropped with red clover, maize intercropped with sweet clover and maize intercropped with pea. Results showed that the maize intercropped with red clover did not significantly influence soil nitrate content, but implementation of intercropping sweet clover and pea in maize field reduced nitrate accumulation in 0-200 cm soil layer by 25.7% and 34.4%, respectively, because these two intercropping treatments significantly reduced soil nitrate content at 120200 cm soil depth. However, intercropping had little effect on ammonium accumulation. On the other hand, the grain yield of maize was not significantly influenced by intercropping with legume. The results implied that maize intercropped with legume benefited the environment without visible loss of yield in this case.


Video-based time-motion analysis has commonly been used to study the physical demands of team sports. However, the time- and labour-intensive nature of this analysis makes it quite prohibitive for use in the high performance sporting environment. In contrast, global positioning systems (GPS) use freely available satellite technology to construct the geographical location and movements of an individual. Further integration with various Micro Electrical Mechanical Systems (MEMS) and heart rate telemetry enables sport scientists to quantify the internal and external loading imposed upon team sport players during training and competition. Consequently, the application of GPS technology in the context of team sport has overcome many of the previous limitations with video-based time-motion analysis and substantially extended the role of the sport scientist in the high performance sport environment. However, the validity and reliability of GPS systems when assessing movement demands of team sports are influenced by several factors, including the movement speed, the distance covered, the movement path of the individual and GPS reception due to the surrounding environment. In addition, the sampling frequency of the GPS, its position on the individual and the GPS model used seem to influence the consistency and accuracy of the data produced. Accordingly, this review will consider the measurement issues when using GPS micro-technology in team sports. This chapter aims to evaluate the application of GPS technology as a tool for monitoring the preparation, performance and recovery of team sports athletes, providing critical comment on its utility in the high-performance sporting environment.


The integration of heterogeneous components or materials is a promising approach to create more functionalized, higher performance and smaller devices. However, there are technical problems in terms of process temperature limit, thermal expansion mismatch, process incompatibility, die size mismatch etc. To overcome such problems, significant efforts have been made in the world. This paper introduces two approaches by wafer bonding and film transfer, which have been developed in our group.


A quarter of a century ago anatomy was the subject which, next to clinical work, claimed the chief attention of the student of medicine. At that time the other subjects of the curriculum were, for the most part, taught by means of formal prelections, and the student spent a very large part of his day in the dissecting-room. Gradually, however, laboratories have been added to the other departments, and, to his great advantage, the student has now to study biology, physiology, and pathology in the same manner as anatomy. Whilst, in consequence of this, the time which


At carrying out of research-and-production experience in conditions of a pig-breeding complex "Volga" it has been established, that at application of a preparation an extract of a placenta with a hazel grove intensity of growth of pigs authentically exceeded parameters of control group of animals.


A 13-year-old girl presented with a 3-year history of progressive gait abnormality. She recently had a self-limited cervical lymphadenopathy. Neurologic examination showed brisk tendon reflexes and moderate ataxia. Brain MRI disclosed hyperintense lesions in the cerebellum and pons (figure, A). Spine MRI showed a heterogeneous lesion in the T12 vertebra (figure, B). Histopathology of the cervical lymph node confirmed Rosai-Dorfman disease (RDD) by showing emperipolesis (figure, C and D). The patient will be followed up in order to determine disease progression and therapy.


ABSTRACT Aim: GIST is the most common mesenchymal neoplasm of the gastrointestinal tract. In unresectable and metastatic or locally advanced disease, imatinib followed by sunitinib, then regorafenib represent the standard treatments in 1st, 2nd and 3rd line, respectively. Pazopanib is an active treatment in soft tissue sarcomas; it has never been evaluated in a randomized setting in advanced GIST. Methods: Eligible adult patients (pts) with adequate organ functions were randomly assigned (1:1) to receive P + BSC or BSC alone. Randomization was stratified by number of prior drugs (2 vs > = 3). The primary endpoint was Progression-Free Survival (PFS). 80 pts were planned to detect an improvement in the 4-month PFS rate (PFS-4m) from 15% (BSC alone) to 45% (P + BSC) with 5% two-sided a error and 80% power. Secondary objectives included Best Overall Response (BOR), overall survival and safety Results: From Apr 11 to Dec 13, 81 pts were randomized: 40 to P + BSC and 41 to BSC alone. Median age was 63 y (27-85), 70% were males. The intent-to-treat analysis based on investigator-assessed progression showed a significant improvement in PFS with PFS-4m of 47.7% (95% CI 30.9 to 62.7) for P + BSC vs 19.5% (95% CI 9.2 to 32.7) for BSC (HR: 0.56, 95% CI 0.34 to 0.93; stratified log-rank: p = 0.02). 36/41 pts allocated to BSC arm received P following investigator-assessed progression. BOR assessed by central review showed stable disease in 84.2% vs 70.7% and progressive disease in 15.8% vs 26.8% of pts in P + BSC and BSC arms, respectively. 52.5% of pts receiving P + BSC experienced at least one Serious Adverse Event (SAE) vs 14.6% of pts receiving BSC alone. In P + BSC arm, the more frequent SAE were gastrointestinal disorders (n = 7; 17.5%), deterioration of global health status (n = 6; 15%) and pulmonary embolism (n = 5; 12.5%). Conclusions: P combined to BSC improves PFS in pts with advanced GIST resistant to imatinib and sunitinib. Disclosure: J-Y. Blay: Research funding and honoraria from GSK, Novartis, Roche, Pfizer, Bayer; A. Italiano: Research support and honoraria from GSK; P. Cassier: Honoraria from GSK and Servier Travel reimbursment from Novartis, Roche and Servier Research support from Novartis; I.L. Ray-Coquard: Honoraria and research support from GSK & Roche; O. Mir: has acted as a consultant/speaker for Astra-Zeneca, Bayer, GSK, Novartis, Pfizer, Roche and Servier; A. Belleville, J. Gautier and D. Perol: Research support from GSK; A. Le Cesne: Honoraria & Research support from GSK, Pharmamar, Novartis. All other authors have declared no conflicts of interest.


It is inevitable for a first rate Chinese university of science and engineering to found the corresponding top social sciences if it determines to reach the goal of being an international first rate university. For the foundation of an international first-rate university requires both spirit of natural science and of social science. So it is essential for university administrators to realize the importance of social sciences in such a university. With a definite orientation and some effective measures, the first decade of the new century will certainly witness the foundation of a group of international first rate universities of science and engineering in China.


The paper aims to finding the methods of strengthening the quality education of the vocational college's students by investigating and analyzing their comprehensive quality test.


The present study was conducted to boost summer moong crop during summer season of 2017and 2018 with 130 front line demonstration (FLD's) covering an area of 50 hectare (ha) in Tarn Taran district of Punjab to aware the farmers about improved agricultural technology in real farm situations. The results were compared between FLD and control plots. Latest crop production and protection technologies with improved summer moong varieties (SML 668 and SML 832 during 2017 and 2018, respectively) resulted in average increase in the yield of 23 per cent of summer moong. Technology gaps, extension gaps and technology indices were calculated to analyze the performance of these FLDs at farmers' fields. The average extension gap and technology gap recorded were 2.05 q ha -1 and 1.4 q ha -1 , respectively. Between both varieties of summer moong, lower technology index of 6.92 per cent in SML 668 in 2017 indicates the feasibility of this variety in existing farming situation in the district over SML 832. This proved that SML 668 performed better than SML 832. Sowing of high yielding varieties along with improved package of practices resulted in higher benefit-cost ratio (1.61) over farmers' practice (1.35) during both years of study.


For stroke patients with upper limb motor dysfunction, rehabilitation training with the help of rehabilitation robots is a social development trend. Existing upper limb rehabilitation robots have difficulty fully fitting the complex motion of the human shoulder joint and have poor human–robot compatibility. In this paper, based on the anatomical structure of the human upper limb, an equivalent mechanism model of the human upper limb is established. The configuration synthesis of the upper limb rehabilitation mechanism was carried out, a variety of shoulder joint man–machine closed-chain Θs and shoulder elbow human–machine closed-chain Θse configuration combinations were synthesized, and the configuration model with compatibility and reduced moment conduction attenuation was selected from them. Two configurations, 2Pa1P3Ra and 5Ra1P, are proposed for the generalized shoulder joint mechanism of the robot. The closed-chain kinematic models of the two configurations are established, and the velocity Jacobian matrix is obtained. Motion performance analysis, condition reciprocal analysis and operability ellipsoid analysis of different configuration design schemes were carried out in different operation planes. The results show that in the normal upper limb posture of the human body, the 5Ra1P configuration of the shoulder joint has better kinematic performance. Finally, on this basis, an upper limb rehabilitation robot prototype with good human–computer compatibility is developed, and its moving space was verified.


Ceramic-matrix composites (CMCs) fabricated by the directed metal oxidation process (Dimox{trademark}) may have applications in heat exchangers in high-temperature corrosive environments such as those in the glass industry. The oxidation and corrosion properties of such CMCs with and without preformed metal-free surface layers have been investigated in the temperature range of 1,000--1,300 C. The untreated CMCs experienced rapid oxidation in air leading to mass increases of 100 to 140 mg/cm{sup 2} in less than 1 h. This occurred by oxidation of residual metal in the composite to form Al/Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} deposits on the surface. After the initial formation of the oxidation product, there is little further reaction during up to 300-h exposures to oxidizing atmospheres. Experimental composite coupons with metal-free surfaces were resistant to oxidation except for localized events associated with flaws. Small amounts of sodium silicate (2 to 40 mg/cm{sup 2}) painted on the surfaces produced no corrosive effects on any of the specimens. Dynamic corrosion experiments, in which a continuous mist of sodium silicate was sprayed onto the surfaces, produced corrosion at 1,300 C.


The purpose of this study was to discover and determine the elements of the parent/community culture of a comprehensive high school. More specifically, the study investigated the main elements of the parent/conununity culture, identified the factors contributing to that culture and their relative strengths, determined the education-related beliefs^ values, and attitudes, determined how the loyal support culture was developed and maintained, and described the parent/community culture itself. The research was conducted at a comprehensive high school located in a mid-sized city in the Midwest. Interviewing was the primary method of data collection. Small group interviews were conducted with 79 participants, individual interviews were conducted with 12 participants, and informal interviews were conducted throughout 24 days spent in the field. After the interview process began, it was clear that nearly all the participants were generally positive and supportive of the school. The smdy was then firamed through the lens of a "loyal support" culture. The beliefs, values, and attitudes were collapsed through an inductive process to provide key elements and factors of the culture. Other means of data collection included the Parent Survev: Oualitv of School Practices (O'Connell, 1993) on the impact and quality of school practices and the level of support for the school. Additionally, an informal survey was provided to high school alumni at their armual alumni reunion banquet. The data from these two surveys provided valuable insights into the cultural elements and fk:tors and was used in data triangulationResults of the study determined that nine cultural elements comprised of 45 cultural factors were the foundation of this parent/commimity culture in relation to the high school.


ABSTRACT The dynamism and complexity of human factors of organization constitute a great barrier to effective integration and retention among other functions of human resource management. Because of the complexity of human needs, identifying what could actually meet their needs constitute a herculean task. There is that general agreement that incentives (financial and non-financial) constitute a strong driving force that could induce (motivate) a worker to act in a desired manner, but the complexity of these incentives has also led to its misapplication. The paper examines some of the intricacies of financial and none- financial incentives on motivation, performance and achieving the organizational goal as a whole. It was discovered that human needs apart from being complex and conflicting, varies over time. Because of this, incentives also will vary in terms of their impact on motivation. Also, identifying the right type of incentives which is preferable for the worker makes it more difficult. Finally, the inability of identifying the unforeseen or unintended consequences of incentives could render them of no effect. Therefore, a proper knowledge of the intricacies of financial incentives is the beginning of wisdom for enhancing performance and achieving organizational goal. Finally, a mix of both financial and non-financial incentives is desirable. Keywords: Employee, incentive, organization, motivation, productivity


After the samples were treated by the microwave digestion technology, the inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry(ICP-MS) was used to directly determine trace boron in grape, with the online addition of internal standards. The method was simple and rapid, and the results satisfactory, with the recoveries ranging from 98.65% to 101.62%.


Jalili syndrome (JS) is a rare cone‐rod dystrophy (CRD) associated with amelogenesis imperfecta (AI). The first clinical presentation of JS patients was published in 1988 by Jalili and Smith. Pathogenic mutations in the Cyclin and CBS Domain Divalent Metal Cation Transport Mediator 4 (CNNM4) magnesium transporter protein have been reported as the leading cause of this anomaly.


At 110 °C α-substituted [Fe2(CO)6(µ-PhCCH2)(µ-PPh2)] 1 is cleanly converted into the β-isomer [Fe2(CO)6(µ-HCCHPh)(µ-PPh2)] 2, a process which is accelerated in the presence of arylphosphines; with P(OMe)3 mono- and di-substituted adducts of 1 are isolated at 70 °C, which cleanly isomerise at higher temperatures.


In RB convection for fluids with Prandtl number $Pr\gtrsim 1$, rotation beyond a critical (small) rotation rate is known to cause a sudden enhancement of heat transfer which can be explained by a change in the character of the BL dynamics near the top and bottom plates of the convection cell. Namely, with increasing rotation rate, the BL signature suddenly changes from Prandtl--Blasius type to Ekman type. The transition from a constant heat transfer to an almost linearly increasing heat transfer with increasing rotation rate is known to be sharp and the critical Rossby number $Ro_{c}$ occurs typically in the range $2.3\lesssim Ro_{c}\lesssim 2.9$ (for Rayleigh number $Ra=1.3\times 10^9$, $Pr=6.7$, and a convection cell with aspect ratio $\Gamma=\frac{D}{H}=1$, with $D$ the diameter and $H$ the height of the cell). The explanation of the sharp transition in the heat transfer points to the change in the dominant flow structure. At $1/Ro\lesssim 1/Ro_c$ (slow rotation), the well-known LSC is found: a single domain-filling convection roll made up of many individual thermal plumes. At $1/Ro\gtrsim 1/Ro_c$ (rapid rotation), the LSC vanishes and is replaced with a collection of swirling plumes that align with the rotation axis. In this paper, by numerically studying Lagrangian acceleration statistics, related to the small-scale properties of the flow structures, we reveal that this transition between these different dominant flow structures happens at a second critical Rossby number, $Ro_{c_2}\approx 2.25$ (different from $Ro_{c_1}\approx 2.7$ for the sharp transition in the Nusselt number $Nu$; both values for the parameter settings of our present numerical study). When statistical data of Lagrangian tracers near the top plate are collected, it is found that the root-mean-square (rms) values and the kurtosis of the horizontal acceleration of these tracers show a sudden increase at $Ro_{c_2}$.


In-situ sampling and analysis is one of the major tasks in future NASA exploration missions. Existing drilling techniques are limited by the need for large axial forces, holding torques, and high power consumption. Lightweight robots and rovers have difficulties accommodating these requirements. To address these key challenges to the NASA objective of planetary in-situ rock sampling and analysis, a drilling technology called ultrasonic/sonic drilledcorer (USDC) was developed. The USDC uses a novel driving mechanism, transferring ultrasonic vibration to sonic frequency impacts with the aid of a free-flying mass block (free-mass). The free mass then drives the drill bit. The actuator consists of a stack of piezoelectric disks with a horn that amplifies the induced vibration amplitudes. To optimize the amplification of the vibration displacement and velocity that are generated by the piezoelectric materials, various horn designs were examined analytically. Conventional and new designs of the horn were analyzed using finite element modeling and the results allow for the determination of the control parameters that can enhance the tip displacement and velocity. The results of the modeling will be described and discussed in this paper.


The increase of cobalt content in solid amorphous Fe 68-x Co x Zr 10 Mo 5 W 2 B 15 glasses positively affects on the Curie temperature and increase the capacity of the glass transition of the alloy. From the corrosion point of view, this increase is not so favourable. In this chapter the results of the research under the materials susceptibility to corrosion in the Ringer solution were presented. In addition, researches were performed in an environment of nitric acid and sodium hydroxide. In all carried out test environments, resistance to corrosion of metallic glasses decreases with the increase of cobalt content.


Currently, numerous studies undeniably prove the influence of metabolic syndrome on osteoarthritis (OA) progression. In hyperlipidemia, free fatty acids abnormally accumulate in the cartilage tissue and provoke cell dysfunction and necrosis. Studies show that palmitate and stearate have a pronounced proapoptotic effect on chondrocytes of the articular cartilage. Mediators of the systemic inflammatory response produced by the adipose tissue act as a significant link in the pathogenesis of metabolic OA in the knee joint. Metabolic disorders, insulin resistance, and dyslipidemia boost production of inflammatory mediators and glycosylated compounds and formation of free oxygen radicals provoking endothelial dysfunction. A relationship between intra-articular structures (articular cartilage, synovial membrane, subchondral bone, and synovial fluid) and the intra-articular infrapatellar fat pad is a local pathogenetic factor in the metabolic OA of the knee. It is proven that the intra-articular infrapatellar fat pad increases significantly in obese patients. Due to proximity to the articular cartilage and synovial membrane, the adipose tissue is in close contact with them. The influence of systemic metabolites activates the growth of adipocytes, preadipocytes, macrophages, fibroblasts, and other fat body cells which enhance the production and release of adipokines, such as leptin, adiponectin, visfatin, and cytokines, that, in turn, stimulate aseptic inflammation resulting in development of synovitis, cartilage degeneration, and gonarthrosis progression. Therefore, the metabolic syndrome has a negative impact on the condition of the joint tissues, contributing to the development of gonarthrosis or its progression. It manifests itself both through systemic effects and the local impact of the hypertrophied infrapatellar fat pad on the components of the synovial joint environment.


This paper deals with the boiler control problem proposed as a benchmark for the IFAC Conference on Advances in PID Controllers (PID'12). This boiling process is a multivariable nonlinear system that shows interactions and is subjected to input constraints. As proposal, in this work, a PID control by inverted decoupling with feedforward compensation is developed. The design simplicity and easiness of implementation are highlighted. Experiment simulations considered in the benchmark show that the proposed design achieves better performance indexes than those of the reference cases.


Objective To examine the characteristics of patients who developed late onset systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) in the GLADEL (Grupo Latino Americano de Estudio del Lupus) cohort of patients with SLE. Methods Patients with SLE of less than two years of disease duration, seen at 34 centers of nine Latin American countries, were included. Late-onset was defined as >50 years of age at time of first SLE-related symptom. Clinical and laboratory manifestations, activity index (SLEDAI), and damage index (SLICC/ACR- DI) were ascertained at time of entry and during the course (cumulative incidence). Features were compared between the two patient groups (<50 and ≥50) using descriptive statistics and hypothesis tests. Logistic regression was performed to examine the association of late-onset lupus, adjusting for other variables. Results Of the 1480 patients included, 102 patients (6.9 %) had late-onset SLE, 87% of which were female. Patients with late-onset SLE had a shorter follow-up (3.6 vs. 4.4 years, p < 0.002) and a longer time to diagnosis (10.1 vs. 5.8 months, p < 0.001) compared to the younger onset group. Malar rash, photosensitivity, and renal involvement were less prevalent while interstitial lung disease, pleural effusions, and sicca symptoms were more frequent in the older age group (p > 0.05). In multivariable analysis, late onset was independently associated with higher odds of ocular (OR = 3.66, 95% CI = 2.15–6.23), pulmonary (OR = 2.04, 95% CI = 1.01–4.11), and cardiovascular (OR = 1.76, 95% CI = 1.04–2.98) involvement and lower odds of cutaneous involvement (OR = 0.41, 95% CI = 0.21–0.80), number of cumulative SLE criteria (OR = 0.79, 95% CI = 0.64–0.97), use of cyclophosphamide (OR = 0.47, 95% CI = 0.24–0.95), and anti-RNP antibodies (OR = 0.43, 95% CI = 0.20–0.91). A Cox regression model revealed a higher risk of dying in older onset than the younger-onset SLE (OR = 2.61, 95% CI = 1.2–5.6). Conclusion Late-onset SLE in Latin Americans had a distinct disease expression compared to the younger-onset group. The disease seems to be mild with lower cumulative SLE criteria, reduced renal/mucocutaneous involvements, and less use of cyclophosphamide. Nevertheless, these patients have a higher risk of death and of ocular, pulmonary, and cardiovascular involvements.


When a higher-order modulation scheme (16QAM or 64QAM) is applied to the communications system using the nonlinear high power amplifier (HPA), the performance can be degraded by the nonlinear distortion of the HPA. The nonlinear distortion can be compensated by the adaptive nonlinear Volterra equalizer using the low-complexity LMS algorithm at the receiver. However, the LMS algorithm shows very slow convergence performance. So, in this paper, the parallel M-band discrete wavelet transformed LMS algorithm is proposed in order to improve the convergence speed. Throughout the computer simulations, it is shown that the convergence performance of the proposed method is superior to that of the conventional time-domain and transform-domain LMS algorithms.


This commentary considers Merker's mesodiencephalic proposal in relation to quantitative measures of neural dynamics suggested to be relevant to consciousness. I suggest that even if critical neural mechanisms turn out to be subcortical, the functional utility of consciousness will depend on the rich conscious contents generated by continuous interaction of such mechanisms with a thalamocortical envelope.


Kinetic studies of the nitrosation of 1,3-dimethylurea and 2-imidazolidone in tetrahydrofuran–water and dimiethl sulfoxide–water mixtures have been carried out. In tetrahydrofuran–water mixtures, the results obtained show that the kinetic characteristics of the reaction depend on the proportion of tetrahydrofuran in the medium. At low concentrations of organic solvent, the reaction is not catalysed by chloride ions and the reaction mechanism is probably the same as in pure water. At very high proportions of tetrahydrofuran (more than 80% by weight), there is a change in the reaction mechanism. Halide ions catalyse the process, which is interpreted in terms of formation of the corresponding nitrosyl halides which act as efficient nitrosating agents of ureas. In dimethyl sulfoxide–water mixtures the results obtained show that the addition of the organic solvent up to 85% by weight of dimethyl sulfoxide inhibits the reaction rate, which increases slightly upon further increasing the proportion of dimethyl sulfoxide. However, unlike other organic solvents, in dimethyl sulfoxide–water mixture we did not observe catalysis by halide ions. The reaction mechanism seems to be the same as in pure water, with the proton transfer from the protonated nitroso compound to the medium being the rate limiting step.


AbstractFor further improving the seismic design of steel-reinforced concrete (SRC)—RC frame structures, a two-step seismic calculating method is proposed as a supplement to the current Chinese sta...


The invention relates to a method for preparing waste recovered graphite powder into graphene. The method comprises the following steps of: mixing waste recovered graphite powder and concentrated sulfuric acid in a reaction kettle, stirring and uniformly mixing; slowly adding potassium permanganate; fully stirring and keeping a low temperature (20 DEG C); heating solution to 35+/-5 DEG C and keeping the temperature for 30-90 minutes; slowly adding a certain amount of distilled water, heating the solution to 80-90 DEG C and keeping the temperature for 15-30 minutes; slowly adding hydrogen peroxide into the solution and slowly stirring to obtain golden yellow graphene oxide slurry; washing the slurry by using hydrochloric acid, potassium hydroxide and de-ionized water of certain concentration in sequence to remove impurity ions; and finally, holding an obtained graphene oxide sample in a high-temperature reaction furnace, and heating under an environment of argon, hydrogen or ammonia gas at 500-800 DEG C for 1-3 hours to reduce to obtain a graphene sample with thickness of 1-5 atom layers. The method has the advantages of low production cost, short period, high yield, simplicity and easiness for control of equipment and suitability for large-scale production. The waste recovered graphite powder is used as a carbon source, so that the utilization rate of an environment resource is effectively increased.


The study of chronic myeloid leukemia has yielded many insights into the molecular pathology of leukemia in recent years. BCR-ABL fusion oncoprotein with constitutive activation of tyrosine kinase is central to the pathogenesis of the disease. Target to DNA, mRNA or protein of bcr-abl results in research and development of molecular-target drugs, of which imatinib mesylate as a tyrosine kinase inhibitor has proved remarkably effective. Allogeneic stem cell transplantation and other therapies provide more chance to cure for the patients with chronic myeloid leukemia. This review presents the status of basic and clinical study in chronic myeloid leukemia.


In our article "Romiplostim and eltrombopag for immune thrombocytopenia: methods for indirect comparison" published in the Journal (1), we presented an indirect comparison of the effectiveness of eltrombopag and romiplostim in raising platelet counts in patients with immune thrombocytopenia (ITP). Indirect comparison analyses are recommended by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) in cases where randomized head-to-head studies do not exist, and were used by NICE in their guidance for the eltrombopag Single Technology Appraisal submission (2).


The thesis mainly inquiries into the thoughts of better troops which theoretically bases on being prudent on war,physically bases on how to rich the country,strategically intents on being forever precautious and building the army with better quality in Military Science of Sun Bin.At the same time,it tries to explain that from the angle of historical development of China,these thoughts not only inherit,innovate and develop the quintessence of Military thoughts of Sun Wu,but also influence on military thoughts to later generations.That is why it took an important role in China's history of ancient military thoughts.Besides,from the angle of investigation value of military thoughts,these thoughts have great guiding and referential significance for modern defense and military construction.


From a pH titration study, the complexation of divalent metal ions (M2+) by 6A-(3-aminopropylamino)-6A-deoxy-β-cyclodextrin (βCDpn) to form the metallocyclodextrins, [M(βCDpn)]2+, is characterized by log(K2/dm3 mol–1)= 4.22 ± 0.02, 5.2 ± 0.1, 7.35 ± 0.04 and 4.96 ± 0.08 when M2+= Co2+, Ni2+, Cu2+ and Zn2+, respectively, in aqueous solution at I= 0.10 (NaClO4) and 298.2 K. The complexation of the tryptophan anion (Trp–) by [M(βCDpn)]2+ is enantioselective for (S)-Trp– as indicated by log(K6R/dm3 mol–1) and log(K6S/dm3 mol–1)= 4.04 ± 0.03 and 4.32 ± 0.05, 4.1 ± 0.2 and 5.1 ± 0.2, and 7.85 ± 0.07 and 8.09 ± 0.05, where the first and second magnitudes refer to the stability constants for [M(βCDpn)(R)-Trp]+, and [M(βCDpn)(S)-Trp]+, respectively, when M2+= Co2+, Ni2+ and Cu2+, respectively. The corresponding magnitudes for M2+= Zn2+ are both 5.3 ± 0.1, indicating no enantioselectivity. The role of M2+ and other factors affecting complexation and enantioselectivity are discussed.


The article examines the most essential tendencies connected with the many-sided interactions of the priority sphere of "light-genre" musical theatre – the rock opera and the musical – during the course of the 2000s and 2010s. According to the researcher, the long-standing opposition between the aforementioned genres: the rock opera as the manifestation of "artistic experimentalism" and the musical as the personification of the "commercial intentions" of modern popular culture – have presently been replaced by efficient creative dialogue. On the one hand, the contemporary musical (along with the "academic" and "non-academic" varieties of opera) makes great active use of the figurative-emotional and musical-stylistic arsenal of rock music, which saturates the musical and theatre-stage dramaturgy of recently written compositions with the appropriate energy. The apparent confirmations of this tendency are the broadly known Russian poly-genre projects – the "opera musicals" by Efim Podgaits ("Lord of the Flies") and Alexander Pantykin ("Gogol. Chichikov. Souls"). On the second hand, in the newest productions of "traditional rock opera" one can trace the inclination towards a peculiar "musicalization" of the original text (which is stipulated by the requirements of "relevant" stage direction and permeated with motives of "vital daily occurrence"). As examples of the described tendency, the author of the article examines some of the recent Russian performances which re-interpret Alexander Zhurbin's song opera "Orpheus and Eurydice" and Eduard Artemyev's rock opera "Crime and Punishment." Keywords: musical, rock opera, interactions between genre and style, "Lord of the Flies" by Efrem Podgaits, "Gogol. Chichikov. Souls" by Alexander Pantykin, "Crime and Punishment" by Eduard Artemyev, "Orpheus and Eurydice" by Alexander Zhurbin.


Semi-supervised clustering with instance-level constraints is one of the most active research topics in the areas of pattern recognition, machine learning and data mining. Several recent studies have shown that instance-level constraints can significantly increase accuracies of a variety of clustering algorithms. However, instance-level constraints may split the search space of the optimal clustering solution into pieces, thus significantly compound the difficulty of the search task. This paper explores a genetic approach to solve the problem of semi-supervised clustering with instance-level constraints. In particular, a novel semi-supervised clustering algorithm with instance-level constraints, termed as the hybrid genetic-guided semi-supervised clustering algorithm with instance-level constraints (Cop-HGA), is proposed. Cop-HGA uses a hybrid genetic algorithm to perform the search task of a high quality clustering solution that is able to draw a good balance between predefined clustering criterion and available instance-level background knowledge. The effectiveness of Cop-HGA is confirmed by experimental results on several real data sets with artificial instance-level constraints.


We present an approach for robust detection, prediction, and avoidance of dynamic obstacles in urban environments. After detecting a dynamic obstacle, our approach exploits structure in the environment where possible to generate a set of likely hypotheses for the future behavior of the obstacle and efficiently incorporates these hypotheses into the planning process to produce safe actions. The techniques presented are very general and can be used with a wide range of sensors and planning algorithms. We present results from an implementation on an autonomous passenger vehicle that has traveled thousands of miles in populated urban environments and won first place in the DARPA Urban Challenge.


The surface topography of thin single‐crystal BaTiO3 films deposited on SrTiO3(100) and YBCO(001)/LaAlO3(100) substrates, and thin polycrystalline films deposited on MgO(100) was studied using scanning force microscopy in air. Films 0.37, 0.26, and 0.39 μm thick were grown on the SrTiO3(100) substrate at 750 °C at oxygen pressures of 0.7, 7, and 70 Pa, respectively. Films 0.47, 0.26, and 0.25 μm thick were deposited on the SrTiO3(100) substrate at the temperatures of 550, 750, and 850 °C, respectively, at an oxygen pressure of 7 Pa. Films 0.20 and 0.10 μm thick were grown on MgO(100) and YBCO(001)/LaAlO3(100) substrates, respectively, at 750 °C and 7 Pa. Scanning force microscopy images show that, for the deposition temperature of 750 °C, when the oxygen pressure is increased from 0.7 to 7 and 70 Pa, the surface topography of the BaTiO3 films changes from flat to islandlike three‐dimensional growth (Volmer–Weber mode), and the corresponding rms surface roughness values are 1.2, 3.4, and 6.4 nm. With an in...


Objective
To investigate the application effect of venous superdrainage to repair the wound around the knee joint with reverse anterolateral thigh flap.

Methods
From February, 2010 to August, 2015, 7 patients with wound around the knee joint were treated with reverse anterolateral thigh flap. The size of wound ranged from 15 cm × 6 cm to 20 cm × 10 cm..Which bone and joint ligament exposed to air..With outside pressure and venous superdrainage, it can effectively solve the problem of venous stagnation, anastomosing their veins accompanied with the lateral femoral circumflex artery descending branch with the veins in the neighborhood, when repaired the wound with reverse anterolateral thigh flap..The size of the flap ranged from 17 cm × 8 cm to 23 cm × 12 cm. The donor sites were sutured directly or covered with full-thickness skin graft.

Results
All the 7 flaps survived completely without vascular crisis and swelling. These flaps had abundant blood supply an good appearance, soft texture, normal skin color, no pigmentation.

Conclusion
With venous superdrainage, it can effectively solve the problem of venous stagnation of reverse anterolateral thigh flap, and improve the survival rate of flaps.

Key words:
Anterolateral thigh flap, reverse; External pressure; Superdrainage; Descending branch, lateral femoral circumflex artery; Wound repair


n engl j med 372;8 nejm.org february 19, 2015 e12 A 34-year-old farmer presented to our emergency department with a painful rash with purulent-appearing papules on his hands (Panels A and B). The rash had been worsening over the previous 2 1/2 weeks. The physical examination was otherwise unremarkable. The patient manages livestock on his farm. The rash began a few days after a sheep bit his left hand while being bolus-fed. The patient was experienced in sheep care and reported that multiple animals on his farm had "sore mouth disease." He did not wear gloves while performing the feeds. Initial differential diagnosis included herpetic whitlow, cutaneous anthrax, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus infection, and poxvirus infection. Lesional swabs were sent to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, where polymerase-chain-reaction assay confirmed the suspected diagnosis of contagious ecthyma, a zoonotic infection caused by the orf virus. This viral infection is typically self-limited in immunocompetent patients. The patient was treated conservatively with routine wound care and antibiotic agents for possible bacterial superinfection. His lesions resolved completely over a period of 3 weeks. To prevent recurrent infection, the patient was advised to use gloves when he handled the animals or any potentially contaminated equipment.


AIM
To assess dental caries prevalence in adolescents at urban and sub-urban areas of Maputo-City, Mozambique and to identify its relationship with dental fluorosis, dental plaque, nutritional status, frequency of sugar consumption and the concentration of fluoride in public water supply.

METHODS
Subjects (n=601) were randomly selected from five urban schools and five sub-urban schools. Clinical examinations were performed under standardised conditions by a trained examiner using DMFT index, SiC index, fluorosis index, PHP, BMI, a sugar consumption questionnaire and water supply analysis. The bivariate analysis and Pearson correlation was used (p < 0.05).

RESULTS
The mean (DMFT) was 0.9 (+/- 1.65 SD). Children in urban schools showed less dental caries (0.8 +/- 1.49 SD) than children in sub-urban schools (1.1 +/- 1.80 SD, p = 0.03). Only 8.15% had very mild to moderate fluorosis but most presented poor oral hygiene. Cases of malnutrition were found in more sub-urban schools (n=109; 36.22%) than in urban schools (n=66; 22.00%) (p = 0.03). The frequency of sugar consumption was higher among urban children compared to suburban schools (p < 0.00). The level of fluoride in water consumption in urban schools was 0.4 ppmF, above the level of fluoride in sub-urban schools, 0.2 ppmF.

CONCLUSION
Dental caries should not be considered a major oral health problem in Maputo at the moment. However the data suggest the implementation of a population strategy to reduce dental caries rates, in children of both urban and sub-urban areas, in Maputo.


Inhibition of proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (PCSK9) has become an attractive therapeutic strategy for lowering low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C). In this study, a novel high affinity humanized IgG1 mAb (named h5E12-L230G) targeting the catalytic domain of human PCSK9 (hPCSK9) was generated by using CDR-grafting, alanine-scanning mutagenesis, and saturated site-directed mutagenesis. The heavy-chain constant region of h5E12-L230G was modified to eliminate the cytotoxic effector functions and mitigate the heterogeneity. The biolayer interferometry (BLI) binding assay and molecular docking study revealed that h5E12-L230G binds to the catalytic domain of hPCSK9 with nanomolar affinity (KD = 1.72 nM) and an extremely slow dissociation rate (koff, 4.84 × 10−5 s−1), which interprets its quite low binding energy (−54.97 kcal/mol) with hPCSK9. Additionally, h5E12-L230G elevated the levels of LDLR and enhanced the LDL-C uptake in HepG2 cells, as well as reducing the serum LDL-C and total cholesterol (TC) levels in hyperlipidemic mouse model with high potency comparable to the positive control alirocumab. Our data indicate that h5E12-L230G is a high-affinity anti-PCSK9 antibody candidate with an extremely slow dissociation rate for favorably treating hypercholesterolemia and relevant cardiovascular diseases.


1. the art that the invention defined in the claims The present invention will on the character management system and method using a combination of buttons and the dynamic function assignment. 2. The invention attempts to solve the technical challenges The present invention is an external input device: sikidoe move the character (cursor, etc.) on the external output apparatus according to the button input signal (for example, a remote controller, a joystick), so as to dynamically assign functions to some buttons and control characters through the combination of buttons by using a limited number of buttons to provide a character management system and method using for to control the character moves on the screen, in combination with dynamic button function assignment that purpose. 3. Resolution of the subject matter of the invention, The present invention provides a character management system, if analyzes the signals received from the external functional state change request signal switch the setting function for the button of the input device, and character movement request signal to the analysis result management command analysis means for data transmission to the device; Location management means for controlling the on-screen character moves according to the transfer receiving the results of analysis for any input signal from the instruction data analysis means; And including a position information storage means for storing position information of the on-screen characters. 4. An important use of the invention, The invention yiyongdoem like character position management system. Dynamic allocation feature, combination of buttons, character, button input signal analysis, the character position management system


The predictability of timing behavior is a very important performance issue of a real-time system. As the complexity of modern industrial systems increases, analyzing the timing behaviors of those systems becomes more and more challenging. Most of the existing analysis methods depend on static and detailed information of the systems under analysis. However, sometimes only partial information of a system can be available, or it may require too much effort on obtaining those details, making those analysis methods much less feasible. Moreover, those methods usually focus on some specific system models with unrealistic assumptions, consequently, applying those methods on a complex industrial real-time system may result in overly pessimistic results. Therefore, in this paper, we propose a statistical method to compute Worst-Case Response Times (WCRTs) of complex real-time systems regarding soft timing constraints, which can provide a higher general applicability with less required system information. Our approach employs a Peak Over Thresholds (POT) method, which is a branch of the Extreme Value Theory (EVT). For the evaluation, we have applied this approach on the analysis of message transmission latencies over Controller Area Networks (CAN).


The International Food Policy Research Institute terms India's position in the global hunger index "alarming"—67th in 2011 compared with 65th in previous years, indicating worsening food and nutritional insecurity.1 This index measures hunger using three combined, equally weighted, indicators: the proportion of people who are calorie deficient, the proportion of people who are underweight, and the mortality rate among children under 5.

About a third of India's adult population has low body mass index, suggesting they are calorie deficient; 43% of children below 5 are underweight and 48% stunted; and the under 5 mortality rate is 74 per 1000 live births (two fifths of which is directly related to malnutrition).2 As alarming are the 30% of babies born with low birth weight; the 47% of adolescent girls underweight3; and the prevalence of anaemia of 56%, 57%, and 75% in girls, women, and children, respectively.4

Successive governments in the past decade have promised food and nutritional security but could not reform the ailing governmental public distribution system, which provides subsidised grain to poor families—because of leakages and corruption it covers …


In distributed systems, resource allocation consists in managing fair access to a large number of processes to a typically small number of reusable resources. When the number of available resources is greater than one, the efficiency in concurrent accesses becomes an important issue, as a crucial goal is to minimise the waiting times to utilise these resources. In this paper, we present a k-out-of-l resources allocation solution in tree networks. The k-out-of-l resources allocation problem is a generalisation of the well-known l resources allocation problem-there are l units of the shared resource, any process can request up to k units (1 ≤ k ≤ l) and no resource unit can be allocated to more than one process simultaneously. The proposed solution is optimal in terms of waiting times of processes to enter critical sections (get the requested units of the shared resource), i.e., between two entries of a process to its critical section, no other process can enter its critical section more than once after stabilisation. Furthermore, every process's request is granted in at most O(n × h) rounds. Since our algorithm is stabilising, it does not require initialisation and withstands transient faults. The stabilisation time of the algorithm is 3 × h + 6 rounds and the waiting time is (n – 1), where h and n are the height and the size (number of processes) of the tree, respectively. In addition, this algorithm satisfies all the requirements of the k-out-of-l resources allocation problem: safety, fairness and (k,l)-liveness.


Under the modernist project indigenous social welfare work approaches have been silenced and relegated to the periphery as deficit theory and practice in the landscape of social work. This positioning has promoted the belief that indigenous expertise and culture is only of relevance for culturally-sensitive practice. Rejecting this view, I utilize the findings of a study of intra-group helping amongst Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders-a 'Murri Way'- to argue that social work theory and practice has much to learn from indigenous peoples about the interpersonal helping process. I call for recognition of a space of possibility between indigenous and non-indigenous practitioners that the indigenous telling creates. This is a space in between these players who do not share a common understanding, a space where players may participate in a dance of difference (dialogue) to help map a common space of understanding.


Background: The kidney expresses relatively high levels of glycosphingolipid globotriaosylceramide (Gb3Cer or CD77) compared with other organs. Glycosphingolipids are found in membrane lipid rafts where they influence function of receptors and transporters embedded in these domains. In addition, CD77 serves se E. coli verotoxin receptor. Renal glucose reabsorption in diabetes mellitus (DM) is altered, and glycosuria provides a favorable environment for bacteria to reside and grow in the urinary tract, often leading to urinary tract infection. Therefore, the aim of our study was to determine CD77 expression on renal endothelial and non-endothelial cells, in rat models of DM type 1 (T1DM) and type 2 (T2DM). Methods: Diabetes was induced with streptozotocin (55 mg kg−1 for T1DM and 35 mg kg−1 for T2DM) injection to rats which were fed with normal pellet diet (T1DM) or high-fat diet (T2DM). The endothelial marker CD34 and glycosphingolipid CD77 were determined in renal cell suspensions by flow cytometry. Results: Rats of T2DM model showed twice lower proportion of renal CD77 positive non-endothelial cells in comparison to corresponding control rats (P = 0.016). Conclusions: Our study showed that the CD77 positive non-endothelial renal cells could specifically mirror diabetic nephropathy. The reason of increased susceptibility to bacteria other than E. coli in diabetic patients could lay in changed membrane glycosphingolipid composition.


Ni0.5Ti2(PO4)3/C Nasicon-type phosphate is introduced as a new anode material for Lithium ion batteries (LIBs). Ni0.5Ti2(PO4)3/C was synthesized via the sol-gel route and delivered some remarkable electrochemical performances. Specifically, Ni0.5Ti2(PO4)3/C electrode evidenced a high rate capability performance and delivered high reversible capacities ranging from 130 mAh/g to about 111 mAh/g at current rates ranging from 0.1C to 5C in the voltage window of 1.85-3V vs Li+/Li. At the same voltage range, the material reached an initial capacity of 105 mAh/g with a capacity retention of about 82% after 1000 cycles at the high current rate of 10C. The electrodes were also tested at the wider voltage range of 0.5-3V vs Li+/Li and show good reversibility and rate capability performance. Moreover, Ni0.5Ti2(PO4)3/C electrodes were found to enable fast Li+ diffusion (order of 10-13 cm2/s) compared to other Nasicon-type materials. As a result, a first discharge capacity of 480 mAh/g is reached.


The origins and nature of the judicial role of the senate in cases which under the republic were the business of the permanent quaestiones have been the subject of long debate, and a satisfactory explanation has yet to be found for the change that had undoubtedly taken place by the reign of Tiberius. The discovery and publication of the senatorial decree which concluded the investigation into the charge brought in A.D. 20 against Cn. Piso following the murder of Germanicus,2 in addition to the wealth of new material it provides for the political history of the period and the understanding of the methods of the historian Tacitus, allows an insight into the relation of the senate to the quaestio maiestatis which may prove useful in unravelling some of the puzzles which have troubled scholars hitherto.


Clinical Professor, Department of Anaesthesiology, University of HongKong, Hong Kong ................................................................................................................................................................. Correspondence to: C.W. Cheung Email: firstname.lastname@example.com Accepted: 15 July 2019


4G/LTE (Long Term Evolution) mobile network deployment has addressed the high capacity problem to establish genuine broadband mobile Internet.5G has overcome some of these difficulties via huge MIMO radio interface. Adopting software-defined networks (SDN) and network function virtualization (NFV) has given flexibility, allowing operators to handle demanding vertical market services.Strong physical layer and flexible network architecture made this feasible. Virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), etc., are bandwidth-intensive. Mobile networks face new applications that require high dependability and near-zero latency, including car communications or Internet-of-Vehicles (IoV).This article describes the role of AI and ML in 5G and beyond to develop a cost-effective, adaptive next-generation mobile network. AI/ML use in network lifecycle is explored. MATLAB mimics these findings.


Using a photolithographic fabrication process microminiature Joule–Thomson refrigerators have been fabricated substantially smaller in size than hitherto and with refrigeration capacities of the order of 25 mW. The devices are 0.5×2×15 mm in size, they operate on nitrogen gas and cool to 88 K in 45 s. The fabrication process allows mass production of the devices at low cost. It was found that the theoretical models used for the design of the refrigerators are adequate at this level of miniaturization.


We point out a misleading treatment in a recent paper published in this journal [M. Eshgi and H. Mehraban, J. Math. Phys. 57, 082105 (2016)] concerning solutions for the two-dimensional Dirac-Weyl equation with a q-deformed pseudoscalar magnetic barrier. The authors misunderstood the full meaning of the potential and made erroneous calculations, and this fact jeopardizes the main results in this system.We point out a misleading treatment in a recent paper published in this journal [M. Eshgi and H. Mehraban, J. Math. Phys. 57, 082105 (2016)] concerning solutions for the two-dimensional Dirac-Weyl equation with a q-deformed pseudoscalar magnetic barrier. The authors misunderstood the full meaning of the potential and made erroneous calculations, and this fact jeopardizes the main results in this system.


Polysaccharides display several biological activities, such as antitumour, anti-oxidation, hypoglycaemic, antiviral and immunity enhancing properties. The polysaccharide fraction from Phemeranthus confertiflorus was extracted, hydrolysed and 8 monosaccharides were analysed and quantified by capillary electrophoresis. The polysaccharide fraction was further assessed for cytotoxicity on normal and tumour cell lines. The results obtained can promote Phemeranthus as an eligible plant with potential for human health, because of high monosaccharides content (predominant rhamnose) and promising cytostatic effect of polysaccharide fraction.


The aim of this study is 'to explore the barriers that impede career development of Sri Lankan women managers in public and private sectors'. In this study, an interpretivist philosophy as the researchers view and the respondents view has adopted. Qualitative case study methodology with feminist-oriented research method was used to answer the questions. By this study, it has been analyzed the experiences of 40 Sri Lankan women who are holding senior-level management positions in five public and five private sector organizations. The grounded theory analysis method was applied to analyze the data. The findings confirmed that women remain under-represented in top management positions. Organizational culture, situational and personal factors have affected these situation. However, the study confirmed that the Organizational cultural, situational and personal factorsare not affecting managerial effectiveness of the women managers. Generally, they do not show dialectical behavior in their managerial positions and use their style in a non-traditional manner. There is still a need to push for equal representation of women in top management positions in both sectors.


the concept of human behavior recognition is an interesting yet daunting task to delve into. This paper presents the design and mathematical modeling of a human behavior recognition system image processing and pattern recognition. Human behavior recognition is a framework for understanding human behavior. Despite the many issues, such as privacy and ethical concerns, behavioral study still has the potential to revolutionize the way we interact with machines and each other.


A model for insect dispersal has been considered, an equilibrium and stability analysis has been done and the behavior to the solitary and traveling wave solutions of the model are obtained.


The tracking subsystem of the CLEO-I11 Trigger consists of separate axial and stereo tracking pattern-matching modules, whose products are time-aligned and spatially correlated to provide pipelined trigger information every 42 ns with a latency of approximately 2 ?s. This paper describes the pipelined signal processing and pattern recognition schemes used by the axial and stereo electronics to provide the information necessary to make trigger decisions. Extensive use of inrsystem field programmable gate arrays support path finding and timing information extraction.


This work sought to analyze the information needs of the citizen and their dynamic in the Municipality of Maracaibo. Methodology consisted of a theoretical review and the application of a semi-structured questionnaire to 400 subjects corresponding to 14 of the 18 parishes in the municipality. Results revealed little value placed on information and therefore, a low demand for the same, as well as lack of effective means for detecting the aforementioned needs by the Mayor's Office, which plays a passive role as a source of public content. In conclusion, the expression of citizens' needs for information constitutes a dynamic limited by cognitive, affective and situational dimensions that lead to dissatisfaction and lack of information, thereby impeding their active participation in the municipality.


A new mesophilic Trichoderma isolate produced cellulases during growth on water hyacinth. Optimum cultural conditions for maximum enzyme production were: water hyacinth 0.25%, NH4NO3 0.2%, Tween 80.2%, 6 day cultivation at 28–30 °C. Partially purified cellulases from this organism displayed activity optima at pH 3–4 and 50–60 °C. The enzymes were stable at pH 3–6 and temperature upto 60 °C. Fe2+ had the most stimulating effect on cellulases activities amongst many metal ions tested.


Based on the Area Sample Framework (KSA) results, rice production in West Sumatra has decreased by 6 per cent from 2019 to 2020. This shows that rice farming still faces various risks affecting its production and productivity. As the main farming actors, farmers receive the most significant impact and risk due to climate-related disasters. Farmers must bear risks in production, price, market, financial, technological, social, legal, and human risks. Production risk occurs due to yield fluctuations due to various factors that are difficult to predict (climate change, extreme weather, floods, droughts, and pest attacks). This study aims to (1) identify the risks of rice farming in Padang City and (2) measure the magnitude of rice farming risks faced by farmers in Padang City. Data were collected using questionnaires from 30 farmers. The results showed that the risks faced by farmers were the risk of land management, the risk of flooding, risk of drought and the risk of pest and disease attacks. The risk faced by farmers in their farming business as a whole is low. The risk of flooding and drought has a large percentage of greater risk. The flood risk mitigation carried out by farmers, in general, is to let their land be flooded, while farmers carry out drought risk management by looking for water sources.


PURPOSE: A system for transmitting a channel state information reference signal is provided to easily transmit a channel state information reference signal to transmit data between a base station and the relay. CONSTITUTION: A base station(900) includes a channel state information reference signal pattern information transmitting unit(910) and a transmitting unit(920). The channel state information reference signal pattern information transmitting unit transmits information about a sub frame including a channel state information reference signal among sub frames to a terminal(930) or a relay(940). The transmitting unit transmits the channel state information reference signal and data to the terminal or the relay by referring to the information for the sub frame.


EEG has been employed clinically for some time as a measure of brain function in the hope of determining and differentiating certain functional conditions of the brain. It is used in patients who suffer from cognitive dysfunction, either a general decline of overall brain function or a localized or lateralized deficit. This article addresses primarily the clinical use of EEG in evaluation of dementias and encephalopathies. In addition, aspects of digital EEG and other newer developments are discussed briefly at the end of the article.


Since the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) the secondary mirror of the telescope has been moved several times in order to collimate the telescope and also to define a position of best focus. In addition to these moves the focus position changes over time because of water desorption by the graphite epoxy in the metering truss. We report here the focus history of the telescope based on a knowledge of the mirror moves made and an analysis of desorption monitoring data obtained by the Faint Object Camera (FOC) in the F/96 mode and of the routine calibration data obtained by the Wide Field and Planetary Cameras. Focus values were extracted using two different methods. In the first method the distance between the center of the Point Spread Function (PSF) and the shadows of the pads supporting hte HST primary mirror are related to the focus error. In the second method an analytical formula for the PSF with variable aberration coefficients is fitted to the data. Focus positions derived from the two methods show good agreement. The data show that a desorption of about 83 microns has taken place since 1990 August 16. The desorption has not levelled off as expected from the trend of the earlier data. Long term variations of the secondary mirror position of ~3-15 microns from the "best" focus position have been observed. Variations ofthe order of 2-5 microns over an orbital period have also been noted. Focus changes resulting from secondary mirror movements greater than ~5 microns changes the point spread function significantly and makes deconvolution and quantitative measurements difficult.


Three sources of N, each at five different rates, were compared for 8 years on mature Valencia trees on Rough lemon rootstock. Anhy drous ammonia, ammonium nitrate, and nitrate of soda were applied at rates of 150, 195, 240, 285, and 330 lb N per acre. The rates were split into a fall and a spring application. Other nu trients were applied uniformly to all plots. The 15 treatments were randomized in 4 replicate blocks, covering 11 acres of trees on a deep phase Blanton fine sand. The yields of fruit were not greatly affected by N source, which is consistent with previous studies. Anhydrous ammonia, in jected into one-half the ground area, appeared to be a suitable source of N. In effect on pro duction, it was lower than ammonium nitrate in 2 of the years. Internal fruit quality tended to be slightly better than that produced by ammo nium nitrate. Excess sodium, from nitrate of soda, caused a deterioration in tree condition and yield at the higher rates. Fruit quality was significantly lower with this source. The 240-lb rate of N seemed to be appropriate for this grove which has a normal production capacity of about 600 boxes per acre. Except for sodium toxicity from nitrate of soda, high rates of N were not detrimental to tree condition or yield performance. The ammoniacal sources increased the soluble solids of the fruit even at rates above that necessary for full production of fruit. Introduction Relatively few experiments have been con ducted in which different sources and rates of N have been compared on mature orange trees. Sites et al. (4) found essentially equal produc tion of Hamlin oranges with six sources of N over a 10-year period. External fruit quality was not measurably affected but inorganic am moniacal sources produced somewhat higher sol uble solids than nitrate or organic sources. Leonard et al. (1) reported similar results when 10 sources of N were compared on Valencia oranges. With Pineapple oranges, Stewart et al. (10) found insignificant differences between ni trate of soda and ammonium nitrate at rates below 200 lb N per acre. Comparing three sources of N at different rates on Valencias, Stewart and Wheaton (11) found yields to be higher at 100 lb than at 50, 200, or 300. In both of these experiments yields decreased when high rates of N were used. The subsoil was highly acid in the plots receiving the ammoniacal sources. Ammonium sulfate was inferior to either ammonium nitrate or nitrate of soda, which were about equal in their effect on yield of fruit. Both soluble solids and acids tended to increase with N rate. Trees on nitrate of soda produced a lower concentration of soluble solids in the juice than did the other sources. The present study was started in 1958 with a two-fold purpose. First, we wanted to determine what rate of N was necessary to maintain pro duction in a block of orange trees having a his tory of high production. Second, we wanted to see if anhydrous ammonia would be a satisfac tory source of N for citrus if injected into light, sandy soil. FLORIDA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY, 1967 Materials and Methods A 35-year-old Valencia grove on Rough lemon stock, growing on a deep Blanton fine sand, was selected as an experimental site. The trees were spaced 15x30 ft. (96 trees per acre) and had a record of producing large crops. Production for the preceding 10 years averaged nearly 600 boxes per acre. Yields in 1952 and 1953 dropped to 450 and 350, respectively. The decline was diagnosed as copper toxicity from a low-pH and high-copper combination in the soil. Following the application of b 7 tons per acre of liming material, the trees regained vigor and again produced slightly over 600 boxes in 1957 (Fig. 2) An attempt was made to select 60 plots of six uniform trees each. A few plots had only five record trees because of replants or some casualties due to psorosis that developed as the experiment progressed. The test involved 11 acres of grove. Yields in 1957, prior to differential treatment, showed a high degree of uniformity. Even so, experimental variability was so great that yield differences less than about 15% for any single year were not significant at the 95% probability level. When all years are considered, yield dif ferences larger than about 10% were significant. Thus, the precision of this large experiment, in a relatively uniform grove, was limited to defin ing differences that were relatively large. This, unfortunately, is the nature of experiments in volving yields in citrus. Few, if any, previously reported experiments in Florida have had even this degree of precision. The experiment was of a complete random block factorial type, involving three sources of N at each of five different rates. The sources were nitrate of soda, ammonium nitrate, and anhydrous ammonia. The latter is a gas con taining 82% N and is handled as a liquid under about 150-lb pressure. It is the parent material of most manufactured sources of N and is there fore the most economical form available. It has long been used on citrus in Western States by injection into irrigation water, but is not used commercially on citrus in Florida. The five rates of N were 150, 195, 240, 285, and 330 lb per acre per year. These rates were derived by assuming a production capacity of 600 boxes and using the factors of 0.25, 0.32, 0.40, 0.47, and 0.55 as lb of N per box. The middle rate of 0.4 is the standard recommenda tion for oranges (2). One-half the N was applied each October and the other half in May. The dry sources were broadcast from trunk to trunk with a mechani cal spreader. Anhydrous ammonia was injected to a depth of 5 to 6 inches with a tractor-drawn applicator that placed the N in streaks about 1 ft apart. Only 15 to 16 ft (about half) of the 30-ft middle received N from this source. The remaining area was not fertilized with N. Treat ments were started in October 1957. All trees received K in a single application of KC1 each February. Initially the rate was 240 lb of K2O per acre but this was lowered to 150 lb for the last 6 years on the basis of leaf analysis values. No water soluble Mg was used as leaf analysis indicated the supply from dolo mite lime was adequate. Both high-Ca lime and dolomite were applied as necessary to keep the pH above 6.5. Subsoil pH, to a depth of at least 5 ft, was above 5.4 in most tests. Two tons of dolomite and 1 ton of high-Ca lime per acre were used during the 8-year study. The nitrate-ofsoda plots were limed in the same way as the rest even though the topsoil pH was over 7.0 continuously in these plots. Boron, zinc, and manganese were applied an nually by the owner in conjunction with insecti cide sprays. Water, on an "emergency" basis, was usually applied in one or two irrigations between March and May. Yield records were taken each April or May, at time of commercial harvest. Leaves were sam pled at intervals for chemical analysis, and fruit samples were analyzed each April for vari ous quality factors. Results and Discussion General observations.—Weather conditions deviated sharply from normal during the period 1958-1965 and must be considered in interpreta tion of the results. Rainfall in 1959 and again in 1960 was 70 inches, which is about 40% above normal. 1961 and 1962 were below normal by about the same proportion. During the latter period of subnormal moisture, trees receiving either of the two highest rates of nitrate of soda declined in vigor from sodium toxicity (5). The December freeze of 1962 caused fruit, leaf, and twig injury on nearly all trees to the extent that production in 1963 was sharply reduced. A tree by tree evaluation showed 40, 50, and 75% defoliation by the freeze for trees receiving am monium nitrate, anhydrous ammonia, and nitrate SMITH: NITROGEN SOURCES 3 of soda respectively. These differences were highly significant. The damage appeared to be limited to defoliation and death of finger-sized wood. As time progressed, however, recovery was slow and the tops of the trees were thinly foliated for 2 years after the freeze. Although gradual improvement was evident, the trees were only approaching their pre-freeze condition at the end of the test. After 8 years, trees receiving the 330 lb rate from nitrate of soda were of low vigor from excessive defoliation. By contrast, trees receiv ing from 240 to 330 lb N from the other two sources were densely foliated and in a highly satisfactory condition. Trees on the 150-lb rate, regardless of source, were fairly dark green but the foliage was less dense than the best trees on higher rates of N. Yield of fruit—Mean yields of fruit for the 8 years are shown in Fig. 1. Ammonium nitrate produced the highest numerical yield at each rate of N. The three sources did not differ sig nificantly at the 240 and 285 lb rates. At the 330-lb rate, production dropped where nitrate of soda was used. At the 150 and 195 lb rates, yields from trees on anhydrous ammonia ap proached a significant reduction. In 5 of the 8 years, the three sources of N produced nearly equal yields (Fig. 2). The differential trends shown in Fig. 1 are largely attributable to the three post-freeze crops. Yields during this pe riod reflect the degree of defoliation from the freeze. Actually, the 1963 crop (from 1962 bloom) was a large one but heavy shedding following the freeze caused a heavy loss in yields. Yields from trees on nitrate of soda con tinued to decline after the freeze whereas those on the other two sources leveled off. Prior to the freeze the only difference among sources occurred in 1960 when trees on anhy drous ammonia declined in yield (Fig. 2). This was true on all five rates. While the cause is not known, it is possible that this was a reac tion to the restricted placement of N. This crop was set during the second year of differential treatments. Possibly inadequate absorption or distribution in the tree from the lateral applica tion may have been a factor in the reduced yields. The event was not repeated and


While crosstalk cancellation enables high data rates to be achieved, it is computationally demanding, and development of low complexity cancelers is important. In this paper, we show that the special characteristics of the DSL channel ensure that despite the large number of vectored Twisted Pairs (TPs), large constellation sizes, as well as the large number of tones, Maximum Likelihood receivers are practical, and as computationally efficient as linear receivers whose use has been suggested recently. The proposed receiver uses the Space Alternating Generalized Expectation Maximization (SAGE) iterative receiver, and exploits its ability to converge very rapidly close to the correct solution by initializing the iteration with the output of the Frequency Domain Equalizer (at each TP and tone). Analytical expression for Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR) are derived to demonstrate that the iterative receiver converges in just one iteration.


Ethanol at concentration of 200 mM induces anesthesia in experimental animals and depresses neurotransmission in isolated spinal cords. To determine whether actions on primary afferent nerve terminals contribute to ethanol's depressant effects on spinal cord, a study was undertaken to test whether ethanol blocks sodium currents (INa) in dorsal root ganglion neurons (DRGn). Whole‐cell patch clamp was used to examine INa in DRGn isolated from 1‐ to 15‐day‐old rats. At a holding potential of −80 mV ethanol (200 mM) decreased peak tetrodotoxin‐resistant (TTX‐R) and tetrodotoxin‐sensitive (TTX‐S) INa by 19.0% ± 2.7 (mean ± SEM) and 8.5% ± 2.2, respectively. Maximal available INa was reduced to 82 ± 4% (TTX‐R) and 93 ± 1% (TTX‐S) of control. Steady‐state inactivation curves were shifted in the hyperpolarizing direction by 2.1 ± 0.2 mV (TTX‐R) and 1.1 ± 0.1 mV (TTX‐S). At prepulse potentials of −30 mV (TTX‐R) and −70 mV (TTX‐S), these shifts contributed an additional 17 ± 1% (TTX‐R) and 7 ± 1% (TTX‐S) reduction in available INa. Ethanol thus selectively induced both voltage‐independent and voltage‐dependent block of TTX‐R INa in DRGn. Because DRGn TTX‐R sodium channels are associated with small‐diameter primary afferent fibers, these results are consistent with a role for ethanol actions on sodium channels in depression of nociceptive‐related neurotransmission in spinal cord. J. Neurosci. Res. 54:433–443, 1998. © 1998 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.


In the monographic epistolary novel of Loaisel de Treogate Ainsi finissent les grandes passions (1788), the experiential predominates over the narrative function, the discourse over the story. However, in the letters which make up the work, there are numerous anecdotes which could be seen as marginal insertions, when in fact they assume a signifying function showing the essential topics, together with a structuring function, developing a net which gives coherence to the different fragments from which the epistolary text is formed, and, at the same time, it serves as a guidance.


Effects of half-order derivative feedback on first and second-order models are studied based on the step-response simulations of fractional-order transfer-functions that are obtained analytically. The control input and the plant output of integer and noninteger -order systems are compared to confirm that the hyper-damped poles in the non-primary Riemann sheet, which are often said to have no physical meaning, could cause extremely slow and long-lasting output responses even after the control input is effectively removed. It is also observed that a first-order plant without a zero can be forced to overshoot using fractional derivative feedback, which is impossible using integer derivative feedback.


Abstract. Introduction. The escalation of political and military conflicts in the world and the COVID-19 pandemic have led to significant human losses and caused the activation of destructive socio-economic processes in the world, which have a negative impact on ensuring the resilience of regional socio-economic security guarantee systems. National systems of socioeconomic security suffer from macroeconomic instability, critical changes in the conditions of operation, transmission of threats of a military and economic nature. In these conditions, the problem of revitalizing the development of insurance markets as a basis for ensuring the resilience of the systems of guaranteeing social and economic security of the regions is an important problem and meets the current needs of society and the economy. Purpose. The purpose of the article is to evaluate the development of insurance markets as a basis for ensuring the resilience of the systems of guaranteeing social and economic security of the regions. Results. The dynamics of the growth of insurance premiums in the world for 2016-2021 were analyzed and it was found that the cumulative average annual growth rate of global gross insurance premiums for the period 2016-2021 is 4.0%, while in North and South America this indicator was 5.5%. In Europe, the Middle East and Africa, this indicator was only 1.3%, in the AsiaPacific region - 3.3%. Conclusions. Among the main threats to the development of insurance markets as a basis for ensuring the resilience of regional socio-economic security guarantee systems, the following are expediently highlighted: geopolitical upheavals, a high level of military threats in the world; significant weakening of economic stability; the situation on the energy market; disruption of supply chains; growing inflationary risk; COVID-19. Among the main opportunities for the development of insurance markets as a basis for ensuring the resilience of regional socio-economic security guarantee systems, the following are highlighted: digitalization opportunities; raising awareness of mortality and health risks; risk reassessment in the field of commercial insurance.


In this paper, we investigate if video conferencing software, proposedly enhanced with augmented reality games, could be used for remote interaction between dogs and their owners so they could communicate over internet during the master's absence.


Our goal is to create a simulation platform for the study of ecological nich, ing that can be extended to suit the needs of biological research. Ecological niching and the accompanying evolutionary process of speciation are difficult to observe in situ, which makes them prime candidates for study via the methods of computer simulation. To this end, we have created an interactive, real-time ecosystem simulation based on the standard predator/prey interaction model, in which interacting populations of organisms exhibit swarming behavior. We hope to provide the basic simulation components necessary to bring about niching and speciation, that may be extended for the purposes of experimentation.


The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of platelet-rich (PRP) and poor (PPP) plasma in cell proliferation and matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) expression during the repair of deep corneal ulcers. Forty-five female rabbits were distributed in 3 experimental groups (G) (n = 15), referred as PRP (GR), PPP (GP) and Control groups (GC), in accordance with the treatment. All animals underwent surgical induction of unilateral corneal ulcer. PRP and PPP eyedrops were made by using centrifuged blood through standardized protocol, and instilled five times a day. In GC, lubricant eyedrops was used. Each group was subdivided (n = 5), according to the final time point, 4 (M4), 7 (M7) and 30 days (M30). The animals corneas were processed for morphological and immunohistochemical analysis for PCNA, MMP1, MMP2, MMP9, MT1-MMP and TIMP1. In M4, the levels of MMP2 were higher in GP and GR, and in M7, this behavior was only observed in the GP. In M30, more epithelial cells and MMP1 expression were found in GR than GP. In the GR, cell proliferation was higher in M4 than at others time points and MMP2 expression was higher in M4 than in M30. The PRP stimulates cell proliferation in the early phase (M4) of treatment when compared to other time points, different from other treatments. The use of platelet-rich and poor plasma eyedrops influences the expression of matrix metalloproteinases involved in the corneal repair process.


Simulations are very versatile tools to study the relaxations and dynamics of polymer melts and networks. The fact that polymer chains cannot pass through each other poses special dif(cid:2)culties for analytic theories, while on the other hand many experiments are dominated by this fact. The paper discusses some basic concepts and conditions and ways to study such problems by computer simulations.


Submitted for the MAR08 Meeting of The American Physical Society High-throughput Microsphere Encapsulation in Emulsion Droplets by Electrospray WUEN-SHIU CHEN, KENG-HUI LIN, Institute of Physics, Academia Sinica, Tapei, Taiwan — Colloidal clusters generated through emulsion encapsulation and evaporation open up the possibilities for assembly of complex crystal structures. Encapsulation in monodisperse emulsion droplets facilitates higher yield of identical clusters as building blocks. We utilize electrospray in an oil-in-water co-flow fluidic device to generate uniform emulsion droplets in micron size and at the rate of ten thousand droplets per second. We investigate the effect of applied voltage, flow rate and the conductivity of liquid on the droplet formation. We further show that incorporation of microspheres into the inner oil fluid enables the encapsulation and formation of clusters.


In the last few years, franchising has become an increasingly popular distribution structure across the EU. A franchise is a vertical agreement, and therefore should not contain any of the…


The effect of administration of 600-and 300-mg doses of sodium deoxycholate 1 hr before phenolsulfonphthalein solution is reported. The 600-mg dose caused a decrease in drug bioavailability as measured by the total amount excreted in 24 hr. The 300-mg dose cause and increase in the initial phenolsulfonphthalein absorption rate, suggesting a direct action of the bile salt on membrane permeability. The decrease in absorption upon administration of 600 mg was attributed to micellar entrapment of the drug molecule.


This paper is based on experiences with the production of web-based training (WBT) courses for a course of studies in medical computer science. Course production is regarded as software development process, which starts with conceptual models shaping the design and defining the way the software product is presented to the user. This paper reports experiences with conceptual design models and shows the danger of being insufficient or incorrect.


The emergence of digital currency is becoming prevalent in the age of globalization – specifically, cryptocurrencies, a subset of digital currency that encompass revolutionary technology. This study postulates that certain governments are more prone to adopting cryptocurrencies, especially those seeking to eschew international sanctions and protect corrupt practices. Three comparative case studies focus on countries (Iran, Russia, and Venezuela) that share attributes that result in adopting what has been called "native cryptocurrencies": corruption, GDP level, economic volatility, and Western sanctions.

KEYWORDS: Cryptocurrency; Blockchain; Political Science; Law; Foreign Sanctions; Government; Iran; Russia; Venezuela


This is a new day in administration, financing, staffing, and types of case load in visiting nurse associations. Changes emerged before Medicare. Since, they have accelerated.


There are no ICALL (Intelligent Computer-Assisted Language Learning) applications for second language learners of Icelandic. This project aims to build a web service that facilitates ICALL applications and a website that highlights grammatical errors in free written texts. The website, Writing Support, was created for this purpose. Writing Support utilises a module in the web service for analysing texts and marking grammatical errors in them. It analyses and annotates Icelandic texts with the IceNLP toolkit and sends a TCF (Text Corpus Format) document to Writing Support which uses it to display a web page that highlights grammatical errors. Grammatical error detection in IceNLP was improved, and new types of error detection implemented. Two evaluations of the grammatical error detection were conducted. Participants wrote sentences describing two pictures. Participants in the rst evaluation were 13 intermediate learners of Icelandic and in the second evaluation 26 beginners of Icelandic language. The rst evaluation resulted in 76% precision and recall, and in the second evaluation the precision was 64.5% and recall 43%. Bad sentence structure of second language learners and spelling errors were probable causes of the poor accuracy of the grammatical error detection. The participants thought that Writing Support helped them in writing Icelandic, but the current precision and recall is too low to be utilised in second language teaching.


In general the experiments on the linear optical properties of a single-layer two-dimensional atomic crystal are interpreted by modeling it as a homogeneous slab with an effective thickness. Here I fit the most remarkable experiments in graphene optics by using the Fresnel coefficients, fixing both the surface susceptibility and the surface conductivity of graphene. It is shown that the Fresnel coefficients and the slab model are not equivalent. Experiments indicate that the Fresnel coefficients are able to simulate the overall experiments here analyzed, while the slab model fails to predict absorption and the phase of the reflected light.


This paper presents an ultra-broadband 5-bit switched-type attenuator (STA). The resistor values of the five attenuation cells are optimized to ensure accurate amplitude tuning. Capacitive compensation technique is adopted to reduce phase error and enhance the bandwidth. Fabricated in 65-nm CMOS technology, the 5-bit STA occupies a core chip area of 0.036 mm2. It exhibits ultra-broadband (i.e., DC to 43.5 GHz) operation with 15.5-dB amplitude tuning range and 0.5-dB tuning step. The insertion loss of the reference state is 1.5 - 5.3 dB from DC to 43.5 GHz. The RMS amplitude error and phase error are < 0.19 dB and < 3.1° over the whole measured band.


This article examines the shift of contract objectives from what originally set for non-profit objectives to business ones. Such shift is found in the three contracts; wakalah (power of attorney), hawalah (underground banking), and kafalah (guarantee). Referring to their uses in several Islamic financial products in Indonesia and comparing to the sharia resolution of Sharia Authority Council Malaysia and Islamic law (fiqh), the majority of these contracts is proven to apply fees (ujrah) and used both independently and in combination with other contracts. Here, the fees are mostly applied in the Islamic financial institutions, but unfortunately the customers who are involved in the contracts get less. This, in turn, affects and changes the contract classification which originally included the three in the non-profit contract and eventually turns them into the business contract. If the contracts are set for business objectives, they are then considered as service/lease based contracts (ijarah). In the construction of a real agreement (contract), this shift has implications on changes in the rights and responsibilities of the parties involved and can raise a dispute cause of misunderstanding of the status of the contract as voluntary (tabarru') or business (tijari).


1. Recent progress in poverty reduction in Viet Nam. Viet Nam has a remarkable record of reducing poverty since 1993. The poverty rate, based on the cost of a consumption basket allowing a daily intake of 2,100 calories per person and some nonfood expenditure, dropped from 58.1% in 1993 to 14.5% in 2008. This means about 43 million people have risen out of poverty. The food poverty rate fell from 24% to 7% over the same period, while the poverty gap narrowed from 18.5% to 3.5%. 2 According to the results of the 2010 survey of living standards in Viet Nam, the poverty rate based on the methodology of the Ministry of Labor, Invalids, and Social Affairs (MOLISA) fell from 18.1% 2004 to 15.5% in 2006, 13.4% in 2008, and 10.7% in 2010.